Arrival at the Ancient Desolate Sacred Ground

After a long while, all kinds of magical artifacts were laid out before Xiao Yan, and he was completely immersed in a state of enlightenment.

Among them were even a Bronze Coffin and Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin that looked almost identical to the genuine articles.

"This time, I'm going to become a master counterfeiter."

Coming back to his senses, Xiao Yan sorted through his gains, unable to suppress the delight on his face.

This time, his Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements was no longer some trash from a low-martial world. It could truly be called a divine skill.

It possessed all sorts of heaven-defying functions, whether for refining, fusing, or sublimating.

From a certain perspective, the human body was also a world. In terms of taking from excess to make up for deficiencies, Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements could also be considered a body-refining divine skill.

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And from the perspective of Artifact Refining, the replicas he crafted could imitate genuine articles almost one-to-one. Only their raw attributes could not compare. The small Bronze Immortal Coffin could not make up for a world, but it could improve spatial equipment, allowing it to store living creatures and provide a bit of nurturing functionality.

And that was only part of what he had gained from this enlightenment.

This immortal scripture used to mend the heavens was compatible with nearly every important ability he possessed.

Especially its principle of taking from excess to make up for deficiencies—it shared the same underlying idea as the evolution through Fire Devouring in the Flame Mantra.

Glancing at the three remaining Bodhi Leaves on his knees, Xiao Yan pondered briefly before activating his sublimated Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements. Three flames surged from his palm and enveloped the three emerald leaves. In mere moments, they condensed into a single emerald bead.

Swallowing it in one gulp, Xiao Yan tightly grasped the Bodhi Seed in his hand, following the lingering insight from before as he entered a state of enlightenment once more.

As energy circulated through his limbs and bones, strands of strength burst forth, as though the great power hidden within his body was being developed piece by piece.

With his essence, energy, and spirit united, Xiao Yan's soul power became highly active. Supported by his dual enlightenment, and drawing upon less than one ten-thousandth of the divine intent he had comprehended from the immortal scripture, he began deducing his own path of cultivation.

At his lower abdomen, a point of divine radiance lit up where his battle qi vortex had once been. As the circulation route of the Flame Mantra continuously changed, the radiance gradually grew while the vortex compressed without cease. Who knew how long passed before the newly born power opened all the meridians in his body. At last, the circulation route stabilized, while a sea of fire the same size as the original vortex appeared within his dantian.

It stopped just before becoming a true ocean.

All six Bodhi Leaves had been completely consumed.

Everything he had learned had been strengthened, his soul power had greatly increased, and the Flame Mantra had been radically modified using the Shrouding the Heavens Method.

All its original functions had been retained and enhanced across the board. Then, with its original logic as the core, cultivation methods native to Shrouding the Heavens had been added.

"Hehehehe, I knew from an early age that the world was harsh..." Opening his eyes, crimson-gold light burst from them as Xiao Yan threw back his head and laughed.

It would be even better if he could get a few Great Emperor scriptures or Nine Secrets as nourishment.

"Old Xiao, how are you?" Ye Fan stepped forward, looking at Xiao Yan with considerable amazement.

His comprehension really was beyond question. He was absolutely a genius. The commotion just now had been astonishingly huge.

"I just upgraded and iterated across the board." Even though he had not completed his transformation yet, Xiao Yan now felt as if he could punch his former self to death.

There were too many insights. He could sort them out slowly after returning.

Reaching out, Xiao Yan retrieved the junk he had previously given Ye Fan and Pang Bo. He casually picked up a Buddhist artifact, wrapped it in flames from his palm, refined it into two jade slips, and handed them back.

He held nothing back from the insights the two of them could use.

He did not pass on the Flame Mantra, which he wanted to rename the Flame Emperor Scripture. Xiao Yan knew full well what kind of thing it was. It had already been highly compatible with him before. After he had blindly altered it according to some inexplicable inspiration during his enlightenment, it was practically tailored to him. Anyone else who cultivated it would die.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo had their own opportunities. He did not need to worry about them.

However, he did pass on the new Eight Gates and Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements that had been integrated into the Flame Mantra. Those two relied on overwhelming strength to smash through problems. With such burst-power secret arts and all-purpose techniques, even if they would obtain higher-tier Nine Secrets later on, this was more than enough for the early stages.

