Start slaying demons from the proficiency panel.

Ning Xiu saw a weathered figure slowly approaching from afar; it was an old woman.

Looking at the other person's face, Ning Xiu felt a strange sense of familiarity, but couldn't quite put his finger on where he had seen them before.

"That day I crossed the river of time to entrust A-Ying to you. Only a few years have passed, and you have already grown into the Great Emperor of this era. Now it seems that my prophecy was indeed correct. You are the one destined to deal with the Great Annihilation Tide," the old woman said with a kind smile.

At first, Ning Xiu felt a little unfamiliar with the name, but as soon as the old woman mentioned the name A Ying, Ning Xiu instantly remembered it.

This person was none other than the mysterious old woman who had entrusted A-Ying to him that year, the mysterious powerful figure.

Over the years, Ning Xiu had been trying to guess what level of power the other party was, from the first grade to the upper realm of the dragon and elephant, to the inner realm of the saint, and then to the realm of the merging with the heavens.

Ning Xiu was always puzzled, because even he himself couldn't use the same methods the old woman had back then.

This shows that the old woman's realm was definitely above the Heavenly Dao Realm.

At that time, Ning Xiu was just a minor Demon-Subduing Officer of the Great Shang Dynasty, yet he was able to attract the attention of such a powerful figure. Even now, when Ning Xiu recalls it, he still finds it unbelievable.

If the old woman wanted to, she could destroy the entire Shang Dynasty in an instant, and no one could resist her.

"Senior, who exactly are you?" Ning Xiu asked calmly.

He was already an emperor, yet he could still be influenced by this old woman in front of him, which meant that her realm was not that of a celestial being.

Therefore, there can only be one possibility: she was also an emperor.

"Now that you have become an emperor, there are some things that I no longer need to hide from you. I am the current emperor 'Mirror Flower Venerable' from thirty-six eras ago. Ning Xiu, now that you have come to the Heavenly City, there are some things that I need to make clear to you, because we don't have much time left."

A golden crack appeared on the old woman's forehead, and her body slowly split in two. Then, a golden figure emerged from the body.

After the golden light dissipated, Ning Xiu could finally see clearly that it was a beautiful woman who was at least nine feet tall.

Her skin was exceptionally fair and delicate, and she wore a brocade palace dress that appeared instantly. Her appearance was stunning and dignified, befitting an empress.

Upon closer inspection, one can also notice that A-Ying's appearance bears a resemblance to that of the Mirror Flower Venerable.

"Senior." Ning Xiu bowed.

"No need to be polite. You are also a Great Emperor, so we can address each other as equals. Ning Xiu, I will take you to see some things. After you see them, you will understand why I went to the Great Shang to find you in the first place."

With a wave of her hand, Jinghua Zun and Ning Xiu began to sink to the bottom of the lake, as if they had entered another world. Ning Xiu felt as if the world had turned upside down and the scene before him had changed instantly. Before him was a long river that stretched across the universe.

The river is so long that it seems to have no end, and so wide that it seems to have no limit.

On the river's surface, countless colorful bubbles rise and fall repeatedly, obscuring both the river's origin and its end.

"Venerable Mirror Flower, where is this place?" Ning Xiu asked.

"The River of Time is the most mysterious existence in the world. The upstream end represents the past, and the downstream end represents the future. All living beings in this world, and even the entire universe, are flowing downstream in this river. Those bubbles represent the life experiences and destiny of each living being. The one you see is a tributary that extends into this Purple Mansion Grotto-heaven," Venerable Mirror Flower explained patiently.

"Is the Emperor's entire life story also included here?"

“Yes, regardless of rank or status, whether as powerful as an emperor or as insignificant as an ant, everyone has their own drop of water in this river. Ning Xiu, do you know what will happen to this Purple Mansion Grotto-heaven in the not-too-distant future?” Mirror Flower Venerable asked.

"I don't know."

"The Great Annihilation Tide, a truly destructive wave." Jinghua Zun pointed to a bubble that leaped out of the river of time, and instantly, a fragmented scene appeared before Ning Xiu's eyes.

Above the gray sea, gray water rises towards the sky, and gray clouds descend towards the sea surface. A figure exuding an extremely terrifying aura stands between heaven and earth. His figure is not clear at all, only a pair of cold, ruthless, and domineering eyes leave a particularly deep impression.

When Ning Xiu met those eyes, he felt as if his soul was being sucked into them, and he trembled uncontrollably.

Countless figures launched attacks from all sides of this person, but as the person struck out with a palm, a terrifying aura erupted instantly, engulfing all those who had launched the attack and crushing them into ashes in an instant.

Although the image was very blurry, Ning Xiu could still sense that those people were all Celestials, Celestials from Celestial City.

The fact that so many celestial beings attacked could not even withstand a single breath demonstrates just how powerful the owner of those eyes was.

"You are nothing but ants. Even when given a suitable home, you dare to think of escaping. Since that's the case, then none of you should live. Today, we will reorganize this world and wash everything away."

