Thus, the rules evolved, the Great Dao gestated, and the heavens and earth were divided; the sun and moon became clear, and the four seasons alternated.
The pure Qi rose while the turbid Qi descended, and the Vast Expanse was born from this destiny. Only then were the two figures locked in a life-and-death struggle separated.
The partitioning of heaven and earth and the birth of the Vast Expanse were the nodes of the Post-Innate Era, or rather, its beginning. Yet, precisely because of the appearance of the Vast Expanse, the Source World—the world later generations called the Land of Truth—emerged.
Countless races of the Innate Era perished. Innumerable Innate Beings were either captured or killed by the three inconceivable, indescribable existences of the Source World. They extinguished the Innate Era, effectively drawing a final period to that age.
These memories all originated from Ji Hanjing's own bloodline inheritance. Her father was an Innate Being, and every Innate Being possessed their own memory fragments, Great Dao inheritances, and so on. These things were branded within the bloodline, innate and known from birth.
Although the Innate Era had been extinguished, many Innate Beings had used various methods to escape that great calamity, surviving into later eras. Since then, they changed their appearances and began to live and multiply under different identities.
The Master of the Radiant Ancestral Court, the former sage Middle Sovereign, was such an Innate Being. Even to this day, it was likely that many beings of the Innate Era remained hidden within various cosmic eras through various means, unknown to the world.
The culprit in Ji Hanjing's eyes was her father's former rival, the existence known as the Lord of Fortune. The demise of the Radiant Ancestral Court, the collapse of her father's Dao, and the subsequent disintegration of the Radiant Immortal Dynasty were all inextricably linked to the Lord of Fortune.
"I only want to know now who that infant I saw in the River of Time truly was. I do not believe he was just an ordinary person; an ordinary person could not have devoured my younger sister's mind and gradually eroded her away..." Ji Hanjing said in a heavy voice.
During her reign over the Radiant Immortal Dynasty, her sister had met and fallen in love with an ordinary cultivator. Though she was dissatisfied with his background and strength, she had never moved to break them apart. During that time, most of her focus and energy were spent on surviving the Era's Winter and the Era's Great Liquidation.
Consequently, she hadn't paid much attention to the life of her sister and her husband. It wasn't until later that she learned the husband had passed away years prior, leaving only her sister and their child in the world. At the time, she hadn't doubted the man's identity.
Looking back now, his identity was riddled with suspicious points—from their initial meeting to his subsequent death, everything was shrouded in a thick fog.
Who was he? Where did the child go? How was her sister's mind devoured, and how did she obtain the forging method for the Civilization Treasure? Perhaps from the very beginning, an invisible net had already fallen, and she was trapped without knowing it.
"If you want to know these things, you will have to dig deep yourself." Gu Changge shook his head, his gaze thoughtful.
He did not intend to reveal too much to Ji Hanjing at this moment. This was precisely what interested him: the Master of the Yinxu Cave had undergone countless identity transformations from ancient times to the present. He manifested throughout history; the River of Time was filled with his shadows.
This method was not like a simple reflection or a basic contingency plan. Rather, he intended to lay a foundation from the other end of the River of Time, refining the entire ancient history, including everything in the future.
If the Master of the Yinxu Cave was not a puppet pushed forward, then his ambitions were certainly not small. Regardless, such a scheme appeared utterly laughable in Gu Changge's eyes.
If the entire Vast Expanse were compared to a vegetable garden or an orchard, what the Master of the Yinxu Cave wanted to do was pluck the ripened fruit. Perhaps in his view, every Era's Liquidation occurred because the fruit was ripe and thus harvested by the Land of Truth. If he ate this fruit, he could leap over the path of transcendence and transformation, jumping to a different level of life.
However, he might have some misunderstanding. If a worm on a fruit tree eats the fruit, can it suddenly transform into a human?
Spring comes and autumn goes, and the melon falls when ripe—this is an unchanging law of the world. When the melon is ripe, people come to pluck it. When a worm on the tree sees this, it naturally assumes that the people become strong because they eat the fruit. Thus, it believes that if it eats the fruit, it can also become strong or even transform into a human.
In the past, Gu Changge might have found it difficult to understand this line of thinking, but after living for a time with a human identity and mindset, he understood what this so-called "struggle for transcendence" meant.
Although he knew the Master of the Yinxu Cave's schemes and plans, he had no intention of interfering. For now, everything the cave master did held no secrets before a truly powerful existence. In other words, all his plots were as simple and ridiculous as a blank sheet of paper.
What Gu Changge needed to do now was let the Heaven-Slaying Alliance develop and expand naturally. Subsequently, he would annex and devour the so-called Alliance of Righteous Unity, taking legitimate control of the entire Vast Expanse and forcing those hidden figures to lose their patience and reveal their tracks.
