Lin Chen drifted away from the Eternal Dao Gathering without using any speed Divine Ability. His white robes fluttered gently as he strolled through the void of the nine heavens as though walking through a quiet courtyard. Not a trace of Spiritual Qi leaked from him, nor did imperial might surge around him. He looked like an ordinary scholar traveling the mortal world, yet wherever he passed, the Principles of the heavens withdrew of their own accord, and the river of space and time stood still. Even the primordial taboo beings hidden deep within chaos curled up their souls upon sensing that faint, elusive invincible will, not daring to breathe loudly.
A hundred thousand years ago, Lin Chen had already surpassed this world's upper limit of cultivation. Great Emperors, True Gods, Chaos Sovereigns... in his eyes, they were merely beings of a slightly higher order of life. He had no need to deliberately suppress his power. With the slightest stirring of his mind, the entire All Heavens and Myriad Worlds would collapse and be rebuilt in a single thought. To him, so-called traveling was nothing more than watching a long stretch of scenery and hearing a tale of the sealed-away past.
Within the void, stars revolved, and a river of stars stretched across it.
Lin Chen looked up. Where billions upon billions of stars converged ahead, a hazy gray region of chaos hovered faintly. Around its edges, turbulent currents of space and time churned madly. Divine sounds rang out, and demonic howls shook the heavens. An ancient, boundless pressure bearing the breath of destruction slowly spread outward. Even a Great Emperor who approached would have their soul crushed outright by that pressure, their life and Dao extinguished.
"Hmm?"
Lin Chen paused slightly, an almost imperceptible ripple passing through his eyes.
He remembered this region.
A hundred thousand years ago, when he first descended into this world and his soul landed in the God-Burying Abyss, he had sensed its presence from afar. The system had also mentioned that this place was called the Primordial Divine Ruins, a forbidden land left behind after the destruction of the previous epoch, older and more dangerous than the God-Burying Abyss. Rumor had it that the Divine Ruins held the supreme inheritance of the previous epoch, the origin of chaos, and even heaven-defying fortuitous opportunities to resurrect the dead and reshape an epoch.
Throughout the ages, countless Great Emperors and supreme ancestors had entered the Divine Ruins, one after another, but not one had returned alive. Over time, the Primordial Divine Ruins became the most dangerous place in all the heavens, its very name inspiring greater terror than the God-Burying Abyss.
"Remnants of the previous epoch..." Lin Chen murmured, a faint smile touching his lips. "I might as well take a look inside."
He had no interest in so-called inheritances or origins. A hundred thousand years ago, he had already possessed power more advanced than the origin of an epoch. He had simply spent so long in silence in the God-Burying Abyss, only to encounter such a dull spectacle as the Eternal Dao Gathering after emerging. Perhaps these Primordial Divine Ruins could offer him a little amusement.
With a thought, Lin Chen lightly raised his foot. Without any defense or Divine Ability, he walked straight toward the entrance to the Divine Ruins.
The turbulent currents of space and time surrounding the Divine Ruins could tear apart a Half-Emperor's body and erase a Great Emperor's soul. Yet the moment they came within three feet of Lin Chen, they settled of their own accord, docile as sheep, unable to raise even the slightest ripple. The gray mist containing the power of an epoch's destruction turned directly into the purest Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi the instant it touched his white robes, dissipating into the void.
It was like walking on level ground.
Such was Lin Chen's bearing now.
All dangers and all taboos were nothing more than passing clouds and dust before absolute invincibility.
Meanwhile, trillions of miles from the Primordial Divine Ruins.
An enormous warship forged entirely from primordial divine metal tore through the void, speeding toward the Divine Ruins. Banners snapped above it, bearing two ancient, majestic characters-Haotian.
It was none other than the warship of the Haotian Holy Land, one of the greatest holy lands in all the heavens!
At the Eternal Dao Gathering, the Haotian Holy Son, Hao Tianyu, had offended Lin Chen and been blasted away by a single word. Every bone in his body had shattered, and his soul had been injured; his life and Dao had nearly been extinguished on the spot. Though the experts of the Haotian Holy Land had risked their lives to rescue him, he had still suffered irreversible injuries. His cultivation had plummeted, and he could forget about advancing any further within a thousand years. He might even have lost all hope of reaching the Great Emperor realm in this lifetime.
