Tang Changsheng was ecstatic when he guessed that the ring might be the legendary spatial ring, based on his memories from his previous life.
Tang Changsheng slowly took a few steps forward, arriving before the middle-aged man's corpse, and respectfully kowtowed three times, saying, "Senior, this junior has offended you."
Then, he slowly removed the ring from the middle-aged man's finger.
At this moment, an unexpected change occurred. A dazzling white light flashed before Tang Changsheng's eyes, and a domineering yet ethereal divine soul appeared, on the verge of dissipating at any moment. He realized that this soul looked exactly like the middle-aged man sitting cross-legged on the futon.
He retreated repeatedly, saying, "Senior, you… you are…"
Before Tang Changsheng could finish speaking, the middle-aged man, as if he could read minds, said, "Junior, you don't need to worry."
I, the dignified God Monarch, will not seize your body, nor do I disdain such a path. I sense that you possess the pure bloodline of our clan, and the bloodline concentration is very high. You are my descendant. You should call me Old Ancestor.
"Huh, how can you have no cultivation?"
"Your physical strength is only slightly stronger than an ordinary person, but your soul is quite powerful."
The middle-aged man asked, "Child, how many years has it been since the Ancient Era?" Tang Changsheng, looking bewildered, replied, "It is now the 513th year of the New Era in the Profound Sky Realm."
The middle-aged man exclaimed repeatedly, "I never expected it!"
"The Ancient Era has passed for hundreds of thousands of years. Truly, the seas have turned into mulberry fields, and our clan has fallen to this extent. But all that is in the past."
"I, God Monarch, am truly unwilling!"
"Just one step more, and I could have broken through the barrier of the peak Golden Immortal realm, thus achieving the Great Luo Golden Immortal Dao, becoming an almost immortal and indestructible existence. It's a pity for that damned supreme Dao opportunity!"
"It caused me, a God Monarch, to fail at the last moment, and made those blind strong cultivators of the myriad races, and those old monsters who crawled out of the forbidden lands, fight fiercely."
"This led to the collapse of the Profound Sky Realm, widespread devastation, the reversal of the seas, the tilting of the heavens and earth, the fragmentation of continents, and the continuous decline of spiritual energy."
At this time, races led by the Demon Race, Celestial Race, and Monster Race, along with a dozen or so small and medium-sized races, took advantage of the massive casualties among human experts and, despite the world already being unable to withstand further warfare,
the myriad races still brazenly launched a large-scale attack on the human border, leading to heavy losses for humanity due to being caught off guard. Less than one in a hundred experts remained, blood flowed like rivers, and corpses littered the fields.
Finally, the remaining human Golden Immortal and above experts, seeing the tragic state of their clan, were overcome with sorrow and suddenly awoke, putting aside their past grievances.
For the survival of humanity, they notified the human legions and experts fighting in the starry sky, and led all human forces, large and small, to rise in resistance.
After leaving behind the necessary experts for the human race, a large number of human experts dragged other races and experts above the Celestial Immortal realm to their mutual destruction.
Finally, all enemies who had invaded the human heartland were buried in human territory. Other myriad race experts also feared humanity, afraid that humans would drag them down to their deaths, and dared not take advantage of the chaos.
Only then did the human race achieve a tragic victory, gaining an opportunity to recuperate, but also falling from its divine altar.
Due to being unable to withstand the previous great war, the Profound Sky Realm had already fragmented, its spiritual energy less than one-third of what it once was, and all things gradually began to wither, a scene of doomsday, as the world slowly began to disintegrate.
At this moment, God Monarch stood up, dragging his heavily injured body, and looked at the fragmented Profound Sky Great World with a resolute expression.
Looking in the direction of his clan and family, he shed tears and resolutely sacrificed his peak Golden Immortal cultivation to the heavens and earth, preventing the Profound Sky Realm from falling into destruction.
Countless humans wept, watching this magnificent figure disappear between heaven and earth. Only then did the Profound Sky Realm slightly improve and stop disintegrating.
