Perfect World: The First King of Immortal Ancient

Even Immortal Dao beings would be eroded in such an environment. Moreover, this cluster of fire islands was truly immense; even a king's gaze could not reach its end.

The mountains glowed red, lava flowed unchecked, and the black waters of the entire surrounding sea boiled furiously under the heat.

Within a layer of rock formed by lava accumulating over countless years, a humanoid stone statue lay embedded on its back.

No one knew how long this humanoid stone statue had remained here. All that was certain was that, for a person to become such a statue, countless ages would be needed, even in this land blanketed in lava.

Suddenly, the stone statue, which appeared to have formed naturally, began to crack slowly.

A young man slowly climbed out of the fractured rock. Though he was not bleeding, his body was still split with cracks, especially around the great hole in his chest, where a faint golden light still shimmered.

By now, an unknown amount of time had passed, yet Lin Yue could still feel the marks left by the Immortal Kings of both realms obstructing his flesh and preventing it from healing. Even his primordial spirit was injured.

But at least he was alive, and nothing uncanny had happened. Here in the Boundary Sea, that could be called the greatest blessing amid misfortune.

Since setting foot on the path of cultivation, he had never suffered such grievous injuries. His martial dao divine infant had shattered, and his yin-yang dao bodies had been utterly destroyed. Still, as long as he lived, hope remained.

Surveying the towering volcanoes ahead and feeling the scorching heat that seemed ready to set even the air ablaze, Lin Yue slowly rose.

Just how much time has passed?

What happened to those Immortal Kings from the Foreign Realm? Is that despicable king from the Immortal Domain still hunting for me?

Lin Yue looked around but could make little sense of his surroundings. Other kings at least had king-level primordial spirits, giving them a vague sense of which way to advance. By comparison, he was merely a reckless brute. For now, he could only take one step at a time.

Lin Yue was practically dragging his grievously wounded body forward. Even the awakening phoenix blood and blood of the extremity of strength within him could not effectively heal his body at present.

An unknown amount of time passed. Even with Lin Yue's perception, he could tell that he had been flying for a very long time. Though he had not used his greatest speed, the distance was still beyond imagination, yet he had not escaped the volcanic range! Moreover, the air felt increasingly hot. Could he only now be approaching its center?

As Lin Yue advanced, the volcanoes grew fewer, for a pool of fire appeared ahead. Like a plain formed from magma, it stretched boundlessly beyond the limits of his sight.

Terrifying flames burned above the magma as though surging from the heart of the earth. These were no ordinary flames; the surrounding mountains had melted, and magma churned within the molten pool.

Lin Yue stepped within the bounds of the divine magma pool.

At that instant, a pressure that swept across heaven, earth, and the eight wildernesses rushed straight at him. Heaven and earth seemed to freeze beneath it. Lin Yue's primordial spirit was nearly blasted out of his body, and even his soul trembled.

Something terribly fearsome is here! A supreme being is here! Am I really going to die this time?

Something profoundly terrifying lurked within this molten pool. At Lin Yue's current level, he did not fear even a king's might, and he had never felt this way even when confronting three Immortal Kings head-on.

At the very least, with a body surpassing those of ordinary kings and divine strength exceeding that of the Heavenly Horned Ant Clan, Lin Yue could even suppress a king in single combat.

Yet the impact at this moment filled his heart and mind with horror.

This was a gulf whose far shore lay beyond sight!

Instinctively, his body understood deep within that an unfathomable gulf separated him from the master of this pressure!

Fuck, have I barged into some quasi-emperor's home? Should I chicken out for once?

Though he wanted to back down, Lin Yue did not slow his steps. Instead, he moved even faster.

The gray mist and poisonous fumes that filled heaven and earth had long since vanished, burned away by these terrifying divine flames.

An enormous golden skeleton lay submerged in the magma of the molten pool. Terrifying golden divine flames still burned upon its bones and skeletal wings. The myriad Daos of heaven and earth could not approach this place; they would be burned to nothing, leaving it like a vacuum.

It was a divine bird with three legs. Golden divine lotuses bloomed all around it, surrounding the bird in vast swaths.

