Chapter 246 – A New Era

Hundreds of True Disciples at the scene stared in shock at the Human Emperor Banner in Lu Yan’s hand.

The black-gold banner radiated a blinding light of Heavenly Dao Merit. Just bathing in that divine glow caused the surging demonic energy around the seven Devil Dao sects to disperse by more than half.

Some Core Formation disciples who practiced sinister and demonic techniques felt an intense unease. The ghostly wails from the spirits sealed inside their artifacts became frantic, their bone demons screeched in terror, as if all of heaven and earth had suddenly turned hostile toward them. A tribulation from the heavens could descend upon them at any moment.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner was infamous throughout the cultivation world for its notorious refinement method that defied the will of heaven. It was said that once completed, the banner would bring upon its wielder endless tribulations.

But now, the righteous and magnificent aura radiating from the Human Emperor Banner suppressed all evil. Even if Lu Yan himself claimed this was the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, no one would believe him.

As the Human Emperor Banner manifested, all rumors of Lu Yan wielding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner were dispelled without effort.

But what followed was an even more astonishing truth.

True Lord Canfa fixed his gaze on the 6,600 orderly ranks of Yin Soldiers and Ghost Generals behind Lu Yan. These ghostly warriors were infused with Heavenly Dao Merit, having transformed from mere spirits into valiant heroic souls.

More terrifying still, the auras of these Yin Soldiers were connected to the vast realm behind them. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, Canfa could not even see through their cultivation realms.

If this ghost army were to form a battlefield formation, even a Nascent Soul True Lord would be doomed to perish.

That young man wielding a divine banner and commanding a ghost army—Canfa couldn’t help but recall a certain chaotic incident from a year ago that had spread across the cultivation world.

Back then, several dozen mid-sized sects and noble families—both Core Formation and Nascent Soul experts—coveted treasures of the Underworld and recklessly imprisoned the Underworld’s representative in the cultivation world, even dispatching forces to hunt down the Underworld’s emissary.

The result was a massive upheaval. The emissary returned with unmatched power, summoning tens of thousands of Yin Soldiers with a flick of his hand and slaying countless Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators.

From early Core Formation to peak Nascent Soul—great True Lords and even Demon Kings—dozens of powerful figures fell to the emissary’s might.

The emissary even stood alone against the terrifying monster tide of Wushan and slew over a dozen Nascent Soul Demon Kings. His actions infuriated the demon race, which went so far as to dispatch a Divine Transformation Demon God to hunt the emissary.

But in the end, not even the Demon God dared make a move, deterred by several of the Underworld’s ghost deities and a brief appearance of the Underworld’s master.

After that battle, some claimed the emissary was the strongest being below the Divine Transformation realm in the entire cultivation world.

Although many believed the emissary’s might came from the Underworld army, no one dared question the reality of his power.

Now, as Lu Yan summoned the dazzling presence of the Underworld’s ghost army, the three True Lords couldn’t help but recall that past chaos.

Within the gauze-draped palanquin, True Lord Slaughter no longer bore her usual teasing tone. Her charming voice now held unprecedented solemnity.

“You are… the emissary of the Underworld?”

Lu Yan gave no answer. Holding the Human Emperor Banner, he gazed calmly at the three Nascent Soul True Lords.

Though his gaze appeared calm, it carried an unspeakable pressure—as if the weight of an entire world bore down on them. The three True Lords couldn’t help but avert their eyes.

He didn’t need to answer. That soul-piercing aura said everything.

The entire miniature realm fell into utter silence.

None of the True Lords knew that just two days ago, this soul realm—built from computational power—was only barely enough to intimidate enemies. It certainly couldn’t pressure three Nascent Soul paragons with nothing but presence.

But in those two days, the Probability Cloud—the omniscient computational core once used by Laplace—had fully fused with the soul realm. Under its influence, the realm had begun to evolve into a small-scale independent world.

Hovering above that soul realm was a high-ranked black sun. The Probability Cloud had woven a starlit sky and assimilated this black sun into the realm, increasing its authority and pressure by another level.

