Living in the deep palace

Su Chen stood atop the ruins of the former Heavenly Palace.

This place was once the central region of the Five Domains of Mountains and Seas, the core area where the spiritual energy was most abundant and the laws were most complete in the entire world.

It has long since been shattered and turned into a secret realm, a secret place belonging to the Xuan Tian Sect in the Mountain and Sea Realm!

Five million years later, the Xuantian Sect succeeded the Heavenly Palace as the strongest immortal force in the Mountain and Sea Realm, without exception.

At this moment, all that can be seen are broken walls and ruins.

The towering gate, once piercing the clouds, was a celestial palace gate forged from ancient divine metal. Now, only half of the broken door frame remains, leaning obliquely into a scorched earth, covered with mottled marks from sword cuts and supernatural erosion.

The Nine Heavens White Jade Divine Bridge, which once connected the thirty-three heavens, has long since broken into countless pieces, like the remains of a giant dragon, scattered among the desolate sea of ​​clouds.

Those magnificent palaces and celestial temples have long since turned into endless ruins, covered by a thick layer of dust and moss over five million years.

The spiritual energy was so thin it was almost depleted, and the laws were so fragmented they were incomplete.

The entire Heavenly Palace Small World seemed to have entered its twilight years, exuding an air of decay and desolation.

Su Chen stood quietly, dressed in pristine white, his clothes spotless, a stark contrast to the desolate scene.

Deep within his pupils, reflected is a ceaseless river of time, spanning five million years!

The river flows swiftly, its waves surging, each wave representing a piece of history long forgotten.

He saw it.

He saw his own figure after he killed Haotian and Dijun, clearing the last obstacle for the immortal path, shattering the void and drifting away.

He saw that after his departure, the Mountain and Sea Realm ushered in a brief but glorious golden age for the immortal path.

Knowing that the immortal path was bound to rise, the Divine Court rapidly contracted its power, surrendering many territories and allowing the Heavenly Palace to once again become the sole overlord, ruling the world and commanding the homage of all sects.

The Heavenly Palace accepts everything with a smile, but it still sharpens its knives at the Divine Court.

Within the Heavenly Palace, factions abound, vying for power and profit. Meanwhile, the former Divine Court is secretly accumulating strength, awaiting its opportunity to strike back.

Finally, about a thousand years after his departure, the great war broke out again.

This time, it was no longer a one-man crushing defeat by him and his sword, but the ultimate clash between two massive forces and two civilizations.

The Heavenly Palace represents the inheritance and order of the immortal path.

The Divine Court represents the barbarity and plunder of the divine way.

The war lasted for a full 100,000 years!
It was a tragic epic that could dim the stars.

Throughout the long river of time, Su Chen has seen countless familiar or unfamiliar figures, like shooting stars streaking across the sky, shining brightly for a moment before finally fading into silence.

He saw a rising star in the Heavenly Palace, a young immortal lord of extraordinary talent, wielding an immortal weapon, fighting alone against the three great gods of the Divine Court, and finally dying from exhaustion, his immortal blood staining half the sky red.

He saw that the last old god of the Divine Court, the former Yu Xianjun, burned his own divine soul and summoned an ancient demon god who had long since fallen, which almost shattered the entire Central Region.

The brilliance of its supernatural powers overwhelmed the sun and moon.

The roar of the magical artifact shattered the heavens.

The vast and boundless land of the Five Regions of Mountains and Seas was shattered into pieces during this catastrophe that lasted for 100,000 years!

The eastern region was transformed into a desolate wasteland of endless yellow sand.

The Western Regions transformed into the desolate Western Desert, a place where Buddhist kingdoms vanished.

The southern region has been transformed into a desolate land infested with poisonous insects and devoid of ancient sorcerers.

The northern region was transformed into a frozen wasteland, devoid of life.

The once most prosperous and spiritually vibrant Central Region was completely reduced to a wasteland of chaotic laws and depleted vitality, which later generations called the Central Continent.

In the end, both the Heavenly Palace and the Divine Court suffered heavy losses.

All those who reached the third level of the Nascent Soul realm, whether they were "Immortal Lords" of the Immortal Path or "Divine Lords" of the Divine Path, perished together in that final battle.

An era has come to an end.

The transmission of the immortal path and the divine path was also cut off.

For the next millions of years, the entire Shan Hai realm was plunged into a long, dark "Dharma-ending Age".

