Living in the deep palace

"No...something's not right!"

Su Chen's face turned deathly pale instantly.

I am Su Chen.

I am Su Chen, who is cautious and meticulous in every step!
How could I do something as stupid as leading a group of Golden Immortals to attack the Heavenly Court's main base? Even if I have the Origin Branch, even if I have trump cards, the risk is still 99%!

Under normal circumstances, I would take things slowly or use guerrilla tactics; I would never confront them head-on!

To know.

The Heavenly Court has only two Sixth Realms!
"Am I...being controlled?"

Su Chen looked at his hands and felt a strong sense of nausea.

It turns out that the so-called "blood boiling" and the "heaven and earth devouring" heroic spirit were nothing more than the result of being manipulated like a puppet.
What I am so proud of is nothing more than a single move on the chessboard of these two supreme beings.

……

……

Two great suns, one white and one purple, hang at the very top of the universe, as if they were the only truth in this world.

Su Chen felt like a frog that had just climbed to the top of a well and thought it could see the whole sky, only to suddenly discover that there were two towering giants looking down at it from outside the well.

There was no anger or appreciation in that gaze, only a detached indifference as if looking at a dead object.

"Is this... the Sixth Realm?"

Su Chen wanted to speak, but his thoughts could only echo in his mind and could not be conveyed in the slightest.

As the two great suns slowly descended, their light gradually subsided, transforming into two figures.

The person on the left was draped in an imperial robe woven from countless rays of light, wearing a flat-topped crown. His face was obscured by chaotic energy, with only a pair of green eyes visible. The light in those eyes did not reflect ordinary vitality, but rather the complete "history" of countless civilizations from birth to destruction.

He stands there, the end of order, the "sky" of this universe.

Lord of the Heavenly Realm, the True Heavenly Emperor!

The man on the right, dressed in purple, with long hair casually draped over his shoulders, toyed with a bead that seemed to be compressed from countless galaxies. His aura was as deep as an abyss, as if it were the embodiment of all chaos, desolation, and darkness, yet strangely exuded an absolute calmness.

Ancestor of the Void Realm, God of Nothingness!
"Click..."

A soft sound.

Su Chen was horrified to discover that behind these two supreme beings, the previously empty void had suddenly cracked open.

More than a dozen figures were "spit out" like tattered sacks.

"That is……"

Su Chen's pupils contracted violently in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Each of those figures exuded an extremely terrifying aura. Even in their suppressed state, the residual power they emanated made Su Chen feel palpitations.

Those were all at the peak of the fifth realm!
There is an ancient god of thunder wielding a primordial thunder hammer, a stellar behemoth with nine galaxies wrapped around his body, and a bizarre ancestor covered in red hair...

Su Chen didn't recognize any of these people. But he sensed a more powerful and composed foundation in them than in the "pseudo-Heavenly Emperor" he had just devoured.

This is the true foundation of the Heavenly Court! This is the reason why the Heavenly Realm has stood firm for countless epochs!

But now...

These supreme beings, who would normally be able to destroy a vast world, now resembled children who had done something wrong, or dogs whose spines had been broken. They knelt in humiliation behind the True Heavenly Emperor, not daring to even raise their heads.

"Do you understand?"

The voice of the Void Ancestor resounded directly in the depths of Su Chen's soul.

"Su Chen, did you think you were fighting alone, defying the heavens just now?"

The Void Ancestor pointed to the kneeling Fifth Realm Perfection experts, a playful smile playing on his lips.

"If I hadn't covered up the secrets of heaven for you, if I hadn't made that bet with the Heavenly Emperor, allowing him to keep these old fogies in check..."

"Do you think you can survive for more than a few breaths with the Origin Laws you've just cobbled together?"

boom!
These words were like a cold, sharp knife, piercing the balloon of confidence that had been swelling in Su Chen's heart.

Su Chen looked at the kneeling powerhouses, and cold sweat instantly soaked his soul.

Yes.

The Heavenly Court has ruled over countless realms for countless years. How could there only be one false Heavenly Emperor? How could he lead a mob to flatten the Thirty-Three Heavens?

It turns out, it wasn't that he was too strong.

Instead, someone "cleared the area" for him.

This is an exhibition match.

The only audience and judges were these two sixth-realm beings before him. And he, Su Chen, was nothing more than a clown on stage, putting on a great show and thinking himself the protagonist...

"Humph."

The True Heavenly Emperor snorted coldly, and the suppressed rage in his voice caused the surrounding space and time to collapse continuously.

“Ancestor of the Void, you have won.”

