Chapter 883: Background

"I was the one who brought them here."

That one short sentence instantly changed the expressions of both Supreme Genesis and Primordial. They exchanged a glance, feeling a chill run down their spines.

The radiant light within them, resembling the working of a cosmos, surged violently. It seemed ready to erupt at any moment, to break free from the Violet Nightsky Palace.

For a long time, no one spoke.

The two Supremes kept their eyes on Supreme Regalheaven, who stood motionless, seemingly lost in memory. Eventually, they couldn't hold back.

"Why?" one of them asked.

Supreme Primordial followed up,"Why would you do such a thing?"

Supreme Regalheaven's eyes bore the weight of countless ages. It was as if... in his world, an eternity had already passed.

Eventually, he replied,"I've been waiting for someone."

It was a strange answer, completely off-topic, as if he had deliberately avoided the question.

There was a flicker of confusion in his eyes. Maybe even a trace of bewilderment. "But... I forgot who I was waiting for."

He turned to face Primrodial and Genesis. In the black-and-white depths of his eyes, they saw a sorrow that stretched beyond time, one that could never be unraveled.

"Only recently... did I finally remember. All this time, I've been waiting for him."

The two Supremes looked at each other, baffled.

But as Supreme Primordial began to understand what those words truly meant, a cold dread slowly settled over him."You mean... your memory was tampered with?"

The moment he said that, Supreme Genesis felt a jolt in his chest as well.

Memory tampered with? This is Supreme Regalheaven! An ancient, enigmatic existence! The undisputed number one in the Supreme Council... the foremost figure in the entire Human Race.

Especially after merging with Equiheaven, calling him the strongest of all Supremes still wouldn't do his strength justice. How could someone like that... have his memories tampered with?

"It wasn't just memory," Supreme Regalheaven said slowly. "It was... the meaning of my existence."

His eyes seemed to pierce through the endless rivers of time, gazing back into a distant era, one that predated the collapse of the Ancient Astral World, an age of unparalleled cultivation glory.

The greatest being in the universe, the foremost of the Supreme Council, murmured softly to himself, "The moment a thought arises, so does existence. The moment that thought fades... so does all."

However, the words landed like thunder in the hearts of the two Supremes, shaking the very foundation of their understanding.

"I... came into being because of a single thought from him."

Rumble, rumble!

It was as if a grand bell had tolled deep within their very souls.

That resounding hum surged in waves, crashing against everything they understood about the world and all existence. It tore it all down, broke it apart, and began to rebuild it from the ground up.

The starlight radiating from their True Forms began to violently tremble. Countless stars flared into supernovae, and the resulting brilliance burst outward unchecked in every direction.

Fortunately, the Violet Nightsky Palace, buried deep within Abyssal Rift No.1, was infinitely close to the Void of Chaos. Had it been anywhere else, the energy they released would've been enough to extinguish all the stars in an entire galaxy.

They had lost control. The overwhelming shock to their minds triggered this destructive phenomenon, born from a complete collapse of their inner spirits.

Though the two Supremes quickly reacted and managed to suppress the power surge, the words spoken by Supreme Regalheaven had left them reeling, unable to recover for a long time.

Silence fell. A heavy, suffocating stillness lingered for several breaths.

At last, with great effort, Supreme Primordial gathered his thoughts and released an inner spirit wave. "What... do you mean, you exist because of a single thought from him...?"

"It's exactly as it sounds," Supreme Regalheaven replied, turning his gaze toward him. "I... am a lifeform born from a single thought of his."

Supreme Genesis felt as if the entire Astral World had crashed down on him. The pressure was so immense that even his thoughts struggled to flow.

He found himself breathing unevenly, as if only through these ragged breaths could he ease the weight pressing down on his soul.

Only after several breaths did he finally manage to ask, voice low and strained,"Who... was it?"

Who could possibly create a Supreme with just a single thought? If such a being truly existed... just how unfathomably powerful must they be?

"I don't know," Supreme Regalheaven admitted, confusion evident in his voice. "I've forgotten him... forgotten everything about him. Even just a few centuries ago, I couldn't recall his existence at all. It was as if... he had never existed to begin with. As if everything about him had been erased. And because of that, everything I was born with because of him... was lost as well. I became incomplete."

It was because of that incompleteness... that he had been able to split into two, becoming both Supreme Regalheaven and Transcendent Equiheaven.

He let out a faint sigh. "I merely... followed some unseen guidance. I followed the instinct deep within me and formed the Supreme Council to preserve order in this universe. Day after day, I studied the essence of the Astral World, hoping to uncover the secrets of this realm..."

