Eternal Heavenly Emperor

That was a starry sky. He stood in the void, surrounded by countless enemies, including humans and aliens, each of them immensely powerful. He was encircled, each person attacking him, trying to obtain something from him.

After a bloody battle in the starry sky, he finally ran out of energy and chose to explode the Star Sea, turning into a brilliant light that returned to the starry sky.

Chu Hao woke up with a start, his heart pounding and his body covered in cold sweat.

That scene clearly wasn't his memory, because he definitely wasn't that powerful, capable of flying with his physical body through the starry universe — that was the ability of the War God. Those in the Upper Three Realms could only fly within the scope of a planet.

A corner of the future?

Chu Hao already knew that countless strong warriors from various star domains were waiting for the opening of the barrier formation of the Sky Martial Star, vying for the heritage left by the the Great Emperor of the He Family, and as soon as his identity was exposed, he would inevitably face the siege of numerous strong figures.

Eventually, his blood would be spilled across the starry sky, and exploding himself wasn't out of the question.

"Ah!" "Hmm!" "Huh!"

One by one, people began to wake up. Chu Hao glanced over and sighed in relief upon seeing Su Wanyue, Gu Qingcheng, Yun Cai, along with Gu Fei and Duanmu Changtian all accounted for.

"Hey hey hey, stinky uncle, you didn't even glance at me. Do you wish I'd lost my mind and never woke up?" Xia Yuanchao complained unhappily.

"Kid, keep babbling and I'll throw you right into the river!" Chu Hao threatened.

Xia Yuanchao immediately covered his mouth; he was genuinely afraid Chu Hao might do something drastic.

Not everyone could come back from their bewilderment. Someone from the Murong Family was increasingly leaning lower and lower, eventually sliding entirely into the river, making Chu Hao glance ruefully at the War Emperor of the Murong Family, wishing it had been him instead.

The War Emperor from the Murong Family was puzzled by Chu Hao's glance, but as a clever old man, he quickly realized why and felt an urge to kill him, restrained only by the presence of the Skeleton Ferryman nearby.

Shockingly, an alien War Emperor also fell victim, slipping into the river waters, never to surface again.

He definitely died.

This left everyone in cold sweat: even a War Emperor could perish here, and if they had been overly fixated just now, their fates would have been the same.

The Skeleton Ferryman continued unhurriedly, poling his bamboo punt toward the opposite bank.

"How have we not reached the end yet?" Yun Cai whispered, her usual careless demeanor now taken over by a sense of reverence. The skull was too horrifying, and its power too immense.

Chu Hao was also puzzled, muttering how wide could a river really be?

"Look, what's that?" someone suddenly pointed and exclaimed.

Everyone looked in the direction pointed, only to see something floating on the surface of the smooth, mirror-like water, obscured by swirling mist, making it difficult to discern.

Known as the Nether River, these waters should sink everything without a trace, inhabited by no living creatures. How could there possibly be an object floating there?

Chill ran deep into everyone's bones at the eerie nature of this river.

Previously, they had all been caught up in their obsessions, with even a War Emperor falling directly into the river, silently killing without a trace. How could it not make their hairs stand on end?

Even with Chu Hao's bravery, he now felt sweat seeping through his hands.

The boat moved slowly, but that object was gradually drifting closer to them, and after a while, the distance between them had narrowed enough.

"A body!" Everyone saw it clearly and was horrified.

The floating object was a man dressed in a robe made of gold thread silks, but since he was facedown, his face couldn't be distinguished. Yet, his hair was black and shiny, and his skin was smooth as jade, probably not too old.

"This, this... could this possibly be the legendary Gold Thread Silks?" an alien War Emperor suddenly excited, pointing at the silk on the Taoist's body.

"This belt... could it be Purple Cloud Brocade?"

"This robe is no ordinary matter, it is woven from White Jade Silkworm Thread!"

Hisss!

A few knowledgeable old folks were shocked; these were treasures from ancient times, that even the War God might not possess, yet this person wore so many of them!

Indeed, just taking a little something from his body could make even the War God envious!

"Kid, find a way to take down the Jade Pendant hanging from that Taoist's waist!" Fat Cat suddenly transmitted his divine sense to Chu Hao.

Chu Hao shook his head, saying, "This sudden appearance of a floating corpse is extremely eerie. We mustn't be greedy!" Previously, a War Emperor was silently devoured by the Nether River... Now they were attempting to scavenge at the "river mouth", which seemed akin to courting death.

He could restrain himself, but those several War Emperors couldn't. The treasures on the Taoist's body were too enticing; any single item could excite a War God, let alone several War Emperors. What if there were other treasures on the Taoist that could allow them to step up and become War Gods themselves?

Thinking of this, they all made their move, reaching for the floating corpse in the water.

"Hmph, mere Martial Artist of the Human Race, you dare to contend with me?" An Alien Race powerhouse coldly snorted, his right hand swung out, radiating the Elemental Light splendidly, forming a series of Spirit Talismans, suppressing the War Emperor of the Murong Family.