As soon as the man finished speaking, the entire world began to violently shake, and everything began to crumble and collapse, just as the man had said, washing everything away.

Ning Xiu couldn't see what happened next, so he exited the scene. When he regained consciousness, he was still standing on the river of time, gazing at the still magnificent and boundless river of time.

"That is... the Great Extinction Tide?" Ning Xiu muttered to himself in disbelief.

He was already an emperor, but he never imagined that someone could destroy a world in an instant, in the blink of an eye.

With such strength, even a Great Emperor wouldn't be able to withstand a single blow. Ning Xiu was well aware of this outcome.

"Yes, in an unknown period of time, this world will face this great annihilation tide, and you are the one who can save some of the living beings in this great annihilation tide. That is why I went to the desolate land of the Great Shang Dynasty to find you and entrusted my granddaughter to you, just to seek a glimmer of hope for her survival."

"Me?" Ning Xiu hesitated.

"Yes, each emperor's abilities may differ. For example, the Reincarnation Emperor's methods of reincarnation and possession are extremely sophisticated, allowing him to inhabit another's body invisibly. His true form's ability is to retrieve prophecies about the future from the river of time."

"There's no mistake, Ning Xiu. You're the one who can find a glimmer of hope in the Great Annihilation Tide. As long as we rely on you, we have a chance to survive."

Jinghua Zun spoke with great certainty, and Ning Xiu fell into deep thought.

Although the scene I just saw was only a blurry fragment, and I couldn't even see the faces of those people clearly, it's not hard to judge that the arrogant and unparalleled look in his eyes is very likely that of an ancient immortal.

For some unknown reason, in the near future, an ancient immortal descended upon this world, and all the celestial beings in the Celestial City launched an attack against him, only to be annihilated, no match for the ancient immortal.

The long river of time around him slowly dissipated. When Ning Xiu regained consciousness, he was still in the room arranged for him by the Five Elders of Heaven and Man, with the Evil Dragon King and the Old Turtle chatting beside him.

"I never expected that there would be a Great Emperor hiding in the Celestial City. It seems that the future situation is indeed dangerous," Ning Xiu thought to himself, rubbing his forehead.

But the problem right now is that even the Path to Heaven is a cultivation method fabricated by that ancient immortal. The Path to Heaven has been exposed, so how can the Path to Heaven compete with the ancient immortal?

The Great Emperor's Path is a rare and unique phenomenon throughout history. Only one Great Emperor will emerge in each era, making it impossible for them to exchange cultivation experiences. Each Great Emperor can only rely on their own continuous exploration.

Therefore, Ning Xiu did not know what lay beyond the Great Emperor's Path, or how great the difference was between the Great Emperor and the Ancient Immortal's realm.

……

Celestial City, Tower of Babel.

Inside the room, where the eerie blue torches were lit, the Five Elders of Heaven looked worriedly at the dozens of Heavenly Dao Inscriptions floating in mid-air. As one of the Five Elders of Heaven threw out the one that Ning Xiu had sent back...

The Heavenly Dao Inscription Stele immediately returned to the group of Heavenly Dao Inscription Steles, just like horses returning to their herd.

"The Ten Thousand Swords Immortal Slaughtering Formation failed to completely annihilate those ancient immortal servants this time. It will be difficult to deal with them next time, and they will definitely take precautions. Although the ancient immortals have not been in this realm for a long time, no one can guarantee that those ancient immortal servants will not have treasures that can contact the ancient immortals. We must take the initiative to strike."

"How can we take the initiative? Those ancient immortal servants have always been elusive and mysterious, with no fixed address. We have been searching for them for so many years without any results. Now they are even more evasive. Where can we find them?"

"Don't panic. During the battle just now, I left a special mark on one of the ancient immortal servants. I can sense his location. As long as we gather enough manpower, we can go there and kill them all."

"Sigh, this time, we must ensure that everything goes perfectly and we absolutely cannot make any more mistakes. We must kill all those ancient immortal servants and eliminate any future troubles."

None of the five celestial elders noticed that in the dim corner, the stone wall inside the room seemed to distort, and then an eye slowly opened, looking directly at the celestial beings who were discussing matters.

Then his eyes slowly closed, as if he had never been there.

……

"Is this the power I have after becoming the Great Emperor?" Ning Xiu was very surprised. Just now, he ignored the distance and personally witnessed the secret meeting of the Five Elders of Heaven and Man, and they were completely unaware of it.

As Jinghua Zun said, every Great Emperor has their own abilities. Ning Xiu has just become a Great Emperor and is not yet familiar with the use of his abilities, so he can only use them vaguely for now.

As soon as he had a thought, the scene before him began to change instantly. Traversing countless miles of land, he saw the Yangyao Huangji Formation set up by the Great Shang Dynasty in the Central Plains.

