Jiang Taixu's expression changed drastically. The Undying Heavenly Emperor was an Ancient Emperor who had always been called a god in legend.
Since they were an ancient imperial clan, they most likely possessed an Extreme Dao Emperor Armament. If a Primordial Ancestral King came out wielding an Ancient Emperor Weapon, both of them might be forced to stay behind...
Su Yu saw the God King's concern and continued, "I say this lineage is the weakest because the Undying Heavenly Emperor did not leave them an Extreme Dao Emperor Armament, and its Great Saint has already been suppressed and killed by Great Emperor Wushi."
"Why didn't the Undying Heavenly Emperor leave his Emperor Weapon to them? Could it have been destroyed in the primordial era?"
The God King was still somewhat puzzled and could not quite understand.
If the Ancient Emperor Weapon was intact, why would he not leave it to his descendants?
The corner of Su Yu's mouth curved up, and he chuckled. "Who knows? But the Undying Heavenly Blade really isn't in Purple Mountain."
As he spoke, he recalled the Heavenly Emperor's Son's misfortunes in the original story.
How could a single word like "miserable" do them justice?
In a moment's error, the exalted son of a god had let countless treasures and divine materials cloud his mind, casting aside the ordinary-looking Heavenly Blade.
Su Yu could understand the Heavenly Emperor's Son's choice.
How could a newborn child know the Heavenly Blade's might? He had truly fallen for the Undying Heavenly Emperor's deception and landed himself in a pit.
But given the Undying Heavenly Emperor's strength, forging another Extreme Dao Emperor Armament to protect his legitimate son's path would not have been difficult. In the end, it was the father who had set his son up.
Perhaps that primordial god had thought that, with the Undying Daoist and the Undying Heavenly Empress looking after him, and with quite a few Quasi-Emperors and Great Saints in the Ancient Emperor Mountain lineage, no one could stop the Heavenly Emperor's Son from rising.
But that was how the unexpected happened. During the years of Desolate Antiquity, Wu Shi appeared out of nowhere and dealt Ancient Emperor Mountain a crushing blow. The Undying Daoist was sealed by the Investiture of the Gods and was ultimately even sacrificed in blood to the Road to Immortality.
The Undying Heavenly Empress was also suppressed and forced to flee deep into the starry sky with the Phoenix Nest. The other self-sealed Quasi-Emperors and Great Saints were almost all killed. In the end, only a few Saints remained of the clan, and the Heavenly Emperor's Son had been dug out and was now in Jade Lake.
In Su Yu's view, however, even if the Heavenly Emperor's Son of another spacetime had possessed an additional imperial Heavenly Blade, he would at most have grown into a Quasi-Emperor. He could not have escaped his fate of falling, and would only have made Ye Fan's fame greater.
After the conversation ended, Jiang Taixu remained wary, but he still protected Su Yu as they advanced, trusting what this junior had told him.
The two reached their destination without trouble. No Primordial Ancestral King appeared along the way.
But Jiang Taixu remained cautious. He had not yet recovered his peak strength, and his divine power was gone.
If an Ancestor King really attacked, he would immediately activate the Devouring Heaven Demon Lid and retreat unscathed with Su Yu.
"Why must you be so cautious, God King? This clan is nothing but dry bones in a tomb. Most of its foundations were suppressed by Great Emperor Wushi. There's nothing to fear." Su Yu laughed aloud, then strode forward.
Soon, the two entered a stone hall. The enormous stone book lying there made Jiang Taixu shake his head. He had seen this book again.
He reached out and gently stroked the Wu Shi Book. Four thousand years had passed, and revisiting this place had left his heart heavy. Even this sage of the Dharma-ending age found it difficult to let go, and he let out a sigh.
Time had changed so much.
He could buy osmanthus blossoms and take wine on the journey, but it would never be like roaming in his youth!
He thought back to those days, when he had been magnificent and heroic, suppressing an entire generation and roaming the Five Regions unhindered...
