In that battle in ancient times, Cang Wu had been far too gravely injured. Anyone else would have died from wounds like those—even the Ice Master.
Cang Wu had survived only because, before the system collapsed, it had forcibly kept him alive by a thread.
Heavenly King Hall had been able to match the Ice Master, so there was no need to elaborate on its strength. In a one-on-one fight, Cang Wu could use the Devouring Ancestral Talisman's power to hold his opponent off and protect himself.
That was what made the Devouring Ancestral Talisman—or Cang Wu himself—so powerful. Against anyone of equal or comparable strength, Cang Wu would ultimately emerge victorious.
No matter where he fought, as long as he wasn't in terrible condition, he could keep fighting until he won!
Even top experts of the Reincarnation Stage could be affected by their surroundings.
For example, the Flame Master's strength increased considerably in magma or volcanic regions. In an environment that countered him, however, his strength would decline significantly.
But none of that affected Cang Wu. He could even prevent his opponents from benefiting from their surroundings.
Before the Devouring Ancestral Talisman, all external enhancements could be cut off with the Devouring Power—at the very least, most of them.
On top of that, the Devouring Ancestral Talisman could greatly weaken an opponent's attacks while forcibly increasing Cang Wu's ability to keep fighting.
As a result, anyone even slightly weaker than Cang Wu was doomed to lose. No matter how many times they fought, the outcome would always be the same.
Take the Six-Fingered Saint Dragon Emperor, for example. His strength was actually quite close to Cang Wu's. If their combat prowess could be measured numerically, the difference between them would be far smaller than the effect their surroundings had on some experts.
And yet, whenever the Six-Fingered Saint Dragon Emperor fought Cang Wu, he only won four out of ten matches. Four ended in a draw because time ran out, and he lost the other six. His record was even worse than against the Ice Master.
Of course, the Ice Master hit harder and hurt more. A blunt blade and an icy blade might both strike dragon scales, but there was a considerable difference between them.
That was why Heavenly King Hall, the foremost of the Ten King Halls and powerful enough to rival the Ice Master, who had broken through to the Divine Palace Realm, could only suppress Cang Wu—it couldn't defeat him.
In fact, during ancient times, some had called Cang Wu the strongest beneath the Symbol Ancestor, because his record was so definitive.
He could hold his own against Heavenly King Hall, and against the other King Halls he had never lost. He was undefeated!
Most importantly, Cang Wu had never feared being outnumbered. As long as Heavenly King Hall wasn't involved, he could keep fighting even when six or seven King Halls ganged up on him.
Even the Ice Master had never achieved such a record. After all, no one in the world was as versatile as Cang Wu.
But versatility came at a price. Although Cang Wu had been the first of the Eight Ancient Lords to reach the peak of the Reincarnation Stage, the Ice Master had entered the Divine Palace Realm before him.
In the end, after the Symbol Ancestor had been forced to burn his Reincarnation to seal the Demon Emperor and send the gravely wounded Ice Master into Reincarnation, Cang Wu had to shoulder the burden and face the remaining four strongest fighters of the Demon Race alone.
There was Heavenly King Hall, who rivaled the Ice Master; the Great Heavenly Demon King, whose strength was close to that of the Six-Fingered Saint Dragon Emperor; and Second King's Hall and Third King's Hall, each no weaker than the other Eight Ancient Lords.
The four joined forces. Cang Wu managed to hold out and even broke through to the Divine Palace Realm at a critical moment, but he was left gravely wounded and on the verge of death.
Afterward, to escort more people into Reincarnation, Cang Wu burned his own Reincarnation, weakening his soul even further.
"Without a physical body to support them, souls and demonic spirits can reach no higher than the Creation Realm. What's more, my soul was already gravely wounded in that ancient battle, and this is only one fragment of it. With a physical body, my strength would still peak at the Primal Core Realm Great Perfection."
Cang Wu let out a heavy sigh and spoke with resignation. This remnant was a small piece split off from his battered soul—barely more than a remnant of a remnant.
A soul on its own had a fixed limit to its strength. Even being one of the Eight Ancient Lords couldn't change that.
After all, both the Nirvana Tribulation of the Nirvana Realm and the Wind and Thunder Tribulation of a Heavenly Symbol Master required a physical body. Only a physical body could undergo the former, while the latter depended on one.
"If the Ancestral Stone hadn't nurtured me all these years, this remnant of mine wouldn't have been able to awaken. Otherwise, why would I need you to find Yin Yang Qi for me?"
In fact, the strength Cang Wu had recovered when he awoke had also been thanks to Lin Dong's Life Spirit Talisman. When it awakened him, it had activated the Devouring Power within his soul. Only after devouring a vast amount of energy had he recovered enough to reach the strength of the Primal Core Realm Great Perfection.
If this remnant of Cang Wu's had the same strength as the remnant within his true body, which had been nourished by a physical body, then once he got the Devouring Ancestral Talisman, he could sweep through the entire Eastern Xuan Region.
As for Lin Qingtan's Fiend Body, Cang Wu could have dealt with it using a casual wisp of baleful Yin energy. He wasn't the Ice Master and wasn't particularly skilled in that area, but that was only by the standards of the Eight Ancient Lords.
"Is it really that bad?"
Lin Dong scratched his head. All of this was completely unfamiliar territory to him.
If Little Marten had been there, he wouldn't have wondered whether it was really so bad. He would have marveled that anyone could have survived in the first place.
"So, from now on, don't bother me unless you have to. I need to go into seclusion for a while and recover my strength."
Cang Wu rolled his eyes. If this kid weren't his quasi-junior fellow apprentice but his actual junior fellow apprentice, he'd have shown him exactly what a senior apprentice's affectionate care looked like.
"As for your sister's constitution, I seem to remember that there's a space inside the Ancestral Stone, with some things sealed away in it. Use the Devouring Spirit Talisman to look for them. However, if she wants to cultivate to the Primal Core Realm and beyond, she'll still need an Extreme Yin Object."
"I'll remember."
Lin Dong nodded firmly. Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he hurriedly spoke up.
"By the way, senior, Master Yan said I should participate in some kind of Tower Battle. What do you think...?"
As he spoke, Lin Dong looked a little embarrassed. Cang Wu had just told him to focus on cultivating.
But Master Yan was Lin Dong's guide into cultivation, and he had personally asked him to go. It was clearly important, so Lin Dong couldn't refuse easily.
"Tower Battle? Oh, you mean that Symbol Master Tower over there? Go if you want. There's something interesting at the top."
Cang Wu waved his hand dismissively. Lin Dong breathed a sigh of relief, but then couldn't help asking curiously:
"Senior, how did you know it was called the Symbol Master Tower?"
At that, Cang Wu turned to look at Lin Dong, his eyes holding a faintly amused expression. Lin Dong felt uncomfortable under that gaze. It made him feel as though he'd asked an incredibly stupid question.
"Kid, do you know who founded the Symbol Ancestor's line?"
"I remember you mentioned it before. The senior Symbol Ancestor founded the Symbol Master lineage."
Lin Dong scratched his head and answered softly and cautiously. Yet he looked even more puzzled as he pressed on:
"But were there Symbol Master Towers in ancient times, too? Didn't you say the Symbol Master lineage was still very weak back then?"
"Haha, kid, do you know who the true Ancestor Master of the Symbol Master lineage is?"
Cang Wu burst out laughing. Seeing Lin Dong's bewildered expression, he only smiled and waved a hand before turning toward the depths of the estate, leaving Lin Dong with a carefree, dashing silhouette.
"Kid, once you truly come into contact with the Symbol Master lineage, you'll find out who it is!"
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