Solar Ancient Scripture

The scripture Lu Chen's spiritually sentient immortal gold pagoda had captured at the site where the Fire Clan Saint Spirit fell was actually one of the ancient Mother Scriptures of the Human Race-the Solar True Scripture.

"The Fire Clan Saint Spirit, the Solar Ancient Scripture!" After pondering for a long time, he formed some guesses about why he had copied a human scripture at Fire Demon Ridge.

The Saint Spirit Race could truly be called heaven and earth's favored children. They needed neither cultivation nor combat; they only had to spend long ages gestating.

During that time, so long as no outsider forcibly interrupted their growth, they could reach great perfection after a million years. Heaven would also bestow scriptures, divine arts, and instruments for attaining the Dao upon them. The moment they emerged, they would stand at the peak of the ninth heaven of the Quasi-Emperor realm.

Moreover, they possessed the same combat strength as a great accomplishment sacred body or a great accomplished tyrant body, rivaling invincible primordial Ancient Emperors. They truly enjoyed heaven and earth's utmost favor.

But this was also the end of the road for most perfected sacred spirits. Taking that ultimate leap and attaining the Dao to become an emperor was no easy matter.

Although the Fire Clan Saint Spirit born at Fire Demon Ridge had reached great perfection, taking that ultimate leap surely required it to study countless arts and nurture its own Emperor's Way, just as those Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors had done before attaining the Dao.

Though the Solar Ancient Scripture was a Mother Scripture of the Human Race, what it expounded was solar origin saint power. Its Dao was closely related to the great Dao of flame, making it far more useful as a reference for the Saint Spirit of Fire Demon Ridge than other ancient scriptures.

Thus, it was only natural that the Fire Clan Saint Spirit had collected the Solar Saint Emperor's ancient scripture and comprehended its true meaning.

That was why Dao Marks of the Solar Ancient Scripture remained where it had fallen, to be captured and manifested by the spiritually sentient Divine Mark Purple Gold Pagoda after countless ages.

"The Solar Ancient Scripture is one of the Mother Scriptures of the Human Race. I'll cultivate solar saint power from now on. A pity there are no divine abilities or secret techniques, only the fundamental cultivation methods for the five great secret realms."

Lu Chen had the advantage of "foreknowledge." He knew of many ruins left behind by ancient sages and Great Emperors throughout the world. With the spiritually sentient Divine Mark Purple Gold Pagoda as well, he might even copy the Taboo Secret Arts of Ancient Great Emperors, so he felt little regret.

Now that he had obtained the Saint Emperor's ancient scripture, there was naturally no further need for the Zixia Art he had cultivated before. He did not leave, but began switching to the Wheel Sea Scroll of the Solar Ancient Scripture right there at Fire Demon Ridge.

A month later, Lu Chen sat cross-legged atop a hundred-thousand-foot volcano, his entire body shrouded in golden flames. He drew in solar essence and cultivated solar true fire, successfully completing the change in cultivation methods.

During this time, the Divine Mark Purple Gold Pagoda actually captured another passage of scripture. It was a secret technique called Immortal Phoenix Slash, once the supreme divine art of the Fire Clan's Great Perfection Saint Spirit.

After that, no matter how hard he tried, he could no longer capture even a trace of Dao Marks or a passage of scripture.

Having cultivated the Solar True Scripture, Lu Chen's strength had increased many times over. His control and command of flames in particular placed him among the finest at his cultivation level. This was a basic ability granted by cultivating solar saint power, achievable without any separate secret technique.

With such fire-controlling arts, he naturally had to explore the volcano's subterranean veins. Perhaps the Fire Clan Saint Spirit's palace still remained within them. The treasures in the residence of an expert at the peak of the ninth heaven of the Quasi-Emperor realm would likely be beyond imagining.

Golden flames enveloped Lu Chen as he slowly descended through the excavated passage and entered the magma within the subterranean veins.

The blood-colored divine fire within was still terrifying, but he could now withstand it completely. Unfortunately, even after searching for a long time, he found no Saint Spirit palace. He did, however, discover some fist-sized red crystals in the scorching magma, containing great quantities of fire-element essence.

He guessed that they were source stones-and, moreover, the rarer fire crystal source, which was more precious than ordinary source.

Source was a form of life energy condensed from the essence of heaven and earth, one of the important resources on the path of cultivation. It was produced primarily in the Northern Region of the Eastern Wilderness.

Other regions also had source-producing veins, but far fewer than the Northern Region. They were not entirely without them.