When the news reached the Haotian Holy Land, the entire holy land erupted.
The head of the Haotian Holy Land was a veteran Great Emperor who had spent millions of years in seclusion, known as Great Emperor Haotian. Hao Tianyu was the only personal disciple he had taken in his life. He had trained him as the next head of the holy land and treated him as his own son. Now that his beloved disciple had been gravely injured and his lifelong path of the Great Dao damaged, it was undoubtedly a monstrous humiliation for Great Emperor Haotian.
Yet when he learned that the one who injured Hao Tianyu was the supreme being who had emerged from the God-Burying Abyss, casually destroyed a forbidden land, and made Heaven-Burning and the other two Great Emperors bow their heads, Great Emperor Haotian could only forcibly suppress his towering fury.
He could not afford to provoke him.
Never mind a single veteran Great Emperor-even the entire Haotian Holy Land combined was nothing more than dust that supreme being could wipe out with one slap.
Yet no matter what, Great Emperor Haotian could not swallow this bitter anger.
Just then, disturbances arose in the Primordial Divine Ruins, and the presence of an epoch leaked out. Cultivators from a holy land divined that the core of the Divine Ruins was about to open and that the Epoch Fruit of the previous epoch would appear.
The Epoch Fruit was a supreme divine treasure condensed after an epoch's destruction. A single fruit could reshape one's Dao foundation and defy heaven to change one's fate. Even a Great Emperor who consumed it could break through their current shackles and touch a higher realm.
Great Emperor Haotian immediately made up his mind. Leading every top expert of the Haotian Holy Land, he mobilized their full strength and headed straight for the Primordial Divine Ruins.
He would seize the Epoch Fruit, reshape Hao Tianyu's Dao foundation, restore his cultivation, and even let him surpass his former self to become the true foremost genius of all the heavens!
Beyond that, he harbored another secret thought-the Primordial Divine Ruins were remnants of the previous epoch. If he could find some means within them to restrain that white-robed Supreme, he would risk his life to try, even if there were only a sliver of hope.
The atmosphere aboard the warship was heavy.
Great Emperor Haotian sat in the seat of honor, dressed in golden imperial robes with the Haotian Crown upon his head. His face was majestic, yet a trace of viciousness lingered in his eyes that he could not conceal. Imperial might churned around him, pressing upon the void until it continually warped. The surrounding holy land elders and Half-Emperor experts did not even dare to breathe loudly.
Below him, Hao Tianyu lay on a jade bed, his face pale and his breathing faint. Spiritual Qi from divine medicines wound around his entire body, yet it still could not conceal the deterioration caused by his shattered Dao foundation. Whenever he recalled how the white-robed young man had crushed him with a single word at the Eternal Dao Gathering, venomous resentment and unwillingness filled his heart.
"Master," Hao Tianyu said hoarsely, venom flickering in his eyes, "that white-robed brat merely got lucky and obtained some inheritance from High Antiquity. What right did he have to humiliate me like that? This enmity cannot coexist beneath the same sky. If I do not avenge it, I swear I am no man!"
Great Emperor Haotian's gaze darkened. "Shut up!" he said coldly. "That being is not someone you or I can discuss! The matter of the Eternal Dao Gathering ends here. If you dare mention it again, do not blame your master for purging his own sect!"
He was angry, but he was not stupid.
If they dared curse that Supreme behind his back and he detected it, the entire Haotian Holy Land would be reduced to ashes in an instant.
Hao Tianyu was unwilling, but he dared not defy his master's command. He could only lower his head and clench his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms until blood seeped out.
"Master," a white-haired elder stepped forward and bowed, "according to reports from our scouts ahead, we are not the only ones going to the Divine Ruins this time. The Heaven-Burning Emperor Realm, the Four Seas Dragon Palace, the Myriad Devil Abyss, and even top races such as the Primordial Dragon Clan and the Ancient Phoenix Clan have all dispatched experts. Even the Mystic Heaven Holy Land, which we previously thought nothing of, is heading toward the Divine Ruins under Daoist Zixu's leadership."
