Tao Yao's Reminiscence, Never Imagining Rebirth in Such a Way
Tao Yao’s Reminiscence, Never Imagining Rebirth in Such a Way
Above the heavens, a delicate fragrance still lingered in the air, with wisps of sacred light rain drifting down, scattering in all directions like a great downpour that could nourish all things. Divine radiance surged forth like chains, connecting and linking with the void, drawing the essence of heaven and earth from within.
None of the Cultivators or living beings had yet fully recovered from this utterly shocking scene.
Those True Daoists had just moments ago been arrogantly and insolently shouting toward Gods’ Ruins, incomparably domineering, fully displaying the terrifying aura of True Daoists. Yet in the blink of an eye, they had been refined into a Life Pill, with nothing left behind, as if they had been erased from this world entirely.
Such a sight was far too horrifying, sending chills through everyone, their hearts unable to calm for a long time.
Aboard an Ancient Battleship, the armies of knights wielding heavenly blades and Heavenly Daggers, mounted on fierce and savage beasts, wore expressions of extreme terror. They had never imagined that within this land of Gods’ Ruins, such a terrifying existence lay hidden.
None of them had even seen how he made his move—three True Daoists had been treated as a Life Pill, refined away in the void.
All of their Source had been transformed into the pill, to nourish that Empress Huang Yu of the Ascension Celestial Dynasty.
“Only when the True Ancestors arrive will we have a chance. Otherwise, we’re just marching to our deaths. That white-clothed woman alone possesses strength far surpassing ordinary True Daoists—absolutely comparable to a Hidden Expert.”
“The Lord of Gods’ Ruins is even more terrifying. Could he possibly be an Immortal from ages past?”
Those Quasi-Emperors who had yet to reveal themselves wore faces of unease and dread, trembling to the extreme. They had never anticipated that the danger of this expedition would reach such a degree.
As the vanguard army, it seemed they truly were nothing more than cannon fodder sent to die.
And in the next moment, above Gods’ Ruins, a heaven-shaking fluctuation suddenly appeared.
A colossal black hand materialized, as if condensed from Grand Runes. The void collapsed around it, rules exploded, and heaven and earth itself seemed unable to withstand this aura.
This terrifying palm struck out from within Gods’ Ruins. Countless stars heaved and trembled, and the entire Resplendence Universe seemed on the verge of collapse as a vast and supreme aura descended.
The Ancient Battleships began to crumble, like snow and ice meeting the blazing sun, continuously splitting apart.
All the Cultivators and beings aboard were incomparably terrified and despairing, with no time to even dodge.
They couldn’t even let out screams—only the sounds of puchi puchi could be heard as they all turned into blood mist, bodies and souls utterly annihilated.
In merely an instant, all the Ancient Battleships shrouding the skies above the Northern Dipper Star Territory exploded apart, becoming dust and debris that blotted out the heavens.
Dead silence.
Between heaven and earth, only dead silence remained. Every Cultivator and being who witnessed this scene stared with eyes wide in utter horror.
What kind of terrifying might was this? With just a single palm strike, such a vast and mighty army had been directly erased.
Nothing remained.
The great army that had only just descended had been wiped out just like that.
Within the Forbidden Areas, those ancient existences cowering in hiding spoke with trembling voices, never having imagined that one day they would personally witness such a sight.
If they hadn’t seen wrongly just now, there had actually been several True Daoists hidden among those Ancient Battleships.
In that instant, they had erupted with heaven-shaking auras and fluctuations that rocked the universe.
But it was useless. Those who had to perish still perished—their Physiques instantly collapsed, their weapons exploded.
“Could this be the power of an Immortal?”
“There is an Immortal within Gods’ Ruins!”
They couldn’t help but prostrate themselves toward the direction of Gods’ Ruins, kowtowing in worship, reverent to the extreme.
Deep within the Ascension Celestial Dynasty, upon that Platform, dense Grand Runes bloomed with radiance, and an astonishing medicinal fragrance permeated the area, seemingly capable of making one ascend to immortality.
The Emperor of Ascension knelt there, piously worshipping in that direction, his expression incomparably moved.
At this moment, it wasn’t just him—the entire populace of the Ascension Celestial Dynasty witnessed this scene.
Divine light surged skyward from that place, while clear radiance interwove. Blossoms of True Flame shaped like divine phoenixes burned within the void, as if undergoing Nirvana and rebirth.
Empress Huang Yu seemed about to be reborn.
This was the consensus of all Cultivators and beings in the Northern Dipper Star Territory. That astonishing Life Pill from before had been bestowed upon her by the Lord of Gods’ Ruins, nurturing new life within her.
