7: Chapter 7 Looking into my heart, I realized I'm also afraid of death.

He was about to begin his first long-term seclusion in the true sense.

It was not for healing, nor for a Breakthrough, but for accumulation, comprehending the Dao, and creating techniques.

The outside world did not know that Chu Tianjiao had entered seclusion.

Even those Forbidden Zone Supreme beings did not know—though even if they did, they would not dare to stir up trouble while Chu Tianjiao was alive.

This Heavenly Emperor's fierce reputation was too great; killing a Supreme was like killing a chicken. Who would dare to cross him?

Time passed in a hurry, like flowing water.

In the first thousand years of Chu Tianjiao's seclusion, the Universe was peaceful, and the myriad races multiplied.

In the third millennium of his seclusion, a new generation of Prodigies began to rise. There were Human Race Sacred Bodies appearing, Yao Race Prodigies soaring across the sky, and ancient imperial heirs Awakening.

By the fifth millennium of his seclusion, Cultivators had been replaced generation after generation, and new seeds were constantly sprouting.

Some young Prodigies, born in the era when the Great Emperor Jiaoheng suppressed the world, had never experienced the Dark Turmoil and expressed doubt about the true battle achievements of the Great Emperor Jiaoheng.

"Did the Great Emperor Jiaoheng really kill ten Forbidden Zone Supremes? Why do I feel like the legends are exaggerated?"

"Exactly. The Supremes were once Emperors and Sovereigns; how could so many be killed by a contemporary Great Emperor?"

"I want to challenge the Great Emperor Jiaoheng to prove that I am the strongest of this era!"

Some young people who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth even shouted ridiculous declarations about challenging the Great Emperor Jiaoheng.

Then, these people were quickly dragged back by their own Holy Land or parents and had their legs broken.

"Rebellious son! Do you want to get the whole clan killed?!"

"To dare to question the Great Emperor Jiaoheng, do you not want to live anymore?!"

"Breaking your legs is for your own good! If the Holy Lands that worship the Great Emperor Jiaoheng find out, it won't be as simple as just breaking your legs!"

The older generation of Cultivators had a nearly devout worship for the Great Emperor Jiaoheng.

Because they had personally experienced it, or heard from their ancestors about that dark era—when the Supremes launched the Dark Turmoil, devouring hundreds of millions of living beings, and the Universe was filled with wails.

It was the Great Emperor Jiaoheng who emerged, fought in the Forbidden Zones, killed the Supremes, and suppressed an entire era.

It was he who protected the Human Race for over twenty-five thousand years, allowing the myriad races to recuperate.

How could such achievements be questioned by the younger generation?

Chu Tianjiao, while in seclusion, would occasionally divide some of his Divine Thought to observe the outside world.

Especially everything on the Emperor Burial Star, which could not escape his perception.

He had heard all the arrogant words of those young people.

But he ignored them, only smiling indifferently.

Five thousand years of seclusion had caused a huge change in his state of mind.

The rigidity and recklessness on his body slowly faded, replaced by a steady, reserved, and elegant temperament.

He was no longer that domineering youth who would draw his blade at the slightest disagreement, but a middle-aged Emperor who had experienced the vicissitudes of life and seen through the ways of the world.

And his understanding of the Dao had also become deeper during these five thousand years of accumulation.

Chu Tianjiao began to plan the path for his third life.

But after five thousand years of seclusion, he still had no clue about his third life.

To live out his second life, he had relied on comprehending the undying peach, realizing the principle of "slashing away the old self, gestating the new self, with the true spirit undying and the Dao fruit eternal," and created his own longevity technique.

But what about the third life?

Did he have to repeat the path of his second life?

No, that would be meaningless.

Every life should walk a different path and comprehend a different Dao.

Chu Tianjiao was not anxious and continued to immerse himself in seclusion, deducing a new Mind-Cultivation Technique.

He knew that the cultivation system of the Shrouding the Heavens World originated from Emperor Huang of the Chaotic Ancient Era.

