Ancient Godly Monarch

Step by step, Di Tian slowly walked forward after stepping through the illusory door. He came to a place with mountains and waters. Compared to the desolate burial grounds earlier, this seemed more like an ordinary world. He could still hear those voices discussing him, but they seemed to be speaking from a location quite far away from him. Di Tian walked for quite a long time before he finally saw a human silhouette.

Not far away from him was an old man with red hair. His hair and beard looked extremely messy, his large eyes was silently regarding Di Tian as a terrifying imposingness flashed within. Di Tian stared at those eyes and saw a world filled with flames reflected within. Somehow, the tendrils of the flame in that world enveloped Di Tian, causing him to feel a scorching heat burning his entire body.

”Damn!” Di Tian struggled, and only after a long moment did his eyes regain clarity. He stared at the red-haired old man while his heart pounded in shock.

That old man was similarly also looking at him, but he didn’t take any more actions. Di Tian soon discovered that the body of this old man was tied to an incomparably huge ancient tree. A strange and marvellous energy of runes circulated around this ancient tree, channelled into the body of this old man, forcefully binding him there and making it so that he had no way to move.

”Senior, do you need junior’s help?” Di Tian asked.

The red-haired old man started, he stared at Di Tian in astonishment before he recovered with a grin. ”What an interesting little fellow. Help? Come and try first.”

Di Tian walked up, a towering sword qi radiated from him as he slashed out with torrential might, targetting the ancient tree that bound the old man. His incomparably sharp sword slashed on the thick vines covering the tree, and actually did not leave even a mark behind.

”How tough, no wonder senior would be bound by it.”

”Bound by this thing? Do you think that this is really a tree?” The red-haired old man glanced at Qin Wentian before muttering, ”Ignorant.”

”Eh…” Di Tian felt extremely awkward.

”Go on ahead and take a look first,” the red-haired old man spoke. Di Tian nodded as he continued on the path forward. He noticed that not far away from him, there was another person being suppressed under a mountain that radiated intense spiritual qi. The hair of the silhouette suppressed underneath was so long and messy that it covered his features. That person lifted his head and grinned at Di Tian. ”Hey, it has been really a long time since anyone came by. It’s so lonely here.”

”Little brat, you better be careful. Most of these people here have already gone crazy. They will play you to death.” A voice directly soudned out in Di Tian’s mind, causing him to start. After which, he turned and glanced at the red-haired old man with gratitude in his eyes.

Di Tian continued on the path, he also saw a lake. In the lake, there was a long-haired lady with an absolutely stunning countenance. Her deep eyes were akin to the oceans, but she stared at Qin Wentian with cold eyes. He saw her wading slowly about in the lake, causing many ripples to form, but it seemed as though that lady wasn’t able to leave the lake.

”Such bearing, too perfect.” Di Tian stared at the lady in the lake. Although the countenance of this female couldn’t be compared to Qing`er or Mo Qingcheng, her bearing was extremely striking and she seemed to be a real beauty from the celestial realm. However, her eyes had no light in them, Di Tian felt as though he was looking at the eyes of a dead person. This made his heart tremble as his body stiffened.

Reduced to such a state as an immortal, trapped here for 80,000 years. Such pain, who could endure this? He stepped onto the martial path at the age of sixteen and pursued the very peak. This path was long and arduous, seemingly with no end to it. If one day, after so many tribulations, he finally broke through and became an immortal, yet was trapped under such circumstances, how much despair would he feel? Di Tian’s heart was stirred as he stared at the immortal lady with deep emotions in his eyes. However, the female immortal completely disregarded him, she merely stared at her surroundings with a blank look in her eyes.

Turning back, Di Tian walked back to the place where he encountered the red-haired old man. ”Senior, all of your movements and cultivation bases are sealed?”

”Mhm?” The red-haired old man glanced at Di Tian as a scorching heat erupted out. ”Yes, they are all sealed.”

”How can I break the seal?” Di Tian inquired.

”Break the seal?” A uproarious laughter suddenly echoed out. It was the immortal trapped underneath the mountain, he was laughing in a crazy manner as he spoke up, ”Not knowing how high the heavens are and how vast the world is. Wanting to break the seal? You better defeat all of us first. You have to walk all the way till the end, defeating an immortal at every step before you can obtain the inheritance of that old thief and cultivate his art. You can talk about breaking the seals at that time.”

”Senior, is there really a way to do so?” Di Tian stared at the red-haired old man.

The red-haired old man noted that Di Tian’s eyes were clear and filled with sincerity. He replied, ”You really wish to help us break our seals?”

”Yes.” Di Tian calmly nodded. ”Regretfully, junior’s strength is still too weak.”

”Why?” That red-haired old man questioned. ”Since you were able to make it here, as long as you obtained the inheritance, you can control all of us. We would all become your strongest weapons. Why would you still want to break the seal?”

Di Tian’s heart was somewhat tempted, yet he still shook his head and smile. ”The path of cultivation is exceedingly difficult. This junior overcame so many hardships only to arrive at the level I am now. I even hope to become an immortal one day, carefree and free-spirited, to love and hate as I please, not restricted by anyone. Since all seniors here are immortals, by right you all should roam this world, going wherever, doing whatever your heart’s desire. Yet, senior is being bound by a tree, that senior is suppressed by a mountain, and as for that fairy-like immortal inside the lake, she is an immortal, yet there is no light in her eyes at all. This junior has always clearly separated debts of gratitude and grudges, I have nothing against all the seniors here and even if I obtained the inheritance, why would I trap all of you here?”

”This, isn’t the Dao I’m seeking.” Di Tian’s eyes shone like brilliant torches as he stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He had started on this path when he was sixteen, how much contempt and hardship had he faced all the way till here? The Dao he sought was a carefree one, roaming wherever, doing whatever he wanted to. My destiny is my own, not even the heavens and earth can restrict my freedom.

