To seize the initiative in this Present Era of universal revival, there was only one way: defy the heavens, alter fate, and undergo reincarnation.
Only through reincarnation could one have a chance to catch the great wave of benefits from the universal revival of the Present Era.
For this reason.
Throughout the countless years of the Ancient Times, the Old Beggar had done almost nothing else; he had been preparing for reincarnation the entire time. In his mind, as long as he could reincarnate in the Present Era, then with a bit of secret, unknown life-stealing methods, he should at least be able to inherit a true destiny that both responded to fortune and calamity, obtain a genuine Primordial bloodline, or at the very least manage to get a Supreme Imperial Mandate. Failing that, securing a Peerless Sacred Body shouldn't be a problem.
Everything was ready; all he needed was the east wind.
This east wind was the end of the Ancient Times and the opening of the Gate of Reincarnation.
As long as he entered the Gate of Reincarnation,
the Old Beggar would have achieved his great task.
But!
What the Old Beggar never could have dreamed of was that when the Ancient Times ended that year, the Heavenly Dao seemed to have gone mad. All kinds of heavenly condemnations and punishments were unleashed in one torrential judgment.
The Old Beggar was no stranger to being judged by the Heavenly Dao; on the contrary, he had been judged many times. At the end of the Primordial Era, and at the end of the Supreme Era, he had been judged by the Heavenly Dao, but he had managed to muddle through each time using every means at his disposal. He was an experienced old hand at defying the heavens and was quite confident in dealing with the Heavenly Dao's judgment. However, what the Old Beggar hadn't anticipated was that the judgment descended at the end of the Ancient Times was hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times more frenzied than any before.
The level of frenzy even made the Old Beggar doubt whether the heavenly judgments he had suffered before were fake.
Despite his preparations, facing the mad judgment of the Heavenly Dao at the end of the Ancient Times, even with his undying body, the Old Beggar was judged to the point where he couldn't even move, let alone undergo reincarnation.
Fortunately, when the Ancient Times ended, some great power opened the Gate of Reincarnation. At that time, the Old Beggar was so excited he nearly cried. Gritting his teeth and stamping his foot, he disregarded everything and stubbornly endured the endless judgment, heading for the Gate of Reincarnation.
But he hadn't taken more than a few steps before...
Then there was no 'then'...
The Old Beggar only remembered that something seemed to have descended from the sky, enveloping him, and then he lost consciousness.
When he awoke again, he found himself already cast into the place hailed as the most terrifying in all the heavens and myriad worlds: Gui Xu.
Back then.
There were many, many powerful beings who wanted to defy the heavens, alter fate, and reincarnate into the Present Era to seize the initiative of universal revival. However, most were judged by the Heavenly Dao to the point of being utterly annihilated, while others were cast into Gui Xu.
The Old Beggar was like this, as were Lady Blackwater, including the two voices in the void who were sneering at the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, and nearly all the powerful experts lurking in the shadows of Gui Xu today—they were almost all forcibly cast into Gui Xu when the Ancient Times ended.
Like the Old Beggar, they had all staked their entire fortunes and their very fates on the Present Era, gambling on reincarnation.
Unfortunately.
In the final round, they all lost, lost completely and utterly, cleaned out in one go by Old Man Heaven, the house.
One must understand that any one of these powerful beings cast into Gui Xu was an old-timer who had cultivated for countless years. They had toiled and sweated blood, painstakingly accumulating some assets, thinking to gamble it all in the Present Era. In the end, they lost everything in one fell swoop.
How could this not make them furious, not make them enraged, and how could they possibly accept it?
Although the Gui Xu of the Present Era has dispersed, and they have escaped from within Gui Xu.
But what use is that?
By the time they escaped, the Present Era had already damn well begun. All kinds of reviving true destinies, heavenly mandates, various bloodlines, treasure bodies, and so on were already damn well spoken for.
Seize them?
To be honest.
With the abilities of these Gui Xu powerhouses, seizing a heavenly mandate or a treasure body wouldn't be difficult. However, things like those so-called Great Dao Star Lords or Great Dao Thrones—these heavenly mandates might be treasures in others' eyes, but in the eyes of these Gui Xu powerhouses, they're just trash heavenly mandates. They couldn't be bothered to seize them; even if they got them, they'd be useless.
As for Primordial Emperor Seals, Supreme Imperial Authorities, Desolate Ancient orthodoxies—these heavenly mandates are either protected by the Great Wasteland magnates or guarded by the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, watched over by the Nine Heavens Immortal Path, and sheltered by the Heavenly Dao.
And those various bloodlines, various treasure bodies—these existences are even more tightly guarded by the Three Thousand Great Daos. They don't appear until they appear, but once they do, they've inevitably already grown up, and their strength is damnably formidable, one more powerful than the last. At that point, who's seizing from whom is anyone's guess.
Therefore.
The Old Beggar was deeply frustrated. Now he could only bury his head in drinking, cursing the Nine Heavens, and sending his regards to Old Man Heaven's entire family.
"Old Beggar, do you know why the Heavenly Dao cast us into Gui Xu when the Ancient Times ended?"
Lady Blackwater's voice suddenly came. The Old Beggar curled his lip and said gloomily, "Isn't it obvious? To prevent us from seizing the initiative of the universal revival in the Present Era, of course."
"Do you know why all things are reviving?"
"Of course it's for the Dao-Less Era."
The Old Beggar drank his bitter wine and said, "Whether it's heavenly mandates or true destinies, whether bloodlines, treasure bodies, or taboos—the reason everything is reviving is because the Dao-Less Era will open in the Present Era."
Lady Blackwater gazed at the heavens and murmured, "Is all this driven by karma, or arranged by fate..." "Whether it's driven by karma, this old man doesn't know. Whether it's arranged by fate, this old man doesn't know either. This old man only knows that he staked his entire fortune on the Dao-Less Era, and now, before the Dao-Less Era has even arrived, this old man has damn well lost everything, bankrupted..." The Old Beggar said angrily, "Originally, I thought I'd come today to join the excitement, see if I could scoop up some benefits, maybe seize some good treasure. But damn it, who would have thought...
Sigh!
Enough said. Talking about it just brings tears."
Indeed.
The Old Beggar was so frustrated he felt like ending it all.
As he said, he came this time hoping to seize some good treasure from these Great Dao magnates and the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands.
After arriving here, with one sweep of his gaze, he didn't spot any good treasures among the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, but his eyes immediately settled on Gu Qingfeng. Discovering Lady Blackwater was also here made him even more certain that Gu Qingfeng must have some good treasures on him.
And the result?
Don't mention it.
There really were quite a few good treasures, and each one was top-notch. At the beginning, the Old Beggar really wanted to seize the chance and grab something. But after witnessing one forbidden Great Dao after another being summoned, the Old Beggar's desire to seize gradually faded. Especially when Gu Qingfeng summoned a forbidden existence like Purgatory, the Old Beggar's thoughts of seizing anything vanished completely.
That damn thing was Purgatory! Legend says that thing is the tomb that buries the Great Dao and interred all living beings.
Whether it's true or false, the Old Beggar didn't know.
He only knew that regarding Purgatory, there had always circulated this legend: 'The phases of life and death float, the spirits of chaos manifest, the land of Asura Purgatory, the endless graveyard of the Great Dao.'
Given that, what was there to seize?
Seizing from him was practically no different from seeking death.