"Black Flame!
You old devil, you really didn't die out completely!"
"Tsk tsk!
If even you, Old Freak Feng, haven't died out, how dare I, this old man, steal death!"
"Yellow Skin!
You old fox!
I knew you'd definitely come to join this commotion!"
"This old man originally thought the once-mighty Eight-Armed Yama King died in the Desolate Ancient Era. Never imagined he's been hiding in the Desolate Ruins all along."
"To think the prestigious Immortal Dao prodigy, Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch, has also been tainted by Original Sin. Truly eye-opening!"
"It's not just the Immortal Dao prodigy Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch who's been tainted by Original Sin. Even the Heavenly General Crimson Feather from above the Heavenly Dao has been tainted by Original Sin."
These Original Sin Ancestral Patriarchs who had surfaced, though some came from the Ruins of Return and others from the Desolate Ruins, were mostly old-timers from the Desolate Ancient Era. Among them were friends and enemies; even if they didn't know each other personally, they had at least heard of each other's reputations.
Because the end of the Desolate Ancient Era came too suddenly—so sudden that many old-timers hadn't even reacted before being cast into the Ruins of Return. Within the Ruins of Return, there was neither heaven nor earth, no sun nor moon, no time nor space—nothing at all. Apart from themselves, they knew nothing, naturally unaware of whether others lived or died.
Even after the Modern Era began and the Ruins of Return dispersed, allowing them to return to heaven and earth, they all hid deeper than the last. Now, with the Li Palace Primordial Source about to emerge, when all these old-timers surfaced and saw each other, their feelings were somewhat complex.
There was excitement, surprise, but mostly sentimentality.
The excitement came from realizing that friends or enemies they thought had perished in the Desolate Ancient Era's end were, like themselves, cast into the Ruins of Return—only realizing this upon seeing each other now.
Take the Eight-Armed Yama King, for example.
That name was a thunderous one in the Desolate Ancient Era. Even if not quite on par with Avici Endless Evil Asura, Reaching the Azure Above and Yellow Springs Below, it wasn't far off—he too was a hegemon of that era.
Most importantly, the Eight-Armed Yama King had once seized a drop of True Blood of Original Sin during the Desolate Ancient Era.
Thus, many assumed he'd died in that era, since every being who seized True Blood of Original Sin back then was utterly annihilated without exception.
Like Avici Endless Evil Asura, Reaching the Azure Above and Yellow Springs Below, Heaven-Devouring Earth-Swallowing Blood Taotie—none of these Sons of Original Sin survived. Now, seeing the Eight-Armed Yama King emerge too, everyone guessed he might have only seized the True Blood of Original Sin back then without fusing it into himself, thus evading calamity. Not only was he not annihilated, but he also wasn't cast into the Ruins of Return, instead hiding secretly in the Desolate Ruins all along.
Amid the excitement, there was also surprise.
The reason was simple.
They discovered that old-timers who had steadfastly upheld the Great Dao throughout the Desolate Ancient Era—even venerable seniors of high virtue—were actually people of Original Sin.
The most shocking was undoubtedly Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch.
Virtually every old-timer from the Desolate Ancient Era knew of Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch. This was a venerable senior of the Immortal Dao, with disciples and old subordinates spread throughout the Desolate Ancient Era. He had prestige, seniority, and cultivation—precisely why he was hailed as an Immortal Dao prodigy.
What no one ever expected was that such an Immortal Dao prodigy, who had led Immortal Dao heroes in repeatedly besieging Wu Dao Daozun during the Desolate Ancient Era to uphold the Great Dao, standing irreconcilably against Wu Dao and Original Sin, had ultimately been tainted by Original Sin—and by the looks of it, had even cultivated an Original Sin Dharmakaya.
Could it be that Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch was a hypocrite, upholding the Great Dao on the surface while secretly scheming for the True Lord of Original Sin?
Or perhaps, after the Great Dao fell and the Wu Dao Era began, Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch, for survival and to preserve his legacy, had no choice but to be tainted by Original Sin.
Or maybe Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch also wanted to break free from the shackles of karma, master his own destiny, and yearn for the Wu Dao Era?
