Great Emperor Wushi's Former Haunt

Amid the desolate, boundless Northern Region, an oasis was a rare treasure. In such a lifeless land, no patch of pure ground should be destroyed.

He intended to remain here for a while longer and did not want to settle in a place covered in red earth, scarred as far as the eye could see, where not a blade of grass grew.

After clearing out the disciples of Mysterious Moon Cave, Jiang Yun had already gathered more than a hundred cultivators behind him.

He had not slaughtered every cultivator from Mysterious Moon Cave, Azure Cloud Sect, and Seven Stars Pavilion. It was not because he was softhearted, but because he needed people to handle miscellaneous matters.

Killing them all would not change the state of this region. Others would always come to establish sects and return things to how they had been before.

Thus, they kept some obedient and honest people to await orders.

With Jiang Yun's mark left in their minds, the fate of anyone who leaked secrets was naturally foreseeable.

Playing with an Emperor Jade he had taken from Chen Big Beard's hideout, Jiang Yun dismissed those people and had them reorganize their sects.

He brought Xia Weier into the depths of Mysterious Moon Cave. The oasis where Mysterious Moon Cave stood differed from the previous sects.

This place was filled with ancient caves and secluded ravines. Vines intertwined like Qiu Dragons, forming vine bridges that connected the entire oasis and gave it an air of mystery.

It concealed many profound Dao rhythms. Many had attempted to enter this pure land and lingered here for years, yet few could truly comprehend its mysteries.

Gradually, Xia Weier also sensed the extraordinary nature of this place and calmed herself to experience it carefully.

Great Emperor Wushi had once stayed in this region. He was a supreme Great Emperor who had flattened an entire Golden Age. In an era overflowing with prodigies and monsters, he had swept through all opposition without a rival. Even as a Quasi-Emperor, he could receive Emperor Weapons with his bare hands.

After becoming an emperor, he intimidated all races, suppressed the seven Life Forbidden Zones, annihilated extraterrestrial gods, and swept across the lands. Invincible in heaven and earth, feared throughout all ages, he was the most domineering among Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors.

"At the end of the Immortal Road, who stands at the peak? At the sight of Wushi, all Dao turns to emptiness." It was no empty saying.

The ancestors of Heavenly Demon Palace had all left behind the same words: Better to battle a fully matured Great Accomplished Sacred Physique than ever encounter Wushi.

That was Wushi, a supreme Human Race Great Emperor who looked down upon all ages. He had ascended to the absolute peak, his presence swallowing heaven and earth. He gazed over eternity as the sole sovereign, with few capable of matching him.

In terms of background, Eternal Immortal King was an Unparalleled Giant of the Immortal Realm. Wushi and Wuzhong were flowers that resembled one another. Whether it was Reincarnation or something else, no one could explain it clearly.

In terms of physique, his mother, Queen Mother of the West, had become an emperor with an Innate Dao Fetus, while his father possessed a Great Accomplished Sacred Physique. A Sacred Physique that had reached great accomplishment could contend with a Great Emperor. The Innate Sacred Physique Dao Embryo born of the two was one of the most powerful physiques.

In terms of bloodline, a child born from two beings comparable to Great Emperors naturally possessed an incomparably noble bloodline.

Even by the era of The Sacred Ruins, how had he nearly been caught up to by Black Emperor?

At the deepest part of Mysterious Moon Cave stood jagged stone cliffs, where not a blade of grass grew. Within the shattered rocks was an ancient cave. Endless years had left mark after mark upon it, yet the cave had remained standing here all along.

Time flowed like water, and Dao rhythms appeared within the Void, as though the Grand Dao itself flowed out from inside.

A clearly fractured piece of Ancient Jade emitted a gentle glow in Jiang Yun's hand. The light scattered down, crystalline and radiant, unconsciously emptying the mind and purifying the heart, as if one were strolling through the Heavenly Palace of the Immortal Realm.

A mountain need not be tall, nor water deep. Three lines of writing stood upon the cliff wall.

"The Dao is boundless, and none may know it. The heart is unrestrained, and none may bind it. Things change endlessly, and nothing is not so."

Because of these three lines, the ancient cave had endured through more than a hundred thousand years and remained to this day.

The years stretched on, seeming to flow backward. They seemed to see a figure buried beneath ash and dust, as though they had crossed time itself and beheld Great Emperor Wushi. It was an imprint nearly worn away by time.

