Along the way, Wang Sheng could not help but sigh to himself.

The Hua Republic merged immortal cultivation and technology to improve the two, dramatically increasing the pace of their development.

What shocked him most was the large-scale use of illusion arrays.

While flying through open air, the aircraft passed through what felt like a curtain of water. The scenery ahead shifted completely, finally showing Wang Sheng the white jade statue.

In that instant, Lishang seemed to lose all strength. Her head tilted, and she fainted in her seat.

Wang Sheng frowned slightly, unsure what had happened. Soon after, he sensed the disturbance in her bloodline.

"Master, land the aircraft somewhere uninhabited. If she breaks through later, it might affect the surroundings."

Qing Yanzi, who was concerned about Lishang's situation, immediately understood. He contacted the Special Investigation Unit at once.

The aircraft quickly landed in an empty valley. Wang Sheng, Qing Yanzi, the pilot, and the others withdrew, leaving Lishang alone.

Without warning, Wang Sheng heard a strange voice in his mind. After a brief pause, he realized the gentle words it was saying.

"You have returned..."

Supported by his master, he turned toward the white jade statue.

A faint divine light flickered across it, then grew brighter.

Around the statue, the nearby aircraft lifted off and spread out. Before Wang Sheng even arrived, they had already made preparations for a temporary evacuation to avoid being caught up in any unexpected anomalies that could suddenly appear.

In the base command room, alarms rang one after another.

"The fluctuations from the statue are growing stronger!"

"Boost the interference signal output!"

"Understood! Prepare for full withdrawal! The situation is uncertain, but a high-priority target is approaching the statue. Ensure the satellites do not capture it!”

Soon, the statue was wrapped in divine light. A beam descended onto Wang Sheng, gently pushing Qing Yanzi aside.

Clarity rose in Wang Sheng's heart. He turned and smiled faintly at his master, then relaxed and allowed the light to guide him up toward the statue.

The light grew denser. Afterward, it slowly drew him in.

The ground trembled within a limited area. As the statue slowly sank, a massive pit opened beneath it, swallowing it whole.

Under the glow of the divine light, the pit quickly reverted to an ordinary stretch of forest. It left no trace on the surface of Earth, making it seem as though it had never even been unearthed.

Qing Yanzi gasped, a trace of loss in his expression.

At that moment, a loud explosion came from the neighboring valley. The aircraft there exploded, and a golden pillar of light shot into the sky before vanishing.

Qing Yanzi swept the area with his spiritual perception and discovered that Lishang was gone as well. She had clearly disappeared along with the statue.

Across the base, researchers stared at one another. Even the members of the Special Warfare Unit guarding the area looked stunned.

They knew the times had changed, yet witnessing such a "miracle" still left them shaken.

***

After Wang Sheng was drawn into the statue, streams of cool, gentle spiritual power gathered and flowed into him, rapidly healing both his immortal body and Primordial Spirit.

He felt as if a pair of hands was gently embracing him.

His heart stirred faintly. He relaxed completely, and scenes appeared in his mind.

"You have worked hard."

The words echoed. Wang Sheng felt his nose sting, but he sensed those words were not meant for him.

They were meant for the sacred spirit.

Scenes unfolded within his Heavenly Abode. He felt as if a sealed door had been pushed open deep in his mind, and a fragment of memory quietly emerged.

In the memory, when he first opened his eyes, he saw a woman of indescribable beauty.

She smiled gently, patting him softly. Gazing at him with affection, she hummed a soothing tune. Soon, she sighed softly and spoke in an ancient, obscure tone.

Yet Wang Sheng understood every word.

"Since I no longer have the strength to protect this world, I shall entrust matters to you. You will have to bear more of the burden and give all living beings a stable place to exist. Remember this. Whether weak or strong, every being deserves that much. To live is reason enough."

At that time, he was like a newborn infant. He could only raise a small hand and touch the goddess's cheek, letting out a soft sound.

The woman then placed him upon an immortal platform. Primal qi gathered around, and she summoned three figures, instructing them to assist him in the future.

She was about to leave this world, but not because she was abandoning it or the countless living beings that needed her protection. Rather, she would merge with the Great Dao, become part of the Sea of Dao Laws, and use her remaining power to establish the division of the Three Realms and set the world upon a stable course.

She would turn herself into the fate of all living beings.

However, just as she dissolved into wisps of light and faded away, one of the three figures sprang into action. He killed the other two and devoured their cultivation. Revealing a grotesque form that looked utterly wrong, he slowly walked toward the sacred spirit, who was just a newborn infant at the time.

"So you're the one who holds this world's fate. After all these years of hiding, I have finally found you," he coldly remarked as he raised his hand to strike the infant down.

Wang Sheng saw his twisted expression, the indifference in his eyes, and the decisiveness of the descending palm.

