This highland had the landform of a dragon leaping to the heavens, the momentum of an immortal ascending in flight, and the cry of a phoenix — a configuration rarely seen in all of history!
Mountain range after mountain range converged here, their ridgelines like the backs of dragons, as if they might at any moment leap up and soar into the nine heavens above. Wondrous peaks rose side by side as if in flight toward immortality, clouds and rosy clouds swirling in magnificent splendor. Ancient pines and green cypresses, strange boulders standing upright, silver waterfalls cascading down one after another, producing sounds like the cry of a phoenix.
If one told people that this vast and magnificent terrain was a great tomb, no one would believe it — not even Ye Fan, who continued to shake his head.
“Woof—”
On the other side of the Yao Guang Sacred Ground, a few figures were also wandering about, observing the terrain here. A black dog, sturdy as a great bull, hung out his tongue and drooled, staring fixedly inside without stopping.
There was also a dragon horse, hooves stamping and flames blazing, his head held high, circling around the Yao Guang Sacred Ground with a rebellious and unruly air.
And there was a youth, bright and sunny in appearance, following along behind them and taking in the view inside the mountain gate.
It was none other than Black Emperor, Long Ma, and Ye Tong — they had come scouting, with their eyes fixed on this “great tomb” within the Yao Guang Sacred Ground.
“Where is that tomb-raider? Didn’t he predict that within a few months at the earliest, and half a year at the most, what is inside the Emperor’s tomb would break out? We need to make our preparations.” Long Ma shook his mane.
They had come as a group, intending to rob the great tomb beneath the Yao Guang Sacred Ground — waiting for the unscrupulous Daoist Duan De. Truly audacious beyond measure.
“I hear Yao Guang Wang’s true body isn’t here — he left for the outer realm long ago. This time he has probably narrowly avoided a great disaster. Otherwise, if this place explodes, who knows what might happen.” Black Emperor said.
They also dared not get too close. After all, this was a sacred ground, and within the mountain lay ancient formation markings. Should they be activated, the result would be something close to a shattering of the sky and seas — even the Black Emperor would be in trouble.
“A million autumns building a road to immortality; stars extinguished and moon withered, heart sunk in sorrow; one sleep of ten thousand ages and the Emperor falls; the Celestial Court has crumbled — where now to roam?”
A desolate voice carried over, startling both Black Emperor and Long Ma into shuddering, and turning Ye Tong’s face white with shock. They all searched for the source of the sound.
An old man could be seen approaching, draped in a rain cape and wearing a wide-brimmed bamboo hat, his footsteps steady as he walked along the riverside — with an air of transcendence, as though he did not belong to this mortal world.
“Who is this person?” Long Ma asked, filled with uneasy suspicion.
“How rare — sleeping for a million years, and yet when I wake from this dream I encounter such exceptional talents.” The person stopped, peering through the brim of his hat and fixing his gaze on Ye Tong. He said: “Your constitution is the same as someone I once encountered.”
To be honest, the sudden appearance of such an other-worldly figure left everyone somewhat startled and bewildered.
“Who was that person?” Ye Tong asked cautiously.
“The Solar Sacred Emperor,” the visitor answered with composure.
Ye Tong nearly stumbled. Long Ma also took a few steps back. Who on earth was this? Speaking with such grandiosity — it was genuinely rather unsettling.
“Who are you? What is your background?” Black Emperor asked warily.
“I achieved the Dao in the age of the Primordial Era. I slept for a million years. My home lies beneath this great tomb — and now, to my great surprise, an immortal sacred ground has been built atop it.” The old man gave a long sigh, lamenting the passage of time and the changes of the ages, his heart full of helplessness.
Two passing cultivators who had been listening felt their hair stand on end and a chill run through them.
“A living ancestor of ancient times…” Ye Tong and Long Ma stared at each other wide-eyed. This was far too frightening — they had come specifically because of the great tomb beneath Yao Guang.
Duan De had once said that within a few months at the earliest, and half a year at the most, whatever was inside the Emperor’s tomb would break out. Had that truly come to pass? And it was this ancient?
In broad daylight, they were seeing a ghost — beholding this kind of monstrous fiend who deserved to be struck by divine lightning!
“The world of men does not suit my heart; I strove toward the Dao yet achieved nothing, tears flowing unchecked. I sat before the courtyard drinking lightly, and rose a million years later to find the scene outside my window changed.” The old man lamented with sorrow.
Ye Tong didn’t believe it. Long Ma was also skeptical. Living for a million years by sleeping through it — sealed within a divine source? But from what he was saying, it didn’t quite seem like that either.