Lin Yue did not know how these golden divine lotuses had formed, but they possessed the power to seize the creative wonders of heaven and earth. Even the vitality they faintly released could slowly heal his grievously wounded body. It was truly heaven-defying.

Even in death, this divine bird's might overwhelmed the eight wildernesses. The aura leaking from its remains alone surpassed the pressure of an unparalleled king. It was truly difficult to imagine how powerful this being had been while alive.

Surely even an emperor could be no more than this!

"A Three-Legged Golden Crow!"

Lin Yue cried out in astonishment. This was the legendary Three-Legged Golden Crow.

Just as Lin Yue exclaimed, a pressure that filled heaven and earth rushed toward him. A pair of golden eyes seemed to be taking shape. He could not see them, yet he could sense them. It defied all reason, truly feeling as though they were both at the ends of the earth and right before his eyes. They existed within his impressions, uncannily strange.

Those eyes seemed to be gazing at this place across the River of Time. Lin Yue did not dare move a muscle.

"A human, not a dark being. Your formidable flesh has almost surpassed that of a supreme Immortal King and approaches the level of a giant without limit. Unfortunately, your primordial spirit is pitifully weak. Is this a new cultivation system? Your body actually holds inexhaustible power, as though nurturing countless gods! Remarkable."

A distant, ancient, ethereal voice rang out from the River of Time! With a single glance, its owner had seen through Lin Yue's body.

As Lin Yue watched, he suddenly discovered a being standing upon the skeleton before him. He could not make out the being's features. Golden divine flames burned all over his body, and a golden sun manifested behind him, illuminating heaven and earth with terrifying power.

Lin Yue discovered that he could not move.

"Senior, forgive the intrusion. I entered this place unintentionally. I will leave at once."

Lin Yue openly admitted defeat. This was simply too terrifying. Divine pressure alone had pinned his invincible body so thoroughly that he could not move.

"There is no need to worry. I am already dead. Even my primordial spirit has been extinguished. Only a wisp of thought remains, and it could vanish at any moment."

Once the being finished speaking, Lin Yue could move again.

"What era is it now?"

"The final years of Immortal Ancient. It is already nearing its end!"

"Your injuries are far too severe. Kings struck to suppress you, and more than one of them. They left their divine-mark imprints within your body. Otherwise, with flesh like yours, you might never have ended up in such a state. A host of kings attacked, yet you defied heaven and escaped. Remarkable indeed. I have never seen such a body. Even in my era, nothing like it existed. Truly heaven-defying."

The being spoke in praise of Lin Yue.

"Senior, who are you?"

"My name is Jin Ling. As you can see, I am of the Golden Crow Clan!"

"I am Lin Yue. My respects, Senior Jin Ling."

"Why did you enter the Boundary Sea?"

"Darkness invaded the Primordial Ancient World. We fought bathed in blood, but in the end, we were no match for them. Finally..."

Before Lin Yue could finish, the being's might suddenly surged. For a moment, Lin Yue almost thought he had returned to life, for his body instinctively sensed danger. Even a host of kings could not exert such pressure upon him.

"Alas... darkness again!"

After that eruption, only a long sigh remained.

"Senior, are you the Heavenly Emperor of the Golden Crow Clan?"

Something seemed to occur to Lin Yue. With such might, this could truly be that supreme being. He had never expected his true body to have fallen here.

"Heh. Heavenly Emperor!"

His voice rang with self-mockery.

"How ironic. Can someone who has fallen still be called a Heavenly Emperor? Pitiful, how arrogant we were. Pitiful, how ignorant the world is. Before the ultimate darkness, no one can prevail."

This great figure of the Golden Crow Clan was unwilling to accept it. He had once stood at the pinnacle of Immortal Kings, even setting half a foot into the quasi-emperor realm, yet in the end, his body had perished and his Dao had vanished. It left him feeling that the world had no chance of victory. Before the ultimate darkness, even he felt they might as well give up.

"Senior, darkness is only temporary. Even the ultimate darkness will one day be swept away. We cannot lose hope. Anything is possible."

"Alas... you do not understand how terrifying the darkness is. I fear even a true emperor could not change the fate of being shrouded by the ultimate darkness."

