Chapter 1255: We Are All Free

One "Yuan," also known as an epoch, consists of 129,600 universes, and within each epoch, there is prosperity, decline, and destruction.

They couldn't understand any of this. They felt it was all lies and exaggerated nonsense. The universe, they believed, had only nine realms. How could there be 129,600 vast universes? It was an unimaginable number!

As he continued, he spoke of epochs being destroyed, and the great calamity of an epoch's destruction occurring when the stars align, when R'lyeh rises from the chaotic seabed, and the great Cthulhu awakens, leading to the universe's demise!

They could disregard what he had said earlier about the myriad realms and epochs. However, the mention of "R'lyeh" rising from the deep, Cthulhu awakening, and the universe's destruction... wasn't he clearly alluding to them?

They were the most ancient and mysterious beings. At that time, the Cosmic Dao was sealed and its rules incomplete. Even the most powerful ancient taboos were unable to manipulate the rules or perceive the ultimate Gate of Dao. Therefore, they chose to lie dormant, traversing countless cosmic epochs and billions of years, secretly advancing into the distant future to reach the ultimate era of Dharma-ending for their enlightenment. That was indeed the Dharma-ending age, the very end when the universe was on the brink of destruction.

"This person is alluding to us and plotting against us!" One being's voice was cold. "Everything said before was lies, mere rambling. Ancient Buddhist and Taoist civilizations? Great Thousand Worlds? Myriad Realms? A Yuan? How could there be so many universes? But the last sentence is clearly intended to target and scheme against us."

"Hehehe," a charming voice chirped, belonging to a vibrantly colored bird. "Whether he's dreaming or not, how can anyone in this world still remember us? What kind of time span is ten billion years? A Saint's lifespan is only ten million years. Even a Saint who has fully achieved enlightenment in the Nine Yuan and ventured into multidimensionality lives for only ninety million years! Ten billion years... that's too long. Even in this era, multidimensional Saints don't fully recall what happened five hundred million years ago, let alone five or ten billion..." Her voice was light and pleasant, yet she was stating a cruel truth.

"Back then, the Insectoid race, the Wei race, and our own race — the three factions — competed for the path to immortality. Ultimately, both the Insectoid and Wei races failed. The Time race completely vanished. Even though the Insectoid race escaped, they were crippled and scattered, unable to achieve true immortality, destined to perish in unknown corners of foreign lands." They had no need to hunt down the defeated, for without the Immortal Realm, and adrift in the outer reaches, time itself would eliminate this ancient, unimaginably supreme entity for them.

"She could only leave her legacy at her end, but as time flowed, the successive generations of the Insectoid race who inherited it no longer knew who we were," a deep, majestic voice calmly stated. "They received the legacy, only guessing that some mysterious entity destroyed the previous Insectoid generation, but they didn't know who it was." Time is the enemy that erases all; even the most formidable adversaries will eventually perish.

However, they also revealed a hint of surprise and doubt. If time could obliterate all traces, to the extent that even the current Insectoid race was ignorant and had lost their history, then who was hiding in the shadows, plotting against them? In the entire universe, no one should have remembered their names by now.

They looked at Mount Akina’s Speed, who was talking animatedly and with great confidence at the port, and couldn't help but ponder, "Who exactly spread such rumors? Who still remembers us and is plotting against us?" They didn't suspect that Mount Akina’s Speed was merely fabricating stories or spouting nonsense, because the mysterious cosmic life forms and ancient mural prophecies he mentioned had already appeared... and this weak being simply couldn't have achieved that.

"Is it a coincidence?" a taboo asked.

"It can't be a coincidence," the charming voice laughed. "The other party knows about the ancient ruins from the era of sculptural art, and that stone tablet cave legend is circulating... Everyone, look, this is said to be a mural from that ancient, so-called Buddhist and Taoist civilization."

A stone tablet appeared, inscribed with: "Immortal mansion of eternal life, a Taoist abode as old as heaven."

