Chapter 92: Imperial Body Spiritual Connection

From the Taiyin Human Emperor's return to his passing, the duration was not long.

For this was originally only a shadow of him; even with the empowerment of divine thoughts and belief power, he could not last long.

When he passed through the Donghuang Dadi, the several Life Forbidden Zones all remained silent.

Even several ancient existences were quite nervous.

For back in the Primordial Era, during the era when the Taiyin Human Emperor suppressed the world, these several Supreme Ones of the Forbidden Zones had grievances with him.

When the Human Emperor's divine sense swept over the several Life Forbidden Zones, they both sensed each other's existence.

Although this was only the awakening of a strand of his True Spirit will, if he acted, it was not necessarily impossible to take half a Supreme One's life.

But ultimately.

The Human Emperor departed, no battle occurred, and passing one Life Source Star after another, he finally perished in the Xing Kong.

As a progenitor of humanity, with countless great deeds, his magnificent achievements overshadowed the ages and crowned ancient and modern times, yet he ultimately reached the end of his life, causing people to sigh with regret.

Several sighs came from within the Life Forbidden Zones.

"Why bother? A generation of Human Emperor, stunningly talented; if back then you had listened to my word and severed yourself, you might not have been unable to live until now."

"Different paths make it hard to travel together; ultimately, we are not on the same road."

"The Taiyin's death is suspicious; I smelled that person's aura!"

"It does seem somewhat similar, like that old monkey in his old age back then; could that person really still be alive?"

Since time immemorial.

Although most of the time the various Supreme Ones were asleep, at some critical moments they would still awaken and pay attention to the Outside World.

They were existences who had reached that height, having seen too much and understood too much.

The great secrets of the universe in the eyes of the world were nothing to them.

Even though that person was extremely skilled at concealment and ambush.

But some Supreme Ones, merely from a few clues, had speculated much.

Although they could not be certain, they were also very close to the truth of the matter.

……

Ascension Star.

Kun Lun Remnant Clan's habitat.

Several Great Sage-level cultivators were extremely unwilling, for the Human Emperor's Treasure Seal had been used by their lineage for many years, and they had long regarded it as their own.

Although somewhat damaged, it was still an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon, its power not diminished much.

But at that moment.

The Human Emperor's Seal automatically recovered, something unseen for hundreds of thousands of years, and they could not stop it at all.

Finally.

Through the Source Heaven Divine Eye, they saw the shocking scene of the Human Emperor's return, and also saw the Human Emperor handing the Imperial Weapon to the old Great Saint of the Taiyin Divine Sect on the Ziwei Star.

Only then did they forcibly suppress the unwillingness and jealousy in their hearts.

Of course, there were still one or two Great Saints harboring other thoughts, thinking that in the future they might not be unable to reclaim it by certain means.

Of course, this must certainly require long-term planning.

And at the present stage, with a Great Emperor suppressing the world, they could not act too excessively.

But facing an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon that brought endless benefits to their lineage, they were still unwilling to give up this plan.

Similar situations also occurred on the Ba Ti Zujing.

Within the Blood Floating Pagoda was sealed the Taiyin Human Emperor's divine thought.

And among them, the imperial-path restriction laid down by the Amitabha Buddha Great Emperor in the past was used to make the divine thought endure forever.

Such a treasure could be called rare in ancient and modern times, related to two Great Emperor-level powerhouses.

Even the Great Accomplishment Overlord Body hibernating within the Batizu Ancestral Cave benefited not a little from it.

And they wished to use it as the sect's supreme treasure, passing it down to later Heaven's Prides, which could both help them observe and study, and at critical moments transform into a supreme Forbidden Artifact.

But what a pity.

The Human Emperor's True Spirit returned, and the divine thought automatically recovered, returning to its main body.

Such mighty power, even the Great Accomplishment Overlord Body could not stop it, and could only watch helplessly as this supreme treasure departed.

