Chapter 452: Sound Emperor? Follower of the Earth Supreme Realm! Bodhi Ancient Tree!

Akatsuki Yan was momentarily deeply concerned, for his greatest reliance was the Burnt Scripture’s ability to absorb and fuse multiple Strange Fires into the Buddha’s Wrath Lotus.

If Chu Yang was after the Strange Fires, he would refuse outright, for losing them would cause his strength to plummet.

But if Chu Yang wanted him to gather all the Strange Fires for himself, his power would far surpass his current level.

Even if he didn’t break through to the Dou Emperor realm, he could at least reach Half-Emperor, standing on the same level as Chu Yang.

Thinking this through, Akatsuki Yan relaxed slightly.

If worst came to worst, he could repay Chu Yang in other ways—after all, with sufficient strength, one had the leverage to negotiate.

…………

After leaving the Ancient Domain Platform, Chu Yang directly entered the depths of the Wild Ancient Domain, sitting cross-legged atop a mountain peak, sorting through the myriad fragments of information in his mind.

These fragments came from the images he had seen through the Clay Audio, but they could not be connected, yielding only disjointed pieces.

Chu Yang could only barely piece them together and deduce the general outline.

The final conclusion pointed to a war that had once taken place in the Wild Ancient Domain during ancient times.

Chu Yang could not discern the war’s cause from the information, but judging from the images, the two sides were likely the native strongholds of the Dou Qi Continent and the Outer Demon Clan.

The Ancient Domain Platform was not the battlefield’s center, yet even so, every warrior depicted in the images was at least a Dou Saint.

Even the number of Dou Emperors who participated reached double digits!

From this, Chu Yang became even more certain that the secret of the Wild Ancient Domain was tied to the historical fracture of the Dou Qi Continent.

But the information was too fragmented; aside from this, there was little else of value.

Notably, Chu Yang spotted in those images a figure who very likely was the Sound Emperor.

This individual was immensely powerful; his arrival turned the once grueling battle into a one-sided rout, granting the Dou Qi Continent a complete victory.

The Sound Emperor wielded a bamboo flute, killing with sound waves—any Outer Demon Clan Dou Emperor who came within a hundred zhang of him was shredded by the sonic vibrations.

From this, it was clear the Sound Emperor’s strength surpassed the Dou Emperor realm! If measured by the Grand World’s cultivation tiers, where Dou Emperor equates to Earth Supreme, the Sound Emperor was surely at least an Earth Supreme! The Bodhi Ancient Tree appeared once every thousand years, yet since ancient times—over ten thousand years—it had never reappeared.

Now, it had reappeared once more—in the Wild Ancient Domain.

Coupled with the information from the Ancient Domain Platform, and the fact that the Sound Emperor—who was likely tied to the historical fracture—had also participated in the war there,

all clues pointed to the Wild Ancient Domain. Combined with its anomalies, Chu Yang felt he was drawing closer to the truth.

His desire to uncover the Dou Qi Continent’s historical fracture was not mere curiosity—he sensed the continent hid some profound secret.

If he could unearth it, it might bring him an unexpected boon.

Putting aside his thoughts, Chu Yang tore open the space before him and established a relatively stable miniature world, then stepped inside.

For the next month, Chu Yang remained in seclusion within the miniature world, cultivating while simultaneously refining pills.

He had previously acquired vast quantities of heavenly treasures and earthly rarities from various clans in the Jia Ma Empire, and later, during visits to major factions, exchanged pills for even more medicinal ingredients.

Because Chu Yang routinely produced Grade Nine pills, every faction eagerly traded with him.

After all, these heavenly treasures were hard to fully utilize within their own hands, and even hiring high-grade alchemists carried a significant failure rate.

Better to trade them with Chu Yang—even if it meant taking a loss—to forge goodwill with the continent’s strongest.

Thus, Chu Yang’s medicinal reserves were ample, sufficient to sustain him until all Four Sacred Spirits were fully evolved.

Yet he noticed a drawback: while the Ascension Spell’s pill-consumption accelerated the Four Sacred Spirits’ evolution, it paled compared to the Divine Dragon Spirit’s direct consumption of special treasures.

After the Divine Dragon Spirit devoured the Void Thunder Pool, its thunder affinity surged dramatically, and future evolution would further enhance its thunder potency.

