Little Ancestor

After Ji Hao went through this whole process, Jiang Taixu had regained some vitality. Holding on for another eighty or a hundred years would no longer be a problem.

He was no longer so weak and powerless.

"Little Ancestor, focus your mind and calm your breath!"

As he spoke, Jiang Taixu's figure was reflected on the stone wall once more, continuously assuming various postures. At the same time, a mnemonic chant entered Ji Hao's mind, and Jiang Taixu also passed on his own understanding through divine sense. After recovering somewhat, he could now barely use his divine sense.

The little figure formed from divine sense constantly imitated him as well, using its body as seals and transforming in countless ways. At first, it copied Jiang Taixu, but in the end, it gradually grasped the essence and evolved only that wondrous realm of the origin that returned to one.

Once he obtained its spirit, its form naturally appeared. Countless transformations returned to one, and all techniques became one.

The Bodhi Sapling released streams of wisdom divine light, raising Ji Hao's spiritual awareness to its utmost limit.

It placed Ji Hao in a wondrous state. Ten full days passed, and he remained immersed within it, his body moving as though in a dream.

He formed seals with divine sense and used his body to evolve the Life-Slaying Great Art. Every part of his body became part of a Dao seal. His entire being was like the Primordial Beginning, bringing existence from nothingness, seeking to manifest the formless Great Dao as tangible momentum.

"All techniques return to nothingness. The Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things, and all return to the limitless."

In the end, his heart shook violently, and an eternal, unchanging figure emerged within his mind. Countless transformations returned to one, forming the Unique Stance!

The Unique Stance became a seed planted in his heart, resonating with another seed. He had obtained the Fighting Secret of the Nine Secrets.

Ji Hao slowly opened his eyes. In an instant, battle intent surged into the heavens, as if he wished to ascend directly into the Ninth Heaven and sever all restraints.

"Little Ancestor, your talent truly is extraordinary. How do you feel?"

"I'm fine!"

Ji Hao said as he stretched his limbs.

"Little Ancestor, you should leave soon. Purple Mountain holds too many dangers. With your talent, it will not be long before you become invincible," Jiang Taixu advised.

"I know, but I still have to take a look at Great Emperor Wu Shi's Daoist ground."

"At the end of the immortal road, who stands at the peak? At the sight of Wu Shi, the Dao becomes empty."

"How could I not go witness such an overwhelmingly powerful Great Emperor of the human race, the greatest throughout all ages?"

Although Ji Hao roughly understood that he could not obtain anything, since he had come to Shrouding the Heavens, how could he not pay his respects to Great Emperor Wu Shi's magnificence?

Especially since he was the first Emperor's Son to attain the Dao.

"Little Ancestor... then I wish you a smooth journey," Jiang Taixu said after a moment of silence.

"Oh, right. I'll pass on another secret technique to you. I can't take your Nine Secrets for nothing."

Ji Hao opened another crack and pointed a finger, transmitting a secret technique into Jiang Taixu's sea of consciousness.

From withered ruin to lush flourishing, decay and decline transformed into vigorous life. All things in the world were evolving, life and death interwoven layer upon layer. It was as though he saw a person whose origin had dried up completely undergo nirvana anew, with a trace of life emerging from utter deathly stillness. Mysterious symbols entered Jiang Taixu's sea of consciousness, forming two Emperor Scripts—Fortune!

When Jiang Taixu awakened, Ji Hao had long since vanished. Only two items remained before him: a bottle filled with Sacred Spring Water and a Little Medicine King.

"Little Ancestor..." Jiang Taixu could not help sighing when he saw the items before him.

After leaving, Ji Hao had not gone far when he arrived at an open cave dwelling. It resembled a grand hall and was extremely spacious, like a plaza.

There were many corpses here. Ji Hao activated his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes, their light flickering uncertainly. Suddenly, divine light blazed forth.

Beside one skeleton, a scroll of silver writing shone with a cold gleam.