He had entered Purple Mountain for this very scripture, yet in the end he had gained nothing. Instead, he had been trapped in the demon wall, struggling to survive...
The Wu Shi Stone Book was enormous, more than ten meters long and two meters thick. It looked ordinary, but every living being present knew it was a supreme treasure; it was simply very difficult to open.
"Hum..."
Su Yu summoned the Devouring Heaven Demon Lid and approached the Wu Shi Book amid three thousand streaks of black light.
He formed a hand seal and unleashed a sliver of Extreme Dao divine might. Suddenly, the Wushi Scripture also emitted a white light, and a Dao principle of time spread from it, giving one a sense of having neither beginning nor end.
Jiang Taixu shook his head. He had tried too many methods here back then, only to leave helplessly in the end.
Seeing a response, Su Yu took out the damaged emperor jade as well. It emitted a bright, gentle light, but unfortunately, nothing Su Yu did had any effect. The Wu Shi Book did not budge, and only a law of time lay across it. The stone book could not be opened at all.
More than ten lines of ancient characters surrounded the stone book, all praising Great Emperor Wushi. The most prominent among them came from Gu Tianshu seventy thousand years ago.
"Who stands at the summit at the end of the immortal road? One glimpse of Wu Shi, and the Dao becomes empty..." Those fourteen characters alone conveyed the Great Emperor's towering stature and power.
Well done, Gu Tianshu, taking it this far...
Su Yu's thought was somewhat impolite. Great Emperor Wushi was not in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, nor had he left an inheritance or descendants behind. Few people spoke of his glorious exploits, and this ancient saying served as a final verdict on his life, wielding tremendous influence.
For this achievement alone, it was only natural that Gu Tianshu had received Divine Source Liquid.
He really licked too hard...
Su Yu cut his palm and dripped several drops of blood onto the Wu Shi Book. Threads of Chaos Qi ran through the bright red blood, which was crystal clear and revealed a powerful divinity. Even Jiang Taixu could not help but praise it.
"Could this be the divine body cultivated through the Indestructible Heavenly Art? The legendary Chaos Body?"
"It would be going too far to call it a Chaos Body, but it can be called Chaotic Blood..." Su Yu explained.
Speaking of his bloodline, he was somewhat surprised himself.
During this time, the concentration of Chaotic Blood in his body had risen extremely quickly. Its progress could be called explosive, and it was highly abnormal.
The purple jade pendant had revealed the source to be his soul-his true spirit was transforming this body.
Su Yu had a guess, but this was a wonderful thing for him. There was no need to dwell on it; he could simply enjoy it in peace...
Looking at the Wu Shi Book, which showed no reaction at all, Su Yu shook his head. Had he known, he should have prepared some of Ye Fan's sacred blood.
He was very interested in the secret arts within the Wushi Scripture!
After all his attempts, the scripture was like the princess of a snowy mountain, like a naturally imperforate stone maiden, showing not the slightest response. Although Su Yu had anticipated this, it was still disappointing.
Suddenly, threads of divine radiance spilled from Jiang Taixu's eyes, sharp and piercing.
Then he raised an arm toward a certain spot, and a hazy silver ribbon of divine power flew out. Instantly, a shrill dog's bark rang through the ancient place.
"Woof!"
A beast leaped out of the darkness. It looked like a village dog, but was much larger than an ordinary shiba inu, with a body as huge as an ox. It was as black as ink all over, with a square head and large ears. In some respects he was quite handsome, but unfortunately his tail was bald, giving him a very strange appearance.
After the God King forced him out, the Big Black Dog's four legs trembled uncontrollably. He panted with his tongue hanging out, his whole body tense.
He had been frightened.
At that moment, the Black Emperor was in a panic.
He had merely taken a nap, only to encounter a Saint-and an acquaintance at that.
That unlucky fellow actually survived... the Black Emperor muttered inwardly, finding it unbelievable. This was the Dharma-ending age, and a Half-Saint had driven him into a desperate situation.
