Even so, Jiang Liu dared not be careless. The fourth generation of Yuan Tian Master was active many years ago, and who knows if this formation has been damaged? He could not be careless.
Finally, he saw an ancient building, old and dilapidated, but it had not fallen and stood quietly in the shadow of the pine forest.
That was a temple!
Jiang Liu ventured here for the sake of the Origin Technique inheritance inscribed on the temple's stone pillars. Over ten thousand years ago, the fourth-generation Origin Master sealed this demonic land here in his later years, leaving behind his notes, which are deeply engraved on the temple's stone pillars, remaining indestructible for ten thousand years!
The characters on this stone pillar are very dense and deeply engraved, three inches deep into the pillar, as if afraid they would be erased.
This is a source technique, a correct supplement.
The fourth patriarch, in more than two hundred years, went through life and death, and saw many dangerous places, some of which were beyond the scope of the universe, and the mystery was unsolvable.
His learned techniques were insufficient to break through it; it was only through his own creativity and flashes of inspiration that he escaped those perilous places and lived to a ripe old age. The inscription on this pillar is a supplement to his understanding before his death, a continuation of his extraordinary story.
For Master Yuan, this was an unparalleled secret manual, something even the divine source could not obtain.
Throughout history, only five Source Masters have emerged. This is the culmination of a patriarch's life's work, and its preciousness is immeasurable.
Jiang Liu read it word by word, silently memorizing it, afraid of missing a single symbol.
This text is extremely profound and difficult to understand. It contains various source techniques that are unheard of and almost border on the Dao. Even Jiang Liu couldn't understand much of it and could only memorize it.
Once Chromium had memorized it, he flicked his sleeve, and stone chips flew everywhere, causing this Source Technique to disappear forever.
Having obtained the most precious inheritance of the Source Celestial Master, Jiang Liu breathed a sigh of relief.
The Origin Heaven Technique has the ability to stabilize dragon veins, lock divine sources, and change the general trend of mountains and rivers. Jiang Liu felt that it would be of great use in the future. It is not a combat power, nor is it a mountain-moving supernatural power, but it is more useful than supernatural powers.
Knowing that there was a jade turtle with a divine source shell in the dilapidated temple, Jiang Liu searched for it and found that many treasures had decayed over countless years, and even the divine iron had decomposed into a lump of black slag.
Finally, he sensed an object beneath the altar in the center of the main hall. He brushed aside the thick layer of ash, removed the dust of history, and brought it back to the light of day.
An ordinary little jade turtle without any Dao patterns appeared in Jiang Liu's hand. If it were someone else, they would definitely treat it as a piece of jade to play with. It was green all over, about the size of a walnut, and was so lifelike that it was almost like a real turtle. It was very warm and smooth to hold in the hand.
However, in the Heavenly Eye of the Source Master Jiang Liu cultivated, this little turtle contained demonic power sealed within it. It was a rotting corpse, filled with the corrosive aura of death.
"If this thing is used to cheat people, it will turn an entire city into a hellish place, and even powerful beings will be poisoned by the corpse poison."
He put away the jade turtle and left the temple. Holding it, following the instructions of the fourth generation Yuan Tian Master, Jiang Liu walked out safely.
"You've come out again. You've come out of such a dangerous place again. We were attacked by ancient creatures here, and you actually went deep into the Demon Land and came out again..." The Black Emperor was incredulous. Then he calculated in his mind and found that Jiang Liu had entered several places where death was certain: Purple Mountain, Fire Dragon Tomb, and this pine forest. These were the ones he knew. There must be many more that he didn't know.
Duan De, however, understood even better, muttering, "The Ancient Forbidden Land, the Demon Emperor's Tomb, Purple Mountain, the Primordial Ancient Mine—the seven forbidden lands of life in the Eastern Wilderness—are not forbidden lands for you at all..."
Jiang Liu walked out, slowly exhaled, and looked at the corpse at their feet. It was a blue creature with snow-white bone wings, more than five meters tall. It was obviously some kind of ancient creature that came out of the source and launched an attack on them.
