Would the Jiang family acknowledge the Emperor Yan? At first glance, it seemed like a question worth pondering.
But on second thought, the Emperor Yan was practically about to attain the Dao. Even the Great Yang Divine Furnace belonged to him. Without the Great Yang Divine Furnace, the Jiang family was nothing. The real question should be whether the Emperor Yan would acknowledge the Jiang family.
If someone asked whether God had five divisions, God could pull out fifty thousand combined-arms heavy brigades!
Oh, then never mind. Lin Yu promptly dismissed the thought.
"Emperor Yan?" Jiang Taixu asked in confusion, somewhat dazed. "Does our family have a Emperor Yan? Could this be another story of 'Great Emperor Hengyu journeying far to the Central Region,' with relatives now coming to our door?"
It had to be said that his guess was not far from the truth.
Lin Yu's lips curled into a bright smile. "I come from the Primordial Ancient Star. The Emperor Yan is the ancestor of my lineage, and his surname is Jiang. Where he lived, there was a river called the Jiang River.
As for whether he is related to your Jiang family, I suppose that depends on you."
"The Jiang family, the Jiang River..." Jiang Taixu fell into thought. After a moment, his voice carried a hint of certainty. "We have... the same blood!"
Fine. Old Jiang insisted on becoming relatives with him, so Lin Yu could only go along with it. Though his ancestor was more recent and belonged to a higher generation. Still, Lin Yu had no intention of throwing his seniority around.
"Senior, are you the Divine King Jiang Taixu whose name was left up ahead?" Lin Yu asked, despite already knowing the answer.
"That is correct. I... traveled everywhere back then, searching for... the Leaving Fire Divine Furnace. I accidentally entered... this place and remained... trapped here until... now." Jiang Taixu spoke in fragments, taking several hours to finish one sentence.
"You were lucky. Gu Tianshu looked after you. Otherwise, who knows how you would have died."
Gu Tianshu, that Great Saint, was also a model ancient fanboy. He revered Great Emperor Wushi immensely, considered himself the emperor's tomb keeper, and had even gained the Emperor Bell's recognition.
That famous saying—"At the end of the immortal road, who stands at the peak? At the sight of Wushi, the Dao becomes empty!"—was his. Lin Yu had seen the writing he left behind earlier. Seventy thousand years had passed, yet Dao Charm still lingered around it.
But Purple Mountain was in the Northern Region. At the realm of a Dao Severing King, it was practically right outside one's doorstep. It was as though Jiang Taixu had stepped out of his house, taken only a few steps, and gotten lost.
"Your... realm... is?" After several hours, Jiang Taixu regained a little vitality.
"Can you... activate... the Leaving Fire Divine Furnace?"
"The Divine Bridge Realm." Lin Yu indicated that he wanted to save him too, but was powerless to do so.
"The Divine Bridge..." Jiang Taixu was deeply disappointed. He had not expected Lin Yu's cultivation to be so low.
"Come... closer. I will teach you... one move." Jiang Taixu's frail voice came from within.
Lin Yu stepped forward. At the end of the ancient mine stood a purple jade wall, warm and pristine. Jiang Taixu was not visible there. Instead, the wall reflected Lin Yu and a tall, savage figure.
A single horn grew from its forehead, six arms extended beneath its shoulders, and a pair of wings covered its back. Fine scales blanketed its body. It was the intangible malicious will of the Primordial Being that had been harassing him.
"I will... pass the Fighting Saint Method... on to you. I hope you do not... disgrace its reputation." Jiang Taixu's threadlike voice came from the rocks nearby.
A shriveled figure emerged within the stone wall, its outline clearly defined. Every bone was visible, and it looked little better than a skeleton.
Its long hair was even longer than its body, trailing behind its emaciated frame. It assumed a strange stance, and at the same time, an exceedingly brief incantation entered Lin Yu's mind, obscure and unfathomably profound.
This was the Secret of 'Fight' among the Nine Secrets, also known as the Fighting Saint Method.
As Lin Yu contemplated the mysterious, cryptic incantation of the Secret of 'Fight', flashes of insight continually sparked in his mind. Combined with his usual experience fighting with the Spear of the Underworld God, he thoroughly grasped this introductory formula in only a short while.
The Fighting Saint Method truly lived up to its name. The moment Lin Yu activated it, he felt that this secret art was not limited to his limbs or weapons. Every muscle and patch of skin on his body, even the air trembling around him, could be transformed into a weapon to kill his enemies.
Divine energy flickered in his hands. As he rubbed his palms together, a simple stone spear gradually extended between them, exuding the aura of the Primordial Underworld God. With a casual swing, sharp whooshes tore through the air.
"Though it lacks the flavor of the original and cannot continue evolving, it is still a decent method." It was precisely the Spear of the Underworld God that he had simulated with the Secret of 'Fight'.
With the Secret of 'Fight', creating alternate identities will be much easier in the future. Whenever I see a useful secret art, I can just imitate it. Each identity can have its own fighting style, while I use another.
Although he had collected some scriptures and secret arts over the past few days, they were basically all from the Dao Palace Secret Realm. Their power was unsatisfactory to him, serving only as reference. With the Secret of 'Fight', he could put them all to use.
But Jiang Taixu fell silent again. He would likely need quite some time before recovering his spirits.
Lin Yu turned his attention back to the jade wall. The wall was seamless and protected by formation patterns that could restore themselves automatically. It truly was difficult for ordinary people to deal with.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Yu came up with a good idea.
He summoned the Hell Furnace and drove it into the jade wall. The flames within the furnace did not erupt wildly; instead, they remained contained within. Deep, shadowy tongues of fire churned inside, appearing calm while containing the power to destroy heaven and earth.
Beneath the faint glow of the formation patterns, the jade wall healed at a visible speed.
Yet strands of refined essence were stripped from the jade wall, winding like lively serpents toward the Hell Furnace some distance away. Runes flickered across the furnace walls, emitting a deep hum as though celebrating the arrival of a feast.
"Not bad. If the mountain will not come to me, then I will go to the mountain."
Lin Yu nodded.
Thus, Lin Yu sat cross-legged before the jade wall, continuously using the Hell Furnace to draw out its essence before depositing it in the furnace's depths.
With every wisp of essence that merged into it, the furnace's runes became ever more dazzling. The temperature within kept rising as well, and the aura it emitted grew increasingly chilling.
Lin Yu calmed his mind and continuously compressed and settled the essence pouring into the furnace, driving it deeper into the furnace's core. He could feel the power within it transforming and ascending at an astonishing speed.
Each round of refinement brought him one step closer to that unknown, formidable power.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
The ancient purple jade wall hung silently in the depths of the ancient mine, its ancient formation patterns faintly visible.
The formation patterns emitted a gentle yet resilient glow. Whenever the Hell Furnace's powerful siphoning force damaged the jade wall, they lit up on their own again and again, swiftly repairing the damage.
The purple jade wall remained bright as new, without a single crack or blemish. It was smooth and delicate, its radiance dense and profound.
Finally, Lin Yu rapidly formed hand seals and slowly withdrew the Hell Furnace. In an instant, countless streams of Life Source refined by the furnace surged toward his body like a rushing flood.
Powerful flames blazed around him. The temperature was so high that the ground beneath his feet instantly turned into rolling magma. In the blink of an eye, the ancient mine had been transformed into a scorching world of lava.
Magma churned wildly, and heat distorted the space around it, as though it would swallow everything whole.
A terrifying aura like that of a hellish Ghost God surged forth from Lin Yu's body.
His body was undergoing an earth-shattering, bizarre transformation.
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