The True Heavenly Emperor's gaze swept over Su Chen, as if he were looking at a disgusting fly.

"In order to win this round, you did not hesitate to use the 'Great Cause and Effect Technique' to subtly influence this kid's mind, amplifying the 'greed' and 'madness' in his character a thousand times over."

"Let him think he is omnipotent, and let him do something crazy like swallowing an elephant with a snake."

"This method is far too despicable."

what? !

Upon hearing the words "Great Karma Technique," Su Chen felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Fragments of memory are frantically resurfacing.

He recalled his decision in the Land of No Return—"Let's smash the Heavenly Emperor's rice bowl!" At that time, he was full of passion and fearless.

He recalled his arrogance when facing the false Heavenly Emperor—"I will eat you whole, skin and bones!" At that time, hunger overwhelmed his reason.

What is Su Chen like under normal circumstances?
He sneaked out of the library; he was cautious, taking every step carefully and never making a move unless he was 90% sure of success!

Leading a group of Golden Immortals to attack the stronghold guarded by a Sixth Realm expert?

This is absolutely not something Su Chen would do! This is practically suicide!
"So... I've gone mad."

"It's because of you that I went crazy..."

Su Chen's heart trembled, not with fear, but with an extreme anger at being treated like a plaything and manipulated at will.

It turns out that the so-called heroic spirit and invincible belief were nothing more than puppets in the hands of these two big shots!
To win the bet, the Void Ancestor needed a "madman" willing to devour the heavens. So, Su Chen became that madman.

"Despicable?"

The Void Ancestor paid no attention to the Heavenly Emperor's accusations. He smiled faintly, his voice gentle yet cold.

"Heavenly Emperor, at our level, is there any point in talking about morality?"

"The process is not important, the result is."

"The result is that this kid did indeed devour your Jianmu clone and indeed flattened your Thirty-Three Heavens. And according to the bet..."

The Void Ancestor stretched out a long, slender hand and pointed at Su Chen.

"This 'variable' is mine now."

The True Heavenly Emperor took a deep breath, a glint of destruction flashing in his green eyes. He really wanted to crush this damned insect with a single finger right now.

But he can't.

The wager of the Sixth Realm is a contract engraved on the very origin of the Great Dao. If it is broken, even he will pay a heavy price.

"Take it away."

The True Heavenly Emperor turned around and refused to look at Su Chen again.

"However, Ancestor of the Void, don't be too smug."

"This knife is too sharp, and too sinister. Be careful not to cut your own hand before you hurt anyone else."

"besides……"

The figure of the True Heavenly Emperor began to fade into the distance, disappearing along with the kneeling Fifth Realm experts.

Only a cold curse remained, echoing in the void.

"Su Chen, you'll have to spit out my food sooner or later."

"I'll be waiting for you 'up there'."

"I hope you'll still have the same 'good appetite' back then as you do today."

With the departure of the True Heavenly Emperor, the terrifying pressure that had been pressing down on Su Chen finally dissipated by more than half.

"Huh...huh..."

Su Chen was panting heavily, his entire body drenched in cold sweat. He felt as if he had just escaped death.

"Do you hate it?" The voice of the Void Ancestor rang out again.

He slowly floated down and came to Su Chen's side. Although it was just a projection, the oppressive aura of that higher-dimensional life still forced Su Chen to lower his head.

"hatred."

Su Chen gritted his teeth and squeezed out a single word.

"It's right to hate."

The Void Ancestor was not angry; instead, he showed an appreciative smile.

"If you don't hate, it means you're completely useless."

"Su Chen, you need to understand one thing."

The Void Ancestor reached out and gently patted Su Chen's shoulder. This seemingly intimate gesture felt like a mountain pressing down on Su Chen, almost shattering his bones.

"In this world, the weak have no right to talk about dignity."

"You don't want to be a pawn? You want to jump off the chessboard?"

"Then prove to me that you have the value to become a chess player."

The Ancestor of the Ruins waved his sleeve.

"Let's go."

"There's no place for you here anymore. Although the Heavenly Emperor keeps his promise, his mad dogs won't let you go."

"I'll take you to a good place."

"A place... where you can truly give up, or truly transform."

call--! ! !
A universe hidden within a sleeve, capable of obscuring the sky and the sun.

Su Chen felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and the whole world seemed to be spinning and compressing.

He took one last look at the ruins of the Heavenly Realm that had once filled him with passion but now filled him with utter disgust.

"The Sixth Realm..."

Su Chen closed his eyes, engraving those two words deep into the depths of his soul.

"I, Su Chen, will remember this debt."

