The colorful lights scattered by the stars were so bizarre that it seemed as if the lights in the world had been crushed, forming circles of rippling light spots.

In the heart of origins, a mountain range extended and stood tall. It was entrenched on the ground as if it was tainted with a mysterious and distant radiance. Beside the mountain range, a milky way hung upside down from the nine heavens, heavily hitting the pond and making rumbling sounds. The mists scattered by the milky way formed a seven-colored color under the illumination of the lights. Many spirit fish were swimming in the pond. The lights were overflowing with color and soaked through. There was a lingering aura, and energy filled this place.

The spirit fish looked illusory, but they were also very real. Each one of them had reached the level of a Spiritualist. If they were placed in the outside world—even in the Great Wide World—they would cause a sensation.

Ou Yangming was sitting on a piece of a meteorite on a hillside. Big Yellow and Lil’ Red were squatting by his side, curiously sizing up the world.

“This is the heart of origins?” Lil’ Red’s eyes flickered for a moment, and his expression was solemn. He actually felt a hint of pressure.

“Yes! I didn’t expect the spiritual Qi here to be countless times denser than that in the Phoenixes’ ancestral land. If I were to cultivate here, my cultivation level will surely advance by leaps and bounds,” Ou Yangming expressed.

“Hmph, you’ve forced a Ruler to self-explode, and yet you’re working so hard,” Lil’ Red teased with a laugh.

“I know this—cultivation is like sailing against the current. If you don’t advance, you’ll fall back.” Big Yellow stuck out his tongue and interrupted.

Ou Yangming clicked his tongue and smacked his lips. His finger gently tapped between Big Yellow’s eyebrows as he praised, “See? This is what it should be like to pursue the path.”

Big Yellow secretly glanced at Lil’ Red. If King Kong or the goshawk was beside him, he would certainly cast a look at them to show off. Nonetheless, Lil’ Red was the one beside him. He did not dare to do that as was afraid.

Sure enough, even so, Lil’ Red still glared at Big Yellow fiercely, causing him to shiver all over.

Nevertheless, Lil’ Red did not open his mouth to refute. At this moment, under Ou Yangming’s earnest teachings, he had set his goal and taken that step. He wanted to kill the people who deserved to be killed and snatch the things that could be snatched from the world. In particular, the Dragons’ treasures needed special “care”.

Ou Yangming glanced at them. He stood up and patted the soil on his butt, then he said in a deep voice, “Let’s go!”

Once he stood up, the aura on his body changed. He was sitting upright, making him seem as heavy as a mountain and unyielding.

Big Yellow and Lil’ Red’s eyes lit up at the same time. They thought to themselves, ‘Lil’ Ming’s every move now is tainted with the power of the laws. It gives off such a natural feeling. Are the laws really that powerful?’

At this moment, their hearts were filled with envy.

They did not choose to fly. After all, this was the heart of origins. No one could tell how many ancient existences were here.

Although flying in the air would make them feel carefree, it would not be worth it to become someone else’s living target.

After 3 days, a long river crossed the heavenly palace, where the water flowed with swooshing sounds. The strange thing was that the river water was like white mists as it was formless. Just one look at it and one would be immersed in it. An ancient aura lingered in everyone’s mind. It was as if this long river had existed since the beginning of all things—when chaos evolved, divided into Yin and Yang, and went against the universe. The long river was endless. One end held the past while the other was connected to the future.

“What… What’s this?” Big Yellow was dumbfounded.

Ou Yangming did not answer. He had a guess, but he was not sure. After all, his idea was too bold.

On the contrary, Lil’ Red’s gentle eyes revealed a thoughtful look. He flapped her wings and said probingly after a while, “It’s probably a branch of the Long River of Time.”

Big Yellow immediately shifted its gaze to Lil’ Red and raised his voice. “A branch of the Long River of Time?”

“Yes.” Hearing Big Yellow’s question, Lil’ Red became even more certain.

He continued, “Ever since I was a child, Grandfather forced me to read collected Daoist scriptures. One of them is about the heart of origins. The book says that the heart of origins possesses an endless amount of origin power. It contains the 3,000 great paths. Like metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, wind, thunder, snow, and mists are derived from the 5 elements… Time and space are the pillars. Hence, it’s within my expectations to see the Long River of Time here.”

Ou Yangming nodded slightly. “Indeed.”

With that, the young fellow and the 2 beasts slowly walked to the side of the Long River of Time. Their figures were reflected in the water.

Ou Yangming sighed. “There are numerous tributaries in the Long River of Time. I wonder where I’ll go in the future and what kind of things I’ll experience.”

With a flash of thought, Ou Yangming looked at his figure in the long river, and a scene hidden in the depths of his memory appeared in front of him.

In a small city, the streets were in disrepair for a long time. They were dilapidated, and goose-feather-like heavy snow was falling. Layer by layer, the dark sky was divided into pieces. The earth was covered in white, and all the dirt was buried by the snow.

The cold wind whimpered as if it was crying. The streets were empty, and no one was around.

At this time, the doors of all the houses were tightly shut. It was common for people to freeze to death in winter, after all.

