Mu Changqing sneered with a hint of disdain.
Imitation was always just imitation.
Like pirated goods, they would never surpass the genuine article. (Except in film and television, where membership fees are a real rip-off.)
"Is that so? Then let me show you what the new era is."
As Mu Changqing spoke, the illusory and the real connected, and endless purple mist surged forth, instantly engulfing the myriad realms.
This vast purple mist bore a striking resemblance to the perpetually lingering mist in the gray ancestral land.
Both were constructed from the dust particles of countless grand universes.
However, Mu Changqing's ancestral land was one of taboo, strangeness, and ill omen.
All cosmic dust was purple.
The beings nurtured within were all taboo beings, practicing wicked arts, slaughtering and devouring each other, never at peace.
The mist advanced, boundless and vast.
Everything in its path returned to the ancestral land.
All things returned to silence, and in an instant, a new life was born.
The rolling mist, like the end of the world, devoured the blazing, immeasurable ancestral glory emanating from the spine formed by the grassland plains.
Ling watched this scene, his body retreating uncontrollably, carrying the myriad realms backward, shattering endless dark heavens, as if there was no end.
The spine of the grassland plains in his hand, which could easily sever time, eternity, and all of creation, trembled in fear.
It was the fear of a superior being, like facing a natural predator.
"The new era descends, the ancestral land reappears."
Ling quickly calmed the fear within him. Rays of creation divine light shone in his eyes, forming a world-suppressing luminous film that isolated the pressure from the purple ancestral land.
At this moment, Mu Changqing was shrouded in the mist, radiating an aura that made even ancestral gods tremble, tearing apart all current laws, orders, heavenly fortunes, and the eternity of time!
As the purple expanse merged completely with the current reality, the heavens and earth shook, and all beings felt it.
A new system emerged, vying for control over all things and laws in the myriad realms.
Rumble!
All sorts of sounds arose.
The sounds of sacrifices, prayers, the Sanskrit chants of the Great Dao, the chains of order piercing the heavens and earth, the sounds of creation, the sounds of the opening of the heavens and earth, the sounds of time rolling forward, the sounds of the construction of eternal cycles... and even the sounds of strange beings descending!
The spectacle, the interwoven sounds, were terrifying and soul-stirring.
Within the rolling mist, a plain incongruous with the current reality appeared.
It seemed like an object from beyond the heavens, or something cast out by history and time.
The moment it descended, the entire gray ancestral land was shrouded in mist, with dark glows like chaotic immortal light streaking across the heavens and earth, permeating the gray ancestral land, yet failing to find a target.
The other six ancestral gods sensed it, all shaken. Fear flashed across their eternally unchanging faces, and a subtle unease stirred within them.
When they began to deduce, they could only see a void in the future, with nothing but intensely dense purple mist blanketing the great world.
"Among beings of the same level, besides a few ancestral gods, there is only him... I cannot deduce."
An ancestral god descended in person, murmuring.
He looked at the gray ancestral land, which had been silent for who knows how many eons... or rather, had never awakened since the existence of sentient beings, and saw it stir today. He used his supreme means, as if to prevent something unknown.
"Such an anomaly... It seems he has stepped into that realm, and a new ancestral land has descended. It cannot be deduced. Where is it hidden? Damn it, who made the move? Demon? Spirit? Or someone else?"
This ancestral god spoke coldly, his voice extremely icy.
They were all plotting and wary of each other.
Now, the heavens and earth where Mu Changqing and Ling resided were obscured, making it impossible for them to deduce or perceive.
Even if the most terrifying battle in the history of the gray ancestral land, one that would shake the ancient past, were happening there, they would be unable to sense it.
...
At this moment, within the heavens and earth where Mu Changqing and Ling resided.
The mist continued to spread, seemingly eternal and indestructible, beyond the grasp of heaven and earth.
The moment the purple ancestral land fully descended, the heavens and earth fell into eternal silence.
All complex sounds ceased, and the mist, which seemed alive and surged violently, stopped devouring.
A resplendent figure stood within the mist, eternally immortal, his ancestral glory shining, constantly impacting the heavens, earth, and time.
Now, Mu Changqing had completely connected his own ancestral land with the current reality. Where he stood was the ancestral land, and it was eternal and immortal.
The flowing radiance cut through the mist, unleashing countless, indelible sword beams that automatically attacked Ling.
Rumble!
The power continuously shattered the grassland plains around Ling. With just a touch, the spine of the grassland plains in his hand vibrated violently, and dark cracks spread across its surface.
In an instant, the cracks healed, and it once again emitted a brilliant, blazing ancestral glory.
"Damn it, why is he so powerful? Without truly making a move, I am already finding it difficult to withstand."
Ling's expression was so gloomy it could drip water. He muttered to himself.
Then, he roared, holding the plains' spine with both arms, and with boundless eternal power of creation, he slashed towards the depths of the endless purple mist.
That dazzling light, carrying the might of the myriad realms, illuminated the past, present, and future of time, with wisps of creation power overflowing, nurturing countless universes to rise and fall.
Boom!
The light slashed into the purple mist, stirring the mist to immense heights, which surged back against the heavens.
However, such a terrifying strike was like a stone sinking into the sea, causing colossal waves but no substantial impact.
The resplendent figure within the mist remained stationary, unmoving.
"Too weak."
At this moment, a slightly contemptuous voice emanated from the mist, its sound eternal, piercing endless time and space, reaching Ling's ears.
He froze on the spot for a moment, unable to react.
Perhaps after a long time, or perhaps in a fleeting instant.
His face showed disbelief, followed by hints of bitterness and complex emotions.
He sighed softly.
"Weak, hehe... Hahahaha, I am Ling, one of the dignified seven great ancestral gods, a leading figure among them, one of the most powerful beings in all past and future realms. To be called weak, how ridiculous, how utterly laughable."
Hearing this, Mu Changqing moved slightly. The mist automatically opened a great path, extending to an unknown part of the heavens and earth.
"Just some beings who have lived a little longer, believing themselves to be lords of creation, controlling all variables of all sentient beings. Ridiculous."
His domineering words resounded again, shaking people's hearts.
Ling stared intently into the mist, as the resplendent and majestic figure slowly stepped out, descending into the current reality.
Behind him was a plain shrouded in mist, its exact state unobservable.
But the light that sporadically erupted from the misty plain struck fear into all the realms.
The boundless power of the ancestral land, like the heavens collapsing, continuously spewed forth bizarre substances, corrupting everything in the current reality.
The crushing might that erupted, powerful and brilliant, easily tore through the eternal, immortal power of the grassland plains that Ling prided himself on.