Back to the start of time
In the beginning, before light existed, there was nothing but darkness.
As the darkness ruled over the entire realm of the universe, something emerged.
It materialized itself in a spherical form.
From the size of the atom, it came to be.
To the size of a gigantic world, it expanded over eons.
Until it outstretched from one side of the universe to another, it began to crack and crumble.
Every crumbled piece ranged from an ant size to planet size.
After the process was done, quadrillions of scattering pieces began to transform.
At that moment, a race was born.
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At some point in time, long after the birth of that race
Outside of a particular planet, a series of thunderous explosions sounded as three rays of darkness hit a radiant light barrier covering the whole planet.
The attacks were shot from the central ark amongst thousands of mechanical fleeing armadas, hovering in space far from the planet.
Even though the size of the leading ship was minuscule compared to the planet, the destructive power they carried was world-destroying. If the barrier was not there to protect the planet, the previous strikes could obliterate the whole planet in a single hit.
“Seniors, please hurry up!! I don’t think we can hold on for long.”
A young man shouted as his blue eyes flashed with knitted brows, while the long dark hair of the fine young man fluttered by the sonic wind caused by the previous explosions. He was cladded in blood-color metal armor stood in front of an entrance of an ancient temple.
Beside the young man stood another person wearing a similar type of blood-color armor but with a more dazzling glow. His black robe fluttered with the wind, grandly displaying his title [Demon God Emperor] via red brush painting characters. He had red eyes, dark hair, stalwart figure with the look of a grown-up man. He was the one controlling the formation of the planet’s scintillating barrier.
Twelve elders were draped in tattered clothes inside the temple, sitting around a magic pattern of light in a circle while doing hand seals and performing some ritual. Pure light was exuded from their bodies and poured into the magic pattern at the center of the temple hall.
Hearing the young man screaming at the elders in the temple, the grown-up man beside him harshly rebuked: “Luotian, all twelve Immortals are here solely to carry out the only survival opportunity of the world. They are giving their all already. Just focus on your freaking job to protect them while they are working on it, and shut the hell up!!”
The young man, whose name was called Feng Luotian, wryly smiled at the scold: “I know that, Father. But do you think we can hold on until they can complete the ‘ritual’? Those damnable things already began their assault on us. It is a matter of time before their kings or even their emperor reach here. At that time, we won’t be able to stall them anymore.”
“I know that. We just have no other choice but to try.”
The grown-up man indifferently replied as he focused on what he was doing.
Feng Luotian could not help but sigh at the desperate situation they were in. Images rushed back from his memories, where he saw ‘them’ annihilating one army after another. As for the innocence, their cultivations were stripped from their bodies, making them unable to continue living peacefully as they lost their power to protect their homeland from savaged monsters.
As Feng Luotian was lost in his thought, another three rays of darkness once again stormed the planet the moment the ark replenished its energy, causing tremors all around after hitting the protective barrier, waking him from his stupor.
When he looked up at the sky vault again, Feng Luotian found eleven figures suddenly appeared out of nowhere, lining up outside the planet.
The leading woman was dressed in a dazzling light blue gown, but her smooth white skin was even more illuminating. Her beauty was peerless and impassable by anyone in that era. It would still be an understatement to call her ‘Goddess,’ but that was as far as one could go among the titles regarding beauties.
Her shimmering blue eyes seemed like a clear sky welcoming all living beings under her grace. The aura she emitted was filled with divine light, warmth, and caring. Anyone basking in this light would surely want to serve her for eternity, unable to part with such feelings.
The goddess silently looked at the barrier covering the planet for a couple of minutes and raised her hand. She formed a wisp made of light on her palm before being released towards the barrier.
The wisp was traveling at a slow pace, but when it hit, the world quivered before the strike. The barrier had stood firm without a single scratch against any world-destroying assaults, yet a simple attack from the goddess caused it to crack on the verge of completely collapsing.
Seeing the barrier’s current condition, Feng Luotian became even more worried than before: “Father, now ‘she’ and all kings and queens are here. The situation doesn’t look too good. What do we do? From the look of it, Seniors will take at least one hour to complete the ritual. If all of them attacked together at the same time, we are doomed!!”
Demon God Emperor’s complexion turned dark as he contemplated for a few seconds before he gave a reply: “Luotian, take over the control of the barrier formation. I will ad-lib the situation a bit.”
“I got it, Fa … WHAT?! I take control? I alone? I can’t even handle one king, let alone all of them. Hey, Father!!”
At first, without thinking much, Feng Luotian agreed to his father’s order. After realizing what he had to do, he hit a full brake and complained, but his father was already gone. Now, he had no choice but to try his best to do as his father commanded by summoning all of his remaining power to fuel the barrier formation.
