Chapter 456 – A Precarious Future, The So-Called Five Signs of Celestial Decay

Chapter 456 – A Precarious Future, The So-Called Five Signs of Celestial Decay

In the Real World, Su Xing felt a surge of joy when he saw this.

“The gold-tier passerby a talent really does work exceptionally well!”

“In previous simulations, by the eight-hundred-year mark, I would have already endured over a hundred assassination attempts…”

“Although it’s partly because I kept a low profile and hid my identity this time, the effect of the passerby a talent can’t be overlooked either…”

Su Xing was fairly satisfied with the results of this simulation.

What he wanted to see was how the situation in the Three Thousand Worlds would develop if he didn’t interfere at all.

Judging from the simulation at the eight-hundred-year mark, the future situation was far from optimistic…

“I wonder if the outcome of the battle in the Heavenly Secrets Domain will change?”

In the eight-hundred-year battle, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion and the White Emperor Tower had made extensive preparations—it was one of the rare victories for the human race in their war against the alien races.

It should have been a sure victory… but now that the future kept changing, Su Xing was no longer certain of the outcome.

“I hope the human race can hold out a bit longer…”

“The only good news right now is that, thanks to the passerby a talent, I haven’t been hunted by the alien races or the Advent Cult…”

“But when the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. At this rate, once the Three Thousand Worlds are completely invaded, I won’t escape death either…”

Su Xing murmured, his gaze turning to the simulation panel.

【The great battle between the Heavenly Secrets Domain and the alien races was on the verge of erupting, and countless cultivators rushed to the front lines.】

【The alien races also bared their terrifying fangs in the fighting…】

【In the blink of an eye, twenty years passed.】

【Year 820. The war did not end as you had imagined—instead, it entered a white-hot phase.】

【According to the intelligence you obtained, in just twenty years alone… the number of fallen immortals on the human side was no fewer than tens of thousands.】

【The scale of this war exceeded your expectations.】

【In the thirtieth year of fighting, Golden Immortals began to fall one after another.】

【Year 850. The number of Golden Immortals who had fallen in the Heavenly Secrets Domain approached over a dozen.】

【The alien races’ determination to devastate the human race was unprecedentedly fierce.】

【But all of this war had nothing to do with you.】

【You did not join the battlefield and remained in the Canglang Realm, cultivating in peace.】

【It was not until Year 900… that this century-long war finally came to an end!】

【According to your intelligence, in this war, the number of fallen human immortals exceeded one hundred thousand!】

【More than thirty cultivators at the Golden Immortal level and above had perished… including two Supreme Unity Golden Immortals.】

【Of course, the alien side suffered even more devastating losses, with hundreds of thousands of deities perishing…】

【But the advancement of human cultivators required long accumulation over many years, far incomparable to the alien races.】

【In this battle, though the human race of the Heavenly Secrets Domain emerged victorious, it was merely a pyrrhic victory…】

In the Real World, Su Xing’s expression turned grave when he saw this.

“As expected, the situation of the eight-hundred-year battle in the Heavenly Secrets Domain… has also undergone a major shift!”

“Originally, it was a swift strike by the human race, lasting only ten years, yet yielding considerable gains.”

“But now, it’s actually turned into a century-long war…”

“Although the human side still won thanks to thorough preparation, they paid a devastating price…”

After a pause, Su Xing asked with a puzzled expression:

“So what exactly is the reason behind all of this?”

Su Xing furrowed his brows deeply. With the information he currently had, he couldn’t yet deduce who was pulling the strings behind the alien races.

However, one thing was fairly certain—the alien side had indeed undergone changes.

At the very least, they were taking the invasion of the Five Great Domains far more seriously.

“The situation in the Heavenly Secrets Domain is still unclear. I’ll observe a while longer…”

Su Xing turned his gaze back to the simulation panel.

【Year 900. The century-long war in the Heavenly Secrets Domain ended… Due to devastating losses, the human race was forced to begin a prolonged defensive stance.】

【Meanwhile, on the alien side, red-eyed aliens appeared in an endless stream, beginning their invasion of every world within the Heavenly Secrets Domain.】

【Fortunately, the Canglang Realm where you resided had not been invaded.】

【After observing a century of upheaval, occasional insights stirred within your heart.】

【With a flash of spiritual inspiration, your cultivation naturally broke through to Golden Immortal Ninth Stage…】

【And so, another century passed…】

【Year 1,000. Your alchemy skills achieved a breakthrough, allowing you to attempt refining thirteenth-rank pills, though you still had a considerable way to go before becoming an alchemy Paragon.】

【Year 1,100. The Primordial Energy Tree within your body grew to seven zhang (23.31 m) and three chi (99.9 cm)… bringing you one step closer to Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Sixth Layer Perfection.】