But he died tragically on the spot.
Chapter 348 The Great Emperor's Weapon Training Ground
A powerful ancient creature was attacked by three people.
Jiang Taixu pointed at the corpse and explained, "This is an ancient creature capable of activating the True Demon Domain. Even a powerful expert from the Dragon Transformation Realm might not be a match for it. However, Master Duan and the Black Emperor are exceptionally skilled; otherwise, there would have been real danger."
Black Emperor leaned closer and said, "Brother Jiang, if you really want to be grateful, exchange that furnace with me. I'll give you the Demon Emperor's essence blood and the Great Emperor's Ancient Scripture. You're already half-buried in the ground, and the Demon Emperor's essence blood will be of great use to you."
This greedy black dog had always coveted Jiang Taixu's broken furnace and wanted to possess it. Clearly, it had recognized the extraordinary nature of that Divine Furnace of Departing Fire.
Jiang Taixu shook his head and said, "That furnace is of great use to me, so I cannot give it to you."
"Alright, Black Emperor, don't mess with my brother, or you'll regret it!" Then he said to Jiang Taixu, "Brother, there's a great opportunity ahead for you. Be prepared, don't let this greedy fat man and dog steal it from you."
Duan De refused to accept this and said aggrievedly, "Brother Jiang, I've been behaving myself and waiting for you to open the Divine Source at the Holy Land Stone Workshop. I'll just have a sip of soup. Of course, if any powerful demons come to snatch my Demon Emperor's Heart, you'll have to lend a hand."
Jiang Liu frowned and said, "Old Duan, you've had the Demon Emperor's Heart for three years now, why haven't you refined it yet? You've also gained immense benefits, how about I exchange it with you for Divine Source? You can't keep it anyway..."
"What will you offer in exchange?" Duan De was somewhat tempted. He had been unable to refine the Demon Emperor's Heart for a long time, and could only absorb the Demon Emperor's essence blood. Now that the Demon Emperor's descendants had seen through his scheme, he would surely be hunted down by the Peacock King and the Azure Dragon King after he left, and he would not be able to protect the Demon Emperor's Heart.
"How about this?" Jiang Liu took out the newly acquired jade turtle and said, "This is the shell of divine origin..."
Duan De narrowed his eyes slightly. He sensed the ferocious creature inside, but still said casually, "It's just a shell of divine source, nothing special!"
"Woof... Fatty, you don't want it, I want it! Jiang Liu, I'll trade you the Great Emperor's Ancient Scripture..."
Jiang Liu waved his hand and said, "Get out of the way..."
The Black Emperor frantically pawed at the ground, but there was nothing he could do. He had no valuable treasures to offer. Grinning, he said, "This is infuriating! If my treasures weren't sealed in my sea of consciousness, I would have robbed you all..."
“Old Duan! You should be able to tell what’s sealed inside this little jade turtle. It’s the corpse of a quasi-emperor. Although it’s already rotten, it still possesses unparalleled corpse energy.” Jiang Liu said, playing with the little jade turtle in his hands.
Duan De's lips twitched slightly as he said, "Quasi-Emperor's corpse energy? If the seal is broken, half of the Northern Region will turn into a ghost town... You're right, I sense immense danger."
"Will you trade or not? This is a powerful weapon. With it in hand, no one will dare to touch you. Besides... with your abilities, breaking this seal won't be difficult, and escaping from the corpse energy won't be difficult either. Moreover, if you ever want to rob tombs in the future, just take out this little jade turtle, and what evil spirit will dare to approach you..."
"But this is too ominous, I'm afraid I can't suppress it..."
Before Duan De could finish speaking, Hei Huang interrupted, saying, "Fatty, do you want it? If not, I want it..."
"You can't protect the Demon Emperor's heart, so you might as well trade with me. Old Duan, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"Change..." Duan De made up his mind and said, "This place won't do, it's too dangerous. We'll switch when we get to a safe place."
Jiang Liu smiled and said, "Alright, I'll take you to find another great opportunity. You didn't dare to go deep into the Fire Dragon Tomb and Pine Forest before. If you still don't dare this time, you're being far too cautious!"