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Inside the temple where twelve elders were performing a specific ritual, suddenly, Demon God Emperor appeared next to the circle of people: “Seniors, the situation has changed!! At this rate, we will not make it in time. Please use this as a tribute.”
Demon God Emperor flipped his hand, and an item appeared floating in front of him.
An egg-sized round spherical marble emanated a faint golden light with light runes hovering around it. Its color was ever-changing, and like a vortex, it was absorbing all energy in the world.
One of the twelve elders who could recognize the item abruptly stated his mind: “[Eternal Dao Lotus Seed]!! Are you willing to give away a Supreme Treasure? Even if the ritual is complete, this treasure may be lost forever.”
Other elders agreed and shook their heads in unison, thinking that even a Supreme Treasure may not survive this calamity after all.
Demon God Emperor affirmed: “Seniors, you don’t have to worry about it. No matter how valuable a treasure is, it will never trump the value of one’s life, let alone the fate of all lives in the universe. Please use it to complete the ritual as soon as possible” He pressed the issue and reminded the twelve elders.
Still, one of the twelve elders lamented at the loss of the Supreme Treasure: “If it were another time, I would be willing to pay anything for this Treasure, regardless of the price.”
Another elder added: “Yes, but we won’t be able to use it now even if we were to possess such an item.”
“Let’s stop wasting time talking and finish this ritual!!”
The leader of the group interrupted. He awakened everyone from wandering thoughts while carefully receiving [Eternal Dao Lotus Seed] from Demon God Emperor.
The group came back to reality: “Alright!” They quickly channeled their energy into the magic pattern.
The leader controlled the Seed and let it float above the ritual. And with the change of his hand seal, the Seed began to pour its inner energy into the ritual formation.
The magic pattern started to spin, showing that the process had been accelerated, followed by a rumble from outside the hall rapidly.
At that moment, a figure hastily entered the temple hall with a worried expression.
Feng Luotian, whose face was pale white from exhausting his energy, barged in and reported: “Father!! What do we do now? They will breach the barrier within a matter of seconds. All kings and queens will be coming, and … WHAT!?”
He was agitated at the very sight of the Seed’s energy being forced out: “You are sacrificing [Eternal Dao Lotus Seed]?! Are you out of your freaking mind? The item may be lost forever at this rate ….”
“We all know that already!!”
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All elders, including the Demon God Emperor, concomitantly said with a stern voice.
“But…”
There was still some reluctance in Feng Luotian’s eyes as he glanced at his father. He knew how much was lost and how many lives were sacrificed for his father to acquire this item.
Half a minute later, [Eternal Dao Lotus Seed] ’s ever-changing color came to a stop at a dull grey, no different from an ordinary stone you could pick up on the ground. Afterward, it dropped down and disappeared into the ritual formation.
The magic pattern then gave off an immortal aura. An area inside it gradually turned into a blinding light.
The leader of the twelve immortals declared: “Demon God Emperor!! It is complete. Go in before it’s too late!!”
Demon God Emperor nodded and turned to his son: “Luotian, I will be going first.” He quickly walked towards the ritual formation.
“Father. What if all of this does not work?”
Feng Luotian hesitantly asked. His father previously told him that this ritual had not been successful even once in all histories of the universe, so he became quite anxious.
However, Demon God Emperor was decisive: “What’s the point asking that now? Like we have any other choice.”
At such a time, there was no time for considering whether it would work or not. Demon God Emperor strictly said: “Follow me quickly and don’t hesitate!!”
Following that, the Demon God Emperor entered the ritual formation and disappeared.
As for Feng Luotian, he was still contemplating something, not moving his legs towards the formation. That incited the hasty elders to shout at him waking him from introspection: “Young Emperor!! Don’t delay any longer. Go in this instant!!”
“There is no time for hesitation.” Feng Luotian advanced towards the ritual formation without hesitating anymore.
Yet …
Before he could go in …
With another step, and he could fully enter the formation and cross over like his father, a suppressive force came down and restricted his movement.
“Tian’er.”
A gentle voice came down at the same time as the appearance of the goddess. Seeing the goddess, all twelve elders alertly stood up and released their aura preparing for battle: “Virgo Empress!!”
Her ten attendants, who were kings or queens of some races, followed up with the goddess and remained behind her.
“How may I help you, Your Highness?”
Feng Luotian scornfully asked as his back faced the goddess. He could not turn to face her anyway as she entirely restricted his movement. Moreover, if he could perform even the slightest movement, he would not bother turning to talk, but all he would do was to take another step ahead.
