The sage’s skin was perfectly square — more than a foot long — intact and undamaged, crystalline and nearly transparent, dotted with brilliance, mysterious and eerie, making one’s heart unsettled.

The tiny characters on it were densely packed. Whether front or back, there were written tens of thousands of characters in total. Ordinary eyesight could not make them out at all — the writing was extremely small.

These ancient characters were like iron hooks and silver strokes, vigorous as dragons and serpents, as though ten thousand swords had been fixed within. The crystalline radiance of the sage’s divine skin emanated outward, and its fearsome murderous intent lacerated one’s spirit and soul.

At this moment, everyone felt as if they stood in a place of extreme cold — bone-chillingly frozen — as though facing tens of millions of wailing living beings. Before their eyes, mountains of corpses and seas of blood seemed to emerge.

Just what manner of person had flayed the skin from an ancient sage and refined it into paper on which to record text? It filled one with dread — such methods were both cruel and terrifying.

The Great Black Dog was so overawed by the murderous intent upon the sage’s divine skin that its great paws were trembling. In the end it spread the skin out on the ground, unable even to hold it — one could imagine how utterly horrifying it was.

“It is certainly not the skin of this skeleton on the ground!”

For that person had absolutely not reached the realm of a sage. Legend had it that after ancient sages died, not a single inch of their flesh and skin would ever decay — yet he had only bones left.

“This is… a sage-level killing art!” As the Great Black Dog read the ancient characters, it could not help but tremble, utterly unable to calm itself.

Everyone crowded close, reading word by word, sentence by sentence. They had experienced much, yet at this moment their spirits rose and fell intensely, stirred beyond all measure.

Upon the divine skin of the ancient sage was recorded a variety of methods for killing people — killing arts that could only be described as extraordinarily strange and terrifying, employing every conceivable means, created solely for the purpose of taking lives!

“This is truly too terrifying!”

After they had read less than half, their whole bodies broke out in cold sweat and their scalps began to go numb. The secret killing arts were impossible to guard against. They privately judged that if they were to face such methods, most likely their chances of survival would be slim.

The art of killing had been evolved into a Dao — this was a path unlike any other: to slay every living being in the world, and with a blood-dripping holy sword in hand, to achieve an unsurpassed Dao fruit.

“This is an evil book. This is a demonic scroll. It truly ought to be destroyed…” Tu with the big mouth said, his voice trembling.

“You’re wrong. This is a supreme Great Dao — there is much worth learning from it. If mastered without going out to kill others, it can also be used to protect one’s own life.” Li Heishui said.

“I know what this is now…” the Great Black Dog stared at the sage’s divine skin and that golden token, its spirit deeply shaken. It had thought of certain ancient legacies.

“What do you know about it?!” Everyone was startled and fixed their gazes on it.

“It is… the Celestial Court’s sage-level killing art.” the Great Black Dog sighed softly, endless memories arising in its heart, turbulent and impossible to calm.

“The Celestial Court?!” Everyone was stunned, expressions of utter disbelief appearing on their faces.

“This Celestial Court is not the Celestial Court you may be thinking of. In the ancient age there were three great assassin divine dynasties — legacies that endured through ten thousand generations, even older than the ancient holy lands of the Eastern Desolation…” the Great Black Dog spoke in a low, unhurried tone.

An assassin organization that evolved into a holy land, and then into an immortal divine dynasty — one could imagine their terrifying nature. They made the entire world tremble at the very word “kill.”

All the holy lands feared them yet could do nothing. They were deeply wary and never dared to provoke them, for the three great assassin divine dynasties were too terrifying — they even dared to assassinate ancient sages.

“The assassin holy lands of the ancient age are incomparable to the assassination organizations of later generations. They never killed those without renown — they only killed those at or above the half-step to supreme power!”

“That is… absolutely frightening!” Tu Fei and the others shuddered.

“An ancient legacy — a terrifying Great Dao of slaughter — truly incomparable in its fearfulness.” The Black Emperor sighed.

The Celestial Court, the World of Mortals, and Hell — three names heavy as ten thousand jun, representing the three most terrifying legacies of a time over a hundred thousand years ago. These were the three great assassin divine dynasties of the ancient age.

