Everything Unfolds as Expected — The Tree of Epoch Emerges
Everything Unfolds as Expected — The Tree of Epoch Emerges
The changes in this universe were immense. Just from the rules of heaven and earth and the aura alone, one could tell how different it was from before.
Gu Changge strode through the star domains, his divine sense sweeping across everything as he began to investigate how altering ancient history had affected the present world.
What he cared about most was, in fact, the legends surrounding Gods’ Ruins.
As for all the other changes, they were utterly insignificant and did not affect his plans in the slightest.
Compared to before, many Holy Lands and clans had been destroyed, vanishing into ancient history. However, many new clans and forces had also risen. The number of True Daoists born into this world had not been affected either.
Some ancient life-bearing stars had long since perished and disappeared. The Ziwei Star Dynasty he had seen the last time he came to this universe had actually vanished as well. Since their Founding Ancestor never attained the position of True Daoist, there was naturally no continuation of their legacy.
However, the disappearance of the Ziwei Star Dynasty had instead paved the way for a force called the Ascension Celestial Dynasty. At its peak, it was even more vast than the Ziwei Divine Dynasty had been.
The founder of the Ascension Celestial Dynasty was a True Daoist who possessed the Celestial Phoenix Bloodline. Later generations called her Empress Huang Yu. In her early years, she had accidentally stumbled into the legendary Gods’ Ruins, where she encountered a supreme figure who meticulously taught her for several thousand years. After leaving Gods’ Ruins, she cultivated bitterly for eight hundred thousand years before finally bearing the Mandate of Heaven.
From the looks of it, this matter still had an enormous impact on later generations. In the end, she still attained the Imperial Throne and founded a Celestial Dynasty.
Gu Changge uncovered a great deal of useful information. His divine sense swept across many ancient life-bearing stars, and he also learned much about the little Celestial Phoenix from back then.
Among all this, the rise and fall of many forces and Daoist traditions had actually all been within his expectations.
And within this rolling tide of ancient history, Gods’ Ruins had indeed left behind a bold and unforgettable mark.
Even now, there were still Cultivators and experts who, one after another, fearlessly pressed forward in pursuit of the traces of Gods’ Ruins, hoping to glimpse the truth of becoming a Celestial within it.
The most powerful ancient force in this universe today was none other than the Ascension Celestial Dynasty.
As the first being to attain the Imperial Throne after the Era of the Great Annihilation and even the Dark Gap, Empress Huang Yu’s significance was extraordinary.
Many Cultivators believed that the reason she was able to bear the Mandate of Heaven and become a True Daoist in such a short time was greatly connected to the fortuitous encounter of stumbling into Gods’ Ruins back then.
If not for that incident, even if Empress Huang Yu wanted to achieve the Dao, she would likely have needed to endure for nearly a million years.
With the changes in the environment of heaven and earth and the disappearance of life-sustaining substances, the lifespan of those who achieved the Dao nowadays had naturally plummeted. Let alone a million years, even living for a hundred thousand years was extremely difficult.
That was why so many people sought the location of Gods’ Ruins, hoping to find a method to become a Celestial and extend their lives.
Regarding Gods’ Ruins, there were naturally many theories. Some said it was a Forbidden Area that had existed since before the Dark Gap, perhaps even before the Forbidden Epoch.
Gods’ Ruins was said to connect to the legendary Celestial Domain, within which stood a heaven-piercing tree called the Tree of the Gods. By following the Tree of the Gods, one could find the location of the Celestial Gate.
Of course, there were also those who said that Gods’ Ruins was actually the ruins left behind in the mortal world after two beings who surpassed the Celestial Realm clashed before the Forbidden Era and shattered the Immortal Palace.
Within Gods’ Ruins, countless celestial treasures and rare wonders were buried. Finding even one of them could allow a Cultivator to be reborn, shedding their mortal body.
However, the most widespread and most convincing theory was the one that came from the Ascension Celestial Dynasty.
