Chapter 303: Rebirth - I Became the Grandpa (Part 27)
The path Dongfang Yunxing walked was far too unique.
He had not followed the conventional routes—either achieving transcendence himself and then guiding others, or refining the heart of the universe to transcend. Instead, he had relied purely on his own strength to shatter the shackles of the world.
Su Chen had never broken through a universe barrier himself. Although in his previous life his strength had been considered formidable even within the Land of Immortality, ten-star aptitude Rulers were exceedingly rare. Across the tens or hundreds of billions of years of the Land of Immortality's history, only a handful of ten-star aptitude Rulers had ever appeared. Aside from the one Su Chen had killed, the others were all at least thirty-tribulation Rulers, and he had never interacted with them much.
Because of this, Su Chen did not fully understand Dongfang Yunxing's current state.
His eyes brightened.
This was excellent!
He himself had never undergone a ten-layered Emperor tribulation, but Dongfang Yunxing had.
What a good disciple!
Su Chen thought to himself, "Perhaps… ten-star aptitude Rulers are fundamentally different from those below ten stars."
In the Void Cosmic Sea, they could cultivate without needing to refine the heart of a universe, unlike other Rulers who had to rely on the universe they had refined as a foundation to walk the path of evolving an immortal domain.
The difference was enormous. And now, he had the perfect test subject.
After Dongfang Yunxing finished recounting his experiences over the years and the changes in his body, they had already reached the edge of the universe.
The entire Ghost Realm universe had collapsed into nothingness, leaving behind only a single gray seed.
Dongfang Yunxing's cultivation had reached the three-tribulation Ruler realm.
This confirmed Su Chen's guess. In a universe that had never produced a transcendent before, only a very few special great universes could accommodate a three-tribulation Ruler.
With ten-star aptitude and successful transcendence, Dongfang Yunxing was no longer bound by the restrictions of his original universe.
He held the gray seed in his hand. Compressing an entire universe into a universe seed was at least the feat of a five-tribulation Ruler. Universe seeds were also valuable treasures to Dao Achievers.
Dongfang Yunxing shattered the barrier of the original universe and merged the universe seed into it.
The myriad races of the world all felt their cultivation speed increase. This was no illusion.
Dongfang Yunxing returned to Divine Ancient Star and released his family from the divine sources. The news of his transcendence filled everyone with joy. The world could now accommodate more Great Emperors.
Lu Xuewei's aptitude was not bad. Su Chen gave her a cultivation method from a powerful clan in another Land of Immortality. Her cultivation advanced rapidly to the peak of Quasi-Emperor. With Dongfang Yunxing standing guard, she successfully overcame her Emperor tribulation and became an Emperor—though only an ordinary two-tribulation Great Emperor.
All paths eventually reached their end. All lifespans eventually reached their limit. Over the next tens of thousands of years, Dongfang Yunxing's descendants gradually became Emperors as well. Fifty thousand years later, his old friends and loved ones began to pass away one after another.
"Master… if Xuewei were to refine the heart of the universe, what are her chances of success?" Dongfang Yunxing asked.
Su Chen looked at the young man whose brows now carried the marks of time and experience.
"There is no possibility of success…"
Su Chen spoke truthfully. For a native being to refine the heart of the universe, even if they gathered every innate supreme treasure, they would need at least the aptitude to survive five Emperor tribulations. Lu Xuewei's talent was simply too lacking. The fact that she had become an Emperor at all was already a remarkable achievement.
During this period, with Su Chen's permission, Dongfang Yunxing had allowed Lu Xuewei to attempt cultivating the Undying Nirvana Art. However, her aptitude could only reach the sixth Nirvana. Without a treasure like the Heaven's Mandate Pearl to improve her foundation, she could go no further.
Lu Xuewei consumed an undying medicine.
Ten thousand years later, Dongfang Yunxing personally placed her inside an Emperor coffin. His descendants and old acquaintances were gradually passing away.
"Master, let us leave this place," Dongfang Yunxing said. "I wish to depart and compete on the path to immortality."
A free and easy smile appeared on his face.
"You're not going to look after your descendants?" Su Chen asked, pointing toward Divine Ancient Star, where the Cloud Snow Emperor Palace now ruled supreme.
"They have their own destinies. I have already left behind the most precious things this world has to offer. If they still fail, then it is simply the will of heaven."
Dongfang Yunxing gazed into the distance. He had stayed in this place for far too long.
"You really are optimistic," Su Chen said with a chuckle.
He understood what Dongfang Yunxing meant. If he remained, this world might end up like the destroyed Ghost Realm—dominated by a single force, losing all drive and the will to strive for supremacy, sinking into comfort and stagnation. That would not be a good outcome.
Dongfang Yunxing had already left behind methods of transcendence and supreme cultivation techniques. If the Cloud Snow Emperor Palace still fell in the end, then it was simply fate.
Dongfang Yunxing stepped into the void.
Su Chen returned to the Heaven's Mandate Pearl.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Dongfang Yunxing encountered a terrifying beast born within the nothingness—an enormous creature that fed on universes.
The monstrous beast was locked in battle with a powerful expert. Both were covered in wounds.
The aura of the expert fighting the beast felt somewhat familiar to Dongfang Yunxing.
"Could he be the transcendent from the Ghost Clan?"
It was a coincidence. After transcending, the Ghost Clan's transcendent had never returned to the Ghost Realm universe. He had been blocked by this terrifying creature born in the void that devoured worlds.
The Land of Immortality was simply too vast. Unexpected dangers could appear anywhere.
Dongfang Yunxing's arrival was that sudden, unforeseen variable.
