Chapter 1897 : Tracing Time, Past Events

Eastern Flame Dominion?

Eldrin (Person Name) heard this, his first exposure to the power core beyond the 3 1000 Immortal Domains. A trace of solemnity flickered in his eyes.

Elder Immortal Donghua nodded calmly and spoke in a measured tone, "The Eastern Li Flame Domain is the very region we currently inhabit."

As the Eastern Florescence Immortal Lord recounted the tale in detail, Eldrin gained a certain understanding of this Eastern Li Flame Domain.

It turned out this primordial chaos was boundless and vast; even the 3 1000 Immortal Realms were but a lone isle in its expanse when compared.

Beyond the 3 1000 Immortal Domains lies this vast expanse of primordial chaos, divided into 6 boundless directions: East, West, South, North, Upper Firmament, and Lower Mystery. Each of these 6 domains stretches endlessly, with intricate networks of power and factions woven throughout.

Chaos was inherently tumultuous, making it impossible to discern 1's location or direction, let alone demarcate any territorial boundaries.

Thus, the 3 great Heavenly Courts established a rule: all territories governed by a Primordial Emperor would be designated as a Dao Domain.

The Eastern Li Flame Domain was precisely such a Primal Chaos Dao Realm. Across the eastern reaches of the 3 1000 Immortal Domains, there existed dozens of similar Primal Chaos Dao Realms.

The location of the Return-to-Void Immortal Realm lies within the Eastern Li Fire Domain.

Within the expanse of the Eastern Li Flame Domain, there existed over a 100 celestial realms of varying scales, along with more than a 100 Great Perfection-level chaotic lairs.

The celestial realms opened by Great Perfection beings from myriad races across the 3 1000 Celestial Domains stood interlocked like fangs with the primordial nests of the Chaos Godfiends, all perpetually embroiled in ceaseless warfare.

Over a 100 immortal domains, more than a 100 Great Perfection chaos nests.

Eldrin murmured softly, a trace of solemnity unconsciously coloring his expression.

The existence of a celestial realm signifies the presence of a Golden Immortal of the Great Luo. Yet, a single chaos nest may harbor more than 1 Chaos Demon God. For within the most formidable chaos nests, it is not uncommon to find several Great Luo Demon Gods reigning supreme.

It could be said that the Chaos Fiendgods of the Eastern Liyan Realm likely numbered far more than a 100.

At this thought, he took a deep breath and said, "It seems that within this Eastern Flaming Realm, our 3 1000 Immortal Domains still remain at a disadvantage."

Elder Immortal Donghua nodded and said, "The Eastern Li Flame Dominion is renowned for the Liyan Ancient Plains, which have always been our foremost adversary."

As the words of the Eastern Florescence Immortal Lord fell, Eldrin gradually came to understand the origins of the Eastern Li Flame Domain.

Deep in the heart of the Eastern Flaming Expanse lay a Chaos Nest of the Primordial Unity rank, known as the Ancient Flaming Plains.

Within the Liyan Ancient Plains dwelled the Liyan Great Demon, born of the primordial Southern Li Fire, whose cultivation had already ascended to the realm of the Primordial Chaos Emperor.

Such a Chaos Primordial Demon of the Primordial Unity level, having dominated the Eastern Li Flame Domain for tens of thousands of kalpas, possessed unfathomable power.

At this thought, a trace of solemnity crossed Eldrin's face. His celestial domain had been established within the Infernal Fiendgod's territory—this could very well become a grave predicament.

Lord Donghua noticed his expression and discerned his thoughts. Without hesitation, he spoke, "There is no need for concern. Within the Eastern Li Flame Domain, our human race also has a Primordial Chaos Emperor."

His Daoist title was the Flame Emperor, and he stood as the arch-nemesis of the Blaze Fiend on the path of cultivation. For years, their stalemate had persisted without him ever falling to a disadvantage.

"Emperor Li Yan?"

Hearing this, Eldrin immediately examined the map in his hand and discovered that within the Eastern Li Flame Domain lay a celestial realm known as the Li Flame Celestial Domain.

Previously, Eldrin had not paid it much heed, for this Blaze-Severing Immortal Realm was merely a high-grade immortal domain, far less magnificent than the Mixed Chaos Dao Domain of the Blaze-Severing Demon God.

In that moment, Eldrin had come to understand.

