The stone hall was vast, and the great bell was magnificent — one would never have guessed, without looking carefully, that it lay hidden within the stone, casting its shadow over the entire area and covering this entire domain.

Yet none of them had any intention of provoking it directly. Having only just arrived, this was not the moment to lay plans for the bell. All three sets of eyes were fixed on what lay ahead, and those eyes went wide.

The space beyond was enormously open, visible in a single sweeping glance. A tremendous stone scripture stood upright upon the ground — over ten meters tall, a meter or two thick.

At that moment, the fragments of shattered jade on Ye Fan’s person began to grow hot. Within his body, they trembled faintly, releasing a warm, flowing energy.

The Wushi Scripture.

The chubby Duan De let out a shout before anyone else could react and bolted forward faster than a rabbit, blazing toward the stone scripture at full speed. The Old Blind Man’s entire being was equally shaken, and he followed without a moment’s pause.

Ye Fan had been here before and already knew this stone scripture existed. This time, he had brought four fragments of Emperor jade — he could only hope they would be enough to yield something.

They surged forward at full speed, and throughout the approach, all three felt their Yuan Souls threatening to fracture, as if some demonic force was trying to unravel them and draw them back into the laws of the Dao.

The stone scripture lay before them. Behind it was a heap of scattered boulders blanketed in trailing vines and ancient trees — and it was from those that the terrifying force emanated.

Once they drew near, the assault on their Yuan Souls subsided. It no longer troubled them — for the Dao markings overflowing from the stone scripture, though invisible, were utterly real, suppressing and quieting everything around them.

“It really is the Wushi Scripture!” The Old Blind Man’s hands trembled as he reached out to trace the three great ancient characters carved upon the stone book, his voice quaking.

Up close, the four ancient jade pieces on Ye Fan’s person blazed with radiance, shining right through his body, resonating with the ancient scripture and drawing out some nameless, flowing energy.

At the same moment, two beams of light shot from Duan De’s body as well. Characteristically direct, he immediately attempted to force the stone scripture open — but no matter how he strained, it would not budge by even a hair’s breadth.

“The two broken pieces of jade on me are… glowing…” The rogue Daoist was astonished. He produced two jade fragments — which bore an unmistakable resemblance to those in Ye Fan’s hands — and when held together, they fit perfectly.

He had dug these from some obscure ancient tomb, where the deceased had kept them close to their person with a reverence and care that surpassed even that afforded to the supreme divine weapon they had spent a lifetime forging.

“It’s connected to all of this!” Duan De was overcome with excitement, and then his gaze immediately shifted to the four jade pieces in Ye Fan’s hands.

The stone scripture rested upon a raised platform covered in numerous thick markings. At a casual glance they resembled natural crevices, but the Dao patterns had been carved there deliberately. The style of engraving was utterly unlike that of any present-day hand — far closer to nature itself, the patterns formed from wind, rain, thunder, lightning, birds, beasts, flowers, and insects.

At the very center was a depression about the size of a human head. As they neared it, both Ye Fan’s and Duan De’s jade pieces trembled, as if alive, shining brilliantly.

“Heaven truly aids us! So these jade pieces are the key to opening the Wushi Scripture!” Duan De exclaimed.

“It won’t work,” Ye Fan said with a quiet sigh. “Together we have only six pieces. We are still short three.”

“We won’t know unless we try. Let’s put them in first and see what happens.” The chubby fellow was deeply motivated — after all, the Wushi Scripture was far too extraordinary, said to contain supreme divine knowledge from the very end of the immortal path.

The six jade pieces were set in place. With a resonant “Hum,” the platform shuddered violently. The entire area blazed with dazzling light as a vast curtain of radiance erupted upward, enveloping all three of them.

“Pull back!” Ye Fan said in a low, urgent voice.

The ancient stone scripture had not moved an inch — it had not opened. What the light curtain had produced instead was a rapid tearing of the void. Everything became obscured in haze, and it was about to transmit them out.

“Ding!”

Ye Fan’s hand was faster than his eyes. He knocked the jade pieces free and pulled the other two back with him, retreating a great distance — and barely managed to avoid being transported out of the Purple Mountain.

“I refuse to accept this,” Duan De declared, his eyes burning. “I’ll just have the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar swallow it whole!” He urged the Ruthless Man Emperor’s weapon forward, and the jar opened wide, breathing in and out great swaths of demonic light.

“Hum!”

The entire void shuddered intensely. The aura of an ancient emperor spread outward, stunning all of creation across ten thousand worlds — but in that same instant, another ancient emperor’s aura also began to diffuse.