“Very well — meeting today is fate. Kneel before me, and I shall bestow upon you the opportunity to achieve immortality.” The old man sighed.
“What is your background?” Black Emperor bared his teeth.
“A million years building the path to immortality, the sole immortal in all the world — the Celestial Court’s Emperors were my disciples, a ten-thousand-age dream in the blink of an eye.” The old man said.
“You have met the Solar Sacred Emperor?” Ye Tong said.
“I once gave him a pointer or two.”
“Why are you here?” Flames blazed all over Long Ma’s body.
“The great tomb beneath the Yao Guang Sacred Ground is my place of slumber, and that Primordial Ancient Abyss is my place of contemplating the Dao — I am merely resting here.” The old man said.
The two passing cultivators were even more rattled than before, dizzy and dazed, utterly bewildered. With a thud they both dropped to their knees, begging him to take them as disciples.
“Strip off his skin!” Black Emperor suddenly bellowed at the top of his voice, opening his great bloody maw and lunging forward.
“I’ll stomp your lungs in!” Long Ma also leapt into action, his hooves blazing with roaring flames and surging fire.
Ye Tong also said nothing, following forward, circling around to his back to deliver a sneak attack — gripping a large club and bringing it down toward the back of the old man’s head.
The old man sidestepped Black Emperor’s enormous black claw, dodged Long Ma’s dragon hooves, and evaded Ye Tong’s sneak attack, waving his hands repeatedly as he retreated a dozen or more zhang away.
“This poor Daoist has come as promised.” Duan De tossed aside the rain cape and bamboo hat, his face flushed and glowing — evidently his recent days had been exceedingly comfortable, his complexion absolutely excellent.
Beside him, the two passing cultivators wore expressions of awkwardness and dejection. Duan De gave each of them a slap, causing them to instantly forget everything that had just happened before being transported far away.
“This poor Daoist has acquired a secret treasure — how about that? Even with your naturally gifted Heaven’s Eye it would be hard to see through it. If I were to disguise myself as an important figure from Yao Guang, do you think I could swagger right in?” Duan De said.
He had been a bit too pleased with himself just now — otherwise, his temperament and bearing had indeed been completely different from usual, making his identity extremely difficult to discern.
“This is a divine skin — extremely mysterious. It naturally draws people’s goodwill and can beguile the mind. Its wondrous uses are boundless.” Duan De said. This was a treasure he had just dug up.
One need not fear a thief stealing from you — only fear a thief fixating on what’s yours. Duan De, Black Emperor, and Long Ma were birds of a feather, having conspired together in the days prior to scheme after the Emperor’s tomb beneath Yao Guang. Now they had officially come to scout the location.
Within the Yao Guang Sacred Ground, the scenery was beautiful, suffused with immortal energy — ten thousand strands of radiance interwoven and drifting, an atmosphere of extraordinary auspiciousness.
Ancient trees had grown there for untold ages, mountain rocks stood in formations, spiritual springs babbled, sacred beasts roamed — this place was magnificent yet without losing its grandeur.
Ye Fan made a wide detour and happened to miss Black Emperor and the others entirely, never encountering them — for this elevated tract of land was very broad, with Yao Guang occupying the center and vast uninhabited expanses beyond.
For a full several days he did not depart. And the others who had their eyes on Yao Guang were also anything but idle, pressing forward with hurried and intense activity.
Duan De’s expression was grave. He now thumped his chest and declared with absolute certainty that this place was without a doubt an ancient tomb — something exceedingly rare throughout the ages, concealing secrets beyond imagination.
“Let me show you the true extent of this poor Daoist’s abilities. I too can reshape heaven and earth — I will accelerate the breaking open of this ancient tomb, so that when the time comes we can compete for the immortal treasures within!”
He began to dig, employing the techniques of burial science to connect with the dragon energy within the earth’s veins one by one, directing it toward the massive earthen mound.
Of course, he dared not get too close, since the central area was the sacred earth of Yao Guang — if he accidentally triggered the undying inheritance’s grand formation array, he would have bitten off more than he could chew.
And over these same few days, Ye Fan was also in action. He did not go deep — he simply stood upon a mountain peak and used the Source Art to inscribe certain Dao markings, to be of great use in the future.
Thud!
Half a month later, a dull and muffled boom rang out from this elevated tract of land. Duan De, the big black dog, and Long Ma sprinted away at full speed and vanished in an instant.
“Amitabha — this poor Daoist inadvertently stirred the earth’s energy within the burial chamber. The dragon-burial ground has revived. I estimate that before long this place will have major problems.” Once they had fled to a deserted area, Duan De spoke up.
“You’ve handled this badly — what if the Yao Guang Sacred Ground ends up destroyed?” Black Emperor put on a face of compassion.