After breaking through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, the immortal domain could at most advance to the level of a high-grade immortal domain. To progress further and become a Primordial Chaos Dao Domain was an impossible feat.

Even an existence at the level of the Primordial Chaos Emperor could not obtain the Primordial Beginning Qi through ascension to the immortal realms.

Throughout the 3 1000 celestial realms, the only path for Great Luo Golden Immortals to ascend to the Primordial Emperor realm was to seek opportunities within the primordial chaos, or to conquer the Chaos Domains held by the Chaos Demons.

The Flame-Severing Monarch was an existence at the early stage of the Primordial Chaos Realm. In order to contend for the authority of the Great Dao against the Blazing Infernal Fiend, he had been locked in a stalemate within this Eastern Blazing Dominion. It was said that despite launching several wars against each other, neither had succeeded in slaying their rival.

It was precisely because Emperor Li Yan stood at the forefront that the other major immortal domains could hold their ground to some extent.

At this thought, Eldrin glanced at the map and noted with some relief that his own Returning Abyss Immortal Realm was quite distant from the Li Fire Demon God's Li Fire Ancient Plains.

Seeing this, Immortal Lord Donghua spoke once more, "While we reside within the Eastern Liyan Domain under the protection of the Liyan Emperor, we must also bear certain responsibilities."

"Unless you plan to leave the Eastern Li Flame Domain, once the Flame Sovereign declares war, both you and I will be conscripted for battle."

Eldrin furrowed his brow slightly upon hearing this and fell into deep contemplation.

Observing this, Lord Donghua remarked, "Of course, it is exceedingly difficult to determine superiority between Mixed Origin Emperors. A full-scale war would not easily erupt."

"There is no need for excessive concern. Even if war breaks out, as Great Luo Immortal Monarchs, we already stand in an invincible position."

Eldrin nodded upon hearing this. A Great Luo Golden Immortal does not fall into the cycle of reincarnation and cannot truly perish unless slain by an enemy of the Great Dao. From this perspective alone, it could be considered an invincible existence.

At this point, Eastern Glory Immortal Lord said no more.

He spent half a day as a guest in the Void-Realm, then hastily departed from the celestial domain.

As the Eastern Florescence Immortal Lord departed, Lyra stepped forward. Eldrin proceeded to inform her of the situation in the Eastern Li Flame Domain.

Lyra remained silent for a moment before finally speaking, "With your level of power, even within the Eastern Li Flame Domain, you would be considered a formidable expert. Moreover, with the Flame Sovereign of Li leading the way ahead, there is no need to worry excessively about dangers."

"The top priority now is to prepare for the Great Luo Immortal Banquet."

Eldrin nodded slightly before speaking, "I shall entrust the matter of the invitations to your care. Before that, I have some affairs to attend to first."

"Handle some business?"

Lyra was momentarily taken aback, seemingly lost in thought.

Eldrin nodded slightly and then spoke, "There are some regrets in this life that perhaps should be mended."

With that, Eldrin (Person Name) casually waved his hand and strode away from the Return to the Abyss Immortal Realm.

After departing from the Abyssal Ruins Immortal Realm, Eldrin took a single step and arrived within the Vast Azure Immortal Realm, 1 of the 3,000 immortal realms.

"You're back."

Watching Eldrin return, the will of the heavens in the Qingcang Immortal Realm trembled faintly before speaking, "You have succeeded, as I expected. My judgment of you was not mistaken."

Eldrin nodded, then said calmly, "I have matters to attend to, and I must ask you not to interfere."

The Will of the Heavenly Dao seemed to comprehend something and immediately spoke: "Very well..."

"Many thanks."

Eldrin (Person Name) gave a slight nod before finally springing into motion.

All around him flowed the boundless power of the Great Dao, a supreme might unparalleled throughout the ages that pierced through the very River of Dao itself. Infinite temporal forces swirled and eddied about his form.

"Boom!"

In an instant, the entire Vast Heaven Immortal Realm trembled violently as the boundless River of Time began flowing backwards.

Eldrin took a single step, instantly reversing the flow of endless time and space. The mountains, rivers, and heavens of the entire Vast Azure Immortal Domain began to turn upside down.

Yet in the span of a single breath, Eldrin had returned to 1 million years ago, witnessing the ancient cataclysm of the Heavenly Tribulation's eruption. There, he beheld the very battle where he had suppressed the Ancient Demon Xuanheng and vanquished the 10 1000 Ghosts Patriarch.

