The gigantic eye remained open beyond the stars.
It was so enormous that even the Immortals looked insignificant beneath it.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Even the battlefield that had been raging moments ago had become completely silent.
Su Chen stood in the center of the shattered sky with the Heaven Slaughter Sword in his hand. Golden light still surrounded his body, but his attention was fixed entirely on the enormous eye.
The voice from beyond the stars echoed again.
"After ten thousand years, you finally awakened."
Su Chen's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
The eye slowly moved.
For some reason, Su Chen felt as though the entire universe had turned its attention toward him.
"I am the one who watched your first death."
Su Chen's expression changed.
The white-haired woman inside his consciousness immediately spoke.
"Don't listen to it."
Su Chen remained silent.
The voice continued.
"I watched the Ancient Court burn."
"I watched your Emperor fall."
"I watched the Immortals celebrate."
"And I waited."
The gigantic eye narrowed.
"Because I knew you would return."
The first Immortal suddenly shouted.
"Enough!"
His silver aura erupted violently.
"Do not speak to him!"
The mysterious existence ignored him completely.
That reaction alone made Su Chen realize something.
The Immortals were afraid.
Not because of Su Chen.
But the entity who was speaking from beyond the stars.
The first Immortal turned toward the other Immortals.
"Seal the battlefield!"
The remaining Immortals immediately moved.
Twenty enormous formations appeared around the planet.
Golden chains descended from the heavens.
The heavenly army rapidly retreated toward the formations.
Su Chen frowned.
"They're running."
Mu Xue appeared beside him with her crimson spear.
"They aren't running."
Her expression was unusually serious.
"They're trying to seal something."
The Sea Sovereign floated over on his damaged warship.
"That's what worries me."
The Pavilion Master looked toward the stars.
"The Immortals are afraid of what ever that is."
Lin Yanyan silently approached Su Chen.
Her phoenix flames were still burning around her body.
She looked at him.
"Do you know what it is?"
Su Chen shook his head.
"No."
Lin Yanyan gently grabbed his hand.
"Then why don't we find out together."
Her words were simple.
But they steadied him.
Su Chen looked toward the gigantic eye again.
"You said you watched my first death."
"Then you should know something."
His golden eyes became cold.
"I don't remember dying."
The mysterious being laughed.
A strange vibration passed through the universe.
"You don't remember because you weren't supposed to."
Su Chen's heart skipped slightly.
The white-haired woman suddenly became silent.
He noticed.
"What aren't you telling me?"
She didn't answer.
Su Chen's expression darkened.
"Answer me."
The woman finally looked at him.
"There are things even the Emperor didn't know."
Su Chen's eyes narrowed.
"Such as?"
Before she could respond
BOOM!
A massive golden chain descended from the heavens.
Su Chen raised the Heaven Slaughter Sword.
CLANG!
The chain struck the blade.
The impact forced Su Chen backward several kilometers.
His feet tore through the space.
Lin Yanyan immediately moved.
"Su Chen!"
"I'm fine."
He stopped himself.
Then he looked at the chain.
A strange black substance covered its surface.
Not heavenly energy.
Something older.
Something that seemed to devour spiritual energy.
The mysterious voice laughed.
"Interesting."
"You've awakened the fourth seal, yet you still haven't realized what it means."
Su Chen tightened his grip.
"What does it mean?"
The voice answered.
"The Primordial Emperor was not the beginning."
The battlefield became completely silent again.
Su Chen's pupils contracted.
The Sea Sovereign's face changed.
"What did you say?"
The mysterious existence continued.
"Your Emperor believed he was the first."
"He was wrong."
"Long before the Ancient Court."
"Long before the Immortals."
"Long before the mortal world."
"There was another civilization."
Mu Xue's expression became serious.
"What civilization?"
The voice didn't answer.
Instead, the enormous eye slowly closed.
"Find the First Ruin."
Su Chen frowned.
"The First Ruin?"
"You will find your answer there."
The eye began disappearing beyond the stars.
"But remember, Su Chen…"
The voice became distant.
"The one who created the Ancient Court…"
"…wasn't the Primordial Emperor."
The eye vanished.
The universe became silent.
Then
BOOM!
Every golden formation surrounding the planet activated simultaneously.
The first Immortal shouted.
"NOW!"
Millions of heavenly soldiers released their attacks at once.
The battlefield exploded again.
Su Chen immediately raised his sword.
"Defend!"
The Ancient Court army reacted.
Golden barriers appeared throughout the battlefield while crimson, silver, and oceanic energy collided against the heavenly formations.
The first Immortal charged straight toward Su Chen.
This time, he wasn't alone.
Five other Immortals followed him.
Mu Xue's expression changed.
"Six against one?"
The Sea Sovereign laughed.
"That's their idea of fairness."
The Pavilion Master summoned her moon palace.
"Then we divide them up."
She moved first.
Silver moonlight erupted.
One Immortal was dragged into a separate battlefield.
The Sea Sovereign followed.
"That one is mine!"
