Chapter 1728: Millennium River Tide Watches the New Birth, Generations Selflessly Set Off the People in the Scenery

My name is Pei Yuan.

People across the Five Domains might not know me, but they must have heard of another renowned name: Pei Zai, the Carefree Demigod of the Northern Domain's Seven Stars! Yes, Pei Zai is Pei Zai, and he has nothing to do with me, Pei Yuan.

Pei Zai in the Northern Domain is a formidable killing star on the front lines. Pei Yuan in the Central Domain is an old demigod idling away his life, simply waiting to die. Both self-imprisoned, both demigods, both named Pei, yet our lives are vastly different.

I am one thousand three hundred sixty-two years old this year. Pei Zai isn't even a fraction of my age. All these people and demigods in the Dead Sea, combined, might not have more seniority than me. They certainly don't know that in my era, the Five Great Unique Bodies were not the ones known today.

Feng Yujin was a rising star, blessed by fate, crowned a Saint Emperor, and proved the legends. After the failed rebirth story of Emperor Seven Trees, the most active of the Nine Ancestral Trees was still the Tree of the Firmament. Its seeds gave birth to Ancestor Ashfire, the true Ancestor of Myriad Ancestors, who mastered thirteen heavenly fires and became the strongest demigod, capable of shaking a Saint Emperor.

The Buddhist Sect of the Western Domain still held onto its Saint Emperor's relic, and though hidden from the world, it remained the undisputed strongest combat sect beneath the Heavenly Ladder. Even the Holy Spirit Temple had to show great respect to the wandering monks of that time. In that era, the Ten Revered Seats were insignificant, and the Seven Sword Immortals were mere supporting characters. Only those who bravely advanced against the current and dared to stand out at the forefront were considered true powerhouses!

In that era…For five hundred years, no one knew of Yue Beihua Rao’s path. Another five hundred years passed before the saying emerged: "A youth emerged from Yutu, beneath Mount Qing in Taicheng, journeying west to conquer the desert, seeking the endless path of cultivation." History was thus rewritten. The era of ancient sword cultivation was injected with new vitality. Subsequently, various prodigies blossomed, and the tides of the era surged higher and higher, finally alarming the sleeping dragons above the Heavenly Ladder.

Each era saw new gods, but no Pei clan members were among these rising stars. Now, even the earliest memory of epochal change that young people today can recall is merely Old Man Yu's "Seven Swords of Heavenly Path"...

It doesn't matter anymore. After all, none of this has anything to do with me, Pei Yuan. I just lived long enough, was relatively lucky, and only lucky for forty-two years. My memories are too distant; I can barely recall what I truly participated in over the past thousand years. A frog in a well, yet with ambitions as high as the sky. After becoming a Demigod, I saw much more, realized my own insignificance, and became very timid. But I vaguely remember that my younger self wasn't so timid and submissive.

Yet my era! It stubbornly remained at the age of forty-two, the year I became a Demigod at the end of the Battle of Qigu...

"Pei Yuan, at your service!""It's him!""Pei Yuan, the Head of the Ten Tower Pillars, leader of the Central Domain's Ten Strongest Void Seats! That line 'Pei Yuan, at your service,' is just too cool, I'd give my life for you!""But standing opposite him is Feng Yujin, the representative of the new generation's monstrous prodigies!""Indeed, he is Feng Yujin... The Throne realm fights in arenas of ten thousand, the Honored Seat in arenas of a thousand, the Void Seat in arenas of a hundred. Only the top contender can advance to the next stage.""Feng Yujin, a mere Throne realm practitioner, forcefully fought his way into the Void Seat realm. Now that he's up against Pei Yuan, the Head of the Ten Tower Pillars, can he continue his legend?""Hmm, it'll be tough, I'm afraid!""So, you're Pei Yuan?""Pei Yuan, the Head of the Ten Tower Pillars?""How pathetic! He's Pei Yuan, the Head of the Ten Tower Pillars, 'Pei Yuan, at your service'!""Pfft, 'Pei Yuan, at your service'? To be trampled underfoot by a young upstart like this, is *that* 'Pei Yuan, at your service'? Hahaha!""Hiss, this Feng Yujin is so arrogant; it seems no one can stop him.""Look, Pei Yuan is enraged! He pulled out a crystal gem. What is that?""What?""He's about to become a Demigod?!""So, you're Pei Yuan?""Demigod, Pei Yuan?""My heavens, even divine power can be sealed! What is this? All that clanging and banging...""Pei Yuan is finished. I see he didn't die this time, but his spirit is utterly crushed.""A newly advanced Demigod actually lost to a mere Throne realm practitioner? What kind of scene is this? What sense does this make?""This Feng Yujin probably has the potential to become a Saint Emperor.""Poor Pei Yuan, he's out of the fight. His retreating figure... so dejected! He probably won't come back from this...""Let's call out his name one last time!"

