“Truly… this divine decree… it is real?!” Li Heishui felt his mouth go dry. He swallowed with difficulty, overcome with disbelief.
This golden sheet was solemn and grand, sacred and auspicious. The aura it radiated made people want to kneel in worship involuntarily. Such a thing was impossible to imitate—it was absolutely an artifact belonging to an ancient Great Emperor.
“How can this be? Is there truly a Great Emperor alive in the present age?” Even the Monkey was shocked—comparable in feeling to hearing that the Battle Sage Emperor had been revived.
The great black dog held its massive head high with tremendous arrogance, every inch of it radiating divine brilliance—truly solemn, sacred, and without equal. It said: “But of course.”
“Let me take a look. What exactly is written on it?” Ye Fan reached out his hand, his heart surging with excitement. By instinct, he knew this was a divine paper.
“This involves secrets of heaven—not just anyone is qualified to look. Given that we are all acquaintances, I’ll be generous and flexible—casually give me a sage fruit, or half a stalk of a deathless spirit medicine, and I’ll let you look to your heart’s content.” The Black Emperor put on airs, baring a mouth full of big white teeth, posturing with great deliberateness.
Sure enough, its nature was impossible to change. Ye Fan lunged to snatch it—but a jolt went through his mind and spirit, for an imperial aura emanated from it, making him deeply uncomfortable.
“It is only because we are familiar that I am giving you the half-price deal. If it were that fat fellow who spends all his time robbing graves, he would have to pay double.” The big black dog fixed its gaze on Duan De.
“Wushi is still alive—this is a bit too outrageous.” The unscrupulous Daoist rubbed his nose.
At this point, Ye Fan had already lifted the Wushi Divine Decree in both hands. The divine paper was wreathed in a halo of light, casting his entire body in a glow of serenity and translucence.
He turned it over and back, personally experiencing a quality of vastness and majesty, engulfed by a sacred light. Yet he could not find a single character on it.
“How about it—did it shake you, not being able to recognize the characters on it? Want this Emperor to teach you the supreme imperial script?” The big black dog strutted about with great self-importance.
“What does it say? Let me look.” Li Tian couldn’t wait and took it from Ye Fan, staring at it for a good long while before saying: “This wordless heavenly scripture… is truly profoundly abstruse!”
“Is that so? Let this poor Daoist take a look.” Duan De craned his neck to see, while simultaneously guarding against being bitten by the dog, maintaining very cautious vigilance.
“Drawing on my many years of grave-robbing experience, I conclude that this wordless heavenly scripture… damn well has no words at all!” The fat Daoist pronounced this conclusion.
“You filthy dog—are you playing us for fools?”
“Woof—my mistake, sorry. It must be the other one.” The big black dog scratched its head, its expression mortified.
“And here I thought it was a wordless heavenly scripture, wasting my reverence and sincerity—turns out it was nothing but a blank sheet of paper.” Li Tian was the most indignant of all.
“I came in a hurry and grabbed several extra sheets by accident—I did not think I would mix them up just now.” The big black dog explained, looking guilty.
“Wait—you grabbed several at once? That makes them seem none too valuable.” Everyone stared in disbelief.
“Do not doubt this Emperor. This time it is absolutely the real article—capable of intimidating the ten thousand clans. Once it manifests, all people must bow in worship. Are you prepared?” The big black dog asked.
“Drop dead! You grabbed a whole stack of divine decrees—who would believe that?!” Li Heishui cast his vote of no confidence.
The big black dog kept spitting out divine papers. They all turned out to be wordless heavenly scriptures—the pages shimmered with sacred light and carried the aura of an ancient Great Emperor, yet every single one was blank.
“You blasted dog—what have you gotten yourself into!” Even Ye Fan wanted to kick it.
Only Duan De, ducking and slinking about, was secretly hoarding the papers, eyes darting everywhere with a crafty gleam. “Wonderful things! Paper used exclusively by an ancient Great Emperor—and quite a lot of it!”
“Damn it—that fat fellow! If you dare swallow one sheet, I will bite you ten thousand times and take you as my personal pet!” The big black dog spat pages while growling ferociously as a threat. “These are all this Emperor’s bedding material.”
“Truly… damn… extravagant!” The habitual grave-robber Duan De’s eyes had turned red.
“Do you truly have the Wushi Divine Decree?” Li Heishui was skeptical.
BOOM!
Abruptly, all of heaven and earth shuddered. A vast, surging aura spread and unfurled. A divine paper blazed with ten thousand rays of light—its aura distinctly different from all the others, carrying something out of the ordinary.
“That’s the one!”