It was not that their secret arts surpassed the ancient scriptures of all the holy lands — rather, their “Dao” was created solely for the purpose of killing, impossible to guard against. They sought to use this to achieve an unsurpassed Dao fruit.

The three great assassin divine dynasties of the ancient age had all slain ancient sages. Who could fail to fear such terrifying powers? And each of them had produced an assassin sage-being of unrivaled standing.

Those who entered the realm of a sage through the Great Dao of slaughter — merely imagining them was enough to make one’s scalp tingle. Their entire lives had been spent clawing their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Their combat and assassination arts were peerless in the world. If they wished to assassinate someone, that person’s death was virtually already determined.

Before the Desolate Age, the three names — Celestial Court, World of Mortals, and Hell — were a form of supreme deterrence, and no one dared to oppose them.

However, this invisible atmosphere of terror made all the holy lands extremely uneasy and dissatisfied. In the end they acted together, striking against the three great assassin divine dynasties.

The holy lands chose their moment well. At that time the holy lands themselves had each developed to the pinnacle of their flourishing, producing several supreme sage-beings, while the old sages of the three great assassin divine dynasties were on the verge of sitting in death-meditation, with little strength left to act, and no successors had yet emerged.

That was an earth-shaking great war before the Desolate Age — every holy land participated. Such a thing had occurred only a handful of times since antiquity, and it could be called a great calamity of the human race.

In that battle, blood flowed across the land. The ancient assassins infiltrated everywhere, assassinating on all sides — it was an age of extreme darkness and bloodshed. No one knows how many supreme experts perished.

In the end, the holy lands occupied the upper hand through absolute strength, using weapons of the extreme Dao to suppress and kill the old sages of the three great dynasties who had been on the verge of death-meditation — achieving victory in a single battle.

The Celestial Court, ranked first, thereupon shattered and was completely eradicated. No legacy continued afterward. The holy lands had concentrated their assault on it, killing every supreme expert of that divine dynasty.

The World of Mortals and Hell, the other two great ancient assassin divine dynasties, were not entirely annihilated — but after that battle they vanished into obscurity, never again recovering their former glory.

For they understood: without an extreme-Dao sacred weapon of an ancient Great Emperor in hand, no matter how incomparably lethal their personal combat ability or how peerless their assassin arts, they could not withstand the suppression of an extreme-Dao sacred weapon.

It was said these two great assassin divine dynasties had traveled far to the Central Province, departing from the Eastern Desolation. Some said the Eastern Desolation was still their main base, but they had become incomparably low-profile.

After the Desolate Age, the “World of Mortals” and “Hell” had also appeared — yet they were never again as they had been before the Desolate Age, when they had lorded over all and even the holy lands had to step aside.

“The Celestial Court… you mean this is the killing sage-art of the number-one assassin divine dynasty of the ancient age?” Everyone was in a daze.

This snow-white jade-like skeleton had actually belonged to a person from over a hundred thousand years ago — a supreme assassin of the Celestial Court, who had died in this very place.

One could well imagine: in that dark age of great turmoil, with all the world’s powerful forces joining to suppress and slaughter the assassin divine dynasties — and the Celestial Court being the prime target of concentrated assault — this person had found himself with nowhere to run and had fled into the Undying Mountain.

Ye Fan and his companions finally understood why the sage’s divine skin and the golden token carried a bone-piercing murderous intent that was almost unbearable — the tokens and heart methods of the ancient age’s number-one assassin divine dynasty would naturally be like this.

“We must read it carefully. This is a terrifying and ancient legacy. Even without going out to assassinate others, it is more than sufficient for protecting one’s life!” Ye Fan examined it attentively.

His current situation was one of severely lacking various sage-level arts. The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King as well as various sage-children watched him with covetous eyes, each possessing world-shaking sage-arts, and the Ruthless Emperor’s legacy remained obscure — it was unknown how many people held it. He needed methods to counter them.

Everyone crouched down and read carefully. The Celestial Court’s legacy was priceless beyond measure. If it were to circulate publicly, it would inevitably stir a great upheaval — it might even trigger boundless rivers of blood and rain of carnage.

