Sweeping across the heavens, starting with the first emperor of the ancient times.

Jiang Hao wasn't entirely sure about the origin of this, and could only offer a rough guess.

Jiang Hao thought two of them were very likely. One of them was the Lord of the Forbidden Zone who had helped the Chaotic Ancient Heavenly Emperor. This Forbidden Zone was not one of the Forbidden Zones in the Origin Realm.

It is the forbidden zone of the Celestial King.

As for the other one, its origins are even more impressive.

"That Lord of the Forbidden Zone, that's a possibility."

Gu Feng nodded. Gu Feng and Pan Ming had naturally heard of the Forbidden Zone Master who had taught and helped the Chaotic Ancient Heavenly Emperor.

That ruler of the restricted area is also a legend, powerful and exceptionally magnanimous and visionary.

He taught many people, even a Celestial King, and later the Chaotic Ancient Heavenly Emperor, but unfortunately, he was already in very poor condition at that time.

Therefore, it is quite possible that this master of the restricted area could be transformed into an elixir of immortality.

……

Three years later.

The news that the Immortal Realm was going to merge with the Origin Realm spread throughout the Three Realms.

All beings in the Three Realms were overjoyed upon hearing this, for it meant that the world was undergoing another evolution, and they would once again enjoy the benefits of that evolution.

"Ah, another world merging is happening, how fast!"

"I'm so happy! With each fusion, the world evolves!"

"Very good!"

Countless cultivators spread the news with joy, their faces beaming. This was no less than a windfall, just like Jiang Hao receiving tens of millions in his previous life. Who wouldn't be happy about that?

However, another piece of news also came out: from now on, there will be new trials in cultivation, namely the Three Calamities, Six Tribulations, and Nine Disasters.

A minor calamity occurs every thousand years, a major calamity every three thousand years, and a ninefold hardship every ten thousand years.

Above the highest level, no one can escape it. Those who fail to overcome it will suffer severe injuries at best, and be completely annihilated at worst. Those who do overcome it will benefit.

The news caused an uproar throughout the Three Realms, with countless people discussing it.

"Three calamities, six tribulations, and nine tribulations? What are these?"

"It's to force you to continue cultivating. If you don't cultivate, you'll die. You can't stop even after you reach the Supreme Realm."

"That ruthless?"

"What's so ruthless about it? Isn't this normal? In our Origin Realm, which expert who has cultivated to the level of Quasi-Emperor or above hasn't fought their way through countless battles? Which one wasn't struck by lightning?"

"That's true, it seems so."

Therefore, all beings in the three realms felt that this additional test was not a problem, and was actually quite appropriate.

"Three calamities, six tribulations, and nine tribulations—this is clearly the work of the Heavenly Emperor. Only the Heavenly Emperor could come up with such a brilliant idea."

Emperor Shangyang was amazed, but not worried at all about the new challenges.

"We've cultivated for so many years, every single day has been a struggle, a fight for survival. Now we've added this tribulation, and there are even benefits to overcome it—isn't this a freebie?"

The Ancient Emperor of Taiyuan laughed and said, "That's right. I've cultivated for so many years, and every single day I've been risking my life. What difference does it make if I face a few more or fewer tribulations?"

"On the contrary, those who survive the calamity will receive blessings from Heaven, which is a good thing."

"Yes, that's right. If you ask me, it should have been added a long time ago."

A group of supreme beings nodded in agreement, completely unconcerned. To them, the Three Calamities, Six Tribulations, and Nine Calamities were nothing.

They had fought their way up from there.

Even the Supreme Being of the Lesser Immortal Realm beside him spoke up, saying that there was no problem.

"Indeed, in the past, cultivation in our small immortal realm was also slow, and it was normal to not break through for tens of thousands of years. Now, influenced by the fellow cultivators in the Origin Realm and the environment, we are not used to the slow pace of cultivation."

"Yes, that's right. Adding a little pressure can actually be more motivating."

Many supreme beings from the minor immortal realms echoed this sentiment, noting that their cultivation habits had changed significantly since merging with the Origin Realm.

This is the charm of the environment. In fact, humans and all kinds of living things are products of the environment.

I have a very strong ability to adapt. At first, I felt that I couldn't do this or that, and that I wasn't used to this or that, but after doing them, I found that I could get used to them.