"A few beasts also fit to swagger before me?" The War Emperor of the Murong Family was not cowed, his hands flipping to cast several giant swords, also splendid with Spirit Talismans, and astonishing in power.

Bang!

When the two exchanged blows, waves immediately surged on the river surface, and through a giant wave, the Taoist inadvertently turned over, revealing his face.

He appeared to be a handsome man in his forties, with a white jade-like face, bright nasal ridge and starry eyes, gentle and graceful as though he had just died, without a hint of decay. Yet, his face wore a peculiar smile, making one shudder without feeling cold.

Seeing this scene, everyone felt a renewed chill.

"Treasure Artifact!" But everyone was immediately captivated by a Treasure Pagoda held in the Taoist's hands, clean as lard and branded with at least a thousand Runes, possessing the vicissitudes of the great paths, anyone could confirm it was a Treasure Artifact, and furthermore, exceedingly precious.

"Engraved with Laws, hiss, this is at least a Star Master level Treasure Artifact!" Fat Cat exclaimed.

War God had only briefly touched upon the Five-level Laws, and speaking of mastering Laws, that was something only a Star Master could achieve. After mastering the Laws, one could inscribe them in some form, directly trigger a resonance of heaven and earth, and unleash powerful forces.

"This person... was he a Star Master before his death?" Chu Hao said.

"At least a Star Master, otherwise he would not be worthy of wielding such a Treasure Artifact!" Fat Cat nodded.

Chu Hao became solemn, this place where even Great Emperor level powerhouses couldn't forcibly enter, was naturally mysterious and powerful. Since War God was blocked from entering, he thought the dangers here extended only up to the War Emperor level.

Then he had Western Wind on hand, whether facing anyone, his life would not be in danger.

But now?

A suspected Star Master had died, floating as a corpse in the Nether River, drifting with the water.

Wait, if War God couldn't enter here, how did a Star Master's corpse suddenly appear?

Chu Hao looked at Fat Cat, and Fat Cat looked back at him with puzzled eyes, both utterly baffled.

"In the past, the Great Emperor didn't force his way in here because his power was too strong; attempting to enter would only destroy the Nether Palace," Fat Cat then mentioned the past events, "According to the Great Emperor's speculation, this might be the work of another Great Emperor."

"However, the Immortal Emperor can't live forever, so the Great Emperor was somewhat skeptical of this. But to say that it was created by the Heavenly Emperor, that's even harder to believe."

Chu Hao nodded. In this world, only the Heavenly Emperor could possess eternal life, yet now this palace hid the Secret of Eternal Life, which in itself was very bizarre.

"Perhaps, this corpse existed as far back as the Ancient Times, the Primordial Era," Fat Cat said. "In my time, the long river of time was divided into four parts: Primordial, Ancient Times, Ancient, and Modern Ancient."

"During the Primordial Era, when heaven and earth opened, the Laws were far less refined and inscrutable than today. Back then, many powerful beings emerged, born close to the path, some even directly nurtured by the Laws."

"If born from the great path of heaven and earth, then although it isn't indestructible, it might possess eternal life."

Fat Cat seemed to ramble aimlessly, but ultimately circled back to his point.

To achieve eternal life, one must master the great paths of heaven and earth; there's no other way.

"There are Eight Main Paths between heaven and earth, mastering one of them equates to being an Eternal Heavenly Emperor, indestructible, possessing eternal life. But the Secret of Eternal Life here limits one's Cultivation to the Star Master realm, isn't that contradictory?" Chu Hao pondered.

"The great paths of heaven and earth are too mysterious. How peerless was the Great Emperor back then, yet he still couldn't master even one path, ultimately falling away!" Fat Cat lamented. "Exactly because of this, even the Great Emperor had to resign to his fate, so what rights do the mortals of this world have to surpass the Great Emperor, to live forever?"

"Could it be that the Secret of Eternal Life of the Nether Palace is merely a rumor?" Chu Hao frowned, he had entered this place for Gu Qingcheng and others, lacking strong martial arts qualifications, preferring to trade Cultivation for eternal life.

"Who knows?" Fat Cat shrugged. "If only the Great Emperor were still alive, with his mighty power that oppressed throughout the ages, any conspiracy in front of him would be futile."

The secrets hidden within the Nether Palace might be comparable to the inheritance of a Great Emperor!" Chu Hao stated solemnly.

Fat Cat also nodded, the Nether Palace only appeared once in thousands of years, and most Domain Lords might never witness it, while those who enter here have restrictions on their Cultivation, with the strongest merely being War Emperors, unable to uncover the secrets hidden here.

"It's indeed a troublesome time, the seal of the Sky Martial Star is about to open, and the Nether Palace just happens to be opening at this critical juncture, as if everything has come together."

"Ah!"

Just at that moment, several people cried out in shock at the same time, falling back onto their rear ends, their faces showing indescribable terror.

Chu Hao looked over, instantly feeling a chill rise from his feet to his head.

The Taoist in the Nether River had unexpectedly opened his eyes!