Aside from lingering memories of the Primordial Immortal Realm, what Chaos the Nameless cared about even more was the Hidden Emperor himself.
For according to ancient lore of the Immortal Realm, its sages possessed the supreme divine ability to guide True Immortals toward transcendence with a mere stroke.
"Ever since the Immortal Realm was shattered, the Four Sacred Sovereigns vanished without a trace. If this person has truly walked the path of becoming a sage, then could it be..." Whenever Chaos the Nameless thought of this, an uncontrollable urge welled within him to return—to pay a personal visit to that Hidden Emperor no matter what.
Yet having attained the Dao for countless years, Chaos still possessed enough composure to hold his ground.
"This matter cannot be rushed. It requires careful deliberation."
"It would be best to contact a few others to go together. After all, alone, I might hardly catch a sage's discerning eye."
Chaos the Nameless pondered the various rumors he knew concerning the Immortal Realm's Four Sacred Sovereigns of old.
Taiyi, Lianshan, Guihai, Jingfen.
Sacred Sovereign Taiyi was said to be the first living being in the world. Having witnessed the process of the world being born from nothing into being, his wisdom was supreme.
Sacred Sovereign Lianshan carved out the path to immortality within Mount Shangfang. As the world's very first immortal, his strength was truly unfathomable. If the momentum of Shangfang were used to gauge the might of all True Immortals, then the one standing atop the absolute summit of Mount Shangfang would undoubtedly be Sacred Sovereign Lianshan.
Sacred Sovereign Guihai breached the Spring of Infinity, triggering yet another qualitative transformation in the immortals' power. After endless ages of excavation, the Spring of Infinity transformed into the boundless Sea of Infinity, granting every True Immortal in the Immortal Realm inexhaustible resources. Countering mountain with sea, his might was by no means inferior to Sacred Sovereign Lianshan's.
Sacred Sovereign Jingfen...
The moment this figure crossed his mind, an instinctive chill surged through Chaos the Nameless's heart.
Only after chanting silently to himself did that intense dread slowly dissipate.
Sacred Sovereign Jingfen was born only after the Immortal Realm's grandeur had reached its zenith, and was also the last Sacred Sovereign in the history of the Immortal Realm to attain the Dao.
Though the Immortal Realm had unlocked the method of infinity, the birth and death of the Dao, its waxing and waning, remained bound within the cycle of heavenly principles. Even the Immortal Realm could not escape it.
Yet the reason the Immortal Realm was brimming with vibrant life everywhere, without a single place where the Dao decayed, was entirely thanks to Sacred Sovereign Jingfen. Using himself as a grave, he buried the Great Daos of the heavens, ensuring that the decay and extinction of the Dao would never affect the burgeoning Immortal Realm. Only when the Great Dao turned in its cycle and reached the time of rebirth and growth would Sacred Sovereign Jingfen release it once more.
"Jingfen devours the Dao to begin the cycle, atop the Desolate Tomb."
This was a proverb passed down since antiquity in the Immortal Realm.
It was precisely because the four Sacred Sovereigns upheld the firmament of the Immortal Realm like heavenly pillars that this vast, boundless paradise of infinite life for the immortals had existed.
Yet also because the four Sacred Sovereigns bore responsibilities too heavy and could not divide their attention to govern the myriad immortals, successive Immortal Emperors of the Immortal Realm had come to be.
At the dawn of the Immortal Realm, the world's True Immortals still knew the names of the four Sacred Sovereigns, often chanting them in gratitude. But as time flowed on and the four Sacred Sovereigns did not appear in the mortal world for ages, while the immortals did not outright forget Them, Their presence inevitably faded into mere symbolic tokens.
Had the four Sacred Sovereigns remained ever steadfast, perhaps so many of the later events would never have occurred. The turning point of everything began when Sacred Sovereign Jingfen threw down his burdens and walked away.
Though phrasing it this way might seem disrespectful, that was simply the truth.
