What is a Great Emperor?

Chapter 2: What Is a Great Emperor?

He was like the countless ordinary people in this world—an unremarkable face, long hair cascading behind him, tied in a simple knot at the crown of his head, with a few strands of white mingling at his temples.

The only thing that drew attention was his eyes, which seemed to contain the Myriad Stars within them. With just one glance, the guard Zhang Chongtian felt as if his soul had frozen solid.

He was a True Meridian Realm expert himself, yet he was still so fragile, so utterly defenseless. Truly, each step was a sky apart!

"You've grown up," Xu Qingshan said with relief.

He was somewhat surprised that his son had remained so quiet for so long. A strong man must endure loneliness and solitude!

"Father, you've aged," Xu Zimo said, his voice trembling as he looked at the few white hairs at his father's temples.

In an instant, all the emotions surged forth. In his previous life, he had made a three-year pact with the protagonist Chu Yang, agreeing to battle at Youlong Ravine. In the end, he was no match for his opponent and was struck down into the abyss.

To avenge him, his father had mobilized the entire sect to hunt down Chu Yang, but the opponent's growth had been far beyond expectations.

Chu Yang escaped each pursuit, growing stronger with every encounter, until finally, wielding the Three-foot Green Edge, he personally stormed the True Martial Sacred Sect.

It was said that battle stirred the winds and clouds on all sides, fought until the Sky Darkened and the Earth Dimmed, shattering mountains and rivers.

His father was ultimately no match for him and fell to Chu Yang's sword. If the Sect Master hadn't suddenly appeared to intervene and calm the situation, his father's life would have been in grave danger!

But because of that incident, his father couldn't bear the blow, his hair turned white overnight, and he retreated into seclusion in the mountains, never to be heard from again.

Yet no one expected that after falling into Youlong Ravine, Xu Zimo hadn't died from the fall. Instead, he had stumbled upon some opportunities.

It was only then that he began to cultivate in earnest, driven by a desperate thirst for power.

He eventually broke through to the Divine Meridian Realm and wanted to seek revenge against Chu Yang.

But he never imagined that his opponent's heaven-defying nature was beyond comparison. The sheer number of trump cards Chu Yang held, and that battle, shattered every last shred of Xu Zimo's pride.

Snapping back to the present, Xu Qingshan handed a token to Xu Zimo and said softly, "You're at the age to start cultivating now. Go to the Scripture Repository and choose a cultivation technique that suits you!

This token grants you access to the highest floor of the repository, where the true teachings of four Great Emperors are kept. Which one you choose is entirely up to you."

Xu Zimo took the token and nodded firmly. In truth, he had already seen the true teachings of those four Great Emperors in his previous life.

But there was no helping it—he had to go through the motions. He couldn't reveal the secret of his rebirth, and he still didn't know how to use that round bead.

"I don't want to interfere too much in your cultivation," Xu Qingshan said after a moment of silence, explaining, "As for which technique you want to cultivate, that's also up to your interest. In truth, everyone must eventually walk their own path. You're like a carriage driving along a cliff edge right now. All I can do is remind you not to let the carriage fall off the cliff.

As for whether the carriage's head turns east, west, north, or south, that's for you to decide."

Xu Zimo nodded. He understood what his father meant.

In truth, whether it was a technique left by a Great Emperor or an ordinary cultivation method, in the end, there was no real difference.

Everyone must eventually walk their own Martial Dao Heavenly Path. No matter how strong someone else's legacy was, it was still someone else's—it would never perfectly align with you.

"Go on. Your mother recently went back to your maternal grandfather's house. I hear their Ten Meridian Fruit is about to ripen, and she wants to get one for you," Xu Qingshan said with a smile. "Cultivate well. Don't let me down."

"Let you down?" Xu Zimo murmured to himself, then nodded firmly.

In his previous life, he had indeed let his father down.

At least before Chu Yang struck him down into Youlong Ravine, he had never seriously thought about cultivating.

He had indulged in the illusory world of wine and women he had created for himself. He was the Crown Prince of the True Martial Sacred Sect, and many people groveled before him like lapdogs, wagging their tails and panting.

He lacked nothing. If he could live so well, why bother with the hardship of cultivation?

It was only later that he understood: there is no such thing as a peaceful life in this world—someone else is just carrying the burden for you.

Leaving his father's Qingshan Peak, Xu Zimo headed straight for the Scripture Repository.

He gazed at this colossal structure shrouded in immortal mist, this sect steeped in too many legends.

The True Martial Sacred Sect was no ordinary sect. It was an Imperial Dynasty Immortal Sect that had produced four emperors.

In the vast, boundless history of the True Martial Sacred Sect, spanning tens of thousands of years, four Great Emperors had emerged.

What is a Great Emperor?

The strongest of an era!

Legend has it that in every era, the world gives birth to a Heavenly Mandate. The one who rises from the millions, bears the Heavenly Mandate, and becomes the Great Emperor.

A hundred thousand years ago, the Yuanyang Continent was still in the Barbaric Era—a time when humans were like ants, insignificant as dust, living in utter misery.

One day, a man named True Martial took up his sword and embarked on a journey. After a series of life-and-death trials, he ignited the Divine Fire, condensed the Emperor Throne, and bore the Heavenly Mandate.

Finally, at the Top of the Firmament, the man shouted, "The Heavenly Mandate is mine alone!"

From then on, the Barbaric Era came to an end, and humanity ushered in an unprecedented Era of Emperors.

True Martial Great Emperor was also the first Great Emperor of the Era of Emperors, pulling back the curtain on this stirring, magnificent age.

"We are willing to honor you as the strongest," countless people shouted, prostrating themselves before the might of the True Martial Great Emperor.

True Martial Great Emperor bore the Heavenly Mandate and ultimately arrived at the Far West Land of the Eastern Continent, where he established the True Martial Sacred Sect.

On the day the True Martial Sacred Sect was founded, guests came from all directions, the four seas paid homage, and countless people scrambled desperately to join this sect.

Even more sects vied to become subsidiary sects of the True Martial Sacred Sect.

From then on, the ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers in the Far West Land were placed under the dominion of the True Martial Sacred Sect, a state that has persisted to this day.

Several thousand years later, another man walked out of the True Martial Sacred Sect.

The world had long forgotten the man's name; what made everyone's souls tremble to their very core was merely the three long blades he carried on his back.

"Immortal Slaying, Demon Slaying, True Self."

With these three long blades, the man suppressed the era that belonged to him.

He was the seventh Great Emperor of the Era of Emperors and the second Great Emperor of the True Martial Sacred Sect.

"Three Blades Great Emperor!"

Another ten thousand years passed, and the True Martial Sacred Sect produced a third Great Emperor.

"Divine Movement Great Emperor."

Among the countless Great Emperor powerhouses throughout the ages, the Divine Movement Great Emperor was not the most dazzling or exceptional.

But his speed was among the foremost of all Great Emperors.

In the later period of the Divine Movement Great Emperor's era, this man once gazed deeply toward the end of heaven and earth.

He left behind only one line: "I will use these feet of mine to traverse the splendor of mountains and rivers, to behold the bustling glory of life, and to wander to the peak of the sun and moon."

Then he departed, leaving to the world only that silhouette, shrouded in mystery and carrying too many legends.