Daqin Zhentiansi

Zhang Yuan remained silent.

He simply sat there, his gaze fixed on the map of light and shadow, as if looking through it at scenes from millions of years ago.

He remembered the ninth floor of the Demon Suppression Tower.

He recalled the complex emotions in Emperor Jun's eyes when he stood before him. He recalled the words the Heavenly Venerable had said to him.

"In order to change."

He didn't understand at the time.

Now he understands a little.

When Emperor Jun Tianzun chose to abandon Xuntian Continent, it was not out of cowardice or failure.

He was making a choice, gambling with the destruction of an era for a possibility a million years from now.

"But why?" Zhang Yuan asked, his voice low. "Why seal this history away? Why keep people for millions of years from knowing that Xuan Jue inherited the position of Heavenly Venerable?"

Xuanqing remained silent for a moment.

Then he said something that made Zhang Yuan freeze.

"Because the prerequisite for Xuanjue to inherit the position of Heavenly Venerable is the fall of Emperor Jun Heavenly Venerable."

Zhang Yuan suddenly looked up.

"A million years ago, on the night Tianyuan City shattered, Emperor Jun Tianzun sacrificed himself to suppress that Supreme Heavenly Demon beneath the three thousand six hundred patrol continents."

“He used all his Dao foundation, all his cultivation, and all his lifespan to forge that seal.”

“Xuan Jue inherited the position of Heavenly Venerable after his death.”

"But he sealed this history because he didn't want people to know that the price to be paid for suppressing that Supreme Demon was the burial of all the Sky-Patrolling Continents."

Zhang Yuan's gaze fluctuated violently.

He suddenly understood.

Now I understand why, for millions of years, no one knew that Xuanjue had inherited the position of Heavenly Venerable.

Because Xuanjue wanted everyone to believe that Emperor Jun Tianzun was still alive, that the seal was still secure, and that the chain had not yet broken.

If people knew that Emperor Jun Tianzun had perished, if people knew that the price of that seal was the burial of all the inhabitants of Xuntian Continent—

Those who are still struggling and persevering will collapse before the invasion of the Heavenly Demon.

How could the Celestial Venerable perish?
How could the Celestial Venerable suppress the Heavenly Demon at the cost of the Sky-Patrol Continent?

"So, Senior Xuanqing, for the past million years, you've been guarding this place?" Zhang Yuan's voice carried an indescribable complexity. "Guarding this forgotten city, guarding this defense line destined to collapse?"

“No.” Xuan Qing shook his head. “I am not guarding this city.”

He raised his head and looked directly at Zhang Yuan.

"I'm waiting for you."

Eyes facing each other.

The flickering candlelight in the hall swayed gently in the air between the two.

After a long silence, Xuanqing spoke: "What is the current situation in the Primordial World?"

Zhang Yuan did not answer immediately.

He stood up, walked to the wall on one side of the main hall, and waved his hand.

Time has condensed into a brilliant stroke of the brush.

Xuanqing's gaze swept across the mural, growing heavier with each glance.

Zhang Yuan's voice came from the side: "For millions of years, the Celestial Race has suppressed all other races. The Demon Race is weak, and the Human Race is enslaved and has no voice in the prehistoric world."

"The geniuses of all races in the primordial world have almost all perished, and there are very few strong individuals who can step into the Venerable Realm."

Xuan Qing listened quietly, his expression unchanged.

In fact, he knew this would be the outcome when he separated from the 3,600 patrol continents.

How can a powerful being be born if the Great Dao is incomplete?
"How is the situation in Xuntianzhou?" Zhang Yuan turned to look at Xuan Qing.

The information about the generals guarding the mansions from all sides was far less clear than that of Xuan Qing, who had lived for a million years.

Xuan Qing shook his head: "The attacks of the Heavenly Demon Army are happening every moment. Eight hundred of the three thousand six hundred patrol continents have collapsed, and the rest are all being eroded to varying degrees."

“The seal is loosening, and demonic energy is seeping in. And the power we can mobilize—” He paused, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"It's less than one percent of what it used to be."

Similarly, without the support of the Primordial Heavenly Dao, the power of Xuntian Continent is also declining.

Zhang Yuan knew this.

The lineage and cultivation strength of Tuoba Shan and his clans have declined too much.

Zhang Yuan's fingers slowly traced the mural, his voice soft: "So this city we are standing in now is the last line of defense for the primordial world against the Heavenly Demon?"

“It is one of them,” Xuanqing corrected, “but it is at least the most important one.”

Zhang Yuan remained silent for a moment.

Then he suddenly said something that stunned Xuan Qing: "Actually, a million years later, the primordial world will have collapsed."

Xuan Qing suddenly turned his head: "What did you say?"

Zhang Yuan did not repeat that sentence.

He simply stood there, looking at the mural of light and shadow, his gaze seemingly piercing through the light to see into a more distant place.

He did not say clearly.

But he knew that Xuanqing understood.

He, Zhang Yuan, came from a million years in the future, traversing the river of time.

In the Great Qin Dynasty, there was no primordial wilderness, no celestial race, and no Sky-Patrolling Continent.

There is only a broken world, only the mountains and rivers of the Nine Provinces.

Xuanqing looked at him and remained silent for a very long time.

Then he said in a low voice, "So you know better than I do that we can't lose this battle."

Many things in time are not immutable.

Those who cultivate to their level understand the Great Dao and the rules, and thus have the potential to change.

Zhang Yuan did not answer, but he tightened his grip on the Zhenyue Token slightly.

“On the Seventh Celestial Continent,” Xuan Qing continued, “there is also Yue Qing.”

"Yue Qing?!" Zhang Yuan's voice suddenly rose a notch. "He's still alive?"

“Alive.” Xuan Qing nodded, his voice carrying a complex and unfathomable emotion. “More than just alive. He was the only one who led his entire legion to safety from those seven collapsed Sky Continents.”

"The flag of the Zhenyue Army is still in his hands to this day."

Zhang Yuan stood there, holding the Zhenyue Token in his hand.

He suddenly felt the token getting slightly warm.

It wasn't the response of those million-year-old heroic spirits, but rather a different, even stranger sensation.

It was as if someone in an extremely distant place held another object of the same origin as the token in his hand, and across endless void and time, they formed a faint resonance with him.

“Most of the Sky-Patrol Continents,” Xuan Qing’s voice deepened, “have now almost completely collapsed. Their remaining power has all been used to suppress that Supreme Heavenly Demon.”

“Every hundred years, Xuanjue must use his own cultivation to reinforce the seal.”

He didn't say anything more.

But Zhang Yuan already understood.

Xuanjue reinforced the seal with his own cultivation.

It happened once every hundred years, and lasted for millions of years.

Does he know I can come back?

Xuan Qing looked at Zhang Yuan and remained silent for a long time.

Then he said, "I don't know if he knows. But I know he's been waiting."

Just like this city.

Just like those who are still holding on.

For millions of years, they have never given up waiting. (End of Chapter)