They entered the Jade Pool. Many people along the way felt their hearts pound—as though facing an eternal monument—and very nearly fell to their knees in prostration.
This time, the big black dog held its head high without deliberately trying to appear solemn and sacred. The paper illuminated every inch of its body on its own, leaving it shining with Sage light throughout.
“You be careful now. This Emperor is about to release divine power.” At this point, it released only the tiniest bit of divine power—yet the paper instantly seemed to come alive.
BOOM!
A terrifying wave surged out—in an instant flooding and surging like a vast ocean, sweeping across the Jade Pool. From the divine paper, several ancient characters shone through, profound and abstruse, extremely difficult to decipher.
From the nine heavens above, auspicious clouds streamed down in cascades. Across the land below, precious lotuses blossomed by the thousands. Radiant lights of every color billowed upward, a scene of the sacred and holy—the great black dog at the center of it all was utterly engulfed.
More precisely, it was the divine decree that was enshrouded and entwined, becoming an eternal light. This kind of aura was impossible to fabricate—it belonged to an ancient Great Emperor.
It was not the kind of divine power that suppressed all heaven and earth—yet it was as vast as the ocean, and faintly, immortal music sounded. In the distance, spiritual birds of every kind took to the air and danced, while within the sacred land, every flower blossomed in that very first moment.
“What… the ancient Great Emperor’s divine decree has arrived?!”
Within the Jade Pool, all the ancient kings shot to their feet—not even the Sages of the human race were exceptions. Their senses were the most acute of all, their cultivation allowing them to readily touch this layer of the Dao’s markings.
“There is no supreme imperial power shaking all into submission, but there can be no mistake—this is an aura exclusive to an existence on the level of the primordial emperors!” An ancestor-king’s voice quavered.
“Let us go see.” Great Sage Huntuo was very calm. He rose and walked outside.
Gai Jiuyou also rose, joining everyone to walk out together. They could clearly see a divine paper hovering ahead—a great black dog holding its head high with arrogant pride, enveloped in divine brilliance.
On the divine decree were four characters. They shook the heart, written with a vigorous force of brushwork, pressing the breath from one’s chest. And the spiritual pressure from them was something only ancestor-kings would fear—causing cold sweat to pour from their bodies.
Ordinary people had no standing—could not trigger that spiritual pressure. The stronger one was, the more one was seized with dread.
“Is this truly the ancient Great Emperor’s divine decree?” An ancient king’s voice quivered.
“It is so!” The Black Emperor was supremely self-possessed, announcing in a great voice: “This Emperor personally comes to read aloud the Wushi Great Emperor’s divine decree!”
The Wushi Great Emperor’s divine decree!
At these words, the Jade Pool immediately erupted in an uproar. Every single person could not help but cry out. All eyes fixed on this spot, watching the Black Emperor, and in an instant everything was boiling over.
The divine paper blazed with ten thousand rays of light, its brilliance growing ever more resplendent—illuminating heaven and earth into total clarity, sacred light spreading to every corner, filling all who beheld it with reverence and a sense of peace.
“Who are you, and how can you be certain this is Wushi’s divine decree?” An ancestor-king demanded.
“Good question. Listen well, all of you. This Emperor, for the first time, reveals its true identity to the world.” The Black Emperor swept its gaze across all directions, stood on the high platform, and declared: “I am the Mountain-Guarding Black Emperor—I serve under the Wushi Great Emperor!”
The Jade Pool fell silent. All eyes fixed on what lay ahead—on it—on the divine decree. They were overcome with astonishment.
The ancient clans in particular furrowed their brows in deep displeasure. The character “Emperor” carried special significance. This dog had the audacity to use such a name—it made them feel deeply uncomfortable.
“Do you still not know who it is? Some ancient records do contain mention of it—that in the Wushi Great Emperor’s later years, he took in a young dog…” Duan De spoke up from the crowd.
“That is it—I have heard of this secret!” Several figures at the level of sect masters cried out in shock.
An immediate wave of clamor spread through the Jade Pool. A dog had stirred up a great uproar and brought with it the Wushi Great Emperor’s divine decree—leaving everyone staggered beyond measure.
“Nonsense—this Emperor was born a Holy Emperor, a divine spirit reborn into this world.” The Black Emperor spoke without shame.
Mountain-Guarding Black Emperor—it must have been a mountain-guardian beast, inflated and exaggerated to the utmost extreme by itself. Ye Fan and the others mocked it in private—yet were also quite shocked. The Black Emperor had for the first time revealed its origins.
“What are those characters? Why can they not be deciphered?” Several ancient kings were full of doubt, yet had long since recognized this as written by a Great Emperor’s own hand.
