“What?!”

The whole group cried out in shock—this was too unbelievable. That this was truly a person from the Primordial era, one this wild old man had personally seen with his own eyes.

Flowing forth with the power of a prehistoric deity, guarded by a Great Emperor-level formation—could this be a Primordial Emperor?

Everyone simultaneously turned their gazes toward the Monkey—the most likely being of this level that the Man-Demon could have encountered was the Fighting War Sage Emperor.

Sage Ape Child was stared at until his scalp tingled, his head aching. Though grieved, he was certain his father had truly passed away, unable to leave behind any physical remains.

Then who could it be? The whole group was uncertain and alarmed.

“It shouldn’t be a Sage Ape, because that clan’s techniques are overwhelmingly fierce, inconsistent with this kind of grand dao principle—it seems more like Emperor Ruthless!” Li Heishui said.

With the ancient formation guarding it, people couldn’t truly sense that aura, only able to touch faint wisps of it, still unable to confirm.

Everyone stared at the Man-Demon—this living ancestor’s gaze was unusual, fixed unblinkingly on that immortal cocoon, his expression strange.

Everyone questioned the old wild man, receiving a clear response—it wasn’t the Fighting War Sage Emperor, but a very peculiar powerhouse.

Zheng zheng zheng…

A hundred thousand eight thousand heavenly swords resonated together, slashing down in unison. The Man-Demon swung his translucent white bone staff, dispersing the sword energy, lifting his foot and walking forward, taking a few critical steps within the formation.

This was a fragment corner of a Great Emperor’s formation, but still exceedingly formidable—sages entering would be refined into ash on the spot; the great black dog had failed on its first attempt to break through.

The Man-Demon had rampaged through the Primordial era, worthy of being called a peerless powerhouse, yet even he had to treat this place seriously, advancing slowly with profound dao methods.

Along these few steps, Ye Fan and the others naturally couldn’t help but ask about the sleeping powerhouse’s identity in the Primordial era.

“I don’t know, I only saw them once.” The Man-Demon shook his head, unable to confirm.

But he remembered deeply—back then, cultivating both Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang simultaneously, his body and mind had suffered great problems, a god by day and demon by night, causing tremendous chaos.

His seclusion grounds had become barren, mountains and rivers destroyed. During one of his mad episodes, he had torn open the earth, and beneath the seclusion ground’s veins, discovered a person—identical to the body within the immortal cocoon.

Everyone exchanged glances, waves of chill running through their bodies.

Someone already lying dormant during the Primordial era—how could this possibly be an ordinary mortal? Then later running deep into the sun, now emanating a deity’s aura—the more they thought about it, the more astonishing it became.

“And then?” People asked anxiously.

“He ran away, and I never saw him again after that.” The Man-Demon answered.

This left people puzzled, full of doubt—an incredibly powerful being, without saying a word, rushing out of the earth’s veins and fleeing, truly bizarre.

The Man-Demon vaguely remembered that person’s face full of confusion, his body tearing through the universe as he fled, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

At the time, he had felt regretful, because he had just transformed into his demon state, needing large amounts of blood food, only to miss out on this prey.

Everyone was speechless—this wild old man was truly straightforward, still able to casually mention what he’d thought back then, truly willing to eat anything!

That might have been a deity, yet he hadn’t cared in the slightest.

The Man-Demon was extraordinarily terrifying—this corner fragment of the Great Emperor’s formation could block and kill the world’s supreme powerhouses, yet he advanced step by step, pausing to study each formation, slowly breaking through, approaching the immortal cocoon wrapped in swirling chaos energy.

This left the great black dog deeply respectful—this was the ultimate manifestation of profound dao cultivation, combining method and formation, forcing his way through with strength.

“This corner fragment probably accounts for about a tenth of the complete formation diagram—anyone able to pass through must be a peerless talent.” This was the Black Emperor’s assessment.

Of course, unconsciously it was also elevating itself, because it felt that given time to study slowly, it too could probably break out a path to survival.

As they approached that hazy cocoon, various lights and mists flowed. At everyone’s earnest request, the Man-Demon dispersed the chaos, swept away the fire essence, and waved his hands, producing a divine mirror.

It could reflect the void, return to the origin, break through illusion, making that immortal cocoon no longer mysterious and unfathomable.

Everyone held their breath, wanting to see what this Primordial deity truly looked like. Within the mirror, initially blurry, gradually clearing, a figure emerged.

This was a man—immediately, people ruled out one particular Great Emperor in their minds; it absolutely couldn’t be Ruthless.

“This Primordial deity is quite particular—covered head to toe in divine materials. Is that the legendary Immortal Thread Divine Robe?” The Black Emperor drooled.

“So many treasures!” The little bald head Huahua also blinked his eyes, his gaze burning hot, showing a tendency to surpass even his teacher in enthusiasm.

“From bottom to top, from feet to chest, all divine objects…” the Black Emperor said, but quickly a look of suspicion crossed its face, as if something seemed familiar.

“On his chest rests a Soul-Summoning Divine Pearl—this is a heaven-defying divine treasure, said to be able to summon and reassemble even a scattered primordial spirit.” The great black dog was now staring straight ahead.

It could barely restrain itself from rushing up immediately to loot this Primordial-era divine figure!

“Around his neck hangs a longevity lock, looking like a supreme sacred item that’s been prayed over and blessed by many people… but damn it, why does this body look somewhat familiar to me?” The great black dog scratched its head, utterly puzzled.

“It looks familiar to me too, so plump, so prosperous-looking…” Huahua also muttered quietly.