Suddenly, his rolling eyes froze, filled entirely by the sight of a pottery lid.
"This is..."
The Big Black Dog stared fixedly at Su Yu, his eyes red. He kept licking his lips, nearly drooling...
Chapter 27: Dragon Steps into the Northern Region
"Damn dog..."
Su Yu glanced at the ill-intentioned Big Black Dog and cursed inwardly. The other party made almost no effort to conceal his intention to snatch it outright.
Shrouding the Heavens had quite a few F4s.
Divine Men F4: Chuan Ying, Ning Fei, Di Que, Gai Jiuyou.
Swindlers F4: Ye Hei, Black Dog, Dragon Horse, grave-digging Duan De.
Female Dao Attainers F4: Immortal Matriarch, Emperor Wa, Queen Mother of the West, Ruthless Great Emperor.
Enlightened Emperor Corpses F4: Shennong, Yellow Emperor, Laozi, Sakyamuni.
Protagonist's Stepping Stones F4: Golden-Winged Little Peng King, Hua Yunfei, Heavenly Emperor's Son, Yaoguang Holy Son. (All villains who received extensive description.)
Divine Thoughts F4: Undying Heavenly Emperor, Holy Emperor of the Sun, Human Emperor of the Moon, Sacred Body of Yinghuo.
Ancient Emperor Daughters F4: Golden Heavenly Maiden, Dragon Maiden, Huo Lin'er, Daughter of the Ruins.
Of all these F4s, the Four Blackguards of Shrouding the Heavens had the loudest reputation. The Black Dog deserved enormous credit for that, standing head and shoulders above the other three.
At their first meeting, Su Yu realized that this black-hearted dog had to be left to Ye Fan.
Ye Hei would come here sooner or later. With his sly nature, he and this dog were a perfect match, along with Duan De and the Dragon Horse.
The Four Blackguards of Shrouding the Heavens would seem incomplete with even one member missing...
After ruling out the Black Emperor as a threat, Jiang Taixu paid him no further attention.
"It's time to go."
Su Yu called out to the God King, then placed the emperor jade into the recess in the Wushi Scripture. A curtain of light quickly broke through the void, making everything hazy.
The God King was no longer surprised.
Su Yu was so familiar with Purple Mountain that he would even believe it if someone said Su Yu was an emperor's son.
The Black Dog stared blankly as the two departed, feeling that he had been ignored. It was a very unpleasant feeling.
Suddenly, he leaped up, wanting to follow Su Yu, but he could not enter the curtain of light. He could only rage helplessly and shout frantically.
"Little brother, I am the divine beast who guards the mountain for Great Emperor Wushi. I have a supreme ancient scripture! Wait for me... Don't go... I'm not lying to you..."
Watching Su Yu and Jiang Taixu vanish into the air, the Black Emperor let out a helpless howl, feeling as though he had lost a whole block of immortal gold.
"My supreme divine weapon just ran away like that..."
Ethereal luminous mist surged around the two, carrying them across the void. They soon left Purple Mountain, but they did not arrive at the mine tunnel through which Su Yu had entered. Instead, they were in a dim underground cavern, whose colors shone in magnificent hues under the light. It was beautiful.
As the final ray of light emerged, Su Yu put away the emperor jade and felt refreshed. Inside Purple Mountain, his soul had always felt oppressed.
Now that he was out, he felt much more at ease.
"That dog?"
Jiang Taixu spoke, concerned about what the Black Emperor had said at the end.
"Don't mind him. He was a dog Great Emperor Wushi raised in his later years. Originally he was a village dog, but he was baptized in emperor blood, which made him extraordinary."
"A village dog?"
The God King was somewhat surprised, then fell silent again.
These days, all sorts of demons and monsters were coming out: a Four Extremes cultivator carrying an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, a village dog whose tendons and marrow had been cleansed with emperor blood by an Ancient Great Emperor...
Soon, the two left the cavern and arrived in an underground current. Seeing God King Jiang prepare to open a path, Su Yu reached out to stop him.