The news of the Empire's ruler achieving the Great Emperor status swept through the entire Ten Directions Empire. For the human race, this was a joyous occasion. For the alien races, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.
According to custom, every individual who ascended to the Great Emperor status would leave behind sufficient resources for their race before ascending to the Upper Realm, ensuring their race could dominate the entire Ten Directions Cosmos for at least tens of millions of years!
If Ye Yun had not ordered the enslavement of the alien races, they might have been able to accumulate enough resources after millions of years of dormancy and seize an opportunity to rise again. However, Ye Yun had already ordered their enslavement, and with the game and reality synchronizing, their resurgence would be delayed by at least ten times!
"Your Majesty, your Imperial Tribulation has passed. How much longer can you remain in this Lower Realm?" In the eighth heaven of the Nine Dragon Yang Void Palace, Ding Yi asked Ye Yun, who was playing with their daughter.
Over the past few days, cultivators who had successfully passed their ascension tribulation had come to bid farewell to Ye Yun after completing their imperial duties. Ye Yun had seen them off, and almost every day they would gather in the third heaven for drinks, shedding the mantle of the Empire's ruler and drinking and chatting like ordinary people from the Blue Star in the past.
"Speaking of which, I find it quite strange. Books say that after passing the tribulation, one can clearly sense how much longer they can stay in the Lower Realm. But I've already passed the tribulation days ago, and I still don't feel any pull from the Upper Realm. What do you think, your husband has strength and good looks. Could it be that the Heavenly Dao thinks I'm too handsome and wants to keep me here?" Ye Yun replied, also perplexed.
In the past few days, he had been with those preparing to ascend to the Upper Realm, and he hadn't experienced any of the 'symptoms' they described.
"With you and your looks, there's attraction alright," Ding Yi rolled her eyes at Ye Yun.
These past few days, Ye Yun had finally been able to completely relax. For nearly fifteen years since his rebirth, Ye Yun had lived under constant pressure.
Even after becoming intimate with Ding Yi, they had often slept in separate rooms.
But these past few days, Ye Yun had spent almost all his time in the harem, enjoying the family atmosphere he had imagined countless times in his previous life.
"However, now that you mention it, I am curious about how much longer I can stay in this world," Ye Yun had previously estimated his remaining time based on the time two known Great Emperors had lingered below. But now, he had passed the tribulation days ago and still felt no inclination to ascend.
As Ye Yun's expression shifted, his divine sense, like a massive net, surged out of the boundaries of the Nine Dragon Yang Void Palace and directly enveloped the entire Ten Directions Cosmos before being violently pulled back. The entire process was completed in an instant. What surprised Ding Yi was that after Ye Yun retracted his divine sense, a ball of gray phantom appeared before them.
"Your Majesty, what is this?" Ding Yi felt a palpitation of fear from the gray phantom. Although it appeared motionless, she clearly sensed that this gray mass was a living entity.
"Hey, stop playing dead. My wife is asking you something," Ye Yun said, carrying Ding Yi as he walked over and kicked the gray phantom.
"Ouch, Sir, please be gentle, please be gentle! This old Daoist can't withstand your torment!" The gray phantom, like a ball of rubber, shifted and transformed into an old man with a white beard, dressed in a gray robe.
"Reporting to the Mistress, this old Daoist is the consciousness of heaven and earth born from the countless eons of evolution in this Ten Directions Cosmos. You may call me Old Daoist Heaven, Mistress." The gray-robed old man, seeing Ye Yun's impatient expression, quickly explained to Ding Yi. He even took two steps closer to Ding Yi, as if feeling safer further away from Ye Yun.
"Consciousness of heaven and earth? Then aren't you the ruler of this world, the Heavenly Dao?" Ding Yi's entire being became dazed upon hearing the old man's words.
"Before the Mistress, this old Daoist's cultivation is nothing worth mentioning." Heavenly Dao secretly glanced at Ye Yun standing beside him, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Indeed, he had been the absolute ruler of the Ten Directions Cosmos in the past, but now he was no longer. In front of Ye Yun, he could at most be considered a main dish.
"I say, old Daoist, I've already passed that so-called Imperial Tribulation. Why aren't you letting me ascend to the Upper Realm?"
Ye Yun, ignoring the old man's fear of him, handed Ye Ting to Ding Yi, then put his arm around the old Daoist's shoulder, acting as warmly as a long-lost brother.
"This, Your Excellency, it's not that this old Daoist doesn't want you to ascend to the Upper Realm. With your current strength, you can go whenever you wish." The old Daoist shivered upon hearing this, while his heart could not help but grumble.
I wish you would ascend to the Upper Realm quickly so I wouldn't have to live in fear every day and continue being the Heavenly Dao of the Ten Directions Heaven. However, I also don't dare to urge him to ascend quickly. Who knows if this fellow will suddenly decide to eliminate me, the Heavenly Dao who can threaten his family?
Thinking about how he, the dignified Heavenly Dao of the Ten Directions Cosmos, was captured like a fish, he felt incredibly wronged.
"If I want to go, I can go? Would you, an old fellow, be so kind? It's not that after I go to the Upper Realm, I won't be able to return, and then you can do as you please with my Empire, is that it?" Ye Yun looked at the old Daoist with suspicion. This old fellow shouldn't be like this. Logically, he should be the one most eager for me to leave the Ten Directions Cosmos.
"Your Excellency, with your current strength, even if you ascend to the Upper Realm, returning would only be a thought away. The barrier between our Ten Directions Cosmos and the Thirty-Three Outer Heavens is constructed by the Dao of Space-Time and the Five Elements Dao." The old Daoist smiled bitterly upon hearing Ye Yun's words.
Damn it, I shouldn't have created a game of ascension just to be lazy. Look, it's only been in beta for less than thirty years, and Ye Yun, a major bug, has appeared, and a bug carrying a virus at that.
"If I want to go, I go, if I want to return, I return? And the barrier just happens to be a combination of the Five Elements Dao and the Dao of Space-Time? Is it really that coincidental? It's just that my current two Daos have only just reached great accomplishment. Are you sure I can break this barrier?"
Ye Yun was equally bewildered. This isn't my establishment, I can come and go as I please?
"Your Excellency, be confident, you must believe in your own strength." The old Daoist's voice was as humble as it could be.