Within Gods’ Ruins, there was actually an incomparably mysterious white-robed Lord of Gods’ Ruins, and it was he who had established Gods’ Ruins.
Not only that, he had also planted a Peach Tree, which guarded something within Gods’ Ruins.
This theory spread throughout the entire universe, and countless Cultivators believed it.
After all, the founder of the Ascension Celestial Dynasty, Empress Huang Yu, had truly stumbled into Gods’ Ruins and come out of it alive.
And in less than a million years afterward, she attained the Imperial Throne, her cultivation speed far surpassing the Progenitors of that era.
Her understanding of Gods’ Ruins was definitely greater than everything the rest of the world knew combined.
“Not bad. Everything is evolving and developing exactly as I anticipated.”
A satisfied look could not help but appear on Gu Changge’s face.
Afterward, following the aura of the Restriction he had left behind, he found Gods’ Ruins hidden upon a certain ancient life-bearing star.
The surroundings were covered in the many Array Patterns he had laid down. Even after such a long passage of time, there was not the slightest trace of them being worn away.
“These are traces she left behind. It seems she came searching for this place again later, only she never stepped into Gods’ Ruins.”
Gu Changge’s figure appeared outside Gods’ Ruins. Beyond the many Restrictions and Array Patterns, he saw a Stone Engraving.
Upon this Stone Engraving, the aura of Empress Huang Yu had once been left behind.
After achieving the Dao, she had once again searched for the location of Gods’ Ruins.
However, by that time, Gu Changge had long since departed, so she naturally could not find anything.
Thus, in the end, she could only leave in regret and sorrow, leaving the traces of her visit upon this Stone Engraving.
“It seems that later, when her life was nearing its end, she came again. Why put herself through that?”
Gu Changge sighed softly, then saw a blurry figure manifest beside the stone tablet.
She wore feathered robes, her countenance breathtakingly beautiful, gazing into the depths of Gods’ Ruins, though her eyes could not conceal their sorrow.
This ancient life-bearing star was incomparably vast, with many clans and forces standing upon it.
The most powerful among them were several Imperial Clans and Holy Lands, whose ancestors had once produced True Daoists, with Nirvana Grade Artifacts suppressing their foundations.
Besides these Imperial Clans and Holy Lands, this ancient life-bearing star also had several Life Forbidden Zones — hiding places for True Daoists whose days were numbered, who had severed a portion of their own cultivation to prolong their lives and evade the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.
Their cultivation surpassed that of Quasi-Nirvana experts, but compared to true True Daoists, they still fell far short.
Within the vast Gods’ Ruins, celestial mists curled and twined, mountain peaks rose steep and sheer, and divine ridges towered high, desolate and ancient.
Now, as Gu Changge appeared within it, the surrounding Restrictions erupted with sky-piercing radiance, blotting out the entire firmament, shaking all eight directions, and causing the entire universe to rumble.
The next moment, a terrifying aura, as if heaven and earth were collapsing, spread out from this place.
Countless stars began to tremble, as though about to plummet toward this location.
Ancient worldly auras began to interweave, suppressing this universe until it quaked.
Gu Changge’s gaze was deep and unfathomable. He began to act, taking the Tree of Epoch out from his Inner Universe and, with supreme magic power, planting it in the deepest part of Gods’ Ruins.
Countless Restrictions and radiances blazed as brilliantly as the sun, while billions upon billions of bolts of lightning and laws converged like an ocean.
It was a terrifying, awe-inspiring ancient tree. Its trunk alone was larger than a star.
Upon its withered branches hung sparse leaves, each one bearing the starlight of the heavens, wreathed in boundless Chaos Energy.
And as the branches and leaves swayed gently, the terrifying sounds of ancient worlds colliding rang out here, as though pushing one epoch after another rumbling forward.
Even a True Daoist standing here would find their blood and qi roiling, not daring to approach.
The Tree of Epoch had finally emerged into the world.