The Grand Dark Sacrificial Ritual had begun, and the myriad worlds continued to wither without cease; this was an era where living beings saw no hope whatsoever.
Every day, countless universes fell in extinction, one world after another obliterated.
After the Alliance of Righteous Unity collapsed and disintegrated, the territories encompassed within its surrounding regions immediately became the domain of the Dark Clans.
Vast, rolling dark mist drifted and spread from there; the Dark Clans descended from the Nightmare Demon Domain, establishing roots there and forming a territorial realm corresponding to the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
Powerful entities among the Dark Clans called that place the Eternal Life Nation; of course, "eternal life" was only what the Dark Beings called themselves, but this alone revealed the ambition and boldness of the Dark Beings.
The Grand Sacrificial Ritual continued; that blood-colored altar beyond the world, vast and solemn, drew nearer every day.
And the lair of the Dark Clans also gradually manifested beyond the myriad worlds, awaiting the day it would touch and merge with the Land of the Dark Source.
Black waves crashed in from the Spacetime Sea, sweeping up and engulfing one world after another, carrying them into the lair of the Dark Clans.
Many chaotic spacetimes within the Vast Expanse suffered invasion and incursion by the Dark Clans; even some races hiding in past spacetimes could not escape this fate.
In a vast world hidden behind boundless primal chaos, with endless territory, steaming clouds and radiant light surging, many races dwelt and Dao lineages flourished.
Yet as terrifying great rifts appeared beyond the realm, infinite Dark Beings, like extraterrestrial demons, drove straight in, a dark mass blotting out the sun and sky; dark warship after dark warship descended with a rumble, completely sweeping through and annexing that vast realm.
The Dark Beings gathered in swarms, forming an immortal army; even Dao Realms existences could only bleed and fall, for this was a force that could not be resisted.
Scenes like this played out every single day.
In the Nightmare Demon Domain, before the Heaven's Proxy Hall, Grand High Priest Wu Yue stood quietly; behind her, the four High Priests stood respectfully.
The vast and ancient altar sat before them, spewing forth and coiling with one black Great Dao symbol after another.
Every day, one could see torrential amounts of blood-red energy converging and surging in from every corner of the myriad worlds, like rolling smoke and rivers of stars, endless and boundless, pouring into it. The power contained within was enough to make every living being in all worlds tremble in fear, bow their heads in worship, and kneel and kowtow.
And now, among the Heavenly Faction, only the Grand High Priest and the four High Priests were qualified to stand upon the altar.
Any other being, no matter their cultivation level, once appearing here, would be considered nourishment, ground away by the symbols within and turned into pure energy pouring into it.
All four High Priests had been handpicked and created by Grand High Priest Wu Yue; each carried the bloodline of her Nightmare Clan within them, bestowed with their current power by her. One could say they shared the same origin and bloodline as her, and thus were unaffected by the altar.
And when she had been at her weakest, nearly starving to death, she had survived by suckling Gu Changge's blood; her body also, in a sense, still carried traces of his aura.
"Master, when will the Lord return?"
"Soon."
Wu Yue said softly.
She stood quietly, raising her head to look toward the Land of the Dark Source, which drew ever closer to the Nightmare Demon Domain. She could clearly sense the resonance coming from there, and the Coffin of World Burial within the Heaven's Proxy Hall trembled faintly in response.
Having waited through the long passage of ages, she was finally about to see this day arrive.
"Are we about to move against the Land of the Nine Heavens and the Ancient Burial Civilization?" asked High Priest Feng Zang, who held an oil-paper umbrella.
Following Wu Yue's orders, the Dark Clans had currently not launched their greatest assault against the Heaven-Slaying Alliance but had only turned their gaze toward other regions of the Vast Expanse.
Now, the two most mysterious regions in the Vast Expanse were the Land of the Nine Heavens and the Ancient Burial Civilization.
It was said that even the true cycle of reincarnation, as well as the Jueyin land that once appeared in the Vast Expanse, was located within the Ancient Burial Civilization. And behind that Jueyin land, it seemed, there were countless ties to the Land of Truth.