The Sea of Bitterness, Dao Palace, Four Poles Secret Realm, Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, and Immortal Bridge Secret Realm—the five great Secret Realms, finally merging into one, to achieve the path of the Red Dust Immortal.

Chu Tianjiao believed his talent was second to none, but on this path, he still needed to draw on the experience of his predecessors.

While in seclusion, he constantly observed his own five great Secret Realms.

In the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm, the bitter sea was boundless, the Life Spring gushed, the Divine Bridge spanned the sky, and the flowers of the other shore bloomed.

In the Dao Palace, the five internal organs corresponded to the Five Elements, gestating five great deities, with the sound of chanting never ceasing.

The Four Poles Secret Realm propped up the four directions of heaven and earth, the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm underwent nine transformations to become a Dragon, and the Immortal Bridge Secret Realm had a heaven for each level.

Each Secret Realm was repeatedly contemplated by him and deduced to the extreme.

At the same time, he was also studying the immortal peach tree.

This undying divine medicine had a mysterious origin, rumored to be transformed from the Dao fruit of an Immortal King from the Immortal Ancient Era.

The mystery of longevity contained within it far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine.

Chu Tianjiao used the Heavenly Emperor's Law to analyze every leaf, every branch, and every fruit of the peach tree.

He saw the traces of time, the Dao patterns of longevity, and the fragments of Law from the Immortal Ancient Era.

Just like that, time continued to pass.

While in seclusion, Chu Tianjiao changed from the appearance of a youth to that of a middle-aged man, and then from a middle-aged man to an old man.

His hair began to turn gray, his Qi and blood began to decline, and the aura of the Heavenly Emperor began to retract.

Jiaoheng Calendar, year 37,000.

The heavenly heart mark showed signs of instability.

This was a sign of the Great Emperor entering his twilight years—the heavenly heart mark was about to detach and return to the Great Dao of heaven and earth.

This scene caused the Forbidden Zone Supremes to wake up one after another, casting their Divine Thought toward the Emperor Burial Star.

Inside the Ancient Mine of Primordial Beginning, the Supremes began to whisper.

"What do you say, will that bastard be able to live out a third life?"

"He can definitely live out a third life; it just depends on whether he uses the undying divine medicine to do it. If it is relying on the undying divine medicine, that is fine."

"If he relies on himself to live out a third life, then this Chu Tianjiao is truly too Heaven-Defying."

"Do you think anyone will make a move during his twilight years this time?"

"If anyone makes a move, I can only say they are either stupid or have been sold out by someone. Several Human Race Great Emperors before have already proven one thing—these Human Race Great Emperors love to fish when they reach their twilight years; whoever goes out will die."

"Let's wait; anyway, we have plenty of time to outlast him."

The last Supreme stated the best method—to outlast.

They had been sleeping for eternal ages; the thing they lacked the least was time. As long as they waited until Chu Tianjiao's Lifespan was exhausted, they could naturally lift the suppression of this era.

Chu Tianjiao did not know the Forbidden Zone Supremes' opinion of him, and even if he did, he would not care.

After entering the twilight of his second life, he felt the aura of death truly for the first time.

It was a cold, empty, and void feeling, as if everything was about to return to extinction.

"So... this is the feeling of a Great Emperor in his twilight years." Chu Tianjiao sighed softly.

As a native of Blue Star, his fear of death was already engraved in his genes.

During his first life, he had relied on his reckless energy and fearlessness to forcibly ignore this fear.

Now that he had settled down, he realized upon reflection—he was actually the kind of person who had always been very afraid of death and pain.

When reading novels, he would feel anxious for the protagonist's injuries; when watching movies, he would shed tears for the characters' deaths.

After his Transmigration to the Shrouding the Heavens World, he had forcibly disguised himself as a fearless brute, slaughtering his way through and fighting in the Forbidden Zones.

But deep down, that otaku who was afraid of death had always been there.

"I have walked on thin ice my whole life; do you think I can reach the other shore?" Chu Tianjiao muttered to himself.

He looked into his own heart, where a young version of himself stood—black hair and black eyes, with clear eyes and a brilliant smile.

That was himself before Transmigration, and also his true self in the deepest part of his heart.