Some other experts of the myriad races also suddenly awakened, ceased hostilities, and looked at the world where they had lived for countless years. For the survival of their own races, they also sacrificed their cultivation to the heavens and earth.
After the God Monarch and other experts sacrificed their cultivation to nourish the heavens and earth, the Profound Sky Great World also began to slowly enter self-repair, no longer heading towards destruction.
To thank those experts who stepped forward at the critical moment, both humans and myriad races erected monuments and built ancestral temples, offering daily sacrifices to the Hegemonic God Monarch and the myriad race experts. Humans and myriad races then began to recuperate.
The Profound Sky Realm also ushered in a period of peace.
As for the God Monarch, a trace of his divine soul power remained within his clone, allowing him to survive, but the clone was also on the verge of exhaustion due to the great war.
It was banished into the spatial turbulence by the great war, enduring countless years.
It drifted with the spatial turbulence to the Tianwu Continent, specifically to the Qingyang Mountain Range in the Eastern Continent.
Because the God Monarch had made meritorious contributions by sacrificing to the heavens and earth, his clone and divine soul had been protected by the Profound Sky Realm and did not dissipate in the spatial turbulence.
When both the clone and divine soul were about to dissipate, he used a secret technique to find a fifth-grade supreme spirit pulse, used his last bit of immortal spiritual energy to dig a cave, left some immortal cultivation techniques and jade slips within the cave, casually set up a seventh-grade grand formation, and then sat down to pass away.
As long as a descendant of his clan, regardless of cultivation, came near the cave, they would be drawn into it. This was why Tang Changsheng could appear directly in the cave.
It wasn't until Tang Changsheng's intrusion that the God Monarch's nearly dissipated divine soul was awakened.
Tang Changsheng saw the middle-aged man, who called himself Old Ancestor, fall into contemplation and then into a frenzy of unwillingness, which frightened him. He could only stand silently to the side, not daring to make a sound.
Until the middle-aged man gradually recovered from his frenzy and saw Tang Changsheng's frightened expression, he said, "Child, don't be afraid. You are my bloodline descendant; I will not harm you."
He gently caressed Tang Changsheng's head with his divine sense.
"Child, can you tell me about the situation of your branch of the family?"
From Tang Changsheng's narration, it was learned that there were no cultivators left in his branch of the family, and they lived a very difficult life. The God Monarch couldn't help but recall what the Old Man of Heavenly Secrets had said:
"Your Tang clan is destined to face this calamity, and it cannot be avoided. However, a peerless prodigy will emerge among your descendants, who will lead your Tang family to rise again and stand tall in the Profound Sky Realm."
The God Monarch's divine soul thought that his branch of the family lived and multiplied in the Divine City of the Central Immortal Domain. Because the strongest and many masters of the clan had perished,
but the remaining foundation was still there. As long as they endured for a thousand years, with the foundation remaining in the clan, they could quickly recover their strength and still be a top power in the Profound Sky Realm.
"How did they end up living in this remote place, without the protection of cultivators?" he wondered, feeling puzzled.
Tang Changsheng, relying on the sense of closeness in his heart, no longer felt afraid of the divine soul before him.
He went to his Old Ancestor and cried out his grievances, "Old Ancestor, you must help us!"
"We live such a hard life!"
"We often don't have enough to eat or warm clothes, living in extreme poverty and hardship, with no security, living from hand to mouth."
The God Monarch felt a pang of sadness. He had no regrets about sacrificing his cultivation to the heavens and earth for the survival of the Profound Sky Realm and humanity.
But when the Hegemonic God Monarch saw that his descendants were not doing well, his heart was filled with anger…
So, the Hegemonic God Monarch grasped Tang Changsheng's small hand and mobilized his divine soul power to examine his body.
When he perceived that his descendant actually possessed five spiritual roots and also had a Five Elements Spirit Body,
if he had lived in the Ancient, Middle, or Desolate Eras, his path to immortal cultivation would have been smooth sailing. However, in the current era, it would require a vast amount of resources to accumulate cultivation.
"In the Ancient Era, a Five Elements Immortal Emperor emerged, unparalleled throughout history, with astonishing talent, unprecedented and unrepeatable. He ruled the universe for countless years, eventually disappearing!"
