The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

When Chu Xiu emerged from the endless void, a phantom figure in a yellow robe appeared before him.

"This... senior, were you the one who guided me earlier?"

Chu Xiu cautiously stepped forward to inquire.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the man was a middle-aged man dressed in a dragon robe, exuding an imposing aura, seemingly the remnant soul of an emperor.

The man in the dragon robe tilted his head slightly, glanced at Chu Xiu, and said with disdain, "Is this the time for pleasantries?"

"What do later generations of practitioners rely on for cultivation? Recklessness?"

"Don't you know that after the Void Shatters, a Heavenly Tribulation will descend?"

Rumble!

As soon as the man in the dragon robe finished speaking, countless golden lightning bolts tore through the void around Chu Xiu.

The man in the dragon robe reacted quickly, kicking Chu Xiu into the tunnel, away from his already weakened remnant soul.

Chu Xiu cursed under his breath after being kicked for no reason, and quickly circulated his magic power to block the first wave of heavenly tribulation.

"Don't block me," the man in the dragon robe uttered.

"Don't block it?" Chu Xiu couldn't help but speak up angrily, "Then am I just supposed to watch this golden lightning blast my body to pieces?"

"If it were an ordinary lightning tribulation, it naturally wouldn't be able to harm you."

"But... for some reason, you were able to attract the imperial lightning tribulation..."

"Imperial Tribulation? What's that?"

The golden lightning that tore through the void and attacked Chu Xiu was intercepted by Chu Xiu once. It then transformed into countless golden dragons entwined with lightning, swirling around Chu Xiu and roaring, waiting for their chance to strike.

"The so-called Imperial Tribulation is a tribulation of lightning that the Heavenly Dao sends down on a cultivator who possesses imperial aura and the destiny of an emperor."

This tribulation varies from person to person. If the imperial aura is obtained through robbery, it goes against the will of Heaven and will most likely be shattered to pieces under the imperial lightning tribulation.

If the imperial aura is inherited or obtained within the limits permitted by the will of Heaven, it often involves opportunities and can be considered a gift from the will of Heaven.

"Where does your imperial aura and imperial destiny come from?"

The man in the dragon robe began to explain, then posed a question to Chu Xiu.

Chu Xiu, wary of the sudden attacks from the golden lightning, looked bewildered when he heard the question from the man in the dragon robe:

"What imperial aura, what imperial destiny? I'm just an ordinary citizen..."

The man in the dragon robe rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"

"Which commoner is qualified to possess imperial aura and bear the destiny of an emperor?"

"..."

The man in the dragon robe suddenly changed his expression and looked at Chu Xiu: "You're not from Tianlu?"

"Tell me, where are you from?!"

Chu Xiu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to trust the person before him who had just helped him dispel the illusions.

"My world has no name; it is called the 'lower world' by the people of the upper realm... that is, the people of this world."

"The lower realm?"

"You actually come from the Ancient Realm?" The man in the dragon robe's expression changed several times, his gaze towards Chu Xiu filled with shock.

"You were able to leave the Ancient Realm and come to the Heavenly Continent. Could it be that you have become the Lord of the Plane?"

Seeing Chu Xiu nod slightly, the man in the dragon robe was even more shocked, standing there muttering to himself:

"How can it be……"

"Wasn't the Ancient Realm already sealed off by that person, leaving it with no future...?"

"How could a plane lord possibly reappear? And even come to the Heavenly Continent!"

The shock on the man in the dragon robe gradually turned into ecstatic joy.

I didn’t expect it! I didn’t expect it!

He merely saw a junior with the destiny of an emperor go astray, and out of compassion, he offered his assistance on a whim. It just so happened that he helped someone chosen by the will of Heaven!

This is the chosen one!

He is also a chosen one from that ancient realm known as the origin of the Heavenly Continent!

This child, as the ruler of a realm, is an emperor who has inherited the will of heaven and earth!

