The warm pavilion was quiet and tranquil.
Zhong had hidden its traces and continued to roam the river of ti. Although it could engage in direct dialogue with Wu Wang, it could not directly reveal its own traces in the bygone years.
Wu Wang sat silently, the words that Zhong had left behind still swirling in his heart.
He began to feel uneasy.
Zhong said that this world would shatter for a reason not yet determined, at a fixed point in ti.
This was the ultimate challenge he had to face.
Either prevent the collapse of the world, or lead all beings to escape from this existence.
To achieve this, he needed to beco stronger, strong enough to make the Heavenly Dao as perfect as possible, thereby gathering all the Great Daos of this world.
Wu Wang had questioned himself before—was it his cultivation of the Taiyi Dao that was causing the world to shatter?
But he quickly dismissed this notion.
Zhong had seen the tiline where Wu Wang did not beco the Heavenly Emperor. In most cases, the world shattered in the final showdown between the Human Domain and the Heaven Palace, with everything returning to darkness and silence.
"What exactly is the cause?"
Wu Wang murmured softly, his figure slowly leaning back.
Lying on the ground, his head resting on his arms, a look of confusion appeared in his eyes, just as it often did back in the Northern Wilderness.
There was reason behind Zhong’s reluctance to speak of these things before.
Now he found it sowhat difficult to focus his spiritual mind to comprehend the Dao...
"Alas."
It was ti for an adjustnt here.
Wu Wang closed his eyes and concentrated, trying his best to empty his mind, breathing slowly as if asleep.
Four hours later, a commotion arose outside the warm pavilion, where a group of young cultivators from the Human Domain had gathered to begin one of the traditional activities of the Human Domain.
A martial arts contest.
The Human Emperor Pavilion offered a small prize, and those young cultivators eager to make a na for themselves stepped forward, engaging in ’combat’, with the victor remaining humble and the loser accepting their defeat.
Wu Wang stood up, yawning as if he had forgotten his previous conversation with the divine soul of Zhong, pushed open the gently fragrant wooden door, and walked over to the railing to watch the young people dueling below.
He felt slightly dazed.
By age, he should be down there with them...
There wasn’t much ti left for him.
"How goes it?"
The voice of Shen Nong rang beside Wu Wang’s ear. When Wu Wang turned around, he saw Shen Nong walking leisurely with a wooden staff, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
But within and outside the arena, hundreds of thousands of Immortal Consciousnesses and gazes had not noticed their presence at all.
Wu Wang let out a soft sigh and countered instead of answering, "When I was conversing with the future earlier, did senior feel anything?"
"A Dao that does not yet belong to the present was unfolding inside you," Shen Nong pondered for a mont, "It seems to contain endless mysteries, yet all seems to be void. That’s all, though. I couldn’t detect anything else."
"Hmm," Wu Wang said with a smile, "That will be my Dao in the future."
Shen Nong fell silent for a while before finally uttering two words: "Impressive."
"I already have the answer to that question," Wu Wang said softly.
"The answer is the destruction of the world. About two thousand years from now, oddities will erge in the void. Those oddities should be the long-departed beings and divine spirits of the Great Wilderness, especially the strong gods who fell in the first and second Divine Eras."
He wasn’t exactly lying; he was rely articulating a possibility.
Even Wu Wang himself did not fully know what form of great catastrophe he would ultimately face down the road.
Shen Nong’s brows furrowed deeply as he couldn’t help but reflect.
"Only two thousand years?"
"Yes," Wu Wang whispered, "Senior, do you understand tilines and world lines?"
"I’ll try my best to understand," Shen Nong said, "Go ahead and explain."
"There’s another ," Wu Wang said,
"Or rather, there is another path I could take. On that path, I leave the Northern Wilderness, cross the West Sea to enter the Human Domain. Then I begin a journey forward, fiercely battling all the way, gaining the support of the Human Domain, overthrowing the Heaven Palace, and establishing the Celestial Court.
"But the success of that ti ca at a heavy cost, with only Jingwei remaining by my side. Not long after the establishnt of the Celestial Court, the great disaster I spoke of occurred, and the world was destroyed.
"In the process of the world’s destruction, countless Great Daos perished, and all things returned to chaos. The Taiyi Dao appeared, which I grasped. Then I used this Dao to create a treasure and sent it back in ti to influence the past...
