Reading a Hundred Scriptures

"Congratulations!"

With Yuangeng's weapon successfully forged, the Qilin Emperor was naturally the first to congratulate him. They had signed an alliance and were on the same side; the stronger Yuangeng proved himself, the better the news was for the Qilin Emperor.

"Congratulations, Supreme!"

Behind the old emperor, several young men with flame-like blue hair and Qilin Horns growing from their heads bowed cautiously. They knew very little about this Supreme who had emerged from the Primordial Ancient Mine half a year ago, only that he was extraordinarily powerful and had slain a renowned Ancient Emperor in his first battle after emerging.

"You're a shrewd one. I was only forging a weapon, yet you summoned so many youngsters."

Yuangeng was clearly in an excellent mood. He flicked the Eternal Ancient Ruler in his hand, and dragon roars and phoenix cries immediately rang out around them. The Great Saints and Quasi-Emperors behind the Qilin Emperor had their primordial spirits washed by the Great Dao, leaving them considerably clearer.

"Watching an Extreme Dao Supreme forge a weapon at close range is a tremendous opportunity. It benefits their cultivation."

The Qilin Emperor waved his descendants away, then activated the heavenly heart imprint to examine Yuangeng's condition closely. Yet he discovered that shedding all his Immortal Ancient Method cultivation had not weakened Yuangeng. Instead, his flesh and primordial spirit had grown even purer. His gaze was so unfathomably deep that even the reigning emperor could not see through it.

"You're curious about my condition?"

Yuangeng glanced at the Qilin Emperor. Half a year had passed, and his long, jet-black hair had turned gray-white, yet his aura had become ever more inscrutable. He possessed a majesty that inspired awe without anger as he spoke casually.

"I remember you saying that the cultivation path of your era placed little emphasis on the flesh. Since your cultivation is completely gone, why do you still possess such might?" The Qilin Emperor made no attempt to conceal his thoughts.

"The Great Dao nourishes the body and spirit. It is like drawing water with a bamboo basket, washing and scouring them again and again. Though the water has now drained away, this body still accords with the Dao. This is the accumulation of years. You are too young."

Yuangeng stretched his body and reached a hand into empty space. Though that palm, tempered countless millions of times by the lunar essence Great Dao, possessed not a trace of magical power, it still stirred the myriad Daos. A blazing sun far away was instantly compressed to the size of his palm, then crushed into fireworks that filled the sky.

"A monster from ancient times, indeed."

The Qilin Emperor had to acknowledge how terrifying Yuangeng was. Drawing water with a bamboo basket to wash the flesh sounded simple, but who knew how many years of bitter cultivation it took to temper a body to such a degree?

At the same time, however, he looked forward all the more to seeing how strong Yuangeng would become after cultivating the Current Era Method. Throughout the past half year, Yuangeng had repeatedly emphasized the superiority of using the body as a seed, and had been actively preparing to switch cultivation systems himself.

The two walked side by side through the void. Yuangeng shrank the Eternal Ancient Ruler to the size of a fingernail and swallowed it whole-with his cultivation gone and his magical power dispersed, he could no longer use Heaven and Earth divine abilities either. He had no human body secret realms, so he could only store his Dao weapon by this crude method.

A short while later, they crossed the void and returned to the Qilin Ancestral Star. Above a vast dragon vein stood the Qilin Cave, which the old emperor had built expressly for himself. Over the past half year, a new stone house had been erected atop a cliff beside the Qilin Cave. This was Yuangeng's dwelling.

The stone house was crude, built by Yuangeng to resemble the little courtyard on the plateau in his dreams. Though he could not reproduce that transcendent Dao resonance at all, it was at least a reasonably comfortable place to live.

The Qilin Emperor followed Yuangeng into the stone house. Its furnishings were simple. Apart from a table, stools, and a stone bed, the most conspicuous things were the rows of magical artifacts on the stone table: tokens, bamboo slips, jade stones, statues, and more. Every one was extraordinary, wreathed in a faint glow.

These were all scriptures. Over the past half year, at Yuangeng's request, the Qilin Emperor had gathered many scriptures of Ancient Supremes and emperors from across the universe. This was to pave the way for Yuangeng's cultivation of the body-as-seed method: reading a hundred scriptures to develop his own path.

