"Pseudo-Heaven Era..."
The Eternal Primordial God was silent for a moment, a terrifying aura surging in his eyes, but it quickly subsided. With a touch of powerlessness, he said, "Tell me, what exactly are the origins of those three beings? Why is it that even the true Heavenly Dao can do nothing against them..."
Aberrations beyond the Heavenly Dao?
Or beings that cling to and exist by occupying the Heavenly Dao?
In any case, they cannot be like those Innate Beings of the past, creatures born from chaos, the first batch of living beings in this universe and world.
The existence of the Three True Ancestors cannot be investigated, cannot be spoken of, and even more cannot be traced or deduced.
Luo Zhu's expression changed drastically. He looked up at this world and, seeing no fluctuations appear, said in a low voice, "Be careful with your words. Heaven has its eyes, Heaven has its ears. The many worlds of the Vast Expanse, the myriad universes, none can escape its prying and listening. You should seal your five senses and keep those words in your heart."
"You are still so cautious."
The Eternal Primordial God laughed, "Now in the outside world of the Vast Expanse, even the Heaven-Slaying Alliance has appeared. Why worry that these words will be detected? The present age is already different from the past. I suspect They have long ceased to observe the current Vast Expanse, only casting Their gaze when occasionally awakening. The more cautious you are, the more timid, the more unwilling to act—the Luo I knew back then was not like this."
Luo Zhu shook his head. "You don't understand, you simply don't know Their terror..."
"If an ant bites you, you might not even feel pain, and the entire Vast Expanse, in Their eyes, is no more than ants. No matter how powerful the ants are, they are still ants, crushed with a single step..."
"You are still so pessimistic. If it were truly so, why did so many fish slip through the net during that Primordial Tribulation?" The Eternal Primordial God felt that Luo Zhu had been hiding too long, all his edge and will worn away, which was why he was so pessimistic.
"Such is fortune. You crush a group of ants with one palm, occasionally a few fall from between your fingers—would you care?" Luo Zhu said indifferently.
"So what if they are ants? Many ants can bite an elephant to death," the Eternal Primordial God said disdainfully.
Hearing this, Luo Zhu no longer argued with him. Their ideas were different, which was why they parted ways back then.
The Eternal Primordial God was also silent for a while, but then thought of something and asked, "You once followed the Lord of Heaven's Proxy. What is the origin of that Lord of Heaven's Proxy? Is his true body in the Land of Truth, entangled with those three?"
This was actually the question he most wanted to ask on this trip to find Luo Zhu.
In the current situation of the Vast Expanse, it seems only the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, the Alliance of Righteous Unity, and the Dark Clans have entered the fray, but who knows how many gazes are watching in the shadows.
Dimly, he even felt that a great net was being woven and descending, and the master behind it might draw it in at any moment when they entered the fray.
This palpitation made him uneasy, which was why he thought to seek out his old friend.
Luo Zhu glanced at him and still shook his head. "The Lord of Heaven's Proxy is indeed far more powerful than the world imagines, but even his power can hardly touch that Land of Truth. The Land of Truth cannot be touched by any force within the Vast Expanse; that is fundamentally impossible."
"I also don't know his origins. Perhaps he is an aberration, or perhaps, like us, a being that once lived in chaos."
"Or perhaps he is the handiwork of some figure from the Innate Era, even a mere alias..."
"But he is indeed very strong, so strong that since the birth of the Post-Innate Era, it's almost impossible to find anyone who can match him. The reason I chose to follow him back then was actually to see if he could accomplish what we could not."
Before the Primordial Tribulation, the world was a chaos. How many living beings and races were born and nurtured within it was unclear even to them.
Figures who left a brilliant mark in past eras were, to varying degrees, connected to the Primordial Tribulation Era. They might have been incarnations of some existence from that time, or merely a fleeting alias.
Until after the Primordial Tribulation, that is, after the Vast Expanse was born, the so-called Post-Innate, the "Pseudo-Heaven Era" emerged.
Those powerful figures who appeared, who opened a new era and reached the End of the Path, were all, to some extent, the handiwork of those existences from the Primordial Tribulation Era.
