Chapter 1080: Thousand Mountains Echo, Unforgettable Memories

She was originally a mortal, with no possibility of cultivation. Yet, with her own talent, she completed the final ring of the Sun of Dawn for humanity, granting the human race its own supreme treasure. This achievement earned her the title of Great Sage.

Despite this, her existence was concealed in human history, known to very few, with all glory attributed to her husband.

As an empress and mother of two sons, she was devoted solely to her husband, sharing his worries, contemplating his concerns, and prepared to give everything for their children and for him, without distraction.

However, she ultimately faced the separation from her children and the brutal threat of death at her husband's hands.

All of this was simply because her husband sought to become a god and desired to sever all emotional ties.

She did not know where she had gone wrong, nor could she understand why her path had unfolded this way.

Despair accompanied her throughout the first half of her life, and helplessness was etched into her very soul.

She had knelt beneath the sky, pleading with the Sacred Land, but it offered no response. She had prostrated herself before dukes and marquises, seeking help from fate, but they remained silent.

She had cried, raged, grieved, and fallen silent.

Until, at the most desperate moment of her life, during a twilight in the imperial palace, she weakly gazed at the statue of the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor before her impending death, shedding her last tear.

As that tear traced her cheek and dropped to the ground, she heard the sound of water shattering and a sigh echoing through destiny. A voice lamented that the human race should not be like this and expressed regret for what had happened to her. Then, she saw an unforgettable aged figure walk past her.

Behind her, a sword descended towards the source of her despair. This single strike shattered destiny and changed everything.

The Empress murmured, considering the Great Emperor like a father.

In her darkest hour, it was the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor who saved her. In her deepest sorrow, it was he who gave her hope. When she was lost regarding the meaning of life, it was also he who bestowed cultivation upon her, along with the human race itself.

Consequently, she transformed into Xuan Zhan, leading humanity to rise. Under the Great Emperor's final protection, she cast aside her mask, achieved godhood, and became the human race's only Empress throughout history.

As she gazed at the statue, the Empress whispered to herself that protecting humanity was not her original wish, but it was the Great Emperor's lifelong aspiration, and thus, it had become hers. Her eyes, filled with ever-deepening longing, also showed unwavering resolve.

She was determined to revive the Great Emperor, who had been like a father to her. In the past, he had rescued her from despair; today, she would help him return from death.

A fierce light shone in the Empress's eyes. Amidst the trembling of the Demon Feather, the roar of the Ancient Emperor Star, the incredulous gaze of Er Niu, and Xu Qing's excitement, she stepped forward, standing between heaven and earth.

Proclaiming herself the Human Emperor, she stated that she now embodied the destiny of all humans in Wang Gu. Her gaze seemed to pierce through the world, falling upon Wang Gu and the human race.

She called upon the memories of the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor held within the hearts of all human beings to form his Human Soul. Her words exploded like thunder across human territories, reverberating in the mind of every human.

Within the Imperial Capital Region and the surrounding eight domains, all human memories churned, and amidst this immense surge, every memory concerning the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor surfaced. As long as someone remembered, there was a possibility of his return. And who could forget the memories of the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor?

It was he who, after the departure of the Xuan You Ancient Emperor, chose to remain and protect humanity, preventing its erosion by foreign races. It was he who, in countless battles to defend humanity, even after his main body perished and only a clone remained, still slew deities for the human race and ushered in an era of peace.

His countless life-and-death battles intimidated all directions. Even in his twilight years, he retained the power of a single sword strike, making foreign races extremely wary. It could be said that without him, the human race would have long been annihilated. His life was steeped in bloodshed, and it was also the history of humanity after Xuan You's departure.

Such a Great Emperor could be forgotten by no one! And now, memories of him transformed into shimmering crystal lights, emerging from the minds of every human, rising and converging from all directions towards the Demon Feather Sacred Land, towards that fruit.

Finally, after Xu Qing's memories of the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor also emitted as crystal light, these countless sparkling points coalesced into a wisp of the Great Emperor's Human Soul, merging into the statue.

The Empress's voice, like a divine decree, boomed across the Wang Gu Continent, calling upon the spirits of the human race's mountains, rivers, and territories from all regions to form the Great Emperor's Earth Soul, as he had protected the clan and its lands throughout his life. All human territories responded; mountains trembled, rivers quivered, and all soil and structures rumbled.

If the heavens had spirits, so too did the earth. These spirits, now awakened, transformed into crystal points, ascending to the sky, creating a wondrous spectacle across Wang Gu. To the horror of countless cultivators in the Demon Feather Sacred Land and the excitement of human cultivators, they merged into the fruit and into the Great Emperor's statue.

With the declaration that souls are threefold—human, earth, and heaven—she called upon the human race's peak destiny, forged over tens of thousands of years of rise and fall since the Eastern Victory era and culminating at her enthronement, to become the Great Emperor's Heavenly Soul. As these words were uttered, the human world of Wang Gu rumbled. The human race's destiny surged, soaring skyward, disregarding the obstructions of the Demon Feather cultivators and all barriers, carrying resolute determination, domineering force, and its inherent profound weight. It rushed into the Dao Fruit and into the statue of the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor.

The statue vibrated. At this moment, the clan's collective memory formed the Human Soul, the land and rivers formed the Earth Soul, and the destiny of ages formed the Heavenly Soul. All three souls were complete!

This resurrection was the Empress's undertaking, but it was also the affair of the entire human race, and furthermore, the concern of the Human Emperors!

Declaring that souls have three parts and ethereal bodies have seven, the Empress abruptly turned to gaze at the five previous Human Emperors sitting cross-legged on the Ancient Emperor Star. As she looked, they simultaneously opened their eyes and met her gaze.

