The Seventy-Six-Thousand-Year-Old Heaven-Destined Protagonist: Subjugating the Forbidden Zone's Ruler

"A Heaven-Destined Protagonist?"

Su Linxian's eyes flickered.

He narrowed his eyes at the pitch-black depths from which even light could not escape and murmured.

"How could there be a Heaven-Destined Protagonist deep within this forbidden zone...?"

Following the direction indicated by the system.

Su Linxian arrived at a Dead Star.

Hum.

Emperor power spread a barrier three feet around him. Deathly energy receded like a tide, revealing a winding stone stairway leading downward.

The steps had existed for untold tens of thousands of years. Deathly energy had eaten pits into their surfaces, yet they remained inconceivably sturdy.

The deeper he descended, the denser the surrounding deathly energy became, until it almost took solid form, pressing in from every direction.

"Is that...?"

Su Linxian stopped.

At the end of the stairs, an ancient, magnificent black palace stood in the void.

The entire palace was fashioned from an unknown black stone. Dense formation patterns covered its surface, every line pulsing faintly with eerie green light.

Nine towering stone pillars stood before the palace, coiled with lifelike reliefs of savage exotic beasts. Formations flowed around the palace, layer upon layer, weaving an impenetrable net that enveloped the entire structure.

Formations?

Su Linxian raised an eyebrow.

"To think someone actually lives here."

"But..."

"Do you think formations like these can stop me?"

Su Linxian gripped Diya.

The primordial inscriptions on the blade lit up one by one.

He raised his hand and slashed!

"Come crashing down!"

Sword intent swept outward.

Crack!

The void shattered. The entire space became a mirror smashed by a hammer, cracks spreading in every direction from the path of the sword intent!

Before that sword intent, the interwoven formation patterns were no stronger than paper, breaking apart layer after layer. Eerie green light exploded into glittering fragments that filled the air. All nine stone pillars cracked at once and collapsed with a crash.

Rumble—

The black palace's doors slowly opened the moment the formations shattered, releasing a dull rumble. An ancient, decaying aura poured from within, carrying a deathly stillness that set the heart trembling.

Su Linxian said indifferently.

"A visitor is a guest."

"Will you not invite me inside for a seat?"

He could sense the presence of a living being deep within this ancient palace.

"Alas..."

A faint sigh echoed.

"Since an honored guest has come from afar..."

"Please come in."

Su Linxian grinned and stepped into the hall.

The palace's interior was dozens of times larger than it appeared outside. Its vaulted ceiling rose beyond sight, and countless eerie green lights floated in the air, resembling stars—or the eyes of some enormous creature.

The hall was empty except for a figure seated on a raised platform at its farthest end.

It was an old man.

He sat in a jet-black stone chair, his frame as thin as kindling, his shriveled skin clinging to his bones. Long gray-white hair lay scattered across his shoulders.

His blood and vitality were almost completely exhausted. Dense deathly energy wreathed his body, and his chest rose and fell so faintly that the movement was almost imperceptible. He resembled a dying candle that might go out at any moment.

Su Linxian swept his gaze over him.

[Name: Li Junhua]

[Title: Heaven-Destined Protagonist]

[Realm: Peak emperor realm (declining)]

[Age: seventy-six thousand years]

[Destiny points: 1000000]

"He really is a Heaven-Destined Protagonist!"

Su Linxian's pupils contracted.

A Great Emperor's lifespan was only sixty thousand years.

He had never expected that here in the Ziwei Domain.

A Heaven-Destined Protagonist who should have long since perished in the river of history had been hiding in the deepest reaches of this forbidden zone all along.

Li Junhua slowly raised his head.

His eyes were deeply sunken, clouded and dull.

"Truly astonishing."

His voice was dry and hoarse, as though he had not spoken in a very long time. Every word carried a heavy air of decay.

"I've been watching you for a long time."

Su Linxian asked, "Watching me?"

Li Junhua smiled. His gaze fell on Diya in Su Linxian's hand, and a complicated expression flashed through his eyes.

"Diya was once my sword."

Su Linxian felt a slight jolt.

Li Junhua continued, "Seventy-six thousand years ago, I placed it in the Divine Tomb and laid down layers of restrictions, waiting for someone destined to claim it."

