A tiny star arrogantly wedged itself in the very center of the the grand interfaces.
Only four people were on it.
Yet none of the grand interfaces came forward to expel them, instead they extended olive branches to the four one after another, hoping they would join.
Actually it wasn't four people, mainly just two.
The two currently at the forefront of the Heaven Ranking, Xu Zhen of the Immortal Realm and Nai Jian Gong Zhu.
She probably shouldn't be called Xu Zhen of the Immortal Realm anymore, since she already left the Immortal Realm, so let's just call her Xu Zhen.
Xu Zhen was ranked in the top ten of the Heaven Ranking, without a specific ranking, but it should be the front of the top ten, able to compete for the top three, a terrifying existence.
Chen Xia's ranking for this month also came out, still without a specific ranking, just saying he was in the top twenty of the Heaven Ranking, not at the bottom, but not too far forward either.
This general ranking was based on his skirmish with the God Realm’s Son of God, where he was able to counterattack with one sword strike, representing he had the qualifications to stay within the top twenty of the Heaven Ranking.
But after that one sword strike, Chen Xia had already revealed fatigue, so if they were to skirmish again after that, he would probably be no match for the Son of God.
So from this, the scribes of the various grand interfaces concluded that Chen Xia could not make it into the top ten of the Heaven Ranking.
But this top twenty of the Heaven Ranking was still frightening enough. There were over ten great interfaces in the Great Death Realm, and those ranked in the top twenty of the Heaven Ranking in each great interface were few and far between.
In a grand interface like the Immortal Realm, there were only three cultivators in the top twenty of the Heaven Ranking before, and now there were only two left, because Xu Zhen had run away.
Now the cultivators of the other interfaces were all ridiculing the Immortal Realm to varying degrees, especially mocking Li Xian Elder, saying he let go of a top Heaven's Chosen instead of wanting her, which led to Xu Zhen splitting from the Immortal Realm, one could only say that Li Xian did not know how to be an Elder.
This put tremendous pressure on Li Xian Elder, especially since there were even some sarcastic remarks within the Immortal Realm itself, saying he was blind with old age, incompetent in handling matters, and lowered the Immortal Realm’s combat strength himself.
Every time he heard such remarks, Li Xian Elder's expression would grow darker, gritting his teeth as he gradually thought of something.
He might have been calculated by Xu Zhen.
Xu Zhen’s departure this time seemed to be due to his coercion, but it was possible Xu Zhen had long calculated this, otherwise she wouldn't have spoken of leaving the Immortal Realm so quickly.
Moreover, Li Xian Elder had not meant to make Xu Zhen leave either, he had just rarely gained an opportunity to retaliate against Xu Zhen’s frequent opposition to him, and wanted to make things difficult for her a few times.
Why did he have to be so petty?
Li Xian Elder also regretted somewhat, if Xu Zhen did not leave, the Immortal Realm would have one more top Heaven's Chosen ranked in the top twenty of the Heaven Ranking.
Alas.
Li Xian Elder's gloomy expression faded a little, and his grip on his crutch loosened as he gazed at the dim starry sky with his aged figure looking bleak.
He thought of another problem.
Was Xu Zhen's departure because of his pettiness? It seemed that way.
But actually it was not.
Xu Zhen simply wanted to leave, she wanted to make a clear split from the Immortal Realm in the Great Death Realm.
Even without Li Xian Elder's pettiness today, she would still leave, this was unstoppable. Li Xian Elder's words had only made her departure come earlier.
Li Xian Elder's brows furrowed, even more puzzled.
Why was Xu Zhen in such a hurry to leave the Immortal Realm?
Was it because of that suddenly appeared top twenty Heaven's Chosen in the Heaven Ranking?
But was it really necessary to sever ties with the Immortal Realm?
Li Xian Elder pondered for a moment, and gradually figured out the reason.
