Chapter 797: Mother River Drying Up and the New Era

“Because he’s about to die of old age?”

This single sentence struck everyone like a bolt from the blue.

Could such a grand cosmic being, one who has existed since ancient times, empowered this Solar System civilization, transcended eighth-tier deities, and was capable of twisting cosmic rules – could even such an enlightened being die of old age?

“How can he die?” Ji Shang couldn’t help but ask.

Ji Shang, a seeker of truth for his own civilization, felt a profound sadness.

The terrifying realization that even such a great cosmic being could one day perish felt even more devastating than the previous shock.

“Twisting rules is not the same as changing them.”

Ji, sitting on his chair, turned and spoke softly to the emerald green tree, as if talking to himself.

“Just like this tree, life is a straight line. From birth to death is a process; birth is its beginning, death its end. You can twist its length, its process, but you cannot alter its beginning or its end. Similarly, with the light you seek to twist, you merely warp its speed, not fundamentally change or erase its existence....”

Ji, with his youthful appearance and gentle, sunny disposition, read under the tree, appearing as beautiful as a character from a fairy tale.

He looked like a young boy herding cattle and reading beneath a tree, as if his mother might call him home at any moment.

“When your realm is high enough, you will discover that ideology, ‘my heart is the world,’ will be the path to higher tiers... But that is all. Even the greatest high-dimensional life cannot alter the ancient, preordained rules of the universe. Before life and death, we are all equal.”

So?

An incredible thought suddenly flashed through Ji Shang’s mind as he murmured to himself, “Then, if he’s about to die of old age, is the immortal bloodline appearing in this world... a way for him to save himself!”

Beside him, Li Li was even more horrified.

He stared, wide-eyed and complexly, at the young man named ‘Ji’ before him, as if recalling a hazy memory from just yesterday.

That terrifying ninth-tier being, who had appeared in a hospital on Earth and brought him into this galaxy, was the true instigator, the mastermind behind everything!

What did this mean?

This terrifying cosmic titan already knew Earth’s coordinates!

“It’s too terrifying,” he murmured.

He felt as if he was seeing the ultimate mastermind, hidden in the mist, an enemy who had long been incredibly close, yet they had remained completely unaware.

At the time, Li Li had always wondered why he had transmigrated.

What was the reason for his transmigration?

Only today did the reason dawn on him: because he was about to die.

Yes, that was when Ji began researching the immortal bloodline, bringing him to this land to allow the ‘spark’ of immortality to spread throughout this galactic testing ground he had created, seeking a way to live on.

“Is it because of the Blood of Immortality?”

Ji Shang, too, lost his voice, gazing at the bright young man before him. “Even if this land was created on a whim, there was ultimately a secondary objective... to use this galaxy, to casually create a civilization for researching the immortal bloodline, and then...”

Were we all created for this purpose?

All the ministers, the leaders of the Kyushu planets, and the Continent Kings had drastic changes in expression.

Only then did they realize that the Blood of Immortality seemed to be something extraordinary.

Their civilization had no prior comparison.

Before, they had only considered the Blood of Immortality a relatively precious treasure, but now, with even such a great being facing death by old age, its immense value was clear!

Even an enlightened being who transcended cosmic rules coveted it.

However, another question arose.

Ji, who was once known as the Moon God, was not born with an immortal bloodline, and still didn’t possess one, as he was about to die of old age... So, where did this incredibly precious immortal bloodline, suddenly acquired just before his death, come from?

The natives did not understand.

Only Yuan Qinghua and Li Li knew the terrible truth.

It was the spoils of a world-shattering war.

And so, this spoil was used to open up this Solar System civilization and research immortal beings. This was the entire origin and truth!

“I was destined to die a very, very long time ago,” the young man said with a melancholic expression. “Sages know their destiny, and so do I, even down to every minute and second. So, I journeyed through the vast universe, searching for a way to achieve eternal life, roaming the boundless void until I encountered another civilization...”

Goosebumps erupted all over Yuan Qinghua’s skin.

“That was a very unique and prosperous super-civilization. Two of their great beings could live forever; they had already lived for hundreds of thousands of years, which was simply incredible. That was the lifespan of several ninth-tier beings. Such prolonged existence made them almost invincible within the ninth-tier realm....”

Yuan Qinghua was completely shaken to his core.

Yes, according to their conjectures, the two Ancient Gods should be similar to the long-lived Cycle Lords, invincible within their realm. One person could possess the combat power of countless Grand Sages of the same tier, which was incredibly exaggerated.

If the Cycle Lord could dominate the entire seventh tier, severing the immortal path, then the two Ancient Gods should be the same in the ninth tier!

Yet, one of these exaggerated ancient Chinese ancestors and Ancient Gods was actually beaten to death by the being standing before them.

“Ordinary ninth-tier beings do not live for more than a hundred thousand years! Ji is an ordinary ninth-tier being in terms of lifespan, at most only eighty to ninety thousand years old, yet his combat power is heaven-defying!”

At this thought, goosebumps completely covered Yuan Qinghua.

This was a monster.

Perhaps Emperor Qi, no! Maybe even surpassing Emperor Qi...

This heaven-defying monster! Not to mention that the heirs of the Ancient Gods are still struggling at the threshold of the ninth tier, competing without a clear victor, even if they were to break through to the ninth tier, their combat power would only be that of an ordinary ninth-tier being.

Could they truly win?

The time left for them was too short.

The more they learned as their true enemy revealed himself, the more terrified they became.

“I asked them for the coordinates of their immortal planet... And so, a great battle erupted.”

Ji continued to recount leisurely, “That was a very tragic battle. We each had several ordinary ninth-tier beings under our command, but they were almost instantly beaten to death the moment our full combat power erupted. It was truly pitiful; for those stronger ‘ants,’ breaking through to the ninth tier was probably the limit of their lives. They were far inferior to us, great beings with the potential to break through to the tenth tier. The conflict lasted only a few short years, but almost every day, powerful worlds of the Mother River civilization fell. The Mother River was shattered, and the ancient sorcerers and elemental emperors in its void all perished...”

“The eternal true source of the Mother River was depleted.”

In just these few sentences, everyone envisioned a cosmic mythical war of earth-shattering proportions, a struggle fought with almost desperate effort.

“They had two, and I had only one. But it was clear that only one of them could be awake at any given time... In a one-on-one fight, I had no fear,” the young man, Ji, said.

Ji Shang felt completely numb and couldn’t help but ask, “That was an entire Mother River civilization, utterly destroyed just to prolong one person’s life...”

Beside him, the ministers’ expressions changed drastically again; Ji Shang was provoking this ancient being!

Previously, Ji Shang had been very rational, but now he seemed utterly irrational.

“My life is naturally more important than a civilization,” the young man, Ji, said, looking at his book. “If an ant colony is gone, you can just build another one.”

Everyone fell silent.

The young man, Ji, closed his book and looked at them, continuing, “The other one, the remaining individual, he woke up, and I was unwilling to fight him to the death... Although I appeared to have an absolute advantage, able to outlive him until his next slumber and then beat him to death... in reality, my situation was quite similar to his.”

“Yes, but what after I beat him to death? As you yourselves realize, I am about to die of old age... I, too, would soon merge with the Blood of Immortality and follow in his footsteps. I also needed a protector.”

The young man, Ji, stood up and looked towards the entire sky. “Everything was progressing according to my plan: completely annihilating the other side’s civilization to eliminate future troubles... But according to the plan, I now needed a protector with an immortal bloodline.”

Boom!

As these words fell, everyone’s gaze became fervent.