【Year 1,200. You received word that the alien races had launched a full-scale assault on the Southern Barbarian Domain.】

【The Southern Barbarian Domain was difficult to defend and sent pleas for reinforcements to the other four great domains.】

【But even the Heavenly Secrets Domain, the strongest of the Five Great Domains, could barely protect itself, let alone dispatch reinforcements.】

【Year 1,300. The Southern Barbarian Domain fell. The Great Firmament Golden Immortal Southern Barbarian Emperor died in battle…】

【Year 1,400. Your cultivation advanced slightly, taking a solid step toward the mid-stage of Golden Immortal Ninth Stage.】

【You began contemplating preparations for undergoing Tribulation Transcendence to reach Supreme Unity…】

【That same year, the Azure Origin Domain fell into crisis and could no longer defend itself…】

【The Canglang Realm where you resided also began to suffer successive attacks from alien armies.】

【Year 1,500. The Canglang Realm faced a full-scale alien assault. An entire Greater World was blockaded and ultimately fell.】

【Fortunately, you sensed the crisis in advance and fled to a lesser chiliocosm near the Canglang Realm.】

【You received word that the White Emperor had allegedly been severely wounded in this battle…】

【Several years later, the lesser chiliocosm where you were hiding came under alien attack, and you began fleeing to the next world.】

【For the next century, you spent your time on the run, witnessing the fall of one lesser chiliocosm after another with your own eyes.】

【The Azure Origin Domain also fell completely in Year 1,500… Fairy Ziling and many other second-generation direct disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect perished in battle.】

【Sea Emperor Daluo allegedly betrayed the human race and joined the Advent Cult…】

【Year 1,700. After several hundred consecutive years of flight, although the alien invasion wasn’t primarily targeting you,】

【the constant fleeing still left you unable to cultivate in peace.】

【Moreover, your years of flight gave you a growing premonition that danger was drawing ever closer.】

【The passerby a talent was only gold-tier after all, not invincible… Great Firmament Golden Immortals could faintly sense your presence, and if you encountered a half-saint among the alien races, you still wouldn’t be able to preserve your life.】

【After your cultivation broke through to the mid-stage of Golden Immortal Ninth Stage, you finally decided to temporarily abandon your main identity.】

【You decided to transform into your Lesser Demon deity form and continue gathering intelligence.】

In the Real World, Su Xing’s brows were tightly furrowed at the sight of this.

“At this rate of development… I’m afraid the human race won’t even last three thousand years before being completely annihilated!”

“My main identity clearly can’t sustain continued cultivation anymore—better to switch to the Lesser Demon deity identity!”

Currently, Su Xing’s Lesser Demon deity was already very close to becoming a first-tier deity.

His divine power had already reached the threshold of a first-tier deity; what he lacked was merely divinity and godhood.

His gaze returned once more to the simulation panel.

【That year, you transformed into your Lesser Demon deity identity and were quickly accepted by the alien races.】

【At this point, the alien races had already secured an overwhelming advantage in their war against the human race.】

【As a result, although you still received a decent supply of resources, it was far less than what you had obtained in previous simulations.】

【You began cultivating Lesser Demon Apostles and training Lesser Demon followers on a large scale.】

【And so, three hundred years passed…】

【Simulation Year 2,000. The Eastern Domain fell…】

【That year, three of the human race’s Five Great Domains had already fallen, leaving only the Heavenly Secrets Domain and the Celestial Demon Domain still holding on.】

【Strangely, after occupying three great domains, the alien races seemed to slow their pace of invasion, as if preparing some kind of plan.】

【And so, another three hundred years passed…】

【Year 2,300. The effects of the Calamity Divine Physique grew increasingly pronounced, and you began to face assassination attempts from human cultivators.】

【Though the Heavenly Secrets Domain had lost most of its territory, it had still preserved the majority of its powerhouses.】

【In particular, the elite squad led by the White Emperor began frequently hunting down alien deities throughout the Heavenly Secrets Domain.】

【Year 2,500. To prevent being assassinated, you expended the greater part of the power of faith you had accumulated over several centuries to enhance your divinity.】

【Your comprehension of the laws of space, speed, and cause-and-effect destiny advanced rapidly…】

【But clearly, with only a few centuries’ worth of power of faith—with both the market and number of followers far smaller than before—it was naturally impossible for your divinity to reach the level of a first-tier deity.】

【Year 2,600… A sudden ambush claimed your life.】

【The White Emperor had struck!】

【Against an assault from a Great Firmament Golden Immortal, you had no ability to resist whatsoever.】

【But in the years before your death, you received intelligence that the Celestial Demon Domain was also on the verge of being completely invaded…】

【You died!】

【Ding, this simulation has ended!】

After the simulation ended, Su Xing remained silent for a long time.