……

Amidst the turbulent flow of time and space

There is no concept of time, nor any guidance of direction.

Su Chen felt like a speck of dust, enveloped in a purple halo, traversing between dimensions at a speed exceeding the speed of light by billions of times.

The speed was so fast that even his mind couldn't keep up; each flash meant traversing countless galaxies.

I don’t know how long it took.

It may be a moment, or it may be ten thousand years.

When the intense feeling of weightlessness disappeared, Su Chen smelled a familiar scent.

That's... the smell of stardust.

It carries a hint of decay and desolation, yet it exudes an aura of "hometown".

"arrive."

The indifferent voice of the Void Ancestor rang out.

Immediately afterwards, the purple light dissipated.

Su Chen staggered and landed on a huge meteorite.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked around.

What comes into view is a dazzling and vast sea of ​​stars. Countless stars twinkle in the darkness, and magnificent nebulae are spread out like silk in the depths of the universe.

In extremely distant places, one can still vaguely see the outline of the star field where the once glorious "library" now exists, which is only a legend.

"This is……"

Su Chen's pupils dilated slightly, and a feeling of being in another world welled up in his heart.

"The vast starry sky?!"

This is where he was born.

This is where he obtained the Longevity System and rose step by step from an ordinary person.

Back then, in pursuit of a higher realm, he fought his way through the Star Sea, stormed into the Ruins Domain, and finally stormed into the Heavenly Court.

He thought he would never come back, or that when he did, he would be returning in glory, with all the immortals paying homage to him.

Unexpectedly, he returned as a "prisoner".

"You miss it?"

The figure of the Void Ancestor manifested in the void. This time, his figure was clearer than when he was in the Heavenly Domain, indicating that the rules of this world did not reject him.

"Although this place is barren and its laws are incomplete, it is a magical place."

The Ancestor of the Void looked at this sea of ​​stars, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

"This is where it all began, and also... the place where a true great being fell."

"A powerful being?"

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately and keenly grasped the key words.

The Ancestor of the Ruins is already at the sixth realm. Even he calls him a "great power." What level must he be at?
"No need to guess."

The Void Ancestor turned around and stared intently at Su Chen.

"That's what I want you to do."

The Ancestor of the Void raised his hand and pointed to the deepest part of the starry sky.

There was a pitch-black area there, where even light could not escape, known as the "forbidden zone" of the Star Sea. When Su Chen was still a minor cultivator, it was an absolute death trap; it was said that even a Great Luo Golden Immortal who entered could not come out.

"There lies buried a peak sixth-realm powerhouse from the 'previous era'—an ancient god."

"His body transformed into a separate world. And in that world, something was hidden."

"What is it?" Su Chen asked.

"【Imperial Decree】".

When the Void Ancestor uttered these three words, the surrounding space trembled, as if the three words themselves contained some kind of supreme magic.

"It was a key, and also a ticket."

"A ticket to the 'other shore'."

the other side?

Su Chen didn't understand, but he knew that anything coveted by someone of the level of the Void Ancestor must be an earth-shattering treasure.

"Since it's so important, why don't you go and retrieve it yourself, senior?" Su Chen countered. "With your strength, this Star Sea Forbidden Zone shouldn't be able to stop you, right?"

"I can not get in."

The Void Ancestor shook his head, a hint of regret in his voice.

"Although the ancient god is dead, the world rules he left behind are extremely domineering. They reject all power of the sixth realm from entering. If the Heavenly Emperor and I forcibly break in, that world will instantly self-destruct, and the Emperor God's Decree will also be annihilated."

"Therefore, we need someone who can 'find loopholes'."

The Void Ancestor looked at Su Chen with the same gaze he would give a meticulously crafted key.

"This person must possess the strength of the fifth realm at its peak, otherwise he will not be able to withstand the suppression of the death energy within the ancient god's corpse."

"More importantly, this person must possess the quality of 'origin'."

"Because the world of the ancient gods is primordial and chaotic. Only by mastering the laws of origin can one deceive the will of that world and be accepted by it."

“Su Chen, throughout all the heavens and myriad realms, you are the only one who meets the criteria.”

Su Chen was silent.

He finally understood why the Void Ancestor had gone to such great lengths to rescue him from the Heavenly Emperor and why he had gone to such lengths to cultivate his "Origin Dao Fruit".

So, all of this was for today.

So that he could go to that tomb of the dead and become a tomb raider!

"What if I refuse?" Su Chen asked in a low voice.

"reject?"

The Ancestor of the Void smiled, a gentle smile that sent chills down one's spine. (End of Chapter)