Chapter 246: 【Could it be that I am truly the Emperor?】

"I possess the God-Slaying Whip, and now I have encountered the Investiture of the Gods..."

Lin Xian's eerie voice rang out, questioning: "Ye Emperor, you still dare to say you are not the Huang Tiandi?"

Gazes converged—some suspicious, some excited, some bewildered—all falling upon Ye Fan, leaving the Holy Body speechless and his eyes dull.

What was this situation? How did this come to be?

Once is a coincidence, twice is an accident; three or four times, and it can no longer be explained by mere luck.

At this very moment, even Ye Fan himself felt a sliver of doubt: was he truly the reincarnation of the Emperor?

"Truly, a similar flower has bloomed..."

Fighting Buddha chanted a Buddhist name, his voice echoing like a gong in the depths of the soul, leaving everyone deep in thought.

"Could it be that I am truly the Emperor?"

Ye Fan looked blank, his brows furrowed deeply. He did not believe in reincarnation; he only revered this current life, firmly believing that being invincible in this lifetime was the foundation of all things.

Yet, all of this was simply too coincidental.

It was nothing short of fate.

Just then, the Black Emperor muttered: "The Investiture of the Gods was forged by Emperor Wu Shi; what does it have to do with the Emperor?"

Ye Fan shuddered, returning to his senses, and glared: "Holy Master, you are trying to hoodwink me again."

The Investiture of the Gods was Emperor Wu Shi's magic treasure; it was impossible for Emperor Wu Shi to be the reincarnation of the Emperor.

The timelines did not match at all. Although ancient Chinese history was profound and the Qi Refiners of the pre-Qin era were mysterious, Emperor Wu Shi had lived over a hundred thousand years ago.

Since he had used the Investiture of the Gods to suppress this place back then, it was impossible for it to appear in the later ages on the other side of the starry sky.

Lin Xian remained calm, his face unchanging: "Reincarnation is a matter of belief—believe and it exists, doubt and it does not. Sages and Emperors throughout history have argued endlessly, and even the Huang Tiandi has no unified answer."

"It cannot be called hoodwinking; it simply depends on whether you believe it yourself."

"Regardless of who I was in a past life, in this life, I am only Ye Fan!" Ye Fan declared firmly: "There are no two flowers that are exactly the same."

"Actually..." The Black Emperor hesitated, not daring to use a tone of certainty, and could only use the word 'allegedly'.

Allegedly, the Investiture of the Gods was not originally created by Emperor Wu Shi. Back then, he had seen an ancient scroll also named the Investiture of the Gods, but it was too mediocre, so he wanted to forge a true sacred object.

There were two Investitures of the Gods in the world: one for sealing and one for conferring titles.

The one Emperor Wu Shi wanted to forge was the Investiture of Immortals, intended to suppress the Undying Emperor, who was comparable to a True Immortal. Later, when the Undying Emperor did not appear, he could only forge the Investiture of the Gods to suppress the Undying Daoist.

The more ancient Investiture of the Gods was the magic treasure forged by the Emperor, serving as the roster for conferring titles upon the heavenly soldiers and generals of the Ancient Heavenly Court.

Ye Fan sneered repeatedly; he had almost been hoodwinked by Holy Master Lin today.

Lin Xian shook his head: "As the saying goes, to deceive others, one must first deceive oneself. If you do not believe you are the Emperor, how can you recast the Heavenly Court and gather the faith of the Great Universe?"

"The Emperor is merely a mask; who the Emperor actually is does not matter. What matters is that the masses believe you are the Emperor."

"What the world wants is only an idol."

"As long as you hold the God-Slaying Whip and master the Investiture of the Gods, residing high in the Ninth Heaven, you are the Emperor, Lord of the Heavenly Court!"

Ye Fan fell silent, eventually saying only: "Those with different Daos cannot plan together."

The Dao of Faith and the Dao of being supreme alone were not contradictory, but they were ultimately two different paths.

He was the Emperor now, but one day he would break free and manifest his own true self.

"Wait until your blood is pure and flawless before saying that again."

Lin Xian said calmly: "In the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, any thought that transcends and flies will eventually crash to the ground; the Dark Turmoil is too heavy."

