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Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
In the following days, Gu Changge stayed in the palace of the Purple Star Divine Empire, calmly meditating as he waited for the Purple Star Emperor to bring him updates and secret records. He was not in a hurry. In fact, he planned to thoroughly understand everything about this universe before starting to make his moves.
The Purple Star Emperor, on the other hand, dared not reveal Gu Changge’s presence or mention it to anyone else. Although his cultivation reached the Peak of the Sacred Emperor Realm, he could sense the boundless terror emanating from Gu Changge. It was clear this youth could end his life at any point of time. Even the Dao Artifacts could not come close to this terrifying might. Before Gu Changge, it seemed as if the heavens and universes would collapse. So, how would the Purple Star Emperor dare to offend someone like him?
“Senior, these are all the secret ancient records I could collect. There is nothing that I am hiding,” the Purple Star Emperor uttered as he cautiously placed various engraved Jade Amulets in front of Gu Changge. Not only did he bring all the records preserved by the Purple Star Divine Empire, but he also paid a great price to acquire records from other major Forces to satisfy Gu Changge.
“You may leave now.” Gu Changge opened his eyes and nodded, his expression cold.
“Yes, Senior.” The Purple Star Emperor quietly breathed a sigh of relief when he quickly left. However, he did not dare to slack off as he continued to send people to collect various secret ancient records. He didn’t know the purpose behind Gu Changge’s actions, but it wasn’t as if he had the courage to ask.
After the Purple Star Emperor went away, Gu Changge slowly began to browse through these ancient records. Among them, what interested him the most was the occurrence of the Dark Gap in this universe.
[After the Forbidden Epoch, almost everything went extinct. Seems like afterwards, all Forces were annihilated without leaving much of an inheritance. Even so, the subsequent Forces only slowly reached their current state based on the excavated engraved records from the past.]
After the Forbidden Epoch, the collapse of Heaven affected all universes, causing significant consequences. It took an extremely long time to recover to an era where cultivation was prosperous again. This long period of time became a gap in the records. Without the emergence of the Cultivation Epoch, there would naturally be no birth of True Daoists.
The impact on this universe was evidently severe, and the era of that Dark Gap lasted for far more than millions of years, spanning across multiple epochs. Only after that period did this universe slowly recover its vitality.
[If that’s the case, as long as the coordinates of the River of Time fall after the end of the Dark Gap, I can start setting things up…] Gu Changge nodded, feeling somewhat enlightened. However, there was still one thing he hadn’t found out, which was whether ancient cultivators existed during that period of the Dark Gap.
After all, there were no records in the ancient books. If he traversed the River of Time and was noticed by the ancient cultivators during that period, it might have far-reaching consequences. The tremendous backlash and karmic consequences could leave behind terrifying injuries on him.
[Perhaps it’s worth a try. Even if there were cultivators during that Dark Gap, their presence won’t affect the present as long as they are erased. At least, there are no ancient cultivators who are still alive…] Gu Changge slowly closed the numerous ancient books and began to contemplate other matters.
The Purple Star Divine Empire had existed for a long time, and it spanned a vast territory and ruled the surrounding Star Territories over billions of light-years since the Forbidden Epoch. There were numerous experts within the Divine Empire, and deep within its confines were True Daoists and artifacts. In the imperial treasury, there were also Quasi-Nirvana Realm Beings sealed off in Divine Sources.
Although, up until now, only one True Daoist had been born in the Purple Star Divine Empire, the number of individuals at the Quasi-Nirvana Realm was too big to count with both hands.
Speaking of which, for many powerful Forces in this universe, this situation was akin to an unbreakable curse. For theAancestors who had produced True Daoists, it was nearly impossible for the descendants to break through to and become True Daoists themselves. Regardless of their physique, once they reached the pinnacle of the Quasi-Nirvana Realm, they had reached the limit and could not advance any further. Many speculated that it was due to the overwhelming power of their Ancestral Bloodline, and by following the path their Ancestors had taken, they were unable to break free from that shackles.
[A Major Force can only bear one True Daoist… This is because the Fortuity Dao Fruit has long been plucked from this universe, which is equivalent to having their cultivation path blocked. If the descendants wish to venture out, their only way is to forge a new path. But with the protection of their Ancestors’ inheritance, no one has the courage to explore a different path.]
Gu Changge was not surprised by this. In a way, it confirmed his speculation. This universe was severely fragmented and could no longer fill the gaps left by the missing Fortuity Dao Fruits. Therefore, no True Daoists had been born in this universe in recent years.
[This works out perfectly. I can say that the Tree of Epoch must grow by devouring the Fortuity of a universe, and it is an irreversible process…] With this in mind, Gu Changge no longer hesitated.
…
As Grand Runes flew out one by one, Principles would condense, and bursts of Celestial Energy would manifest occasionally. A vast fluctuation came from behind Gu Changge, and an infinite and mysterious river that splashed emerged. Time fragments danced within it, and boundless Chaos Qi dripped as though it was from the ends of the heavens and earth, revealing all the mysteries of this world.
This river—a distributary of the River of Time—was incredibly blurry. Because Gu Changge had not yet broken through the Immortal Realm, he couldn’t truly control the Principles of Time. Naturally, he couldn’t fully let the River of Time manifest. However, this was enough for him at this moment as long as it could determine a node within the River of Time. Due to the existence of the Celestial Boat of Creation, Gu Changge didn’t need to personally cross the river and endure the unimaginable backlash and karmic consequences.
Soon, a mysterious green engraved stone exuding a dense energy of time and space appeared in his palm. The mysterious item was emitting a hazy radiance.
“Once a node has been determined, the Spacetime Stone can be used to locate it and prevent me from getting lost in the River of Time,” Gu Changge whispered, his eyes shimmering as he focused on the River of Time to determine the positions of certain nodes and sense the vast aura emanating from those places. He had to be cautious during this process, as mistakenly identifying a node would only result in him wasting time on a fruitless journey.
There was no doubt the Dark Gap and the Forbidden Epoch were connected.
With a flicker in his eyes, Gu Changge sensed the subtle cause and effect and immediately determined a small node within the River of Time. The Spacetime Stone then transformed into a stream of light, crashing into that location, and then thunderously soared high into the air before plunging into the river. The river in front of him was already broken, revealing a terrifying disruption, making it impossible to see the other end of the river. Only the wide river flowed relentlessly as horrifying waves washed by.
“That must be the one,” Gu Changge confirmed.
*Buzz!*
In the next moment, the Celestial Boat of Creation emerged while radiating a rich cyan light that enveloped Gu Changge entirely. It transformed into a stream of light and dashed towards the River of Time. Tremendous fluctuations that reached the sky surged in this place before they swiftly vanished like shooting stars. The terrifying illusion of the River of Time gradually dissipated then. It was as if none of this had appeared.
[What exactly happened just now? Why did my mind almost shatter… and that Senior suddenly disappeared.] Trembling in fear, the Purple Star Emperor rushed over when he sensed the energy in this place. As he was so overwhelmed with shock that he almost burst apart from the remnants of the energy, he immediately prostrated on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
His instincts were telling him that something in this universe seemed to be undergoing a rewriting and reversal.
