Chapter 1234, The Companion Imperial Artifact: Axe of Nature

Translator:  Ashish

Translation Checker: Silvain

 

“Heaven’s Door! Open for me!” A defiant roar shook the starry sky.

 

Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, boundless Spiritual Energy started to surge and converge above the canopy of the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree.

 

Gradually, it took the shape of a colossal, illusory gate, so vast that it seemed to hold up the entire firmament.

 

That was the Heaven’s Door, and also the Road to Heaven.

 

Each step was riddled with perilous Tribulation, so deadly that it was hard for anyone to survive.

 

Throughout countless eras, the peerless prodigy who managed to break open the Heaven’s Door were already exceedingly rare.

 

And those who could walk through it, advance toward Eternity, could be counted on one hand.

 

This was the realm beyond the Realm of Hegemon, yet beneath the Eternal Realm, known as the Heaven Ascension Realm.

 

It has nine levels in total.

 

Level-9 Hegemons were also known as the legendary Half-Step Eternals, beings of fearsome caliber, second only to true Eternals, revered as lords and supremes.

 

Even the River of Fate would bear the mark of their power.

 

They were the brightest stars of their era, like Suns, too brilliant to behold directly.

 

Beyond words. Beyond comparison.

 

As for true Eternals, that was another realm entirely.

 

Such beings could blot out Heaven with a mere flick of their fingers.

 

Even Yu Zi Yu did not dare to dream of reaching such heights.

 

…

 

And now, in this Era of Transcendence, the first Heaven’s Door had appeared.

 

*Booooom…* A sudden rumble sent tremors through the stars.

 

*Swish… Swish… Swish…* One beam of light after another shot forth from distant stars, holding aloft the towering gate that reached into the cosmos.

 

However, for some reason, perhaps because the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree was already on the verge of death, this Heaven’s Door was unstable.

 

It was dim and continuously shaking, as if on the brink of collapse.

 

“So this… is the Heaven’s Door!!!” The Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree broke into a booming laughter, as she sensed the presence of that boundless gate looming above.

 

It was ancient, magnificent, woven with tens of thousands of Principles.

 

However, just then, the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree’s eyes narrowed, as if discovering something.

 

Following her gaze, one would notice an arc of blinding light shooting forth from the depths of the Heaven’s Door.

 

*Booooom…* The arc of light tore through time and space, slamming into the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree.

 

Countless of her branches scattered across the stars as her massive body was sent flying.

 

Even her aura plummeted rapidly, becoming utterly withered.

 

…

 

“Heaven’s Door Tribulation…” murmured Yu Zi Yu in a solemn voice, a rare grim and serious appearing in his eyes.

 

The Heaven’s Door Tribulation was also known as the Heaven Ascension Tribulation.

 

Each time the door was opened, it brought forth a catastrophe. Every Tribulation differed and could come in all shapes and sizes. It was bizarre and unpredictable.

 

However, the silver line was that each one targeted the challenger directly.

 

And now, the streaking arc of light that had struck the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree…was actually the blade of an axe.

 

However, sensing its aura—contemptuous, disdainful of all creation—Yu Zi Yu couldn’t help but mutter, “Gods…”

 

Indeed, that radiant light bore the unmistakable aura of Gods.

 

“The Axe of Nature, that’s the Axe of Nature! The Primordial Imperial Artifact lost to the River of Time… It’s our God Race’s Axe of Nature!” a voice filled with shock rang out. Even the King of Gods, who had always been calm and unshaken, could not help but cry out.

 

The Axe of Nature was once the most renowned of the Gods’ Imperial Artifacts, far more terrifying than the current Spear of Fate.

 

Why? Because this weapon was the Companion Imperial Artifact of the Progenitor of Gods, born in the depths of chaos itself. With it, the Progenitor of Gods once felled a Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree of a past era, draining its Spiritual Energy until it dissolved into nothingness.

 

However, even such a terrifying Imperial Artifact had ultimately shattered in a battle that shook Heaven, and since then, it vanished from the annals of the Gods’ legacy.

 

As for how fearsome was this Artifact? Had it survived, the God Race might never have met their end.

 

The Godslayer Clan would have never risen to prominence, for this Artifact was too tyrannical, so tyrannical that even Heaven and Earth rejected it.

 

Had the Godslayer Clan dared to act recklessly before it, their very racial talents might’ve been severed at the root.

 

…

 

And now, seeing this arc of light, even someone as calm as the King of Gods couldn’t hide the glimmer in his eyes.

 

“So… our Clan’s Axe of Nature truly is lost…” A sorrowful murmur escaped the King of Gods. Even the Gods around him fell into silence and gloom.

 

Only if something had faced true destruction, a complete annihilation, could it emerge from the Heaven’s Door.

 

After all, the Heaven’s Door was a cluster of the imprints of the long-fallen powerhouses and Imperial Artifacts.

 

The so-called Heaven’s Door Tribulation was, in truth, the imprints of these ancient beings testing the successors of later ages.

 

Only by defeating the echoes of those bygone eras… could one step into Eternity.

 

Now, with a single arc of light from the Axe of Nature emerging from the Heaven’s Door, it was clear: this weapon would never return.

 

“Hahaha…” A bitter laugh escaped the King of God’s lips, grief flooding his expression.

 

[Who would’ve thought that the assault on the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree would bring such confirmation?]

 

[So it was true… In that cataclysmic battle, even the God Race’s Progenitor, along with his Companion Imperial Artifact, the Axe of Nature, had been defeated! The Gods were truly annihilated!]

 

And while the Gods mourned, the rest of the powerhouses across Myriad Races turned their gazes toward the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree.

 

*Boooom…* With a deafening roar, the silver arc of light split the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree into two.

 

The Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree simply had no chance to react.

 

She didn’t even have a moment to mount any struggle.

 

That arc just emerged and vanished into the horizon.

 

…

 

At this moment, if one were to observe closely, they would find that the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree had lost all traces of life.

 

Even her aura had completely faded.

 

The Axe of Nature, as a legendary Companion Imperial Artifact, was unrivaled in one trait—dominance.

 

So dominant… that even Heaven and Earth couldn’t tolerate it.

 

Thus, taking a blow from it, even if merely a trace, a residual imprint meant certain death.

 

And so…

 

*Haaaa…* Yu Zi Yu couldn’t help but heave a deep sigh, his eyes narrowing, watching the fading Heaven’s Door in the starlit sky.

 

“So… this is the Heaven’s Door Tribulation…” he murmured, as a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

 

[The very first Tribulation the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree faced was a slash from the legendary Axe of Nature. If she managed to survive till the end, would her final test have been the very imprint of the God Race’s Progenitor, wielding the axe itself?] At the thought, Yu Zi Yu’s expression grew more complex.

 

After all, his own Heaven’s Door Tribulation in the future… might not be any weaker than this.