This was like consuming special treasures elevating a spirit’s very essence, whereas consuming herbs or pills merely accumulated energy for evolution.

One was a qualitative transformation; the other, quantitative.

At the same evolutionary stage, the Divine Dragon Spirit’s power now surpassed the other three.

But Chu Yang could not attend to everything—priorities must be set. Perfecting the Artifact Refining Scripture naturally took precedence over elevating the Four Sacred Spirits.

Even with Chu Yang’s alchemical efficiency, refining all his stored herbs into pills would take time, for the quantity of pills needed to evolve the Four Sacred Spirits was immense.

Satisfying the appetites of these four gold-devouring beasts was no easy task.

When Chu Yang exited the miniature world, the “progress bar” for the Four Sacred Spirits’ evolution had surged significantly—but during this period, he had been exclusively feeding the Phoenix Spirit, the Tortoise Spirit, and the Qilin Spirit.

The evolution progress of these three had all reached seventy percent, while the Divine Dragon Spirit had only increased five percent, reaching seventy-five percent.

To avoid unnecessary complications, Chu Yang planned to upgrade all four spirits simultaneously.

After all, once upgraded, the Four Sacred Spirits would undergo qualitative changes—who knew if Ao Ting could still suppress the Divine Dragon Spirit’s power and maintain balance with the other three? If the balance shattered and conflict erupted among them, the ridicule would be immense.

Another reason: Chu Yang sensed… this might merely be the first stage of the Four Sacred Spirits’ evolution—or the first level of the Ascension Spell.

After all, this was a technique contained within the Divine Tree’s fruit; if it could only raise the Four Sacred Spirits’ ceiling to the Dou Emperor level, it would be unworthy of the Divine Tree’s stature.

Moreover, both the Artifact Refining Scripture and the Dragon-Elephant Bright King Scripture had immense growth potential—so too must the Ascension Spell.

Chu Yang had long delayed enhancing the Dragon-Elephant Bright King Scripture not because he neglected it, but because no suitable opportunity had arisen.

If he could draw the true essence of a Divine Dragon and Celestial Elephant into his body, this body-refining art would ascend again! “Timing-wise… Zi Yan should have finished digesting the Dragon-Feng Origin Fruit’s power by now?”

Chu Yang narrowed his eyes, pondering, when suddenly he sensed a surge of energy deep within the Wild Ancient Domain—his spirit sharpened.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree!

…………

Deep within the Wild Ancient Domain, a towering ancient tree stood alone on a vast plain, strikingly out of place.

It emitted waves of pure qi, gathering above and constantly shifting into bizarre shapes, utterly strange.

An ancient aura emanated from the tree, as if it had crossed the river of time from the dawn of existence. A brilliant, dazzling light hovered slowly before it.

Through the glow, a heart-like silhouette could be faintly seen, pulsing with rhythmic precision.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree! The Bodhi Heart!

Chu Yang stood alone in midair, a hundred zhang from the Bodhi Ancient Tree, gazing down.

Before the Bodhi Ancient Tree, countless figures had gathered—nearly all were Dou Zun, yet none were Half-Saints.

Chu Yang had said only those below Dou Saint level could vie for the opportunity, but no one knew whether “below Dou Saint” included Half-Saints.

Thus, no faction or Half-Saint dared risk provoking his displeasure by testing the rules.

Leading the Dou Zun peak strongholds were Akatsuki Yan and the young elites of various clans, each employing their own methods to battle the five Half-Saint puppets guarding the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

As the five Half-Saint puppets were finally obliterated, Akatsuki Yan and the others surged forward toward the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

Instantly, the Bodhi Ancient Tree erupted in dazzling light, attempting to engulf them all.

Chu Yang’s eyes flashed with sharp light—he vanished from his spot and reappeared before them all.

The brilliant light descended, enveloping Chu Yang first, and the scene before him rapidly transformed.

It was still the Wild Ancient Domain, but the Bodhi Ancient Tree was gone; all was silent, the plain empty.

After waiting quietly for a moment, Chu Yang shook his head and said: “Your illusion? Why not deploy it?”

“Or does the illusion that feeds on negative emotions and desires have no effect on me?”

He spoke as if to empty air—yet no sooner had the words left his lips than a miniature Bodhi Ancient Tree appeared nearby.

