Mythical Era: My Evolution into a Celestial Beast

As Chen Chu departed the Ancient Arena, far beyond the bounds of space and time, in a grand hall suffused with dazzling golden light, the air suddenly trembled.

"Nashigas has fallen."

A low, rumbling voice echoed through the hall, and a beam of golden light shot forth into the depths of the void.

Boom!

The entire hall shuddered. Endless golden radiance surged through the air, converging into a brilliant golden dragon's eye, exuding the intangible pressure of the true spirit level.

The pure golden dragon eye radiated a majestic aura, descending upon a golden figure seated cross-legged atop a complex altar. "Taino, how could Nashigas fall so suddenly? It was stationed at the Ancient Golden City, a domain under the jurisdiction of the ancient god Tigras."

The Golden Divine Race member sitting on the altar, massive as a mountain and built like a titan, bitterly smiled. "The manner of Nashigas' death was rather peculiar. Even the ancient god Tigras likely doesn't know it has perished."

As it spoke, both beings turned their gaze to the left. There, a nameplate seemingly cast from gold had shattered, and the image of Nashigas on its surface had dimmed.

The Golden Divine Race member on the altar solemnly said, "Moments before Nashigas fell, the radiance of the Great Seventh Eternal Heavenly God flickered briefly. Before I could ignite the life token and trace the past through causality, the Great Seventh Eternal Heavenly God issued a decree, instructing me to investigate a human named Chu Batian."

"Chu Batian... Human." The dragon eye flickered with a terrifying glow.

The moment this dreadful being uttered the name, a black door deep within its eye slowly opened, and a dreadful power pierced through the void, following an intangible thread of connection. Yet it saw nothing, as if this person simply didn't exist.

The dragon eye briefly froze. A terrifying will rippled through the great hall. "Taino, are you certain the human was called by that name? Why can I see nothing?"

Taino gravely said, "It's likely a powerful human intervened and concealed all information regarding that individual. That's why even your Eye of Causality, Ancient God Gordes, could not glimpse anything. Moreover, the site of Nashigas' death was the Ancient Arena. You should know well how mysterious that place is. It operates on a strict rule: Combatants of the same realm face off. Victor lives, loser dies. Nashigas' talent ranked among the top ten of this generation, with the makings of a future overlord. With the heavenly god power, it could even challenge late-stage divine kings while being at the peak of the chief god level without falling into disadvantage.

"To be defeated and killed under such circumstances, one can only imagine how powerful this Chu Batian must be. A human capable of such a feat, with the potential to ascend into godhood, would certainly occupy a revered position among the human race. That stronger humans stepped in to veil his presence is entirely within expectations, just like what we did for Nashigas."

"If you had guessed that much, why didn't you remind me earlier?" The dragon eye grew cold.

Taino smiled bitterly. "I hadn't finished speaking yet, Ancient God Gordes, you acted before I could say another word. How could I have warned you in time?"

"So I wrongly blamed you?"

"This was my failure. I fully understand your feelings. After all, Nashigas was your lineage's brightest hope to enter the realm of the ancient gods."

The hall fell into a brief silence. Then, the dragon eye's will stirred again. "I once warned Nashigas that the Ancient Duel Mark would bring it no benefit. With its talent and our resources, the feedback from those victories was practically meaningless. But it refused my advice, treating the Ancient Arena as a proving ground to challenge the prodigies of other civilizations, and hoping to refine itself and reach greater heights. Its past victories blinded it. It failed to see that in this vast world, even the light of the Eternal Heavenly Gods cannot shine forever."

Having said this, the golden dragon eye turned toward Taino. Its voice grew indifferent. "Speak. Has the Great Seventh Eternal Heavenly God issued any other decrees?"

Taino replied, "The Great Seventh Eternal Heavenly God merely informed me of Nashigas' fall. No further orders were given, and it was by my own decision that you were informed first, Ancient God Gordes. As one of the peak civilizations, our race observes all other civilizations and powerful races of similar level in our vicinity, including the humans, who have risen rapidly in the past thirty thousand years. I had scoured all known human information, but found nothing about a chief-god-level prodigy named Chu Batian. Clearly, he is a peerless prodigy kept hidden by the humans, likely the future emperor they have cultivated with all their might.

"Geniuses of such caliber from peak civilizations do not remain unknown. Therefore, I propose we publicly acknowledge this earth-shattering battle and let the brilliant fall of our genius be the very recognition this human overlord deserves. After all, this duel was honorable and fair. No emperor-level figures from the human race interfered. Within the same realm, Nashigas was defeated due to its own lack of strength. Though we grieve its death, it will not affect diplomatic relations between our race and the humans. We will maintain our stance of non-interference. As an ancient god of Nashigas' bloodline, you are the most suitable to speak on this matter publicly."

