Chapter 1: The River Of Time

"Sir! The formation surrounding the dream realms has been breached!"

"Stop the intruder! Those dream realms are crucial for the fight against Heavenly Court!"

"Wait? Isn't that Fang Yuan?"

The various Gu immortals looked up in shock at the smoky figure wading through the formation. His white plain robe fluttered against the fog as he calmly walked up to the giant mass of dream realms. Though the Gu immortals couldn't see his face, they felt the intense pressure brought about by the mere existence of his dao marks.

"This amount of dao marks is absurd! Has he reached the level of a Venerable?"

"It seems that Fang Yuan is determined to wreck havoc. Exposing his true strength like this means he must be here to take all of the dream realms."

The Gu immortals all turned silent, but then suddenly one of them jolted out of their trance.

"Don't let him get those dream realms! I've just been informed that Fang Yuan has unleashed all of his subordinates on every single continent. Fang Yuan is trying to steal all of the world's resources!"

Within the smoke, Fang Yuan calmly extended his hands and grabbed at the ethereal clouds of dreams. The memories and experiences of hundreds, possibly even thousands of Gu immortals bent to his will. The formless ghostly hands scooped up the entire mountain sized glob of dream realms and carefully stored it all in Fang Yuan's immortal aperture.

"Hmm. With this, is my plan finally feasible? It's unfortunate I'll never know whether my plan worked or not."

==========

"Hurry up! Fang Yuan wants every single immortal essence stone, immortal material, and immortal Gu he can get, if we don't meet the quota we'll be screwed!"

"I already sent him everything I have, what more do you want from me?"

The Gu immortal sighed. "Whatever, let's just go to the meeting. Fang Yuan wants us all to gather together to discuss our next move."

By the time the two Gu immortals had arrived at the meeting spot, every other Gu immortal working for Fang Yuan was already there. Seeing that all his subordinates had arrived, Fang Yuan finally started the meeting.

"I'm happy to announce that our goal is almost complete. We simply need one last thing." Fang Yuan smiled and pointed his finger towards the closest Gu Immortal. "Your immortal apertures."

At once, a giant formation activated below everyone's feet. Dozens apon dozens of immortal Gu activated, suppressing everyone's attempts to escape. A strong aura of death surrounded everyone as their lifespan, luck, Gu worms, and resources were drained from them in an instant.

"What! Why are you doing this Lord Fang Yuan?"

"Fang Yuan, what is the meaning of this?"

He smiled. "Isn't it obvious?" He pointed towards the sky, showing ten bright stars glowing overhead. "In the history of this world, only ten can say they truly surpassed heaven. They shine brightly like suns in the sky whereas we are simply tiny dots of light. To surpass them, I will need more accumulation than just what I have now, don't you think?"

"Heavenly Court is a great enemy, that is undeniable. But my gaze goes further than Heavenly Court, further than the Venerables, further than even Heaven's Will. To prepare for the great age to come, I must advance to a level unheard of."

To the defenseless Gu immortals, this was simply nightmarish to hear. Fang Yuan's gentle voice turned into the laughter of a demon. No, not just a demon, a god.

Fang Yuan didn't waste anymore time, with a swipe of his hands all of the Gu immortals apertures flew out of their bodies to be suppressed and absorbed by the formation.

"I believe my preparation is done."

Fang Yuan rose to the sky were he met his time path clone. This clone was his original body in which he had kept the Spring Autumn Cicada. All of this time, it had been kept safe without use, but now it was time to use it.

With one nod, the clone passed over the Spring Autumn Cicada before Fang Yuan drove his open hand down on the clone like a karate chop. The second the hand touched the clone's head he slid apart into two pieces like butter as his aperture fell to the ground.

Even as he stared at his original body's dismembered corpse, Fang Yuan felt nothing but an unparalleled sense of thrill.

"The rank nine Wisdom Gu, immortal apertures numbering close to one hundred, the dream realms of several hundred Gu immortals, every Gu immortal and mortal material I could find, and the sovereign immortal aperture formed from a rank nine Gu."

"With the amplification of over a million time path dao marks. How far back in time will I go?" Fang Yuan's smile grew wider and wider untill his own face started to crack and break. "Heaven's Will once sent me back to prevent the rise of the Venerables, and now I will do the same."

"Spring Autumn Success!"

Tens of thousands of mortal Gu rose along with multiple Immortal Gu. At the center of this swirling vortex was Fang Yuan, where a great light was emitted from his chest. Slowly, his entire sovereign immortal aperture, all ten layers of it, began to tremble and shake. At the next moment Fang Yuan raised his hands and self detonated.

In the world there exists a river of time that allows time to move forward. All life forms exist in and constantly swim down this invisible river of time. Without it, the world would be an unmoving canvas, empty and desolate without a single hint of life. It only travels downwards, from the beginning of the world to the end of it. All life ages as they swim down the river, but there is a way to swim back up the river, moving backwards in time.

At this moment, Fang Yuan used that very method to swim back up the river, aiming to forever change the course of history.