Although there was reluctance and unwillingness, and even a cold snort was uttered, they were ultimately helpless.

In the Xing Kong near the Beidou Chengxian Lu.

Gu Xuan stood tall, quietly watching all of this.

Including the Human Emperor's journey, and also the movements of the Ascension Star and the Ba Ti Zujing.

By his current realm, his divine sense spread out, able to reach the Six Harmonies and Eight Wastelands of the universe.

Although the Great Universe was too vast and boundless, and Life Source Stars were endless, even as a Heavenly Emperor he might not be able to attend to everything.

But whatever he noticed, none could not be observed in an instant.

Gu Xuan had no good feelings toward the Great Accomplishment Overlord Body.

Back then, he had also gone to the Ba Ti Zujing once.

However.

In this era, there had not yet appeared the situation where a Great Accomplishment Holy Body was slain by an Overlord Body and then refined into a Treasure Wheel Weapon.

It was possible that, in the original trajectory, this happened in later generations, Gu Xuan speculated.

But now with him present, such a thing would probably not happen.

And both Great Accomplishment Overlord Bodies were very low-profile, because Gu Xuan's Blood Qi was vigorous to the extreme, and he had the famous renown of having killed his way out!

Otherwise, he would not hesitate to suppress and kill the two Great Accomplishment Overlord Bodies among them, and level the Batizu Ancestral Cave.

……

As the Taiyin Human Emperor's figure dimmed, it finally dissipated.

Throughout the whole Great Universe, a sorrowful mood permeated.

All living beings felt it, grieving for such a peerless Emperor of countless merits and achievements that weighed upon ten thousand ages.

The Human Emperor's great virtue: even with little time remaining, he left a contingency for the Ziwei Ancient Star, guarding against possible future Dark Turmoil.

And he possessed a broad mind, not minding what Buddhism did to his divine thought, caring only about the influence of his faith upon all living beings.

From that corner of a seal he left behind.

Gu Xuan learned that in the Human Emperor's old age, he had transformed from a Taiyin Body into a Chaos Body, already showing initial success.

Given enough time and opportunity, he might not necessarily fail to succeed, and achieve Nirvana into his next life.

Even stepping onto the Red Dust Immortal's road, though it was merely a possibility.

Alas, at this critical period, he was taken advantage of by the Undying Heavenly Emperor's conspiracy, his efforts fell one step short, and he died with regret.

Gu Xuan let out a light sigh.

He took one step out, arriving in that stretch of starry sky where the Human Emperor perished.

The remnant body still remained, and was in a slow state of Dao Transformation, but the person was already gone, with no more Primordial Spirit fluctuations.

Gu Xuan crossed out a Divine Rule, wrapping the Human Emperor's remnant body, halting its Dao Transformation trend.

After that.

Silently and without a trace, he vanished from that stretch of starry sky; no one could trace where he went, including the Forbidden Zone Supremes.

Honghuang Ancient Star.

Gu Xuan concealed Heavenly Secrets and arrived here.

Having reached his current realm, he could already perceive the various Great Dao chains left by the Emperor, though they were extremely hidden.

Especially on this Ancient Star, the resonance was even stronger.

However, Gu Xuan did not attend to this matter for the time being, because the Emperor's contingency had an extremely long duration, and he currently had more important matters.

He came to the air above the Kun Lun Mountains, and through that condensed Immortal Essence, he saw at a glance the Void within the Cheng Immortal Pond.

Over a thousand years had passed.

The Void's condition still had not changed in the slightest, still that white-haired, aged appearance.

And Gu Xuan opened his Divine Path Heavenly Eye, and could even see within his body two strands of Qi, one black one white, entangling — the clash of Death Qi and Life Qi, harboring great peril.

This kind of matter, even Gu Xuan could not lend a hand; it could only be crossed by the Void alone!

On the Immortal Path one is inherently alone; one can only rely on oneself!

