Chapter 740

At first, Xiao Yan found it strange—how could such an important and powerful Primordial Dharma Body be lost? Once cultivated successfully, it would surely make one a top-tier powerhouse in the Great Thousand World.

Back then, defeating the Domain Beyond's evil clans relied entirely on those ten warriors who had cultivated the Primordial Dharma Bodies; those ten were at least the absolute top ten in the Great Thousand World.

Could such a Dharma Body really be lost? Even its name vanished!

At this moment, Xiao Yan finally understood—it wasn't that their names were lost, but that the Spirit Stone Clan didn't want their names or the Dharma Bodies to spread.

Because five of the Ten Great Original Dharma Bodies originated from the Lower Plane!

This scene was eerily familiar—just as the Yao Clan once refused to acknowledge the Dan Tower, regarding Alchemists on the continent as inferior, and the Gu Clan once looked down on Xiao Yan for lacking Dou Di Bloodline—or rather, all Dou Emperor Families looked down on anyone without Dou Di Bloodline.

Because Dou Emperor Families possessed Dou Di Bloodline, they considered themselves superior.

This was unmistakably a Great Thousand World replica!

The Great Thousand World possessed higher-grade Spiritual Energy; those who cultivated there cultivated Spiritual Energy. Ordinary people might fear powerhouses from the Lower Plane, since anyone capable of arriving from the Lower Plane was at least a Supreme.

But for the Spirit Stone Clan and the Great Thousand World's top families, it wasn't necessarily so.

Xiao Yan didn't need to think—he knew that any family calling itself a "Spirit Clan" must hold a certain view of the so-called Lower Plane.

The Spirit Stone Clan, if placed on the Dou Qi Continent, would be called the Ancient Dou Di Family.

Dou Emperor Families possessed Dou Emperor Inheritance and Dou Di Bloodline, while the Spirit Stone Clan possessed Ancient Inheritance and Primordial Body Techniques.

It was different paths leading to the same destination—no matter how the environment changed, human nature never changed.

Imagine: would the Great Thousand World admit that five of the original ten top warriors came from the Lower Plane? Would it admit that five of the Ten Great Original Dharma Bodies had nothing to do with the Great Thousand World, but were instead transcendent cultivation methods originating from the Lower Plane?!

The Ten Great Original Dharma Bodies weren't called the Ten Strongest Dharma Bodies or the Ten Heavenly Supreme Dharma Bodies—they were called Original Dharma Bodies because they emerged from the original cultivation system, essentially another form of an entire cultivation framework, hence the name "Original."

But the entire universe contains more than just the Spiritual Energy cultivation system! Some cultivation systems are merely weak due to environment—not because they're inferior!

Xiao Yan knew this best—even if Yao Chen had achieved incredible Alchemy accomplishments in his time, the Yao Clan would never acknowledge him. Xiao Yan hadn't struck the Gu Clan's disciples hard enough, so they still refused to recognize him.

Just as they needed to convert their energy upon arriving from the Dou Qi Continent to cultivate here, to cultivate this Primordial Dharma Body, you must start from the Doubreath Stage!

"No wonder the ancient Dou Emperors chose to completely shatter the Doubreath channels—not just to prevent the Domain Beyond's revenge, but also to guard against betrayal from within," Xiao Yan smirked.

He now marveled at how foresighted the ancient Dou Qi Continent's emperors had been.

The final battle against the Domain Beyond's evil clans seemed won by the Great Thousand World, but clearly, the evil clans weren't utterly defeated—they had successfully invaded the Great Thousand World and seized vast territories.

The Great Thousand World lost countless powerful beings and suffered massive depletion of its vital energy, unable to completely eradicate the remaining Domain Beyond forces.

If, as Xiao Yan deduced, five of the ten top warriors in that ancient battle came from the Lower Plane, then the Domain Beyond's first retaliation would have targeted the homeworlds of those warriors, utterly destroying them along with their cultivation methods to prevent the five Primordial Dharma Bodies from ever reappearing.

Thus, the Ancient Dou Emperors ultimately chose to erase all Source Qi and sever the connection to the Great Thousand World. Without Source Qi, no Dou Emperor could arise, for the Dou Emperor's aura was too potent and might attract the Domain Beyond's attention.

Even though the ancient Dou Qi Continent had many Dou Emperors, current circumstances suggest Dou Emperors were merely equivalent to Earth Supremes—the Dou Qi Continent's resources were vastly inferior to those of the so-called Spirit Clans and super-continents.

Amidst war, they had to guard against Domain Beyond revenge; in peace, they had to fear the Spirit Clans of the Great Thousand World—forced to utterly exile the Dou Qi Continent.

"If this is true, then the ancient Dou Emperors likely intended for their descendants to forge a path that could break dimensional limits without Source Qi. What exactly is Source Qi, and why doesn't the Great Thousand World have it?"

Xiao Yan frowned tightly—if his theory was correct, the Dou Emperors hadn't merely severed the channels but had completely eradicated all Source Qi, effectively trapping everyone on the Dou Qi Continent. Yet Xiao Potian had left behind the cultivation technique to break through the heavens, which would manifest when opening the channel.

Xiao Yan suspected that Hun Tian Di and other Dou Emperors might have also left something for their descendants—hence Hun Tian Di's current disappearance.

