The Beginning of Cultivation

The next day, numerous cultivators gathered at Mount Tai, waiting for Crocodile Ancestor to summon them.

Some had blond hair and blue eyes and wore archaic armor; some billowed with demonic energy, like mighty demons on the move; others wore Daoist robes, exuding an ethereal air.

"Come up." The voice from Jade Emperor Peak resounded like great bronze bells, majestic and boundless.

None dared fly. They obediently climbed the steps, yet even so, they were much faster than the cable cars. Before long, they had all gathered on Jade Emperor Peak.

Crocodile Ancestor surveyed the people before him. Not one was above the Immortal Platform realm. This truly was an age when the Dao was difficult to pursue, further assuring him that he could run rampant on Earth.

The last trace of wariness he had harbored toward this place vanished. After all, it was the ancestral star of supreme beings. Now he could be certain: beneath this starry sky, he was invincible!

At that thought, Crocodile Ancestor spoke without a shred of mercy. "Within three days, present all the ancient texts and artifacts of your traditions for my inspection. Those who disobey will share this fate!"

Killing intent surged in his blood-red eyes. A hundred thousand heavenly swords soared into the sky, ringing fiercely, throwing heaven and earth into turmoil. They were crocodile scales, clanging as they shot out beyond Earth.

In space, the hundred thousand heavenly swords merely passed by, and the satellites of various nations monitoring Mount Tai fell like rain.

The hundred thousand heavenly swords finally flew toward the Asteroid Belt. In an instant, boundless light erupted, and over a hundred thousand asteroids were slashed to dust.

"Oh, my God! What did I just see?"

"How is this possible? It's unimaginable."

A certain major nation prone to breeding trouble quietly canceled its nuclear missile launch.

On Jade Emperor Peak, the representatives of every tradition trembled with reverence, wanting to prostrate themselves.

"We obey the Saint's command!"

The various factions abandoned all other thoughts and could only silently apologize to their patriarchs. It was not that they felt no pain selling off their forefathers' fields; rather, they were pooling their traditions' resources to win a Saint's favor. Some factions even planned to put on a good performance and cling to this powerful patron. Perhaps they could even leave this increasingly desolate planet.

Three days later.

Jade Emperor Peak was piled high with ancient texts and artifacts from all over the world.

Jiang Zhu picked through them and found quite a few ancient scriptures, including fragments of imperial scriptures.

Among them were two volumes of the Dao Scripture, fragments of the Lingbao Scripture and the Fuxi Scripture, and the first two volumes of both the Solar Ancient Scripture and the Taiyin Ancient Scripture. As for scriptures below the imperial level, there were far more, and many were complete.

As expected of an "imperial star." Having wealthy ancestors truly made for lavish inheritances.

And these were only what had been handed over "voluntarily." There would be even more hidden away.

There were plenty of ancient artifacts as well, but most were of little use. Many were simply relics left by earlier generations, while the rest were fragments of magical artifacts.

Jiang Zhu searched through them but found no fragments of such objects as the Yellow Clay Altar, the Fuxi Dragon Stele, or the Nine Cauldrons.

Many of the broken magical artifacts still bore black blood, left by great battles who knew how many years ago.

"Extract."

The Demon-Refining Pot extracted all the blood of other races, leaving only that of humans.

Jiang Zhu watched the changes in the Demon-Refining Pot. Most of the blood was refined into a mass of translucent liquid, radiant with divine light, like a precious medicine. A small portion flowed toward the totems. Specks of starlight appeared on the claws of the True Dragon Totem, but only over a small area.

At the same time, three more totems lit up: the True Phoenix, the Qilin, and the Golden Crow. Unfortunately, these three totems shone for only an instant before dimming.

At the same time, a piece of information came from the Demon-Refining Pot.

"So my realm is too low to unlock a second true spirit totem?" Jiang Zhu understood. With imperial scriptures in hand and a large mass of precious blood, he now had enough to cultivate on Earth in this age of declining Dharma.

He glanced over to see Crocodile Ancestor searching the ancient texts for traces of the Immortal Map and the Immortal Ascension Ground. Without disturbing him, Jiang Zhu found a spot below Jade Emperor Peak and prepared to cultivate.

Jiang Zhu first examined the Solar Ancient Scripture and the Taiyin Ancient Scripture.

