From a martial arts disciple to a god through countless trials and tribulations

Chapter 303 Xinzhai and the Human Emperor

The sky is like azure, and all the trees are radiant with green light. This is the world of wood virtue that arose from a wisp of immortal thought.

Beneath the Jianmu tree, Chen Xuan was originally flipping through the inheritance bamboo slips in his hand, but upon hearing that the old emperor of the Immortals came from the Dayu Dynasty, he was surprised and immediately gave the imperial princess a wink.

This is the ancestor of Emperor Yu!
The princess could not understand the specific meaning of Chen Xuan's glance, but she could sense his emotional fluctuations and stepped forward in an instant.

With a serious expression, she pointed her jade-like finger, which gleamed with an eerie light, at the aging Emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty and commanded, "Human Emperor, behave yourself. You... well, you need to behave yourself."

The Empress is a combination of traces of the Empress, the Mountain Spirit, and the Goddess of Wushan who wandered in the Great Wilderness. Although she did not know the old Emperor of Great Yu, after hearing the title of "Immortal Emperor of Taiyu", she seemed to know who he was.

"??"

The Emperor of Great Yu stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the Empress who was solemnly giving him orders. He was somewhat bewildered. Then, he looked at Chen Xuan and asked directly, "Young friend, do you have a grudge against Great Yu? Can it be resolved?"

With the Empress Dowager as his backer, Chen Xuan was not too worried about the sudden attack of this wisp of immortal energy.

"Senior Emperor, are you a Golden Core Immortal from the Celestial Palace?" he asked directly.

Back then, I tried to peek into the situation of the Immortal Palace through True Lord Ziyang, but there wasn't enough time, and I didn't get to see the situation of the Wood Virtue Golden Elixir Immortal.

"I disappeared into seclusion in the Middle Ages," the Emperor of Great Yu said, shaking his head. "And the Immortal Palace is a product of recent times, so there's no reason for me to be one."

This wisp of immortal trace was left by him when he visited an ancient secluded dwelling in the Great Wilderness after he first ascended to the path of immortality. Therefore, he was unaware of the events of later generations. However, since the Mountain and Sea Banquet was held nine times in a row, he knew some information.

The era of immortals and ghosts lasted for eight million years and can be roughly divided into three stages.

In the early ancient times, there were occasional major battles between the sages who swept across the mountains and seas, but the ancient sages have basically disappeared.

In the mid-Middle Ages, only a group of ancient immortals remained in the world, but they were either ascending to heaven or disappearing into the shadows.

In the late ancient period, which lasted for millions of years, the celestial palace suppressed the mortal world, and the immortals basically became legends.

Many people believe that the reason why so many ancient sages and immortals ascended to heaven and disappeared took away the immortal energy and essence of the five directions of the earth is that it is difficult for great cultivators to emerge from the five directions of the earth.

"You..." Chen Xuan stared at the Great Yu Emperor, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Senior Emperor, why did you disappear?"

This old emperor should have nothing to do with Emperor Yu, after all, millions of years have passed, so he asked other questions.

"I don't know why we disappeared later, but I have some guesses," the Great Yu Emperor said. "The Five Directions Lands are gradually drying up. However, the level of the Immortals is too high. In the mortal world, a single breath would exhaust the immortal energy and essence of a Feng Shui treasure land... If we hadn't disappeared, the Five Directions Lands probably wouldn't exist now."

Those who practice Qi absorb the essence of heaven and earth, plunder the sun and moon to strengthen their own bodies, and are the greatest scourge in the world.

Chen Xuan had this premonition when he first started cultivating the Dao. Even with his talent, if he only circulated the true scripture without absorbing external objects, it would take him years to break through a small realm.

For example, the most talented Qi cultivators in the Chu Kingdom of Yaoguang Prefecture, due to the scarcity of resources, can only rely on brute force to cultivate the true scriptures, so the cauldron is basically their limit.

"The five lands of the Mountain and Sea Era are called [Tai Xu]," the Emperor of Great Yu said.

Chen Xuan was truly astonished upon hearing this. The ancient Five Directions Land was actually the endless Great Ruins?!

But now, the mortal world has withered away, becoming a corner of the world where even great beings like True Lords find it inconvenient to appear in public.

The Great Ruins had long been in chaos, becoming a forbidden area that only advanced cultivators could set foot in.

