PHS Chapter 260 (Patreon)

Chapter 260: The Day This Emperor Returns! 

Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets

Li Yun withdrew his hand. His divine sense swept across the two worlds like a tide. He surveyed them with a cursory glance, then nodded in satisfaction.

The two worlds had only just begun to merge. Significant changes would come only when they fused completely, when a single Heavenly Dao ruled both. Then the true world ascension would occur.

Countless living beings would gain immense benefits. The Great Emperor realm would no longer be beyond reach, and True Immortal would become their eternal pursuit.

"Senior, is that all?" Meng Qingzhi asked, his face full of doubt.

He looked up at the sky, but nothing seemed amiss. Within the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, all perceptions were shielded. He had no idea the world around him had already transformed completely.

"It is," Li Yun said, settling into his chair. He leisurely poured tea, took a light sip, and replied casually.

"Is the Earth Immortal Realm now the same as the Tianyuan Realm?" Meng Qingzhi asked hopefully.

"Hmm." Li Yun paused. "Not yet. But in about a million years, they should be."

The world had only just changed. It would take time for a True Immortal to emerge. Perhaps some of the old monsters dwelling in the Forbidden Zones would reach that threshold first—well ahead of Meng Qingzhi and the others.

After all, those ancient creatures had lived countless years. They had the most to gain from this change. The shackles that had always constrained them were suddenly gone. With their accumulated foundation, a surge in power was inevitable.

Even if they couldn't achieve Supreme True Immortal status quickly, a million years should suffice.

Once True Immortals appeared, the Earth Immortal Realm and Tianyuan Realm would be one.

"A million years?"

Meng Qingzhi was bewildered. This didn't make sense. Hadn't Senior just acted to suppress and kill all True Immortals in the Earth Immortal Realm?

Instead... had Senior placed some kind of restriction on them?

After thinking long and hard, he gave up trying to understand. "Senior, what exactly did you do just now?"

"Nothing of consequence," Li Yun said, setting down his teacup and waving his hand dismissively. "A small trick. I merged the Purple Profound Realm and the Tianyuan Realm."

"Oh—!"

Meng Qingzhi nodded, an understanding expression crossing his face.

Then his expression froze.

"Senior, did you just say you merged the Tianyuan Realm and the Purple Profound Realm?"

"Correct."

This was a small trick?

This was what Senior meant by the two realms being the same?

One thing was certain: the Tianyuan Realm was now in grave danger.

Before, the two realms were connected only by a Spatial passage. If a Great Emperor from the Purple Profound Realm wanted to cross, they had to use it. A single Great Emperor could hold the passage against any invader.

But now?

The Spatial passage was gone. The two worlds were joined. Never mind a Great Emperor—any creature with even slightly superior strength could fly directly between them.

The two worlds would descend into chaos.

"Senior..." Meng Qingzhi's voice was heavy. "Could you please send the Purple Profound Realm back?"

The shock was overwhelming. He could already imagine the murderous faces of Great Emperor Moyuan and Emperor Tai Huang. Though he hadn't directly offended them, his Emperorship in the Purple Profound Realm was undeniable. They might well seek vengeance.

He was not like the Dragon Emperor. Meng Qingzhi knew his own strength. Newly ascended to Emperorship without an Imperial Weapon, he could only match one of them in a formation. Against both, he would fall.

The safest path was to send the realm back.

"Send it back?" Li Yun slanted a glance at him. "You can. But only if you can pay the price."

"I... have no money," Meng Qingzhi managed to say.

Li Yun scoffed. If you have nothing to offer, what's the point of asking?

"After the two realms merge, Great Emperor will no longer be the limit. You will have the possibility to advance further," Li Yun said slowly. "Otherwise, with your aptitude, you would likely never have transcended this world's shackles."

Worldly restrictions existed in every realm—the Heavenly Dao's instinctive self-preservation. A world could not tolerate beings powerful enough to destroy it. Even without consciousness, the Heavenly Dao prevented their emergence.

The old Tianyuan Realm could only sustain existences at the peak of Great Emperor. To advance beyond required breaking the Heavenly Dao's restrictions alone—a feat one might never witness in billions of years.

Meng Qingzhi was clearly not such a person. Even without the restrictions, he lacked the strength to cross that threshold.

