“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was confused, not knowing what exactly Tianxuanzi was up to.
“It seems you’ve already discovered the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tianxuanzi frowned.
“You know too!” Yang Hao had thought he was the only one who knew.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was scheming.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because, in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, there is a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride. Who would have thought it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, though also a leader, had just taken office when the sect was destroyed, so even he never saw it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives before the Supreme One destroyed everything, even stealing the archives themselves.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in the archives. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond comprehension. Becoming the Creator was the greatest secret in the universe, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I’m still worlds away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the emotional toll of recalling too much, and frowned. “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao naturally concluded. The nebula diagram on his back was the key to locating that power.
“You think having the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ emerges—someone with the chance to obtain the nebula diagram. But that’s all. In our dimension, for instance, the heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That nebula diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence. Every thousand years, an heir appeared, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was an heir who uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect specifically selected Creator heirs as its leaders, ensuring the secret remained hidden. And if anyone ever ascended to the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only was he the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he also devised such a long-term plan. Truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who planned millennia ahead never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our founder calculated every possibility but never imagined an expert from another dimension would interfere,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never detected any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The founder’s final decree ensured that nearly all Creator heirs in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect’s banner, minimizing risks,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime into our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives on becoming the Creator. But he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the moment when one leader ascended and another hadn’t yet taken office—then he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all heirs, and with the archives’ help, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator’s power,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve possessed it. Every living being, every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s power. Our strength is his strength. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t due to lack of cultivation but because we haven’t found the vast majority of his power sealed away.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Shouldn’t cultivation be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, yet his expression was grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, disciple, though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but more than anything, they chose not to.”
“Chose not to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to amass power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice slow and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that by draining the energy of the stars, one could absorb part of the Supreme God’s power, accelerating cultivation.”
Yang Hao was horrified. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome: death.” Tian Xuanzi’s face was expressionless. “A drained star withers into silence—its humans, life, everything dies. The star stops rotating, never birthing life again.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end, not the isolated demise of stars and galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it had been dead for centuries. These stars had no energy, no heat or light, unable to sustain planetary motion, plunging the Milky Way into an era of absolute zero.
To revive the dead galaxy, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars, channeling energy from across the universe to power the Milky Way under its control.
This history was in every imperial textbook, treated as commonplace. But now, the question arose: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had never understood—until now. Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, obsessed with the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, meticulously plotted.
After becoming the leader of the righteous path, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect and seized the archives. One could only imagine his excitement—he couldn’t wait to try the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life within them. Though labeled heretics, none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters dared attempt it. They remained righteous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who used it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t bear to wait even days, let alone spend time cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His only restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, star systems withered, brilliant clusters faded, and the Milky Way died under the Supreme One’s ravenous absorption.
Though potent, the Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method had a flaw: waste. Most stellar energy was lost, with only a fraction retained.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained stars with increasing frenzy—until he realized the entire Milky Way, save Earth, was lifeless.
He, too, was engulfed in silence—a terrifying, lifeless void without light, heat, or even a breeze.
The Supreme One finally understood the method’s horror, but it was too late. Like an addict after the first taste, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, harbored no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Countless lives—trillions upon trillions—perished by his hand. He was the most bloodthirsty, cruel killer this world had ever known.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what the Supreme One absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was really up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought he was the only one who had heard of it.
“That’s because, in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, there is a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is also the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage. We once took pride in it, but who would have thought it would lead to the sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Although your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, he encountered the sect’s destruction right after taking office, so he never even got to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity was piqued. Back then, he had been just one step away from unlocking the mystery of the leader’s archives, but the Supreme One had ruined everything, even stealing the archives themselves.
Tian Xuanzi was lost in thought for a moment. His gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet, as if it held the memories he had left in the archives. After pondering for a while, he finally spoke:
“It’s about the method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it possibly be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success in cultivation. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short at the last moment. Among them, I came the closest, but I’m still light-years away from the power of the Supreme God.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or from the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator, the Architect. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, whoever finds the Supreme God’s energy can become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao naturally concluded. The nebula diagram on his back was the key to finding that power.
“You think having the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ appears—someone who has the chance to obtain the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. For example, in our dimension, the heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But it turned out there was no such thing as “too coincidental”—only “even more coincidental.” Every thousand years, an heir appeared, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
But upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor had been an heir who learned some secrets. From then on, the sect deliberately selected Creator’s heirs to become its leaders, ensuring the secret never leaked. And if anyone ever truly inherited the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure forever.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into his own weapon, but he had also devised such a long-term plan. Truly remarkable.
But even the most brilliant minds could make mistakes. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor calculated every possibility, but he never expected an expert from another dimension to interfere,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but he had never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor left behind instructions to gather all the Supreme God’s heirs in our dimension under the sect’s banner, ensuring no accidents would occur,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable about the facts. “But nothing is ever perfect. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict in his own dimension and was blasted through space-time into ours, his power greatly diminished. My guess is that he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which is why his cultivation progressed so smoothly afterward.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a former Golden Immortal, then his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage back then.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned that our Dan Ding Sect possessed a book on becoming the Creator. So he settled in this dimension, meticulously planning for many, many years. Then, when one sect leader ascended and another had yet to take his place, he launched his full-scale attack.”
“But if we’re all heirs, and with the help of the archives, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator’s energy?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We’ve all obtained the Creator’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve had it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle—it’s all the Creator’s power. So our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t due to lack of cultivation, but because we haven’t found the majority of his power, sealed away in a hidden place.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The archives passed down in the Dan Ding Sect actually teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to find the hidden treasure.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapidly seizing power have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face turned pale yet grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember this, disciple. Though the past masters of the Dan Ding Sect were labeled as heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but more than anything, they couldn’t bear to.”
“Couldn’t bear to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With this method, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao suddenly felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it or not is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao’s posture stiffened. Perhaps the weight of today’s revelations was too much for him.
“The fastest way to seize power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi said in a low, deliberate voice. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are all manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it’s enough to dominate the universe. So our founding ancestor discovered that by draining the energy of the stars, one could absorb a portion of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method of cultivation—plundering the energy of stars? Was that something humans could even do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced than Yang Hao, quickly grasped the crux of the matter.
“If a star’s energy is plundered, what happens to it?” Hun Yuanzi asked.
“The only outcome is death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A star drained of energy will wither into silence—its humans, lifeforms, everything. The star will cease to rotate, never again giving rise to life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange phenomenon in the universe: the death of stars.
This had been happening for years, even before Yang Hao was born. According to physics, the universe would eventually die in heat death—a collective end, not the isolated demise of individual stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, the birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, but it had been completely dead for centuries. These stars had no energy, no heat or light, and could no longer drive the rotation of surrounding planets, plunging the Milky Way into an era of absolute zero.
To keep the dead Milky Way functioning, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars and harnessed the universe’s energy to provide special propulsion. Only under the AI Overlord’s control could the galaxy operate normally.
This history was recorded in every empire textbook, treated as common knowledge. But now the question was: How did the Milky Way die?
Logically, a galaxy’s lifespan should be vast—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had never understood, but after hearing Tian Xuanzi’s words today, he finally realized: Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
To uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s great secret, the Supreme One had schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the leader of the righteous path, he annihilated the Dan Ding Sect under Hun Yuanzi’s leadership. Once he seized the archives, his excitement must have been overwhelming—he couldn’t wait to try the method recorded within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, none had dared to attempt it. They had remained righteous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who used it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience had reached its peak. He couldn’t bear to wait even a few days, let alone spend time cultivating to reach other galaxies.
So he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
The only restraint in his mind was sparing Earth—the place he himself lived. The rest of the Milky Way’s stars and clusters became his energy sources.
No one knows how long it took, but the galaxies withered one by one. Brilliant star clusters faded, and the entire Milky Way died swiftly under the Supreme One’s frenzied absorption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s method of plundering stellar energy, though formidable, had a major flaw: inefficiency. Most of the energy was wasted, with only a fraction being usable.
To grow even stronger, the Supreme One grew more insatiable. He drained star after star until he realized the entire Milky Way—save for Earth—was lifeless.
He himself was left in a terrifying silence—a dead stillness without life, light, heat, or even a whisper of wind.
The Supreme One finally understood the horror of this method, but it was too late. Like an addict who had tasted the sweetness of drugs, he was trapped forever.
This was why, apart from Earth, the Milky Way had no intelligent life left. The Supreme One’s experiment had wiped out all other civilizations in the galaxy in one stroke.
Billions upon billions of lives perished by his hand. He had become the most bloodthirsty, cruelest killer in existence.
Though most of the stellar energy was wasted, what the Supreme One absorbed was enough to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects under his rule.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was scheming.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage—once a source of pride, yet it ultimately led to our sect’s annihilation.”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he encountered the sect’s destruction before he could even glimpse it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the leader’s archives when the Supreme One destroyed everything, even seizing the records.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method… on how to become the Supreme God.”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God—written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond comprehension. Becoming the Creator was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could such a method be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever ascended to become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of our sect, after ascending, strove toward this goal but always fell short. Among them, I came the closest, yet the power of the Supreme God remains beyond my reach.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the weight of his memories. Frowning, he explained:
“The Supreme God we speak of—what outsiders now call the Creator or the Architect—has countless names. Yet in this world, all revere him, for he created it. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God?” Yang Hao had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was a map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re mistaken—gravely so. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless, leaving no loopholes. He wouldn’t grant the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ emerges—someone who gains the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. In our dimension, these heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned—utterly speechless.
He had thought it an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But as it turned out, there was no limit to such coincidences. Every thousand years, an heir appeared, and all of them belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
Yet upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was the first heir, uncovering some secrets and thereafter ensuring that only Creator’s heirs became sect leaders. This way, the secret remained guarded, and if anyone ever ascended to the Creator’s throne, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the founder’s brilliance. Not only had he been the first to seal a deity into a weapon, but he had also devised such a far-reaching plan. Truly remarkable.
But even the most brilliant minds make oversights. This mastermind, who had plotted for millennia, never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of them. Our founder accounted for every possibility—except one: an expert from another dimension.”
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. That man seemed to have only later achieved true immortality.
“The founder’s final decree ensured that all Creator’s heirs in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect, preventing any mishaps,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly privy to many facts. “But perfection is unattainable. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime into ours, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal once, his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives on becoming the Creator. But once he did, he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the moment came—one leader ascending, the next not yet in place—before launching his full assault.”
“But if we’re all heirs, and with the archives’ guidance, why has no one ever attained the Creator’s power?” Yang Hao asked, perplexed.
“We’ve all obtained the Creator’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve carried it. Every breath, every cycle of life in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s power. Our strength is his. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t lack of cultivation—it’s that we haven’t found the majority of his power, sealed away in a hidden place.”
“All those generations… and no one found it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden trove.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Shouldn’t cultivation be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, yet his expression was grave. Placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder, he said, “Remember this, disciple. Though our past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator—but they chose not to.”
“Chose not to?”
“Precisely.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes with a sigh. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in mere years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” A chill ran down Yang Hao’s spine.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it… is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to amass power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi whispered slowly. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that by draining a star’s energy, one absorbs part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was horrified. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?”
“Only one outcome: death.” Tian Xuanzi’s face was expressionless. “A drained star withers into silence—its people, its life, everything dies. The star ceases to rotate, never again fostering life.”
Yang Hao recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually perish in heat death—a universal end, not isolated to single stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. Once home to over 200 billion stars, it had died centuries ago. Those stars lost their energy, heat, and light, plunging the galaxy into a near-absolute-zero freeze.
To revive the dead Milky Way, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars, channeling energy from across the cosmos to keep the galaxy functioning under its control.
This history was textbook common knowledge. But now, Yang Hao realized the truth: someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
The horror of it struck him.
The Supreme One, after seizing the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, must have eagerly tried the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies—and all life within them. Though labeled heretics, the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters had never dared use it, remaining righteous.
Yet the Supreme One, a so-called righteous leader, had no such qualms.
His impatience knew no bounds. Unable to wait even days, let alone cultivate further or travel to distant galaxies, he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars became his energy source.
Over time, star after star withered. Glittering clusters faded. The entire Milky Way died under his ravenous consumption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-draining method, though potent, was inefficient—most energy was wasted, with only a fraction retained.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained more stars, until the entire Milky Way—save Earth—was lifeless.
He himself fell into a terrifying silence—a void without life, light, heat, or even a breeze.
Only then did he grasp the method’s horror. But like an addict after the first taste, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, harbored no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated it all in one stroke.
Billions upon billions of lives—extinguished by his hand. He had become history’s most blood-soaked killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal—and conquer Earth’s cultivation sects.
“What is it?” Hunyuanzi’s curiosity surged. Back then, he had been just one step away from unraveling the mystery of the sect leader’s texts when everything was ruined by the Supreme Being, even the sacred texts being seized away.
