The swamp was dotted with ancient trees, sparse yet soaring into the clouds, casting wide swaths of shade across the damp, yin-laden earth.

A lotus dais drifted with shimmering radiance — pure white as jade, translucent and resplendent. The woman seated upon it wore flawless white robes, her dark hair tumbling like clouds as she recited Buddhist sutras, her bearing otherworldly and transcendent.

The Old Blind Man stood beside the lotus dais, waving vigorously in their direction. His gravelly voice carried with surprising force, and everyone on their side heard him clearly — yet they all hesitated, none moving.

Duan De slanted a sideways glance at him and muttered, “What’s this old codger’s story? One look and he screams career swindler — nothing respectable about him.”

“Can he really be worse than you? He’s the one who sold the Immortal Burial Map in the first place,” Ye Fan said quietly. In his estimation, the Old Blind Man was actually somewhat more honest than Duan De.

Dongfang Ye was taken aback. “He sold the Immortal Burial Map?”

“Friends — shall we proceed together? More hands make lighter work, and we can split the ancient scripture evenly. As for the sacred weapons, each person claims what fate allows.” The Old Blind Man waved them over, beckoning the three of them forward.

In the end, Ye Fan, Dongfang Ye, and Duan De walked ahead together to join the pair. But the moment they drew near, they were struck with shock.

They had already noticed strange insects circling the area, but nothing could have prepared them for just how terrifying these creatures were. Each insect looked as though it wore golden armor, every one the length of a finger — and they could gnaw through divine power.

The young woman had already refined and absorbed several dozen of the insects, yet thirty still remained, having devoured a great swath of her Buddhist radiance. The luminous barrier surrounding the Old Blind Man had likewise been chewed full of pits and holes.

“What kind of insects are these?” The barbarian was thunderstruck. Even living his whole life in the primal wilderness, he had never seen anything like them.

“This… could these possibly be the divine worms the old tales speak of?” Duan De blanched, stumbling back several large steps.

“Indeed — these are God-Slaying Worms. Their bloodline is impure, though, so they’re not as terrifying as the legends describe.” The Old Blind Man waved the group over, urging them to help refine and absorb the insects.

God-Slaying Worms — said to be capable of devouring even deities themselves. Almost nothing could stop them; they could chew through anything and consume anything.

“These are legendary creatures of world-shaking power — their value is no less than an ancient scripture. Cultivate them for a few thousand years, and you might actually rear a true God-Slaying Worm.” The Old Blind Man coaxed the group to act, encouraging them to catch a few and tame them.

“You old stick, you’ve got no shame at all. Worms like these will devour you in return unless you raise them from the egg — there’s no good ending otherwise.” Duan De ground his teeth.

“Old scoundrel!” Dongfang Ye, upon hearing this, looked like he wanted to give the man a thrashing.

For the first time, Ye Fan felt that this old swindler was even more of a rogue than Duan De — another thoroughly deserving target of a beating, the kind of wretch that even dogs would bite and geese would peck.

“What I mean is — hurry up and help us refine these divine worms, and then we can look for the nest together.” The Old Blind Man rolled his eyes, the picture of innocence.

Clang!

The barbarian brought his staff crashing down onto one of the God-Slaying Worms. The blow failed to shatter it, producing instead a metallic ring that made clear just how hard these creatures were.

The insects were each the size of a thumb, their bodies covered in fine golden scales, shaped like miniature flood dragons — save for the absence of horns.

“These things can’t be broken by force — they can only be refined with cultivation energy. Why else would they be called God-Slaying Worms?” the old swindler reminded them.

These divine worms — their ancestral bloodline had grown thin, nearly extinct. In their current primeval state, unawakened and without spiritual awareness, they still possessed this level of power. That alone spoke to how terrifying they truly were.

“If a few ancestral worms were to be born…” Duan De’s eyes lit up, his hands rubbing together without pause, barely containing his excitement.

If one could actually cultivate true God-Slaying Worms, one could walk unchallenged through heaven and earth. A pity that it remained only a dream — no one had ever succeeded.

