In the previous second, the sky was clear with the sun shining brightly, but now it has turned into night.

Not even the moon can be seen, the entire sky resembling a bottomless abyss, a void.

Crack—

Crack—

A sound of something hard shattering came from the sky, echoing across the continent, resembling the clear sound of a mirror breaking.

At this moment, countless cultivators on this continent—whether powerful elites or ordinary mortals without any cultivation—lifted their heads in terror to gaze at the sky, while those without the right to cultivate, bewildered, prostrated themselves on the ground, thinking doomsday had arrived....

Those standing at the pinnacle of the continent's hierarchy, supreme great powers, all without exception, looked at the eternally dark sky with shock and fear in their pupils, and some ancient beings who had been slumbering for thousands of years opened their eyes at this moment....

...

In Peaceguard Country, which is just a very small empire on this continent.

At this moment, in Peaceguard Country, within Anbang Imperial City.

In an academy, an old man of ancient years gazed at the darkened sky, his cloudy eyes full of terror.

Standing behind the old man was a girl in a blue dress.

The girl's appearance was stunning, her hair elegantly pinned up with a crescent jade hairpin, adding a touch of royal purity to her aura. She stood there quietly like a golden ice lotus.

After a while, the old man turned around and rushed into a stone chamber, bringing out a wooden box.

The wooden box was wrapped in layers of talismans. After opening these talismans, the old man's trembling hands opened the wooden box and took out a cloth bag from it.

Inside the cloth bag, there was nothing but a yellowed parchment scroll.

From the scroll, he saw a line of words.

Suddenly thinking of something, he dashed out of the stone chamber and asked the girl in the blue dress standing under the locust tree in the courtyard, "Cheng Yang, what is your true name?"

Hearing this, the girl in the blue dress looked puzzled and slowly replied, "Master, I've always been called 'Wu Chengyang'."

.....

After speaking, the old man, holding the parchment scroll in his hands, paced back and forth, "No, no, where exactly went wrong."

After a while, the old man continued to ask, "You don't have any other names?"

Hearing this inexplicable question from her master, Wu Chengyang shook her head, "No."

"However, I do have a childhood name, known only to me and my father and mother." Wu Chengyang thought of something and added.

.....

"What is it?" The old man seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, his gaze urgent as he pressed on.

....

"Zhao Yang."

"Mother hoped I could bring sunshine to Peaceguard Country, so she named me Zhao Yang."

"But later, father was dissatisfied with this name and changed it to 'Cheng Yang' when I was one year old, hoping I wouldn't just bring sunshine, but become the sun of Peaceguard Country myself."

Due to this name change, father and mother had a big argument, so Cheng Yang never mentioned her renaming to anyone, not even to her master who taught her for ten years.

Hearing the name "Zhao Yang," the old man paused for a moment, then suddenly knelt to the ground, repeatedly kowtowing and started to laugh madly.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Heaven intends to destroy my Peaceguard Country, my Peaceguard Country has missed the fortune accumulated by generations, doomed... doomed."

"Your father is deeply sinful, deeply sinful!"

Witnessing her usually elegant and composed master behaving like this, Wu Chengyang was also taken aback.

Her master is the National Preceptor of Peaceguard Country, serving for four reigns, also ranked second in martial prowess in Peaceguard Country, the dean of Wu Guang Academy, the pillar of Peaceguard Country.

It's the first time she has seen him so out of control.

Her master is not only her tutor but was also her father's mentor, so even her father, the emperor, had to respectfully call him "Master."

Only he dared to scold the reigning emperor.

.....

Nanyuan stood up, his soul seeming emptied, disoriented and staggering, nearly falling.

Seeing this, Wu Chengyang rushed forward to help, but Nanyuan just waved her off, saying, "I'm fine."

"Little Yang, due to your father, you missed a tremendous opportunity, and because of your father, all the fortune accumulated by generations in Peaceguard Country has been destroyed in an instant."

Nanyuan spoke while sighing heavily.

"Master, why do you... say such things?"

"Is it because of my father's renaming?"

Wu Chengyang inquired.

For it was after her master heard of her father's renaming that he reacted so greatly.

Why would changing her name cause her to miss an opportunity and bring ruin to Peaceguard Country?

"This is only one part of it."

"Heaven ordained a causality, had everything developed normally, you would have acquired an opportunity, and Peaceguard Country would transform, even emerging as a powerful empire on the continent."

"But now, everything is gone, and furthermore, it's very likely Peaceguard Country will be destroyed!"

Hearing these words from her master, Wu Chengyang's eyes widened, somewhat scared.

"Your father forgot the teachings of the late emperor...."

"The late emperor left teachings, instructing your father to govern by reason, to treat meritorious officials kindly."

"But in these years, has your father done few such beastly acts? The Lin Family is an example; because of rumors, fearing impeachment, fearing a merit overshadowing the sovereign, they annihilated the meritorious officials who contributed greatly to the empire."

"The opportunity originally belonging to you, Peaceguard Country's fortune, has been destroyed by your father's every deed."

Nanyuan grew angrier as he spoke.

...

"Master, what exactly was the opportunity belonging to me, to Peaceguard Country?"

The girl inquired.

"I don't know."

"But from your former name, we can glimpse a trace of the truth."

"Your mother was right; by naming you Zhao Yang, you would have brought a brilliant sun to Peaceguard Country."

"And your father was wrong; it would be difficult for you to become Peaceguard Country's sun, but you could have summoned the sun."

"Thus... your opportunity might be a person, an object, or an event."

"That would have brought you fortune."

Nanyuan, upon witnessing the arrival of 'Eternal Night' today, recalled the ancient teachings left to him by his own master.

"When the night of Peaceguard descends, summon Zhao Yang to dispel the darkness."

Now 'the Night of Peaceguard' has appeared, but...Zhao Yang no longer exists, meaning... the opportunity for Peaceguard Country is very likely lost.

At this moment, Nanyuan recalled something else and asked Wu Chengyang, "Did your parents arrange for you a marriage alliance?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Chengyang shook her head.

"No."

Because the matter of a betrothal at a young age was decided during idle chats at a banquet by the head of the Lin Family and the emperor and empress of Peaceguard. No one else knew.

Later....because of the 'Lin Family Incident' that arose, the emperor was all the more unlikely to mention this matter.

.....

"However, my mother once mentioned something to me...."

Wu Chengyang recalled something and slowly spoke.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.