The Original Manuscript of the Dao Scripture

"Which Ancient Life Star is Earth? Aren't you from the Big Dipper?" Even the Black Emperor couldn't help asking.

"Relax. Earth isn't as weak as you imagine. The Crocodile Ancestor entered Kunlun Mountain and has already undergone Dao Dissolution there!"

Golden blood energy surged all over Ye Fan's body. "You're saying the Crocodile Ancestor is dead? Then my parents..."

Ever since coming to the Big Dipper, he had cultivated tirelessly, thinking every moment of returning to Earth and seeing his parents.

Now that he had news of Earth, he no longer cared whether this really was Jiang Zhu. He only wanted news of his parents, and at this moment, his heart was filled with apprehension.

"Your parents are fine. They just miss you. They don't believe you're dead; they simply don't know where the Nine Dragons took you..."

Jiang Zhu shared a few more things Ye Fan's parents had said when speaking with him.

Ye Fan couldn't stop his body from trembling. After a while, he calmed down and said to Jiang Zhu, "Thank you!"

Although he didn't know whether the man before him was telling the truth, he was willing to believe him.

"Then do you have a way to return to Earth?" Hope shone in Ye Fan's eyes.

"Hmm... there's a Starry Sky Ancient Road on Earth that leads to the Big Dipper. If we can find that road's Five-Colored Altar on the Big Dipper, we can go back. But..."

"But what?"

"But that road leads to the Undying Mountain!"

"The Undying Mountain?!!"

"Yes, so I'm not sure whether the Five-Colored Altar there still exists."

"Is there no other way?" Ye Fan's voice was bitter.

"There is. If you can cross the void and find the second-to-last stop on that Starry Sky Ancient Road, wouldn't you be able to go back? Or you could find Earth's coordinates and use a Five-Colored Altar to teleport back."

Hearing that there were two more ways, Ye Fan perked up again. As long as there was hope, that was enough.

Even if the journey was long and the process difficult, as long as there was hope, he would strive to pursue it.

"Thank you!" Ye Fan thanked him solemnly. Finding a way home was deeply important to him.

"It's nothing, just a bit of information. Once your cultivation is high enough, you'll learn it too." Jiang Zhu waved a hand.

With that, he looked at the Black Emperor. "You've found the Sacred Body. Isn't it time to pay half the reward?"

Ye Fan was dumbstruck. Give me back all that gratitude!

"What about the Innate Dao Embryo? Find one, and I'll give you everything at once!" The Black Emperor haggled. Although he no longer had much need for Dog Demon blood, it had been left to him by Great Emperor Wushi, and he wanted to keep it a little longer.

"The Purple Mansion Saintess is an Innate Dao Embryo. Go find her yourself. Whether you can make it happen is up to you."

Still, Jiang Zhu wasn't optimistic about the Black Emperor's chances. After all, he had prepared for hundreds of thousands of years and only succeeded when Ye Fan used Great Dream of Ten Thousand Ages, coaxing the Desolate Pagoda and the Cauldron of All-Things Mother Qi into helping him. On his own, he really couldn't pull it off.

"Really?" The Black Emperor was skeptical.

"Guaranteed. The fact that the Purple Mansion Saintess is an Innate Dao Embryo may not be known to absolutely everyone, but even random passersby know it. Just ask around, and you'll find out whether it's true."

The Black Emperor gritted his teeth. "You black-hearted brat! You're charging this much for that sort of information?"

"Without my information, could you have found them so quickly? Give me the blood essence. Hurry up." Jiang Zhu held out his hand, demanding payment.

The Black Emperor bared his teeth, but in the end, he reluctantly took various kinds of Dog Demon blood essence out of his bell.

"Ever since I met you, brat, nothing good has happened to this emperor!" As he spoke, he looked at Ye Fan. "Ye Fan, right? Brat, do you want a wife?"

Watching the classmate he hadn't seen in three years sell him off just like that, then happily count up the blood essence over there, Ye Fan felt his heart turn ice-cold. Hearing the Black Emperor's words made him feel as though he were sitting on a bed of needles.