“In merely two thousand years… three of the five great domains of the human race have already been lost?”

“And at this rate… before the three-thousand-year deadline arrives, I’m afraid all Five Great Domains of the human race will have completely fallen!”

“When that time comes, where will the human race find refuge?”

“Could it be that only some of the stronger cultivators managed to flee to the Nine Heavens Domain…”

Su Xing furrowed his brow slightly.

Even with the majority of the Five Great Domains invaded, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master still had not made a move!

“It seems… the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master has yet to find the path to Sainthood!”

“The White Emperor and the other top powerhouses seem more like they’re buying time for the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master… as if they’ve placed all their hopes on her…”

Su Xing let out a sigh, unsurprised by this.

In the face of absolute disparities in strength and numbers, the only path to victory… was for a single transcendent powerhouse to emerge.

The Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master achieving Sainthood… this was perhaps the human race’s only hope.

“I wonder whether the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master will ultimately be able to step into the realm of a Saint…”

Su Xing felt a twinge of curiosity.

“However, this simulation has essentially confirmed something!”

“In reality… among the alien races, there exists a being who has ‘discovered traces of me,’ thereby accelerating the pace of their invasion of the Three Thousand Worlds!”

“Moreover, it seems this discovery was only recent… the tempo of the invasion into the Three Thousand Worlds is still continuously accelerating!”

“Perhaps before long… the Southern Barbarian Domain won’t even be able to hold out for a thousand years…”

Su Xing’s gaze grew solemn.

Simply put, he had been exposed—but not completely exposed…

Among the human race, there existed beings like the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master who excelled in the Dao of Divination, capable of capturing a faint trace within the river of time.

And among the alien races, that suspected “Saint”-level existence was likely even more capable of doing so!

“As long as I’m careful… that being shouldn’t be able to directly pinpoint my existence.”

“But to be safe, I need to break through to the sixth realm in the Dao of Cause and Effect and Destiny as soon as possible!”

Su Xing murmured.

“For now, let me first check the rewards from this simulation!”

【passerby a】: Gold talent, priced at 10 origin energy points.

【Spirit Realm 55,000 Li (27,500 km)】: Spirit Domain metamorphosis, reaching the Spirit Realm level. Within the Spirit Realm’s range, the power of supernatural arts and spatial Dao receives a massive boost. The Spirit Realm gradually evolves toward a real world. Priced at 500,000 origin energy points.

【Golden Immortal Ninth Stage mid-phase cultivation】: Priced at 10,000,000 origin energy points.

【Great Shaman Body Forging Art cultivation results】: Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Sixth Layer Major Mastery, Primordial Energy Tree at seven zhang (23.31 m) and seven chi (2.33 m), primordial energy flows endlessly. Priced at 5,500,000 origin energy points!

【alchemy insights】: One thousand years of alchemy experience, capable of refining up to fourteenth-rank elixirs, not far from the rank of Alchemy Paragon. Priced at 500,000 origin energy points.

This simulation, although Su Xing had not directly participated in changing the future of the Three Thousand Worlds,

thanks to the passerby a talent, Su Xing had cultivated for an extraordinarily long time.

A full one thousand seven hundred years of cultivation… had allowed Su Xing’s Qi Refinement and Body Tempering realms to both achieve breakthroughs!

“And the alchemy experience… five hundred thousand origin energy points is a bit expensive, but it’s still worth bringing out…”

“As for the passerby a talent… I can store it in the talent pool for now. After all, that talent really is a double-edged sword…”

Although lying low the entire way and steadily advancing his cultivation realm was quite appealing,

for Su Xing at his current stage, whether it was using the Mirror of The Void, trading with Qingyunzi, or claiming the Earth Ranking first-place reward, all of these were extremely valuable.

“I choose to bring out…” Su Xing silently intoned, and the Chime of the simulator sounded in his ears.

【Ding, congratulations on bringing out Golden Immortal Ninth Stage mid-phase cultivation… remaining origin energy: 30,291,392 points…】

【Congratulations on bringing out Great Shaman Body Forging Art cultivation results… remaining origin energy: 25,791,392 points…】

【Congratulations on bringing out Spirit Realm 55,000 Li (27,500 km)… remaining origin energy: 25,241,392 points…】

【Congratulations on bringing out alchemy insights… remaining origin energy: 24,791,392 points…】

As four successive chimes rang out, the aura surrounding Su Xing began to shift.

His Qi Refinement cultivation broke through directly from Golden Immortal Eighth Stage late-phase to Golden Immortal Ninth Stage mid-phase!

The Primordial Energy Tree within his body grew by one zhang (3.33 m) and one chi (33.3 cm)… the Spirit Realm’s range expanded further…

A vast flood of alchemy memories and experience surged into Su Xing’s mind.

