A little under an hour later, outside Ziwei Ancient Star.
In the vast, silent expanse of space, pitch-black lightning suddenly flashed out of nowhere. Its radiance surged, swiftly forming an illusory doorway that connected to the boundless distance.
"Thank you, Supreme One!"
The Lunar Essence Quasi-Emperor, Si Qi, had barely stepped through the void doorway before he offered Yuangeng a deep bow without hesitation. In his arms, he held the pitch-black Human Emperor Seal. The ancient seal was damaged, and its deity had yet to awaken, but a rich aura of the Lunar Essence Dao still wreathed it. Its source essence remained intact.
Si Qi could scarcely contain the wild joy in his heart.
"Thank you, Supreme One!"
The elderly Solar Essence Quasi-Emperor also bowed deeply to Yuangeng. Taiyin and Taiyang shared the same breath and grew from the same branch. The recovery of the Human Emperor Seal by the Lunar Essence Divine Church was tremendous news for the Sun God Sect as well.
"You don't need me to teach you how to awaken its deity. Focus on restoring the imperial seal."
Yuangeng accepted their profound bows without making much of them. He was not worried that the Lunar Essence Divine Church would fail to awaken the seal's sleeping deity. After all, even the Kunlun Remnant Clan had managed it. The deity's source essence remained intact and had suffered no serious damage.
"Yes!"
Si Qi bowed again. This old Quasi-Emperor, who had lived for over seven thousand years, had never felt his mind working so briskly. On the journey back from Feixian Ancient Star alone, he had already devised dozens of systematic methods for replenishing the Human Emperor Seal's source essence.
Yuangeng was in a good mood. Though the Human Emperor Seal was damaged, the very existence of an Extreme Dao Weapon clearly mattered more. As long as the seal remained, the legacies of the Human Emperor Scripture and the Human Emperor Art would never be broken. No matter how difficult the future became, the Lunar Essence Divine Church would be able to endure.
The Sun God Sect's circumstances would improve accordingly. At the very least, it would not face the loss of its imperial inheritance as it had in the original timeline.
"Supreme One, please be careful. Those two beast supremes may not be trustworthy."
Suddenly, the Solar Essence Quasi-Emperor spoke. The elderly woman had just listened in on Yuangeng's conversation with the two supremes of the Kunlun Remnant Clan. Knowing that White Origin might set out at once, she could not help worrying and laid out her views in detail.
In her opinion, Supreme Vermilion Luan was most likely trying to drive a tiger to devour a wolf, setting Yuangeng, a fierce figure from before recorded history, against the Undying Heavenly Emperor. Regardless of who won or lost, the Kunlun Remnant Clan would drain the strength of their great enemy, the Undying Heavenly Emperor.
A less likely possibility was that the Undying Heavenly Emperor and the Kunlun Remnant Clan were still secretly working together. While they lured Yuangeng into taking action, the Undying Heavenly Emperor could prepare a trap to kill this powerhouse who exceeded all normal bounds.
"Even dogs driven from their homes still have pride in their bones. They won't work with the Undying Heavenly Emperor."
At that latter conjecture, a faint smile appeared on Yuangeng's lips. Though he had met the two supremes, Vermilion Luan and Qiongqi, only once, he could still sense the pride that ran deep in their bones.
Supreme Vermilion Luan in particular was, after all, the old leader of the Kunlun Remnant Clan who had survived since the Mythological Era. Having wielded an Immortal Artifact and witnessed Kunlun at its most glorious, that old supreme would never cast aside the arrogance of the Immortal Race.
"You mean you still intend to go to Yinghuo Ancient Star?" the elderly Solar Essence Quasi-Emperor asked worriedly.
"It's merely driving a tiger to devour a wolf. As long as I'm strong enough, every scheme is nothing but an illusion."
Yuangeng smiled and waved to the two Quasi-Emperors. His entire body slipped into the void doorway behind him. Dao laws stirred, and then all trace of him vanished.
Of course he intended to visit Yinghuo Ancient Star.
It was not merely his curiosity about the Primordial God War that drove him, but also his interest in the Undying Heavenly Emperor himself.
In this late stage of Primordial Antiquity, the only people Yuangeng took seriously, or even regarded with some wariness, were Emperor Venerable and the Undying Heavenly Emperor.
Leaving Emperor Venerable aside, both that man's condition and his mindset seemed highly unusual. He had remained silent for countless ages without acting. Though Yuangeng regarded him as a threat, that was a matter for the future, after he fought his way onto the Road to Immortality.
