Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 251 Two Ancestors
While they were still climbing the ranks within the Heavenly Court's system, a major event occurred: the Emperor ascended to immortality with his entire sect. Naturally, the two progenitors, who had not yet reached the upper echelons of the Heavenly Court, were unable to truly participate in this event.

Originally, they also had high hopes that their invincible leader of an era, the Emperor, could create miracles, do what others could not, and truly create a new era where immortality was possible.

However, the result was that the Emperor's attempt to ascend to immortality failed, and the Heavenly Court fell. The Heavenly Court, which had ruled the universe for tens of thousands of years, collapsed overnight, and the former order was completely destroyed.

"The Emperor is dead, the gods of all realms are in chaos, the Heavenly Court has collapsed, and everything has crumbled in an instant..."

In the aftermath of this great event, the universe descended into endless war. Heroes rose up one after another, each claiming to uphold or oppose the Heavenly Court, and began to fight for territory and seize resources. In an instant, the golden age created by the Heavenly Court vanished, leaving only endless chaos.

At that time, the Heavenly Court's direct descendants and Chuan Ying were all hidden away by the Emperor, leaving the Heavenly Court leaderless and unable to find anyone with sufficient prestige and power to take charge. As a result, the Heavenly Court quickly disintegrated.

The various races, which had been developing and accumulating power since the mythological era, had gradually amassed considerable strength. They should have begun large-scale expansion long ago, each dominating a region of the universe. However, the emergence of the Heavenly Court disrupted their plans, forcing them to suppress their ambitions and remain dormant. Now that the Heavenly Court has collapsed, it is naturally the perfect opportunity for them to begin their expansion.

As a result, the entire universe descended into chaos. Suddenly, it seemed everyone wanted to slam the lid off the Heavenly Court completely.

The two founders, who originally had a less-than-ideal relationship but no real animosity, broke off relations at this time and went their separate ways.

The progenitor of the Undying Golden Body lineage chose to uphold the order of the Heavenly Court. He couldn't claim any loyalty to the Emperor, after all, he had never even met the Emperor and knew nothing about him. It was simply that the current chaos, with its devastation and mountains of corpses, filled him with unbearable sorrow. Although the Heavenly Court's rule also had its dark aspects, it could still maintain a stable order, keeping the universe at peace.

In comparison, the immortal golden ancestor who had no ambition to rule the universe naturally hoped to rebuild order, bring back the Heavenly Court, and quell the turmoil in the world.

The progenitor of the Overlord Body, however, was different. He was ambitious and determined to establish an immortal legacy. To him, the current chaotic world was merely a passing breeze, a powerful wind that would allow him to soar to great heights. Therefore, he chose to abandon the old order of the Heavenly Court and plunge into the war, determined to carve out his own territory and even establish his own divine dynasty.

In this process, he used many dishonorable, even bloody, methods. Intrigue and betrayal were intertwined, making it a case of "one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand."

Thus, their vastly different styles inevitably led to conflict, which escalated into numerous clashes over the years, ultimately turning them into mortal enemies. After all, their talents were undeniably exceptional; in the ten thousand years between the fall of the Heavenly Court and the birth of the Immortal Emperor, they were undoubtedly the main characters.

Ultimately, the Heavenly Court was destroyed, and the universe failed to rebuild a stable order. Then, things worsened. Those supreme beings whose lives had been extended by the Emperor's Nine-Turn Immortal Pills launched a dark upheaval to replenish their life essence after the pills wore off.

The indestructible ancestor fought desperately, but ultimately could only play a limited role, and even nearly died himself. In the end, he could only watch as an even greater catastrophe unfolded in the universe. This turmoil also completely extinguished any hope of the Heavenly Court's restoration.

It was here, of course, that the Underworld began to take notice of the unique physique of the Undying Golden Body. Although they hadn't yet targeted the Undying Golden Body lineage, the seed had already been planted.

The Immortal Golden Body Ancestor deeply felt that he could not stand alone and could only accept this outcome. He dragged his injured body to create the Holy Body Ancestral Star, and in the years that followed, he constantly tried to defy the heavens and prove the Dao, but in the end, he could only fail time and time again, and was on the verge of death time and time again.

After all, the Emperor's Great Dao imprint had not yet dissipated, and the Imperishable Golden Body itself had a limitation that made it almost impossible to attain the Dao. Therefore, no matter how hard he tried, he could only ultimately fail. After all, he was not Ye Fan.