The Great Yu Emperor turned to look at the Empress and said, "You are the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor, born as an immortal, and have lived eight lifetimes. You had a good chance of becoming the last supreme deity... but in the end you chose to perish in the mortal world, leaving behind your own Dao principles and immortal energy to slow down the collapse and demise of the mortal world."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "But please forgive my bluntness, the mountain spirits and Yao goddesses who followed the Empress in the past tried to open up a new path for cultivating Qi, but none of them succeeded as the gods wished... You should be like us, hiding away from the world and doing your best to protect some people, waiting for the times to change."

The Emperor of Great Yu knew that in ancient history, the princess would soon disperse into the world after leaving the Great Wilderness.

She will sever all ties with her former life as the Empress and reincarnate as the Mountain Spirit Goddess, joining the surviving Yunmeng Great Swamp. From then on, no one in her generation will become an immortal... She wants to find a perfect way to balance herself and the world from ancient methods, but her progress is slow and difficult, and even reaching the level of a True Lord seems difficult.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan couldn't help but look at the princess who was slightly frowning.

"It seems that Her Majesty has studied many things... The method she casually bestowed upon Lord Shanjun seems to be some kind of universal method for obtaining the Golden Elixir." He speculated in his heart.

His fake Golden Elixir Technique requires extraordinary comprehension and cannot be practiced by outsiders. However, the Mountain Spirit Goddess's fake Golden Elixir Technique, although much less powerful, can still produce some results even for a mediocre mountain lord.

Gods are born without the capacity to love humans, but they will have pity on the world.

While those ancient practitioners of Qi chose to live in seclusion, the Empress did not choose to leave. Instead, she rowed against the current in a collapsing era, hoping to find a way out.

"But the Mountain Spirit Goddess seems to have returned to the ancient path, seeking immortality in this lifetime." Chen Xuan wondered to himself, "What caused this change in her... Could it be because she met me, the Heart-Cleanser?"

His thoughts were racing, and he thought somewhat arrogantly that his intuition told him that the Mountain Spirit Goddess had only changed after he woke up.

"Your Majesty, you've said too much." The Empress stared at the Emperor of Great Yu, a hint of supreme majesty gradually emanating from her golden eyes.

At this moment, an indescribable divine pressure descended from the heavens, causing the flowing blue clouds to stop, and the blue dragon coiled on the towering Jianmu tree to tremble, lower its head, and dare not make a sound.

"Waaah!" The page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas in the Empress's arms clenched its fist and let out a wailing curse at the Emperor of Great Yu.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me." The Emperor of Dayu's expression hardened slightly, and he then cupped his hands to express his apology. But then he added, "The gods were once the masters of heaven and earth, and they did better than us humans and demons... We were not indifferent enough and made some mistakes."

When the gods and deities ruled over the ancient beasts and ruled the era of mountains and seas, the world was still able to maintain the balance of the immortal energy.

But when practitioners of Qi emerged, the carefully maintained balance was disrupted.

"When a phoenix died mysteriously, no gods or ancient beasts discovered it and came to eat it. Instead, it was the passing humans, ants, and mayflies who benefited from it." The Great Yu Emperor said, "Was it because they didn't find the phoenix's corpse, or were they deliberately not eating it, wanting it to dissolve and return to the world on its own..."

The gods and deities are indifferent and can coldly manipulate any life, causing its demise and allowing the immortal energy to return to the world.

Even if the object that needs to perish is themselves or their descendants, they will not hesitate in the slightest.

However, other beings are not pure enough, and their principles and bottom lines can be flexibly changed. In this respect, they can never compare to gods... Even the true lords of this world, who should be ruthless and devoid of emotion, still have some emotions and desires that they cannot sever.

After the Great War of Mountains and Seas ended, the surviving gods of Yaochi set up a strict Tribulation of the Mortal World to prevent unqualified Qi cultivators from practicing. However, they were later defeated and forced to retreat from the world, and the difficulty of the Tribulation of the Mortal World was reduced again and again.

"There's no point in saying this now," the princess said, shaking her head. Clearly, she knew many ancient secrets but didn't want to discuss them further.

Back then, when the first generation of Immortals Xinzhai shattered the Classic of Mountains and Seas, ancient sages of all races, including Dao Ancestor, White Emperor Sword Ancestor, Dragon Venerable, Holy Buddha, and various Emperor Venerables, vied for the Supreme Heaven position. They then discovered that... the number of Supreme Heavens seemed to be too many.

The newly created supreme beings devoured all the heavens and myriad realms.

Someone had to die, and so a protracted war between the mountains and the seas was forced to begin.