Chapter 304: Rebirth - I Became the Grandpa (Part 28)
"You… who are you?"
The Ghost Clan's transcendent looked at the sudden newcomer in confusion. He could not see through the strength of the figure before him.
Then, in the next instant, he felt his entire body go rigid.
He died.
Even though the Ghost Clan's transcendent was also a four-tribulation Ruler like Dongfang Yunxing, he was killed without resistance.
A faint stream of energy flowed out from the Heaven's Mandate Pearl.
Every being qualified to transcend a universe could be considered favored by destiny. The Heaven's Mandate Pearl absorbed that destiny and fed it back to Dongfang Yunxing.
However, the amount was weak—less than one-tenth of what he had gained from Chen Xuan.
"What is this?" Dongfang Yunxing asked curiously.
From the Ghost Clan transcendent's body, a cluster of strange black particles emerged. The particles seemed to possess consciousness and tried to flee.
A hand reached out and enveloped the black particles.
Inside the Heaven's Mandate Pearl, Su Chen had taken action.
"I didn't expect to encounter this thing again," Su Chen murmured.
Dongfang Yunxing looked at the suddenly appearing Su Chen and asked, "Master, do you recognize this?"
The black particles felt alive and extremely eerie to him.
Su Chen nodded. "I encountered it once before… but I didn't study it deeply at the time."
In the long years of his previous life, Su Chen had come across these strange black particles once. Back then, his strength had been limited, and the particles had escaped before he could learn more.
Su Chen continued, "This thing is very dangerous. Do not touch it lightly."
As the artifact spirit of the Heaven's Mandate Pearl, these particles posed no threat to him.
Su Chen turned his gaze toward the trembling colossal beast nearby. The terrifying creature that devoured universes felt genuine fear.
The two tiny beings before it were as insignificant as specks of dust, yet they also seemed incomparably towering—like two giants standing in the void while the beast itself had become the speck.
Su Chen raised his hand and poured all the black particles into the colossal beast's body.
He and Dongfang Yunxing observed the changes.
After coming into contact with the strange particles, the beast convulsed. Its aura began to shift.
"Its cultivation has increased slightly… and its aptitude has improved a little… But it seems to have become dumber."
Su Chen watched carefully as the strange particles slowly eroded the beast's mind. However, there were too few particles to completely take over such a powerful creature.
Su Chen tried to extract the particles but found it impossible. Only by killing the beast could the particles be removed.
After several tens of thousands of years, with no new hosts found, the particles gradually dissipated.
"This thing is truly bizarre. It can subtly erode the mind of even a powerful Sovereign," Dongfang Yunxing remarked.
"The void is full of dangers."
Su Chen shook his head. "Perhaps these strange particles come from outside… something has happened beyond the Land of Immortality."
He thought back to the death of the true immortal in the End Times Immortal Domain. A true immortal who had existed since ancient times had died suddenly. There had to be more to it.
Dongfang Yunxing refined the corpses of the Ghost Clan transcendent and the colossal beast, further advancing his cultivation.
He continued wandering through the void.
He witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations and encountered innumerable ancient powerhouses.
Hunting, clearing opportunities, and gathering resources—Dongfang Yunxing excelled at all of it.
In less than three million years, his cultivation broke through to the ten-tribulation Ruler realm.
To conceal the Heaven's Mandate Pearl, he never joined any faction.
In an ancient city within the void, a powerhouse above the fifteenth tribulation had spent a massive fortune to construct this metropolis. Over a hundred universe crystal cores formed its foundation.
This place had gathered countless transcendents, forming one of the few transcendent civilizations in the void.
"What? Strands of immortal qi have appeared?"
The news sent ripples through the ancient city.
Immortal qi—the qi released when a true immortal fell. Three thousand strands had scattered. Each strand contained the secrets of a true immortal. It was said that refining even one would grant unparalleled aptitude.
"Tens of millions of years ago, the Myriad Laws Emperor Lord rose abruptly. In less than forty million years, he reached the twenty-sixth tribulation Ruler realm. He schemed against and killed numerous experts sent by powerful forces. After they perished together, an absolute forbidden zone was formed. Any Ruler below the tenth tribulation who entered would die instantly."
"Now, the dead qi formed by the fall of those many Rulers is about to dissipate."
"Why would immortal qi appear there?"
"That's the key question. It is said that the Myriad Laws Emperor Lord was able to grow so powerful because he had refined a strand of immortal qi, granting him supreme might. That was how he rose against all odds. Even after the End Times Immortal Domain was destroyed, he still reached the pinnacle."
"Hiss! Immortal qi is truly a priceless treasure. No wonder the War God Qin Wujie of the Chaos Divine Palace, Di Chan of the Dark Night Royal Court, and the Fairy Chi Yao of the Void Cosmic Sea are all willing to wait in that forbidden zone for millions of years."
"..."
Dongfang Yunxing found the aura here strangely familiar.
Su Chen: "..."
In his previous life, he had chosen self-destruction instead of fulfilling Great Yang Emperor Lord. He was not sure whether Great Yang had taken the immortal qi from his body.
Great Yang Emperor Lord had not been fighting for the true immortal of the Void Cosmic Sea, but for a true immortal beyond the world. He had always been extremely cautious. Su Chen guessed that Great Yang would not have taken the immortal qi of the Void Cosmic Sea's true immortal. For someone at his level, it held little value and would only risk exposing the fact that he was still alive.
Su Chen spoke, "Immortal qi is an excellent treasure. With your current cultivation, refining even one strand would save you many detours on your path."
With Su Chen's confirmation, Dongfang Yunxing's eyes lit up.