Although Lu Yan now stood like an unbeatable titan, only he knew the truth: he was bluffing.

These three were no ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. At most, Lu Yan could rely on the Underworld army to withstand one of them. If all three attacked at once, he had no chance.

After forging a deal with the Heavenly Dao of the Great Collapse, Lu Yan knew that if he wanted to seize the opportunity to form a Divine Court and become the second Heavenly Dao, he couldn’t walk the usual path.

With his own strength alone, it would be impossible to contend against the eight powerful Version Factions—especially with Longevity Heaven lurking in the shadows.

So Lu Yan thought of one thing: borrowing the strength of the Alliance of Immortal Sects.

While the alliance’s top-level combat power didn’t rival the other factions, cultivators were endlessly resourceful. Their spellcraft and strange abilities were unrivaled, and their Fate Altering Techniques were especially effective against factions with short lifespans.

If he could leverage the alliance’s power, his chances of fulfilling the deal would greatly increase.

But borrowing their power wasn’t easy.

The Alliance was a loose coalition formed under external threats. Internally, righteous and demonic factions still battled constantly. Even within those factions, sects fought among themselves.

As a mere True Disciple of the Taiyi Sect, Lu Yan didn’t even have authority within his own sect, let alone the entire alliance.

To influence the alliance, he had to either slowly accumulate prestige—or terrify everyone with overwhelming might.

He couldn’t do the first, and didn’t have the strength for the second.

But Lu Yan understood something: you didn’t need true power to intimidate cultivators. You only needed to make everyone believe you were strong.

He deliberately escalated the Red Lotus Demon Sect’s plot against He Dongsheng, so he could justifiably reveal his identity as the Underworld’s emissary.

He had already slaughtered countless superhumans and corpse kings in the apocalypse version, and now in the immortal cultivation version, he was butchering Nascent Soul True Lords and Demon Kings alike. His infamy had long shaken the cultivation world.

In the Great Collapse version, he destroyed satellite-class war fortresses with ease—evidence of terrifying strength.

He didn’t need to raise a finger. These accomplishments were enough to silence any dissent.

The moment the three True Lords avoided Lu Yan’s gaze, he knew—his plan had already succeeded halfway.

High above the sky floated the vast soul realm. 6,600 ghost soldiers stood in formation. The entire world had gone deathly silent.

No one questioned whether Lu Yan could suppress the entire Immortal Alliance.

Even if they activated the Myriad Spirits Grand Formation, it might still fall before the army of the Underworld.

True Lord Canfa, whose conscience was already uneasy, struggled to suppress his inner thoughts, fearing Lu Yan might see through them.

As for the Red Lotus Demon Sect, their faces had gone pale with despair.

They never imagined the situation would spiral into this.

Finally, after a long silence, Lu Yan’s voice broke the stillness.

“I’m disappointed in all of you.”

His voice, infused with the might of the Human Emperor, spread across the world.

“Before I came to the Great Collapse Realm, I met a man named Jiang Zhiwei—and made a deal with him.”

True Disciples from all sects looked confused and turned to each other, whispering:

“Jiang Zhiwei? Who’s that?”

“Never heard of him.”

“Could he be a hidden Nascent Soul True Lord? Or perhaps a Divine Transformation Dao Sovereign?”

Even the three Nascent Soul True Lords—Canfa, Yunlu, and Slaughter—frowned in puzzlement.

Lu Yan saw their expressions and spoke calmly:

“Ah… I nearly forgot. You don’t know his real name.”

“But you’ve probably heard his other title.”

“The First True Disciple of the Taiyi Sect.”

The moment those words dropped, the faces of every Core Formation and Nascent Soul disciple changed dramatically. Shock rippled through the crowd.

“Impossible!”

“Meeting the First True Disciple is one thing, but making a deal with him? Even someone unmatched beneath Divine Transformation doesn’t have the qualifications!”