Legend had it that in the ancient era, only one sage had managed to raise a handful of half-divine worms, using them alongside himself to kill and dissolve an awakened primordial royal city.

“I don’t believe you’re that hard!” The barbarian’s stubborn streak kicked in. He flung aside his wolf-fang cudgel, reached out with one hand, caught a golden worm between his fingers, and began grinding it with force.

“Don’t, boy — stop that!” The old swindler jumped in alarm, shouting at him to let it go.

“Even the flesh of a great power can be gnawed through — stop fooling around.” Duan De was also startled.

Crunch, crunch… The barbarian applied force, the golden divine worm crackling between his fingers, the sound setting teeth on edge.

Crack!

In the end, he crushed the God-Slaying Worm bare-handed. Golden light scattered and blood sprayed out, causing the Old Blind Man’s eyes to roll back in his head.

“You freak,” Duan De muttered.

The old swindler said, “Hurry up and help us refine the worms — we have no time to waste here. Even if we can’t find the ancient scripture, locating the God-Slaying Worm nest alone would be a worthy haul.”

Duan De stepped in and began helping to refine the insects. Dongfang Ye simply used his bare hands to crush them. It was a laborious process for everyone, but they made slow, steady progress.

Ye Fan also caught one, and with a muffled crack within his sleeve, broke it apart. A few of them still caught a glimpse, and every single one of them stared at him as if they had seen a ghost.

“Ah… I was just testing it.”

“Fancy a spar sometime?” The barbarian’s eyes blazed with fierce intensity. With his unparalleled physique, he had long been unable to find a worthy opponent.

“I only shoot arrows. You stand there as a target — I can absolutely guarantee that part.” Ye Fan smiled.

Dongfang Ye: “…”

In the end, all several dozen God-Slaying Worms were eliminated. They searched the swamp carefully but found no trace of a nest anywhere.

“Most likely it’s inside the Immortal Burial Grounds. I have a feeling — and it’s not a good one — that a pureblooded ancestral worm may actually have been born there. Something like that could gnaw a saint’s bones to dust.” Duan De muttered.

“I observe a heavy yin presence about you, suggesting you frequent burial grounds. Is that so?” the old swindler asked, rolling his eyes.

“Old stick, you talk too much!” Duan De had not the slightest intention of showing his elder any respect.

“May the Buddha have mercy — many thanks to you all, benefactors, for your assistance.” From the translucent, radiant lotus dais, the white-robed woman smiled softly and spoke.

She carried an air of one who had transcended the three realms — like a deity plucking a flower and smiling, seemingly untethered from this mortal world, ethereal yet vivid.

At her brow was a golden lotus blossom, gleaming brilliantly against her skin, which was as flawless as mutton-fat jade. Slender and graceful, with dark hair like flowing clouds, she possessed a beauty that was pure and striking.

“You are ‘Jue Youqing,’ from the Western Desert?” Dongfang Ye asked.

Jue Youqing — a strange name, yet within Western Desert Buddhism it carried profound significance. Throughout history, very few had dared to take such a name.

It was another name for a bodhisattva, embodying both self-awakening and the awakening of others — one who has attained enlightenment and takes as their calling the enlightenment of all sentient beings, possessed of feeling yet awakened.

Long rumored among the people, Jue Youqing was said to be destined to achieve the Dao and become a bodhisattva — a rarity in the Western Desert since antiquity, one of the closest to Buddhahood, destined for a great path.

Jue Youqing withdrew her lotus dais and stood amid the swamp. Her white robes stirred in the air, her body radiant and clear as seven-colored glass, emanating Buddhist light — dreamlike, transcendent.

She offered no superfluous words, maintaining a Buddha-nature — serene and tranquil — giving a small nod and smile to the group before saying nothing more.

“Ahh—”

A scream rang out in the distance. The fish-dragon-crocodile, two hundred zhang in length, prowled the swamp like a phantom, having already slain dozens of powerful fighters — more fearsome than even the mightiest of peak saint-lords.

Rivet!

Some ten-odd li away, the hundred-zhang toad bellowed with force enough to shake mountains and rivers, swallowing over a hundred powerful cultivators in one go — a scene even more gruesome, its reverberations making the entire swamp tremble.

