Chapter 3194: Eternal Seed

In the small universe, Ye Chen sat on the peak of a withered mountain, holding a wine pot and silently gazing at the hazy sky. Here, there was no distinction between day and night; the heavens were dim and oppressive, devoid of a vast starry expanse and shimmering stars, silent to the point of terror.

How to return.

This was the question Ye Chen pondered at that moment—whether Nu Di had successfully suppressed Zi Zai Tian, whether she had returned to the myriad heavens, whether she had faced calamity from the illusory river upon her return, and if she had made it back, whether she had reclaimed the position of Huang Di.

He wanted to know all of this.

But alas, trapped in the small universe, he could find no direction and had no way back.

Suddenly, he flicked his sleeve.

A cascade of golden light scattered, floating into the dim sky and forming flickering stars.

More precisely, they were Dun Jia Tian Zi characters.

When the seal was broken, all the Tian Zi characters collected by Tai Shang had fallen into his possession. Now, hung in the sky like stars, they felt entirely fitting, dispelling the gloom and granting the small universe faint rays of light.

Ye Chen slightly tilted his head back, quietly watching.

The light of the Tian Zi characters made his mind hazy; each one was refined from the universe itself.

Regrettably, they had not been activated.

"How to go back."

He had murmured this countless times, but he could not remain trapped here forever.

As he muttered, he downed a pot of wine and fell into a deep sleep.

In his dreams, there was a beloved person and his homeland, but he watched alone, engulfed in profound solitude.

He used the dream path, attempting to dream his way back to the myriad heavens.

Unfortunately, his mastery of the dream path was incomplete. In terms of combat power, he far surpassed Yao Chi, but in understanding dreams, he was far inferior to Ji Ning Shuang. Ji Ning Shuang could traverse the universe through dreams, but he could not.

One dream lasted a thousand years.

Yet, for the universe of the myriad heavens, it was merely a single day.

In the ancient wilderness, the dim sky occasionally rumbled with thunder as late-arriving divine generals achieved the Dao against the heavens.

Indeed, every time the sacred body lineage grew stronger, the Heavenly Dao weakened.

This, in turn, reduced the suppression on all living beings, gradually loosening the bonds of the heavens.

"Ants."

A generation of sacred demons sneered; even with more great emperors, they were useless without a Huang Di to lead them—all just cannon fodder.

"The power of living beings is beyond your imagination."

Shen Zun sat on the mountain peak, quietly comprehending the Dao, his words faint and audible only to the sacred demon.

"A struggle of trapped beasts, that's all."

The sacred demon laughed sinisterly.

"Hong Yan believed in living beings, and Qi Huan also believed in them. That is faith."

"I shall see how long you can hold out."

This simple exchange faded into the vastness.

Shen Zun said no more, focusing on his enlightenment. He was at the peak of quasi-Huang level and might advance to Huang Di.

Not just him—all peak quasi-Huang experts were striving for that realm.

Success or failure was unknown, but the light of hope remained, as did the fortunes of living beings.

After a thousand years in the dream, Ye Chen awoke.

His eyes were somewhat dazed; he had not dreamed his way back to the myriad heavens, but his comprehension of the dream path had deepened.

On this day, he descended from the mountain peak.

In the dimness, he carried his wine pot like a wandering drifter, walking through what seemed like the mortal world—though it was not truly a world, as there were no living beings. This small universe held only him as a living entity.

"Qian Kun."

"Rules."

"Heavenly Dao."

Ye Chen murmured as he walked, gazing at the Dun Jia Tian Zi characters suspended in the sky.

They still shone brilliantly.

At least, in this small universe, they were radiant. The perished civilization had become dust of ages, with no Heavenly Dao, no Qian Kun, no rules—everything here was merely a facade.

However, he was not part of it.

He was an outsider.

Yes, he did not belong to this small universe; he was a wanderer adrift in illusion.

A guest could seize the host's role.

After a thousand years, a spark of insight finally gleamed in his eyes.

Without rules, they could be created.

Without Qian Kun, it could be forged.

Without Heavenly Dao, it could also be established. He would become the heavens here, the supreme entity of this realm. Though the ancient civilization had vanished, this universe would, through the rebirth of the Heavenly Dao, continue into an immortal legend.

And he would be the creator of this myth.

"I understand now."

Ye Chen smiled, his eyes not only sparkling with insight but also filled with enlightenment.

Heavenly Dao.

By becoming the Heavenly Dao of the small universe, he would gain a special privilege, which might help him return to the myriad heavens.

It could even bring other miraculous fortunes.

"Transform decay into wonder." Ye Chen tilted his head back and drank deeply, not deliberately dispelling the intoxication.

Perhaps the wine was too strong, as the drunkenness overwhelmed his mind.

Under the reflection of the Tian Zi characters, his steady steps felt like treading on sponge; his figure swayed unsteadily, and his hazy, drunken eyes grew sleepy. The world around him turned dreamlike.

Carried by a breeze, he collapsed onto the vast earth.

This sleep lasted a hundred years, as wind and dust battered him and time weathered on.

There was no sign of him waking.

In the second hundred years, half of his sacred body was buried in soil.

In the third hundred years, he was completely interred.

That year, he was fully laid to rest; his flesh rotted, his sacred bones grew mottled, and his primordial spirit aged.

He seemed like a seed, an eternal seed, buried in the earth.

To become the Heavenly Dao, one must first decay.