“That’s the First True Disciple! The one who slew outer-path demons with his sword. Just a wisp of miasma leaking from him turned into a vast forbidden zone!”

“Though none of the sect archives refer to him as an Immortal, even the Immortals themselves tacitly acknowledge his status!”

True Lord Canfa’s face was especially grim.

The longer one sat in the position of Taiyi True Disciple, the more one understood the terror of the First True Disciple.

He had been a True Disciple for fifty years and never seen the man once. Even the top ten disciples barely interacted with him. They had already transcended mortal society. Even Divine Transformation Sovereigns were beneath their notice.

That Lu Yan had made a deal with the First True Disciple was beyond Canfa’s comprehension.

He and Yunlu turned to glance at Slaughter’s palanquin in unison.

Though named for killing, True Lord Slaughter had also studied the mind-manipulating techniques of the Heavenly Demon Path. She possessed a damaged spirit treasure known as the Truth Token.

The Truth Token could discern lies—and even misleading truths. Not even a Divine Transformation Sovereign could deceive it, only shield against it.

From within the gauze curtains, True Lord Slaughter had already activated the treasure. Her voice turned hoarse:

“It’s true.”

Lu Yan was not lying. He had, in fact, made a deal with the First True Disciple before entering the Great Collapse Realm.

The three True Lords held their breath. The awe in their eyes replaced the earlier fear.

Lu Yan watched their reactions. The Truth Token had shown no reaction, for every word he said was true. He had made a deal with Jiang Zhiwei.

That deal was even proposed by Jiang Zhiwei himself—so long as Lu Yan could sever the backup plans of the Longevity Celestial Lord, he would be granted entry to the realm.

At that moment, Lu Yan realized something:

“When Jiang Zhiwei proposed the deal, did he already foresee I’d use his name as a shield… so he purposely didn’t include specific terms?”

The thought passed quickly.

As shock filled the crowd, Lu Yan spoke again:

“The Immortal Alliance has idled in the Great Collapse Realm for countless years. Though it holds vast resources, this realm has already changed. The alliance must change with it.”

He did not say this was part of his deal with Jiang Zhiwei, but in the eyes of others, it undoubtedly was.

After a long pause, Yunlu True Lord finally asked:

“May I ask… what change do you propose, Underworld Emissary?”

“It’s simple.” Lu Yan’s eyes swept across the world like a blade. His voice thundered:

“From this day forth, the Immortal Alliance will prepare for war—we shall drive our ancient enemies from the Great Collapse Realm!”

The world instantly erupted.

Had Lu Yan not built such awe with his achievements and deal with Jiang Zhiwei, this one sentence would have gotten him exiled from the realm.

The Immortal Alliance was already beset by enemies on all sides. Declaring war now was like digging their own grave.

Even if Lu Yan was unmatched beneath Divine Transformation, he alone could not expel those factions.

The core laws of the realm would never allow a version faction to be destroyed. Even at the alliance’s peak, they couldn’t annihilate even the weakest faction.

Yet at this moment, Lu Yan released the Human Emperor Banner and reached into his storage space, retrieving an object.

It was a sleek, silver-white metallic staff, shaped like a key—though only half remained.

All eyes locked onto the item.

“This is the Key of Mechana, the master key to Mechana City and the symbol of its highest authority.”

“But now that Mechana City is destroyed… this has become nothing more than scrap metal.”

With those words, he let go of the staff, letting it fall freely to the earth.

“Not only that—Mechana City’s core territory has been obliterated from the root.”

“Its garrisons have all retreated. The remaining war fortresses have fled to remote, desolate realms. Mechana City… no longer exists.”

“If you don’t believe me, you’re free to go investigate.”

The Truth Token remained still—silent.

Its meaning was clear.

This time, no one questioned Lu Yan’s call to arms.

Everyone stared at him.

He stood beneath the heavens, his figure towering over all creation.

At that moment, he was no longer just a young cultivator—but something far greater.

A being that declared an unshakable truth to the world:

“I declare—A New Era Has Begun!”
(End of Chapter)