After transforming into human form, the Battle Sage Ape’s skin was a pale gold, his frame powerfully built and vigorous, the veins and muscles standing out beneath his skin like great dragon sinews, radiating an overwhelming sense of tremendous power.
Though he had not yet fully matured into his strength, his capabilities were already astonishing and his methods beyond compare. Even if all the holy saints of the realm were to stand before him, not one of them could necessarily have withstood him.
Hum.
The golden palm the monkey extended was like a great winnowing basket — it blanketed an area of a full zhang in every direction. Golden light flowed across its surface, and it was as though with a single hand he could blot out the sky.
Ouyang Ye’s face instantly changed color. He had long since cultivated the Heavenly Eye, and naturally could see the monkey’s true form. Learning that this was a member of the primordial royal bloodlines, his heart hammered wildly.
Primordial creatures had always been synonymous with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and had once been the absolute rulers of this great land. It was only because of their withdrawal that the human race had flourished and grown.
The Battle Sage Ape in particular was a royal clan sitting at the very apex of the hierarchy — just how terrifying a combat power it possessed was something no one could articulate clearly.
Yet Ouyang Ye could not simply wait to be killed. He rapidly activated his Source Heaven divine arts in counterattack. Within the Jade Pool there was no shortage of strange stones, and moreover the earth veins and dragon energy were abundant — all of which he could draw upon.
Rumble!
The dragon energy from within the earth surged upward into the sky, transforming into great dragons — at least several dozen of them — tunneling up from the deep veins all the way to the highest heavens and sealing down toward the Sacred Ape together.
Ouyang Ye was infinitely close to reaching the level of a Source Earth Master — in terms of raw power, he was the equal of a half-step great power.
Crack.
The monkey’s great hand showed not the slightest change and continued pressing forward. His pale golden fingers crushed the void and shattered the dragon energy, descending like a demonic mountain.
Boom!
Ouyang Ye’s entire body lurched violently. On the spot he spewed out a great mouthful of fresh blood. He was then seized by the monkey in a single hand — the bones of his entire body creaking and groaning, on the verge of shattering, as he nearly lost consciousness.
“Ah — what are you doing?!” He cried out in terror, yet was utterly incapable of struggling free.
No one knew just how great the monkey’s strength truly was. He was the Battle Sage among primordial creatures, and his physical body was terrifying beyond all comprehension. If he were ever to cultivate to the uttermost peak, he would look down upon all living beings — invincible beneath the heavens.
All around, everyone shuddered with fear, stunned by the monkey’s sheer power. He had nearly squeezed a half-step great power to death with his bare hand — what kind of concept was this?!
“We ask the Sage to show mercy.” The senior elders of the Jade Pool urgently implored the monkey to let go. The grandmaster of the ancient Source Arts lineage had been invited here by the Jade Pool, and they could not simply allow him to be killed.
Crack.
The monkey exerted a little more force, snapping many of Ouyang Ye’s ribs. His body very nearly deformed from the pressure, and then the monkey tossed him to the ground like a dead dog, no longer paying him any heed.
“Who do you think you are, daring to act this brazenly?!” The people of the ancient Source Arts lineages were incensed.
“Jade Pool immortal maidens — if you will not suppress him, we will go and invite the Source King to intervene!” Several among them cried out, their expressions cold and stern.
“Don’t!” Ouyang Ye climbed back to his feet. Of all those present, only he had cultivated the Heavenly Eye and recognized the monkey’s true identity. He had no desire to provoke a greater catastrophe.
“Everyone, please calm yourselves!” The Jade Pool’s people stepped in to mediate. As hosts, they naturally would not allow the monkey to continue acting.
“He harbored intense murderous intent toward my friend. The fact that I did not slap him to death is already showing considerable restraint.” The monkey muttered a sentence and then ceased to pay further attention.
What he said was the truth. Were he acting according to his own nature, he would have long since slapped them all to death. However, he was not entirely ignorant of the ways of the world, and did not wish to embarrass the Jade Pool too greatly.
“Let us leave!” Ouyang Ye, suppressing a bellyful of fury, turned and walked away from the immortal pool. He had no desire to stand alongside the monkey any longer.
“You still harbor murderous intent?” The Battle Sage Ape’s fiery golden eyes shot out two streams of divine radiance, locking onto Ouyang Ye’s retreating back.
“Little Sage, please restrain yourself — make no further moves.” Several senior elders of the Jade Pool stepped forward, genuinely fearing that this monkey might start a massacre.
“Brother Ape need not quarrel with the likes of them.” Ye Fan also stepped forward. The monkey had made his move on Ye Fan’s behalf, and naturally Ye Fan would sincerely express his gratitude.
