Chapter 456: A Variable Outside Time and Fate

The enormous blue eye remained suspended in the boundless darkness.

Countless principles of Time flowed across its surface, illuminating fragments of the endless River of Time that even Tian Yongheng could not begin to comprehend.

For a moment, it seemed to be contemplating something.

Then, that vast voice rang out once again, carrying a faint trace of interest.

"You also carry the Providence of that one, how interesting. Could it be that you are the arrangement left behind by that person?"

The moment those words entered his consciousness, Tian Yongheng’s mind went blank.

That one?

An arrangement?

Whose Providence did he carry?

He had never heard the being before him speak in such a manner, yet the implications behind those few words were enough to send countless thoughts racing through his mind.

Then, a name suddenly emerged from the depths of his memories.

The Divine Sovereign!

Tian Yongheng’s pupils contracted violently.

The legendary existence from a billion years ago, the strongest being ever produced by the Lower Realm, and the unparalleled genius who had changed the course of history itself!

The Number One Genius Since Ancient Times!

According to the ancient records, the Divine Sovereign had accomplished countless impossible feats throughout his cultivation journey.

He had reached the Half Immortal Realm in approximately a thousand years and sealed the Archaic Forbidden Demon God while still at that level.

He subsequently advanced through the Immortal Realms at a speed that defied all reason, reaching the Immortal Sovereign Realm in approximately fifty-three thousand years.

Even more importantly, the Divine Sovereign had once fought against the entire Upper Realm alone as a Golden Immortal.

He destroyed the factions responsible for the Cleansing, slaughtered Golden Immortals, and eventually entered the Divine Realm before the 33 Heavens could even react.

His most extraordinary achievement, however, was something that had fundamentally altered the fate of the Lower Realm.

He had changed the structure of the Heavenly Karmic Cycle.

The original cycle, which should have lasted a hundred million years, had been extended to four hundred million years.

A single being had accomplished what countless generations of cultivators could never have imagined.

The Divine Sovereign’s inheritance obtained by the Tian Family karmically bound him to that figure as he was the sole survivor and bearer of that inheritance.

Does that mean everything was orchestrated by that being behind the scenes?

Tian Yongheng’s thoughts became increasingly chaotic.

However, he quickly suppressed those doubts.

Regardless of everything, the most important question remained unanswered.

Why had this existence brought him here, and what did it intend to do with him?

Tian Yongheng slowly raised his head.

Although he still could not directly meet the enormous blue eye, he forced himself to speak.

"What do you want from me?"

His voice was heavy, carrying a caution that he could no longer conceal.

"And why did you construct this entire illusion?"

The moment he finished speaking, the surrounding darkness fell silent.

Then, the vast voice responded with the same indifferent tone.

"Illusion?"

The blue eye glimmered faintly.

"You misunderstand."

Tian Yongheng’s heart sank.

"This is not an illusion."

The words were simple, yet they caused an inexplicable chill to spread throughout his consciousness.

The enormous blue eye continued gazing down at him.

"This is reality."

Tian Yongheng’s expression changed.

Reality?

Then what happened to the Lower Realm?

What about the countless lives that had perished, the ruined Mortal World, and the despair that had nearly destroyed his Dao Heart?

Did all of it truly happen?

Before he could ask, the voice continued.

"An alternate reality, to be precise."

The surrounding darkness rippled as countless fragments of time emerged around them, each containing scenes of worlds, civilizations, and beings that had existed at different points along the River of Time.

Some worlds flourished beneath brilliant heavens, some were consumed by endless wars, their civilizations collapsing into dust, and some never developed life at all, remaining barren expanses of matter and energy drifting through eternity.

Every possibility appeared to possess its own trajectory, history, and future.

"Within the endless River of Time, countless timelines branch out from a single moment. Every decision by an insignificant being, every alteration in cause and effect, and every variable that influences the development of existence can give rise to different possibilities."

The voice paused briefly before continuing.

"Some possibilities remain nothing more than fleeting fragments, while others develop into complete timelines, possessing their own past, present, and future."

Tian Yongheng listened in silence.

He had previously speculated about the existence of alternate timelines, but hearing such an explanation from this being made the concept feel entirely different.

To ordinary Immortals, the River of Time was an incomprehensibly profound existence.

Yet, to the being before him, entire timelines seemed to be nothing more than objects that could be observed, examined, and manipulated at will.

"Then this world..."

Tian Yongheng’s voice grew increasingly solemn.

"The Lower Realm I witnessed, was it a future that had already occurred?"

"Not exactly." The blue eye glimmered.

"It is a future that could have come to fruition, a future in which you did not exist."

Tian Yongheng’s mind trembled.

He stared into the darkness, struggling to process those words.

A future in which he did not exist?

What does that mean?

At this thought, he suddenly remembered Yan Jingfei.

According to her, he had never existed in the original timeline in which she came from.

Could that timeline be the true original timeline of the River of Time?

"The trajectory of this world had already been established long before your arrival."

The voice continued, indifferent and detached.

"The Cleansing, the struggles between the Lower Realm and the Upper Realm, the rise and fall of countless cultivators, and the eventual fate of this Great World were all part of a sequence of events that could have unfolded according to the existing order of time and fate."

The blue eye shifted slightly, "But then... you appeared."

Tian Yongheng’s breathing became faintly irregular.

"Your existence was too sudden, too abrupt. You emerged from outside the established trajectory, carrying Providence that did not belong to the Great World’s original arrangement."

The enormous eye gazed at him deeply.

"You changed things that should not have changed, influenced people who should never have encountered you, and altered the development of events that already possessed their own destined outcomes."

Every word seemed to fall directly upon Tian Yongheng’s Dao Heart.

"Your existence is a variable, a variable outside time and fate."