Living in the deep palace

"Yes, Dao Lord!" Ancient Insect Immortal respectfully accepted the order.

"Golden light, without heart."

Su Chen then looked at the other two.

"Your responsibility is even greater."

"From this moment forward, consolidate all our forces. Relocate all disciples and elders of the Taiyi Dao Palace, as well as all allies willing to follow us, to the Tianxu Star Region."

"With the Taiyi Dao Palace at its core, activate the strongest protective array. For the next ten years, you have only one mission: to survive!"

"Survive at all costs! Wait for my return!"

"Disciple, obey your command!"

The two responded in unison, their voices strong and clear.

Su Chen nodded.

He knew this was an incredibly heavy burden.

But he had no one he could entrust with anything.

He slowly extended his hand.

Three orbs of primordial power, shimmering with a chaotic light, flew from his fingertips and entered the brows of the three Golden Immortals.

“This is part of my ‘Heavenly Way’ authority.”

"After I leave, you can use this item to mobilize the power of the laws of this star sea to a certain extent."

"While it cannot be used to combat 'Heavenly Calamity,' it is sufficient for you to cope with any possible interstellar crisis."

"With this authority, the three of you working together are equivalent to a celestial giant, enough to handle 99% of the troubles!"

After doing all this, Su Chen's aura became even more unstable.

Clearly, stripping him of the authority over "Heaven's Way" was a considerable burden for him.

"All right."

"The rest is up to you."

He took one last, deep look at the Taoist palace he had built with his own hands.

I glanced at them; these three were the Golden Immortals who would carry the hopes of this universe.

hope.

After his return, will Xinghai be a place where everything has changed?

Immediately, Su Chen's face regained its timeless calm and composure.

"I should get going."

As he finished speaking, his figure began to become ethereal and transparent, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

He is becoming one with the surrounding time and space.

Om-!
An invisible ripple spread out from Su Chen.

The next instant, his figure completely disappeared from the Hall of Longevity.

They disappeared from this era.

……

The river of time.

This is an illusory river whose grandeur and vastness cannot be described in any words.

It has no beginning and no end.

It is composed of countless fragments of "time" and waves of "possibilities".

Each wave represents the rise and fall of a civilization, the change of an era.

now.

In this forbidden river that even the Great Luo fears.

A figure in white was slowly moving upstream.

He is Su Chen.

All around are countless bizarre and fantastical historical "illusions".

He saw the scene from not long ago when he enlightened the three immortals and made them awe-inspiring throughout the starry sea.

He saw himself attaining enlightenment and reshaping the Heavenly Dao.

He witnessed the descent of the "tainted sun" and the tragic fall of countless immortals.

He was like a lonely ghost, a traveler of time, resolutely moving forward in this river that belongs to the past.

He's getting faster and faster.

He crossed over into the tenth era, which he lived in, known as the "end of Dharma".

We entered the final, glorious Ninth Era of the Immortal Path...

Then came the Eighth Era, when the Celestial Court collapsed and all paths withered...

The Seventh Age, the Sixth Age, the Fifth Age...

He witnessed the rise and fall of countless Immortal Emperors and Celestial Venerables who once dominated an era.

He witnessed the birth and destruction of countless powerful races and civilizations.

These histories, which have long since turned to dust in the outside world, are still vividly playing out in this long river of history.

Su Chen's heart remained calm.

He was just a passerby.

That's not his goal.

at last.

He traversed the most prosperous and glorious First Era, founded by the First Immortal Emperor, Zuo Qingcang!

He witnessed the "Battle of Heaven's Collapse" that ended the golden age of immortality!
I witnessed countless immortal giants shedding their blood across the starry sky!
I saw that terrifying shadow descending from outside the "door"!

His heart skipped a beat.

But he forcefully suppressed the urge to stop and investigate.

Because he knew that it was beyond his control at the moment.

He continued onward!
They passed through the end of the First Age.

He arrived in a more ancient and chaotic... space-time.

Here, "time" is no longer linear.

Instead, it presents a chaotic and disordered state.

