Chapter 495: Emperor

"Have I returned?"

Facing the suddenly lightened journey, Anri Jingwu felt it was only natural, yet also felt something was not quite right; but now, having no spare energy to glance back, he could only continue to flap his wings, flying toward the past at an even greater speed, flying to the beginning of his own causality, going to that era where the Emperor stood alone in the sky, illuminating all.

Ten thousand years ago.

Main Pivot Demon Domain.

There, ten thousand demons were solemnly bowing their heads to the sun; among them were nearly a hundred Demon Monarchs, hundreds of thousands of True Demons, and an endless army of demon-kind, currently preparing for departure, their demonic aura surging, ready to follow the Emperor's footsteps to launch a righteous crusade for the demon race to dominate the heavens and earth.

It was rumored that a Supreme Being existed, intending to usurp and transcend, a crime truly unforgivable that must be conquered and exterminated! Yet at this very moment, in the sky where only a solitary sun should have hung high, a mirror-sun suddenly appeared, creating a situation of twin suns appearing together, with a mirror image at the side.

The entire demon race was shaken, for how could a new Golden Crow have descended into the world?!

The Great Sun, which governed the central pivot of the sky, was not in the least disturbed by this.

The Emperor merely cast a glance, locking eyes with Anri Jingwu, an existence who could be called his own descendant.

With just one look, he first determined the most essential path to uphold.

"I do not like your gaze."

"Ha! I also hate your looking down; truly, it is a face destined for defeat!"

Jingwu sent back an equally displeased reply; although they shared a relationship of ancestor and descendant, he did not follow the old path, and thus, as a god who had broken free from innate shackles, he and the Emperor—who wished to transcend heaven and earth, look down upon all living beings, and achieve the Dao to ascend as an immortal—truly loathed the sight of one another.

These blunt words caused the entire demon race to tremble; the Emperor seemed to have no anger, but the demons were dazed for a moment, only then noticing that the Great Sun had become somewhat hazy.

It was space-time being distorted, as the demon sought to create a new heaven and earth, enclosing himself and his descendant within it.

It's over, it's over; not knowing where he came from, he must be a late-generation descendant, a supreme noble bloodline capable of being the Crown Prince or Imperial Son to lead the race after the Great Emperor ascended, yet now, having just appeared in the world, he was about to become dust! The demons all thought this in unison, secretly sighing with deep regret, for the current situation meant the Emperor was truly enraged! Having finished his provocation, Anri Shen turned and fled on the spot.

After all, the disparity between the two sides was far greater than that between him and the Ten Thousand Star Sin-Fetus!

Want to run?

The Emperor's eyes showed contempt, and just as he was about to forbid the shackles and engage in a cross-temporal battle with the thief on the other side—impossible to let the chess piece return safely—he had only just had the thought when he realized it had already fallen through.

Anri Shen had already left and returned.

What, is going on? He was momentarily puzzled.

Then, he became thoughtful.

And so, divine fire appeared.

Following the path of the light he had chased into the past, it burned fiercely all the way, burning from the present at this end to the future at the other end.

Which was the true, current present.

Boom! In the eyes of Sheng Zhaoshui, the Ten Thousand Star Sin-Fetus, and the Sin-Dragon, the terrifying, brilliant Solar Divine Fire suddenly erupted from the void, coming from the past, chasing the tail of Anri Jingwu.

The Taiyin Divine Bird suddenly tilted its head and cried out.

"Caw!"

Bang! The past-body of Anri Jingwu shattered abruptly, and the true self of Anri Shen instantly returned to his main body.

However, the terrifying Solar Divine Fire did not stop, directly pouring down onto the Dragon Venerable's umbilical cord and the Sin-Dragon.

"Awoo!"

"Ah!"

The Sin-Dragon screamed in agony, and the Sin-Fetus shrieked in sharp pain.

As for the corpse of the Dragon Venerable, like melting silent snow, no matter how much it stirred its evil sin, it could not curb this trend.

"Somewhat interesting, a freak that gnaws on the spiritual source of stars, and, a dead reptile."

The cold, condescending voice resounded through this sector of the universe; within the sound, the Taiyin Divine Bird suddenly collapsed and shattered, revealing Anri Shen inside. In the end, he had not dodged it, and was abruptly burned to tatters, as if it were meant to be.

My will is Heaven; if Heaven wants you to die, you must die!

If it were not for the current space-time being the home field of the True Monarch, and the Profound Heaven Total Truth Heaven having just been activated from afar to receive Anri Shen, he would have truly died.

And the consequence of doing so was to force the Profound Heaven Total Truth Heaven to temporarily retreat.

Because of the loss of the Taiyin Divine Bird, the Solar Taiyin Evil-Suppressing Array collapsed without being attacked.

Therefore, the Solar Giant form on Du En's side also began to crumble.

Fortunately, the Emperor's rage was borne by everyone; the umbilical cord of the Ten Thousand Star Sin-Fetus was also burned through, and even it had one of its arrogant, glaring eyes destroyed. Now, it was urgently shrinking and peeking, not daring to make any obvious moves, not daring to look recklessly, lest it suffer again.