Gu Xuan continued on his way, wandering on this Ancient Star.

He wanted to find a suitable burial place for the Taiyin Human Emperor's remnant body.

Or rather, a place to nurture the spirit!

He regretted that a generation's Human Emperor had perished just like this, and had the intention to try, to help him return.

But the Human Emperor had after all fallen countless ages ago, and his realm was not much weaker than Gu Xuan's.

Some things, even Gu Xuan as a current Heavenly Emperor, could not achieve effortlessly; he could only do his utmost.

And the Honghuang Ancient Star was the finest star he knew for nurturing the spirit.

And during the process of wandering and searching, he made more discoveries, which even surprised him somewhat.

A full three burial grounds, some in the Kun Lun Mountains, some in the Divine Peaks on the outside — all were rare treasured lands of ancient and modern times, second only to the Cheng Immortal Pond which Gu Xuan had painstakingly repaired!

Among them were faint Imperial Dao fluctuations; even Emperor-level experts would find them hard to perceive.

This was also why Gu Xuan had come to the Honghuang Ancient Star several times before, yet never managed to discover them.

Only upon reaching his current realm could he perceive them.

And these Imperial Dao fluctuations, though barely detectable, were in truth terrifying to the extreme!

If a Quasi-Emperor tried to excavate, touching them meant certain death, turning to dust — even with a hundred lives he would not survive.

Even if a Great Emperor attempted it, he would suffer a heavy blow, with incalculable consequences.

Through these fluctuations, Gu Xuan knew whose corpses were buried in these three burial grounds!

Daode Tianzun, Amitabha Great Emperor, Hengyu Great Emperor!

Not one was anything less than a renowned Tianzun or Great Emperor of ten thousand ages, who once reigned supreme over the Yu Nei for an era.

Indeed it matched up!

Gu Xuan's heart stirred with sudden realization.

Emperor corpses gain sentience; after a hundred thousand years, these three Great Emperor-level figures successively transformed into Laozi, Shìjiāmùní, and Shen Nong — though they did not prove the Dao, they all cultivated to Quasi-Emperor Peak experts!

And now.

The Void has also come here, likewise borrowing the Immortal-Nurturing Land to achieve Nirvana.

Suddenly.

At this moment, a chill surged in Gu Xuan's heart.

He faintly had an ominous feeling, as if the Void would fail his transformation; otherwise, how would the later Huang Di fare?

Could it be that the worldline must ultimately return to its original trajectory?

But soon, Gu Xuan traced back to his true heart, perceiving that this was not the Heavenly Emperor's strongest spiritual awareness, not amounting to a glimpse of the future.

Rather, it was because on this Ancient Star, the Emperor's many Dao Mark chains were inscribed, affecting a strand of Gu Xuan's Divine Sense.

Coupled with the three Great Emperor-level experts' sentient Emperor corpses, this effect arose.

Regardless, this sufficed to demonstrate the Emperor's power — to actually be able to affect a Heavenly Emperor-level expert!

"Duh!"

Gu Xuan let out a light shout, dispersing the Great Dao chains left behind by the Emperor, preventing them from causing further trouble.

After that.

He searched the entire Kun Lun Range, the endlessly vast region, leaving no divine peak, strange summit, or unusual valley unsearched.

Finally.

He found a burial ground, in no way inferior to the burial places of the other three Emperor-level experts; it was atop a towering snow peak, around which wound a surging, winding river.

Gu Xuan carefully buried the Taiyin Human Emperor's remnant body within it, erecting a burial mound.

And he set down a restriction: as long as he did not die, unless someone could defeat him, no one would be able to excavate or destroy it.

But if one day in the future, the Taiyin Human Emperor's imperial corpse gained spiritual wisdom and broke its seal to emerge, it would not encounter any obstruction.

Of course.

Such a method, even if it one day bore fruit, would not be the true return of the Taiyin Human Emperor, but merely his corpse newly birthing spiritual wisdom.

