Eternal Time and Space

Chapter 9: 4 Heavens, 4 Underworlds, 8 Sacred Beings; The Treasure Mirror Sword Slashes Through the

"What a coincidence." Zi Chen looked at the Hundred-Year Ruler in his hand, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

The spirit of the Hundred-Year Ruler seemed to understand Zi Chen's words. The ruler trembled slightly and emitted a clear, low hum. Zi Chen put the Hundred-Year Ruler into his sleeve and was about to turn and leave when he suddenly stopped. He sensed another aura.

This aura emanated from an extremely high place, vast, boundless, and majestic, carrying an innate nobility and majesty, and was approaching.

Zi Chen raised his head, his gaze piercing through layers of clouds and mist, and saw a figure in the sky.

This person, dressed in a long, azure robe, stood high in the sky, surrounded by endless celestial light. His face was indistinct and constantly changing, just like the sky itself, sometimes clear and blue, sometimes full of clouds, sometimes sparkling with stars, and sometimes flashing with thunder.

Heaven.

Zi Chen recognized the other party's background: the Four Heavens and the Four Darknesses were eight innate deities that evolved from the Heavenly Dao after the creation of the world, each holding a part of the power of Heaven and Earth.

The four heavens are Azure Heaven, Blue Heaven, Yellow Heaven, and Vast Heaven, which are the origin and creation of the heavens; the four darknesses are Yin Darkness, Nether Darkness, Primordial Darkness, and Profound Darkness, which are the origin and creation of the earth.

These eight innate deities were all born of heaven and earth, possessing exceptionally high status. Furthermore, each of them wielded a portion of the Heavenly Dao's authority, and their strength had reached the Great Luo realm. Although they were not as powerful as Zi Chen, they were still at the forefront of countless living beings.

The Azure Heaven stands atop the nine heavens, looking down upon the Purple Star with a detached and majestic gaze, devoid of any emotion. Just as the heavens overlook the earth and the sun and moon illuminate all things, he possesses an innate sense of superiority. He is the heaven, and all things in the world are beneath him. This is the position bestowed upon him by the Heavenly Dao, which is beyond question and no one dares to question.

"Hand over the Hundred-Year Ruler." The voice of the heavens resounded from the highest heavens, rolling and booming like thunder, causing the clouds within a radius of ten thousand miles to churn endlessly. "This item is destined for me."

Upon hearing this, Zi Chen's smile deepened.

"Destined to be here with you?" Zi Chen took the Hundred-Year Ruler from his sleeve, gently twirling it in his hand. The hundred markings on the ruler refracted brilliantly in the sunlight. "It's been stuck here for hundreds of thousands of years, why haven't you come to retrieve it?"

Cangtian's face was still blurry, but Zichen could feel his gaze turn cold.

"This is the will of Heaven; there is no need to say more."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cangtian stopped talking nonsense, flipped his right hand, and a long sword appeared in his palm.

The sword is entirely azure, with cloud and thunder patterns engraved on the hilt. A perfectly round pearl is inlaid at the end of the hilt, reflecting the scene of the sky: the sun and moon revolving, stars shining and disappearing, wind and clouds changing, and thunder running.

The moment the sword was drawn, the sky for thousands of miles around darkened, as if all the light of the sky had been absorbed by the sword.

The Azure Sky Sword, a superior-grade innate spiritual treasure, is forged from the essence of heaven. When it strikes down, it is as if the sky is collapsing, with an overwhelming momentum.

The heavens gripped their swords and slashed downwards. There were no fancy moves or complicated variations; it was just a simple downward slash.

But with this one strike, the entire sky seemed to press down. The sword light transformed into a streak of azure blue, thousands of miles wide, falling straight down from the heavens. Wherever it passed, the void was cleaved open, the clouds were torn apart, and even the light was swallowed up. Within the sword light, countless celestial phenomena could be faintly seen arising and ceasing within it: wind, thunder, water, fire, sun, moon, stars, rain, snow, ice, and frost—all were contained within this one sword strike.