The Ancient Jade gradually grew hot, its rosy light overflowing and slowly flowing into the depths of the ancient cave, illuminating everything before them.

"Gazing to the end of the Immortal Road, I see no ancients before me, no successors after me. I alone stand upon the clouds."

A strand of Dao rhythm left behind by Great Emperor Wushi was triggered by the Emperor Jade. Jiang Yun and Xia Weier's divine senses seemed to undergo a cleansing. Their entire bodies glowed, every pore felt refreshed, and they were untouched by even a speck of dust as one insight after another surfaced in their hearts.

Only after an hour did they awaken.

The two exchanged glances, both having gained something. Then the ancient cave collapsed, burying everything within it.

The Emperor Jade still reacted. This was a unique connection between Emperor Jades. In the end, Jiang Yun found another Emperor Jade beneath a patch of wasteland.

One Emperor Jade was enough to leave Purple Mountain directly. With another, the more the better.

Jiang Yun had never considered gathering all nine Emperor Jades. Compared to the difficulty of collecting nine Emperor Jades, it would be simpler to just tie up Zixia and first create a Sacred Physique Dao Embryo.

That night, Jiang Yun found an intact sleeping palace, and he and Xia Weier moved in.

Nothing could be said of that night's exertions, nor was it fit for outsiders to know.

Jiang Yun devoted himself to cultivation for more than ten days. The treasures from the vaults of those sects were sold off in exchange for more than ten cubic meters of Source. He also extracted dense life essence from Divine Source the size of walnuts, all of which became fuel for Jiang Yun's advancement.

He successfully opened the Spleen Divine Treasury, evolved the Divine Spirit of the Central Yellow Emperor, and stepped into the Fourth Layer of Dao Palace, drawing closer to the Four Extremes Secret Realm.

During this period of secluded cultivation, Jiang Yun seemed to be in an ethereal and peculiar state. When he circulated the Dao Scripture, it became incomparably wondrous. Waves of Grand Dao sound rang through the Dao Palace, as if the five Great Emperors were preaching to him and empowering him.

The Dao Palace seemed connected to an inconceivable mysterious power. It was as if chanting echoed within it, while ancient sacrificial sounds pierced through time and space, drifting in from afar.

Of the five energies of the Dao Palace, four Divine Spirits had already been evolved. Only the metal energy of the Western White Emperor remained. Once it was evolved, Dao Palace Perfection would be achieved.

Cultivating the Dao Palace would also feed back into the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm and advance it. The Five Secret Realms were not independent existences; profound connections existed among them.

The sounds of scripture recitation and Dao preaching gradually appeared within Jiang Yun's Sea of Reincarnation as well, as though it was about to connect with the Dao Palace. The Immortal King Phenomenon also became increasingly clear.

Under the cleansing of the Great Dao Heavenly Sound, rosy light emerged from his flesh, and his body seemed to be constantly transforming.

One could not simply shut oneself away to forge a cart while walking the path of seeking the Dao. One had to gather the strengths of many schools.

The sects Jiang Yun had destroyed all possessed some secret arts. Though they were far inferior to the scriptures he cultivated, they still had certain merits. Jiang Yun read through them once and committed them to memory.

He even rewarded some meritorious people with those secret and profound arts that the sects had regarded as treasures. Those elders and disciples were naturally immensely grateful and served Jiang Yun with even greater dedication.

They obtained secret and profound arts that had once been difficult to encounter, while Jiang Yun gained vast resources and a group of subordinates who worked diligently for him. He had profited twice over.

That day, Jiang Yun left the oasis pure land and entered the desolate wilderness. He was preparing to head to Stone Stronghold.

Supporting such a large group of cultivators while only spending and never earning meant that if he continued cultivating, he would need to take out his own Source to subsidize them.

He would never do such a losing business. It was time to invite Fifth Master Zhang from Stone Stronghold.

Then he would enter Purple Mountain, find the Source Heavenly Book, and teach it to Fifth Master Zhang. Surely they would then be able to support themselves.

As for the direction of Stone Stronghold, Jiang Yun had already learned it. The bandits in the area knew the nearby villages and strongholds like the backs of their hands.

When clearing out Chen Big Beard, Jiang Yun had searched his Sea of Consciousness.