Chapter 2068 - The Dark Days of Legend

Somewhere in a palace.

“Everyone, I’ve let countless years slip through my fingers, and accomplished little. I live as if drunk or dreaming, a weak-willed waste of life.

“But I’ve always been bitter. I refuse to just submit to my fate! I won’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers too! Even if I die, I’m going to die fighting. Even if it kills me, I’ll have no regrets!”

On this day, a venerable, white-haired elder left the ancestral home he’d been living in for a long time, his chest full of valiant spirit and his eyes shining like a youth’s.

When he made this decision, he recalled when he first arrived in the River of Epochs. Back then, he was a dazzling, unparalleled figure within the Great Profound Stage, and his heart blazed with ambition!

His fellows called him a hegemon among them, the one with the greatest hope of achieving divinity!

But the passage of time and countless years of exposure to the wind and rain wore away all these glories. Dreams of achieving divinity were too fleeting and ethereal, and the River of Epochs was far too cruel and perilous.

Ultimately, even once-unparalleled figures found their ambition ground away to dust. This once valiant cultivator was now an old man in his twilight years, clinging desperately to life.

But now, when he sensed that the Path of the Ancient Gods had appeared and heard the bell resounding throughout the darkness, the old man’s spirit reawakened, and he rediscovered his youthful hotbloodedness and ambition!

......

“I want to try it! No matter how lowly or untalented I might be, and no matter how small my chances of achieving divinity, I... have decided to try it!”

“I’ve endured far too many eyerolls and jeers in my life. I’m going to attempt to overcome the Path of the Ancient Gods, not to prove how extraordinary I am, but to prove that so long as a cultivator’s Dao Heart lives on, he can pursue the Grand Dao!”

A middle-aged man on the down and out packed up his belongings and decisively left his clan.

......

“Entering the Path of the Ancient Gods isn’t a matter of cultivation base, but of individual ability. In that case, why shouldn’t I test myself?

“I’m not doing this to become a god. Even if I acquire nothing in the end, I’ll have seen and experienced this. That’s enough!”

An excited young man set off in high spirits, a sword case on his back.

......

Similar scenes took place throughout the River of Epochs. The opening of the Path of the Ancient Gods had become the center of attention.

“The bell rang for all to hear!

“The Path of the Ancient Gods has never opened for just one person or just one faction. Everyone in the River of Epochs has an opportunity to explore it so long as they have the spirit.

“Challengers flock to it, heedless of life, death, victory, and defeat. They go to see it, experience it, and to temper themselves!

“I hope everyone has a chance to grow stronger! And that all might soar like dragons! For

that

is the true purpose of the Path of the Ancient Gods!”

The River Lord waved his arms about and shouted with incomparable excitement. His scraggly hair and beard waved in the air, and his eyes shone with unprecedented brilliance.

Su Yi gazed intently at him. Inwardly, he repeated the phrases, “The bell rang for all to hear!” and “I hope everyone has a chance to grow stronger! And that all might soar like dragons!”

What breadth of spirit! Did the River Lord watch over the River of Epochs all this time in anticipation of this day?

At the same time, Su Yi noticed that the Master Gods watched on with cold indifference and even a hint of disdain. The same was true of all the rulers of the forbidden zones.

It seemed that they saw all talk of “the masses soaring like dragons” as a big joke. After all, reality was cruel!

The Path of the Ancient Gods didn’t just bring opportunities for good fortune. It came with grave peril, slaughter, and brutal competition!

Su Yi was no hot-blooded youth. He knew that only a handful of those who entered would leave the Path of the Ancient Gods with smiles on their faces. He also knew that no small number of people would die vying for good fortune.

Still, Su Yi approved of the River Lord’s point of view. The world had never lacked those without fear of death, but it had always lacked opportunities!

Especially for Great Profound Stage cultivators. Opportunities to achieve divinity were just too rare and precious. They could only be happened upon by chance.

Were those who failed to achieve divinity too weak? Were they untalented? Were their foundations lacking? Were their Dao Hearts insufficiently staunch?

No!

They simply lacked the opportunity they needed to achieve divinity! And the Path of the Ancient Gods could provide just that.

It was enough!

“Fellow Daoist, it’s your turn to take the stage.” The River Lord beckoned to the distant Su Yi.

Opening the spacetime portal that led to the Path of the Ancient Gods required an Epoch Spark.

Su Yi glanced at Luo Xuanji. “Come with me.”

Luo Xuanji froze, stunned. A moment later, her eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but smile.

Putting my life on the line seems to have earned me his trust!

A moment later, beneath countless eyes, Su Yi and Luo Xuanji approached the massive and mysterious spacetime portal.

“You don’t have anything to say to me first?” Su Yi looked at the River Lord.

According to Xu Xingke, the River Lord had been waiting for him for a long, long time.

“The Path of the Ancient Gods has re-entered this world. I had things to say, but there’s no longer any need,” the River Lord said with a grin. “If I really had to pick something to say, it’d be, ‘I hope you can achieve divinity on this expedition and kill all your enemies while you’re at it!’”

Su Yi nodded. Achieving divinity was one of his goals for this trip to the Path of the Ancient Gods!