It's like the origin of the universe...

This is the beginning of all ages!
It is the source of all myths!

It's that legendary... "Mythical Age"!
A flicker of excitement flashed in Su Chen's eyes.

Once he steps into this place, he can use the perfect laws of the Great Dao here to perfect his own Taiyi Dao!

however.

Just as his foot was about to step into that chaotic space-time!
Buzz—! ! ! !

Time and space in front of him suddenly froze!
A colossal, magnificent bronze gate, imbued with endless vicissitudes and an ancient aura, emerged without warning from the chaotic mists of time!

It stood blocking his way!

It was the very bronze gate he encountered when he devoured the essence of a Golden Immortal!

However, the bronze door at this moment is different from that of that year.

The incredibly powerful "Bronze Guardian" has vanished without a trace.

The mysterious being who claimed to be his "elderly spirit" also vanished without a trace.

The entire giant gate was deathly silent and cold.

Only a fleeting, ethereal figure stood silently before the door, seemingly about to vanish with the wind at any moment…

The figure's face was obscured.

But Su Chen could sense an aura that was far more ancient and profound than any of the ancient Luo Cang Gu he had ever seen.

It was as if this figure had been waiting before this door for countless chaotic eras.

Just as Su Chen was in a state of shock.

The illusory figure slowly turned around.

A pair of eyes that seemed to see through the past, present, and future fell upon Su Chen.

A voice that doesn't belong to any language but can reach the very essence of the soul slowly rang out.

"You came."

……

……

"You came."

These three words are plain yet full of history.

It was as if an old friend who had waited for countless years had finally met his old acquaintance. But to Su Chen's ears, it was no less than the first thunderclap at the dawn of creation!
His pupils suddenly contracted!
He was 100% certain that he had never seen this illusory figure before!
But the other person's tone made it seem as if they already knew everything about me!
It was almost as if He had been waiting here all along specifically for His... arrival!
How can this be? !
He traveled back in time to the "Mythical Age" before the First Era, a decision he had just made on short notice!
It was the only way he could think of to break the deadlock when faced with the "heavenly calamity"!

Aside from him, Jin Guang Gu Xian, and the other two, there couldn't possibly be a fifth life that knew this!

How did this mysterious figure from the "past" foresee all of this?!
Is it...

A thought that sent chills down Su Chen's spine popped up uncontrollably.

Could it be that my "journey against the tide" was actually a pre-arranged... "script"?!

"who are you?"

Su Chen forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart and asked in an extremely solemn voice.

Why are you waiting for me here?

The illusory figure did not directly answer his question. It simply slowly raised an equally illusory arm and pointed it at Su Chen.

"I'm not waiting for you."

His voice carried a hint of inexplicable melancholy.

“I am waiting for ‘myself’.”

"yourself?"

Su Chen frowned, increasingly puzzled.

"You came against the tide in order to seek the power to break through and to save your 'era'."

The illusory figure spoke slowly.

“I went downstream to find the root of my fall, to end a predetermined… ‘cycle’.”

"We are the same person."

"But they are not the same person."

“I am you who has returned from the 'future'.”

"And you are me, who is about to move towards the 'past'."

boom--! ! ! !

Su Chen's mind went completely blank!
The future...me?!
What does it mean? !

Could this illusory, almost completely vanishing figure before me be my future self after experiencing some unknown upheaval?!

How can this be? !
He is a Taiyi Golden Immortal! He is the indestructible Lord of the Heavenly Dao!
How could he possibly be so weak in the future?!
It was as if it could see through the shock and disbelief in Su Chen's heart.

The illusory figure let out a long sigh.

I know it's hard for you to understand.

"Because you are still too 'weak' right now."

"So weak that we are not even qualified to touch that true... 'despair'."

He paused and continued:

Do you think your greatest enemy is the impending 'calamity'?

"Do not."

"It is not."

"At best, it's just an executioner, a rather sharp knife."

"What's truly terrifying is the being standing behind the 'executioner,' the one wielding the 'butcher's knife'...

"Do you think that by going back in time to the age of mythology you can find a way to break the deadlock?"

