“Crash!”

A terrifying claw, as large as a woven basket, reached out. It was covered all over in corpse hair, dripping with blood — a sight that chilled one from head to foot.

From the Old Madman’s pupils, silver radiance blazed intensely, shooting out in fine threads like silver dragons, slashing toward that great green hand.

“Clang!”

This was a saint’s power — enough to reduce endless mountain ranges to ash. Yet when the silver eye beams cut against that great claw, they could not destroy it.

Dazzling sparks flew in all directions, as if striking divine iron and ringing out with a clanging sound. The hand, like a ghostly claw, slowly reached further upward — unstoppable.

“Didn’t he already die? Has he become a corpse saint?” Li Heishui and the others retreated rapidly, sheltering behind the Old Madman.

The black stone coffin, a hundred zhang in length, held half a pool of blood water — vivid and enchanting. Out of it protruded that enormous claw covered in green corpse hair, grotesque and terrifying.

The ancient saint’s flesh was imperishable, floating on top, yet his head had been snapped off. Set against the backdrop of that great claw, the scene was even more horrifying.

That even the peerless Lord of the Celestial Court had been choked to death alive — how could that not send shivers down the spine? Every single person felt as though they had sunk into an ice cellar; even their breathing had nearly stopped.

The aura emanating from the ancient coffin was extremely oppressive — not only carrying a surging murderous intent that filled the sky, but also an infinite pressure that felt ready to shatter the mind, heavy as a mountain.

“Halt!”

The Old Madman let out a soft command. He moved both hands, making his move with unparalleled seriousness for the first time, displaying the supreme power of a saint.

On his palms and fingers, thin dragons about a foot long swam — those were innate patterns, through which he was manifesting the supreme Great Dao.

Threads of primordial chaos flowed, Dao diagrams profound and immeasurable. His hands moved, releasing the sound of wind and thunder. Then earthfire, wind, and water surged — as if he were opening and creating the heavens.

“Boom!”

A Dao diagram surfaced, filled with the aura of the primordial beginning — as if the Great Dao at the birth of heaven and earth had just taken form. He seized and restrained it, and boundless majesty swept forth without limit.

In that moment, the entire Sacred Cliff — all fifty-plus black great mountains — shook, filling the heart with dread.

The Old Madman let out a soft shout, raised his hand, and pressed downward. He held that vast primordial Dao diagram pinched between his fingertips and struck it into the ancient coffin.

“Splat!”

Half the pool of blood water was sent spraying outward. The great hand covered in corpse hair was overlaid with innate patterns, ten thousand small dragons swimming across it, the Dao diagram continuing to evolve, circulating the aura of the supreme Great Dao.

“Boom!”

World-shaking immortal power surged into every corner of the Sacred Cliff. The formation inscriptions left by the ancient great emperor offered no resistance — instead, threads of brilliant light shot out from them, joining together to seal and suppress the ancient coffin.

“Rumble…”

The fifty-plus great black mountains standing side by side — all severed from the Undying Mountain — were all swaying now, on the verge of collapse.

“Thud!”

At last, the great hand covered in corpse hair was suppressed by the Dao diagram and fell heavily back into the half pool of blood water, sending up a large splash of crimson — and actually causing the void itself to annihilate at the point of impact.

Everyone’s expression changed. Had that struck a person, death would have been certain. Over a hundred thousand years had passed, and the blood within the coffin was still so terrifying.

“A single drop of that blood would be enough to kill a powerful cultivator…”

The diagram woven from innate patterns covered and pressed down, sealing the blood pool — along with the Lord of the Celestial Court, suppressing both beneath it.

“A pity — the supreme killing scepter is sealed in the blood pool as well.” Li Heishui felt a genuine regret.

“The methods of the living saint of this age are truly heaven-defying…” The Great Black Dog exclaimed in admiration. It had already prepared for the worst possible outcome, and had not expected the Old Madman to seal that ghostly claw away.

They moved away from the ancient coffin and resumed pondering the Nine Secrets Dao diagram printed in the air, studying it carefully.

Ye Fan grasped the Bodhi Seed and studied it attentively. He discovered that the Dao diagram had nine layers — which startled him. No wonder legend said that a certain ancient saint had consumed an immortal medicine of undying life and lived two lifetimes before mastering the Movement character secret to its ultimate realm and stepping into the divine domain of time.

It possessed the wondrous power to steal the creative forces of heaven and earth. It would require several lifetimes to fully penetrate — it was by no means something that could be accomplished all at once.

However, if it were merely a matter of speed, such an immense span of time would not be needed. Those ancient saints had elevated their cultivation to the level of the divine domain.

