As for the last, the Nine Dao Ancestor.
He was a war general under the White Emperor.
It is said that the world holds Nine Secrets, namely: Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Shu, Zu, Qian, Xing.
Each secret is a path that reaches the heavens.
And the Nine Dao Ancestor fused all nine, opening a road never before walked, the path of Nine Daos.
Thus he made his name. In the era of the White Emperor, he rendered outstanding military service, and his deeds became known throughout the world.
Among these generals, the Nine Dao Ancestor should be the one closest in time to the present day.
He stood in the void, the power of the Nine Secrets swirling around him, as though nine great Dao-routes covered and intertwined within the heavens.
It was as if endless Dao-meanings spun in ceaseless rotation.
And before the Nine Dao Ancestor, a man appeared out of nowhere.
He wore a gray robe, his long hair casually draped over his shoulders.
This man was none other than the general of the Godspeed Emperor, the Traveler.
The Traveler looked at the Nine Dao Ancestor and smiled, “I’ve heard that among your Nine Secrets, there is one, the Secret of Walking. It is the extreme of movement, able to leap up to the Ninth Heaven, descend into the Nine Netherworlds. No place in the world is beyond its reach. Today, I would like to experience it for myself.”
“I wonder how much true legacy of Grand Emperor Shen Xing you have inherited,” the Nine Dao Ancestor said calmly.
In the path of speed, Shen Xing had always reigned supreme, even the Nine Dao Ancestor could not deny this.
The two stood opposed, their presences shaking heaven and earth. Before they even exchanged blows, the world was already beginning to quake.
Endless storms surged, and the void fractured invisibly.
Meanwhile, on Xu Zimo’s side, although the God Emperor was temporarily trapped, many powerful ancestors of the Divine Gate had still appeared.
As for the Dark Primordial Race, ten beams of radiance soared into the sky.
The brilliance was dazzling beyond measure, even Immortals could not pierce the mysteries within.
But the vast aura emanating from them was such that no one dared look down upon them.
They were the Ten Death Gods of Dark Primordial, the absolute rulers.
With this colossal race, they had once clashed head-on with the Beast Race during the Desolate Era, sparking the Dark Primordial Rebellion.
That brief upheaval became a small age between the Desolate Era and the Imperial Era.
“Comrades, today we shall annihilate this place and together forge a new era,” declared the Sky Shroud War God, standing at the front. He took a deep breath and spoke faintly.
Once the Immortal Extinction Sacred Ground was destroyed, and if Xu Zimo could bear the Heaven's Will, then the True Martial Sacred Ground would become a lineage of five Grand Emperors.
It would ascend to dominion over the world.
And with the alliance of the Divine Gate and Dark Primordial...
“That depends on whether you have the strength,” the Supreme Ancestor replied coldly.
“Kill!” Xu Zimo roared from the vanguard, and at his shout all forces surged forward, charging toward the Immortal Mountain.
In an instant, the heavens collapsed, eternal space was annihilated, the void shattered, endless spatial turbulence raged, as if all of creation itself were crumbling.
That day bore no sun, only fine rain drifting gently through the void.
“Sky Shroud, let us fight in the higher void. This world cannot withstand our power,” the Supreme Ancestor said.
“Just what I intended,” the Sky Shroud War God nodded. With a single great hand, he overturned the entire firmament, making it flow in reverse.
The sound of slaughter and the spilling of blood fell upon the world. Chaos reigned, nearly everyone had joined the battle.
Explosions thundered unceasingly, like the heavens themselves cracking with lightning.
It was a scene of doomsday, ten thousand miles in every direction were engulfed in the storm.
Xu Zimo raised his head, his eyes calm, and slowly walked toward the Immortal Mountain.
He had barely taken a few steps when the Sacred Lord of the Immortal Extinction Sacred Ground, Feng Tianya, blocked his path.
“Holy Son Xu, why don’t you let me test your strength?” Feng Tianya said coolly.
Xu Zimo glanced at him, then shook his head: “You are too weak.”
This was not boastfulness. Feng Tianya’s strength was only just at Arcane Immortal.
Roughly the same as Sacred Lord Xiao.
Xu Zimo understood this well: the qualifications to be a Sacred Lord were not about being invincible, unrivaled, or the strongest.
Rather, it was about management, the ability to lead a sect to prosperity and growth.
An excellent Sacred Lord was not necessarily the strongest cultivator, but was surely a capable leader.
Many experts, once they reached Arcane Immortal, would retreat into enlightenment. Some secluded themselves for thousands of years, how could they still manage a sect?
Take Xu Qingshan for instance, once a renowned prodigy in his youth. Yet after becoming Vice-Lord, his cultivation slowed to a crawl.
Not due to lack of talent, but because he no longer had time to train.
In this world, few could truly have both the fish and the bear’s paw.
“Weak or not, you’ll know only if you try,” Feng Tianya replied lightly.
Just as he was about to make his move, someone stopped him.
“Tianya, step back.”
An aged voice resounded.
Within the Immortal Mountain, a certain cave residence radiated dazzling light, like an illusory mortal paradise.
From within that radiance, an old man in multicolored robes stepped out.
With a single stride into the void, he spanned a hundred miles, arriving before the two of them.
“Master, you’ve emerged from seclusion,” Feng Tianya said, quickly bowing.
“These years have been hard on you,” the old man sighed softly. “Back then, I took three disciples. All three of you were brilliant and pure-hearted in pursuit of the Dao. Yet in the end, I hardened my heart for the sect’s sake and severed your path.”
“Master, the past is gone,” Feng Tianya shook his head gently. “I have long since let it go.”
“Go take charge of the greater battle then. Leave this place to me,” the old man nodded.
He knew this was no time for reminiscing.
Turning to Xu Zimo, he chuckled: “After so many ages of seclusion, this new world has changed so much I can barely recognize it. I never thought someone would dare bring war to our Immortal Extinction Sacred Ground.”
“What should I call you?” Xu Zimo asked.
He could feel the man’s aura, it was like a boundless ocean, vast and endless.
Though the old man’s body was frail, the force around him suppressed heaven and earth, making every breath heavy with pressure.
“My name…I myself have nearly forgotten it. It has been far too long since anyone has spoken it.” The old man smiled faintly. “I only vaguely recall, in the age before my seclusion, some called me Heaven Paragon. You may call me Martial Heaven Paragon.”
He let out a long sigh.
His gaze swept across the battlefield, flames raging in all directions.
“Life’s grand ambitions of thirty thousand years, nothing more than a fleeting dream.”
“Martial Heaven Paragon…” Xu Zimo tilted his head, pondering briefly. At last he smiled: “Ah yes, I remember now, the abandoned child of the Immortal Extinction Sacred Ground.”
The story of Martial Heaven Paragon’s life was nothing if not inspiring.
He was born the illegitimate son of the previous Sacred Lord and a lowly maid. From birth he was oppressed, even cast out of the sect.
But through his own perseverance, he returned to the sect.
And in that era, he even rose to become the new Sacred Lord of the Immortal Extinction Sacred Ground.
“Abandoned child once, perhaps,” Martial Heaven Paragon nodded calmly, unfazed.