Chapter 1564: The Heavenly Emperor Returns to His Homeland

The supreme decree from the heavens was issued… A cracking sound!

The slender envoy stood frozen in place, his hair standing on end. He simply couldn't believe his senses. Was this real?

That was a decree bearing the personal seal of the progenitor of their lineage!

An existence unrivaled across heaven and earth, unfathomable, its origin inscrutable. No one knew what kind of being that truly was.

His handwritten decree was terrifyingly powerful, capable of slaying all living beings and tracing back through eons across all heavens. Yet now it had actually cracked!

At this moment, the envoy understood and even sensed that an invincible being had appeared at the ends of heaven and earth, as if emerging from ancient desolation and recovering from the depths of time.

That person was too powerful, reaching everywhere, carving a path through the great Dao of heaven and earth, forging ahead, spanning several epochs, and emerging from that ancient era.

"An… Heavenly Emperor?!" The envoy was terrified, then he could no longer bear it, trembling uncontrollably and prostrating himself on the ground.

Because that person's gaze swept over, staring at the decree he carried.

The cracked decree successfully caught that person's attention.

But that was all; after the decree shattered, that person turned and departed.

A thick mist enveloped him; he seemed eternal and unchanging, existing throughout ancient history.

But in an instant, he became faint again, gradually vaporizing, about to vanish from the world.

On the battlefield of the two realms, everyone felt it even more intensely. Facing an unparalleled power, an indescribably supreme being, their very souls trembled.

Around everyone, Dao patterns emerged—the rules and fragments of the Great Dao they themselves had mastered and comprehended resonated in submission, wanting to prostrate themselves before that person!

Especially beyond the heavens, whether it was the Yuan clan or the Four Calamity Sparrows, those Immortal Kings were practically scared to death!

How could a true Heavenly Emperor have been alarmed into appearing?

The Immortal Kings of the Yuan clan had already knelt down, continuously kowtowing. The Four Calamity Sparrows and others also trembled, prostrating themselves in worship, with a profound sense of fear originating from the deepest part of their hearts.

They found it hard to believe that a Heavenly Emperor would cross the river of time, break free from ancient space-time, and actually come to the present world.

Fortunately, they had submitted earlier and not confronted the Dog King to the death.

However, they were deeply surprised that figure actually… ignored them!

At this moment, even though the Dog King and the Corpse had a familiar relationship with that person, due to the resonance of the Dao and the difference in their life levels, they too trembled.

Fortunately, even though that person was a phantom and not their true body, they still remembered them, nodded slightly, and finally sighed as they looked at the Emperor's Corpse that the Dog King was guarding and caring for.

He became even more faint, about to dissipate in the gentle breeze and return to the annals of ancient history.

"Old Ye, are you human or ghost? What's your situation now? Where are you?!" The Corpse shouted, very urgently.

That figure did not respond, becoming more blurred but not completely vanishing. Instead, it was omnipresent like the Great Dao. On this day, many saw traces of him appearing in numerous ancient ruins.

Those were ancient lands where he had past experiences and once lingered, and also desolate places where he had left behind unparalleled achievements.

The Dog King's cloudy old eyes welled up with tears. Trembling, it was about to howl and chase after him, but in the end, Jiudao Yi stopped it and shook his head.

"This is a manifestation of the Great Dao, not his true self," Jiudao Yi said. "Chasing him is useless."

Then, people saw the Emperor's phantom dissipate, carrying immense power, turning into a cloud of white mist that evaporated from the Yang Realm.

However, a few individuals were deeply shaken, sensing something.

Especially the Dog King, it widened its eyes, wishing it could immediately chase after him, because it detected that person's coordinate location was—the Lesser Netherworld.

Back then, the Heavenly Emperor had come from that old place, born there.

"Is this an obsession? Is this his final turning back glance after his path has ended?!" The Corpse whispered, muttering.

"The Heavenly Emperor… returning home!?" The Dog King was weeping bitterly, because it knew that was the Heavenly Emperor's homeland.

That figure arrived in the starry sky of the Lesser Netherworld, gazing at Earth from afar. Ultimately, it did not approach; although born there, it had been away for too long, and everything had changed.

"He… couldn't have met with an accident, could he?" The Dog King suddenly became afraid.