"That’s why I was able to rise so swiftly within this world."
Shen Nong’s expression at that ti was sothing Wu Wang would rember for years to co. There was a hint of dawning realization, so confusion, and finally, a look of resignation that seed to say, ’My daughter isn’t escaping your clutches.’
"Senior, what do you think?"
"Not bad," Shen Nong said with a smile, "Though it defies common sense, it is not too unimaginable. The Great Dao is mysterious, nurturing myriad spirits."
"As long as Senior can accept it."
Wu Wang raised his hand and rubbed his brow. "So, it is crucial that you stay healthy now, Senior, and do not let the Human Domain stray from its path. Two thousand years, just another two thousand years of stability is all the Human Domain needs."
"Good," Shen Nong answered with a solemn look, "I trust you, and that Great Dao is itself the proof. But..."
"Please speak, Senior."
"You shouldn’t feel the need to bear the weight of the entire world on your shoulders; nobody can do that. Not The Ancient Emperor of the Suiren Clan, nor the Third God King."
Shen Nong’s wrinkled hand fell on Wu Wang’s shoulder, patting it gently.
"I do not know the specifics of the catastrophe, but it must be incredibly difficult, far beyond what this world can bear. But everything must be done one step at a ti, and the path must be walked step by step.
"In this life, as long as we can face ourselves without sha, there is no need to demand perfection.
"You’ve probably been through this kind of ti reversal more than once... Do you still have the mories?"
Wu Wang shook his head with a smile. "There is no such thing as traveling back to the past. Rather, it’s an interference with previous events through the Dao of ti, causing the entire world to develop in different directions."
"That’s good; at least you won’t be too exhausted."
Shen Nong’s eyes reflected the intertwined figures below as he said softly and with a smile, "Had you ntioned this earlier, I could have helped you sooner. So it seems you are the will that has been reversing ti all along."
As he spoke, Shen Nong took out a jade slip from his sleeve and pressed it into Wu Wang’s palm.
Shen Nong’s voice was tinged with a hint of ethereality, but it left Wu Wang sowhat astonished.
"Feeling the Taiyi Dao, I retrieved a treasure and unlocked a mory. This mory was personally sealed by Emperor Fuxi, and it contains a conversation between him and .
"Before Emperor Fuxi went to the Heaven Palace to find Emperor Shun, he sought out and told —there’s a will reversing the flow of ti, as if it is searching for a way to solve a particular problem.
"Such a will must be strong enough to have already transcended this world.
"But this will keeps trying, again and again, attempting to influence Emperor Fuxi’s thoughts, each ti assisting in his duel with Emperor Shun or increasing Emperor Shun’s injuries.
"Although Emperor Fuxi did not understand why, nor could he communicate with that will, he realized sothing.
"—He could not defeat Emperor Shun without destroying order, nor was he ant to defeat him.
"Emperor Shun was reserved for that will, and defeating Emperor Shun was just a stepping stone for that will to transcend the world.
"Emperor Fuxi hoped that this will ca from the Human Domain, that it belonged to a younger generation of the human race.
"After telling these words, Emperor Fuxi sealed the mory regarding this conversation, to be unsealed by the presence of your Dao.
"As for himself, Emperor Fuxi completely erased his mory of this matter, lest it be revealed to Emperor Shun when their Divine Souls clashed.
"Moreover, Emperor Fuxi would interfere with Emperor Shun, causing his mories to beco muddled and thus conceal the existence of that will."
After speaking, Shen Nong sighed softly.
"Emperor Fuxi divined a prophecy, and this jade slip contains his last divination. I have not looked at it. However, following Emperor Fuxi’s instructions, once my mory was unlocked by that Dao, I was to gift you this divination."
Wu Wang blinked, skeptically asking, "Really?"
"Who doesn’t have a trick up their sleeve?"
Shen Nong raised his hand and pointed to his head. "Who doesn’t have a secret?"
"Predecessor, you really are... an old reliable."
"Hmm?"
"It’s a complint," Wu Wang praised sincerely.
"Humph!"
With so disbelief, Shen Nong, leaning on his cane, walked to one side. "Rember to destroy this once you’ve finished, and let not this matter spread."
