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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
Indeed, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being did not disappoint Gu Changge. The moment he brought up his practice ground, it was when Gu Changge knew that he was planning to lure him out of the Gu Family’s reach.
As such, Gu Changge’s plan became much simpler. All he needed to do now was play dumb and obediently follow every word the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being said. Besides, he was extremely interested in the Supreme Being’s secrets as well.
Regardless, attacking the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being in this universe would not only cause major disturbance, but also potentially draw upon unwanted trouble. Thus, though the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being intended to take Gu Changge to an isolated place to deal with him, in the latter’s mind, the Supreme Being was only looking for a place to be taken down by him.
In other words, things were going as Gu Changge planned.
With that, after the two completed their discussion, they promptly departed from the Divine City, tearing up space and heading to an isolated region.
The territories of the Upper Realm were incredibly vast, and most Forces were established around the centre of the Upper Realm.
The so called borders of the Upper Realm harboured too many unpredictable terrors and hazards, in addition to its scarce resources. Thus, Forces were not interested in those territories, and they didn’t even bother sending in their formidable cultivators to conquer those places.
Typically, bandits and raiders of different Star Territories were most active in those regions. They would engage in shady trades, intercept merchant parties that were passing by, or even attack cultivators that came here specifically to train.
But of course, the isolated region was abundant with Space Rifts that lead to other universes. In order to pass through these terrifying Space Rifts, one must either possess a powerful Physique or numerous protective artifacts to resist Space Turbulence or volatile Principle Storms.
Even if it was possible, ordinary cultivators wouldn’t dare to do that, and True Daoists naturally wouldn’t even think of taking the risk just to head to another universe.
In other universes, certain Hidden Clans or Races could be encountered, and the might they possessed could even rival that of Immortal Forces. Thus, if a battle were to erupt in those universes, the True Daoists bore a high chance of perishing.
“Honestly, I am quite curious, Master. Why did you establish your practice ground so far away from the Upper Realm?”
Given Gu Changge’s and the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s current cultivation, they indubitably didn’t need to mind the potential dangers of ripping up space to create a portal to another universe.
On the way to their destination, Gu Changge fascinatedly asked a question.
Thinking that Gu Changge grew suspicious, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being squinted his eyes and laughingly answered, “It is mainly to stay away from the central region of the Upper Realm. There is a concern that someone would find my practice ground and assassinate me when I entered retreat. As we know, there are infinite uncertainties in the world of cultivation.”
“Even I can’t be sure whether friends and foes from my era managed to survive till today. If an enemy were to locate my practice ground, then it would be extremely dangerous for me, who is in retreat.”
His explanation was sensible, though Gu Changge did not buy it for a second.
On their journey, the regions they entered grew more and more secluded as they had long left the known territories of the Upper Realm. It was as though they were now standing at the border of a withered universe, where Chaos Qi densely gushed and rushed.
Fractured stars clashed into one another, turned into dust. There was hardly any Life Force around, with no signs of any living beings’ here.
Nonetheless, the practice ground the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being intended to head to was extremely far away from where they currently thread, and there was no telling how many more universes they would have to pass by.
[The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being must have some grand plan in mind. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have selected such a secluded place. Those universes are definitely extremely ancient, and they are so far off that they are completely cut off from the centre of the Upper Realm without any possible connection to it.]
Gu Changge squinted his eyes as thoughts flashed across his mind and suddenly arrived at a bold guess.
[He might have turned ancient universes into his personal garden. If that’s the case, no one else except him would know what happens inside since he could do anything without anyone stopping him in that garden of his. Besides, his strength is more daunting than that of your average Remnant Immortal.]
The further a universe was from the centre of the Upper Realm, the more fractured its World Principles were, making it harder for a cultivator to achieve a breakthrough there. Thus, cultivators might deplete the Dao and Fortuity of the universe during their attempt of being a True Daoists.
[To be fair, I’d do the same if I were the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being, travelling across universes to accumulate Fortuity and other forms of power.]
All of a sudden, Gu Changge came to realisation. Although he wasn’t certain exactly how the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being accumulated Fortuity, he now vaguely had a grasp of it.