It is only natural for someone to possess imperial aura and the destiny of an emperor!

It is even more justified than that of the Human Emperor who swept across the human race for ten thousand years during his lifetime!

"Chu Xiu! Disarm your defenses and accept the baptism of the Imperial Lightning Tribulation!"

The man in the dragon robe quickly spoke, instructing Chu Xiu, who was caught in the lightning tribulation.

Although Chu Xiu didn't understand why, he could sense the goodwill of the man in the dragon robe, so he chose to do as he was told.

The moment he released his protective magic, countless dragon-shaped golden lightning bolts roared excitedly and struck down at him simultaneously!

The end of the dark tunnel was suddenly revealed in a blinding flash of lightning:

A skeleton, identical in appearance to the man in the dragon robe, sat quietly on the throne, holding a petrified giant sword.

The man in the dragon robe looked at his own decaying corpse, then at Chu Xiu who was undergoing the baptism of imperial lightning, his eyes filled with hope.

"Our human race can finally produce another... Human Emperor who ranks above all the myriad paths of the heavens!"

Chu Xiu, who was struck by a barrage of golden lightning in the shape of dragons, stood there bewildered.

Each of these golden lightning bolts seemed to contain enough power to shatter his physical body, yet when they actually struck him, they caused no harm whatsoever.

Instead, it was completely absorbed by the formless sword intent within his body, which was the ancient world's will of heaven and earth mentioned by the dragon-robed male protagonist, and condensed into strands of golden aura, which were stored in his middle dantian.

Although Chu Xiu did not know the purpose of these golden energies, also known as imperial aura, he was already incredibly lucky to have survived the seemingly destructive imperial lightning tribulation.

After absorbing all the imperial lightning tribulation from the sky, the imperial energy in his middle dantian increased by nearly 500,000. Chu Xiu stepped forward and arrived in front of the man in the dragon robe.

"So fast, could it be that the imperial tribulation dissipated on its own?"

"The man in the dragon robe asked."

"You already have dozens of strands of imperial aura within you?"

The man in the dragon robe knew that if one were the ruler of a country, the imperial aura within him would only be a single digit.

If one were the emperor of the human race in a minor or middle thousand world, the number of emperors within one's body would be at most ten.

Even a human emperor like him, who once led a great world like the Heavenly Continent, could only possess a hundred strands of imperial aura at its peak, making it difficult to condense a thousand strands of imperial aura.

His opening question, asking whether Chu Xiu possessed dozens of imperial auras, was already an overestimation.

After all, the Ancient Realm has long been downgraded to a minor world. Even if Chu Xiu is the ruler of the Ancient Realm, he should not exceed the precedent set in the past.

Chu Xiu scratched his head and stammered, "About... a hundred or so?"

"More than a hundred?"

The man in the dragon robe widened his eyes and asked skeptically, "You're not lying to me, are you?"

Chu Xiu grinned, "Senior has keen insight. In reality, there are only fifty-odd paths!"

The man in the dragon robe nodded, patted Chu Xiu on the shoulder, and comforted him, "You were born in a minor world, and to have achieved such success is truly remarkable!"

"When I was at your level, I only had ten strands of imperial aura within me!"

Chu Xiu was surprised, and after thinking it over again and again, he decided to keep the truth a secret.

Nearly 500,000 versus 50... that's a world of difference!

Chu Xiu dared not reveal the truth, because even if the senior before him harbored goodwill towards him, one should always be wary of others.

Since this senior was able to cultivate imperial aura during his lifetime, perhaps the imperial aura within Chu Xiu can be useful to him now.

Chu Xiu's current cultivation level is only at the Shattered Void Realm, having broken through the illusion of the Void, and he has not yet stepped into the Transcendent Realm. He also does not know what realm this senior was in his previous life or now, yet he was able to stop the power of the delusion that could have directly crushed him into mincemeat...

Too many words lead to mistakes!