In the heavens, people become emperors by being bad.

Chapter 503 [Guan Cheng, the Divine General of the Southern Heavenly Gate]

Holy Heavenly Emperor!
This era has just begun, and someone has already declared himself emperor with invincible talent, waiting for heroes from all over the world to come and challenge him. How arrogant and presumptuous!

However, the fact that the saint Guan Cheng was pinned to the city gate by a single spear thrust proved that man's invincible fighting prowess.

The arrogance of the weak only makes them a laughing stock, while the unbridled behavior of the strong is seen as a sign of confidence.

Some sages looked at Guan Cheng and felt a deep sense of empathy, and couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow. They were all heroes of their own regions, regarded as the pride of heaven in their hometowns, but after embarking on the ancient road of stars, they no longer had their former glory and became stepping stones for overlords and holy bodies.

"The Imperial Road is too ruthless; it's only the glory of a select few, and we're just embellishments..."

A middle-aged sage sighed and said, "Guan Cheng is not weak at all. On the contrary, he is one of the best among the sages and has a certain talent."

An ordinary saint would be devastated and lose faith if defeated by a tyrant once, but Guan Cheng mustered up the courage to challenge the equally invincible saintly body, which required a certain level of Dao heart support.

Even so, in the eyes of God, who is high above, they are just minor figures.

"On my path of cultivation, I listen to my own funeral song. The glory of a region is ultimately just a supporting role in someone else's story, falling with the wind, unable to find its direction."

The two-hundred-year-old sage sobbed, and in the blink of an eye, his hair turned white. This was a change in his state of mind; he had lost his former vigor and spirit, and was now filled with endless vicissitudes.

Although Guan Cheng was defeated, the guide called out his name, leaving behind a legend on the ancient road that he had been defeated by both the Overlord and the Holy Body.

He was almost killed by Ye Fan with a single punch, yet he didn't even deserve a name; he was merely a background character.

Ignoring it is the greatest form of denial.

From the moment the celestial vessel descended until it broke through the first barrier, people left one after another with sighs. Of the hundreds of saints who had occupied the first barrier, in the end, only a little over a hundred semi-saints and saints remained.

A large portion of them yearned to join the Heavenly Court and wanted to enter the pass through the dragon gate, while only a small group still held onto hope, anticipating their rise in the future.

"Holy Emperor, we respect and love your teeth!"

"Let's join the God Organization!"

"We also want to become a member of the Heavenly Court..."

Different people make different choices and have different lives. A group of saints gathered together and once again requested to become a warrior under the Heavenly Emperor.

"Let Lord Lin take care of it." Ye Fan shook his head. Being a hands-off manager, having to fight to the death with the Supreme every day, he had no time to think about these trivial matters. He was no longer the Mercedes-Benz guy he used to be.

"Me in charge? Cough cough, the Heavenly Court's selection invitation is very simple: just defeat any saint on the Heavenly Ship, and you can join us."

After discussing with Zhou Dasheng for a while, Lin Xian decided to outsource the task again, letting the chief god of the divine organization be in charge of recruiting talent.

The guide at the first level hesitated to speak upon seeing this. These were all promising talents from the ancient human path, powerful figures who could suppress a region in the future, but they had all been intercepted by the divine organization.

"Fellow Daoist, why bother? The Emperor is of the human race, and the Heavenly Court is the human race's. Why be bound by the ancient starry road?"

"I see that you are also a talented person. Why don't you join the Heavenly Court and not lose your position as the Heavenly King of the Southern Heavenly Gate?"

Lin Xian smiled as he subtly undermined this guide, who had already cultivated to the peak of the Saint King realm, and could be called a Heavenly King, just like Mi Luo, Jiu Huang, and others.

If we can dig it out, it would be like prying open a corner of the ancient road to the stars.

"This is not a decision I can make alone; I need to consult with the law enforcers and protectors on the ancient road."

The first guide shook his head. Although he was a Saint King, there was an unparalleled Great Saint who guarded the ancient starry road above him.

Immediately afterwards, the guide solemnly reminded that if today's events were to spread, they would inevitably cause a great storm on the ancient starry road, sweeping across all the ancient roads. However, with the arrival of the human race's Great Saints, it was possible that a great saint from another race could single-handedly cover the sky and stifle the geniuses.

The divine organization has a great sage, but even two fists cannot defeat four hands.

"They dare to say they can cover the sky with a flick of their fingers? They don't even have a quasi-emperor or supreme being."

Lin Xian laughed loudly and said, "If anyone dares to bully the weak, the Heavenly Court's experts will take action. The Divine Organization is the Heavenly Court, and the Heavenly Court is not limited to the Divine Organization."

"The Heavenly Court... Is the ancient Heavenly Court truly returning?"

The guide was struck dumb, frozen in place. By the time he came to his senses, Lin Xian had already gone far away and was about to step into the first gate.

At the city gate, Guan Cheng was nailed to the gate, like a sinful saint, his blood staining the ground, motionless.

The greatest sorrow is a dead heart, and the greatest grief is silence.

He struggled and resisted, but ultimately discovered that fate was the most powerful force. "If the mind does not die, the Way will not be born; if desires do not cease, the Way will not exist."

Lin Xian activated the "Soldier" secret technique, drew out a Saint-slaying spear stained with holy blood, and calmly said, "Rise, the path is right beneath your feet."