Days later, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being, along with Gu Changge, was still on his hurried way, tearing apart universes while secretly concealing their auras and tracks.
He was assiduous, worried that Gu Changge might have left some tracks behind during their journey, allowing the formidable cultivators of the Immortal Gu Family to detect and find them.
After traversing through numerous broken, lifeless, isolated universes, the two eventually arrived at a universe filled with Life Force. It was wide and ancient, and the surrounding Star Territories were full of living beings of various races.
However, when Gu Changge used his divine sense, he couldn’t detect any True Daoist. In fact, there were not any signs of a True Daoist, even in the past.
[It seems the Fortunity of this universe isn’t sufficient to withstand the creation of a True Daoist. That may have occurred in the past, so long ago I can’t perceive it, only to be harvested by someone else…]
Gu Changge pondered. He had been searching for a suitable ancient universe to plant the Tree of Epoch for his plan to subdue the Upper Realm. And now, he saw an opportunity in this ancient universe.
As expected, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being didn’t let him down, and that made him even more tempted to kill the Supreme Being and dive into the secrets he had hidden all these years.
“These universes are too far away from the centre of the Upper Realm, so much of the cultivation techniques and understanding of the Great Dao has been lost. The scarcity of essence of the universe and fractured Principles here also make it hard for True Daoists to appear.”
Seeing how Gu Changge was scanning the universe, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being thought he was confused and subconsciously explained.
Of course, he was well aware of why no True Daoist had ever arose in this ancient universe.
After planting hints of the method to reach Immortality, he had deliberately left a Dharma Body behind the Immortal Gate to harvest the Dao Fruits of all the True Daoists that appeared in these ancient universes.
Though, it was not like he would ever disclose such a secret to Gu Changge. After all, his choice of actions were due to the environmental changes of the Upper Realm. After the Immortal Path emerges, he would be able to acquire an Immortal King Dao Fruit.
In his eyes, the Eternal Overcast’s wells obtained after killing the Six Great Ancestors were objects that pertained to a great, shocking secret.
“So these ancient universes are unable to produce True Daoists… What a shame. Though, give it another ten million years of accumulation and it might just create a couple True Daoists.”
Gu Changge shook his head and expressed his sympathy in response, as though he wasn’t aware of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s deeds.
The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being nodded and agreed, “Indeed. These universes may be able to accumulate Fortunity to that extent, but that doesn’t mean that the living beings here are capable of matching up to it.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t want to base your practice ground here, Master,” Gu Changge smilingly joked.
“That goes without question.” The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being nodded. He then swung his arm, ripping apart the barriers of space to move on to the next universe.
On their journey, they got to see even more ancient universes.
Each one of the universes possessed vigorous Life Force but not a trace of True Daoist aura. Although some of the ancient universes carried signs of True Daoists’ presence, it had almost completely waned. Even the hereditary artifacts left behind had lost their divinity, and there was no daunting expert in those universes.
After Gu Changge witnessed all those things, he grew even more knowledgeable of the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s true goal. [He must have thoroughly eliminated all the True Daoists born in these universes, erasing all of their tracks.]
*Boom!*
Some time later, the two passed by a universe wherein a historic battle was ongoing. The entire universe was completely engulfed. Countless stars trembled as vast armies descended on the starry skies, seemingly intent on invading a certain area.
As the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being sensed that, his face subtly changed. A hint of panic and regret flashed across his eyes, but he quickly collected himself.
He didn’t expect that he and Gu Changge would bump into such a scene on their hurried way. Prior to this, he didn’t make any calculations, so he failed to notice that this universe was nearing its time to be harvested.
“Something seems to be happening here.”
Despite having confirmed his suspicion, Gu Changge revealed a dazed, dumbfounded look. He stood at the edge of the universe and looked over.
With an emotionless face, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being shook his head, acting clueless. “I wonder what is it.”
Before their eyes, the enormous universe was crumbling and its World Principles were falling apart. Yet, it was filled with thundering yells and battle lust that rose through the clouds.
Many supreme experts with overwhelming auras let out screams of despair as they were fighting against a figure of unspeakable size. Vast armies were seen perishing and turning to mists of blood.