The Immortal Emperor? Doesn't look quite like him...

When the palm strike hit the infant, streams of light flickered around him and blasted the attacker away.

"He can't be killed?"

The man laughed coldly and drifted forward again. His left hand suddenly turned faint and ethereal, and Wang Sheng felt everything around him twist.

The moment the hand pressed onto his body, Wang Sheng sensed dozens of completely different laws that were unlike the laws of this world.

That feeling was etched clearly into the mind of the infant Wang Sheng. Even after countless years, it remained vivid.

What exactly is this person? Those dozens of laws seemed suppressed by this world, yet they stood on the same level as the Great Dao of this world. Is it possible that the Immortal Emperor's origin runs even deeper than I imagined?

Before Wang Sheng could think further, intense pain swallowed him. His body was destroyed, and the scene before him blurred.

What followed was something he could only sense.

He had just been born, yet after being killed, he was not completely erased. A trace of divine light that Nuwa had left behind managed to survive.

The strange man tried countless methods over an unknown span of time. In the end, he gave up on destroying it and chose to seal it instead... using one thousand six hundred twenty-seven seals.

The Time-Cycle Grand Array.

Wang Sheng sensed that after setting up the Time-Cycle Grand Array, the man left through the only exit. From then on, he returned at intervals to inspect and reinforce the seals.

His awareness sank into endless solitude.

This was the full process of how the Immortal Emperor had sealed the sacred spirit.

What were those powers that differed completely from this world? Is the Immortal Emperor neither a primordial nor a created being of this world, but rather extraterrestrial?

Wang Sheng chuckled bitterly and accepted the memories fully.

Amid his endless solitude, one day, all the seals suddenly failed. That strand of spiritual light rose slowly. Guided by a trace of divine radiance, it struggled upward.

After an unknown amount of time, he entered a strange space. It was empty, yet filled with a force that greatly benefited him.

This is probably inside the Reincarnation Stone.

His consciousness then flickered, and he lost awareness.

The memories connected seamlessly to fragments from when he was four or five years old, confirming that it was him. He seemed to have used the power of the Reincarnation Stone to be reborn as Wang Sheng.

More memories surfaced. In his previous life, he had lived without worries. He went to school, then university, practiced cultivation online, joined a group, and finally died in chaos from a flying needle.

At that moment, Wang Sheng heard another soft sigh. A large hand descended from above, shielding that fragment of spiritual light, then erasing the entire world.

Nuwa had wiped away his previous life and returned time to the beginning. She didn’t just alter his soul or merely travel along a river of time.

Concealed by the Time-Cycle Grand Array, she had used her power to forcibly alter the entire trajectory of life on a planet. That same power had protected him all along, preventing the Immortal Emperor from destroying him.

"I had been careless..."

She sounded deeply guilty.

Wang Sheng wanted to say that it was fine, but he could not speak. He could only watch and listen.

His Primordial Spirit and Dao Body had fully recovered.

Spiritual power endlessly gathered and poured into him, filling his Primordial Spirit with immortal light and making him almost transparent.

"This is the power that should have been yours. That devil failed to steal it from me back then."

At that moment, Wang Sheng realized that he could finally speak. A thought rose within him. "The Immortal Emperor is a devil?"

The gentle female voice echoed again in his mind, still in that ancient tone he had to interpret.

"In terms you can understand, the Sea of Chaos can evolve and develop in many different ways, and this world is just one of them. From the Sea of Chaos, countless worlds were born, like layers of thin membranes. The world he came from was destroyed. He absorbed its laws, then forced his way through the boundary between worlds, eventually reaching ours.

"I once destroyed him in the Primal Era, but I did not expect a fragment of his soul to survive and hide right under my nose. Finally, when the Three Pure Ones destroyed him, the Great Dao discovered him, which led to the fall of the Heavenly Court. One who gains position without rightful virtue cannot establish a Heavenly Court. The Great Dao does not permit it. It must be rebuilt."

Understanding dawned in Wang Sheng's heart.

The voice added, "But things have drifted beyond the control of the Dao. Instead of dying, he has gained the power to contend with the Great Dao of this world."

Wang Sheng was rendered speechless.

As expected of the Immortal Emperor.

"Accept the Dao of Creation I left behind, Ling."

"My name is Wang Sheng."

"Mm. Ling."

"You can also call me Fei Yu."

"That is acceptable, Ling."

Wang Sheng didn’t know what to say.

"Fine. Whatever makes you happy."

The voice laughed softly. "Turn around. I am behind you."

Wang Sheng paused. He realized the restraints around him had vanished. At some point, he had been transferred to a vast grassland.

He turned his head, finding a woman in white robes sitting nearby. She had a golden serpent tail and warm eyes.