Long Chen found himself on a vast battlefield stretching beyond the horizon, where an unending horde of Silver Wing Heaven Devils surged from all directions. Each devil was cloaked in primal chaos qi, radiating a terrifyingly oppressive aura unlike anything Long Chen had ever encountered.

The one who had saved him was a slender woman wearing extremely ancient robes, surrounded by three streams of heaven vein dragon qi, marking her as a three-vein Heaven Saint. Yet, her power left Long Chen astonished.

Despite her cultivation base, she could drag Long Chen out of that encirclement of Silver Wing Heaven Devils. Wherever she went, those terrifying Silver Wing Heaven Devils collapsed.

Suddenly, a barrier appeared in front of them, and the woman stepped into it with Long Chen. Only then did Long Chen see that there was a group of young men and women inside. Though bloodied and exhausted, each of them bore such a strong aura that it defied anything he’d seen in Heaven Saints before.

Seeing Long Chen, the group stared in astonishment. The woman who had rescued him eyed him sharply, her voice carrying both disbelief and a hint of scolding. “Little brother, how did you end up here? With your weak cultivation, were you trying to get yourself killed?”

“I...” Long Chen found that he had no idea how to reply.

Suddenly, one of them cried out. “His aura...”

Instantly, several waves of divine sense swept over Long Chen. After that, all of them revealed expressions of absolute disbelief.

A white-robed man, who seemed to be the leader of this group, asked Long Chen cautiously, “Little brother, are you... not from this era?”

“Not from this era?” Long Chen echoed, bewildered.

But then, he noticed something strange—the spiritual qi here was incredibly dense, far richer than anything in the Heaven Essence World. The Heavenly Dao laws felt foreign yet deeply attuned to him. It was as if the very essence of heaven and earth was nourishing him, embracing him as its own.

This beautiful feeling was something he had never felt before. This was a completely different world.

He felt like someone who had moved from the hands of an evil stepmother to the warm arms of a mother. He was stunned, realizing he could see Grand Dao runes floating openly, primal chaos qi permeating the air, and laws forming like orderly chains to maintain this world.

When Long Chen looked at the young experts, he sensed the dense primal chaos qi in their bodies. In a sudden, chilling realization, Long Chen understood—he had somehow crossed into the primal chaos era.

“Little brother, are you really from a different spacetime?” asked the white-robed man, his voice quivering with excitement when he saw Long Chen’s expression.

The others were also extremely emotional, staring at him in disbelief as if he were a mythical monster.

The realization struck Long Chen like a bolt of lightning. During his fight with the Silver Wing Heaven Devils, he must have passed through a spatial gate, ending up in an entirely different era.

Long Chen had no idea how it occurred, yet somehow, he had arrived here alone—without the Earth Cauldron, Dragonbone Evilmoon, or even his primal chaos space. He wasn’t sure if he was truly here in flesh or if only his spirit had crossed over.

Seeing the hope in their eyes, Long Chen nodded. This confirmation made the group shout in excitement, and the woman who had saved him even shed a tear.

She exclaimed, “That’s great! That means our race isn’t defeated! We will survive!”

The despair that had weighed on them was washed away, and they immediately bombarded him with questions.

“Little brother, can you tell us what happened to the nine heavens and ten lands? And have you heard of the Heavenly River Esoteric Sect?”

Noticing the silver river emblem on their collars, Long Chen guessed that it was a mark of their sect. However, Long Chen truly had never heard of such a sect and couldn’t risk telling them it no longer existed. That would be too great of a blow to them.

Yet, he couldn’t lie either, so in the end, he thickened his face and said, “The nine heavens and ten lands of my era have nearly collapsed. Humanity’s habitable area has been reduced to a hundred domains and thousand prefectures...”

“Heavens, it’s that bad?!” one gasped.

“Don’t interrupt! Let this little brother speak,” urged another person.

Long Chen continued, “In my time, spiritual qi is sparse, and primal chaos qi is almost non-existent, slowing cultivation and weakening our powers. But even in these harsh conditions, the human race has been resilient, growing in the tiny cracks of our world. Human factions are rapidly proliferating, to the point of... having intense interactions with devil creatures.”

Long Chen found himself at a loss. How could he tell these warriors that, in his era, many humans had forgotten their hatred for the devils and had even started colluding with them? How hurt would these noble souls be?

Fortunately, these warriors didn’t seem to notice the hidden meaning in his answer. To them, any mention of interactions with devil creatures implied fierce battles, and they took his words as a sign of humanity’s continued resistance. Overjoyed, they shared relieved glances, unaware of the darker truth Long Chen withheld.

“As for the Heavenly River Esoteric Sect,” Long Chen added, “I haven’t heard of it, but I’ve just entered an unknown world in the Sovereign Emperor Heaven. According to what I know, ancient legacies still persist, and with my limited strength, I’ve yet to explore much. You are all dragons amongst men, so your descendants will surely be peerless heroes. I believe the Heavenly River Esoteric Sect has survived.”

Although they were a bit disappointed, they were still happy that the human race had survived this war.

Casting a grim look over the endless wave of Silver Wing Heaven Devils surrounding them, the white-robed man said, “Our barrier won’t hold much longer. Reinforcements won’t reach us in time, so it seems our fate is sealed here. But knowing that the human race has endured... we can die without regrets.”

These warriors of the Heavenly River Esoteric Sect were an elite force, and they had fought tirelessly against the devil creatures. Yet they’d been betrayed, left stranded in this deadly situation by traitors from within their own ranks.

Long Chen’s heart twisted in anguish at the revelation. So even in this ancient era, the scourge of betrayal ran deep, festering like a rot that spanned generations.

“Brother,” the white-robed man called, “you fell through a spatial gate. We must send you back before it’s too late.”

With a swift motion, the white-robed man raised his hand, and the others gripped their weapons.

BOOM!

But before they could act, a deafening explosion shattered the barrier. The Silver Wing Heaven Devils poured in, a relentless wave of claws, wings, and chaos bearing down on them.