"Can someone like me achieve enlightenment?" Guan Cheng said with a wry smile. His armor was shattered, revealing his true face. He was an extremely handsome young powerhouse with flowing black hair and fair, jade-like skin. He could be described as a man of great vigor and ambition.

He was not a veteran, but a spirited and ambitious young man who was once a top-tier player, but his pride was repeatedly broken by others.

"You only become an emperor after a hundred defeats in the chaotic era. What is this little setback?" Lin Xian advised, taking out his most classic Chaotic Emperor technique.

"I'm completely disheartened..." Guan Cheng said dejectedly, slumping to the ground, looking utterly miserable.

"Really? I don't believe it." Lin Xian scoffed. How could someone who could live a second life say he didn't want to live anymore?

One must have a great conviction in their heart, like the God King of the Void, to have something they must uphold in order to persevere and undergo a nirvana transformation.

If the mind does not die, the Way will not be born; only when the mind dies will the Way be born again. This is the true meaning of Nirvana.

If an ordinary sage were defeated by a tyrant once, he would never be able to get up again, but Guan Cheng was able to stand up a second time, which shows that his Dao heart is not as fragile as it seems, but rather resilient.

"After the Great Emperor of Chaos was defeated, he could escape, but I can't even run away." Guan Cheng murmured in despair, "There is only one Supreme Being. In this life, in this lifetime, what hope is there?"

The Dharma-ending Age is so cruel. Only one person can attain enlightenment. One step ahead leads to further advancement, while others, once defeated, almost lose all hope.

"Wrong. There is only one Great Emperor, but there is more than one Supreme Being." Lin Xian activated the Buddhist Great Law and shouted, "Since ancient times, there has only been one Heavenly Heart Mark, hence the hundred boats race and the imperial path is fiercely contested. This is the unique Heavenly Dao, but beyond the Heavenly Dao, there are still three thousand Great Daos."

"An alternative path to enlightenment is to achieve one's own path. When one's own path is perfected, one becomes the supreme being."

"Not a great emperor revered by all living beings in the nine heavens and ten earths, but a self-respecting being who is the only one of his kind in heaven and earth!"

A thunderous roar, like a spring thunderclap, dispelled the chaotic fog. A glimmer of light appeared in Guan Cheng's cloudy eyes. He suddenly looked up and whispered, "There is more than one Supreme Being?"

The existence of those who attain enlightenment through unconventional means is far less well-known than that of the Great Emperor; at least, it is not something a sage in charge of a remote star region would know about.

Lin Xian showed him another path, which was like lighting a lamp and injecting new life into him.

"Reaching the pinnacle of life and achieving a state of complete inner peace is also considered enlightenment."

Lin Xian smiled calmly and said, "Otherwise, how could there be Great Accomplished Holy Body, Great Accomplished Hegemonic Body, Great Accomplished Holy Spirit, and other supreme beings who can rival the Great Emperor in the Great Universe?"

Guan Cheng took a deep breath, struggled to his feet, took the bronze spear handed to him by Lin Xian, and walked towards the Heavenly Ship, choosing to challenge a saint from the Divine Organization.

The first guide suddenly looked at Guan Cheng, his eyes revealing a strange look. He never expected that Guan Cheng could still stand up after suffering two blows.

This young man was a prodigy he personally selected back then. Even among the top contenders, he was considered amazing, at least capable of becoming a Great Sage. If his Dao heart hadn't been shattered by the Overlord's spear back then, he would probably be a Saint King by now.

Guan Cheng rekindled his Daoist spirit and unleashed his life's skills, battling a saint from the Divine Organization for three days and three nights. In the end, he was badly wounded and fell into the starry sky, but he still managed to win by a narrow margin.

Lin Xian bestowed upon him a scroll of the Chaotic Ancient Scripture, which was then incorporated into the Heavenly Court, a case of "spending a fortune to acquire a horse's bones."

From then on, the first pass of the human race lost a soldier, and the Heavenly Court gained a Southern Heavenly Gate General.

While people marveled at Guan Cheng's talent for disrupting the ancient world, they were also terrified by Ye Fan's incredible combat prowess.

No matter how talented or gifted you are, you cannot withstand a single blow from the Holy Body.

Half a day later, the human race's Great Sage Qinghuang Daoist, who had received the request for help from the first guide, arrived. He was an unparalleled Great Sage, only half a step away from entering the Quasi-Emperor realm, and had lived for more than eight thousand years, a rare feat in history.

An ordinary Great Sage would pass away at around seven thousand years old, while someone over eight thousand years old would be in their twilight years, which is considered the age of a Quasi-Emperor.

The arrival of Daoist Qinghuang caused the Great Sages of the Divine Organization to become solemn. The two peerless Great Sages descended from the starry sky, sat down and discussed some important matters.

The arrival of a great sage is not the end, but the beginning.

Ye Fan's feat of defeating a saint with a single move was truly astonishing. Like a storm sweeping across the ancient road of the human race, it caused a great uproar, shocked everyone, and even affected the starry ancient roads of other races.

Not only did the geniuses of the human race use their divine platforms to traverse the starry sky and return to the first pass of the human race, but other powerful races that have produced emperors and supreme beings also turned their attention to it. For example, people from the ancient paths of the demon race, the ancient paths of the god race, and the ancient paths of the light race all set off.

Great sages gathered, geniuses clashed, and ancient roads intertwined, just as Lin Xian had predicted.

The final destination of this ancient road is no longer the Imperial Pass nomination, but the battle against Ye Fan!

(End of this chapter)