Tianxuanzi gazed blankly for a moment, his eyes fixed on the green grass beneath his feet, as if recalling memories stored within those ancient pages. After a moment’s contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s the method to becoming the Supreme Deity…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hunyuanzi exclaimed in unison.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth.” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because, in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, there is a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride, yet it led to our sect’s annihilation.”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, though also a leader, faced the sect’s destruction before he could see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the leader’s archives before the Supreme One destroyed everything, even stealing the records.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in the archives. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke:
“It’s about the method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator God was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascension, strived for this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet still leagues away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, either injured from defying the heavenly tribulation or overwhelmed by memories. He frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for he created it. Though omnipotent, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away, while the rest formed this world, splitting into countless dimensional universes.”
“So, finding the Supreme God’s energy would make one the new Supreme God?” Yang Hao had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was the map to that power.
“You think the Nebula Flower alone can make you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head bitterly. “You’re wrong, my disciple. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless. He wouldn’t leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called Creator’s heir emerges, gaining the Nebula Diagram—but that’s all. In our dimension, these heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned.
He had thought it an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs. But the world held no limits to coincidence—every thousand years, an heir appeared within the Dan Ding Sect.
Yet, upon reflection, Yang Hao understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was an heir who uncovered some secrets, ensuring future heirs became sect leaders to safeguard the knowledge. If one ever ascended to Creator status, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao admired the founder’s brilliance—not only did he seal a god into his weapon, but he also devised such a long-term plan.
But even the wisest make mistakes. The founder never foresaw the Supreme One destroying the Dan Ding Sect and stealing the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of them. Our founder accounted for every possibility—except an expert from another dimension.” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed dimensional-crossing abilities. The man seemed to achieve immortality later.
“The founder’s decree ensured all heirs in our dimension joined the Dan Ding Sect, preventing mishaps,” Tian Xuanzi explained. “But perfection is impossible. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension, likely exiled here after a great conflict, his power diminished. I suspect he once reached Golden Immortal level, explaining his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell silent. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, his loss wasn’t so shameful—he hadn’t even been a Loose Immortal then.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of our sect’s secret. He settled here, plotting for years until the moment one leader ascended and another hadn’t yet taken office—then he struck.”
“But if all heirs had the archives, why did none attain the Creator’s power?” Yang Hao asked.
“We all possessed the Creator’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi said cryptically. “From birth, every being in this world carries it—every breath, every cycle is the Creator’s power. Our failure wasn’t lack of cultivation but inability to find the bulk of his sealed energy.”
“Generations couldn’t find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The archives taught us how to gather enough energy to locate it.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Shouldn’t cultivation be gradual? Rapid power gain must have side effects.”
“Side effects? It would destroy the world.” Tian Xuanzi paled, placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, though called heretics, our ancestors were righteous. They restrained their desires to protect this world. They could have become the Creator—but they couldn’t bear to.”
“Couldn’t bear to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi sighed. “The archives detail a shortcut—absorbing stellar energy. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes.” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is your choice.”
Yang Hao stiffened, overwhelmed by the revelations.
“The fastest way is to plunder stellar energy,” Tian Xuanzi whispered. “As the secret states, the stars are the Creator’s power. Absorbing them grants immense strength. Our founder realized that draining a star’s energy equated to absorbing part of the Creator’s power.”
Yang Hao was stunned—such cultivation was unimaginable. Could humans truly steal stars?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, grasped the crux. “What happens to a star after its energy is taken?”
“It dies,” Tian Xuanzi said flatly. “Drained stars become lifeless—no rotation, no life, eternal stillness.”
Yang Hao recalled a cosmic anomaly—dying stars. Long before his birth, stars had begun fading. Physics predicted universal heat death, but this was localized—individual stars and galaxies dying prematurely.
Take the Milky Way, home to over 200 billion stars. Centuries ago, it died entirely—stars devoid of energy, light, or motion, plunging the galaxy into absolute zero. To sustain it, the AI Emperor installed fusion devices on stars, channeling cosmic energy to keep the Milky Way functioning.
This history was textbook common knowledge. But now Yang Hao understood—someone had drained the Milky Way.
The horror dawned on him.
The Supreme One, after seizing the archives, must have eagerly tried the method. A technique that could kill galaxies and their inhabitants—yet the Dan Ding ancestors, though labeled heretics, never dared use it.
Ironically, it was a so-called righteous leader who unleashed it.
Impatient, the Supreme One targeted the Milky Way first, sparing only Earth—his home. The rest of the galaxy became his energy source.
Over time, stars withered, clusters faded, and the Milky Way died under his ravenous absorption.
The method was powerful but inefficient—most stellar energy was wasted, with only a fraction retained.
Obsessed, the Supreme One drained the galaxy until only Earth remained alive. He found himself in terrifying stillness—no life, no light, no wind.
Too late, he realized the method’s horror—like an addict, he was trapped.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, lacked intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations—trillions of lives extinguished by his hand.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and dominate Earth’s cultivation sects.
He had become history’s most bloodstained killer.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was scheming.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because, within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, there is a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is also the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage—once a source of pride, yet it ultimately led to our sect’s destruction.”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Although your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, he had just taken office when the sect was annihilated, so even he never saw it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. Back then, he had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives, but the Supreme One had destroyed everything, even seizing the archives themselves.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze for a moment. His gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet, as if it held the memories he had left in the archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it possibly be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success in cultivation. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal, yet all fell short at the final step. I am the closest among them, but I am still worlds away from the power of the Supreme God.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or from the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was created by him. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, the majority of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao naturally deduced. The nebula diagram on his back was the key to locating that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong—terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s successor’ emerges. This person gains the chance to obtain the Nebula Diagram, but that’s all. For example, in our dimension, the Supreme God’s successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned—utterly stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were successors of the Creator. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence. Every thousand years, a successor emerged, and they all existed within the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor had been a successor who uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect specifically selected Creator successors to become its leaders, ensuring the secret remained hidden. And if anyone truly inherited the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into his own weapon, but he had also devised such a far-reaching plan—truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“This was an accident, but history is always full of accidents. Our ancestor calculated every possibility, yet he never imagined an expert from another dimension would appear,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped in shock. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but he had never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became a true immortal.
“The Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor left behind teachings that gathered nearly all of our dimension’s Supreme God successors under the sect’s banner, ensuring no accidents would occur,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is ever perfect. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict in his own dimension and was blasted through space-time into ours, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which is why his cultivation progressed so smoothly.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his own defeat didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage back then.
“No one knows how the Supreme One discovered that our Dan Ding Sect possessed a method to become the Creator. So he settled in this dimension, meticulously planning for many, many years. Then, when one sect leader ascended and another had yet to take his place, he launched his full-scale assault.”
“But if we’re all successors and have the archives’ guidance, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator’s energy?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we possessed it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle—all are manifestations of the Creator’s power. So our power is the Creator’s power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t due to insufficient cultivation, but because we haven’t found the majority of the Creator’s power sealed in that hidden place.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The archives passed down in the Dan Ding Sect teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Rapidly seizing power—wouldn’t that have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, yet his expression remained grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember this, disciple. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled as heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but more than anything, they chose not to.”
“Chose not to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With this method, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao suddenly felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I will teach you this method. Whether you use it or not is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the secrets he had learned today.
“The fastest way to seize power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi said in a hushed, deliberate tone. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it is enough to dominate the universe. Thus, our founding ancestor discovered that by absorbing the energy of the stars, one could rapidly cultivate, as it was equivalent to absorbing a portion of the Supreme God’s power.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method of cultivation—plundering the energy of stars? Was that something a human could even do?
Hun Yuanzi, far more experienced, quickly grasped the crux of the matter.
“If a star’s energy is plundered, what happens to it?” Hun Yuanzi asked.
“The only outcome is death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A star drained of energy will wither into silence—its humans, its life, everything. The star will cease to rotate, never again giving rise to life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange phenomenon in the universe—the death of planets.
This had been occurring for many years, even before Yang Hao’s birth. According to physics, the universe would eventually die in a “heat death,” but that would be the collective demise of the entire cosmos, not individual stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, the cradle of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over two hundred billion stars, yet it had completely died out centuries ago. These stars no longer had energy, heat, or light, and could no longer drive their planetary systems, plunging the Milky Way into an era of absolute zero.
To keep the dead Milky Way functioning, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars and harnessed energy from across the universe to provide special propulsion. Only under the Overlord’s control could the galaxy operate normally.
This history was recorded in every empire textbook, treated as common knowledge. But now, the question arose—how had the Milky Way died?
Galaxies were supposed to live for eons, with billions of years passing in the blink of an eye. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had never understood—until now. Listening to Tian Xuanzi, he realized someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
To uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s great secret, the Supreme One had schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the leader of the righteous path, he annihilated the Dan Ding Sect under Hun Yuanzi’s leadership and seized the archives. One could only imagine his excitement—he must have been desperate to try the method recorded within.
That method could kill galaxies—and all life upon them. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, none had dared to use it. They had remained righteous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who used it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience must have reached its peak. He couldn’t bear to wait even a few days, let alone spend time cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
The only restraint he showed was sparing Earth—the planet he lived on. The rest of the Milky Way’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
No one knows how long it took, but the galaxies withered one by one. Glittering star clusters faded, and the entire Milky Way died swiftly under the Supreme One’s ravenous absorption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s method of plundering stellar energy, though formidable, had a major flaw—waste. Most of the energy would dissipate uselessly, with only a fraction being absorbed.
To grow even stronger, the Supreme One grew more frenzied in his consumption—until he realized the entire Milky Way, save for Earth, had been drained of life.
He himself fell into a terrifying silence—a lifeless, lightless, heatless, windless void.
The Supreme One finally understood the horror of this method, but it was too late. Like an addict who had tasted the sweetness of drugs, he was trapped forever.
This was why the Milky Way, apart from Earth, had no intelligent life left. The Supreme One’s experiment had wiped out all other civilizations in the galaxy in one stroke.
Countless lives—trillions upon trillions—had died by his hand. He was the most bloodthirsty, ruthless killer this world had ever known.
Though most of the stellar energy had been wasted, what little the Supreme One absorbed was enough to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects under his rule.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride, yet it led to our sect’s annihilation.”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Though your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, he had just taken office when the calamity struck, so he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the leader’s archives when the Supreme One destroyed everything, even seizing the records.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke:
“It’s a method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God—recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator God was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be documented in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever ascended to become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strove toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I remain leagues away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the weight of his memories. He frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator or the Architect. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for he created it. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao mused. He had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was a map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My disciple, you’re mistaken—gravely so. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He wouldn’t leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every universe, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator God successor’ emerges, someone who gains the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. In our universe, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned—utterly speechless.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator God successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to such coincidences. Every thousand years, a successor emerged, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was a successor who uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect deliberately selected Creator God successors as leaders to safeguard the secret. If any successor ever ascended to the Creator’s throne, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the founder’s brilliance. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into a weapon, but he had also devised such a long-term plan—truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook things. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that the Supreme One would one day annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of them. Our founder calculated every possibility but never foresaw an expert from another universe arriving,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another universe?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any ability to traverse universes. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The founder’s final instructions ensured that nearly all Creator God successors in our universe were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect, minimizing risks,” Tian Xuanzi explained. “But perfection is unattainable. The Supreme One was a successor from another universe. He might have been caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime into ours, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell silent. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, his loss wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even been a loose immortal before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives on becoming the Creator God. He settled in this universe, biding his time for years until the moment came—one leader ascending, another yet to take his place—before striking with full force.”
“But if all successors had the archives, why has no one ever attained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked, perplexed.
“We all possess the Creator God’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From birth, we carry it. Every living being, every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s power. Our strength is his. The reason none of us became the new Creator isn’t lack of cultivation but failure to find the bulk of his power, sealed away.”
“Generations of masters couldn’t find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s gates,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach how to rapidly gather enough energy to locate the hidden trove.”
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Shouldn’t cultivation be gradual? Rapidly amassing power—wouldn’t that have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face turned pale yet grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To preserve this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God, but they chose not to—out of compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Precisely.” Tian Xuanzi sighed, closing his eyes. “The archives clearly describe a shortcut—the fastest way to gain power. With this method, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi confirmed. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao stiffened, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to amass power is to plunder the energy of stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that absorbing a star’s energy equates to absorbing part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid advancement.”
Yang Hao was stunned. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only death remains,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “The star withers into silence—its inhabitants, life, everything perishes. It stops rotating, never fostering life again.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end—not isolated stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. Once home to over 200 billion stars, it had died centuries ago. Those stars lost their energy, heat, and light, plunging the galaxy into a near-absolute-zero freeze.
To revive the Milky Way, the AI Overlord installed fusion reactors on countless stars, channeling energy from across the cosmos to keep the galaxy functioning under its control.
This history was textbook knowledge, taken for granted. But now, Yang Hao wondered: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years mere moments to them. Why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but Tian Xuanzi’s words illuminated the truth: Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
The horror of it struck him.
