Chapter 445: Karma of an Immortal Emperor

A suffocating silence descended around the three people.

Immortal Emperor.

Those two words alone seemed to carry enough weight to suppress the heavens and silence the myriad Dao.

Even the surrounding void, which had already been shattered countless times by the battle, appeared to have grown still for a brief moment.

Zhu Dong stood with his hands behind his back, his expression solemn as he gazed at the distant figure clad in golden armor.

Tian Yun remained silent, anf Su Yanlan’s crimson eyes flickered faintly, the blood colored spear in her hand releasing a barely perceptible tremor.

None of them were ordinary cultivators.

They had once stood at the pinnacle of the Great World, experienced countless calamities, and witnessed the rise and fall of innumerable ancient powers.

They understood far better than ordinary Immortals what the title of Immortal Emperor truly represented.

It was far more than just a cultivation realm.

It was a supreme position that countless beings had pursued since the beginning of recorded history, a height that even the most extraordinary geniuses might never approach throughout their entire existence.

An Immortal Emperor stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Great World.

Across ancient and modern times, throughout all ages recorded upon the River of Time, they were the most exalted and powerful beings in existence.

They could reverse cause and effect, manipulate space and time, and freely traverse the River of Destiny. Ordinary laws and restrictions held little meaning before them.

Even the most profound karmic entanglements could be severed with a single thought, while countless possibilities that would remain forever beyond the comprehension of ordinary Immortals could become reality beneath their hands.

They were beings who had transcended the limitations that bound the myriad living creatures of the Great World, approaching the limits of immortality.

And yet, despite possessing such terrifying power, Immortal Emperors were also extraordinarily rare.

Even the Thirty Heavens of the 33 Heavens Divine Realm, a place that many believed could only be entered after attaining the Immortal Emperor Realm, did not contain many living Emperors.

The majority of its inhabitants were descendants of ancient Immortal Emperor Dao Lineages, disciples of primordial forces, members of supreme factions, or beings who had accumulated enough Providence to establish themselves within that supreme domain.

Their ancestors might have once stood at the pinnacle of the Great World, their legacies might have endured for countless epochs, or their inheritances might contain Divine Powers capable of shaking the River of Time.

However, none of those things meant that an Immortal Emperor was still alive within their lineage.

The distinction was enormous.

A Dao lineage that had once produced an Immortal Emperor could be powerful enough to dominate an entire Thirty Heavens.

But a Dao lineage with a living Immortal Emperor was something else entirely.

The latter possessed an ultimate deterrent that no faction could easily challenge.

As long as that Emperor remained alive, even the most ancient enemies would have to think twice before provoking them.

A single Immortal Emperor could suppress the fate of an entire ancient Dao lineage.

They could ensure that their descendants remained prosperous for countless generations, protect their inheritances from destruction, and force even their greatest enemies to exercise restraint.

They could even manipulate fate and push destiny so that their Dao lineage never declines under normal circumstances.

Of course, this did not mean that Immortal Emperors were invincible.

There had been conflicts between Emperors throughout history, and there had even been ancient Immortal Wars in which Emperors fell, primordial races were erased, and the very structure of heaven and earth was reshuffled.

But such events were precisely what made the existence of an Immortal Emperor so terrifying.

When two ordinary cultivators fought, they might destroy mountains and rivers, and when two Immortals fought, they might shatter worlds.

But when two Immortal Emperors fought...

The consequences could affect the entire Great World and the infinite dimensions within.

And now, they had come to know that the mastermind behind the Cleansing might be an Immortal Emperor.

How could such a revelation not be shocking?

Zhu Dong slowly exhaled.

He had already anticipated that his deduction would carry enormous implications, but even he could not help feeling a faint heaviness in his heart.

After all, there was a difference between knowing that an enemy was powerful and knowing that the enemy stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Great World.

The former could be overcome through sufficient preparation, superior techniques, Connate Providence, or an unexpected opportunity.

The latter...

Sometimes, even understanding the difference in strength was enough to make resistance appear meaningless.

However, Zhu Dong was not an ordinary person.

He was the Myriad Paths Divine King.

Even though he had reincarnated and lost the overwhelming majority of his former cultivation, the pride that had once allowed him to stand above many Immortal Sovereigns had not disappeared.

He might be forced to retreat, conceal himself, or abandon a battle that he could not win, but to surrender simply because his opponent was an Immortal Emperor?

That was a different matter entirely.

Zhu Dong had never been particularly reasonable when it came to his own pride.

