Outside the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land, Zhang Huan saw through the falsity, gazed into the interior of the mountain body from afar, and transmitted his divine sense.
The Great Accomplishment Sacred Body awoke, opened his golden eyes to meet his gaze, and weebly nodded in acknowledgment.
In their later years, Sacred Bodies would suffer from ominous manifestations, growing terrifying corpse hair, becoming muddled, and transforming into monsters.
The Great Accomplishment Sacred Body used his profound cultivation and secret techniques to protect the clarity of his spiritual sense, and though his body grew full of hair, he would not incarnate into an ominous being.
Communicating via divine sense, Zhang Huan and he discussed ancient turmoils, the recultivation methods for the various secret realms of the Sacred Bodies, and so on.
The Sacred Body lineage had an alternative study of the secret realms, and their unique auxiliary secret techniques could repolish the secret realms—this was the secret of the Sacred Body's strength.
The techniques specifically tailored to the secret realms possessed a certain reference value.
He stated that he would come once more, and next time he would engage in a deeper Dao discussion with the Sacred Body, attempting to make a move to dispel the curse for him.
"Many thanks, do not force it."
The Great Accomplishment Sacred Body lowered his head, his face withered like plain white silk, and he spoke haltingly.
He accepted the good intentions, but he still reminded him, hoping that Zhang Huan would waste less effort and time on a dying person like himself; it was not worth it.
The curse was like a maggot in the tarsal bone, wearing away only to regenerate endlessly. No one knew the difficulty of dispelling it better than he, who experienced it personally at every moment.
Over the long years, he had tried countless methods, but every time the curse staged a comeback, he could only forcibly suppress it, unable to remove it no matter what.
Saying this, he transmitted some of the Sacred Body lineage's inheritance via divine sense, the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist included among them; he did not wish for the inheritance to be cut off at his roots.
Human Race Great Emperors who were unwilling to transform into forbidden zone supreme beings were all trustworthy in character, would not do disgraceful things, and possessed their own dignity; nor did he hoard his secrets.
He likewise informed him of his insights into the longevity methods he had searched out, and wished that Zhang Huan would be able to live out his next life.
Following that, his neck slumped to the side, the brilliant light in his eyes scattered, and he no longer reacted at all.
Seeing that his physical condition was so poor, Zhang Huan sighed, did not speak further with him, and shifted his gaze away.
The so-called curse was nothing more than the product of Dao and Dharma; its essence was a technique, and no matter how bizarre it was, it still had to follow reason and the laws. If it could be suppressed, it could be undone.
If it could not be cracked, there were only two reasons: the cultivation level was not high enough, or the understanding was not deep enough, not knowing where to start.
The curse originated from the Underworld, specifically cast against this physique by several imperial dao figures of the past.
This physique was naturally at odds with the Underworld, immune to all evils, and restrained this Dao, sooner or later becoming an enemy of the Underworld—far too tricky.
In addition, they also wished to obtain the Sacred Body's blood to study its peculiarities. Driven by various reasons, they thus conjured the curse of the Sacred Body.
The Underworld specialized in this Dao, and their application of curse techniques had reached pure perfection. Naturally, the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body, who was merely an outsider, could not possibly know the root.
What manifested were merely superficial characteristics, while the true curse was hidden in the deepest depths, difficult to sense.
In his struggle against the dark supreme beings over many years, he had long since fought until his origin was withered and drained, and his body was continuously eroded by the curse—it was also a form of torture.
If it could be dispelled, not to mention restoring his damaged origin, putting him in a much better state would be no problem, and it could be of great help when pacifying the turmoil in the future.
Zhang Huan arrived inside a small mountain and took out some treasures he had buried back when he was a Great Sage.
He had hurriedly left behind some family property back then to prevent meeting with misfortune after going to the Underworld, and vainly wasting this lifetime's hard work.
Now, naturally, he did not have such worries and could prepare even better.
Using source art to alter the topography of the surrounding hundred miles and drive away living creatures, everywhere was a perilous and desperate situation where even a sage would weep blood.
Aside from someone like Zhang Huan who was extremely proficient in source art, nine out of ten others who entered this hundred-mile mountainous terrain would fail to survive.
