Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

But even if they were outmatched, they wouldn’t lose their nerve!

Even though the soldiers were scared to death, their calves cramping,

they couldn’t help but unleash an ant’s roar as they stared up at the high-and-mighty Cultivators who saw them as nothing more.

Up in the sky, the Cultivators’ response to this was, as always, simple and direct.

The warship’s massive cannon once again spat out a torrent of flame, striking the ground just outside the Imperial City.

“TSSSS…”

The beam of flame from the warship didn’t cause any earth-shattering explosion, only an unremarkable tearing sound.

And yet, this sound, like paper being torn, brought with it terrifying destruction.

A nearly hundred-meter-long trench was gouged into the earth beneath the city wall. Due to the intense heat that had pierced through, the ground even emitted an acrid, burning smell.

It seemed the enemy had no intention of slaughtering innocents.

Thus, the beam from the Immortal Ship didn’t directly strike the populated areas of the wall. Otherwise, that single blast would have killed at least several hundred people!

Li Chang’an’s figure emerged from the depths of the Imperial Palace.

His expression darkened as he looked at the ghastly trench in the ground and the soldiers beside it, who were already scared stiff, their faces deathly pale.

He turned and looked up at the enemy’s Immortal Ship… or perhaps it was better described as a warship that looked like an Immortal Ship.

Clearly, these weren’t simple, old-fashioned Cultivators, but ones who had invested in a technology tree!

Of course, that wasn’t the most important thing.

What was most important was that Li Chang’an found the Immortal Ship looked somewhat familiar. Moreover, the insignia below the warship’s deck… he actually recognized it!?

No, it was more than just recognition.

It was painfully familiar!

At this thought, memories from his past life surfaced in Li Chang’an’s mind.

Immortal Palace, the Liyang Empire, Empress Su Ying, the Demon Leng Yanran, the Demon Sect’s Saintess Ran Qingqiu… one by one, these names, both familiar and distant, were reawakened as his memories stirred.

The symbol on the enemy’s warship.

It was the insignia of the Immortal Palace, an enemy he had fought in battles of life and death!

Li Chang’an’s eyes widened in astonishment. “You’re… from the Immortal Palace?”

Hearing Li Chang’an’s voice, the Cultivators aboard the Immortal Ship were clearly surprised. The young man in the lead looked at Li Chang’an and asked, “Who are you?”

Seeing that they didn’t deny it, Li Chang’an finally realized they truly were Cultivators from the Immortal Palace!

’So, does this mean I’ve transmigrated again, to another minor world under the rule of the Immortal Palace?’

’Or has some other strange problem occurred?’

’Since the Jiuzhou Continent can connect to the Immortal Palace, does that mean I might have a chance to search for the Liyang Empire I founded in my past life?’

However, as he looked at the enemy’s tech-filled Immortal Ship, Li Chang’an’s mood soured.

After all, when he had fought the Immortal Palace in his past life, they were still a group of simple, classical Cultivators who only knew how to use cold weapons.

Even though they had been immensely powerful, their limited production capacity and the constraints of the Immortal Sects meant Li Chang’an could still hold his own against them, even trading blows on relatively equal footing.

But now, upon seeing the Immortal Palace again, not only were the Immortal Sects’ restrictions gone, but they were even flying an Immortal Ship?!

In other words, during the unknown stretch of years he had been gone, their civilization and strength had taken a qualitative leap forward.

Since the Immortal Palace was still advancing,

then if the Liyang Empire hadn’t managed to escape in time, it had likely been destroyed by now. Its technology might have even been completely absorbed by the Immortal Palace.

If that was really the case,

Li Chang’an felt a pang of pain in his heart.

After all, he had poured an immense amount of blood, sweat, and tears into building the Liyang Empire with his own hands. Though it seemingly had nothing to do with him after his rebirth, it still held a vast and lengthy portion of his memories.

Furthermore, that world was home to several of his former confidantes.

After using the Rebirth Mark to delete his memories, Li Chang’an could avoid actively recalling things related to them.

But now, with the Immortal Palace’s Flying Ship right before his eyes, no matter how much he wanted to forget, his memories were being triggered at every moment, like a switch being flipped again and again.

He took a deep breath.

Thoughts raced through Li Chang’an’s mind, but with such limited information, he still couldn’t figure out what was going on.

However, his face betrayed none of his inner turmoil.

Instead, he spoke calmly, “I am the one and only Emperor of the Jiuzhou Empire. And I am the one who killed the avatars you sent to harvest it!”

His voice paused. Gazing at the flying Immortal Ship in the sky, Li Chang’an’s body tensed, and his eyes grew grave. His tone turned cold as he said, “If you’ve come seeking revenge, I’m right here. We can fight and see what happens. In the past, I could cut down your avatars. Today, I can cut down your true bodies all the same.”

To be honest, Li Chang’an was quite adept at dealing with Immortal Palace Cultivators who hadn’t invested in a tech tree. After all, they had slaughtered one another for millennia, and he had a thorough understanding of all their methods.

But against this new breed of Cultivator, the ones who had invested in a tech tree, Li Chang’an truly felt he was out of his depth.

—After all, Cultivators were terrifying enough on their own. The only thing holding back their development was their relatively backward means of production.

But if a Cultivator also invested in a tech tree…