Over all these years, Xiao Ping'an had traveled throughout the starry sky without finding a single new Immortal Divine Medicine. Although he had traded for quite a few with other Dark Supremes, he was still somewhat disappointed.
He had also slipped back into the Reincarnation Sea to ask Carefree Heavenly Venerate where the tree-shaped remnant of the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine in his possession had come from.
Where had the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine itself gone?
After making some deductions, Carefree Heavenly Venerate told Xiao Ping'an that he had indeed once possessed the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine, and that he knew it had two forms: one like a tree and the other like a plant.
The tree-shaped remnant of the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine in his possession had indeed been cut from the medicine itself.
It had also ripened several times while in his possession.
But over the many years of his transformations, the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine had quietly departed.
According to legend, it had fallen into Emperor Venerable's hands.
He too had deduced Emperor Venerable's whereabouts many times, but Emperor Venerable and the Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine had mysteriously vanished. They were either quietly transforming in some forbidden zone, or Emperor Venerable was already dead.
In any case, he could not deduce Emperor Venerable's whereabouts.
Xiao Ping'an knew Carefree Heavenly Venerate was telling the truth, so he gave him a Ginseng Fruit and told him that if he found an Immortal Divine Medicine in the future, he could trade it with him.
Carefree Heavenly Venerate had intended to refuse, but after some thought, he accepted Xiao Ping'an's kindness.
After losing his Immortal Divine Medicine, he had also greatly wanted to recover his Humanoid Undying Divine Medicine and seize Immortal Divine Medicines from other Life Forbidden Zones.
He believed the Dark Supremes in the Reincarnation Sea must have had the same thoughts.
Xiao Ping'an left the Reincarnation Sea.
While cultivating the Source Heaven Great Dao and surveying dragon veins throughout the starry sky, Xiao Ping'an was surprised to discover that the treasures in some places where heavenly and earthly treasures should have been born had mysteriously vanished.
Some places even bore mysterious teeth marks, a truly chilling sight, while others had mysterious red hair.
This suddenly reminded Xiao Ping'an of those two monsters, Source God and Source Ghost.
They had lived for an exceedingly long time, and seemed to be monsters like Saint Spirits born within Divine Source or Immortal Source. They were also Dark Supremes, though no one knew where they were hiding now.
What they most loved to devour was Divine Source and the treasures within it.
The Dragon Marrow in dragon veins was another favorite of theirs.
As Xiao Ping'an cultivated the Source Heaven Great Dao, he felt that Source God and Source Ghost had done far too much damage to these dragon veins.
He greatly wanted to capture the two Dark Supremes and study and interrogate them thoroughly.
He felt that if he could capture them, his own research into the Source Heaven Great Dao might reach the Source Emperor realm in the shortest possible time.
By then, his research into the Source Heaven Great Dao might be comparable to that of the old progenitor, Netherworld Venerable.
Now Xiao Ping'an suspected that Emperor Venerable should also possess Netherworld Venerable's inheritance of the Source Heaven Great Dao.
Xiao Ping'an felt that if one could cultivate the Source Heaven Great Dao to the Source Emperor realm, research into Source Heaven secret arts and formations could surely allow one to live a new lifetime as well.
Thus, Xiao Ping'an placed great importance on the Source Heaven Great Dao.
His blood and Qi had now dried up, his second lifetime was about to end, and his fighting strength had greatly diminished. By rights, his situation was rather dangerous.
But Xiao Ping'an was not worried in the slightest. As far as he was concerned, he had not offended the other Dark Supremes, so they probably would not come looking for trouble, would they?
After all, everyone had lived in peace. Although some Life Forbidden Zones had grudges against one another, Xiao Ping'an had already killed all his enemies and razed the entire Beast God Mountain Forbidden Zone.
By rights, no one should come seeking revenge against him.
Yet Xiao Ping'an had a vague feeling of unease.
His body had already nurtured a great deal of longevity Immortal Essence, which was about to become an Immortal Fetus and allow him to live a third lifetime with ease.
Now, when he deduced the secrets of heaven again, he suddenly felt them growing obscure, which gave him an eerie feeling.
He had originally thought he could live a third lifetime without trouble, then carefully study the Source Heaven Great Dao and use formations to live a fourth.
But things seemed to have changed.
Xiao Ping'an made careful deductions and searched throughout the starry sky for the source of his unease, intending to drag the hidden enemy out and kill them first.
Xiao Ping'an stubbornly lived on for more than another decade. At last, his blood and Qi began to dry up, and his white hair hung over his shoulders, giving him the appearance of a hero in his twilight years.
Anyone who saw him knew he did not have long to live. Even so, he was still wandering alone through the starry sky.
Some who admired the Overlord Heavenly Venerable felt an inexplicable sorrow when they saw him like this.
"Overlord Heavenly Venerable!"