Following the river's eastward and westward turns, Duan De and the Black Emperor's faces turned green.
"This is the legendary Crimson Blood Cave, a place of extreme yin and softness, a demonic land. And that mountain, could it be the legendary Fallen Sun Ridge, a place of extreme yang and hardness? When yin and yang meet, even gods and ghosts flee. Is this the great opportunity you spoke of?" Duan De felt he couldn't muster any more anger. One dangerous place after another, his heart was weary.
Just ahead, all was silent. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't notice anything at all. But if you calmed down and sensed carefully, you would soon discover the strange phenomenon.
On the ground, there is a blood moon, echoing the bright moon in the sky, drawing in a sky full of clear light, but after entering the ground, it turns crimson.
It was a crescent moon stained with blood, exuding an aura of extreme yin and softness, which became more and more terrifying the more one looked at it.
The Crimson Blood Cave, described in the Book of Origin Heaven with a full three pages, is one of the most terrifying forbidden zones.
Falling Sun Ridge and Crimson Moon Cave are equally famous, and they occasionally grow together. When the two grow together, it is extremely terrifying, which is rare in history and will never happen more than three times.
That mountain range seemed to contain collapsed ruins, shrouded in mystery.
"The great opportunity I was talking about... is right there!" Jiang Liu said solemnly, pointing to the ruins on Falling Sun Ridge.
"Where do I find great opportunities? All I see is murderous intent..."
Since seeing that mountain range, Jiang Taixu hadn't looked away. His cloudy eyes instantly cleared, and he choked out, "That... is the training ground for Emperor Hengyu's weapons..."
"Hmm!!!" Duan De and Hei Huang looked surprised. They hadn't paid attention before, but now that Jiang Taixu said it, they immediately realized that Falling Sun Ridge didn't have such strong yang energy, which was different from what they had imagined.
"There really was a black, blazing sun, extremely strong and yang, but it could not withstand the extreme yin of the Crimson Moon Cave."
"Something's not right. The extremely strong and yang energy is clearly insufficient. It's highly likely that the place where Emperor Hengyu forged his weapons has depleted the yang energy of Falling Sun Ridge. Fatty, this is truly a great opportunity..."
Duan De's face was filled with shock as he said, "The Great Emperor of the Jiang family, an ancient clan in the Northern Region, is truly the place where he forged his ultimate weapon! The mighty and renowned Emperor Hengyu, whose fame shook the world, lived in the ancient era, hundreds of thousands of years ago! We have found his weapon-forging site..."
“Brother, this is the great opportunity you spoke of!” Jiang Taixu straightened his back, bowed respectfully three times towards Falling Sun Ridge, and then stood up and said, “I searched the entire Northern Region back then but couldn’t find it. It’s actually in the Primordial Ancient Mine. It’s truly unbelievable…”
He was slightly startled by Jiang Taixu's words. When he came out of Zishan that day, he did not sense Jiang Taixu's presence, so he naturally did not know who the old man in front of him was. He always thought that he was Jiang Liu's older brother, since they were both named "Jiang" and "Jiang".
Duan De was also a little stunned, and asked tactfully, "Brother Jiang, what are your achievements? Tell us about them so we can broaden our horizons."
Jiang Taixu shook his head, strode towards Falling Sun Ridge, and said, "A hero doesn't boast of past glories; the past is too painful to recall. Now I am old, and this world belongs to you young people..."
Chapter 349 Blindingly Bright
Fallen Sun Ridge, according to legend, was formed when the son of the sun fell to earth. It is an extremely dangerous place with extreme yang energy, comparable to the danger of Fire Dragon Tomb and similar to the terrifying danger of the eighth level of the Fire Domain.
Tens of thousands of years ago, Emperor Hengyu forged an ultimate weapon here, successfully creating the Sun God Furnace with Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold, which became the guardian imperial weapon passed down through generations of the ancient Jiang family.