"Looking back over the eight million years of the Immortal and Ghost Era, it is an ancient history of the gradual collapse of the mortal world." The Great Yu Emperor spoke, then looked at Chen Xuan and said with an inexplicable smile, "We need to destroy all high-level cultivators."

Chen Xuan blinked, thinking to himself, "Luckily, this Human Emperor is just a wisp of immortal thought; otherwise, he would probably already be on the minds of an immortal."

"It can't be destroyed..." The Empress shook her head.

Not to mention the Supreme Heaven, even the immortal beings have been immortal for countless ages and live forever. As long as they do not seek their own death, they will basically live forever.

In ancient history, there are very few immortal beings recorded who died due to the exhaustion of their lifespan... Moreover, immortal beings who died of old age did not necessarily die of exhaustion of their lifespan; they may have died from injuries, feigned death, or other reasons.

Chen Xuan listened to the conversation between the Empress and the Emperor of Great Yu, and was moved, but this was not a problem that the junior cultivator needed to consider at the moment. He continued to study the cyan-gold bamboo slip in his hand.

"The complete Azure Dragon Manual..."

As Chen Xuan looked at the Azure Dragon Scripture in his hand, he lightly moved his fingertips, and a small azure dragon with a bright blue light crawled out, coiling around his arm and radiating a noble and lively divine light.

He circulated this true scripture and compared it with the incomplete Azure Dragon Scripture he had obtained from Emperor Yu. He found that they were exactly the same.

"However, there are slight differences between the two copies of the Yinglong True Scripture that I obtained before, but both can be cultivated."

Chen Xuan pondered to himself, "Could it be that the Yinglong True Scripture has been altered, by a great cultivator from the Little Dragon Palace?"

This isn't something to worry about too much, because it's quite normal. Even a mere cultivator like Chen Xuan has privately modified many scriptures and techniques to better suit his own needs. Moreover, when he cultivates the Five Treasures Martial Immortal Body, each scripture requires major revisions when it comes time to integrate with other scriptures, removing unimportant dross and retaining only the most essential essence.

"Whether it's changed or not doesn't affect me much... My fundamental scriptures are now the 'Heavenly Mandate Immortal Scripture' and the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas' that have been merged together."

Moreover, after Chen Xuan decides to retreat from the mortal world, he will continue to integrate scriptures. He already possesses several complete true scriptures and has the foundation to try and fail.

He quickly memorized the entire scripture, and finally looked up and asked, "Senior Emperor, do you not have the Sage Chapter of the Azure Dragon True Scripture in the Supreme Heaven Realm?"

The Azure Dragon Scripture is one of the sacred scriptures of the Wood element.

"The higher the scriptures, the more one must comprehend them on one's own." The Great Yu Emperor replied, "Old scriptures cannot produce new supreme beings. The Dao of each supreme heaven is unique and does not have universality. Others cannot cultivate anything from it."

"Oh..." Chen Xuan nodded silently. It seemed that the Great Yu Dynasty had not obtained the Sage's Scripture inherited by the Azure Dragon.

Humanity possesses a limited number of ancient Daoist temples with complete lineages of ancient sages. These include the four ancient dynasties of the Central Plains, the White Emperor's Little Sword Pavilion, the Little Azure Heaven, Little Underworld, and Little Plague Palace in the Southern Region, and the Little Spirit Mountain in the Western Lands. You can count them on two hands.

Ancient forces like Dayu, Wenjian, Qingnang, Butian, and Tongtian, while not necessarily weaker than supreme forces, only possess a portion of the sage's legacy.

However, although there is no supreme inheritance on the Azure Dragon Bamboo Slip, in addition to the Azure Dragon True Scripture, it also records a top-level immortal technique called the Azure Dragon Wrathful Heaven-Shattering Fist - Azure Dragon Inheritance, which has a very bold and powerful name.

This technique has seven forms, containing the profound mysteries of the Azure Dragon's seven constellations. It is a direct offensive technique, quite suitable for the Fighting class.

"This is one of the Great Yu's national defense techniques, and it is destined to be with you, young friend," the Great Yu Emperor said with a smile.

Compared to Emperor Yu's rudimentary "Eighteen Forms of the Azure Dragon," which he seemed to have comprehended through the will of the Azure Dragon or picked up from somewhere along the way, there is no doubt that the "Azure Dragon's Wrathful Heaven-Shattering Fist - Azure Dragon Inheritance" in Chen Xuan's hands is the true orthodox national defense technique of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Soon, Chen Xuan and the princess left the celestial pavilion, which was entwined with vines and filled with azure sky.

