Chapter 1301: Long Life Realm

During the Chaos Sea Era, the "Myriad Worlds" were something I had created.

So, what was the cosmic structure of the true Chaos Sea Era?

"Chizhi had unintentionally revealed before that the next era would indeed be the Chaos Sea Era! This is an inevitable stage of cosmic development, completing the material circulation laws of the Chaos Sea and allowing the recycling of matter that has been scattered there throughout the ages..."

"Therefore, when they saw the current Myriad Worlds, they became convinced, because the miniature universes of the Myriad Worlds are indeed absorbing and releasing matter from the Chaos Sea, utilizing it with maximum efficiency."

Xu Zhi pondered.

Given this situation, Xu Zhi considered two possibilities.

First, the Chaos Sea Era is truly the "Myriad Worlds" era, and he coincidentally aligns with the inevitable laws of destiny, serving as the catalyst for ushering in this era—making him the chosen one.

Second, the Chaos Sea Era is a different era altogether.

It could be governed by different rules, an inevitable cosmic development that completes the Chaos Sea's regulations, and he is merely an interloper.

"I am more inclined towards the second possibility," Xu Zhi thought. "I don't believe that during a natural stage of its growth, the universe would inevitably grow a tumor, produce cancer cells, develop cancer, and lead itself to death, ultimately being replaced."

If the universe were compared to a living organism...

Then, in its normal, healthy development, "cancer cells" would not appear.

However, Xu Zhi felt that the current universe might have already deviated from its normal developmental path, developing lesions, with cancer cells emerging, now in the early stages of cancer...

Hundreds of cancer cells, distributed throughout the "lymph nodes."

"In that case, I must be vigilant. What was the original Chaos Sea Era like? What were its rules? Will the true Chaos Sea Era emerge and eliminate me, the 'imitation'?"

Xu Zhi believed that the inevitable fate of the universe lay in vast, endless grand trends.

And he was distorting this grand trend, replacing it. Even if the universe lacked consciousness, it would still possess a strong, subtle resistance, attempting to bring everything back to its rightful course.

While Xu Zhi was still chatting with Chizhi, he had already maneuvered his main body from another universe into the Cosmic Sandbox.

By this time, a long period had passed since Xu Zhi's last departure. With a day equaling a hundred million years, the Era of Cosmic Bridges had fully erupted, and the concept of the "Realm of Immortality" had already emerged some time ago.

Seven hundred million and two thousand years had passed.

The first generation of ancient Sages who achieved enlightenment in the Multiverse had also completely died of old age.

Even though the cosmic division significantly increased their lifespans, it could not withstand the erosion of time. Their lifespans were still limited to hundreds of millions of years. They tried to extend their lives through slumber and various hibernation methods, but after a few hundred million years of sleep, they could no longer endure and ultimately perished.

And the era was completely renewed.

The old and decaying had completely vanished. The Era of Cosmic Bridges was in its prime, and countless noble families of Sages emerged.

In the Nine-Element Universe, countless supreme overlords appeared. They gathered in groups of two or three, each establishing their domain, and were known as the Nine Cosmic Overlords.

These nine Cosmic Overlords were referred to by the world as the Nine Great Cosmic Emperors.

They were once the chosen disciples of the fallen Sages who inaugurated the Multi-dimensional Era, representing the pinnacle of their time.

As a hundred schools of thought contended and countless Sages traveled and exchanged ideas, they debated the next realm: Was the Tenth Order truly the end of the universe?

After countless more years, the Realm of Immortality became fully recognized.

"We, as Tenth-Order Sages at this moment, have reached the end of the Great Dao! The Eleventh Order... lies in the future!"

"The next realm is to achieve Primordial enlightenment, to attain the One Dao... When the Great Dao of the universe is complete, one can reverse the flow of the cosmic Great Dao, return to the singularity, and achieve the Hunyuan God-position."

"Each Multiverse can only achieve one Hunyuan God-position; thus, the Nine-Element Universe can achieve nine!"

"Alas, born in this era, we are destined to die of old age, unable to witness the truth or see the next realm."

"Born at the wrong time."

"Born at the wrong time."

One by one, the Sages glimpsed the distant future. The nine Cosmic Overlords suddenly joined forces, deciding to gather the strength of all Sages of the current era to discuss how to defy fate and change their destiny.

This was an inevitability of history.

When the Sages realized that the next realm was not of the present era but lay in the future, they were naturally extremely unwilling to accept this. They would spare no effort to construct a "Ship of Worldly Passage" to journey into the future.

Another ten million years passed.

With countless Sages of the current era planning and the overlords of the Nine-Element Universe collaborating, a plan was finally formulated.