Gazing at Taino, the dragon eye curved into a cold smile. "You want me to convene the council and announce to the surrounding races the death of my youngest son? Taino, only you would dare such a thing."

Sensing the faint killing intent emanating from the dragon eye, Taino calmly responded, "Everything I did was for the sake of the great Eternal Golden Divine Race. Of course, if you do not wish to speak, I can request Ancient God Tigras to do so in your place."

"That won't be necessary." A frigid voice reverberated through the hall as the dragon eye dissolved into countless streaks of golden light.

***

Soon after, news spread across the regions surrounding the Eternal Golden Divine Race of a peerless human genius named Chu Batian. He was said to possess the potential of a true emperor. At the peak of eleventh level—equivalent to the peak of the chief god level in the Golden Divine Race—he had slain an Eternal Golden Divine warrior of the same cultivation level in a head-on clash at the Ancient Arena.

What shocked the surrounding civilizations even more was that this Golden Divine Race opponent had an awakened heavenly god bloodline, allowing it to leap across major realms in battle strength, rivaling even late-stage divine kings.

Such an exaggerated feat of cross-realm combat caused ripples among many lesser civilizations. More importantly, two peak civilizations that were hostile to the human race also took note. At the same time, the message quickly reached one of the distant six human domains, the Flamewheel Divine Region on the frontier.

"Chu Batian? Such a genius exists among my race?" In the starry void, ripples spread across a silvery lake. At the edge, within a lakeside pavilion, sat a woman with long black hair draped over her shoulders, dressed in an elegant divine robe of white embroidered with golden patterns.

Her exquisite face held a slight frown, her gaze thoughtful as starlight shimmered in her eyes. Upon her brow rested a mystical mark of a golden sun, radiating a faint halo that lent her an aura of divinity and majesty.

Beneath the pavilion stood a stern-faced young man with a long scar across his cheek. He bowed respectfully and reported, "I've investigated, Palace Master. This person does not belong to our Flamewheel Dynasty. Even the name seems to be an alias. He is likely a divine child from another dynasty or empire."

"Then what are you doing here, Wu Ze?"

The scarred young man replied respectfully, "I came to report another matter to you, Palace Master. The news about Chu Batian was just incidental. On my way here, I ran into the Master of the Dutian Palace. Given that our Heavenwatching Hall has intelligence networks all over, he asked us to help investigate this person."

"The Dutian Palace Master... the eighth prince? Why would he care about this?" The woman with the divine mark frowned once more.

Wu Ze shook his head. "I don't know either."

"In that case, forget it."

"Yes." Wu Ze lowered his head again and continued. "Palace Master, I came with news about the Vice Palace Master."

"Feitong? Has she found Big Brother Chen?" The woman sat upright instantly. A faint yet terrifying aura flickered across her form, momentarily distorting the surrounding space.

Wu Ze bitterly smiled. "No. The Vice Palace Master only said that she sensed movement from an inheritance token she gave away thousands of years ago. The core principle power inside that token can only be activated by a human, but that location is incredibly distant from the divine region, surrounded by only a few low-level civilizations. Even the strongest among them, a dark civilization, isn't particularly powerful. Most importantly, that region should not have anyone at all. So the token's activation is quite suspicious. She plans to go investigate."

Here, Wu Ze hesitated. "As for news of Master Chen, you and the Vice Palace Master have been searching for over ten thousand years. But across all six divine regions, there hasn't been a single trace of him, not even the slightest sign he ever existed. It's possible that—"

Boom!

A devastating aura burst from the woman's body, crushing the void, shaking heaven and earth, and distorting time and space. It forcibly cut off what Wu Ze was about to say. Bathed in radiant divine light from above, the woman stood tall, like a goddess in command of the sun.

She slowly said, "Even though he's been missing for ten thousand years and none of the six domains have found a trace of him, I believe Big Brother Chen is still out there somewhere. When he left back then, powerful temporal forces were swirling around him, twisting time and space. He may have fallen into another timeline. Of course, there's another possibility. Perhaps, like us, Big Brother Chen is a remnant of a lost ancient people, and his departure back then was simply a return to his original world. With his extraordinary talent, in ten thousand years, he might have already ascended to the level of a primordial star..."

The woman raised her head slightly, gazing toward the distant starry skies above. What a pity. She was still far from reaching the primordial level, otherwise she would have gone up there herself to see.