With spiritual energy depleted and laws incomplete, the realm of becoming a deity became a state that only existed in ancient legends.

Countless cultivators, throughout their lives, can only struggle between the Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation stages, eventually exhausting their lifespan and turning into a handful of dust.

Until the last million years, as the world repaired itself, some remaining spiritual veins began to revive.

Some daring sects began to organize people to explore the ruins left behind by ancient battlefields, attempting to unearth lost traditions and magical treasures.

This is the origin of the "Age of Ruins".

Countless sects were established on the ruins, and then perished within the ruins.

Until a sect called "Tianxuan Sect" managed to obtain a fragmented Heavenly Palace cultivation technique in an extremely hidden ruin, and based on this, they cultivated the first true Nascent Soul Emperor since the Ruins Era.

From then on, the Tianxuan Sect soared to the top, becoming the undisputed number one sect in the Central Continent and even the entire Mountain and Sea Realm.

The ruins of the Heavenly Palace beneath their feet became the biggest secret of the Heavenly Profound Sect. They sealed it off with layers of supreme formations, treating it as a forbidden zone, and forbidding any outsiders from setting foot there.

Su Chen withdrew his gaze from the surging river of time, and the myriad scenes in his eyes finally turned into a long sigh.

"I see."

"Has the Tianxuan Sect taken over the Heavenly Palace's legacy and its position, becoming the number one power in the mountains and seas?"

"And here, the secret realm of the Heavenly Palace ruins has become the back garden of the Tianxuan Sect."

Five million years is enough time for the ocean to turn into mulberry fields.

The causes of the past have led to the effects of today.

This world is no longer the world he was familiar with.

Just as Su Chen was feeling sentimental and reminiscing about the past.

A furious shout, full of vigilance and hostility, rang out behind him without warning!
"Who are you?! Why are you here?!"

"These Heavenly Palace ruins are a forbidden area of ​​my Heavenly Profound Sect! How did you manage to sneak into this place without being detected by our sect's protective formation?!"

Su Chen slowly turned around.

Not far behind him, in mid-air, a middle-aged cultivator dressed in a purple Bagua Taoist robe, with a dignified face and surrounded by surging magical power, hovered there warily.

He held a whisk burning with purple lightning, his aura firmly locked onto Su Chen, his sharp eyes filled with scrutiny and a hint of barely perceptible killing intent. A Nascent Soul cultivator, Emperor.

In today's world of mountains and seas, he would indeed be considered a hegemon, capable of establishing his own sect and dominating the region.

Su Chen looked at him calmly, without saying a word.

The middle-aged cultivator known as Emperor Ziyang was furious when he saw that Su Chen, instead of showing any fear in the face of his questioning, was calmly staring at him with an incomprehensible look, as if he were looking at an ant.

He is one of the three supreme elders of the Tianxuan Sect, Emperor Ziyang!
With a revered status and a Nascent Soul realm cultivation, although newly promoted, his cultivation is second only to the powerful ancestors within the sect! Wherever he goes, he is either universally admired or universally respected!
When have we ever been treated with such disregard?!
Moreover, this place is the core territory of the Tianxuan Sect, and the matter is of utmost importance. No petty person is allowed to lay a finger on it!

"Hmph! Pretending to be a ghost!"

A murderous glint flashed in Emperor Ziyang's eyes. He was not a kind person to begin with, and seeing that Su Chen did not answer, he concluded that the other party was a spy sent by a rival sect to try to steal the Heavenly Palace's inheritance.

There's no need for further explanation about spies; capture them first!

"Since you won't talk, then let me search your soul myself!"

Emperor Ziyang roared, no longer hesitating!
He suddenly flicked the purple lightning whisk in his hand!
"Divine Power - Purple Heaven Divine Thunder!"

Boom——!!!!!!

In an instant, the situation changed!

Above the already desolate ruins of the Heavenly Palace, a vast expanse of purple tribulation clouds suddenly gathered out of nowhere!

A thick, bucket-like bolt of purple divine lightning, formed entirely from the purest laws of destructive thunder, descended like divine punishment, tearing through the sky and carrying the terrifying power to turn everything to charcoal, striking down directly at Su Chen!

He had used all his strength in this attack!

He was confident that even a fellow Nascent Soul Emperor would have to temporarily avoid his attack!
however!
Faced with this terrifying blow that could make the world lose its color, as if the end of the world had arrived.