"My original plan was for the emperor sword to guide its chosen wielder here. The moment you entered this forbidden zone, I would possess you and use your body to live another life."

Su Linxian frowned.

Li Junhua said, "But... since you belong to the Su Family of the Emperor Clan, forget it."

"I don't have the courage to possess someone of an Emperor Clan bloodline. That would be courting death."

Understanding dawned on Su Linxian.

No wonder Diya was connected to the First Forbidden Zone. No wonder every time he held the sword, he faintly sensed a barely perceptible call coming from this forbidden zone.

Diya had originally come from this very place.

"So you originally intended to possess me?"

"Correct." Li Junhua was utterly candid. His cloudy old eyes even held a hint of self-mockery. "Unfortunately, man's calculations cannot outmatch heaven's. I waited seventy-six thousand years, only to receive an Emperor Clan's divine son. In the end, this life cannot be prolonged."

"Besides, with your current cultivation, even without that identity, I couldn't do anything to you."

"Cough, cough!"

At this point, Li Junhua coughed twice, his shriveled chest heaving violently.

Deathly energy seeped from his seven orifices. His body was decaying faster.

"Without a Longevity Elixir... I will soon pass away."

Su Linxian watched him.

A seventy-six-thousand-year-old Heaven-Destined Protagonist.

Someone who had once commanded the winds and clouds and dominated an era could now only huddle in the depths of this deathly forbidden zone, waiting to die while scheming for another life.

That was rather interesting.

"A Longevity Elixir..." Su Linxian's eyes flickered.

After pondering briefly, he spoke indifferently.

"Tell me."

"Do you want to live?"

Li Junhua froze briefly, then smiled bitterly.

"Why make fun of an old man, young friend?"

"Now that my plan has failed, only a Longevity Elixir can grant me another life..."

Su Linxian grinned.

"Since you know I'm from an Emperor Clan, you should know we certainly have no shortage of Longevity Elixirs."

He had gained plenty of villain points from destroying the four great orthodoxies earlier.

He had just taken a look.

A Longevity Elixir cost only five hundred thousand Villain Points in the System Shop.

It was not particularly expensive.

Li Junhua's eyes brightened for an instant.

"Even your Emperor Clan might not have many Longevity Elixirs in reserve. Why waste one on a dying man...?"

Su Linxian waved a hand and spoke unhurriedly.

"I can grant you another life."

"But on one condition..."

"You must submit to me."

The hall fell silent for a breath.

Li Junhua's pupils abruptly contracted, and deathly energy surged.

He stared at Su Linxian for a long time. His cracked lips trembled slightly, and his chest began rising and falling noticeably faster.

But in the end.

He still shook his head.

"Forget it."

"I was once known as the Star Abyss Great Emperor. Though I may amount to little among the myriad heavens and worlds, if I must submit to another and become someone's servant... then I would rather relinquish this life."

He was, after all, a former Heaven-Destined Protagonist.

He still possessed that much pride in his bones.

Su Linxian nodded and said indifferently.

"Since that is your choice."

"Then offer up your last scrap of value."

Li Junhua frowned.

"What?"

"Plotting against this emperor naturally comes at a price."

As the words fell.

Su Linxian slashed with his sword.

Rumble—

The dark-gold inscriptions on Diya's blade erupted with blinding light at once. An incomparably fierce surge of sword intent tore through the void and descended straight toward Li Junhua's head.

Li Junhua's expression changed dramatically. His withered palm slammed onto the stone chair's armrest, and he sprang from his seat. Deathly energy erupted around him, condensing into a pitch-black shield before his body.

Boom!

The sword intent shattered the shield, and the shock wave sent him flying!

Li Junhua's skeletal body slammed violently through three stone pillars within the hall before he barely managed to steady himself.

Su Linxian stood in the air and murmured softly.

"One million destiny points... not a small sum."

"Pwah!"

Li Junhua's blood and vitality churned. He spat out a mouthful of dark-red blood and snarled.

"You of the Emperor Clan!"

"This emperor may have little time left, but I am no soft persimmon for anyone to squeeze!"

"Heaven and Earth Seal!"

He raised his hand and pressed it toward Su Linxian.

