Volume One: The Hidden Dragon Emerges

Chapter One: The Ancient Divine Tomb

　　Traversing the vastness of the universe, refining the mysteries of heaven and earth... Even after escaping the cycle of reincarnation, it is still hard to avoid the upheaval of the world...

　　The Divine and Demonic Cemetery is located in the central region of the Tianyuan Continent. Aside from being the resting place of the strongest humans throughout history and the top cultivators among other races, every other grave here holds an ancient god or demon. This is a land of eternal rest for gods and demons.

　　The cemetery is lush with green grass and fragrant flowers. If not for the rows upon rows of tombstones, it could easily be mistaken for a garden. Surrounding the cemetery are towering snow maple trees, unique to the Divine and Demonic Cemetery, said to be formed from the spiritual energy of departed gods and demons.

　　The snow maple trees’ emerald leaves sway gently in the breeze, as if reminiscing about past glories. Their pure white petals drift through the air like snowflakes—these are the tears of the gods, telling tales of bygone sorrows.

　　The cemetery presents a stark contrast between day and night.

　　By day, it is shrouded in immortal aura, with holy radiance bathing every inch of the land. One can see all manner of deities, illusions conjured from the indestructible divine consciousness of ancient gods and demons. Western angels may be seen dancing, Eastern fairies singing—the entire cemetery is enveloped in a sacred atmosphere.

　　If daytime is a paradise for gods, then nighttime is a pure land for demons.

　　As the sun sets and night falls, dark demonic energy surges from the graves, dimming the stars and moon, casting a pall over heaven and earth. At this time, one can witness the phantoms of legendary evil gods and the shadowy forms of demons rampaging through the cemetery, and hear the chilling, hair-raising wails of ancient evil spirits.

　　This sacred yet terrifying Divine and Demonic Cemetery is a holy ground worshipped by both Eastern and Western cultivators of the Tianyuan Continent. During the day, people often come to pay their respects, and even at night, some special cultivators come to mourn, such as: corpse herders from the East, necromancers from the West...

　　Only at sunset does the cemetery become truly peaceful, the entire graveyard falling silent, not a sound to be heard.

　　It was another sunset, the time when divine and demonic phenomena alternate. The afterglow of the setting sun cast a solemn and somewhat eerie hue over the Divine and Demonic Cemetery.

　　Every divine and demonic tomb had been carefully tended, each grave adorned with fresh flowers.

　　Beside the towering tombs of gods and demons stood a low, humble mound. This small grave was utterly unremarkable—no tombstone, no flowers, just a simple earthen mound almost level with the ground. With the passage of time and the erosion of wind and rain, this nameless grave had long been forgotten in a corner.

　　In the evening glow, the tombs of gods and demons appeared even more imposing, while the nameless grave seemed all the more insignificant. Yet at this very moment, something strange happened to the small mound: it began to crack, and clumps of earth started to tumble down from its top.

　　A pale hand reached out from the grave, followed by another. Both hands gripped the edge of the mound, and a young man with a bewildered expression slowly crawled out. His long, tangled hair was matted with dirt, his tattered clothes clung tightly to his body. Aside from his deathly pale face, he looked utterly ordinary—the kind of person who would never stand out in a crowd.

　　“What is this place? How did I end up here?” the young man muttered to himself. Staring at the rows of graves before him, his confusion only deepened.

　　Suddenly, he was deeply drawn to the inscription on a nearby tombstone. If anyone had seen the young man intently studying the ancient script on that stone, they would have been shocked, for even the most senior scholars of the Ancient Culture Research Alliance could only shake their heads in frustration at such writing.

　　The instant he finished reading the inscription, the young man’s expression changed dramatically. He cried out, “The tomb of the Eastern Martial God David Brooks—is this... is this real? Is this truly the legendary figure David Brooks who once dominated the Three Realms and Six Paths, shaking the world? Could it be... even gods cannot escape death?”

　　Another towering divine tomb nearby left him equally stunned. “The tomb of the Western God of War Caesar—Caesar? Could it be the Western Lord God clad in golden armor, wielding the holy golden sword?”

　　As if struck by a thought, he looked around. One after another, the grand tombs of gods and demons stood out in the sunset.

　　“The tomb of the Eastern Immortal Cultivator Grace Brooks, the tomb of the Western Goddess of Wisdom Emily Brooks, the tomb of the Eastern Martial Immortal Michael Thompson, the tomb of the Eastern Demon Cultivator John Brooks, the tomb of the Western Demon King Lucifer...”

　　“Heavens! What has happened to this world? Have all the gods of old truly perished, all... all buried here?” The young man’s face turned ashen, disbelief written all over it.

　　“But... how could the gods of the Eastern Immortal Fantasy Continent and the Western Magical Continent... be buried together?”

　　Suddenly, the young man noticed the small mound beneath his feet. He froze, cold sweat soaking his tattered clothes, his whole body chilled to the bone.

　　“I... I crawled out... from a grave...” His eyes were vacant, his mind blank, as if his soul had left his body. He collapsed weakly to the ground.

　　“I am Ethan Brooks. I have... died. But... I have come back to life...”