Chapter 2052: Supreme of the Great Sun

Heavenly Beast Garden.

Within the spirit vein beneath Tianhe, among countless silver bells, four human Supreme beings—Heavenly Beast Supreme, Seven Kill Supreme, Dan Tian Supreme, and Thunder Yang Supreme—sat facing one another in cultivation.

They had not parted by even half a step, remaining vigilant at all times, connected to one another by an extremely tight formation—move one hair and the whole body stirs—intimate as fellow disciples of the same sect.

This state of affairs had already continued for many years.

The Supreme of Du'e Buddha-Subduing Temple, however, was nowhere to be seen; he had died on the battlefield many years ago, and now, like all the cultivators of his sect, had been transformed into a treasured puppet carefully tended by the Heavenly Illusion Immortal Butterfly clan. The remaining Supreme beings were like birds startled by the twang of a bow, entirely free of every kind of internal friction.

The distinctions between new and old sects, between orthodox and demonic paths—all such divisions had completely vanished.

Heaven alone knew what they had been through over the years; each of them looked incomparably aged, hair grey-white, skin withered, their lifespans nearly at their end.

This was only to be expected.

When the Dao Child had appeared, the Supreme beings had already entered their twilight years; another two hundred thousand-plus years had passed since then, and with the battles on the battlefield being extremely perilous and terribly draining of vitality, the fact that they had held on until now was already considered decent.

The next generation of sect Dao Children had already been cultivated, but whether the newly risen next generation of Supreme beings could hold up the sect remained unknown.

Could it be that the sect was doomed to perish…

Many Supreme beings worried, yet remained silent.

The Heavenly Beast Garden Supreme, who looked like an old farmer, silently gazed at the next-generation Dao Children cultivating not far away, his eyes somewhat dazed.

These four Dao Children were all at the peak of Heaven-Man, having already reached the limit of personal ability below Supreme. Yet they were only a hundred thousand-plus years old—young, lively, brimming with vitality, full of vigor, rising like the hopeful morning sun.

Although, they were only middling Dao Children, not as outstanding as that generation's Dao Child.

At this moment, Heavenly Beast Supreme could not help but recall that generation's Dao Child—the Dao Child who had fought the Seven-Step Dao Child of the Great Yin-Yang Sword Realm and ultimately fallen.

So many years had passed…

This one had finally reached the age of staring blankly at the sky, reminiscing over the years gone by.

That generation's Heavenly Beast Dao Child—how outstanding he was. Facing the Seven-Step Dao Child, he had charged in without hesitation, flung himself into the fight for the sect, never once retreating. If only he had survived, the chances of continuing the sect now would surely be greater, wouldn't they?

Heavenly Beast Supreme drifted into a brief reverie.

"Heavenly Beast Martial Uncle!"

"Master!"

Noticing Heavenly Beast Supreme's gaze, this generation's Seven Kill Dao Child, Heavenly Beast Dao Child, Dan Tian Dao Child, and Thunder Yang Sword Child hurriedly rose and bowed.

From the forms of address alone, one could see how intimate the relations between the four great human sects had become over the years—almost like fellow disciples of the same sect.

The four human Dao Children were taught by all four Supreme beings simultaneously; it could be said they had absorbed the strengths of every school, growing up along the way.

Yet their strength could only be considered mediocre, far inferior to that generation's Dao Child—because the resources for cultivation were insufficient, and even more so because they could not venture out to temper themselves, forever confined within the sect. Outside was extremely dangerous; even the Supreme beings did not dare leave the formation to venture out.

"It's nothing,"

"Just continue your cultivation. If you have questions, ask freely—don't feel that you're disturbing us old fellows; we have plenty of free time."

Heavenly Beast Supreme waved his hand.

"Yes!"

The four Dao Children sat down with respectful courtesy.

Extremely polite children, respectful of their elders, sincere in heart, without bad habits—good children in every respect.

But…

Thunder Yang Heavenly Sword Supreme furrowed his brow.

"No edge…"

"This is not the bearing of a supreme powerhouse who can hold up a sect."

Thunder Yang Heavenly Sword Supreme did not reproach these Dao Children for anything; transmitting his voice in a low sigh, he said: "A powerhouse should be untamed, or greedy, or yearning, or arrogant, or carry the bearing of a refined gentleman… all of these require a unique personal temperament, because living beings are inherently unique."

"Not like them—all good children, carved from the same mold."

Tempering in the world—they lacked it far too much.

Yet they had no choice.

The Supreme beings, too, did not have many choices.

All the Supreme beings simply fell silent.

In their hearts, again and again they compared the current generation's Dao Child with that generation's Dao Child, and very easily discerned a vast difference. That one had truly been a cultivator capable of holding up the sect.

A touch of melancholy stirred in many Supreme beings' hearts; they shook their heads slightly, casting aside the stray thoughts.

"Within fifty thousand years, we will have exhausted our lifespans and perished."

"When that time comes, we leave the sect to them—may they be able to carry on the inheritance of the sect's Liezulie Sect ancestors…"

Heavenly Beast Supreme murmured: "Before we die, we will burn ourselves in a do-or-die battle; we should be able to gravely wound the Heavenly Illusion Butterfly Lord, buying them time to advance within the sect."

