Chapter 229: Origins Relived: The Abyssal Dawn
Tunlong Chenyuan stood in the apocalyptic landscape for hours after Tian Yuexin had left, until even her lingering aura on the world had vanished. Without sparing Profound Nether Mountain a second glance, he took his son and teleported in a flash of crimson-purple.
He reappeared within a room that could only be described as heavenly—the same room where Su Tianhao was born, the same room he'd shared her warmth. Now it felt empty. Hollow. The opulence, the luxury, all of it had gone grey.
With a heavy sigh, he carried Su Tianhao to his crib and laid him down with the careful gentleness of a father who had never held anything so fragile—and so precious—in all his long life.
For a moment, he just stood there. Watching the rise and fall of that tiny chest. Watching those golden eyes blink once, twice, then drift closed without fear. No tears. No wails. Only trust.
The room that had once been filled with her laughter now absorbed only silence. The bed where they'd spoken of the future, the couch where she'd rested her head on his shoulder, the window where she would watch the first sunrise of the day before heading for training—all of it remained. But the warmth was gone.
Tunlong Chenyuan turned away. His back was straight. His expression was stone. But before he could move, the baby grabbed his finger tightly—as if asking him to stay.
He paused mid-step.
His golden draconic eyes met his son's innocent golden ones, and his lips curved into a slight smile for the first time since Tian Yuexin had left. For a moment, he no longer felt so empty.
He sat on the bed beside the crib without removing his hand. He waited, offered comfort—patiently, quietly—nothing like the tyrant who had dominated the mortal world, nothing like the Devouring Dragon of Celestial Depths who had terrified the Immortal Realm.
Just a father.
Under his fatherly comfort, Su Tianhao soon fell into a deep sleep. The moment the baby's eyes closed, the smile on Chenyuan's face slowly vanished—replaced by a stern, dangerous seriousness that would have frightened emperors.
"Ling'er."
He called out, rising to his feet with effortless grace. The space before him rippled—as though the fabric of reality itself had exhaled—and gently released a woman of peerless grace.
She manifested with quiet majesty.
Standing six feet tall, her presence alone commanding the room. Her long ink-black hair—darker than the void between stars—cascaded down her back like a waterfall of pure night. Her skin was pale and flawless, smooth as the finest jade glass, almost luminous under the chamber's soft light.
Her eyes were serene and emotionless—two endless abysses that seemed to contain entire constellations within their depths. When they lifted to meet Tunlong Chenyuan's gaze, the air grew heavier, and time felt as though it had momentarily stilled.
She possessed a tall, lean yet alluringly curvaceous figure, draped in a midnight gown embroidered with subtle purple and silver threads that shimmered like distant nebulae. Her hands were gently clasped before her, head bowed in respectful deference—yet her aura radiated an ancient, unfathomable power that made the surrounding space tremble in quiet reverence.
'Woah.'
Su Tianhao exclaimed inwardly. Although at this point in the memory he was asleep, he was seeing the world through his father's eyes—this moment wasn't his memory. It was his father's.
'Who is she?'
The question had barely formed before the answer arrived like a bolt of lightning striking his Sea of Consciousness, drawn directly from his inherited memories.
This was Yuanling—or more precisely, Tunlong Yuanling. His elder sister in all but blood. A manifestation of Tunlong Chenyuan's finest creation since he had perfected the Heavenly Creation Art. Yuanling was the artifact spirit of the spatial domain where his family had dwelled—the separate dimension belonging to an artifact called the World Anchoring Pearl.
A mystical artifact containing its own independent dimensional space. A living realm where life could flourish, complete with its own laws, heavens, and cycles. A true separate world that could be compressed to the size of a pearl and carried anywhere. Yuanling was its soul—the guardian who maintained stability, balance, and absolute protection within that domain.
Yet for all her unfathomable power, she carried one eternal flaw.
She was bound to the World Anchoring Pearl itself. No matter how powerful she became, she could never leave it.
"Ling'er, watch over my son," Tunlong Chenyuan said, his voice calm and steady. "I have business to attend to."
"Yes, Master. I will ensure no harm comes to the Young Master."
Yuanling replied evenly, her tone carrying neither warmth nor coldness. Her abyssal eyes shifted toward the sleeping child in the crib, her expression revealing nothing of the faint curiosity stirring somewhere within her depths.
Tunlong Chenyuan held her gaze for a moment longer. Then he vanished—disappearing as though he had never been present at all.
---
A heartbeat later, he reappeared high above a massive, sprawling city of wonder, luxury, and overwhelming power. Through his father's memories, Su Tianhao recognized it instantly.
The Capital City of the Great Long Dynasty. Azure Dragon Continent.
Tunlong Chenyuan didn't spare the city a second glance—Su Tianhao caught only a fleeting impression of its scale before his father moved again.
In the next instant, he stood inside a grand palace that embodied unimaginable wealth and supreme authority.
It was a masterpiece of white jade and gold, its halls so vast they seemed to defy logic. Dragon pillars carved from thousand-year spiritual jade soared toward a ceiling adorned with a moving mural of the night sky—artificial stars twinkling, ancient constellations slowly revolving overhead. The floors were made of flawless mirror-like crystal that reflected one's image perfectly while displaying faint drifting clouds beneath the surface. Every wall, every beam, and every ornament radiated spiritual energy so dense it bordered on liquid.