Wu Wang looked at the Jade Talisman in his hand, hesitated slightly, then sent a strand of Immortal Consciousness into it, quickly seeing an Eight Trigrams Picture slowly spinning.
As if sensing Wu Wang’s presence, the lines on the Eight Trigrams flashed with dazzling light.
The illusory figure of Emperor Fu Xi slowly appeared, standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at Wu Wang with a hint of a smile. He then pointed at the sky and spoke in a gentle voice:
"A single thread of hope within Ten Thousand Stars."
Having said this, the middle-aged man in the dark robe chuckled, and his phantom, along with the Eight Trigrams Picture, faded away.
Ten Thousand Stars?
Wu Wang paused, standing and contemplating deeply, unmoving for a long ti.
...
The next day, the Human Emperor Pavilion was crowded both inside and out.
Countless Immortal Soldiers, Cultivators piled up like mountains, Yuanxians as nurous as cow hairs, True Immortals everywhere to be seen, Heavenly Immortals grouping in threes and twos, flying high on clouds, seizing the opportunity to expand their circle of Dao companions.
All distinguished families from the Human Domain were present, and representatives of the major Sects of the Human Domain stood firmly upon the clouds.
Even today’s absolute protagonist—the Eastern Emperor—was startled by such a spectacle.
If the Heavenly Dao spared no effort to quickly mature the experts of the Human Domain, it really might be possible, in a short period of ti, to have Cultivators exhaust nature’s Spiritual Energy, and then cause... damage to the world’s original source. These six words were all that filled his mind now, almost driving him mad!
Of course, this was just Wu Wang’s inner voice.
Anyone looking at Wu Wang would think the Eastern Emperor was in high spirits, full of energy, possessing a strong affinity that no one could tire of seeing.
First ca the parade of the Two Emperors.
Wu Wang changed into a fitting black robe, his long hair simply tied up, giving the appearance of a handso Young Master from so Sect.
The Two Emperors stood atop the chariot, drawn by eight Heavenly Horses, soaring in a circle in front of the Immortals.
In an instant, the entire Human Domain seed to boil over.
All the Immortals hailed the Emperor, and sentient beings shouted for the Eastern Emperor.
It was as though the golden age of the Human race had arrived, and the ruler of the world had changed from Emperor Shun, who originally sought to destroy the Human Domain, to the Eastern Emperor, who supported it.
Wu Wang repeatedly gestured with his hand, and the excited cries of the Fairy Immortals resonated everywhere.
As the chariot passed by the seats of the Annihilation Sect, Wu Wang gave a thumbs up, and the group of female Disciples from the Black Desire Door scread excitedly.
It really had the feel of a Great Wilderness fan eting.
The chariot turned back, arriving at the floating platform directly above the Human Emperor Pavilion.
Here, dozens of high officials from the Human Domain were lined up. Yun Zhongjun also stood there with eleven ’sobered up but not completely sober’ Divine Spirits of the Celestial Court.
The chariot stopped, and Shen Nong took the initiative to grab Wu Wang’s arm, flying down from the chariot together.
Shen Nong said with a smile, "Wu Wang, I’ll say a few words first to set the stage."
"Please do, Predecessor," Wu Wang said with a smile, "Go ahead."
Thereupon, the Human Emperor and the Eastern Emperor bowed and saluted each other.
Shen Nong, leaning on his wooden staff, walked onto the small round platform, let out a light sigh, and delivered a ’not bad’ speech.
Essentially, he reflected on past hardships with gratitude, advising the Human Domain not to be impetuous, to curb arrogance and rashness, to continue protecting the weak in the future, and not to bully the Hundred Races just because of their own Cultivation level.
If the Human Domain beca arrogant and turned into the second Heaven Palace, oppressing the Hundred Races in reverse, then the Human Domain would inevitably be overthrown by the next Human Domain.
What the Human Domain represented was the resistance against oppression by sentient beings and the spirit of striving for survival and dignity within the world... and so on.
After Shen Nong finished speaking, he invited Wu Wang to the platform, and Wu Wang cleared his throat.
The entire world fell silent.
In the Human Domain, high and low, those familiar faces and unfamiliar ones, those youthful and bright eyes filled with fervor, and those sowhat murky ones brimming with excitent...
"I won," Wu Wang whispered.