Now, from that place, dense vitality surged and billowed like a sea. The entire universe was affected by that fluctuation—the aura of a peerless Empress.
“The vanguard army has been completely annihilated. Not a single one survived. It seems the Resplendence Universe is not as simple as we imagined.”
“Even at the moment of death, no images from before their deaths were transmitted back. That universe has definitely been sealed off by an Absolute Being, blocking all divine sense fluctuations from escaping...”
“The Tree of Epoch back then may very well have been brought there by such a figure.”
Aboard the other Ancient Battleships rushing toward the Resplendence Universe, numerous terrifying figures murmured softly.
They were shrouded in clear radiance, their true forms indiscernible, but their blood qi was unmatched in the current era. A single wisp of fluctuation leaking from them caused the great stars around them to collapse into dust.
Without a doubt, they all hailed from the same orthodoxy. Moreover, they were not the kind of Hidden Experts who had emerged only because they were decaying with little life remaining.
They were still at their peak condition, their blood qi blazing like furnaces.
The gap between Hidden Experts and True Daoists was like night and day—describing it as one in heaven and one on earth would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.
They were already incomparably close to the Immortal Realm; one could even say half a foot had already stepped through its threshold. What they lacked was merely the light of the Immortal Dao and the tempering of Immortal Dao rules.
A Hidden Expert could slap a True Daoist to death with one palm—this was a universally acknowledged fact in the Beyond.
“No matter how strong, they cannot surpass us. We shall charge in wielding Immortal Grade Artifacts—even an existence of the same realm must perish in regret.”
“The Tree of Epoch is within. After we seize it, we’ll find a way to comprehend the rules we lack and strive to break through to the Immortal Realm first. How to resist those orthodoxies and forces arriving afterward is what we truly need to consider.”
They spoke, discussing their next course of action, but none of them believed there was any existence within the Resplendence Universe capable of threatening them.
This was the powerful confidence they possessed as those standing at the very peak of this era.
Unless beings of the same realm joined forces to besiege them, it was impossible for them to fall.
At this moment, Gu Changge sat cross-legged within Gods’ Ruins, his expression calm and profound, paying no heed to the living beings of the Northern Dipper Star Territory. Instead, his gaze turned toward the distant end of the universe.
The vanguard army had been completely annihilated; the great army behind them was his true target. Without Hidden Experts taking the field, everything would be futile.
He had laid his plans for so long, waiting precisely for this day. So what if the Age of Immortal Ascension had arrived?
All living beings were destined to become his nourishment.
None would be spared.
Now he simply waited for those Hidden Experts to all enter the game. If the Celestial Domain began connecting with the Beyond, other factors would inevitably affect him.
Therefore, at this time, he had to seize every moment to first break through to the Immortal Realm.
Then, using the Dao Fruit resources left behind by the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being, he would assault even higher realms, while simultaneously refining that drop of True Blood.
These were Gu Changge’s many plans for what came next.
A gentle breeze blew past, carrying wisps of mist, as Tao Yao returned to Gods’ Ruins.
Her devastatingly beautiful face carried a trace of confusion.
She didn’t understand. Based on her understanding of Gu Changge, why would he act to revive that Empress of the Ascension Celestial Dynasty?
Those True Daoists, at this point in time, truly offered Gu Changge not the slightest help.
They held no value whatsoever.
Or was it simply because he pitied her?
The Gu Changge of the past would never have harbored such sentiments.
“The you of now has much more human warmth than the you I knew,” Tao Yao said softly.
“Then tell me—in your heart, what kind of person have I always been?”
Hearing these words, Tao Yao seemed to fall into reminiscence.
Back then, she had been nothing more than a little demon. Her true form was a very ordinary peach tree, growing by the riverside near the Land of the Netherworld.
Year after year, she was corroded by miasma and mist, but because her cultivation was insufficient, she couldn’t take human form and leave. She could only endure the torment.
There were many of the Demon Race by the Netherworld River, including no shortage of savagely cruel great demons.
One day, a young girl who loved wearing red clothes, while pursuing a great demon, suddenly barged in and arrived at the Land of the Netherworld.
She was very powerful. Though young in age, her abilities were in no way inferior to those Elders of the great sects, and she sent a great demon that had cultivated for many years fleeing in all directions.
After that, she often saw that red-clothed girl come here to slay great demons, tempering her sword techniques.
The red-clothed girl had a very beautiful face, with eyes bright and clear, eyebrows like distant mountain peaks, eyes like dotted lacquer, and a jasper nose like jade. When she grew up a little more, she would absolutely be a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.
Tao Yao was very afraid of her at first, feeling that the killing intent on her was especially heavy. Many powerful great demons had died miserably at her hands.
She herself was merely a little demon who couldn’t even take human form.