Upon hearing this, Wu Yue also seemed to fall into thought.
Neither the Ancient Burial Civilization nor the Land of the Nine Heavens were easy bones to chew. Behind the Ancient Burial Civilization stood the Tower of Samsara.
The Tower of Samsara was a place like the Lifeless Hall. The entity who established the Tower of Samsara had seized the Authority of reincarnation within the Vast Expanse.
In the creed of the Tower of Samsara, it was believed that every time a great tribulation approached the Vast Expanse, it was actually because the accumulations of living beings' fortunes had grown too great. Thus, they would act on heaven's behalf to harvest fortune and reap living beings.
At regular intervals, they would actively send half of the living beings into reincarnation, maintaining a state where the number of beings was reduced, but as balanced as possible, thereby delaying the descent of great tribulations.
Of course, in this world, very few living beings truly knew of the Tower of Samsara. Some rumors even said that the Tower Master of the Tower of Samsara had actually descended from the Land of Truth, responsible for managing the Cataclysmic Tribulations of the Vast Expanse's worlds.
However, such claims could not be verified. The Tower of Samsara had not revealed itself in the Vast Expanse for a very, very long time, nor had anyone ever seen its members.
As for the Land of the Nine Heavens, Wu Yue was even clearer: it concealed many members of the Palace of Fate Defiance.
The Palace of Fate Defiance, true to its name, defied heaven and changed fate. It gathered many peerlessly brilliant existences from past and present who attempted to break free from the great tribulations and act against heaven's will.
These existences had once Slayed Heaven and resisted Heaven, having personally experienced the most despairing great tribulations, with their loved ones all dead and homelands shattered. Yet later, through the intervention of the First-generation Great Powers of the Palace of Fate Defiance, they survived to this day and together established the Palace of Fate Defiance.
It gathered the most stunning figures of each era, lying in wait to accumulate strength and, one day, again Slay Heaven and defy fate.
All this information had, in fact, been secretly investigated and uncovered by Wu Yue over the past countless epochs. Whether it was the Lifeless Hall, the Tower of Samsara, or even the Palace of Fate Defiance, none could float to the surface.
Heaven and earth could not permit the existence of such places, such forces.
Even learning of the existence of such places required exceedingly difficult means, piecing together clues from all sorts of karmic traces. Even Ancestral Dao Realm existences guarding a Supreme True World could not possibly know of these places.
To this day, she only vaguely knew the possible locations of the Palace of Fate Defiance and the Tower of Samsara; as for where the Lifeless Hall might be located, she had no clue at all.
The Vast Expanse was too boundless; some chaotic spacetimes, void lands, and unknown dimensional planes were extremely difficult to truly probe and fathom. To truly understand all the secrets of the Vast Expanse, one would perhaps have to reach the step where one could grasp a portion of Authority.
And she was still some distance from that step—or rather, her cultivation realm had already reached it, but she lacked that portion of Authority.
If she had the aid of Authority, she might perhaps be able to sense faintly where those places truly lay.
"When the Lord returns, he will naturally settle all accounts."
"For now, we act against the Land of the Nine Heavens first."
"Qing'er is in hiding there; she can certainly be of some use."
Wu Yue spoke, and her figure, enveloped in mist, disappeared from the spot in a single step. The four High Priests withdrew as instructed.
When Wu Yue's figure reappeared, she was already deep within a desolate and dark mountain range.
With a stroke of her jade-like hand, a rift spread open, and she stepped inside. Within, there were beautiful mountains and clear waters, birdsong and fragrant flowers—a natural, vibrant scene completely opposite to the outside world.
In this pleasant, natural mountain range was a serene bamboo grove, and a white-robed woman sat quietly within the forest.
Before her lay an ancient zither; as her slender hands gently brushed across it, a pleasing and mellifluous sound emerged, attracting a great number of rare birds and exotic beasts to gather.
Only after Wu Yue appeared here did the white-robed woman cease her movements and raise her head.
Her gaze was gentle, her countenance soft and flawless, giving off an infinitely beautiful feeling. On closer inspection, one would find that her face bore a seventy percent resemblance to Nan Qing's.