He would use his Dao of the Sword to carve open a unique Path to Divinity from the Hidden Summit Realm!

“Become a god and kill all your enemies?” Old Man Providence couldn’t help but laugh coldly. He didn’t say anything overtly insulting, but his disdain was readily apparent.

Bang!

The River Lord swung his fist into Old Man Providence’s chest, shattering his avatar of will.

“Nothing irritates me more than wisecrackers like you. You’re fucking annoying!” griped the River Lord. He then urged Su Yi to get moving.

Su Yi didn’t delay. He called to Luo Xuanji and headed for the gates.

“Fellow Daoist, the Path of the Ancient Gods connects lost epochs and runs through the turbulent spacetime. You must take care. No matter what, you cannot let anything happen to you,” Master God Yun He said coldly.

Su Yi paused, then looked askance at him. “I recall that there the Three Purities’ Daoist Court’s Twelve Volumes of Daoist Celestial Writ are hidden on Greater Purity Peak. When I visit the God Domain, I’ll visit in person and peruse these Daoist canons for myself.”

Master God Yun He glowered. Was Su Yi just making idle conversation? No! He’d obviously taken an interest in their sect’s core legacies!

Wenren Qin said expressionlessly, “A long, long time has passed, and the God Domain has changed. Even if you achieve divinity and return, there’s no place for you there!”

Su Yi just laughed. “You don’t make the rules for the entire God Domain.”

He continued toward the entrance, but just as he was about to arrive, the Dipankara Buddha said, “Three of your dear friends from your past life have fallen. Even if you go back, you’ll never see them again.”

Su Yi sank into silence before saying, “When the time comes, I’ll take your head personally to soothe their vengeful spirits.”

He spoke calmly, but the atmosphere was instantly austere. The Master Gods’ eyes flashed. They’d have loved nothing more than to seize this opportunity to eradicate Su Yi where he stood and avert future difficulties.

Alas, with an old hooligan like the River Lord around, that would be difficult to accomplish.

All they could do was suppress their bitterness and murderous intent.

But then, the River Lord suddenly interjected, “The present age has reached its apex and will soon begin its decline. The God Domain will experience great upheaval in the years to come.”

This declaration left everyone stunned.

The River Lord continued, entirely unperturbed, “When the time comes, the lost civilizations of the past and the dark currents hidden deep within turbulent spacetime will reappear, one after another.

“The past and future in their entirety, the darkness, and the unknown will all appear in the present due to this spacetime turbulence.”

Lost civilizations! The darkness and the unknown! The past and future in their entirety! All of them would appear in the present day due to turbulent spacetime?

Even the Master Gods were stunned, and their expressions filled with uncertainty.

Was this mere alarmism? Or had there always been signs that this was coming?

“Look! Those old-timers aren’t of this age, so why are they still alive?” The River Lord gestured to the rulers of the forbidden zones. “It’s because they seized a chance at life amidst turbulent spacetime.”

Meanwhile, Daoist Master Endless Tribulations, the Nine Li God Queen, and the other rulers of forbidden zones were equally stunned. Not even they had anticipated what the River Lord had just shared with them.

The past was long gone, and the future was full of unknowns, but now, both would soon appear in the present day and age!

That was far too strange!

Even Su Yi couldn’t help but take another look at the River Lord.

How many secrets is this dirty old hooligan hiding?

“Don’t look at me. That’s all I can predict,” sighed the River Lord. “By the way, all of this is happening because reincarnation has been gone for far too long. The River of Epochs has started to dry up, and the natural order maintaining the division of the past, present, and future is starting to crumble.

“This is why space and time are in turbulence and why the present is so tumultuous. It’s too late to stop this from happening. The days to come will be dark and tumultuous. Perhaps... we could call them ‘the Dark Days of Legend!’”

The crowd’s hearts shook.

The Dark Days of Legend!

The very thought filled their hearts with an impending sense of crisis.

“Of course, none of this has happened yet.” The River Lord looked at the Dipankara Buddha and the other Master Gods, then smiled faintly. “So you’d best be careful, or you might well find yourselves corroded by darkness and destroyed when Su Yi goes to the God Domain. If that happens, you’ll only make laughingstocks of yourselves.”

The Master Gods glowered, but they looked bewildered and uncertain. They didn’t argue with the River Lord. The information he’d just revealed to them was far too shocking!

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“Does that mean that those of us confined to forbidden zones will have an opportunity to break free and strive for greater heights of the Grand Dao in the present?” Daoist Master Endless Tribulations couldn’t help but ask.

The other rulers of forbidden zones couldn’t help but prick up their ears, too.

The River Lord laughed coldly. “That’s right. You will indeed have the opportunity, but you’d best prepare if you don’t want the darkness to erase you! This cataclysm will completely overturn the balance of the past, present, and future, and all of you will be swept into it, too!

“You’re fortunate in that you’ll witness the onset of an age of great chaos, and unfortunate in that when the darkness comes, you won’t be able to avoid getting involved!”

The atmosphere was instantly heavy. Even the rulers of forbidden zones sank into silence

“Did I scare you?” The River Lord jeered. “What a bunch of cowards!”