[System 10086 at Your Service]

Not far away stood a flawless woman of peerless grace and beauty, using the Treasure-Gathering Basin to draw in the Demon Race Emperor's supreme treasure.

It was an enormous green basin, like an oasis floating in the sky. It radiated a soft, sacred glow, while vibrant life teemed within its verdant light.

"It's her!" Ye Fan recognized the woman's origins. Pang Bo had been taken away by her people; she was from the Demon Race.

"What a scheme..."

In a flash, Ye Fan understood everything. This Demon Race woman had let the human experts fight and die at the front, clearing every obstacle, while she had long laid an ambush here to reap the benefits.

"A scheme? Every scheme exists because one lacks strength." Lin Xian sighed. "The descendant of the mighty Azure Emperor has actually fallen to such a state. How tragic. How lamentable."

"Tragic and lamentable?" Ye Fan stared at her in astonishment, frowning. "She clearly gained the greatest benefit. Why would you say that, Celestial Master...?"

"Because you don't understand Great Emperors, and neither do those fellows in the sky. That's why they dared to contend with Azure Emperor's descendant for the imperial weapon, the Chaos Azure Lotus." Lin Xian shook his head. "They may be making a merry fuss now, but once the imperial weapon awakens and starts settling scores, if they truly threaten the Great Emperor's sole remaining descendant, things will get interesting."

"Are Great Emperors really that powerful?" Ye Fan murmured. He knew Great Emperors were the strongest of all, but he could not imagine just how strong they truly were.

In the Dao-Difficult Era, saints and sages sealed themselves in divine source. Kings roamed the Eastern Wasteland, while even the leaders of the great sacred lands were merely Immortal Two experts.

The predecessors who had witnessed the Azure Emperor's peerless splendor and pressure over the cosmos ten thousand years ago were separated from the present by three or four generations.

Three or four generations—matters from before one's great-grandfather's time. How many people could still remember them? They had long been worn away by the years.

The world had lost the reverence it should have held for Great Emperors.

Not to mention rogue cultivators like Ye Fan; even experts born into Desolate Antiquity aristocratic families and supreme sacred lands knew only that Great Emperors were stronger than ancient saints and sages. As for how much stronger, they had no idea.

Ants could never imagine the gap between divine elephants and heavenly dragons. They could not even glimpse their backs.

"The word 'Emperor' weighs as heavily as Mount Tai, enough to crush eternity." Lin Xian said solemnly. "The ignorant truly know no fear."

That year, Big Dipper's great experts dug up Qing Emperor's Tomb, their achievements comparable to the sect masters of the three thousand provinces of the Chaotic Ancient Era.

That year, a group of cultivators below the Saint Realm sought to seize an imperial weapon.

That year, Heavenly Jade Sacred Land led an expedition against the Desolate Antiquity Forbidden Zone to break into the Immortal Ascension Road.

That year, Azure Emperor's descendant ran about everywhere without even a protector at her side.

All one could say was that they were all reckless fools.

In the void, Yan Ruyu remained ethereal and sacred, flawless and immaculate, with unrivaled beauty. She swiftly put away the Treasure-Gathering Basin and turned into a streak of light that shot away, leaving behind only laughter as heavenly as music. "Thank you for your assistance, esteemed seniors. Otherwise, even if the descendant of the Demon Emperor came in person, it would have been difficult to truly claim the Great Emperor's supreme treasure..."

"Look at that..." Lin Xian clicked his tongue. "They haven't merely lost the imperial weapon; they may have even lost their inheritance and knowledge. If we could record this scene, it would definitely fetch a good price someday."

[Ding-dong]

[System 10086 at your service]

[Event: An Immortal Two expert excavates Qing Emperor's Tomb]

[Evaluation: Recorded in history, praised through the ages]

[Reward: One Recording Stone (Note: It will endure through eternity, impossible for heaven and earth to destroy. Even if eras restart and reincarnation cycles anew, the embarrassing history will remain.)]

"Dear user, we recommend that you don't sell it to Yan Ruyu. It would be worth more if you sold it to Azure Emperor," System 10086 said meaningfully.

"System, why did you come out on your own this time?" Lin Xian asked suspiciously. Ever since he had met the system, System 10086 had grown lazier by the day. It never worked if it could avoid working, and he had no idea who it had learned that from.

