Skyward Pride

Central Province, Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

Upon an ancient altar seemingly constructed from stars, several elders with snow-white hair and beards, their auras harmonizing with heaven and earth, sat in a circle.

In the center, a chaos-colored ancient mirror emitted a hazy halo. The images within the mirror shifted violently, sometimes evolving into the birth and death of galaxies and the shining of an Emperor Star, and other times presenting the terrifying illusion of the world collapsing and all things returning to ruin.

At the center of the altar, the old Pavilion Master's hair and beard flared outward. His withered fingers pressed down deathly hard on the edges of the endlessly trembling ancient mirror. Veins bulged on his forehead as he poured his holy power into the mirror at an unprecedented speed, attempting to capture a single clear trajectory from the chaotic and violent heavenly secrets.

Pfft!

Suddenly, the old Pavilion Master's body shook violently, and he spat out a mouthful of pale gold Dao blood. The fresh blood splattered onto the ancient mirror and evaporated into nothingness in an instant.

His face was filled with unbelievable horror and fear, as if he had seen a great terror sufficient to shatter a holy soul!

Pavilion Master!

The surrounding elders cried out in unison, their faces revealing shock.

The old Pavilion Master raised a hand to stop them. His voice was hoarse and trembling, filled with endless exhaustion and trepidation:

The heavenly secrets are chaotic... unprecedentedly so! The backlash... is too strong!

He stared fixedly at the ancient mirror, which had returned to calm but now appeared even more profound and eerie, his eyes lingering with fear.

The future... is already a fog that cannot be pried into! I could only barely glimpse two completely opposite, yet intertwining main threads of fate...

He took a deep breath, using all his strength to speak the earth-shattering prophecy:

One is ultimate vitality. It seems an Emperor Star is about to emerge, illuminating the ages and ushering in an unprecedented golden era!

The second is ultimate deathly stillness. It is as if the apocalypse is descending, heaven and earth returning to ruin, and all things coming to an end!

The collision of these two threads of fate... the variables are too great! The only certainty is that an unprecedented era of great contention is imminent! The path of the Emperor and the path of death might both be right before our eyes!

Almost at the exact same moment this prophecy, capable of overturning the ages, spread from the most deeply forbidden altar of the Heaven's Secret Pavilion—

Another equally earth-shattering declaration was sweeping from the Eastern Region's Profound Province, a battlefield where the storm had just subsided, to every corner of the Black Yellow Great World with the speed of a gale!

That was the will of Little Black, cold and majestic, transmitting clearly into the seas of consciousness of countless living beings:

Within a hundred years of age, peers may compete; life and death will be left to fate, and I shall not intervene.

But if anyone dares to dream of the old bullying the young, relying on strength to oppress the weak—

Then, carefully consider the fate of the Glazed Sacred Land.

The Heaven's Secret Pavilion's chaotic prophecy concerning the fate of the world, and Little Black's cold declaration defining the rules of hegemony for the new era's younger generation, reached the ears of all the major top-tier factions in the Black Yellow Great World at almost the exact same time!

These two pieces of news, one grand and ethereal, the other specific and domineering, acted like two devastating bolts of thunder, striking the minds of everyone who heard them one after another!

What?! The Heaven's Secret Pavilion prophesies the coexistence of the Emperor's path and the apocalypse? An era of great contention?!

Over in the Eastern Region, anyone under a hundred can compete? The Glazed Sacred Land has been wiped out?!

Could... could there be some connection between these two events?!

Madness! This world has gone mad!

The entire upper echelon of the Black Yellow Great World was thoroughly plunged into immense shock and chaos!

Fluctuating Light Sacred Land.

Holy Son Mo Yiqian had just finished digesting Little Black's domineering declaration, his battle intent surging, when he immediately received the secret report from the Eastern Region.

The battle intent on his face instantly solidified, transforming into extreme solemnity: The emergence of the Emperor Star? The descent of the apocalypse? An era of great contention?! Could it be...?!

Northern Region, Great Zhou Dynasty.

The two secret reports were delivered into the hands of Crown Prince Ji Xuanye almost simultaneously.

The imperial dragon aura around him fluctuated violently, his eyes incomparably sharp: The Heaven's Secret Pavilion's prophecy... the destruction of the Glazed Sacred Land. To think they happened on the same day! This is absolutely no coincidence! Pass down the order! At all costs, ascertain all information regarding the Eastern Region!

I will personally head to the Eastern Region; my Great Zhou absolutely must not be absent from this era of great contention!

Western Region, Sumeru Ancient Temple.

The prayer beads in the hands of the monk Fakong paused, and intense ripples appeared in his clear eyes for the first time: Amitabha... the Heavenly Dao is impermanent, to actually reach such a state.

The path of the Emperor and the path of death coexist... The chosen geniuses of the Eastern Region rising at this moment, establishing this hundred-year pact, are perhaps the ones meant to answer the tribulation. This poor monk must go, to pry into a sliver of heavenly secrets through the Dharma.

Southern Region, Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Chu Qinglan looked at the two intelligence reports in his hands, the excitement in his eyes growing even thicker: An era of great contention? Good! Excellent! After being silent for ages, I've finally waited for a magnificent era! Friends of the Eastern Region, I, Chu Qinglan, am definitely coming!

The ancestral land of the Desolate Ancient Wang Family.

The arrogance in Wang Zhan's eyes retracted somewhat, replaced by a burning fervor in the face of the world's drastic changes: The Emperor's path is about to open? The apocalypse is arriving? Hahaha! Now this is interesting! I am definitely taking this position of number one among my peers!

The chosen geniuses of myriad domains all turned their attention! The undercurrents of the five regions surged and roared!

The Heaven's Secret Pavilion's prophecy cast a grand yet uncertain shadow over the era, while Little Black's declaration pointed all the young geniuses toward a specific and cruel battlefield: the Eastern Region!

Those ancient inheritances that originally hid from the world, peerless geniuses who had been sealed away for countless years, and even some legendary special physiques... all began to quietly emerge or awaken.

A magnificent, golden era where geniuses rise together and heroes vie for supremacy, yet one that might lead to an unknown endgame, had already raised its heavy and shocking curtain!

Overnight, the Eastern Region became the eye of the storm where the fate of the entire Black Yellow Great World intertwined!

I really wasn't in the right state of mind while writing today, it was quite agonizing, and I feel very dissatisfied with what I wrote.

There have been too many things going on recently, and I'm very exhausted. I will adjust my state tomorrow.

If everyone has anything they want to complain about, or ask, or if you have any good ideas or thoughts you'd like me to add, you can join the group through my profile page, and we can discuss it together. I'll also accept everyone's complaints while I'm at it.

Goodnight, dear readers!