“This won’t do,” Ye Fan said with a furrowed brow. “Two fierce spirits are guarding this place — there’s no way around them.”

“Relax — we just wait here. When the sky falls, let the tall ones hold it up.” The old swindler was perfectly at ease, explaining that this particular spot allowed one to avoid the two primordial beasts — it was safe.

Boom!

Mud erupted skyward, a towering column of it, as an emperor-lord and a peak great power joined forces against the fish-dragon-crocodile. A massive cauldron descended from the heavens to crush it down.

Roooar—

The fish-dragon-crocodile bellowed, the clouds in the sky scattered by its cry. With its two-hundred-zhang body, it lunged forward with savage force and sent the cauldron flying, smashing it into a distant mountain range.

Boom!

Smoke and dust surged to the skies, rocks tore through the air, and seven or eight peaks of that mountain range were demolished. The cauldron crashed to earth.

“Vile beast!”

A great seal descended from the heavens, pressing downward, transforming into a peak of jade-green, lush with trees and plants, shimmering waterfalls cascading down its sides, birds and beasts alive with movement — magnificent and full of grandeur.

Thud!

The jade-green seal transformed into a great mountain, pressing heavily onto the fish-dragon-crocodile’s body. The entire swamp sank downward — yet then a ferocious, murderous aura erupted toward the sky.

Bang!

The fish-dragon-crocodile took the great seal head-on, sending it hurtling away as well, cleaving through a distant mountain range and leaving behind a wasteland.

“This ancient primordial fish-dragon-crocodile is terrifying!”

Ye Fan and the others were astonished. Even a combined assault from an emperor-lord and a great power could not suppress it. Before long, a saint-lord came flying over, bringing out a dragon-serpent shear to help in the effort.

Clang, clang…

Sparks flew, mud surged in waves, as three peak figures battled the fish-dragon-crocodile in a violent, all-consuming clash.

On the other side, three figures of supreme sect-master caliber were fighting together, working to suppress the toad. It too was formidable — nine golden lines ran down its back, and it launched nine divine arrows, nearly piercing one of the sect-masters to their death.

“This Immortal Burial Ground is truly terrifying — saint-lord-class primordial beast kings guard all four sides. And this swamp alone has produced two primordial variants of ancient beasts. Who knows what awaits inside.”

“Now is our chance — let’s move!” The old swindler gestured to the group and charged toward the sky-reaching ground first.

In this place, only peak great powers could fly. All others were reduced to traveling on foot.

This time, they passed through without incident, encountering no strange beasts. They arrived directly at the sky-reaching grounds — vast, endless expanses of immortal cliffs, thick with purple mist and towering grandeur.

Here, vegetation was sparse, yet life was far from absent. Every plant that grew — whether orchid, dragon grass, or rare tree — was extraordinary without exception. Not a single common species could be found.

On the cliff faces, ten-thousand-year spiritual medicines bloomed, drifting out their faint fragrance. Before ancient caves, divine vines coiled and wound, flowers like crystal, some bearing rare fruits.

Quite a few cultivators had already rushed in, searching everywhere for ancient emperor scriptures. This place, steeped in swirling purple mist, carried a profound and mysterious resonance of the Dao — though that resonance was already being shattered by the many who had arrived.

“Ahhh—”

Fights had broken out among human cultivators. Someone had discovered a cave dwelling, and a mob surged inside, breaking into open battle. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen lay dead.

“See that? Who knows how many will die today. And that’s just over a sword technique. If a true ancient emperor scripture were to emerge, even peerless emperor-lords would fight to the death over it.” The Old Blind Man spoke up.

“Have you noticed anything?” Ye Fan nudged Duan De. This man had spent decades raiding underground ancient tombs — he must see this place differently.

The fat Duan De was composed, hands clasped behind his back, pacing steadily among the immortal cliffs, measuring, carefully calculating and deducing.

After a long while, he let out a sigh. “This place is too vast — endless cliffs, overflowing with spiritual auspiciousness. To deduce it all one by one, I’d need at least half a year.”

