Mount Tai, the Youth

Mount Tai stood lofty and majestic, its grandeur awe-inspiring. It was revered as the foremost of the Five Sacred Mountains, known as the greatest mountain under heaven.

Since ancient times, Mount Tai had symbolized holiness. Located at the easternmost edge of the ancient Central Plains, surrounded by the Yellow River and the Wen River, it had once been regarded as the place where the sun first rose and all things flourished.

No mountain was greater than it; no history was older than it!

Mount Tai was magnificent and vast, steeped in profound historical heritage stretching back to the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. It was a place thought to be close to the gods.

"The heavens are too high to reach. Thus, one stands atop Mount Tai to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices, hoping to draw near to the gods."

Qin Shi Huang, who swept through the Six States, and Emperor Wu of Han, a ruler of immense talent and ambition, had both held unprecedented Feng and Shan ceremonies on Mount Tai.

Even before them, during the ancient era, seventy-two emperors had performed Feng and Shan sacrifices on Mount Tai.

Why all the ancient emperors of the pre-Qin era had chosen this place for those rites remained a mystery to this day, one that might never be solved.

No—perhaps it could be solved today.

"Though this isn't my first time here, standing before the magnificent Mount Tai still makes one feel as insignificant as an ant. Even the stars in the sky seem trivial," a youth dressed in ancient attire murmured.

The youth was not very old. Dressed like an ancient man, with long black hair falling over his shoulders, he appeared to be around eleven or twelve. His eyes were clear and bright, his face strikingly handsome, and his figure well-proportioned and upright. Only his complexion was somewhat pale, as though something was wrong with his health.

A lively little bird stood on his shoulder, looking exceptionally beautiful.

The bird was very quiet, merely glancing around from time to time. It was also unlike ordinary birds, with patterned feathers, a white beak, and red feet.

"Indeed. Legends say that countless emperors throughout history came here to perform Feng and Shan sacrifices, adding a touch of mystery to this ancient mountain."

"Little brother, you came to Mount Tai alone? Where are your parents?"

Seeing the youth's handsome features and ancient attire, Ye Fan felt curious and asked.

Ye Fan stood tall and straight, with refined features and an inexplicably steady air about him.

"Cough, cough. My parents went somewhere very far away. As for me, I had a reason I had to come. You could say I'm revisiting an old place," the youth said, a glint flashing through his eyes.

"Then why not come with us, little brother? We're having a class reunion anyway. One more person will make it livelier," Ye Fan said sympathetically, inviting him.

"Right, my name is Ye Fan."

As expected...

The future Heavenly Emperor Ye. He was still alive, and he hadn't obtained the seven-colored set yet.

His Bitter Sea was as solid as rock, his divine Wheel of Life silent and unshakable, impossible to open...

The Ancient Sacred Body!

The youth had not originally belonged to this world. In his original world, all of this had merely been a novel.

Still, transmigration was quite common these days. There were at least eight or ten people who had transmigrated into the universe of Shrouding the Heavens.

At first, when he had just arrived in this world, he had felt extremely uncomfortable. Setting everything else aside,

the youth had not awakened on the day of Ye Fan's class reunion. He had transmigrated nearly five thousand years earlier.

It had been an age when gods and demons rose together. Kunlun Divine Mountain had yet to close, the Great Dao of heaven and earth had not yet gone into hiding, and the corpses of ancient Great Emperors had awakened one after another.

At first, the youth had been devastated. After all, unlike Ye Fan's era, which was stable after the establishment of the new age, people were at least able to live in peace.

This period had basically been like the cultivation world of the Big Dipper Star Domain, only even more extreme. When cultivators fought, they could devastate millions of miles, leaving countless dead and wounded.

But later, the youth discovered that his surname was Ji—the Ji of Ji Xuanyuan—and he stopped panicking entirely.

The saying "descendants of Yan and Huang" was fully embodied in him. He was the grandson of the Flame Emperor and the son of the Yellow Emperor. There was no one in the world more noble than him.

Unfortunately, heaven had not bestowed all its good fortune upon him. Because of his physical condition, he had no choice but to be sealed within divine source and sleep until now.

The youth looked at the group beside Ye Fan. There were around thirty people, chatting and laughing together, men and women alike, including a young foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Ji Hao," the youth introduced himself as well.

"So you're a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. A pleasure, a pleasure." Ye Fan could not help sighing at the coincidence. He had just finished reading the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, only to encounter a youth surnamed Ji.

"We are all descendants of Yan and Huang. It is nothing special." Ji Hao cupped his hands and smiled, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"That's true. We are all descendants of Yan and Huang." Ye Fan felt a little closer to this youth and copied Ji Hao's gesture, cupping his hands as well.

"Descendants of Yan and Huang, grandson of the Flame Emperor, son of the Yellow Emperor."

Ji Hao smiled brilliantly. Little did you know, you're discussing ancient history with me, while I'm discussing seniority with you.

Being the ancestor of Heavenly Emperor Ye really gave me an inexplicable sense of satisfaction!

"Ye Fan, who is this child?" A woman stepped out from the crowd and asked.

"Lin Jia, I saw that this little brother was all alone, so I invited him along," Ye Fan said.

"Tch, why let an outsider join our class reunion? He's just a child, and he obviously looks sick."

Ji Hao looked over and saw only a gloomy young man spouting nonsense. A flash of five-colored divine light passed through Ji Hao's eyes.

The gloomy young man immediately fell silent, feeling as though a giant dragon had fixed its gaze upon him.

"Liu Yunzhi, shut up!" Ye Fan said with a frown.

Seeing Ye Fan stand up for him, Ji Hao could not be bothered to pay attention anymore. They were merely a group of insignificant extras, not worth his concern.

Lin Jia took a closer look, and her maternal instincts immediately surged forth. Ji Hao was only eleven or twelve years old, and his pale little face made people unable to help feeling sorry for him.

"Little brother, come with your big sister."

As she spoke, she reached out to take Ji Hao's small hand.

"There's no need. I can walk by myself," Ji Hao refused. Though young, he possessed an indescribable authority that made it impossible to regard him as an ordinary child.

Still, judging solely by his expression, he looked soft and adorable.

"All right then! Little brother is already a little man!" Lin Jia did not feel awkward at all and acted naturally.

Ji Hao took the initiative to walk ahead, climbing step by step. Among a group of university graduates who had been out of school for three or four years, he instead seemed like the leader.

Mount Tai's ancient pines were lush, and its flowing springs and cascading waterfalls were plentiful. Amid its solemn majesty was no lack of spiritual beauty, while the drifting clouds added several layers of mystery and profundity.

Ji Hao did not use divine power. Step by step, it was also a form of cultivation. As he climbed upward, he admired the countless famous sites and ancient ruins along the way, the cliffside inscriptions and stone tablets, all of them breathtaking.

The scenery was unique and astonishing. Even Ji Hao, who had witnessed the grandeur of Kunlun, felt its majestic presence.

Speaking of which, Ji Hao had not seen Mount Tai for several thousand years. The changes over those millennia intoxicated him, drawing him into a peculiar state of enlightenment.

He was fully aware of everything around him: from the Dai Temple, the imperial palace used for sacrifices to the earth, to Jade Emperor Peak, where sacrifices were offered to heaven, forming a ten-kilometer axis of underworld—human world—heaven.

As he admired the surroundings and comprehended their historical resonance, he sought out faint traces of the Great Dao.

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