Time flows imperceptibly during enlightenment.
With the frontline peaceful and free of conflict, curious onlookers often observed Chen Xia sitting alone atop the city wall.
Some said he was a statue, others called it performance art.
But no one mentioned enlightenment.
Because they thought it impossible for anyone to be bold enough to achieve enlightenment at the frontline.
Wasn't that foolish?
What if the remnants of darkness suddenly attacked?
Cultivators discussed Chen Xia extensively, and knowledgeable elder cultivators would correct them.
"This is Saint Chen, equal to the Emperor. You shouldn't discuss him carelessly."
"Equal to the Emperor? I don't believe it. If he's equal to the Emperor, why would he sit here? There's nothing remarkable about him."
"Right, right, I don't think so either. Perhaps it's just some ancient rumor?"
"..."
The cultivators' discussions continued, which was normal. After all, many years had passed without conflict at the border, and most of the old cultivators were in seclusion. The new cultivators, knowing nothing, began their speculations.
By now, three thousand years had passed since the last great battle at the frontline.
The frontline's fighting force had fully recovered, and the cultivators, having never experienced real warfare, were all in high spirits.
In the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
Today, as starlight suddenly brightened, the elders came to observe and saw a figure slowly emerge, who shook his sleeves and laughed heartily.
"Our Emperor Capital also has the bearing of an Emperor!"
Hearing these words, the elders knew who had arrived and hurriedly knelt, exclaiming.
"Welcome back, Holy One!"
Emperor Capital walked out slowly, wearing a brilliant smile. Successfully advancing to Great Saint had put him in an excellent mood, and he waved to the elders saying.
"No need for such ceremony. Just hang some banners for a few decades and spread the word to the cultivators in the star realm. Well, given my talents, this wasn't much of a challenge, haha."
"By the way, what level is Qiu Li at now?" Emperor Capital asked.
"Qiu Li hasn't returned to the sect for many days, should still be at Saint level..." the elders hesitated.
"Saint? Saint is good, still plenty of room for improvement. Unlike me, with only Quasi-Emperor and Emperor ahead, my cultivation path is clearly visible to its end. Ah, how boring." Emperor Capital pretended to sigh.
He then dismissed the elders and began his long-overdue wandering.
His first task upon emerging was naturally to visit his beloved pet.
"Little White, did you miss me?" Emperor Capital appeared beside White Emperor and asked.
White Emperor's body trembled, forcing a smile worse than crying, and replied: "Of course, I've missed you day and night."
"Unfortunately, I haven't missed you much," Emperor Capital shook his head with a smile, then looked up at the sky, muttering.
"There are some places one must go."
That same year, Emperor Capital left the star realm without bidding farewell to anyone, heading to the highest point of all heavens, to the frontline battlefield.
As Chen Xia's second brain, he should go see Brother Chen, especially now that he had broken through to Great Saint.
What Red Feather couldn't do, Emperor Capital would do - this was the deep father-son bond between him and Brother Chen!
One could say Emperor Capital understood hierarchy.
In these thousands of years, Emperor Capital wasn't the only one who had broken through.
Qiu Li had become a dual-path Saint,
Li Yang and Li Yue hadn't been idle either. Both were just a hair's breadth from Great Saint, continuously breaking through in seclusion. It wouldn't be long before they became Great Saints.
The progress of other Saints like Jia Bai was somewhat slower, but they weren't far from Great Saint either.
They were the Fourteen Children of Blue Sky, their innate talents sufficient to support their advancement to Great Saint.
However, reaching Quasi-Emperor would be more difficult, as it required half-comprehension of the Great Way, almost reaching the highest level of understanding.
They weren't capable of it now, and would need to rely on future opportunities.
In the Immortal Realm of the myriad worlds.
The Fuyao Immortal Sect lifted its six-thousand-year seclusion order because the time had come.
Xu Zhen had indeed reached Quasi-Emperor. Her talent was among the top ten in the myriad worlds, supreme among Emperor candidates. With Emperor Wu Xi's full support, she managed to become a Quasi-Emperor in six thousand years.
A key point was that the difference between Great Saint and Quasi-Emperor lay only in the depth of understanding of the Great Way.
With sufficient depth, one naturally became a Quasi-Emperor.
The Way Xu Zhen comprehended wasn't profound, but she might be the only person in the world who understood it, and it was dual-path.
Her Way had a fascinating concept, called High Mountains and Distant Waters.
This differed from the Mountain and Water Way, as High Mountains and Distant Waters was purely conceptual.
The mountains were those of Weixi Town, the waters were those of Weixi Town.
When High Mountains and Distant Waters unveiled, she became its ruler, a true deity of heaven and earth.
These two fascinating paths leaned more toward combat.
The Immortal Realm needed combat now, as chaos had begun. Inter-realm battles had truly started, with the Divine Realm launching war against the Immortal Realm, wielding the current great stars to strike.
Four-path Emperors personally issued challenges, opening the prelude to war with the Immortal Realm.
Though Xu Zhen's dual-path Quasi-Emperor status wasn't particularly impressive, it was enough to protect the Fuyao Immortal Sect.
The future path remained uncertain, and she wasn't sure how to proceed.
She missed Weixi Town.
From the beginning, Xu Zhen had only wanted to follow Chen Xia's footsteps, but fate was cruel, making the Chen Xia she wanted to pursue an unattainable goal.
From youth until now, year after year, it remained the same.
She stood at the highest point of the Fuyao Immortal Sect, feeling the night wind, her skirts fluttering, watching the scattered stars.
Words failed her.
Her longing had become like rivers, crossing countless mountains and seas.
Today, an unusual character arrived at the frontline.
Called Emperor Capital, he immediately started clamoring about finding Brother Chen, saying he meant Chen Xia.
The new cultivators didn't know who Chen Xia was and told Emperor Capital to be quiet, warning him about getting beaten up.
Who knew Emperor Capital was truly reckless? He fought any cultivator he encountered, causing such a commotion at the frontline that it drew out an Emperor.
It was the renowned Emperor Tianhe.
"So you're Emperor Capital?" Emperor Tianhe asked.
"Yes." Emperor Capital nodded, unafraid.
"You're looking for Chen Xia?"
"Yes!" Emperor Capital became animated.
"He's sitting on the city wall, go find him." Emperor Tianhe pointed.
Emperor Capital looked and immediately laughed, asking in return.
"How could this white-haired old fogey be my Brother Chen? Haha, my Brother Chen is handsome and dashing, like a deity walking among mortals!"
After laughing, he deliberately walked up to the city wall, patted the white-haired elder's back, and shouted.
"Hey, old man, you dare pretend to be my Brother Chen? You don't even have a trace of aura, and you're not even doing a good job acting. Speak up, or I'll beat your pension out of you!"
Emperor Capital specifically raised his fist, pretending to threaten.
Emperor Tianhe slightly furrowed his brow, "Why don't you look at his face?"
Emperor Capital smiled disdainfully, looking up while saying: "Fine, I'll look. I don't believe you can do anything to..."
His expression froze, instantly turning deathly pale. Before anyone could react, he smoothly dropped to his knees, hugging Chen Xia's legs, crying streams of tears while wailing sorrowfully.
"Brother Chen, your child has been unfilial!"