But one day, that red-clothed girl, for some unknown reason, suddenly noticed her. When tired from training, she would sit down beneath the peach tree and say that peach blossoms were very beautiful—but when would they finally bloom?
Tao Yao said nothing, only listening quietly. Until later, the red-clothed girl began telling her many things, as if wanting to pour out all the matters of her heart, seeking someone to confide in.
Among these, what she spoke of most was her Shifu.
Her Shifu was a very, very powerful, very, very mysterious person, who sat year-round atop a mountain peak, as if sitting and watching the passage of countless ages.
Everyone feared him. Even the most powerful, peerless great demons would tremble all over with fright upon hearing his name.
The Successors of the most ancient and long-standing great sects dared not fly past when passing through this territory.
Those existences who had once preached the Dao to Immortals dared not even mention his name.
The world called him—Mo, the Lord of all Demons.
“Hongyi also told me that her Shifu was very strict with her. Sometimes, when there were flaws or errors in the sword techniques she cultivated, she would be punished by being thrown into the deadly abyss behind the mountain, and he often wouldn’t let her eat.”
“But Hongyi said that it was Shifu who rescued her from the hands of mountain bandits. When she grew up, she wanted to marry Shifu—she didn’t want Shifu to be so lonely.”
Watching Tao Yao quietly recount these things, Gu Changge also rarely revealed a calm expression, listening quietly.
Within his mind, countless memories churned, gradually overlapping with the many matters Tao Yao described.
“Later, after Tao Yao and I became familiar with each other, she wanted to take me away from the Land of the Netherworld. She said the mountain was too cold and lonely, and when she went out to train, there was no one to keep Shifu company and talk with him.”
“At the time, I also especially wanted to leave the Land of the Netherworld. I was very curious about what kind of figure this Shifu she spoke of was.”
“Hongyi brought me along, along with that stone she often rested upon, which was on the verge of birthing spiritual intelligence, and returned to the mountain.”
Listening to these words, many scenes surfaced before Gu Changge’s eyes.
The Tao Yao of today, that extremely ancient Lao Shi of the True Immortal Academy, and the demoness in red, Chan Hongyi... such were the ties between them.
What happened afterward, he actually already knew—there was no need for Tao Yao to recount it.
But Gu Changge still wanted to know what kind of existence he was in Tao Yao’s eyes.
Many long-dust-sealed memories were like an ancient mirror covered in grime.
He could only make out some blurry outlines, some hazy scenes. If the dust wasn’t wiped away, then these memories were no different from being sealed away entirely.
Immortal Palace, Qingyi...
Gu Changge suddenly remembered—the reason he had named Chan Hongyi “Hongyi” was actually also because of a certain person.
His acquaintance with Qingyi stretched too far back—so far back that at that time, the very concept of the Immortal Palace didn’t even exist.
Boom!!
Suddenly, from beyond Gods’ Ruins.
Within the Ascension Celestial Dynasty, a peerless aura abruptly emerged. Boundless clear radiance surged skyward, and immediately afterward, all Cultivators and beings heard the cry of a Celestial Phoenix from that place, shaking the universe.
Between heaven and earth, crystalline petals danced in the air, and gorgeous divine flames burned.
A divine, radiant Celestial Phoenix emerged, bathed in firelight, and the single wisp of fluctuation that leaked out caused the entire Northern Dipper Star Territory to tremble.
This sight was simply like a living being suddenly achieving the Dao—every kind of phenomenon was astonishing to the extreme, appearing in every region.
All Cultivators and beings prostrated themselves toward that place, reverent to the extreme.
Empress Huang Yu had revived, reborn through fire. Her figure was slender and tall, dressed in a feathered robe, her grace peerless in this world as she stood towering within the vast sky.
“Many thanks, Qianbei, for restoring my Physique and granting me another lifetime of life.”
“For such great kindness and virtue, Huang Yu has no way to repay you.”
Her devastatingly beautiful face could hardly conceal her excitement and gratitude at this moment as she respectfully bowed toward the direction of Gods’ Ruins.
Although her body had passed away in meditation, she had left behind an obsession and spiritual fluctuations within her skull. She never imagined that after countless ages, she would be reborn in such a manner.
Such methods and means could be called heaven-defying. Even with her breadth of experience, she found it difficult to explain.
However, Empress Huang Yu understood clearly that the Qianbei within Gods’ Ruins had only taken her in back then and guided her for a period of time. To him, she held no status as a disciple.
Her pursuit afterward, her futile searching—all of it had been nothing more than her own wishful thinking.
Yet Qianbei was still willing, for her sake, to grant her another lifetime of life. Such grace and virtue was tantamount to being given life anew.