"I thought it would be in the Upper Realm. I never expected it to be here." Even the Willow Deity was speechless.
"There's an aura of the Upper Realm inside the box. It was indeed sealed there." The Immortal Phoenix King's egg slowly rolled over.
"The remains of quite a few enemies are suppressed here. This is also one of our back gardens, so it's only natural that many inheritances took refuge in the Eight Regions, where restrictions govern heaven and earth." The Willow Deity revealed a great secret-the truth behind the prison of the Eight Regions.
There were reasons why the True Dragon and Kun Peng of the Ten Fiends had built their nests in the lower realm, why the descendants of the Seven Kings of the Border Wasteland all had inheritances here, and why the Cosmic Lake Restricted Area connected to the Cross Yin-Yang Restricted Area was also in the lower realm. During the wars of the Primeval Ancient World, the Primordial Spirits of defeated enemies had been imprisoned in the lower realm's Void God Realm, while their bodies were suppressed beneath the Lower Eight Regions to be ground away. That was where the notion of the lower realm prison had come from. Yet it was only partly true. This place was also a bastion where some powerful beings recuperated.
After the Immortal Ancient World was destroyed, the truth became fragmented. With the machinations of the Remnant Immortals and the immortal families added to the mix, only the account of the lower realm prison remained.
Harvesting the lower realm was also a tradition left over from a glorious period brought about by the corpses of those powerful beings dissolving into the Dao.
"Willow Deity! Can we learn them?" Shi Hao's eyes shone. Even a blind person could tell how extraordinary the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art and the Grass Character Sword Art were, because their imagery was visible even to the blind, shining directly into the soul.
"Of course. These must be passed down. It would be too great a pity if they were lost." The Willow Deity did not refuse.
"Hmm? Wait." A medicine cauldron in the village began to glow. Drawn by the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art, it gradually cracked open, and a pure white bone cauldron flew out, joining seamlessly with the precious box. Runes covered the newly formed little cauldron, expounding the mysteries of becoming an immortal amid the mortal world.
"The Primitive True Explanation's Transcendence Chapter!" the Willow Deity exclaimed. "A thousand times I searched for him amid the crowd; then, turning suddenly, I found him where the lantern lights grew dim. Fate truly is wondrous beyond words."
Shi Hao finally reaped immense benefits from the arts he had learned.
The Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art was a masterpiece of the Dao of reincarnation. It expounded the profound mysteries of the reincarnation of all things, time, worlds, and living beings, and was incomparably suited to the Supreme Bone that would one day be reborn within Shi Hao.
His Supreme Bone had been dug out, and he had revived from annihilation-an experience that precisely embodied the mysteries of reincarnation. Together with his earlier contemplation of the nirvana mysteries of the Immortal Phoenix Precious Technique and the complete rebirth cycle of water nurturing wood and wood nurturing fire, his blood and vital energy underwent a further transformation.
The blood within him surged and revived. Following the guidance of the Primitive True Explanation, he circulated the bone text, allowing it to change naturally with his divine radiance, feeding nourishment back into his blood and vital energy and strengthening his flesh in turn. He advanced ever farther along the main path of Blood Moving.
Boom! An aura gathered in his chest. His Supreme Blood and Supreme Bone had once grown there, leaving traces of the Dao within his flesh. Those traces had endured the calamity of his bodily regression and near death alongside him, and had been reborn with him from the brink of death. Now, awakened and stirred by the mysteries of reincarnation within the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art, they began evolving of their own accord. The bone text he had learned while comprehending the Immortal Phoenix Precious Technique was also inscribed within his body, giving the process a powerful, sustained impetus.
"Little Hao?" Aman was astonished. Divine light appeared in his eyes-Grand Luo Insight-as he looked straight into Shi Hao's chest. He saw incomplete runes manifesting and evolving toward wholeness, along with scattered flecks of light appearing in the blood within his chest, brimming with tremendous vitality!
"Supreme Bone Nirvana!" Chen Yao's voice jolted him to attention, making his eyes widen.
Ultimately, however, there was not quite enough momentum to complete the process. It produced only scattered traces of Supreme Blood, insufficient to form even a single drop, and a few sparse fragments of profound reincarnation bone text.
Just then, the Willow Deity extended a willow branch and let three drops of clear emerald liquid fall. The slowing process immediately accelerated and continued evolving. More runes appeared, and the scattered traces of Supreme Blood gradually gathered into a true drop of supreme precious blood.
Chen Yao and Aman both watched the process intently. This was a rare chance to witness a Supreme Bone evolving from nothing into existence.
But the Willow Deity supplied no further nourishment, and the evolution soon stalled again. There was merely an additional mass of Supreme Blood, which diluted into tiny flecks and circulated throughout his body, sending Shi Hao hurtling forward through the Blood Moving extreme realm until he gradually became no weaker than those who had transcended it.
"Your accumulation is insufficient. Forcing its growth would be meaningless. You must wait a little longer, continue building your foundation through Cave Heaven and Spirit Transformation, and await its next natural awakening. Then, with full nourishment, you can achieve the most perfect supreme bone nirvana," the Willow Deity advised.
