Eternal Dusk, New Function of the Golden Book

Once all the seeds had boarded, the immortal vessel gave a slight shudder. Heavy azure light spread out in an instant as it sped straight toward the outskirts of Everharvest City.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Rumble—

A violent crashing and scraping sound erupted. The spirit vessel actually smashed rippling layers into the pitch-black canopy of heaven before vanishing without a trace.

The darkness around them abruptly receded.

The sky was stained a dim yellow. No blazing sun hung overhead, nor did stars adorn the firmament.

It was a withered yellow devoid of all life.

After breaking through the heavenly canopy, the spirit vessel sailed into a boundless wilderness—the Great Wilderness Domain.

Below them, vegetation was sparse and the terrain rugged. Faintly violent spiritual currents filled the air, utterly unlike the mildness of Everharvest City, giving off an oppressive and uncanny feeling.

In the distance, mountain ranges rose one after another, reaching high into the clouds and stretching beyond sight. Deep within them, demonic birds faintly spread their wings and shot into the sky, their bodies as vast as mountains. They tore through the heavens, their cries fierce and savage.

Even from an immeasurable distance away, they made one's hairs stand on end.

Seven people stood side by side at the very front of the deck. They were the Inner Garden seeds who had boarded last.

Among them, a woman in a red dress, her fair bare feet exposed, turned lightly. Silver bells on her ankles chimed, and a teasing smile bloomed across her bewitchingly lovely face.

"Junior brothers and sisters, welcome to the Great Wilderness of Eternal Dusk! Remember this: there is no such thing as honesty or courtesy here. There is only the primal law of natural selection—the strong survive."

"Be careful not to die."

On the deck, all the Outer Garden seeds held their breath.

Some showed terror in their eyes, while others turned deathly pale and kept backing away.

Their curiosity toward the Great Wilderness had long since been replaced by fear.

For them, this was their first time leaving Everharvest City and their first time entering the Great Wilderness. Yet what they saw was completely different from what they had imagined.

Amid the crowd,

Lu He's gaze passed through the azure light and settled on a herd of Ink-Scaled Demon Horses frantically fleeing across the ground.

Their scales were covered in strange Dao patterns, and magma-like spiritual radiance flickered as they galloped.

Judging from the exaggerated commotion they caused with every hoofbeat, one could tell how formidable their bodies were.

"Any one of them possesses four or five thousand jin of strength. Even cultivators at the peak of Body-Shedding, who have condensed two true-intent runes and entered the Foundation Establishment stage, can only run upon encountering one—and may not even escape. If there's a whole herd, I'm afraid only Qi-Feeding Realm cultivators can handle them."

"So this is the Great Wilderness?"

A trace of gravity flashed through Lu He's eyes.

This herd of demon horses was clearly being hunted by some creature.

Even so,

if the carefully selected seeds aboard the Medicine Garden's spirit vessel were set down there, fewer than twenty percent would survive the herd.

At that moment, the faint pride Lu He had felt from advancing to the Qi-Feeding Realm and forging the Myriad-Dharma Marvelous-Insight Treasure Wheel quietly dissipated.

Silence returned to the deck.

Only the shrill howl of the wind outside echoed without end.

Before long,

Qin Lie returned with light steps.

"Hey, Brother Qin, what did those Inner Garden monsters call you over for?"

Seeing this, the man surnamed Deng immediately came over and asked curiously in a lowered voice.

"Nothing much."

Qin Lie's expression was calm, but there was a thread of barely concealed excitement in his voice.

"They said this opportunity is rarer than once in a thousand years. Not only will the major high-grade methods of the ten great powers of Everharvest City be opened to us, but even part of the Dao Palace's Celestial Being inheritances will be available.

"All of those require Dao merits to exchange for.

"That is why they want to gather the gifted seeds of our Azurehold Herb Garden together and form a team. We'll hunt demon beasts with the greatest possible efficiency, earn Dao merits, and exchange them for Celestial Being inheritances as soon as possible.

"At the same time, it will give us some advantage when competing against the many prodigies of the other nine great powers."

Upon hearing this,

the man surnamed Deng could not help revealing a bitter expression.

If things truly went as Qin Lie said, people like them would likely soon be left behind by a despairingly vast gap.

"I'm not that bad, am I? And there's Junior Brother Lu too. Why didn't they call the two of us?"

he muttered, his tone full of grievance and disappointment.

"Brother Deng, Junior Brother Lu, there's no need for either of you to feel down."

Qin Lie grinned and hurriedly reassured them.

"I mentioned the two of you to them just now as well. Senior Sister Gu said the place we'll be going in the future is rather dangerous, so she needs to observe you for a while first. The two of you must remember to perform well."

"Thank you, Brother Qin."

The man surnamed Deng immediately relaxed. Then he turned to Lu He and greeted him warmly.

"Junior Brother Lu He, my surname is Deng, and my given name is Huo. I am Steward Deng's great-grandson. You heard what Brother Qin said just now. Once we enter White-Scale Lake, the two of us must watch each other's backs."

"With him putting in a good word for us to that senior sister, we brothers still have hope of joining their team."

"That is only proper."

Lu He replied politely.

As soon as his words fell,

"Brother Lu, you can't leave me behind," Zheng Jingren said miserably from the side.

"That's right. Could it be that Senior Brother Deng has forgotten the rest of us?"

The other seeds chimed in one after another, instinctively wanting to band together.

Before Lu He could speak,

"None of you will be forgotten. Just so happens that the eight of us can form a squad."

Deng Huo answered with a smile, though a deep glint faintly flashed through his eyes.

In an instant,

"Senior Brother Deng is truly generous!"

"I knew Senior Brother Deng wouldn't forget us..."

The others began flattering him in succession.

He has quite a bit of his ancestor's bearing.

Glancing at Deng Huo, who had formed several people into a squad with just a few words and had vaguely become its leader already, Lu He thought with an ambiguous smile.

One incense stick, then two...

Time quietly slipped away.

No one knew how many thousand li they had traveled, but the spirit vessel beneath their feet showed no sign of slowing. Instead, it grew even faster.

The scenery below changed accordingly. The barren brown earth gradually gave way to lush, primeval forests.

At the end of their sight, a vast ocean gleaming with white light quietly spread across their vision.

"White-Scale Lake?!"

Lu He narrowed his eyes.

But at that moment,

a trembling hum suddenly rang beside his ear. Lu He came back to his senses and saw that, at the edge of his vision, the ancient Golden Book that had been lying still was slowly opening.

On the revealed blank page, faint patterns began to intertwine.

Only, the process was exceedingly slow.

In the unseen depths, Lu He understood the meaning conveyed by the Golden Book.

"Some higher lifeforms are themselves manifestations of their Dao and principles. By copying them, one can also evolve Talent Dao Diagrams?"

Lu He was suddenly shaken.

He had always thought the Golden Book evolved corresponding Talent Dao Diagrams based on the knowledge he possessed. It now seemed that he had underestimated it.

It appeared not to care where the Dao and principles needed to evolve a Talent Dao Diagram came from. As long as they existed, it could evolve them!

In that case, could he copy the legendary Gods and Devils, and thereby seize...

Wait... higher lifeforms?

Lu He seemed to realize something. He could not help looking once more toward White-Scale Lake, which stretched for over seven thousand li at the end of his vision.

The more he looked, the more its shape resembled a fish scale.

Could White-Scale Lake... truly be formed from a single scale shed by some creature?