Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Chu Hao was completely indifferent; after learning about the price of eternal life, he lost interest in such immortality.

"For a true man, shining brightly for one lifetime is enough. If eternal life means living at the mercy of others, then he would rather not have it!"

He revealed that the secret of eternal life might be hidden within the Nether Palace, but also mentioned that if one obtained such immortality, they would have to remain forever at the level of a Star Master.

Even Yan Feixue did not know this, and upon hearing it, she couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Being a Star Master was already an exceedingly lofty and revered status.

Just think about it; to be the master of a planet—wasn't that impressive enough?

But after knowing that above the War God there are six levels—Star Master, King of Stars, Domain Lord, Realm Master, Immortal Emperor, and Eternal Heavenly Emperor—for an ambitious Heaven Talented individual, who would be willing to stop at just being a Star Master?

They might not even have the certainty of reaching the level of a War God, but what does eternal life imply? It means having infinite time to compensate for deficiencies in talent and Qi Luck. Others might reach the summit in tens or hundreds of years, but for an immortal, what's the harm in spending tens or hundreds of billions of years?

This means that even reaching the level of an Eternal Heavenly Emperor might be possible!

However, the current issue is, obtaining the secret of eternal life would mean being stuck at the level of a Star Master.

Tens of thousands, or even hundreds of millions of years might be bearable, but what about tens or hundreds of billions of years? Clearly having infinite time to improve one's cultivation, yet being forced to do nothing but stare—who could stand such torture?

One might go so far as to commit suicide.

"I'll take it!" Gu Qingcheng declared. She had never been too ambitious; whether she was a Star Master or a War Venerate, for her, it was all the same. The key was the possibility of eternal life. As long as Su Wanyue could not obtain the secret to eternal life, or failed to become an Eternal Heavenly Emperor, then Chu Hao was destined to be hers alone.

The others, however, did not have such resolute determination. They faced a difficult choice between power and immortality.

Chu Hao laughed heartily and said, "Forget it, we don't even know what the secret to eternal life is yet. No need to fret over it now."

"That's true!"

The others nodded in agreement, yet they could not help but question themselves internally: if such a secret truly lay before them, what choice would they make?

They moved forward into the desolation, surrounded by endless death qi.

Half a day later, they came across a huge set of bones. At first, they mistook it for a small hill, but upon approaching, they realized it was the skeleton of a giant.

It was massive!

All eight of them were astounded. How enormous must this individual have been in life?

The larger the size, the greater the natural strength. Some terrifying creatures could grow as large as a planet once mature. What kind of terrifying power would that be? With one punch, even a planet could shatter. Aside from the War God, who could traverse the Star Universe, which others would not be killed instantly?

With sufficient power, one can break all laws. Once strength reaches its peak, it inherently becomes an incredibly powerful weapon.

Of course, this skeleton could not be compared to a planet, but it was no less impressive. Were it to stand upright, it would surely give off an overwhelming sense of reaching up to the heavens and down to the earth.

"This is from the Shang Clan," Fat Cat said. "In ancient times, they were a tribe that reigned supreme in the world. Upon reaching adulthood, they possessed the power of a Star Master and were invincible in their era. However, their very existence consumed too many resources; all other species became their prey, and eventually, they were eradicated by a coalition of many races."

To have the power of a Star Master upon reaching adulthood!

The Star Master, an existence that only a few could become on a single planet, and here was a whole tribe born at that level—no wonder they were called invincible. Unfortunately, energy has a balance; a planet can only support a few Star Masters. If a whole tribe of them emerged, it would lead to the extinction of other creatures.

The end would either be the Shang Clan's destruction or the other creatures being devoured by the Shang Clan. There was no third possibility.

Judging by the size of the skeleton and the color of the bones, this was likely just a juvenile of the Shang Clan, probably not long after birth," Fat Cat continued.

Pfft!

The eight people, including Chu Hao, were all taken aback. This was only a baby? Then how enormous would an adult of the Shang Clan be? No wonder they could contend with a Star Master—by size alone, they probably rivaled smaller planets.

—Sky Martial Star is a Superior Star, which compared to a tenth-class star, is many times larger in volume.

"It's a pity that the era is too distant, and the essence within the bones has completely dissipated. Otherwise, the remains of the Shang Clan... tsk tsk tsk, what a nourishing treasure it would've been!" Fat Cat smacked its lips.

Chu Hao, however, felt no such regret. The Shang Clan, as it appeared, took on human form, and even if it was many times larger than the normal Human Race, he had no appetite for it.

They continued their journey, and along the way, they saw many more bones. Some were as big as mountains, others pathetically small, and some were even microscopic. If not for Fat Cat pointing them out, who would have guessed that bones the size of ants could once have been a complete warrior, even at the level of a Star Master.