“Clang!”

Ahead of them, the Wushi Bell gave a light tremor, emitting a terrifying sound wave — as if to shatter this entire great world — surging toward them like a white ocean wave.

“Stop — stop it now!” the Old Blind Man shouted. Then he grabbed both Ye Fan and Duan De and dove into the Demonic Jar, sealing all three of them inside.

“Clang!”

The Demonic Jar sealed shut. All three sat in the heart of the ancient Heaven-Devouring Jar with their hearts still hammering, not having taken the Wushi Scripture at all — and instead having roused that great bell, which had rung without anyone striking it.

What they could be grateful for was that the bell had only shuddered faintly. It had not truly launched an attack, and quickly fell still once more.

“It’s fortunate we carried Emperor jade on our persons — otherwise we’d likely have triggered wave upon wave of bell-peals, and that would have been truly terrifying!”

The ancient emperor’s aura from moments ago had left them all shaken. The great bell had required no one to empower or operate it — it had resonated on its own. That alone was enough to make anyone’s blood run cold.

They emerged from the ancient Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar and looked at one another in silence. And then, all three of them were consumed by the same frustration: the most mysterious ancient scripture of legend was right before their eyes, and yet it was beyond their reach.

Duan De steeled himself with a fierce look. “To hell with it. I’m willing to take whatever injuries it costs — let me try covering the stone scripture with the Heaven-Devouring Jar and making an immediate run for it.”

“Don’t be reckless. In the past, the great holy lands came in bearing several extreme Dao Emperor weapons and still couldn’t obtain it. What you’re suggesting is suicide.”

“The Heaven-Devouring Jar is different from other Emperor weapons. It should be able to hold its own against the Wushi Bell — I refuse to believe we can’t take the scripture with us!” Duan De would not let it go.

“Stop arguing — there’s writing here.” Ye Fan, his thoughts unsettled, had noticed some characters — scrawled crookedly in the Great Black Dog’s unmistakably chaotic paw-writing.

“Boy, even if you gather all the Wushi jade pieces, you cannot open this ancient scripture. Wushi Emperor said so himself — only one who possesses the Innate Sacred Physique Dao Embryo can cultivate it.” The words were carved into a stone wall, unmistakably the Great Black Dog’s — and it had apparently anticipated that Ye Fan would come here.

“What kind of preposterous requirements does an ancient scripture have?!” Duan De fumed.

“Now I finally understand why Wushi never took on a disciple,” the Old Blind Man said with a long sigh. “Because he simply could not find one.”

“The heart method most likely can only be cultivated by those with the Innate Sacred Physique Dao Embryo — but I believe the final chapter’s secret technique may be something I can cultivate.” Even facing the Wushi Scripture, Ye Fan retained some measure of confidence and conviction. The Indomitable Technique could assimilate any divine art.

“Something about this makes me feel…” the Old Blind Man murmured, “…that it was prepared for a certain descendant of yours.”

In the end, they departed from that place and pressed onward toward the deepest reaches of the Purple Mountain. Along the way they encountered many trailing vines and ancient trees, lush and verdant, growing between piles of stone.

Beneath the ancient vines, scattered bones lay in abundance — the remains of those who had died at the roots of these plants, their life essences drained away. Their deaths had been horrific.

“Ancient beings!”

“What kind of plants are these — that they can kill even ancient beings?”

All three were deeply unsettled.

They followed a narrow trail and at last drew close to the most mysterious depths of the Purple Mountain. In this place, light streamed and shimmered, and the air was rich with fragrance.

The ancient vines and wild trees fell away. The aura became gradually more peaceful and serene. Along the path, rare spirit herbs and sacred grasses began to appear in increasing numbers, their ancient medicinal fragrance drifting gently — as though one had stepped into hallowed ground.

Ahead, a waterfall cascaded down, its springs gurgling, spiritual energy coiling, five-colored radiance flickering within. It was a divine waterfall.

“A massive block of divine source!”

Beneath the divine waterfall, a great block of divine source rested on a raised platform, blooming with auspicious light, lending the entire area an air of sacred splendor.

They quickened their pace and drew near — and stared. The block was well over two square meters in size, utterly enormous.

“We’re rich. Never mind anything else — a block of divine source this size alone is priceless!” Duan De’s eyes lit up at the sight of the treasure.

“Wait — look at the source. There are cracks in it. It was sealed shut afterward, but something has escaped from within.” The Old Blind Man’s expression grew heavy with gravity.

“Indeed.” Ye Fan nodded.