Since Ning Xiu prematurely triggered Yang Yao, the situation in Xuan Yin Domain has completely dissipated, and the land has regained its vitality, with plants beginning to grow again.

The gloom in the sky dissipated, and the sun shone brightly on the earth once more.

Within the Central Plains, every citizen resumed their normal daily routine and no longer needed to worry about evil spirits.

With the evil spirits gone, the work of the Demon Extermination Division was naturally much easier. Members of Ning Xiu's team were now idly lounging in the courtyard assigned to them by the Demon Extermination Division.

Even from such a great distance, Ning Xiu was able to see these scenes clearly, giving him a completely new understanding of his own abilities.

"Could it be... space?" Ning Xiu wondered to himself.

When the Holy Seal first appeared, Ning Xiu's Holy Seal was already related to space. Now, it is once again demonstrating its ability to be connected to space, forcing Ning Xiu to start thinking.

If this ability were to be used by that ancient immortal in the future, would it be able to play a special role?

With a wave of his hand in the air, ripples appeared in the air. Ning Xiu got up and walked towards the interior wall, passing through it without any hindrance.

Unaware of Ning Xiu's presence, he wandered throughout the entire Celestial City, secretly observing every Celestial who was cultivating in their residence.

"Huh!" A celestial being who was cultivating and comprehending suddenly opened his eyes with some confusion and looked around curiously.

For some reason, he suddenly felt that someone was spying on him in the dark, but the feeling was too vague for him to be sure if it was real.

As the strongest beings in this world, even the Five Elders of the Celestials cannot spy on a Celestial without leaving a trace, so this Celestial was very puzzled.

"There are still people who can sense me, but they can't detect too much," Ning Xiu thought to himself as he stood in front of the Celestial Being.

His current state suggests that he has somewhat transcended the void, existing in a different space from these celestial beings.

It's like cutting a piece of paper in half. These people are on one layer, while Ning Xiu is alone on the other. Ning Xiu can see them, but they can't see Ning Xiu.

If Ning Xiu can utilize this ability to escape into the void well, he will naturally be invincible.

Back in his room, Ning Xiu returned to reality. Throughout the entire process, neither the Evil Dragon King nor the old tortoise noticed anything unusual and had no idea that Ning Xiu had already gone out.

Ning Xiu activated the holy seal on his shoulder, releasing the Demon Buddha Ning Xiu and the Immortal Lord Ning Xiu. He then began to infuse these two external avatars with his Great Emperor aura.

Having cultivated Xiao Hetian's Trinity Cultivation Method, if Ning Xiu could elevate both of his clones to the level of a Great Emperor, then he would possess a clone at the Great Emperor level, and his strength would rise to another level.

Activating the Evil Heavenly Connection, Ning Xiu communicated with the enormous stone tablet in the darkness. A profound aura instantly descended from the heavens and directly entered the bodies of Demon Buddha Ning Xiu and Immortal Lord Ning Xiu.

Now that he had learned about the possible future events from Venerable Jinghua, and Ning Xiu had forcibly become an emperor, he no longer intended to delay the matter of the Trinity. Today, he would use Xie Tiantong to forcibly enhance his two external avatars.

The moment that profound aura descended, both the Evil Dragon King and the Old Turtle were startled. Although they didn't know what had happened, they could clearly feel that they had entered a rare state of enlightenment.

As long as you cultivate in this state, you have a great chance of breaking through and taking another step forward in your cultivation level.

The Evil Dragon King dared not delay. He had been in contact with Evil Heavenly Power before, so he could immediately sense that this was Evil Heavenly Power's aura. The reason he valued Ning Xiu so much was because this human boy could comprehend the true essence of Evil Heavenly Power.

Now that Xie Tiantong's aura has descended, I must seize the time to cultivate. Perhaps with Xie Tiantong's help, it is not impossible for two great emperors to appear in one era.

The old tortoise closed his eyes to cultivate. Although he had embarked on the path of the Celestials, there was still a considerable gap between him and the level of the Five Elders of the Celestials. Relying on this state of enlightenment, he could also improve his realm.

The Demon Buddha Ning Xiu sat cross-legged, his hands forming a gesture of pinching and plucking flowers. As he absorbed the aura of Xie Tian Tong, a golden lotus pattern lit up on his forehead. Then, the Demon Buddha Ning Xiu's jet-black body began to shine with golden light, transforming into a golden Buddha.

Immortal Lord Ning Xiu's white hair turned completely golden, and his aura became ethereal and elusive, as if he might dissipate into the world at any moment and ascend to heaven.

Two beams of golden light shot into the sky from the two clones, instantly illuminating the entire sky above the Celestial City.

In an instant, the entire Celestial City was alarmed.

"What's going on? Two more Pillars of the Emperor have appeared?"

"Hasn't a great emperor already emerged in this era? Why would a new great emperor be born?"

“Strange phenomenon, a strange phenomenon has appeared in the sky! We opened the Heavenly Gate without authorization, and this world is beginning to react.”