Xu Zhen did not want to sever ties with the Immortal Realm, she just did not want to pull Nai Jian Gong Zhu into the Immortal Realm’s relationships.
Li Xian Elder sighed and shook his head.
"Xu Zhen, Xu Zhen, it is not so easy to sever relationships."
The Immortal Realm's relationship with her was tied by the chains of karmic destiny, intricately linked, impossible to sever or disentangle.
Even great emperors were unable to sever the karmic ties with their own interfaces, let alone Xu Zhen who was only at the Heaven Mending Realm.
This was also the reason why cultivators rarely cultivated across different interfaces. When you were born, the interface you were in would establish links of fortune with you, the greater your fortune, the greater the links.
For someone with Xu Zhen's level of fortune, her links with the Immortal Realm were almost eternally unseverable. In the future even if she became a great emperor, she would still be an emperor of the Immortal Realm.
Only cultivators with extremely low fortune could cultivate across interfaces, because those with low fortune had weak links to their original interface, allowing them to cultivate across interfaces without impact.
But the problem also lay in having low fortune. Because you had low fortune, you would fall far behind those prodigies in future cultivation, even inferior to ordinary cultivators.
Cultivation was an endeavor half based on talent and half on fortune. One's own efforts actually only accounted for a minority.
In his twenty thousand plus years of life, Li Xian Elder had never heard of anyone relying solely on hard work to become a Quasi-Saint.
It required both talent and fortune's favor to accomplish Quasi-Saint and above, to transcend the mortal plane.
The reason why the Fuyao Immortal Sect rejected Chen Xia back then was also because of this. Chen Xia was a person without fortune, basically having no links to the interface, and would even damage the sect’s fortune.
He was all harm and no benefit.
The initial Chen Xia indeed did not have much progress in cultivation, fully relying on adding strength to increase his martial power. The Fuyao Immortal Sect looking down on him was also normal.
But it became different later, because Chen Xia as a person without fortune could add fortune.
One could only say he hit the jackpot.
On the surface he was still a person without fortune, but the fortune in the shadows would make the interfaces acknowledge him, yet unable to establish links.
This meant he could cultivate unrestrainedly in the various interfaces, yet bear no responsibility.
The word carefree stood out.
Even in the current Great Death Realm, Chen Xia could continue cultivating. And because of the berserk cultivation from his inner demon, his spiritual power reserves grew greater and greater, yet he was stuck at the Inverse Sea Realm, unable to break through to the Heaven Mending Realm.
Strange.
Chen Xia frowned, also very puzzled. His current spiritual power reserves were about three hundred times that of a normal peak Inverse Sea Realm cultivator, nearing the fifth level of the Heaven Mending Realm. Yet this breakthrough felt increasingly distant, as if he was welded in place at the Inverse Sea Realm.
At this rate, would he have to use the Inverse Sea Realm's peak to fight Quasi-Saints in the future?
Or even more exaggerated, the Inverse Sea Realm fighting great emperors?
That would be too against the heavens.
Chen Xia could not help but sigh. He squatted on the tiny star, his gaze looking towards the dim starry river around him.
"What's wrong elder brother Xia?" Xu Zhen laughed lightly as she asked beside him.
"Nothing." Chen Xia shook his head, his gaze looking out into the dim starry sky lowered, overlooking the fathomless sea of death below.
The profound sea of death was bottomless. Legend said the Ashes Emperor Ruins were at its very depths, in a place no one had ever gone.
"Elder brother Xia, the Great Saint Ruins are almost thirty thousand li in this sea of death. They should open up soon, I heard it was the Flood Dragon Race's ruins, it should be very powerful right."
Xu Zhen softly said at his side.
"The things in the Great Saint Ruins are indeed all very powerful." Chen Xia nodded. He had fought with the remnants of a Great Saint before, nearly dying inside.
And these Great Saint Ruins would only be more powerful.
Xu Zhen suddenly opened her mouth, startled for a moment, before her expression settled and she said, "Elder brother Xia... let's leave ba?"
