Shrouding the Heavens: Those Years as the Empress's Strictest Master

From this day onward, the entire universe was destined to boil over.

It was not only because the Myriad Races Ancient Road was gradually opening and a great era was approaching.

It was also intimately tied to explosive news after explosive news: the Human Emperor's return, Xiaoyao Heavenly Venerable's reappearance, and the Undying Heavenly Emperor's suspected survival.

At the peak of the human path, even one such being appearing in any given era was already extraordinary. Yet now, three or four had entered the sight of all living beings in a single day.

Not long after that day, further news spread through the starry skies like a storm.

A Great Saint claimed to have discovered astonishing remnants of Imperial Path laws in some corner of the universe.

The lingering aura there differed from what the Human Emperor and Xiaoyao Heavenly Venerable had displayed in their battle. There were also scattered fragments of blood that ordinary cultivators could not approach.

Had a Supreme Being fallen?

Could it have been the Undying Heavenly Emperor's doing? Was that supreme god revered by all races in the Archaic Era truly still alive?

This discovery completely shook the heavens and myriad realms!

Countless cultivators were horrified.

Outside the heavens of the Big Dipper.

Once the clash between those two ultimate beings came to an end, the residual fluctuations that occasionally leaked down from beyond the heavens, making heaven and earth lose color, also gradually subsided.

Among the living beings outside the restricted areas, no one saw how Xiaoyao Heavenly Venerable returned to the Sea of Reincarnation, and few knew the outcome of that battle.

However, when the Human Emperor's majestic figure reappeared above the Human Emperor Hall in the Central Plains.

At that moment, countless people seemed to have found an answer in their hearts.

The Human Emperor had won?!

At this, all living beings silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, cultivators from the Five Regions of the Big Dipper watched the Human Emperor descend from the sky and called out his glorious name in reverent voices.

At the same time, as if he had sensed something.

Tan Lin suddenly stopped in midair within the grand hall. He silently activated the Soul Pearl's power and opened [All-Cause Vision], then glanced at the Soul Pearl's barrier, which was now densely connected to countless crimson threads.

These threads were pale in color, their glow faint, and they were incredibly thin, as though they would snap in the next instant.

Yet with so many fine threads linked together, quantitative change would bring qualitative change, and he could gain greatly from them.

In just this short while, quite a few fireflies had accumulated.

However, this seemed to be a one-time deal. After providing a single burst of quantity, some of the threads no longer remained connected and simply vanished.

This disappearance was not because the people at the ends of the Causal Line Anchor Points had died, nor was it like Tianling's situation. It was simply because the causality was too faint; without continued maintenance, it naturally dissipated.

After all, a certain Human Emperor had not truly prevented any Dark Turmoil. His causality with all living beings was simply too shallow.

This small gain was already an unexpected delight.

"Threads of living beings?"

Tan Lin fell into thought.

In his previous life, as the Human Emperor, he had led the long-weakened human race against the oppression of foreign races, allowing humanity to rise again from the cracks between the myriad races. Back then, there should have been quite a number of threads born as well.

But compared to what had happened today, it was utterly insignificant.

As he pondered, he examined the fireflies within the third Deep Crimson Light Point. Their growth had gradually been curbed, and they occupied roughly twenty percent of the entire light point.

Seeing this, his thoughts, already much clearer after this journey, became even more cheerful.

On careful consideration, although this trip to the Central Plains had involved a few minor twists, its main objective had been achieved. It had even gone more smoothly than expected.

His remnant soul was nearly complete.

Although one small fragment was still suppressed deep within the Sea of Reincarnation in the restricted area by Xiaoyao Heavenly Venerable, it made up only a small portion. He could already nourish it to completion with the Deep Crimson Light Point, and it would no longer affect his reincarnation.

Besides that, two fragments of his true soul remained scattered outside as chess pieces.

However, after considering it repeatedly, he did not retrieve them. He only recalled the soul fragment from the exposed golden condor.

Buzz...

Suddenly, with a thought, he extracted all the fireflies from the third Deep Crimson Light Point and absorbed them into his divine soul, using them to mend those irregular cracks.

This sort of nourishment and repair was unlike merging true soul fragments, which could be done in an instant. Mending required time, bit by bit.

If he did not seek perfection, then after merging the true soul remnant from the Human Emperor Banner, his soul's completeness was already sufficient. With ample Deep Crimson Light Points now, he could activate the Soul Pearl and begin the next Lifetime at any time.

But his current state of returning at his peak could still last for some time. He could make use of that remaining time to prepare more thoroughly for his next life.

"Your Majesty!!! We pay our respects to His Majesty the Human Emperor..."

"Suiren Hong of the Human King Hall lineage from the Ziwei Star Domain, together with the current Human King Body, Suiren Lianlei, pays respects to the Human Emperor!!"

"..."

"Welcome the Human Emperor's triumphant return!"

"... We congratulate Your Majesty on defeating a mighty foe and glorifying the prestige of our Human Emperor Hall..."

"..."

At this moment, as Tan Lin slowly descended, countless cultivators within the Human Emperor Hall's territory below the heavens immediately dropped to their knees in a vast black mass.

Though he had slightly restrained his aura, the Imperial Path aura he inadvertently emitted still invisibly blanketed the Five Regions of the Big Dipper. It simply lacked that terrifying pressure that made people tremble.

In the void.

Tan Lin silently listened to the cries rising and falling around him, his gaze sweeping below.

He saw the many disciples of the Human Emperor Hall, as well as the cultivators from the Human King Hall in the Ziwei Star Domain.

Everyone below gazed up at him with fervor, reverence, and excitement written across their faces.

Among them were quite a few capable cultivators, as well as young prodigies of this era.

