Chapter 736: The Elder's Redemption

“Tens of thousands of years have passed in a blink. Time truly flies. I’ve looked like this old man since I first arrived in this world, and I’m still clinging to life. It’s a pity that my distinguished friend Fenghuo Wuji, who was so valiant, has already fallen. What a loss!”

“Elder, do you perhaps have some connection with my father? Forgive my directness, but I’ve never heard him mention anything about you.”

“Hahaha, of course he wouldn’t mention it to you, and I would never mention it to anyone either. In truth, the only reason our village has been able to survive in the Starlight River, and continued to live until now, is thanks to your father’s grace and assistance. If he hadn’t sacrificed his divine essence to forge the God-Sealing Token, the entire Starlight River—no, the entire Divine Realms system—would likely have completely collapsed.”

Xu Yang and the two others immediately became alert. From the old man’s words, it was highly probable that he had a significant connection with the previous Divine King, Fenghuo Wuji.

The old man took a sip of wine and began to recount the past.

“This story begins hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the planet Yinghuo looked very different from today.”

It turned out that hundreds of thousands of years ago, this old man was a top-tier expert on the Imperial Continent. He had also created an unparalleled and wondrous art, the ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path,’ which could seize the very essence of heaven and earth.

This lineage of cultivation techniques was truly unique throughout history, an ultimate dao system that overturned the previously accepted limits of cultivation knowledge on the Imperial Continent.

However, the emergence of this technique also caused the sect the old man had established on the Imperial Continent to become a target of widespread animosity.

The old man had no choice. Unable to bear witnessing the entire Imperial Continent collapse due to his dao system, he reluctantly ascended, breaking through the heavens and leaving the Imperial Continent to enter the vast, boundless starry sky.

Later, by chance, he arrived at Yinghuo hundreds of thousands of years ago. There, the old man met a dozen like-minded young talents who were revered as the Twelve Heavenly Sages within the Yinghuo system.

However, the ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path’ created by the old man was incredibly powerful. As he continued to cultivate and deepen his abilities, he gradually surpassed the other eleven, achieving cultivation accomplishments that even he found hard to believe.

After more than ten thousand years, his greatest fear came true. The situation was identical to his previous experience on the Imperial Continent; tragedy had repeated itself.

The other eleven Heavenly Sages joined forces, intending to eliminate the old man and seize his ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path’ to gain insight into the unprecedented cultivation domain he had pioneered.

The old man was helpless and ultimately chose to have his child secretly take his dao system and infiltrate the Divine Realms.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago happened to be the era when Fenghuo Wuji reigned supreme. At that time, Fenghuo Wuji was a peerless prodigy of his generation, and no one in the entire Divine Realms system could contend with him. Many elders in the God Realm even believed that Fenghuo Wuji would be the first human life form in the history of the Divine Realms to rival the supreme beings of all heavens.

However, all of this was completely disrupted by the appearance of the old man’s son.

According to the old man, his son, armed with his ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path,’ once fought Fenghuo Wuji so fiercely that it made him question his very existence and even caused cracks in his dao heart.

At that time, Fenghuo Wuji was also the only being in the Divine Realms who had personally experienced the ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path.’

Because their battle was so intense that it darkened the skies and shattered the earth, its power reached the limits of what the Divine Realms could withstand, creating permanent cracks in the void. Consequently, the God Realm was greatly astonished by this incredibly mysterious battle.

As the Divine King, Fenghuo Wuji felt remorse for having destabilized the Divine Realms system due to his personal conflict. Furthermore, his defeat in that battle had tarnished his dao heart.

Knowing that he would never have the chance to approach the ultimate heavens in this lifetime, he chose an extreme method: he sacrificed his divine essence to forge the God-Sealing Token, mending the cracks in the heavens.

As compensation to his opponent, the old man’s son also expended immense effort during the forging of the God-Sealing Token and sealed half of the ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path’ inheritance within it.

It was this very battle that turned them from strangers into lifelong friends. Fenghuo Wuji also promised the old man’s son at that time that he would fully accept the people of his lineage, bringing them from Yinghuo to settle peacefully in the Divine Realms.

This is why Xu Yang and the two others encountered the old man and his people in this village today.

Hearing the old man’s words, Xu Yang and his two companions were utterly astonished. They had never imagined such an incredible event could have occurred within the God Realm of the Divine Realms.

Xu Yang looked at the old man with a solemn expression. “According to what you’ve said, your son should be a top-tier being capable of controlling the entire Divine Realms. Where is he now?”

The old man shook his head helplessly, a pained expression appearing on his face.

“You want me to continue? My son sealed half of the ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path’ essence within the God-Sealing Token. However, because of forging the God-Sealing Token, both he and Fenghuo Wuji were no longer at their peak.”

“Later, a strange ambitious individual from the Divine Race suddenly made a move. It’s unclear how he obtained all the secrets regarding the ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path’ and Fenghuo Wuji’s weakened state. He set up a scheme, using this as leverage to force them to hand over the ‘Taiqing Primordial Qi Path’ and the cultivation methods for primordial power.”

“My son naturally refused and engaged in a fierce battle with that ambitious individual. Later, for some unknown reason, that ambitious individual used a very mysterious power to seal my son within an epic barrier. He has not reappeared since.”

“Fenghuo Wuji proposed some conditions, leading to a reconciliation between the parties, and had our lineage protected in this place, the Starlight River.”

“The reason no one has disturbed us for hundreds of thousands of years is that Fenghuo Wuji, back then, sealed his Supreme Natal Divine Artifact somewhere within the Starlight River. With his divine essence, he guards the river, thus ensuring our lineage’s peace for all these hundreds of thousands of years.”

Xu Yang and the two others exchanged glances, all falling into a state of deep emotion. Isis, especially, as Fenghuo Wuji’s only bloodline, felt profound sadness.

“My father was always a person of exceptionally firm will. Unless he encountered a power that made him despair, he would never give up, no matter how formidable the opponent. It seems the well of primordial power is very deep, far more profound than the existing planar system.”

The old man gazed deeply at Isis, then suddenly dropped his staff and knelt before her.

“Elder, what are you doing!”