I'm done for. This bald-tailed dog isn't really treating me as a stud, is he?

"Don't worry. As long as you two produce offspring, you can read the Great Emperor's scriptures to your heart's content, and you'll even have an Emperor Weapon to guard your path. Then you can swagger sideways across the Big Dipper!" The Black Emperor's words brimmed with temptation.

Actually, that doesn't sound so bad!

Thinking about the prospects the Black Emperor described, even Ye Fan couldn't help wavering.

Still, he said indignantly, "Jiang Zhu, we were classmates for four years, and we even faced life and death together. You're just going to sell me off like this? I'm not saying you can't, but shouldn't you give me a cut?"

Hearing this, Jiang Zhu looked up at Ye Fan with a strange expression. "What? Are you a 'pay me more' layman too?"

"That's right, you have to pay me more! Hurry up and give me a cut." Ye Fan was now driven mad by poverty. Since he couldn't resist, he might as well enjoy himself first.

The Desolate Ancient Sacred Body was a bottomless pit. Every day when he woke up, he felt as though he were carrying a mountain of debt on his back. Now that he had a chance to make money, he certainly wouldn't miss it. He wasn't called Ye Hei for nothing!

"And you, bald-tailed dog! Since you want me to have children with the Purple Mansion Saintess, but my cultivation is so low that she probably won't even spare me a glance, shouldn't you help train me?"

Hearing this, the Black Emperor flew into a rage. Being called bald-tailed was his greatest taboo. He immediately turned into a streak of black lightning and knocked Ye Fan to the ground.

One large, sharp-clawed paw pinned him down. The dog straddled him, opened his great blood-red maw, and bit down.

Bang!

Ye Fan struck with his palm, but it felt as though he had hit a wall of copper and iron. The Black Emperor didn't budge, and his jaws clamped down on Ye Fan's shoulder.

"Holy shit! What are you made of, you bald-tailed dog? How are you this tough?"

"Call me a bald-tailed dog again, and this emperor will destroy you! You black-hearted brats from Earth! I can't beat him, but you think I can't deal with you?"

"Ah! You bald-tailed dog, bite me again and I won't hold back!" Ye Fan grimaced in pain, his golden fists pounding down on the Black Emperor again and again.

"You black-hearted brat whose human mouth can't spit out ivory! This emperor will bite you to death!"

"..."

Jiang Zhu put away the blood essence and enjoyed the farce before him for a while. Then he waved his hand and separated the man and dog.

By now, more than half of Ye Fan's clothes had been bitten off, and his upper body was covered in bruises, though no blood had been drawn.

"Why not just stop calling him a bald-tailed dog?" As Jiang Zhu spoke, he took out a glob of precious blood and handed it to Ye Fan. "Here, your fee for selling yourself!"

"You're really giving me some? Then I won't stand on ceremony. I only meant to extort that bald-tailed dog!"

Looking at the glob of precious blood before him, flowing with radiance, richly fragrant, and wreathed in essence energy, Ye Fan was delighted. This luminous liquid was certainly extraordinary, and he happily accepted it.

"Woof! This emperor wants some too!" The Black Emperor eyed it enviously, wanting some precious blood as well.

In the hills outside the Wei Capital, beside a clear spring, Jiang Zhu opened his eyes and looked at Ye Fan approaching. "You just got cultivation resources. Why aren't you cultivating? What do you need me for?"

"This is for you! See if it's useful to you." A streak of golden light swept over-a sheet of golden paper.

The golden sheet was heavier than metal, densely engraved with more than ten thousand ancient characters.

The engraved characters were extremely tiny, covering both sides of the sheet. Each ancient character was like a star blazing with dazzling divine radiance. One glance was enough to know this was no ordinary object.

Ye Fan's voice reached him. "You've helped me so much, and I have no way to repay you. Take a look at this scripture and see if it can help you."

Jiang Zhu took it and looked. It was none other than the Original Manuscript of the Dao Scripture's Sea of Bitterness Chapter.