In a world so vast, there's no shortage of wonders!

Another half-day passed, and a river appeared in front of them.

The river water was gloomy and icy, steaming with mist-like vapor. Eyesight could hardly penetrate the vapor to see far; everything appeared hazy as if the river was endlessly wide.

"Let's fly over," Gu Fei said. For a War Venerate, of course, a mere river was not worth mentioning.

Chu Hao stretched out his hand and placed it on his shoulder, saying, "Don't be rash."

He had encountered terrifying rivers in ancient ruins that sank everything and obliterated all signs of life. Since it was not clear if there were dangers here as well, it was better to be cautious.

"Eh! Hmm! Ahh!" Fat Cat jumped up and down, displaying a look of intense shock.

"What have you discovered now, you wretched cat?" Chu Hao asked.

Fat Cat did not reply but just stared at the river. After a while, it finally spoke, "I suspect this is the Nether River!"

"The Nether River?" Chu Hao frowned in surprise, "The river from the Underworld? Are you saying we've entered the Underworld? Does such a place really exist?"

The others also turned their ears attentively. In their minds, once a person died, everything would cease to exist; the concept of an Underworld was just a myth, fulfilling people's fantasies about not wanting to die.

"Great Emperor—uh, I've heard from a powerful being that the Underworld does indeed exist. But it's somewhat different from the Underworld of legends where the deceased go. As for how different, I'm not sure," Fat Cat shook its head.

"It's acceptable that there is a Nether River within the Nether Palace, but if it's related to the Underworld... that's unimaginable!" everyone said.

"Is the Nether River crossable?" Yan Feixue asked, staring at Fat Cat with a peculiar look in her eyes.

"Of course, it's crossable, but a Nether Boat is needed to ferry across," Fat Cat nodded.

"A Nether Boat?" Everyone gazed at the empty river, shrouded in layers of mist, finding it impossible to imagine that a ferry would come to escort them across.

"Don't even think of crossing recklessly. Anyone entering is sure to end up dead!" Fat Cat warned as it looked at the river. "According to my conjecture, this river contains the Water Series Laws. Even a War God might be instantly killed if they enter, let alone you youngsters."

Hearing this, everyone was unable to refute. As talented as they were, even if they might become eternal Heavenly Emperors one day, their current Venerable Level Cultivation was nothing but a dead end against the Laws.

"Then let's follow along the riverbank. We might find a crossing point," Chu Hao suggested.

Gu Qingcheng immediately shivered with fright, saying, "Don't scare me. Are you saying there's really a crossing here?"

"If there's a ferry, perhaps there is a crossing, right?" Chu Hao said nonchalantly.

As they followed the riverbank, they spotted a small, wooden crossing after about a day's walk. It was nearly half-rotten and looked like it would collapse under slightly more weight.

"There really is a crossing!" Everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

There was a crossing, so probably a Nether Boat would appear as well—but who would be the ferryman?

Gu Qingcheng instinctively leaned against Chu Hao, as she was the most timid.

"Are we to wait here for the ferry?" Duanmu Changtian wondered. What kind of terrifying sight would it be if a real ferry arrived?

"It's still not too late to turn back now," Chu Hao said seriously.

Despite the promise of the Secret of Eternal Life, this place seemed like a dead end. Perhaps at the edge of death, eternal life would emerge, but the path to immortality was undoubtedly paved with perils.

No one wanted to turn back—the secrets of Eternal Life were too astounding. They all wanted to witness it for themselves, otherwise, they would regret it for a lifetime.

"Then let's wait!"

The eight of them settled down to wait, as time ticked by, uncertain when the mystical Nether Boat would come to take them across.

One day, two days, three days... After five days of waiting, other people arrived, led by an old man, with four youngsters who appeared to be on a training journey.

The old man was a War Emperor, and of the four youths, the strongest was a War King, and the weakest a War General. Overall, they were quite extraordinary, but their caliber still fell short of entering the War God Academy.

The four young men were struck by the beauty of Su Wanyue, Gu Qingcheng, and the other two ladies. No wonder—each of the four women was top grade in both beauty and poise, which would captivate the heart of any man.

"Ladies, my name is Murong Yun. May I have the honor of learning your names?" A young man stepped forward, his smile brimming with confidence.

The Murong Family was a significant power. Although not an ancient Gu Clan, its heritage was somewhat lesser. However, this implied that a War God might emerge from the Murong Family to sweep across the world and stand supreme. The Murong Family's current patriarch was a Seven-Star War Emperor and was only over seven hundred years old, quite eligible to aim for the Eight-Star War Emperor level and beyond, to become a War God.

This naturally filled the descendants of the Murong Family with arrogance. Even though he was aware that these young people possessed higher Cultivation than him, he felt no awe toward them.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)