The red-haired old man stared intently at Di Tian’s eyes. He saw determination and stubbornness within them, with no traces of hypocrisy at all. That red-haired old man involuntarily started laughing uproariously, causing the entire space to shake. ”The earlier hundred plus participants that made it to here, none of them weren’t ruthless characters. They had no qualms about stepping on our corpses to accomplish their goals, their hearts were all set upon obtaining the inheritance regardless of the costs. You are the first participant here who dared to say things like that, vilifying the actions of that old thief. How interesting would it be if you truly obtained his inheritance?”

At this moment, silence descended in this entire space. And an instant later, a voice boomed out, ”How do you know this person isn’t an exceedingly scheming person? It isn’t as though we haven’t met such a character in the past.”

”If he is really that scheming, just consider it that I’m blind. It has already been 80,000 years, if he could lie and influence my judgement, I have nothing to say as well. So what even if we went all the way to help him? Even if we wanted to aid him, it still ultimately depends on himself to see if he’s capable enough. If he really isn’t up to the mark, I shall personally slay him myself.” The red-haired old man roared back. After which, he stared at Di Tian as he spoke, ”Although everyone here has their cultivation sealed to the peak of Heavenly Dipper; you still have to defeat each and every one of us, starting with me. You must accomplish this before you would have the opportunity to obtain the inheritance of that old thief.”

”One thing to note, our memories and intelligence weren’t sealed like those buried immortals in that graveyard. Hence, we are many times more powerful than those fellows out there. You can make your move now, and other than not killing you, we won’t be going easy on you.” That red-haired old man spoke.

”This junior shall do his utmost,” Di Tian nodded. He stared at the red-haired old man as the true intent of his Mandate gushed forth. With his eyes boring into his opponent, the true intent of Dreams permeated air.

Di Tian found himself transported into a fiery world, dropped into an ocean of fire. He was in a dreamscape.

However in this dreamscape, Di Tian discovered that not only had he failed, he was drawn into a dream created by others instead.

”True intent of Dreams? I comprehended that as well.” The chains made from vines binding that red-haired old man in reality appeared in his dreams and bound Di Tian. After that, a flaming red halberd appeared in the hands of that old man as he drove it right through Di Tian’s body.

”ARGH!” A scream of misery issued out from Di Tian’s mouth. His countenance paled as an expression of agony flashed on his face. He was brought into a world of purgatory by the true intent of Dreams controlled by his opponent and not only that, he had no way to break out from it.

After several moments, the red-haired old man retracted his true intent. Di Tian found himself devoid of strength as sweat soaked his entire body. He was now weaker compared to if he had fought all out for a prolonged period of time. At this moment, any of these people could kill him with a flick of their finger, he had no way to resist at all.

”Go on ahead, your usage of true intent is simply too shallow,” the red-haired old man spoke to Di Tian. Di Tian nodded in agreement, he knew that with his strength now, he could already be considered right at the peak if it was in the outside world. However, when in front of these people, he was so weak that he wasn’t even worthy of a mention.

After resting for a moment, he stabilized his heart and mind as Di Tian walked towards the lake. He stared at the beautiful figure in it and bowed low, ”I humbly seek the guidance of the celestial maiden.”

Swish~

The water in the lake started seething, instantly roiling towards Di Tian as a bone-piercing cold corroded his body. Di Tian soared up in the skies, yet the water was still able to reach him, spiralling around him at such a speed trying to envelop him, resembling a Jiao.

”BOOM!”

Di Tian’s true intent erupted forth as he continued shooting up into the skies. The gigantic tidal waves shot up together with him but at this instant, the Jiao formed of water ‘solidified’, becoming more corporeal. What he was facing now wasn’t simply a kind of true intent, but was a fusion of intents instead.

Di Tian blasted out his towering aura as he climbed through the skies. Yet the lake water had no intentions of giving up. It wrapped around his body before grabbing and flinging him ruthlessly towards the lake shore, causing him to smash onto the ground.

The celestial maiden was still wading in the lake, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

Di Tian then continued ahead, he discovered a person sitting atop a stone platform. This opponent wielded a long spear as his weapon and seemed to be using the true intent of lightning. Each of his strikes contained a terrifying burst of electricity that instantly caused Di Tian’s entire body to turn numb. After which, the spear transformed into a bolt of tribulation lightning containing all the insights of the Mandate of Lightning that instantly thundered past Di Tian’s head. If he had wished to slay Di Tian, Di Tian would have already died countless times.

Too strong, simply too strong. Di Tian could clearly sense the disparity of strength between them, yet he didn’t feel any sense of disappointment. An immortal’s control of true intent was naturally many times more terrifying compared to someone at the Heavenly Dipper Realm. Also, this was just them casually attacking. If they truly wanted to fight, how much more fearsome would they be?

Di Tian then began a path of self-abuse. However it was evident that these people truly did show mercy. They didn’t kill him at all.

With immortals personally acting as his sparring partners and constantly facing different opponents, Di Tian’s rate of improvement was simply beyond belief. He accumulated experiences and tempered himself frenziedly every single day, contemplating the experiences he gained. And just a month from now, his proficiency and control towards his own true intent had also become many times more terrifying compared to the past.

In the other space, Qin Wentian was also closing his eyes in comprehension. When Di Tian battled, he was gaining insights. He and Di Tian were one person, after all. By doing this, one in constant combat while another mediated, his strength would naturally improve faster.

Not only that, Qin Wentian had already started to try out fusing true intents. Just like what he had comprehended on the path of the grass hut, once a brand new type of power was formed from the perfect fusion of true intents, when that fused power was merged into innate techniques, the might that erupted forth would instantly explode with several times more power.