After burying and sorting through the decaying Great Daos of the Immortal Realm for untold ages, this fourth Sacred Sovereign of the Immortal Realm suddenly went on "strike" one day.
Bursting into three roaring laughs, he exhaled in a single breath the dying Great Daos that had yet to complete their cycle.
A gale of decay capable of wearing down all immortal Daos swept across the entire Immortal Realm in an instant. Countless immortal servants, immortal puppets, and immortal artifacts decayed the moment they were tainted by this Grave Wind. Even True Immortals and Nameless True Immortals could hardly evade this breath of Dao decay. The entire Immortal Realm suffered countless casualties and catastrophic losses.
Yet before an Immortal Realm possessing infinite energy, such losses were not insurmountable. With a bit of time, everything could eventually be repaired.
The crux was that Sacred Sovereign Jingfen refused to do the work anymore.
No one remained to handle the decay and extinction of the Dao. The immortals could only let it take its course, hiding and steering clear of it.
Furthermore, tainted by the properties of infinity, this decay and extinction of the Dao grew even more potent. Not only did it frequently turn into rotting gales that raided all corners of the Immortal Realm, but it also spawned numerous apocalyptic phenomena of doom, falling erratically across the realm. Even the lower mortal star seas could not escape it.
One of the four heavenly pillars had abruptly vanished.
It was destined to plunge the Immortal Realm into incomparable chaos.
It was said that the three Sacred Sovereigns—Taiyi, Lianshan, and Guihai—unable to bear seeing the suffering of the Immortal Realm, had once united to persuade this somewhat "willful" Sacred Sovereign Jingfen.
The final outcome was unknown.
All that was known was that after the Immortal Realm's anomalies briefly vanished for three thousand years, they began to manifest across various regions once more.
However, it was no longer a single, massive outbreak, but grew from nothing into existence, with intensity and frequency steadily escalating. At least this afforded the immortals a substantial period to adjust.
Under the guidance of the three Sacred Sovereigns, the ruling Immortal Emperor enfeoffed numerous Nameless True Immortals to suppress the Grave Wind anomalies across various regions. Only through the combined might of the immortals was the Immortal Realm's turmoil brought under control.
Chaos had been one of those many Nameless True Immortals.
That was already an affair of the distant past—so long ago that when Chaos the Nameless looked back on it, he could not even be certain how many Immortal Emperors had come and gone between then and now.
Later on, the immortals of the Immortal Realm gradually adapted to the many phenomena brought by the Grave Wind. They also slowly forgot the origin of these phenomena, growing so accustomed to them that they treated them as an intrinsic part of the Immortal Realm's landscape.
In truth, what in the Immortal Realm was truly innate?
Though Sacred Sovereign Jingfen paid no heed to worldly affairs, he had not vanished entirely. Anyone who voiced the slightest criticism of his deeds—even merely harboring a thought in their heart—was sensed by Him.
None of these True Immortals were spared; every last one was seized by Sacred Sovereign Jingfen and tossed into his belly.
One had to know that Sacred Sovereign Jingfen could absorb and transform even the extinction and decay of the Dao. To him, Dao-enlightened True Immortals were virtually no different from delicious morsels.
Powerless to resist, they were all reduced to rotting Grave Wind.
Back then, the True Immortals who privately criticized Sacred Sovereign Jingfen were beyond count. Sacred Sovereign Jingfen showed no favoritism, missing not a single one.
After such a purge, the Immortal Realm felt almost completely swept clean.
This was a great catastrophe in the early era of the Immortal Realm.
Yet that was true only for the True Immortals of that era.
For the Immortal Realm as a whole, subsequent history proved it to be a blessing instead.
After swallowing countless True Immortals whole, years later, Sacred Sovereign Jingfen spat out the Daos those True Immortals had comprehended one after another.
A portion of these Dao principles replenished the world of the Immortal Realm, while the rest swiftly found new masters.
The Immortal Realm once again returned to a scene brimming with vigor.
Yet having undergone such an ordeal, very few people still remembered this Sacred Sovereign Jingfen.