As Xiao Ping'an passed those Life Source Lands, his admirers could not help crying out in grief, as though seeing him off on his final journey.
Xiao Ping'an felt deeply uncomfortable hearing them.
He was not dead yet, and he was eager to live a third lifetime. Why was everyone mourning him in advance?
What rotten luck!
Xiao Ping'an had been searching everywhere for the source of his unease, but now he really could not hold back any longer.
So he went into the starry sky and on to the Cosmic Frontier, vaguely sensing that Dark Supremes might be about to make their move.
Rumble.
Suddenly, an Extreme Dao presence erupted, and two enormous feet descended from the heavens. Two Supreme powerhouses were stamping directly at the head of the Overlord Heavenly Venerable, whose blood and Qi had dried up.
"What? How dare they?"
"Who dares show such disrespect to the Overlord Heavenly Venerable?"
"Someone is actually stamping on the Overlord Heavenly Venerable's head!"
The Overlord Heavenly Venerable's many admirers flew into a rage, as though this were worse than having their own heads stepped on.
During the years the Overlord Heavenly Venerable had lived, no Dark Supreme had emerged to act, all giving face to this reigning Heavenly Venerable. Thus, for tens of thousands of years, the entire world had been at peace, without a single Dark Turmoil.
How wonderful it would be if every person who proved their Dao were like the Overlord Heavenly Venerable, so everyone could enjoy the peace of passing years.
Although the Overlord Heavenly Venerable had shown no malice toward the Dark Supremes, he had truly protected the peace of this era.
Now that someone was humiliating the Overlord Heavenly Venerable in his twilight years like this, people immediately found it unbearable to watch.
Suddenly, Xiao Ping'an felt an itch all over his body, and red hair actually sprouted from head to toe. It was a terrifying sensation.
"I have a Tyrant Body and have not been cursed by the Heaven-Penetrating Nether Treasure."
"But why do I look as though I've been cursed?"
Xiao Ping'an quickly understood. This curse came from the Dark Supreme attacking him; that Dark Supreme's Dao was this terrible curse.
It could truly kill without leaving a trace.
No wonder the Heavenly Venerables of later generations left Heavenly Venerable and Ancient Emperor imprints on their descendants to keep them from being cursed to death.
The curses in this world were simply too vicious.
He had never imagined that even he, a Heavenly Venerable, would fall victim.
Clearly, the one who had cursed Xiao Ping'an was also a powerful Supreme.
With a tremendous boom, the starry sky shattered.
Covered in red hair, Xiao Ping'an unleashed the Tyrant Fist he had not used in tens of thousands of years.
That punch shattered the starry sky and made the long river of time flicker into view.
Although he was old, had not fought a great battle in many years, and his blood and Qi had dried up, his Tyrant Fist could still shatter anything, utterly domineering. The two terrifying feet were blasted straight into flying ash, and a rain of blood scattered in every direction.
With a hum, raging flames erupted from Xiao Ping'an's body, instantly clearing away all the red hair.
The Overlord Heavenly Venerable was indeed worthy of his domineering reputation. Though old, his domineering bearing remained unmatched.
"As expected of the Overlord Heavenly Venerable. Even with his blood and Qi dried up to this extent, he still has such fighting strength."
"Truly admirable."
"What good is admiration? He still has to die today."
A figure suddenly appeared, covered from head to toe in dense, long red hair.
Another figure manifested as well, incomparably sacred, his whole body dazzling as though carved from Divine Source.
"You're Source God and Source Ghost?!" Xiao Ping'an looked at the two of them.
"That's right. I didn't expect you to know our names."
"We've been lying low for tens of thousands of years. It's rare for anyone to remember us."
The two Dark Supremes immediately reminded Xiao Ping'an of some descriptions in the original text, all legends about Source God and Source Ghost.
They specialized in devouring Divine Source and the various treasures within it. They also kept drawing Source Heavenly Masters to them and making them their puppets, and had devoured who knew how many Immortal Divine Medicines. They were truly hateful.
"Are you two monsters what made me feel vaguely uneasy?" Xiao Ping'an said. "You two alone aren't enough." Xiao Ping'an cast them a sidelong glance.
"Heh, if the two of them aren't enough, what about us as well?" Two more voices rang out, accompanied by a weapon wreathed in immortal light. It was none other than the Desolate Pagoda, which Xiao Ping'an had searched the entire universe for without success, now tearing through the universe toward them.
Xiao Ping'an looked at the immortal artifact, the Desolate Pagoda. His pupils contracted, and he narrowed his eyes.
Such a powerful immortal artifact had actually fallen into the hands of Dark Supremes.
Two monsters wreathed in a rain of light emerged from the Desolate Pagoda. On closer inspection, a beauty's soul was bound within every speck of that light.
"I am Lust Ghost!"
"I am Lust Demon!"