By contrast, the Undying Heavenly Emperor had always been very active.
Yuangeng knew the original story and understood that the man was, in essence, a Five-Colored Phoenix who had fallen from the Immortal Domain. His talent was terrifying to an almost absurd degree. His potential to become an immortal was no idle claim.
The Undying Heavenly Emperor had begun making his mark in the Mythological Era. In his youth, he had earned Emperor Venerable's appreciation and received considerable benefits. His fame had resounded in an age when multiple Heavenly Venerables coexisted, ample proof of his unparalleled heavenly might.
Once his wings had grown strong, however, the Undying Heavenly Emperor was no longer content to remain a pawn. Though he had yet to attain the Dao, he dared bargain with a tiger for its hide, joining forces with the Kunlun Remnant Clan. Wielding the Immortal Bell stained with Kunlun blood, he ambushed Emperor Venerable, who had reached at least the heavenly emperor domain. Later, he even appropriated the Immortal Bell for himself.
During the Primordial Era, the Undying Heavenly Emperor became a pivotal figure in history. Hailed as the god of the Myriad Races, he towered over the Primordial Myriad Races, studied countless great Daos in depth, and left behind innumerable legends...
His talent, resolve, methods, and courage were all exceptional.
From the end of the Mythological Era to this late stage of Primordial Antiquity, the Undying Heavenly Emperor had already lived for over a million years. The extent of his power was difficult to fathom. Perhaps only a few final transformations separated him from true immortality.
Of course, none of that was why Yuangeng was wary of the Undying Heavenly Emperor.
The real reason for his wariness was that this Five-Colored Phoenix from the Immortal Domain had no sense of decency.
None whatsoever!
Yuangeng knew the original story thoroughly. From the Primordial Era to Wushi's age after Desolate Antiquity, whenever an Ancient Emperor or Great Emperor died or disappeared unexpectedly, half of those cases could be traced back to the Undying Heavenly Emperor.
His betrayal and ambush of Emperor Venerable, his plot against the Fighting Saint Emperor, and Taihuang's violent death in his later years yet to come... even setting those matters aside, the fact that he had instigated the God War from behind the scenes and fueled several great upheavals during Desolate Antiquity for the sake of his own transformations showed that he placed no value whatsoever on the lives of this world.
Yuangeng disliked people like that. Still less did he want a moment's carelessness during one of his own transformations to earn him a vicious blow from the Immortal Bell or the Undying Heavenly Blade. Thus, he intended to take the initiative and erase the threat posed by the Heavenly Emperor.
The void doorway flickered, and Yuangeng stepped out. He had arrived not on Yinghuo Ancient Star, but on Qilin Ancestral Star, outside the stone house the Qilin Emperor had left for him.
A year had passed, yet the little stone house looked just as it had before. The few Extreme Dao formation patterns Yuangeng had personally laid down had made the aura here even more profound, like an Ink Qilin reclining beside the cliff, breathing in moonlight essence and starlight.
Outside the small courtyard, the Qilin Emperor sat facing the cliff. Illusory scripture was inscribed in the void before him, while he held a sheet of gold paper covered in densely packed black runes. Those runes intertwined, forming the phantom of a Four-Horned Black Qilin whose immortal might reached the heavens.
This was, naturally, the manifestation of Yuangeng's master, which he had copied by hand. Though he could not fully reproduce that immortal majesty, it was enough to serve as a reference for the Qilin Emperor as he developed a path that stretched further ahead.
"I heard you went to Flying Immortal Star?"
The old qilin naturally noticed Yuangeng's arrival. He put away the gold paper in his hands and nodded.
"There were some karmic ties to settle. I stood up for the Human Emperor's lineage." Yuangeng concealed nothing and merely smiled.
"As long as it didn't come to blows. On the whole, the Kunlun Remnant Clan is fairly restrained. As far as I know, they're gathering strength in the hope of one day reclaiming their ancestral vein," the Qilin Emperor cautioned.
"Let them be. We probably won't have much to do with them in the future."
Yuangeng stepped forward, planted a large hand directly on the Qilin Emperor's shoulder, and said with a smile,
"Come on. I've found you a powerful opponent."
"What?"
Before the Qilin Emperor could react, Yuangeng's Dao aura engulfed him. Extreme Dao radiance flashed, and the two vanished completely from where they stood.
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