Things had reached this point — there was no other choice.

Though the gains were astonishing, a trace of unease lingered in Ye Fan’s heart, as if he could already see the Chaos-Opening Great Sage standing tall upon this ancient star, looking down upon all living beings, contending with heaven itself for eight hundred years of life.

“Who can say what the future holds? Eight hundred years is a long way off — perhaps the Chaos-Opening Great Sage will achieve cross-legged meditation death long before then, and by that time you might have become a Great Accomplishment Sacred Body yourself.” the Black Sovereign said, not the least bit worried.

The joy of their bountiful harvest overwhelmed their concerns. Ye Fan, Dongfang Ye, Li Tian and the others were all filled with excitement, staring at this extraordinary stone — a divine treasure for cultivating heaven-sent geniuses.

This stone stood over a foot tall, its outer shell a yellowish-brown color, already taking rough human shape, its chest cut open with a small hole, five-colored liquid seeping out, fragrance permeating the air.

The birth of a Sacred Spirit was profoundly mysterious, a product born of the intermingling of heaven and earth — the liquid itself was the very essence of the Dao, condensing the laws of heaven and earth. Once it solidified into stone, it formed the inner skeleton of a stone figure.

It required several million years of nurturing by heaven and earth before it would emerge into the world, because it was born from the interaction of the great Dao itself — thus the moment it emerged, it would stir up storms of change, capable of standing at the very pinnacle of the extreme Dao, comparable even to the ancient Great Emperors.

This was a Sacred Spirit in its most primordial form — one could say it was the harmonious union of heaven and earth. The moment it had just transformed into an embryonic state, it had been discovered by someone, its Dao essence cut out, halting its development right there.

“One drop of spiritual liquid dropped into a bucket of water is enough to cleanse a young child’s marrow and refine their bones once — once a month is sufficient.” an elderly man nearby said.

Everyone’s eyes turned green with envy — what a heaven-defying treasure this was. If any clan obtained something like this, what kind of extraordinary talents could they cultivate in the future?

Three to five children could never use it all up — it could sustain two or three generations. If the children’s own innate talent was sufficiently strong, and combined with this kind of nurturing, what kind of glorious future awaited them — truly enough to inspire envy.

Duan De rubbed his hands together, deeply excited, then equally frustrated. Why was he already so “sturdily built”? He said shamelessly: “Actually, I feel my bones and internal organs are still rather immature — receiving several baptisms of the Sacred Spirit liquid would pose absolutely no problem.”

“Indeed, this Sovereign also feels quite young — like a freshly blooming flower, like a sprout just breaking through the soil, in need of divine medicine’s nourishment.” The Great Black Dog too displayed shameless audacity.

Ye Fan, the Monkey, Li Heishui and the others looked at them with united disdain — one was some unknown Daoist ghost who had crawled out of an ancient tomb, the other was a dog who had once followed the ancient Great Emperor himself, and both had the nerve to pretend to be young and innocent.

They sealed away the Nine-Aperture Spirit-Connecting Divine Liquid and quickly departed — this place was no longer safe to linger in, who knew how many pairs of eyes were watching them. Had it not been for the forbidding formation preventing conflict, backed by the supreme primeval Killing Formation’s deterrent power, looting would surely have already broken out.

“Gentlemen, there is a teleportation formation platform at the center of the Heavenly Bazaar that can ensure everyone’s safe departure.” an elderly man kindly reminded them.

The formation platform was extremely ancient, densely covered with Dao patterns, capable of adjusting the sequence of its pattern arrays to alter one’s position and distance — its existence was specifically meant to prevent unfortunate incidents like ambush and interception.

In the end, they returned safely to the Village of Heaven. When Qi Luo learned they had successfully brought back the Nine-Aperture Spirit-Connecting Divine Liquid, he grew so excited he nearly wanted to enshrine them all as objects of worship.

Mist steamed atop the mountain peak. Little Sparrow, Tongtong, Gu Fei, and Gu Lin received their baptism that very day, their bones crackling and popping continuously, fragment after fragment of blurred laws being branded into their bodies.

“It hurts…”

The children wailed loudly, thrashing violently. Even Little Sparrow resisted fiercely, hurling her baby bottle directly at Qi Luo’s head, flailing with hands and feet. But they were all pressed down into four wooden buckets one by one, undergoing marrow cleansing and bone refinement — a kind of metamorphosis.

“Truly living in blessing without knowing it — this humble Daoist really wishes I could return to youth and cultivate all over again from the beginning,” Duan De said.

“I want to keep some of the Sacred Spirit liquid for myself.” the Great Black Dog remained fixated on the innate Sacred Body’s Dao embryo, wanting to cultivate a second Wushi.