This was his resolve—to merge with the small universe, to grow from an eternal seed into a towering tree, until one day, an eternal fruit would emerge, radiating everlasting vitality.

Boom! Rumbling thunder!

In the ancient wilderness, tribulations erupted one after another, each more massive than the last.

Emperors seemed as common as cabbages.

And the ancient wilderness was like fertile soil for growing them, with those undergoing nirvana emerging endlessly.

"Something's changing."

Amid the rumbling, a voice of surprise echoed from the edge of the ancient wilderness.

It came from Xuan Di and Gui Di.

These two were quite evasive, having found younger great emperors to guard their posts while they wandered here. As soon as they arrived, they saw Di Huang and Hong Yan radiating brilliant light all over.

Bang!

Shen Zun manifested instantly, his divine eyes sharp. The primordial spirit flames of Di Huang and Hong Yan burned like fierce fire, and their ancient sacred bodies were reconstructing inch by inch, enveloped in a layer of eternal light.

"Have they overcome the calamity?" Shen Zun murmured softly.

The sacred body lineage was truly extraordinary—one prospered, all prospered; one suffered, all suffered.

The changes in Di Huang and Hong Yan must be due to Ye Chen.

He had likely overcome the calamity and was probably undergoing a great nirvana.

You are stronger than me.

After a long while, Shen Zun smiled, without any pretense.

After all this time,

This was the first time he truly admired the sacred body supreme. His sister had chosen Ye Chen, and it was indeed the right decision.

"It's no longer a concern."

After one last glance at Di Huang and Hong Yan, Shen Zun turned and returned to the mountain peak to continue comprehending his Dao. No matter what, he had to achieve Huang Di before the outer domains did, defying the heavens to seal his position.

He left, but Xuan Di and Gui Di remained.

These unreliable emperors still had their flair, standing with hands clasped like two door gods, one on each side, quietly watching Di Huang and Hong Yan—mainly Hong Yan, who grew more beautiful by the day.

"Two six four six seven zero eight five two."

Gui Di suddenly spoke.

"What?" Xuan Di turned his head.

"The reader group for 'Xian Wu Di Zun'—add it when you get back. Liu Jie San Dao mentioned it."

"This guy's got style in spades."

The two emperors chatted back and forth, thoroughly enjoying themselves, occasionally glancing up at the illusory vortex, wondering if the Heavenly Court Nu Di was alright and whether she could defy the heavens to recover from her self-severed strike.

She could not recover it.

That would be Nu Di's answer. Though the unknown domain had no rules, it was not all-powerful.

Meanwhile, Zi Zai Tian looked on with great curiosity.

This universe was indeed far from simple, a place she had never seen before.

"Don't waste your effort; it can't be recovered."

Once she withdrew her gaze, Zi Zai Tian looked at Nu Di, her words calm as ever.

Nu Di said nothing and finally gave up.

"Entering the Yong Heng Xian Yu might make it possible."

Zi Zai Tian spoke leisurely; this was not mere deception but something she truly believed, having heard secrets from Tai Shang over endless years.

"Hope so."

As Nu Di spoke, she closed her eyes, seeking traces in the void to resurrect the supreme beings.

The Xing Zi Xiao Wa was not about to let that happen and ran out to cause chaos.

The unknown domain erupted in thunder; even Nu Di bled, truly startling Zi Zai Tian. She knew the little one was no ordinary being, but she had not realized how terrifying it was—perhaps even the highest god would not suffice.

But upon reflection, it made sense.

The little one, like Tai Shang, came from the Yong Heng Xian Yu, and anything from there was no trivial matter.

In comparison, the little one seemed even more fearsome than Tai Shang.

Back in that small universe, it remained dim and lifeless, with no living beings and no sign of Ye Chen.

The eternal seed had been planted, awaiting its sprout.

One day, the heavens grew even more overcast, thick with turbidity, turning into utter chaos.

The entire small universe transformed into chaos.

The Dun Jia Tian Zi characters suspended in the sky still flickered but were overshadowed.

Everything seemed to revert to the world's beginning.

This period was incredibly long—perhaps a hundred years, or maybe a thousand.

No one kept track.

In the tranquil night, a faint wind arose, carrying a touch of spirituality, dispersing a wisp of chaos.

This moment was worth commemorating.

The transformation from decay to wonder had begun, and time would record this eternal instant.

Another hundred years passed.

For the myriad heavens, it might have been just an incense stick's time, but for the small universe, it was ages carving like a blade. The enveloping chaos gradually dissipated, and after endless changes, clarity emerged—a light that no darkness could conceal.

At the end of a hundred years,

The eternal seed finally took root and sprouted, radiating brilliant eternal light that cast a dreamlike glow, accompanied by profound phenomena. Listening carefully, one could hear the sound of the Dao, forming an ancient divine melody.

With the melody, the energy of this universe revived.

It was the most primordial, eternal source, undergoing nirvana and rebirth from decay.

As time shifted,

The earth of the small universe occasionally trembled and collided, forming mountains and abysses, while the remnants of the ancient civilization's mountains crumbled into dust, becoming historical debris. New myths and legends of civilization began to unfold, with the entire small universe undergoing nirvana.

This process was extremely prolonged.

Though still without living beings, in some corner of the world, tiny sprouts emerged, breaking through the soil of ages and rooting through time, carrying the essence of antiquity into new life.

Rules had emerged.

Qian Kun had formed.

The once-decayed eternal essence had become the creator in wonder, the newborn Heavenly Dao.