Living in the deep palace

The Dragon King... has been defeated?
Their invincible and unparalleled Dragon King was actually defeated by a human elder whose aura was even weaker than that of many of their dragon sons and grandsons.

This old human was originally just a true immortal.

Subsequently.

He broke through to the Xuanxian realm on the battlefield?

Followed by.

He defeated his own supreme dragon king, a pseudo-fourth realm being?
Moreover, they lost in a way that they could not understand at all, a way that was almost "self-destructive".

How can this be?

Not far away, the three Dragon Kings of the East Sea, West Sea, and North Sea were far more shocked and horrified than the ordinary soldiers!

They are pseudo-Fourth Realm beings!

They can see much deeper!
They could clearly sense that Ao Qin's physical body had not suffered fatal injuries. However, his "Dao," his "Soul," and the "foundation" of his existence as the "Dragon King" were...

Collapsed!
It was completely shattered by the opponent's seemingly ordinary final sword strike!
That sword strike did not sever power, nor did it cut through the laws!

What it's cutting is... "reality"!
It was like the sharpest scalpel, mercilessly dissecting Ao Qin and all the other "pseudo-fourth realm" beings, exposing their incomplete "essence," which had been castrated by the Heavenly Dao, to the sunlight in a bloody manner!
In an instant, a cold, polluting feeling called "self-doubt" spread uncontrollably and wildly from the depths of their hearts!
Their Dao hearts, those that should have been indestructible Dragon King Dao hearts, actually showed a barely perceptible... crack!
"fear!"

"This could absolutely not be the work of this insignificant old man Xuanyu. He is nothing but an ant, not even worthy to carry the shoes of the Supreme Dragon King."

"In the end, it was still the work of that white-robed Taoist master, the thief who stole time."

"That damn guy."

"He fouled!"

"It must have been a foul!"

One by one, the supreme dragon kings were agitated, but they were chilled to the bone and could not take a single step out.

These pseudo-fourth-realm dragon kings were nothing in the eyes of the other party, a fact they gradually came to realize.

The only one who might have a chance to suppress them is their Dragon Emperor.

Simultaneously.

A sense of resentment arose in their hearts. Why should they obey the command of Heaven to punish such a troublesome fellow?

According to their understanding, the dragon race should be enemies of the mythical Heavenly Dao.

Now it seems that, let alone eliminating the white-robed Daoist, this thief of time, they are simply incapable of even destroying that small planet.

……

……

Crystal Dragon Palace.

Before the Mysterious Mirror.

In the eyes of the Dragon Emperor of the East Sea, which were like golden suns, all calm and majesty had vanished.

All that remained was a scene of near-frozen...horrifying disbelief!
Even he was shocked.

He really didn't expect it.

The other party actually won this bet!

The battle between the True Immortals and the Supreme Dragon King would ultimately end with the Supreme Dragon King's Dao Heart collapsing...

He lost.

A crushing defeat.

The thief who stole time never actually made a move! He merely sent out a "pawn" that he casually designated!
They completely trampled the dragon race's formidable reputation, a reputation that would make the entire mythological era take notice, under their feet!

This is more than just a slap in the face!
This is a blow to the heart!
This is the most thorough dimensional reduction attack on the ancient ten supreme beings who have lived for countless eras and have long since engraved the word "pride" into their bones!
"Well... well done, you thief of time..."

The Dragon Emperor managed to utter these words with difficulty.

For the first time, he felt a pang of regret for his decision to cooperate with the Heavenly Dao to eliminate this "variable."

He realized that he, and indeed all living beings throughout the entire mythological era, had underestimated this being from the future from the very beginning!
His weapon has never been strength!

Rather, it is a kind of "truth" that they cannot understand at all, or even imagine!
"This is somewhat similar to the power of the Fifth Realm?"

"wrong."

"Perhaps it is still the power of the fourth realm, but this is a power that only the most powerful cultivators of the fourth realm, the Great Luo Immortal, can wield."

"Even I'm a little short..."

The Dragon Emperor squinted, remaining silent for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.

……

……

The Dragon Emperor's will remained silent.

then.

The battlefield fell silent.

The remaining dragon kings ceased their discussion and awaited the final command from the Dragon Emperor.

that's it.

The flow of time.

The suffocating silence on the battlefield lasted for an unknown period of time.

In the end, it was Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea, who was the first to come to his senses.