From that day forward, Ye Fan began sitting in quiet meditation, beginning to consider how to counter Yuangu. After their encounter at the Heavenly Bazaar, he had sensed just how terrifying his opponent truly was — unfathomably deep.

Yuangu had inherited the ancient sovereign’s constitution — this bloodline power was without equal; one could say his physical body was no weaker than Ye Fan’s own, and now, having already completed his Dao Cut, he was a full realm above him, making him even more formidable.

The odds of victory were truly slim — this was the conclusion the Monkey and the others reached after their calculations, and they all urged him not to accept the challenge, suggesting he wait until after completing his own Dao Cut before engaging.

“The scriptures the Primordial Sovereign authored are profoundly obscure and difficult to comprehend. Once fully understood, one could pluck stars from the sky and seize the moon, shatter entire star domains — its divine power is vast and boundless.” the Monkey explained the various terrifying aspects of this particular lineage’s Dao method.

Ye Fan listened attentively, while Duan De and the Black Sovereign helped analyze the situation alongside him, citing various classic historical battles where the weak had overcome the strong.

“We haven’t even fought yet — why weaken our own morale beforehand? Even having completed his Dao Cut, he’s not necessarily invincible,” Ye Fan said.

Though he spoke this way, he still had to remain extraordinarily cautious, analyzing every possible unfavorable factor, carefully considering how to meet the challenge.

“You’ve learned several ancient scriptures — this is itself a hidden danger!” Upon learning what Ye Fan had studied, the Monkey immediately furrowed his brow.

Though he carried six scriptures within him, they were fundamentally disconnected, like a true dragon that had been severed into several pieces — unable to unleash the invincible momentum of a single dragon soaring to heaven!

Ye Fan smiled bitterly. By now he had already become aware of this problem — the strongest technique in any single esoteric realm was useless; what mattered was the overall balance, and the closer he drew to the edge of the Dao Cut, the more deeply he understood this.

The Dao Scripture, the West Emperor Scripture, and others coexisted within him. Though the various esoteric realms held some connection to one another, they were not truly harmoniously unified, lacking a certain divine rhythm of flowing movement.

“Unless you can merge these various ancient scriptures into one, cultivate your own method, and forge your own Dao, then possessing many scriptures within you is no better than thoroughly mastering just one.” Duan De said.

This was the truth, but Ye Fan had no way around it. The scriptures he had obtained back then were all fragmentary, pieced together through his own scattered efforts. He had not been born into a Sacred Land or a Divine Dynasty, and thus had never had the chance to possess a complete, unbroken scripture.

“Back then, being the strongest in every individual esoteric realm brought me such joy — only now, having achieved genuine cultivation, do I discover the truth, and it has become a real problem.” Ye Fan pondered this, though he did not feel panic — to achieve the Dao, one absolutely had to forge one’s own method.

The Great Black Dog looked embarrassed, saying: “Back then, this Sovereign also noticed the problem, but felt that bold expansion was the better path. If you gather all the scriptures into yourself and eventually achieve sublimation, perhaps you might obtain the strongest scripture of all.”

“The ancient scriptures left behind by the Primordial Sovereign are truly terrifying — especially the final forbidden chapter, a supreme, wondrous method that remains unknown to this day, because everyone who has ever seen it has died,” the Monkey said.

Before an ancient Great Emperor achieved cross-legged meditation death, he would complete the scriptures he had authored during his lifetime. This so-called “completion” meant adding a final forbidden chapter — the very core and essence of their Dao.

Such a chapter, whenever it emerged into the world, would astonish gods and make immortals weep. At the very instant the scripture was finally completed, all manner of calamities would descend, bizarre phenomena would erupt, utterly demonic and inexplicable.

Every person who achieved the Dao experienced this the same way — before their cross-legged meditation death, mournful winds would howl across heaven and earth, great calamities would descend upon the world, and at the final critical moment, they would leave behind their complete scripture. Countless legends surrounded this phenomenon.

Ye Fan sighed inwardly. To this day, he had never seen the final forbidden immortal text of any ancient scripture — this was one of his greatest regrets.

Ji Ziyue nodded as well, saying: “My elder brother only ever learned a single forbidden technique in the past, and never had the opportunity to display it. Now that he’s about to become clan head, he’ll finally have the chance to fully observe the final page of the forbidden text.”

Yuangu, given his uniquely special status, had surely already observed the entirety of the Primordial Sovereign’s ancient scripture — presumably the final page of divine text was already thoroughly memorized by heart.

