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At this point, the Undying Heavenly Emperor truly could not make heads or tails of it. After saving him, that mysterious expert had taught him a Supreme scripture, then tossed him onto the Big Dipper without even mentioning his own name.
He had also told him to seek him out once he became a Quasi-Emperor.
Quasi-Emperor was a very strange term. He would rather call it Quasi-Emperor or Quasi-Venerable.
It seemed that this expert was absolutely confident that once the Undying Heavenly Emperor grew strong enough, he would surely know who he was.
If he could not make sense of it, he would not dwell on it. The Undying Heavenly Emperor soon found a cave and began circulating his cultivation art and secret technique.
Vigorous five-colored blood Qi radiated five-colored divine light, making the entire cave dazzlingly brilliant. The heavenly sound of the Great Dao also rumbled from within his body.
As the cries of a Phoenix rang out, five-colored divine light shot into the sky, and mist rose and swirled throughout the cave.
His Bitter Sea was five-colored. It was hard to imagine that his Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm was so wondrous and powerful.
His body had long since recovered. His skin was white as jade, and his complexion was rosy and lustrous. He looked healthy, no longer the picture of a man at death's door that he had been when he first fell into this world.
And so, the young Undying Heavenly Emperor embarked on the path of cultivation on the Big Dipper, creating a legend of his own.
After leaving an imprint in the Undying Heavenly Emperor's body, Xiao Ping'an casually tossed him onto the Big Dipper.
He had already searched the Undying Heavenly Emperor's soul and learned some secrets about his time in the Immortal Domain.
As for the restriction placed on him by his clan, it had long since broken down and lost its effect under the suppression of the Great Dao's laws when he crossed into this world.
If the restriction had still been there, forcibly searching his soul would have cost the Undying Heavenly Emperor his life, inevitably causing his primordial spirit to explode.
He learned that after the Undying Heavenly Emperor fell into this world, the suppression of its Great Dao's laws had caused him unbearable pain. Those Great Dao Runes had burned like immortal fire, nearly reducing him to ash.
Fortunately, he had endured.
After undergoing a painful nirvana and transformation, he had finally returned to normal.
While the Undying Heavenly Emperor was unconscious, Xiao Ping'an had carefully observed the imprints from the Immortal Domain within his body, as well as his healing secret technique, which resembled a Phoenix's nirvana. He felt he had benefited greatly.
In particular, he had learned that there were still people in the Immortal Domain cultivating the Immortal Ancient Method and the Chaotic Ancient Method.
He had thought that these ancient cultivation arts and secret techniques had long since been discarded or corrupted. He truly had not expected anyone in the Immortal Domain to still cultivate them.
Now, after the Undying Heavenly Emperor had left, Xiao Ping'an began simulating and comprehending the Immortal Ancient Method and the Chaotic Ancient Method.
In the blink of an eye, an incomparably mysterious presence spread through the area. As he continued to simulate them, numerous phenomena appeared around him.
The special cultivation realms in particular, such as the so-called Grotto-Heaven Realm, Divine Flame Realm, and Self-Severing Realm, struck Xiao Ping'an as novel.
After all, Xiao Ping'an had learned of these realms when he read the trilogy, but he certainly had not known the actual cultivation methods for these arts and secret techniques.
The Desolate Heavenly Emperor had cultivated the old methods and forged a new method from them. Xiao Ping'an felt that studying these old methods would give him a deeper understanding of the new one.
After experiencing them for himself, Xiao Ping'an felt that these cultivation arts and secret techniques were indeed incomparably wondrous. Although cultivating them consumed enormous resources and time, and they were utterly incompatible with the Great Dao's laws in this world, they were truly wondrous and powerful.
The Primordial True Record in particular was the Dao and method created by Brother Emperor Bone.
Cultivated and developed to its utmost realm, this method was a Great Dao path to becoming an Immortal Emperor. Brother Emperor Bone had personally created it back then, and the Desolate Heavenly Emperor had also cultivated it, reaching the Quasi-Immortal Emperor realm before forging his own path and becoming an Immortal Emperor.
That showed just how wondrous the old methods were.
By comparison, however, the Five Great Secret Realms cultivation method was much faster and consumed fewer resources. More importantly, its great power belonged to the cultivator himself, and it developed the potential within the gates of the body. That was truly powerful.
No wonder the Five Great Secret Realms cultivation method had supplanted the Chaotic Ancient Method and the Immortal Ancient Method.
Apart from experts who wanted to advance further, and so studied the Chaotic Ancient Method and the Immortal Ancient Method, ordinary experts really had no need to study them.