A few fist-sized pieces of pure source could allow a Sea of Bitterness cultivator to break through a minor realm.

Early on, a single piece of impure source Ye Fan obtained had drawn the second-strongest expert of Golden Rosy Grotto-Heaven in the Yan Kingdom.

Later, after he saved Ji Ziyue's life and escorted her safely all the way, the Ji Family Elders had given him only one piece of pure source.

This showed how precious pure source was to low-level cultivators. With enough source, one could essentially cultivate rapidly all the way to the Four Extremes Realm.

The fire crystal source Lu Chen found in the subterranean veins was rarer and more valuable than ordinary source, a prized resource for cultivating the Fire-Essence Cultivation Art and Fire-Essence Secret Technique.

In the end, he found roughly a thousand jin of fire crystal source within the subterranean veins and nothing else. Only then did he finally leave Fire Demon Ridge.

The Eastern Wasteland had many Desolate Ancient Families and holy lands. The Central Region lay at its heart and was also its most prosperous region.

The Purple Mansion Holy Land, the Wanchu Holy Land, the ancient Feng Clan, Dao Yi Holy Land, and others all stood in this region. Immortal phoenixes lay dormant and hidden dragons lurked here, gathering the boundless spiritual splendor of the Eastern Wasteland. They flourished without falling, enduring through the ages.

In addition, the Demon Race had over ten thousand formidable lineages scattered throughout the Central Region. They had been founded and left behind by Demon Race titans who survived the dark turmoil over a hundred thousand years ago.

Although they belonged to the Demon Race, those lineages were incomparably powerful. Their descendants were already humanoid at birth, forming one mighty Demon Race Ancient Family after another.

After leaving Fire Demon Ridge, Lu Chen traveled tens of thousands of li to an ancient city called Azure Moon. Human and Demon Race cultivators abounded here, though mortals were even more numerous. It was an enormous ancient city where the races lived together.

Sea of Bitterness cultivators were everywhere here, and even lofty supreme experts could occasionally be seen. His cultivation seemed utterly unremarkable.

The nearest holy land to this ancient city was the Purple Mansion Holy Land. Lu Chen had come here to use a major power's Domain Gate, cross the void, and travel to the Southern Region.

The lands of Big Dipper were vast and boundless. Only Domain Gates could connect the civilizations across this immense territory; otherwise, even exchanging information would be difficult.

Only the greatest major powers could construct Spell Formations capable of crossing regions.

Inside a tavern were more than a dozen cultivators. Lu Chen was among them, quietly listening to news from the cultivation world.

"Have you heard? The supreme experts of the holy lands have all started heading to the Southern Region to fight over the Eastern Wasteland's supreme treasure, the Desolate Pagoda," a drinking cultivator said.

"Yes! It's been over a year since the Demon Emperor's tomb emerged. Countless cultivators have been buried there, yet people still press forward, one falling after another," another cultivator chimed in.

"Not just the holy lands of the Eastern Wasteland. I hear peerless experts have even crossed over from the distant Central Plains and Western Desert!"

"What! The experts of the other regions are reaching their hands this far, trying to seize the Eastern Wasteland's supreme treasure?" a cultivator exclaimed.

"Not quite. No matter how prosperous the Central Plains are, our Eastern Wasteland's holy lands have no fear of them," an elderly cultivator said. "I hear the Demon Emperor's tomb also contains a mysterious supreme treasure the Central Plains lost ten thousand years ago."

The emergence of Qing Emperor's Tomb in the Southern Region over a year ago had stirred the hearts of cultivators throughout the Eastern Wasteland. People everywhere discussed it, waiting to see into whose hands the supreme treasure, the Desolate Pagoda, would ultimately fall.

"Qing Emperor's Tomb!" Hearing this news, Lu Chen gained a rough understanding of the situation in the Eastern Wasteland. But he knew even more clearly that no one could seize the Desolate Pagoda, because the Azure Emperor was not dead at all.

As for the Central Plains' supreme treasure-the fragment of the Immortal Ascension Cauldron-Ye Fan should have already carried it away in secret.

Naturally, he was not heading to the Southern Region to join the commotion at Qing Emperor's Tomb. He planned to search for the Source Heaven Book to secure resources for his future cultivation.

He knew the Source Heaven Book was inside Purple Mountain in the Northern Region, but he was not Ye Fan. If he entered Purple Mountain, he might not come out alive.

Thus, he thought of a place in the Southern Region where he might obtain Source Arts left behind by a Source Heavenly Master.