For a time, the whole scene was silent.

Only Du En was still walking.

Sheng Zhaoshui truly admired him now; with the Sin-Fetus in front and the Emperor behind, and having just lost the posture of the Solar Giant, it was to his credit that he still dared to continue forward as if nothing had happened, his outward calm not diminished in the slightest.

And the Emperor, looking at him at this moment, felt emotions that were actually somewhat subtle.

A human, a human cultivator, yet, also a Golden Crow; not the inferior form like Jingwu, but a proper Golden Crow hatched from an "egg."

Then, at another place on the other side of the starry sky, there was another gaze that could be faintly sensed.

Without the slightest awe, full of rebellion, yet, that was also a Golden Crow, just hatched, and the key was that it was also not a demon Golden Crow; furthermore, it seemed to have grown phoenix feathers...

Looking back at Du En, hmm, faintly, there was also a scent of a phoenix, very deep and heavy...

"Awoo, awoo, awoo!"

The Sin-Dragon broke free from the entanglement of the Dragon Venerable's corpse amidst its screams, and then, because it truly could not help itself, it cried out too joyfully, interrupting the Emperor's thoughts, thus drawing the Emperor's displeased gaze.

It's over!

It felt as if it had fallen into an ice cave; even though the world's strongest Solar Divine Fire was still burning on its body, it could not feel a single bit of warmth, only the illusion that it had already died.

Seeing that it was about to be obliterated, the Ten Thousand Star Sin-Fetus, still concerned about its own primal blood, cautiously glanced over, then immediately shrank back.

Useless thing! The Sin-Dragon could not help but curse in its heart; now, there was truly only thick despair.

Because at this very moment, no one could save it!

Even the undying and inextinguishable nature of the Sin-Evil would only increase the pain of death!

The reason was simple: what it was facing now was the Undying Demon Emperor, the Emperor who could deconstruct the undying, the Emperor who stood proudly in the sky! Yet at this moment, a new change occurred.

The divine fire was scorching, coming across space-time, continuous and endless.

As the past and present interweave, and space-time and causality interfere, the body of the Dragon Venerable, which was being scorched and dissolved, now sees faint traces of color emerge in those eyes that had remained dim.

It was after the connection with the Myriad Star Sin-Fetus was severed that the Venerable's lingering thoughts began to surge and emerge from the depths of the Dao.

Just like someone in a drunken stupor, their consciousness seemed to wander aimlessly in a dark, hazy blur, struggling to find a clear and stable anchor point; yet when he raised his eyes to look, he saw the intersection of space-time, and saw the Emperor Venerable hanging in the sky like a solitary sun.

Those cold, overlooking eyes swept past him without the slightest concern, as if looking at an ugly, lowly crawler!

How could the Golden Dragon Venerable have ever suffered such contempt! His lingering consciousness suddenly found an anchor point in the indignation and annoyance that welled up, finally managing to gather together and barely attain a sliver of clarity.

He was dead. This point was beyond doubt.

How did he die?

Unclear; he didn't see clearly what happened. Anyway, he just charged up with his younger siblings, and then he died. Now, recalling it slightly, there is still a sense of absurdity and grotesqueness that wells up.

The Great Vehicle stage does not distinguish between early, middle, late, or perfection; once you arrive, it is perfection, and once you enter, it is the peak. But facing that Fu Dong Supreme, he and the others were like those who had fallen to the early stage, while the opponent was at perfection—no, that's not right. If one must put it that way, the glaring Emperor Venerable before his eyes could barely be called perfection, or perhaps a half-step to Tribulation Transcendence.

In short, what on earth is that Supreme thing?

The Golden Dragon Venerable thought, and his lingering thoughts were on the verge of dissipating.

But immediately, he thought of other things, thinking of his younger siblings.

A sudden pain in his heart.

Pain and regret became the new anchor point.

In his rotting mind, within his shattered Primordial Spirit, memories from even further back began to churn.

That was thirty thousand years ago, not long after the great change in heaven and earth.

It should have been thirty thousand years ago; he couldn't quite remember clearly.

"Divine Venerable, are you really going?"

"Haha, we fight against heaven and earth. Even if the immortal path is severed, we must continue to move forward. Moreover, the Jianmu has always been guarded by Cang under imperial decree. Now that it has become a target for all, as its friends, we should naturally go to assist. It just so happens that we can take this opportunity to see, among all the spirits of the myriad worlds today, exactly how many can be called kings, and which are worthy of being called venerables!"

That hearty, vigorous voice, which looked down upon heaven and earth, is something the Golden Dragon Venerable still cannot forget to this day.

That was the Divine Venerable of the Dragon race, the one who appeared once more after the founding Ancestral Dragon, a Venerable who could truly be called a god.

Or rather, the opposite: the title of Divine Venerable became illustrious and celebrated because of him!

The strongest in conquest and battle, recognized by all spirits of the myriad worlds! The Golden Dragon Venerable did not doubt him back then, only looking at the other with full reverence.

Then his head was gently patted, and a large hand covered part of his field of vision, making him unable to see the expression in the eyes opposite him.

"Little Jin, after I leave, you will be the biggest one. You must be a good big brother..."