The void was forcibly crushed beneath his grasp. Deathly energy filling the air condensed into a massive pitch-black seal that descended to seize Su Linxian from above.

Wherever the Heaven and Earth Seal passed, the void fractured, and the eerie green lights in the hall flickered wildly.

Su Linxian raised his sword and struck the Heaven and Earth Seal, producing a deafening roar.

The massive seal shattered, and Su Linxian spoke.

"Your blood and vitality have declined. Not even a tenth of your peak emperor realm strength remains."

"A former chosen of destiny amounts to no more than this."

"Arrogant!" Li Junhua roared.

His skeletal body erupted with terrifying power far beyond what his ruined frame should have possessed.

He formed seals with both hands. Deathly energy spun madly around him, condensing into one pitch-black divine ability after another. A river of stars hung inverted, like a black hole devouring all things.

Su Linxian slashed repeatedly with Diya, driving the Tai'e Sword Art to its limit. Dark Gold Sword Intent crisscrossed through the void, colliding fiercely with those pitch-black divine abilities.

Boom!

Every collision made the entire palace shudder violently. Great sheets of black stone peeled from the vaulted ceiling. Deathly energy surged madly into the hall from outside, only to be pulverized by the shock waves of their battle.

The entire forbidden zone trembled.

The Death Soul Beasts roaming the forbidden zone's outskirts sensed the terrifying fluctuations deep within and fled farther away, howling mournfully.

The cultivators at the edge of the Ziwei Domain all looked toward the forbidden zone. Sensing the destructive aura sweeping across heaven and earth, they turned deathly pale and trembled all over.

"The forbidden zone... what happened inside the forbidden zone?!"

"This aura... far surpasses a Great Emperor! Could beings at the level of Apex Great Emperors be fighting?!"

"Run! The forbidden zone has erupted!"

Boom!

The battle lasted half a quarter of an hour.

The black palace had been reduced to rubble. All nine towering stone pillars had snapped, and the dome had collapsed, leaving only the stone chair standing forlornly amid the ruins.

"Tai'e Return to Origin."

His sword slashed down.

Dark Gold Sword Intent collided with the pitch-black pillar of light in the void, and the entire forbidden zone burst apart beneath the blow.

A chasm ten thousand zhang deep split the earth. The Dead Stars in the sky shattered one after another, and even the perpetually lingering gray mist was cleaved open by a massive rift.

Boooom!!!

Li Junhua was swallowed whole by the sword intent. His gaunt body plummeted from the sky like a kite with its string severed and slammed into the ruins, a great mouthful of dark red blood spraying from his mouth.

[Ding! Defeated Heaven-Destined Protagonist Li Junhua. Gained 100000 Villain Points!]

Su Linxian stood in the void, looking down at the dying Li Junhua amid the ruins.

He sheathed his sword and clasped his hands behind his back, his gaze indifferent as he spoke.

"Your last chance."

"Do you need this emperor to decide for you?"

Li Junhua struggled to lift his head from the rubble.

"Cough, cough!"

He was drenched in blood, his gaunt body covered in sword wounds deep enough to expose bone. Dark red blood seeped from them.

Staring at the white-robed figure in the void, Li Junhua was shaken to his core. With his vitality now depleted, he had ultimately failed to withstand even a single exchange against Su Linxian, who was in his prime.

Li Junhua opened his mouth. After hesitating a moment, he finally sighed.

"So be it."

"I... submit."

Su Linxian looked down at him and gave a slight nod.

"System, open the shop and search for Longevity Elixir."

A screen of light unfolded silently before his eyes, densely packed entries scrolling rapidly across it.

Pills, spiritual materials, divine weapons, cultivation methods, divine abilities—tens of thousands of products flashed across the screen. Su Linxian swept his gaze over them and filtered directly for longevity medicines.

Soon, a blood-red ginseng with roots coiled like dragon whiskers appeared at the center of the screen.

[Nine Profound Blood Ginseng: Longevity Elixir. Upon consumption, restores the body's vitality and extends lifespan by ten thousand years.]

[Exchange price: 500000]

[Current Villain Points: 1120000]

Su Linxian glanced at his balance.

