Entering the World Road

Before they set out, Luo Qing, the King of Great Luo, and the assembled elders asked Fu Yuan to look after Great Luo's younger generation.

This was not a fight between fellow disciples who would show each other mercy, but a true battlefield, where defeat meant nothing but death.

That battlefield was vast beyond measure, drawing countless heavenly prodigies. Even slumbering imperial offspring and monstrous geniuses were awakening one after another, ready to rise in the present age and make their names known throughout the world.

Yet no one spoke up to stop them. The world of cultivators had always been one where the strong preyed on the weak and the fittest survived. What venerable or saint had not clawed their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood?

Those great emperors who had suppressed an entire age-which of them did not have countless blood debts behind them? More than a million souls had perished at their hands.

"As long as I'm there, no one will dare touch anyone from Great Luo," Fu Yuan promised.

He would make his name on the World Road, stepping on every heavenly prodigy to do so. He would make the surname Fu shake the three thousand worlds once more and strike fear into his peers at the sound of his name.

He would shelter Great Luo's heavenly prodigies with his name and become the brightest star on the World Road.

"Many peerless monstrous geniuses have waited for the Emperor Road to open, honing themselves at the peak of Profound Opening for decades without breaking through. Yet their methods are extraordinary, no weaker than those of Nirvana cultivators."

The Fifth Ancestor, Fu Yangping, came in person. Because of his youthful appearance and because he had not revealed who he was, no one besides Luo Qing and Fu Yuan knew his identity.

"You must be careful. The awakened imperial offspring and the ancient freaks who dominated an entire age have bloodlines that are far too terrifying. They may not be weaker than you, and most of them have likely broken the limits of Profound Opening."

"The power of a bloodline awakened a second time is immensely powerful. It must not be underestimated."

The old man, who had lived through two epochs and survived in the present world for nearly a hundred thousand years, gave his earnest, patient warnings.

"There's no need to worry. I'll suppress them all and return as a king." Warmth swept through Fu Yuan's heart. He could feel the depth of Fu Yangping's affection more keenly than anyone.

"Uncle Qilin, help me protect Great Luo until I return."

Fu Yuan also entrusted the Qilin Emperor with this task, asking him to follow Fu Yangping's orders during his absence.

With that, he set off, the first to climb the heavenly staircase and head for the World Road. Behind him, Great Luo Heaven's prodigies, including the Holy Son Luo Jie and the Holy Maiden Luo Qingyi, followed in wholehearted admiration.

Three years had passed since the battle outside the Void Heaven Hall. Fu Yuan's cultivation had grown ever more profound, his Qi and blood ever more terrifying. With an immortal air, he was handsome and awe-inspiring, enough to make others feel ashamed of themselves at a glance.

"Ding, the check-in location has refreshed. Please proceed to the World Road (True) to check in!"

The instant Fu Yuan stepped onto the heavenly staircase, the ethereal voice rang out again, and a new check-in location appeared.

The ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine steps of the path to heaven led straight into the clouds.

"One Fu suppresses the ages; the Indestructible subdues all worlds." Fu Yangping's eyes filled with tears, as though he had returned to the years when he followed his lord, subduing holy lands, suppressing ancient clans, and commanding the world.

An indescribable spirit, an inexpressible grandeur.

The Indestructible lineage would shine upon the world once more.

They climbed the heavenly staircase straight into the clouds. Above the clouds lay boundless golden light, with no edge in sight and no hint of its origin.

Everyone found a place and sat cross-legged. According to the records, the entrance to the World Road in the present world was a teleportation array.

A teleportation array spanning three thousand worlds-its sheer size was terrifying to contemplate.

Even the Array Emperor, who had become an emperor through the Dao of arrays, had possessed no such ability. As a member of the Indestructible Heavenly Venerable's lineage, Fu Yuan knew a great many secrets.

His elder brother Fu You was a thoroughgoing drunkard who loved wine, swords, and gossip. There was a tower in Netherworld Valley that recorded the elusive legends of the Immortal Dao era and interesting tales of the heavenly venerables and ancient emperors after the Mythic era, as well as many strange and mysterious places. The original owner of Fu Yuan's body had once spent ten years sitting cross-legged in that ancient tower.