Xiao Ping'an had also made a startling discovery from the Undying Heavenly Emperor's memories: the Great Dao's laws in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands were actually more complete and perfect than those in the Immortal Domain.
Although there was almost no Longevity Substance in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, the number of Supremes or Heavenly Venerables it produced was astonishing.
He also learned from the Undying Heavenly Emperor's memories that the Immortal Domain had already shattered into fragment after fragment, and that he had come from one of them.
It seemed that after the collapse of the Immortal Domain, the Great Dao's laws there were indeed incomplete.
One day, while Xiao Ping'an was comprehending the Great Dao, he suddenly received a summons from Yongsheng.
He immediately hurried back to the Underworld.
Yongsheng brought out a Rotten Wooden Box and told Xiao Ping'an that he had stumbled upon it while excavating corpses in the Underworld's Netherworld Soil.
When he opened it, he discovered that it contained the legendary Divine Flower.
There were three wondrous flowers in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, and each, like an Immortal Divine Medicine, was unique.
Each was extraordinarily mysterious and had an astonishing origin. Legend said that they had all fallen from the Immortal Domain.
The first was called the Demon God Flower. It was said that if a member of the demon race absorbed its essence at birth, they could shed their mortal body and exchange their bones, gaining the potential to become a Great Emperor. The Demon God Flower was the demon race's supreme treasure. Every time it appeared, it was enough to make the demons break one another's heads fighting over it. It bloomed only once every fifty thousand years.
The second was the legendary Dao Integration Flower.
This flower was extraordinarily precious. Xiao Ping'an had consulted records and learned that over a million years ago, a fortunate expert had consumed a Dao Integration Flower and become a powerful Supreme.
Legend had it that after consuming this flower, one would instantly become like a Chaos Body, merging with the myriad Daos of heaven and earth and becoming one who had attained the Dao.
Just how wondrous was this flower? Legend had it that anyone who consumed it could defy heaven and attain the Dao, ignoring the suppression even if someone in the current age had already attained the Dao.
Many people had searched for traces of that flower, but ever since its fleeting appearance over a million years ago, no one had seen it again.
Some speculated that the Dao Integration Flower might have been destroyed.
Some said it might have fallen into a perilous land, while others said it might need over a million years to transform and bloom once.
There was another wondrous flower, called the Divine Flower.
Legend had it that only those who had truly attained the Dao were qualified to admire this flower.
This flower represented a special Great Dao and the pinnacle of beauty.
Xiao Ping'an had also searched for traces of this flower in this era, but had been unable to divine its whereabouts.
He had not expected Yongsheng to accidentally dig up this Rotten Wooden Box in the Underworld.
Legend said that this flower had fallen from the Immortal Domain. How had it ended up in the Underworld?
Could it have once fallen into the Netherworld Venerable's hands, and he had buried it here?
Now, Xiao Ping'an and Yongsheng were strong enough to admire this flower.
They could comprehend the Great Dao within it.
Xiao Ping'an and Yongsheng opened the Rotten Wooden Box with their own hands and planted the mysterious plant inside it in the Yellow Springs. Brilliant light immediately radiated from the spot.
The two did not call any other Heavenly Venerables or Supremes. They admired it there by themselves.
The Divine Flower continuously absorbed the essence Qi of heaven and earth from the Yellow Springs. Its leaves sparkled like crystal, radiating mysterious fluctuations of the Great Dao.
Its bud grew rapidly, then opened with a bang. At that instant, a rain of light showered down from the sky, engulfing the entire area where the Yellow Springs lay.
Fortunately, this was the Underworld, an almost independent world. With its densely packed formation patterns, no matter how terrifying the Great Dao fluctuations were, they could not spread outside.
Xiao Ping'an gazed into the rain of light and saw a little fairy dancing gracefully within it, an extraordinarily mysterious sight.
Petal after petal unfurled, beautiful to the utmost and stirring the soul, as though one could lose oneself in it.
Xiao Ping'an was deeply shocked. Despite being so powerful already, he still felt himself losing his way. Amid the fragrance and brilliant light, he seemed about to turn into a moth and fling himself into the fire, merging with the Great Dao laws of heaven and earth.
When the last petal opened, terrifying light shot into the sky and even burst out through the entrance to the Underworld, shocking many people.
They knew the Underworld was unusual, but the sacred presence emanating from it now left everyone who sensed it incredulous.
