Thousands of corpses still lay scattered across the blood soaked earth, yet not a single person moved.
Every cultivator present stared at the empty horizon with widened eyes, their expressions frozen in disbelief and mouths agape.
The mysterious figure who had rescued Tian Yongheng had vanished as suddenly as he had appeared.
So complete was the disappearance that even the lingering fluctuations of Spiritual Energy were difficult to detect even by Golden Core Realm cultivators.
Among everyone present, Qin Long's reaction was the most dramatic, having changed instantaneously, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints as memories from millennia ago resurfaced in his mind.
Long before he became the head of the Jiangnan Branch of the Qin Family, he had once witnessed an Immortal Ascension Realm expert passing through the region.
That unforgettable scene had been engraved into his heart.
The mighty cultivator had crossed the heavens like a blazing meteor, his presence so overwhelming that the surrounding clouds had split apart while mountains trembled beneath the pressure of his aura alone.
Even observing from thousands of miles away had nearly left Qin Long unable to breathe.
Such was the majesty of an Immortal Ascension Realm powerhouse.
According to ancient records, they were beings who had transcended the limitations of ordinary cultivators, standing only a step away from true immortality.
Yet, what he had witnessed moments ago was even more terrifying.
Someone had traveled tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of miles in what amounted to a single instant.
That too not through an ordinary teleportation formation or a spatial gate, but through sheer speed backed by unfathomable power.
Qin Long felt chills spread throughout his body.
His scalp tingled as countless clues connected themselves in his mind.
"So that's it..."
He muttered under his breath.
"The inheritance..."
Everything suddenly made sense.
The Tian Family had not been exterminated because of some fabricated attack.
At first, he just believed they had offended some mighty figure when he was given the order.
Only now did he truly understand the main reason.
They had been destroyed because they had obtained something too valuable to keep.
An inheritance left behind by an ascended expert, perhaps even more.
The talisman used to rescue Tian Yongheng clearly possessed the power of the Immortal Ascension Realm if not more.
Such a treasure could not appear out of nowhere.
If a single disposable talisman carried that level of power, what other unimaginable artifacts might still be hidden within the inheritance?
For cultivators who had spent thousands of years pursuing higher realms, such temptation was impossible to resist.
Qin Long abruptly raised his head.
His previous composure disappeared completely.
"Search for them!"
His voice exploded across the battlefield like thunder.
"I don't care what methods you use, mobilize every available cultivator, search every mountain range, every kingdom, every city, every secret realm, every region!"
His eyes burned with urgency.
"Find Tian Yongheng even if you have to search the entire Eastern Continent!"
The surrounding Qin Family cultivators immediately acknowledged the order.
Streams of light shot into the sky one after another as hundreds of experts departed in different directions.
No one dared delay; they all understood that this matter had escalated far beyond the destruction of a mere family branch.
Whoever found Tian Yongheng first might uncover a fortune capable of changing the fate of an entire region.
...
At the same time, far beyond the borders of Jiangnan Region, past countless kingdoms, mountain ranges, rivers, and spiritual lands.
Hundreds of millions, perhaps even billions of miles away from the centers of the brilliant cultivation civilization, an elderly man continued flying through the endless sky with remarkable speed.
His breathing had become heavy, his face pale, and even the fluctuations of Spiritual Energy surrounding him were unstable, clearly revealing the enormous strain he had endured.
Beside him, Tian Yongheng was carried within a protective barrier of Spiritual Energy.
After what seemed like an eternity, the old man finally descended onto an isolated mountain overlooking an endless wilderness.
He slowly released Tian Yongheng before staggering several steps.
It was only then did Tian Yongheng notice how exhausted he truly looked.
The old servant forced a weary smile.
"Young Master... we've escaped the influence of the major cultivation factions for the moment."
His gaze swept across the distant horizon.
"We're nearly at the eastern edge of the continent. This area of the region is sparsely populated by cultivators. Only ordinary mortals and a few insignificant sects remain."
He sighed softly.
"I've exhausted every Divine Step Talisman entrusted to me."
His voice carried obvious regret.
"It won't be long before those old monsters deduce our direction and begin searching this area. I'm afraid I can only accompany you this far."
Tian Yongheng's expression immediately changed.
"What about you, Uncle Hai?"