All the ancient taboos were profoundly shaken, somewhat stunned. Didn't this precisely describe their realm? Furthermore, this very sentence directly alluded to the two conditions for breaking through to the eleventh rank: eternal life and being as old as heaven. Only by achieving eternal life could one survive until the end of the universe, the era when enlightenment became possible. And only by being as old as heaven, having lived from the most ancient cosmic eras until the present, could one understand the order of the entire cosmic tapestry and the sequential patterns of Saints achieving enlightenment, thereby opening that grand gate.

"This sentence is plotting against us!" one being stated with utter coldness. Before, they hadn't been sure, but now they were absolutely certain. All the multidimensional Saints in the universe did not know the key to breaking through to the eleventh rank, but now, this key was being revealed. This cave dwelling was clearly alluding to their existence! But who had created this cave dwelling? The ancient murals and prophecies left by the other party were clearly plotting against them.

"Those who remember us must be ancient civilizations from the same cosmic era as our race. In that war, knowing they couldn't contend with us and wouldn't survive into the future, they left behind various schemes before their demise: murals, ruins, and civilizations, revealing our information to later generations, secretly hoping to... plot against us," an ancient immortal being remarked faintly.

The surrounding taboo beings were momentarily startled upon hearing this and nodded slightly in agreement. Similar situations were not uncommon. Because in that war, they had subdued all civilizations, other cosmic civilizations undoubtedly harbored resentment. They had tried every means to leave behind civilized ruins and traces throughout various star systems and great regions, informing the world of the Immortal Realm's existence. For a very long period of cosmic time, many civilizations acquired inheritances and historical truths, then acted against them, causing considerable trouble.

But time is the source that destroys all. After one hundred million, two hundred million, three hundred million... by the billionth year, almost no one recognized their existence, because nearly all discoverable ancient ruins had already been found. Ruins also decay. The murals, inscriptions, and ancient sites left behind would all be destroyed by time. The further into later cosmic epochs, the fewer knew of them, until now, they were completely unknown.

"It's impossible for any ruins to still exist within the universe. The only place where ruins could have been preserved through endless ages is the Chaotic Sea! Perhaps many beings directly cast ancient inscriptions into the Chaotic Sea, waiting for them to be retrieved after eons."

"So, this Buddhist and Taoist civilization... perhaps it was also an ancient civilization that coveted us back then? Knowing it couldn't defeat us, it left ruins in the Chaotic Sea, only to be unearthed today?" They looked at the stone tablet cave dwelling and the flying celestial mural.

"It might not even be the so-called 'Buddhist and Taoist' civilization; in the old days, we never heard of it! It might just be a front. It could be the Insectoid race, the Wei race, or certain other races who, as losers, left these ruins before their demise, intending to leave the truth for later generations and scheme against us... they simply picked a random civilization name as a substitute. It's also not impossible that it existed. Civilizations like these usually leave their true names, hoping their ruins will prove their existence to later generations, their civilization will be inherited, and their race will revive in the future... they almost never use other names to impersonate. This Buddhist and Taoist civilization might indeed have existed, it's unknown."

"If it truly existed, then it might have been hidden extremely deeply, and its strength might not have been weak. But no matter who was plotting against us from behind the scenes, they have ultimately decayed with the ages and long since turned to dust." They discussed quietly. "Let us see how this scheme against us unfolds. We only need to observe quietly... and find an opportunity to suppress and obliterate this disturbance."

At this moment, as they spoke, they looked towards the port.

Meanwhile.

"Speaking of evil gods, one can't help but mention the ancient Age of Discovery recorded in prophecies." Mount Akina’s Speed’s words were packed with numerous elements. Although he knew nothing of the Immortal Realm, how to break through to the eleventh rank, or that a group of ancient beings had lived to the very end, it didn't prevent him from initiating the era of myriad realms according to his own plan.

He continued, "It is said that in the distant early universe, such a prosperous era also emerged, where the Nine Yuan Universes were interconnected! It was a grand age, known as the Cosmic Bridge Era..."

The Cosmic Bridge Era!?

The ancient beings of the Immortal Dao Palace trembled slightly upon hearing this. Knowing of the Cosmic Bridge Era confirmed that the speaker was indeed an ancient from their own era.