At this moment, the Immortal Golden Body Ancestor already knew that his inability to attain enlightenment was due to both his physical constitution and the influence of heaven and earth; breaking through would be as difficult as ascending to heaven. However, he still persisted because he deeply understood that even though he was incredibly close to becoming a true enlightened being, he ultimately couldn't reverse the situation and could only watch as what he wanted to protect disappeared little by little. This sense of powerlessness and guilt prevented him from stopping.

The Holy Body lineage's dedication to protecting all living beings and quelling the darkness and chaos actually began with this Immortal Golden Body Ancestor. Ultimately, due to numerous failed attempts at enlightenment, the Immortal Golden Body Ancestor suffered many Dao injuries and passed away prematurely. His body was buried in the ancient star he created, which later became the ancestral star of the Holy Body lineage.

Of course, he didn't know before he died that this ancient star would eventually perish completely, leaving behind only the golden sea of ​​bitterness flowing from his grave, carrying his anger and resentment.

However, this destroyed ancient star and the golden sea of ​​suffering it left behind ultimately helped the later Holy Body Ye Fan. This successor not only pacified all the forbidden zones of life but also surpassed him to become the strongest Holy Body in history. Furthermore, Ye Fan defied the heavens to attain enlightenment, established his own Heavenly Court, became a truly invincible Heavenly Emperor, and ushered in an unprecedented era of glory.

It can be said that the progenitor of the Immortal Golden Body had many failures in his life, but his descendant, the Holy Body Ye Fan, made up for all the regrets.

As for the Primordial Ancestor of the Overlord Body, he originally wanted to establish his own divine dynasty to rule the universe and even replace the Heavenly Court. However, he was first stopped multiple times by the Primordial Ancestor of the Undying Golden Body, and then faced the Dark Turmoil. As a result, he had no choice but to restrain his ambition and instead establish the Primordial Star of the Overlord Body.

But he was naturally unwilling to be completely suppressed, so like the progenitor of the indestructible golden body, he constantly attempted to prove his Dao, nearly killing himself several times. After all, only by proving his Dao could he do everything he wanted. But in the end, he could only fail completely.

Even those with the Heavenly Tyrant Body who sought enlightenment were limited by their physical constitution, making the process far more difficult than for others. Furthermore, with the Emperor's lingering Dao imprint still present, his chances were naturally slim. Ultimately, although the Tyrant Body Ancestor lived longer than the Undying Golden Body Ancestor, they both died with regrets.

When the progenitor of the Overlord Body lineage passed away, he altered the laws of heaven and earth of the entire ancient star with his own Dao imprint, making the Overlord Body lineage the sole ruler of this place. He placed his hopes for attaining the Dao on the Overlord Body lineage of future generations.

However, his hopes were dashed.

In ancient times, one of his descendants possessed a powerful physique, hailed as invincible under the starry sky, yet he was killed by the Undying Golden Body, a contemporary of his. However, even though that Undying Golden Body was stronger, he ultimately failed to attain enlightenment. Moreover, there was no suppression from anyone else's Dao imprint; it was purely due to his physical constitution. It was from this point that the fact that the Undying Golden Body lineage could not attain enlightenment gradually became widely known.

However, it was precisely because of this incident that the conflict between these two constitutions was intensified once again, and the old and new grudges piled up, making it completely difficult to resolve.

Later, after the ancestral star of the Undying Golden Body lineage was destroyed, the Undying Golden Body took the Big Dipper as its second home and obtained the title of Ancient Sacred Body in the process of quelling the dark turmoil.

During this period, the Overlord Body lineage gained the upper hand, winning three and losing one of the four battles, enjoying unparalleled dominance. However, Xuanming, the strongest among the Overlord Body lineages during this time, failed to achieve enlightenment.

In the post-ancient era, Ye Fan's sudden emergence allowed the Holy Body lineage to turn the tide and suppress the Overlord Body lineage, preventing them from ever recovering. The Overlord Body ancestor's dying wish was thus thwarted.

Although both of these progenitors died with regrets, their final outcomes were quite different.

However, these things have not yet happened, or rather, they have been completely changed. Therefore, the two of them have become potential candidates in Liang Yu's eyes.

Their method of restoring the five great secret realms to perfect their physiques was actually based on the seven ultimate secret techniques of the Primordial Celestial Venerable, whose method in turn came from Liang Yu. Therefore, there is a clear lineage of inheritance among them.

The Dao-Merging Flower is currently still in the hands of the Primordial Celestial Venerable. Although it's unlikely they can attain enlightenment on their own, they have a good chance of succeeding with the Flower's help or through arduous cultivation in the strange world. If they can attain enlightenment, their potential will naturally surpass that of ordinary enlightened beings.

(End of this chapter)