As for the Heavenly Faction and the Eight Tribes, no matter how they schemed or fought internally, it was no different from small-scale squabbling in Gu Changge's eyes. After all, at his current level of life, if there was anything he wanted to know, there were essentially no secrets. Unless a scheme involved an existence of the same level, it would have no effect on him.
Past, future, and even the present—any timeline that could affect him could be extinguished with a single thought. Even if unexpected loopholes appeared, Gu Changge could restart that timeline and personally eliminate or patch the flaw. Thus, he couldn't muster much interest in these so-called schemes.
The only thing he could do now was wait, and during that wait, enjoy a bit of fun that might pique his interest. Nothing more.
"I understand." Ji Hanjing did not press further. She had followed Gu Changge for a long time and knew that if he chose not to speak, asking would be futile.
Gu Changge nodded slightly and reached out to clear the chessboard, removing some dry leaves. As the leaves vanished, blurred images suddenly emerged on the previously calm board. Ji Hanjing looked on with slight confusion.
"The Evernight Immortal Dynasty was established hundreds of eras ago. At that time, it was not called by this name but was known as the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom, which maintained friendly relations with the Ancient Southern Zhao Kingdom for generations, possessing a deep and powerful foundation."
"The last ruler of the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom was named Emperor Yang. In the historical records of the Evernight Immortal Dynasty, Emperor Yang was cruel, unprincipled, incompetent, and obsessed with wine and women—the final tyrant of the Great Yang period."
"During his reign, he indulged in wine and meat, killed the innocent, harmed loyal officials, and oppressed the people. All races suffered and lived in misery. At that time, the biological father of Immortal Emperor Wei Yang, Jiang Ming, was a marquis with a different surname in the Great Yang Ancient Kingdom. His ancestors carried a trace of royal blood. Dissatisfied with the tyranny, he led a rebellion but later died in battle at Mount Jiu Yin."
"Immortal Emperor Wei Yang, Jiang Ming, inherited his father's legacy. Mandated by heaven and aided by celestial soldiers, he eventually united various feudal lords and races with the support of his father's former faction. They stormed the Great Yang capital, and Emperor Yang committed suicide in the palace..."
"The final fate of the Radiant Ancestral Court was severed right there." Gu Changge shook his head gently.
"But I can feel that my sister's bloodline still remains in the world," Ji Hanjing couldn't help but say.
Gu Changge suddenly smiled and said, "I told you this only to let you know that everything you want to know can be found within the Evernight Immortal Dynasty."
"If you want revenge, the only power you can utilize now lies within the Evernight Immortal Dynasty. You must find a way to make use of all that power."
"Otherwise, this fun would be quite meaningless."
Ji Hanjing's gaze fell on his face, looking as if she wanted to say something more. But seeing that Gu Changge had no intention of paying more attention, she whispered, "Then I shall take my leave."
Gu Changge merely nodded, his gaze fixed on the chessboard, saying nothing more. He had pointed out the path for Ji Hanjing. If she still couldn't succeed after being helped to this extent, she really ought to consider if her brain had been dulled by her imprisonment.
A few days later, at the former ruins of the Radiant Ancestral Court.
A brilliant divine light emerged, and resplendent chaotic light rain pierced the sky, blanketing the firmament. Half the universe was filled with immortal rain. Accompanied by various divine sounds of the Great Dao, cultivators discovered a fissure had opened in a blessed land. Radiant light gushed out, and ancient weapons and divine herbs erupted like a volcano, resulting in a world-shaking rain of opportunity.
Countless cultivators and beings, upon hearing the news, rushed there frantically to fight for these opportunities. Some existences in the Dao Realms even appeared, forcibly seizing some of the divine treasures and discovering to their wild joy that every single one was immensely useful to them.
The fissure widened every day. Every treasure unearthed was incomparably precious, including smithing materials that even Dao Realm experts would fight for. Additionally, there were various ancient stone tablets recording rare Dao methods, primordial divine arts, and celestial maps.
One cultivator even obtained a jar of divine pills sealed until now. The moment the jar opened, a rich medicinal fragrance filled the nine heavens, causing the pores of many cultivators to relax as they felt as if they were ascending to immortality; they gained sudden enlightenment on the spot, and their cultivation surged.
For a time, the powers and races from all regions could not sit still and dispatched experts to the ruins of the Radiant Ancestral Court. Many cultivators speculated that this was likely the treasure vault of the former ancestral court. With the collapse of the court and its burial in the River of Time, it had only now resurfaced by chance.
The Radiant Ancestral Court was once a colossus that ruled over various True Worlds and universes. In its prime, all worlds came to pay homage and all races revered it. How powerful and ancient must its foundation be? No one knew how many treasures were hidden in its vault.