"Alright." Chen Xia nodded. "I came to find you, whether there's fortune or not doesn't matter. But little Xu, can you really leave?"
"I can." Xu Zhen nodded lightly.
"Really?" Chen Xia looked straight at Xu Zhen.
Her gaze grew evasive, not daring to meet Chen Xia's eyes. Her usually resolute self revealed a lost expression, not knowing how to answer Chen Xia's question.
She thought she could.
But could she really spend her future life away from the Immortal Realm, away from Fuyao Immortal Sect?
Fuyao Immortal Sect desperately needed an emperor to return them to their peak.
That's why they sent Xu Zhen this time, placing thick hopes on her, wishing Xu Zhen could obtain fortune in the Great Death Realm, taking the first step to becoming a Quasi-Saint, then naturally she would steadily seize every advantage in the future.
Becoming a great emperor first meant steadily occupying that position.
Whereas if she fell behind, and that generation's position of great emperor was seized by others overtaking her, then Xu Zhen's accomplishments in life would at most end at being a Quasi-Emperor.
Fuyao Immortal Sect needed Quasi-Emperors too, but they didn't need Xu Zhen to only become a Quasi-Emperor.
What they wanted was a true great emperor capable of revitalizing the sect.
Moreover, Xu Zhen herself was not someone willing to settle for mediocrity either. She wanted to accomplish great emperor herself, very, very much.
The battles in the Great Death Realm were a true watershed, where the fortune within was enough to widen the disparity between top prodigies.
Xu Zhen froze there at a loss, not knowing how to respond.
"So let's go ba." Chen Xia said with a smile.
Xu Zhen bit her teeth and mumbled hesitantly, "But...but you might..."
Before she could finish her words, she was unable to say it out loud.
"Die inside, right?" Chen Xia finished the sentence for her. He then stood up from his squatting position and faced the vast gloomy starry sky, chuckling lightly.
"I've always believed I have good luck - every disaster turns into a blessing for me. So don't worry too much about me. I'm not a good person and will continue to live on."
Chen Xia now found it very difficult to die. This was mainly due to his numerous lucky chances, as well as the trump card of his future sight ability, so he was not worried about his own life and death.
The stars within the Sea of Death did not revolve, but simply hung there, decorating the starry sky like ornaments.
Chen Xia stood at the center of the star river, his figure slightly blurred, smiling softly and murmuring,
"I still want to fulfill your wish more. After all, a lifetime for a person is no more than a hundred thousand years in the long river of time."
When he mentioned the hundred thousand years, his expression was strangely sad, as if he was already missing that time.
The star river remained gloomy.
There was a long silence between them.
"I...I want to give it a try, Brother Xia," Xu Zhen suddenly spoke up, her eyes fixed on Chen Xia, regaining her former spirited air as she said firmly,
"I want to become an Emperor!"
"Good," Chen Xia nodded with a smile. "I'll help you become an Emperor."
With his future sight ability in this Great Death Realm, he was practically invincible in contests of power.
Xu Zhen crossed her hands behind her back and took two light steps to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Chen Xia. Her head tilted slightly to one side, a hint of slyness in her eyes, as she asked:
"Brother Xia, who is Huang Qingyue?"
"Ah?" Chen Xia was surprised, "Did you meet her?"
Xu Zhen nodded, "Yes. She said she was a cultivator from the same minor heaven realm as me. At first when I was anxiously looking for you, I wanted to ask her some questions. But unexpectedly, Huang Qingyue was also impatiently looking for someone. Haha!"
"Since then, she and I have stayed in contact. If not for some gaps between the Immortal Realm's Nine Mountains and the Fuyao Immortal Sect, our relationship would probably still be quite good by now. She's already an important figure on the Ninth Mountain."
Chen Xia reminisced for a moment and nodded slowly, "It's been a long time... Knowing that both of you are safe puts my heart at ease."