Taiyin and Taiyang-which was weaker, which was stronger? With yin and yang working in harmony, one could reign as emperor over the world.

Who could hear those words and not want to cultivate Taiyin and Taiyang together?

Moreover, this might be a path to acquiring a chaos body. Though the odds were a little low, it was still extraordinary. This was a chaos body, after all.

The strongest physique in Shrouding the Heavens, it possessed chaos energy and could innately perceive the source of the Dao. It could wield chaos energy against enemies, annihilate all attacks, and manifest countless extraordinary variations.

A chaos body could also ignore the suppression of the Great Dao. Even if someone else had already become an emperor, its bearer could still attain the Dao without any impediment.

It could both evolve all things and destroy all things, possessed tremendous strength and defensive power, and could render all kinds of attacks ineffective. It also boasted extraordinary cultivation speed and comprehension, and could become one with the natural world. As long as its bearer could cultivate normally, becoming a Great Emperor was inevitable.

Wang Bo, who possessed an innate chaos body in the Mythological Era, had exchanged several blows with a Heavenly Venerable at his peak before even attaining the Dao. Though he had still been killed, and his body refined by the Heavenly Venerable into the Big Dipper Ancient Star.

His soul, however, had escaped right under the Heavenly Venerable's nose, and he had even wounded the Heavenly Venerable. That feat had made many ancient emperors and supreme beings take notice.

Unfortunately, Jiang Zhu had neither unlocked the Kunpeng Totem, which innately possessed both yin and yang energies, nor acquired the Taiji Divine Form. Having just set foot on the path of cultivation, cultivating Taiyin and Taiyang together would mean certain death, with not a single chance of survival.

Reluctantly, Jiang Zhu abandoned the idea of cultivating Taiyin and Taiyang together. In the end, he chose the Dao Scripture, reputed to be the strongest scripture for the Sea of Bitterness realm.

Without the Demon Emperor Scripture, which best suited a true dragon's body, he would cultivate the strongest one instead. The complete Great Sage scriptures could only serve as references to broaden his knowledge. As for the shackles imposed by imperial scriptures, he would leave those to his future self and trust in his own future wisdom.

Otherwise, in this universe where one battled heaven and earth, if he cultivated a Great Sage scripture and was beaten savagely by prodigies cultivating imperial scriptures at the same realm, how could he maintain an invincible heart and contend on the Emperor Road?

Was he supposed to imitate the Chaotic Ancient Great Emperor, become a demon through a hundred defeats, and transform his body into a divine embryo? In the end, he would still have to cultivate the Chaotic Ancient Scripture, which was also an imperial scripture and also came with shackles. Then why the hell cultivate a Great Sage scripture at all?

Besides, if one could keep winning, who would want to lose?

As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Jiang Zhu read through the Dao Scripture. There was an old Chinese saying: read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will reveal itself. Reading more was always good.

The Dao Scripture was indeed an ancient scripture of profound breadth and depth; otherwise, its fame would not have endured through endless ages. Its opening chapter alone contained supreme truths. Though it was only a few thousand words long, Jiang Zhu read it repeatedly for over half a month.

During that half month, whenever Jiang Zhu became tired, hungry, or thirsty, the precious blood within the Demon-Refining Pot released a wisp of energy, instantly restoring him to boundless vigor.

Though no predecessor had guided him, he knew that cultivation began by sensing his own Wheel of Life, then guiding his vital energy to break open the Bitter Sea.

In this process, each cultivation method naturally possessed an exquisitely profound sensing technique, along with its own distinctive method of guidance.

Yet this was still not enough. Breaking through the threshold through solitary cultivation alone was extremely difficult. Someone had to guide him with "immortal energy."

Naturally, Jiang Zhu could not ask Crocodile Ancestor to guide him. In that case...

"With all my comprehension!"

"With my heaven-reaching wisdom!!"

"With my invincible aptitude!!!"

"Deep Blue... uh, wrong one. Let's try again."

"Demon-Refining Pot!!!!!"

"Add points for me!!!!"

As Jiang Zhu touched the Demon-Refining Pot with his mind, a drop of precious blood flowed out of it, traveled directly below his navel, and sank into his Wheel of Life. Following the precious blood's guidance, he too sensed his Wheel of Life.