"Grand High Priest Wu Yue…"
The white-robed woman spoke, her voice as pleasant as heavenly music, yet also carrying a power that could soothe the heart, making one involuntarily want to become intoxicated by it.
"Tell me about the Palace of Fate Defiance…" Wu Yue went straight to the point upon arriving.
"The Palace of Fate Defiance?"
"Why does Grand High Priest Wu Yue suddenly wish to know about the Palace of Fate Defiance? Has some great event occurred in the outside world?" the white-robed woman asked, her gaze like water, very gentle.
Wu Yue only replied calmly, "You need not know."
The white-robed woman smiled and said, "Let me guess. It is because the current Vast Expanse has no other forces that can contend against the Dark Clans, so you have turned your gaze to the Palace of Fate Defiance."
"However, I am not very familiar with the Palace of Fate Defiance either; at most, I have had contact with its members."
The woman before her was precisely Nan Zun, who had once been a fellow former Sage leader. She had not died but was merely imprisoned here, unable to leave.
After the Heaven's Proxy Organization collapsed, the Heavenly Faction and the Eight Tribes fell apart, causing a long period of chaos within Heaven's Proxy.
And that period was shortly after the Black Calamity Era had just ended.
Without the Heaven's Proxy Organization to suppress them, the Vast Expanse fell into turmoil and chaos. The Dao lineages and races that those former Sages had established each acted on their own, and for the sake of resources and benefits, they resumed their longstanding slaughter and strife.
It was precisely this that gave the Remnants of Heaven's Proxy the chance to secretly lie low, develop, and exact revenge.
From that era onward, the races that had once resisted the Black Calamity Catastrophe were successively subject to various persecutions by the Remnants of Heaven's Proxy.
Some Dao lineages and powers vanished forever, but some, like the descendants of the former Sages who had lived on the Floating Continent in the chaotic spacetime sea, chose to flee their homelands, constantly migrating and living in seclusion. Nan Zun was the leader figure among those former Sage descendants and was also called the Sacred Ancestor by the original inhabitants of the Floating Continent.
Because the races of some of her former Sage companions had been captured and enslaved by the Remnants of Heaven's Proxy, falling into eternal darkness.
Nan Zun had no choice but to infiltrate the lair of the Dark Clans—what is now the Nightmare Demon Domain—to try to find a solution.
In the process, she encountered some mishaps and was forced to lie low in the Nightmare Demon Domain.
In addition, at that time, the Heavenly Faction Chaos erupted within the Heaven's Proxy. The various Legion Masters of the Eight Tribes, fighting to seize the flesh and blood inside the Coffin of World Burial, waged a great slaughtering battle in the Nightmare Demon Domain, throwing the place into complete chaos.
At that time, some supreme existences from outside races, upon hearing this news, also took advantage of the chaos and joined the fray.
Because Wu Yue was in seclusion and had been schemed against by Progenitor Xu, she did not notice the abnormalities within the Heavenly Faction. Thus, that chaos dealt yet another severe blow to the already scant remaining strength of the Heavenly Faction.
Even the Coffin of World Burial enshrined within the Heaven's Proxy Hall was opened because of this. The coffin inside was pushed open a crack, and many powerful beings fought fiercely within, vying for the flesh and blood.
In order to find a way to counter the Dark Matter, Nan Zun also joined that chaotic battle.
Amid the clashes of many powerful foes, relying on her formidable strength, she seized the most important drop of Essence Blood. She was then besieged; to prevent that drop of Essence Blood from being taken by powerful enemies, she forcibly swallowed it and forcibly refined it.
It was only a pity that she had still grossly underestimated the majestic will and terrifying energy contained within that drop of Essence Blood from the Lord of Heaven's Proxy.
The moment that drop of Essence Blood entered her stomach, it was like a seed that had barbarically taken root inside her body, draining the power of her entire being, trying to assimilate her.
To resist that will, Nan Zun took a desperate risk, braving the boundless pressure to venture deep inside the coffin, using the array patterns within the Coffin of World Burial to try to maintain her clarity of mind.