Only the saying, "Jingfen devours immortals to initiate the Dao, atop the Desolate Tomb," continued to circulate in the hearts of a rare few True Immortals.
With such perverse and willful conduct, though the True Immortals dared not utter any criticism against Sacred Sovereign Jingfen, they conveyed their stance through actions and everyday speech.
On the rare occasions Sacred Sovereign Jingfen was mentioned, they no longer uttered the title "Sacred Sovereign."
They referred to him only as "Great Sage Jingfen."
Perhaps quite satisfied with this title, Sacred Sovereign Jingfen himself never took issue with it, allowing the appellation to spread.
Chaos had survived that disaster by sheer luck back then. He had even watched with his own eyes as an entire immortal domain and countless True Immortals turned into wisps of azure qi and were sucked away.
Naturally, he held immense reverence, awe, and dread toward this Sacred Sovereign Jingfen.
Not daring to mimic others in calling him Great Sage Jingfen, he still referred to him as Sacred Sovereign Jingfen in his heart.
And precisely because Sacred Sovereign Jingfen had "abandoned his post," the fact that a Sacred Sovereign could guide True Immortals toward transcendence became known to the world later on.
Sacred Sovereign Jingfen devouring the immortals by the mouthful did not merely instill terror among them. Some True Immortals were so shaken by the sheer might he displayed that they grew ever more convinced, devout, and even fanatical.
Toward the vast majority of these "believers," Sacred Sovereign Jingfen paid no attention.
Yet because they thought of him day in and day out, Sacred Sovereign Jingfen saw right through their innermost thoughts.
Three of them found favor in the Sacred Sovereign's eyes.
Then, with a stroke of guidance, they transcended and departed before the eyes of all.
This sparked even greater madness among Sacred Sovereign Jingfen's followers.
Only after another wave of purges did both detractors and zealots vanish entirely from the world.
Leaving behind only those faint four words of his title in the world.
As for where this Sacred Sovereign Jingfen went after the destruction of the Immortal Realm, that was beyond what Chaos the Nameless could know.
...
"That Hidden Emperor's strength surely cannot match the four sages of the Immortal Realm."
"However, since he is already walking the path of becoming a sage, guiding True Immortals toward transcendence should hardly be difficult for him."
"After all, the many Heavenly Emperors and Scars of Heaven in that Primordial Immortal Realm demonstrate his intimate connection to the Sea of Infinity."
"And to transcend and cross over to the other shore, this is precisely the most crucial point."
...
Chaos's thoughts surged. After a long while, he did not seek out the other Nameless True Immortals first, but instead summoned Immortal Wu.
In the Shuo Star Sea, this was the person who had interacted most with the Hidden Emperor.
Over the past century, every errand and announcement had been handled by him.
Questioning Immortal Wu in detail about every nuance of his interactions with the Hidden Emperor, Chaos attempted to fathom this Hidden Emperor's temperament.
"It seems he is not particularly unapproachable."
"Comparatively speaking."
In Chaos the Nameless's eyes, the method of turning someone into a stone pillar was truly nothing of note.
After dismissing Immortal Wu, Chaos weighed the matter back and forth and ultimately felt that an early decision had to be made.
Thus, the Nameless True Immortals of the Shuo Star Sea gathered once more.
The first to speak was the one with the black robe and white cat: "What is seen with the eyes is not necessarily real. A Hidden Emperor is not necessarily a Hidden Emperor. Even if that Primordial Immortal Realm was truly created by him, it may not prove his true strength. After the Immortal Realm was shattered, the authority of the ruling Immortal Emperor also vanished. Perhaps he got lucky and obtained that authority, and is merely putting on an act here."
"If he were truly a former Immortal Emperor, he would likely have sought us out the moment he descended into the mortal realm."
"How could he have quietly lived beside us as a neighbor for so many years?"
The speaker was the black cat perched on the white-robed figure's shoulder, its tone laced with sarcasm.
That pair of blue giant hands also chimed in: "The region occupied by that Hidden Emperor... is somewhat peculiar."