Its trunk swayed slightly, leaves rustling as if in reply.

“I can purge the negative emotions of the Dou Emperor from Itachi, but I demand the truth of what happened—don’t try to deceive me with polished images.”

Chu Yang’s expression was calm, his tone edged with subtle pressure.

The miniature Bodhi Ancient Tree—or more accurately, its tree spirit—shook slightly, then emitted waves of light.

Moments later, two towering figures suddenly materialized on the plain, radiating terrifying power.

Chu Yang instantly judged: their realms were not merely Dou Emperor—they were Earth Supremes! One held a bamboo flute—undeniably the same figure Chu Yang had glimpsed through the Klein Bottle on the Ancient Domain Platform, the suspected Sound Emperor! The other wore black robes, his face cold and stern, wreathed in gray-black mist.

They clashed— the black-robed Earth Supreme’s techniques were elusive, his power neither Dou Qi nor the flute-wielder’s spiritual energy.

The Outer Demon Clan!

If earlier it had been speculation, Chu Yang now knew for certain: the Dou Qi Continent’s strongholds had gathered in the Wild Ancient Domain to resist the Outer Demon Clan! Eventually, the black-robed Earth Supreme was defeated and tried to flee.

Then the scene shifted—he encountered the Bodhi Ancient Tree, attempting to forcibly drain its power and spirit to heal himself, only to be slain by the Bodhi Ancient Tree and the flute-wielder together.

Yet as he perished, a strand of his negative emotion seeped into the Bodhi Ancient Tree, and over countless years, infiltrated its tree spirit.

The vision ended abruptly. Chu Yang narrowed his eyes and asked: “Was that man the Sound Emperor?”

The Bodhi Ancient Tree swayed gently, emitting a soul-wave.

After interpreting its meaning, Chu Yang frowned.

For the Bodhi Ancient Tree told him: the flute-wielder was not the Sound Emperor, but the strongest among his many followers! Recalling the information from the Sound Valley, its founder had also been a follower of the Sound Emperor—but due to insufficient strength, had failed to remain by his side.

After the Sound Emperor vanished without trace, he founded the Sound Valley, avoiding worldly conflicts, waiting only for his master’s return.

Now it seemed the Sound Emperor’s followers were numerous—even including Earth Supremes like the flute-wielder! If even his followers were this strong, what realm was the Sound Emperor himself?

Heaven Supreme? But if he were truly a Heaven Supreme, why was he unknown in the Grand World? “Have Itachi ever seen the Sound Emperor?” Chu Yang asked again.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree emitted a burst of light, finally forming a human shape before Chu Yang.

Seeing this figure, Chu Yang froze slightly.

It was a woman—delicate features, tall and slender, unremarkable in beauty or aura, yet instantly radiating an aura of peerless elegance! He had never imagined the mysterious Sound Emperor was a woman.

“What realm was she?” Chu Yang asked, turning back to the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

This time, the Bodhi Ancient Tree gave no reply. Chu Yang paused, then asked: “Is she still alive?”

The Bodhi Ancient Tree trembled slightly—but still gave no answer.

“Itachi don’t know either…” Chu Yang frowned.

After a moment, he waved his hand: “Enough. I’ll purge the Outer Demon Emperor’s negative emotion first.”

As he spoke, Chu Yang swept his hand, his vast soul force surging forth to envelop the Bodhi Ancient Tree’s spirit.

Thin strands of gray-black mist seeped from within the spirit.

In mere breaths, Chu Yang withdrew his soul force—the once-eager Bodhi Ancient Tree spirit now shook violently, transmitting waves of soul energy.

The meaning within it seemed to say…

It’s not over yet—why did Itachi stop? Chu Yang smiled and said, “Aren’t Itachi still holding another candidate?”

Leave the rest to him!

I’ll also grant him a stroke of fortune. Come find me again after it’s done—I have many things I want to discuss with Itachi.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree was displeased, sending out a wave of soul-based protest that gradually faded until it vanished completely.

Am I really that intimidating to Itachi? Chu Yang was slightly surprised.

The spirit of the Bodhi Ancient Tree had clearly just felt resentment, yet it left sullenly, as if afraid to speak out.

The Bodhi Ancient Tree dares to stand against Earth Supreme Beings—why would it fear me, a Six-Star Dou Saint? (End of chapter)