After all, he had dared to call himself a King while possessing the cultivation of an Immortal Sovereign.

What was another Immortal Emperor to him?

Of course, if that Emperor personally appeared before him now, Zhu Dong would probably have to reconsider his words.

But right now, thirty million years east of the River of Time, thirty million years west of the River of Destiny, do not look down on a old monster for being poor!

And at present, there was still far too much that they did not know.

Who was the mastermind?

Where were they?

What did they hope to accomplish through the Cleansing?

Back in their previous lives, neither Zhu Dong nor Su Yanlan would have cared, as they were not Lower Realm beings.

But now, they had to think deeply about those few questions.

Zhu Dong’s gaze gradually became profound.

He looked towards the Lightning Tribulation Divine Deity, who remained suspended above the battlefield.

The young man in golden armor seemed completely unconcerned with the devastation unfolding below him.

Countless lives had perished beneath his pressure.

Innumerable ancient powerhouses had fallen, the Lower Realm’s defensive formations had been shattered, its cities destroyed, and its very foundation severely damaged.

Yet the Lightning Tribulation Divine Deity’s expression had not changed in the slightest.

He looked down upon everything with the same indifference one might show when crushing a nest of insects.

Was this merely the arrogance of a Heaven Immortal?

Or did he possess absolute confidence that no one in the Lower Realm could threaten him?

Zhu Dong’s eyes narrowed, a hint of annoyance rising in his heart.

It was probably both.

But even if the Lightning Tribulation Divine Deity was powerful, he was still only a Heaven Immortal.

The true mastermind, if Zhu Dong’s deduction was correct, was standing at a height that the current Lightning Tribulation Divine Deity could scarcely comprehend.

There was no reason to assume that the latter knew everything.

In fact, the opposite might be true.

The Lightning Tribulation Divine Deity was probably nothing more than a blade.

Not just him, but the supreme Dao lineages of the Upper Realm backing him, and even the supreme factions of the 33 Heavens behind them, they all might just be weapons, or rather, chess pieces.

Using the entire Great World as a board, and beyond that board was an Immortal Emperor who’s intentions had been concealed from the vast majority of even the 33 Heavens Divine Realm for ages.

At this thought, Zhu Dong’s expression became increasingly solemn.

Beside him, Tian Yun fell into deep thought.

Unlike Zhu Dong, who was only an Immortal Sovereign in his past life, albeit one connected to a supreme Dao lineage of the Divine Realm, Tian Yun was an Ancient One.

Having once been a genuine Immortal Emperor, he knew what it meant to stand at the pinnacle.

He also knew the terrifying power possessed by Immortal Emperors and the fact that the Great World had existed for far longer than the histories recorded by ordinary Immortals could describe.

However, there was one thing that continued to trouble him.

His era was just too distant, so distant that even the memories he had recovered seemed like fragments of an ancient dream.

He remembered the Immortal War and the countless beings who perished during that catastrophe.

He also remembered standing among existences whose names could shake the heavens, fighting enemies whose power was sufficient to make the River of Time tremble.

Yet, he did not remember anything resembling the Cleansing.

There had been no such concept in his era, and neither was there anything called the Heavenly Karmic Cycle in the Lower Realm back then.

The order of heaven and earth and the structure of the Great World was vastly different, and even the relationship between the Lower Realm, the Upper Realm, and the 33 Heavens Divine Realm was not the same as it was today.

How many things had changed during the endless passage of time?

How many ancient secrets had been buried beneath the River of Time?

And how many Immortal Emperors had appeared after his fall?

Tian Yun’s eyes gradually deepened.

He was an Immortal Emperor, yet he could not recognize the current situation.

What did that imply?

Either the Cleansing had originated after his era, or its origins were so ancient and so deeply concealed that even an Emperor of his time had never discovered them.

The second possibility was far more troublesome.

If the Cleansing had only emerged after his era, then perhaps its mastermind was a newly ascended Immortal Emperor, but then again, was it really so?

Such a being might possess terrifying strength, but their history and methods would still leave traces.

The River of Time was vast, but it was not without records.

An Immortal Emperor could conceal their own existence, but concealing an event that involved countless worlds and the fate of the Great World itself was another matter entirely.

Besides, the other Emperors existing in the same era would never allow such a thing to happen.

Unless the mastermind had possessed sufficient power to conceal the entire process, but that was impossible.

Or, just like he thought and it was the second possibility, implying that they had begun their preparations long before the Cleansing became known to the world, possessing the absolute power to dictate the situation.

Power that even those Unspeakable Existences couldn’t interfere with.