He continued to sigh, for he had truly investigated the darkness and even held certain suspicions about its source. Of those strongest beings who called themselves Heavenly Emperors, some had died and others had fled. He himself had ended with even his primordial spirit extinguished.

"Senior, my strength is meager now, and I dare not speak recklessly. I understand your concerns, but please believe me. One day, the darkness will surely be swept away, and light will return to all the heavens."

Lin Yue spoke, letting him know that he possessed some understanding of the darkness.

"Seeing you, I feel that perhaps you are right. You are very special, a pioneer of a new path. Perhaps you truly can do it. Come! Let me lend you a hand and put the last of my lingering warmth to use."

After he finished speaking, Lin Yue's body began to float toward him, sinking into the center surrounded by divine lotuses. Above him towered the enormous golden skeleton.

As soon as he entered the divine pool, Lin Yue naturally sank into slumber. This was a place where even his primordial spirit felt at peace.

Chapter 67: Reforging the body

Beneath the enormous golden skeleton, Lin Yue's flesh began to be refined by golden divine flames.

One golden divine lotus after another, brimming with vitality, gathered from every direction of the molten pool. They then floated upward, transformed into golden three-legged divine birds, and melted into Lin Yue's body.

These golden divine lotuses had actually formed from drops of this supreme being's inexhaustible blood essence, filled with terrifying heat and endless vitality.

This supreme being had been far too powerful in life. Blood essence like this alone was enough to create a heaven-defying being.

Lin Yue's flesh slowly healed. Wisps of black vapor began to rise from his split wounds. These were not merely the lingering marks of the Foreign Realm's Immortal Kings and the Immortal Domain's Immortal King; some were dark impurities that had infected him over long years of fighting dark creatures.

Now, the golden flames within the divine lotuses burned them away completely. Even the marks within his primordial spirit were incinerated. Lin Yue's flesh and primordial spirit became purer than ever before, seemingly without a single trace of impurity.

Within the divine universes inside his body, twelve zhoutian divine meridians, three hundred and sixty-five cave heavens, seven hundred and twenty cavern acupoints, one thousand two hundred and ninety-six secret treasuries, and one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred divine embryos began to transform as they fused with the Golden Crow's supreme blood essence. His divine essence flowed like magma, crystalline and brimming, radiating the power of terrifying divine flames.

As time passed, this process continued for a full ten thousand years.

Lin Yue's primordial spirit also transformed, ascending step by step. Three strands of immortal qi began to gather in his dantian, working with the supreme blood essence merging into his body to form three flower buds.

To condense his martial dao divine infant once more, the divine essence within Lin Yue's secret treasuries refined his primordial spirit. Fortunately, these golden divine lotuses possessed endless vitality, embodying the supreme blood essence of the Golden Crow Clan.

Then the petals of the golden divine lotuses began to unfold slowly. One, then two, until all twelve lotus petals had fully opened.

One gold, one white, one black.

Three small dharma forms emerged bathed in divine light, sitting cross-legged at the centers of the divine lotuses. Compared to before, these dharma forms were even holier and more solid.

The martial dao divine infant condensed once more, and the yin-yang dao bodies emerged along with it.

Then the divine lotuses beneath the seated black and white dharma forms slowly rose from his dantian and entered his spiritual platform. The two great dharma forms, one yin and one yang, slowly released black and white qi.

Within his dantian, the newborn martial dao divine infant continued to radiate golden light, suppressing the zhoutian divine universes inside his body. The wheel of yin and yang, which had long remained motionless, slowly turned once more. Black and white light spilled out, enveloping the golden divine infant.

"What heaven-defying flesh. The flesh gains spirit, and heaven and earth form within the body. Such a method, such an approach... I wonder whether it suits this era. If it could truly be spread, heaven and earth would undergo a tremendous change! What a remarkable young man."

Jin Ling, who had ranked among the supreme beings while alive, spoke. His ethereal voice seemed to echo all around, and Lin Yue was unexpectedly awakened.

"Senior?"

"Can others cultivate your method, or can only you cultivate it? If it is suitable for all beings, I hope you will give future generations another path to follow. This is my request."