"The Mystic Heaven Holy Land?" Great Emperor Haotian frowned. "A middling holy land dares join the bustle at the Divine Ruins?"
"Master," Hao Tianyu hurriedly said, "because the Mystic Heaven Holy Land invited that white-robed brat to the Eternal Dao Gathering, the three Emperor Realms elevated its standing. Now its arrogance knows no bounds. Even that Holy Maiden, Su Qingyue, dared flaunt her power before me!"
He deliberately added oil and vinegar to the story, hoping to make Great Emperor Haotian suppress the Mystic Heaven Holy Land.
Great Emperor Haotian's gaze grew colder. "The Mystic Heaven Holy Land merely borrowed that Supreme's glory, a fox borrowing a tiger's might. We need not deliberately target them on this journey into the Divine Ruins, but if they stand in our way, we need not show them courtesy either."
"We came only for the Epoch Fruit. Whoever dares obstruct us will be killed without mercy!"
"Yes!"
The assembled experts answered in unison, their voices filled with murderous severity.
Great Emperor Haotian rose and looked toward the distant Primordial Divine Ruins, a flash of burning desire crossing his imperial eyes. "The Epoch Fruit's appearance is the chance for our Haotian Holy Land to rise! As long as we obtain it and reshape Tianyu's Dao foundation, he will surely surpass Great Emperors in the future! When that time comes, even that Supreme..."
He forcibly cut himself off halfway through, not daring to continue.
Yet the ambition in his eyes had already been laid completely bare.
Several hours later, at the entrance to the Primordial Divine Ruins.
By now, nearly every top power in the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds had gathered outside the Divine Ruins.
The three rulers-the Heaven-Burning Great Emperor, the East Sea Great Emperor, and the Devil Abyss Great Emperor-sat in the void, their imperial might enveloping every direction. Primordial imperial clans such as the Primordial Dragon Clan, the Ancient Phoenix Clan, and the Nine Nether Qilin Clan occupied their own territories, dragon roars and phoenix cries shaking heaven and earth. There were also holy lands, Emperor Realms, and races of every size. Experts gathered like clouds, Half-Emperors were as plentiful as dogs, and Great Emperors could be seen everywhere.
The spectacle surpassed even the Eternal Dao Gathering.
Everyone's gaze was fixed upon the slowly widening rift of chaos at the core of the Divine Ruins, their eyes filled with burning desire and anticipation.
The Epoch Fruit was right before them!
"Everyone," the Heaven-Burning Great Emperor rose, his gaze sweeping over the crowd as his voice thundered, "the Divine Ruins are perilous, and there is only one Epoch Fruit. To avoid needless bloodshed, I propose that the Great Emperors and patriarchs of the imperial clans enter the core together and compete fairly. What do you say?"
His words immediately won the agreement of many experts.
After all, there were nearly ten Great Emperor-level beings present. If a battle truly broke out, casualties would certainly be devastating, and the losses would outweigh the gains. Fair competition was undoubtedly the best choice.
Great Emperor Haotian stood among the crowd, his gaze icy. He said nothing, but had already made up his mind-whoever dared compete with him for the Epoch Fruit would die!
Just as everyone prepared to enter the core of the Divine Ruins together.
Hum-!
An invisible will descended without warning!
This will bore neither imperial might nor killing intent, yet every Great Emperor and primordial imperial clan patriarch present instantly stiffened, their souls trembling as they involuntarily fell to their knees!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Nearly ten Great Emperors, over a hundred Half-Emperors, and countless Holy Lords and Saint Kings all knelt in the void at once. Their faces were deathly pale, and their entire bodies shook. They did not even have the courage to raise their heads!
"This... what is this presence?!"
"My imperial body... my imperial Dao Principles... they've been completely suppressed! I can't move!"
"It's that Supreme! The supreme being from the Eternal Dao Gathering is here!"