An Origin Heaven Master might manage to get through the terrain after exhausting every effort, but Zhang Huan had additionally laid down a cryptic imperial array within it.
The imperial array possessed sentience and could guard the small mountain; regardless of who broke through the terrain, they would be pulverized by the killing blows.
Unless one proactively carried a diagram inscribed with the corresponding imagery to enter, they would be fine, but what was drawned was known to Zhang Huan alone.
The small mountain was desolate, located right beside the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land. Mortals were scarce within a radius of miles, and he set the location using source art to facilitate Zhang Huan's search in later generations.
He carved out a cave dwelling within it, and across an infinite distance within the earth veins, he summoned a thick, fortuitous dragon vein from Central State.
Suppressed by the imperial array, the dragon vein could not escape; it would become the source, continuously providing spiritual energy.
He scattered the chaos soil, planting various medicine kings and the immortal medicines obtained from the Underworld.
This kind of soil contained boundless essence, and planting immortal medicines for a million years would not cause them to lose their vital energy.
The immortal medicine took the form of a vermilion bird, less than the size of a palm, lifelike and shimmering with brilliant light.
As soon as it burrowed into the chaos soil, it burst into cozy chirping sounds, absorbing nutrients. Its branches contained fiery red divine splendor, setting off dots of miniature fire clouds and lingering with red mist.
Digging out a pool, Zhang Huan threw in numerous peerless rare treasures: ten thousand Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree leaves, peach fruit, ginseng fruit and their branches, and primeval life stones.
Every single one of them, if taken to the outside world, could cause a huge commotion, and to the ancient sages, they were all priceless treasures.
Here, they were casually tossed into the pool one by one, piling up and filling the entire pond.
He wanted to brew an ancient and rare supreme medicine for himself, seizing the fortune of heaven and earth against the will of nature, altering his foundation, and allowing even a mortal to possess the aptitude of becoming an immortal.
"It is still somewhat insufficient. Relying solely on immortal medicines to alter the foundation, the potential is still limited.
If we could have the flesh and blood essence of an imperial dao figure as a medicine primer, supplemented by even rarer good fortune—
then the brewed supreme medicine would be a true supreme treasure, rare since ancient times, capable of laying down the strongest foundation."
Zhang Huan was not satisfied with this, sealing away a pool of immortal treasures; subsequently, he still needed to seek out even more defyingly marvelous creations to forge his foundation.
His goal was to become an immortal, and he had not set his sights on the human dao domain.
If his ambition was only to become an emperor, then these immortal medicines were already enough, and could allow Zhang Huan to become an emperor in the shortest possible time.
However, failing to become an immortal meant ultimately ending up as a handful of loess; the great emperor was merely a brick he stepped on along his path, not the end of his road.
The path of immortals was long and arduous, requiring nine lives to become a mortal immortal. One needed a foundation far greater than that of a great emperor in order to achieve success against the heavens.
If one merely sought to become an emperor for the sake of being an emperor, it would ultimately ruin oneself.
He placed down immortal gold, the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree heart, and other precious items.
Stepping out of the small mountain, Zhang Huan's gaze was profound; for the remaining few thousand years, he needed to step up his search for some good fortune.
The first stop was the Divine City. Rare treasures occasionally flowed into the stone booths here, and if there were stone kings, the things contained within the divine sources would be even rarer.
Through millions of years, who knew how many ancient treasures had been hidden within the source.
Zhang Huan changed his appearance, transforming into an Immortal Third Level Dao-Slashing king. Senile and aged, at first glance he looked like some old fossil from a sacred land who was obsessed with source art, which could save him unnecessary trouble.
"Honored guest visiting our door, you bring light to our humble dwelling. Please come in quickly, old sir."
The Ji family's receptionist was courteous and proper, guessing that Zhang Huan's background was extraordinary. Even though he was an unfamiliar face, the receptionist did not dare to neglect him in the slightest, extending a hand to invite Zhang Huan inside as he spoke.
"Hn~"
Zhang Huan responded, skillfully stepping forward and walking toward the Heavenly Grade Stone Garden.
