With a thunderous boom, Xiao Ping'an emerged unscathed, while the Great Perfection Saint Spirit's body exploded into a cloud of bloody mist. Blood and bone fragments scattered everywhere.
Xiao Ping'an snatched up the Saint Spirit's Dragon Marked Black Gold token and put it away.
Then he collected some of the Great Perfection Saint Spirit's origin essence blood.
A long time later, the scarlet blood gathered once more, reforming the Great Perfection Saint Spirit.
The Great Perfection Saint Spirit looked terrified. After staring at Xiao Ping'an for a while, his expression changed drastically. "So it was Overlord Heavenly Venerable before me. This old one has offended you!"
Xiao Ping'an stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the Great Perfection Saint Spirit, whose Qi had grown much weaker. He said calmly, "I once discussed the Dao with Emperor Venerable, and I heard him speak of the Saint Spirit Longevity Method. It seems he obtained a large part of his Saint Spirit Longevity Method from you."
When the Saint Spirit heard Xiao Ping'an mention Emperor Venerable, he shuddered involuntarily and said with utmost respect, "This old one failed to recognize you. Please forgive me, Heavenly Venerable."
Generally speaking, Saint Spirits were very difficult to tame. Born and nurtured by heaven and earth, they hated all Saint Spirits except Saint Spirits, not just the human race.
Whenever a Saint Spirit was born, blood flowed for ten thousand miles. To all Saint Spirits, it was comparable to the Dark Turmoil.
This Great Perfection Saint Spirit had fallen into Emperor Venerable's hands and become so obedient. Presumably, he had suffered quite a bit.
Xiao Ping'an said, "You guard an important Heavenly Court site. It's good to be cautious. What crime have you committed?"
"I struck a little too hard just now. I hope you won't take it to heart," Xiao Ping'an said calmly.
"I wouldn't dare! I wouldn't dare! It's enough that you don't blame me, Heavenly Venerable." The Saint Spirit looked thoroughly docile.
After accepting Emperor Venerable's invitation, Xiao Ping'an had taken charge of the Underworld. It seemed that some people at the Heavenly Court's other important sites had yet to hear his name.
They didn't know he had already joined the Heavenly Court.
Just then, two rays of divine light came shooting over. They were none other than Emperor Venerable and Longevity Heavenly Venerable.
After discussing the Saint Spirit Longevity Method, they had found it more and more feasible the longer they talked.
They wanted to come to the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star to see whether Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's Immortal Platform could be transformed into a place to become a Saint Spirit, and whether they could live a new lifetime here.
Upon seeing Xiao Ping'an and the Great Perfection Saint Spirit, they quickly learned everything that had happened.
Looking at Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's Immortal Platform divine liquid, Xiao Ping'an saw Emperor Venerable and Lingbao Heavenly Venerable about to divide it equally and shouted, "I have lots of children. Give it all to me!"
"Neither of you has children anyway, so this stuff is no use to you anymore."
Emperor Venerable said, "I still have many heavenly soldiers and generals. They all have descendants."
Longevity Heavenly Venerable also said, "Yes, and I have a Dao lineage passed down from me."
Xiao Ping'an said, "They aren't your own children. Why are you so good to them?"
"If you really want to raise children, why don't I have my children acknowledge you as their godfathers?"
Emperor Venerable and Longevity Heavenly Venerable looked at each other, then exchanged smiles.
Overlord Heavenly Venerable had already put it that way, so what was there left to fight over?
All the Immortal Platform divine liquid ended up in Xiao Ping'an's hands.
Even the continent formed from the Immortal Platform was put away by Xiao Ping'an, who planned to move it all to the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star.
Xiao Ping'an had accomplished everything he had come to the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star to do.
After another discussion of the Saint Spirit Longevity Method with Longevity Heavenly Venerable and Emperor Venerable, Xiao Ping'an left.
Taking these things away might have had some effect on the planet's foundations overall, but the effect was not great.
There were several kinds of Great Emperor-level formations here, as well as arrangements made personally by Netherworld Venerable. They could draw the essence Qi of heaven and earth from the universe and channel it into the planet, keeping it prosperous.
Having decided to leave, Xiao Ping'an took a single step, and his figure vanished.
Under the gazes of Emperor Venerable and Longevity Heavenly Venerable, he flew toward the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star.
Entering the Heavenly Pillar Mountain Ancient Cave, Xiao Ping'an took out the continent formed from Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's Immortal Platform and the Immortal Platform divine liquid.
Although the continent was unimaginably vast, Xiao Ping'an's spatial secret technique kept it from feeling crowded in the slightest.
He looked at the fiercely burning continent, where flames of several colors blazed.
The vibrant divine power it radiated made Xiao Ping'an deeply suspect that Lingbao Heavenly Venerable had not died at this point.
Or rather, in the Mythological Era, Lingbao Heavenly Venerable was not completely dead and seemed still to retain a hope of life.
