Even the Nine-Crown King Was Not Truly Invincible!

In the middle of the tenth stage of the World Road stood the Heaven-Ascending Tower.

The tower was named Heaven-Ascending, yet no one knew how high it was, or what sights lay at its summit.

Since the Mythic Era, no living being had ever reached the top. Even the most peerless geniuses would be defeated partway up and transported out.

One tower encompassed the talents of all ages; one tower gathered all the laws under heaven.

The farther one advanced, the more terrifying the opponents became. They were not imaginary beings, but figures of legend, each with a more illustrious background and more astonishing than the last.

And it was a battle against wave after wave of opponents. From the moment one entered the tower, living beings would continually be manifested, leaving one no choice but to expend strength fighting them. When one's strength ran out and one fell in defeat, one would automatically be transported out.

Every being who entered the tower received a baptism in immortal light and underwent a transformation, regardless of how high they climbed. The higher they ascended, the more complete the transformation.

Ancient histories recorded that the first beings to climb the tower at the beginning of the Mythic Era had faced opponents whose Daos and laws were all different. They were suspected to be beings from the Ancient Immortal Era.

In his youth, Heavenly Venerable Qingyuan had swept through all opposition. His Heavenly Eye was so extraordinary that he had fought his way nearly to the summit.

Yet he had still fallen, not because he had exhausted too much strength, but because he had encountered a peerless genius of the Immortal Clan with the very same physique. Two wielders of the Heavenly Eye had fought to the death, but his opponent's law was stronger than his own: the legendary Ancient Immortal Scripture.

His strength flowed without end, yet Heavenly Venerable Qingyuan had fallen, defeated in a contest of laws.

Anyone who came to the World Road without climbing the Heaven-Ascending Tower at least once could not be said to have truly been there.

One obscure genius after another had risen to fame here, forging a name for themselves, while peerless geniuses who claimed to be invincible had suffered setbacks and been defeated in the tower.

Three steles stood before the tower, one gold, one black, and one red, each ten thousand zhang tall. Everyone whose name appeared on them was a peerless genius who had left a mark on ancient history and stirred up storms.

The steles were extraordinarily special, suspected to be made of the legendary immortal gold. They adapted to the writing of every era, displaying it on their surfaces.

Since ancient times, countless beings had set their sights on them, only to fail, suffer backlash, and meet with misfortune.

The golden stele was the most extraordinary. Scarcely any names appeared on it, only 249 in all. In first place was a single character: Wind.

Second was Heaven, third Qingyuan, fourth Ao Jue...

"What kind of figures could surpass Heavenly Venerable Qingyuan and the Dragon Emperor Ao Jue?" Countless beings beneath the golden stele asked this question. With only the single characters Wind and Heaven left behind, the two were truly mysterious.

"One of them is most likely the Heavenly Emperor. How could such a peerless figure be unknown?" Some also guessed that the invincible existence was the one ranked second.

"First place is the Ji Clan's ancestor," said a genius from a supreme holy land, answering the crowd's question. He explained that in the years recorded in the first entry, only two peerless prodigies had shone.

One was the Dragon-Phoenix, ranked thirty-sixth on the golden list. The other was the Ji Clan's mysterious ancestor.

Everyone looked toward the voice and indeed found a golden name in thirty-sixth place, bearing two characters: Dragon and Phoenix.

Without a doubt, it was that unparalleled prodigy who combined the bloodlines of the two strongest divine beasts.

Yet even such a being had been defeated by a being from the lower realm, slain before attaining the Dao.

"The Primordial Era had the fewest Great Emperors. In twenty million years, only fifteen emperors were born, and during one long stretch of eight million years, only one emerged." He continued speaking. The force behind him was extraordinary, and he knew a great deal.

The Ji Clan's ancestor was suspected to have lived through multiple lives, suppressing the myriad Daos of heaven and earth for a full eight million years!

Admiration welled up in their hearts. Since the Mythic Era, the World Road had opened a hundred times. Whoever ranked first among them had climbed the highest and was the strongest in this realm.