Someone immediately realized what was happening and let out a terrified howl.
Other than that being who had signed in for a hundred thousand years and emerged invincible, who else could possess such terrifying power that every Great Emperor knelt and bowed their head?!
Great Emperor Haotian knelt with his forehead pressed against the void. Storm waves surged through his heart, and his terror reached its peak!
He had never imagined that he would encounter that Supreme here when he had merely come to seize the Epoch Fruit!
Why would that being come to a place like this?!
Lying on his jade bed, Hao Tianyu sensed that soul-shattering will and fainted outright from fright. Not a trace of venomous resentment remained, only endless terror.
Daoist Zixu, Su Qingyue, and Bai Zixuan also knelt among the crowd, but excitement and reverence mingled in their hearts.
They had never expected to see the Supreme here again!
As everyone knelt, trembling.
A white-robed figure slowly emerged from the void, walking as leisurely as though through a quiet courtyard, and arrived before the entrance to the Divine Ruins.
It was Lin Chen.
His calm gaze swept over the kneeling experts without the slightest ripple, as though he were looking at a field of dust.
"Who gave you permission to make noise here?"
Lin Chen spoke mildly, his voice soft and unhurried, yet it fell into the depths of every person's soul like the august voice of the Heavenly Dao.
The Heaven-Burning Great Emperor shuddered and hurriedly touched his head to the ground, utterly deferential. "S-Supreme! We sensed disturbances in the Divine Ruins and came to compete for the Epoch Fruit. We did not mean to make noise. Please forgive us, Supreme!"
"Epoch Fruit?" Lin Chen raised an eyebrow slightly and looked toward the core of the Divine Ruins. "What is that?"
In his eyes, the so-called Epoch Fruit was merely a somewhat denser clump of Principle power, not even fit to fill the gaps between his teeth.
The Heaven-Burning Great Emperor hurriedly explained, "Supreme, the Epoch Fruit is a divine treasure condensed from the destruction of the previous epoch. It can reshape one's Dao foundation and raise one's realm. It is the foremost divine treasure in all the heavens!"
"So it is that sort of useless thing." Lin Chen shook his head lightly, his tone filled with disdain.
A useless thing?
Hearing this, everyone nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
That was the Epoch Fruit, something that drove even Great Emperors mad! In this Supreme's eyes, it was merely a useless thing?
This was the gulf between their realms!
Kneeling on the ground, Great Emperor Haotian felt his heart stir.
The Supreme said the Epoch Fruit was useless. Did that mean he would not seize it?
As long as the Supreme did not compete, the Epoch Fruit would still be mine for the taking!
At that thought, Great Emperor Haotian gritted his teeth, summoned the greatest courage of his life, and said, "S-Supreme! The Epoch Fruit is a useless thing, unworthy of your regard. My disciple's Dao foundation is shattered, and he urgently needs this fruit to prolong his life. Please grant us permission to obtain it. Our Haotian Holy Land would be endlessly grateful!"
The moment he said this, the entire gathering fell deathly silent!
Everyone looked at Great Emperor Haotian as though he were already dead.
Mad!
This Great Emperor Haotian had absolutely gone mad!
He actually dared make a request of the Supreme? Even if the Supreme thought nothing of the Epoch Fruit, it was not his place to ask for it! This offended the Supreme's dignity!
The Heaven-Burning Great Emperor, the East Sea Great Emperor, and the Devil Abyss Great Emperor all silently mourned Great Emperor Haotian.
Anyone who dared disturb the Supreme would surely die!
Lin Chen slowly lowered his head, his gaze settling on Great Emperor Haotian. His eyes remained calm, without sorrow or joy.
As Lin Chen's gaze swept over him, Great Emperor Haotian instantly felt as though his soul were about to be crushed. Yet thinking of Hao Tianyu's Dao foundation and the temptation of the Epoch Fruit, he still steeled himself and remained kneeling there.
"You want it?" Lin Chen asked mildly.
"Y-Yes!" Great Emperor Haotian's voice trembled. "Please grant my wish, Supreme!"
"Very well."