The ancient flat peach tree stood forty-nine meters tall. Even a dozen or more people joining hands could not have encircled its trunk. All across its bark, great fissures spread open like enormous dragon scales, yet the overall impression was of extraordinary, ancient vigor.
It had grown for over a hundred thousand years. Compared to this, its girth, though immense, was almost nothing relative to its age.
The ancient tree was like a coiling dragon, every branch draped in lush green leaves, each one like a piece of emerald jade — translucent and luminous. Upon its branches, only three flat peaches grew, hidden amid the jade-green leaves. Their fragrance drifted through the air and was intoxicating, every pore in one’s body relaxing and expanding from the scent alone.
The flat peach fruits were not very large — fashioned as though carved from red carnelian, vivid and crimson throughout, gleaming with crystalline luster. Their fragrance permeated the very soul, filling one’s whole body with ease and comfort.
The Great Black Dog was the most wretched of all — it kept furiously swallowing its own drool. Had it not been for the several senior elders standing watch, it would very likely have ripped out the entire ancient tree by the roots.
The monkey was second. His golden eyes swiveled about, and though he had not yet started scratching his ears and rubbing his cheeks, he was visibly restless, as though itching to scramble up the tree at any moment.
Even in the primordial era, the Battle Sage Ape had existed in numbers of only two or three at most. The undying flat peach tree had been in the hands of their lineage back then, and in those ancient days he had eaten the real thing.
“How the world has changed — the once-thriving Northern Region has become a barren wasteland, and all that once existed there is gone.” After a long while, the monkey finally settled into stillness, deeply moved. “Even the undying flat peach tree has flown away into the Divine Ruins.”
Within the immortal pool, the water’s surface was draped in mist, the essence of life rising from it like a rainbow, endlessly overflowing, nourishing the entirety of the Jade Pool’s sacred land.
Beneath the ancient tree, that curious stone gleamed with luminous splendor, flowing with brilliant light, ceaselessly absorbing the essence of the sun and moon — as though it were alive.
“Are the people of the Jade Pool trying to nurture a sacred spirit?!” The Great Black Dog’s eyes grew profoundly deep, and for the first time, such an expression appeared on its face.
Around the curious stone, fragrant iris and orchid grew, dragon grass thrived, and spirit ginseng could be found as well — all of medicinal age spanning tens of thousands of years, glimmering with soft light, their medicinal fragrance alluring.
Such a stone as this had origins alarming beyond all measure. Nine apertures and eight openings — from them essence energy continuously spouted and was drawn back in, like breathing itself.
This stone had absorbed the truest energies of heaven and earth, the essence of sun and moon, nourished through endless ages. It had already developed a sacred embryo within it. The Jade Pool knew this full well and was doing everything in its power to nurture it, hoping to bring it into the world sooner.
“The Jade Pool immortal maidens, in your emperor’s opinion, you are playing with fire. Once the sacred spirit emerges into the world, unless the Queen Mother of the West is resurrected, the Jade Pool will face a calamity!” The Great Black Dog said gravely.
“This is a benevolent spirit…” A senior elder of the Jade Pool said. The ins and outs of this matter the Jade Pool naturally understood full well, but some secrets could not be spoken aloud.
“A benevolent spirit?! Nonsense!” The Great Black Dog laughed coldly. “In the old days, a certain holy land once did something like this, and as a result it was utterly obliterated. Had the great emperor Wushi not intervened to suppress and kill the sacred spirit, no one knows what kind of catastrophic disaster would have followed.”
A stirring rose in Ye Fan’s heart. No wonder the Great Black Dog had reacted with such alarm the moment it laid eyes on this stone — in that distant past, such a momentous event had actually occurred.
“This stone was long ago purified by an ancient saint, who spent his twilight years expounding the ancient scriptures to it in sermon…” One of the Jade Pool’s senior elders let slip this piece of information, but then said nothing further.
“That makes it even more mysterious. It has comprehended the human race’s ancient scriptures…” The Great Black Dog fell into deep contemplation, unable to shake the matter from its mind — yet it had little more to say.
“I don’t care what kind of sacred spirit it is. If it ever troubles me in the future, I’ll smash it apart with one staff blow!” The monkey was wild and untameable, speaking with complete directness.
Several of the Jade Pool’s senior elders were speechless, yet had no grounds to refute him — for they needed this monkey’s sacred blood to nourish this Stone King.
Ye Fan too had nothing to add. The Jade Pool of ancient times had produced a Great Emperor and was privy to a great deal of knowledge. They certainly had their own carefully considered reasons, and Ye Fan had no cause whatsoever to stand in the way.