However, in the current era, with spiritual energy less than one-third of what it once was, the advantage of five spiritual roots cannot compare to single heavenly spiritual roots, dual earthly spiritual roots, or unique and mutated spiritual roots, nor can it compare to three or four spiritual roots.
Without a large amount of cultivation resources to assist, his achievements would likely be limited.
Tang Changsheng heard this and did not feel discouraged. After all, as long as one has spiritual roots and can embark on the path of immortal cultivation, that is a great fortune, and there is a glimmer of a chance to tread the Grand Dao. He constantly comforted himself.
"As long as I can embark on the path of immortal cultivation, that's good."
The God Monarch took out a spirit-testing array disc from the Star Ring space, placed a few high-grade spirit stones on it, and measured how many inches Tang Changsheng's five spiritual roots were.
The spirit-testing array disc suddenly emitted five different colored lights, all of them precisely three inches—not an inch more, not an inch less. The God Monarch suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, his divine soul trembling as if it could dissipate at any moment.
"Our clan shall flourish!"
"Heaven blesses our clan!"
Tang Changsheng watched his Old Ancestor's frenzied display, his heart pounding.
After the Old Ancestor calmed down, he asked, "Do you know why the Five Elements Immortal Emperor was able to sweep across the world, ascend to the supreme Immortal Emperor realm, and rule the universe back then?"
"It was because the Five Elements Immortal Emperor, back then, also had evenly attributed five spiritual roots, making cultivation difficult."
"Therefore, the Five Elements Immortal Emperor spent more than ten years creating the Five Elements Heaven-Devouring Art, which is suitable for cultivators with five spiritual roots, and can only be cultivated if all five spiritual roots have the same even attributes."
"Such spiritual roots are rare in all ages, or if they appear, there are no suitable cultivation techniques, so they can only fade into obscurity."
"Cultivating the Five Elements Heaven-Devouring Art, as long as there are enough resources, one can quickly advance in realm, with no bottlenecks."
"Back then, the Five Elements Immortal Emperor cultivated the Five Elements Heaven-Devouring Art and was supported by a major power, possessing a vast amount of cultivation resources."
"Therefore, the Five Elements Immortal Emperor rose against the odds, trampling countless prodigies and evildoers of the myriad races, eventually fighting his way to the Immortal Emperor realm, shaking the heavens and all realms."
The God Monarch had once ventured deep into the supreme forbidden land where the Celestial God Sect of the Profound Sky Realm was annihilated, experiencing nine deaths.
Ultimately, he seized the Five Elements Immortal Emperor's legacy from the forbidden zone: the Five Elements Heaven-Devouring Art, the Immortal-grade Marrow Cleansing Immortal Fruit cultivated in the cave, and the Five Elements Heaven-Seizing Pill.
The God Monarch sighed, "Could it really be fate?" He secretly sighed in his heart, his descendant was truly lucky.
The Marrow Cleansing Immortal Fruit takes over three hundred thousand years to blossom and bear fruit, yet it ripened just as Tang Changsheng arrived, as if it was specifically prepared for him by some unseen force.
Any of these items, if placed outside, would be a supreme treasure, changing a person's destiny and enabling them to rise and become a supreme expert.
They would cause immense turmoil, inciting countless immortal cultivation grand experts to fight over them, leading to a bloody storm and rivers of blood.
If Tang Changsheng had arrived a few years later, the Marrow Cleansing Immortal Fruit would have fallen to the ground, re-rooted, and grown again—the only such immortal wonder fruit in the world.
This reminded the Hegemonic God Monarch of his grandson, who was also a peerless prodigy. This Marrow Cleansing Immortal Fruit was originally a destined opportunity he had seized for his grandson, to help him cleanse his marrow and shed his old self, making him the strongest True Immortal in the Profound Sky Realm and allowing him to challenge the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. He never expected it to benefit Tang Changsheng instead.
Upon hearing this, Tang Changsheng's face flushed red, as if he saw himself soaring through the nine heavens, treading upon the sun, moon, and stars.