"I believe Fellow Daoist has many questions. Please, come in and let us talk."
With a flick of his sleeve, the Endless Heavenly Venerate conjured a blessed land of caves and heavens before them, a place like an immortal realm, created from nothing.
For a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, it was as easy as turning one's hand.
Ye Chen led Yaya, Qianxun, Ye Junlin, the Time-Space Great Emperor, and the others inside. Several Ancient Great Venerables were also invited to enter, and Hun Wuji, being the son of the Endless Heavenly Venerate, naturally had the qualification as well.
The others remained respectfully outside the blessed land, not daring to step in without permission.
Within the blessed land, the immortal realm was ethereal. Divine springs were everywhere, endless auspicious colors descended from the heavens, laws manifested, and the origins of various Great Daos could be seen all around.
At this moment, the Endless Heavenly Venerate waved his sleeve again, and a stone table with several stone stools appeared. Everyone took their seats, ready to listen to the Endless Heavenly Venerate explain the secrets of the past.
The Endless Heavenly Venerate's gaze fell upon Ye Junlin, and a smile appeared on his face. "Fellow Daoist, your offspring actually cultivates the Great Dao of Chaos as well, and possesses the bloodline of the Chaos True Dragon."
Ye Chen smiled and said, "He is indeed not bad, but compared to Fellow Daoist's son, there is still a considerable gap. To cultivate both the Great Dao of Chaos and the Great Dao of Space-Time and reach such a level..."
The Endless Heavenly Venerate smiled, feeling quite proud of his son Hun Wuji's achievements, but shook his head. "Unless one becomes a Heavenly Venerate, no achievement is truly significant."
No matter how powerful a Taishang realm cultivator was, they were still just Taishang. Before a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, they amounted to nothing.
Finally, the Endless Heavenly Venerate's gaze settled on Qianxun. "This young friend's comprehension of the Dao of Space-Time is also quite remarkable."
To be praised as 'quite remarkable' by the Endless Heavenly Venerate was an extremely high evaluation, for it was the judgment of a Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
Especially since the Endless Heavenly Venerate was the Space-Time Heavenly Venerate.
Then, looking at Yaya and the Time-Space Great Emperor, he revealed a trace of astonishment. "Fellow Daoist, these two are both World Trees, are they not? Innate masters of space and time."
Ye Chen said, "Indeed, they are both World Trees, born from the Primal World. This one is my senior, who guided me onto the path of cultivation and is also the master of this child of mine. And she is my daughter."
The Endless Heavenly Venerate looked somewhat surprised at Ye Chen and Yaya. Father and daughter?
However, as a Supreme Heavenly Venerate, a single thought allowed him to deduce the truth—she was an adopted child. He tactfully did not inquire further and instead said, "Speaking of which, I have two here that might interest you."
As he spoke, at the far end of the blessed land, an immense divine tree appeared, towering in the center. It soared into the clouds, colossal beyond measure, blotting out the sky and sun, majestic and boundless.
Its branches and leaves stretched out, and upon each leaf rested a massive world brimming with chaotic energy. It was unbelievably vast, as if it were itself a great universe, yet even more astonishing than one.
"This is..."
Everyone looked at this divine tree with unparalleled shock.
Especially Yaya and the Time-Space Great Emperor—their astonishment was unimaginable, for it was actually a World Tree.
It must be known that they themselves were World Trees. The Time-Space Great Emperor, in particular, was the first World Tree born from the opening of the Primal World. Yet compared to this World Tree before them, both in scale and aura, they fell short.
For that World Tree's presence was not inferior to that of an Ancient Great Venerable. Among its enormous canopy, one chaotic ancient universe after another was being born.
The Endless Heavenly Venerate said, "This is the first World Tree of the Origin Land, the World Ancestral Tree. From the very moment the Origin Land was born, it has coexisted with the world. It innately mastered the complete and flawless Great Dao of Space-Time. In those days, it was hailed as the future Space-Time Heavenly Venerate."
This was the true first World Ancestral Tree of heaven and earth, belonging to the Origin Land.
Although the Time-Space Great Emperor was also called a World Ancestral Tree, that was limited to the Primal World. In terms of the timeline, she was born later.
"However," the Endless Heavenly Venerate continued, "although this World Ancestral Tree's mastery of the Great Dao of Space-Time reached an unprecedented peak, at that time, I also cultivated the Great Dao of Space-Time. We clashed, competing for the Heavenly Venerate position of the Space-Time Heavenly Dao!"
Yaya was taken aback. "Senior Endless Heavenly Venerate competed with Senior World Ancestral Tree for the Space-Time Heavenly Venerate position? Does heaven and earth not allow others to simultaneously hold the Heavenly Venerate position for the same Heavenly Dao? Father and the Primordial Beginning Heavenly Venerate both hold the position of Chaos Heavenly Venerate!"
She was quite puzzled.
The Three Lives Great Venerable explained, "Generally speaking, one Eternal Heavenly Dao only permits one Supreme Heavenly Venerate to possess it. Because when a Supreme Heavenly Venerate masters an Eternal Heavenly Dao, the aura of that Eternal Heavenly Dao spreads throughout the Origin Land. The Heavenly Dao's imprint is branded into the Heavenly Heart Imprint of the Origin Land, suppressing all later generations, making it impossible for them to prove the Dao of Eternity."
"As for your Heavenly Father, the Chaos Heavenly Emperor, the reason he could prove the Dao and attain the position of Chaos Eternal Heavenly Venerate is twofold. First, he did not prove the Dao of Eternity within the Origin Land, so he was not suppressed by its Heavenly Dao. Second, the Primordial Beginning King's Chaos Eternal Great Dao has been completely internalized, not affecting the world, so it did not hinder your Heavenly Father."
Within the Origin Land, one Eternal Heavenly Dao permitted only one Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
This had been true since ancient times. Only Ye Chen was the exception, rising against the odds to master a second Chaos Eternal Heavenly Dao even while the Primordial Beginning Heavenly Venerate held one.
Of course, the Chaos Eternal Heavenly Dao was too special, with various reasons at play—such as the Primal World being isolated from the Origin Land, and the Primordial Beginning Heavenly Venerate sealing his own Chaos Eternal Heavenly Dao, not affecting the mortal world.
There were even secret arrangements laid by the Great God Pangu, among other factors.
Ye Chen's success in proving the Dao also benefited from these factors. Not everyone could be so fortunate.
The Endless Heavenly Venerate said, "Precisely because one Eternal Heavenly Dao only allows one Supreme Heavenly Venerate to exist, back then, both the World Ancestral Tree and I were only one step away. We both accumulated our power in the shortest time possible to assault the Heavenly Venerate position."
"The final result, as you can guess, was that I became the Space-Time Heavenly Venerate. The World Ancestral Tree fell short by just one step, failing to succeed, but still became the Space-Time Great Venerable."
Limited by the Heavenly Dao, the World Ancestral Tree ultimately only became an Ancient Great Venerable.
Of course, an Ancient Great Venerable was also a supreme overlord of the Origin Land.
This made everyone sigh with emotion. That peerless World Ancestral Tree of the past was in no way inferior to the Endless Heavenly Venerate in any aspect. Like him, it had fought its way up from weakness to the peak of the Taishang realm, the stage of ultimate sublimation. Both were just one step away from a breakthrough.
Both had great hope of proving the Dao successfully.
But in the end, the Endless Heavenly Venerate broke through, mastering the Space-Time Heavenly Dao one step ahead.