Profound Yang Dao Domain, Purple Star, the Chen Clan of the Longevity Imperial Clan.
Deep within the Chen Clan Ancestral Land, ancient trees scraped the heavens and spiritual energy roiled like mist.
A white-haired Purple-Clad Elder stood with his hands behind his back, his profound gaze falling upon the green-robed youth before him as he sighed leisurely, "Changqing, your talent is rare through the ages and you are destined for the bearing of an immortal!"
"It is only a pity that the heavenly fate and fortune of this era cannot bear you."
"Next, I shall seal you with divine source, awaiting the reopening of the Immortal Road to attain the Dao and ascend to immortality in that contended era of great strife!"
"Are you prepared?"
Hearing this, the green-robed youth nodded slightly.
His name was Chen Changqing, and he had transmigrated across wombs into this world sixteen years ago.
On the day of his birth, anomalous signs descended from the heavens and Dao rhythms coiled around him, startling the entire Profound Yang Dao Domain.
Without a doubt, his talent was terrifying to the extreme. Not only did he possess the one-of-a-kind-through-the-ages Chaos Body, but he also came with a born supreme treasure—the Chaos Azure Lotus.
In his eleventh year, he ventured alone into a Savage Forbidden Land, fought Primordial Remnants with his bare flesh, and bathed in the quintessential blood of ten beasts as he emerged, shattering the Flesh Extreme Realm in a single breath.
At thirteen, during the clan tournament, he suppressed three thousand prodigies within the clan with a single palm, and the ancestor personally bestowed upon him the title of "First Sequence," shaking the entire Profound Yang Dao Domain.
At fifteen, the Purple Star Secret Realm opened, and the holy sons and holy daughters of various clans arrived hand in hand, seeking fortune. He stood alone at the summit of the secret realm, and amidst the swaying green lotus, he successively beheaded over a hundred holy sons and holy daughters, their blood staining the firmament.
From then on, the prodigies of a hundred clans fell silent.
Now he had just turned eighteen, already standing at the absolute pinnacle of the younger generation, looking down upon all heroes. With the boundless world spread before him, it was difficult to find a match.
All people in the world said: If Chen Changqing had been born in a golden age, the position of Great Emperor would have been his for the taking.
Alas—
The rules of heaven and earth this time were damaged, and only a single Great Emperor could obtain the heavenly mandate in an era. Furthermore, the lifespans of all living beings were drastically suppressed, such that even a Great Emperor possessed no more than tens of thousands of years of time.
The current Great Emperor was in the prime of his life with the heavenly mandate upon him. No matter how high his talent was, he was doomed to be unable to attain the Dao.
The most crucial point was that the Immortal Road was not open. Even if he became a Great Emperor, he would still be unable to transcend this realm to achieve a True Immortal.
Since I have been reborn into this realm and possess talent and bone structure rare in the world, it would be far too regretful if I cannot glimpse the Immortal Dao!
Chen Changqing thought to himself, then cupped his hands in a salute and said in a clear voice, "Ancestor, Changqing is already prepared!"
The Purple-Clad Elder nodded, flicked his sleeve, and dazzling array markings spread outward from beneath his feet.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth abruptly condensed, and a crystal-clear divine source materialized out of thin air, gradually enveloping Chen Changqing within it.
Inside the divine source, space-time froze and all things stood still.
Yet the very instant Chen Changqing's consciousness sank into oblivion, deep within the dark reaches of his soul's sea of consciousness, a faint, ethereal voice leisurely emerged.
[Congratulations, Blue Star transmigrator. You have reached adulthood at eighteen and unlocked the Dao Ancestor's Blessing—Infinite Insight! From this moment onward, your insight will double every day!]
Chen Changqing's mind trembled slightly.
My golden finger?
I've been transmigrated for eighteen years, so why did it only appear at this crucial juncture?
He was left between laughter and tears, yet in his heart he could not help but give birth to a trace of anticipation.
If his insight doubled every day, and he broke out of the divine source after countless ages, what a terrifying realm would his insight have reached by then?
There was no time to think further, and his consciousness gradually plunged into slumber...
Outside the divine source.
Chen Haotian, the ancestor of the Chen Clan, stood with his hands behind his back, his turbid gaze lingering for a long time upon that young face before he finally let out a long sigh, "Kid, the future of my Chen Clan is wagered upon you."
As his words fell, he turned and left.
Afterward.
The entire Profound Yang Dao Domain was thoroughly shaken.
The Chen Clan of the Longevity Imperial Clan, which was at the height of its power and splendor, unexpectedly and abruptly announced that it was sealing its mountains from then on and withdrawing from the world!
All at once, the entire world was in an uproar!
Countless forces variously guessed the intention behind the Chen Clan's action, yet some people also vaguely guessed the truth—perhaps that Evergreen Divine Son who had swept through his contemporaries without a single match had chosen to seal himself within the divine source, waiting for the Great Emperor to perish before attaining the Dao.
Yet no one expected!
What the Chen Clan was waiting for was not the "Emperor-Contending Era," but the "Immortal Road Era" that had long been deemed to no longer exist!
This wait lasted for a million years.
Years left no trace, and seas turned into mulberry fields.
A million years of time was an unimaginable duration to mortals. To cultivators, however, it was the "great longevity" they dreamed of.
During this million years, the Great Wilderness World underwent storm and change, and it was impossible to know how many rises and falls were enacted.
Some stunningly brilliant Great Emperors emerged into the world to suppress an era, yet ultimately degenerated of their own accord, casting themselves into the Dark Forbidden Zone to become honored guests seated before the Forbidden Zone Master.