Xiao Ping'an saw a lifelike little fairy fly out and dance gracefully there, and he felt an urge to let his primordial spirit leave his body.
The Divine Flower's stamen was human-shaped, about ten centimeters tall.
The little fairy was the stamen. She danced gently above the flower, as though severing the long river of time and shattering the surrounding void. Xiao Ping'an and Yongsheng watched her closely.
He could sense incomparably mysterious fluctuations of the Great Dao. Wisp after wisp of the Great Dao's laws and order turned into mysterious runes, one after another, imprinting themselves on his primordial spirit.
Xiao Ping'an and Yongsheng sat cross-legged like that, motionless, watching for a full ten years.
They carefully comprehended those special fluctuations of the Great Dao, and their strength grew ever more profound and unfathomable.
The Divine Flower remained in bloom for a long time. Even after a hundred years, it was still crystal clear, and the little fairy upon it was still dancing gracefully.
Only after two hundred years did the flower truly wither, turning into a seed that was about to break through the void and depart.
Xiao Ping'an, who had long been prepared, caught the glittering, longan-sized seed in one grab, sealed it in Divine Source again, and then sealed it inside the Rotten Wooden Box.
After watching the Divine Flower, Xiao Ping'an's divine power had increased by an unknown amount, and his attainment in the Dao had also grown much deeper.
After observing the Divine Flower, Xiao Ping'an felt that his strength had grown considerably again. He thought once more of the Phoenix Nest, as well as the Fortune Source Eye and Light Platinum inside it. Unless he claimed them soon, he always felt he could not sleep soundly, afraid that someone else would get there first and take them away.
Thinking of his current strength, and then of the Bronze Immortal Palace and bone saber in his possession, Xiao Ping'an immediately called Yongsheng and flew toward a mysterious place in the ever-changing universe.
The two soon arrived in that secret land.
Rumble.
Incomparably violent thunder rolled there, along with Chaos Divine Thunder that radiated the presence of the Immortal Dao.
Chaos light flickered there, and Chaos Qi surged and roiled. Every bolt of lightning had the power to destroy heaven and earth.
In the distance, the enormous Phoenix Nest came into view, accompanied by the cries of a Phoenix.
"So it really is the Phoenix Nest that fell into the Undying Heavenly Emperor's hands," Yongsheng said.
Enormous lengths of blood-red Phoenix Wood formed the Phoenix Nest, which rose and sank amid the Chaos Divine Thunder.
This boundless divine thunder of the Immortal Dao had grown a little weaker since Xiao Ping'an's last visit, but it was still terrifying.
Phoenix cries rang out as one lifelike Phoenix after another roamed the sea of lightning, completely unharmed by the fearsome thunder.
These were not real Phoenixes. They had been formed from the mysterious presence in this Phoenix tomb, shaped by the thunder over tens of thousands of years.
They were the guardians of the Phoenix Nest.
The Fortune Source Eye and more than two cubic meters of Light Platinum were inside. Xiao Ping'an truly could not bear to give them up; he only wanted to get his hands on them as soon as possible.
It would be best to scoop up the Phoenix Nest along with everything else.
Xiao Ping'an and Yongsheng hid inside the Bronze Immortal Palace and slowly approached.
The enormous Phoenix Nest, the wildly churning sea of lightning, and the lifelike Phoenixes appeared before the two of them.
The presence of the Immortal Dao they radiated was alarming.
But the presence of the Immortal Dao here was growing weaker and weaker. After some more time, it would no longer be able to hurt Xiao Ping'an.
Thus, Xiao Ping'an felt that taking the risk now was worth it, even if he suffered a minor injury.
Xiao Ping'an soon sensed that there seemed to be something extra inside the Phoenix Nest.
His eyes flashed, and he immediately suspected that someone had beaten him to it.
The two rode the Bronze Immortal Palace to the upper part of the Phoenix Nest and observed the sea of lightning within it.
The Bronze Immortal Palace descended slowly, sinking toward the world inside the Phoenix Nest.
Terrifying nine-colored divine thunder surged and roared there like a vast ocean, each bolt powerful enough to destroy a galaxy.
Perhaps sensing the presence of the Bronze Immortal Palace, the densely packed runes of the Immortal Dao lit up, as though issuing a challenge, yet also as though offering a friendly greeting.
After who knew how many tens of thousands of years, the runes of the Immortal Dao here still had not been completely worn away.
Under the suppression of the mysterious light radiating from the Bronze Immortal Palace, a passage was forcibly opened through the nine-colored divine thunder, and the palace flew toward the depths of this world.