Oceanic energy exploded.
Mu Xue's crimson spear pierced through space.
"I'll take one."
The battlefield instantly divided.
Three Immortals immediately attacked Su Chen.
Su Chen's eyes became cold.
The first Immortal appeared before him.
His fist struck.
Su Chen blocked.
BOOM!
A shockwave destroyed everything within several kilometers.
Another Immortal attacked from behind.
Su Chen turned.
The Heaven Slaughter Sword swept across.
CLANG!
The attack was blocked.
The third Immortal raised his hand.
Thousands of heavenly swords appeared above Su Chen.
"Die!"
The swords descended.
Su Chen didn't retreat.
He simply stepped forward.
The fourth Imperial Seal inside his soul pulsed.
Space folded around him.
Every sword missed.
The three Immortals froze.
Su Chen appeared between them.
"Too slow."
The Heaven Slaughter Sword moved.
One slash.
The first Immortal blocked.
Another slash.
The second Immortal was forced backward.
A third slash.
The third Immortal's armor shattered.
Su Chen's movements were becoming faster.
Not because his cultivation had suddenly reached the Immortal Realm.
His understanding had changed.
He could see their movements before they happened.
He could see the laws forming before the techniques appeared.
He could see the weak points in their attacks.
The white haired woman's voice echoed inside his mind.
"You're beginning to understand the Fourth Authority."
Su Chen attacked again.
"What is it?"
"Freedom."
The word sounded strange.
But Su Chen understood.
The Fourth Seal wasn't giving him a new cultivation realm.
It was removing restrictions.
He could move beyond the limitations of ordinary laws.
He could choose how space responded.
He could choose how energy flowed.
He could choose which laws affected him.
Not absolute control.
But freedom from being completely bound by them.
The first Immortal suddenly appeared above him.
"Enough!"
A gigantic silver palm descended.
Su Chen looked upward.
Instead of blocking
He disappeared.
The palm struck empty space.
The first Immortal's expression changed.
Su Chen appeared behind him.
The Heaven Slaughter Sword pierced through his armor.
The Immortal coughed blood.
He looked down at the golden blade protruding from his chest.
"How…"
Su Chen whispered beside his ear.
"You keep trying to fight the person I used to be."
He pulled the sword free.
"I'm not him."
The Immortal turned around.
Su Chen's fist struck his face.
BOOM!
The Immortal was blasted across the battlefield.
His body crashed through several heavenly formations before finally stopping.
The remaining Immortals stared in disbelief.
The first Immortal slowly stood.
Blood covered half his face.
His silver eyes contained something rarely seen in an Immortal.
Fear.
Su Chen raised his sword.
"You're finished."
The Immortal suddenly laughed.
"You think this battle matters?"
Su Chen stopped.
The Immortal looked toward the sky.
"The First Ruin has already awakened."
Su Chen's expression changed.
"What?"
The Immortal's smile widened.
"You think that thing spoke to you because it wanted to help?"
"No."
"It wants you to open the First Ruin."
"Why?"
The Immortal laughed.
"Because only you can."
Su Chen's heart sank.
The mysterious being's words suddenly made sense.
The Fourth Seal.
The First Ruin.
The Primordial Emperor's unknown past.
They were connected.
The first Immortal suddenly raised his hand.
"Retreat!"
The heavenly army began withdrawing.
The remaining Immortals opened spatial gates.
The Ancient Court warriors attempted to pursue them.
But Su Chen raised his hand.
"Stop."
Everyone looked toward him.
Lin Yanyan walked to his side.
"They're leaving?"
Su Chen stared at the disappearing heavenly forces.
"Let them."
Mu Xue frowned.
"Why?"
"Because they're afraid."
He looked toward the distant stars.
"And I want to know what they're afraid of."
The Sea Sovereign's expression became serious.
"You want to investigate the First Ruin."
Su Chen nodded.
"Yes."
The Pavilion Master looked at him.
"Then you'll need the Ancient Star Map."
Su Chen turned toward her.
"You know where it is?"
She nodded.
"One fragment is hidden beneath my Moon Palace."
Mu Xue lowered her spear.
"The Crimson Legion possesses another."
The Sea Sovereign grinned.
"And I have the third."
Su Chen stared at them.
Three fragments.
Three ancient remnants.
The path ahead had suddenly become clear.
But before anyone could speak—
The world trembled.
A crack appeared across the distant sky.
Then another.
Something was emerging.
A black continent slowly appeared beyond the stars.
Ancient ruins covered its surface.
Broken palaces.
Collapsed towers.
Massive statues with their heads removed.
At the center stood a gigantic stone gate.
Su Chen's golden eyes narrowed.
The fourth Imperial Seal inside his soul reacted violently.
The Heaven Slaughter Sword began trembling.
The white-haired woman whispered one sentence.
"The First Ruin has found you."
And for the first time since Su Chen awakened in the body of the useless young master
He felt something he hadn't felt before.
Not fear.
Not excitement.
But the sensation that his entire life had been leading toward this exact moment.