“These are characters used exclusively by ancient emperors and Great Emperors after they have comprehended the Dao!” Great Sage Huntuo said. After studying them with great earnestness, he read those few ancient characters aloud: “No Sage Under Heaven!”
“That is correct—No Sage Under Heaven.” Gai Jiuyou also confirmed it.
Hiss—!
The entire crowd drew a sharp breath, every one of them stunned. Was this the Wushi Great Emperor’s meaning? To have issued a divine decree of this nature was staggering.
“If you do not believe it, go look for yourselves!” The Black Emperor was extremely magnanimous, offering the divine paper to the crowd. A group of ancient kings shuddered, stepping back one after another. Only after a very long time did they slowly gather around it.
They examined it for a long while. Not a single person spoke. Every one of them fell silent. A human Great Emperor yet lived—was he to seal and suppress them all?
“I said long before that Sages would do best to withdraw into solitary cultivation and leave this world of heaven and earth to the young people.” Gai Jiuyou said.
Great Sage Huntuo’s expression became impassive. He said: “Good, good, good. May the ten thousand clans coexist—may the future period be one of great peace.”
They had the divine decree brought into the Jade Pool’s inner sanctum and continued their discussions. But the tone had already been set. Let the outside world clamor as it would—all of it was drawing to a close.
“Is the Wushi Great Emperor truly alive?” In a place where no one else could hear, Ye Fan seized the Black Emperor by one of its big ears and asked earnestly.
“But of course. The Wushi Great Emperor is without equal under heaven and earth—he set his heart on suppressing the immortals as well, but though he walked the nine heavens and ten earths, he could not find any. Lonely for ten thousand ages, invincible through the long river of time.” The big black dog answered with certainty.
“Where is he?” Li Tian’s eyes lit up, unable to resist pressing closer to ask, with the familiarity of someone who had long known them.
“How would I know? I have not seen him for many tens of thousands of years. He has probably entered the immortal domain.” The Black Emperor said.
Everyone was petrified—and then all of them leapt on it at once, grabbing it by the neck, asking in unison: “Then where did that divine decree come from?”
“Damn it—you are all profaning the great Black Emperor! Let go!” The Black Emperor coughed.
“Speak—where did that divine decree come from?” The crowd choked it until its eyes nearly rolled back.
“I’ll say it—let go. That was written by the Wushi Great Emperor over a hundred thousand years ago. I had been using it as bedding material.” The Black Emperor stuck out its long tongue and revealed the truth.
The entire crowd was dumbstruck. The divine decree had been fished out of a dog’s lair. Could this dog be any more outrageous? It had deceived an entire group of ancient kings.
“The divine decree is real—there is no mistake. But it did not mean that.” The big black dog muttered.
No Sage Under Heaven—it was not directed at the Sages of this world, but was speaking of a moral and ethical quality: under heaven, there was no one who could be truly called a Sage, for there was no perfect person in this world.
“Heaven and earth carry their shortcomings—people, too, carry their imperfections. That which is without flaw must shatter—immortals do not abide in this world…” The Black Emperor rambled, reciting a few lines. It had not heard clearly back then either, and had only memorized bits and fragments.
“Immortals do not exist?” Duan De murmured, then shook his head, declaring this to be impossible.
“What the Wushi Great Emperor meant was that there are no immortals in this world. I believe he saw that immortals existed somewhere, and so he disappeared—transcending this world, ascending to another realm.” The big black dog said.
“You blasted dog—how many more secrets are you hiding from us? Out with it!” Ye Fan kept his grip on it, refusing to let go.
“You little brat—you vanished for a full twelve years. What in the world did you encounter out in the star domains? Out with it!” The big black dog snapped back.
The Jade Pool grand gathering drew quickly to a close. Not long after, a piece of news that shook all five domains spread outward: No Sage Under Heaven—the world would coexist in peace and harmony.
“Is this a sign of peace to come? The way I see it, it is the opening of a blood-soaked road—the purest bloodlines of the ancient emperors, the children of the ancient Great Emperors who were not consumed by the dark age, are they all about to step into the world?!” Some whose years of cultivation were immeasurably deep were the first to smell the scent of blood.
“Let go of me, little brat! In this suppression of the ten thousand clans—if we are speaking of great contributions, this Emperor’s ranks first. Regarding the Divine Register of the Gods, regarding everything related to the Wushi Great Emperor—this Emperor’s silent contributions were enough to shake the heavens and move the earth, enough to move spirits to tears!” The Black Emperor cried out.
“I want to ask you—where did Xiao Nannan go?”
“She has ascended!” With a single sentence from the Black Emperor, Ye Fan was jolted so hard he stumbled, nearly falling flat on his face.