At the same time, within the Inner Ring of the Milky Way Sea, the water was boiling. A gray fog suddenly rose up, which spread out in all directions, filled with an aura of death.
An ancient ship slowly pierced through the fog, and as it did it seemed to cause flickering images of countless worlds to appear within the fog.
It almost seemed like the ship had just come from ancient times, and was now making an appearance in this day and age.
At the prow of the ship was an old man wearing a dilapidated suit of armor. His long hair was the color of silver, and it was impossible to see his facial features. It was only possible to see a pair of blank eyes that seemed to be staring off into eternity, looking for the answer to some unanswerable question.
Suddenly, the old man raised his head up and looked in the direction of the ancient Daoist rite temple off in the Eastern Lands.
“Who… has shaken the world?”
All of the ripples which were spreading out throughout Planet South Heaven suddenly vanished.
Outside the Tower of Tang, Meng Hao’s parents listened to Shui Dongliu’s words, and were shaken.
“Impossible to predict. He has changed his destiny.
“You two must not interfere; too many Karmic connections would be detrimental to him…. He… is connected to South Heaven by destiny.”
“Senior….” said Meng Hao’s father, his voice anxious as he looked at Shui Dongliu.
“The tribulation…. is coming,” murmured Shui Dongliu. “I have seen countless corpses, and endless rivers of blood. I have seen the calamity which will leave only nine mountains in the starry sky. That calamity… is not very far off.
“The existences that were once subdued cannot cross over from ancient times, but the ones who escaped subdual will return full of vengeance….
“When was the enmity created? What was its root cause? Forgotten…. They’ve all forgotten everything…. Nobody remembers anymore….
“They… enslaved the Dao of Heaven. And they are on their way.” He shook his head slowly.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the mountains, in the Immortal Ancient Daoist Rite Temple, the ground was quaking outside of the temple. Everyone was astonished as they listened to the shrill sound of weeping mixed with laughter, and the incredible roaring coming from deep beneath the ground. Then they saw the temple itself shaking. Cracks spread out, and suddenly, an illusory Daoist rite temple appeared once again.
Inside the temple hall, Meng Hao’s face was pale. All he had wanted to do was to pick up the bronze lantern, so the intense rumbling, and the quaking of the land, caused his eyes to go wide.
Furthermore, he now could not separate his hand from the bronze lantern; intense pain stabbed into his hand, causing the skin to be slit open and blood to spray out, which was then absorbed by the bronze lantern.
After absorbing the blood, the lantern’s flame burned even more radiantly. It emanated a red glow which seemed capable of piercing the air and tearing open the barrier to ancient times. Meng Hao was suddenly able to sense that everything was in motion.
The images around him began to rotate, spinning faster and faster, until they were roaring violently in the form of a vortex.
It was hard to say how long it lasted, but at a certain point the vortex suddenly ceased moving. Shaking, Meng Hao looked around to see… the exact same ancient Daoist rite temple that he had seen before. He could hear the sound of a sermon being given about the Dao, and everyone sat cross-legged beneath a river of stars.
On the altar was an old man who waved his hand, causing everything in Heaven and Earth to suddenly reverse; an enormous “Immortal 仙” character appeared….
Shockingly, the “Immortal” superimposed over Meng Hao. It was as if the oil lamp in his hand had turned into the mountain, while he was the person! Together, they transformed into the character… “Immortal!” 1
Countless eyes fell upon him, and Meng Hao’s mind spun. Everything that was happening was far too incredible, and he could barely believe it.
Next, the lamp began to absorb more and more of his blood. His face went pale as the world around him spun. Rumbling filled the air as everything once again ceased moving. Shockingly, Meng Hao found himself looking at yet another world.