The gates of the Immortal Pavilion slowly closed, and one could see that beneath the towering Jianmu tree, the aging Emperor of the Immortal Realm had ten thousand noble azure dragon shadows emerging from his body, coiling out and engulfing the azure sky, before the Emperor slowly disappeared.

hold head high!
Inside the pavilion, terrifying azure light soared into the sky, and the immense pressure of the dragon shook the heavens. The scene was so dazzling and unprecedented that even Chen Xuan, who caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye, was deeply shocked.

"He's smart enough to give us something real."

The Empress withdrew her gaze, then breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "The Human Emperor was very strong. Before he went into seclusion, his naturally released Azure Sky and Wood Dragon Suppression could suppress all enemies. When he last descended to earth, the place where he stood collapsed into the Great Ruins, turning into an eternal forbidden zone that no one could approach. Two Wood True Monarchs who came to pay homage from millions of miles away both of them directly vanished into nothingness."

"No wonder he is called the Human Emperor." Chen Xuan sighed. None of the immortal emperors of the four ancient dynasties of the same era had ever been given the title of Human Emperor.

At the same time, he thought of the Great Yu Dynasty, no wonder it had declined but was still called the fifth dynasty of Zhongzhou.

Every lineage that claims to be an ancient Taoist temple has a glorious history spanning tens of thousands of years.

For forces like Qingnang, Dayu, Butian, and Xiaowenfu, which have recently declined, decades or even millennia of decline are not a big deal.

"Has he done many things? Your Majesty seems to have heard of his reputation?" Chen Xuan asked.

The Mountain Spirit Goddess rarely saw outsiders and lived in seclusion deep in the mountains year-round, but the reputation of the Great Yu Emperor still reached her ears.

"In the Middle Ages, the mortal world was vast and boundless. The immortals had not yet completely disappeared, and the world was incredibly splendid. The Human Emperor was a prominent figure among them. Back when he was a True Monarch, he dared to compete with the fourth generation of Xinzhai and was not at too much of a disadvantage..." the Empress said softly.

Chen Xuan was startled by the sound. This old emperor was so old and decrepit, but he never expected him to be so fierce.
The Empress told Chen Xuan that the Great Yu Emperor was the first person in the Middle Ages to dare to challenge a True Monarch-level Xinzhai, and it was said that the two fought fiercely, with neither side able to gain the upper hand.

Chen Xuan was truly astonished when he heard this. This human emperor who eventually became an immortal was far stronger than expected, able to fight to such an extent against the fully risen fourth generation Xinzhai.

After all, those things like Xinzhai and Tianmingzhe, which are not easy to be recognized, basically rose from humble beginnings. It was very difficult for them to obtain even a single cultivation resource, and they would often waste several months. In the early stages, it was difficult for them to compete with the disciples of major sects.

However, at the later, higher levels, those who practice Xinzhai and Tianming are no longer afraid of anyone. For example, the young Hei Bai Zhenjun defeated many veteran Zhenjuns single-handedly.

The Empress continued, "I heard that they fought many times. The Human Emperor was sometimes defeated and sometimes tied, but that was enough to shock the world. At that time, Xinzhai had already proven his Dao by killing, and had killed all his enemies on his several paths of immortal Qi. He was truly the First Demon of Taixu."

Later, some ancient immortals who had decided to live in seclusion returned to the world at the right time and joined forces to hunt down the "First Demon King" Xinzhai, causing him to perish tragically at the critical moment of his ascension to immortality, thus ending the era of the fourth generation of Xinzhai.

Legend has it that the immortals paid a heavy price, with some even shedding blood and seemingly falling from a higher realm.

"This..." Chen Xuan was greatly shocked. The ancient near-immortal Great True Lord level Xinzhai was too powerful, wasn't he? He actually fought against a group of immortals. Although he died tragically in the end, he made the other side pay an unbearable price.

At the same time, he keenly noticed a strange piece of information: "The fourth generation of Xinzhai has cultivated multiple paths of immortal energy?"

"Well, apart from a few pure cultivators like military swordsmen and martial artists who cultivate only one type of Qi, most people cultivate two or even three types of Qi simultaneously, which is more powerful," the Empress said.

For example, the Azure Dragon lineage is based on the Wood element, but in many areas, it requires the Purple Heaven Thunder Qi and the Taiyin Star Qi as supplementary elements in order to unleash its true power.

