Chapter 324. The Legendary Immortal, the Extracosmic Heavenly Demons
The old man's voice was not loud, yet it spread through every corner of this final region. His gaze held astonishment, as though he had not expected this at all.
As he looked at Lu Yuan, a strange mixture of emotion appeared on his face. There was excitement, but also a trace of wistful reflection. Various feelings intertwined within his expression.
Lu Yuan, however, did not understand what the old man meant. Just as he was about to speak, the old man spoke again.
"It is still a little too early. What a pity."
With that, he gently raised his head and looked toward the heavens. Yet the sky of this final region was chaotic and indistinct, revealing nothing.
In the end, the old man lowered his head again, a calmness returned to his expression, and he simply looked on.
"Senior."
Lu Yuan could not determine the old man's identity, and was about to continue asking when the old man raised a hand and said, "I know what you want to ask. This place is the Immortal's Cave, the place where Guang Chengzi attained the Dao, a space he himself created. And I... am Guang Chengzi."
The instant those words were spoken, Lu Yuan's eyes widened in utter shock.
Even with his usual composure, he was shaken upon hearing this.
The person before him was a figure from myth and legend. And not just any figure, but one of extraordinary fame. Especially in Huaxia's traditional myths, Guang Chengzi held a uniquely important place.
He was the first Sword Immortal. Even the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan had once sought the Dao from him. There were simply too many stories surrounding him.
So after hearing the man reveal his identity, Lu Yuan was deeply shaken.
After all, this too was his first time encountering such a being. More importantly, he couldn't believe that this legendary existence was still alive.
Then again, on second thought, it seemed normal enough.
After all, an immortal could live for an extremely long time—thousands, even tens of thousands of years or more.
But if so, why had there never been any movement from him before?
Even in Lu Yuan's previous life, he had never heard of anything regarding the whereabouts of Guang Chengzi.
"So you are one of Huaxia's ancient sages. This junior greets you, Immortal Elder."
In the legends, the man before him was already an immortal-tier existence, so it was only proper to address him as Immortal Elder.
Then a thought stirred in Lu Yuan's mind, and he continued, "Immortal Elder, the Milky Way Starfield has long been protected by the Separation of Heaven and Earth, but that power is now gradually weakening, and the experts of the various starfields are all stirring restlessly. This junior asks that Immortal Elder join us in protecting the descendants of Huaxia."
Guang Chengzi was an immortal, and not just any ordinary immortal, but one whose name was renowned throughout the entire cosmos.
If he could persuade Guang Chengzi to act, would there still be any need to fear those future calamities?
Of course, he was also testing the waters with those words, hoping to confirm a few things.
Very soon, Guang Chengzi could not help but smile after hearing Lu Yuan's words.
"I know what you wish to ask. As for what you said, I am powerless to do it, because I am already dead."
Those words sent a jolt through Lu Yuan's heart because he truly had wanted to determine Guang Chengzi's current state. He had indeed guessed before that something was off about Senior Guang Chengzi before him.
Back then, on Kongtong Mountains, the words Guang Chengzi had left behind had been filled with determination, with the unmistakable flavor of embracing death without regret.
And now this same man was standing before him. Naturally, that suggested something was amiss.
So after hearing the old immortal's reply, Lu Yuan fell silent and began speculating in his mind what exactly was going on.
However, Guang Chengzi simply continued with a smile, "There are some things that perhaps need not be told to others. But you have both the responsibility and the qualification to know them.
"I am indeed dead, and I died long ago. Even with the cultivation realm I possessed back then, I still could not overcome the passage of time. My present state is very special. Simply put, I exist through a certain remnant of will, but this state will not last much longer. Of course, I did not die of old age. I died in battle. If you have been to Kongtong, then you should understand what I mean."
So in the end, it had still come to this?
The deepest fear in Lu Yuan's heart was not the disasters caused by the Outer Cosmos beings. Those existences were known enemies. So long as he continued to grow stronger, then sooner or later, all of it could be resolved.
And he had already found ways to deal with them.
But he also knew another thing, In Shennongjia, in Kunlun Secret Realm, and in Kongtong Secret Realm—all of those places had mentioned a so-called great calamity, the very catastrophe that even the sages of antiquity had regarded with utmost gravity.
However, Lu Yuan himself still had no idea what it actually was.
An unknown enemy was the most frightening of all.
Now that he had encountered Guang Chengzi's surviving will, he naturally wanted a clear answer.
So after hearing those words, he immediately nodded.
Guang Chengzi spoke slowly, recounting it all in detail.
"In the depths of the cosmos, the starfields are as countless as grains of sand in the Ganges. Many bear traces of life. Some are weak, others are powerful. Warfare has always existed between them, until one day, an unmatched powerhouse rose from the Milky Way Starfield. He swept through the eight wilds and stood invincible across the universe.
"Later, in order to resolve all those conflicts, he established the Celestial Court. He laid down many rules and did all he could to protect the distant and weaker starfields.
"He succeeded and was honored as the Celestial Emperor. But just when everyone believed things would continue in that manner forever, the universe underwent a great upheaval. Cracks appeared throughout the starfields, and mysterious beings emerged from them. These creatures were very strange. They fed upon cultivators. They called themselves gods, but we called them the Extracosmic Heavenly Demons.
"These Heavenly Demons brought war and slaughter. Countless living beings perished. In the end, the invincible Celestial Emperor used himself to repair the cracks throughout the universe, and only then were those Extracosmic Heavenly Demons driven away. Even so, they still descend again and again through those cracks at intervals. And each time, we must pay with the lives of the strongest beings of an era in order to seal the cracks anew. That is the so-called great calamity. Do you understand now?"
He did not describe every detail of what had happened, but he did explain the origin of certain things, and especially the story behind the great calamity.
After hearing all this, Lu Yuan's thoughts raced, and then he asked, "Those cracks... are they the nine-colored altars?"
He had learned before that the nine-colored altars served as some kind of passageway, though he had not known exactly what they were.
But now, after hearing Guang Chengzi's words and recalling what the Primordial Dragon had once said in the Kunlun Secret Realm, he immediately pieced the fragments together.
"Correct."
Guang Chengzi did not seem surprised by this at all and continued, "The time of the great calamity's descent is uncertain. It may come ten thousand years from now, or a hundred years from now. When it does, the entire universe will have to face it. But from what you have said, the various starfields now act independently. That means there must be one person capable of suppressing all conflict."
As for the kind of person who could suppress all conflict, Lu Yuan could naturally guess who that was—the Celestial Emperor.
Because in Guang Chengzi's account earlier, the one who resolved such crises was always the strongest being of an era. And aside from the Celestial Emperor, who else possessed both such a title and such strength?
All at once, another thought arose in Lu Yuan's heart.
Could it be that the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors—the Human Sovereigns of legend—had all fallen for this reason?
Otherwise, there was no way to explain it.
The Human Sovereigns had performed great deeds. Everyone assumed those deeds had been for the human race alone. But in truth, perhaps they had been for the entire universe itself.
The more Lu Yuan thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
At that moment, he raised his head again and continued, "May this junior ask, Immortal Elder. When you first saw me just now, why was it that the first word you uttered was 'Emperor'?"
