"Emperor Attainment meant scaling the highest peak, but it was also... a kind of shackle."
Great Emperor Heng Yu smiled.
"Yes. I understand now as well. The people around me have passed away one by one, leaving only me behind. Even if my family could seal themselves away to await future generations, I no longer have that chance, unless..."
At that point, he said nothing more.
To cut himself down and enter a Restricted Area—he would never do such a thing!
He had held fast to that conviction in his first lifetime's final years. Even now, when he had truly reached this final step, he had never wavered.
And, to a certain extent, the reason he had formed such beliefs had much to do with the teachings this woman had given him in childhood, as well as the stories she often told of Human Emperor Suiren, the Sacred Body, the Lunar Human Emperor, the Solar Holy Emperor, and others. He had been deeply influenced by them.
His thoughts stirring, Great Emperor Huan Yu cupped his hands once more.
"Great-aunt, I will not return to the ancestral land. It would only make the old folks and old friends sad."
Hearing this, Jiang Wanqing pressed her lips together and nodded.
"Go."
Great Emperor Heng Yu turned and strode away.
Jiang Wanqing stood where she was, watching his retreating figure, then let out a long sigh.
Great Emperor Heng Yu continued his wandering.
One day, he arrived outside the Eternal Star Domain.
Unlike the vast majority of Ancient Stars, the Eternal Star Domain was a Life Land brimming with technological sophistication.
Its skyscrapers, trains, and aircraft were completely different from those of other Life Ancient Grounds.
Great Emperor Heng Yu looked at those novel things with great interest in his later years.