***

"...'What is your name?'"

When such an indifferent voice echoed in his ears, Pei Yuan could barely distinguish it from the mocking voices seared into his memory. He froze for a moment. He looked around at his surroundings. All water! He realized he was still in the Dead Sea, then blinked hard a few times, snapping back to reality.

"What am I doing...?" Pei Yuan couldn't understand how, at such a crucial moment, this instant watched by the Five Domains, he had actually drifted off.

Gazing at the young face before him, Pei Yuan's lips twitched a few times, and he instinctively bowed. "This old man..." He paused. Then he remembered that in the final battle of Qigu all those years ago, he had been defeated in this very manner, never to recover.

Feng Yujin... Xu Xiaoshou...

Yes, how similar they were, how arrogant! Both had that lofty look and tone, holding others' lives and deaths in a single thought. But in the end? I was defeated. When did Feng Yujin ever truly win? Time spares no one. Even after becoming a Saint Emperor, wasn't Feng Yujin ultimately thrown into Void Island, all the sharpness of his youthful arrogance ground away? A true man lives between heaven and earth, lives for a thousand years, comprehends life and death, and after much difficulty, finally considers re-emerging to fight one last time for the Great Dao.

Having come to this Dead Sea, must I still bow, still lower my head?

"What is your name?" Directly in front of him, Lord Shou repeated the question.

Pei Yuan lifted his head, staring intently at the face before him. The youth's face was loathsome. The surrounding gazes were pathetic and laughable.

After his defeat in the Battle of Qigu that day, Pei Yuan had questioned the Nine Heavens and Ten Ancestors, waiting a thousand years for no response. Now, a thousand years later, he again looked up and asked, and the only one who responded was his own self from the age of forty-two, just before he became a Demigod.

Pei Yuan found himself again! His back straightened, his chin lifted, and his gaze sharpened. In an instant, he seemed to have become one thousand three hundred twenty years younger.

"I am, Pei Yuan!" Aged but vigorous, full of vitality. This deep, resonant shout, at this moment, actually overcame all the Dead Sea's restrictions, stirring up significant ripples that echoed throughout the Five Domains.

Drunken in the Wind froze for a moment. "Why does it feel like Demigod Pei Yuan has become a different person?"

The spectators in the Five Domains were also slightly stunned, then immediately burst into laughter: "Interesting, this Demigod Pei. But, could it be that he still thinks he's qualified to exchange blows with Lord Shou? This is the Dead Sea!"

Yes, this was the Dead Sea. Cultivators here were practically useless. The extent of the Forbidden Law Barrier's impact on mainstream cultivators of this era could be seen from the fact that Saint Emperor Feng Tian's status within Void Island's inner sanctum was even lower than Old Ancestor Wuji's.

But Pei Yuan's sudden shout seemed to move the heavens. His self from one thousand three hundred twenty years ago seemed to have truly lent him power. His Qi Sea stirred! At this moment, Pei Yuan was not pleased but alarmed, almost at a loss. He felt as if he was having a final surge of vitality, suddenly breaking free from all the seals of the Dead Sea and the Saint Emperor's Golden Edict, recovering his peak strength. Waves of Saint Force suddenly erupted around him, creating a huge commotion in the Dead Sea, throwing those around him into disarray.

Boom!

Air currents converged into surging waves. It was like a spring thunderclap exploding on a calm lake. When the loud bang shattered the eardrums of the strange people and beasts on the Dead Sea's first level, everyone frantically tried to squeeze out of the black stone prison to see.

"What's going on?""Is the Dead Sea's seal broken?""Why is there Saint Force? Who's using Saint Force? Even the overseers can't use Saint Force, can they?""Who is he? How can he do it? Where's my power? Why isn't my power fluctuating yet? Ahhh!""Lord Shou... Pei Yuan...""Fight! Fight!"

Those who love to watch drama didn't mind the commotion. Although they didn't know the full story, the Dead Sea hadn't seen such excitement in many years. Everyone clung to the prison gates, wishing they could pluck out their eyeballs and place them outside to watch the scene.

And in the battlefield, the suddenly overturned individuals, and even the spectators from the Five Domains, were astonished. "Demigod Pei Yuan, he's alive!" Although they didn't quite understand why Pei Yuan suddenly had power, after much thought, it was impossible for him to have achieved transcendence on his own. It must be related to Emperor Cang Sheng's backup plan!