Ye Fan’s mind was clear and tranquil. He knew that thoroughly comprehending it in a short time was certainly impossible. Using the Bodhi Seed to aid enlightenment, he imprinted all nine layers of the Movement character secret into his heart.

Aside from himself, the Great Black Dog and Li Heishui were unable to do the same. The Dao diagram was indistinct and hazy, and fully grasping it all was extremely difficult for them.

Of course, the Old Madman could certainly imprint it completely — he had already perceived every aspect of this long ago, and no longer needed to look. He had already begun deducing it within his mind.

The Great Black Dog proclaimed, “This Emperor is a genius — in such a short time I have already imprinted four of the diagrams. This Emperor shall defy heaven!”

Standing upright, it declared its defiance of heaven, running on two legs, racing back and forth across the Sacred Cliff at extreme speed — a sight that left Ye Fan utterly speechless.

“This wretched dog is absolutely beyond anything!” Li Heishui said furiously.

He had exerted every last bit of effort and managed to imprint only two of the diagrams — and whether he could ever fully comprehend them was another matter entirely. Yet there was a great dog running back and forth on two legs, mimicking the technique convincingly — truly infuriating.

Heavy lead-gray clouds pressed down, on the verge of falling. A mysterious aura was permeating the air, making the entire black mountain range feel somewhat eerie.

The Old Madman looked up at the sky, then with a fling of his robe sleeve, sent the stone coffin lid — a hundred zhang long — flying through the air, pressing it back down onto the ancient coffin, resealing it.

After that, they sat cross-legged on the Sacred Cliff, all closing their eyes in silence, each comprehending their own Dao. Even the most restless of them — the Great Black Dog — grew quiet.

“Crack!”

No one knew how much time had passed when the ancient coffin suddenly let out a great sound. The coffin lid shifted from its position, and a great emerald-green claw reached out through the gap.

The group all opened their eyes. Every heart leapt in terror — as if some supreme demonic god had fixed its gaze upon them. Every inch of their flesh and blood was convulsing, refusing to obey them.

“It’s coming out…” Xiao Nannan was nearly frightened to tears, hiding behind Ye Fan.

“Bang!”

The coffin lid crashed heavily to the ground. A magnificent, towering figure stepped out from the ancient coffin in a single stride — eyes keen and piercing as blades!

“What?!” Everyone stood dumbstruck. No one had expected things to unfold so suddenly. The corpse of the Great Completion Holy Body had climbed out.

He stood with heroic bearing, a head or two or three taller than an ordinary person — like an undying divine demon, looking down upon all living beings, commanding the rise and fall of the great earth. Time could not wear him away; he was eternally enduring.

Those eyes were exceptionally intimidating, impossible to meet directly. His thick, matted hair, matted with blood, clung together, and imperishable power flowed within. His body was blanketed in corpse hair, his aura pressing down on all around, making their minds feel on the verge of collapse.

“This is — the Great Completion Holy Body!”

“Dead yet not rotted away — has he been possessed by an evil spirit?”

Li Heishui and the others could not move at all. They wanted to flee but could not. The overwhelming pressure and terrifying aura pressed down on them, nearly driving them to unconsciousness.

The Old Madman rose to his feet. He too was tall and magnificent, his eyes gleaming like silver dragons, fixed upon the horrifying demonic form before him, facing it in a standoff.

“Bang,” “Bang”…

This towering ancient corpse advanced step by step, its gaze dreadful, like two divine lamps shooting forth unmatched brilliance.

The Old Madman’s black hair swirled wildly as his aura surged skyward. He too strode forward with great steps, utterly fearless, ready to stand against this ancient holy corpse.

“Terrible news — it’s been possessed by an ancient creature. With that peerless physical body, it could sweep through everything under heaven…” The Great Black Dog’s mind went to the worst possible places.

Suddenly, the towering demonic form stopped. It advanced no further. It fixed its gaze on Ye Fan, staring without blinking, two beams of divine radiance connecting almost physically with Ye Fan’s body.

“Boom!”

The golden blood qi throughout Ye Fan’s body instantly boiled. He found he could move — he sprang upright all at once, life essence surging through his entire body.

His body was like seven-colored glazed crystal — pure and flawless. Golden blood qi burst forth, radiant and magnificent, sacred blood flowing like a great surging river, moving swiftly, with a thunderous roar erupting from within.

A resonance had arisen between the holy bodies!

The azure lotus within Ye Fan’s Sea of Bitterness emitted ten thousand zhang of green light, coiling with threads of primordial chaos mist, and shot out in an instant, flying toward the Great Completion Holy Body.

“Flash!”

A flash of green brilliance vanished. The three-leafed azure lotus disappeared into the Great Completion Holy Body’s Sea of Bitterness, no longer visible.