If one cannot pass the hurdle of the Supremes, no matter what talent one possesses, how stunning one's brilliance, or how profound one's Dao, one will eventually turn to dust.

"Pure and flawless blood—did the one here at the Holy Cliff achieve it?"

Ye Fan whispered, looking toward the massive mountain, feeling an indescribable aura.

The black mountain body was covered in many dark red bloodstains; no one knew how many years had passed, but they had yet to fade, remaining in mottled patches.

How much blood had that Great Accomplishment Holy Body shed to soak the entire mountain? It was destined to be a bitter battle in the dark ages.

"In the million years of the Desolate Ancient era, the Great Accomplishment Holy Body appeared many times, but there were only nine invincible ones." Gai Jiuyou gazed at the Holy Cliff, musing: "They must have all achieved pure and flawless blood, otherwise they could not have fought the Supremes."

In the Desolate Ancient era, the reason the Great Accomplishment Holy Body intimidated the Great Universe and vaguely held the title of the world's number one physique was primarily because the nine who appeared were all too powerful, each invincible in the heavens and on earth, sweeping across the myriad worlds and suppressing everything.

One would pass away, and before long, another would emerge, connecting this brilliance; it was impossible not to intimidate the hearts of men, and impossible for the world to forget.

"Then why did this one at the Holy Cliff die so miserably..." Ye Fan was puzzled. Since it was an invincible Holy Body that had stepped into the realm of alternative enlightenment, it should have been a true match for the Supremes.

Conversely, the Holy Body on Mars had not been targeted by Supremes for liquidation.

"A pure and flawless Holy Body is indeed invincible, but were the Supremes of the past not also the invincible ones of their own eras?"

"When invincibility meets invincibility, someone is destined to break the myth of being undefeated."

Gai Jiuyou shook his head, sighing: "This Great Accomplishment Holy Body at the Holy Cliff was already remarkable enough to have lived to old age before being liquidated by the forbidden zones."

"If I were in my twilight years, I might not necessarily be stronger than this Great Accomplishment Holy Body."

Ye Fan shuddered, catching the implication in Gai Jiuyou's words.

Being able to live to old age as a pure-blooded Holy Body was already a point of pride; there were other Great Accomplishment Holy Bodies that didn't even make it to old age, dying in battle during their prime.

If a Great Accomplishment Holy Body at the Ninth Level of the Quasi-Emperor realm was only slightly stronger than an Imperial Weapon, relying entirely on the vigorous blood of youth to beat up elderly Supremes, trading life for life, it was very easy to perish together. If one's luck was even slightly worse, it was highly likely one would end up as a Great Medicine.

"What exactly is the mystery between golden blood and crimson blood?" Ye Fan pondered deeply; this was one of the foundations of his future invincibility.

The Black Emperor chuckled, hands on hips: "I know this."

"Even Emperor Wu Shi told you this?" Ye Fan was shocked, glancing sideways.

The Black Emperor said carelessly, almost drooling: "Golden blood turns into the most primal fresh red; drinking a mouthful can extend one's life by over a hundred years."

"If it's ordinary golden blood, it can only extend life by fifty years; the effect isn't even as good as a Medicine King."

"Ye lad, you must hurry and reach Great Accomplishment; I haven't had a good drink of Holy Blood in many years."

Everyone was speechless; the Black Emperor had truly seen and eaten everything, even daring to critique Great Accomplishment Holy Blood.

"Eh..."

Suddenly, Fighting Buddha's eyes erupted with divine light, piercing through the Great Emperor's array patterns to look near the Investiture of the Gods, looking surprised: "Shakyamuni?"

There were traces left by Shakyamuni here as well!

Hearing this, everyone hurried over. The ominous and evil aura of the Holy Cliff had all been refined and absorbed into the Human Emperor Banner, leaving the path unobstructed.

Arriving before the ancient coffin, they saw two stone tablets left with elegiac words.

These were exactly what Fighting Buddha had seen.

In addition, there were two massive star maps; they seemed to have deduced something here separately, dense and filled with stars.

"It looks a bit like the Ziwei Star." Gai Jiuyou said softly.

"A star map of the Ziwei Star Domain!"

Lin Xian was overjoyed, clapping his hands: "That's it. The Ziwei Star has the Daoist lineage of Laozi; these must have been left by them."

(End of chapter)