The Supreme One, obsessed with the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, meticulously plotted.
After becoming the orthodox leader, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect, seizing the archives. His excitement must have been boundless—he couldn’t wait to try the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life within. Though labeled heretics, the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters had never dared use it, upholding their integrity.
Yet it was an orthodox leader who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t wait days, let alone spend years cultivating or journeying to other galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way first.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy became his energy source.
Over time, stars withered, brilliant clusters faded, and the Milky Way died under his relentless drain.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient. Most energy was wasted; only a fraction was usable.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained stars with increasing frenzy—until the Milky Way, save Earth, was a lifeless void.
He too was left in silence—a terrifying, lifeless, lightless, windless desolation.
Only then did he grasp the method’s horror. But like an addict after the first taste, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, harbored no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in one stroke.
Billions upon billions perished by his hand—making him history’s most bloodthirsty killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a loose immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was scheming.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because, within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, there is a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is also the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage—once a source of pride, yet it ultimately led to our sect’s annihilation.”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he had just taken office when the calamity struck, so even he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives before the Supreme One destroyed everything, even seizing the records.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator was the greatest secret in the universe, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever ascended to become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strove toward this goal but always fell short. Among them, I came the closest, yet I remain light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the weight of his memories, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for he created it. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao mused. He had already considered this—the nebula pattern on his back was a map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My disciple, you are gravely mistaken. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interlocking—he would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ emerges, someone who gains the Nebula Map. But that’s all. In our dimension, these heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Map—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned, utterly speechless.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But now he realized there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, an heir appeared, and all were within the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was the first heir, uncovering some secrets and thereafter ensuring that only Creator’s heirs became sect leaders. This way, the secret would never leak, and if anyone truly ascended to the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only was he the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he also devised such a far-reaching plan—truly formidable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who planned millennia ahead never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our founder calculated every possibility, yet never imagined an expert from another dimension would appear,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but he never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The founder’s final decree ensured that all Creator’s heirs in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect, preventing any mishaps,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict in his own world, blasted through space-time into ours, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal once, then his own defeat wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One discovered that our sect held the secret to becoming the Creator. So he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the moment when one leader ascended and another had yet to take his place—then he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all heirs, and with the archives’ help, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator’s power,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we received it. Every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s energy. Our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t due to lack of cultivation—it’s because we haven’t found the vast majority of his power, sealed away in a hidden place.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient strength, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden trove.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face turned pale yet solemn. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, disciple—though past masters of the Dan Ding Sect were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but more than anything, they chose not to.”
“Chose not to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record the fastest method to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I will teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to amass power is to plunder the energy of stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice slow and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that by draining the energy of stars, one could absorb part of the Supreme God’s power, accelerating cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that something a human could even do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome—death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A drained star withers into silence. All life upon it—humans, creatures, everything—dies. The star ceases to rotate, never again fostering life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of planets.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually perish in heat death, but that was a universal end—not the isolated demise of single stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. Once home to over 200 billion stars, it had died out centuries ago. Those stars lost their energy, heat, and light, plunging the galaxy into an era of absolute zero.
To revive the dead Milky Way, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars, channeling energy from across the cosmos to sustain it under his control.
This history was taught in every imperial textbook, treated as commonplace. But now, the question arose: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had never understood—until now. Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, obsessed with the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, meticulously plotted his rise.
After becoming the leader of the righteous path, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect and seized the archives. His excitement was palpable—he couldn’t wait to try the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, none dared use it. They remained righteous.
Yet the Supreme One, a leader of the righteous, wielded it without hesitation.
His impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t bear to wait even days, let alone spend years cultivating or journeying to other galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, star systems withered. Glittering clusters faded. The Milky Way died swiftly under his ravenous consumption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient. Most stellar energy was wasted—only a fraction could be absorbed.
But the Supreme One, craving greater power, grew ever more voracious. Only when he realized the entire Milky Way—save Earth—was lifeless did he stop.
He himself was left in a terrifying silence—no life, no light, no warmth, not even a whisper of wind.
At last, he understood the method’s horror. But by then, it was too late. Like an addict tasting his first high, he was trapped forever.
This was why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, held no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Billions upon billions perished by his hand. He had become the most bloodthirsty killer in existence.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal—and the undisputed ruler of Earth’s cultivation sects.
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tianxuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tianxuanzi pressed his hand against his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or emotional turmoil from recalling the past, he looked pained as he explained, “The Supreme Deity we speak of is also known today as the Creator or the God of Creation. He has countless names, yet all beings in this world revere him, for this world was created by him. Though the Supreme Deity possessed immense power, he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious realm, while the remaining energy formed this world, manifesting into countless different universes and dimensions.”
“So you’re saying that whoever finds the Supreme Deity’s energy can become the new Supreme Deity?” Yang Hao had naturally considered this before. The star chart behind him was essentially a map to that very power.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was really up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and birth,” Tian Xuanzi said with a frown.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride. Who would have thought it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he encountered the sect’s destruction before he could even take office, so he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives before the Supreme One destroyed everything, even taking the archives themselves.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Even with the method, success isn’t guaranteed. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short. Among them, I came the closest, yet I’m still light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the weight of his memories, and frowned. “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world is his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao mused. He had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was the key to locating that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re mistaken. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ emerges—someone who gains the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. In our dimension, for instance, these heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned, utterly speechless.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence. Every thousand years, an heir appeared, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
But upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was himself an heir who uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect specifically selected Creator heirs as its leaders, ensuring the secret remained hidden. And if anyone ever ascended to the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only was he the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he also devised such a long-term plan. Truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who planned millennia ahead never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our founder calculated every possibility but never imagined an expert from another dimension would interfere,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The Dan Ding Sect’s founder left instructions to gather all Creator heirs in our dimension under the sect’s banner, ensuring no accidents occurred,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime into our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell silent. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, his defeat wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s archives on becoming the Creator. But once he did, he settled in this dimension, plotting for years until the moment one leader ascended and another hadn’t yet taken office—then he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all heirs and have the archives, why has no one ever obtained the Creator’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We’ve all obtained the Creator’s power,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve had it. Every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s power. Our strength is his. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t due to lack of cultivation but because we haven’t found the majority of his power, sealed away in a hidden place.”
“Generations of seekers, and no one found it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden trove.”
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, his expression grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, my disciple, though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but they chose not to—out of compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Precisely.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to amass power is to plunder the energy of stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice slow and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that by draining a star’s energy, one could absorb part of the Supreme God’s power, accelerating cultivation.”
Yang Hao was stunned. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome: death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A drained star withers into silence—its humans, life, everything dies. The star stops rotating, never again fostering life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end, not the isolated demise of stars and galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. Once home to over 200 billion stars, it had died centuries ago. Those stars lost their energy, heat, and light, plunging the galaxy into absolute zero.
To revive the dead Milky Way, the AI Overlord installed fusion devices on countless stars, channeling the universe’s energy to power the galaxy under its control.
This history was in every imperial textbook, treated as commonplace. But now, the question arose: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. Why, then, did the Milky Way perish in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but after Tian Xuanzi’s words, he understood: Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, obsessed with the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, meticulously planned his rise.
After becoming the righteous faction’s leader, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect and seized the archives. His excitement was palpable—he couldn’t wait to try the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though labeled heretics, the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters had never dared use it, remaining virtuous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t bear to wait even days, let alone spend years cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, star systems withered, brilliant clusters faded, and the Milky Way died under his relentless drain.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient. Most energy was wasted, with only a fraction absorbed.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained stars with increasing frenzy—until he realized the entire Milky Way, save Earth, was lifeless.
He, too, was left in silence—a terrifying void devoid of life, light, heat, even wind.
Only then did he grasp the method’s horror. But like an addict tasting his first high, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, had no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Billions of lives perished by his hand, making him history’s most bloodthirsty killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
Yang Hao was stunned—completely taken aback.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride. Who would have thought it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Although your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, he encountered the sect’s destruction before he could even take office, so he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. Back then, he had been just one step away from unlocking the mystery of the leader’s archives, but the Supreme One had ruined everything, even stealing the archives.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator God was the universe’s greatest secret, something that had never been achieved since the Creator God’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Even with the method, success isn’t guaranteed. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short. Among them, I came the closest, yet I’m still light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the weight of his memories, it was unclear. He frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator, the Architect. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world is his creation. Though the Supreme God possesses immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, whoever finds the Supreme God’s energy can become the new Supreme God.” Yang Hao had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was the key to locating that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interlocking—he would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, once every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator God successor’ emerges. This person gains the chance to obtain the nebula diagram, but that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That nebula diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator God successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, a successor appeared, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder had been a successor who uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect deliberately selected Creator God successors as leaders to ensure the secret remained hidden. If anyone ever ascended to the Creator God’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he had also devised such a far-reaching plan. Truly remarkable.
Yet even the wisest could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our founder calculated every possibility, yet he never imagined an expert from another dimension would appear,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but he never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only became a true immortal later.
“The founder’s final decree ensured that nearly all Creator God successors in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect’s banner, minimizing risks,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But perfection is unattainable. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime by immense energy, and arrived in our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation here.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal once, then his loss wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned about the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives on becoming the Creator God. So he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the perfect moment—when one sect leader ascended and the next hadn’t yet taken office—before launching his full-scale attack.”
“But if we’re all successors and have the archives, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator God’s power,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve possessed it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle, is a manifestation of the Creator God’s power. So our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator God isn’t due to insufficient cultivation—it’s because we haven’t found the majority of his power, sealed away in a hidden place.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face turned pale yet solemn. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, my disciple, though past masters of the Dan Ding Sect were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God, but more than anything, they couldn’t bear to.”
“Couldn’t bear to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With this method, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to amass power is to plunder the energy of stars,” Tian Xuanzi whispered slowly. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that by draining a star’s energy, one absorbs part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that something humans could even do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome: death.” Tian Xuanzi’s expression was grim. “A drained star withers into silence—its humans, creatures, everything dies. The star stops rotating, never birthing life again.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end, not the isolated demise of single stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it had been completely dead for centuries. These stars lost their energy, heat, and light, leaving the Milky Way frozen near absolute zero.
To revive the dead galaxy, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars and harnessed the universe’s energy to provide special propulsion, allowing the Milky Way to function under its control.
This history was textbook common knowledge, long taken for granted. But now the question arose: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but after Tian Xuanzi’s words, he understood: Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
To uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, the Supreme One had schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the righteous sects’ leader, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect and seized the archives. His excitement was palpable—he couldn’t wait to try the method recorded within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though labeled heretics, past Dan Ding masters had never dared attempt it, remaining righteous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who used it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t endure even days of waiting, let alone spend years cultivating or traveling to distant galaxies.
So he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth, his own home. The rest of the galaxy—its stars, clusters—became his energy source.
Over time, star systems withered, brilliant clusters faded, and the entire Milky Way died under his voracious drain.
Though potent, the Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method had a flaw: waste. Most stellar energy was lost, with only a fraction absorbed.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained stars with increasing frenzy—until he realized the entire Milky Way, save Earth, was lifeless.
He, too, was left in a terrifying silence—no life, no light, no heat, not even a breeze.
The Supreme One finally understood the method’s horror, but it was too late. Like an addict tasting his first high, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, harbored no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Billions upon billions of lives perished by his hand, making him history’s most bloodthirsty killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought he was the only one who had heard of it.
“That’s because there’s a secret recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s ancient texts.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, something we once took pride in. Who would have thought it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he had just taken office when the sect was destroyed, so he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity was piqued. He had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s texts when the Supreme One ruined everything, even stealing the texts themselves.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those texts. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader texts?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator God was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved again since the Creator God’s demise billions of years ago. How could it possibly be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s texts?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short at the last step. Among them, I came the closest, yet I’m still light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or from the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator or the Maker. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao mused. He had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was a map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator God successor’ appears—someone who gains the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator God successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, a successor emerged within the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor was a successor who had uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect deliberately selected Creator God successors as its leaders to ensure the secret remained hidden. And if anyone truly inherited the Creator God’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into his own weapon, but he had also devised such a long-term plan. Truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the texts.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor calculated every possibility but never imagined an expert from another dimension would interfere,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but he never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The founding ancestor’s final decree ensured that nearly all Creator God successors in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect’s banner, minimizing risks,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime, and arrived in our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation progress.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his loss wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned about the Dan Ding Sect’s secret text on becoming the Creator God. But once he did, he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the perfect moment—when one sect leader ascended and the next hadn’t yet taken office—to launch his full-scale attack.”