"The Realm of Immortality"

This realm was located beneath the Nine-Element Universe, at the very core of the cosmos.

It was like nine inverted icebergs, their peaks simultaneously pointing towards the central spherical core.

"This place is optimal."

A Sage of extreme power deduced, "This place, at the junction of the Nine-Element Universe, in the deepest part of the Chaos Sea, at its very core, where rules are intertwined and chaotic, is ideal for establishing the Ship of Worldly Passage. It can disrupt causality, and at the end of the streams pouring from countless billions of black holes, time can be halted."

Black holes devour everything, and rules are repelled. Yet, this core, the only place most affected, is where the Realm of Immortality can be established.

"At the same time, the Era of Cosmic Bridges is coming to an end," said another Sage. "The several Cosmic Bridges we built, rebuilt countless times and continuously extended, have finally reached their limit and are likely to collapse... The Nine-Element Universe will become completely isolated, with parallel universes no longer connected!"

"This realm, however, after the collapse of the Cosmic Bridges, can take their place, acting as a hub to connect the powers of the Nine-Element Universe, allowing the bodies of the Nine-Element Sages to subtly sense each other."

"This realm is a fixed number of the Great Dao!"

"It is the will of the Heavenly Dao."

"Born for the rules of the universe!"

The Sages, having deduced this far, clearly understood that this was about completing the laws of the universe, allowing the multi-dimensional Sages across the Multiverse to fully possess power.

"But how is it to be built?"

"This realm is at the cosmic core."

They continued their deductions and finally found a method, beginning to forge the Tenth Ship of Worldly Passage.

However, undercurrents were already stirring.

Seven hundred and forty million years had passed.

After ten million years, the nascent rules of the Realm of Immortality were fully complete. The moment it was established, the undercurrents erupted completely.

"The Sages responsible for establishing the rules for the Realm of Immortality have been killed in their respective nine universes, their bloodlines seized and integrated into the bodies of the nine Sage Emperors."

"They are already old and infirm, desiring immortality and to secretly cross over to the distant future to achieve enlightenment!"

"This is the collective achievement of all Sages beyond the Chaos Heavens; they actually want to claim it for themselves!"

War was about to begin.

All Sages knew that whoever seized the Realm of Immortality's enlightenment rules and controlled that aspect of the Heavenly Dao's authority would gain control of the "Ship of Worldly Passage" and journey into the distant future.

The Multiverse War fully erupted.

Even Xu Zhi watched this battle for the Realm of Immortality with trepidation.

To contend for supremacy and deduce the Realm of Immortality, they had already heavily consumed the universe's Great Dao positions, resulting in millions of Sages appearing simultaneously, secretly infiltrating each other's universes.

A hysterical free-for-all involving millions of Sages.

The nine original Cosmic Overlords, the Sage-Emperors who had governed the construction of the Realm of Immortality, were surprisingly overthrown first.

They were too corrupt and no longer in their prime. Despite their immense power in the past, their control over the rules of the "Realm of Immortality" led directly to their overthrow.

Immediately, the rules of the Realm of Immortality began to scatter everywhere.

Countless Sages began to hunt and seize them. Within mere hours, the Realm of Immortality's rule-bloodlines changed hands over a dozen times, controlled by different Sages only to be lost again.

This battle was too brutal.

It erupted too swiftly; in just over a century, the Sages were almost completely depleted.

The Nine Multiverses, beyond the Chaos Heavens, were extensively stained with Sage blood. Countless Sages perished, their embodied rules returning to the universe, resulting in a tragedy beyond description.

And the true puppet masters behind the scenes reappeared on this land.

"Who would have thought we would live so long?"

From the void, an ancient figure emerged, saying, "As Chaos Demon Gods, we once acknowledged Yi Mang as our master and experienced the War of Three Thousand Demon Gods."

Another ancient being also appeared, stating, "As Chaos Demon Gods, we clung to life for countless more years, discovered the rules of the Multiverse, and achieved enlightenment within it."

"Alas, Nü Yi has left us."

At this moment, the surviving victors across the universe stared at these two ancient beings, their eyes wide with disbelief.

They had believed themselves to be the ultimate victors, holding the authority of the Realm of Immortality, but never expected hidden manipulators.

"Impossible!"

"Zhi Weng, Ku Xiu, you two ancient taboos, Demon Gods of the Primordial Era! You died of old age shortly after opening the Multiverse at your final moments. How could you have survived until today?"

"You already perished! Your Great Dao has returned to the universe's Great Dao map—that is proof of your demise, it cannot be faked!"

The remaining Sages despaired.

"Who said that when our Great Dao returns to the universe, we perish?"

