Chapter 914 - 638: A Corpse
Spirit Realm, Zhang Clan Territory.
Mist envelopes ancient cypress, Dao Rhyme conceals deep beneath.
Chen Sheng suddenly opened his eyes.
In the depths of his eyes, Sword Light flashed, neither gold nor iron, disappearing without a trace in an instant, leaving only a solemn mark between his brows, indescribable.
"That dimension..."
"Such secrets it holds!!"
Just now, he had read the entire "Ancient Secret Record," every word a pearl, each hiding the mysteries of heaven and earth.
The secret record revealed, astonishingly, the greatest secret of that dimension!!
A long time ago, the Vast Continent was not the diverse and mighty land of ten thousand races as it is today.
At that time, the Realm of the Emperor was the critical point in this world.
Once breaking through that barrier, it would trigger the light of Ascension to journey to the higher, more mysterious unknown realm, severing ties with this world.
Though back then, the Vast was not as filled with the rise of ten thousand races and boundless opportunities as today, it was orderly, with clear skies and lands.
Cultivators of all races focused on cultivation, with the single obsession of reaching the legendary Upper Realm to seek the end of the Great Dao.
Yet, eternal tranquillity eventually shatters.
One day, the edge of the dimension suddenly exploded into boundless darkness!!
An unimaginable, indescribable gigantic shadow fell from beyond the dimension.
Where it passed, rules crumbled, and the Great Dao melted away!!
Within the dimension, Small Realms shattered one by one, turning into scattered light and dust, and even larger Realms were ground into ash...
The world was terrified beyond comprehension until the giant shadow slightly paused, revealing its true form—
It was a corpse!
A corpulent, unimaginable, corpse beyond the rules of power.
It had no will, no movement, not even breath, yet merely its descent crushed infinite time-space, obliterated countless civilizations, sweeping across half the dimension.
Afterward, the debris of the destroyed realms were all drawn by an intangible gravity emitted by this body.
Centered on this supreme corpse, within chaos, they continuously collided, fused, and reshaped, gradually evolving into form...
Finally converging into the boundless, vast continent, bearing the rise and fall of ten thousand races!!
Thus began the first era of the Vast Continent, slowly unfolding.
The dawn of the era, as heaven and earth were initially set, the various race cultivators who survived the chaotic calamity soon noticed the bizarre changes in the world.
Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures emerged like bamboo shoots after the rain, ubiquitous, easily obtained.
More precious were countless Secret Realms inherited from the body’s apertures, opening a more glorious path of cultivation.
The entire Vast Continent plunged into unprecedented prosperity, with cultivators emerging, powerhouses abundant, and the Great Dao thriving.
The Golden Era thus commenced!
Meanwhile, cultivators were astounded to discover that the upper limit of Cultivation in this world was quietly rising, the eternal shackles of heaven and earth slowly loosening and dissolving.
The Emperor was no longer the end of cultivation in this realm!!
They could continue to delve deeply into this world, break through the realm of the Emperor, and steadily progress towards deeper levels.
Everyone saw all this as a gift from heaven, the grace of the Great Dao.
Various race cultivators focused on their cultivation, day and night without rest, fully enjoying the immense opportunities brought by the Golden Era, all hoping to reach the pinnacle of the Great Dao in this life.
This prosperity lasted for a full 18,000 Primordial Assemblies.
Until that day.
Heaven and earth suddenly changed, storms rolled back, sun and moon lost their light, a world-destroying pressure swept across the Vast Continent.
The supreme corpse that had slept for endless ages, serving as the foundation of the continent, awakened!!
From deep within the body, a vast and unmatched, cold and unfeeling will echoed through heaven and earth:
"I am the Azure Heaven."
...
Chen Sheng lowered his eyes, a familiar yet absurd expression flickered through them.
"Quite familiar."
"The Vast Continent, a corpse suspected of being a True Immortal descended, using the body as the core, evolved heaven and earth, and severed the path of Ascension of the past."
"Whereas in my dimension, it was the Immortal Mountain that descended, opening the Grand Thousand barrier, reshaping the cultivation framework, continuing the path of Mahayana."
