The Overlord Heavenly Venerable was getting married.
The Sacred Body and Tyrant Body Lineages were to be joined by marriage.
The news that the Overlord Heavenly Venerable, one of the Ten Great Heavenly Venerables, was to be married caused a sensation throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
Prominent figures from the universe's great holy lands, aristocratic families, and ancient inheritances, and even from the Life Forbidden Zones, came to congratulate Xiao Ping'an on his wedding.
After the news spread, streak after streak of divine light appeared in the Life Forbidden Zones. The Dark Supremes did not emerge, but powerful Quasi-Supremes, radiating a presence that threw heaven and earth into turmoil, walked out of the forbidden zones.
In the starry sky of the universe, streaks of divine light tore across the darkness, dazzling beyond compare.
At this time, Heavenly Venerable corresponded to Heavenly Emperor, as exemplified by the honorific titles of the Nine Great Heavenly Venerables. Ordinary Great Emperors were called Supremes, such as the Light-Dark Supreme, the Heaven-Abandoning Supreme, and the Samsara Supreme.
Rumble.
As the supreme Great Daos intertwined and collided, countless terrifying presences spread out.
All things in heaven and earth felt that terrifying pressure of the Great Dao.
It was the pressure produced by Quasi-Supremes passing through the sky. Those powerful Quasi-Emperors did not deliberately target anyone, yet as they passed through the stars, the beings in the Life Source Lands still trembled in fear.
Now, streaks of incomparably brilliant divine light crisscrossed the cold, dark universe, descending upon the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star and Heavenly Pillar Mountain.
One Quasi-Supreme or Great Saint after another radiated a powerful, terrifying presence.
In this era, Quasi-Emperors were not yet called Quasi-Emperors; they should have been called Quasi-Supremes. Of course, they were occasionally called Quasi-Emperors of another sort, and a few were also called Quasi-Emperors.
After all, the titles Supreme, Emperor, and Great Emperor did not come out of thin air. They were names established by custom in certain places.
Whichever side was stronger, its terminology prevailed.
For example, the Longevity Heavenly Venerable, the Carefree Heavenly Venerate, and the Annihilation Heavenly Venerable were still called Heavenly Venerables in Ye Fan's era.
The Qilin Ancient Emperor, the Myriad Dragon Emperor, and the Ancient Emperor Xuanwu were still called emperors even in Ye Fan's era, for the same reason.
It was only a title; there was no need to get hung up on whether it existed at this time. Even if it did not, if Xiao Ping'an took the lead in using it, he could certainly start a trend.
Xiao Ping'an preferred the titles used by later generations. Rather than being called the Overlord Heavenly Venerable, he preferred to be called the Overlord Heavenly Emperor, although some also called him the Tyrant Heaven Emperor.
In any case, those who came to offer congratulations were generally led by Quasi-Emperors or Great Saints. At the very least, they had to be Saints.
If their cultivation was too low, they were not even qualified to enter the Heavenly Pillar Mountain Holy Land.
After all, the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands were simply too vast and had given birth to too many powerful beings. Not every little shrimp was qualified to pay his respects to Xiao Ping'an.
The exception was when those powerful beings brought their own juniors to pay their respects.
In the past, many peerless geniuses had been active on the Starry Sky Ancient Road.
But after Xiao Ping'an swiftly attained the Dao, the Heavenly Tyrant Blood suppressed every other bloodline, and the universe's cultivation environment underwent an earth-shaking transformation.
The whole world no longer permitted those peerless geniuses to advance, cutting off their paths to Dao attainment in this lifetime.
Many peerless geniuses had now sealed themselves away, hoping to attain the Dao in the days to come.
Those who had not succeeded in attaining the Dao could seal themselves in Divine Source and wait for a later age. It could also be called an alternative way of achieving longevity.
Xiao Ping'an therefore did not feel that he had treated those peerless geniuses unfairly. Who told them to be inferior to him?
Of course, apart from the peerless geniuses who had sealed themselves away, more geniuses of the present age had not done so, choosing instead to continue cultivating.
These peerless geniuses had a steadier mindset.