Eldrin did not linger on this remnant of bygone eras, merely casting a fleeting glance before continuing his journey.

The vast Expanse Celestial Realm grew increasingly turbulent. As Eldrin observed the relentless transformations of this domain, his thoughts unwittingly drifted back through the ages—to 10 million years past.

He witnessed the Eldritch Abyssal Heaven Domain returning to the Sea of Divine Misty Abyss, and encountered old acquaintances like the Lord of the Blazing Ember Star Palace, the Heavenly Prison Clan Leader, and the Dragon Sovereign of Western Mist.

Yet Eldrin did not pause. He continued striding through the firmament, traversing the river of time in relentless retrospection. Unconsciously, he returned to the Violet Realm, halting only when he reached a fragment of antiquity from epochs long past.

It was a night of swirling snow. A man drenched in blood, carrying a child on his back, had traversed 1 100 1000 li of desolate wilderness. With his last ounce of strength, he delivered the child before the gates of Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location).

Father.

Gazing at the blood-soaked man before him, Eldrin murmured softly, a faint trace of pity flickering in his eyes.

The young man was named Chen Qingming, the father of Eldrin (Person Name) in this lifetime. He had once been an outer sect disciple of the Qingyang Sect, but attracted a fatal calamity when the Qin Clan of the Heavenly Abode Continent (Location) coveted his Dao Body.

Even after 12,000,000 years had passed, Eldrin still remembered this childhood memory with striking clarity.

Now, harnessing world-shaking power to travel upstream through the long river of time and return to this era of his youth, Eldrin found his heart growing ever more deeply stirred.

Father.

Eldrin's heart trembled, yet in the end he did not linger, continuing his journey upstream along the River of Time.

He continued to trace back through the rivers and mountains of time and space, this time pushing all the way to 100,000 years before Eldrin (Person Name) was born, only stopping when he reached the era after the Violet Realm had been cast into exile.

Eldrin wished to press forward, to catch a glimpse of the young Violet Sovereign in his boyhood days. Yet he discovered that Eldrin had been born 1 100 1000 years earlier in the river of time, severed from this era by an invisible force.

Even with Eldrin's current level of cultivation, he could no longer continue to forge against the current and trace back to more ancient times.

"Has everything been erased?"

Eldrin murmured, a faint ripple stirring in the depths of his gaze.

In this vast expanse of chaos, time flowed as a unidirectional river—what had transpired could never be altered, not even by Eldrin.

Yet everything before his eyes had been severed, leaving no trace to trace back the existence of the Violet Immortal Lord. The terrifying power it represented made even Eldrin’s heart tremble with dread.

"It seems the Purple Immortal Lord does not wish for anyone to discover something."

Eldrin murmured inwardly, ultimately suppressing the thought.

Without another word, he turned and drifted down the river of time, slowing his pace to retrace the history of the Violet Realm.

Within the river of time, Eldrin witnessed the war between the Violet Realm and the Calamity Demon God—a conflict spanning 100,000 years, revealing battles he had never experienced in his own era.

The revered sages of the Violet Realm, in their defense against the Calamity Abyss, waged life-and-death battles time and again. 1 soul-stirring tale after another unfolded before his eyes.

Yet Eldrin did not intervene in any of this.

Even a Great Luo Golden Immortal, with the ability to traverse time and space, cannot alter the established facts of what has already transpired.

For once the past is altered, the entire fabric of spacetime would descend into utter chaos. This is not a feat even a Great Luo Golden Immortal could accomplish. In truth, not even an existence at the third realm of the Primordial Heavenly Emperor could rewrite history.

Yet what has already transpired cannot be altered. However, with the power of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, 1 could retrieve those long-departed companions from the river of time itself.

Eldrin strolled along the River of Time, harnessing his Great Luo power to summon a soul imprint from 12,000,000 years in the future. Using this as foundation, he gathered the scattered spirits of martyred heroes who had faced soul annihilation, channeling his remaining divine energy to reconstruct their shattered souls.

By the time Eldrin returned to the moment of his birth, he had already saved countless martyrs of the Violet Realm who had perished with their souls scattered during the Demonic Tribulation.

On the very day Eldrin was born, he witnessed violet qi stretching 10 1000 miles across the eastern sky—a celestial phenomenon so grand it illuminated the entire Eastern Wasteland Immortal Domain.

"So it is true—I am indeed 1 born of destiny."