Lin Chen nodded gently.
Huh?
Everyone froze, disbelief covering their faces.
The Supreme... had actually agreed?
Great Emperor Haotian was overjoyed as well and hurriedly kowtowed. "Thank you, Supreme! Thank you, Supreme!"
He thought he had won his gamble!
The Supreme thought nothing of the Epoch Fruit, so he was generously bestowing it upon him!
But in the next instant.
Lin Chen's voice slowly sounded again. "You can have it."
"Crawl from here to the core of the Divine Ruins."
"If you reach it, the Epoch Fruit is yours."
"If you don't, you die."
Those few lightly spoken words struck Great Emperor Haotian's ears like five bolts of thunder crashing down upon him!
He wanted him, a Great Emperor, to get down on his knees and crawl to the core of the Divine Ruins?
This was humiliation! Naked humiliation!
The core of the Divine Ruins was only a million miles away, a distance a Great Emperor could cover in one step. But crawling there would be an unspeakable disgrace! Once word spread, he, Great Emperor Haotian, would become the greatest laughingstock in the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds!
Great Emperor Haotian's face alternated between green and white. Humiliation, anger, and fear intertwined in his heart as he clenched his fists tightly, his entire body trembling.
"What?" Lin Chen's gaze cooled slightly. "Unwilling?"
An almost imperceptible will settled lightly upon Great Emperor Haotian.
Boom!
Great Emperor Haotian instantly spat golden imperial blood. His bones cracked explosively, and he was pressed flat against the ground, without even the strength to raise his head.
"I... I'll crawl!"
Great Emperor Haotian let out a howl of utter humiliation. For Hao Tianyu, for the Epoch Fruit, he endured it!
He went down on all fours and, like a dog, began crawling with difficulty toward the core of the Divine Ruins.
A Great Emperor, one of the greatest experts in all the heavens, was now crawling through the void like an ant.
The sight left every expert present silent as cicadas in winter. They did not even dare raise their heads.
They understood all the more clearly that before this Supreme, even Great Emperors were merely ants he could humiliate at will!
Without even glancing at the crawling Great Emperor Haotian, Lin Chen turned and strode toward the core of the Divine Ruins.
With every step he took, space and time stood still, and the Principles bowed their heads.
Within the Divine Ruins, the epoch power that destroyed everything, the primordial vicious spirits, and the taboo formations all dissipated of their own accord before him, turning into nothingness.
As though walking on level ground, he easily reached the innermost core of the Divine Ruins.
A translucent golden fruit surrounded by the presence of an epoch hovered in midair. It was the Epoch Fruit.
Lin Chen raised his hand and gently grasped.
The Epoch Fruit fell into his hand of its own accord.
There was no resistance, no restriction, as though it had been born to belong to him.
At this point, Great Emperor Haotian had only crawled halfway. Covered in wounds, his imperial robes tattered, he was in a wretched state. Seeing Lin Chen take the Epoch Fruit, his eyes nearly split with fury, yet he dared not voice the slightest complaint and could only keep crawling.
Holding the Epoch Fruit, Lin Chen crushed it casually without even looking at it.
Bang!
The Epoch Fruit was crushed outright in his hand, turning into a mass of pure epoch origin that drifted through the Divine Ruins.
A useless thing was of no use to keep.
Having done all this, Lin Chen turned, ready to leave the Divine Ruins.
But just then!
From the depths of the Divine Ruins, a furious roar suddenly rang out, shattering the heavens!
"ROAR-!!!"
"WHO DARES DESTROY MY EPOCH FRUIT!!!"
The roar shook the heavens and swept through the entire Divine Ruins, making the many powerful cultivators kneeling outside bleed from all seven orifices and collapse, gravely wounded!
An immensely huge, utterly hideous black shadow slowly rose from the depths of the Divine Ruins!
That black shadow stood hundreds of millions of zhang tall, wreathed in the destructive power of the previous epoch. A single claw could crush stars, and a single eye rivaled the sun!
Its presence far surpassed that of any Great Emperor present, and was even ten times more terrifying than Heaven-Burning and the other two Great Emperors combined!