“But if we’re all successors and have the text’s guidance, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator God’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve had it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle—all are manifestations of the Creator God’s power. So our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator God isn’t due to insufficient cultivation but because we haven’t found the majority of his power, sealed away in a hidden place.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s text teaches us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden trove.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face turned pale yet solemn. Placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder, he said, “Remember, disciple—though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God, but most chose not to—out of compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Precisely.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The text clearly records a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The fastest way to gather power is to plunder the energy of stars,” Tian Xuanzi whispered slowly. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founding ancestor discovered that absorbing the energy of stars equates to absorbing part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is plundered, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome—death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A drained star withers into silence. Its inhabitants, life, everything—gone. The star stops rotating, never birthing life again.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon—the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually perish in heat death, but that was a universal end, not the isolated demise of single stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it had been completely dead for centuries. These stars lacked energy, heat, or light, leaving the Milky Way frozen near absolute zero.
To revive it, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars and harnessed the universe’s energy to power the galaxy artificially.
This history was textbook knowledge, long taken for granted. But now, the question arose—how did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but after Tian Xuanzi’s words, he understood—someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, obsessed with the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, meticulously plotted.
After becoming the righteous faction’s leader, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect and seized the text. His excitement was palpable—he couldn’t wait to try the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though labeled heretics, the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters had never dared use it, remaining virtuous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t bear to wait even days, let alone cultivate further or travel to distant galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, star after star withered. Glowing clusters faded. The entire Milky Way died under his ravenous absorption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient—most energy was wasted, with only a fraction retained.
The Supreme One, craving more power, grew increasingly frenzied. Only when he realized the entire Milky Way—save Earth—was drained did he stop.
He himself was left in a terrifying silence—no life, no light, no warmth, not even a breeze.
At last, he understood the method’s horror. But like an addict tasting his first high, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, harbored no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in one stroke.
Countless lives—trillions upon trillions—perished by his hand. He was history’s most bloodthirsty killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was scheming.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride. Who would have thought it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he encountered the sect’s destruction before he could even glimpse it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the leader’s archives when the Supreme One destroyed everything, even stealing the records.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a trance, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God—recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the original Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could such a method be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever ascended to become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of our sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I remain light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, either injured from resisting the heavenly tribulation or overwhelmed by memories. He frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for he created it. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the rest formed this world, giving rise to countless universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao mused. He had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was the key to locating that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My disciple, you’re mistaken—gravely so. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless, leaving no loopholes. He wouldn’t leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every universe, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ emerges—someone with the chance to obtain the nebula diagram. But that’s all. In our universe, these heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That nebula diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned—utterly speechless.
He had thought it an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs. But now he realized there was no such thing as “too coincidental.” Every thousand years, an heir appeared, and all were within the Dan Ding Sect.
Yet upon reflection, Yang Hao understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was the first heir, uncovering some secrets. From then on, the sect deliberately selected Creator heirs as leaders to safeguard the secret. If any heir ever ascended to godhood, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the founder’s brilliance—not only did he pioneer sealing gods into weapons, but he also orchestrated this grand plan.
Yet even the wisest make mistakes. The founder, who had planned for millennia, never anticipated the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of them. Our founder accounted for every possibility—except an outsider from another universe,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another universe?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any cross-universe ability in him. That man only later became an immortal.
“The founder’s decree ensured all heirs in our universe were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect, preventing accidents,” Tian Xuanzi explained. “But perfection is impossible. The Supreme One was an heir from another universe, likely exiled here after a great conflict shattered his world. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal realm, hence his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell silent. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, his defeat wasn’t so shameful—he hadn’t even been a loose immortal back then.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of our sect’s secret. He settled here, biding his time for years before striking when one leader ascended and another hadn’t yet taken office.”
“But if all heirs had the archives, why did none succeed?” Yang Hao asked.
“We all obtained the Creator’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi said cryptically. “From birth, every being in this world carries it—every breath, every cycle is the Creator’s power. We didn’t become the new Creator not due to lack of cultivation but because we couldn’t find the sealed majority of his power.”
“Generations failed?”
“Without enough power, you can’t open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The archives teach how to rapidly gather enough energy to locate it.”
“Is that safe?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Cultivation requires gradual progress. Wouldn’t rapid power absorption have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy the world.” Tian Xuanzi paled, placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, though our past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous. They restrained their desires to protect this world. They could have become the Creator—but they chose not to.”
“Why?”
“Compassion.” Tian Xuanzi sighed. “The archives detail a method to swiftly amass power—enough to become a Golden Immortal in years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is your choice.”
Yang Hao stiffened, overwhelmed by the revelations.
“The fastest way is to plunder stellar energy,” Tian Xuanzi whispered. “As the secret states, the stars are remnants of the Supreme God’s power. Absorbing them grants immense strength.”
Yang Hao was aghast. Stealing the energy of stars—was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, grasped the crux. “What happens to a star after its energy is taken?”
“It dies,” Tian Xuanzi said coldly. “The star withers—its light, heat, life, everything gone. It stops rotating, never fostering life again.”
Yang Hao recalled a cosmic anomaly—dying stars.
This phenomenon predated his birth. Physics dictated the universe would end in heat death, but entire galaxies shouldn’t perish prematurely. The Milky Way, home to over 200 billion stars, had died centuries ago. Its stars lost energy, heat, and light, plunging the galaxy into absolute zero.
To revive it, the AI Emperor installed fusion devices on stars, drawing energy from across the cosmos to sustain the Milky Way.
This history was textbook common knowledge. But now Yang Hao understood—someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
The horror dawned on him.
The Supreme One, after annihilating the Dan Ding Sect and seizing the archives, must have eagerly tried the method.
A method that killed galaxies—and all life within them.
Though labeled heretics, past Dan Ding masters had never dared use it. Yet the Supreme One, a so-called righteous leader, wielded it without hesitation.
Impatient, he couldn’t wait to test it—choosing the Milky Way first.
Sparing only Earth (his home), he devoured the galaxy’s stars. One by one, they withered, until the Milky Way was a graveyard.
The method was potent but inefficient—most stellar energy was wasted. Only a fraction fueled the Supreme One, yet it sufficed to make him a loose immortal and dominate Earth’s sects.
But the cost was staggering.
Every intelligent lifeform in the Milky Way—save humans—perished. Billions, trillions of lives extinguished by the Supreme One’s hand.
He had become history’s most monstrous killer.
Though most stellar energy was squandered, what he absorbed was enough to ascend—and drown the cosmos in blood.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was scheming.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth.” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because, within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, there is a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once our pride—yet who knew it would lead to the sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, though also a leader, encountered the sect’s destruction just after taking office, so even he never saw it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. Back then, he had been just one step away from unlocking the mystery of the leader’s archives, only for the Supreme One to ruin everything, even stealing the archives.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in the archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s about the method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascension, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I remain leagues away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the emotional toll of his recollections, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world is his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one can find the Supreme God’s energy, they can become the new Supreme God.” Yang Hao had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was the map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interlocking—he would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ emerges, someone who gains the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, the heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But it turned out there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, an heir appeared within the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was an heir who learned some secrets, thereafter ensuring that only Creator’s heirs became sect leaders. This way, the secret would never leak, and if anyone truly inherited the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only was he the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he also devised such a long-term plan—truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds can overlook things. For instance, this mastermind who planned millennia ahead never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of accidents. Our founder calculated every possibility, yet never imagined an expert from another dimension would appear,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The founder’s final instructions ensured that nearly all Creator’s heirs in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect, preventing any accidents,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But perfection is impossible. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime into our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, hence his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his loss wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s secret about becoming the Creator. So he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the moment when one sect leader ascended and another hadn’t yet taken office—then he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all heirs, and with the archives’ help, why has no one truly obtained the Creator’s energy?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi said cryptically. “From birth, we’ve possessed it. Every living being, every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s power. Our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t lack of cultivation but failure to find the majority of his power sealed away.”
“After so many generations, no one found it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to find the secret treasure.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Shouldn’t cultivation be gradual? Rapidly seizing power—wouldn’t that have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled yet remained grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Disciple, remember this: though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but most chose not to—out of compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Precisely.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I will teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The fastest way to seize power is to plunder the energy of stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice low and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Thus, our founder discovered that by draining the energy of stars, one absorbs part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—plundering stars? Was that something humans could do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is plundered, what happens to it?” Hun Yuanzi asked.
“Only one outcome: death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A drained star withers into silence—its humans, life, everything dies. The star ceases rotation, never again fostering life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end—not isolated stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it died centuries ago. Those stars lost their energy, heat, and light, leaving the Milky Way nearly frozen at absolute zero.
To revive the dead galaxy, the AI Overlord installed fusion devices on countless stars, channeling energy from across the universe to power the Milky Way under its control.
This history was in every imperial textbook, long taken for granted. But now the question arose: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but moments to them. So why did the Milky Way perish in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but after Tian Xuanzi’s words, he understood: Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
To uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, the Supreme One schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the righteous faction’s leader, he annihilated the Dan Ding Sect under Hun Yuanzi, seized the archives, and—imagine his excitement—immediately tried the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, none dared use it—they remained righteous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who used it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t wait days, let alone cultivate further or travel to other galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way first.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy became his energy source.
Over time, star after star withered, brilliant clusters fading. The entire Milky Way died swiftly under his ravenous drain.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient—most energy was wasted, with only a fraction absorbed.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained stars ever more frantically—until he realized the Milky Way, save for Earth, was lifeless.
He, too, was left in silence—a terrifying, lifeless void without light, heat, or even a breeze.
The Supreme One finally understood the method’s horror, but it was too late. Like an addict after the first taste, he was trapped forever.
This was why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, held no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment killed all other civilizations in the galaxy at once.
Trillions perished by his hand, making him history’s bloodiest killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“This was an accident,” Tianxuanzi said, “but history is full of unexpected events. Our ancestor calculated nearly everything, accounting for every possibility, yet he never imagined a powerful figure could come from another dimension.”
“Another dimension?” This time even Hunyuanzi gasped in shock. He had fought the Supreme Being before—though he lost, he hadn’t sensed any dimensional-crossing abilities in his opponent. That person seemed to have only truly become a celestial being much later.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was really up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, there is a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is also the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage. We once took pride in it, but who knew it would lead to the sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Although your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, he encountered the sect’s destruction just after taking office, so even he never saw it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. Back then, he had been just one step away from unlocking the mystery of the leader’s archives, but the Supreme One had ruined everything, even stealing the archives.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment. His gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet, as if it held the memories left in the archives. After pondering for a while, he finally spoke:
“It’s about the method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly unbelievable. Becoming the Creator was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it possibly be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I’m still light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or from the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, if one can find the Supreme God’s energy, they can become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao naturally concluded. The nebula diagram on his back was the map to that power.
“You think having the Nebula Flower means you can become the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ appears—someone who gains the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, the heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But it turned out there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, an heir appeared, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was the first heir, who learned some secrets and thereafter specifically selected Creator’s heirs to become sect leaders. This ensured the secret wouldn’t leak. And if someone truly inherited the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only was he the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he also had such a far-reaching plan. Truly remarkable.
But even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor calculated every possibility but never imagined an expert from another dimension would interfere,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only became an immortal later.
“The first ancestor’s final instructions ensured that nearly all Creator’s heirs in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect, preventing any accidents,” Tian Xuanzi clearly knew much more. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He might have been caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime by immense energy, and ended up in our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation progress.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned about the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives on becoming the Creator. But once he did, he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the moment when one sect leader ascended and another hadn’t yet taken over—then he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all heirs, and with the archives’ help, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator’s energy?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve had it. Every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s power. Our strength is his strength. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t due to insufficient cultivation but because we haven’t found the majority of his power sealed away.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without enough power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Rapidly seizing power—wouldn’t that have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face turned pale yet solemn. Placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder, he said, “Remember, disciple. Though past masters of the Dan Ding Sect were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but most chose not to—out of compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The fastest way to seize power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that absorbing the energy of the stars equates to absorbing part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—plundering stars? Was that something humans could do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is plundered, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome: death.” Tian Xuanzi’s expression was blank. “A drained star withers into silence—its humans, life, everything dies. The star stops rotating, never again fostering life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been happening for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end—not isolated stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it had been dead for centuries. Those stars had no energy, no heat or light, couldn’t drive planetary motion, plunging the Milky Way into absolute zero.
To revive it, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars, channeling energy from across the cosmos to keep the galaxy functioning under its control.
This history was in every imperial textbook, treated as mundane. But now, the question was: how did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should last eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao hadn’t understood before, but now, hearing Tian Xuanzi, he realized: someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, to uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, had schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the righteous faction’s leader, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect, seized the archives, and—imagine his excitement—immediately tried the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Past Dan Ding masters, though called heretics, had never dared use it, remaining righteous.
Yet a righteous leader had used it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t wait days, let alone spend years cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way first.
His only restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, star after star withered, clusters lost their brilliance, and the Milky Way died under his mad plundering.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient—most energy was wasted, with only a fraction absorbed.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One plundered more frantically—until he realized the entire Milky Way, save Earth, was drained.
He, too, was left in silence—a terrifying, lifeless void without light, heat, or even a breeze.
The Supreme One finally understood the method’s horror, but it was too late. Like an addict after the first taste, he was trapped forever.
