Chapter 196

The Great Emperor's scriptures are the ultimate comprehension and understanding of the Dao by the ancient Great Emperors; each volume is a unique existence, with boundless profundities.

Above the Immortal Platform, three little figures shone with divine light; Yang Zhu cultivated three lifetimes together—this is not as simple as one plus one equals two, but a qualitative leap.

Whether it is innate Dao or comprehension, it is now several times what it was before, and the cultivation speed has become terrifyingly fast.

Even ordinary imperial heirs cannot catch up; they can only gaze at his back!

After one month, the divine radiance emanating from his body fully retracted, and the profound mysteries of the ancient scriptures hovering around Yang Zhu all sank into his glabella.

During this time, his understanding of the primordial Dao has become ever more thorough, and his cultivation leapt from the second level of the first Immortal stage directly to the third level.

This speed cannot be described as monstrous; even the ancient Great Emperors of old might not have achieved such.

"Any discoveries?"

Having found the big black dog and the others, Yang Zhu asked.

"Nothing; this is merely a planet unsuitable for life and reproduction—aside from that swarm of insects, there is no other living being."

Du De muttered, having spent over half a month searching, yet found nothing, leaving him slightly regretful.

"But it doesn't matter; having obtained the Sun True Scripture and the Earth Emperor Essence, this trip was not in vain!"

After obtaining the Earth Emperor Essence, the Black Emperor studied it for a long time and discovered it was indeed a rare treasure.

After tens of thousands of years of precipitation, it can be condensed into a fist-sized lump, usable not only to clear the mind and nourish the spirit but also as the core material for elaborate grand formations.

Moreover, the Earth Emperor insects have truly gone extinct; no new Earth Emperor Essence will be produced in the world, so every bit lost is a bit less, making it ever more precious.

"Then let's go."

The Beginningless Immortal Platform was unleashed, and several people were enveloped by a mysterious power, vanishing from the spot.

In the endless universe, vast and desolate, no one knows how wide it truly is, and no one has ever reached its end.

Among them are hundreds of millions of stars, and those possessing vital essence are also called life ancient stars, which are generally extremely vast.

The number of life ancient stars is exceedingly rare, like dust in history, reduced to a negligible amount; the rest are merely "shells."

Thus, most of the universe is shrouded in darkness; being within it brings a feeling of loneliness and desolation, and those with weak resolve are easily lost.

Even ancient sages, after traversing the universe for over a decade, often fail to see a single life ancient star, and this is not uncommon.

Besides facing unknown dangers, one must also endure endless loneliness—a difficulty almost unimaginable.

Fortunately, for Yang Zhu, this is not a problem!

A few days later, he arrived at the second stop.

The three appeared in midair, looking down at the planet below; the sight remained a desolate expanse, the vast majority covered in yellow sand, with not a trace of green.

"Surely it isn't another lifeless planet, is it?"

"We'll know once we go down."

On this planet, Yang Zhu detected a faint trace of mysterious aura, though extremely weak.

They hurried along the ground, and soon discovered an anomaly.

Unlike the previous planet, here the terrain rises and falls, with intertwining mountain ranges, and the surface bears traces of ancient rivers; old trees and vegetation are everywhere…

No different from a normal ancient star!

Yet strangely, the vital essence here is completely gone—mountains collapsed, great rivers severed, vegetation withered; all that meets the eye is desolation, as if abandoned. "This place was clearly once fit for life; why has it become like this?"

In a remote spot, the big black dog saw several human skeletons and the remains of strange beasts, frowning deeply, utterly bewildered and shocked.

Once this ancient star hosted humans and myriad beings; what caused its vital essence to vanish and all life to disappear? Puzzled, the group pressed on, crossing over ten thousand li in half a day, and indeed found the ruins of a city.

Judging by its scale, compared to the medium-sized cities of the Big Dipper, it could easily house several hundred thousand people.

Yet for unknown reasons, the city has long lain abandoned, weeds overgrown, bones scattered everywhere; many postures appear panicked, as if fleeing.

"Could it really be that the vital essence has simply drained away? But that shouldn't be the case…"

Du De could not understand; having read many ancient texts and studied numerous secret techniques, he had never heard of such a situation.

"Rather than saying it has drained away, it is more accurate to say it was sucked dry."

The Sacred Body Dao Embryo is born close to the Dao, favored by the Dao, and possesses an extremely keen perception of life force and cosmic order.

He discovered that this had once been a life ancient star; although it cannot compare to the Big Dipper, it is still quite notable.

Back then, many clans thrived and reproduced on this ancient star, no different from the Zi Wei star field, except that the spiritual aura inexplicably vanished entirely.

"The spiritual aura was sucked dry… could it be the work of an Emperor?"

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Yang Zhu's mind; after a moment's pause he slightly nodded, already having formed a conjecture, though it still needed verification.

"What is it?" the big black dog asked curiously.

"I'm not certain yet."

Two days later, Yang Zhu arrived above a dried-up dragon vein and discovered an ancient altar at the "dragon's head," like a dragon pearl held in the vein's mouth.

"Ancient characters from the mythic era."

The altar spans several dozen zhang in width, grand in scale, carved from a single stone block; after deciphering the blurred runes, they actually trace back to the mythic era.

Yang Zhu began to deduce those runes and found that the altar's function is to draw out primordial dragon qi, then transform it and gather it at a certain location.

The ancient runes seemed to come alive before Yang Zhu's eyes, like silk being drawn from a cocoon, as fine crystalline threads were extracted one by one.

Soon he locked onto the target and vanished from the spot in a single step.

Yang Zhu traversed the void across a continuous mountain range, covering over a hundred thousand li in several days, yet still had not reached the range's deepest point.

It is hard to imagine how vast the mountains beneath his feet are! After another half day, ripples spread through the void, and Yang Zhu appeared here soundlessly.

"Indeed." Gazing at the scene before him, Yang Zhu already knew what had happened.

Here, deep within the mountain range, towering peaks rise several thousand zhang, majestic and upright, with most of them hidden above the clouds; standing at the base, it is hard to see the summits.

Such great peaks are countless, each a sovereign of the mountains; the terrain is complex, dragon veins crisscross, and any spot could be a treasure trove.

The great peaks stand shoulder to shoulder, layered upon one another, yet here a "fault" has occurred.

What should have been a continuous, undulating mountain range was, one moment, a thousand-zhang Song peak, and the next, an abrupt cliff—as if it had been sliced clean through the waist.

Below the cliff lay an endless plain, surrounded on all sides by towering peaks, making it strikingly out of place.

It looks like a protruding piece of green stone, with a chunk gouged out of the middle!

(End of chapter)