After a quarter of an hour, a sea-of-blood divine-demon manifestation appeared in the world, and an immortal treasure—rarely seen in ten thousand years—was opened from the stone. He walked out smiling, followed by a batch of old monsters whose eyes were shining.
Strolling through one stone booth after another, his eyes merely gazed, and the scene inside the divine source was clearly visible. This was the realm where source art reached divinity, possessing an attainment even greater than that of an Origin Heaven Master.
The source art inheritance he obtained came from the Source Emperor, the source of this Dao, and he had stepped into the supreme realm in this aspect.
Surveying all the stone booths, Zhang Huan only cut open a few stones, all of which were at the level of the stone king, and the rarest of all.
The stone kings—which even the managers of the stone booths struggled to find—were easily restrained and cut open by Zhang Huan using source art.
The gazes of several old monsters were burning with passion, like seeing legendary idols; they wished they could become disciples on the spot.
"This must be a new generation of the Origin Heaven Master born into the world! Only when source art achieves divinity can one directly see through falsity with their own eyes—this is precisely the hallmark of the Origin Heaven Master!"
"Origin Heaven Master, above, please pass down a move or two for us to study and delve into!"
Zhang Huan glanced sideways, ignored them, and flew toward the outside of the Divine City.
Flying at a king's escape speed for a period of time, ten miles behind him, several young men from the Ji family's stone booth quietly followed up.
Wealth and status stirred men's hearts; they had set their sights on killing and looting.
"This person doesn't know where some random king popped out from. Make it clean when you do it, and don't leave a tail behind."
"The Origin Heaven Master's inheritance and numerous immortal treasures—once we kill him, they'll all be ours. What a great opportunity!"
They transmitted their voices cautiously, but Zhang Huan heard every detail clearly, and it could not escape his perception.
These few people were Ji family descendants, their cultivations varying in level, but they were at least mighty experts, led by two kings.
No wonder they dared to act as tribulation cultivators; it turned out they had sufficient confidence to trap a king here.
Stepping into the void with one foot, stirring up ripples, killing without a form, the figures of those few people paused, their divine souls were shaved off, and with lifeless gazes, they plummeted, smashing several deep pits into the ground.
"Has the Ji family decayed this quickly?"
Zhang Huan was speechless; the younger generation had become like this, and one could imagine that the Ji family had degenerated to a certain degree.
He would turn back and personally talk to the Ji family's self-sealed old Great Sage.
The next stop, the Qinling Mountains.
This ancient land was boundless, boasting over a million caves, each of which might lead to the Immortal Transformation Pond, where a massive amount of immortal treasures resided within the immortal pool.
An ancient great dragon vein was hidden underground, connected to the ancient dragon lair linked to the Immortal Transformation Pond, nurturing dreamlike divine marrow, which was just as precious as immortal medicines.
Measuring the earth veins beneath his feet and pinpointing the dragon vein, Zhang Huan escaped deep into the underground, proceeding along the spine of the great dragon. Space-time shifted, and a giant mountain lay horizontally ahead—precisely the location of the Immortal Transformation Pond.
Once source art was truly mastered, there were no longer any wonders of heaven and earth in one's eyes; everything that formed naturally was a controllable entity.
The top of the giant mountain was an immortal pool, shimmering with luster, exhaling rosy glow, and flowing with dreamlike brilliance.
In view was also a mountain, connected to it, and the ancient cave at the foot of the mountain swallowed and exhaled dragon Qi—it was the ancient dragon lair.
Zhang Huan entered the dragon lair first, seizing the dreamlike divine marrow. The Saint Spirit nurtured within declared stubbornly that it would rather die than submit, and was forcefully suppressed.
Sparks were practically about to burst from its eyes; the dreamlike divine marrow was its companion item after all, and how important that was went without saying.
Tiny creatures were snatched away one by one—there were little horses and flying birds, carrying a rich, luxurious fragrance on their bodies, all transformed from the dreamlike divine marrow.
The newcomer took advantage of the fact that it had not yet finished gestating and did not dare to easily emerge into the world, harvesting the divine marrow clean.
It swallowed its humiliation and accepted its defeat, not truly coming out to smash the fishnets and break the vessels, praying in its heart that the other party would hurry up and leave immediately after taking everything, and settle this score in the future once it reached perfection.
