In the Undying Mountain, He Mu sat cross-legged beneath the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree.
Dense auras of the Great Dao swirled and gathered here, becoming stirring celestial notes of the Dao. As they collided, they wove together into a symphony of Dao and principle of unparalleled grandeur and loftiness.
Spiritual light appeared from time to time, and the myriad Daos vied to submit. The ultimate power of a Heavenly Venerable seemed to bear the entire universe upon it. At this moment, He Mu was the absolute center of heaven and earth; even the laws had to operate according to his divine will.
Ever since the fragment of divine consciousness He Mu had separated from himself returned five hundred years ago, this magnificent scene had persisted within the Undying Mountain.
The spectacle of He Mu comprehending the Dao was so grand that even boundless chaos could not conceal it completely. For a time, it had even drawn the attention of the Forbidden Zone Supremes.
Unfortunately, He Mu's Great Dao had thoroughly scrambled the heavenly secrets of the Undying Mountain. With He Mu, the Current Heavenly Venerable, alive and suppressing all things, no Self-Slashed Supreme was willing to emerge in person to investigate. In the end, all that attention came to nothing.
One could imagine that over these five hundred years, He Mu's attainment in the Dao might have been advancing constantly. By now, he had already traveled very, very far along this imperial path.
Just how much progress a flawless, complete Dao Fruit of the mortal world could bring He Mu was something that perhaps no one but He Mu himself, still cultivating, could truly fathom.
But one thing could be guessed: He Mu was now undoubtedly far stronger than he had been during the upheaval.
In truth, the present He Mu probably exceeded everyone's imagination.
His attainment in the Dao had accumulated to a terrifying degree-his analysis of the black aura, his research into faith, his discussions of the Dao with Heaven Venerable Daode, his great battle with Demon Shadow, his accumulated insights into the Great Dao of the mortal world...
Each and every one of these had an immeasurably profound influence on He Mu. Together, they had pushed him toward a critical threshold, allowing him to touch upon an inconceivable Dao Fruit even in his first lifetime.
At the same time, for these very reasons, the Immortal Longevity Essence accumulated within He Mu was vast beyond measure. He was already on the verge of spontaneously undergoing a tremendous transformation, one that would allow him to live another lifetime through his own accumulated reserves alone, without relying on Immortal Medicine.
If he reached that stage, then even if the essence of his life still fell somewhat short, in terms of combat strength and the Great Dao alone, He Mu would probably not be much inferior to the Undying One and Emperor Venerable of later ages. He could most likely already be called a Heavenly Emperor.
Heavenly Emperor-what a weighty title. Attaining the heavenly emperor dao fruit could be considered the most important step along the red dust immortal path. Whether a Heavenly Venerable, an Ancient Emperor, or a Great Emperor, only those who truly reached this stage were qualified to explore the immortal Dao and seek red dust immortal ascension.
Conversely, even those who attained the Dao, reigned supreme over the universe, and flourished for an age remained ten thousand miles from the true Immortal Road. At most, they were admiring flowers in a mirror or fishing for the moon in water. As for slashing themselves and establishing Forbidden Zones to await the Road to Immortality, that was merely clinging to their last breaths—the greatest joke of all eternity.
No matter how one looked at it, the next step He Mu was about to take was truly his highest priority. Not the slightest mistake could be allowed.
And when facing every possible risk and challenge, as long as he possessed sufficient strength, every threat would become nothing more than a paper tiger, no longer worth mentioning.
Precisely for this reason, before truly beginning his transformation, He Mu had to seize every moment to strengthen himself with all his might and unify all his existing Dao Fruits. Only then could he break through the heavenly barrier with absolute dominance and no possibility of failure, ushering in a new era of glory belonging to Immeasurable Heaven Venerable.
The next moment, the fluctuations of heaven and earth's myriad Daos within the Undying Mountain grew more vigorous. Life Essence gathered, and as the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree scattered waves of radiance, the Undying Mountain fell silent once more.
Time was the most merciless blade in the world, forever suspended above the nine heavens.
It was cold and ruthless toward everything, yet treated all living beings equally, without the slightest partiality.
Whether one possessed peerless talent or unmatched brilliance, without attaining the Dao, it all amounted to nothing. Indeed, even an exalted Heavenly Venerable at the pinnacle of the Dao would ultimately become nothing but a heap of dry bones if he could not attain immortality.
"Years, like a blade, cut down heaven's chosen; on the road to longevity, we sigh for fallen splendor."
A single line laid bare the true meaning of a great age, leaving one able only to sigh. How regrettable, how lamentable, how sorrowful.
Everything was merely the opening of a tale of blood and bones, a painted scroll of a lifetime's desolation.
After the battle with Demon Shadow ended all those years ago, in the eyes of all living beings, He Mu had again gone thousands of years without setting foot in the mortal world. By now, the great age was almost entirely withered.
To the living beings of the universe, Immeasurable Heaven Venerable had reigned supreme for ten thousand years, and heaven and earth's myriad Daos still showed no signs of decline. Yet nearly all the prodigies who had shared his era had already faded away.
For them, the joys and sorrows of the imperial path and the battles of the world had merely composed a resounding battle song for that man, creating a glory belonging to him alone while burying far too many others' blood and tears.
They watched that man rise, watched him stand upon the highest summit, watched him look down upon the world. Yet behind him lay boundless corpses and a long road of blood. Such was the cruelty behind reigning supreme throughout heaven and earth.
Yet even with the great age withered to this extent, that man still stood supreme over the myriad Daos and ruled over all the heavens.
The name of Immeasurable Heaven Venerable resounded throughout the universe. All living beings placed their faith in him, and the myriad races revered him together, as though he would truly endure forever from this moment onward, becoming utterly immortal amid the rolling dust of the mortal world.
Thus the great age drifted on, and in the blink of an eye, another three thousand years had passed.
Boom-
Above the nine heavens, the myriad Daos trembled and the laws ran wild. Even the heavenly heart imprint faintly showed signs of instability.
Many powerful cultivators sensed it. After careful divination, they made a discovery, but that discovery filled them with terror.
Every clue pointed toward one horrifying conclusion-He Mu, Immeasurable Heaven Venerable, who had sheltered all living beings and ruled the universe for thirteen thousand years, was probably approaching the end of his life.
As the heavenly heart imprint trembled, even the beings within the Forbidden Zones were awakened once more.
They cast their gazes across countless layers of void, straight toward the heavenly heart imprint suspended above the nine heavens, as though intent on examining it closely.
In the end, a Supreme concluded that He Mu had probably truly reached the end of his life and would soon pass away.
The moment this conclusion was reached, unrest stirred within the great Forbidden Zones. Greed even gleamed in the eyes of some Supremes.
The news that Immeasurable Heaven Venerable was about to pass away in meditation soon spread throughout the starry heavens. It even reached the mundane world, becoming known to the common people.
Even ordinary people heard that above the nine heavens, a supreme deity was about to depart this world.
For a time, heaven and earth mourned together, and all living beings grieved. Even the supreme Heavenly Venerable was about to pass away. Afterward, who would continue to shelter them and bring them peace?
The autumn wind rose, and yellow leaves fell. A great age seemed at last to be withering away at this very moment.
No one knew where the future would lie once this age drew to a close.
The second update is finished. Today's second chapter is a little longer, laying the groundwork for the next part of the plot.
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