Even the Great Emperor could only forge one ultimate weapon in his lifetime, not only because it was too difficult, but also because the required divine materials were hard to find. The materials for forging ultimate weapons could be searched all over the Eastern Wilderness, but it was still very difficult to gather them all.
"I wonder if there is any Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold left behind by Emperor Hengyu here. If there is, I will be laughing in my dreams!"
"Currently, only the direct descendants of the Jiang family have seen the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold. It has been four or five thousand years since that ultimate weapon was last seen... Let me make this clear beforehand: if there is any gain later, it all depends on each person's luck. Whoever gets it first will own it. Snatching is strictly prohibited!" Duan De was also afraid of the Black Emperor. This dog was far too greedy.
“Alright, it all depends on luck…” Black Emperor nodded, then quickly headed towards Fallen Sun Ridge, afraid of falling behind.
Crimson Moon Cave and Fallen Sun Ridge coexisted, making them extremely perilous places in ancient times. However, Emperor Hengyu used them to sacrifice weapons, draining their yang energy to create supreme weapons forged from phoenix blood and crimson gold. It was precisely because of this that Fallen Sun Ridge lacked sufficient yang energy, thus destroying this ancient and perilous place.
The ruins were long since decayed, the walls and ruins crumbling to dust at the slightest touch, even the stone pillars were no exception.
Ahead, all is peaceful, the ruins have turned to ashes, and if you sense with your heart, you can see a blurry black sun on the ground.
It is only a few hundred feet in circumference, much smaller than the Crimson Moon Cave. Even after hundreds of thousands of years, the yang energy remains insufficient.
Surprisingly, on the banks of Wuri stands an ancient building, towering majestically, undamaged. Above it hangs a plaque inscribed with the characters "Hengyu".
The Black Emperor almost roared to the heavens: "This is truly the site of Emperor Hengyu's sacrificial ceremony! There must be treasures left behind. We'll dig three feet into the ground to find them..."
This is not an ancient ruin, but an ancient building left by Emperor Hengyu. Legend has it that he spent more than a year refining an ultimate weapon alone in the Primordial Forbidden Zone.
This was his former residence. Although it is covered in dust, it still stands tall, with a Taoist aura flowing through it.
Standing on Falling Sun Ridge, Jiang Taixu felt a deep sense of reverence as he contemplated the place where his ancestors had lived. He was connected to them by blood and they were closely intertwined because of this connection.
Everything seemed so familiar to him, as if he were witnessing the scenes of Emperor Hengyu forging weapons, cultivating, and living his life.
This is the true ruins of an emperor. This building, constructed from massive piles of source stone, is incredibly magnificent, giving one the feeling that the Great Dao is as high and unattainable as the heavens; this is the Dao of Emperor Hengyu.
Black Emperor and Duan De have already started searching the ruins, truly digging three feet into the ground.
"Damn, so many corpses! Just how many ancient creatures did Emperor Hengyu kill..." Black Emperor exclaimed, then ignored them and focused on searching for treasures.
On the other side of the ancient building, skeletons were piled up into a small mountain. Even after hundreds of thousands of years, those bones still shimmered with light. There were at least a hundred skeletons, most of them humanoid, but clearly not of the human race.
Jiang Taixu stood before the ancient ruins, his divine sense spreading throughout the entire Falling Sun Ridge with an inexplicable Daoist aura, and he was experiencing a sudden enlightenment.
He suddenly understood the Dao of Emperor Hengyu.
That's his way too!
Jiang Liu knew this was a crucial moment for him, so he stayed close by, not even bothering to search for the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold left by the Great Emperor for a destined person. His older brother, Jiang Taixu, might have made another leap forward in this enlightenment, recovering from his weakness; the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold couldn't compare to Jiang Taixu's restored strength.
"The White-Robed God-King is about to reappear in the mortal realm. I really want to see the surprised expressions on the faces of those powerful figures from the holy lands... I'll plunder the holy land's stone archway and see who can stop me!"
Black Emperor was so eager to dig three feet into the ground, but he didn't find any treasure. He rushed over, wanting to ask Jiang Liu for help, but was slapped away by Jiang Liu.