Unknown.
No one knew for sure.
If the Immortal Dao prodigy Golden Wheel Ancestral Patriarch being tainted by Original Sin was hard to believe, then Heavenly General Crimson Feather from above the Heavenly Dao being tainted was even more unbelievable.
In the Desolate Ancient Era, there was no Heavenly Mandate.
The title of Heavenly General wasn't a Heavenly Mandate either.
But in that era, the weight of the words "Heavenly General" far surpassed that of so-called Heavenly Mandates after the Desolate Ancient.
As everyone knew,
before Wu Dao Daozun emerged, the Desolate Ancient Era was still a time of Great Dao contention, a hundred flowers blooming in rivalry.
The Three Thousand Great Daos fought fiercely among themselves for the position of Great Dao leader.
In the end, the Heavenly Dao overpowered all rivals, claiming the Great Dao leadership.
And those honored with the title of Heavenly General were all mighty rulers who had rendered outstanding service to the Heavenly Dao, sweeping across the eight directions and six realms.
For example, the one hailed today as Equal to Heaven, Dugu Qizhan, was a Heavenly General.
To tell the truth,
though not numerous, those who earned the Heavenly General title back then weren't few either. However, those who survived were pitifully scarce, countable on one hand.
Because most died at the hands of Wu Dao Daozun.
Back then, to open the Wu Dao Era, Wu Dao Daozun slaughtered the Three Thousand Great Daos. The Heavenly Dao, hailed as the Great Dao leader, was the strongest in power, the largest in influence, with the most experts—but also suffered the most casualties and the most miserable losses.
*Immortal blood, demon bones, eight hundred Heavenly Generals' skeletons piled high.*
*Devouring sun and moon, severing starry rivers, with a flick of a finger turning the azure heavens to dust.*
This was a saying passed down from when Wu Dao Daozun slaughtered the Three Thousand Great Daos. Its meaning was simple: back then, Wu Dao Daozun waded through the blood of countless Immortals, trod upon the corpses of countless demons, slaughtered the so-called eight hundred Heavenly Generals into a mountain of bones, then stood upon that mountain of bones, devoured the sun and moon, severed the starry rivers, and with a flick of his finger destroyed the Heavenly Dao, turning the azure heavens to dust.
After the Desolate Ancient, the Heavenly Dao had always been faint and elusive, lacking presence. The Shangqing Heaven representing the Heavenly Dao remained sealed, and the Shangqing Cave representing Shangqing Heaven was particularly low-key, rarely appearing publicly.
The reasons for this were more or less related to Wu Dao Daozun.
After all, during the Desolate Ancient Era, the Heavenly Dao's losses were truly devastating.
Though other Great Daos were also severed and fell by Wu Dao Daozun, with many Great Dao Ancestral Patriarchs dead or injured, their foundations remained, and their legacies weren't broken. Thus, after the Desolate Ancient, they could all develop rapidly—especially the Immortal Dao, with its relatively deep foundation and broad legacy. After the Desolate Ancient, it rose to its zenith; even the Monster Dao, suppressed by the Immortal Dao, could gradually recover.
However,
the Heavenly Dao was different.
The Heavenly Dao was, after all, the Great Dao leader of the Desolate Ancient Era. And this hegemonic position of Great Dao leader had just been claimed, not even warmed up, when Wu Dao Daozun emerged, declaring he would slaughter the Three Thousand Great Daos to open the so-called Wu Dao Era.
Needless to say, the Heavenly Dao was unwilling—who wouldn't be?
During the final battle back then, though all other Great Daos participated, they kept reserves, fearing the collapse of their foundations and the severing of their legacies.
Only the Heavenly Dao poured out its entire force, determined to fight Wu Dao Daozun to the bloody end, succeeding or perishing.
To this day, many old-timers from the Desolate Ancient Era still vividly remember the cry the eight hundred Heavenly Generals shouted when facing Wu Dao Daozun: "While the Heavenly Dao exists, the Great Dao exists. If the Great Dao perishes, the Heavenly Dao shall not survive alone."