Chapter 1018: Dark Figure

In an unknown realm, a majestic palace soared into the clouds, resembling the misty, elusive celestial palaces of legend.

Within the celestial palace, the murals depicted one bizarre event after another: mountain-like giants driving divine oxen to plow the earth, sages splashing ink to create paintings and dotting stars across the night sky, divine beings subjugating demons to bring peace to the world... Though three hundred thousand years had passed, the murals remained lifelike, appearing as if they had just been painted and the artist had only recently departed.

If a citizen of the Great Qian Dynasty were present, they would easily recognize these events as legends passed down through word of mouth, and the protagonists of these legends were the heavily merited heavenly gods and immortals of the Great Qian Dynasty.

And the most conspicuous painting among the murals was undoubtedly that of the Emperor of the Central Heaven, standing above the nine heavens, holding the sun in one hand and lifting the moon in the other, receiving the worship of the gods and immortals.

Yet the true Emperor of the Central Heaven remained within this magnificent celestial palace.

The Emperor of the Central Heaven rested his head on one hand, sitting languidly upon a celestial throne forged from immortal gold.

This was an ancient book handed down from antiquity, written in ancient characters that few in the world could comprehend; only a cultivator like the Emperor of the Central Heaven, born at the end of antiquity and closest to that ancient era, could fully understand ancient texts.

The Emperor of the Central Heaven closed the book and scanned the reporting ministers below with a cold gaze: "So, you still have not found exactly who is using the Fruit of the Path of Time to reverse time?"

The ministers trembled with fear; they were highly renowned during the Great Qian period, all cultivators of the lineage of faith, and as the ultimate destination of the Great Qian Dynasty's faith, the Emperor of the Central Heaven naturally possessed an immense, innate suppression over them.

"My Lord, the tokens are truly scarce in number, making it difficult to find that person's tracks," one of the half-immortals plucked up the courage to step forward and said bitterly. If the Four Immortals of Antiquity were truly that easy to find, they would not have failed to locate even a single one over these past three hundred thousand years.

"Hmph."

The Emperor of the Central Heaven snorted coldly, feeling rather irritable. The clue to the Fruit of the Path of Time was right before him, yet it remained completely elusive.

The half-immortals had no awareness of the time reversals, but he could perceive them with absolute clarity; time had been reversed over a hundred times in this past half-year.

This was a blatant provocation right to his face, yet he had absolutely no recourse!

"Using tokens to find the Four Immortals, how is that any different from searching for a needle in the ocean? Does the power of faith have such a great impact on intelligence?" A sudden voice echoed through the celestial palace, causing panic to throw everyone into confusion.

Someone actually dared to ridicule the Emperor? Had they tired of living?

"Who goes there!"

Hearing the voice, the Emperor of the Central Heaven rose abruptly, his hair and beard fluttering like an enraged true dragon. A colossal golden manifestation of the Emperor revealed itself, its hand gripping a pitch-black vortex, rendering the entire space extremely unstable and on the verge of exploding at any moment, while time also became incredibly sluggish, nearly grinding to a halt!

This was the secret domain of their Great Qian Dynasty. For three hundred thousand years, only the half-immortals authorized by him were qualified to know of this place. It was absolutely impossible for an outsider to know; even if an outsider attempted a soul-search, the memories regarding this place would be wiped completely clean!

"Heh, why such a fiery temper?" The voice remained ethereal and elusive, showing no fear of the alert and guarded Emperor of the Central Heaven, nor was it affected by the slowing of time.

A figure shrouded in darkness abruptly appeared in the celestial palace. No one detected how he had emerged, not even the Emperor of the Central Heaven.

It was like a fairy tale.

"Who are you! How did you find this place!"

Accompanied by the furious shout of the Emperor of the Central Heaven, the murals on the domes around the celestial palace seemed to come alive, ready to step out from the walls at any moment to do battle in all directions.

A youth wearing ancient sacrificial attire appeared, holding a bone staff adorned with ornaments of various symbolic meanings.

The other immortal of the Great Qian Dynasty, Siming.

The Emperor of the Central Heaven and Siming stood side by side, the two immortals warily watching the figure shrouded in darkness.

The two had fought together since the end of antiquity, establishing the Great Qian Dynasty among the ruins, attaining immortality, achieving the fruits of the path, and watching the passage of three hundred thousand years. They had never encountered anyone who brought them as much pressure as this figure did.

A powerful enemy!

An absolute, formidable enemy!

The dark figure chuckled softly, his gender indistinguishable: "Who I am is not important. Or would you prefer I fabricate a real identity so that someone comes to hunt you down?"

"As for how I found this place." Although the Emperor of the Central Heaven and Siming could not see the appearance of the dark figure clearly, they could sense he was smiling when he brought up this topic.

"I watched you open up this space and construct the celestial palace, so how could I not know of this place?"

The two immortals were shocked simultaneously. When they had created this place, they were already immortals, yet they had been secretly observed by this person without knowing a thing!

"Devouring Heaven and Earth!"

The Emperor of the Central Heaven launched a violent attack. The manifestation of the Emperor swept with a thousand forces, flattening the world as the all-consuming vortex instantly engulfed the dark figure!

The gods and sages in the murals truly came alive, stepping out from the walls, holding various precious celestial treasures such as gourds, stone cauldrons, and Dao swords, besieging the dark figure all at once.

This was a combat force sufficient to sweep in all directions and crush the world, yet now it was entirely deployed to deal with the dark figure.

The dark figure allowed the various attacks to land upon his body, and even the celestial beasts from the murals bit into his flesh.

With a slight shudder of his body, he directly sent the gods and sages flying back into the murals!

The originally brilliant murals turned blood-red; it was these gods and sages who were bleeding!

Like a non-existent phantom, the dark figure walked forward a few steps, completely ignoring the consuming vortex.

He paid absolutely no mind to the sudden attack by the Emperor of the Central Heaven and Siming just now. As if in his own home, he sat directly on the ground in a lazy posture.

The dark figure waved his hand: "Relax, you and I are not enemies. I did not come here to fight with you."

"Rather, searching for the Four Immortals, seizing the fruits of the path, and opening this box world is, in a sense, beneficial to me as well. I too have not seen the true starry sky for a long time."

"What is your purpose in coming here!"

Even though the dark figure had stated his stance, the two immortals still did not dare to relax in the slightest. The opponent's strength and knowledge were undoubtedly superior to theirs. Just who was this person!

One of the Four Immortals of Antiquity? No, he had already said that Great Qian's search for the Four Immortals was also beneficial to him. Could it be... the opponent was that mysterious existence who fought against the Four Immortals of Antiquity?!

"I merely saw how hard you were searching for the Fruit of the Path of Time, and as it happens, I know a few things, so I came to inform you."

"What is it?"

"Recently, a newcomer arrived at the Wendao Sect of the Great Xia, named Tang Chuanwu. The time reversals of this past half-year all originate from him."

"You would be kind enough to tell us this?" The Emperor of the Central Heaven was suspicious. How precious this intelligence was, yet he would share it so easily?

"Did I not say? Our interests in finding the Four Immortals are aligned."

The dark figure stretched, vanishing before everyone's eyes, leaving behind only the solemn-faced Emperor of the Central Heaven and Siming, and the god-monarchs staring at one another in mutual bewilderment.