They did not make Dao attainment their ultimate goal. In their eyes, becoming a Saint or a Great Saint was already a remarkable achievement.
In any case, they were inferior to the truly supreme geniuses and could not contend with them on the emperor's path.
Thus, those peerless geniuses who had the makings of Great Saints took some pleasure in the misfortune of those with the potential to become Great Emperors, who had been forced to seal themselves away.
In the current era, there were few experts who had achieved alternative Dao attainment.
The only experts now generally acknowledged to have achieved alternative Dao attainment were Great Accomplishment Sacred Bodies and Great Accomplished Tyrant Bodies.
But only Xiao Ping'an, a Great Accomplished Tyrant Body, had undergone ultimate sublimation and truly attained the Dao on the foundation of alternative Dao attainment.
As for people with other physiques, none had yet stepped into the domain of alternative Dao attainment.
Chuan Ying, for example, who would be famous in later generations, had not yet achieved alternative Dao attainment.
As for the foremost divine general of Emperor Venerable's Ancient Heavenly Court, Emperor Venerable had not yet lived a second life or established the Ancient Heavenly Court. Perhaps Chuan Ying had not yet been born, or was hiding in some remote corner.
People's understanding of alternative Dao attainment was still very superficial.
They thought that this realm belonged exclusively to Sacred Bodies and Tyrant Bodies, but that was not actually the case.
By all rights, a very small number of Great Perfection Saint Spirits should also have reached the realm of alternative Dao attainment.
But Xiao Ping'an had yet to hear of a Great Perfection Saint Spirit at the level of alternative Dao attainment.
Of course, he might simply have been ignorant and ill-informed. Perhaps some Great Perfection Saint Spirits had become Dark Supremes and gone into hiding.
Xiao Ping'an was getting married, and as the Heavenly Venerable who had attained the Dao in the present age, he had stirred the entire cultivation world of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
Xiao Ping'an had established his illustrious reputation with the lives of the Carefree Heavenly Venerate and the four Dark Supremes of Beast God Mountain.
The potential he had displayed was already recognized by all as strength on the level of the Nine Great Heavenly Venerables.
He stood alongside the Longevity Heavenly Venerable, Lingbao Heavenly Venerable, Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, Annihilation Heavenly Venerable, Carefree Heavenly Venerate, and the others, as the tenth Heavenly Venerable.
Some even had a vague premonition that the Overlord Heavenly Venerable's strength would continue to grow, and that he might one day surpass the other Nine Great Heavenly Venerables to become the strongest of the Ten Great Heavenly Venerables.
This Great Accomplished Tyrant Body who had successfully attained the Dao would surely illuminate the entire history of cultivation.
Xiao Ping'an had only just attained the Dao and possessed the Immortal Divine Medicine, the Ginseng Fruit Tree, ensuring that he could live a second life. Even by the most conservative estimate, people believed he could live for more than thirty thousand years.
After all, that Great Accomplishment Sacred Body had lived a full sixteen thousand years, despite having only one lifetime.
If he had been able to consume an Immortal Divine Medicine, that First-Generation Sacred Physique might have lived even longer.
As a Great Accomplished Tyrant Body, Xiao Ping'an had a sufficiently long lifespan even if that Great Accomplishment Sacred Body was used as the standard.
What these people did not know was that Xiao Ping'an had long since worked out several viable paths to becoming a Red Dust Immortal, based on the methods of later generations.
If they knew that Xiao Ping'an did not want to die after two lives or slash himself to become a Dark Supreme, but instead intended to continue transforming life after life in the mortal world and achieve Red Dust Immortal Ascension, they might have thought him mad.
Before a venture succeeded, one certainly could not go around talking about it.
Just as before Xiao Ping'an transmigrated, telling others about a business before making it a success would only invite ridicule.
Only after he had truly built the business up could others see that he had made his fortune, even without his boasting.
Before Xiao Ping'an had successfully walked the Red Dust Immortal Path, he did not intend to share certain things.
He planned to walk the path himself first.
This was not because he was selfish, but because no one had truly walked this path successfully at present.
Even though the Desolate Heavenly Emperor had once walked the Red Dust Immortal Path, he had not passed down such a method.
