Carefree Heavenly Venerate truly was no match for Overlord Heavenly Venerable.
Time and again, he used substitutes to die in his place, yet he still could not gain the upper hand in the fierce battle.
The Dark Supremes fell silent as well.
After a long time, one of the Dark Supremes spoke. "This Overlord Heavenly Venerable truly is terrifying beyond measure. He's worthy of being a Heavenly Venerable named Overlord."
"None of us Supremes is a match for him."
"He commands the powers of time and space. Those heaven-defying forbidden powers are far too difficult to fight against."
Though Carefree Heavenly Venerate's speed was astonishing, he could never quite keep track of Xiao Ping'an and was almost entirely on the defensive, taking blow after blow.
Xiao Ping'an struck him again and again, making him cough up mouthfuls of blood as his body cracked apart.
Xiao Ping'an casually refined Carefree Heavenly Venerate's light of time.
As Xiao Ping'an absorbed more and more of the Light of Time, he found that his understanding of the Time Great Dao had grown deeper.
He severed time with one hand and space with the other. In particular, his means of severing time showed faint signs of undergoing a sublimation and transformation.
All at once, Xiao Ping'an gained an insight. Though each person comprehended the same Time Great Dao, their understanding was different. Carefree Heavenly Venerate's understanding of it was profound enough to give him new insights.
Xiao Ping'an stretched out both hands, the power of time in his left and the power of space in his right.
The powers of time and space surged. The shattered spacetime and Carefree Heavenly Venerate alike seemed to be swallowed into a spacetime prison.
The powers of time and space merged, forming what looked like a cauldron furnace. The myriad Daos of heaven and earth boiled and burned fiercely within it.
Carefree Heavenly Venerate was enraged as he watched the scene around him. It was as though heaven and earth were being split open, with chaotic Qi spreading everywhere, threatening to swallow and refine him completely.
"Pursuing the Dao and chasing immortality, I dare ask the heavens: are there True Immortals? River of time... manifest!"
Carefree Heavenly Venerate roared, and a mysterious light drowned the universe.
A mysterious river appeared, surging and roaring as it flowed throughout the cauldron furnace.
This river of time was formed from the laws of the Great Dao. The breath of passing years flowed within it, blotting out heaven and earth.
This was Carefree Heavenly Venerate's strongest attack.
The cauldron furnace shattered, and the river of time drowned that part of the world.
Rumble!
The earth-shaking explosion sent the chaos there surging.
When the battlefield fell quiet, Carefree Heavenly Venerate was covered in blood and a dense web of cracks. The myriad Daos of heaven and earth wailed.
Carefree Heavenly Venerate had suffered an utterly crushing defeat.
His Nine Secrets: Xing had entered the domain of time, but in the end, it was no match for Xiao Ping'an's Nine Secrets: Ba.
Though Xiao Ping'an had not killed him, Carefree Heavenly Venerate had suffered a backlash from time.
Fortunately, Carefree Heavenly Venerate had cut his losses in time and had not slain himself outright. Though both his primordial spirit and body were injured, he could still recover after a period of cultivation.
"Haha..." Carefree Heavenly Venerate threw back his head and laughed, a complicated expression on his face.
Seeing the old man's Dao heart seemingly shattered, Xiao Ping'an paid him no further attention. He shook his head and left.
He did not take the old man as a Tyrant Slave. He would let him live or die as he pleased.
"Hand over the Nine Secrets: Jie to me!"
"Then we can put this matter behind us. Take care of yourself," Xiao Ping'an's voice rang out.
With a thunderous boom, Carefree Heavenly Venerate's body exploded into a shower of light. Rather than returning to the Carefree Ancient Star, he rushed toward the Reincarnation Sea.
He specialized in studying the power of time, yet before Xiao Ping'an's Time Great Dao, he had indeed suffered an utterly crushing defeat.
His Dao heart had shattered this time, and there was no telling how long it would take to recover.
Carefree Heavenly Venerate had become a stepping stone for Overlord Heavenly Venerable, making the latter seem all the more powerful.
The tales of Overlord Heavenly Venerable became immortal legends, once again causing a sensation throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
Time flew, never stopping for any one person.
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Ping'an was thirteen thousand years old.
One genius after another whom he had once heard of exhausted their lifespans and fell.
Apart from the few who sealed themselves in Divine Source, most faced life and death with equanimity and departed quietly.
Watching his relatives and friends pass away one after another, Xiao Ping'an too felt how precious time was.
The Tyrant Body Ancestral Star was indeed powerful, but Xiao Ping'an had not gone out on campaigns to establish a Heavenly Court or some other great power.
Like a homebody, he stayed on the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star, earnestly studying the path of the Red Dust Immortal.