Not just them—even Long Ma exhaled white smoke from its mouth. Ye Fan and the others were also stunned—why did this body look so strange?

Was this a prehistoric deity?

Covered in numerous divine treasures, the plump body gleaming brightly, not particularly imposing, let alone divinely martial—it looked somewhat like a… charlatan priest.

The mist fully dispersed, the divine mirror becoming completely clear, revealing this person’s face, manifesting the true countenance of the Primordial deity.

“Damn it—Duan De!”

“What the—how is it him!”

“This is haunted—why is Duan De sleeping here? Didn’t he die in the Taichu Ancient Mine?”

“How could it be that unscrupulous Daoist!?”

The whole group looked as if they’d seen a ghost, dumbstruck, simply unable to believe this—the so-called Primordial deity was this charlatan.

Not long ago, Duan De had entered the Taichu forbidden zone, shattered by a supreme being within the ancient mine, turning into clear qi. Though everyone had suspected he probably wasn’t dead, seeing him here at the sun’s center still left them stunned.

This was simply too absurd—had the Man-Demon seen him over a million years ago?

“Is this really one person?” People seriously doubted it.

The Man-Demon was about to step through the formation pattern, appearing before that immortal cocoon, but at that very moment, the void trembled, a vast overwhelming aura descending, radiating an irresistible pressure.

A fluctuation of a Great Emperor’s power!

Everyone was greatly shocked, the Man-Demon also frowning, halting his steps, gazing into the depths of the fire essence, where an artifact was hidden.

Only when the external enemy intruded was it activated by strange patterns, emitting wisps of dark light, boundlessly terrifying!

“The Heaven-Swallowing Demon Canopy!” The great black dog wanted desperately to seize it immediately, but didn’t dare make a move.

Without doubt, this was that fat man Duan De—possessing this Demon Canopy was more than enough proof of his true identity; the supreme aura everyone had sensed earlier had also leaked from it.

“Damn Duan De, really not dead, hiding here playing possum—hurry up and wake up.”

Only the Man-Demon frowned, then took a step back, saying, “This Demon Canopy is being activated by a strange divine pattern. If we force our way through, it will immediately respond, wrapping around the divine cocoon and disappearing through the void.”

“This dead fatty is quite cautious—already arranged everything in advance. Even if we break through the fragmentary divine formation, he can still escape.”

Duan De existed in a peculiar state, unable to be awakened by anyone, his whole body wrapped in supreme yang energy, refining his true form, purifying his flesh and blood.

“He’s cultivating the Tribulation-Crossing Heavenly Technique. This scoundrel is really thinking big—the hardest stage to overcome requires supreme yang immortal energy to refine the body. He borrowed the immortal energy split out by the supreme being in the ancient mine, channeling it into his own body, then ran here into the supreme yang divine sun to nurture himself further.”

Everyone sighed with realization, instantly understanding the cause and effect.

All things generate and restrain each other; the human body contains both life and death energies, unavoidable—yet Duan De sought to completely eliminate the last trace of yin energy within his body, becoming a pure yang body. What kind of path was this to walk?

The Tribulation-Crossing Heavenly Technique was created by a Heavenly Venerate of Daoism—even those who had attained the Dao hadn’t achieved great perfection with this technique. Could this dead fatty have such great ambition, aiming for a flawless realm?

“Why do I feel like Uncle-Master Duan is… very strange, a bit scary.” Huahua hid behind Ye Fan, poking out his little bald head to say this.

Everyone present was stunned, then all simultaneously felt something wasn’t right—this person had already appeared over a million years ago?

The Man-Demon wouldn’t misremember. If true, there were too many strange things about this—had he been sealed away using a divine source?

But the old wild man had clearly stated that wasn’t the case—he hadn’t seen any divine source sealing.

Duan De had spent his whole life searching through tombs, said to be seeking treasure, wanting to dig up everything within the tombs—some things just didn’t add up.

What he was searching for seemed to be far more precious than mere treasures!

“If you all know him well, then I won’t make a move.” The wild old man said this, yet a hungry glint appeared in his eyes, as if he’d spotted a powerful prey.

“This fatty’s meat… isn’t tasty!”

“Ancestor, your appetite is impressively good. I can take you to the Fire Qilin Cave and the Myriad Dragon Nest—the Qilin and dragons there are absolutely plump and well-fed.”

The group tried to stop him, genuinely afraid he might munch Duan De to pieces—though this unscrupulous Daoist’s origins were mysterious, he was still a friend after all.

The Man-Demon didn’t move, his eyes filled with threads of immortal light, staring at that cocoon, as if trying to see through everything.

“He’s not that person from back then…” The old wild man actually said such an elusive sentence.

Everyone was confused, all turning to look at him.

“The flesh body’s aura is the same, but the soul is different—this soul bears no mark of passing years, its age not very great.” The Man-Demon continued.

Everyone was stunned—there were many strange points here, but it was hard to make sense of it all at once.

“That person from the Primordial era could have instantly killed him thousands upon thousands of times with just his physical body alone.” This was another shocking conclusion the Man-Demon voiced.

“Ancestor, is everything you’re saying… true?” People couldn’t help but be shocked.

“There’s a serious problem with this physical body!” Having said this, the Man-Demon’s eyes blazed intensely, burning like torches, shocking everyone into stepping back.

No one had expected him to show such emotion, losing his composure like this—he had absolutely discovered something extraordinary.

“Within his body there is… a mythical-era Reincarnation Mark, and there are actually four of them!” The wild Man-Demon revealed a look of shock.