This was not merely a palace. It was a declaration of dominance.
Tunlong Chenyuan remained entirely indifferent to all of it.
None of the palace's residents had sensed his arrival. Only when he deliberately released his aura—allowing it to sweep across the entire palace like an unstoppable tide—did the inhabitants finally react.
They erupted all at once. Guards, elders, and powerhouses of the Great Long Dynasty converged on his location in frenzied motion, their expressions a mixture of shock, fear, and killing intent.
Then they saw him.
They froze. Recognition, terror, and disbelief crossed their faces in rapid succession—and every single person present, regardless of age, cultivation, or status, dropped to their knees and bowed their heads without a word being spoken.
His eyes settled on the towering figure at the front.
Even while kneeling, the man stood apart. Well over seven feet tall, with long azure hair as smooth and lustrous as fine silk, bound by a golden dragon crown. Piercing golden eyes with vertical slit pupils. Faint dragon scales tracing his cheekbones. Two majestic azure dragon horns rising from his head. He wore flowing azure robes embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon—the scales of the embroidery so lifelike they seemed to breathe.
Long Qingtian. Emperor of the Great Long Dynasty. The strongest active cultivator on the Azure Dragon Continent.
But the moment he felt Tunlong Chenyuan's gaze land on him, he flinched. Long Qingtian was a Peak-stage Martial Emperor—but before the presence of a being carrying the soul of a Supreme Immortal and the bloodline of a Supreme Dragon, even he felt small.
He didn't let it show. He turned to his men instead.
"What are you waiting for? Greet!"
"We greet the Supreme Dragon Emperor!"
The chorus was measured and filled with awe.
Tunlong Chenyuan remained unmoved. "Do you know why I'm here?"
"I—N-No, Sire."
Long Qingtian's voice came out unsteady.
"Three days ago, your world went through an unprecedented phenomenon. The world went dark. From the darkness there was light—and then blessings." A pause. "Do I need to continue?"
Long Qingtian's eyes widened with sudden recognition. "The Abyssal Dawn!"
"Is that what they're calling it?" Tunlong Chenyuan's eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't care what they call it. Here is what I require."
He let the words settle before continuing.
"I want that event erased from history. Gather the other three Emperors of the Azure Dragon Continent and work together to remove it from the memory of the masses. For the truly powerful forces—those who cannot simply be made to forget—you will force them to swear on the Heavenly Dao. And if any prove stubborn, you are required to use force. Anyone too difficult to handle, leave to me."
Long Qingtian's expression tightened with visible conflict. "Sire... this is an enormous undertaking. That phenomenon was continental in scale. Erasing the memories of the masses, compelling powerhouses to swear on the Heavenly Dao—there may already be written records as we speak. There is no way to account for all of it."
Tunlong Chenyuan's draconic eyes sharpened.
"Are you doubting me?"
"N-Not at all, Sire!"
Long Qingtian straightened immediately.
"Then do as I say. I will personally assist where required."
Long Qingtian nodded with full seriousness. A breath passed—then he opened his mouth and closed it again.
"What is it?" Tunlong Chenyuan's frown deepened slightly. "An Emperor should not hesitate to speak."
"If you don't mind my asking, Sire—why are you concealing this event?"
Tunlong Chenyuan held his gaze for a long moment.
"Let's say it's my way of protecting someone." A pause. "Someone very important."
With those words, he vanished from the grand palace—leaving behind a silence heavy enough to press down on every person remaining in the room.
'So that's why no one remembers it,' Su Tianhao thought inwardly. He had quietly wondered why a world-altering event from merely sixteen years ago had gone entirely unheard of. Now he knew. It was his father's doing. His first step in fulfilling the promise made to his mother.
---
In the days that followed, the entire Azure Dragon Continent was thrown into a silent storm of suppression.
Long Qingtian, operating under the direct orders of the Supreme Dragon Emperor, immediately contacted the other three Great Emperors. What followed was an unprecedented alliance between four supreme rulers who normally competed fiercely for dominance—their rivalry set aside without ceremony in the face of something larger than any of them.
Together, they mobilized every major force under their control.
Massive memory-altering formations were deployed across every major city, sect, and holy land. Heavenly Dao oaths were forced upon countless powerhouses, elders, and influential figures. Those who resisted were suppressed without mercy. Ancient records, jade slips, and transmission arrays containing any mention of the Abyssal Dawn were systematically hunted down and destroyed.
Where ordinary methods fell short, Tunlong Chenyuan intervened personally.
His divine sense swept across the continent like an invisible dragon—erasing traces of the event from the minds of millions without leaving a single thread of karmic backlash. Any sect or expert who proved too stubborn was visited by the Supreme Dragon Emperor himself. A single glance was usually sufficient.
In seven days, the continental-scale phenomenon that had shaken the Azure Dragon Continent to its foundations was reduced to a fading rumor. And soon, even the rumors were silenced.
History had been rewritten.
The world would never know that on that day, the birth of a single child had caused the heavens to pour both darkness and blessings across the entire realm.
---
Tunlong Chenyuan stood atop a desolate mountain peak—the same mountain where Tian Yuexin had ascended. His hands were clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon.
"For you, my son," he said quietly, to the empty sky.
"This small price is nothing."