"It is the former homeland of Sacred Commerce."
Hearing the name of Sacred Commerce, the expressions of the True Immortals present shifted in varying degrees.
Back during the great war between their True Immortal faction and Immortal Hunt, several of their heaviest losses had been caused by Sacred Commerce.
After a moment of silence, Chaos spoke: "Brother Boyan, I believe you worry overmuch. No matter what Sacred Commerce was capable of, they cannot be compared to that Hidden Emperor."
"Indeed, they developed many lethal weapons, some of which could even severely wound the likes of us. But none of those involved the Sea of Infinity. That is the most critical distinction."
The black cat countered sharply, immediately speaking up in rebuttal: "Chaos, you may not be aware. Sacred Commerce's predecessor was the Shang Celestial Vessel, which split off from the Xuanshang Celestial Vessel. Since there is a Sacred Commerce, how do you know another Sacred Xuan does not exist in this world?"
"Moreover, did Sacred Commerce truly never master power related to the Sea of Infinity? I wouldn't be so sure. In a single day, Sacred Commerce vanished into the star sea. Did they not flee into another possibility? Without connecting to the power of infinity, how could they have accomplished such a feat?"
The black cat's words left Chaos speechless.
Yet all he had experienced in the Immortal Realm made Chaos naturally disinclined to indulge in verbal sparring or dispute with others.
Thus, he remained silent.
The white-robed figure stroked the black cat on his shoulder. The cat's voice ceased abruptly as it recovered from being controlled.
The white-robed figure said, "Hei's deduction is not without merit. Thinking carefully, that Hidden Emperor's sudden emergence indeed leaves many things unexplained."
"However..."
The white-robed figure smiled. "None of that is the point at all."
"The crux is: what is his true strength?"
"If we can defeat him in battle, who cares whether he is a Hidden Emperor or something else? Everything in that Primordial Immortal Realm will belong to us—even that authority connecting to the Sea of Infinity..."
These words set the immortals' hearts stirring, their expressions betraying their loss of composure.
Only Chaos was stunned.
He truly had not expected that these companions of his, who appeared so rational, could arrive at such a muddled and foolish judgment.
His gaze could not help but dart toward the black cat on the white robe's shoulder. After a long pause, he forced out, "Do you all remember Great Sage Jingfen of old?"
"Great Sage Jingfen?"
This was an exceedingly ancient name.
At least half of those present had never heard of it, looking somewhat bewildered upon hearing it.
As for the remainder who had heard of it, an instinctive flicker of terror flashed through their eyes.
Yet they soon retorted: "Brother Chaos, you are confused! That so-called Hidden Emperor merely created a small immortal land. How could he possibly be compared to Great Sage Jingfen?"
"That Primordial Immortal Realm may sound grand, but in truth its scale does not even match my former cave abode. Hmph, if the Immortal Realm still stood..."
"Brother Chaos is being rather alarmist. If that Hidden Emperor truly possessed the might of Great Sage Jingfen, so what if we ended up as food on his plate?"
...
Listening to the conflicting rebuttals of those around him, Chaos the Nameless gradually came to understand.
There were three main reasons why they had arrived at a conclusion entirely different from his own.
First, they had not personally visited the Primordial Immortal Realm. They had not experienced firsthand the terrifying majesty of that Hidden Emperor founding the Celestial Court and conferring titles upon the Heavenly Emperors. Relying solely on his description, it was all too easy to form an erroneous judgment.
Second, they had ultimately succumbed to greed over the authority connecting to the Sea of Infinity that the Hidden Emperor displayed.
Third, and most crucially:
What that black cat represented behind the scenes gave this group of True Immortals confidence.
"The Guangwu Star Sea has gathered a host of immortals, indeed far more than this corner of the Shuo Star Sea."
"However..."
Recalling that voice from beyond the firmament of the Primordial Immortal Realm, Chaos swiftly made his decision: "You may decide for yourselves."
"In any case, I am not going."
Chapter 1495