He glanced at his fourth brother, Ao Qin, who was still floating in the void, his eyes closed, as if he had completely lost his soul.

He glanced again at his second and third brothers, whose eyes were also filled with complex emotions and whose Dao hearts were wavering.

He knew that this battle... could not be fought any longer.

If the fighting continues, it won't just be Ao Qin who collapses.

Rather, it was the morale of their entire dragon clan!
Or.

The pride that belongs exclusively to the ancient dragon race!

He raised his dragon claw, which was also stained with golden dragon blood, and bowed towards the void.

"Your Majesty the Dragon Emperor..."

His voice was filled with an unprecedented...bitterness.

Inside the Crystal Dragon Palace, the Dragon Emperor slowly closed his eyes.

He knew what Ao Guang wanted to say.

He also knew what choice he had to make.

His long silence was also a way of waiting for an opportunity to back down. He thought that the opportunity would come from the white-robed Taoist master, the thief who stole time.

But enough is enough.

"enough."

The Dragon Emperor's will, tinged with deep weariness, resounded throughout the entire battlefield.

"Convey my decree..."

"Sound the retreat...retreat."

Upon receiving this order, both the three Dragon Kings, who were relieved, and the hundreds of millions of aquatic soldiers who had long lost their will to fight, breathed a sigh of relief.

They retreated slowly, like the tide.

Before leaving, Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea, took a deep look at the white-clad figure standing quietly atop the Jianmu Divine Tree.

He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.

He, along with his fourth brother Ao Qin, who was already like a living dead, disappeared into the dark spatial rift without looking back.

A war that should have been a bloodbath that swept across the entire star field.

And so, in a way that no one expected—a promising start followed by a disappointing end—the curtain fell.

However, everyone knows.

This is not the end.

It is the beginning of a more magnificent, more exciting, and entirely new era!
How can there be two skies in one human world?

And now.

In this era, there are two Heavenly Daos!

One is a celestial being from the past. The other, though arriving late, comes from the future!
……

……

Central Divine Court.

Lingxiao Palace.

"BOOM—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A roar of impotent rage, powerful enough to make the entire universe tremble, erupted from the highest throne of the gods!
"Trash! A bunch of trash!"

"Eastern Sea Dragon Emperor! You dare betray me?!"

The Heavenly Dao of Myth has completely gone berserk!

He turned all the tables and chairs made of chaotic divine metal and all the decorations carved from the heart of the World Tree inside the palace into dust!
The terrifying divine power of the "Heavenly Dao" transformed into tangible black destructive lightning, raging wildly across the entire Central Divine Court!

He cannot accept it!

He could not accept that his divine decree would end in such a shameful way!

The Dragon Clan has been defeated!
A defeat utterly humiliating!

This is not just a defeat for the dragons!
It is also a failure of His "supreme authority" as the God of Myth!
After this battle, the infamous "Thief of Time" Su Chen and his seductive "Way of the True Self" will surely spread throughout the fourteen star regions!
And His "majesty," the ruler of the universe, will plummet!
As one grows, the other loses…

He didn't even dare to think any further!

"The Dragon Emperor of the East Sea!"

"You, just you wait!"

"Once I've dealt with that time-stealer, the next person I'll settle accounts with... will be you!"

“You are nothing but a bunch of servants conceived in my immortal aperture, yet you dare to disobey my will after my fall.”

The mythical Heavenly Dao let out an extremely venomous roar.

Immediately afterwards, a brand-new Heavenly Decree, filled with the meaning of "iron-bloodedness" and "killing", once again spread throughout the universe!
"I am the way of heaven!"

"Today, Ao Guang, the Dragon Emperor of the East Sea, has deserted his post and betrayed his promise, which is intolerable to the Heavenly Way!"

"From this day forward, he is stripped of his position as 'Lord of the Azure Dragon Star Region'! He is demoted to a traitor and rebel! Let the world unite against him!"

This is a decree that has completely broken off all pretense of civility!

This signifies the complete breakdown of the already fragile "alliance" between the mythical Heavenly Dao and the East Sea Dragon Emperor, one of the Ten Ancient Venerables!

The entire universe fell into a deathly silence because of this decree!

This is the first time that the Mythical Heavenly Dao and one of the Ten Ancient Venerables have clashed so openly.

……

……

At this moment, Su Chen, as the "instigator" of all this, seemed to have foreseen it all.

