Flame Emperor Shennong

Within Kunlun Mountain, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man gazed in the direction of the Big Dipper and sighed. "Time really flies. The children have all grown up!"

"Yes. That little brat who used to clamor about becoming sworn brothers with you has grown up too. He's become a man who can hold up the sky."

A graceful, noble beauty teased him from beside him.

"Don't mention that brat. He kept insisting on becoming sworn brothers with me. He called me Big Brother, I called him Second Brother, and Xuanyuan called him Little Uncle. He was utterly lawless."

"Really? Didn't you get along quite well with him before?"

"Ahem, how could that be? What could that even count as? I was just humoring a child." Shennong said guiltily.

"Oh, really?"

The beautiful woman looked at him suspiciously.

"I heard that Hengyu Great Emperor left behind a lineage on Ziwei Star."

"That wasn't left behind by Hengyu Great Emperor. It was left by one of his close friends," Shennong hurriedly explained.

"Besides, I'm Shennong, not Hengyu."

"The Goddess Furnace has absolutely nothing to do with me!" Shennong declared resolutely.

"I'll believe you for now."

"Opportunities and dangers coexist on the Big Dipper. I only hope that child Nüwa can be saved." Shennong sighed.

"She's simply too stubborn," the beautiful woman sighed as well.

"That Ji boy has the most tricks up his sleeve. He'll definitely be fine. Besides, with the Shennong Ding and Xuanyuan Sword, two Quasi-Emperor Weapons, in his hands, it's hard to say who will be unlucky." Thinking of Ji Hao's personality, Shennong shook his head with a smile.

"But that is the Big Dipper. What do Quasi-Emperor Weapons count for there? Extreme Dao Emperor Weapons are everywhere."

As she spoke, the beautiful woman grew worried again.

Seeing this, Shennong could only comfort her. "Don't worry. It's not as if he has no Extreme Dao Emperor Weapons. Though I really don't want to admit it, in a sense, he is an Emperor's Son. The Extreme Dao Emperor Weapons he can borrow are far more than just one."

"The Ji Family's Void Mirror and the Jiang Family's Hengyu Furnace—who among them wouldn't give him some face? And if that doesn't work, there's still the Emperor Weapon of the Ancient Hua Dynasty in Central Province!"

Ji Hao stood atop the mountain peak.

In the distance lay rolling, beautiful mountains. Strange jagged rocks and ancient trees shaped like coiled dragons stood tall, brimming with vitality.

As he carefully surveyed everything before him, he could not help but marvel inwardly. As expected of the Ruthless Emperor's training ground, it was truly extraordinary. With his cultivation, he could already sense an unknown force devouring his vitality and robbing him of his years. It should have been the power of "Desolation."

Above his Life Spring, an ordinary Stone Bowl gave off a faint milky fragrance, perfectly isolating the power of "Desolation."

Ji Hao sighed. "Anything produced by a Heavenly Emperor has to be top quality."

Though Ji Hao was only in the Dao Palace Realm, one had to know that there was a cultivation method in this world known as the Single Secret Realm Cultivation Method.

Even he did not know how high his current realm truly was. At the very least, he could rival experts of the Dragon Transformation Realm.

As a super Emperor's Son, this was only because he had deliberately slowed his cultivation. The death energy within his body would also intensify as his cultivation rose. Until the death energy was resolved, he would never know peace.

"This is amazing. It really is a beautiful world, even more scenic than many national tourist attractions. Too bad my phone's out of battery, or I could've taken some great photos."

"Finally, we don't have to live in fear anymore," someone said, weeping with joy.

Pang Bo stood atop the mountain and shouted into the distance, "I can finally see the sun again!"

Clang!

Just as everyone was sighing with emotion, the enormous bronze coffin emitted a metallic tremor. They realized that the coffin was sitting at the edge of a cliff and had fallen into the abyss, leaving them all shaken with lingering fear.

After carefully examining their surroundings, they discovered that nine great mountains were connected to one another, encircling an enormous valley. Looking down, all they could see was pitch-black darkness.

"Where is this place?"

"There's half a stone stele over there!" Zhang Ziling pointed toward the mountaintop.

There was a pile of scattered rocks on the summit, along with several vigorous ancient trees and thick old vines as wide as buckets. Amid the tangled vines lay half of a broken stone stele, its man-made polishing marks clearly visible.

Everyone quickly walked over, pulled aside the withered vines, and brushed away the dead branches and leaves covering the broken stele. At once, they felt an ancient air wash over them. Three ancient characters were carved upon it, their strokes powerful and solemn, vigorous as dragons, carrying the aura of countless years. No one knew how long it had existed.

"What does it say?" Many people were confused.

"Desolate Ancient Forbidden..."

What did that mean?

There was another broken section! Everyone searched through the area, and eventually confirmed that, when put together, the four characters formed Ancient Forbidden Land.

"Wouldn't that make it 'Ancient Forbidden Land'?" One student pieced the four characters together. The instant he read them aloud, his face changed, and everyone else frowned as well.

The name was truly difficult to associate with anything good, and many people began to worry faintly.

The words "forbidden land" immediately brought countless bad associations to mind. Those who looked closely discovered that although there were flowers, grass, vines, and trees around them, there was not a single trace of animal activity. It was completely unscientific!

Ji Hao, however, understood perfectly well, but he revealed nothing. Having arrived at the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Zone, he would no longer interfere. After all, he still needed the Nine Wonders Divine Medicine and the Sacred Spring.

Nüwa was still waiting for the Nine Wonders Divine Medicine to save her life! The Nine Wonders Immortal Medicine had originally been the Divine Emperor's Immortality Elixir. It possessed uniquely gifted effects in the aspect of transformation, and Ji Hao also needed it to suppress his death energy and enter the next realm.

There was no point in continuing the Single Secret Realm cultivation any further.

The Bodhi Seed also needed Sacred Spring Water to grow. The whole family depended on him alone. What a hard life!

As Ji Hao listened to everyone's conversation, his mischievous side surfaced again. He changed the subject and said, "Who says there are no living creatures? There's an eagle over there."

Following the direction Ji Hao pointed, they saw an eagle circling in the sky. Its entire body glittered gold. Even from such a great distance, they could still sense its brilliant radiance, as if it had been cast from gold, golden light gleaming across its entire body.

At that moment, the golden eagle flew closer to the area, becoming increasingly clear. Then it suddenly dove toward a stretch of mountains. A moment later, it soared back into the sky, a prey animal already clutched in its talons, and flew toward a distant cliff.

At the sight, everyone could not help swallowing.

"I... I'm not seeing things, am I?!" Pang Bo, usually so carefree, began stammering on the spot.

The others were nearly petrified as well, staring blankly like clay statues and wooden carvings. They simply could not believe their eyes.

"It's nothing. Just a demonic beast."

Ji Hao turned to face the crowd. "Welcome to the cultivation world—cruel, yet captivating."

Everyone looked at one another, not knowing what to say.

"Brother, how are ordinary people like us supposed to survive in the cultivation world?" Zhou Yi asked worriedly.

"That depends on you finding your own way."

Ji Hao cursed inwardly, Damn it, I couldn't control my urge to show off in front of people again. Wouldn't it have been better to just let Ye Fan pick the fruit? Why did I have to stick my foot into this?