Virgo Empress did not answer.
A few seconds of silence intervened before Feng Luotian started speaking with a wry smile: “If there is nothing, I will be going now. Please kindly release this suppression on me, will you?”
This time Virgo Empress began to converse: “Tian’er, come to my side, and everything will be just fine. Don’t follow him. He’s not someone who you think he is.”
Feng Luotian’s expression darkened as he listened.
Virgo Empress: “Only with His Majesty’s grace, everyone will be able to live without fear. We can be free to do what we want. And you … you will be able to rule over the universe as you once desired.”
Now, being reminded of ‘His Majesty’s grace,’ Feng Luotian was utterly out of control of his emotions. Feng Luotian angrily retorted at the Empress and roared at her: “Free!? You called that ‘free’!? After your kind massacred millions, crippled trillions, you said ‘everyone will be able to live without fear’!? Hmph!! Ridiculous!! … And what of my father? I don’t know what point you want to make, but at the very least, he fights to protect everyone. He’s a protector, not a cold murderer like you!!”
“How dare y…!!” One of the kings angrily rebuked because he felt the man was disrespectful to his Empress before being given a signal to stop her.
It took quite a while before Feng Luotian could calm down. After that, he adjusted his mind and refused: “Virgo Empress!! Thank you very much for your kind invitation. However, I have to reject your offer. I want to rule all because I want to protect the peace of all innocent beings. But now … heh, what’s left to protect?”
Seeing an unyielding attitude from Feng Luotian, Virgo Empress did not press the issue, but she still did not release her suppressive force on him.
One of the kings noticed the magic pattern right in front of Feng Luotian and voiced his opinion: “Your Highness, they performed some ritual. They may pose some risks and problems later. Shouldn’t we stop them?”
Virgo Empress: “No need. The ritual is already complete. And Demon God Emperor has already crossed over, meaning that they are already half-successful. What’s left is Tian’er to cross over as well. If we bring him away, the ritual will only be for naught.”
“Then, shouldn’t we attack right away? Kill them off to prevent further complications!!”
The king who rebuked Feng Luotian for being disrespectful earlier was eager to take action and was filled with killing intent.
One of the queens could not help but irritably remind the king: “Do you not realize who Young Emperor is to Her Highness!? Did you drop your brain somewhere?”
“I know. But ....”
The realization cooled down most of his killing intent.
Looking at the lineups behind Virgo Empress, Feng Luotian let out a dry laugh: “So very kind of you to prepare such a great fanfare to send me off, Virgo Empress!! I am deeply grateful for this. But as a matter of fact, I am quite busy at the moment, so can you please release me?”
“No. You are coming with me.”
Virgo Empress declined his request straightaway.
Feng Luotian frowned: “And if I say no?”
Virgo Empress indifferently replied: “Currently, you don’t have any negotiation power whatsoever.” With that, she raised her hand to make a grabbing motion. Feng Luotian’s body started to levitate and rapidly drift towards the Empress.
Feng Luotian cursed: “Damn it!!” He loudly bellowed with unwillingness and despair.
At that moment, all twelve elders decided to take action. They launched their attacks against the Empress. But it was to no avail because her kings and queens stepped in, completely negating the elders’ attacks. Alas, with their inferior cultivations, twelve elders had no hope to fight such force.
Virgo Empress lightly beckoned: “My kings and queens.”
All kings and queens kneelingly answered: “Yes, Your Highness!!”
Virgo Empress: “Kill them.”
The command from the Empress had descended.
All kings and queens: “As your commands, Your Highness!!”
A fierce killing intent flashed in all of their eyes upon receiving the order. They launched with a speed one could not track with their eyes, which approached the twelve immortals in no time.
Seeing their enemies charging towards them, all elders looked at each other and nodded. With a thought, a crystal of different shapes and colors appeared in front of each elder.
“Seniors, you all!!”
Knowing what they were trying to do, Feng Luotian, who was currently floating in front of the Empress, unable to move an inch, became flustered and saddened at the same time.
The leader of the group said with determination: “Just finish what your father started!!” Right after that, twelve elders crushed their own crystals in front.
Following a series of explosions of light, they all turned into twelve enormous immortal beasts with power levels overwhelming those of the kings and queens.
Virgo Empress frowned a little: “The forbidden ultimate transformation skill: [Last Breath to Insanity]. The one would make the user become thousands of folds stronger by transforming them into a beast forever. However, soon after that, they will gradually lose their control over their body, losing all rationality and becoming a real animal until the day they die.”