This was only one of the many treasures the original owner had left Fu Yuan.

The World Road was among those records as well. Fu Yuan's gaze grew deep as golden runes interwove in his eyes. He activated his heavenly eyes, hoping to see through the golden sea of clouds and glimpse a trace of the truth.

But he failed. He could see nothing clearly.

The origins of this ancient road could be traced back to the height of the Immortal Dao epoch, the age of the three Immortal Venerables, eight Immortal Lords, and eighteen Immortal Emperors.

At the grand gathering of ten thousand immortals, the immortal road appeared, and ten thousand scions competed to honor the Immortal Venerable...

Alas, the Immortal Ancient past could not be recalled. Far too little could be traced and verified.

That history had suddenly vanished one day, leaving only a few surviving traces from which to guess and speculate about that glorious age of eternal life.

In the Divine Dao epoch, the World Road reappeared. A Heavenly Venerable had attempted to force his way onto it and search for the remnants of the immortals, but had withdrawn for reasons unknown.

There was apparently some great terror within, one that even a Heavenly Venerable feared enough to retreat.

Not until the Emperor Dao epoch, at the height of the Heavenly Emperor's power, did he enter it and remain for some years, though the records gave no details.

All that was known was that, shortly after his return, the Heavenly Emperor vanished without a trace. He was thought to have met with an ominous fate and perished.

That was terrifying. What manner of figure was the Heavenly Emperor? He had held up the heavens and created the most glorious age since the Immortal Ancient era. Even Fu Yuan's father, the Indestructible Heavenly Venerable, held him in the highest regard and considered him his greatest rival.

Yet he had left the stage so abruptly. How shocking that was.

"The taste of home. How wonderful."

Luo Feng sat cross-legged in a corner and reached out with his right hand, tracing a circle in the air. He gave a bitter smile, laden with meaning.

But he knew this was merely an illusion. The other end of the road was no longer home to the Dao lineage that had once loomed high beyond the heavens and ruled the Immortal Domain, but a place where certain failures eked out their remaining days.

That battle back then had shattered more than just the Immortal Domain...

Nine days passed in a rush. The rainbow light spanning the three thousand worlds blazed brightly, and the teleportation began.

There was not the slightest sensation of shaking, nor any trace of dizziness.

The brilliant golden light slowly faded. Fu Yuan opened his eyes to the sight of great trees that blotted out the sky, their branches and leaves lush and thick.

Higher still hung a great black sun, yet it gave off white light, a sight of inexplicable strangeness.

Fu Yuan unleashed his spiritual sense to scan his surroundings, but found no one. It seemed they had been separated by the teleportation.

"Rather bad luck, being teleported to a place like this." Fu Yuan smiled bitterly and flew swiftly onward, hoping to cross the forest and find a checkpoint.

The World Road had eighteen checkpoints. Only beyond the eighteenth could one reach the true Emperor Road.

Every checkpoint before it served to weed people out. Only the strongest could set foot upon the Emperor Road, contend for the Mandate of Heaven, and determine who stood supreme.

After the teleportation, all spiritual artifacts ceased to function. Even spatial storage rings were sealed shut and could not be opened.

The suppression here was immense. Both strength and speed had fallen sharply.

"Just as the legends say, the Spiritual Qi and Dao principles here far surpass those of the outside world. Cultivation is several times faster." Fu Yuan practiced the absorption method from the Dao Scripture, cultivating as he traveled.

It was already like this before he had even entered the first checkpoint. He could hardly imagine what the true Emperor Road would be like, whether it really was, as the legends said, a world where all Daos were complete, as they had been in the Immortal Ancient era.

"This is a little troublesome." Fu Yuan felt quite helpless. The system's check-in prompt had not sounded, meaning this was not yet the true World Road, but an ordinary place outside the first checkpoint.

The one-in-ten-thousand lucky ones were not teleported to the first checkpoint of the World Road. Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate was hard to say.

The Ordinary Road was vast. Some reached the checkpoint in a day, while others lost their way and did not return to the real world until the World Road vanished.