Outside the Kunlun Realm, numerous ruined realms and planets are scattered.
A hundred thousand years ago, the beings on these realms and planets were all dependent on the Kunlun Realm. They also served as key nodes in the Kunlun Realm’s protective array, acting as war fortresses in battles against the Hell Realm.
Unfortunately, after Saint Monk Xumi sealed the Kunlun Realm with his divine power, entering and exiting became extremely difficult. These realms and planets turned into desolate wastelands or chaotic lands.
It was not until a thousand years ago, when Saint Monk Xumi’s divine power significantly weakened, that entering and exiting the Kunlun Realm became much easier.
Thus, five hundred years ago, after the establishment of the First Central Empire, Empress Chi Yao created the Chaos Ten Thousand Realms Mountain outside the realm. She led the Kunlun Realm’s cultivators in a campaign to unify these ruined realms and planets.
First, to temper the new generation of Kunlun Realm cultivators.
Second, to eradicate the descendants of the Hell Realm left in these realms and planets from a hundred thousand years ago.
The third, and most crucial, reason was to clear the surrounding areas of the Kunlun Realm, preparing to reactivate the protective array and the ancient divine patterns. After all, many of the array’s foundations were located on these realms and planets.
At this moment, Dragon Lord and Zhang Ruochen landed on the Chaos Ten Thousand Realms Mountain.
The Chaos Ten Thousand Realms Mountain was a ridge suspended in cosmic space, stretching over a thousand miles.
Arriving here, seeing the ground littered with rubble, broken walls, and shattered pillars, Zhang Ruochen could not help but feel a sense of nostalgia.
Back then, when he first came to the battlefield of the ruined realms and arrived at the Chaos Ten Thousand Realms Mountain, how vibrant it was. Rows of military camps, countless war chariots, warriors from various domains, both righteous and evil, secular and monastic.
The Black Market Excellence Hall, the Martial Market Bank, the imperial court… all sorts of young talents gathered, brimming with vitality, youthful passion, and confidence in the future.
Back then, everyone was young, filled with fighting spirit.
But now, the 874-meter-tall stone statue of Empress Chi Yao that once stood here had collapsed, reduced to rubble filling half the plaza.
The white stone tablet representing the Heavenly Ranking had also broken in two.
Standing before the broken tablet, Zhang Ruochen looked at the names inscribed on it, his emotions complex.
Once, his name had been on it too.
Back then, the spirit of the Heavenly Ranking was a powerhouse he looked up to, now long gone along with the tablet.
Zhang Ruochen turned and walked in another direction, arriving at the edge of a vast ruin. Looking at the battle platform at the ruin’s center, images of many cultivators flashed before his eyes.
There was Huang Yanchen from that time, Mu Lingxi when she was still Duanmu Xingling, the ever-pure Luo Shuihan, Emperor One of the Black Market Excellence Hall, Murong Yue when she was still the Orange Moon Star Envoy, and Huang Shenyu, the top of the Heavenly Ranking, whom he had killed on that platform…
It was as if countless people were there, the scene lively, as if it had all happened yesterday.
But the figures before his eyes had dispersed, leaving only desolation.
Some had died completely, others were no longer who they once were.
Perhaps he truly was a sentimental person.
Empress Thousand Bones’ voice sounded behind him. “What are you thinking about?”
Without turning, Zhang Ruochen snapped out of his myriad thoughts and said, “Empress, where does time that has passed go? Can things ever return to how they once were?”
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen turned, gazing at Empress Thousand Bones.
This was the first time he truly saw the Empress’s face clearly, no longer as ethereal as before, more stunningly beautiful than he had imagined. Yet his heart remained calm.
“You wield the Mystery of Time. Tell me, can we go back to the past? Back to an age where no choices needed to be made,” Zhang Ruochen said.
An aged voice, filled with reminiscence and longing, spoke. “At least you still have choices now. Back in our time, there was no second option.”
Island Lord Fallen God stood on a cliff of the Chaos Ten Thousand Realms Mountain, gazing at the Kunlun Realm in the distant starry sky. His posture was not as upright or spirited as it had been on the Unfixed Divine Sea. Instead, he appeared weary, aged, with occasional soft coughs.
Zhang Ruochen could naturally guess the old man’s identity, the most legendary figure of the Kunlun Realm, a peer of the Ten Tribulations Heavenly Lord, Saint Monk Xumi, and Dragon Lord.
The one for whom Empress Thousand Bones, Emperor Ming, and Sword Saint Xuanji had given everything to rescue, to save the Kunlun Realm.
Yet, he was just an unremarkable old man, frail and white-haired, with no trace of the aura of an unparalleled powerhouse.
Zhang Ruochen had thought meeting the Supreme would stir his emotions, bring tears to his eyes. But upon truly seeing him, his heart was unprecedentedly calm.
He looked around, not seeing Emperor Ming, and, collecting his thoughts, walked over, bowing deeply. “Greetings, Supreme.”
“You’re Zhang Ling’s child, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Island Lord Fallen God turned, his profound eyes resting on Zhang Ruochen. He nodded slightly and said, “Actually, your father could be considered my disciple. You can call me Grandmaster. *Cough, cough!*”
Zhang Ruochen was unaware why his father was a disciple of Island Lord Fallen God, likely due to events in the Temple of Destiny. One trained there, the other imprisoned there; contact between them was not surprising.
“Grandmaster, where is my father?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Island Lord Fallen God’s gaze grew dim.
Empress Thousand Bones remained silent.
Zhang Ruochen’s emotions finally stirred. He asked again, “Grandmaster, where is my father?”