During this long process, her own power and will entangled with that drop of Essence Blood. In the course of assimilation and fusion, something unexpected occurred.
She discovered that a new life entity had appeared within her body…
This novel experience and event was something she had also encountered for the first time. She did not know if it could be considered her child, but since it carried the blood of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy as well as her own blood, if born, it would surely be an unimaginably monstrous existence.
She had considered refining and erasing it, while simultaneously ending her own life, to strangle this being that was destined to bring calamity to the world in its cradle.
But she also felt inexplicable reluctance and soft-heartedness. After all, this should be her child; she could sense its life, the existence of its soul.
Afterwards, something that made her feel chills and fear occurred.
The child in her womb seemed to sense her hesitation and struggle, attempting to beguile her and address her as "Mother." Even before being born, it displayed an intelligence and wisdom that was chilling.
To be born knowing, born a sage—these did not suffice to describe that child's monstrousness and terror.
While still in the womb, it could easily see through people's hearts, clearly understanding the many thoughts and ideas in one's mind. One had to know that she was no ordinary person; she was one of the five leaders who had resisted the Black Calamity Catastrophe, with profound strength and powerful Dao cultivation, yet it could still guess her innermost thoughts.
Nan Zun hesitated, struggled, and suffered, wanting to use her own body as a vessel to thoroughly refine and obliterate it, never letting it appear in the world.
She feared that another such unimaginable, unfathomably terrifying existence like the Lord of Heaven's Proxy would appear, bringing boundless disaster and catastrophe to the myriad worlds.
Yet this child was brilliantly astute, obedient, well-behaved, and understanding; it accompanied her through the solitary coffin for a very long period of time.
In the end, a mother's soft-heartedness made her relinquish all thoughts of self-destruction.
After the Heavenly Faction Chaos was quelled, even Grand High Priest Wu Yue did not detect the anomaly within the Coffin of World Burial.
By the time Nan Zun gave birth to that child and decided, within the coffin's space, to raise her, the Heavenly Faction had also gradually vanished from the sight of the myriad worlds, recuperating and rebuilding, while the outside world had also concluded that period of chaos after the Black Calamity Era.
Inside the coffin, Nan Zun named that exquisitely beautiful little girl Nan Qing.
To prevent her from straying onto the wrong path, she explained to her about the former Heaven's Proxy Organization, about the Black Calamity Catastrophe that had brought disaster to the Vast Expanse's myriad worlds, about everything in the outside world… because she knew that sooner or later, Grand High Priest Wu Yue would discover the anomaly within the Coffin of World Burial.
When that time came, it would be the moment of their mother-daughter separation.
Because of her bloodline, Nan Qing certainly would not come to harm. But she was different; she had participated in the Heavenly Faction Chaos and seized the most precious drop of Essence Blood at the time. Grand High Priest Wu Yue would certainly not let her off.
By then, her only path was death. She was unwilling to become like her former Sage companions, falling into darkness and turning into the very beings she had once hated most. What happened afterwards did not unfold as she had imagined; it was not Grand High Priest Wu Yue who discovered the mother and daughter.
Rather, it was Nan Qing herself who, through her bloodline, triggered a disturbance in the Coffin of World Burial. The astonishing phenomenon alarmed the entire Nightmare Demon Domain, causing all the Dark Beings to mistakenly believe that this was the Lord of Heaven's Proxy about to revive and return.
She demonstrated her uniqueness and easily borrowed the power within the Coffin of World Burial, intending to use this as leverage to make Grand High Priest Wu Yue wary and spare her mother, Nan Zun.
Regrettably, the power of the Coffin of World Burial could not threaten Grand High Priest Wu Yue, and Nan Qing's plan fell through and failed.
However, Grand High Priest Wu Yue did not harm Nan Zun; she merely imprisoned her. Every alternate epoch, she allowed mother and daughter to meet once, but the precondition for this was that Nan Qing become a member of the Heavenly Faction and go seize the remaining few Supreme Treasures of the First Civilization.