Zhang Huan harvested them all and nodded in satisfaction.
Before returning, he looked toward the Saint Spirit once more.
"Since you are the only one left all alone, and you look so pitiful, why don't you reunite with them?"
He spoke with a sinister tone, clearly having taken a liking to this Saint Spirit body.
"You—do not come over!
Damn human race, bullying me for being weak! After robbing my companion divine marrow, you still want to target me. You go too far!"
Terrified by this gaze, the Saint Spirit howled inwardly, gnashing its teeth.
Could it be that it had unintentionally exposed its thoughts of seeking out his descendants for trouble in later generations?
It had not yet reached perfection and was not yet a Great Accomplishment, which meant its Dao and Dharma could not match a great emperor, nor did it have imperial dao laws blessing it.
If this Great Emperor truly made a move, it would not have the slightest strength to resist.
The Saint Spirit rolled backward, trembling distinctly, revealing its unease, and pleaded with Zhang Huan to spare it, promising to repay him in the future.
It only needed over a hundred thousand more years to reach perfection, and by then it would become an emperor to protect Zhang Huan's descendants for a generation, without any intent to cause harm.
If Zhang Huan was unsatisfied, restrictions could be placed upon it, and it was even willing to pass down imperial artifacts and daoist dharma, only begging him to spare its life.
With one's head lowered under the eaves, how could one not bow? For the sake of becoming an emperor in the future, what harm was there in enduring for a moment?
The Saint Spirit continuously increased its bargaining chips. The person before its eyes possessed unfathomable strength and source art; it couldn't even escape and could only negotiate and plead with words.
"I have felt all of your good intentions, full of loyalty and courage. Since that is the case, there is no need to place restrictions."
Zhang Huan nodded, acknowledging the Saint Spirit's sincerity in wanting to become his assistant, and activated the Spirit Crossing Technique, forcefully converting it with imperial power.
"Acting as a cart-puller in the future wouldn't be bad either. A perfected Saint Spirit—it looks quite imposing when traveling out."
This saint spirit could only stay in the dragon lair of the Qinling Mountains; unless beaten to death or emerging into the world, it was useless to Zhang Huan prior to reaching the imperial rank.
Its inner essence was neither too much nor too little—dispensable.
It was better to keep it for later generations and use it as a trump card for himself.
He remembered that during Ye Fan's era, this Saint Spirit was already close to perfection, and serving as his own protector was more than enough.
Under the Spirit Crossing Technique, even cognition and thoughts would change, and it would submit to its master from the bottom of its heart.
The disparity in cultivation between the two was vast, and the Saint Spirit simply could not resist, instantly submitting to Zhang Huan.
"A Saint Spirit is nurtured by heaven and earth, condensing and embodying the laws of heaven and earth. Completely different from cultivators, it is favored by the heavens."
The origin of this species was very mysterious; it could be said to be the child of the Great Dao, naturally possessing runes bestowed by the heavens within its body. When perfected, it would sublime, and its Dao and Dharma would be bestowed by the heavens, fulfilling themselves.
During their formation process, various law symbols and order divine chains would form, and one could borrow this to observe its origin and fathom a thing or two about the mysteries of the Great Dao.
The Dao possessed by the Saint Spirit within this dragon lair was inseparable from the dragon Qi, and perhaps it would become another Taihuang. Once the imperial dao dragon Qi came forth, all dharmas would fear it.
Zhang Huan sat quietly for over a century, studying it thoroughly, and left behind a few strains of dreamlike divine marrow.
The Immortal Transformation Pond had rippling water and glowing five colors, radiating multicolored mist—a brilliant sight.
In the shallow water area, a small green lotus, more than a foot tall, took root on a fist-sized green bronze fragment. Its roots were crystal-clear, resilient, and numerous, symbiotically existing with the green bronze fragment.
It was dazzlingly green and full of vitality. Among the blooming flowers were more than a dozen plump and rounded lotus seeds, their petals holding up the sky and welling forth a clear fragrance.
"The past life of the Green Emperor, the immortal medicine Green Lotus."
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