A quietude lingered in all quarters, until a forr Young Master from a clan in the Northern Wilderness, who was mingling among the Immortals, threw open his arms and bellowed—and with that, the emotions brewing among all beings seed to find their outlet, as they shouted in unison.
"YAY—"
Wu Wang raised his hands and pressed down, and the roar across the heavens and earth ceased in an instant.
"The next enemy is Candle Dragon!" Wu Wang proclaid loudly,
"But with the Heavenly Dao in place, dealing with Candle Dragon is rely a question of how much price we’ll have to pay.
"Gentlen, it is ti to reacquaint yourselves with this world.
"In this world, no Divine Spirit can oppress beings without facing retribution, and this world will no longer allow the powerful to infringe upon the weak without limits!
"The noble souls of the Human Domain who fell to protect this ho!
"All the beings in the world who died with resentnt due to the selfish desires of a Divine Spirit!
"They have all beco the warning bells of a new order!
"I hold the Heavenly Dao for one thing only—equality for all beings!"
Around him, another thunderous roar erupted, as birds and beasts, insects, and fish shuddered within a radius of ten thousand miles.
After the roar sustained for a while, Wu Wang raised his hand again and pressed down, instantly controlling the situation.
Wu Wang smiled and said, "We’re all our own people here, so let’s say sothing less serious."
Many young Cultivators chuckled.
Wu Wang laughed twice, his hands behind his back, walking down from the platform. His gaze surveyed all around, and he spoke warmly,
"I was born in the Northern Wilderness and rose up in the Human Domain. I myself am a Cultivator. Though the decisive power ca mostly from Divine Power, I have also passed the transcendence catastrophe in the Human Domain.
"It can be said that I managed to successfully take Emperor Shun’s ’ho base,’ so to speak. At least fifty percent of the credit for this goes to the standoff between the Human Domain and the Heaven Palace, which caused Emperor Shun enormous trouble.
"Emperor Fuxi is sowhat my teacher;
"And Shen Nong, my esteed father-in-law!"
Shen Nong’s arm muscles, where he gripped his staff, visibly tensed!
Wu Wang quickly changed the subject:
"For a long ti, Emperor Shun, who held the Heaven Palace, has been trying to take back the Dao of Fire, which Emperor Suiren locked within the Human Domain.
"Today, as the Heavenly Dao is incomplete, it also needs the Dao of Fire to return to nature’s source and beco part of the Heavenly Dao, which would be a trendous boost to the Heavenly Dao.
"You all must know by now that the Dao of Fire has evolved into the Dao of Fuel and Fire. Naturally, the Heavenly Dao cannot forcefully separate this Great Dao.
"I will, on the basis of the Dao of Fuel and Fire, reignite the Dao of Fire, so that the two can rge while coexisting.
"Right here in the Human Domain, in front of all of you, I, as the leader of the Heavenly Dao, will establish the Fire God of the Celestial Court.
"Where is Fire Plu, the forr commander of the Human Emperor’s Imperial Guards!"
The Cultivators were familiar with this na and imdiately began looking to the left and right, but they could not locate Fire Plu.
At that mont, a loud and clear cry ca from the sky as a fireball flew rapidly from the south. As it drew closer, it was evident that it was a divine bird resembling a phoenix, with an upright female general standing on its back.
Her long dress burned like flas, her long hair fluttered like waves of fire.
She leapt off the divine bird, rushed forward on a cloud, and knelt from a distance on one knee, her crisp voice spreading throughout the world:
"Your subordinate is here!"
Wu Wang said gently, "As I am now the Eastern Emperor, I appoint you as the Fire God. Henceforth, you shall be known as Zhu Rong and guard the South for ."
Fire Plu said firmly, "Thank you, Eastern Emperor, for your grace and appointnt!"
As her voice fell, an imnse Celestial might rolled in, and a beam of golden light enveloped Fire Plu, drawing her slowly upward.
Heavenly Dao bestowed boundless rit, shaping Fire Plu’s body and reigniting the Dao of Fire within her.
Subsequently, a beam of firelight from Fire Plu’s forehead shot towards the firmant, shaking the Heavenly Dao.
And so, the Heavenly Dao now embraced four of the Five Elents Great Dao, with only the Water Dao lingering in the Outer Sky, quietly awaiting its return.
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