Its strokes were like silver hooks and iron lines, powerful and vigorous. The script was solemn and heavy, flashing with silver radiance. It was undoubtedly the Origin Heaven Book.

Ji Hao drew it over, hesitated for a while, then set it back down. After all, he had already taken the Bodhi Seed. If he also took away the Origin Heaven Book, Heavenly Emperor Ye might truly be unable to grow.

For the current Ye Fan, the Origin Heaven Book was of vital importance. It could be said to be what he relied on to continue cultivating.

Without the Origin Heaven Book, he would not necessarily be trapped in the Dao Palace Secret Realm without being able to advance, but he would waste a great deal of cultivation time.

There was another reason as well. Origin Saint Masters would become tainted by curses in their later years, without exception. Even Ye Fan, who had reached the level of a Heavenly Emperor, could not escape it.

Ji Hao had no desire to be covered in red fur in his old age.

Black fur and green fur were out of the question too.

Especially because of a certain unspeakable powerhouse, most curses in this world manifested as "fur." The stronger the curse, the thicker and more vibrant the fur. And the stronger the cursed person, the more colors the fur on their body would have.

Red fur, rainbow fur... in any case, Ji Hao absolutely did not want to one day be covered in red fur. Let alone grow it—touch it? He did not even want to touch it.

"Forget it. Who asked me to be such a good person?"

Beside the skeleton, Ji Hao dug a deep pit and buried Zhang Jiye's bones. He then erected a stone tablet and placed the Origin Heaven Book beside it.

Then he drifted away. Before long, he saw a stone book standing on the ground, over ten meters long and roughly one or two meters thick.

The stone scripture lay horizontally. Behind it was a pile of rubble covered in vines, with ancient trees and wild grass winding around it as well.

As he approached the stone book, the two pieces of Emperor Jade began to glow.

The Wu Shi Scripture had been created by Great Emperor Wu Shi. At the end of the immortal road, who stood at the peak? At the sight of Wu Shi, the Dao became empty. He was absolutely one of the most overwhelmingly powerful Great Emperors of the human race, and his cultivation had shaken the past and illuminated the present.

He had been peerless on the Emperor Road, never giving anyone cause for concern. He swept all the way through, resolving battles with a mere lift of his hand. A generation of heavenly demons from the Demon Emperor Hall had even left behind the words: Better to battle a Great Success Sacred Body than ever meet Wu Shi.

Ji Hao also tried to open it, but found that it would not move in the slightest. The stone book felt even heavier than an ancient divine mountain, impossible to shake even a fraction.

Other than possessing an Innate Sacred Land Dao Embryo or gathering all nine pieces of Emperor Jade, there was no other way to open it.

Suddenly, Ji Hao seemed to sense something. His Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes shone as he stared over, seeing the figure of a large black dog dart away like a bolt of black lightning.

The moment he saw this, Ji Hao thought of that large black dog who specialized in swindling acquaintances, one of the universe's future three great scourges.

Other than Black Emperor, that unscrupulous and underhanded large black dog, who else could appear in this hall?

Although this dog had once followed Great Emperor Wu Shi, his personality was famously lecherous, sly, and malicious. He was also extremely unreliable in his actions. It could be said that half the credit for Ye Fan embarking on the path of becoming the enemy of the entire world and attaining the Dao as a Heavenly Emperor belonged to him.

Ji Hao ignored Black Emperor. He had no desire to be entangled by that dog who specialized in tricking people he knew. Continuing onward, he found many corpses beneath ancient vines, killed at the roots of plants as though they had been drained dry alive.

He stepped onto a narrow path and approached Purple Mountain's most mysterious place. Flowing light swirled around the grand hall, while orchid herbs and immortal grass were planted on both sides, their fragrance rich and sweet. It perfectly matched Ji Hao's image of a Great Emperor's Daoist ground.

As he walked, Ji Hao nodded and said, "This is what a Great Emperor's Daoist ground should look like in my mind. I've decided—when I attain the Dao in the future, I'll build an even more magnificent Daoist ground."