But this was already the best method Gu Xuan could think of.

Only in the future, if his cultivation advanced further and he stepped into the Immortal Dao realm, might there be a sliver of possibility to truly help the Human Emperor return.

As for the path of faith, he had not failed to consider it.

But unlike in later generations, where Ye Fan resurrected Gai Nine Serenities, Ji Zi, and Jiang Taixu — the three of them had not been dead for long.

The era in which the Taiyin Human Emperor fell was already too far distant from now.

So distant that even if Gu Xuan first employed the method of belief power, it would likely be an empty effort.

With all matters concluded, he left this place.

……

The matter of the Taiyin Human Emperor was ultimately settled.

To see this peerless human ancestor again might require waiting tens or even hundreds of thousands of years later, and even then only a sliver of possibility.

"Next is the Taiyang Sheng Huang."

This likewise involved an unknown case from ancient history.

To a certain extent, it might also help the path Gu Xuan would walk in the future.

According to later records, the Taiyang Sheng Huang's Spirit Coffin of the Ancient God should be on a dead star in the Star Depths.

The Universe is so boundlessly vast, the stars simply endless!

Even a Great Emperor could not possibly traverse them all.

Without coordinates, not even knowing which Star Domain it was in — for ordinary cultivators to search, the difficulty could no longer be described as finding a needle in a haystack.

Only one who had reached Gu Xuan's current realm could speak of possibility.

Of course.

As the current Heavenly Emperor, he could also issue a decree, letting all major forces in the entire Universe search.

But that would alarm too many, and was not his intention.

Therefore.

Gu Xuan alone, starting from the Ziwei Xingyu.

While deducing, he used his own understanding of the Taiyang Ancient Scripture to sense the location of the Sheng Huang's Spirit Coffin of the Ancient God.

Finally.

He arrived at a particularly desolate, dead silent star.

The entire planet could be said to be desolate to the extreme.

Aside from that strange five-colored ancient tree, there was only the Taiyang Sheng Huang's Shenyi Nian.

It was an old man in blue robes, tall and slender, with a clear, spare appearance, looking like he had Dao Bone Immortal bearing, not a trace of mortal air, very much giving a feeling of natural ancient Dao.

In the past, the Shenyi Nian manifested from within the Sun Stone Pagoda was also this image.

The only difference was that the old man had only a single arm left.

"Return to native soil, cannot be buried in a foreign land..."

He muttered to himself, atop a giant peak, somewhat inconveniently placing piece after piece of five-colored crystal stone together; the situation suggested he was building a small five-colored altar.

This scene gave a feeling of extreme strangeness, even somewhat awe-inspiring!

Gu Xuan noticed that on the Shenyi Nian's severed arm, there was the aura of Thunder Tribulation.

Obviously, this was because this kind of yin spirit was intolerable to Upper Heaven, which sent down heavenly punishment to sever it; it could hardly regrow, having attached mutually destructive power.

But it was also enough to show the Taiyang Sheng Huang's peerless strength!

Merely his Shenyi Nian — even the heavenly punishment that most counters it could not completely erase it, only destroying one of its arms.

"Who can bury me in my native soil?"

Before the five-colored altar, the Shenyi Nian mechanically repeated the stacking motions, murmuring unceasingly, like an indestructible obsession.

And Gu Xuan had also seen clearly.

This Shenyi Nian had already experienced many tens of thousands of years; perhaps after another hundred thousand years, only a strand of obsession would remain, ultimately dissipating completely.

Next moment.

Gu Xuan reached out a big hand, instantly tearing open the ground, straight to the core of this ancient star, and took out a sealed Spirit Coffin of the Ancient God.

After finding this ancient coffin, he collected the Shenyi Nian together with it; Gu Xuan did not immediately open the coffin, but returned to Ziwei Xing.

(Chapter End)