Setting Off for the Eight Ridges

"Blue Star has entered the End of Dharma. Even talented cultivators today find it incredibly difficult to open the Sea of Bitterness, let alone proceed with further training."

Inside the Courtyard House in Jingcheng, Yan Kuan, after a friendly conversation with his parents, entered his room and spread open his notebook filled with notes.

The details about the ancestral star in Shrouding the Heavens weren't extensive. It only mentioned that the ancestral star had fallen into the End of Dharma, and even Emperor Ye of the Heavens, upon his return near the Dao-Severing and King-Sealing stage, would face immense suppression. Cultivation in the mortal world was nearly impossible.

Yan Kuan was an exception. The Flame Mantra: Foundation Forging Chapter he practiced was a method meticulously deduced by a Grand Overlord of the Great Thousand World, at least comparable to a Great Emperor, specifically tailored for this End of Dharma environment.

But after breaking through to Battle Practitioner and opening the Sea of Bitterness, if he wanted to cultivate faster, finding a better cultivation environment was best.

"For secret realms on the ancestral star, the top choices are the Kunlun Ancestral Veins and Overseas Penglai. In these two places, one can even cultivate up to the Immortal Platform secret realm. Next are places like Western Spirit Mountain, the Changbai Mountain Dragon Vein, and Jerusalem. Then there are sect cave-heavens and secret lands like Dragon Tiger Mountain and Zao Pavilion Mountain."

Yan Kuan had recorded multiple locations in his notebook, his fingertip sliding helplessly over each landmark. "Unfortunately, most of the good places are already claimed. I can't fight for them. Kunlun and Spirit Mountain have too high a threshold; ordinary people can't find or enter them.

Aside from these, my options are limited. If I remember correctly, Mount Lu has a Violet Dragon Vein, the Snow Region has a nearly dried-up dragon vein, there's an earth vein at the foot of Mount Tai, and ancient strongmen are buried near Ba Ling Town. These places seem worth checking out."

Yan Kuan's gaze first swept over the Snow Region dragon vein and the foot of Mount Tai. Both had opportunities and were relatively safe.

But the original text didn't record the exact location of the Snow Region dragon vein. Searching for a needle in a haystack would be a waste of time. As for the earth vein at the foot of Mount Tai, the Earth Essence Qi it emitted was barely enough for one person to step onto the path of cultivation. It wouldn't help him much.

His eyes wandered between the landmarks of Mount Lu and Ba Ling Town. He carried the inheritance of the Eight Trigrams Sect and was considered a cultivator. Following the traces of ancient sages, he should be able to find some clues.

"Although the Violet Dragon Vein at Mount Lu still exists, it seems someone has set up a formation there, turning it into a place of extinction. Occasionally drawing a bit of dragon qi for cultivation is fine, but staying long-term would cause one's cultivation to be dissolved and their dharma power shaved off. That's why no ancient remnants are stationed there."

Yan Kuan's eyes flickered as he pondered. "But deep in the underground palace of Mount Lu, there's fire essence, which is quite beneficial for my cultivation. If I achieve some success in the future, I could enter and explore for treasures.

Ba Ling Town has intertwined earth veins and numerous ancient tombs. It's the burial site of the ancient Great Sage Chisongzi. Speaking of which, I'm half an archaeologist. I could go pay my respects."

Once Yan Kuan made his decision, he began making arrangements. First, he had to handle the communication with his parents—that wasn't difficult. Then came the preparations needed for exploring the tombs in Ba Ling Town, which would take some time and effort.

Ba Ling Town, located in Jiangling, Hubei, has been famous since ancient times. The mountains are densely packed with ancient tombs, mostly from the Chu state, with Han tombs coming second.

The terrain here is unique, composed of eight mountain ridges stretching and winding like a group of dragons dancing or a thousand horsemen charging forth, majestic and towering. In ancient times, it was called Dragon Mountain. Many royal tombs are buried here, and legend says one can attain the Corpse Liberation Immortal here.