Especially for Ye Fan. Xiao Yan knew that although this guy looked honest as hell, he was actually extremely scheming.

The new Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements was invincible when it came to forgery. Replicas that stole even a trace of divine charm could rival the projection magecraft of that Emiya Shirou next door.

Let this guy go scam people later on.

"You and I brothers are about to take off this time." Pang Bo beamed.

Just then, the coffin trembled again and landed right on cue.

Xiao Yan immediately raised an eyebrow.

The timing was perfect.

He had only just finished his enlightenment, and they had already arrived at the Big Dipper.

That was a little too coincidental.

Still, he did not dwell on it.

If he could handle it, there was no need to worry. If he could not handle it, worrying was useless. Why bother with all that nonsense?

Xiao Yan was the first to step out of the ancient coffin. Standing atop it, he looked back to see a pitch-black abyss below.

Unlike Mars, this place was brimming with life.

"I haven't seen a world of light in so long." Pang Bo took a deep breath, his face full of anticipation for the future.

Ye Fan likewise showed no negative emotions, only curiously surveying his surroundings.

Unlike the original story, there was none of that scheming and infighting now. The three of them had rapidly grown closer through countless little incidents during their journey.

Xiao Yan knew the character of the other two, and he had witnessed it firsthand. Pang Bo trusted Ye Fan and had also been won over by Xiao Yan's forthrightness during this time. As for Ye Fan, he understood both of them deeply.

"The scene of thriving vitality and all things bursting forth is still vivid before my eyes." Xiao Yan sighed slightly.

Ye Fan's mouth twitched. Before he could respond, Pang Bo let out a chuckle.

"I forgot the beginning, forgot the middle, and forgot the end. Anyway, the advantage is ours!"

"The advantage really is ours." Xiao Yan nodded after glancing at Ye Fan beside him.

With Ye Fan here, the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land was indeed safe.

Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin truly followed a fixed route, and countless Great Emperors and ancient emperors had seen it. However, it had not restarted for a very long time. Xiao Yan did not know whether someone had pushed for this restart.

Although he did not know whether there was such a person, if there was, then there was no need to guess who that person was.

"Let's go. You saw those three words ahead, right? Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land. It's time to take a look."

At this point, Ye Fan had already noticed the stone stele in the distance. Xiao Yan patted Pang Bo, who was still looking around, then draped an arm around both of them and strode forward.

All three present possessed tremendous luck, and Ye Fan was a Sacred Body who could practically be considered the child of the forbidden land.

There was nothing to fear.

At most, Xiao Yan himself would be in mortal danger. Ye Fan and Pang Bo could not possibly come to harm.

Feeling the increasingly limited time he had left once more, Xiao Yan's lips curled into a smile.

It was time to happily loot some tombs!

Hopefully Ruthless was in a good mood and would not casually breathe on him.

"Oh, right. We have plenty of time now, so let me tell you about the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body and the Demon God Bloodline."

Seeing that they were not far from the Nine Marvelous Immortal Herb, Xiao Yan simply explained in detail what he had not finished discussing atop the coffin.

Although the Demon God Bloodline did not rank particularly high in the entire Shrouding the Heavens universe, considering that Pang Bo possessed the Demon God Bloodline from that heaven-defying place called Earth, along with his eventual achievements, there was no doubt about his talent.

As for the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body, there was even less to say. It was absolutely top-tier, but the era was wrong.

"...In short, you two are both huge consumers of resources. Especially you, Yezi. Once you develop, you'll be invincible. But how you develop is something you'll have to figure out yourself."

Arriving before one of the plants of the Nine Marvelous Immortal Herb, Xiao Yan looked around and found nothing amiss. He immediately cheerfully slapped Ye Fan on the shoulder.

"Come on, eat up. Brother here is counting on you to develop. Once you're strong, remember to take care of me."

Xiao Yan's smile was brilliant. Everyone knew that if Ye Fan was left to roam free for a while, he would bring back some kind of treasure—perhaps a Nine Secret, perhaps a Great Emperor scripture, or perhaps something utterly exasperating.

He was already looking forward to the next time he returned, when he could play that Ye Fan game called travel.