Night had already fallen over the Big Dipper Ancient Star.
The bright white moon hung high in the heavens, spilling cool starlight of lunar essence over the boundless lands of the Eastern Wasteland.
Beneath the starry sky, the Primordial Ancient Mine stood immovable, its pits unfathomably deep. It resembled a slumbering ancient immortal whose every breath made the celestial river above brighten and dim in rhythm.
A closer look revealed that the Primordial Ancient Mine was drawing in moonlight essence and starlight from across the sky. The light of the stars gathered into silver waterfalls above its boundless pits and poured into their bottomless depths.
This wondrous sight had repeated in the ancient mining district for countless years. It was so sacred and peaceful that the battle between Yuangeng and Emperor Jun during the day might never have happened.
"Caw, caw!"
Suddenly, a clear cry rang out from the horizon. Beyond the vault of heaven, a pitch-black divine bird spread its wings and flew toward the Primordial Ancient Mine. Its three feet upheld the Dao, its black feathers blotted out the sky, and the dark radiance it emitted obscured the bright moon, plunging the earth into deeper darkness.
"Another supreme being is descending upon the Primordial Ancient Mine!"
On the outskirts of the ancient mine, cultivators looked up at the sky. Sensing the supreme Dao laws swirling around the divine bird, they cried out in astonishment.
"No, it isn't another Supreme. It's the one who broke free of his seal in the ancient mine earlier!"
Others studied it closely and saw the sun-blotting Three-Legged Crow assume human form in midair. That face was familiar: it belonged to the Ancient Supreme who had broken his seal in the Primordial Mine District during the day.
"What? The elders of my clan said that supreme being slew Emperor Jun, who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, on the Supreme Battlefield. And now he's coming back!"
"Is he going to wage war on the Life Forbidden Zone?"
These cultivators communicated through divine sense. They were the sages of the Hundred Clans who had watched Yuangeng emerge into the world. Many had never left the outskirts of the ancient mine. Some were mourning Emperor Jun of the primordial age, while others wanted to follow the aftermath of this upheaval. Some even hoped to explore the Primordial Mine District now that one of its supreme beings had fallen.
But at this moment, all these sages held their breath and watched every movement of that mightiest of Ancient Supremes, afraid to miss even the slightest detail.
Yuangeng strolled leisurely outside the pitch-black mine shafts of the Primordial Ancient Mine. He paid no heed whatsoever to the supreme beings deep within the pits, admiring the mine's many strange sights along the way. Now and then, he picked up an unusual stone before casually tossing it aside.
Boom!
Boom!
Such a mighty being swaggering along the edge of the Primordial Ancient Mine soon drew the displeasure of the supreme beings in its depths. Under the terrified gazes of the sages, two unimaginably vast waves of divine sense enveloped Yuangeng in an instant.
"Fellow Daoist, you have overstepped. Since you have already broken your seal and emerged, and even slain a fellow cultivator, why return?" One of the divine-sense transmissions sounded ancient and withered, and was utterly discourteous. Its owner seemed to have known Emperor Jun. Cold and indifferent, he directly ordered Yuangeng to leave.
"I lay in this mine for more than an epoch. My seniority far exceeds yours. Whether I've overstepped isn't for you to decide, boy," Yuangeng said mildly. Standing outside a pit, he looked down at a small mountain of immortal source shrouded in chaotic mist within the dark shaft.
He showed no courtesy either, leaping straight into the pitch-black pit. Surging starlight flowed around him, and the Primordial Ancient Mine did not feel oppressive at all. Remembering that he had lain here for more than an epoch, he could not help feeling a little of the ease of coming home.
Far, far too many years had passed. The scenery inside the Primordial Ancient Mine was completely different from what Yuangeng remembered. The Immortal Corpse, murals, Burial Soil, and everything else that had once been here were gone. Only a few shattered ruins remained to mourn all that had passed.
Yuangeng also noticed that many small pits had appeared within the ancient mine. Some were cold and silent, while others were shrouded in chaotic currents and imperial Dao formation patterns. Without a doubt, those were the resting places the Self-Slashed Supremes of the mine had chosen for themselves.
