Reputation

Xu Changqing began his journey along the Emperor's Road. The Emperor's Road was nowhere near as easy to traverse as the Starry Sky; danger lurked everywhere.

Even he had to proceed carefully, for he never knew whether some powerful expert would suddenly emerge to assassinate him.

The Emperor's Road was like a scroll recording Ancient History, recounting the failures and successes of countless people. Some laughed joyfully, while others wept in despair.

Some rose to prominence like blazing comets, but far more were like autumn leaves, with countless people withering away on the Emperor's Road.

Yet they all shared one goal: to Become Emperor.

The road to becoming Emperor was destined to be soaked in endless blood, paved with corpses and bones. It was an incomparably beautiful painting. Whoever became Emperor would be revered by the universe and invincible beneath the heavens.

Those who failed either died and vanished from the world, or had their Dao Hearts shattered.

Xu Changqing no longer used the items the Guide Envoy had given him. He wanted to forge ahead on his own, fighting his way forward alone and showing everyone in his strongest state that this era belonged to him!

He traveled along the ancient road and headed toward the training grounds of the twentieth route, slaughtering his way there.

In merely two days, he cleared every trial world of the twentieth checkpoint. He passed through them with an overbearing momentum, cutting down every obstacle in his path. Countless residents of those small worlds feared him, adored him, and revered him.

The starry road was boundless, and the strong remained strong. Along the way, Xu Changqing did not know how many people he had killed or how many families he had destroyed. But so what? They had provoked him first.

He would not provoke others without reason. If he intended to provoke someone, then they surely possessed something he wanted.

Over the following year, Xu Changqing fought and slaughtered alone. Sometimes, he encountered powerful opponents who wounded him severely.

At other times, he was surrounded and hunted in the Starry Sky. Saint Kings from several small worlds received word that a white-haired man had entered the Emperor's Road with an overbearing bearing, swept through the major trial grounds with invincible force, and seized every valuable treasure.

That time, a full seven Saint Kings came to kill him. He could barely handle three Saint Kings alone, but seven were beyond his limits.

Moreover, could the Saint Kings on the Emperor's Road be compared to those in the Starry Sky? Which of these experts was not a powerhouse among the younger generation?

Yet even when they surrounded him, they could not kill him. He still escaped.

But Xu Changqing could not swallow that insult. He immediately turned back and charged into the worlds of those Saint Kings who had besieged him, massacring countless living beings. Only after a Guide Envoy warned him did he stop and withdraw.

However, his reputation only grew louder, and the rumors about him became increasingly outrageous.

For an entire year, Xu Changqing fought and slaughtered without pause. Whenever he passed ancient roads that had been destroyed or Imperial Passes that had collapsed, he could only take detours, which cost him another three years.

He had spent four years on the Emperor's Road in total and experienced several life-and-death trials. There were always unexpected dangers waiting for him.

Once, at the thirty-first checkpoint, he entered a forbidden land of life and encountered a bizarre hurricane. It nearly killed him, stripping away his flesh, and he was almost possessed by a ghost.

At the thirty-seventh checkpoint, there was a ghost city. Almost no living creature had entered that checkpoint for a hundred thousand years. No one knew what had happened, but every living thing in the entire thirty-seventh checkpoint had died, leaving behind only ghosts.

A Guide Envoy had even died there, turning into a Great Sage without intelligence, left only with the obsession to kill and take revenge.

Xu Changqing was pursued by that obsession-driven Great Sage for nearly two years. In the end, he barely managed to escape by using the Demonic Banner.

During that time, he also encountered some members of the younger generation. He heard them mention a Female Demon who was digging graves everywhere and searching for all kinds of treasures. Those with special physiques who tried to capture the Female Demon were all killed by her.

In the end, those people looked as though they had been drained dry. Their bodies were shriveled, and even the traits of their special physiques had vanished.

Those who survived called her Tun Tian, while others called her the Man-eating Demon.

Xu Changqing knew that woman had begun to rise to fame and emerge into prominence.

After Xu Changqing and that woman became famous, different reactions began to appear across the Emperor's Road, and undercurrents surged.

At the fifty-eighth checkpoint of the human race, many Heavenly Prides gathered. Upon hearing that two formidable enemies had appeared, they all became excited and expectant.

On an immortal mountain, mist churned, immortal qi drifted through the air, and rosy light shone brilliantly. This was the finest cultivation ground at the fiftieth checkpoint.

At the mountain summit, brilliant multicolored halos spread outward. At a glance, pollen filled the air, specks of dazzling light danced about, Great Dao Laws were dense, and order poured down like a waterfall.

A tree bore golden fruit, while its leaves were purple with bright veins, as though the patterns of countless Great Daos had been engraved upon them.

"Miss, recently, a white-haired man and an unknown woman have risen on the Emperor's Road. Their reputations have soared, and they are unbelievably powerful."

"Few among the younger generation who have fought them have survived."

A young girl in a yellow floral dress walked into the depths of the medicinal field with worry on her face, her voice carrying a faint tremble.

"What titles do they have?" A cool, commanding female voice came from the mist deep within the medicinal field.

