Free Web NovelChapter 416: Start of the War...
Quite some time had passed after Ember and Nova hatched, Yu Xuan felt a subtle yet profound shift within himself.
It wasn’t something visible.
But it was undeniable.
His soul felt... elevated.
Refined.
As if it had undergone a quiet transformation.
At the same time, his sense of danger sharpened drastically.
His premonition of death became far more acute, so much so that even his [Ultra Instinct] seemed to have evolved alongside it.
Everything felt clearer.
Faster.
More instinctive.
And then, his surroundings shifted.
In an instant, Yu Xuan found himself back within the Path Enlightening Tree.
This place, which was connected to the realm where Ximen Juesheng kept those sealed creatures.
Occasionally, he would return here to meditate and stabilize his gains.
But this time.
It was the last one.
"Let’s go," Ximen Juesheng’s voice sounded as he appeared instantly beside him.
"The preparations are complete, we will now leave this place... and face them."
Before Yu Xuan could respond.
Space folded.
The next moment.
Yu Xuan stood beside Hundun.
And in front of him.
Were millions.
Countless powerful beings stared directly at him, their gazes sharp, heavy, and suffocating.
Each look felt like it could pierce through his very existence.
Yu Xuan lifted his eyes and looked ahead.
And what he saw.
Was overwhelming.
The towering Asura.
The Great Demonic Sage.
Nine Headed Calamity Serpent Empress , Shemei.
The Ancestral Primordial Divine Dragon.
The Ever-Burning Phoenix Empress.
A friendly-looking old man—the Jade Emperor.
...And another version of that same old man.
The Prime Architect Jiyx.
A colossal Kun Peng.
A man who resembled his father.
Even an ocean hanging upside down in the sky, within which countless terrifying existences stirred silently.
Yu Xuan’s heart tightened.
Every single one of them.
Was capable of shaking Heaven and Earth.
And yet—
They were all here.
Looking at him and casually... chatting? ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"I can smell it... this kid is trouble."
"No wonder even a forbidden timeline reacted to him."
"The Human Emperor looks older than before."
"Tsk... a child blessed by the Heavens, yet not born in my bloodline."
"Old Sui, don’t be so greedy."
"I’m more curious about what those old foxes are planning."
"Hey, I’m a fox. Don’t drag my race into your nonsense."
"But still..."
"I see now... why Lord Hundun chose him."
The murmurs spread like ripples.
Curiosity.
Suspicion.
Greed.
Expectation.
Yu Xuan stood in the middle of it all.
Facing beings that stood at the very peak of existence.
And for the first time.
He truly understood.
The war that was about to begin.
Was far beyond anything he had imagined.
***
"Sheng Mu... do it."
Hundun spoke calmly.
In response, the Dao Blessed Primordial Heaven And Earth Divine Spirit Tree, Sheng Mu trembled.
For a brief moment.
The entire Tree shimmered with a soft, divine radiance.
It was breathtaking.
Almost unreal.
Like a final glimpse of peace before everything collapsed.
Then.
Everything changed.
The moment Sheng Mu withdrew her embrace from the realm.
The environment turned suffocating.
Oppressive.
Hostile.
Yu Xuan felt it immediately.
His breath grew heavy.
His body tensed.
The pressure weighed down on him like an invisible mountain.
He was the only one affected this way.
Because he was still bound by his mortal coil.
The others.
Even in their suppressed states.
Were still beings whose very essence stood at the peak of existence.
To them, this pressure was nothing.
To Yu Xuan.
It was a reminder of the gap.
At that moment, Sheng Mu’s form shifted.
The massive Tree condensed.
Transforming into a graceful woman, her entire body adorned with flowing leaves that shimmered faintly with life.
Yet the moment she appeared.
She concealed herself.
Sheng Mu was not a combatant.
Her strength lay elsewhere.
Though her durability was immense, her true role was to serve as a sanctuary.
A resting place for those who fought on behalf of the Heavens.
And then.
Space fractured.
In the next instant.
Everyone appeared in a vast, grey expanse.
To Yu Xuan, it looked empty.
Endless.
Lifeless.
But below.
His eyes widened.
A massive horde stretched across the void.
Countless monsters.
The same type he had been fighting.
But on an entirely different level.
Each one radiated a terrifying aura.
Each one carried a presence far beyond what he had faced before.
An army.
A legion.
A tide that could drown worlds.
And though Yu Xuan could not perceive it.
They were guarding something far more important.
The [Origin of Time].
The very source that connected all timelines within the Heavens.
And another reason.
This war could not be lost.
Yu Xuan stared at the battlefield below, his eyes reflecting the endless horde of monsters.
"What... am I even supposed to do here?" he muttered under his breath.
The scale of it all was overwhelming.
This wasn’t a battle between cultivators.
This wasn’t even a war between worlds.
This was something far beyond his comprehension.
A clash of existences that could reshape reality itself.
And for the first time.
Yu Xuan truly felt it.
His own weakness.
Even standing before what could be considered an endless source of growth, an unimaginable "XP farm" in his eyes.
He couldn’t take advantage of it.
Not here.
Not now.
Not at this level.
And strangely.
That frustrated him more than anything else.
In his nearly eighteen years of cultivation...
This was the first time he felt such a clear sense of limitation.
Yet.
He did not despair.
Because even if the gap was vast— ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
His chance still existed.
Just as that thought formed.
A calm voice sounded beside him.
"Listen, kid. You have no place in this battlefield." Hundun spoke.
Hundun had clearly noticed the strange hunger in Yu Xuan’s eyes.
The desire to fight.
To grow.
To take advantage of the chaos.
But this was not the place for that.
"Your role... is the most important one," Hundun continued.
"To kill the one behind all of this."
Yu Xuan’s expression turned serious.
"But before we reach that point, we must ensure your safety."
Hundun’s tone did not change.
But the meaning behind the words grew heavier.
"Because although you are our greatest advantage... you are also our greatest weakness because if you die, everything we have done becomes meaningless. And we will have to wait again for how long... even the Heavens would not know."
The weight of those words settled heavily on Yu Xuan.
This was not just a war.
It was a one-shot opportunity.
A single chance to end something that had persisted across countless eras.
And whether it succeeded or failed.
Now rested, in part.
On him.