Back then at the Blue Sky Sword Sea and in the realm, he had often worried about these two girls.
"Hehe," Xu Zhen chuckled lightly. "I worried a lot about Brother Xia too."
Chen Xia smiled without speaking, his gaze looking behind at the distance towards the small stars. There, Ma Xiaohong was hugging half an immortal sword, her head lowered in solitary contemplation.
Ever since Xu Zhen had joined them, Ma Xiaohong spoke less and less, and didn't dare chat with Chen Xia anymore, growing more withdrawn.
Perhaps it was due to an inferiority complex.
The Gentleman in White sat steadily in place, very silent, afraid of saying too many wrong things.
The atmosphere among the four of them had been somewhat depressing for two months straight.
Until it was abruptly shattered one day.
Because roars of a dragon echoed out from within the Sea of Death - extremely intense dragon roars that caused the entire surface of the Sea of Death to tremble.
Flood Dragon Race cultivators from the various realms were shaken mentally, feeling an urge to kowtow and pay obeisance.
This was the purest form of bloodline suppression!
The remnants of a Great Saint level Flood Dragon's roar!
From just this sudden roar, the various realms' authors deduced the remnants' strength.
It was highly likely a Quasi-Saint level!
And it had to be the most topnotch of the Flood Dragon Race - whether it was an Azure Dragon or Departing Dragon was still undetermined. And it was very likely even higher, reaching the level of a Cross-Realm Star Dragon.
This was how the Flood Dragon Race was ranked.
The weakest were ordinary Flood Dragons, also called Minor Dragons or Hybrid Dragons. Their bloodlines were usually impure and mixed, with the peak achievement capped at the start of the Heaven Mending Realm.
Going up the ranks, there were the Five Elements Flood Dragons, Golden and Silver Dragons, Five Clawed Golden Scaled Dragons etc. This sort of dragon was collectively called Major Dragons, and had purer bloodlines of their own kinds. Their usual achievements peaked at the limits of the Heaven Mending Realm, and it was rare for them to reach Quasi-Saint level.
The next tier were Yin Yang Twin Dragons, Star Dragons and so on, collectively named as Saint Dragons, because these breeds had the potential to achieve Quasi-Saint level, or even higher.
The absolute peak was made up of the Departing Dragons, Azure Dragons, and Cross-Realm Star Dragons. They were titled as Emperor Dragons, possessing the talent to achieve Emperor level.
The remnants inside this Great Saint Ruin was an Emperor Dragon, of Great Saint cultivation level no less.
There would definitely be great fortuitous chances inside, but also numerous dangers.
Today, Chen Xia asked the Gentleman in White a question.
"Do you still want to follow me? From now on I cannot guarantee your life and death. I know you desire fortuitous chances, but death is likely."
The Gentleman in White swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, hesitating for a long time before stuttering a reply.
"I...I want to go."
Chen Xia said nothing more. He had already stated clearly about not being able to guarantee the Gentleman in White's life. Afterwards if he died, Chen Xia would feel neither guilt nor debt.
Fortuitous chance was directly proportional to danger - the Gentleman in White would have to bear this kind of risk himself.
As for Ma Xiaohong...
Chen Xia only said one firm sentence to her.
"I will protect you."
He had said this several times since entering the Great Death Realm.
Ma Xiaohong stared blankly for a moment, a rare delight appearing in her delicate face. She nodded lightly, "En." Still afraid it wasn't enough, she quickly added, "I will heal your injuries too."
This was an agreement between the two of them.
Chen Xia nodded. His gaze looked towards the depths of the Sea of Death. Just a moment ago when he heard the dragon roar, a stir arose in his heart, and he strangely felt an urge to call out in response.
This told him what sort of dragon was inside the Sea of Death.
It was a Great Saint level Universal Celestial Dragon!
Could this trip to the Great Saint Ruin be considered as a homecoming journey?