423: past

Wang Teng's first encounter with Myriad Gods was during a mission to conquer a minor world.

This minor world belonged to a super sect in the Four Profound Heavens, which openly defied the Shenwu Empire.

Thus, Emperor Zhenwu dispatched troops to annihilate it, and its sect master and remaining forces retreated into the minor world.

The one sent to execute the mission at that time was none other than Wang Teng, who had a smooth and successful campaign up until then.

However, he didn't expect this minor world to be easy to defend but difficult to attack, causing him to stumble at the final hurdle.

Mountain and River Seal!

Wang Teng's first exposure to the existence of the Mountain and River Seal was here.

The sect master of that super sect had condensed the Mountain and River Seal within their minor world.

Wang Teng, who was responsible for the attack, never imagined that his first time commanding a world-annihilation battle would lead him to encounter the almost extinct Mountain and River Seal.

In that era, this was very likely the only force that had mastered the method to condense the Mountain and River Seal.

Although the Mountain and River Seal's boost within a minor world was far from comparable to that of a ruler.

At that time, Wang Teng was merely an ordinary Heavenly Imperial Realm ninth-level cultivator, while the opposing sect master was only Heavenly Imperial Realm seventh-level.

After several skirmishes, Wang Teng was repeatedly defeated.

As he was unable to subdue him for a long time, Emperor Zhenwu planned to send reinforcements.

At this moment, Myriad Gods offered a suggestion to Emperor Zhenwu.

He was very interested in the Mountain and River Seal technique and wanted to acquire it for study, hoping to be sent to resolve the matter.

For Emperor Zhenwu, it made no difference who he sent; since Myriad Gods requested it, he might as well send him.

Thus, when Wang Teng's prolonged siege failed, Myriad Gods arrived.

With just a few moves, he caused the sect master to vomit blood repeatedly.

Wang Teng, however, remained calm and composed.

Clearly, he intended to keep him alive to interrogate him for information about the Mountain and River Seal.

Who knew that this sect master, who was unyielding externally, was equally unyielding internally, preferring death to surrender, and directly chose to self-destruct.

In the end, only a partial, incomplete Mountain and River Seal technique was collected.

Myriad Gods took one copy, and Wang Teng, as the primary attacking commander, also made a copy.

That sect master, at Heavenly Imperial Realm seventh-level, could use this technique to suppress him, a Heavenly Imperial Realm ninth-level cultivator.

Therefore, Wang Teng was quite interested in this Mountain and River Seal that had repeatedly led to his defeat.

But incomplete is incomplete; Wang Teng also tried to complete it.

However, the Mountain and River Seal was created by the Earth Emperor; even though its usage requirements were not high, it was exceptionally profound and simply beyond his ability to complete.

Tens of thousands of years passed, and Wang Teng had already stepped into the Venerable combat power, and at the same time, Emperor Zhenwu passed away.

Emperor Zhenwu did not die of old age; sensing that his life was nearing its end, he chose to make a desperate attempt.

To break through to the Immortal Law Realm!

It is said that this is a choice all Holy Lords and peak Heavenly Imperial Realm powerhouses make when their lives are nearing their end.

Many strong individuals with ample lifespan had tried to break through before, but they all died tragically in the end.

For them, death was inevitable anyway; rather than dying with regret, it was better to give it a try.

Regardless of success or failure, they would eventually depart. To have no worries, Emperor Zhenwu personally took action.

He purged all unstable elements inside and outside the empire.

Better to kill a thousand innocents than let one guilty person escape; anyone with even a hint of potential threat was eliminated.

He spent over a hundred years on this one task alone, and then he began his breakthrough attempt.

Without surprise, Emperor Zhenwu died, just like those who had chosen to attempt breakthroughs before him.

He had only just entered a certain mysterious and abstruse state when he instantly vanished into nothingness.

It was just like Ji Hao, but Ji Hao had the Mountain and River Seal to protect him, allowing him to persist for a few more breaths.

Ultimately, Emperor Zhenwu also failed to step into the Immortal Law Realm and completely perished.

The sects he had suppressed during his lifetime sprang up like mushrooms after rain, causing incessant rebellions for a time.

The Eastern and Western Xuan Domains were the first to erupt, and in the blink of an eye, large swathes of territory were seized by those sects.

But the sect alliances were inherently fragmented, each fighting for their own interests with no unified will, and after reaching a certain level of chaos, internal strife inevitably broke out.

Coupled with the Shenwu Empire's side, after suffering significant defeats in both domains, they regrouped their forces and chose to defend staunchly.