He carefully sensed the blazing divine fire on the Immortal Platform continent and looked at the densely packed formation patterns unique to Lingbao Heavenly Venerable. Clearly, they were a contingency Lingbao Heavenly Venerable had left for himself.
After investigating, he employed every forbidden secret technique he had mastered, carefully deducing and examining the matter.
Finally, he used an ancient incantation of Netherworld Venerable's, one that possessed the mysterious power of reincarnation and rebirth.
"Hmm?"
To Xiao Ping'an's surprise, the continent formed from the Immortal Platform did indeed react.
From those fluctuations of the Great Dao and that Qi resembling a soul imprint, Xiao Ping'an felt that his guess had been right.
Faintly, he seemed to sense Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's Qi, though it was extremely weak.
Xiao Ping'an also found it strange. Had Emperor Venerable and Netherworld Venerable really not sensed that wisp of Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's true spirit Qi back then?
Although he had fallen into eternal silence, a trace of his true spirit plainly remained unextinguished, and he still retained a hope of life.
Yet Netherworld Venerable and Emperor Venerable had forcibly ignited Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's divine fire.
Had they done it solely to ensure the prosperity of the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star? Had they given no thought to the possibility that Lingbao Heavenly Venerable might be killed?
The Immortal Platform was covered in densely packed formation patterns, all of these people personally set up by Lingbao Heavenly Venerable.
He could draw Chaos Immortal Essence from the universe and channel it into the Immortal Platform continent deep underground. After hundreds of thousands or millions of years of nourishment, it might well undergo an astonishing transformation.
Assisting Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's Immortal Platform in recovering its vitality might have the effect of reversing yin and yang once.
Xiao Ping'an cultivated many cultivation methods and secret techniques, and his mastery reached into the mysteries of creation. Occasionally, he could catch a glimpse of the future.
He felt that Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's death might not have been so simple.
He sat cross-legged on the continent, carefully practicing Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's cultivation methods and secret techniques, including his scriptures, the Nine Secrets: Zu, and the Dao patterns he had obtained.
There was even the Deliverance Scripture, which belonged exclusively to him and specifically countered corpse calamities.
He soon discovered an astonishing change in the divine fire blazing across the continent.
He could sense a mysterious divine power beginning to flow across the entire continent and gather in the Immortal Platform divine liquid, which emitted a startling immortal light.
Finally, Xiao Ping'an was surprised to discover that the entire continent and the Immortal Platform divine liquid had begun shrinking rapidly. In the end, they formed a bead resembling a sarira.
On the table was a man dressed like a Daoist priest, sitting cross-legged with a solemn, sacred bearing. The markings seemed to have formed naturally.
After staring carefully at the bead and sensing it in detail, Xiao Ping'an made some deductions and tests. In the end, he thought it should be much like the sarira formed after Amitabha Great Emperor's death in a later age.
It might contain part of Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's soul or true spirit. Though he appeared to have died, he still retained a hope of life. Xiao Ping'an tried every method, including attacking it with Heavenly Venerable-level power, but failed to break it.
Aside from being exceptionally hard, it displayed no abnormalities whatsoever.
Except for occasionally releasing a little radiance when the Deliverance Scripture was recited, it remained utterly ordinary.
After some thought, Xiao Ping'an brought the bead to the Underworld.
After making some arrangements, he placed the bead in the Yellow Springs.
Here, after being nurtured for tens of thousands of years, perhaps Lingbao Heavenly Venerable could one day defy heaven and return by relying on this sarira-like bead.
Perhaps he could live a new, even more powerful lifetime.
Xiao Ping'an was also very interested in his corpse-lying transformation method.
He felt that this method of transforming while lying like a corpse might also offer some inspiration to the Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor of a later age.
Just think of the Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor: by lying like a corpse in a coffin, he had become an incomparably powerful Quasi-Immortal Emperor. By the time of the final battle in The Sacred Ruins, he had been just a hair's breadth from becoming an Immortal Emperor.
Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor truly deserved to be called the foremost corpse-lier, and his luck was good enough too.
The facts also proved that all that fighting and killing was really because one's strength was lacking.
As long as one was strong enough, one could become an Immortal Emperor just by lying down and sleeping.
After carefully placing the sarira bead formed from Lingbao Heavenly Venerable, Xiao Ping'an did not remain in the Underworld. Instead, he went to look around the Big Dipper of this era.
At this time, the Big Dipper was already an immense Life Source Land. Apart from the enormous islands scattered across the planet like stars on a chessboard, the most striking sights were undoubtedly the five vast continents.
Looking at the five boundless continents, Xiao Ping'an knew they had been refined from the body of Wang Bo, the Chaos Body.
Densely packed formation patterns covered them, linking together to form an enormous Five-Colored Altar.
It voraciously devoured the essence of heaven and earth from the universe, forming a vast chaos immortal formation.