The monkey slit his own wrist. Vivid crimson blood flowed out, radiating astonishing divine light that pierced the eyes. His life force was at its most vigorous and explosive, and every single drop of his blood was like a divine furnace, blazing with roaring sacred flames.
Ye Fan stepped forward and activated his Source Heaven divine arts, continuously tracing across the surface of the curious stone, inscribing into it mysterious, abstruse patterns that wove together into a complex and intricate design.
Hiss.
After the monkey’s fresh blood dripped down and touched the stone’s surface, it rapidly seeped inside, absorbed by the Stone King with its nine apertures and eight openings. The stone began to tremble gently, drawing in the essence energy of heaven and earth at an increasingly rapid pace.
“The sacred embryo forming within really is close to emerging into the world…” The Great Black Dog’s eyelids jumped frantically. It stumbled backward, retreating several large steps.
“Doggy, what’s wrong? Don’t be scared.” Xiao Nannan opened her big, blinking eyes and spoke in her soft voice, trying to comfort the dog.
“How long until it can emerge?” Ye Fan asked.
“If all proceeds without incident, it can emerge in five thousand years.” The Jade Pool Saintess also stood to one side, responding in a gentle voice.
“Five thousand years…” Li Heishui and Jiang Huairen exchanged a glance.
This news was truly staggering. A sacred spirit was about to enter the world — an existence of the highest and most supreme order. Would the holy lands of the realm be able to tolerate its coming into this world?
It was plainly evident that the other holy lands had already learned of this, or else the Jade Pool would not have allowed these visitors to come here and learn of the secret.
“Five thousand years — none of us will live that long. Our bones will have long since rotted in the earth. But little Ye will be right at the peak of his power then. More likely than not, there will be a life-or-death battle awaiting him. Better to just destroy it now!” Li Heishui, Liu Kou, and the others communicated with Ye Fan through divine sense, all feeling that this timeframe was far too sensitive, and no one could know what might transpire.
The Great Black Dog sighed. “Your emperor has come to believe it — an era rivaling that of Wushi’s time is approaching. Not only will numerous kings rise simultaneously, but even beings rivaling the Great Emperors — sacred spirits — will emerge into the world. The primordial royal clans will also return. If you want to walk freely through this world in those days, there will be no way without a heaven-defying level of battle power!”
The monkey was not stingy at all. He allowed a considerable amount of blood to flow from his wrist — radiant divine light, essence energy overflowing in all directions — until the Jade Pool’s people called for him to stop, only then sealing his wound.
“Brother Ape, you’re truly straightforward.” Jiang Huairen muttered.
“I want to shed my blood and replace it with something new — right now is a good opportunity to try. This waste blood means nothing to me.” The monkey spoke with complete directness, leaving the Jade Pool’s people at a loss for what to say.
The curious stone blazed with brilliant light, all nine apertures opening wide, absorbing the essence of the sun and drawing in the glory of the moon. Every last drop of sacred blood that had trickled down upon it was absorbed completely, and the stone’s life energy grew considerably more vigorous. It trembled continuously.
“Can I touch it?” Xiao Nannan blinked her big eyes, her voice soft and gentle, full of hope. The little girl found the curious stone’s luminous, crystalline sparkle utterly beautiful and wanted very much to get a closer look.
“Sure, go right ahead.” The Great Black Dog’s heart stirred, and in an overstepping of authority it answered for everyone, agreeing on the spot.
She stretched out her small hand and gently touched the surface of the stone with its nine apertures and eight openings. All at once, the entire stone shuddered violently — then went completely still, not moving at all, as if it had been startled.
Ye Fan was astonished in his heart. The little girl was a “divine infant.” Could the curious stone actually have sensed her presence?
The Great Black Dog showed an even more unusual expression — excited beyond measure — and cried out, “Touch it again!”
The Jade Pool immortal maidens were speechless. This dog was being far too outrageous, acting as though it were the master of the place.
“Actually, we are all one family, though you may not know it. The Jade Pool is truly the most remarkable of all — indirectly, it is as if you have produced two Great Emperors…” The Great Black Dog was rambling on, yet mid-sentence it seemed to have let something slip, and hurriedly caught itself and went quiet.
At that very moment, divine light blazed brilliantly. After Xiao Nannan pressed her small hand against the Stone King, the stone suddenly erupted in flowing splendor, and boundless divine radiance surged upward.
“Quickly — make her stop!” The senior elders of the Jade Pool were alarmed, and moved to intervene, yet they were repelled outward by the divine light and could not get close.
At this moment, the Stone King with its nine apertures and eight openings was erupting outward with essence energy, which flowed into Xiao Nannan’s arms, dyeing her in a dazzling splendor that made her look like a glowing porcelain doll.