Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Chapter 2352 - 2319: Countless Ancient Emperors Have Withered

The long River of History surges ever onward, in the Endless Starry Sky countless Elites and outstanding figures come and go.

Generation after generation is born, and then dies. No matter how illustrious their achievements in life, no matter how they once fought alone across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, invincible under heaven, in the end they still cannot escape a cup of yellow earth as their destined fate.

How many eras has it been now? The living beings of an entire era all die, not one transcends. This is Destined Fate.

A fate that cannot be broken.

Yet, even if it is Destined Fate, even in the never‑ceasing Time River, certain Anomalies still exist.

Those Anomalies briefly break free of Destined Fate and the shackles of the Time River, self‑sealing and hiding within the Time River, tucked away in some gentle back‑eddy of the Time River that no one knows, quietly waiting for something.

No one knows where these Anomalies of the Time River lie, save for themselves.

Gazing upon the Time River from an infinitely close‑to‑True God, high‑dimensional vantage, one can see scattered cavities within it; in those cavities lie slumbering figures, some of whom have slept through an incomparably long age.

For example, certain beings who once bore the title of "Ancient Emperor."

Ancient Emperor—this was the name of the Emperor in an incomprehensibly remote age.

In history, the vast majority of Ancient Emperors have died, perishing while waiting for that Golden Era that seemed so close at hand, almost about to arrive, yet would never truly come.

Ah, that dream‑like, bubble‑phantom Golden Era!

The Ancient Emperors, in the flow of time, in their endless waiting, have nearly all died out!

And now, within the Time River, a comparatively younger Ancient Emperor is reliving that endless despair once experienced by those Ancient Emperors.

That self‑sealed slumbering cavity within the Time River trembles, faint cracks appearing, then healing, repeating this process again and again.

This Time Void World shudders, caught in a clearly unstable state.

A wisp of an extremely faint aura, yet one incomparably familiar to the current Human Emperor, flashed and vanished, but was detected by the observation net cast across the Endless Starry Sky. In an instant it was locked down and shrouded, to prevent the Ancient Emperors of history from sensing it.

Stirred by the anomalous cracks that appeared by chance within this Time Void World, the being who had slumbered here for an unknown number of years began to awaken.

That Time Void World, seemingly no larger than a mote of stardust, if one were to delve within, would reveal an ultimate mystery of "one flower, one world; one leaf, one Bodhi."

Within this cavity, small as a grain of yellow sand, there appears to be a world: mountain ranges, Rivers, seas, deserts, Stars, and the four seasons. All energies, matter, and Rules flow and circulate, rising and falling in cycles, brimming with a startling liveliness.

At this moment, with cracks appearing in the Time Void World, the cyclical flow of the four seasons in this Microcosmic World simultaneously went awry.

In the rotation of the seasons, energy, Rules, and matter began to deplete at an accelerated rate, no longer conserved or even approximately conserved. The Microcosmic World began to collapse at a slow pace.

Once the collapse reaches a certain degree, crosses a certain threshold, this Microcosmic World will shatter in an instant.

In the end, it will silently vanish within the Time River.

Just like the many Ancient Emperors in history.

In this age, many young Emperor Realm Cultivators do not even know what the name "Ancient Emperor" signifies.

Everything related to Ancient Emperors is being worn away by the natural passage of time; after a few more eras, the name "Ancient Emperor" will be utterly forgotten.

"Alas..."

"In the end..."

In the dim void of the Time Void World, a sigh echoed.

Within the Microcosmic World, Rivers and mountain winds and the four seasons sped their flow, oceans rolled without pause, beams of starlight fell from the sky, flickering with radiance. This world, silent for ages unknown, now heaved and roiled as though a planet were first giving birth to Life; the entire world grew restless.

Gradually, peaks rose and fell in succession, Earth Veins surged, coalescing into a spine that pierced heaven and earth;

Gradually, the Rivers of the world grew agitated, their flow accelerating, their networks spreading to all directions. The River‑waters were so thick with vitality as to almost spawn and create Life, like strands of vivid red blood vessels;

Gradually, Stars flickered without end, the Great Sun and Yue alternately veiled and unveiled one another, like blinking eyes;

Gradually, wild winds howled, sweeping across heaven and earth...

This Time Void World began to revive as though it were a living being! Drawing near from the slumber of time to the present world, bearing a terrifying might akin to the primal sundering of heaven and earth!

After an unknown span, all that stirred within the world began to settle.

Amid the mountains and Rivers, Great Sun and Yue, at some unknown moment there appeared a Cultivator with Immortal bearing and Daoist bones. His aura was transcendent, yet he did not appear old—like a youth in his twenties, one might even call him in the prime of his flourishing years, with not a trace of age upon him.

This Cultivator’s gaze pierced the Time River, calmly looking toward the Endless Starry Sky.

"Current Human Emperor,"

"Supreme Great Sun Ancient Emperor!"

This youth’s voice drifted, as though coming from the Qingming heights, and he sighed softly: "It truly has been a long time. When I saw you in years past, this Emperor was in the full vigor of spring and autumn. Now upon seeing you again..."

"I am already on the verge of withering."

Tens of millions of years ago, during the era of the Ten Thousand Laws Immortal Dynasty, the Ten Thousand Laws Ancient Emperor, in his own palace, suffered a strike from the Supreme Great Sun Ancient Emperor—a sword cleaved from the future—aimed at his young daughter.

That was the first meeting of these two Human Emperors.

Meeting again today, there is indeed a feeling as though a lifetime has passed.

"This Emperor’s foundation is insufficient; the Time Void World is on the verge of shattering."

"The other Emperors are greedy and foolish, but graveside withered bones, not allies one can rely upon."

"If I wish to extend the Immortal Road anew, repair my foundation, and forge a vessel of time that can reach the Golden Era, then as things stand, there is only one path..."

Before the Ten Thousand Laws Ancient Emperor appeared the Ten Thousand Laws Chessboard of the Destiny Path. After a brief calculation, he said coolly, "Only by being born toward death—only by devouring the entire foundation of the current Human Emperor—can I once more ascend the Immortal Path!"

"Nine deaths and one life,"

"For the sake of becoming Immortal, I would die ten thousand times without regret!"

The rumbling voice resounded throughout the entire Dust Mote World, soundwaves spreading to every corner. Where they touched mountains, the mountains tore themselves from the earth; where they brushed Rivers, armored Immortal Path Divine beings emerged from the currents; where they swept across grass and trees, the vegetation grew and intertwined, transforming into one Spring Deity after another...

One after another, terrifying soldiers and Divine General Puppets awoke from their slumber, bearing the aura of the Immortal and of the Ten Thousand Laws Variable, and an even more overwhelming military might that could sweep the world—domineering beyond compare.

This peerless military aura signified that this army had once been invincible under heaven, the strongest Taoist Soldiers of its age!

These were the most glorious Taoist Soldiers of the Ten Thousand Laws Immortal Dynasty, who all accompanied the Human Emperor in burial after his slumber, to follow him forever in the form of Puppets—the Ten Thousand Laws Five Elements Immortal Destruction Dao Soldiers!

In this moment, as the will of the Ten Thousand Laws Ancient Emperor stirred, these Taoist Soldiers who had slumbered for untold years began to awaken.

The years had not weakened their power; rather, through the long sleep in time, they had grown ever stronger, until now they had utterly surpassed even their former peak.

In the calculations of the Ten Thousand Laws Ancient Emperor, this was an army sufficient to sweep the world even in the Golden Era!