One of the ancient taboos smiled slightly, "We found a bloodline that allows us to sever our original bloodline, causing us to fall from the Sage realm and become Tenth-Order descendants without any Great Dao bloodline. This way, we are no longer afraid of being assimilated by the universe... We then integrated with an immortal bloodline and have lived until today."

"Impossible," they said, despairing. "In the past, before his demise, Yi Mang made several disciples sever their immortality, ensuring no loopholes to circumvent it... And Yi Mang directly killed them after they achieved enlightenment to prevent them from leaving loopholes and decaying."

The ancient Zhi Weng chuckled lightly. "In this world, apart from Yi Mang, who among those who achieved enlightenment had no selfish motives? Back then, when we three thousand Demon Gods achieved enlightenment, each of us secretly left a flaw, a hidden door, in our own rules... known only to ourselves."

Another ancient being, named Ku Xiu, replied with a smile, "At that time, we wondered if the disciples Yi Mang took in before his death, those who severed their immortality, might also have secretly left hidden doors... So we searched continuously and finally found the flaws they had left behind."

"Heh... Yi Mang, back then, directly killed them after they achieved enlightenment, fearing they would become corrupt and decay in their old age... They would become the only flaw in immortality. Yet, he never imagined that even in their youth, when they achieved enlightenment, they already harbored selfish motives and secretly left flaws behind their master's back."

The surrounding Sages fell completely silent, filled with despair.

"It's a pity. Originally, there should have been three of us here; Nü Yi should have been part of it."

"The moment the Multiverse was opened and divided into nine continents, we two saw the rules of the universe, the possibility of the Realm of Immortality, and a tenth universe—we decided to secretly cross into the future."

"Therefore, we each took in nine Sage Emperors as disciples, subtly hinting to them about achieving enlightenment in the Realm of Immortality... As for us, we faked our deaths to escape and lived until seven hundred million years into the future."

The two beings exchanged smiles. Behind them, countless hidden disciples followed.

They had already decayed.

Long ago, in the same era as Nü Yi, they had already lost their innovation and their drive to forge ahead.

However, their disciples were still young. As long as they saw the future of the Realm of Immortality, they would take these talented youths under their wing, tasking their disciples with deducing the era.

"What about you? You deduced this era for these old decrepits, why didn't you betray them?" At this point, a blood-soaked Sage shakily stood up and looked at the disciples of the two ancient Sages.

"These two Chaos Demon Gods, their powerful rules have already returned to the universe. Their current Great Dao rules are probably very ordinary, and their combat power is far inferior to you, the Heavenly Talents."

However, these young Sages following the two did not dare to betray them.

Xu Zhi also grew curious. These young Sages behind them must be Chizhi and her generation... But why didn't they dare to betray them?

"We have decayed, but they are still young."

One ancient Sage sighed, "We promised them a place in the future, to share honor and disgrace. How could they possibly betray us?"

"But there was indeed a possibility of betrayal, yet they dared not."

"They still cannot overthrow us with new knowledge, because in our youngest and most prosperous period, we left enough contingencies to protect our aging bodies as we journey into the future."

The two beings smiled.

"Using the hidden doors in the rules we established when we achieved enlightenment back then, we have now re-established a new rule that will only be stronger, not weaker, than our original one!"

"Given this, how could they possibly betray us?"

The two exchanged glances.

Xu Zhi stood high above, observing everything, finding it highly intriguing.

Suddenly, Nü Yi appeared beside him, watching this historical scene.

"Those two, to think they had such methods...."

Nü Yi chuckled, feeling a tinge of regret. "However, when I was one of the Three Thousand Demon Gods, I too had selfish motives when I achieved enlightenment. I also left a hidden door in my own enlightenment rules... I had intended to use it, but now I have no use for it. I am different from them now."

"What hidden door?" Xu Zhi asked curiously.

These Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods, when establishing the main doctrines for heaven and earth, each one was a cunning old fox, secretly leaving a contingency?

"My hidden door... Didn't I achieve enlightenment on the universe's rules for the birth of life?"

Nü Yi replied calmly, "I left a tiny flaw that allows another Sage to achieve enlightenment on a rule, a hidden door that enables them to evolve life... This rule is indeed stronger than the original life rule."

"It's like that saying: 'Heaven's Dao governs forty-nine, humanity escapes with one'... I secretly let that 'one' slip away."

Nü Yi smiled wistfully, looking down at the two below. "It's a pity I separated from them. Otherwise, I might also have severed my original bloodline and re-achieved enlightenment through this hidden door of life rules, joining them... They too have now severed their original bloodlines and re-achieved enlightenment through their hidden doors, making their rules stronger than in their previous lives."