Those sects, seeing that the sacrifices outweighed the gains, eventually ceased their activities.

After the chaos in the Eastern and Western Xuan Domains, the Central Profound Domain followed closely. Due to the Shenwu Empire's main forces being concentrated in the Central Profound Domain.

Emperor Zhenwu had died, but many powerhouses of the Shenwu Empire were still alive.

Therefore, the great chaos in the Central Profound Domain occurred later than in the Eastern and Western Xuan Domains; those sects only began to act after seeing the Eastern and Western Domains make their move, but it was equally fierce.

To stabilize their base as quickly as possible, some benefits were ceded to certain sects in the Central Profound Domain, while the rest were swiftly and ruthlessly suppressed with bloody force.

Thus, the Central Profound Domain's rebellion lasted the shortest but was also the most tragic and bloody.

The Northern Xuan Domain was vast and sparsely populated with an extreme environment, having only a few scattered sects, and the intensity of its rebellion was the lightest.

There was no need to bother with them; they would settle down on their own after some time.

The Southern Xuan Domain had been the Demon Domain since ancient times. Emperor Zhenwu had never intended to exterminate the demon beasts, so he only demanded their superficial allegiance, without actual control.

Therefore, there was no rebellion in the Southern Xuan Domain; they merely declared that they would no longer submit to the Shenwu Empire.

In any case, their previous submission was only nominal, incurring no actual losses.

It was inevitable for a new emperor to face such a situation upon ascension.

Emperor Zhenwu was too dominant, suppressing these sects for millions of years; after his death, a wave of backlash was bound to occur.

Wang Teng also confiscated countless homes and annihilated countless sects during this process; initially, the more he killed, the more there were.

The turmoil lasted for several millennia before finally subsiding.

And he himself also gathered many subordinates during this process.

Most importantly, he obtained countless rare materials and sectarian secrets after ransacking homes and annihilating sects.

For example, countless legends from ancient times, speculations and research on the inability to achieve immortality... many of these things were not even recorded by the Shenwu Empire.

After all, no matter how powerful a force, it's impossible to be comprehensive, just like the Mountain and River Seal.

After learning countless ancient secrets, Wang Teng conceived the idea of leaving the Shenwu Empire.

He wanted to seek the secret of breaking through to the Immortal Realm; he wanted to become an immortal!

However, for a powerhouse like him, withdrawing was not so easy.

Countless sects regarded him as an enemy, and the new emperor regarded him as a confidant; having reached this point, he was no longer his own master.

He once saw it in a wild minor world he was ordered to explore.

A small character, who happened to be at the forefront of a trend, soared.

As the power around him grew larger and the interests involved deepened.

The deeper the involvement, the more people it would attract; the more people it attracted, the deeper the involvement.

In the midst of this twisted collision, even if he wanted to stop, someone would push him forward.

To move or not to move, he could no longer decide for himself.

So, taking advantage of the world's great chaos, Wang Teng first managed to tamper with his life tablet in the imperial palace.

Later, during a battle, he was unfortunately 'killed'.

In this way, Wang Teng successfully escaped the control of the Shenwu Empire.

That same day, the Imperial Advisor Myriad Gods found him and told Wang Teng that the place where life tablets were stored was not so easy to enter.

Upon seeing this, Wang Teng's first thought was to kill him to silence him; the crime of deceiving the emperor was not easy to get away with.

This time, facing Myriad Gods, he was quite confident.

When he first attacked the minor world, Wang Teng was merely an ordinary Heavenly Imperial Realm ninth-level cultivator; now, times had changed. (At this period, the title of Venerable did not yet exist, but the title of Holy Lord did; those below Holy Lord were collectively referred to as peak Heavenly Imperial Realm.)

Judging by Myriad Gods's combat performance at that time, the current Wang Teng was much stronger than him.

Thus, Wang Teng was defeated once again.

He was defeated terribly; Myriad Gods only used one move against him, and he lost.

Even among those at the peak Heavenly Imperial Realm, the difference between them could be vast, plus the aura the opponent displayed in this attack.

Wang Teng judged that the opponent was an incredibly powerful peak Heavenly Imperial Realm cultivator, not a Holy Lord.

This time, Wang Teng was defeated, but Myriad Gods did not make things difficult for him; instead, he said something that seemed like a provocation in Wang Teng's eyes.

"Want to learn? I'll teach you!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a black and white Tai Chi fish-like object from his embrace.

Upon closer inspection, it was actually composed of countless black and white characters.

At the first glance of it, five words appeared in Wang Teng's mind—"Vertical and Horizontal · Three Thousand Dao"!