This was why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, had no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had killed it all in one stroke.
Countless lives—trillions upon trillions—died by his hand. He was the most bloodthirsty, cruel killer in existence.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Based on my estimation,” Tianxuanzi continued, “he likely once reached the level of a Golden Immortal, which explains how smoothly his cultivation path unfolded afterward.”
Hunyuanzi fell into stunned silence. If this Supreme Being had once been a Golden Immortal, then Hunyuanzi’s defeat didn’t seem so disgraceful after all—after all, he hadn’t even reached the level of a Scattered Immortal before.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was scheming.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret,” Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride—who knew it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, though also a leader, faced the sect’s destruction immediately upon taking office, so he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives before the Supreme One destroyed everything, even seizing the records.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in the archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God—written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator God was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the sect’s past masters ever ascended to become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strove toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet the power of the Supreme God remains beyond my reach.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the emotional toll of recollection, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator or the Maker. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world is his creation. Though the Supreme God possesses immense power, even he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao mused. He had long suspected this—the nebula diagram on his back was a map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong—terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to a single individual. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator God Successor’ emerges—someone with the chance to obtain the Nebula Diagram, but that’s all. In our dimension, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned—utterly speechless.
He had thought it an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator God successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, a successor appeared within the Dan Ding Sect.
Yet upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was the first successor, uncovering some secrets and thereafter ensuring successors became sect leaders. This way, the secret remained guarded, and if anyone ever ascended to the Creator God’s throne, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the founder’s brilliance—not only was he the first to seal a god into a weapon, but he also devised such a far-reaching plan.
Yet even the most brilliant minds make mistakes. The founder, who had planned for millennia, never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of them. Our founder accounted for every possibility—except an expert from another dimension,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability—that seemed to come later, after the Supreme One truly became an immortal.
“The founder’s final decree ensured that nearly all Creator God successors in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect, preventing accidents,” Tian Xuanzi explained. “But perfection is impossible. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension. Likely caught in a great conflict there, he was hurled through space-time into our dimension, his power vastly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal realm, hence his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell silent. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives. He settled here, biding his time for years before striking when one leader ascended and another had yet to take office.”
“But if we’re all successors, and with the archives’ help, why has no one ever obtained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked.
“We all possess the Creator God’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi said cryptically. “From birth, we carry it. Every breath, every cycle in this world is the Creator God’s power. Our strength is his. The reason none of us became the new Creator God isn’t lack of cultivation—it’s that we never found the bulk of his power, sealed away.”
“Generations of masters couldn’t find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The archives teach how to rapidly gather enough energy to locate the hidden trove.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, his expression grave. Placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder, he said, “Remember, though our past masters were called heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God—but they chose not to.”
“Chose not to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi sighed, closing his eyes. “The archives detail a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in mere years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to gain power is to plunder the stars,” Tian Xuanzi whispered slowly. “As the secret states, the stars and cosmos are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that draining a star’s energy equates to absorbing part of the Supreme God’s power—accelerating cultivation immensely.”
Yang Hao was stunned. This was unimaginable—could humans truly steal the stars’ energy?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux. “What happens to a star after its energy is drained?”
“Death,” Tian Xuanzi said flatly. “The star withers into silence—its life, creatures, everything perishes. It stops rotating, never fostering life again.”
Yang Hao recalled a cosmic anomaly—dying stars.
This phenomenon had existed for years, predating his birth. Physics dictated the universe’s end via heat death, but that was universal—not isolated stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, home to the Galactic Empire. Once hosting over 200 billion stars, it had died centuries ago. Its stars, devoid of energy, heat, or light, ceased rotating, plunging the galaxy into near-absolute zero.
To revive it, the AI Overlord installed fusion devices on countless stars, channeling universal energy to sustain the Milky Way artificially.
This history, taught in every imperial textbook, had long been accepted. But now, Yang Hao understood—the Milky Way’s death was no accident. Someone had drained its energy.
The horror dawned on him.
The Supreme One, after seizing the Dan Ding Sect’s archives, must have eagerly tried the method—one that could kill galaxies and all life within.
Though branded heretics, past Dan Ding masters had never dared use it. Yet the Supreme One, a so-called righteous leader, wielded it without hesitation.
Impatient, he likely couldn’t wait to test it—choosing the Milky Way first.
The only restraint spared Earth—his home. The rest of the galaxy became his energy source.
Over time, stars dimmed, clusters faded—the Milky Way died under his ravenous absorption.
The method, though potent, was inefficient—most energy was wasted, with only a fraction retained.
Obsessed, the Supreme One drained the galaxy dry—save Earth. The resulting silence was terrifying: no life, no light, no warmth—just endless void.
Too late, he realized the method’s horror—like an addict, he was trapped.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, lacked intelligent life. His experiment had exterminated all other civilizations—billions upon billions of lives, making him history’s bloodiest killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal—and dominate Earth’s cultivation sects.
“But if everyone is an heir, and we have the sacred texts, why hasn’t anyone actually obtained the Creator God’s energy?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We all have obtained the Creator God’s energy,” Tianxuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve carried the Creator God’s energy within us. Every living being, every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator God’s power. Therefore, our power is essentially the Creator God’s power. The reason we haven’t become new Creator Gods isn’t due to insufficient cultivation—it’s because we haven’t yet located the majority of the Creator God’s sealed power hidden in a secret location.”
“If so many generations have failed to find it, how can it be found at all?”
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know about it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride. Who would have thought it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he had just taken office when the calamity struck, so even he never saw it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives when the Supreme One destroyed everything, even stealing the records.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator God was the greatest secret in the universe, something never achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever ascended to become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I remain light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator, the Architect. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world is his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, whoever finds the Supreme God’s energy can become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao naturally deduced. The nebula diagram on his back was the map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interlocking. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s Successor’ emerges—someone who gains the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. In our dimension, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator Successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence. Every thousand years, a successor emerged, and all of them had been within the Dan Ding Sect.
But upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor was a successor who uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect deliberately selected Creator Successors as leaders to ensure the secret never leaked. And if anyone truly ascended to become the Creator, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only was he the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he also devised such a far-reaching plan. Truly remarkable.
Yet even the wisest could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who planned millennia ahead never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor calculated every possibility but never foresaw an expert from another dimension arriving,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the man only later became an immortal.
“The Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor left instructions to gather all Creator Successors in our dimension under the sect’s banner, ensuring no accidents,” Tian Xuanzi clearly knew much. “But perfection is impossible. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime into our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives on becoming the Creator. But he settled in this dimension, patiently scheming for years until the moment when one leader ascended and another had yet to take over—then he struck.”
“But if we’re all successors, and with the archives’ help, why has no one truly obtained the Creator’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator’s power,” Tian Xuanzi said cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we received it. Every breath, every cycle in this world is a manifestation of the Creator’s energy. Our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t lack of cultivation but failure to find the vast majority of his power sealed away.”
“All those generations, and no one found it?”
“Without sufficient strength, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden trove.”
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Shouldn’t cultivation be gradual? Rapidly seizing power—wouldn’t that have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, yet his expression was grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Disciple, remember this: though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator—but they chose not to.”
“Chose not to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record the fastest method to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I will teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to seize power is to plunder the energy of stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice slow and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it’s enough to dominate the universe. Our founding ancestor discovered that absorbing the energy of stars equates to absorbing part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—plundering stars? Was that something humans could do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is plundered, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome: death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A drained star withers into silence—its humans, life, everything dies. The star stops rotating, never birthing life again.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end—not isolated stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet centuries ago, it died completely. Its stars lost energy, heat, and light, leaving the Milky Way frozen near absolute zero.
To revive it, the AI Overlord installed fusion devices on countless stars, channeling the universe’s energy to provide artificial momentum, keeping the galaxy functional under its control.
This history was textbook material, long taken for granted. But now, the question arose: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but moments to them. So why did the Milky Way perish in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but now, hearing Tian Xuanzi, he understood: Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, obsessed with the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, meticulously plotted.
After becoming the righteous faction’s leader, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect, seized the archives, and—imagine his excitement—immediately tried the recorded method.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life within. The Dan Ding Sect’s past masters, though labeled heretics, never dared use it, remaining righteous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t wait days, let alone spend years cultivating or traveling to distant stars.
So he chose the Milky Way first.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his home. The rest of the galaxy became his energy source.
Over time, star systems withered, brilliant clusters faded, and the Milky Way died under his ravenous absorption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient. Most energy was wasted; only a fraction was usable.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One grew more frenzied, draining stars until only Earth remained alive in the Milky Way.
He himself entered a deathly silence—a terrifying void without life, light, heat, or even a breeze.
Only then did he grasp the method’s horror—but it was too late. Like an addict tasting his first high, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, save Earth, had no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Billions upon billions died by his hand, making him history’s most blood-soaked killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal—and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t rapid acquisition of power bound to have side effects?”
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride, yet it ended up bringing about our sect’s annihilation.”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, though also a leader, encountered the sect’s destruction just after taking office, so even he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. Back then, he had been just one step away from unlocking the mystery of the leader’s archives, but the Supreme One had ruined everything, even seizing the archives.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator God was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator God’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascension, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I remain light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator, the Maker. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God.” Yang Hao had naturally considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was the map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interlocking. He wouldn’t leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called Creator God successor emerges—someone with the chance to obtain the nebula diagram, but that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That nebula diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned, utterly speechless.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator God successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence—apparently, every thousand years, a successor emerged within the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was a successor who uncovered some secrets, and thereafter, the sect deliberately selected Creator God successors as leaders. This ensured the secret remained guarded, and if anyone ever ascended to the Creator God’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only was he the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he also devised such a far-reaching plan—truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds can overlook things. For instance, this mastermind who planned millennia ahead never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our founder calculated every possibility but never imagined an expert from another dimension would intervene,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. That man seemed to have only later become an immortal.
“The Dan Ding Sect’s founder left instructions to gather all Supreme God successors in our dimension under the sect’s banner, ensuring no accidents,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime into our dimension, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of the Dan Ding Sect’s secret about becoming the Creator God. So he settled in this dimension, plotting for many years until the moment came—one leader ascending, another not yet succeeding—when he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all successors and have the archives’ guidance, why has no one ever obtained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator God’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve had it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle, is a manifestation of the Creator God’s power. So our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator God isn’t lack of cultivation but failure to find the majority of his power sealed away.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Rapidly amassing power—wouldn’t that have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, yet his expression was grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, disciple, though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God, but more than anything, they couldn’t bear to.”
“Couldn’t bear to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly describe a method—the fastest way to gain power. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The quickest way to amass power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice slow and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction, it’s enough to dominate the universe. So our founder discovered that by draining a star’s energy, one absorbs part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” he asked.
“Only one outcome—death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A drained star withers into silence. Everything on it—humans, life, all of it—dies. The star stops rotating, never fostering life again.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon—the death of planets.
This had been happening for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually die in heat death, but that was a universal end, not the isolated demise of stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it had been completely dead for centuries. These stars had no energy, no heat or light, couldn’t drive planetary motion, plunging the Milky Way into an absolute-zero deep freeze.
To revive the dead galaxy, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars, channeling the universe’s energy to provide special propulsion, allowing the Milky Way to function under its control.
This history was in every imperial textbook, treated as commonplace. But now the question arose—how did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but after Tian Xuanzi’s words, he understood—someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, to uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, had schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the righteous faction’s leader, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect, seized the archives, and undoubtedly reveled in the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. The Dan Ding Sect’s past masters, though labeled heretics, had never dared use it—they were men of principle.
Yet it was a righteous leader who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t wait days, let alone spend years cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So he chose the Milky Way first.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, those stars withered, their brilliance faded, and the entire Milky Way died under his voracious drain.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was wasteful—most energy was lost, with only a fraction retained.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained stars relentlessly until the Milky Way, save for Earth, was barren.
He himself entered a terrifying silence—no life, no light, no heat, not even a breeze.
Only then did he realize the method’s horror, but it was too late—like an addict after the first taste, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, had no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Billions of lives perished by his hand, making him history’s most bloodthirsty killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Out of compassion?”
“Exactly,” Tianxuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The sacred texts clearly record a method—a shortcut to rapidly gain power. According to that method, within just a few years, one could swiftly ascend to the level of a Golden Immortal.”
“Like the Supreme Being did?” A chill ran down Yang Hao’s spine.
“Precisely,” Tianxuanzi said. “I will teach you this method. Whether or not you use it is entirely up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao’s posture stiffened—perhaps the weight of so many secrets revealed in one day was too much for him to bear.
“The fastest way to gain power,” Tianxuanzi lowered his voice, “is to steal the power of the stars themselves.”
Yang Hao was stunned. This was an unimaginable cultivation method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that even something a person could do?
Hunyuanzi, being far more experienced than Yang Hao, quickly grasped the crux of the matter.