The sword-browed woman surrounded by the Human King Hall cultivators of the Ziwei Ancient Emperor Star like stars around the moon was none other than the current Human King Body, Suiren Lianlei.

She too was looking up at the godlike, majestic figure in the void. Her starlike eyes shone with a succession of emotions: reverence, longing...

Perhaps because she shared the Human King Body with the Human Emperor, their simultaneous presence in one place caused the bloodline in her body to churn restlessly. Her hot blood would not cool, her pretty face flushed with excitement, and her heart pounded fiercely.

The bearing displayed by the Human Emperor upon his return perfectly overlapped with the image of him that she had long held in her heart.

This time, he had even thwarted a Restricted-Area Supreme and returned safely. Now that he stood before her, how could she not be excited?

He was the "light" in the hearts of all cultivators with Human King Bloodline flowing through them!

He was what glory looked like when made manifest...

"I never expected that after a million years, the Human King Body lineage of the Ziwei Emperor Star would produce another rare piece of uncut jade like you..."

Tan Lin descended, his gaze falling upon Suiren Lianlei as he said calmly:

"A great era is about to begin. As the current Human King Body, you naturally have much to accomplish... But your path does not lie in imitation. You need not cling to the stale wisdom of those before you. You must have a path of your own."

Hearing this, Suiren Lianlei slowly lowered her head and lightly bit her crimson lip.

The enormous joy she had felt because the Human Emperor had spoken to her seemed to be extinguished by a basin of cold water.

At her side, some ancient elders from the Ziwei Human King Hall, who had placed great hopes upon her, could not help but turn pale at his words.

"..."

The cheers around them had consciously fallen silent the moment Tan Lin spoke, and the area then sank into a brief silence.

Suiren Lianlei said nothing.

She knew that the Human Emperor had seen through her purpose in coming to the Human Emperor Hall of the Big Dipper with her elders.

She too wished to follow the Human Emperor's path and cultivate both lunar and solar forces!

But only after setting foot upon this road had she understood how difficult it was.

Over the years, she had cultivated in Ziwei and struggled her way to her current level.

Forget merging yin and yang, or even achieving their final harmony—she had suffered qi deviation several times along the way. It was already fortunate that she had not dissolved into the Dao.

That was why she had come to the Human Emperor Hall's lineage in the Big Dipper. While paying respects to the place where the Human Emperor had once sat in cultivation, she had hoped to gain some experience or inspiration to help her successfully cultivate both lunar and solar forces.

Yet the Human Emperor's golden words today undoubtedly showed that he did not think highly of the path to proving the Dao that she had chosen.

"..."

After the Human Emperor finished speaking, the dense mass of respectfully gathered cultivators around them fell silent as cicadas in winter. They listened reverently to his teachings. Even though his words were not directed at them, they could still take them as a warning.

Before the grand hall, Tan Lin stood with his hands behind his back. A majestic bearing filled his body, vast Imperial Path charm lingering around him. His face was obscured, and no one could see his true appearance.

The cultivators around him had not dared to look directly at him to begin with. Even if they were curious, they only dared to sneak glances and pay homage. Now, they found the Human Emperor even more unfathomable.

"The Human King Body is born supreme among the human race. Your starting point is already high enough. Focus on the ground beneath your feet and consolidate every step of your foundation... Let nature take its course, and then you may not necessarily be weaker than anyone."

In the silence, Tan Lin looked at this "junior" and spoke again. In offering guidance, he could not help saying a few words against his heart.

The Human King Body was indeed enough to reign supreme in ordinary eras, and Suiren Lianlei's talent was truly astonishing. After all, she had cultivated both lunar and solar forces all the way to the Immortal Platform Secret Realm without going mad and was still lively and well...

But this was a great era, and she was competing with the future Female Emperor for the path to becoming an emperor. How tragic was that?

How terrible was her luck?

Could it be that when he proved the Dao in the past, he had invisibly exhausted the fortune of the future Human King Body lineage?

As Tan Lin thought this, part of his attention remained on the changing Causal Lines on the Soul Pearl's barrier.

The Human King Battle Body clan into which he had been born in his previous life was descended from a branch of Human King Hall cultivators that had migrated from the Ziwei Emperor Star to the Big Dipper in ancient times.

Strictly speaking, the Human King Hall on Ziwei was the main branch.

But then he had emerged during the Primordial Era, his cultivation soaring rapidly. After becoming a Quasi-Emperor, he had rendered great merit, and his "unruly" soldiers had taken it upon themselves to grant him a crown title, honoring him as the "Human Emperor."

Every sixty years, Ziwei would send people here to pay homage and worship.

Later, after he proved the Dao, the Big Dipper side became the new "main branch."

However, times had changed. The Human King Battle Body clan of the Big Dipper had always been sparsely populated, and he had left behind no descendants. After his fall, the Human Emperor Hall underwent several bouts of turmoil.

Coupled with traitors usurping power, the Human King Body bloodline within the present Human Emperor Hall was now nearly extinct. Even the few remaining bearers possessed extremely thin bloodlines.

"Not weaker than anyone..."

Tan Lin's voice, like a great bell and thunderous chime, slowly descended.

Having received his encouragement, Suiren Lianlei's spirits visibly rose, and she was about to bow deeply in thanks.

However.

Before she could make any movement, Tan Lin had just finished speaking when he added another sentence in a slow voice:

"I see that the secret method you use to temper your constitution seems incomplete... Since we have met today, it is fate..."

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his hand and pointed a finger at Suiren Lianlei's brow.

Whoosh!

A wisp of clear radiance surged forth. Suiren Lianlei's delicate body trembled, and her brow abruptly lit up with brilliant divine light.

At that moment, a grand voice began chanting scriptures within her sea of consciousness, completing the method she lacked for tempering her constitution.

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