An uneasy feeling descended on all of them. Could there be a powerful ancient king lurking somewhere nearby? Any creature sealed within divine source would have to be a supremely fearsome being.

A powerful ancient creature, roaming free in the vicinity — the mere thought of it made one’s skin crawl. They were not afraid of an open confrontation — with extreme Dao Emperor weapons, they could weather that. What they feared was an ancient king striking from the shadows, silently cutting down all three of them before they could react.

They scanned in all directions, and a chill settled over all of them, a cold sweat prickling down their spines.

After a brief pause, they proceeded with far greater caution, and continued moving forward. Ahead, a row of crystal coffins suddenly came into view — each one ancient, its luster dim, covered densely in carved patterns.

Every coffin bore inscriptions in ancient primordial script. Ye Fan managed to decipher some of the characters — and realized, with a jolt, that they had been carved by the Undying Celestial Emperor. An immediate wave of dread swept through him.

“These are the Undying Celestial Emperor’s former subordinates!”

Once they grasped what this meant, all three were seized with profound unease. How many years had these coffins stood here? The loyal soldiers of the god revered by all ten thousand clans — just how formidable would such beings have been?

A pity that however exalted they had been, even they could not resist the long passage of years. All of them had died here.

“The remains within the coffins…” Duan De took one look and stepped back.

Inside each crystal coffin lay a horrifying corpse — ghastly as a malevolent spirit, hair yellowed and brittle, bodies pitch-black, shriveled and grotesque.

There was no tomb Duan De had not plundered, yet the sight of the skeletal remains in these crystal coffins filled him with profound unease. He retreated several steps, a layer of goosebumps rising across his skin, a bone-deep chill settling into him.

“I can feel that something is deeply wrong here. In all my years of tomb-robbing, this place carries a dark omen that cannot be dispelled.”

This was the kind of place, Duan De said, that if transported to the outside world, could only be described as a death pit, a mass grave — no fewer than hundreds of thousands of lives would be lost there.

“Two of the coffins have been opened — and they’re empty inside,” the Old Blind Man said.

This entire row of crystal coffins radiated ill omen, dark energy coiling around them. There were dozens in all, and two of them had their lids pushed aside — hollow and bare within.

“This is bad.” Duan De’s expression changed, every hair on his body standing on end as he pointed at the two open coffins, unable to speak.

In the same moment, Ye Fan and the Old Blind Man also spotted the anomaly — the lids had been opened from the inside. On the inner surface, pitch-black finger impressions had been left behind.

The ancient primordial beings had perished countless ages ago. Had the Undying Celestial Emperor’s inscribed suppression patterns not been carved onto these coffins, the remains would long since have turned to ash. So how had something climbed back out?

Every one of them felt their skin crawl. This place was deeply unsettling — drenched in an eerie, sinister quality that sent cold currents racing down the spine.

“Who’s there?!” the Old Blind Man barked, driving his extreme Dao Emperor weapon to blast at one of the corners. That section of space instantly disintegrated, leaving a black void.

“What did you see?” Duan De’s nerves were shot.

“I saw nothing. I only felt that something was there. I drew a divination on impulse — the hexagram came up as great calamity. It feels as though a demon lurks nearby.” The Old Blind Man’s words, once spoken, made the entire place feel several degrees colder. It was as if a pair of venomous eyes were watching them from the shadows — the gaze of a malevolent spirit.

“Let’s leave this place immediately,” Duan De said in a low voice.

The three did not linger. They moved quickly toward the deepest part of the Purple Mountain, and throughout the entire journey, it felt as though a pair of hateful, resentful eyes followed them through the darkness — a creeping sensation like a blade pressed against their backs.

Finally, after half a quarter of an hour, the serene energy ahead began to strengthen once more. Orchids and dragon-grass grew in increasing abundance; many of the cliffstones breathed with violet and auspicious mist.

The three walked in silence along an ancient path and at last ascended to their ultimate destination — and throughout that journey, they remained certain that some cold and malicious specter was trailing behind them.

“That is…”

The road had reached its end. Before them rose a colossal platform, its base draped with dragon-grass and spirit orchids. Above it, primordial chaos-energy coiled and billowed, descending in one curtain after another — and every single strand was enough to crush ten thousand ancient heavens beneath its weight.

This place was extraordinary beyond all description, as if it bridged the past, present, and future — connected to every world that had ever existed.

“I see a divine being — that is… Wushi Emperor!” The chubby Duan De cried out, his Yin-Yang Heavenly Eyes blazing with two beams of uncanny light as he stared, transfixed, at the platform that rose before them, imposing as a mountain.