Chapter 452: Dao Heart Wavers, System?

Tian Yongheng stood beneath the blood red heavens, his expression completely blank.

The Lower Realm had truly fallen.

He had finally reached the Earth Immortal Realm, a cultivation realm that countless beings spent their entire lives pursuing, yet by the time he emerged from seclusion, everything he had wanted to protect had already disappeared.

His disciples, his friends, his family, his acquaintances, the countless mortals and cultivators who had once inhabited this world, Mo Yuxin...

And even the Sword Venerable, who had entrusted him with the responsibility of being the strongest in the Lower Realm during his final moments.

He had failed all of them simultaneously.

Tian Yongheng slowly lowered his head, looking at his trembling hands.

For the first time since beginning his journey, he felt incredibly lost.

What was he supposed to do now?

He had always believed that as long as he was still alive, there would always be another opportunity.

If an enemy was stronger than him, he would cultivate until he surpassed them, if a catastrophe threatened his existence, he would find a way to survive it, and if he encountered an enemy he could not defeat, he would retreat, hide himself, and wait until he possessed sufficient strength to settle the matter.

He was never particularly concerned about temporary setbacks.

After all, what were a few thousand years to an Immortal?

What were a few million years to someone who pursued eternal life?

If necessary, he could have hidden himself for millions of years, cultivated until he became an Immortal Emperor, and then emerged to slaughter everyone responsible for the Cleansing.

He would have overturned the Upper Realm and destroyed the supreme Dao lineages that had participated in the catastrophe, and if the mastermind behind everything was an Immortal Emperor, he could have pursued that being until one of them was completely annihilated.

If his enemies were stronger than him, he would just become stronger.

That had always been his answer.

But now...

Tian Yongheng slowly closed his eyes.

What was the point?

Suppose he truly became an Immortal Emperor, surpassing every living being in the Great World, reaching the summit of cultivation, and became an existence that could freely manipulate the River of Time.

Would that bring back the people who had died?

Could he restore Mo Yuxin?

Could he bring back his disciples, his friends, and the countless beings who had perished during the Cleansing?

Could he return the Sword Venerable to the world, allowing the old man to live out the future he had once hoped to witness?

Perhaps.

A supreme existence, when sufficiently powerful, could probably reverse cause and effect, traverse the River of Time, and interfere with events that had already become history.

If he reached that level, perhaps he could truly reverse everything.

But... would the people who returned still be the same people?

Tian Yongheng’s lowered his head slightly.

If he reversed the River of Time and changed the events that had led to the Cleansing, would he genuinely restore the original world?

Or would he merely create another timeline, another possibility, another world in which versions of those people continued to exist?

A Mo Yuxin who had never experienced the same events, a Sword Venerable who had never spoken those final words, disciples who had never walked the same paths as the ones he remembered, would those people truly be the ones he had lost?

Or would they merely possess the same appearances, the same names, and similar memories, while being fundamentally different existences?

Tian Yongheng did not know.

He once considered the Dao of Time an extraordinarily profound Dao, but when confronted with the possibility of losing everything that mattered to him, he suddenly realized how little he understood.

Even if he could reverse the River of Time, could he truly reverse his own experiences?

Could he erase the memories of watching this world collapse?

Could he make himself forget that, while he was cultivating, countless lives had been extinguished?

The blood red sky stretched endlessly above him as the wind swept across the ruined continent, carrying the stench of blood and the remnants of countless extinguished lives.

Tian Yongheng found himself unable to determine what he should do next.

He had always pursued immortality because he wanted to live.

He wanted to see the endless wonders of the Immortal heavens, explore the mysteries of the Dao, and discover what lay beyond the limits of existence.

He wanted to become stronger because strength could grant him freedom, power, and even eternal life.

If he was sufficiently powerful, he would no longer have to fear the threats of anyone, could decide when to advance or retreat, and perhaps one day stand above the heavens without having to bow before anyone.

Yet, at this moment, all those aspirations suddenly appeared meaningless and ridiculous.

He was indeed extremely strong now, an Earth Immortal, the youngest Earth Immortal in the history of the Lower Realm.

But what did that strength accomplish?

He emerged from seclusion only to discover that the world he had once known had become a graveyard.

What meaning did immortality possess if he could only watch the people around him die?

What meaning did eternal life have if everything he cared about could disappear within a few moments?

He wanted to be invincible, to be able to do anything he wanted, without ever having to answer anyone.

An eternity without invincibility was worthless to him.

Tian Yongheng’s Dao Heart began to tremble as he slowly raised his head, looking towards the distant heavens with empty eyes.

He had once thought that he would continue cultivating regardless of what happened.

Even if he lost his friends, his disciples, and everything else, he would eventually become powerful enough to avenge them.

But now, he found himself wavering in that conviction.

For an Immortal, the instability of one’s Dao Heart was far more dangerous than ordinary injuries.

Cultivation required conviction, a reason to continue walking forward even when the path ahead was shrouded in darkness.

Without that conviction, even the most extraordinary of geniuses could eventually crumble.

Tian Yongheng had spent more than a thousand years cultivating, and for the first time in his life, right after achieving a supreme height, his Dao Heart had begun to waver.

How ironic was it?

However, at that very moment...

... Tian Yongheng suddenly noticed something amiss.

His empty eyes gradually regained a trace of focus.

Then, as though grasping at the final straw, he called out tentatively in his consciousness.

System?