He had earned a large sum of Villain Points from destroying the four great orthodox lineages, and with the rewards for killing the four emperors added in, his balance now displayed over a million.

[Purchase?]

"Purchase."

At a thought from Su Linxian, the Nine Profound Blood Ginseng fell from the screen into his palm. It radiated an extraordinarily rich aura of life, and crystalline dewdrops still clung to its roots, as though it had just been pulled from the soil.

"Th-this is!?"

The instant Li Junhua's gaze fell upon the blood ginseng, he looked as though he had been struck by lightning!

"A Longevity Elixir!"

"It really is a Longevity Elixir!"

Li Junhua stared fixedly at the Nine Profound Blood Ginseng in Su Linxian's hand. His breathing suddenly quickened, and an almost crazed light burst from his aged eyes.

"A... Longevity Elixir..."

Thirty thousand years!

He had searched for this thing for thirty thousand whole years!

He had exhausted everything he could, yet in the end, he had never caught so much as a glimpse of it!

And this man from an Emperor Clan had casually taken one out of his Storage Ring!

"Well?"

"This emperor didn't lie to you, did he?"

Su Linxian toyed with the blood ginseng in his hand with evident interest, speaking with a smile.

"A chance to live another lifetime."

"A very worthwhile bargain."

Li Junhua spoke in a trembling voice.

"This old servant pays his respects to his master!"

Faced with life and death, even a Heaven-Destined Protagonist who had once held sway over an entire region unsurprisingly chose to submit.

Su Linxian said, "System, is there any way to gain complete control over him?"

[Ding! Recommendation: Soul Master Mark.]

[Plants a brand of absolute obedience deep within the target's soul. The target cannot resist, betray, or harbor any thoughts detrimental to the host.]

[Price: 3000000 Villain Points]

Su Linxian said, "Purchase."

[Ding! Successfully purchased Soul Master Mark!]

[Current Villain Points: 320000]

Without hesitation, Su Linxian swiftly swept his divine sense over it and began learning.

A warm stream of information poured into his sea of consciousness, and the method for casting the Soul Master Mark emerged clearly in his mind.

"Do not resist."

Su Linxian raised his left hand. A dark soul light condensed at his fingertip as he reached toward the space between Li Junhua's brows.

"This is..." Li Junhua's pupils constricted, and he instinctively wanted to resist. But after only an instant of hesitation, he closed his eyes and opened his soul, allowing the soul light to sink into the depths of his sea of consciousness.

Hum!

The Soul Master Mark took shape.

[Ding! Congratulations, master, on enslaving Heaven-Destined Protagonist Li Junhua. Gained 300000 Villain Points!]

A strange connection formed between Su Linxian and Li Junhua, as though an invisible thread had linked their souls together.

Li Junhua opened his eyes. An unseen restraint now lay within his clouded, aged gaze.

He slowly lowered his head and spoke in a hoarse, respectful voice.

“This old servant, Li Junhua, pays his respects to his master.”

Su Linxian gave a slight nod.

He tossed him the blood ginseng in his hand.

"Mm. Take it."

Li Junhua caught it with trembling hands. The instant the blood ginseng touched his palms, its rich aura of life flowed through his meridians into every limb and bone, dispersing some of the deathly energy accumulated within his body.

He cradled the blood ginseng, his fingertips trembling slightly and his face filled with excitement.

“A Longevity Elixir...”

"Thank you, master!"

Li Junhua raised his head and spoke respectfully.

"This subordinate will need some time to refine this medicine, shed his old mortal shell, and reconstruct his body. Around a hundred years."

A hundred years was no more than a flick of the fingers.

Cultivators at the peak emperor realm commonly lived for hundreds of thousands of years. A century truly was not very long.

Su Linxian nodded and said.

"Come find me at the Su Family Emperor Clan when the time comes."

With that, Su Linxian turned and walked toward the edge of the forbidden zone.

Watching his retreating figure,

Li Junhua lowered his head and spoke bitterly.

"To think..."

"What I spent my entire life pursuing was merely the starting point for these people from Emperor Clans..."

"But..."

He looked down at the blood ginseng in his hands, which radiated abundant vitality.

"With this, I can live another lifetime..."

"Perhaps I might reach that realm so far beyond my grasp..."

“Divine Emperor!”