Perhaps it was because the sky full of Creation Treasure Artifacts had been utterly annihilated by Gu Qingfeng's casual stretch.
Or perhaps they all realized that the Li Palace's Essence was about to emerge, and the predicted changes within the Li Palace were imminent.
Or perhaps they understood that the situation would shift with any change in Gu Qingfeng's attitude.
Therefore.
There was no longer any point in hiding. The Great Dao Patriarchs began to appear one after another.
The patriarchs of the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands had almost all arrived. From the highest imperial authority to the lowest Star Lords, all those in the ancient and modern heavens and earth who bore Heavenly Destiny had come as they should. The prominent figures of the Three Thousand Great Daos had nearly all made their appearance.
The renowned Five Sacred Mountain Great Emperors, the Eight Directions Thrones above the Nine Heavens, the famous Thirty-Six Heavenly Champions and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Star Lords of past and present.
And the low-key Southern Dipper Great Emperor and Northern Dipper Great Emperor.
The Senluo Demon Emperor, the Beiming Demon Emperor, the Blood Wolf Demon Emperor, the Black-and-White Twin Ghost Emperors...
And so on and so forth, all had revealed themselves.
It was not just the Immortal Dao that wished to protect the Heaven-Earth Great Dao. The Monster Dao, the Monster Dao, the Ghost Dao, and other Great Daos also had many bearers of Heavenly Destiny—Great Emperors, Throne-holders, and Star Lords—who desired to safeguard the Dao.
In the void stood a man.
The man wore black robes, his long hair loose. His figure was tall and straight, his features cold and sharp as if carved from stone, with distinct angles. His expression was imposing, his eyes like bottomless abysses.
He stood in the void, with no radiance blooming around him, nor any fluctuations of power flowing from him. Yet, he gave off an extremely terrifying feeling. A single glance at him felt like falling into endless darkness. He simply stood there quietly, and the entire Li Palace space seemed to sink into infinite, boundless darkness.
The man was like a monarch of the eternal night, looking down upon all living beings, intimidating heaven and earth.
Within this endless darkness, no Buddha dared to offer salvation; light would never exist again!
Both the Great Dao Patriarchs and the Original Sin Patriarchs recognized this man.
He was none other than the legendary Demon Emperor Xuehe.
A single thought into demonhood, rivers of blood would flow.
Back then, Demon Emperor Xuehe had turned to demonhood for Cang Yan with a single thought, slaughtering until the Great Desolation ran with rivers of blood. There was no one who did not know of him.
If you thought Demon Emperor Xuehe was merely a Monster Dao Emperor who bore Heavenly Destiny, you would be gravely mistaken.
At the very least.
Those present like Black Mountain Old Monster knew that the true terror of Demon Emperor Xuehe did not lie in him being a Heavenly Destiny-bearing Demon Emperor, but in his pursuit of a forbidden Great Dao: Darkness.
No one knew how far Demon Emperor Xuehe had walked on the path of the Darkness Great Dao, nor how deeply he had fallen into it. The only thing known was that within the Darkness Great Dao, Demon Emperor Xuehe had walked farther and fallen deeper than anyone else.
Yes.
Anyone.
In the Darkness Great Dao, no one could match him.
If there truly was a monarch within the darkness, then that person would undoubtedly be Demon Emperor Xuehe.
On the other side of the void.
Another man stood.
This man wore white robes, his face handsome, his demeanor elegant and scholarly.
He stood in the void, appearing like the sun and the moon, like yin and yang, like the embodiment of light, yet also like the embodiment of darkness. He was like a celestial god descended from the heavens, ethereal and elusive, inspiring reverence in all who beheld him.
This person was none other than the one hailed as the legend of the present era: Fusheng Dijun.
The world knew that Fusheng Dijun had become famous in his youth, achieving immortality by the age of twenty. He possessed a natural Tyrant Body, immense strength, and was like a celestial god.
The two Heavenly Destinies he bore were both among the finest; calling him the pinnacle of Heavenly Destiny would not be an exaggeration.
The Star Lord Heavenly Destiny he bore was the North Pole Ziwei Star, hailed as the master of the constellations.
The Imperial Seal Heavenly Destiny he bore was the Canghao Imperial Seal, one of the Ten Great Imperial Seals.
Furthermore, he held in his hand a Primordial Great Dao treasure artifact named the Xuanyuan Sword, a legendary divine weapon and holy sword.
It was said that Fusheng Dijun had long since stepped into the Great Dao and comprehended the true essence of the Hunyuan Great Dao. Not only did he possess a Hunyuan Body, but also a Hunyuan Spirit. Every move and every technique he executed contained the power of the Great Dao Hunyuan. A single thought from him could reduce a world to ashes.
