The Radiant Ancestral River surged endlessly as the merchant ship drifted downstream.
Waves crashed against the ship's sides, producing a rumbling sound. Countless droplets of water were shattered and flung into the air, forming a silvery curtain of rain that drifted down gently.
Some of the mist seeped through the gaps in the ship's windows, carrying the pungent scent of the river, mingling with the mundane aroma of the mortal world.
The table was damp, with a few water stains here and there. Yet, Gu Changge sipped his tea unhurriedly, in no rush to explain.
Ji Hanjing stared at him blankly, her eyes filled with confusion, waiting for him to continue.
"Don't you want revenge?" Gu Changge set down his teacup and spoke slowly.
Ji Hanjing nodded, her eyes burning with hatred. "I think of revenge every moment. Ever since my sister betrayed me, I've wished to traverse the river of time, return to the past, and make her taste all the pain and despair I endured."
Her tone was filled with undisguised, bone-deep hatred, as if she wanted to grind her sister's bones to dust and feast on her flesh.
However, she paused mid-sentence.
Because she remembered Gu Changge telling her that her greatest enemy was not her sister, but someone else.
Ji Hanjing had never understood what this meant, but she also believed that Gu Changge would not deceive her about such matters.
"I once told you that your greatest enemy is not your sister. All these years, you've been directing your hatred at the wrong person. But that's alright. Today, I've brought you here to show you the truth." Gu Changge smiled meaningfully.
Ji Hanjing looked at him with even greater confusion.
"The Radiant Ancestral River is the last trace of the Radiant Ancestral Court's existence. Didn't you want to traverse time and return to the past?" Gu Changge said with a faint smile.
As his words fell, Ji Hanjing felt an indescribable and mysterious aura emerge.
The entire world became eerily silent. The merchant ship came to a halt, the waves calmed, and even the mist that had been drifting in seemed to hover in mid-air like fog.
The world suddenly became still and stagnant. The flow of time first blurred, then twisted, and finally stopped, as if frozen before her eyes.
Only the young man before her, handsome and composed, continued to sip his tea leisurely, his gaze calm and unaffected.
"All traces of causality have disappeared. The boundless karmic retribution and causality that one must endure to traverse the river of time are gone."
Ji Hanjing's eyes widened in shock, and she couldn't help but murmur.
In an ordinary universe or a typical true world, traversing the river of time, returning to the primordial past, or venturing into the future would have been effortless for her. She wouldn't have been affected by any causal interference, nor would she have needed to worry about disrupting her own timeline.
But in the vast expanse, even at her peak, she wouldn't dare to do such a thing, nor could she.
Because the higher one's power and level, the more terrifying the karmic retribution one must endure. Moreover, doing so might attract inexplicable and indescribable gazes from above.
Yet, Gu Changge could recklessly and fearlessly disturb the endless flow of time without any concern.
Ji Hanjing's gaze shifted. The previously frozen time began to flow again. Outside the ship's windows, towering waves roared, filling the heavens and the earth. The spiritual energy in the waves was so dense that it was hard to tell whether it was river water or pure spiritual energy.
"The Radiant Ancestral River…"
Ji Hanjing murmured to herself, then stood up and pushed open the ship's window.
An endless river stretched before her eyes, seemingly connected to the heavens and the earth, with no end in sight. Boundless white waves and raging currents churned on the river's surface, exuding an ancient and primordial aura.
On the riverbanks, divine light shimmered, and immortal radiance surged. Majestic divine mountains and ancient peaks stood tall, with immortal cities and divine nations nestled among them, thriving in prosperity.
"In the primordial past, who spread the Dao? Before the heavens and earth took shape, how could it be examined?"
From afar, Ji Hanjing heard ancient cultivators chanting. A towering and immortal immortal dynasty stood at the end of the world, situated at the source of the Radiant Ancestral River. This dynasty was called Radiant.
Her eyes filled with nostalgia as she stepped out, walking along the undulating river. Gu Changge remained seated by the ship's window, silently watching her without interference.
This was the most prosperous era of the Radiant Immortal Dynasty, the same era when Ji Hanjing had declared herself empress.
Ji Hanjing followed the Radiant Ancestral River upstream, passing by all the orthodoxies, nations, and clans along the way. No one could see her; she was like a ghostly observer. Finally, she arrived at the source of the Radiant Ancestral River.
Palaces stretched endlessly, immortal towers hung high, corridors twisted and turned, eaves soared like beaks, and the structures were as dense as honeycombs, numbering in the tens of millions.
Deep within the grand hall, a female official, dressed in luxurious attire and holding a jade tablet, reported something with her head bowed. Ji Hanjing saw her past self, full of ambition, in the prime of her life, exuding an imposing aura.
All the ministers trembled, their heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.
Yet, who could have imagined that in the end, it would be these very ministers, along with her most trusted sister, who would betray her? After she had endured the winter of the epoch and the cataclysmic reckoning for everyone, at her weakest moment, they had betrayed her and sealed her alive into a civilization treasure.
A self-mocking smile appeared on Ji Hanjing's lips as she walked past her past self like a ghost.
Would her past self have ever imagined that one day, she would be observed by her present self?
Of course, even Ji Hanjing couldn't have imagined that not only her, but the entire ancient history, including the entire timeline, was under Gu Changge's gaze.
The past, the future, and even the present—all were within his sight.
Who was he, really?
Ji Hanjing couldn't help but sigh softly. The secrets of the world, the unfathomable mysteries, perhaps only those who had reached the end of the path could catch a glimpse of them.
There was a time when she had been incredibly arrogant, comparing herself to her parents and looking down on the world, believing that her achievements would not be inferior to theirs.