"Do not."

"you are wrong."

"Time has no meaning for 'He'."

"Whether you're hiding in the 'future' or in the 'past'."

"You can't escape 'His' grasp."

"Because the 'river of time' we inhabit is itself 'His'...plaything in the palm of his hand!"

These words sent a chill down Su Chen's spine!

The river of time...

Is it some unknown entity's toy?!
This has completely overturned his understanding!

"Then...then wasn't my trip completely pointless?"

Su Chen asked with difficulty.

"No, it makes sense."

"The significance of your trip is not about 'becoming stronger'."

"But it lies in... 'witnessing'."

The illusory figure pointed towards the magnificent bronze gate.

"This door looks familiar to you, doesn't it?"

"It is a supreme treasure."

"It is also an ominous 'cursed' object."

“It is the ‘tool’ that ‘He’ uses to harvest the ‘origin’ of each universe…”

"And that's why I'm waiting for you here."

"It's to give you something."

“A ‘beacon’ that I painstakingly extracted from that endless ‘future’!”

talking.

The illusory figure's entire body began to burn intensely! It transformed into an incomparably dazzling light!
At the very core of that light.

A tiny, seemingly extinguishable spark slowly emerged.

What kind of spark was that?

Su Chen felt as if his "Taiyi True Spirit" was about to be ignited by it after just one glance!
From that spark, he sensed an aura far superior, more primordial, and more... incredible than his own "Primordial" Great Dao!
That is, surpassing the fourth realm, "Great Luo"!
It might even be an aura that surpasses the fifth realm!
"This is……"

Su Chen lost his voice.

"These are the coordinates of our true 'hometown'!"

"This is a wisp of 'spark' from the world above that gate!"

"And it's our only... chance of survival!"

at this time.

Su Chen frowned, but instead calmed down, staring at everything before him.

Both the breath and the sensations were real to him.

This feeling came not only from the Taiyi Golden Immortal, but also from the feedback brought to him by the status of the one who has reached the top.

However, he always felt that something was wrong.

"Come quickly."

"what are you waiting for?"

“I am here waiting for you from the future, so that I may bestow upon you this blessing, this power from the future.”

"What are you waiting for?"

An illusory voice urged them on.

But this urging actually made Su Chen take a half step back.

It's not that I'm afraid of anything.

Instead, they were puzzled.

What a coincidence!
The illusory figure before him gave him the feeling of looking in a mirror, as if he were truly seeing his future self.

But Su Chen didn't believe it.

then.

Su Chen asked a question.

What is our hometown?

Su Chen was asking.

In this regard.

The illusory figure paused for a moment, then began to speak slowly.

"Are you doubting me?"

"I am you."

"Your future self, so powerful you're halfway to the fifth realm, can't you sense it?"

"Ok."

"Our homeland? Of course, we are not beings from this star system. We come from outside, don't we?"

And so, the illusory figure was exposed.

Su Chen is indeed not a being of this star sea, a fact that some powerful beings in the star sea may have already deduced.

These powerful beings who could deduce this would naturally believe that Su Chen came from a much larger and more boundless world outside the gate.

Only the vastness outside the gate could give birth to a being like the number one on the strongest dragon list in history, the Taiyi Golden Immortal.

but……

Only Su Chen himself knew the truth.

He did not come from the outside world, but from his homeland called Earth, whose existence is not outside the door.

Even the powerful Nether Lotus Saint Lord, who was at the fifth level, trembled at the mysterious Earth he had glimpsed from his memories.

"Yes."

“We are indeed not beings from this star system…”

Su Chen murmured.

Just as the illusory figure breathed a sigh of relief.

boom!
At this moment, a terrifying primordial power erupted, transforming into a giant sword that slashed across the illusory figure before him, the bronze palace behind him, and the spark of fire in his palm.

At the same time.

While the illusory figure was still stunned and unable to react, Su Chen raised his eyes and rang out with a cold voice.

"Who...who are you?!"

"Why are you pretending to be me here? Die!" (End of Chapter)