Mount Akina’s Speed spoke with great enthusiasm, "At that time, during the Cosmic Bridge Era, there was a captain, oppressed by evil enemies, who was old and frail, on the verge of death. He used his life to announce to the world: 'Go find the treasure I left behind! Truth, treasure, the Great Dao — all are there! The Grand Line!' This consequently inaugurated the era of the Grand Line!"

As these words fell, the Saints of the Immortal Dao Palace held their breath, their eyes reflecting a grave realization. This was an allusion! And it was an incredibly open, undisguised allusion to history! Didn't that captain refer to the Insectoid race, the Wei race, and other civilizations of that era? Although defeated, they used their lives to inaugurate an era, leaving inscriptions and records to inform future generations. They indeed initiated a billion-year-long era of searching for the Immortal Realm, truth, and treasure—all of which lay here.

"Hateful!" an ancient taboo of fiery temperament roared in rage. "This is open and blatant scheming against us, leaving these inscriptions... that so-called Buddhist and Taoist civilization will find no peace even in death!" Although the other ancient taboos remained silent, they too harbored a hint of anger.

Mount Akina’s Speed, of course, was unaware of the immense trouble his boasting—about his own Chinese Buddhist and Taoist civilization—had caused him, or what unnamable beings he had drawn the attention of. He merely continued with great enthusiasm and high spirits: "Hmph, that was only the first Age of Discovery. Now, according to the prophecy of that ancient mural, the second Age of Discovery is about to begin.... We must rediscover the Grand Line and the ancient treasures.... At the same time, we must sail to find the true text of history!"

Not only were they to search for them, but also to explore the true text of lost cosmic history?

As these words fell, an ancient being, who had never spoken before, sat at the highest point, shrouded in sacred golden light. Its eyes had been tightly closed, but the next second, it suddenly opened them, and a strange glint flashed within. With a slight tremor of its wrath, the universe changed. The Chaotic Sea trembled slightly, and immense waves crashed against its shores. Deep-sea whirlpools and endless waves subtly rose and fell.

*Thump, thump, thump!*

The nine multiverses seemed to experience a miniature earthquake.

"Our universe is shaking. Are the plates drifting? What kind of strange phenomenon is this?"

"The plates are shaking?"

"No, my Saint bodies in other universes also felt the tremor. It's the entire great universe that's shaking." Multidimensional Saints from distant universes exclaimed in shock, "What in the world is happening? The great cosmic ships we dispatched to traverse the realms have also lost contact." They looked beyond the Chaotic Sea; the waters were more turbulent than usual, as if shrouded in mist, and their universe had become like an isolated island, unable to contact the outside.

On the other side, Xu Zhi was also a bit bewildered, scratching his head and putting down the fruit in his hand. "What happened? An earthquake? Plate drift?" All the Saints felt the slight tremor of the universe. Everyone thought it was a natural phenomenon, the mighty force of nature.

In the harbor, the sky above the Chaotic Sea seemed to be covered by a layer of grey mist. Some unseen ancient being from the old days seemed to awaken, opening ancient, imposing eyes in the sky above the chaotic land, peering over the entire harbor.

Mount Akina’s Speed was narrating at the port, "Speaking of the allusions recorded in that mural, the flying celestial mural, the universe will enter the era of myriad realms, a new epoch. At that time, we will pursue the truth of history, to let the mysteries of the universe no longer obscure our eyes... We, these tenth-order descendants, also have the possibility of achieving enlightenment. The multidimensional Saint Gate opens for all living beings, and traversing the Chaotic Sea will no longer be difficult."

As he spoke, he moved and silenced the surrounding tenth-order descendants. Suddenly, witnessing the sky change color and the sun and moon darken, he inwardly wondered, "Am I deceiving the Saints, and even heaven is cooperating?" It was his first time witnessing such a severe earthquake and celestial phenomenon. The pair of eyes in the sky above the Chaotic Sea seemed truly like an ancient taboo, peering down, appearing remarkably real.

"All you tenth-order descendants, all you Saints, hear me out." He couldn't help but leap up, standing on the port's deck, pointing one finger to the sky and another to the ground. Gazing at the mist in the sky, which resembled a pair of ancient, indifferent eyes, he roared defiantly:

"We are born free! Who dares to stand above us?"