What did the winter of the epoch and the cataclysmic reckoning matter? She could endure it all alone.
But back then, she had been a frog at the bottom of a well, thinking that the mouth of the well was the entire world.
Ji Hanjing walked through the palaces, seeing many familiar faces from the past, though she could no longer recall some of their names.
Time was the greatest, yet also the most merciless, force. It eroded memories and temperaments, and even she was no exception.
When she had been sealed within the Book of Scavenging, her resentment had been overwhelming, her hatred boundless. She had sworn that one day, when she broke free, she would make those who had betrayed her pay a terrible price, forcing them to live in endless despair and pain.
But when she saw these people again, her heart was surprisingly calm, even devoid of ripples, because she no longer recognized some of them.
Finally, Ji Hanjing arrived in front of a palace. She stood there for a long time before attempting to push open the door and enter. However, the moment her hand touched the door, she realized.
She was not of this era, so why should she hesitate?
Inside the palace, a woman who bore some resemblance to Ji Hanjing, with gentle eyes, cradled a baby in swaddling clothes, softly humming an ancient lullaby by the bedside.
…
"Did you leave any other contingencies?"
On the merchant ship, Gu Changge also withdrew his gaze. His eyes showed contemplation, and then he stepped away from this era.
At the same time, news of the peace agreement between the dark beings and the Alliance of Righteous Unity shocked the entire vast expanse on this day.
Countless civilizations, true worlds, clans, and orthodoxies were shaken and horrified, finding it hard to believe.
No one had expected that the initial rumors would actually come true and become reality.
The Alliance of Righteous Unity had truly reached an agreement with the dark beings. The Alliance had ceded vast territories and abandoned large swathes of the universe.
In addition, they had provided the dark beings with a large number of living beings as offerings for the grand sacrificial ritual.
In exchange, the dark beings agreed to cease their attacks on the Alliance's territories, granting temporary peace and safety to the remaining members of the Alliance.
In the current chaotic and turbulent times, the impact of this news was immense, leaving countless cultivators and beings in disbelief.
According to some members of the Alliance of Righteous Unity, the one currently in charge of the Alliance was Jiang Yun, the emperor of the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty.
It was under his deliberate push that the dark beings and the Alliance had reached a peace agreement.
Moreover, many high-ranking members of the Alliance had also endorsed this agreement, and plans for it had been in the works for a long time.
It was only the recent invasion by the dark beings that had accelerated the process.
This was inevitable. From the very beginning, the Alliance of Righteous Unity had never cared about the survival of the peripheral territories and their member forces, treating them as mere cannon fodder.
This series of revelations was not only shocking but also chilling, sending shivers down people's spines.
It even led to speculation that the higher-ups of the Alliance of Righteous Unity had already been infiltrated by the dark beings. Otherwise, why would they agree to such a humiliating peace?
Wasn't the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty one of the most formidable entities in the vast expanse? Why didn't they have the courage to fight the dark beings?
Furthermore, many orthodoxies and forces, such as the Parsoa Sacred Domain and the Nanzhao Ancient Kingdom, had also cooperated with the Weiyang Immortal Dynasty, joining the Alliance of Righteous Unity in reaching an agreement with the dark beings.
These revelations were so shocking and unbelievable that people began to question whether the earlier rumors from the Heaven-Slaying Alliance—that the Alliance of Righteous Unity had sent assassins to kill the Heaven-Slaying Alliance's leader—were actually true.
It wasn't just a case of false accusations.
In such an environment, the actions of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance seemed more normal and righteous by comparison.
After all, when the dark beings invaded, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had abandoned its plans to attack the Alliance of Righteous Unity and instead turned its focus to the dark beings, joining forces with various civilizations and orthodoxies to protect their safety.
At the same time, some beings worried that after the Alliance of Righteous Unity and the dark beings reached a peace agreement, the conflict might shift entirely toward the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
However, this concern was clearly unnecessary.
After the peace agreement between the Alliance of Righteous Unity and the dark beings, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance showed no signs of worry or hesitation. It remained as strong and dominant as before, with numerous Ancestral Dao Realm figures appearing to lead armies and reclaim territories and universes that had fallen to the dark beings.
In this great war, the appearance of many Ancestral Dao Realm figures from the Heaven-Slaying Alliance drew the attention and awe of the entire vast expanse.
Ancestral Dao Realm beings were undoubtedly the pinnacle figures of this era. Even among immortal-level orthodoxies, there were only one or two such figures at most.
In the supreme true worlds and supreme civilizations, the number of Ancestral Dao Realm beings was not necessarily greater—unless they were like the Prime-Origin Civilization, which was supported by a civilization treasure and possessed profound foundations.
But how many civilization treasures existed in the current vast expanse?
There were only six first-generation civilization treasures.
Many of the civilization treasures forged in later generations in imitation of the first-generation treasures had been destroyed in the river of time, with even their fragments lost. Those that remained were few and far between.
In such a situation, the power of the Ancestral Dao Realm became even more crucial. The Heaven-Slaying Alliance, having existed for only a few thousand years, already possessed a terrifying number of Ancestral Dao Realm beings, striking fear into the hearts of many.
In this war, several Ancestral Dao Realm figures from the Heaven-Slaying Alliance displayed strength far surpassing those who had endured eight Heavenly Decline Tribulations. It made people wonder if they were about to face the ninth Heavenly Decline Tribulation and touch the true limits of the path.
Where did these beings come from, and why did they all now serve the Heaven-Slaying Alliance?
The foundation displayed by the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was increasingly awe-inspiring and terrifying.