Six hundred years ago, the five Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court had explored the Road to Immortality together. At the foot of the Immortal Pass, they had discovered the sleeping, self-sealed Annihilation Heavenly Venerable and brought him back to the Heavenly Court.
However, Annihilation Heavenly Venerable's condition had been far too poor. His campaign on the Road to Immortality had depleted his origin enormously, and the betrayal by the Big Dipper's forbidden zones had dealt him another heavy blow. Added to the erosion of tens of thousands of years afterward, the fact that this ancient Heavenly Venerable still clung to life was, in a sense, a miracle.
Thus, to awaken this Heavenly Venerable of a previous age and bring him into the Heavenly Court's ranks, Emperor Venerable had spent considerable time and effort. Only now were the first results appearing.
For these six hundred years, Emperor Venerable had kept Annihilation Heavenly Venerable inside the Immortal Ascension Cauldron. Using the power of the faith of the heavens as fire and the void myriad daos as fuel, supplemented by his own chains of order, he had continually refined Annihilation Heavenly Venerable's body, stimulating the trace of vitality hidden within him in an attempt to gradually draw him out of death's grasp.
He Mu had also lent Emperor Venerable a hand in this endeavor. With the Source Heaven Secret Technique, he had mobilized the power of the universe, gathering the radiance of countless stars into a great formation to nourish Annihilation Heavenly Venerable's primordial spirit and immortal platform, keeping his true spirit from fading.
Only after a full six hundred years had Annihilation Heavenly Venerable finally shown signs of defying heaven to return and gain new life. This made He Mu keenly aware of how difficult it was for a Heavenly Venerable