In the past, he did not understand the intention, but the subsequent developments allowed the dragon to realize.

However, in the end, he did not learn the lesson. With the Divine Venerable never returning, he still acted in a high-profile and ostentatious manner, ultimately implicating his younger siblings, and even the entire race... For a moment, the Golden Dragon Venerable's emotions were like a tidal wave; pain, regret, and sorrow finally allowed him to wake up, finally allowing him to understand everything.

Thus, at the moment the Sin-Dragon attracted the Emperor Venerable's dissatisfaction, he suddenly tilted his head back.

"Aung!!!"

A clear, clanging dragon roar resounded through the void. The fallen evil on his body, accompanied by the divine fire of the sun, was suddenly slashed away by an invisible heavenly halberd.

"Oh? The Response-War Halberd?"

The Emperor Venerable was immediately intrigued.

This was because its master was the Venerable who, before Him, held the title of the strongest in the world.

The Golden Dragon Venerable remained silent. Accompanied by the self-slashing of borrowed power, he had already cut away the fallen divine fire, and subsequently burned his Dao body, igniting his own Dao. Suddenly, the power of metal and slaughter erupted with a bang.

He was the head of the Five Elements Dragon Venerables, the Dragon of the Metal Element, controlling a corner of the foundation of all phenomena in the world! The clanging sound echoed in the void of the universe. White light surged from the west, pure to the extreme, a vast expanse of metal and slaughter, finally making the Emperor Venerable show a bit of respect.

So, you want to presumptuously challenge Me? However, the Golden Dragon Venerable did not look toward this side, because that was merely a floating shadow of past space-time, a fixed reality he could not touch. Therefore, he looked toward the Sin-Dragon.

"Old Ancestor, save... what the hell?!"

The Sin-Dragon had originally thought that this Golden Dragon Old Ancestor had awakened and exerted his remaining strength to save it. After all, as the sole seedling of the Dragon race, carrying the inheritance of the Dragon race, it should survive no matter what; otherwise, the Dragon race would be thoroughly extinct!

A snake-dragon or a fake dragon is not a true dragon!

As it turned out, the Golden Dragon Venerable drove the tide of white gold, coming mightily from the west, not to save it at all, but to kill it! Shame.

You sinful dragon, you are truly the greatest shame of our race!

He would rather let the Dragon race perish than let you live on to continue deceiving the world! What's more, if he hadn't seen wrong, there was still a branch of his race's destiny existing, and it was deeply entangled with this sinful creature, having been stolen by this sinful creature!

This made it even more deserving of death.

"Die!"

The Golden Dragon Venerable erupted in a long roar, his will singular and intense. Even because he burned his Dao to extinction, he triggered and mobilized the other four half-dead Dao laws.

Originally, the Emperor Venerable was somewhat dissatisfied, but after noticing this, His gaze flickered. He abruptly stretched out a wing, resisting the heavy restrictions and modifications of heaven and earth, insisting on intervening directly from the past into the present.

Rifts of Dao appeared abruptly; that was the correction of space-time, the righteous law of heaven and earth!

At a deeper level, it seemed to truly possess a will, the true framework of the heaven, earth, and universe... Looking at it, it was like heavenly punishment! It was also like a heavenly tribulation, a heavenly tribulation that had long disappeared from the human world!

"Interesting, you want to let Me witness this? A rat of later generations..."

The Emperor Venerable chuckled and exerted force suddenly, pushing directly against the corrective tribulation, and slammed into that boundless Dao. At that moment, four Great Daos—cyan, black, red, and yellow—were struck out.

"Aung!!!"

"Aung!!!"

"Aung!!!"

"Aung!!!"

Wood, water, fire, and earth—the four great Daos turned over, transforming into four pure-colored little dragons, emitting roars of different emotions but equally high-pitched. Then, with a flash, they submerged into the body of the Golden Dragon Venerable.

"You all?!"

"..."

Lingering thoughts and memories exist by attaching to the Dao, but that is all. In the silence, there seemed to be noisy, faint sounds, but in the end, they could not be understood.

And at this very same moment.

Everything seemed to freeze.

The Emperor Sovereign's act of retracting wings was the same.

After all, He had just stolen something from someone else's plate.

Although it could be said that it was deliberately left there waiting to be stolen.

In short, the Four Great Sovereigns followed along the causality, traced the fate, and stepped upon the ripples of the Dao, trailing behind to see just how far the progress on the side of Sovereign Luoyu had reached.

When two tigers fight, there is indeed a flaw! They saw it, though it was only for a glance.

The Emperor Sovereign returned, very abruptly.

Because the local Master also took action, but immediately shifted away their attention; in a trance, Sheng Zhaoshui seemed to hear a muffled groan, as if it were from the True Monarch above them? In the flash of an instant, many things happened, things that only those at the Emperor Sovereign's realm could perceive, and afterwards, even purer and irresistible laws of Heaven and Earth rippled out, correcting and offsetting everything.

Time and space began to flow again; except for the Emperor Sovereign having left, it seemed as if nothing had changed, yet it also seemed as if many things had changed.

(End of this chapter)