Xi Huang Scripture Prelude

"Besides being the successor of the Origin Master lineage, I'm actually also a great archaeologist!"

Moonlight draped itself over Lu Zhou, making his face seem to radiate a sacred glow.

Yang Yi was somewhat bewildered. It was her first time hearing the word "archaeology."

Yet, being clever as she was, she could roughly infer its meaning from the two characters.

Lu Zhou continued.

"Archaeology is the study of ancient history through ruins, relics, documents, and the like. It is about paying tribute to the great deeds of ancient sages and uncovering truths and secrets buried by time."

"And then?"

A faint smile appeared on Yang Yi's face.

That smile made even thick-skinned Lu Zhou feel a little embarrassed about boasting.

He had the feeling that Yang Yi had seen right through him.

The smile on her face practically asked Lu Zhou outright whether his so-called archaeology was real archaeology—or simply grave robbing for a dead man's fortune.

"Cough. What I want to ask of you is this: I want to visit the Ancient Sacred Pool Land. I hope you can tell me its exact location!"

"You truly have some nerve. Do you know that the Ancient Sacred Pool Land is filled with ominousness and strangeness? Even my grandmaster and the others were forced to withdraw from there and find another place to settle. Yet you still want to go there."

"I know there is a problem with the Ancient Sacred Pool Land. I also know why it is filled with ominousness and strangeness. I only want to take a look. I don't think there should be any danger!"

"Don't worry, I guarantee you, I wouldn't dare rashly disturb the resting place of Empress Xi and the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body!"

I just want to check in and clock in. If I can obtain the Dao Palace Chapter of the Xi Huang Scripture, that would be even better.

Of course, Lu Zhou only thought the last sentence and did not say it aloud.

"You even know about that? Even within Jade Pool, this is a secret passed down orally. In every generation, only the Queen Mother and the Holy Maiden know."

Yang Yi cried out in surprise. She meant that Lu Zhou even knew the imperial corpses of Empress Xi and the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body rested within the Ancient Sacred Pool Land.

She was astonished. Lu Zhou only seemed more and more mysterious to her.

"I only happened to learn of it."

Hearing Lu Zhou say this, Yang Yi thought for a moment before nodding slightly. A ray of light flickered between her brows, transforming into a pigeon-egg-sized sphere of light that floated before Lu Zhou.

She said to Lu Zhou.

"I'll leave you a mark. It contains the location of the Ancient Sacred Pool Land as I remember it. But ten thousand years have passed, so I cannot be sure whether anything there has changed."

"Besides that, this mark contains a strand of my divine consciousness. If you encounter any danger in the Ancient Sacred Pool Land, it may be able to offer you some help. But do not place too much hope in it."

"Alright! Many thanks, Holy Maiden!"

Yang Yi nodded. Then she bid Lu Zhou farewell. In the next instant, she took out a Mysterious Jade Platform and crossed through the void.

After she left, Lu Zhou did not linger either. He put away the sphere of light Yang Yi had given him, as well as the divine source sealing Yang Yi, then used the Xingzi Secret beneath his feet and headed toward Stone Village.

When he returned to Stone Village, Fifth Master Zhang and the others had long since gone to sleep.

Lu Zhou did not disturb them. He returned alone to the room Fifth Master Zhang had arranged for him and began studying the Origin Scripture.

He had originally planned to use one instance of Great Emperor-level comprehension to study and cultivate the Origin Scripture.

But now that he had obtained all of Zhang Lin's insights into cultivating the Origin Scripture, he naturally could not waste another precious instance of Great Emperor-level comprehension.

He was certain that, as long as he was given enough time to fully absorb the insights Zhang Lin had passed on to him regarding Origin arts, he would eventually become an Origin Master.

Inside the room, Lu Zhou opened the Origin Scripture. In an instant, streams of silver light shot out, dazzling radiance flowing like glittering diamonds.

"Above, observe the signs in the heavens; below, observe the laws of the earth. Observe the patterns of birds and beasts, and the suitability of the land."

"Inner qi sprouts, outer qi takes form; inner and outer multiply one another."

"Qi scatters when carried by the wind and stops when bounded by water. The ancients gathered it so it would not scatter and guided it so it would come to rest."

