NOVPUBAs a powerhouse during the era of The Great Emperor of the Three Blades, the Starry Ancient God was undoubtedly a person of exceptional talent.
He possessed one of the Hundred Great Battle Bodies, the Heaven’s Expanse Ancient World Body.
This constitution formed a realm of its own.
Furthermore, when combined with the cultivation technique he practiced, the Starry Ancient World Jue,
he could record everything he saw and experienced in an illusory form within the Ancient Realm.
Although it was illusory, there was a significant chance that it evolved based on reality.
Eventually, he could use these illusory records to deduce some of the real answers he sought.
Since acquiring this ability, he had spent his entire life preparing to deduce the bearer of Destiny.
He tried to record every aspect of the real world and his opponents in illusory forms within the Ancient Realm.
Then he proceeded to deduce in various ways.
Who was most likely to carry Destiny?
Under what circumstance could he carry Destiny with the highest probability?
...
"Please break the stalemate," outside, the man in the black robe said to Xu Zimei, continuing.
Xu Zimei looked up at the firmament and said softly, "Can you still not let go?"
The man in the black robe’s pupils shrank, and he remained silent for a long time.
Break what stalemate?
How to break it?
That was actually an unsolvable problem.
The two people above, one was the Great Emperor of the Three Blades of the past, and the other was the Starry Ancient God.
The so-called breaking of the stalemate was to have Xu Zimei help the Starry Ancient God carry Destiny through deduction.
This was an impossible task.
"You say break the stalemate, but in reality, you just want an answer, right?"
Xu Zimei replied.
The man in the black robe who had been silent by his side sighed slowly.
He waved his right hand, and the dark aura dissipated.
As the scene before Xu Zimei’s eyes flashed, his eyes closed, and when he opened them again, he was back on the stone bench at the chessboard.
"Is it really impossible?" the man in the black robe sighed.
"The hope is slim, unless that person is me?"
"Why?"
"No reason. Just because of these three words—Xu Zimei!"
"You’re right, several centuries have passed, and I still can’t let go.
Just to find the answer to that question in my heart that has no answer,"
the man in the black robe said slowly.
While speaking, he removed the black robe from his head.
"As you expected, Starry Ancient God.
I didn’t expect that after so long, someone would still remember me.
Starry Ancient God, that’s what everyone calls me.
I even forgot my own original name."
Xu Zimei looked up at the man in the black robe, prepared to say it was the Starry Ancient God.
Although he had never seen the Starry Ancient God of the past,
the man before him clearly lacked his former splendor.
His eyes were sunken, his face covered with dense ravines.
His gaze was lifeless, and he was so emaciated that only skin was left.
...
"Are you also here at Annihilation Ridge to seek treasure?" the Starry Ancient God asked with a smile.
"Yes and no," Xu Zimei replied with a smile.
"After all these long years, keep this dying man company for a chat," the Starry Ancient God said.
"Before you leave, I can tell you news of the treasures."
"What would you like to talk about?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Let me tell you about my past grievances. Several eras have passed, and I still haven’t truly let go."
"Go ahead," Xu Zimei said with interest.
...
He could be considered a Loose Cultivator!
Many people had various speculations about the origin of the Starry Ancient God.
Some said he might come from one of the mysterious Hundred Clans, the Heavenly Star Clan.
The clouds of the Great Dao had begun to stir in that Big Era.
He had been called by destiny.
Just like many favored children of heaven, the Starry Ancient God,
had, like The Great Emperor of the Three Blades who had once bid farewell to everyone at the True Martial Holy Sect on an avenue shaded with blooming Undying Flowers.
He, too, stepped onto that path leading to Annihilation Ridge,
a point of no return on the Heavenly Path.
Prior to this, his confidence was boundless.
He had used the Ancient Realm to make countless derivations, preparing meticulously.
He had thought that this journey of destiny would be almost a surefire success.
.........
The Starry Ancient God sighed while speaking, his gaze wandered as he looked at Xu Zimei,
seeming to reminisce about his own regrets and helplessness of the past.
His eyes were bright and endlessly deep.
"I knew the struggle for destiny would be fraught with peril and hardship,
but I hadn’t expected it to be so tremendously difficult.
Once the turbulent winds of destiny had arisen, and the great battle had begun,
I found that all my thoroughly laid preparations were meaningless.
I can’t forget that day.
So many revered and mighty beings, each of their lives filled with legend and pride,
each existence could cause an upheaval in the world just by their sheer presence.
In the end, they were all slaughtered by that man wielding three blades."
"The Great Emperor of the Three Blades?" Xu Zimei inquired.
"Do you know? My lifetime of derivations couldn’t withstand a single strike of his blade,"
the Starry Ancient God nodded, smiling sadly.
"Blood was spread all over Annihilation Ridge.
The earth you now stand upon was once covered with bones and rivers of blood."
Xu Zimei fell silent for a moment—the struggle for destiny was indeed too brutal.
Just as the Starry Ancient God had said,
all the deductions pursued throughout one’s life cannot stand against a single one of the opponent’s strikes.
Even to this day, he couldn’t let it go,
seeking the answer in his deductions on how to defeat the Great Emperor of the Three Blades back then.
"What’s your current situation?" Xu Zimei asked.
The current Starry Ancient God, though conscious and able to act,
seemed no different from a regular person, but Xu Zimei could feel it.
The other had no signs of life.
.........
"I died in a grand battle hundreds of thousands of years ago," the Starry Ancient God said with a candid smile.
"It’s only because of my stubborn unwillingness that I awoke beneath the Dark Decay of Annihilation Ridge.
It won’t be long before I turn to dust and smoke."
"You were born in the wrong era," Xu Zimei said.
"No, that era was wonderful," the Starry Ancient God replied with a smile.
He looked down at the chessboard on the stone table, paused, and finally spoke.
"It feels good to be able to confide these inner thoughts to someone before I go.
What treasure do you want? I’m familiar with Annihilation Ridge; perhaps I can help you."
"The Hell Turbid Qi," Xu Zimei said, clearly and deliberately.
"How do you know of its existence?" the Starry Ancient God was slightly startled,
looking at Xu Zimei with puzzlement and asked, "Are you from the True Martial Holy Sect?
Or did you learn of it from the Three Blades’ records?"
"That’s not important," Xu Zimei responded.
"That’s not something you should touch," the Starry Ancient God replied.
"Even the Three Blades back then couldn’t handle it; he could only seal it away, slowly eroding its Turbid Qi with the power of light."
"How would we know without trying?" Xu Zimei said with a smile.
"It’s sealed in the central area of Annihilation Ridge," the Starry Ancient God fell silent for a moment before continuing,
"If you keep heading north, and if you can survive, you’ll get there."
"Wish me luck," Xu Zimei said with a smile, standing up to leave,
"Good luck," watching Xu Zimei’s departing figure,
the Starry Ancient God slightly lowered his head, his lips gently pursed, murmuring these two words without a sound.
