Back to the Past

When a world begins to collapse, the first to suffer are the highest-ranking beings.

This is a top-down process—those who possess the most will lose the most, while the lower beings suffer far less, for they had nothing to begin with.

Of course, this is only the early stage of the collapse. By the mid-to-late stages, when the upper echelons undergo mutations and vast amounts of aberrant substances rain down upon the world, the lower beings will truly face calamity.

The collapse of the Heavenly Dao is an unstoppable tide, and every being in the Divine Realm is caught in its flow, unable to escape!

But right now!

Xie Buruo, the Holy Son of the Eastern Sea Merfolk, has already reached the rank of Mystic Immortal!

One more step, and he could enter a prestigious academy to further his cultivation, becoming a pillar of the Divine Realm!

Logically, under the overwhelming collapse of the Divine Realm, he should not have survived. Yet, not only did he endure, but over the next two hundred million years, he even ascended to the Great Luo Realm!

"What a living fossil. Once I return, I must seek him out for advice!"

Chen Yi's gaze was profound as he watched Xie Buruo enthusiastically promoting his wares in the ancient records, a subtle smirk curling at the corner of his lips.

This guy managed to survive the collapse of the Divine Realm—there must be some hidden secret behind it!

He might have even obtained a fragment of the Divine Realm's Heavenly Dao Key!

What a coincidence!

Chen Yi had been struggling to find the fragments of the Heavenly Dao Key, and now a clue had practically fallen into his lap!

Perfect. He also wanted to ask Xie Buruo why he had leaped out of the River of Time back then just to strike his knee!

Calling me out for a one-on-one fight, huh?

"Great Luo Realm... According to Senior Cui Changsheng, those who attain the Great Luo through the Path of Life and Death transcend the River of Time. Past and future become illusions—only the present is real at the moment of enlightenment. That means his attacks are real, but the damage he takes is false. It all depends on his will..."

"What a disgusting mechanic. Looks like I’ll need to fuse a few more clones and refine them to Five-Star to break his invincible state."

"Tsk, still not enough clones..."

"Damn you, Wuji! Why did you lock away the Tribulation of Immortality?!"

"You think that’ll stop me?"

Willpower transcends time without delay.

In the Illusory Star Cave Abode, Chen Yi's true form pondered for a moment before slowly raising his hands. The fluctuations of time and space twisted and warped, gradually forming a vortex!

It resembled the vortex Cui Changsheng had used to enter the River of Time, but it was different.

After all, this was Chen Yi's own attempt based on his understanding.

Back then, to resist the Tribulation of Immortality, he had studied the Dao of Time and Space, hoping to travel back to an era when the Tribulation was still gentle.

Unfortunately, he had never succeeded.

At first, Chen Yi thought it was because his abilities were insufficient—his grasp of time and space was only at the entry level, barely proficient, far from mastery, and thus incapable of entering the River of Time.

But now, after experiencing the River of Time firsthand and carefully sensing its essence, he understood.

It wasn’t a lack of ability at all!

It was because his path was unorthodox, deviating far from the standard system. The universal rules of the myriad realms simply didn’t apply to him!

Think of the orthodox path as a grand avenue lined with magnificent houses, each door secured with a coded lock. Orthodox cultivators only need to crack the code to enter.

But what does the unorthodox path have?

Nothing but overgrown weeds and a hazy, uncertain future—no structures, just sheer determination pushing forward!

How could someone like him, walking a completely different path, expect to waltz into the houses on the orthodox avenue?

Could he crack the code?

Of course Chen Yi could!

A coded lock?

Just smash it!

So why hadn’t he entered the houses before?

Because he didn’t want to?

No—because he couldn’t find them!

Now, with Senior Cui Changsheng leading the way, he had gotten a taste, but it was only a fleeting glimpse, not enough for Chen Yi to mark the location.

Fortunately, Senior Zhang Bairen had also lent a hand, allowing Chen Yi to venture deeper into the River of Time—a tributary that had once run parallel to the main current of the Immortal Realm’s River of Time!

His clones were like ghosts, brought into the River of Time by the two seniors.

And Chen Yi wasn’t about to hold back!