She proclaimed that while ordinary individuals find it difficult to form an Imperial Ethereal Body, the Great Emperor's life was dedicated to humanity. Therefore, the human race's memories, land, and destiny would form his three souls, and the successive Human Emperors would forge his ethereal bodies.

She then stated that her own past would form the first of the seven ethereal bodies, called "Heavenly Impulse." With a decisive declaration, the Empress raised her right hand and forcefully struck her own body.

With that strike, her body noticeably became more ethereal. She severed her past, forming the first ethereal body, which then merged into the Great Emperor's statue.

She called for Mirrored Cloud Human Emperor to form the second ethereal body, "Spiritual Wisdom." On the Ancient Emperor Star, Mirrored Cloud Human Emperor's body shot up, transforming into a faint light that integrated into the Great Emperor's statue.

Dao Shi Human Emperor was summoned to form the third ethereal body, "Qi." Dao Shi rose and, in a single step, entered the statue.

Eastern Victory Human Emperor was called to form the fourth ethereal body, "Strength." Divine might erupted from Eastern Victory's body as he transformed into an ethereal body and departed.

The Empress, with even greater resolve, declared that her own future would temper the fifth ethereal body, "Central Axis." Having severed her past, she now severed her future, using her infinite future to form the Great Emperor's central ethereal body.

Saintly Heaven Human Emperor was called to form the sixth ethereal body, "Essence." Saintly Heaven closed his eyes, transforming into a white light that became the source of the Great Emperor's ethereal body.

Xuan Zhan Human Emperor was summoned to form the seventh ethereal body, "Valiance." Xuan Zhan looked up, a hint of guilt in the depths of his eyes, and slowly rose, willing to become the seventh ethereal body.

At this moment, the three souls and seven ethereal bodies were complete. The Great Emperor's statue rumbled, this world rumbled, and the Demon Feather Sacred Land rumbled.

From a distance, the Demon Feather Great Emperor witnessed all this, already guessing the next step in his heart. His expression changed, filled with sorrow, yet he ultimately chose to retreat, shifting out of the Dao Fruit realm.

Outside, he sighed deeply, knowing that nothing could be salvaged. He could only gather some of his direct lineage and flee the Sacred Land at the fastest possible speed.

The moment he retreated, the Empress, standing within the Dao Fruit's heaven and earth, revealed a cold and indifferent expression. Her frigid gaze swept across the entire Demon Feather Sacred Land, and she raised her right hand.

She declared that she would not allow failure, and since the Dao Fruit had withered, she would sacrifice the beings of the Demon Feather Sacred Land to become nourishment for this Dao Fruit of Myriad Marvels.

The Empress's words, like a celestial sound, reverberated within the Dao Fruit world, pierced through, and erupted throughout the entire Demon Feather Sacred Land.

Simultaneously, the Tenth Sovereign Mountain, where the Empress once resided, erupted. This mountain shed all its concealment, becoming a divine peak, and abruptly activated a divine art that the Empress had nurtured there for a long time.

This divine art stripped away the concept of night, making light absolute. Like a ray of dawn, it bloomed within the Demon Feather Sacred Land. Wherever the light passed, distortion, blurring, and wails became pervasive in an instant, transforming the place into a divine domain.

With the Demon Feather Great Emperor choosing to depart, the beings of Demon Feather faced this catastrophe unstoppably. Before the pinnacle of the Divine Altar, all below a Great Emperor were like ants.

At that moment, the light shining within the Demon Feather Sacred Land, like the burst of a supernova, drew the gaze of all beings in Wang Gu. Concurrently, the Empress's peak power at the Divine Altar fully surged without reservation, pouring into the Dao Fruit, replacing its channels and circulation, forming an extreme suction force that explosively spread, engulfing the entire Demon Feather Sacred Land.

It absorbed all life, all souls, and all flesh and blood. Countless Demon Feather cultivators, abandoned by the Demon Feather Great Emperor, were instantly annihilated in both body and spirit under the divine light and the Dao Fruit's suction. They became endless flesh-and-blood slurry, guided by the Dao Fruit's emanating suction and merged into it.

As more and more flesh and blood converged, and as the catastrophe throughout the Demon Feather Sacred Land continued, the Dao Fruit transformed from its withered state, gradually gaining luster and becoming plump.

Such a method demonstrated the Empress's ruthless resolve! Without hesitation, the Empress raised her hand and pointed, connecting the Dao Fruit to the Great Emperor's statue.

A murmur escaped her lips. The declaration of "Myriad Marvels Nurture Life!" caused the Dao Fruit, now plump from absorbing countless lives, to suddenly tremble. Countless runic symbols rose, circulating around each other, as if opening the gate of reincarnation and the path of life and death.

Heaven and earth changed color. The void rumbled. Then, the Dao Fruit visibly withered once more, all its nourishment at that instant surging into the Great Emperor's statue.

Within the statue, now imbued with three souls and seven ethereal bodies, life seemed to be brewing. The arrival of nourishment caused profound changes. The statue's earthen body shone with brilliant light, gradually transforming into a body of flesh and blood. Simultaneously, a sense of revival erupted from within, and the familiar aura of the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor appeared.

This aura grew stronger and stronger, breaking through the Dao Fruit's world, piercing the Demon Feather Sacred Land, and shaking all of Wang Gu Continent. Countless gazes converged upon it.

The Empress was thrilled, and so was Xu Qing. But just as countless eyes fixed upon it, the statue suddenly trembled. The aura, which had soared to its peak, unexpectedly became unstable and began to collapse. The Empress's eyes instantly turned crimson.