He was the Heavenly Venerable of the current age. Though he was thirteen thousand years old, his blood and Qi were still as vigorous as the sea, and his power had reached its peak. No Dark Supreme dared provoke him.
While he lived, no Dark Supreme dared unleash a Dark Turmoil. This was the respect they showed the Great Emperor of the current age, an unspoken rule accepted by all.
Xiao Ping'an also kept to the rules and did not move against those Dark Supremes.
All he wanted now was to become a Red Dust Immortal. Even if he had some thought of leveling the forbidden zones, he would never act on it now. At the very least, with his current strength, he was incapable of razing every dark forbidden zone.
Before he became a Red Dust Immortal, such efforts would be futile.
After all, if he died without becoming a Red Dust Immortal, sooner or later new Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors would turn into new forbidden zones in future generations.
When Xiao Ping'an reached fifteen thousand years of age, the first white hair appeared on his head.
Xiao Ping'an looked at that first white hair and gently plucked it out.
His body then gleamed, and a black hair instantly grew in its place. His blood and Qi were still vigorous, and he possessed peak fighting strength.
While studying how to become a Red Dust Immortal, Xiao Ping'an also refined many weapons and tossed them to the members of his clan on the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star.
Cheers immediately erupted, truly like thunder.
"Overlord Heavenly Venerable!"
"May Overlord Heavenly Venerable's lifespan be boundless!"
Though he had casually refined the secret treasures using stars plucked from the sky, once he had engraved Great Emperor Formation Patterns on them, each had incredible uses and was a treasure of incalculable value in the eyes of those cultivators.
Though not as mysterious or powerful as Extreme Dao Weapons, the Great Emperor Formation Patterns within them were enough for their wielders to use them as Quasi-Emperor divine weapons, or as forbidden weapons on the level of Extreme Dao Weapons.
Of course, the best way to use them was to avoid clashing with Extreme Dao Weapons and wield them as deterrents instead.
Xiao Ping'an thought about refining a body of faith, just as the Undying Heavenly Emperor had refined the Undying Daoist. He had condensed him from the power of faith and granted him independent life, giving him the strength of a peak Great Emperor in his second life.
Xiao Ping'an now decided to refine a similar body of faith, like the Undying Daoist.
He had essentially confined that power of faith to the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star. There was some elsewhere, but most came from the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star.
He thought that, although he had not established a Heavenly Court or commanded universal allegiance and ruled the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands like Emperor Venerable or the Undying Heavenly Emperor, the power of faith on the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star was already enough for him to refine a body of faith.
It did not matter even if it was a little weaker.
If the body of faith was too weak and lacked the strength of a peak Great Emperor in his second life, even if it was merely a Great Saint or even a Quasi-Emperor, sealing it in the abyss and leaving it as a foundation for his descendants would still be a good option.
In any case, Xiao Ping'an also regarded his body of faith as a means of achieving the longevity of a Red Dust Immortal.
After all, the Undying Heavenly Emperor had already proven that a body of faith could indeed exist for a very long time, truly cultivating and living independently like a separate individual.
In the temple of Overlord Heavenly Venerable on the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star, the divine statue had been personally refined by Xiao Ping'an.
Now divine light and auspicious colors rose from it, and the power of faith surged without ever waning.
The entire temple had been cast from Divine Source, and the body of faith was frantically drawing in the power of faith.
Blood and Qi swirled around the body of faith as thunder roared. A strand of Xiao Ping'an's true spirit was inside him, constantly developing and growing stronger.
As long as there was power of faith, this body of faith would continue to grow.
Xiao Ping'an merely felt that the body of faith was somewhat strange. Though it drew in the power of faith, its formation felt a little similar to that of a Saint Spirit.
The divine statue refined from stone was like a treasured land nurturing a Saint Spirit. When the day came that the statue transformed into a body of flesh and blood, the body of faith would have reached great accomplishment.
One day, something happened that surprised Xiao Ping'an.
That was right: it concerned the old turtle he had taken in.
He had already been very old. Although some liquid medicine from an Immortal Divine Medicine, given to him by Carefree Heavenly Venerate, had allowed him to live much longer,
several thousand years had passed since that great battle, and the old turtle had once again entered old age. His body was hunched and as thin as firewood.
Yet now the old turtle was like one reborn, having taken the form of a young man.
Xiao Ping'an had practically watched with his own eyes as the old turtle forcibly lived out a second life.
A look of surprise appeared on Xiao Ping'an's face. He caught the old gatekeeping turtle in his hand and examined him carefully.
He truly had lived a new life through his own ability, rather than because he had taken a small amount of liquid medicine from an Immortal Divine Medicine.
"Greetings, Overlord Heavenly Venerable!"
"This old servant was close to death, but for some reason, I merely took a nap, and when I woke up, I had lived out a second life."
The old turtle looked utterly loyal, his eyes full of bewilderment.