Upon hearing that voice, even the girl delivering the news could not help blushing slightly. That voice was far too lethal; it charmed men, women, old, and young alike. It was simply outrageous.

"I don't know. According to unverified rumors, the white-haired man is named Xu Changqing, but this has never been confirmed, because no one has ever seen him speak."

"But more people call him the Heavenly Demon, or Nameless. A small number believe he has no humanity and has committed every conceivable evil, so they call him Wuqing."

As she spoke, the girl's face turned pale. She looked delicate, with an oval face and large watery eyes. One could tell at a glance that she was not the fighting type, but rather a servant.

She recalled some rumors. That white-haired man had killed countless people and was incomparably powerful. As a Saint, he could fight Saint Kings across realms.

In the end, he had destroyed countless families and killed many pregnant women, youths, and children. Few who offended him survived.

She had even heard that, for cultivation, the white-haired man specifically captured women of the younger generation. Those women with special physiques would all have their primordial yin taken by him.

Afterward, they would be refined into pills. He would not even spare their Nascent Souls, directly collecting them into a banner.

"As for that woman, people call her Tun Tian or the Female Demon, but even more people call her a fairy."

The girl had heard many people say that the woman was very beautiful, but no one had seen her true appearance. Still, judging by her figure and temperament, one could imagine an incomparably beautiful sight.

"Miss, as someone with an Innate Dao Embryo, you must be careful of that man." The maid could not help worrying for the woman within.

Although her miss was powerful, no astonishing achievements had spread about her so far. Her accomplishments were far inferior to those two.

"So, it is him. I only met him once back then, when he was gambling on stones. What a pity. At that time, he was merely a minor figure with a little fame. Who would have thought..."

Tian Youqing never could have imagined that the young man gambling on stones not far from her back then would now be so powerful.

Still, she wanted to see just how strong Xu Changqing truly was. Back on the Burial Emperor Star, she had heard that he had entered the Eight Prohibitions as a Mortal Body.

Unfortunately, she had been cultivating at the time and could not go out to spar with him. That had become one of her regrets.

"Tell me when he arrives here."

The maid saw a figure dancing within the dense mist. Her robes swayed gently with her graceful movements, her fingers were as beautiful as orchids, and her long legs danced amid the fog.

For a moment, even the maid was entranced. Though she had never seen her miss's true appearance, her figure, temperament, and those bright almond-shaped eyes were enough to charm both men and women alike.

The experts from the Burial Emperor Star had all heard of that person's arrival. They were waiting in anticipation, but even more so as though facing the arrival of a great enemy.

Because only they understood just how terrifying the Twin Demons of the Era truly were.

But even more people dismissed it with disdain, because they believed such freakish figures could not possibly exist.

A young man who looked remarkably like Xu Changqing was strolling through the streets. Upon hearing that person had appeared, his heart churned like stormy seas, enormous waves rising within him. His breathing became hurried, and a trace of panic and helplessness appeared in his eyes.

"What is it?" Beside him, a gentle-looking woman asked softly. She had a stunning figure, yet her belly was heavily swollen.

"He... is here..." Xu An was at a loss, but more than that, he was afraid to face him.

He had thought that after reaching the Saint Realm, he would be able to face that person directly. But upon hearing the news of his brutality, his heart still trembled.

"Who? Your father?" The gentle-looking woman smiled teasingly, a gleam appearing in her eyes as she said happily, "That is wonderful. I want to meet your father too and let him meet his daughter-in-law!"

"No, you must not meet him!" Xu An panicked at once. If this woman met that man, she might be killed.

"Why?" The woman asked in confusion. She saw cold sweat on her husband's forehead and fear in his eyes.

Xu An had thought he had successfully emerged from that person's shadow. Yet when he heard once again that person was slaughtering his way through everything, he could not help panicking.

Because even now, he had not been able to enter the Eight Prohibitions, while that person had already achieved it in the Transforming Dragon realm.

And back then, he had nearly killed him. If not for the fact that he still cared about their blood ties, perhaps... he would have died long ago.

But Xu An still remembered something Xu Changqing had said when he let him go.

"Though you are my son, we have no feelings for each other. Though you possess my bloodline, you pointed your sword at me. I will let you go this time. If you provoke me again next time, I do not care who you are—kill!"

Even now, Xu An remembered being stepped on by that nominal father, who looked down at him with cold, indifferent eyes and spoke in an icy voice.

"Let's go. We should leave the Emperor's Road. Once you give birth to the child in your belly, I will take you home." Xu An did not want to face his biological father. Though he had never been defeated on the Emperor's Road, his state of mind had long since collapsed.

Those people were all experts capable of entering the Forbidden Domain. With his ability to enter only the Fourth Prohibition, could he possibly fight those terrifying freaks?

"Alright. I don't want you competing on the Emperor's Road either. If something happens, the child will have no father." Relief appeared on the woman's face. With a gentle smile, she stroked her swollen belly.

"Tell me about your father." Holding Xu An's arm, the woman rubbed against him coquettishly, her large belly making her curiosity all the more obvious.

Xu An said nothing. He simply took his wife's hand and left the place.

That battle had become an inescapable shadow over him, one he would never be able to leave behind for the rest of his life.