"It's... it's the Divine Ruins Guardian! The remnant body of the previous epoch!"
"The legends were actually true! There really is an Epoch Remnant Spirit in the Divine Ruins!"
"We're finished! Against such a being, even the Great Emperors joining forces would be no match!"
Everyone screamed in terror, their faces filled with despair.
Great Emperor Haotian also turned deathly pale and stopped crawling, his heart filled with fear.
The Epoch Fruit had been destroyed, and the Epoch Remnant Spirit had emerged. Every one of them would die here!
The Epoch Remnant Spirit's enormous eyes fixed on Lin Chen, brimming with towering fury. "You were the one who destroyed my Epoch Fruit?!"
"Today, I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces and seal your soul forever beneath the Divine Ruins, where you'll suffer every torment of the epochs!"
As those words fell, the Epoch Remnant Spirit raised its enormous claw and slammed it down at Lin Chen with power that could destroy heaven and earth!
This strike was enough to annihilate half of All Heavens and Myriad Worlds!
The Heaven-Burning Great Emperor and the others shut their eyes, not daring to look.
They believed that even a Supreme would surely face a bitter struggle against such an Epoch Remnant Spirit!
Yet Lin Chen simply stood there quietly, not moving in the slightest.
Watching the enormous claw descend, he slowly raised a single finger, his gaze calm.
There was no earth-shaking Divine Ability, no dazzling divine light.
He merely pointed gently.
"Break."
Humm-!
A thread of white Sword Qi, so fine it was barely perceptible, burst from his fingertip.
The Sword Qi was small, yet it contained the invincible will Lin Chen had forged through a hundred thousand years of signing in, and supreme power that transcended the heavens and the epochs!
The Sword Qi cut through the void.
There was no crash, no tremor.
The next second.
BOOM-!!!
The Epoch Remnant Spirit, hundreds of millions of zhang tall, was instantly split down the middle!
Its body shattered, its soul was annihilated, and its epoch power dissipated completely!
Just one finger!
An instant kill of the Epoch Remnant Spirit!
One sword strike (finger) severed the river of stars; one finger extinguished an epoch!
The sight left every powerful cultivator inside and outside the Divine Ruins utterly dumbstruck!
Their eyes widened, their minds went blank, and they could not believe the scene before them!
The Epoch Remnant Spirit that even Great Emperors feared had failed to withstand even a single move from the Supreme?!
What terrifying strength!
Lin Chen withdrew his finger, his gaze calm, as though he had merely done something utterly insignificant.
"Noisy."
He softly uttered that single word, his white robes unfurled, and his figure vanished from the Divine Ruins.
Only after Lin Chen's figure had disappeared completely did the many powerful cultivators inside and outside the Divine Ruins slowly come to their senses.
Everyone slumped limply in the void, their bodies drenched in cold sweat, their eyes holding nothing but endless awe and fear.
Great Emperor Haotian lay sprawled on the ground, his face ashen, no longer harboring the slightest thought of competing for the Epoch Fruit.
He finally understood. That young man in white had not been lucky-he was truly invincible!
Throughout All Heavens and Myriad Worlds, none could match him!
As long as the epochs endured, he would endure!
Even when the epochs perished, he would still remain!
Lin Chen left the Primordial Divine Ruins and once again walked through the void of the nine heavens.
He raised his head and looked toward the end of the heavens. There lay the deeper reaches of chaos, a realm beyond that even Great Emperors could not reach.
"This world has already grown dull."
Lin Chen murmured softly, a faint smile touching his lips.
After a hundred thousand years of signing in, his foundations had reached perfection.
He had no rivals left in the heavens.
It was time to head into the Outer Chaos and see a vaster world.
His white robes fluttering, Lin Chen took a single step, passed straight through the barrier of the heavens, and entered the boundless Outer Chaos.
His legend had long since spread throughout All Heavens and Myriad Worlds.
Yet his invincible path had only just begun to lead toward a far vaster sea of stars!
From this day forth, above the heavens, no rival remained; within chaos, I alone reigned supreme!