The arrival of so many powerful figures could be said to have shown Xiao Ping'an ample respect.
What surprised Xiao Ping'an even more was that the Longevity Heavenly Venerable had actually brought the Samsara Supreme, the Light-Dark Supreme, and the Heaven-Abandoning Supreme-Dark Supremes who would be notorious in later generations-to personally congratulate him on his wedding.
The Huashe Supreme and the Zhulong Supreme of the Kunlun Immortal Clan had also come.
Even the Annihilation Heavenly Venerable, who would later be plotted against by Emperor Venerable and sealed on the Road to Immortality on the Flying Immortal Star, had come to congratulate Xiao Ping'an on his wedding.
It was truly hard to imagine that these Dark Supremes had personally emerged from the forbidden zones to congratulate Xiao Ping'an on his wedding. When they arrived, the atmosphere reached its peak. The whole world was truly celebrating.
The wedding was held at the Heavenly Pillar Mountain Holy Land.
It was not held in the Heavenly Pillar Mountain Ancient Cave, of course. Instead, a series of heavenly palaces had been built at the foot of Heavenly Pillar Mountain and in the surrounding area.
Xiao Ping'an had personally refined them for the wedding. There were also pure lands and worlds he had personally opened up, which he had developed to an incredible degree. They were no weaker than naturally formed Life Source Lands.
"Congratulations, Overlord Heavenly Venerable!"
"Best wishes, Overlord Heavenly Venerable."
One heroic, imposing figure after another descended, offering Xiao Ping'an congratulations on his wedding and presenting gift after gift.
Among the gifts were even some of the Nine Great Divine Metals, as well as Primordial Life Stone, Heavenly Fate Rock, and even the fruits of Immortal Divine Medicines.
These Dark Supremes lurked in the various Life Forbidden Zones.
In this era, there were more than thirty kinds of Immortal Divine Medicine altogether. Unlike in Ye Fan's era, when many had vanished in the long river of history and only a dozen or so named specimens remained.
More than half of the Immortal Divine Medicines were still alive at this time.
Thus, Xiao Ping'an also got to see some Immortal Divine Medicines that would never be seen in later generations.
Xiao Ping'an placed great importance on these Immortal Divine Medicines, which contained abundant Longevity Substance and could allow one to live a second life.
Whenever someone gave him the fruit or juice of an Immortal Divine Medicine, Xiao Ping'an would always give a Ginseng Fruit in return.
Having this Ginseng Fruit made exchanging for Immortal Divine Medicines truly convenient.
Presumably, these Dark Supremes had the same purpose in mind: besides befriending Xiao Ping'an, they also wanted to exchange for a Ginseng Fruit.
Xiao Ping'an refused none of the gifts. Depending on how precious they were, he would naturally return a gift for each one after the wedding.
After accepting the gifts, he looked at the many powerful figures, his face full of smiles.
"Fellow Daoists, thank you. Please, take your seats!"
With Xiao Ping'an's current strength, he had long since risen above the many Supremes, but he did not put on the airs of a righteous gentleman toward the Dark Supremes who had come to attend the wedding. Instead, he politely invited them to take their seats.
After all, everyone helps carry a flower-decked wedding sedan. Since they had shown him respect, he could not spurn their goodwill.
Although they did commit many evil deeds in later generations, at this time many Supremes who had used the longevity secret art of slashing themselves had yet to taste blood or devour so many living beings.
Xiao Ping'an actually wanted to tell them that, with their strength, they could easily open up pure lands, raise demonic beasts with vigorous Qi and blood there, and harvest them at regular intervals.
There was no need at all to devour most of the living beings in entire worlds and leave those worlds drenched in blood.
Today was Xiao Ping'an's wedding day, so it was naturally not a suitable time to discuss such matters.
After all, people could easily misunderstand and think Xiao Ping'an was warning the Dark Supremes and the forbidden zones.
After all, Xiao Ping'an's status was different now. He was the renowned Overlord Heavenly Venerable. It would be bad if people misunderstood and thought that, like the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body, he was determined to kill every Dark Supreme.
Perhaps so many Supremes had come here to sound out Xiao Ping'an's attitude toward the Dark Supremes and the forbidden zones.