He calmly watched the dragon army retreat in disarray.

There was no trace of elation on his face after the victory.

There is only the calm that comes after a chess player has made a crucial move.

Just then, an ancient yet incredibly powerful will silently resounded in his mind.

Indeed, it was the East Sea Dragon Emperor who had already retreated to the Crystal Dragon Palace...

"You win."

The Dragon Emperor's voice was filled with an unprecedented...complexity.

"But you have also thoroughly enraged Him."

"He will not give anyone another chance."

"Next, what awaits you is the most ruthless and costless annihilation by the Heavenly Dao!"

"The Mythical Heavenly Dao may seem weak, but it was once the master of the Fifth Realm and the Immortal Aperture Star Sea. No one knows what tricks it has up its sleeve."

"Even the most powerful of the Ten Ancient Sovereigns didn't dare to corner it, yet you dare..."

Su Chen smiled faintly.

"Isn't this exactly what you, or rather, what you all want to see?"

The Dragon Emperor's will fell silent.

Su Chen's words revealed his true feelings.

The reason he withdrew his troops so decisively was...

First, they were intimidated by Su Chen's methods.

Secondly, they wanted to use Su Chen, their sharpest "knife," to test just how hard the "sky" that had been pressing down on all living beings for countless epochs was!

after all.

No matter what, he far surpasses the pseudo-fourth realm East Sea Dragon Emperor and is one of the Ten Ancient Venerables.

If he really wanted to make a move, even if Su Chen had to abandon Jianmu Planet once again and flee in a sorry state.

With the foundation of the Ten Ancient Venerables, even a Dragon Emperor, who is only at the bottom of the hierarchy, can easily complete the task assigned by the Heavenly Dao.

But, he didn't.

"The struggle between the old and new Heavenly Dao will shatter the cage that is the Star Sea."

"But outside the cage lies endless 'chaos'."

"In your mind, the familiar term would be 'outside the door,' right?"

"Although this is the Fallen Era, existing in the cracks where time has stopped, it still leads to the world outside."

"At that time, rivers of blood will flow, and all living beings will perish!"

"Is this the 'new world' you wanted...?"

This is the most fundamental concern of all the "strong" of the old era! It is also the root cause of their reluctance to easily defy the will of Heaven!
What's outside the door?
That's a danger that even the Lord of the Star Sea, a fifth-level expert, has faced!
Even the ten ancient sages, no matter how powerful they were, dared not compare themselves to the Star Sea Immortal Ancestor at his peak.

"None of this has anything to do with me."

"What I want is a 'universe' that can give birth to 'infinite possibilities'!"

"In this universe, there are no born 'masters' or destined 'ants'."

“Every path leads to the ‘Great Way.’ As for whether it leads to ‘rebirth’ or ‘destruction’…”

A meaningful smile appeared on Su Chen's lips.

"That should not be decided by me, nor by 'the will of Heaven'."

"It should be chosen by the billions of 'beings' in this universe themselves."

After saying that, Su Chen unilaterally severed his mental connection with the Dragon Emperor.

He slowly turned around.

The beings of Jianmu Ancient Star reached out their hands towards the ocean of fervent faith that had already gathered below.

He knew the Dragon Emperor would understand.

He also knew that he should proceed with the next step of his plan.

"The Way has been passed down."

"The fire has been lit."

"Next..."

Su Chen's eyes shone with an unprecedented brilliance!
"That is, let this newborn 'seed' grow strong in the most violent 'storms' of the Heavenly Dao, and eventually grow into a towering tree that can pierce through this sky!"

……

……

The defeat of the dragon army and the decree of Heaven, filled with "anger" and "condemnation," were like two divine thunderbolts!
The chain reaction triggered during the already turbulent Mythological Era far exceeded the expectations of all living beings!

The entire universe has completely split apart!
Led by the Central Divine Court, those "die-hard" forces that had long been completely assimilated by the Heavenly Dao order or were inextricably bound to the Heavenly Dao issued statements, strongly condemning the East Sea Dragon Emperor's "betrayal."

They also stated that they would defend the supreme authority of "Heaven's Way" to the death!

And the other side.

Led by the Dragon Emperor of the East Sea in the Azure Dragon Starfield, those ancient beings who had also survived from the previous era and were already dissatisfied with the "hegemony" of the Heavenly Dao chose to remain silent.

Their silence itself is the strongest stance! (End of Chapter)