After the Final Catastrophe descended, time slowly passed. By the present day, heaven and earth in the mortal world could be said to have declined to the utmost, and the Universe no longer possessed its former splendor.
Throughout the Universe, the Myriad Daos had scattered, the Heavenly Heart had hidden itself, and all forms of heaven and earth essence-origin qi had been cut off. Even the stars throughout the heavens had concealed their radiance, no longer releasing the power of the stars to nourish all things between heaven and earth.
Within the Universe, Daoist arts did not manifest, and cultivation could scarcely survive. The once-dazzling flames of civilization had been reduced to little more than a few lingering sparks on the verge of going out.
The peerless mighty races that had once ruled the sea of stars and the supreme great sects that had dominated the various domains no longer possessed their former might. Only those at the very pinnacle could still occupy the small worlds they had created, enjoying a little sparse spiritual qi.
Those slightly worse off could only huddle upon stars, relying on the various arrangements their own experts had left before sealing themselves away to barely cultivate and pass their days in this Age of Declining Dharma.
Far more were small schools and sects. They had no arrangements or means sufficient to weather this Age of Declining Dharma and could only watch their lineages decline day by day. Perhaps before long, their legacies would be completely severed in this age when cultivation was so difficult.
On the many once-glorious Life Source Lands and Ancient Ancestral Stars, this Age of Declining Dharma had likewise cut off heaven and earth origin qi, left the Myriad Daos unmanifest, and driven the dragon veins deep into hiding.
The withered heavens