The Empress instantly recognized and explained the transformation before she let out a chuckle then contemptuously asked them: “Heh … Is this the way you choose your death? As the Immortal Zodiacs, do you think it is worth it?”
The leader of the twelve elders, who was now a gigantic dragon, said with a low voice that sent a trembling ripple onto the world in every word: “Worth it? Not worth it? That is not for you to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
Every one of the twelve immortals knew in their heart that whether the plan was a success, they would soon cease to exist one way or another. So why would they care if they would become mindless beasts or not?
Dragon Immortal looked at his comrades in beast forms: “Let’s give our best!! All in all. If any of you can grab Feng Luotian, immediately throw him inside the formation at the cost of your life!!”
Dragon Immortal leaped out, followed by the rest of the bestial elders.
With a few exchanges, the kings and queens were forced to retreat towards the Empress and Feng Luotian’s position. It was apparent that the [Last Breath to Insanity] gave the twelve elders enough power to fight against their enemies.
Once they were within one thousand meters from Feng Luotian, the elders burst out the rest of their energies to the maximum power and divided their force into three groups.
Four of them were rushing towards the kings and queens, pushing and stalling them from intervention.
Another four used all of their power to restrict the Empress from any action.
And the last four were directly launched towards Feng Luotian.
Virgo Empress felt her body being restricted and gradually losing her control over Feng Luotian. Nevertheless, she still had the power to counterattack the four elders that came for Feng Luotian in front of her.
She waved her right hand, and four wisps of light were formed and shot towards the four.
One of the four said: “You guys use the opportunity to reach Feng Luotian as quickly as possible, okay?” He quickly flew in front to take total damage from the four wisps of light.
Subsequently, he was reduced into a bloody mist upon being struck by the Empress’s attacks.
All of the elders gritted their teeth in agony with the death of Marten Immortal. However, not even one moment of pause, the remaining three were constantly moving towards Feng Luotian.
The Empress’s movement was getting slower due to the restrictive force from the other four elders. She summoned a silver sword to her right hand and channeled her power into it.
Seeing their deaths were imminent, two of the four swiftly joined hands and together sent Ape Immortal away from the attacking line.
Once the silver sword’s light descended, the two beasts were sliced into tens of thousands of pieces, while the surviving one of the four, Ape Immortal, barely escaped the slaughter.
At the sight of their deaths, Feng Luotian gave a final struggle in a fury to break free of the Empress’s suppressive force, which left her no time to attack anymore. Virgo Empress had no choice but to focus all of her power to suppress him again.
That gave Ape Immortal a chance to close in.
When Feng Luotian was in the reach of the Ape Immortal, with a vision of success appearing in their minds, the four restricting Virgo Empress detonated their bodies in unison. They ultimately used their last bit of energy to boost their restrictive power. And finally, they cut off the Empress’s suppressive power from Feng Luotian.
Feng Luotian quickly dashed into Ape Immortal’s hand.
Ape Immortal finally had Feng Luotian in its grasp. It was the only one full of energy. With just a simple toss, the task will all be complete.
At the moment, right before being thrown, Feng Luotian looked at the Empress and said: “Farewell, Virgo Empress. I will talk to you over this matter when I see you … again?”
As he wanted to say goodbye in his usual nonchalance, Feng Luotian suddenly noticed a cold gaze from the Empress. Then he heard a slashing sound. His eyes were wide open in shock as he looked over at Ape Immortal, but its head was no longer there.
The full-force suppressive power with the sacrifice of four immortals was only able to restrict the Empress while she was in her normal state. Still, once she activated her power to another step, she could move as easily as she could breathe. This made one wonder: “Just how strong is she exactly?”
“Tian’er, be obedient, and come with me!!”
Virgo Empress firmly ordered. A gentle voice woke Feng Luotian up to a cruel reality.
Eight of the twelve elders were dead. The other four were about to give in to their exhaustion while battling against their foes.
The light within his eyes was getting dimmer.
There was no longer hope within them.
“…!!” Suddenly, the hand grabbing Feng Luotian moved. It seemed that even being beheaded, Ape Immortal was still able to move. That sparked the last glimmer of hope in his eyes: “Thank goodness!! This must be a unique ability to Ape Immortal bloodline!!”
Virgo Empress agitatedly shouted: “No!!”
This was the first time today where she acted out of her calm manner. But at this moment, she could do nothing but watch.
With that, Feng Luotian was thrown down by Ape Immortal into the ritual formation and disappeared from the current world.
Once the ritual was complete, coupling with a loud boom, a flash of light illuminated and covered everything in the universe.
Shortly after, everything was turned to light particles, then vanished into thin air as they were completely erased from time itself.