“Charge! Finish that abomination off!”
They were shouting as they emitted limitless lights, with what was definitely the auras of True Daoists.
The battle was too gruesome. Under the shattered sky, formidable experts wrathfully roared. Their bodies were shrouded in blinding, burning lights that illuminated the entire universe as they aggressively charged towards the monumental figure.
Alas, with its head in the sky, the figure was too huge. Its body seemed to be made of Immortal Divine Gold. It was covered in radiant golden lights, but its face was unclear and its features were unperceivable. All that was visible was its cold apathetic eyes, icily glaring at these lowly mortals.
It seemed to bear the semblance of Man, but it possessed three heads and six arms. One of its heads resembled that of a dragon while another that of a phoenix. Its arms were unbelievably long, each holding a weapon. It also possessed hair of different colours, which was undoubtedly horrifying to look at.
Countless formidable cultivators shrieked as their bodies exploded and turned into ashes that wafted in the wind.
Despite that, more of them relentlessly charged forwards. Despite not doing any significant damage to the terrorising monster, they remained resolute as though they had only one desire—to take down the terrorising monster.
The True Daoists that charged in the frontline rushed with weapons in hand, only for their bodies to blow up before they could even approach the horrifying monster.
Cultivation-wise, they were merely Early Stage True Daoists, who stood no chance against the monster whose might rivalled Remnant Immortals. The disparity in strength was too great, and the cultivators had no chance of resisting the monster.
“Ah, so, this monster is the guardian of the Immortal Gate, who feeds on True Daoists of this universe. How did the secret of Immortality even begin spreading around in this universe? The Immortal Path should lie beyond the Immortal Gate. But, it seems like the Immortal Gate here is nothing but a lie. What Immortal Path lies behind it? This is all a blatant lie to get cultivators to throw away their lives in hopes of becoming Immortal.”
Gu Changge observed the brutal battle with an enthralled gaze, after which he scanned it with his divine sense and eventually understood everything.
Seeing that, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being retained his calmness, pretending as if he didn’t hear Gu Changge. He knew that he couldn’t hide the truth from Gu Changge forever. After all, given Gu Changge’s current strength, for such matters, he could simply scour the surroundings and make deductions with his divine sense, and he could easily find the answer he seeked.
“Dear disciple, you don’t have to know everything in the world,” the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being blandly stated. He didn’t look as amiable as he was, seemingly intent on coming clean.
Gu Changge faintly smiled. “What do you mean, Master? Are you not going to show me your practice ground anymore? What a shame. I was so eager to see the precious treasures hidden there.”
“It appears everything you have said until now was merely pretence, huh? So you carry an ulterior motive, I see.” The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being squinted his eyes as he indubitably sensed the mockery in Gu Changge’s words.
In that instant, he realised that he had been underestimating Gu Changge and that he had been fooled all this time. Gu Changge wasn’t as greedy as he expected, or rather, not as simple as he imagined.
During the entire journey, had Gu Changge not brought up the lie that he concocted, the secret of becoming Immortal, he might still have remained oblivious to Gu Changge’s deception. He would not have realised that Gu Changge had only been playing along.
All of a sudden, the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being felt a chill up his spine.
[What if Gu Changge has only been playing along with me from the very beginning after I noticed the problem of the ancient well fragments? Doesn’t that mean I’ve been under his thumb this whole time? Have I been his tool all this time? Even our encounter in the Divine City and my plan to gain his trust? Even my assistance in dealing with the Eternal Overcast…]
“What an incredible disciple. You’ve been plotting against me this entire time.” The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being was visibly troubled.
“It’s too late to realise that now, Master… Though, I’m very grateful for your help in so many things and your dedication in bringing me all the way here.”
Gu Changge feigned a subtle grin. He initially planned to reveal his own intentions only after the Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being exposed himself, or rather, made a move on him.
Still, not like it was too early now. This place was infinitely far away from the centre of the Upper Realm, with countless withered universes in between. The Ancient Reincarnation Supreme Being’s death here would not draw upon any disturbance or suspicion.
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He surpassed the master, how proud… ahhh