"..." Chen Xuan nodded silently. Even some advanced divine bodies in the Cauldron Realm usually require two or three different true scriptures to operate together.

It is said that at the lower realms, the various scriptures can barely be compatible, but after reaching the high realm of [Tao Hongchen], the scriptures become increasingly profound and mysterious, making it difficult to operate perfectly at the same time. One can only give up the others and concentrate on cultivating one scripture... At the True Lord level, the distinctions are even clearer, with one True Lord position for each Qi.

“The true scriptures of this world have problems. The more you practice them, the more serious the problems become, and they become so deep that they are difficult to reverse,” Chen Xuan muttered to himself, becoming more certain of his suspicions.

The Empress said, "Later, after the First Demon Heart Sect fell, the Human Emperor also disappeared. He probably feared that the immortals would hunt him down along the way and did not allow any new immortals to appear in the world."

But it is clear that the Queen of Humanity successfully avoided the great calamity and secretly became an immortal. She even secluded herself in the wilderness for a period of time after becoming an immortal.

"Many people believe that the First Demon Heart Sect's overwhelming combat power caused those ancient immortals to pay a huge price, losing their absolute control over the mortal world, which became the beginning of the great chaos in the Middle Ages," the Empress said.

Of all the great calamities throughout history, the sages consider the Mountain and Sea Calamities to be the most significant in terms of scope and duration, followed by the Great Chaos of the Middle Ages.

When talking about the medieval era, the Empress's beautiful eyes sparkled. During that time, there were countless orthodox Qi cultivators such as the Human Emperor, the Dragon Emperor, the White Emperor Sword Immortal, the Buddha Who Saves the World, the Female Demon Immortal, and the Six-Eared Demon Ape, as well as those destined to become immortals, such as the One Who Severs Heaven's Fate and the Lord of Two Realms. They all vied to become immortals, making it the most brilliant era of immortals in the medieval period.

During that turbulent period, the imperial princess had long since disappeared.

They are the Mountain Spirit Goddess, the Goddess of Wushan, and others who live in seclusion in famous mountains to seek enlightenment. In each life, they explore a new path from ancient methods, hoping to find a way to mend the world.

Of course, she couldn't succeed; her hopes were slim. After all, the Supreme Beings ultimately relied on conquest and seclusion to solve their problems.

Chen Xuan thought to himself, "The predecessors of Xinzhai throughout the ages were all very capable. Although they did not reach the highest level in the end, they still left a significant mark on the world."

However, this is probably one of the reasons why many people value Xinzhai but don't value it the most. No matter how fierce Xinzhai's reputation is, in the end, it is still others who ascend to the path of immortality, and the number of those who eventually stand out is quite large.

"You say Xinzhai is powerful, but it's just that it's being deliberately targeted. But what about the others? My ancestor still became an immortal, and so did his, but Xinzhai can't. Isn't that because they're not strong enough?" Many disciples of major sects had ample reason to think this way.

Chen Xuan stood on the stone steps in front of the Azure Sky Immortal Pavilion, gazing at the distant starry sky. The golden light of the bronze lamp in his hand had completely dimmed.

During the half hour he spent studying scriptures in the Azure Sky Immortal Pavilion, some wandering Daoist beings gathered around under the influence of the Dao Palace's power.

"Buzz!"

The Empress then spoke up, "The Human Emperor couldn't reveal the Azure Dragon's inheritance... It seems we can only go to that most ancient place. Come, Your Majesty will take you to the only place where the Supreme Inheritance might have evolved."

It seemed to be her first time leaving the Immortal Pavilion, and she was very interested in visiting other pavilions. She grabbed Chen Xuan and was about to rush out.

"Wait a minute!" Chen Xuan quickly refused. He glanced at the lamp, which still had more than half full of oil, and said to the Empress, "Your Majesty, the golden immortal power of the Dao Palace is very useful. I would like to take some more."

He felt that after defeating a few more opponents from higher-level Dao Palaces, he would be able to advance to the seventh level of the Dao Palace naturally.

In the distance, in the corridors that intertwine in the void, figures appear from all directions, rapidly approaching.

"Roar!"

A deafening tiger's roar shook the sky. From the nearest sky corridor, a gigantic black tiger appeared, its wings outstretched, its feet treading on black clouds, bringing with it a foul stench as it charged at breakneck speed.

Qiongqi!

Chen Xuan gazed at the starry sky and thought to himself, "The Qiongqi True Scripture, one of the Four Ancient Fiends, has arrived. A great master from the Dou Department has come."

(End of this chapter)