Under an old roof, a child in tattered clothes had snot running down his nose, and his lips were purple from the cold. He curled up in a corner of the wall and tried his best to embrace the warmth that came out of the wall.

His eyelashes were covered in cold mists, and they kept shivering. Despite that, his eyes were clear and had a spiritual charm. He would exhale hot air from time to time.

All of a sudden, with a creak, the door opened. It was a middle-aged woman who opened the door.

How could it be described? With just a glance, one could feel the valiant aura from the woman. Her clothes were not thick enough, but they could resist the cold air.

She looked at the child on the ground with disgust and exhaled a breath of cold mist. She said coldly, “Where did you come from, wild child? You’re lying outside my door, and it brings me bad luck! Judging from your poor face, you won’t be able to afford clothes for the rest of your life!” As she said that, she pulled out a broom from behind the door and planned to chase the child away.

“Hurry up and get lost!” She held the broom and shouted loudly.

The child on the ground moved, but his body was frozen. He could not feel his limbs at all. He was hungry and cold. He could only try his best to squeeze out a sentence from his mouth, “Wait for my body to warm up a little… I’ll leave as soon as I’m warm.” His voice was clear and pleasant to the ears.

“Wait?” The woman sneered. “What if my family gets into your bad luck?” She did not have any pity in her heart. She gripped the broom tightly with her fingers.

The boy supported himself on the ground with all his strength. His limbs were weak, and he could not get up no matter how hard he tried.

At this time, the woman was a little impatient. She held the broom and hit the child’s head without any rhyme or reason.

Just as the broom was about to hit the child’s head, an old man who was over 60 years old grabbed the broom and said softly, “Forget it, I’ll take him away now.”

The woman wanted to refute but after seeing the old man’s clothes, the hostility in her eyes was hidden. She became respectful and said weakly, “Sorry to trouble you, sir.” Her attitude had changed drastically from before.

To put it simply, this was a world where the strong would always be strong.

If you were not strong, others would bully you, humiliate you, scold you, and destroy you.

If you were not strong, you would not have the right to cultivate or live.

The old man squatted down and looked into the child’s eyes. He asked, “What’s your name?”

“My name is Ou Yangming.” He stared into the old man’s eyes for a while before he answered.

“That’s a good name.” The old man had a kind look on his face and nodded with a smile.

…

Ou Yangming raised his hand and gently rubbed his eyes. He muttered to himself, “Old Craftsman…” His eyes were full of gratitude.

He looked at the tiny ripple in the long river. It was covered by the other waves in the blink of an eye. Having said that, he felt warm because it was his past memory and time.

Big Yellow gently patted his shoulder and asked with concern, “Lil’ Ming, what happened to you?”

“Nothing. I was thinking about something that happened when I was young.” When Ou Yangming said this, a gentle look flashed in his eyes.

Lil’ Red’s eyes slowly opened. The light in his eyes suddenly gathered. It was as if he had understood something. It was obvious that he had also gained something.

He looked around and revealed a crafty look. He casually threw a stone into the river and instantly, circles of snow-white ripples spread out.

All of this happened too quickly. Even if Ou Yangming wanted to stop it, he would not be able to do so.

Subsequently, the snow-white ripples became more intense. The entire branch of the long river was shaking.

Ou Yangming’s face changed. He shouted, “Retreat, quickly retreat!” No one knew what would run out of the branch of the Long River of Time. After all, time was immutable; it connected the past and the future. Even a Ruler or someone of a higher level was like a drop in the ocean and a tiny fragment to the endless time. If the Long River of Time was compared to an ocean, a Ruler was just like a flower that was splashed by the waves. One was so insignificant that it would be difficult to describe.

Big Yellow and Lil’ Red retreated at the same time. They possessed a small world each and could borrow the powers from the small worlds. Their strengths were infinitely close to that of a Ruler at the moment, and their speed was not much slower than Ou Yangming’s, thus they quickly retreated.

At this moment, a hoarse voice came from the long river. “I’ve been asleep for 10,000 years. Who? Who woke me up?”

The voice was not loud but the moment it was heard, everything in this space paused in a way that defied common sense. It was as if time had stopped.

Ou Yangming’s hair stood on their ends. There was only one voice in his mind, and it was telling him to quickly leave.

At the spur of the moment, the snow-white ripples exploded. A giant that was 333 meters tall appeared out of thin air. Ou Yangming subconsciously raised his head and looked over. He saw that the giant’s face was very ordinary. There was nothing outstanding about it at all. However, there were 3 star marks on his forehead that formed a polygon, which was in accordance with the principles of Heaven and Earth. They seemed simple and ordinary, but they contained the true meaning of greatness came from simplicity.

The giant’s skin was incomparably rough like the cracks on the back of an old turtle, crisscrossing one after another.

Without warning, the wind and clouds surged, and the giant’s eyes lit up.

This time, the stars in the sky were suppressed by the light in his eyes. With a wave of his hand, accompanied by rolling thunder, he easily scooped out a huge rock that was tens of kilometers long from the Long River of Time. With a strong lift, it turned into a ray of black light that went straight for Ou Yangming.