He was still in the Great Saint Realm and had not become a Quasi-Emperor, but his body had already become so young.
In this new life, his blood and Qi could be said to be as vigorous as the sea. With the long lifespans of old turtles like him, this Great Saint turtle could live at least nine thousand years in this life.
When Xiao Ping'an studied methods of longevity, he had never been able to find a clue as to how to nurture longevity Immortal Essence within his own body and live a new life.
Ye Fan in the original story had sought guidance not only from the Ruthless Great Emperor, but also from people in reality who had succeeded in living a second life through their own abilities: the Divine King Jiang Taixu, Guan Cheng on the Starry Sky Ancient Road, the Golden Crow Great Emperor, the Little Divine Silkworm who had undergone transformation, and others. With them as references, living a new life through his own ability had not been so difficult for him.
Xiao Ping'an, meanwhile, had always wanted to find more such people, especially those who had lived a new life through their own abilities.
He had originally planned to visit those Dark Supremes or Heavenly Venerates and discuss how to live a new life.
He had never expected that the old turtle who opened the gate for him had actually lived a second life.
He carefully took the old turtle's hand and examined him, divine light flickering in his eyes as he sought to see through him completely.
He did not overlook the slightest change.
After a careful study, Xiao Ping'an felt that he had gained a major insight.
He felt that perhaps he too could succeed in living a new life in a similar way.
Xiao Ping'an then began to study this method carefully.
The years passed leisurely, and in the blink of an eye Xiao Ping'an was eighteen thousand years old.
By this time, the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body's twin daughters had also entered old age. Their blood and Qi had dried up, and they could no longer hold on.
They each ate a ginseng fruit and successfully lived a second life.
Because they had only achieved Alternative Dao Attainment, their first lives had lasted about fifteen thousand years, excluding the time they had spent sealed in Divine Source.
Xiao Ping'an, on the other hand, did not enter old age until he was eighteen thousand.
By now, Xiao Ping'an's hair had turned somewhat white, but his blood and Qi were still vigorous.
People had not expected Xiao Ping'an's lifespan to be so long.
After all, the first Great Accomplishment Sacred Body had lived for around twenty thousand years, and many believed that he had actually obtained an Immortal Divine Medicine.
It was just that he had been gravely wounded in his battle with a Dark Supreme and had already taken the Immortal Divine Medicine beforehand.
Those roughly twenty thousand years were actually the time the first Great Accomplishment Sacred Body had spent living two lives.
Thus, for the twin sisters to live fifteen thousand years was already an exceptionally long life.
After all, an ordinary Great Emperor or an ordinary Dark Supreme had a lifespan of only ten thousand years. Those who lived longer lasted little more than ten thousand.
Only those with special races and talents, such as the Undying Heavenly Emperor or the Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor, or those with great strength like the Nine Great Heavenly Venerables, could live so long. Their first lives might exceed twenty thousand years.
Judging by Overlord Heavenly Venerable Xiao Ping'an's current condition, living past twenty thousand years in his first life appeared to be no problem.
A few thousand more years passed, and Xiao Ping'an reached twenty thousand. He still had not died.
He had yet to consume an Immortal Divine Medicine.
One day, Xiao Ping'an grew restless after a long period of stillness and wanted to travel the starry sky, traversing the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
That day, he descended upon a primeval Earth. Just as he was about to visit the place where Mount Kunlun stood, he suddenly had a strange feeling on Mount Tai, as though someone were watching him.
He immediately turned and saw a plump figure from behind, rapidly disappearing into the distance.
The plump man fled at an almost uncanny speed. Aside from Carefree Heavenly Venerate, Xiao Ping'an had never seen anyone who could run so fast.
That Xiao Ping'an himself found him fast showed just how swift the man was.
Looking at the plump man dressed as a Daoist priest, Xiao Ping'an suddenly had a thought. Could this man be Duan De of a later age?
Is he the Source Emperor or the Netherworld Venerable now?
"Fellow Daoist, please wait!" Xiao Ping'an shouted. The plump figure was far too familiar. For a moment, he seemed to overlap with the fat man in the trilogy Xiao Ping'an had read. The more Xiao Ping'an looked at him from behind, the more he resembled Fatty Duan De.
Xiao Ping'an was the Heavenly Venerable of the current age, ranked among the Ten Great Heavenly Venerables. His words carried the force of law, and no one dared disobey his commands.
Yet the fat man paid Xiao Ping'an no heed at all. With a whoosh, he ascended into the heavens and flew into the starry sky.
Xiao Ping'an strode after him, likewise soaring into the heavens in pursuit through the starry sky.
This man was definitely an expert on the level of a Heavenly Venerable. Otherwise, he could never have come close to shaking Xiao Ping'an off. His fleeing speed was truly astonishing.