If Xiao Ping'an held the same view as the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body, then after today, the next time they met, they would be enemies.
Xiao Ping'an did not have so many thoughts at the moment.
He had reasons for killing the Carefree Heavenly Venerate and the four Dark Supremes of Beast God Mountain.
Forced into a corner, he had killed the Carefree Heavenly Venerate in retaliation, and he had slain the four Dark Supremes of Beast God Mountain to avenge his parents.
These reasons were all aboveboard.
Xiao Ping'an did not have as many thoughts as Ye Fan would in later generations. For the time being, he had no intention of wiping out all the Dark Supremes; he only wanted to ponder the method of Red Dust Immortal Ascension.
After all, from the end of the Mythological Era to Ye Fan's time, roughly three to five million years would pass.
According to the original setting of Shrouding the Heavens, in Ye Fan's era, of the four Great Accomplished Tyrant Bodies sealed inside the Tyrant Body Ancient Cave, one had still exhausted his lifespan and passed away silently in the forbidden zone, even though he had been sealed in Immortal Source.
This showed, first, that even when sealed in Immortal Source, a Great Accomplished Tyrant Body's life continued to ebb away, only at a slower rate.
It also showed that not every Great Accomplished Tyrant Body had unleashed a Dark Turmoil. At least this one who had died would rather pass away on the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star than come out to unleash a Dark Turmoil and devour living beings.
With Xiao Ping'an's current strength, he certainly could not be sealed away unless he was willing to slash himself, and Xiao Ping'an had no desire to become such a Dark Supreme.
His future goal was Red Dust Immortal Ascension.
If Xiao Ping'an could not achieve Red Dust Immortal Ascension in these millions of years, that would make him look far too inadequate.
Although by Ye Fan's era, the Netherworld Venerable Duan De, the Undying Heavenly Emperor, and Emperor Venerable had likewise crossed millions of years and might still not have become Red Dust Immortals,
Xiao Ping'an did not want to become a Red Dust Immortal at a leisurely pace like them.
The best method was naturally to replicate Ye Fan's Red Dust Immortal Path.
But whether he could successfully walk it remained a question.
Today was Xiao Ping'an's wedding day, but his parents were already gone.
Although many relatives and friends were still alive, a sudden bitterness welled up in Xiao Ping'an's heart.
Xiao Ping'an, who had transmigrated here, had come to regard them as his true parents.
In the end, Xiao Ping'an let out a soft sigh and suppressed his regret at having lost his parents.
He had already taken revenge on the Dark Supremes who had killed them.
The Tyrant Body Ancestral Star had now become Xiao Ping'an's foundation.
In the future, if he cultivated to the Immortal Emperor realm or became a Sacrificial Dao expert, he could pull them out of the long river of time and bring them back to life.
Since there was still a way to bring them back into the world, and hope remained, Xiao Ping'an would not give up.
That was also why Xiao Ping'an could suppress his sorrow.
"Congratulations on your wedding, Overlord Heavenly Venerable!"
Besides these Dark Supremes, the holy lands and aristocratic families of many ancient inheritances had also sent powerful figures to offer congratulations.
Most of the powerful figures who came later had unremarkable cultivation, appearing to range from the Saint Realm to the Great Saint Realm.
Even so, Xiao Ping'an still had his avatars personally welcome them.
These avatars were not used for battle. He could create tens of millions of them with a single thought, making them perfectly suited to receiving guests.
They were like monkey hairs; even if they disappeared, he would suffer no loss.
Thus, Xiao Ping'an welcomed nearly everyone who came to the wedding.
Only after all the guests were seated did Xiao Ping'an breathe a temporary sigh of relief.
After all, he had worried that the Dark Supremes might be blind to the situation and come together to cause trouble.
Though he was not worried for himself, it would be bad if a great battle broke out and injured his relatives, friends, and guests.
When the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body was alive, many Dark Supremes had hated him and refused to give him an Immortal Divine Medicine. As a result, he had died after one life without even sealing himself away. Xiao Ping'an did not know what he had been thinking.
He hoped the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body's enemies would not be blind enough to come here and cause trouble.