“This kind of forbidden text is extremely terrifying, very difficult to contend with. In the past, anyone who fought against it died. The one fortunate thing is that you possess the Nine Mysteries — otherwise you truly would have no way to compete.” the Monkey said.

“Having completed the Third Immortal Cut, Yuangu would already understand part of the essential meaning of the final page’s scripture — this really is troublesome,” the Black Sovereign said.

“I was thinking of teaching you a technique my father created, but you wouldn’t have enough time to master it in this short period. The final forbidden text is profoundly obscure and difficult to comprehend,” the Monkey said.

Ye Fan expressed his gratitude, saying he appreciated the kind intention but declined. With less than half a month remaining, where would he find time to learn the essential core of an entire ancient scripture — and besides, that was the Dao of the Battle-Winning clan; it wouldn’t be right for him to truly go observe it.

“I’ll go beg my elder brother to have him pass on the final immortal text to you.” When no one else was around, Ji Ziyue said quietly, deeply worried, feeling that defeating Yuangu was simply too difficult.

“There’s no need for that. I will win this battle and return alive.” Ye Fan quickly stopped her — he did not want Ji Ziyue to become a criminal against her own clan.

After everyone else had left, and only Ye Fan remained alone, quietly contemplating how to defeat his opponent, the Great Black Dog turned back again.

“Fine then. This Sovereign will teach you a technique — but you must not mention its origin to anyone.”

Ye Fan was stunned, turned around, then suddenly understood, and said: “Is it… Great Emperor Wushi’s mysterious technique?”

“Silence!” The Black Sovereign acted like a thief, standing atop the mountain peak, scanning the surrounding wilderness, fearful that someone might be eavesdropping.

The two characters “Wushi” weighed heavier than all eternity — countless people coveted his scriptures, yet from ancient times to the present, no one had ever obtained them. The whole world regretted this deeply; his power was beyond question!

Ye Fan suppressed the urge to give it a thorough beating, and waited for it to transmit the technique. In the past, he had pressed the Black Sovereign more than once, but this creature guarded its secrets tightly, always claiming it had never observed the scripture.

“This time, this Sovereign genuinely feels you’re facing great danger — even those two divine children broke out in cold sweat during their divination, unable to make heads or tails of anything. I have no choice but to save you this once. Of course, you must understand, I’m only doing this because I hope the innate Sacred Body’s Dao embryo will come into this world…” The Great Black Dog rambled on endlessly, its words growing more and more grating to Ye Fan’s ears as it went on.

“Smack”

Ye Fan slapped it hard on the back of the head, saying: “Stop rambling and hurry up and transmit the technique.”

“Woof, goddammit!” The transmission failed, and a battle between man and dog erupted, startling the Silver Blood Twin Sovereigns on a distant peak into a state of nervous alarm.

“Go, Divine Child, go!” On another mountain peak, Little Sparrow, sucking on her pacifier, wobbled along, waving her small hand and shouting encouragement.

When everything finally settled down, the Black Sovereign transmitted its thoughts directly into Ye Fan’s mind, saying: “This Sovereign truly has never observed the Wushi Scripture, but I did witness him practicing certain Dao techniques, and I remember some of it.”

According to what the Great Black Dog said, those mysterious techniques were far too profound — even a Great Sage watching from the side would find it difficult to fully master them all, to have them branded completely into their heart.

Therefore, this technique would certainly have gaps in it; there was no hope of obtaining a flawless, peerless divine art. But it would undoubtedly be extraordinarily powerful, capable of helping him avoid a fatal calamity.

“I don’t need you to transmit the specific technique. Just show me the scene you witnessed that day, and let me comprehend it myself,” Ye Fan said.

“What do you mean by that? Do you think you’re stronger than this Sovereign? Do you really believe you can comprehend a flawless version of the Wushi mysterious technique?” The Black Sovereign’s expression turned displeased.

“I just want to try, that’s all. If it doesn’t work, you can guide me further afterward,” Ye Fan coaxed, promising that next time he would help it cut out a pile of divine materials at the Heavenly Bazaar.

The greedy Great Black Dog relented, and after some further haggling, finally shed its shameless demeanor, its expression turning solemn and grave, as if its very soul had been replaced by another.

“Watch closely!”

In this moment, its expression grew stern and reverent, divine light blooming from between its brows, bursting forth into a field of imprinted memory. Ancient recollections from a bygone era were unlocked, one awe-inspiring scene after another unfolding before them.

A terrifying aura flowed forth; a Great Emperor was reborn within the vision, a towering, majestic figure manifesting upon a Dao platform, trampling every strand of the great Dao’s patterns beneath his feet!