Xiao Nannan cried out in alarm, clutching the corner of Ye Fan’s robe, deeply anxious. Li Heishui too was left dumbstruck, unable to speak.

Ye Fan had experienced something like this before and felt no fear. He calmed his heart and focused his senses attentively. Perhaps this was about to be a great opportunity of destiny.

His divine sense seemed to split in two — one half remaining within himself, the other half entering into the Sea of Bitterness of the Great Completion Holy Body.

In this moment, Ye Fan was profoundly shaken. His mind submerged into the azure lotus and entered the Sea of Bitterness of the Great Completion Holy Body — and he witnessed what a true “sea” was.

Even nearly dried out as it was, that golden bitter sea was still boundless without end — surging with a divine power that filled the sky, its golden divine light nearly shattering heaven and earth.

By comparison, his own golden bitter sea was merely a small lake — or could even be called a small puddle. The gulf between himself and the Great Completion Holy Body was immense.

“This is what it means for the Great Completion Holy Body to be peerless under heaven!” Ye Fan was truly awestruck.

How many ages of cultivation would it take to accumulate such a boundless store of divine power? Even nearly dried out, it was still unmatched throughout the world.

“No wonder he could contend with the ancient great emperors…”

The last time Ye Fan had entered the Great Completion Holy Body’s Sea of Bitterness, he had obtained an auxiliary secret technique. Naturally, he now harbored even greater anticipation. He began earnestly deducing and searching.

“Boom!”

The Great Completion Holy Body’s Sea of Bitterness finally stirred back to life. The endless golden expanse was ready to shatter this entire world and surge skyward. The azure lotus bobbed and drifted within it.

Outside, Li Heishui and the others were utterly staggered. The Great Completion Holy Body erupted with ten thousand zhang of golden light, causing the endless mountains all around to crack apart.

Every region without the protection of a great emperor’s formation inscriptions silently turned to ash. But this Sacred Cliff, beneath the protection of the Scroll of Divine Sealing, remained intact and unharmed.

The Old Madman wore an expression of extreme gravity, sending out a curtain of divine light to shelter Xiao Nannan and the others at the center, holding up an indestructible barrier of light.

“The Great Completion Holy Body is too terrifying — a body dead so many years, and it can still radiate such horrifying fluctuations…”

They all understood — this was merely the tip of the iceberg. The true supreme holy power of the Great Completion Holy Body could not possibly be on full display.

Within the vast expanse of the golden bitter sea, Ye Fan discovered the flowing traces of divine power. He beheld a familiar secret technique!

It was a supreme Dao diagram, transformed into an immense and timeless ancient scroll, flowing with mysterious aura, with boundless primordial chaos churning within.

He was immediately captivated. This was actually a holy technique for exclusively cultivating a single secret realm — very similar to a cultivation method he had obtained before.

“There are considerably more variations here, and it is far more profound…”

Ye Fan was astonished. This was practically a secret technique tailor-made for the holy body. If combined with a certain ancient scripture, one could continually deduce it, pushing a single secret realm to its ultimate extreme.

“This is the unbroken ancient technique. What I obtained last time was not the perfect unitary secret art!” Ye Fan suddenly understood — and at the same time was overcome with excitement and joy.

This was not an orthodox cultivation method, but rather an auxiliary secret art — capable of helping him cultivate any single secret realm to its deepest and most profound extent, evolving the Sea of Bitterness toward the ultimate extreme of the Dao realm.

Ye Fan plunged completely into it, gradually exploring. He imprinted the unbroken Dao diagram and ultimately advanced into the Dao Palace realm within, continuing to explore.

“The same…”

He was astonished within his heart. This secret art applied to every secret realm and could provide auxiliary cultivation for each — the Great Completion Holy Body’s Sea of Bitterness, Dao Palace, Four Extremes, Dragon Transformation secret realm, and all others had been opened up with assistance from this secret art.

“Wonderful!” Ye Fan knew — this was a priceless treasure, an unparalleled secret technique that would be the foundation for his future advancement into the supreme realm.

He felt that this must be an auxiliary formula unique to the holy body, and for him it carried immense significance, its value beyond any estimation.

The more Ye Fan explored, the more astonished he became. The Great Completion Holy Body had actually cultivated every single secret realm to its ultimate extreme — a staggering revelation.

For an ancient person to specialize exclusively in one secret realm and reach its absolute limit was already a world-shaking achievement, peerless and unstoppable. The Great Completion Holy Body had done this for every one of them.

“No wonder — his combat power was without equal under heaven, capable of contending with the ancient great emperors. To reach the pinnacle, one must re-specialize in each secret realm from the beginning…”