For example, the Dream Lord who founded the Era of Dream's Ashes, plunging the myriad worlds of the Vast Expanse into endless mutual arising; the Tathagata Buddha Lord who established the Buddhist system, abolishing all other methods and venerating only Buddhist arts; the Three Pure Ones Dao Lord who rode an azure ox, spreading purple mist across the heavenly realms, establishing the Ten Great Dao True Mansions, and leaving behind Dao legacies; the Great Luo Dao Lord who created the Wuji Immortal Realm, expounded the Great Luo Law, and whose disciples spread throughout the worlds; as well as the forerunners of the Divine Dao Civilization system—there are far too many...
In fact, if one counts the eras after the birth of the Vast Expanse, one always finds that in certain periods, some brilliant figures appear, raising the momentum of that era to boundless heights.
Some of these figures were indeed born in response to the times, carrying the fortune of hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of epochs. From the moment of their birth, they stirred up boundless storms and rapidly advanced to the peak.
Then, due to various unexpected reasons, they perished or met their demise midway. Very, very few truly achieved a good end. Of course, there were also those who suddenly vanished...
Some of these existences were indeed the handiwork and arrangements of those deeply hidden beings from the Innate Era.
Even Luo Zhu had, for a time in the past, tried to point the way for later generations, leaving behind legacies, opportunities, and such. But he later found that doing so was merely a drop in the bucket and gradually gave up.
Since its birth, the Vast Expanse has existed for so long that no one can truly count it.
The countless cosmos, endless spacetime, the small worlds, void spaces, unknown dimensions, and unclear voids they encompass—there are many figures hiding within.
The Black Calamity Era, compared to those eras, was merely darker and more despairing. Its influence remains great even today, unlike some eras of the past that have truly vanished and been buried in the torrent of time, forgotten.
"Exercising the authority of Heaven's Proxy also doesn't seem like something beings of later eras would do..."
The Eternal Primordial God sighed. "Then do you think the end of the Black Calamity Era and the sealing of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy were the will of heaven, the work of man, or merely a scheme and plot?"
Luo Zhu fell into thought. In fact, even he was still unsure whether that great battle was man-made or the will of heaven.
The appearance of the Supreme Treasure of the First Civilization indeed exceeded everyone's expectations.
If it were truly the interference of the Heavenly Will, then the Lord of Heaven's Proxy should not have been merely sealed.
So he would rather believe that it was merely a man-made scheme...
Just as the Heavenly Faction has always firmly believed, the Lord of Heaven's Proxy will perhaps one day break through the seal again and return to awakening.
"You came here actually to ask me if the Lord of Heaven's Proxy and the current Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance are the same person, isn't that right?" Luo Zhu looked at the Eternal Primordial God.
"The waters of the current Vast Expanse have been stirred murky by him; this is forcing many people to enter the fray," the Eternal Primordial God nodded.
There are definitely not a few figures like Luo Zhu and the Eternal Primordial God who choose to fake death and hide, concealing all their karmic auras.
There are even some who are plotting grand schemes, continuously accumulating strength and lying low, waiting for the day to "rise up in revolt."
But now, because of the appearance of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, it seems intent on overturning the table of the Vast Expanse and forcing everyone to enter the fray.
The Eternal Primordial God naturally didn't care; his goals were different from some of those fellows. He was only for himself and sought nothing else. The muddier the waters of the Vast Expanse, the more advantageous it was for him.
"I wasn't sure just now, but after seeing her, I think I understand."
Luo Zhu suddenly looked at Luo Xiangjun behind the Eternal Primordial God, a flash of clear gloom passing through his silver-bright eyes.
Although Luo Xiangjun was not deliberately listening to their conversation, their indiscriminate talking without avoiding her still made it hard not to hear some things.
But at this moment, she was at a loss, her face full of shock and bewilderment. Facing the gaze of the Ancient Ancestor, she felt as if all the blood in her body was about to freeze, a metallic sweetness rising in her throat, and her complexion turning pale.
"Luo, what do you mean?" The Eternal Primordial God was equally baffled, somewhat surprised.
"On her body, there is a coordinate left..."
Luo Zhu's expression darkened. He had only now, when focusing his gaze on Luo Xiangjun, noticed the anomaly.
Earlier, he had simply regarded her as his blood descendant and hadn't given it much thought. Reuniting with an old friend, it was hard to stay fully guarded, but unexpectedly, he had still been schemed against...
"What do you mean?"
"A coordinate left behind? How come I never knew?"
The Eternal Primordial God's expression also changed slightly, then turned somewhat grim.
He looked at Luo Xiangjun, and his golden eyes suddenly became indifferent, overflowing with killing intent.
"Pfft..."