Blood-red Phoenix Wood crisscrossed the area, and nine-colored lightning filled every inch of space.
The Bronze Immortal Palace moved through this terrifying thunder as though on level ground, an astonishing sight.
As the Bronze Immortal Palace continued forward, an incomparably terrifying heavenly tribulation appeared ahead.
The presence of that heavenly tribulation was vast and overwhelming. The myriad Daos of heaven and earth wailed, and supreme Great Dao laws radiated from it.
This Great Dao presence was very unusual. It merged with the myriad Daos of heaven and earth, yet stood above them. It felt much like the legendary moment when a Chaos Body attained the Dao, though the presence was much weaker.
Xiao Ping'an soon noticed a figure amid the thunder ahead.
There, amid the incomparably violent thunder, a figure wreathed in Chaos Qi struggled against the lightning.
"The person undergoing the tribulation is a Chaos Body!"
Both Xiao Ping'an and Yongsheng possessed mysterious heavenly eyes. With a single glance, they confirmed that the person undergoing the tribulation was real, not an imprint left behind in the past.
Moreover, the person undergoing the tribulation was unquestionably a genuine Chaos Body.
Someone was secretly undergoing a tribulation in this Phoenix Nest. How had he found this place?
The incomparably violent heavenly tribulation was firmly contained and confined within the Phoenix Nest. Although it did not reach farther afield, the tribulation was of a very high quality, enough for the Chaos Body to complete his transformation.
Rumble.
It was as though heaven and earth were being created there. A terrifying lightning tribulation erupted, the myriad Daos of heaven and earth merged, and all manner of illusory immortal spirits appeared.
That figure was only at the Quasi-Venerable Eighth Heaven, yet the presence he radiated was already similar to that of a Great Accomplishment Sacred Body or Heavenly Tyrant Body at the Quasi-Emperor Ninth Heaven.
Was a Chaos Body truly so powerful and terrifying?
Hidden in the Bronze Immortal Palace, Xiao Ping'an and Yongsheng silently watched the man undergo his tribulation. He seemed not to notice them at all, fighting the thunder with all his might.
From time to time, he devoured and refined the Chaos Divine Thunder there, the divine thunder within the heavenly tribulation.
No matter how terrifying the thunder was, it could not truly hurt him. He was like a favored child of heaven.
He was only at the Quasi-Emperor Eighth Heaven, yet one Immortal Divine Medicine after another had already appeared in his heavenly tribulation.
They radiated terrifying Great Dao laws, and every human face was turned toward the Chaos Body.
The Chaos Body, meanwhile, was doing everything he could to devour and refine the Great Dao laws emitted by the Immortal Divine Medicines.
The Chaos Body's body was shattered again and again, and each time he reconstituted it with ease.
Xiao Ping'an could tell that the Chaos Body was very likely Wang Bo. He had not expected him to have been reborn through nirvana and cultivated back to the Quasi-Emperor Eighth Heaven.
But judging by how careful and cautious he was, he clearly had no intention of attaining the Dao and becoming a Venerable in this era either.
He planned to seal himself in Immortal Source and remain until a later age before attaining the Dao.
Xiao Ping'an also noticed that the cultivation arts and secret techniques practiced by Wang Bo, the Chaos Body, did not seem particularly well suited to him.
Although he had later created a scripture of his own, this Chaos Body had some innate deficiencies. He cultivated a sage's scripture, and although he had used it to create his own cultivation arts and secret techniques and become an expert at the Quasi-Emperor Eighth Heaven, one could not help feeling that this Chaos Body's cultivation path was less than perfect.
If he could cultivate a Heavenly Venerable's scripture, then perhaps he could create a true Hundun Heavenly Art.
The Chaos Body was still immersed in the thunder, comprehending the Dao within the heavenly tribulation.
Seeing that the man was about to pass his heavenly tribulation, Yongsheng could no longer sit still.
He and Xiao Ping'an had long planned to cultivate an Acquired Chaos Body. If they found Wang Bo in the future, they would carefully study his body and attempt to transform into a true Chaos Body.
Once they had studied him thoroughly, they would use the possession method created by the Carefree Heavenly Venerate, using mostly Yongsheng's primordial spirit and a small portion of Wang Bo's to seize his fate and truly become an independent individual.
Then, using the larger portion of the primordial spirit, he would completely devour and refine Wang Bo's original primordial spirit. From then on, he would become a true Chaos Body, an independent individual.
Yongsheng shouted at the figure, "Chaos Body Wang Bo!"
(End of chapter)