If one fully realized Chen Xia could at best go toe-to-toe with the Martial Emperor, then two fully realized Chen Xias could absolutely dominate him.
But at this moment, there were clearly more than that.
Because there were three.
Three Chen Xias from different timelines, each fully realized and unrivaled.
Without a word, without even an extra movement, the three future Chen Xias seemed to have an unspoken understanding and immediately headed to the sky where the Martial Emperor and the Way of Heaven were locked in a fierce battle.
Chen Xia, who had summoned the future versions of himself, stood beneath the Tree of Time, feeling a sense of unreality. He felt suffocated, his steps unsteady. Despite being a Five-Path Emperor, he now felt as weak as an old man. He simply sat down, leaning against the Tree of Time.
The three future Chen Xias above were all Five-Path Emperors, their paths identical to his.
Chen Xia understood—these three were all his future selves, all versions of himself.
He could no longer summon any other versions of himself. He was the final future, the endpoint of time. Would he stagnate here?
Time could flow endlessly, but humans could not. If humans flowed too much, they would die.
But Chen Xia was different.
Immortal, he was like time itself. It wasn’t that he had comprehended the Dao of Time—he *was* the Dao of Time.
Leaning against the Tree of Time, he looked up at the sky and suddenly thought that perhaps one day the Way of Heaven would disappear or change, but time would continue to flow as it always had, more eternal than the Way of Heaven.
Would he continue to walk alongside time?
Chen Xia pondered, but no one could answer him. The answer would have to wait for him to discover it in the distant future.
The sky began to tremble—perhaps the battle had reached its climax?
Chen Xia wasn’t sure. He tried to prop himself up against the Tree of Time to stand and observe, but he fell back down, too weak to move. His dried-up sea of consciousness and heart lake could no longer sustain any further action. The massive amount of lifespan he had sacrificed made him want to fall into a deep sleep.
From the highest point of the sky came another tremor. The Way of Heaven quaked, summoning the power of all realms in the universe, stirring up the purest martial energy. The battle between the three future Chen Xias and the Martial Emperor was also mixed in, creating a chaotic scene that affected not only the entire multiverse but even began to shatter the void itself.
All the emperors of the multiverse turned their gazes toward the Immortal Realm. They knew this would be the final battle of the old era. No matter who won, it would herald the arrival of a new era, a new supreme ruler, a new number one.
The Big Yellow Dog sat atop the Blue Sky Sword Sea, using all its divine abilities to observe the situation in the Immortal Realm, not daring to breathe too loudly for fear of missing even the slightest detail.
The atmosphere was suffocating, the air filled with nothing but silence.
Boom!
A massive crater exploded in the Immortal Realm, shattering the surrounding void. A golden figure suddenly fell out, covered in blood, but it quickly ignited the most intense martial energy in the world and charged back into the Immortal Realm to continue the fight.
The battle raged on, and the Immortal Realm continued to crumble, riddled with holes.
Chen Xia sat beneath the Tree of Time, his pale face growing weaker and weaker. The Tree of Time behind him grew larger and larger, now the size of an entire continent. It seemed to have replaced the River of Time, becoming a new vessel for time itself.
Boom!
The sky shattered.
One of the future Chen Xias fell, the aura of time around him growing weaker and weaker until it was no longer enough, and he dissipated back into time.
The Martial Emperor emerged from the shattered sky, breathing heavily. His clothes were torn, but his body bore no injuries. His golden eyes fixed on Chen Xia beneath the Tree of Time, and he spoke candidly.
"Three future versions of you killed me once. Now I’ve revived."
"..." Chen Xia beneath the Tree of Time was stunned for a moment, then remembered the Martial Emperor’s undying Dao technique. He couldn’t help but sigh.
"That’s truly monstrous. But I don’t believe you can stay undying forever."
The Martial Emperor nodded cheerfully. "After reaching the supreme level, there are more restrictions. It’s possible to kill me for real."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two remaining future Chen Xias charged from the sky, their immortal swords slashing at the Martial Emperor from front and back, instantly knocking him down and continuing the relentless assault.
The Martial Emperor’s body was covered in blood, but his aura didn’t weaken in the slightest. He fought the two future versions with a strategy of trading injury for injury, life for life.
The Way of Heaven occasionally lashed out at them with bursts of divine wrath, causing the entire Immortal Realm to tremble more and more, teetering on the edge of collapse.
The future versions, weakened by the diminishing aura of time, were also struggling. Some of their power was being pulled back into the future.
Chen Xia, his face pale, watched the battle and finally understood why the Martial Emperor was called the Martial Emperor—because he was truly invincible.
Perhaps with a bit more time, if he could gather enough strength, he might be able to go toe-to-toe with the Martial Emperor, or even suppress him.
But now, it seemed too early.
And the Way of Heaven was being mischievous too.
Chen Xia coughed lightly. The injuries on his body and the sudden depletion of his lifespan had become too much for him to bear.
At this moment, the last future version also disappeared into the future.
Fortunately, time had run out, because the Tree of Time behind Chen Xia had grown to the size of the entire Immortal Realm.
Silently, almost casually.
This was the power of time.
Chen Xia leaned on the Tree of Time, struggling to stand. His green robe was stained with blood, and beneath the Tree of Time, he looked as small as an ant. Facing the bloodthirsty Martial Emperor and the entire Way of Heaven, he smiled softly and said,
"I think I’ve comprehended my sixth Dao."
The Dao of Time was his first Dao, and it could also be his last.
This was the past and the future, the beginning and the end.
Suddenly, he spread his arms, inviting the heavens and earth, and chuckled at the Martial Emperor and the Way of Heaven.
"Time flies, so let’s just watch quietly."
A great wind swept through the Immortal Realm. This was Chen Xia’s domain, the realm of the Tree of Time.
It had nothing to do with the Way of Heaven and was beyond the Martial Emperor’s control.
A gray-white hue spread everywhere, flattening the golden flames of martial energy.
Everything slowly froze.
Around the Tree of Time, time ceased to flow. The Way of Heaven stood still, and the Martial Emperor moved sluggishly.
All was silent.
Chen Xia slowly sat back down against the Tree of Time. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth like a light rain, and he leaned against the trunk, smiling bitterly.
"Stop making a fuss. Let me rest for a while."
And that "while"...
Would last for thousands of years.