"We entered the Dao through lust and successfully proved our Dao. Heaven has treated us brothers well."
Just then, a black hole appeared in the distance, blood and Qi surging into the sky.
Four terrifying figures burst out of the black hole: four Dark Supremes.
No one knew which Life Forbidden Zone they came from, but judging by that Life Forbidden Zone, it probably was not a good place either. With its blood and Qi soaring skyward, it looked like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
The sea of blood vanished in the blink of an eye, while the four Dark Supremes fixed their blazing gazes on Xiao Ping'an as though looking at a fat sheep.
Buzz.
A formation diagram appeared above the four of them. It was none other than Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's Killing Formation Diagram.
It was hard to imagine that these four Dark Supremes from the sea of blood had managed to get their hands on Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's formation diagram.
Although the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords were missing, four mysterious Supreme weapons had taken their places.
It was worthy of being the foremost killing formation throughout history, the culmination of Nine Secrets: Zu. Lingbao Heavenly Venerable seemed to have once used it to kill a True Immortal who had ended up in this world.
Although that True Immortal had been gravely wounded, it still showed Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's strength.
"You eight Dark Supremes have made such a commotion. What do you want?"
"Could it be that you intend to eat me?" Xiao Ping'an looked coldly at the eight Dark Supremes.
Lust Ghost and Lust Demon, who held the Desolate Pagoda, said, "Each of us will take a strand of his heart's blood, as well as his Heavenly Venerable imprint, his two wives, and their Extreme Dao Weapons."
Source God and Source Ghost said, "We want a portion of his Primordial Life Stone and his Ginseng Fruit Tree."
The other four Dark Supremes said, "In that case, his flesh and bones are all ours. The Tyrant Body Ancestral Star and the Heavenly Pillar Mountain Ancient Cave are ours too."
"As for his cultivation methods and secret arts, we'll all share them and study them together."
The eight Dark Supremes divided everything up in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Ping'an frowned. He had always treated others kindly, yet there were people who wanted to devour him in his twilight years. Did they really take him for a stupid dog incapable of living a new lifetime?
He looked at the Desolate Pagoda, a genuine immortal artifact, knowing that it might once have been an Immortal King weapon that had degraded into an immortal artifact after ending up in this world.
Clearly, this immortal artifact should rank above the Immortal Ascension Cauldron and the Heaven-Penetrating Nether Treasure, and might even rank somewhat above the Kunlun Immortal Bell.
After all, the Desolate Pagoda had once been the Desolate Heavenly Emperor's pagoda. Although he had not refined it with great care or raised it to the level of top treasures such as the Lightning Pool or the Great Luo Sword Embryo, since the Desolate Heavenly Emperor had used it, it was bound to be wondrous and powerful.
Xiao Ping'an paid no attention to their words, merely staring intently at the Desolate Pagoda.
After a while, he turned his gaze to Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's formation diagram. He himself possessed Nine Secrets: Zu, and he clicked his tongue in wonder as he studied it.
Lingbao Heavenly Venerable was indeed worthy of being the creator of Nine Secrets: Zu. Clearly, he had further elevated it on its original foundation before refining the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable Formation Diagram.
This was his own path of the Dao.
After listening to their discussion, Xiao Ping'an's expression gradually turned cold.
"I am the Tyrant Heaven Heavenly Venerable. I shall dominate all under heaven and suppress every enemy in the world!" Xiao Ping'an's voice spread throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
"The Overlord Heavenly Venerable is domineering indeed."
"Do you think you're the sole supreme being in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands?"
"To actually name yourself Overlord-how frightening."
The Dark Supremes sneered coldly at Xiao Ping'an.
Xiao Ping'an truly was old now. His hair was completely white, his face was covered in wrinkles, and his blood and Qi had dried up. He did indeed look like someone about to die.
Although those Dark Supremes were likewise aged, their blood and Qi were somewhat more vigorous than the Overlord Heavenly Venerable's.
If they devoured Xiao Ping'an, each of them could live at least another five thousand years.
For they all knew that Xiao Ping'an, as a Heavenly Venerable, was different from other Supremes.
Moreover, they could clearly sense that Xiao Ping'an's body had already nurtured so much longevity essence that it was about to become an Immortal Fetus, allowing him to live a new lifetime.
They had plotted for a long time, intending to divide and devour Xiao Ping'an so each of them could gain more than five thousand additional years of life.
"Overlord Heavenly Venerable, you've lived for more than fifty-eight thousand years. You're finally going to die."
"Looking at you, can you even lift your Tyrant Bell anymore?"
Cruel, cold mockery appeared on the faces of the Dark Supremes.
Xiao Ping'an had not expected that someone in this world would actually dare set their sights on him.
This was indeed a world governed by the law of the dark jungle. Everyone was prey to be hunted, even a Heavenly Venerable.