"..." The Supreme who had spoken first fell silent. In light of the strength Yuangeng had displayed, he did not wish to provoke him, but remained thoroughly on guard.
"What are you looking for, fellow Daoist? Or do you intend to bury yourself and slumber once more?" At that moment, a voice came from another small mine shaft. The other awakened Supreme spoke, asking why Yuangeng had come.
Yuangeng's battle with Emperor Jun had already led the Supremes of the ancient mine to classify him as dangerous. If someone this powerful truly started a fight within the mining district, the Primordial Ancient Mine might well be plunged into chaos.
"No more sleeping. I only came to pay my respects to the past and collect a share of the minerals that belong to me."
Naturally, Yuangeng had no intention of declaring war on the entire Primordial Ancient Mine. Spreading his aura, he discovered at least twenty or thirty small mine shafts protected by imperial Dao formation patterns. That meant there were at least as many Self-Slashed Supremes in the ancient mining district.
What did twenty or thirty Extreme Dao Supremes capable of ultimate sublimation mean?
Without exaggeration, if these fellows woke up and all underwent ultimate sublimation to fight for their lives, even an ordinary True Immortal would have to meekly die here, skinned and dismembered to prolong everyone's lives.
Yuangeng had no desire to provoke this pack of madmen.
He ignored the two Supremes keeping watch over him and deliberately avoided the shafts bearing imperial Dao formation patterns. Step by step, he walked deeper into the ancient mine, searching for places familiar from his memories.
According to his memories, there should have been a bloodstained doorway deep within the Primordial Ancient Mine. It seemed to be a beacon left by some powerful Immortal King two epochs ago, or even earlier, and was exceedingly eerie.
Yet after walking through the entire Primordial Ancient Mine, he found no trace of that doorway. The mine truly seemed to have been completely refurbished, with nothing of the past remaining.
Then Yuangeng chuckled to himself. Given the ferocity of those imperial battles at the end of the Chaotic Ancient Era, the kings in the Boundary Sea had probably long since been slaughtered to the last. The old fellow behind the Primordial Ancient Mine had likely died ages ago, with not even a scrap left.
He stopped dwelling on it and formed seals in the air with both hands. As his magical power surged, six illusory ears appeared along the sides of his head, listening for the fluctuations of certain special Dao laws in the air.
Creatures such as the Six-Eared Macaque excelled at sound listening and understood all things, naturally able to perceive the spiritual sounds of heaven and earth. The Six-Eared Immortal Ape from Yuangeng's homeland had developed this ability until it could listen to the earth's veins and perform mountain-breaking treasure seeking.
Soon, the six illusory ears trembled slightly. Following a wondrous Dao resonance through the Primordial Mine District, Yuangeng split stones and chiseled through walls. Before long, he pried out an unusual stone half as tall as a person.
The extraordinary stone resembled a coiled True Dragon. Once Yuangeng excavated it, it did not touch the ground at all, instead floating in the air and bobbing with the fluctuations of the world's vital energy.
Yuangeng smiled and casually shattered the dragon-shaped stone shell with a slap. Radiance flashed, revealing a huge chunk of divine source beneath it. Divine light spilled out, and encased within were two pieces of unusual metal bearing naturally formed dragon patterns and phoenix seals that embodied certain heaven-reaching truths.
Had the sages of the Hundred Clans outside come in, they would surely have cried out at the abundance of the Primordial Ancient Mine. Within the divine source were dragon pattern black gold and phoenix blood red gold. Such rare, peerless immortal gold had actually been sealed inside the same chunk of divine source, and each piece was larger than a human head by
a full size.
They were simply priceless treasures!
"A pity. The immortal Dao metal really has degraded. Still, it will suffice."
Yuangeng casually shattered the divine source and held the dragon pattern black gold and phoenix blood red gold in separate hands. After examining them carefully for a moment, he revealed a satisfied smile.
After the great transformation of heaven and earth, all the original immortal Dao metal had degraded into divine metal at the human Dao level. Yuangeng had never seen either of these metals before, but they were precisely what he had come to obtain: he intended to forge a weapon from them.
Before you continue