The Current Era had begun in the Primordial Era and would end before long. Known as the Final Tribulation, it could be called the most spectacular Era of all.
Schemes laid across the Eternal Ages and every Other Shore Being's hidden moves would collide in this Era, all for the sake of the one and only Dao Fruit.
The competition was far fiercer than when Dao Venerable had attained Transcendence.
After all, the chief difficulty in Dao Venerable's Transcendence had been exploring the Path Ahead. He had opponents, of course, but unlike in the Final Tribulation, not every Other Shore Being had been an enemy.
Before the Current Era had come what people commonly called the Immemorial Primordial World.
The name encompassed multiple Eras.
One of them, the Era immediately preceding the Final Tribulation, had seen Haotian, Donghuang Taiyi, and Fuxi Emperor—the beings known as the Three Immemorial Sovereigns—vie for the Heavenly Emperor's Position.
The struggle among the three had been that Era's defining event. It had directly led to Fuxi Emperor's Fall and his subjugation by Amitabha Buddha.
Eastern Emperor Taiyi had died. Part of his flesh and True Spirit had fused with the Remnant Husk of an Other Shore Being from an Old Era, becoming the Heavenly Dao Monster, while the rest of his flesh had scattered in all directions.
Haotian had taken the Heavenly Emperor's Position. With unmatched might, he had dominated the Era and dared to contest the Dao Fruit with the Three Pure Ones and the two Other Shore Beings of the Buddhist Sect.
Yet the Heavenly Emperor had been both his triumph and his downfall. When an Era ended, its Heavenly Emperor had to die.
Haotian had intended to let the Fusang Ancient Tree die in his place and bear the Heavenly Emperor's Fate,