“If the energy of the stars is completely drained,” he asked, “what happens to those stars?”
“There’s only one outcome,” Tianxuanzi replied expressionlessly. “The stars will die. Once drained of energy, the stars will become lifeless, and all life—humans, creatures, everything—on those stars will perish. The stars will cease their eternal cycles, never to generate life again.”
Suddenly, Yang Hao recalled a strange phenomenon in the universe—the death of planets.
This phenomenon had existed for many years, even predating his birth. Entire planets had gradually died. According to known physics, the universe would eventually end in a state of heat death—but that would be a universal phenomenon, not isolated to individual planets or star systems.
Take the Milky Way Empire’s birthplace—the Milky Way Galaxy. This galaxy contains over two hundred billion stars, yet centuries ago, it had already completely died. These stars no longer emitted energy, heat, or light, and could no longer drive planetary motion, plunging the Milky Way into a state of absolute zero.
To keep the dead Milky Way functioning, the Cyber King installed thermonuclear devices on many of its stars and redirected energy from across the universe to provide artificial propulsion, allowing the galaxy to continue operating under the Cyber King’s control.
This history was recorded in every imperial textbook, and people had long grown accustomed to it. But now, the question was—how had the Milky Way died?
By all logic, galaxies should have extremely long lifespans—billions of years would be but a fleeting moment to them. Yet in just a few hundred years, the Milky Way had completely lost its vitality.
Yang Hao had never understood this before. But now, after hearing Tianxuanzi’s words, he finally realized the horrifying truth: someone had drained the entire Milky Way’s energy.
It was terrifying.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth.” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride. Who would have thought it would lead to the sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he encountered the sect’s destruction before he could even take office, so he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity was piqued. He had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives when the Supreme One intervened, destroying everything and even seizing the archives.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in the archives. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator God was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved since the Creator God’s demise billions of years ago. How could such a method be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever ascended to become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I am still worlds away from the power of the Supreme God.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator or the Maker. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he could not escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God.” Yang Hao had already considered this—the nebula diagram on his back was a map to that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you are gravely mistaken. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called heir to the Creator God appears. This person has the chance to obtain the nebula diagram, but that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, the heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That nebula diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned, utterly speechless.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator God. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, an heir appeared, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor was an heir who had uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect specifically selected heirs of the Creator God to become its leaders, ensuring the secret remained within. And if someone truly ascended to the Creator God’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he had also devised such a far-reaching plan—truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“This was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor calculated every possibility but never foresaw an expert from another dimension arriving here,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped this time. He had fought the Supreme One and lost but never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later achieved true immortality.
“The Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor left instructions ensuring that nearly all heirs in our dimension were gathered under the sect’s banner, preventing any mishaps,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict there, blasted through spacetime by immense power, and arrived in our dimension, his abilities greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his loss wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One discovered that our Dan Ding Sect held the secret to becoming the Creator God. So he settled in this dimension, meticulously planning for years until the moment when one sect leader ascended and another had yet to take his place—then he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all heirs and have the archives, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator God’s power,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we possessed it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle—all are manifestations of the Creator God’s power. So our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator God isn’t due to lack of cultivation but because we haven’t found the majority of his power sealed away.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The archives passed down in the Dan Ding Sect teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power absorption have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, yet his expression was grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, my disciple, though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God, but more than anything, they couldn’t bear to.”
“Couldn’t bear to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With this method, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I will teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The fastest way to gain power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice slow and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it is enough to dominate the universe. Our founding ancestor discovered that by absorbing the energy of the stars, one could rapidly cultivate, as it was akin to absorbing part of the Supreme God’s power.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method of cultivation—plundering the stars’ energy? Was that something a human could do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is plundered, what happens to it?” Hun Yuanzi asked.
“The only outcome is death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A star drained of energy becomes lifeless—its humans, creatures, everything dies. The star ceases to rotate, never again fostering life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon—the death of stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. According to physics, the universe would eventually perish in heat death, but that was a universal demise, not the isolated death of stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, the cradle of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over two hundred billion stars, yet it had been completely dead for centuries. These stars lacked energy, heat, and light, unable to sustain their planetary systems, plunging the Milky Way into an era of absolute zero.
To revive the dead galaxy, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars and harnessed the universe’s energy to power the Milky Way, keeping it functional under his control.
This history was recorded in every empire textbook, treated as commonplace. But the question remained—how did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but now, after Tian Xuanzi’s words, he understood: someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, eager to uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, had meticulously planned.
After becoming the leader of the righteous path, he annihilated the Dan Ding Sect under Hun Yuanzi’s leadership. Upon seizing the archives, his excitement must have been boundless—he wasted no time testing the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, none dared use it—they remained righteous.
Yet it was a leader of the righteous path who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience knew no bounds. He couldn’t wait even days, let alone spend years cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His sole restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, star after star withered, brilliant clusters faded, and the entire Milky Way died under the Supreme One’s voracious absorption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s method, though potent, was inefficient—most stellar energy was wasted, with only a fraction retained.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One grew more frenzied, draining stars until he realized the entire Milky Way—save Earth—was lifeless.
He, too, was left in a terrifying silence—devoid of life, light, heat, even a whisper of wind.
Only then did he grasp the method’s horror, but it was too late. Like an addict after the first taste, he was trapped forever.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, harbored no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Billions upon billions of lives perished by his hand—making him the most bloodthirsty killer in existence.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought he was the only one who had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, something we once took pride in. Who would have thought it would lead to our sect’s annihilation?”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Although your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, he encountered the sect’s destruction shortly after taking office, so he never had the chance to see it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity was piqued. Back then, he had been just one step away from unlocking the mystery of the leader’s archives, but the Supreme One had destroyed everything, even seizing the archives themselves.
Tian Xuanzi seemed lost in thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories he had left in the archives. After a pause, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator God was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved again since the Creator God’s demise billions of years ago. How could such a method be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short at the final hurdle. Among them, I came the closest, yet I’m still light-years away from the power of the Supreme God.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator or the Maker. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“In other words, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao naturally concluded. The nebula diagram on his back was the key to locating that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He would never leave the opportunity to a single individual. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator God successor’ emerges—someone who gains the chance to obtain the Nebula Diagram. But that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned, utterly speechless.
He had thought it was an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator God successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence. Every thousand years, a successor emerged, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
However, upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor was a successor who had uncovered some secrets. From then on, the sect deliberately selected Creator God successors as its leaders to ensure the secret remained hidden. And if someone truly ascended to the Creator God’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into his weapon, but he had also devised such a far-reaching plan. Truly remarkable.
Yet even the wisest could make mistakes. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor accounted for every possibility but never imagined an expert from another dimension would intervene,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but he hadn’t sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later achieved true immortality.
“The Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor left instructions to gather all Creator God successors in our dimension under the sect’s banner, ensuring no accidents occurred,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But perfection is unattainable. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict in his own dimension, blasted through spacetime into ours, his power greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, then his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned about the Dan Ding Sect’s secret archives on becoming the Creator God. But once he did, he settled in this dimension, meticulously planning for years until the moment when one sect leader ascended and another hadn’t yet taken over—then he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all successors and have the archives’ guidance, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator God’s power,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve possessed it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle—all are manifestations of the Creator God’s power. So our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator God isn’t due to lack of cultivation but because we haven’t found the majority of his power, sealed away in a hidden place.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The Dan Ding Sect’s archives teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Rapidly seizing power—wouldn’t that have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled, yet his expression was grave. Placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder, he said, “Remember this, disciple. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God, but more than anything, they couldn’t bear to.”
“Couldn’t bear to?”
“Exactly.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record the fastest method to gain power—a shortcut. With this method, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the secrets revealed today.
“The fastest way to seize power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi whispered slowly. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it’s enough to dominate the universe. So our founding ancestor discovered that by draining the energy of the stars, one could absorb part of the Supreme God’s power, accelerating cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method—stealing the energy of stars? Was that something a human could even do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” Hun Yuanzi asked.
“Only one outcome: death.” Tian Xuanzi’s expression was blank. “A star drained of energy withers into silence—its humans, life, everything dies. The star ceases to rotate, never again fostering life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: the death of planets.
This had been occurring for years, even before Yang Hao’s birth. Physics dictated that the universe would eventually perish in heat death, but that was a universal demise, not the isolated death of single stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it had been completely dead for centuries. These stars had no energy, no heat or light, unable to sustain planetary motion, plunging the Milky Way into an era of absolute zero.
To revive the dead Milky Way, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars, channeling the universe’s energy to provide special propulsion. Only under the Overlord’s control could the galaxy function normally.
This history was recorded in every imperial textbook, treated as commonplace. But now, the question arose: How did the Milky Way die?
Galaxies should endure for eons—billions of years are but a blink to them. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had been baffled, but after Tian Xuanzi’s words, he understood: Someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
To uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, the Supreme One had schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the leader of the righteous path, he annihilated Hun Yuanzi’s Dan Ding Sect, seized the archives, and—one could only imagine his excitement—immediately tried the method within.
A method that could kill galaxies and all life upon them. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were called heretics, none had dared use it. They had remained righteous.
Yet it was a righteous leader who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience had reached its peak. He couldn’t bear to wait even days, let alone spend time cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
His only restraint was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the Milky Way’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, star systems withered one by one, brilliant clusters faded, and the entire Milky Way died under the Supreme One’s ravenous absorption.
The Dan Ding Sect’s star-plundering method, though potent, was inefficient. Most stellar energy was wasted, with only a fraction usable.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One grew more frenzied, draining stars until he realized—the entire Milky Way, save Earth, was lifeless.
He, too, was engulfed in silence—a terrifying, lifeless void without light, heat, or even a breeze.
The Supreme One finally understood the method’s horror, but it was too late. Like an addict tasting his first high, he was trapped forever.
This was why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, harbored no intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy.
Billions upon billions of lives had perished by his hand, making him the most bloodthirsty killer in history.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what the Supreme One absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal—and to unite Earth’s cultivation sects under his rule.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, unsure what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator God’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret,” Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride, yet it ultimately led to our sect’s annihilation.”
Yun Hezi added, “This Dan Ding Sect secret has always been accessible only to successive sect leaders. Your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, but he encountered the sect’s destruction before he could even glimpse it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity surged. He had been just one step away from uncovering the leader’s archives when the Supreme One ruined everything, even seizing the records.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze, his gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet as if it held the memories left in the archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s about the method to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was beyond belief. Becoming the Creator God was the universe’s greatest secret, something never achieved again since the Creator God’s demise billions of years ago. How could it be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every Dan Ding Sect master, after ascension, strived toward this goal but always fell short. I am the closest among them, yet I remain light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest, either injured from resisting the heavenly tribulation or overwhelmed by memories. He frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator or the Maker. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for he created it. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed in a mysterious place, while the rest formed this world, splitting into countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao mused. The nebula diagram on his back was the key to locating that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My disciple, you’re gravely mistaken. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected. He wouldn’t leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, every thousand years, a so-called Creator God successor emerges—someone with the chance to obtain the Nebula Diagram, but that’s all. In our dimension, these successors have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned, utterly speechless.
He had thought it an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were Creator God successors. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence—every thousand years, a successor appeared within the Dan Ding Sect.
Yet upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founder was a successor who uncovered some secrets, thereafter ensuring successors became sect leaders to safeguard the knowledge. If anyone ever ascended to the Creator God’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the Dan Ding founder’s brilliance—not only did he pioneer sealing gods into weapons, but he also devised such a far-reaching plan.
But even the wisest could overlook something. This mastermind of millennia never anticipated the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and seize the archives.
“An accident, but history is full of them. Our founder accounted for every possibility, yet never imagined an expert from another dimension would intervene,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” Even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, yet never sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the man only later became an immortal.
“The Dan Ding founder’s legacy ensured all our dimension’s Creator God successors were gathered under the sect’s banner, minimizing risks,” Tian Xuanzi explained. “But perfection is unattainable. The Supreme One was a successor from another dimension, likely caught in a great conflict there. Someone shattered spacetime, hurling him into our dimension and drastically weakening him. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, hence his rapid cultivation.”
Hun Yuanzi fell silent. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal, his loss wasn’t so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even been a Loose Immortal before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned of our sect’s Creator God archives. He settled in this dimension, plotting for years until the perfect moment—one leader ascending, the next not yet installed—before striking with full force.”
“But if all successors have the archives, why has no one ever attained the Creator God’s power?” Yang Hao asked.
“We all possess the Creator God’s energy,” Tian Xuanzi said cryptically. “From birth, we carry it. Every being, breath, and cycle in this world is a manifestation of that power. Our failure to become the new Creator God isn’t due to lack of cultivation but because we haven’t found the bulk of his sealed power.”
“After so many generations, no one could locate it?”
“Without sufficient strength, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi replied. “The Dan Ding archives teach how to rapidly gather enough energy to find the hidden trove.”