A full quarter of an hour passed before Su Xing, with the simulator’s assistance, gradually mastered his newly acquired power.

Furrowing his brow slightly, Su Xing murmured:

“As cultivation advances… the time needed to adapt to each cultivation feedback grows longer and longer…”

“After Supreme Unity Golden Immortal, breakthroughs in cultivation probably won’t come as instant feedback anymore…”

At lower realms, Su Xing had never encountered bottlenecks in cultivation breakthroughs.

Each cultivation feedback had been practically instantaneous.

But as Su Xing’s realm grew ever higher, after breaking into the Golden Immortal realm, he clearly sensed that he had touched upon a ceiling of sorts.

Whether it was mastering his strength or receiving cultivation feedback, both now required a certain amount of time.

“But this makes sense… if cultivation feedback were always instantaneous, never changing, allowing one to rocket straight up to Great Firmament…”

“Then I would truly need to consider just what level of existence the simulator actually is…”

“Even a Saint probably couldn’t achieve something like that, could they?”

Su Xing thought to himself.

Glancing at the simulation panel, Su Xing murmured:

“I still have one simulation attempt remaining… and over twenty million origin energy points on hand. It’s time to begin the next simulation!”

“For this simulation, there’s no need to rely on the passerby a talent… following the principle of maximizing returns, I should continue trading with Qingyunzi and join the Celestial Secrets Pavilion…”

Su Xing quickly formulated a plan in his mind.

“Also… it’s time to give some thought to advancing to Supreme Unity Golden Immortal!”

Su Xing’s gaze fell upon the cultivation realm section of the panel.

【Cultivation Realm】: Golden Immortal Ninth Stage (mid-phase), Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Sixth Layer Major Mastery (seven zhang (23.31 m), seven chi (2.33 m))

After more than ten simulations, Su Xing’s cultivation had finally approached the Peak of the Golden Immortal realm.

“However… breaking through from Golden Immortal to Supreme Unity Golden Immortal won’t be nearly so easy…”

Su Xing gently closed his eyes, recalling the method of advancement that the White Emperor had once shared with him.

At the Mystic Immortal realm, one gathers the Five Qis in the chest.

At the Golden Immortal realm, one assembles the Three Flowers Above the Crown…

And upon reaching Supreme Unity Golden Immortal, one must endure the most terrifying tribulation a cultivator can face… one that is dozens of times more horrifying than even Thunder Tribulation or Wind Calamity.

That tribulation was… the five signs of celestial decay!

After reaching Golden Immortal, every 3,600 years, one would undergo a cycle of the five signs of celestial decay.

As Su Xing understood it, the five signs of celestial decay were:

The first, the Decay of Purity. Immortals were impervious to all poisons and untouched by any dust.

Even the lowest Human Immortal need never worry about dust settling on their skin or mud staining their garments.

Only when a cultivator’s lifespan neared its end would filth begin to appear.

At that point, the cultivator had reached the end of their life—beyond the help of medicine, beyond even the salvation of a Great Firmament Golden Immortal…

But after Golden Immortal, once the Decay of Purity manifested, it would persist for 3,600 years, weakening one’s magical power and rendering supernatural arts difficult to employ.

During this time, a cultivator’s strength would plummet dramatically.

The second of the five signs of celestial decay was the Decay of Splendor.

A Golden Immortal’s three thousand strands of lustrous black hair would turn white, persisting for 3,600 years.

During this period, the cultivator’s cultivation and combat power would likewise decline sharply.

The third of the five signs of celestial decay was the Decay of Vigor.

When undergoing this decay, an immortal would sweat profusely from the armpits, their stamina failing, their strength reduced to a mere tenth of its former level.

It was said that the sublime immortal body was light, pure, and immaculate; only when an immortal’s blessings were exhausted and their lifespan ended would their armpits naturally perspire.

The fourth of the five signs of celestial decay was the Decay of Odor.

An immortal’s body naturally carried a pure fragrance, without the slightest hint of foulness.

But when undergoing this decay, even a Golden Immortal’s entire body would emit the “stench of old age”—a sign that one’s lifespan was nearing its end. To endure through this decay still required 3,600 years.

And the fifth and final of the five signs of celestial decay was the Decay of Self-Loathing!

This was the most perilous of all five decays.

When undergoing this decay, a Golden Immortal would feel boundless revulsion toward themselves—an uncontrollable self-loathing that bred extreme lethargy. They would cease cultivating, cease tempering their mind…

The Decay of Self-Loathing also lasted 3,600 years!

“The five signs of celestial decay carry the risk of death even for a Golden Immortal… only by enduring all five can one attain the Supreme Unity Dao Fruit!”

Su Xing murmured softly.