The only other path to True Immortal lay in following Ancient Emperor Xuanmo's example: entering the Earth Immortal Realm. But that was far too perilous. Finding such a world in the endless Chaos was uncertain. And if one found a realm, who could guarantee what it was? It might be weaker, like the Blood Phantom Realm, or incomparably terrifying—perhaps even devoid of humans. Wandering in blindly could make you prey.

Xuanmo's success in finding the Earth Immortal Realm bordered on divine fortune. He was almost certainly that era's protagonist of the Purple Profound Realm. Yet even his halo dimmed upon reaching the Earth Immortal Realm, where he fell to a True Immortal.

"Advance further..."

Hearing this, Meng Qingzhi's eyes brightened. That was desirable.

But the Tianyuan Realm had to survive the Purple Profound Realm's invasion first.

"Senior, what of the people who crossed from the Earth Immortal Realm? What is their situation?" Meng Qingzhi asked.

If those arrivals caused enough trouble, perhaps the three Great Emperors would be too occupied to threaten the Tianyuan Realm.

After all, they were no weaklings.

"You want to know?" Li Yun slanted another glance at him.

Meng Qingzhi quickly caught on. "This junior has truly nothing left."

"Then there's nothing I can do." Li Yun pointed to the door. "Return to the Pavilion when you have resources."

"I..." Meng Qingzhi sighed in resignation and turned to leave.

Then he stopped.

Wait—Senior had just said the two realms merged.

That meant all the Spatial passages were destroyed.

If they were all destroyed...

The people from the Earth Immortal Realm couldn't return. They were trapped here.

And with the Supreme True Immortals unable to intervene, what was there to fear?

If he killed a few of them, wouldn't he grow rich?

Meng Qingzhi's body trembled. He quickly turned back, bowed, and said, "This junior takes his leave!"

He rushed off toward the Purple Profound Realm.

…

At the junction between the Purple Profound Realm and the Tianyuan Realm

A brutal battle erupted.

The combatants were Ao Xuan and Great Emperor Moyuan.

Both had sensed the anomaly at the universe's border and rushed over, only to collide face-to-face.

In the past, separated by a Spatial passage, an all-out confrontation was impossible.

Now it was different. The passage was gone. They were standing across from one another.

How could they not fight?

Moreover, the two had clashed before across the realms. In just three moves, Great Emperor Moyuan had been grievously wounded, blood pouring from his lips.

He had regarded that as a humiliation ever since. Now that he had his chance, he would not let it pass.

"RUMBLE!"

Vast undulations erupted, as if the universe itself was crumbling. All life withered. No matter the distance, every living being trembled, seized by the urge to kneel and prostrate themselves before such pressure.

The clash between two Great Emperors shattered the Great Dao itself. It was apocalyptic, threatening to tear the borderlands asunder.

Great Emperor Moyuan's hair flew wild, his expression cold, his eyes icy. Without his Imperial Weapon, he was still unstoppable. A single punch shattered eight hundred thousand li of mountains and rivers. Countless stars exploded in the void—a sight of terrible magnificence.

"Insulting this dragon is intolerable!"

Ao Xuan roared, bathed in blood. A dragon pearl floated above his head, radiating brilliant rays that threatened to collapse the heavens. The most terrifying rifts and world-ending light swept across the eight desolates.

Yet despite every technique at his command, he could not match Great Emperor Moyuan.

The opponent was simply too strong. He had wielded his power for far longer than a newly ascended Emperor could hope to withstand.

"Thirty thousand years on the river's east, thirty thousand years on its west! Do not scorn this Emperor's current state! The day this Emperor returns, I will settle this with you!"

Ao Xuan spat out the oath, then fled without hesitation.

"Trying to run?"

Great Emperor Moyuan's rage erupted. After so long being mocked, how could he let the other escape?

Only because Tai Huang and the others hadn't arrived yet. Had all three Great Emperors besieged him, Ao Xuan's escape would be uncertain.

"Boom!"

Great Emperor Moyuan gave chase. The two battled from sky to earth, covering tens of millions of li, crossing nearly half the Tianyuan Realm. Every time Ao Xuan tried to reach the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, Moyuan blocked him.

At last, the battle carried them into the Chaotic Star Sea.

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