Otherwise, why would he be reluctant to leave and want to return to his homeland? Was this meant to be a final glance?

When it thought of these things and considered this point, it shuddered repeatedly, and immense fear welled up in its heart.

"No, how could something happen to him? He even manifested and fought by the Soul River last time! Don't talk nonsense and scare people!" The Corpse said, very seriously.

However, he was also panicking internally, feeling a great sense of loss and an attachment he couldn't let go of, as if there would be no day for them to meet again in this life.

Had something really happened to the Heavenly Emperor?

Or rather, had he reached some cursed land and could no longer return?

After all, both the Corpse and the Dog King knew that the Heavenly Emperor had recuperated in the bronze coffin for countless years, but in the end, the coffin was empty, left to them.

All these years, what had truly happened?

Last time, the Dog King and the Corpse were still very confident, thinking the Heavenly Emperor had made a breakthrough and there would surely be a day they would meet again; they even conversed across space. But why did they now feel he would never return?

Why was this?

"Why?" Jiudao Yi also muttered to himself, questioning, with too many unanswered questions.

Just like the person he looked up to and revered, why had he never returned, and why had even his traces in ancient history almost completely vanished?

Having reached that point, was there no turning back, no choice left?

"He… he wouldn't also become like that person, would he? His figure absent from all ancient history, perhaps such a person never existed?" The Dog King trembled, its aged body continuously quivering slightly.

These were words it had spoken when arguing with Jiudao Yi; would they now also apply to the Heavenly Emperor it followed?

Such a change, was it due to an accident, or was there truly no return path forever?

"If you are destined to vanish from our hearts, would that count as being gone, or is it factual eternal silence, truly dead?"

The Dog King's mind raced; it was truly afraid.

"Nothing will happen, he will eventually return!" the Corpse comforted.

In truth, whether it was him, the Dog King, or Jiudao Yi, they were all filled with confusion and immense dread about that realm.

What kind of path was that, exactly?

Why did he never appear again, seemingly unable to return in this lifetime?

"Hmm, something's wrong!" A chill ran down Jiudao Yi's spine.

In the starry sky of the Lesser Netherworld, the Heavenly Emperor's blurring, dissipating figure suddenly surged with immense energy unparalleled throughout ancient and modern times. Even his eyes became intimidating, burning like suns, incredibly brilliant.

He stared at his homeland, looking at Earth, a place he had almost never set foot on again after turning and leaving that year.

Now, he discovered a problem: someone was manipulating this place. The entire Earth was in a cycle of reincarnation, constantly changing, and time had fallen into a strange loop.

He acted, attacking with such might for the first time!

In an instant, he shattered an invisible celestial curtain. Outside of Earth, a layer of supreme Great Dao ripples suddenly bloomed, and then that light barrier silently shattered.

This did not harm any living beings on his homeland, and in fact, no one even noticed.

But the power of this single finger reversed time, pierced through the ages, broke through this confined strange loop, overturned reincarnation, and struck towards an unknown place.

In a distant land, an inscrutable mighty power erupted. Someone let out a muffled groan, causing the Great Dao of heaven and earth to tremble violently. Someone was hit!

This person was not in the present world either, seemingly sitting beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, far removed from all realms, their entire body scoured by time and baptized by ages, becoming the origin point of a certain path of evolution!

Now, he had suffered a blow from the Heavenly Emperor!

Furthermore, the Heavenly Emperor did not hold back and moved again, directly unleashing his Emperor's Fist, which had been unrivaled across the world back then, blasting towards that blurred figure!

Time was in chaos, all of ancient history roared, and all heavens swayed precariously, on the verge of collapse, about to cease to exist.

This scene was too horrifying. The Heavenly Emperor attacked, striking towards the end of a certain evolutionary path—or rather, its origin—the birthplace of a terrifying being!

"What… was that?!"

Whether it was Jiudao Yi or the Dog King, they were both shocked when they sensed it.

As for Chu Feng, his heart trembled even more. He had always been puzzled: who exactly was enacting Earth's past, continuously replaying a certain period of history, causing it to cycle?

An invisible black hand had always made Chu Feng extremely wary, preventing him from returning to the Lesser Netherworld. Now, a turning point had appeared.

The Heavenly Emperor had arrived. Was he going to break through that layer of mist?!