“You bloody dog — false compassion. Weren’t you the one who egged me on to activate the burial chamber just now?” Duan De said.
“We should notify Yao Guang — don’t let something truly go wrong.” Ye Tong said, a hint of worry in his voice.
Duan De shook his head. “No need for that — they understand better than anyone what kind of place this is. When they originally chose this location, they must have already seen through to the truth of it, and long since anticipated that the great tomb would cause problems. All I’ve done is advance the timeline by a month or two.”
Thud!
In the distance, another great boom rang out from that elevated tract. Enormous cracks appeared across the surface of the earth, spreading rapidly in all directions like a spider’s web.
“This day has come at last…” In a sealed stone chamber, an old man’s eyes snapped open in an instant. Radiance filled the ten-zhang sealed room, and a fragrance drifted through the air.
Rumble!
The Yao Guang Sacred Ground began a massive earthquake, trembling incessantly. Enormous cracks spread, mountain peaks swayed, and a most unusual aura emerged from within the highlands — one that made people tremble and want to kneel in reverence.
The entire Yao Guang Sacred Ground fell into chaos. Over the past hundred-thousand-plus years, such an event had rarely occurred. The sacred ground seemed as though it was about to crumble apart.
“All disciples of Yao Guang, hear the order — assemble immediately!”
An aged voice instantly resounded through ten thousand mountain valleys. Everyone was galvanized, quickly falling silent and converging toward the Immortal Martial Field.
“We are relocating the entire sect!”
This announcement struck like a thunderclap, leaving everyone dumbstruck with their mouths agape. For a great sacred ground to choose to leave its original site was something exceedingly rare since ancient times.
Thud!
The highlands shook. Cracks covered the land everywhere. In some places the ground had begun to collapse, filling every heart with horror. By the look of things, the sacred earth would break apart within half a month.
“This place created the Yao Guang that we know — but now we have no choice but to leave. Otherwise great disaster will befall us. All disciples, take your positions!”
Clearly, the higher echelons of Yao Guang had long been prepared. They had anticipated this day some unknown number of years ago and had means in place to deal with it.
A muffled sound rang out. A swath of immortal light illuminated the vast sky, making even the sun and moon dim by comparison — auspicious shapes shimmering hazily, ten thousand strands of colored radiance — and every beautiful mountain peak rose up from the earth as one.
To be precise: a layer of the earth’s crust across this entire elevated tract detached itself from the land, lifting the sacred earth of Yao Guang up into the sky — while the palace halls, pavilions, towers, and city walls that had already been floating in the void rose yet again.
Like a small-scale continent ascending into the air, Yao Guang’s ancient grand formation array remained undamaged — the ancient trees were still there, the aged medicines still breathed out fragrance, the sacred birds and auspicious beasts did not flee, the structures remained as magnificent as ever. The entire relocation was intact.
A massive black cauldron hung in the highest heavens. The traces of the grand Dao were pressed down beneath it, its entire body gleaming with dark golden light, mysterious and unfathomable — engraved with birds, flowers, fish, insects, soaring fowl and running beasts, sun, moon, and stars, ancient and grand in bearing.
This was the ultimate Emperor’s weapon — the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron!
The senior elders of Yao Guang had brought it out as a sacred offering, suspending it in the heavens, from which it let fall tens of thousands of Dao markings, shrouding and protecting the entire ancient sacred ground completely.
Relocating the entire sect — they feared attack during the journey and had brought out the supreme Emperor’s weapon for defense.
On this day, the Southern Domain was shaken. Countless ancient sects were deeply stirred. That a great sacred ground would choose to leave its original site was truly world-shaking news.
Through spatial gates and teleportation arrays, the news spread rapidly across the Five Domains, sending shockwaves through all under heaven.
“Rush to the Southern Domain at once — something extraordinary is certain to happen at the former site of Yao Guang, and for us it may be a great opportunity!” Some ancient sect masters, privy to certain hidden secrets, responded with exceptional speed.
“What will happen there?” Nine out of ten people had no idea.
“A great ancient secret will most likely be revealed at last…” One old sect master murmured under his breath.
Yao Guang had no Emperor — and yet on a stormy night of wind and rain, lightning and thunder, they had forged an Emperor’s weapon: the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron, hailed as the greatest miracle in all the world. Some said it was the result of generation after generation of sages pouring out their lifeblood, giving their lives one after another to forge it — the fruit of the entire sect’s collective reverence over fifty thousand years. And yet there had always been rumors that this was simply not the truth!
The winds of change swept across the world into sudden turmoil. An unknown number of cultivators immediately set out for the Southern Domain in the very first moment.