“Such a method exists?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapid power accumulation have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face paled yet turned grave. He placed a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder. “Remember, though our sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, they were righteous men. To preserve this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator God, but they chose not to—out of compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Precisely.” Tian Xuanzi sighed, closing his eyes. “The archives detail a method for swift power gain. With it, one could become a Golden Immortal in mere years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the day’s revelations.
“The fastest way to gain power is to plunder stellar energy,” Tian Xuanzi whispered slowly. “As the secret states, the stars and cosmos are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power—a mere fraction, yet enough to dominate the universe. Our founder discovered that draining a star’s energy equates to absorbing part of the Supreme God’s power, enabling rapid advancement.”
Yang Hao was aghast. This was an unimaginable cultivation method—stealing a star’s energy? Was that even humanly possible?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced, quickly grasped the crux. “What happens to a star after its energy is drained?”
“Death. The star withers into silence—its humans, lifeforms, everything perishes. It stops rotating, never fostering life again.”
Yang Hao recalled a strange cosmic phenomenon: dying stars.
This had been occurring for years, even before his birth. Physics dictated the universe’s eventual heat death, but that was a universal demise, not isolated stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, birthplace of the Galactic Empire. Once home to over 200 billion stars, it had died centuries prior. Those stars lost energy, heat, and light, plunging the galaxy into absolute zero.
To revive it, the AI Overlord installed fusion devices on countless stars, harnessing universal energy to keep the Milky Way functioning under its control.
This history was textbook common knowledge. But now, Yang Hao realized the truth: someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
The horror dawned on him.
The Supreme One, after seizing the Dan Ding archives, eagerly tested the method—one that could kill galaxies and all life within. Though labeled heretics, past Dan Ding masters had never dared try it, remaining righteous.
Ironically, it was a so-called righteous leader who wielded it without restraint.
Impatient, the Supreme One couldn’t wait to cultivate elsewhere. So he targeted the Milky Way first, sparing only Earth—his own habitat—while draining every other star and cluster.
Over time, galaxies withered, star clusters faded, and the Milky Way died under his ravenous absorption.
The method, though potent, was inefficient—most stellar energy was wasted, with only a fraction retained.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One grew more frenzied, until the Milky Way was barren save for Earth. He himself entered a terrifying silence—devoid of life, light, heat, even wind.
Too late, he realized the method’s horror. Like an addict, he was trapped, unable to escape.
This explained why the Milky Way, beyond Earth, lacked intelligent life. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other sentient beings in the galaxy—countless lives lost to his hands, making him history’s bloodiest killer.
Though most stellar energy was wasted, what he absorbed sufficed to make him a Loose Immortal and unite Earth’s cultivation sects.
Yet it was precisely the leader of the righteous sects who dared to use it without hesitation.
The Supreme Being’s eagerness must have reached its peak. He couldn’t bear to wait even a few days, let alone spend time cultivating and gaining the ability to travel to other star systems.
Thus, he chose the Milky Way Galaxy as his first target.
The only shred of rationality left in his mind made him spare Earth—the one place he himself needed to live. But every other star and star cluster in the Milky Way became sources of energy for him.
No one knows exactly how long it took, but one by one, those stars withered. Brilliant star clusters lost their light and color. The entire Milky Way died rapidly under the Supreme Being’s frenzied absorption.
“Ancestor?” Yang Hao was puzzled, not knowing what Tian Tingzi was up to.
“It seems you already know the secret of the Creator’s demise and rebirth,” Tian Xuanzi frowned.
“You know it too!” Yang Hao had thought only he had heard of it.
“That’s because within the Dan Ding Sect’s archives lies a secret.”
Tian Xuanzi sighed deeply. “This is the greatest secret of our Dan Ding lineage, once a source of pride, yet it ended up bringing about our sect’s annihilation.”
Yun Hezi added, “This secret of the Dan Ding Sect has always been accessible only to successive generations of sect leaders. Although your master, Hun Yuanzi, was also a leader, he had just taken office when the sect was destroyed, so even he never saw it.”
“What is it?” Hun Yuanzi’s curiosity was piqued. Back then, he had been just one step away from uncovering the mystery of the leader’s archives, but the Supreme One had ruined everything, even stealing the archives.
Tian Xuanzi fell into a daze for a moment. His gaze fixed on the grass beneath his feet, as if it held the memories left in those archives. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke:
“It’s a method on how to become the Supreme God…”
“What?!” Yang Hao and Hun Yuanzi exclaimed simultaneously.
A method to become the Supreme God? Written in the Dan Ding Sect’s leader archives?
This was utterly inconceivable. Becoming the Creator was the greatest secret in the universe, something that had never been achieved again since the Creator’s demise billions of years ago. How could it possibly be recorded in the Dan Ding Sect’s archives?
If such a method truly existed, why had none of the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters ever become the Supreme God?
As if sensing Yang Hao’s confusion, Tian Tingzi said, “Having the method doesn’t guarantee success. Every past master of the Dan Ding Sect, after ascending, strived toward this goal but always fell short at the last step. Among them, I came the closest, yet I’m still light-years away from the Supreme God’s power.”
“What exactly is the method?” Yang Hao helped Tian Xuanzi sit cross-legged on the grass.
Tian Xuanzi clutched his chest—whether from injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulation or from the emotional toll of recalling too much, he frowned and said, “The Supreme God we speak of is what outsiders now call the Creator. He has countless names, but in this world, all revere him, for this world was his creation. Though the Supreme God possessed immense power, even he couldn’t escape the cycle of life and death. After his demise, most of his power was sealed away in a mysterious place, while the remaining energy formed this world, giving rise to countless dimensional universes.”
“So, if one could find the Supreme God’s energy, they could become the new Supreme God,” Yang Hao naturally concluded. The nebula diagram on his back was precisely the map to locate that power.
“You think possessing the Nebula Flower makes you the Supreme God?” Tian Xuanzi shook his head with a bitter smile. “My young disciple, you’re wrong. Terribly wrong. The Supreme God’s wisdom is flawless and interconnected—he would never leave the opportunity to just one person. In nearly every dimension, once every thousand years, a so-called ‘Creator’s heir’ emerges. This person gains the chance to obtain the Nebula Diagram, but that’s all. For instance, in our dimension, the heirs have almost always been within the Dan Ding Sect. That Nebula Diagram—I have it, Yun Hezi has it, Hun Yuanzi has it, and so do you.”
Yang Hao was stunned. Completely stunned.
He had thought it was already an incredible coincidence that both Hun Yuanzi and he were heirs to the Creator. But as it turned out, there was no limit to coincidence. Every thousand years, an heir appeared, and they all belonged to the Dan Ding Sect.
But upon reflection, Yang Hao suddenly understood. Perhaps the Dan Ding Sect’s founding ancestor had been an heir who uncovered some secrets, and from then on, the sect specifically selected Creator’s heirs to become its leaders. This ensured the secret remained hidden. And if anyone ever truly inherited the Creator’s position, the Dan Ding Sect would endure eternally.
Yang Hao couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the Dan Ding Sect’s founder. Not only had he been the first to seal a god into his own weapon, but he had also devised such a far-reaching plan. Truly remarkable.
Yet even the most brilliant minds could overlook something. For instance, this mastermind who had planned for millennia never anticipated that one day, the Supreme One would annihilate the Dan Ding Sect and steal the archives.
“It was an accident, but history is full of accidents. Our ancestor calculated every possibility, yet he never imagined an expert from another dimension would appear,” Tian Xuanzi said.
“Another dimension?” This time, even Hun Yuanzi gasped. He had fought the Supreme One and lost, but he hadn’t sensed any dimensional-crossing ability in him. It seemed the Supreme One only later became an immortal.
“The first ancestor’s final instructions ensured that nearly all the Creator’s heirs in our dimension were gathered under the Dan Ding Sect’s banner, minimizing risks,” Tian Xuanzi explained, clearly knowledgeable. “But nothing is perfect. The Supreme One was an heir from another dimension. He was likely caught in a great conflict in his own dimension, and someone shattered space-time with immense power, sending him into ours. His abilities were greatly diminished. I suspect he once reached the Golden Immortal level, which explains his rapid cultivation progress.”
Hun Yuanzi fell into stunned silence. If the Supreme One had truly been a Golden Immortal once, then his loss didn’t seem so shameful—after all, he hadn’t even reached the Loose Immortal stage before.
“No one knows how the Supreme One learned about the Dan Ding Sect’s archives on becoming the Creator. But once he did, he settled in this dimension and meticulously planned for many, many years. Then, when one sect leader ascended and the next hadn’t yet taken office, he struck with full force.”
“But if we’re all heirs and have the archives, why has no one ever truly obtained the Creator’s power?” Yang Hao asked, puzzled.
“We have all obtained the Creator’s power,” Tian Xuanzi replied cryptically. “From the moment we were born, we’ve possessed it. Every living being in this world, every breath, every cycle—all are manifestations of the Creator’s power. So our power is his power. The reason we haven’t become the new Creator isn’t due to lack of cultivation, but because we haven’t found the vast majority of his power sealed away in that hidden place.”
“After so many generations, no one could find it?”
“Without sufficient power, you can’t even open the treasure’s door,” Tian Xuanzi said. “The archives passed down in the Dan Ding Sect actually teach us how to rapidly gather enough energy—enough to locate the hidden treasure.”
“There’s such a method?” Yang Hao felt uneasy. “Isn’t cultivation supposed to be gradual? Wouldn’t rapidly seizing power have side effects?”
“Side effects? It would destroy this world.” Tian Xuanzi’s face turned pale yet solemn. Placing a hand on Yang Hao’s shoulder, he said, “Remember, my disciple, though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled as heretics, they were righteous men. To protect this world, they restrained their desires. They could have become the Creator, but most chose not to—out of compassion.”
“Compassion?”
“Precisely.” Tian Xuanzi closed his eyes and sighed. “The archives clearly record a method—the fastest way to gain power. With this method, one could become a Golden Immortal in just a few years.”
“Like the Supreme One?” Yang Hao suddenly felt a chill.
“Yes,” Tian Xuanzi said. “I’ll teach you this method. Whether you use it is up to your conscience.”
Yang Hao sat rigidly, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of secrets he’d learned today.
“The fastest way to seize power is to plunder the energy of the stars,” Tian Xuanzi said softly, his voice slow and deliberate. “As the great secret states, the stars and cosmos of this world are manifestations of the Supreme God’s power. Though only a fraction of his energy was used, it’s enough to dominate the universe. So our first ancestor discovered that by draining the energy of the stars, one could absorb part of the Supreme God’s power, accelerating cultivation.”
Yang Hao was dumbfounded. This was an unimaginable method of cultivation—stealing the energy of stars? Was that something a human could even do?
Hun Yuanzi, more experienced than Yang Hao, quickly grasped the crux.
“If a star’s energy is drained, what happens to it?” Hun Yuanzi asked.
“The only outcome is death,” Tian Xuanzi said impassively. “A star drained of energy becomes lifeless—its humans, creatures, everything dies. The star ceases to rotate, never again giving rise to life.”
Yang Hao suddenly recalled a strange phenomenon in the universe—the death of planets.
This had been happening for years, even before Yang Hao was born. According to physics, the universe would eventually perish in heat death, but that would be a universal demise, not the isolated death of individual stars or galaxies.
Take the Milky Way, the birthplace of the Galactic Empire. This galaxy once held over 200 billion stars, yet it had completely died out centuries ago. These stars lost their energy, heat, and light, plunging the Milky Way into an era of absolute zero.
To keep the dead galaxy functioning, the AI Overlord installed thermonuclear devices on countless stars and harnessed energy from across the universe to provide special propulsion. Only under the Overlord’s control could the Milky Way operate normally.
This history was recorded in every imperial textbook, treated as common knowledge. But now, the question arose—how had the Milky Way died?
Galaxies were supposed to last eons, with billions of years passing in the blink of an eye. So why had the Milky Way perished in mere centuries?
Yang Hao had never understood—until now. Listening to Tian Xuanzi, he realized someone had drained the Milky Way’s energy.
It was horrifying.
The Supreme One, desperate to uncover the Dan Ding Sect’s secret, had schemed relentlessly.
After becoming the leader of the righteous path, he annihilated the Dan Ding Sect under Hun Yuanzi’s leadership and seized the archives. One could only imagine his excitement—he couldn’t wait to try the method recorded within.
A method that could kill galaxies—and all life upon them. Though the Dan Ding Sect’s past masters were labeled heretics, none had dared use it, remaining righteous.
Yet it was a so-called righteous leader who wielded it without hesitation.
The Supreme One’s impatience had reached its peak. He couldn’t bear to wait even a few days, let alone spend time cultivating or traveling to other galaxies.
So, he chose the Milky Way as his first victim.
The only restraint he showed was sparing Earth—his own home. The rest of the galaxy’s stars and clusters became his energy source.
Over time, those stars withered, their brilliance fading. Under the Supreme One’s frenzied absorption, the Milky Way died swiftly.
Though the Dan Ding Sect’s method of plundering stellar energy was potent, it had a fatal flaw—waste. Most of the energy was lost, with only a fraction retained.