"Above, it corresponds to the stars; below, it manifests as the map of the land. Heaven and earth give birth to all things, and the trigrams move in stability."

If it had been someone else who had never encountered Origin arts before, they would likely have found the contents recorded in the Origin Scripture profound and unfathomable upon their first reading, with no way to begin.

But to Lu Zhou now, it was like reviewing a kindergarten textbook!

As he leafed through the Origin Scripture and read its contents, the insights into cultivating Origin arts that Zhang Lin had transmitted into his mind continuously surfaced on their own, rapidly absorbed by Lu Zhou.

His progress in Origin arts advanced by leaps and bounds, even faster than Ye Fan's progress in comprehending the Origin Scripture with the help of a Bodhi seed.

By the time dawn began to break, Lu Zhou had already reached the final few pages of the Origin Scripture.

Sure enough, he saw the prelude to the Xi Huang Scripture there.

It was a portion of the Dao Palace Chapter of the Xi Huang Scripture that Yang Yi had given Zhang Lin.

Lu Zhou took out the Bodhi Leaf and held it in his hand as he silently recited the scripture prelude.

"At the center of the valley lies no valley, formless and shadowless."

This was the Five Gods Art, the secret of nourishing life!

It was said that the Dao Palace Scroll of the Xi Huang Scripture was the finest among all Dao Palace cultivation methods.

As Lu Zhou recited and comprehended this scripture prelude, he could not help comparing it to the Dao Palace Scrolls of the Dao Sutra and the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art.

By now, he could be considered to possess some knowledge of cultivation.

Even though this was only an incomplete Dao Palace scripture, Lu Zhou could still see that the Dao Palace Scroll of the Xi Huang Scripture indeed possessed unique merits.

This made him look forward even more to his upcoming trip to the Ancient Sacred Pool Land.

At that moment, Lu Zhou heard Fifth Master Zhang getting up. He closed the Origin Scripture and stepped out of the room.

"You came back safely. Thank heaven and earth, thank the Great Emperor for his protection."

When Fifth Master Zhang saw Lu Zhou return safely, he could not help letting out a huge sigh of relief.

Lu Zhou took out the Origin Scripture and Zhang Jiye's remains.

In the end, just as in the original story, Fifth Master Zhang did not accept the Origin Scripture.

He told Lu Zhou that he was already old and could see the end of his life. To him, the Origin Scripture would bring disaster rather than blessing.

If Lu Zhou was willing, then should he discover an exceptionally talented descendant of the Zhang Clan in the future, he hoped Lu Zhou would pass the Origin Scripture down to them.

Lu Zhou nodded in agreement.

Then Fifth Master Zhang began gathering Zhang Jiye's remains, so that he could be laid to rest in peace.

Over the following period, Lu Zhou remained in Stone Village cultivating, absorbing, consolidating, and strengthening his foundation.

As time passed, his cultivation in the Xingzi and Fighting Secrets, as well as in Origin arts, grew increasingly profound.

In terms of Origin arts, after only half a year, he was already close to touching upon the realm of an Origin Earth Master.

Besides comprehending the Origin Scripture and the Xingzi and Fighting Secrets, Lu Zhou naturally had not forgotten that he had also checked in at Purple Mountain and obtained the Wushi Scripture.

As planned, he used one instance of Great Emperor-level comprehension to study it.

In the end, Lu Zhou discovered that, just as Black Emperor had said, the Wushi Scripture had been created specifically for the Innate Saint Body Dao Embryo.

Only someone possessing the Innate Saint Body Dao Embryo physique could cultivate the Wushi Scripture.

Lu Zhou felt only a small measure of disappointment over this.

Though he could not cultivate the Wushi Scripture, studying it still brought him considerable benefits in both cultivation and combat strength.

Before he knew it, he broke through uncontrollably into the fifth level of the Dao Palace realm.

This was related to the several imperial scriptures and the Jade Pool Scripture prelude, as well as the enormous amount of Source Eye of Creation essence stored within his body.

At the same time, although Lu Zhou could not cultivate the Wushi Scripture, he had already tested some of the Wushi Emperor arts recorded in its forbidden chapter. He could use the Fighting Saint Method to evolve all of them and kill enemies.

On this day, a pile of stone materials was stacked before Lu Zhou.

They had been left behind by the Zhang Clan's ancestor and collected by him.