“Let me take a look at the broader landscape,” Ye Fan murmured. Using his Source Heaven Divine Art, he observed the entire Immortal Burial Ground from a comprehensive vantage, his divine eyes shooting beams of light as he swept his gaze across all eight directions.

Only a moment passed before his heart lurched. This place was strange beyond measure — as though an immortal lay on their side, resting here in slumber, unnervingly peculiar.

Ye Fan carved his findings into the ground, marking out the general lay of the land, the spots where spiritual auspiciousness was most concentrated, and highlighting several certain-death dragon-vein formations.

“Not bad — you’ve observed the lay of the land to this degree. If we worked together, there’s no ancient tomb in the world we couldn’t enter. Even an ancient emperor’s place of passing would be worth a try.” Duan De’s eyes gleamed with a crystalline light.

Still, the viable locations were many, and they couldn’t immediately make a decision.

“Let me cast a divination.” The Old Blind Man grabbed several dozen ancient tortoise shells, muttered an incantation, and tossed them to the ground.

“What — a nine-fold absolute ground?! Certain death, every single one!” The Old Blind Man stared at the divination pattern on the ground, his body giving a shudder.

“What does that mean?” The barbarian asked.

“The divination shows this place absolutely extinguishes heaven, absolutely extinguishes earth, absolutely extinguishes man, absolutely extinguishes ghosts, absolutely extinguishes immortals… Put simply — whatever enters must be annihilated.” The Old Blind Man’s voice was unsteady.

“Wasn’t this supposed to be an ancient emperor’s place of passing? How has it become a nine-fold absolute ground?” Duan De was both doubtful and confused.

Ye Fan stood up and looked again with the Source Heaven Divine Art — and the more he looked, the more unsettled he became. The immortal cliffs truly did resemble an immortal lying on their side, sprawled across this ground.

But as he stared carefully, a chill took hold of his heart: this immortal figure was not sleeping. It looked more as though they had been imprisoned here — buried in this place against their will.

“This place truly lives up to the name Immortal Burial Ground…” he murmured. He sketched the image onto the earth, and the others who saw it were all struck with shock.

The Old Blind Man gathered up his dozens of tortoise shells, shook them, and cast a second divination. With a clatter, they scattered across the ground — this time landing directly over the image of the immortal burial that Ye Fan had drawn.

“There are immortal treasures here — very likely an ancient emperor’s sacred weapon, perhaps even remains. But it is a nine-fold absolute ground.” The Old Blind Man deduced the divination once more.

“Can you actually be trusted?” Dongfang Ye was deeply suspicious of this old stick, feeling that nothing about him was upright.

The Old Blind Man said, “There’s no mistake — this is absolutely a forbidden ground where immortals were buried. And yet there is one thread of hope: if you can obtain an ancient emperor’s sacred weapon or an ancient scripture, most likely a path of survival will manifest itself.”

“Ahh—” Screams rang out from the distance, one after another.

Vast stretches of cliff, one after another, purple mist surging, clouds and rosy haze steaming up like a vision — no telling how many cultivators had entered. Fights broke out over ten-thousand-year spiritual medicines. People died in combat over a cave dwelling with carved inscriptions.

And this was only the beginning — already sixty or seventy people had lost their lives, their blood staining the cliff walls.

“Move — the divination shows the one thread of hope lies in this direction. We go forward and find the immortal treasure!” The Old Blind Man spoke up, pointing out a bearing.

Though their hearts were tight, not one of them turned back. They chose to advance. Barely past several rocky cliffs, they began to see fresh bloodstains and corpses.

In this direction, many people were moving about — among them no shortage of peak figures — though no one had launched a full killing spree yet.

“This is bad!” In that instant, every hair on Duan De’s body stood on end. He fixed his gaze on the corner of the cliff face ahead and said, “Did you all just see that?”

“It seemed like a person flashed past and vanished.” Dongfang Ye also stared at the spot.

“That was no person. I never imagined this kind of thing actually existed in the world. I’ve spent over twenty years moving through all manner of underground ancient tombs, and I have never encountered it before — and yet today, here, I’ve run right into it.” Duan De’s face had gone pale.