To grow stronger, the Supreme One drained stars with increasing madness—until he realized the entire Milky Way, save for Earth, was lifeless.
He, too, was left in a terrifying silence—a void without life, light, heat, or even a whisper of wind.
Only then did the Supreme One understand the horror of this method. But it was too late—like an addict after his first taste, he was trapped forever.
This was why the Milky Way, apart from Earth, had no intelligent life left. The Supreme One’s experiment had exterminated all other civilizations in the galaxy in one stroke.
Countless lives—trillions upon trillions—perished by his hand. He had become the most bloodthirsty, ruthless killer in existence.
Though most of the stellar energy was wasted, what the Supreme One absorbed was enough to make him a Loose Immortal—and to unite Earth’s cultivation sects under his rule.
To grow even stronger, the Supreme Being grew increasingly frenzied in his absorption of stellar energy. He continued until he realized that, aside from Earth, every other celestial body in the Milky Way had been completely drained of life.
He himself had entered a state of terrifying stillness—a lifeless void devoid of light, heat, or even the faintest breeze.
Only then did the Supreme Being finally understand the horror of this method. But by then, it was too late. Like a drug addict who had tasted the sweetness of narcotics for the first time, he had fallen too deep to ever escape.
That was why, aside from Earth, there were no intelligent life forms left in the Milky Way. The Supreme Being’s experiment had wiped out every other intelligent species in the galaxy in one fell swoop.
Billions upon billions of lives perished at his hands. He had become the most bloodthirsty and ruthless killer in the world.
Although most of the stolen stellar energy was wasted, the portion absorbed into the Supreme Being’s body was sufficient to transform him into a Scattered Immortal and enabled him to unify all cultivation sects on Earth.
That was enough. For a first attempt, the Supreme had already obtained what he desired.
From that moment on, the Supreme began his path to dominate the entire universe. Taking advantage of the war between gods and demons, he sealed away all the immortals and deities, then propped up the Galactic Empire’s royal family, unleashing its iron cavalry across all directions, nearly bringing the entire cosmic plane under his control.
What exactly does the Supreme intend to do?
Why does he need someone to govern the entire universe and conquer so many planets? Is it merely to satisfy his lust for power?
Today’s words from Tian Xuan Zi finally allowed Yang Hao to understand what the Supreme had been doing all these years—something truly despicable.
That old monster was like a vampire, sucking the very blood of the universe.
According to official reports from the Galactic Empire, the entire northern region of the universe had already perished completely.
That meant for years, the Supreme had been gradually draining the power of countless star systems and unfathomable stellar energies from the north. The intelligent lives, the creatures, and the once-beautiful celestial bodies in the northern regions had all been eradicated by the Supreme.
He had become a Feixian (transcendent immortal), expanding his power at an astonishing rate, yet it had come at the cost of a quarter of the universe’s lives.
Thinking about this, Yang Hao couldn’t help but shudder. He could imagine the Supreme like a blood-sucking scorpion clinging to the universe, greedily feasting on its power. As for the fate of humanity and other life forms in the cosmos, the Supreme didn’t care at all. Even if this cosmic plane were destroyed, he would simply move on to another. His ultimate goal was to become the supreme deity, and these universes were merely stepping stones.
Seeing Yang Hao lost in thought with a pale expression, Tian Xuan Zi simultaneously implanted into Yang Hao’s mind a method that had once been recorded in ancient texts and had been avoided by many predecessors of the Dan Ding Sect.
However, this heavy consciousness felt like a knife piercing Yang Hao’s heart.
If he wanted to oppose the Supreme, would he have to become like the Supreme himself—this hideous blood-sucking scorpion, draining the life out of the universe? Would he also disregard others’ lives, using them as stepping stones for his own success?
Yang Hao needed victory, but if all his friends and everything he loved were to disappear, what meaning would that victory hold?
If he had to commit the same hideous acts as the Supreme to achieve ultimate victory, wouldn’t Yang Hao become just like the Supreme himself? Even if only one of them remained after their battle, it would still be another Supreme, making no difference to the universe.
These endless thoughts left Yang Hao deeply troubled, unsure of what choice he should make.
Just at this moment, a sudden glow of a divine artifact appeared in the sky.
This radiance came from far away in the southern regions, emanating from Xin Kui’s hands.
Shi Mingyuan, Lan Ling, and Xin Kui—these three women were already in a very dangerous situation. The mountaintop platform where they stood had long been overrun by countless Supreme Cultists. The space left for the three of them was less than ten square meters. They were completely surrounded, only able to hold their ground back to back.
Their strength was finite, but their enemies were seemingly endless. The three women could barely hold on, relying solely on their formidable powers.
Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan were both experts at the Saint Domain level; those cultists were insignificant to them. However, the problem was that even killing one or two required effort.
They could slay a few, even hundreds or thousands, but eventually, the sight of blood-soaked corpses made their hands tremble. Yet the cultists, brainwashed and fanatically devoted, kept charging forward recklessly, using their bodies to carve a bloody path.
Xin Kui fared even worse than Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan. Although Xin Kui was a goddess who had once shared a soul with Yang Hao in the Divine Hidden Realm, and although her innate power far surpassed that of Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan combined by many times, the divine race bore divine restrictions. Now that she had left the Divine Hidden Realm, her strength had been sealed a hundredfold. To ordinary eyes, she might not even qualify as a swordsman.
The only thing she could rely on was the divine artifact in her hands—the silver axe, whose origin and power were unknown.
Though the artifact was mighty, Xin Kui was nearly out of strength to wield it. The cultists seemed to realize that Xin Kui was the weakest link and concentrated their attacks on her.
Xin Kui sighed deeply. Now was truly a moment of life or death. Without the divine restrictions, she could have destroyed the entire planet in an instant. But now, she was cornered by these insignificant beings.
With no choice left, Xin Kui had to abandon her principles and unleash the true power of the artifact.
With all her might, she raised the axe high and uttered a strange incantation.
This incantation was indeed strange, sounding profound and ancient, not something any intelligent being would normally speak. Each syllable seemed like a massive bell striking the soul, sending tremors through the heart and spirit.
If any ancient dragon race were present here, they would be shocked, for the spell Xin Kui had just recited was a Dragon Tongue incantation granted by the ancient dragons, specifically prepared for the high-ranking dragon clans. In this world, only Black and Silver Dragons could use it.
Yet now, Xin Kui had recited it effortlessly.
She merely spoke the words, without any real magical energy. The power of the Dragon Tongue spell erupted from the silver axe in her hand.
It was a dragon’s roar.
A massive, majestic roar suddenly erupted from the small silver spear, startling the two Saint Domain experts nearby. Fortunately, this roar was not aimed at them, or even if they could withstand it, they would still suffer greatly.
But now, the agony belonged to the surrounding cultists.
There were many powerful spells in Dragon Tongue magic, but for mass attacks, nothing surpassed the dragon’s roar. Once, a dragon roar sealed within Yang Hao’s divine ring had wiped out over a hundred magical beasts, a scene truly horrifying.
The biggest flaw of the dragon’s roar was that it spread its force evenly like peanut butter, making it weak against individual targets. Therefore, it wasn’t the best choice against opponents with strong individual power.
But right now, it couldn’t have been better.
The cultists relied solely on their numbers, and each individual’s strength was quite ordinary—some were even ordinary people with no martial skills at all.
When the dragon’s roar erupted, thousands of cultists atop the mountain peak simultaneously had their heads explode from the immense sonic wave.
To an outside observer, it seemed as if the roar’s sound was so powerful that everyone on the platform exploded at once. But in reality, that wasn’t the case. Lan Ling and the others barely heard the roar at all.
Dragons were always beings of immense spiritual power, and their divine techniques naturally relied on spiritual force. The dragon’s roar wasn’t about sound intensity but a spiritual wave. Only the targets could hear that deafening sound that could kill instantly.
This spiritual wave was too powerful. So powerful that ordinary human minds couldn’t withstand it, causing all these thousands of heads to explode simultaneously.
Thousands of headless corpses fell, blood flowing like a river, seeping down through the rocks, gushing down the mountain. The people still desperately climbing up were drenched in blood, their bodies already soaked red before even reaching the summit.
Though soaked in blood like rain, the cultists, bound by their sacred orders, still climbed forward recklessly, trading dozens of lives for the chance of one person reaching the platform atop the peak.
Yet on that platform, the cultists encountered a horrifying scene for the first time.
It was like hell itself—no, even worse than hell.
Everywhere were headless corpses, blood and brains mixed with shattered skulls, forming a blood-soaked muddy swamp. To charge forward, they had to step through this swamp-like mire.
But this was the brain matter of their own comrades.
Those who once believed their hearts were as firm as stone, who had long worshipped the Supreme as more important than their own lives, began vomiting violently. The stench of fresh brain matter in the air made them feel that in the next second, their own brains would join the mire.
Though devoted to the Supreme, the Supreme Cult still had its own doctrines and commandments. For example, their teachings stated that defying the Supreme’s holy orders would result in having one’s head shattered by divine lightning.
But in today’s battle, they had already witnessed divine lightning. Now they faced exploding heads—truly the most terrifying things imaginable.
Even the most foolish and zealous cultists felt the greatest fear in the human world. They dared not take another step forward.
Lan Ling leaned heavily on her silver spear, panting heavily. The piles of corpses made her feel nauseous, but compared to death, a little nausea was nothing.
“So powerful,” Lan Ling said to Xin Kui.
“Not me. It’s the artifact,” Xin Kui replied with a bitter smile, shaking the silver axe.
“What kind of divine artifact is this?” Shi Mingyuan asked in confusion. “Judging by its appearance, it seems even more powerful than the Creator’s artifacts. Has such a divine artifact ever existed in this world?”
Xin Kui fell silent and shook her head. “Let me live through this first, then I’ll tell you.”
“Aren’t those people going to approach again?” Shi Mingyuan scoffed, pointing at the cultists. “They’re just brainless puppets, but even puppets know fear.”
“They won’t dare, but there are others,” Xin Kui murmured, looking up. “Look, the real opponents are coming.”
Shi Mingyuan and Lan Ling looked up too. Their real opponents had indeed arrived.
In the sky, twenty-two figures appeared. They flew directly from outer space with clear purpose, landing precisely on the mountaintop platform. Obviously, their target was that divine artifact.
Seeing the newcomers, Lan Ling’s heart sank—right down to the depths.
Because she recognized every single one of them, knew their strength intimately.
Among them, twenty clad in dark purple robes were senior elders from the Senate. During the previous battle at Elder Mountain, nearly half of the elders had been defeated by Yang Hao, but these twenty had survived, revealing their formidable power.
The other two, a man and a woman in black robes, made Lan Ling instantly despair. If it were just the twenty elders, perhaps they couldn’t defeat them, but there might still be a chance to fight through.
But with these two present, there was nothing more to say. Their fate was no longer in their hands—even dying would be difficult.
Descending from the sky were Elder Rong Tong and Elder Hei Feng. These two executives fixed Lan Ling with icy, piercing gazes, making her feel as if needles were pricking her back.
“Kill!” Hei Feng raised his hand and slashed downward.
The twenty elders immediately charged forward. They must have been observing the battlefield from the sky for some time, already thoroughly assessing the three women’s strength.
Moreover, their main target was the silver axe, so the twenty elders each had their assigned roles.
Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan each faced two elders. A Saint Domain expert fighting two Saint Domain experts—even if Lan Ling and Shi Mingyuan were slightly stronger than ordinary Saint Domain fighters, they were still suppressed, unable to move freely or offer more help to Xin Kui. Worse still, the executives had sent sixteen elders to confront Xin Kui.
It was an outrageous display of force. A Saint Domain elder was already a top-tier expert in the universe, killing a swordsman as easily as crushing a mosquito. Yet against someone like Xin Kui, who didn’t even reach swordsman level, they sent no fewer than sixteen elders.
But Xin Kui’s spirit surged. This woman thrived when facing stronger opponents. Although her divine power was sealed by the restrictions, she was still a goddess, possessing divine pride that could never be intimidated by mere Saint Domain fighters.
As the sixteen elders surrounded her, Xin Kui’s eyes flashed with sharp light. Gripping the silver axe, she caused divine domain light to shimmer from the weapon.
This startled the elders greatly. After all, only gods and immortals possessed divine domain light, and in the current world, only the Supreme had such immense power.
Yet this axe emitted divine domain light.
Before the elders could recover from their shock, Xin Kui had already struck twice with incredible speed.
It was an axe technique that wove through time and space, so exquisite that even Hede’s Golden Severance seemed like a child’s play in comparison.
Two elders were killed by this world-shaking axe strike. Their four severed bodies fell lifelessly, their rotten entrails spilling onto the ground. The remaining twelve elders stared in shock.
Yet Xin Kui had already exhausted her strength with those two strikes. Her face turned deathly pale, and despair filled her eyes. Those two axe techniques should never have been used by her, but in such a dire situation, she had no other choice.
Yang Hao
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