"Moreover, after those cultivators broke through to Mahayana Loose Immortal, indeed, no news of their Ascension has been heard."
Chen Sheng’s heart held a growing sense of dread as he frowned slightly:
"Ultimately, in that dimension, at the end of the era, the Azure Heaven revived, inducing the dimensional calamity, harvesting the emperors of ten thousand races, draining the essence of all beings, restarting the era, cycling endlessly."
"In my world, could the Celestial Brilliance Immortal Mountain face a similar day?"
A thought flashed through his mind.
An unprecedented sense of urgency surged through Chen Sheng’s heart.
In his inner world, as the game master, he had personally driven the destruction and restarting of the world, playing the role of "Azure Heaven" countless times, controlling the fate of all beings.
He understood too well the sorrow of being a pawn.
"Within the chessboard, the game master wields absolute power, all beings are pawns."
"Even with fortuitous encounters, ultimately, they are just part of the board, with fate never in their own hands, everything is futile, inevitably ending up being controlled, being harvested."
"If the dimension truly collapses, even with vast bloodlines across the Grand Thousand, they can only turn to dust."
Chen Sheng’s heart was full of helplessness, he slowly closed his eyes, with the Hundred Generations Book in his possession, he most dreaded was such an existence directly overturning the chessboard.
From the few words of the "Ancient Secret Record," the luck of the cultivators in that dimension was quite favorable.
In the first era, after the Azure Heaven awakened, its state was poor and it did not exhibit that absolute power above all existence, nor was it able to fully coalesce a complete will.
The Sword Master and others even doubted that this so-called Azure Heaven was not the original master of that supreme corpse.
It was merely a wisp of consciousness that arose from borrowing the Dao Rhyme of the corpse during endless ages, possessing immense power yet not invulnerable.
Because of this, a glimmer of life was left for the beings of the first era.
And this glimmer of life gave birth to heaven-defying strong individuals like the Sword Master.
With an ultimate will, they fought against the Heavenly Dao, breaking free of dimensional constraints, escaping the cycle of the era, ungoverned by the Azure Heaven, unmanipulated by all beings, becoming the core force of the Vast Continent against the Azure Heaven, the hope of the cultivators of ten thousand races.
What followed were rounds of heaven-defying wars.
The Sword Master and his group, amidst the endless cycles of era renewal and dimensional calamity harvesting, continually amassed strength, sought kindred spirits, gathered the powerhouses of ten thousand races, fought against the Heavenly Dao, attempting to carve a heaven-defying path.
The Azure Heaven, too, in these repeated wars, continuously perfected itself, expanded its minions, unleashed the Celestial Dao Fruit Position, refined Heavenly Dao Puppets, and bolstered its power, aiming to thoroughly control this dimension.
"As for who will win or lose in that dimension, it remains unknown."
Chen Sheng opened his eyes, a complex hint flashing through them:
"But if in my dimension, the Immortal Mountain Spirit intends to harvest..."
Suddenly, an undeniable pessimism welled up within him, impossible to dispel.
The Immortal Mountain Spirit is fundamentally different from the Azure Heaven born out of the Immortal Corpse.
The Azure Heaven had slept for countless ages, and after awakening was in poor condition, presenting opportunities.
Whereas the Immortal Mountain Spirit, since descending into this dimension, never fell into slumber, needing no revival, always maintaining a peak state.
Even many Mahayana Loose Immortals throughout the world were cultivated by its hand.
It possesses absolute power!!
"So be it."
Chen Sheng slowly exhaled, forcibly suppressing the pessimism and urgency in his heart.
"Let’s take it one step at a time."
"Compared to other cultivators, the endowment of the [Dimension Demon God] allows me to perceive other dimensions ahead of time, giving me some confidence."
[Dimension Demon God] does not belong to any dimension, is a wanderer of dimensions, an observer of the Great Dao.
In truth, if it is a game of chess, he is outside the board, detached and observing.
𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
"Even if the sky truly falls and the dimension collapses, I might have a retreat."
"The Great Dao is vast, with endless variables, rather than troubling oneself needlessly, it’s better to seize the present."
"After all, only with personal strength can one stand firmly in the deceptive struggles of dimension strife, controlling their own fate."