"As expected..." Xu Xiaoshou also didn't expect that his small test would actually force Aicang Sheng to reveal his hidden trump card. Indeed, from Emperor Cang Sheng's perspective, how could he allow someone to forcibly strip another's Demigod rank in front of him and bestow it upon his subordinate?

"Then, come on." Xu Xiaoshou was not surprised. He didn't even pull out his Shattered Weight Shield. After a flick of his sleeve, he beckoned to the now both surprised and delighted Pei Yuan: "I'll let you have three moves. I will only defend, not attack."

"Within three moves, if you can make me budge even a step, you keep your Demigod rank, and I'll even grant you permission to cultivate in the Apricot Realm. After three moves, if they are all in vain, you can either voluntarily surrender your Demigod rank and retire to your hometown, or retire to my Apricot Realm. You still have a choice."

Drunken in the Wind was stunned. Lord Shou's aggressive demand for a Demigod rank was understandable. But the choices he offered were always so unexpected. A battle for the Great Dao was bound to draw blood; there was no need to be so benevolent. He could have just directly taken his Demigod rank!

Pei Yuan was also slightly taken aback. The two choices seemingly benefited him, both preserving his life, merely by handing over his Dao to the other party. But that was "Dao"! My Dao, though humble for a millennium, was still "Dao"! To have it taken away so easily with a few words, to lose all convenience of life and death, was it any different from having one's head trampled and mocked?

"Xu Xiaoshou, why do you also insult me?!" Pei Yuan's hair bristled with rage, and he roared in defiance. His hands formed a seal, summoning a colossal structure behind him, appearing like a tower or pillar, piercing the Dead Sea and reaching the sky.

"This is..." Drunken in the Wind looked shocked. He had already retreated far, far away with the Holy Mountain Refugee Group. But seeing this ultimate suppressive force, this boundless manifestation of a tower-pillar, even someone as knowledgeable as him couldn't explain it.

"Forgive my ignorance, but I truly can't tell what spirit skill this is. Has this spirit skill ever appeared in the Five Domains?""From the scene, I can only conclude it's a Holy Martial skill, and its rank isn't low; it feels somewhat like a Supreme Holy Martial skill..."

Drunken in the Wind couldn't deduce much. In reality, many spectators were watching via the Transmission Mirror in the Five Domains, but few could discern the true nature of this Holy Martial skill. Only in the depths of the Southern Underworld Sea, the knowledgeable Dao Qiongcang could barely retrieve fragmented memories from his database. Such as the Ten Tower Pillars... Such as the Heavenly Tower Pillars... But those were traces from history, crushed more than once. Where did Demigod Pei Yuan learn these things?

"Wait, Pei Yuan?""A thousand years ago, there seemed to be a Pei Yuan too..."

***

"...'Heavenly Tower Pillar: Finger of Heavenly Collapse!'"

In the Dead Sea, Pei Yuan roared, and the decisive seal formed. The manifestation of the Heavenly Tower Pillar behind him was like a finger of an Ancestral God tearing through the void, its momentum as if the heavens were collapsing, striking down heavily from an unknown place.

Too big! Its mighty power split the Dead Sea, diverting and rolling the waves. The waves rose high, guided by the straight rows of black stone prisons on both sides, while the clear water in the central channel, where people could pass, was split empty. Its immense momentum was boundless and awe-inspiring. Not only did it manifest physically in reality, but the Heavenly Tower Pillar also powerfully appeared in the minds of the spectators, descending with the momentum, growing ever larger. Finally, it was almost as tall as the sky, obscuring the sun and moon!

"Demigod..." The spectators from the Five Domains all showed astonishment. In front of Emperor Cang Sheng and Lord Shou, the Holy Mountain Refugee Group was insignificant, like ants. Yet, whenever people scorned the title "Demigod," reality would harshly awaken everyone. A Saint cannot be insulted! No one who cultivated to Demigod was simple. It was just that compared to Emperor Cang Sheng and Lord Shou, they couldn't be mentioned in the same breath.

Then!

"Can this Heavenly Tower Pillar strike kill Lord Shou?" Drunken in the Wind retreated further and further, his face drained of color by the Dead Sea-shaking Heavenly Tower Pillar. He clutched the Transmission Mirror, almost wanting to shrink into the black stone prison, but his words were merciless: "No, it should be asked like this... Can it force Lord Shou to retreat, even half a step?"

Rumble!

The waterway became empty. The Dead Sea split into two. The Holy Mountain Refugee Group evaded to both sides, pressing close to the black stone prisons, terrified of being affected even slightly. In this vast forbidden world, the only one standing in the high sky was the spirited Demigod Pei Yuan.

But when the Transmission Mirror pulled back the long shot, focusing on the base of the toppled Heavenly Tower Pillar, the world could see...