"If, that is, the Heavenly Illusion Butterfly Lord has not advanced to Seven-Tribulation Supreme."

These final words, like a cold current, swept across the entire sky and froze the spines of many.

The Heavenly Illusion Butterfly Lord!

An anomaly among the demon race!

She was far too strong compared to ordinary Supreme beings, far too extraordinary. The fact that others could not advance from Six-Tribulation Supreme to Seven-Tribulation Supreme did not mean she could not. She had entered seclusion for an unnaturally long time, with not the slightest stir, leaving everyone deeply uneasy—constantly on guard against dream invasion, yet it never truly came, which was utterly agonizing.

The feeling of an enemy who might appear at any moment yet never does was too terrifying.

Here, a long silence reigned, and much despair.

"The human race, too, has its anomaly."

Dan Tian Supreme said softly.

Many Supreme beings' gazes grew somewhat dazed.

Over two hundred thousand years ago, a magnificent and terrifying human Dao Child had burst onto the scene—one person, one sword, slaughtering every Dao Child and Immortal-clan Holy Son across the entire Fallen Immortal Realm, departing at his ease. He had remained in closed-door cultivation within the Sealed Spirit Forbidden Zone ever since, cultivating in silence there for over two hundred thousand years, never once setting foot outside.

Patient as an old tortoise, making one wonder whether he was actually young.

No.

He truly was not young.

Over two hundred thousand years had already passed; he was an old thing, an old mongrel by now.

Why hasn't this damned old mongrel shown up yet?!

Although there was a grudge, this person was indeed of the human race. He needed the human race, and the human race needed him too. At the very least, he would not trigger an extremely wide-scale slaughter and extermination of clans — far better than the Heavenly Illusion Immortal Butterfly clan.

This matter was extremely strange.

Over two hundred thousand years had passed — far exceeding a Heavenly Being's lifespan — yet the Fallen Immortal Realm had never produced a Supreme Lei Gao Jie, making one suspect whether some accident had befallen him.

Such cases were not uncommon. Heaven grew jealous of the talented, and the Sword Madman was far too fond of taking risks; whenever he died would be no surprise at all.

"You all,"

"If you face certain death, then try to open the path leading to the Zhu Que Star Domain."

The Heavenly Beast Supreme looked at the junior Dao Children and sighed: "According to the Patriarch's records, that place is no good destination either — another realm ruled by the demon race, another death ground of sorts, with some unknown death grounds as well. When the time comes, you may decide for yourselves."

"Master…"

The eyes of the Heavenly Beast Dao Child and the others reddened slightly.

Ding ling ling…

At this moment, the silver bells spread throughout the entire Heavenly Beast Garden suddenly rang out, clear and pleasant to the ear.

The Heavenly Beast Dao Child and the others started in fright, revealing looks of terror.

This was the Dream Heaven Bell!

This was a top-grade supreme treasure built by the Four Sects to guard against sneak attacks by the Heavenly Illusion Butterfly Lord's Dream Dao, meant to provide early warning of Dream Dao invasions and buy time to counterattack. Now the Dream Heaven Bell was ringing so urgently — a terrifying Dream Dao enemy beyond imagination must have appeared, one who had almost instantly shattered the Dream Heaven Bell's layered defenses.

"Heavenly Illusion!"

"Evil beast! How dare you…"

The Heavenly Beast Supreme and the others flew into a rage in an instant.

Streaks of rule-branch authority rose up, streaks of protective sect-grand-array runes spread densely, array patterns expanded, the Tianhe star streams reversed course, suppressing the four directions.

Many Supremes revealed savage expressions.

They were already at the end of their lifespans. If the Heavenly Illusion Butterfly Lord dared to come knocking at this moment, then they could not be blamed for borrowing the sect's grand arrays to perish together with her!

However, the many Supremes soon revealed looks of terror.

Because these rising protective sect-grand-arrays and the urgently ringing Dream Heaven Bell suddenly vanished — all the array patterns disappeared, and in the end, the entire heaven and earth disappeared, leaving only a vast expanse of white, dreamlike.

They had no power of resistance whatsoever and had fallen completely into the dream!

"Seven,"

"Seven Tribulations…"

The Heavenly Beast Supreme gave a bitter smile, his heart sinking.

The Heavenly Illusion Butterfly Lord had indeed advanced to Seven Tribulations — otherwise she would never have come here.

However, the next moment, the many Supremes froze.

They were completely stupefied.

Far away.

In the distant sky, a youth in blue robes with a long sword at his waist walked slowly toward them.

Behind him, a diary rustled loudly in the wind, flipping to a certain page that revealed the words within: "…September 21st, Seven Kill Supreme, on the White Bone Seven Kill Upper Domain, tried to beat me to death."

The wind blew, flipping the diary to the next page.

"…January 3rd, outside the Sealing Spirit Forbidden Domain, Seven Kill Supreme, Heavenly Beast Supreme, Du E Supreme, Dan Tian Supreme, Tian Dong Xue Supreme, Heavenly Illusion Supreme… all wanted to beat me to death."