Thirty miles west of Wellman Town, beyond the city limits. The steep hillside was piled high with snow, burying the low-lying grass, leaving only the massive, towering trees standing firm against the biting cold and deep drift.

Two figures slowly made their way across the snow. Sifigran, clad in a silver-white robe that complemented her tall frame, her features obscured by a silver hood, the white plume atop it swaying like a weather vane to indicate the wind's direction.

She walked ahead, sheltering the slender figure behind her from the worst of the biting gale. "Where are we going?" Zero asked, clutching his cyan battle-blade.

His cheeks and ears were flushed scarlet from the cold, his earlobes numb and icy. He rubbed his hands together, his breath pluming white in the air.

"Ahead, waiting for someone," Sifigran replied without turning back, her voice snatched away by the wind. "Waiting for someone?

Why not in the city?" Zero inquired curiously. "In this freezing snow, who would possibly come out here?" "Someone seeking death," Sifigran stated flatly.

"Seeking death?" Sifigran offered no further reply, quickening her pace. Her robes billowed and flowed, her faintly visible, graceful silhouette lending an air of poignant beauty.

"Sister," Zero pondered for a moment, then asked, "Why does this broken blade keep healing itself? Are you a powerful Pseudo-God?" "Pseudo-God?" Sifigran frowned, having heard the term only once before.

"Are Pseudo-Gods very strong?" "Of course!" Zero nodded excitedly. "My Master told me that Pseudo-God experts can summon wind and rain, fly in the sky, move mountains and drain seas—their power is immeasurably vast.

And those stronger than Pseudo-Gods are the legendary True Gods!" "True Gods?" "Yes! True God experts possess even more terrifying power, their cultivation pierces the heavens.

Ordinary people rarely ever glimpse one. It's said they feast on immortal fruits from the human realm; just inhaling their scent can extend an ordinary person's life by a hundred years." "Is there anyone stronger than a True God?" "That...

I don't think so," Zero scratched his head, his knowledge limited by his life as a slave. Sifigran sighed softly.

"What you are holding now is a weapon used by a High-Grade True God." "Ah?" Zero's eyes widened, his face a picture of utter shock. His hands holding the cyan battle-blade trembled slightly.

"Th-this... are you saying...

this thing is a High-Grade True God's weapon?" His jaw nearly dropped to the snow. Sifigran nodded helplessly.

Zero stared blankly down at the cyan blade in his grip, his mouth wide enough to swallow an egg. After a prolonged moment of stunned silence, he slowly came back to himself, his face flushing crimson, his eyes gleaming with frantic excitement.

"Th-then, then does that mean, Sister, you are even more powerful than a True God?" "Oh?" Sifigran paused, studying him with an intriguing look. "How do you know that?" "Because even a True God's weapon broke, and you could fix it.

That means your strength must be immense, possibly matching a True God's." Sifigran couldn't help but smile faintly, nodding her agreement. "Indeed.

True Gods are nothing but dust in my eyes." Zero blinked again, then looked utterly bewildered. "Then, then does that mean, Sister, you are the God-Emperor who rules over the True Gods in legend?" Sifigran smiled and shook her head.

Zero scratched his head, confused. "Above True Gods, isn't there the Emperor of True Gods?

Aren't you that?" Sifigran murmured softly, "Even the God-Emperor is less than a puff of air to me." Zero gaped, his thoughts completely freezing into stunned silence. Sifigran let out a quiet sigh, turned around, and her ethereal voice drifted into the wind.

"I will tell you a story, a very ancient one." "Okay." Zero's eyes lit up. "I love stories." Sifigran looked ahead.

The distant horizon where heaven met earth was a uniform expanse of silver-white, as if concealing secrets swallowed by the passing ages, secrets she now gently brought forth from her lips. "A long time ago..." "The entire world was singular and round, a vast, immeasurably huge expanse of land.

Upon this land dwelled eight great families, nine Celestial Gods, and one primordial beast of terror, known as the [Demon]. Eventually, the harmonious continent was fractured by war.

On this land, there was a mysterious passage leading to an equally mysterious place—a conduit to another world called the [Ancient Realm]." "Everyone strove to enter the [Ancient Realm]. Later, for reasons unknown, the entrance to the [Ancient Realm] was sealed again, requiring the appearance of the Epoch Gate, which opens only once every ten thousand epochs, to pass through using the Ancient Realm Key." "That is a tale for later, irrelevant for now.

