Chapter 1025: You're So Mischievous!
The Book of Time? Ye Guan took it and examined it carefully. The book was adorned with many strange talismans with mysterious inscriptions written on them. He turned to the Chaotic Ancient Emperor and asked, "Elder, which timeline did you get this from?"
"A very long time ago, in a multiverse, there existed many parallel universes, each with its own timeline. Later, a powerful figure from the multiverse developed a special time cultivation method that allowed one to traverse between parallel universes.
"The discovery led to a great war, where universes plundered and slaughtered each other, resulting in chaos throughout a myriad of timelines. Eventually, a very powerful being appeared and unified all parallel universes into a single timeline, forbidding future chaos among them."
The Chaotic Ancient Emperor looked at the Book of Time in Ye Guan's hands and added, "In a stroke of luck, my Chaotic Ancient Clan obtained a fragment of that time cultivation method. We researched it for over a billion years and discovered that mastering it would allow us to deal dimensional strikes against other civilizations..."
Dimensional strikes? Ye Guan's curiosity piqued, "How does that work?"
"The time cultivation method allows one to traverse parallel timelines and to reverse time. In other words, we can forcibly enter the timelines of other civilizations and turn back time to eliminate them before they can grow!"
Ye Guan's face changed drastically. That was rather terrifying.
Zhan Qing frowned as well. That could indeed be considered a "dimensional strike." Even the Tianxing Civilization could not do something like that.
"Unfortunately, our clan faced a great calamity before we succeeded in our research," the Chaotic Ancient Emperor said, sighing softly. Then, he looked at Ye Guan and added, "Initially, I had no plans on giving you this book, as the time cultivation method was classified as a forbidden art back then and could not be cultivated.
"However, I noticed that you are no ordinary person. I trust that if you cultivate it, there shouldn't be any issues."
The Chaotic Ancient Emperor's gamble was not made on a whim. With his deep insight and understanding of the vast expanse, he instantly realized that the Qingxuan Sword couldn't have come from a Tier Five Civilization.
As expected of a top-tier supreme elite, he instantly recognized that the Qingxuan Sword was particularly special among the divine artifacts out there in the vast expanse.
Ye Guan looked down at the Book of Time and said, "Thank you."
Then, he put the book away.
He and Yi Nian had always been very interested in the Dao of Time. Ye Guan wondered whether the Book of Time and the tiny pagoda could be integrated, which would allow him to study it together with Yi Nian.
The Chaotic Ancient Emperor smiled and said, "Young friend, I entrust the Chaotic Ancient Clan to you."
He opened his palm, revealing a scroll. "This scroll contains a map. Many of my clan members have been living and thriving in this place. Please take care of them."
Ye Guan accepted the scroll and cupped his fists. "I will."
The Chaotic Ancient Emperor nodded. Then, he turned to the hall entrance in the distance. A complex light flashed in his eyes as his figure became illusory.
Ye Guan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Elder, your true body..."
"I have no true body. I died a long time ago, after all."
Ye Guan remained silent.
"Such is life..." The Chaotic Ancient Emperor's voice faded as his figure vanished from sight.
The Chaotic Ancient Clan members mourned and roared, "Goodbye, Clan Leader!"
A complex light flashed in Ye Guan's eyes. The Chaotic Ancient Emperor was clearly a brilliant prodigy, but he still ended up dying at the hands of someone stronger than him.
Clearly, there was no such thing as the strongest in the vast expanse. There were only those who were stronger.
Ye Guan recollected his thoughts and walked out of the hall to approach the group of Chaotic Ancient Clan cultivators. He looked at the four strongest men standing at the front and asked, "What are your names?"
The foremost expert cupped his fist respectfully. "Greetings, Young Master Ye. I am Wangu Feng. The three people next to me are Wangu Lin, Wangu Yan, and Wangu Ping. We are the four War Generals under our Clan Leader."
The Four War Generals!
Ye Guan, Yi Nian, and Jing An shook their heads. They weren't exactly part of the Tianxing Civilization's higher-ups, so they wouldn't be privy to such information.
"This tree actually does not belong to a Tier Five Civilization."
Ye Guan's expression turned serious. "A Tier Six Civilization?"
"Yes."
Ye Guan was curious. "Which civilization did it come from?"
"I don't know." Zhan Qing shook her head. "All I know is that the first fruit it bore was the Founding Ancestor of the Tianxing Civilization. From then on, the tree and our Founding Ancestor became inseparable, wandering through many universe regions to find a place to live.
"Later, our ancestor grew stronger, and they chose a place to found our Tianxing Civilization. Back then, our ancestor had always wanted to explore a Tier Six Civilization, hoping to find the tree's home."
"Does it not know its own home?" Ye Guan was puzzled.
Zhan Qing pointed at her head and responded, "Its mind had suffered a huge blow by the time it arrived here."
Ye Guan and the Tianxing Life Tree were speechless.
Zhan Qing looked at the Tianxing Life Tree and smiled. "It is the lifeblood of our Tianxing Civilization. Over the years, each Tianxing Ruler had one task—to help it find its way home.
"I was in pursuit of that, which is why I decided to visit the Wujian Universe."
"Lady Zhan Qing, you're telling me all this for a reason, aren't you?" asked Ye Gguan.
Zhan Qing nodded. "I want the three of you to accept the Tianxing Ruler Inheritance."
Ye Guan was taken aback. Jing An and Yi Nian were dumbfounded as well.
"But the Tianxing Ruler Inheritance can only be passed down to one fruit per generation..." Jing An chimed in.
Zhan Qing nodded in agreement. "That's right. If a civilization has several equally strong heirs, it can lead to conflict. After all, two tigers cannot share one mountain.
"However, our Tianxing Civilization is facing great adversity, and we have been severely weakened, so it will be foolish of us to stick to the old rules."
Upon seeing the fruits of the Tianxing Civilization earlier, Zhan Qing realized that it was crucial to cultivate new fruits, as they had lost so many fruits. Failing to develop new strong fruits would lead to the decline of the Tianxing Civilization.
The divine laws were now irrelevant, as what mattered the most was cultivating more fruits.
Jing An and Yi Nian exchanged glances, and then they turned to Ye Guan. Zhan Qing couldn't help but smile bitterly upon seeing that. The two promising fruits were regarding Ye Guan as their backbone and pillar of support!
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Guan agreed, "Sure!"
He would never refuse something that would boost his strength.
Then, Ye Guan recalled something and said, "We still need to leave the Boundless Spacetime before anything else. Jing Chu is still outside, and she's definitely going to be worried if I stay here for too long."
"Okay!" Zhan Qing replied.
"I'll sneak out on my own."
"You don't want them to know that I've already left? Do you want to catch them off guard later?"
Ye Guan nodded.
Zhan Qing gave Ye Guan's shoulder a playful slap. "You're so mischievous! I like that!"