Supreme Genesis exclaimed, "A few centuries ago... and you only just remembered!?"

Supreme Regalheaven nodded. "Yes."

The two Supremes fell silent. For a moment, neither could process the terrifying weight of this revelation.

No words could truly capture how much this shook and upended their entire understanding of the universe.

The strongest being in the Supreme Council, likely the first Supreme of the entire universe, was actually... born of a single thought. What kind of power was this? What realm had that person reached?

After a long silence, Primordial recalled something and asked, "Then what does all this have to do with the Astral Lord Council?"

Supreme Regalheaven looked at the two Supremes. After weighing the potential consequences this truth might bring, he said, "The beings behind the Astral Lord Council... are from the same era as I am."

He paused for a moment. "In fact, they may be even older than me."

He turned his head and stared at the vortex within the palace. More precisely, at the chaos and void swirling within it. "For some reason... perhaps out of fear... they left this world. But some among them never went far. They've lingered just outside the bounds of the universe... Equiheaven once sensed their presence from afar."

Regalheaven continued, "And those beings come from an era even more ancient than mine... So I want to know if they possess any information about that great existence."

After speaking, he glanced at Genesis and Primordial. "I believe that such a supreme and mighty being could not have gone unnoticed during that time."

The two Supremes immediately grasped what Regalheaven meant. He wanted to lure those ancient beings into the universe, either by subduing them or cooperating with them, so he could extract the answers he sought to ease the doubts in his heart.

Primordial still hadn't made the connection. "But the Astral Lord Council—"

Regalheaven calmly offered his reasoning, "I mentioned earlier that their departure may have been out of fear... fear of some mysterious presence or force within this universe. There's nothing like that in my memory... which likely means it predates even me. But if they feared it, then naturally, they'd need to send out a probing force."

And that probing force is the Astral Lord Council....

Genesis and Primordial exchanged a glance. It was a lot to take in.

"One last question," Primordial said in a low voice.

"You want to ask whether their path is the right one," Regalheaven responded calmly. "I can't give you an answer. In a way, your path, our path, and theirs—are all fundamentally the same. At most, there are slight deviations due to differing environments. Thanks to the long passage of time, they've simply walked further along that road... that's all."

"Then how can they live within the Void of Chaos?"

"Their path leans toward the Transcendent."

Genesis and Primordial both looked a little disappointed. "Transcendent..."

After a while, Primordial withdrew the hope he had placed on those mysterious beings.

He glanced at Regalheaven. "Why was there no warning at all? You should have at least said something."

"It happened too fast," Regalheaven replied. "There's likely another force at play. The Astral Lord Council isn't just some faction that's only been around for a few hundred years."

Primordial and Genesis quickly caught on. "Someone else is involved?"

Since Equiheaven had already sensed

Them

, it made sense that other Supremes, Highlords, or Transcendents might have encountered

Them

too while journeying through the Void of Chaos.

At that thought, the two Supremes, who had felt somewhat uneasy earlier, could only sigh inwardly.

Even if it hadn't been Regalheaven, someone else would have drawn Them in eventually.

Or perhaps... some had already begun working with

Them

long ago. It's just that the Supremes were left in the dark about it.

"Then, should we step in and stop the Astral Lord Council's spread across the Astral World?"

"Wait," Regalheaven said calmly. "Let's wait a little longer, until one of

Them

truly makes a move."

Genesis and Primordial exchanged glances. They, too, were curious about these ancient beings.

These beings might have progressed further along the path, but the fact that they still dared not enter this universe suggested one thing. Their strength might not be as overwhelming as it seemed.

In that case, luring one of them in and suppressing it to extract information about that great existence might not be a bad idea.

As for why Genesis and Primordial had been so eager to contact Equiheaven to learn more about the Astral World? It was because Li Pin had pioneered a path beyond the Supreme, and they hoped to reconnect with the Astral World quickly.

On one hand, they still hadn't found Black Abyss to verify things. On the other hand... it seemed Regalheaven had discovered an even more astonishing path. And since he wanted to wait quietly without alerting others... there was no harm in waiting a little longer.

Li Pin was under the protection of many Human Race Heavenly Emperors. He wouldn't be in danger for now.

As for the Astral Gods, now mired in endless suffering within the Astral World... they would have no choice but to endure countless eras' worth of the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations—compressed into just a few thousand, or perhaps tens of thousands, of years.

As long as the flame remained, it wouldn't be long before the Astral World thrived once more.