Su Chen's face, however, remained calm and undisturbed.

He didn't even lift his eyelids.

He simply stood there quietly, letting the raging thunder make his clothes flutter loudly.

Just as the purple lightning was about to strike his head...

An incredible scene happened!

That invincible purple divine lightning, powerful enough to level a mountain, suddenly stopped less than three feet above Su Chen's head!

Then, as if gently crushed by an invisible hand, it was immediately broken.

It silently transformed into countless purple specks of light and vanished into the air.

It was as if it had never existed.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no devastating energy storm.

It couldn't even stir a single hair on Su Chen's head.

"Wha...what?!"

The ferocity and confidence on Emperor Ziyang's face froze instantly, replaced by endless... blankness and disbelief!

He rubbed his eyes hard, almost thinking he was hallucinating!
How can it be? !
His prized innate divine power, "Purple Heaven Divine Thunder," capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, had actually... actually vanished just like that?!

Not even a ripple was stirred?!

What... what on earth is going on?!
He looked at the white-clad figure who still stood quietly atop the ruins, as if nothing had happened. A chilling feeling, originating from the depths of his soul and called "fear," swept over his entire body like a tidal wave!

"Ants."

Finally, Su Chen spoke.

His voice was calm and even, yet it carried a sense of vicissitude and indifference that seemed to have traversed countless ages.

"You can't even tell what level I'm at, yet you dare to attack me?"

"The younger generation in the world of mountains and seas these days is truly getting worse with each generation..."

He stood with his hands behind his back, shook his head slightly, and let out a long sigh.

The sigh contained no discernible emotion, but rather seemed to convey endless感慨 and disappointment towards this world and the passing years.

This sigh, falling into the ears of Emperor Ziyang, shook his mind even more than the roar of the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder!

It was a kind of absolute, insurmountable... crushing force that originated from the level of life and from the understanding of the Great Dao!
He felt that in front of this white-clad figure, he was truly an ignorant and arrogant ant!
"Senior...senior..."

The voice of Emperor Ziyang trembled violently with extreme fear. The Thunder Whisk in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter. He wanted to beg for mercy, but found that his throat was as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, and he could not even utter a complete syllable!
Just as the atmosphere became extremely tense, and Emperor Ziyang was about to be completely crushed by the invisible pressure,

Another aged and timeless figure appeared silently in the arena.

"This humble disciple has been unruly and disturbed your peaceful cultivation. I beg your forgiveness!"

The newcomer was an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face, dressed in a simple gray Taoist robe, exuding an air of otherworldly wisdom.

He looked like an ordinary hermit, without any earth-shattering aura emanating from him.

But his eyes were incredibly deep and weathered, as if they contained a complete starry sky, revealing all the truths of the world.

"Ancestor... Ancestor?!"

The moment Emperor Ziyang saw the old man, it was as if he had seen a lifeline. His face, which had been distorted by fear, revealed an uncontrollable look of ecstasy. He knelt down with a thud and respectfully performed a full prostration!

"Disciple Ziyang pays respects to Ancestor Tianxuan!"

This old man is none other than the founder of the Tianxuan Sect, and is now recognized as the strongest person in the entire Shan Hai Realm—Tianxuan Elder!

One of them, a legendary old monster who has lived for nearly 100,000 years and has already touched the threshold of the third stage of the Nascent Soul realm, "Immortal Lord"!

However, the Heavenly Profound Elder, who was revered like a god throughout the entire Mountain and Sea Realm, did not even glance at his kneeling grand-disciple.

All his thoughts, his deep eyes, were fixed on that figure in white, as pure as snow!

His body was trembling slightly!

It wasn't fear, but a kind of excitement that came from the depths of the soul!
It was as if the most devout believer had finally seen with his own eyes the legendary... god he believed in!
He could clearly sense how vast and unfathomable the "Dao" contained within this seemingly young man in white was!

That was a kind of ultimate path that he could not reach even after ten thousand years of arduous cultivation, and even looking up at it made him feel incredibly insignificant...
Compared to him, his so-called "third stage of the Nascent Soul realm" was simply a huge joke!

"Junior... Tianxuan greets Senior!"

Elder Tianxuan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart. He straightened his robes and, facing Su Chen, respectfully performed the most standard and humble Daoist bow. (End of Chapter)