"Great! Thank you, Willow Deity!" Shi Hao felt no resentment at having to stop halfway. Instead, he was utterly thrilled.
He had truly begun supreme nirvana through his own power! He had cultivated it himself!
"Work hard on your cultivation, then. Didn't you say you wanted to open Ten Cave Heavens before transcending? Your big sister Xiao Man is almost ready to begin," Chen Yao reminded him. Not long ago, Aman had opened his ninth cave heaven and was planning his tenth.
Meanwhile, Shi Hao was still slacking off with seven cave heavens.
Although he had not truly achieved nirvana and still needed more accumulation, it was enough to delight Shi Hao.
He had long since stopped yearning for that bone of his. Wanting it back was purely a matter of pride.
Now that his own Supreme Bone had begun undergoing nirvana, the previous one? He really wasn't acquainted with it.
Moreover, the newly born reincarnation runes in his regenerated Supreme Blood were exceptionally suited to him. This was also why first-generation talents in the Upper Realm could often easily defeat those who were not. Their innate Supreme Bones and Supreme Blood contained the runes best suited to them, and those profound, perfectly compatible runes allowed them to far surpass ordinary people while laying their foundations.
Thus, guided by the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art and the Divine Guidance Chapter, Shi Hao decisively cultivated the Blood Moving Realm anew. His entirely new combinations of bone text and divine radiance let him forge ahead triumphantly through Blood Moving, relying on brute strength to send even a brick flying. Just as he had previously said, his blood, vital energy, and physical strength were now not much inferior to those who had been strengthened after transcending the extreme realm.
Riding this momentum, Shi Hao advanced to eight cave heavens, with his ninth already within sight.
At the same time, Shi Hao secretly separated out a few drops of Supreme Blood and origin essence blood, entrusting Chen Yao to give them to Aman for his Blood God Transformation cultivation.
Aman had already incorporated the Grass Character Sword Art into his Phoenix Creation of Heaven move. Along the way, he fused the moves of both arts and devised the beginnings of an Azure Phoenix True Feather Sword: a single Primal True Feather that could cut down every star in the cosmos and cleave boundless chaos.
He had already faintly touched the bottleneck of Ten Cave Heavens and decisively began attempting a breakthrough. Venturing alone into the Great Wilderness, he sought out early Spirit Transformation Realm fierce beasts to challenge. With the Ten Fiends Precious Arts, he fought above his realm and, for a time, could scarcely find a worthy opponent. Later, he grew increasingly bold and fought his way deep into the wilderness, triggering a stampede of beasts and nearly losing half his life. Only by relying on the Phoenix's great Five Elements escape art to fight while retreating did he finally carve his way out by force.
Through those bloody battles, his Blood God Transformation reaped substantial gains. This divine ability, which had accompanied him ever since his Blood Moving transcendence began, had always embodied his own Dao. When the divine ability advanced, so did his Dao fruit, allowing it to drive his cultivation upward.
Ultimately, in battle, he integrated everything he had gained from his earlier Cave Heaven cultivation and discussions of the Dao. With the help of another advancement in Blood God Transformation, he opened his tenth cave heaven in one stroke.
After returning with his tenth cave heaven, he spent time thoroughly stabilizing his realm. Then, following Chen Yao's guidance, he reshaped his cave heavens one by one, bringing each to the level of the tenth cave heaven he had opened entirely through his own power and breaking through the extreme realm.
Riding that momentum, Aman embarked on the path of cave heaven transcendence he had long been planning.
What he intended to open were small cave heavens. Throughout his Cave Heaven cultivation, he had been practicing creating them. Since they were relatively small, however, their explosions were not as earth-shaking as Chen Yao's.
His inspiration came from the meridians and acupoints Chen Yao had mentioned while discussing the mysteries of the human body. He still vividly remembered the move Chen Yao had described to him during those discussions: affecting the liver to implicate its corresponding meridians and bodily acupoints, ultimately injuring the eye apertures directly.
He intended to open a small cave heaven in each of the human body circuit's 365 acupoints, use the effects of their transformation to turn his internal organs into bodily cave heavens, and simultaneously connect and open the corresponding nine innate apertures.
Because these were small cave heavens, although his breakthrough attempts sometimes set off chain explosions, they never shattered his entire body. They merely caused minor incidents such as mutilated limbs and exposed bones on multiple occasions. With sacred medicine as his safeguard and the Phoenix Precious Technique providing healing, he completed the first round of acupoint openings amid repeated failures. The small cave heavens linked into an array, connecting his meridians and activating the corresponding organs and nine apertures.
The entire process lasted several days. The farther he progressed and the more small cave heavens he opened, the greater the danger became. Though he grew increasingly adept at reconciling their conflicts, mistakes and instability still occurred. In the end, just like Chen Yao, his body was torn apart several times. Only by struggling to hold on with the Phoenix Precious Technique did he force himself through the cave heaven openings.
All 365 acupoints of the body circuit were opened, and wondrous manifestations abounded. Even some starlight from the heavens was drawn down, turning into divine radiance that the cave heavens throughout his body absorbed. His Ten Great Cave Heavens were also absorbed by the acupoint cave heavens, pouring into his body through the acupoints and becoming nourishment for the cave heavens of his flesh and internal organs.
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