Under the pressure of two terrifying existences, even as one who had passed six Heavenly Decline Tribulations, Luo Xiangjun felt as though her body was about to burst, a sweetness in her mouth, and she coughed out a mouthful of blood.
And just as she spat blood, in that instant of shock and confusion, a jade talisman deep within her sleeve suddenly trembled slightly, then cracked, and a clear light burst forth, enveloping her.
"This is..."
Luo Xiangjun herself was also very shocked. Although this clear light seemed weak, it could offset the terrifying pressure bearing down on her, and even protect her for a time.
She hurriedly took out that jade talisman, then stood there dazed, the scene in her mind frozen on the moment she had agreed in the Immortal Spirit Civilization to go retrieve the Eternal Secret Treasure for Gu Changge.
Later, because she couldn't break the restrictions inside, she returned to find Gu Changge. At that time, Gu Changge didn't suspect her either; he casually tossed her some items and told her that if she couldn't open it, she could use those objects.
At the time, Luo Xiangjun only felt that his expression seemed to carry a deeper meaning, but she didn't think much of it.
Who could have imagined that today, at this moment, it would be used here...
"The power of karma—when was it contracted and left behind by someone?"
The Eternal Primordial God's face also changed drastically, utterly shocked and taken aback. He had never imagined that there could be a karmic coordinate left on Luo Xiangjun. When had it been left?
From the time he resided by Luo Xiangjun's side and had her find the Eternal Divine Clan lineage, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to tamper with her in between, because he would definitely have noticed.
Could it have been before Luo Xiangjun went to that secret treasure he left behind...
A chill suddenly swept through the Eternal Primordial God's entire body. He had already realized who had left it—the very person he had just been discussing with Luo Zhu.
"We can't stay here long; we need to leave quickly."
Luo Zhu's expression was ugly, and without hesitation, he turned to escape this place. The entire world darkened, as if about to detach. This entire world was his true body, so naturally he wanted to take it all with him.
"It's not easy for a fish to take the bait; how could I allow you to escape?"
In the Ethereal Sacred Domain, on the ancient warship that was crushing through, Gu Changge sat cross-legged in the courtyard.
His eyes were calm and indifferent. The moment the karmic coordinate manifested, he reached out a large hand, instantly piercing through the endless spacetime before him, breaking free from all rules and constraints, and grabbed straight toward the Luo Clan's territory.
"Who is it?!"
In the Luo Clan's territory, the stars trembled, the earth cracked. Terrifying power, as if the firmament was pressing down, caused all clan members to be terrified and horrified.
They only saw a large hand suddenly extend from the endless void, heavy and forceful, destroying everything. All the mountain ranges and land before them were exploding; some charged up in fury, but before they could even make contact, they burst into powder in midair.
Among them were even a few ancient clan members who had passed six Heavenly Decline Tribulations, but they charged forward only to be useless, directly crushed by that large hand, turning into a sky full of bloody mist, with only a few soul-like origin auras left behind.
"This is..."
The Grand Elder of the Luo Clan looked on in shock, unable to believe it. As someone who had passed eight Heavenly Decline Tribulations, he now felt as if he were a mere mortal facing a god, a terrifying cold sweeping through his entire body, rendering him unable to move.
The entire otherworldly land continuously crumbled and disintegrated as this large hand descended, and the back mountain of the Luo Clan's cemetery shook even more.
All the Luo Clan members were trembling in terror, only able to watch as that large hand reached down there. All the restrictions and array patterns left behind were obliterated and disintegrated. Then the mountain rocks split open, and a half-open coffin was pulled out. Terrifying energy poured out from within, a haze of chaos obscuring everything, as if something was trying to rush out, but it was grasped by that large hand and couldn't move.
"That's the Ancient Ancestor's aura..."
All the Luo Clan members were stunned, hardly believing their eyes.
The firmament blurred, and the entire otherworldly realm was suppressed to the point of shattering. As that large hand withdrew, the terrifying aura gradually dissipated.
All the Luo Clan members looked at the collapsed back mountain cemetery. The Ancient Ancestor's tombstone had long since exploded; there was nothing inside, and even the coffin had been taken away.
"Could it be that the Ancient Ancestor did not die?"
"But... but how could the invincible Ancient Ancestor be captured like this?"
"What exactly was that just now?"
The Luo Clan's territory was in turmoil. All the clan members were shocked to the extreme, and for a long time, they could not calm down.