However, since this was the native land of the Purple Star Continent, he wouldn’t resort to smashing locks outright, lest it cause irreparable damage to the local River of Time and harm the continent itself.

So instead, he tried sneaking in through the window.

What else could he do? The smooth, orthodox method of cracking the code and entering gracefully? He had no idea how to do that.

Soon, after a few clumsy attempts, he found a loophole in the River of Time—a way in without using the front door!

Buzz—

The vortex woven from time and space hummed softly as a strange point of light flickered at its center.

But just then!

The Purple Star Heavenly Dao sensed something amiss and halted its calculations, gently knocking on the door.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Yi, what are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re trying to reverse time again?"

The Purple Star Heavenly Dao had once played with time reversal alongside Chen Yi. And honestly? It was fun—until it wasn’t.

Because Chen Yi’s version of time reversal wasn’t the normal kind. It wasn’t a simple reset to the starting point—it was a full rewind, overturning all established outcomes!

When every being on the continent knew exactly how the future would unfold and acted contrary to their original paths, the sheer weight of variables would crush the world itself!

Thankfully, Chen Yi had been able to clean up the mess, forcibly stabilizing the chaos. Otherwise, the Purple Star Continent would have collapsed long ago!

And now, it seemed Chen Yi wanted to play with time reversal again. But the Purple Star Continent wasn’t the same as before—was he really not afraid of breaking it this time?

Well, if Chen Yi wanted to do it, what could the Heavenly Dao do?

Chen Yi must have his reasons!

Fine, let’s play!

It wasn’t like the Heavenly Dao was still its old, sluggish, powerless self, helpless in the face of disaster.

Now, with the Flying Star ultra-core driving it, it had the means and the strength to handle any mess!

"I’m not reversing time—I’m entering the River of Time," Chen Yi explained softly.

"Entering... the River of Time?" The Purple Star Heavenly Dao was taken aback.

The concept wasn’t unfamiliar, but it was still a bit advanced, beyond the current era’s comprehension.

"Yi, can you truly return to the past through the River of Time?"

Chen Yi gave a slight nod. "Most likely. I need another shot at the Tribulation of Immortality."

Admittedly, he could now use the high-grade resources gifted by Ling Xiao to refine new clones. But doing so would make them incompatible with his older Chaos clones, preventing fusion and ascension to Five-Star. Plus, it would leave him indebted to Ling Xiao.

In short? He was too used to extracting the Tribulation of Immortality—anything else just didn’t feel right.

After a moment of silence, the Purple Star Heavenly Dao asked quietly, "Then... Yi, will you come back?"

It wasn’t that he feared Brother Yi would face danger—after all, Chen Yi never acted without absolute confidence. What truly worried him was the possibility that Brother Yi might never return.

Others might not know, but he understood all too well.

Though Chen Yi had long abandoned thoughts of ascending to the immortal realm, there was a time when he had been utterly devoted to transcending mortality and embarking on a new journey in the celestial world!

What if, after returning to the past, he changed his mind?

Back then, the Heavenly Tribulation had been gentle—a single trial was all it took to succeed. But if Chen Yi truly left, what would become of the Purple Star Continent?

It wasn’t about holding him back from a brighter future. He simply couldn’t bear the thought—the Purple Star Continent couldn’t afford to lose its Yi!

Chen Yi waved his hand dismissively. "Relax. The River of Time is both dynamic and static. The moment I step in, no matter how long I stay, I’ll return the very next second. No need to worry."

"Alright. I’ll wait for you."

With a faint smile, Chen Yi stood and stepped into that strange point of light. The swirling vortex of distorted time and space gradually began to settle.

But before it could fully dissipate—

Boom!

Another temporal rift tore open. A pair of hands reached out from the center, forcefully prying apart the singularity. Chen Yi emerged, crackling with arcs of thunder, trembling with exhilaration as he burst into mad laughter:

"Hahaha, that was insane!"

The Heavenly Will of Purple Star: "......"

Truly, this was Brother Yi—when he said one second, he meant one second. Unbelievably fast!

Though it was impossible to know what he’d experienced in that fleeting moment, judging by the overflowing essence of Primordial Chaos Lightning radiating from him...

Brother Yi must have feasted on the Heavenly Tribulation yet again!