There are also immortal lineages passed down for myriad years that were wiped out overnight for provoking unspeakable, formidable enemies, their clan names completely vanishing in the long river of history.
There were peerless monstrous talents rising from humble beginnings who defied the heavens to forge the Dao with indomitable perseverance, leading their lineages to the absolute peak and overlooking the river of stars.
There is also the Shaking Light Holy Land that once dominated its region, where that astonishing Shaking Light Divine Son of an era accidentally suffered defeat in the struggle for the Heavenly Mandate, causing the holy land to wither away and its former glory to be no more.
Furthermore, there are some star domains that were once prosperous and flourishing, which—after enduring several dark forbidden zone riots—saw their stars shattered, their continents sink, and were reduced almost to places of utter silence.
Throughout this long passage of a million years.
Great Emperors changed batch after batch, and star domains flourished then withered.
Even the Longevity Imperial Clan, which claimed to be immortal through the ages, would gradually decline under the scouring of the river of time, its former glory ultimately becoming a thing of the past.
All of this—every last bit of it—was recounting the exact same cruel truth:
No matter how peerlessly brilliant you are, no matter how monstrous your innate talent, and no matter how you monopolize a realm's Heavenly Mandate, you ultimately cannot withstand the blade of time.
Immortals!
Only by becoming an immortal can one truly step toward Longevity!
It was just that the Immortal Road had vanished for countless epochs, and no one was clear on whether it would manifest in the world once more.
Fortunately.
Ever since the previous generation of the Flame Phoenix Empress completely perished, the Great Desolate Realm ushered in unprecedented changes.
Speaking of that Flame Phoenix Empress, she was truly a rare and astonishing woman through the ages.
In order to resolve the dark forbidden zones that had plagued the Great Desolate for countless epochs, she feigned death a whole nine times, fiercely battering the forbidden zones with thunderous methods and slaying countless forbidden zone entities.
Yet the Flame Phoenix Empress also exhausted her strength and perished in the final battle, transforming into red glow that filled the sky and dissipating between heaven and earth.
Ever since the Flame Phoenix Empress perished, the shackles between heaven and earth seemed to loosen by a fraction.
In a mere few thousand years, the fortune of the Great Desolate Realm erupted suddenly like a volcano that had accumulated for ten thousand ages.
Numerous defying-heaven physiques that only appeared in legends awakened one after another, and heavenly prodigies were no longer rare treasures, instead emerging into the world in a torrential gushing trend.
First was the extreme northern region. In the Cangwu Ancient Clan, which was inherited from primordial times, on the day a baby was born, a streak of purple qi pierced through the river of stars from the highest heavens, extending for thirty thousand miles without dispersing.
That infant possessed double pupils naturally, his eyes containing double light, and was even accompanied by a Supreme Bone embedded within his chest. The moment he was born he possessed the might and pressure of a sage, causing ten thousand beasts within a radius of ten thousand miles to prostrate themselves.
The Cangwu Ancestor wept tears of joy, immediately establishing this child as the young clan leader and bestowing upon him the name "Cangwu Ditian".
Closely following this, the Primordial Dragon Nest that had lain dormant for a million years burst open with a crash, the sound of dragon roars shaking the nine heavens.
A baby dragon merely three years old broke out of its shell, its entire body pitch-gold and dragon might surging mightily.
After elders within the clan inspected it with ancient methods, the entire lineage was shaken—it possessed ten-tenths Ancestral Dragon Bloodline, exactly identical to the Primordial Ancestral Dragon!
This was the hope the dragon race had awaited for endless years, viewed as the turning point for the dragon race to return to its peak. The Dragon Emperor personally came out of seclusion and accepted it as a personal disciple.
Going further still...
In the Western Desert Buddhist Land, another holy Buddha was reincarnated, reciting true scriptures at birth, lotuses springing up with every step, and the phenomenon of ten thousand buddhas paying homage startled Mount Sumeru, causing even quasi-emperor ancestors who had been in seclusion for thousands of years to personally manifest and investigate.
In the Eastern Wilderness Divine Dynasty, a princess carried a child for three full years before giving birth. This child was born grasping a fragment of a sword embryo; the sword radiance was restrained, yet supreme sword intent permeated all around his body. It was rumored to be an Emperor Weapon fragment of the ancient Sword Emperor choosing its master on its own.
In the Southern Ridge Demon Domain, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Clan gave birth to a divine maiden with all nine tails unfurled. Her allure was natural, yet she also possessed invincible bearing, shaking all clans of the Demon Domain.
For a time, the entire Great Desolate Realm glittered with stars, as if the foundation of an entire epoch was pouring forth in this single generation.
Some older figures sighed with emotion—was this a golden age? This was clearly a monstrous golden age unlike any seen since ancient times!
Of course!
What truly drove all living beings of the Great Desolate Realm completely mad, however, happened not long ago—
In the depths of the endless starry sky, an immortal city appeared out of thin air.
That city was as crystalline white as jade throughout, suspended above the river of stars, with three ancient characters engraved upon the city gates—White Jade Capital.
The Immortal Road, which had not manifested for a million ages, had actually opened in this very era!
News spread across the heavens and myriad star domains, countless ancient factions that had remained hidden from the world emerged one after another, and countless ancient heavenly prodigies who had sealed themselves in divine sources broke their seals successively...
The entire Great Desolate Realm fell into an unprecedented madness.
"Changqing, the era that belongs to you has finally appeared."
A slightly hoarse, aged sigh lingered leisurely within the Chen Clan Ancestral Land.
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