Dragon Lord approached and said, “The rescue mission was far more difficult than we imagined. Your father couldn’t escape the Temple of Destiny. Even I couldn’t bring him out alive.”
As he spoke, Dragon Lord opened his robe, revealing his chest.
Inside, his entire chest was bloodied, with shattered organs and cracks at the edges. Only his powerful divine energy kept his divine body intact.
Island Lord Fallen God said, “Your father hoped you would return to the Kunlun Realm.”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart ached unbearably, yet he did not blame Dragon Lord or Island Lord Fallen God. Rescuing someone from the Temple of Destiny was no trivial matter. Even God Kings or God Sovereigns would likely perish.
Emperor Ming had likely visited the place where Island Lord Fallen God was held, perhaps even guarded it, and knew well the cost of a successful rescue. That was why he went to the Hundred Clans Royal City to see him one last time.
It was a choice Emperor Ming had made long ago!
Who could be blamed?
But his heart ached terribly, unable to suppress his emotions. Zhang Ruochen struggled to ask, “Has my father fallen?”
“No. But for a deity of the Kunlun Realm to be trapped in the Temple of Destiny is a fate worse than death. I’ve endured that torment for a hundred thousand years… *cough, cough*…” Island Lord Fallen God said.
Empress Thousand Bones stepped forward, supporting the frail Island Lord Fallen God.
Using the sacred intent of the sword path, Zhang Ruochen severed the low emotions in his heart, his gaze sharp. “In that case, I won’t return to the Kunlun Realm!”
“You want to return to the Hell Realm to save your father?” Empress Thousand Bones asked.
Zhang Ruochen did not speak.
Empress Thousand Bones said, “You must understand, the Temple of Destiny will uncover Zhang Ling’s identity and know you are his heir. Returning to the Hell Realm will put you in great danger.”
Island Lord Fallen God spoke again. “Ruochen, you can trust Grandmaster. As long as your father lives, I will find a way to rescue him. But for now, we must wait and endure.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “If Grandmaster and Dragon Lord acted to capture deities of the Hell Realm, could we exchange them with the Temple of Destiny for my father?”
Empress Thousand Bones shook her head. “Impossible. For the Temple of Destiny to command the Hell Realm, it will never compromise with any faction of the Heavenly Court’s myriad worlds. It was impossible a hundred thousand years ago, and with the Hell Realm’s current dominance, it’s even less likely now.”
“If we captured deities of the Hell Realm, the only outcome would be the Temple of Destiny declaring war on the Kunlun Realm again, completely destroying it.”
Zhang Ruochen asked further, “Grandmaster, trapped in the Temple of Destiny for a hundred thousand years, how much of your spiritual power was eroded? How many years will it take to recover from your injuries? If fully recovered, could you storm the Temple of Destiny to rescue my father?”
Island Lord Fallen God slowly closed his eyes. “Ruochen, every question you ask is difficult to answer. A hundred thousand years ago, when the Kunlun Realm was at its peak, it was still crushed by the Hell Realm led by the Temple of Destiny. To storm the Temple of Destiny again to rescue someone, even if Xumi were alive, Biluo reborn, and we combined our strength, it would be immensely difficult.”
“I promised your father I would take good care of you. But if you insist on returning to the Hell Realm, even if I stop you today, you’ll go tomorrow. If I force you back, you’ll resent me. Ruochen, tell me, what should I do?”
If the Temple of Destiny could be easily breached, coming and going freely, the Hell Realm would have ceased to exist long ago.
The fact that Dragon Lord and the others managed to rescue Island Lord Fallen God was the result of countless factors aligning.
Such an opportunity came only once in a hundred thousand years.
To be precise, this opportunity was not waited for but earned through the efforts and sacrifices of countless cultivators over a hundred thousand years.
Empress Thousand Bones said, “Zhang Ruochen, think carefully. If you return with us now, you can clear your past. Grandmaster will tell the cultivators of the Heavenly Court’s myriad worlds that you and your father were the greatest contributors to the rescue, that you joined the Hell Realm to bear humiliation for a greater cause. You could even become the emperor of the Kunlun Realm’s mortal world. But miss this chance, and returning later, returning with an identity others can accept, will be very difficult.”
Zhang Ruochen bowed in turn to Island Lord Fallen God, Dragon Lord, and Empress Thousand Bones. “All three of you are unparalleled deities, yet you gather here for a mere Great Sage like me. I can feel your sincerity.”
“But my mother is in the Hell Realm. I cannot be this hero.”
“My father is still trapped in the Temple of Destiny. I cannot be this hero.”
“My son, my daughter, are in the Hell Realm. I cannot be this hero.”
“I must go back. I no longer care how the world sees me, whether as a traitor or a villain. Born in the lifeless Hell Realm, I yearn for life. Walking in darkness, my heart has always turned toward light. One day, I will carve out my own path. No matter how perilous, I will walk it without hesitation.”
Zhang Ruochen spoke these words calmly yet profoundly.
Even with the perspectives of Dragon Lord and Empress Thousand Bones, their gazes toward Zhang Ruochen held admiration, unable to continue persuading him.
Island Lord Fallen God was silent for a long time before saying, “Xumi did not misjudge you. You are indeed worthy of being his successor. Since you are so calm and rational, I won’t stop you. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll take you to Xumi’s place of nirvana to help you condense a First-Rank Sacred Intent. Only by being exceptional enough will you have a greater chance of surviving in the Hell Realm. Your path, ultimately, is yours to choose and walk with conviction.”
With Island Lord Fallen God’s spiritual strength, he could naturally see through all the mysteries of Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation with a single glance.