Under this nourishment, the Great Dao could be said to flourish across the entire planet.
Xiao Ping'an recalled that when the story of Shrouding the Heavens began, most of it took place on the Big Dipper.
From the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land to the Spirit Ruins Paradise, the Taixuan Sect, the Fire Domain, the Northern Region, the Ji Family, the Jiang Family, the Divine City, the Jade Lake Holy Land, the Central Province, the Qishi Mansion...
It all surfaced in Xiao Ping'an's mind, following the path of the protagonist Ye Fan's growth.
At this time, humans were few and far between on the Big Dipper. Most of its inhabitants were strange beasts of Desolate Antiquity or other living beings.
In particular, the Big Dipper of this time had no Undying Mountain, no Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land, and no Primordial Ancient Mine. The only Life Forbidden Zones that had reached the Big Dipper were the Reincarnation Sea and a Saint Spirit Forbidden Zone.
The other Life Forbidden Zones were still mainly scattered across important Life Source Lands such as the Heaven-Reaching Ancient Star and the Flying Immortal Star.
Of course, there were also forbidden zones like the Underworld, which existed independently in the starry sky.
The Post-Desolate Ancient Era was still far too distant from this point in time.
Even by the most conservative estimate, the Primordial Era had lasted at least three to six million years to have room for so many ancient emperors.
The Desolate Ancient Era would also have needed roughly three to six million years to have room for so many Great Emperors.
Even by the most conservative estimate of three million years for the Primordial Era and three million for the Desolate Ancient Era, it would still be at least six million years or more before the story of Shrouding the Heavens began.
Xiao Ping'an carefully investigated the Eastern Wasteland continent. It was still a wilderness, truly devoid of human habitation.
The humans who occasionally came here did so to temper themselves.
According to the original text, the Big Dipper at this time was still a paradise for the myriad beings of heaven and earth.
It was probably only after the Primordial Era began that humans migrated here from Ziwei Star and Earth.
At that time, humans on the Big Dipper could be said to be in a weak position, exploited and oppressed.
At first, Xiao Ping'an had also thought humans were weak in the Mythological and Primordial Eras, but after transmigrating to this age, he discovered that they were not weak at all. They had always been strong.
It was just that, on the Big Dipper in the original text, no human Great Emperor had ever backed them from the time humans began migrating there in the Primordial Era, so they appeared so weak.
In fact, on other Life Source Lands, and against the broader backdrop of the entire universe, humans were one of the foremost powerful races.
Leaving everything else aside, the Nine Great Heavenly Venerables of this time were essentially all human.
He said "essentially" because he wasn't quite sure. A few Heavenly Venerables seemed to have traits of other races, as though they were of mixed human and nonhuman blood.
In the Mythological Era, the human race's forces were actually very strong.
After some thought, Xiao Ping'an decided to develop the Big Dipper ahead of time.
He immediately moved some humans from the Tyrant Body Ancestral Star and some more from Earth.
Then he used the bones of the Supremes he had killed to refine a bell and a cauldron for them, both Extreme Dao Weapons.
Xiao Ping'an couldn't understand why the Great Emperors and ancient emperors of later ages were so stingy, and why they didn't help them refine more Extreme Dao Weapons.
Since Xiao Ping'an now had enough materials on hand, he generously refined a bell and a cauldron for them.
With the protection of these two Extreme Dao Weapons and such favorable cultivation conditions, surely the humans on the Big Dipper would not be bullied by other beings when the Primordial Era arrived?
Moreover, Xiao Ping'an had personally refined these two Extreme Dao Weapons. If the Dark Supremes, Great Emperors, and ancient emperors of later ages respected Xiao Ping'an and gave him face, they should also show some consideration to the humans he protected and not wipe them out.
If they refused to give him face, Xiao Ping'an would certainly not spare them after achieving Red Dust Immortal Ascension in the future.
Then Xiao Ping'an sealed several scriptures he had extracted through interrogation from the Dark Supremes he had killed within the weapon spirits.
Xiao Ping'an's own scriptures were also stored within the weapon spirits.
These weapons would awaken once every thousand years, select geniuses with sufficient talent, and impart true Heavenly Venerable scriptures to them.
As for ordinary geniuses, they would be taught only ordinary sage scriptures.
This was not because Xiao Ping'an was stingy. Rather, if they lacked sufficient strength, the scriptures really might bring a fatal calamity upon them.
Only those with sufficient comprehension and cultivation talent were worthy of the finest scriptures.
Then Xiao Ping'an used supreme formations to help them build two divine cities.
One was in the Central Province and one in the Eastern Wasteland. Both were built atop the largest dragon veins on their respective continents, with Extreme Dao Weapons anchoring their fortune.
After making careful arrangements, Xiao Ping'an was very satisfied. He felt that, barring mishaps, even if he offered no further help in the future, the two human holy lands on the Big Dipper would still be able to flourish.
(End of chapter)