“Those titans are terrifying!” The three didn’t land until they’d put a good amount of distance between themselves and their pursuers, but even so, they didn’t dare return to their original size.

“Those titans are at peak dao origin realm not because of their cultivation, but because their physical body is that strong! I didn’t kill him even with a blow at full strength!” the Venerated Sacrosanct Demon Sovereign recounted with shock. He’d clashed head-on with the giant just now and brought the Skyturning Seal down with everything he had—but it hadn’t killed the titan!

First of manmade treasures, the Skyturning Seal ranked first when it came to offensive and killing capabilities. It was a terrifying weapon created by one of the founders of immortal dao. That the titan remained perfectly fine after receiving such a blow was greatly beyond the demon sovereign’s expectations.

“It’s because you’re too weak.” Ashu took a careful scan of their surroundings. “You two need to be careful, I know what’s going on here.”

“Hmm?” Lu Yun looked at the holy king.

“This is the world before Emperors Fall! The rules of the moat snake’s great dao have created a tomb realm that perfectly replicates the time before Emperors Fall!” Ashu took a deep breath. “The titans we saw earlier aren’t the ones who went extinct before the Primordial Era, but ones who lived before Emperors Fall.

“In that era, humans were much more prosperous than the other races. Countless branches splintered off humanity, and the titan race was one of the strongest ones. An adult titan possessed the strength of a peak origin dao immortal even without cultivating.”

Lu Yun and the demon sovereign gaped at Ashu.

“Though the titans boasted of extraordinary potential, they were only above average in that aeon. In those days, the greatest geniuses of the truly dominant factions were born with the cultivation level of a human king.

“Back then, the heavenly dao had evolved to its highest, most sophisticated form. All was truly thriving and flourishing—human kings were as common as cabbages and great emperors as numerous as dogs. There were even a few great ones who’d exceeded the great emperor realm.”

Ashu sighed, “In comparison to that, immortal dao now is too weak and too young. As viewed against the backdrop of that vast and glorious era, an immortal dao that’s less than six hundred million years old is hardly even a baby!”

“That’s not right, the immortal dao has existed for six hundred million years.”

Ashu looked blankly at Lu Yun who’d interjected. “You…”

“What about me?” Lu Yun had been captivated by the world Ashu was describing and didn’t understand why the storyteller had suddenly stopped to stare oddly at him instead.

“You’re… right. The first day of the first month in the first year of the Xuanhuang calendar happens to be the six hundred millionth and first day of the immortal dao’s founding.”

“What?!” Lu Yun, the demon sovereign, and even Ge Long eavesdropping from hell jumped with shock.

Ge Long quickly made his estimations. “That’s right... It’s been six hundred million years since the inception of the immortal dao, and that was the first day!” He looked at Lu Yun with an even greater look of respect. “Six hundred million years is a perfect minor cycle!”

……

“Can it be a coincidence?” Lu Yun didn’t quite believe his ears. The day in which he’d established the calendar was something he’d planned for a very long time. He simply felt that things were too chaotic in the world right now, and that a standard reference of time was needed to bring order to the confusion.

Therefore, he followed the calendar system of Earth and after uniting the world of immortals, employed formula dao to derive the Xuanhuang calendar. He and Qing Yu had picked that precise day after careful calculation.

But it was also because of this that Ge Long viewed Lu Yun and Qing Yu with newfound veneration. The two had jointly developed formula dao, and it seemed their creation was capable of theorizing the immortal dao!

One thing of note was that formula dao didn’t exist within the confines of the Tome of Life and Death—it was completely independent of that treasure.

……

“Six hundred million years… is still too short. In that legendary era, six hundred million years was just the travel time for a great emperor’s journey of self discovery,” continued Ashu. “When the immortal dao is strong enough, the living beings that fall within its purview will see a corresponding rise. They’ll become as strong as the titans too.

“Six hundred millions years…” With a final odd look at Lu Yun, Ashu shoved thoughts of the calendar to the back of his mind. Since Qing Yu is the sovereign of the immortal dao, perhaps choosing this day had something to do with her as well. “Since this tomb realm is the world before Emperors Fall, perhaps there will be more terrifying life forms from that era. We must be careful.”

Lu Yun nodded. “But since that world has been destroyed and it’s now the immortal dao that rules the heavens, the titans no longer have a chance to cultivate…”

Ashu blinked. The titans from earlier were very fierce, but they only possessed powerfully built bodies and lacked combat arts or cultivation methods. They just seemed to be ordinary beings that were ridiculously strong.

“If we bring them to the outside world and have them cultivate immortal dao…” The demon sovereign’s eyes lit up.

Lu Yun shook his head slightly without a word, Ashu remained silent as well.

“They’re also tomb keepers,” sighed Ashu. “They’ll scatter on the wind if they leave this place. …Xuan Yuan Slaves! They’re descendants of the Xuan Yuan Slaves!

“That group disappeared a long time ago, I actually thought they’d vanished in the annals of history. I didn’t think they’d be living here and guarding the yang tomb.”

“Xuan Yuan Slaves?” Lu Yun arched an eyebrow.

“Just like their name, they’re the slaves of Xuan Yuan! Xuan Yuan is the owner of this tomb and an unparalleled existence beyond great emperor in the time before Emperors Fall! After his demise, his slaves didn’t forsake their master, and in fact renamed themselves Xuan Yuan Slaves so that their master’s splendor would continue to illuminate the heavens!

“Their cultivation has completely scattered, but they still protect the tomb. Ah, that’s right, the corpsefire! They should be the ones wielding the corpsefire and using it to control the zombies in the tomb!” Ashu suddenly grew nervous. “The slaves don’t follow the immortal dao. Though they’re confined to this tomb realm and lack any cultivation whatsoever, they still possess many unconventional abilities that make it highly likely they’ll be able to figure out where we are.”

Boom—

An enormous rumble blasted from the skies before he finished his line of thought and a great beast claw descended upon their position. A huge mushroom cloud rose into the air, revealing a lion burning with golden flames and fixing its pale-gold eyes firmly on a spot in the void—on three minuscule life forms on a tiny dust particle.

“Those who disturb my master’s slumber shall not be permitted to exist!” It brandished its front claws as it roared, pouncing forward and enveloping fifty thousand kilometers with the golden flames on its body.

Hummmm.

The Skyturning Seal swelled to prodigious proportions and came down on the lion.