They read the front side and then turned to the back, their hearts pounding harder and harder with every passage. To kill, indeed every conceivable means was employed — despicable methods, as well as open and above-board ones — impossible to guard against.

In the end, the ancient scroll of sage’s skin reached its conclusion. It pointed to a lower volume of the Celestial Court’s legacy — also its core — which turned out to be one of the Nine Secrets!

“No wonder they could call the wind and summon the rain in the ancient age — they actually possessed one of the Nine Secrets!”

“Could it be the very one on the Sage Cliff?!”

“Heh heh heh…” The laughter of a small girl drifted over.

Everyone had been so engrossed in reading the sage’s skin legacy that they had not paid attention to Xiao Nannan. Now they looked up in astonishment to find her playing and frolicking with several small creatures, letting out happy laughter.

Beneath this stone cliff were several ancient caves, their chisel-marks clearly visible. Xiao Nannan had run up to one of the ancient caves. A small golden horse, a small golden swallow — all clustered around her, extraordinarily docile, letting her pet them.

“What are those?” Everyone was startled.

The small golden horse was only about a foot tall, and behind it pulled a small golden horse-carriage. The small golden swallow was about half a palm in size, fluttering gracefully. A foot-long golden calf was nuzzling about at Xiao Nannan’s side. There were also several other strange small creatures whose names no one could identify. They all shared one thing in common: they were not of flesh and blood — all were of golden form, yet all could move about, vivid and lifelike.

“These ancient caves are divine mineral deposits! There are sacred objects inside that have developed spiritual awareness — they are extraordinary treasures for weapon-forging!” the Great Black Dog cried out excitedly.

Everyone leaped to their feet at once. For cultivators, secret manuals and weapons were always precious things that would stir anyone’s heart.

“Heavens — how mysterious — there is a small person inside the small golden carriage!”

A small golden figure jumped down from the carriage and, tugging at Xiao Nannan’s sleeve, bounced up and down — lifelike, incomparably mysterious.

“They all came from inside the ancient caves. Let’s go in and look!” Everyone was about to move forward when suddenly from one ancient cave there came a wave of terrifying aura of power.

Then a pair of green eyes lit up, tears of light flowing within them — like spirit-lamps blazing brilliantly — illuminating everything so intensely that people were unable to open their eyes and meet their gaze.

In that instant, everyone was frozen in place — unable to move a single muscle, feeling as though they had fallen into an ice cellar. Not even words could be spoken. There was an unknown creature in the ancient cave!

“Big brothers, what’s wrong with you?” Xiao Nannan noticed the abnormality and ran over, pushing at them with her small hands.

Only then did everyone regain the ability to move — but that invisible pressure aura still lingered, completely locking them in place.

“Run quickly. The ancient cave houses divine gold that has become spiritually aware — in time it will very likely become a sage spirit!” the Great Black Dog said quietly.

Ye Fan, enduring the boundless murderous intent, sealed the golden token and the sage’s divine skin and put them away. Everyone quickly retreated, distancing themselves from the several ancient caves.

Xiao Nannan was reluctant to leave, waving her small hand backward, bidding farewell to those small golden creatures — humans, horses, and all.

Only after walking a great distance did that terrifying aura of power finally dissipate. Only then did they let out a long breath. Something extraordinary was absolutely present there. If not for Xiao Nannan, they would all have died in that place — the skeleton they had seen was a cautionary example right before their eyes.

“Nannan, how did those small creatures come to your side?” Ye Fan asked in detail, crouching down.

“Nannan doesn’t know either. They are very cute — they came to me on their own.” Xiao Nannan replied in her adorable, child-like way.

“If I am not mistaken, inside there may be an exclusive sacred object of the Great Emperors — Immortal Tear Green Gold!” the Great Black Dog said in a deep voice.

“What?!” Everyone cried out in shock.

“That was clearly a deposit of divine gold — didn’t you notice? Those eyes were green, with mysterious tears flowing within them. It must certainly be Immortal Tear Green Gold!” The Great Black Dog became ever more certain.

Phoenix Blood Red Gold, Dragon Pattern Black Gold, and Immortal Tear Green Gold — all were supreme sacred objects, impossible to encounter or seek out. Even ancient Great Emperors might not have been able to collect them, let alone ordinary people.