"From your perspective, how are these scriptures?"

The old Qilin picked up a blood-red feather from the table. Inscribed upon it was a complete imperial scripture belonging to the Blood Phoenix Emperor Clan. That clan's emperor had reigned just before the Qilin Emperor, and legends of him still circulated throughout the universe.

The Qilin Emperor had supplied Yuangeng with quite a few imperial scriptures. As the reigning emperor, he could perceive the entire universe, and most perilous places posed no difficulty for him whatsoever. Moreover, given his standing and strength, most emperor clans and ancient sects would oblige a request to borrow their scriptures, provided he promised not to spread them.

"They have much worth learning from."

Yuangeng glanced at the blood-red feather in the Qilin Emperor's hand, then picked up a token forged from great Luo silver essence. This, too, contained an imperial scripture, written by Emperor Jun-the Supreme Yuangeng had slain upon emerging.

"For instance, this ancient scripture of Emperor Jun's. His flesh was strong enough to reign supreme over an era, and his development of the five great secret realms was considerably more profound than yours. Unfortunately, his Dao fell rather short. Never mind ultimate strength-he was far from even the realm where strength could lead to immortality;

"This Blood Phoenix Emperor's scripture is also quite interesting. The phoenix undergoes nirvana, and his scripture for cultivating the immortal platform secret realm has some brilliant points. Unfortunately, his other secret realms were rather unremarkable. A pity I have never seen a living phoenix, so I lack a clear basis for comparison;

"And this scripture of the Myriad Dragon Emperor. He walked the Dragon Dao quite elegantly, possessing both its form and spirit. Unfortunately, his innate talent limited him. From my height, he was mediocre in every respect. Hmm, your Qilin Scripture and methods suffer from much the same problem..."

Yuangeng assessed the emperors' scriptures one by one, making the Qilin Emperor's brows twitch. Yet he could not refute him. Yuangeng naturally had the qualifications to say such things. Since the Mythological Era, very few Extreme Dao Supremes had reached his level. Through their scriptures, he could see straight through the strengths and weaknesses of their Great Daos.

The Qilin Emperor could only marvel. As expected of an old fellow who had lived more than five hundred thousand years, every sentence struck straight at the essence. He committed Yuangeng's observations on those imperial scriptures to memory, intending to study the strengths of others later.

Suddenly, the Qilin Emperor's eyes lit up. He noticed several scriptures that Yuangeng had placed specially at the head of the stone table. Beside them lay sheets of golden paper, all bearing Yuangeng's handwriting. The obscure symbols seemed to be annotations, yet also resembled assessments.

The Lingbao Scripture, the Dao Scripture, the Taiyin True Scripture, the Carefree Dao Scripture...

Clearly, the creators behind these scriptures were all extraordinary figures, men who could serve as historical milestones in this era. Figures such as Heavenly Venerable Lingbao and the Lunar Essence Human Emperor had all surpassed ordinary emperors.

"You can study these men's scriptures in your spare time as well. It is clear that they far surpassed ordinary emperors. Understanding their profundities would benefit even those at the Extreme Dao level."

Yuangeng had also noticed the Qilin Emperor's gaze. He walked over, picked up the Heavenly Venerable Token recording the Carefree Dao Scripture, and said with a smile,

"For instance, this scripture of Carefree Heavenly Venerate. He focused on the two great secret realms of the four extremes and immortal platform. By taking speed to its utmost limit, he entered the domain of time. Now that is a Great Dao, enough for anyone to spend an entire lifetime upon."

"The Human Race's two true scriptures of solar essence and lunar essence also hold considerable mysteries, especially the Taiyin True Scripture. Later, I intend to visit that Human Emperor's former residence and take a good look at the path he once walked..."

The Qilin Emperor listened to Yuangeng

as he spoke with easy assurance. Suddenly, curiosity stirred in his heart, and he asked with a smile, "Then tell me, who is stronger-you, or the likes of Heavenly Venerable Lingbao and the Lunar Essence Human Emperor of old?"

"Me, naturally." Unexpectedly, Yuangeng answered without the slightest hesitation, his voice calm and confident.