As one of the creators of a cultivation method, this Heavenly Emperor of the Golden Crow Clan immediately made his intentions clear. Though it was uncertain whether Lin Yue's method or theirs was better, this method was indeed more complete than their own.

"I do not know whether it suits other beings. My method is called the human immortal martial dao, though calling it a method is not entirely precise. It simply takes the human body itself as its foundation, without relying on external things, and breaks the body's shackles step by step. It excavates the divine universes within, allowing a person to gradually approach a world and encompass all things. By engraving all things across the heavens within oneself, even in death, one can become a complete heaven and earth, a world."

Every person was different, and their manifestations differed as well. It was like building houses: everyone was human, yet the houses they built were not the same. Such a path would create many different worlds.

When Lin Yue finished speaking, Jin Ling froze.

"What an excellent idea. This is a truly complete Great Dao! It has given me tremendous insight. Do we not cultivate precisely to break the shackles of heaven and earth? That is the meaning of a cultivator's cultivation. I am the world, and the world is like me! What a profound regret, that I could not have known you while alive. Had we discussed the Dao back then, perhaps our method could truly have been perfected. Alas...!"

For a creator of cultivation methods, nothing could be more regrettable.

"Though it may not suit every race, the body-tempering method I cultivate is a divine scripture no less than the complete Indestructible Scripture. If I have time, I will perfect this scripture and pass it on to those destined to receive it."

Lin Yue could not guarantee that his method would suit all beings.

But there was one certainty: the body-tempering method itself had no problems. Once perfected, it might allow all beings to cultivate it. After all, most beings needed to temper their bodies, and the Yin-Yang Body-Tempering Dao Chapter used the human body's foundation as its starting point.

After all, though humans were frail, they possessed innate Dao bodies, where yin and yang joined at their extremes.

After many more years of stillness, the surface of Lin Yue's body began to contract, slowly turning black and lusterless, like a dead object.

These were the remnants left after bodily impurities and dark impurities were burned and refined. Now they had all been expelled from Lin Yue's body. His body had even fused with the Golden Crow's divine flames and engraved that power within itself, likely making it difficult for him to be infected.

Suddenly, a crack appeared on Lin Yue's surface. Golden light shot from within, illuminating heaven and earth. Then more cracks appeared, one after another, until he resembled a glowing black sphere.

Boom...

The pitch-black surface instantly exploded. Lin Yue emerged bathed in golden light, his entire body restored to its original perfection. His flesh had even advanced another step.

His crystalline, translucent flesh, together with the Golden Crow blood essence fused into his inner divine universes, naturally radiated a terrifying Immortal Dao aura. Mingled with divine strength and terrifying martial dao intent, it resembled an Immortal King's domain enveloping the surrounding heavens.

Feeling his inexhaustible divine strength, his further-advanced flesh, and the divine embryos within him shrouded in the immortal light radiating from his kingly body, Lin Yue knew that everything was ready.

"Becoming a king through the flesh... this is the first time I have seen such a path, so I cannot offer you guidance. You must be careful. If it cannot be done, do not force it."

Jin Ling's ethereal voice rang out, filled with concern. This young man was truly far too astonishing. Even he, who had attained supreme achievements in life, felt inferior in the path of the flesh. He urged Lin Yue to place caution above all else. If he fell midway, it would be a loss for all living beings.

"There is no need to worry, Senior. I have complete confidence."

"Then continue. Today, let me witness a later generation's heaven-defying journey as well. Let me see your resolve."

"Very well!"

As Lin Yue finished speaking, his entire body began to grow enormously. His towering dharma form radiated immortal light as he sat cross-legged in the divine pool. Though it reached into the heavens, it was still considerably smaller than the Golden Crow's skeleton.

Once Lin Yue sat down cross-legged, Jin Ling looked at the handsome young man before him and revealed a satisfied smile.

Though he and the others had failed, no matter how much time passed, there would always be some who rose against heaven and followed in their predecessors' footsteps. This was what they wished to see.

Jin Ling began to transform into a towering divine bird, driving the golden skeleton's terrifying vital essence into Lin Yue's body. The remaining golden divine lotuses around them also transformed into little Golden Crows and flew into Lin Yue's flesh.