“That piece of Immortal Tear Green Gold has already become spiritually aware and may one day become a sage spirit. Even a supreme expert coming here would have no way to deal with it. We’d better leave quickly.”

Everyone was both astonished and regretful. To think that supreme sacred objects existed here left their hearts deeply shaken — yet they had no way to take them.

“Be content. We obtained the Celestial Court’s Dao-of-Slaughter sage-art. We could even rebuild that ancient assassin divine dynasty with this.”

After advancing over a dozen more li, the black mountains became ever more imposing and magnificent. Imperceptibly, it felt as though they had arrived in a time before the primordial antiquity. An ancient breath flowed, making one’s heart tremble.

After another dozen or so li, the black great peaks seemed to press against the heavens above and weigh upon the Nine Depths below — towering and awe-inspiring. Ancient trees formed a dense forest, wreathed in banded black mist.

Whoosh!

A streak of blue-green light burst from within the black mountains ahead, cleaving through the vast sky and flying toward the depths of the Undying Mountain Range. From high above it flowed a heart-refreshing fragrance.

“That is… did you see it? It was a blue-green tortoise — how can it fly here within the Undying Mountain? None of us are able to!”

“No — it has roots and stems growing from it. Even from this far away its fragrance is so intoxicating. That is an Undying divine medicine!”

Everyone stood rooted to the spot, greatly astonished. The Undying Mountain truly did harbor world-shaking immortal treasures — things that could fly through the sky and burrow through the earth, choosing their own dwelling places. They had actually witnessed one with their own eyes.

“That is the legendary Undying divine medicine — Ten Thousand Years of Life. To think it is actually within the Undying Mountain!” The Great Black Dog was so overcome with craving it nearly bit off its own tongue.

In all of heaven and earth, every Undying divine medicine was unique. Once one perished, it would be utterly extinct from the world — it could never appear again.

Even before the primordial antiquity, there had been only a handful of divine medicines in existence. What each one looked like had been recorded in detail.

This Undying divine medicine known as “Ten Thousand Years of Life” — when mature, the plant form resembled a small blue-green Black Tortoise and possessed boundless medicinal power. It was said that consuming the mature small Black Tortoise could extend one’s lifespan by ten thousand years!

Different Undying divine medicines all had different medicinal effects. Some could help people comprehend the Great Dao; some could bestow upon people supreme divine abilities; this Ten Thousand Years of Life divine medicine was weighted toward prolonging life.

“Worthy of the saying: a thousand-year tortoise, a ten-thousand-year turtle. Consuming it can extend one’s lifespan by ten thousand years — that is simply heaven-defying. That equals the lifespan of the Great Completion Holy Body!” Tu Fei slobbered profusely.

“Ten thousand years… every ancient Great Emperor must have reared one Undying divine medicine apiece. They lived far longer than we could ever imagine!” Pang Bo was also stirred.

“It would be wonderful if we could catch it!” Li Heishui’s eyes shone with light.

“It would be very hard to catch. That ancient tea tree must have startled the Ten Thousand Years of Life medicine when it bolted off, so now it has flown into the sky, fleeing toward the depths of the Undying Mountain — it is guarding against us.” the Great Black Dog said with vexation, blaming everyone for having frightened away the Ancient Dao Comprehension Tree.

“The Undying Mountain truly is mysterious and unfathomable — it has everything. Nine-aperture stone men, the Ancient Dao Comprehension Tree, Netherworld Grass, Immortal Tear Green Gold — and now even the Ten Thousand Years of Life medicine has revealed itself.” Ye Fan said softly.

“There’s a house over there…” After advancing a few more li, Xiao Nannan suddenly stretched out her small hand and pointed ahead.

Ahead, many black great mountains rose in succession. Among them, several possessed a quality of dense and profound dignity — though they were not necessarily very tall, even somewhat shorter than the great peaks surrounding them, they nonetheless carried the bearing of lords among mountains.

“How can there be ancient buildings?!”

Upon those several mountains were some ancient halls — resembling ancient divine temples or crumbling Daoist shrines, very old and worn.

“Who built these? To dare construct such things within the Undying Mountain — this is truly inconceivable!”