As the crowd stood in awe, a man in golden-yellow robes approached from afar and entered the Heaven-Ascending Tower.

"It's Dugu Baitian!" Everyone before the Heaven-Ascending Tower grew excited. Was the strongest person of the current age about to begin his climb?

"Can he take first place on the golden list?" No one doubted he could make the list. He was the Chaos Physique who had been invincible for nine lifetimes, after all.

"He was the first to enter the World Road. Why has he only come now?" Many were puzzled.

"He was delayed on the road. He ran into a formidable enemy." The black-robed youth spoke again, explaining that Dugu Baitian had encountered a black-robed youth in a secret realm. The two had fought a great battle across a hundred thousand li, witnessed by many beings.

The sight had been terrifying, as though the world were ending. No one knew how many mountain peaks had been destroyed or how many craters had been blasted into the ground.

"That can't be. He's Dugu Baitian!" Some beings questioned him. How could the Heavenly Emperor's third son have met his match? They suspected he had made it up.

"Who won in the end?" others asked eagerly, wanting to know the outcome of the battle.

"That level was too high." The black-robed youth shook his head, his black and white eyes opening and closing. The two combatants had been too powerful; he had only watched for a short while before he could no longer keep up.

"It wasn't a test. He truly encountered a formidable enemy!" Finally, he added that the battle had been completely different from the one at the gateway to the tenth stage. Both combatants had used their own methods in a genuine clash, fighting until their tempers flared.

More and more people refused to believe him, taking him for a madman who was imagining things and spouting nonsense.

But all doubts were dispelled by the arrival of one person: Su He, the Double Pupils wielder of the current age, with two pupils in each eye.

"Fellow Daoist Xuanyu!" The youth, whose white robes were untouched by dust, called out a greeting from afar before entering the Heaven-Ascending Tower.

"Brother Su He." The black-robed youth nodded in reply.

"One black and one white, Yin-Yang Eyes!" Only then did the crowd realize that the black-robed youth was Xuanyuzi, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's current representative.

"Brother, who was that black-robed youth? An emperor's child of the current age, or a prodigy from ancient times?" No one questioned his words anymore, and their voices carried a trace of awe.

He was a peerless prodigy who might well be able to fight an emperor's child.

Xuanyuzi shook his head again. The person was too mysterious. The arts and laws he had used formed a system of their own and did not come from any inheritance.

That made it all the more astonishing. A Dao and laws comprehended on his own had allowed him to contend with Dugu Baitian. He was too monstrous.

Prodigy after prodigy arrived and entered the Heaven-Ascending Tower.

The Sun Holy Body, the Zhoutian Star Physique, the Heavenly Tyrant Body, the ferocious beast Qiongqi...

They had obtained fortuitous opportunities in the first half of the tenth stage and only came after bringing themselves to peak condition.

"The current age truly is glorious. Physiques and prodigies rarely seen since time immemorial have gathered to compete." A being outside the Heaven-Ascending Tower sighed. This was an unprecedented great age; even the Nine-Crown King was not truly unrivaled and still had formidable enemies.

"Qinghua!" The red list flashed, and a new name appeared. It belonged to Qinghua, a pureblood Qinghua Bird of an extremely powerful lineage that depended on the Phoenix Clan.

"Ying Xingyuan!"

Someone else had made the red list. Though he was not near the top, it was still heartening.

"He's a genius of Great Qin. Everyone with that surname is extraordinary," said a lean old man. It was an extraordinary lineage that bore far too many titles.

The first Human Emperor, the strongest imperial dynasty, the Dao lineage with the most expansive territory...

It was a lineage steeped in legend, one that filled people with longing.

"Hunjun!"

"Tianfeng!"

As time passed, more and more names appeared on the red stele, and the beings watching grew numb.

The red list was packed with names. Whenever someone made the list, someone else fell off it. Names were pushed out one after another, including those of sages who had left their mark on ancient history.

Such was the current age. How glorious it was, surpassing every era before it.