The mountains of Ba Ling Town are majestic and deep, with rustling pine forests, misty green clouds, and extraordinary terrain. Though not tall, they exude a rising dragon aura.

Looking down from the sky, one can see the image of eight dragons rising together, as if about to soar into the nine heavens. The ancients chose this place for burial tombs, naturally with great consideration.

Ba Ling Town isn't very famous within Hubei. Without developed scenic spots, there are no direct roads. The villages and towns at the foot of Ba Ling Town were relatively underdeveloped at this time, with no special industries, so there weren't many outsiders.

Early in the morning, a large truck drove out of a hotel in Ba Ling Town and slowly made its way to the foot of the mountain.

"Young master, we've arrived at Ba Ling Town."

After the truck stopped, the driver and a man from the passenger seat got out. They were two fit middle-aged men in neat clothes. They went to the back of the truck and carefully helped down a boy about six years old. It was Yan Kuan, who had traveled a thousand miles from Jingcheng to Jiangling.

"Bring the gear. I'll tell you how to go up the mountain."

Yan Kuan instructed the hired bodyguards. After he gave the orders, they quickly moved into action. Besides the two in the cab, there were three more in the truck, each carrying large bags. The strongest one carried Yan Kuan on his back and led the way.

"Feng shui and earth veins—there's a knack to this. Fortunately, the Eight Trigrams Sect inheritance I obtained is an expert in this field."

Leaning on the bodyguard's back, Yan Kuan held the Trigram Treasure Box, carefully examining the terrain and feng shui. He was a layman in earth vein feng shui, but the Eight Trigrams Sect inheritance covered a lot of knowledge in this area. After studying it carefully, he had some understanding, and now it was time to apply it.

The inheritance of the Trigram Esoteric Sect was quite ancient. Its founder was a Qi practitioner who attained the Dao in the ancient pre-Qin era and held on until the Song Dynasty before kicking the bucket. The celestial changes of that era were already very pronounced, marking the heaviest twilight of the cultivation world.

Many cultivators with connections had already started looking for escape routes back then—either leaving the ancestral star or sealing themselves in sacred lands. After that, cultivators had less contact with the mortal world.

However, the cultivation of the Trigram Esoteric Sect involved heavenly calculations, similar to the Divine Calculation lineage of the Big Dipper region. This kind of cultivation required entering the world, so they had to roll in the mortal realm and pass down their inheritance generation by generation.

The mortal world eventually ushered in the End of Dharma, and the inheritance of the Trigram Esoteric Sect ultimately withered away. The last successor of the Eight Trigrams Sect was unlucky—by his generation, he couldn't even open the Sea of Bitterness.

In the end, he had no choice but to venture deep into famous mountains and great rivers, seeking dragons and touching gold, hoping to find resources in earth vein ancient tombs. Then, one misstep, and he was completely finished. His relics were brought out by modern peers and eventually fell into Yan Kuan's hands.

Yan Kuan had spent considerable effort sorting out these cause and effects, thanks to a certain 'ability' he had recently acquired. With this trump card, he was confident he could accurately locate the ancient tombs.

"The terrain here has scattered a lot. In the End of Dharma era, even the earth veins have dried up considerably. If this were a flourishing era of cultivation, I'd have no idea how much effort it would take to find this place."

Leaning on the bodyguard's back, Yan Kuan's eyes flickered with flames. In his vision, traces of ancient imprints were flowing back. This was the strange fire 'ability' he had gained after refining the Empyrean Flame Seed and evolving the Flame Mantra.

There are many strange flames in heaven and earth, each with special abilities. Yan Kuan's Empyrean Flame Seed was formed by gathering all fires, possessing infinite creation. During his process of crossing over and being reborn, this miraculous flame seed had undergone an incredible transformation.

The ability Yan Kuan gained after refining the Empyrean Flame Seed was called 'Samsara'—connecting to Samsara, tracing the past, knowing the three lives, understanding creation, with endless wondrous uses.