"However, this will be difficult for those people in the Immortal Realm. I heard that they cultivate at a leisurely pace, relying on time to accumulate their progress. Now they are going to collapse, and many of them may suffer great losses."

"The Supreme Being of the Origin Realm sighed."

"That's great, that's how it should be. I've heard that many powerful figures in the Immortal Realm are very arrogant, full of pride and a sense of superiority. We need to deflate their arrogance so that there won't be a war between the two realms. It's not like I'm the one who has to beat them up."

The Heavenly Horse Saint Emperor scoffed, saying that he couldn't stand those weak yet arrogant supreme beings from the Immortal Realm.

How dare you look down on them? Saying they're all from the lower realms? You're asking for a beating.

"Yes, I really want to beat them up too." Even the Crimson Sun God General had a grim expression when talking about the people of the Immortal Realm. The Taixu Immortal Lord was looked down upon and called a person from the lower realm, which made them indignant.

The situation was completely different in the Immortal Realm. When the news reached the Immortal Realm, it caused an instant uproar.

"What? We're really going to merge with the lower realm?"

"No, no, I won't agree! Our Celestial Realm is supreme; how can we merge with the lower realms?"

"This is an insult! A blatant insult to the Immortal Realm!"

"How can this be allowed? What is the Immortal King thinking? How can we agree to this!"

The speakers were some veteran powerhouses from the Immortal Realm. They had lived for many years, some even millions of years, and were used to being high and mighty.

In their eyes, everything outside the Immortal Realm is the lower realm.

Ants from the lower realm are not worthy to be ranked alongside them.

Now they want to merge, to be on equal footing with the lower realm and enjoy the same treatment. Moreover, the highest leader is not their Immortal King, but the Heavenly Emperor of the lower realm, who will make them be governed by the lower realm. How can they accept this?

What devastated them even more were the three calamities, six tribulations, and nine tribulations.

"A calamity once every thousand years? Six calamities every three thousand years? Nine tribulations every ten thousand years?"

"We've cultivated for so many years, and finally settled down. Now we have to undergo another tribulation?"

"This is killing us!"

A powerful cultivator in the early stage of True Immortal slammed his fist on the table, his face full of anger.

Many Supreme Realm experts also wore somber expressions.

"We cultivators of the Immortal Realm have long lifespans, so what if our cultivation is a little slower? Why force us to fight desperately?"

"Exactly! There are too many tests, too many at once! They're leaving us no way out!"

"This is targeting us, this is blatant targeting!"

A group of powerful figures from the Immortal Realm gathered together, growing increasingly angry as they talked.

"Let's go find the Celestial King! The Celestial King can't abandon us!"

"Yes! Let's go and protest to the Celestial King!"

They organized themselves and flew majestically towards the central heavens.

Gu Feng sat cross-legged in the central heavenly palace, closing his eyes to rest. A group of powerful figures rushed in and knelt on the ground.

"My Lord Immortal King, we can't afford to cause those Three Calamities, Six Tribulations, and Nine Calamities!"

"We've cultivated for so many years, and it's only through hardship that we've reached this point..."

"We beg Your Majesty, the Immortal King, to rescind your decree!"

Gu Feng opened his eyes, looked at them, and remained expressionless.

"This is a pre-determined arrangement, it can't be changed, and everyone receives this treatment."

"If you can't make it, then die!"

Gu Feng showed no mercy and directly revealed his determination. After seeing Fellow Daoist Jiang, he realized that he had been too lenient in his management before, which was not acceptable.

Upon hearing this, the group of powerful figures from the Immortal Realm turned pale. Some of them wanted to speak, but after being glanced at by Gu Feng, they immediately fell silent.

Trembling, they dared not speak again. They had never expected that the Celestial King had changed so drastically, leaving no room for negotiation whatsoever.

As for resistance? How could they possibly resist? Before the Celestial King, they were nothing but a fart.

The group could only leave dejectedly, accepting the fact they didn't want to accept.

Pan Ming stood aside, watching this scene, and burst into laughter.

"That's great! I've been wanting to get rid of these people for a long time. They live like good-for-nothings, yet they think they're so great. Now, let's see if they're still embarrassed to show off their ridiculous sense of superiority."