Lord Shou, in his black robes, was unmoving; he simply extended one finger, propping up the pillar, pointing to the sky. Steady as a rock!

"Wow!" The Five Domains erupted in gasps. That single finger almost struck everyone's spinal cord, making them tremble from head to toe as if shocked by electricity. Being strong was one thing. The Five Domains had the Seven Sword Immortals, the Ten Revered Seats, the Five Great Saint Emperors, and perhaps even traces left by the Ten Ancestors above them. Everyone was very strong, but... being cool was a different feeling entirely.

In this Dead Sea, beneath this Heavenly Tower Pillar. Facing the collapse of the Heavenly Pillar, facing the momentum that forced myriad things to yield, even with a peerless reputation, daring to use a single finger to stabilize the universe was another matter. But Lord Shou not only did it; he did it with ease, and he did it effectively. He completely disregarded whether the Dead Sea or the Saint Emperor's Golden Edict would suddenly attack. He hadn't even considered if Emperor Cang Sheng would fire an Evil God's Arrow at that moment. Everyone in the Five Domains was worried. There wasn't a trace of hesitation in his heart. Because in his eyes, even a strong Demigod like Pei Yuan, at most... was only worth one finger!

"This kid..." In front of the black stone prison, Fang Wenxin, whose Saint Force was sealed, had also been clinging to the black iron bars. This not only provided no sense of support, but the power of the sealing stone actually made his legs feel weak. Under these conditions of physical weakness, when he saw the Heavenly Tower Pillar toppling, his fear was magnified exponentially.

Xu Xiaoshou was different. That single finger stabilizing the universe not only dispelled the fear in the hearts of those behind him, but Fang Wenxin also perceived something from it. "Cultivating momentum!"

The reason Xu Xiaoshou made such a fuss was not just to take Pei Yuan's Demigod rank; he was also preparing for the decisive battle against Aicang Sheng later. He would use the smallest posture to deliver the greatest shock to the world, to cultivate his reputation by making the difficult seem easy, and to cultivate momentum by making the Five Domains fearful. From a commanding height, he could counter the limitations of skill seeds and fight Aicang Sheng!

"This kid, this kid..." Looking from behind, Fang Wenxin could only see Xu Xiaoshou's arrogant back, holding up the pillar with a single finger in the split Dead Sea. This scene was too impactful. Some understood combat, some understood strategy. At this moment, Fang Wenxin had to admit that Xu Xiaoshou truly mastered everything!

"No!!!" High above the Dead Sea, seeing the Heavenly Tower Pillar blocked by a single finger, unable to even force Xu Xiaoshou back half a step, Pei Yuan let out a heart-wrenching roar of indignation. He knew he had lost his composure in front of the Five Domains' people. But he simply couldn't *not* lose it!

As an allied Demigod from Mount Gui Zhe, he was aware of the Saint Emperor's Golden Edict. If he hadn't known about the Dead Sea's forbidden laws, forbidden spirits, forbidden ancient martial arts, and forbidden ancient sword arts—how would Pei Yuan dare to attack Xu Xiaoshou? It was true that when saving Zhu Yike earlier, Xu Xiaoshou had shown he could transform. Pei Yuan didn't understand why the Void Giant's bloodline wasn't forbidden. But Xu Xiaoshou said he wouldn't actively attack, and judging by the situation, he wouldn't use that golden giant to deal with him either. So, only a mortal body! How could it reach the Saint Emperor level? I, the Head of the Ten Tower Pillars, couldn't defeat the young Feng Yujin back then, but I can't handle Xu Xiaoshou after he's suffered various restrictions and weaknesses?

Pei Yuan wasn't unable to accept his attack being blocked. After more than a thousand years, he had long accepted his mediocrity. But what truly horrified him was that his strongest self at forty-two, wielding his strongest attack with all its power and momentum, was now, a millennium later, stopped by a single finger from a twenty-year-old caged beast? Pei Yuan's Dao Heart almost shattered!

"Impossible!""Absolutely impossible!""Xu Xiaoshou, trapped in the Dead Sea, limited by the Six Paths Saint Emperor's Golden Edict, by what right or ability can you withstand my Heavenly Tower Pillar's Finger of Heavenly Collapse?" Pei Yuan bent over and roared wildly, as if venting the thousand years of suppressed frustration and unease deep within his heart.

The Transmission Mirror conveyed his "movement" to the Five Domains. The scene shifted, portraying Lord Shou's "stillness" to the quiet depths.

"One." Xu Xiaoshou lowered his finger and looked calmly: "You have two more chances. Do not tarnish your Demigod might, do not destroy your name, Pei Yuan. Proceed!"