Before the sword light arrived, the sword's momentum had already fallen. The valley beneath Zi Chen's feet began to collapse. Under the pressure of the sword's momentum, the rocks turned into dust, the water in the clear pool evaporated, the ancient pine tree snapped in half, and the ground within a radius of a thousand miles suddenly sank by tens of feet. The earth cracked open, and the cracks spread in all directions like a spider web, with smoke and dust rising into the sky.

Zi Chen stood in the center of the collapsed earth, his clothes fluttering in the wind as he wielded his sword, but his face remained calm and composed.

A silver scroll flew out from Zi Chen's sleeve and unfurled in the air. Initially only three feet long, it suddenly expanded in the instant it unfolded, transforming into a vast scroll that spanned the heavens and the earth.

Within the painting, the sun, moon, stars, the Purple Star, the Big Dipper, the Milky Way, and nebulae all slowly rotate, endlessly repeating their cycles.

The Milky Way Axis.

The moment the scroll unfolded, a vast expanse of starlight burst forth, enveloping the surrounding tens of thousands of miles in a dazzling starlight.

As starlight and sword light collided, the sky, which was about to collapse, was held aloft. The sword light of the Azure Heaven Sword, which was powerful enough to cleave the heavens and earth, became stagnant in the starlight, as if it had cut into an endless sea of ​​stars. Every inch of progress required a tremendous amount of power.

"A mere creation dares to block my way?" The voice of the heavens came from above, carrying a hint of disdain.

Zi Chen did not answer. He raised his right hand and gently flicked the Milky Way axis with his five fingers.

The Big Dipper in the painting suddenly lit up.

The seven stars—Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, and Yao Guang—shone brightly at the same time. Their light flew out of the painting, intertwined and condensed in the void, transforming into a seven-foot-long sword.

The sword is entirely silver-white, with seven star-shaped markings inlaid on its spine, each corresponding to a star in the Big Dipper constellation.

When the sword was completed, a clear and melodious sword cry resounded between heaven and earth, like the collision of stars, crisp, long-lasting, and endless.

The Big Dipper Sword.

The divine sword flew out, meeting the sword light in the sky.

The two swords clashed in the void, the azure sky light and the silvery starlight intertwined, bursting out with dazzling light. Each collision was accompanied by a deafening roar, and sword energy and starlight scattered everywhere. Wherever they passed, mountains were flattened, clouds were pierced, and the earth was cleaved into bottomless ravines.

The Azure Sky Sword Light was incomparably sharp, each strike carrying the weight and majesty of the heavens. But the Big Dipper Divine Sword was equally powerful. With the seven stars revolving, the sword energy was inexhaustible. The severed sword light instantly condensed again in the starlight, and the scattered sword momentum reassembled under the guidance of the Big Dipper.

The two swords clashed endlessly in the void, neither able to gain the upper hand for a time.

Cangtian snorted coldly and flipped his left hand.

An ancient mirror emerged from his palm. The mirror was round, with twelve lines inlaid on the edge, each corresponding to one of the twelve celestial phenomena: wind, thunder, water, fire, sun, moon, stars, constellations, clouds, rain, frost, and snow. Light and shadow flowed within the mirror, as if it contained the entire sky.

The ultimate innate spiritual treasure, the Heavenly Mirror.

This mirror can observe all things in heaven and earth, investigate cause and effect, and even transform all the celestial phenomena reflected in the mirror into real attacks. Wind, thunder, water, fire, sun, moon, and stars are all in the mirror and can all be used.

The heavens hung the Heavenly Mirror high above their heads, and with a turn of the mirror, it aimed at Zi Chen.

The light and shadow in the mirror changed. First, a gale howled, and endless winds surged out of the mirror, turning into streaks of blue wind blades that swept across the sky and slashed at Zi Chen.

Before the wind blade arrived, lightning flashed in the mirror, and purplish-black lightning cleaved out of the mirror, intertwining with the wind blade. The wind aided the lightning, and the lightning borrowed the power of the wind, doubling its power.

Then the mirror rotated again, the water surged to the sky, the flames burned the heavens, and the power of the four elements was unleashed, engulfing the entire world in a raging storm of wind, thunder, water, and fire.