Eldrin smiled faintly and took another step, traversing 3 years to witness that incomparably gruesome scene.

In the Alchemy Chamber of Green Sun Mountain, the Second Ancestor of the Qin Clan seized Zhang Ningmu's Dao Body to refine it into a Blood Elixir for his mother.

"Damn it!"

Eldrin's eyes turned icy, his gaze so frigid it seemed capable of reducing this long-dead man to ashes. Yet in the end, he remained powerless to act.

He was but a bystander in the River of Time, powerless to alter the course of history already written.

"Alas."

In the end, Eldrin let out a soft sigh.

He calculated with his fingers and realized that after 12,000,000 years, his mother's soul would have long scattered to the winds within the river of time and space. Though a new soul might be born from the essence of her true spirit, it would no longer be her.

"Mother, return to me!"

Without hesitation, Eldrin forcibly spanned 12 million years, seized his mother's true spirit imprint, and at the very moment of her death, reconstructed her divine soul and physical form.

"Ah—"

Zhang Ningmu awoke from the clutches of death, the terror and despair still etched upon her face. Suddenly, she found a handsome man robed in snow-white standing before her, causing her to freeze in momentary bewilderment.

In that instant, she couldn't help but gaze at the person before her and ask, "I didn't die? Was it you who saved me?"

Mother.

Eldrin helped her up, then let out a soft sigh and said, "I am your child... Eldrin."

“Eldrin (Person Name)？”

Zhang Ningmu was utterly stunned, momentarily unable to accept the revelation. "Impossible," she refuted instinctively, "My child is merely 3 years old."

"Alas."

Eldrin let out a soft sigh and said, "I have come from 12 million years in the future, solely to guide you back."

As the words fell, Eldrin (Person Name) pointed a finger, and a stream of information surged into Zhang Ningmu’s mind.

Zhang Ningmu instantly absorbed the information. Though still struggling to fully process it, she grasped the general chain of causation.

She then glanced at the great cauldron nearby, only to find the Second Ancestor of the Qin Clan refining pills with a vicious grin, while her own corpse was gradually turning to ashes. Instantly, she believed Eldrin’s words.

"So it is, my son possesses the aptitude of a Great Luo."

Eldrin did not answer, instead speaking with serene composure, "Upon my return this time, I shall journey down the river of time when I depart to retrieve certain individuals."

"Given the state of your divine soul, I fear it cannot withstand the erosion of temporal power. It would be best for you to enter slumber for a time."

As the words faded, Eldrin waved his sleeve, plunging Zhang Ningmu into deep slumber while shielding her soul with world-startling magic power.

After completing all this, Eldrin continued drifting down the river.

This time, he witnessed the Second Ancestor of the Qin Clan attempting to eradicate both him and his father. Yet ultimately, the Green Abyss Sword (Magic Treasure), dragging its fractured blade, unleashed its own sword intent to drive the foe away in startled retreat.

"It seems I truly owe Senior Eldrin a life-saving debt."

Eldrin murmured softly under his breath before resuming his solitary journey.

He once again saw his father carrying him across the 100-1000-li barren wilderness, pursued relentlessly by the Qingyang Sect (Sect) throughout the entire journey.

Along the journey, Eldrin and his father faced life-threatening dangers on several occasions, and their narrow escapes were made possible by the aid of 2 individuals.

1 of them was Eldrin’s grandfather, Zhang Tianyang. Zhang Tianyang was an elder Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Verdant Sun Sect. In his later years, his cultivation had reached the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, and he even shared deep ties with several of the sect’s Violet Palace experts.

To help Eldrin and his father escape danger, Zhang Tianyang exhausted every resource within the Azure Sun Sect, sparing no expense from his entire fortune, just to secure them a sliver of hope.

And the other person, to Eldrin's surprise,

This man was none other than Mordecai, a Zifu Cultivator from the Azure Sun Sect, whom Eldrin happened to know. Hailing from the Lin Clan of Yu County, Mordecai sympathized with the plight of Eldrin’s family and, out of camaraderie for their shared origins in Yu County, had his disciples turn a blind eye to their circumstances on several occasions.

If not for Mordecai (Person Name) speaking up behind the scenes, Chen Qingming might not have been able to bring him back alive so easily.

This took Eldrin by surprise, stirring within him a mix of astonishment and bewilderment.

"If he truly owed a debt of gratitude, why did he never speak of it back then?" (End of Chapter)