Why was it suddenly working overtime today?

"Chaos gives birth to the Azure Lotus..." the system replied leisurely beside Lin Xian's ear.

System 10086 had comprehended the Immortal Scripture of the Copper Coffin, which concerned the evolution of the Immortal Realm. Chaos and the Azure Lotus were undoubtedly a crucial part of it.

Chaos gave birth to the Azure Lotus, the Azure Lotus nurtured Pangu, Pangu opened heaven and earth, and heaven and earth transformed into the Immortal Realm. It was a process of evolution, and also the Great Dao Azure Emperor sought to prove.

Others did not know, but the system and Lin Xian knew very well that Azure Emperor had not died. Instead, his Primordial Spirit had entered the Desolate Pagoda and suppressed the deity within it. There, he had opened up a small Divine Realm, seeking to create and bring forth a true Immortal Realm himself. It was astounding and defied the heavens.

Yet even Immortal Kings found it difficult to create a cosmic Immortal Realm, much less a human-path Heavenly Emperor. If Azure Emperor's former self, Immortal King Qinglian, had come instead, there might perhaps have been some hope.

"A Recording Stone..."

With a thought, Lin Xian retrieved the Recording Stone. He did not record Yan Ruyu's embarrassing history; he was preparing to make a much bigger move.

"Celestial Master, watch out!" Ye Fan suddenly cried out in warning.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sounds of objects tearing through the air rang out without end. Streaks of divine radiance shot toward the shattered stone mountain like a meteor shower.

The Treasure-Gathering Basin had appeared only briefly before flying away, but it had just erupted with boundless brilliance, drawing every sentient weapon in the vicinity toward it.

To cultivators of great cultivation, sentient weapons were a feast. To ordinary cultivators, they were a slaughter. The weapons flew at terrifying speed and with savage force, piercing more than a dozen cultivators on the spot before streaking past, leaving behind only bloodstains and over a dozen corpses.

"Fellow Daoist Duan, aren't you going to make a move? We won't rob you this time."

Lin Xian remained unhurried as he shouted toward the rear of the mountain. A plump figure emerged.

"How did you know I was here?" Duan De asked curiously. Even as he spoke, he rode a divine rainbow into the rain of weapons, intercepting the sentient weapons heading toward the Five-Finger Mountain area. He actually managed to seize two of them.

Lin Xian merely smiled without answering. With that money-grubbing personality of his, once Duan De sensed something strange and saw the Treasure-Gathering Basin here, there was no way he could leave.

"Ahhh... hahaha!"

Duan De returned in both joy and pain, scampering and hopping as he fled back. He clutched a blood-red shield tightly in his hand, but a golden short sword was stuck in his backside.

"This way of treasure hunting..." Ye Fan's expression turned strange as he subconsciously touched his own rear.

"Fellow Daoist Duan, would you like to cooperate?" Lin Xian asked the fat Daoist clutching his backside, smiling brightly.

"Cooperate?" Duan De's eyes rolled as he asked suspiciously, "Pull an immortal scam together and use this kid as bait? Cough, cough. Let's be clear first—I get fifty percent!"

"Daoist, that is quite mistaken. We are all honorable people, upright and open in our actions, filled with noble righteousness." Lin Xian declared righteously. "How could we do something so despicable? It was you, Daoist, who robbed us first."

Lin Xian activated his skill: strike first and seize the initiative.

"Then what about the few Source Stones you robbed from me?" Duan De's face darkened, his heart aching terribly.

Even Ye Fan knew the answer to that. Without hesitation, he said, "That was legitimate self-defense and reasonable compensation."

Duan De showed a disdainful expression. Robbery was robbery—why dress it up with so many terms? How hypocritical.

"If you join us, we can't possibly give you fifty percent. At most..."

As he spoke, Ye Fan glanced at Lin Xian, waiting for him to decide.

"Too small-minded. Your vision is too narrow."

Lin Xian said with heartfelt frustration, "How much money can an immortal scam make? Sacred lands and aristocratic families exploit people layer by layer. Low-level cultivators have long become paupers, with no oil left to squeeze."

"If you're not squeezing Source Stones out of paupers, then whose Source Stones are you taking?" Duan De asked in surprise. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"Fellow Daoist, have you ever heard of archaeology?" Lin Xian asked with a mysterious expression.