This news spread quickly, causing a sensation everywhere. Every cultivator and power was shaken, immediately dispatching personnel. The various clans and aristocratic families within the Evernight Immortal Dynasty were equally restless because the ruins were located in the Radiant Ancient Domain, very close to the dynasty.
Moreover, the connection between the Radiant Ancestral Court and the Evernight Immortal Dynasty was deep. Even today, there were rumors that the ancestral court was the predecessor of the dynasty. The Evernight Immortal Dynasty was built upon the foundations of the collapsed ancestral court, and the current royal family were descendants of the court's bloodline. Logically, the treasure vault belonged to the Evernight Immortal Dynasty.
Such a claim naturally drew dissatisfaction from various races and civilizations. Heavenly treasures belong to the virtuous; how could one party monopolize them? No matter how strong the Evernight Immortal Dynasty was, could it stand against the wrath of the masses?
In just a few days, ancient warships and chariots crossed the universe, gathering at the Radiant Ancient Domain. Cultivators noticed the fissure was growing larger; in just a few days, it had become like a deep abyss.
Endless radiance gushed from within, accompanied by various phenomena. Ancient palaces and immortal towers were reflected, layer upon layer, majestic and solemn. Furthermore, chaotic mist permeated like a tide, spreading outward as a powerful life aura emanated from within.
Many cultivators suspected that deep within the fissure, ancient beings were sleeping—it wasn't just a simple treasure vault. The rising and falling chaotic mist, like a breath, was the life fluctuation of an ancient being sleeping within; it could wake up at any moment.
However, such suspicions could not extinguish the greed of the cultivators. When others weren't looking, some transformed into streaks of light and charged into the fissure. Afterward, no one knew what happened; only several terrified screams were heard before blood spurted into the sky, dyeing the surrounding cliffs red.
The cultivators and beings who charged in never came out, dying miserable deaths. The various powers gathered there felt their skin crawl. Even Dao Realm experts did not dare move recklessly; in that instant, they all felt a soul-shivering sensation.
The news from the Radiant Ancient Domain spread quickly and continued to ferment, drawing the attention of more and more civilizations. Eventually, the various civilizations negotiated, intending to explore together and share the treasures found, unwilling to let this vault go.
Thus, the various powers dispatched numerous experts to descend, resisting the heaven-shaking pressure within to find the truth. Outside the fissure, many cultivators and beings gathered, watching closely. Even the royal family of the Evernight Immortal Dynasty arrived; several Old Royal Uncles personally rushed there with a massive force, surrounding the area so tightly that not even water could trickle through.
Then, a terrifying and surging aura emanated from deep within the fissure, as if a peerless figure had revived. The heaven-shaking blood-Qi submerged the firmament, and endless light rolled out, blowing back all the forces that had charged in.
Sharp-eyed cultivators were shocked to see a piece of crystal-clear Dao Source several people high fly out from within that rolling blood-Qi. The Dao Source cracked and shattered, revealing a lifelike, ancient, and mysterious woman within. She was a peerless beauty with flowing dark hair, radiating an aura that had existed since time immemorial and intimidated the eight desolations.
Every cultivator and being present, regardless of their cultivation, was suppressed and unable to move. Their soul-lights trembled, and they felt compelled to kowtow and prostrate. The woman within the Dao Source was like an empress who suppressed the entire universe. She stood there naturally with her eyes closed, yet it felt as if the heavens and earth could not contain her figure.
Her power caused all cultivators and beings to tremble in fear. She seemed capable of effortlessly obliterating everyone present with just a flick of her finger.
Undoubtedly, this news immediately spread everywhere, causing massive waves across the civilizations and True Worlds of the Vast Expanse. Various races and civilizations speculated about the mysterious woman's identity, believing she might be an empress from a certain generation of the Radiant Ancestral Court.
The royal elders of the Evernight Immortal Dynasty immediately kowtowed and worshipped on the spot, calling her "Old Ancestor," hoping to invite her back to the dynasty once she fully awakened.
While the Vast Expanse was in an uproar due to the news from the Radiant Ancient Domain, a fierce battle was breaking out at the current border between the Heaven-Slaying Alliance and the Alliance of Righteous Unity.
"The Heaven-Slaying Alliance repeatedly encroaches upon our territory. What is your intention? Retreat at once!" a general dressed in cold iron armor, radiating a terrifying majesty, shouted.
In the cold and deep universe, vast armies stood in confrontation. Both sides had massive forces, like mountains and seas, arrayed on both sides of the chaotic River of Time. Their iron armor shimmered, and the cold light of their Dao swords was blinding.
"Under heaven, is there any land that is not the King's? Who says these territories are yours?"
"In this world, there is no place the Heaven-Slaying Alliance cannot go."
A brawny, exceptionally burly figure with blue wings on his back said with a cold laugh.