The old man smiled faintly, a hint of bitterness in his tone.
"My duty has always been to protect the bloodline of the Tian Family."
He reached into his storage pouch and produced several rings, jade slips, and ancient boxes before placing them into Tian Yongheng's trembling hands.
"Everything your father entrusted to me is now yours. The family's remaining treasures, cultivation resources we managed to preserve, and a number of life saving artifacts."
He looked directly into the young man's eyes.
"Young master, listen carefully. You must never seek revenge."
Tian Yongheng froze.
Uncle Hai continued calmly.
"Live quietly, hide your identity, find an ordinary mortal city, marry someone to pass down the bloodline and spend the rest of your natural lifespan in peace. That alone would fulfill your parents' greatest wish."
The old servant glanced toward the treasures.
"Many of these artifacts possess astonishing power; some cannot even be resisted by the strongest cultivators currently walking this world... but that is precisely why they are dangerous. If your identity is exposed, countless factions will hunt you until the day you die.
When your own life eventually reaches its end, conceal these treasures somewhere no one can find them. They must never fall into the hands of those greedy enough to slaughter an entire family."
His words caused Tian Yongheng's emotions to finally overflow.
He clenched his fists until blood seeped from his palms.
"Uncle Hai..."
His voice trembled.
"Tell me the truth. How did our family obtain these treasures? If they're truly so powerful, why didn't father use them to save everyone?" And why..."
His breathing became slightly ragged.
"Why was our family exterminated in the first place? Why are the great powers in the world trying to kill us?"
By the end, he was practically shouting.
The memories of his mother's corpse and his father's defeated expression resurfaced again and again.
He could no longer suppress the grief within his heart.
Uncle Hai remained silent for a long moment.
Finally, he let out a bitter sigh.
"Very well, you deserve to know. A few years ago, our family accidentally discovered an ancient inheritance hidden beneath an abandoned secret realm."
His expression became solemn.
"It was no ordinary inheritance; it had survived the passage of multiple Heavenly Karmic Cycles."
Tian Yongheng's breathing stopped.
Uncle Hai slowly uttered a single sentence which struck Tian Yongheng like lightning.
"It belonged to the Divine Sovereign."
Even Tian Yongheng, despite possessing almost no cultivation talent, understood the significance of that title.
As the son of the Family Head, he had studied the histories preserved within the Tian Family archives.
The Divine Sovereign was one of the most legendary figures ever recorded.
He was an unfathomable existence who had appeared three Heavenly Karmic Cycles ago before eventually ascending beyond the Mortal World to the legendary Upper Realm.
His legends had survived for more than a billion years.
Seeing Tian Yongheng's stunned expression, Uncle Hai nodded.
"You must remember the records."
Tian Yongheng swallowed heavily.
Every child raised within a cultivation family was taught the structure of history.
Time in the Nine Great Mortal Worlds was measured through Heavenly Karmic Cycles.
Each Heavenly Karmic Cycle lasted four hundred million years and was divided into four distinct eras.
The first was the Desolate Era.
It marked the beginning of the cycle, when heaven and earth possessed the weakest Spirit Qi and the world's providence reached its lowest ebb.
Population dwindled, cultivation became exceedingly difficult, and even reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Realm was considered nearly impossible.
As Spirit Qi gradually recovered, the world entered the Revolutionary Era.
Civilizations flourished, cultivation methods improved, and stronger experts slowly began to emerge once more.
After countless ages came the Great Era.
By then, the prosperity of the world had risen dramatically. The hundred schools of thoughts appeared, extraordinary geniuses walked the land, and the ceiling of cultivation expanded beyond what had once seemed absolute.
Finally came the Mythical Era.
The last and most prosperous age of every Heavenly Karmic Cycle.
World providence reached its peak, Spirit Qi flooded every corner of heaven and earth, population soared to unimaginable numbers, powerhouses emerged generation after generation, and Immortals no longer existed solely within ancient legends.
Each of these four eras endured for one hundred million years, completing a single cycle lasting four hundred million years before the process began anew.
And this was not unique to one world alone.
The same grand rhythm governed all Nine Great Mortal Worlds.
And according to every surviving historical record, the Divine Sovereign had risen during a Mythical Era so distant that ordinary minds could scarcely comprehend the passage of time separating then from now.