In his lifetime, he had created the "Great Dao Hunyuan," benefiting the myriad beings across the countless realms of the universe—a truly immeasurable merit.
Some had once said that each era had its own legend.
If the Great Sun Radiance Emperor represented the legend of the Primordial Era, then the Western Heaven Buddha Emperor represented the legend of the Ancient Era.
If the Nine Nether Great Emperor represented the legend of the High Antiquity Era, then Fusheng Dijun represented the legend of the Present Era.
Not far from Fusheng Dijun stood another man.
To be precise, a youth.
The youth appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in a robe of jade-green. His features were exquisitely handsome, like a dragon among men, a phoenix among fowl, with an innate noble bearing.
He stood in the void.
Like a favored son of heaven, he gave off an especially dignified and noble feeling.
This youth was precisely the Peacock Great Emperor.
Compared to Demon Emperor Xuehe and Fusheng Dijun, the Peacock Great Emperor's fame was neither as resounding nor as vast.
Not only that.
In the ancient and modern heavens and earth, there were likely few who had even heard of the Peacock Great Emperor. Even some patriarchs from the Desolate Antiquity Era might not know of him.
However.
Those who did know of the Peacock Great Emperor's existence dared not look down upon him.
The reason was simple.
Legend had it that he was the reincarnation of the Peacock Great Wisdom King.
Those patriarchs from the Desolate Antiquity Era might not know the Peacock Great Emperor, but the name 'Peacock Great Wisdom King' would absolutely thunder in their ears.
A Buddha-Lord who was not a Buddha-Lord, a Wisdom King who was not a Wisdom King.
Such was the legendary Peacock Great Wisdom King.
The Peacock Wisdom King originated from the Buddha Dao and was once ranked alongside the Five Great Wisdom Kings: the Immovable Wisdom King, the Awesome Virtue Wisdom King, the Vajra Yaksha Wisdom King, and others. However, later, for unknown reasons, the Peacock Wisdom King left the Buddha Dao, fell into the Monster Dao, then transformed into a monster and entered the Monster Dao...
He had also entered the Ghost Dao, the Strange Dao, the Witch Dao, and so on...
Some said the Peacock Wisdom King had cast aside his body to enter the cycle of reincarnation, experiencing endless cycles, traversing the Three Thousand Great Daos, not seeking true Buddhahood, nor seeking the Great Dao, but only seeking to deliver all living beings.
This time, the Peacock Great Wisdom King's reincarnation was an ordained variable of the tribulation. It was unknown whether it was also to prevent the Original Sin Cataclysm and deliver all beings.
However.
After the various Creation Treasure Artifacts disintegrated, the ordained variables who appeared were not limited to Fusheng Dijun and the Peacock Great Emperor. Xuan Yang Diwang was also present.
The name Xuan Yang was derived from one character each from 'Xuan Miao' (profound mystery) and 'Yin Yang' (yin and yang). Legend said that Xuan Yang Diwang had not only comprehended the character 'Xuan' to its extreme but also the character 'Yang' to its extreme. He was an unfathomably profound existence.
Some said that compared to Miao Rulai or the Great Sun Radiance Emperor, Xuan Yang Diwang's existence was in no way inferior. However, Xuan Yang Diwang kept a low profile, always appearing and disappearing like a divine dragon—never seen head and tail together. He was not like the Great Sun Radiance Emperor, who transformed into a great sun to illuminate the Nine Nether, with countless powerful subordinates, representing the Immortal Dao. Nor was he like Miao Rulai, who transformed into a great sun to deliver the Nine Nether and ruled over the Western Heaven Buddha Dao.
In the void.
There was another person whose presence was particularly conspicuous, and whom no one dared to ignore.
That was Changfeng Dadi.
Because Changfeng Dadi's existence was not only that of an ordained variable but also the Young Master who bore the Heavenly Destiny of Qingtian, the Heaven of Impartiality.
As was widely known.
Since the end of the Desolate Antiquity, the Nine Heavens had already fallen.
The Xuantian representing the Immortal Dao had, the Xitian representing the Buddha Dao had, the Huangtian representing the Human Dao even more so, the Cangtian representing the Heavenly Dao was no exception, and the Qingtian representing the Heaven of Impartiality was the same.
Moreover, from the end of the Desolate Antiquity until the present era, the Immortal Dao had been without a master, meaning Xuantian also had no master. The same was true for the Buddha Dao, the Human Dao, and even the Heavenly Dao.
If Changfeng Dadi had already awakened, then he would be the only Heaven-Lord among the Nine Heavens.