This suggested the Ancient Dou Emperors never intended to trap the Dou Qi Continent—they had deeper motives, and those motives likely centered on Source Qi.

Later, however, Tuoshe Ancient Emperor discovered the Dou Qi Continent and not only left behind his inheritance but also a Pill containing Source Qi, enabling Xiao Yan and Hun Tian Di to become Dou Emperors.

"Tuoshe Ancient Emperor probably wasn't from the Domain Beyond. He left his inheritance and this Pill with the intent to liberate the Dou Qi Continent—was his goal to make the Primordial Dharma Bodies reappear, or did he have another purpose?" Xiao Yan murmured to himself.

He and Gu Yuan and others had originally assumed the Great Thousand World cultivated Source Qi; now they had completely overturned that assumption—even whether Tuoshe Ancient Emperor was a being of the Great Thousand World remained uncertain.

"Forget it—for now, set these questions aside. The most urgent task is still to find the Evolutionary Flame to advance the Burning Scripture, and the Cycle Six Leaf Grass." Xiao Yan suppressed these doubts—he had more important things to do.

And the first step? Naturally, accumulating capital—otherwise, Xiao Yan wouldn't even have access to information.

First, you need money!

Xiao Yan didn't need to assimilate Spiritual Energy, so he was the first to emerge from his seclusion. Seeing Xiao Yan, disguised as the Heavenly Venerable of Yan, emerge, Qiao Shihong hurried forward and bowed, smiling: "My Lord."

"From now on, call me Heavenly Venerable of Yan." Xiao Yan didn't reveal his true name—after all, he was still unfamiliar with this place; caution was wise. As for "Venerable," Xiao Yan wasn't yet a Heavenly Supreme.

"Yes, Heavenly Venerable of Yan," Qiao Shihong replied with utmost reverence.

Hearing himself called "Heavenly Venerable of Yan" again, Xiao Yan recalled his days of borrowing others' prestige.

Xiao Yan glanced around—besides Ancestor Xiao Xuan's Tomb Mansion, there were other tomb mansions, but these had all been converted into seclusion chambers for cultivation.

Xiao Yixian and the others were absorbing Spiritual Energy drawn from the first level within these chambers, assimilating it.

"How are the items organized?"

"Report, Heavenly Venerable of Yan: all spoils have been cataloged—eighty-nine Common-grade Spirit Formulas, thirteen Spiritual-level Spirit Formulas, and Divine-grade ones already cultivated by other Lords. One hundred sixty-six Inferior Spiritual Artifacts, seventy-seven Middle Spiritual Artifacts, eighteen Upper-Class Spirit Artifacts—all Ultimate Spiritual Artifacts were distributed to other Lords." Qiao Shihong meticulously listed every spoil.

"Besides these, there are also some Spiritual Value Cards."

"Spiritual Value?" Xiao Yan blinked, puzzled.

"It's like this, Heavenly Venerable of Yan: only transactions involving Supreme-level items use Supreme Spirit Liquid. Below Supreme rank, all trade uses Spiritual Value. These cards contain pure Spiritual Energy usable for cultivation—though inferior to Supreme Spirit Liquid, they're far purer than ambient Spiritual Energy." Qiao Shihong quickly explained.

At this point, Xiao Yan and the others knew nothing of the Great Thousand World—not even its cultivation system, let alone its currency system.

"You don't use Gold Coins?" Xiao Yan asked curiously—the Dou Qi Continent used Gold Coins, and he'd even had Ya Fei prepare mountains of them.

"Gold Coins? Only commoners use Gold Coins. In the Great Thousand World, cultivators transact in 'Spirit.'" Qiao Shihong explained.

Then Qiao Shihong pulled out a space ring, filled with assorted items: "Also, some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, two unidentified Pills, and several Spirit Array blueprints."

Hearing the word "Pill," Xiao Yan's eyes flashed with sudden light—this world still used Pills!!!

"The Great Thousand World has Pills too?"

"Yes! And Pills are extremely rare—Alchemists are scarce. You'll only see Pills at auctions or from major Factions." Speaking of Pills, Qiao Shihong's eyes gleamed with longing and envy—a look Xiao Yan had seen far too many times!

"Bring me those two Pills."

Xiao Yan took the two wooden boxes Qiao Shihong handed him. Opening one, he saw a round, cherry-sized red Pill resting inside. He picked it up, examined it closely, then opened the second box and inspected the other Pill.

"Equivalent to Two-Rank and Four-Rank levels, and the quality is poor." Xiao Yan frowned—he'd assumed the precious boxes meant he'd found treasure, but these Pills were outright trash.

"It seems low-grade Pills are like those on the Dou Qi Continent—no need to invoke Heaven and Earth Power. With a Pill Formula and Medicinal Materials, perhaps…" Xiao Yan's lips curled slightly, a glint of delight flashing in his eyes.

Master Alchemy, and you'll never fear the world!

However, just as Xiao Yan was daydreaming about pleasant things, a sudden rumble came through.

Xiao Yan lifted his head slightly, his expression involuntarily turning somewhat grim, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"Some people truly don't know how the word 'death' is written," Xiao Yan's voice was somewhat icy. This tremor was not for any other reason—it was because someone was forcibly trying to break through the spatial barrier of the second layer of the Heavenly Tomb to enter it. The first layer had already been assimilated by the Great Thousand World.

(End of this chapter)