At that time, the boundless continent was contested by the eight families and the nine Celestial Gods, all vying for that single primordial beast. If they could slay it and absorb its essence, they could become unmatched supreme experts!" "Thus, an epoch-shaking war finally erupted." "In that conflict, the eight families, the nine Celestial Gods, and the primordial beast battled so fiercely that heaven and earth were overturned, shattering the entire vast continent into fragments." "Ah!" Zero exclaimed in awe, completely absorbed.

In his young mind, it was impossible to imagine anyone strong enough to shatter an entire world. Sifigran paused briefly, then continued, "The vast continent was broken into twelve distinct landmasses, each immensely large.

Because the battle was so immense, for reasons still obscure, these scattered, shattered continents were isolated by spatial barriers, making it nearly impossible to travel between them or into other worlds." "These twelve continents now drift across various regions of the entire [Universe]. I wonder if you've heard of something called a [Planet]?

In truth, those are the remains of some fallen experts from that great war. The laws within their bodies fused with shattered stone, and over countless ages of friction in the void, they automatically formed into individual planets." "What are 'Laws'?" Zero asked, perplexed.

Sifigran paused for a moment, glanced at him, then continued patiently, "Laws are rules. For example, the rule that when you are hungry, you must eat—that is the rule of flesh and blood life.

Or the rule that water freezes at zero degrees—that is the rule of water." Zero nodded, seemingly understanding a little. Sifigran fell silent for a beat, then resumed, "True God experts are those who have comprehended the Laws of Heaven and Earth and integrated them into their own bodies.

Once their physical body dies, if those Laws attach to an object, that object gains a certain power. If attached to a weapon, that weapon becomes a divine artifact.

If attached to a stone, that stone can manifest unfathomable power." "The God-Emperor experts who fell in that era were merely ordinary people then. In those days, there were countless so-called God-Emperors.

When each one perished, what they had comprehended scattered across the world, forming innumerable planets." "Those twelve continents are collectively known as the [Twelve Universes]. The Ancient Continent you inhabit now is the largest, most resource-rich, and fertile among these [Twelve Universes].

Furthermore, nine other universes are occupied by different dominant powers." "These nine universes are: the Ghost Realm, the Demigod Realm, the Pseudo-God Realm, the Truth Realm, the Chaos Realm, the Time Realm, the Sky Realm, the Heart Realm, and the Xuan Realm." "What about the other two universes?" "No one has ever found the other two universes. Due to the spatial barriers, no one has broken out of this barrier system to enter the original [Primal Realm] to search for the remaining two landmasses." "What is the [Primal Realm]?" "The [Primal Realm] is analogous to the sky above your continent—it is the sky of that boundless continent before it fractured." "Huh," Zero suddenly frowned, asking with surprise, "Why didn't I hear of the Great Dark World among those nine worlds?

Since I was a child, I heard the Great Dark World was as vast as the Ancient Great World, inhabited by countless dark creatures." Sifigran pursed her lips into a smile. "The Great Dark World was originally part of the Ancient Great World, but it was later occupied by the Dark Great Emperor, so its name was changed." Zero suddenly realized, opening his mouth wide.

"So, if we count the Great Dark World, the Ancient Great World is truly massive!" "It is," Sifigran's eyes gazed toward the distant sky, seemingly piercing through the thin haze. "It's a pity that soon, the Ancient Era will cease to exist." She spoke so softly it was almost a murmur.

The howling of the freezing wind was too loud; Zero did not hear her. He remained immersed in the epic scale of the story.

Suddenly realizing something, he quickly pressed, "In that great war, what happened to the eight families?" "Of the nine occupied universes, the first eight—excluding the Xuan Realm—were seized by those eight families." "And who occupies the Xuan Realm?" Sifigran's body paused momentarily, then she lowered her head. After a long silence, she said quietly, "A monster." Zero froze instantly.

"Was it that primordial ferocious beast?" "No. That beast was jointly attacked and its body was shattered; it is most likely dead." "And the nine Celestial Gods?" "Eight are dead, and one's fate is unknown." "Who was that one?" "The Dark Great Emperor." Zero was speechless, choked as if by the very air.

After a long while, he finally managed, "This story you're telling... it couldn't be the true history of our world, could it?" Sifigran turned to face him, offering a slight smile, like a flower blooming in the snow.

"What do you think?" Zero stared at her blankly. Sifigran turned and accelerated forward.

Soon, they reached the crest of the slope. Sunlight pierced through the clouds, casting down onto the snow in beams, carrying a cold, clear radiance.

Dressed in her silver-white robes, she stood atop the peak, the entire heaven and earth seeming to revolve around her body, all bathed in silver-white. Then, not far ahead of her, a figure slowly approached.

(To be continued)

For more novels, visit storyread.net.