Covering the sky: Starting from the Golden Crow of the Holy Cliff

Chapter 136 Ancient Emperor of Time, Dark Stone Phoenix
An indescribable and inexplicable feeling spread, Yan Ming's eyes shone, and the golden patterns of the Robbery swirled. He saw another scene in the embers, a scene buried deep in the river of time, yet it seemed to be happening right before his eyes.

"boom!"

The Great Bell Tolls. A supreme Heavenly Emperor, with the Chaos Bell atop his head, suppressing the eternal blue sky, appears before the Little Immortal Pool. Before him, lakes and rules become illusions. The sun, moon, and stars revolve in his eyes as he stands tall beneath the heavens.

He simply stood there, yet he exuded an aura of overwhelming power and dominance over all, with a strong and upright physique, thick and dazzling black hair, and a pair of bright eyes that seemed to see through the ages!
“This is…” Yan Ming’s eyes flickered.

Eighty thousand years ago, the first incarnation of the Great Emperor Wushi fell into old age. No one would have imagined that he had visited Yaochi once before he 'ascended' in Zishan.

At that time, there was no one in the Immortal Pool, only an ancient stele and a stone coffin!
The Western Queen Mother and the Great Accomplished Holy Body are buried together there.

That night, Wushi slept here, leaving behind a dream.

Yan Ming touched upon that dream, a dream of a young boy spending happy times with his parents, carefree, with laughter every day, his parents' love as strong as ever, and a happy family... but the time was too short, only two years.

When he awoke from his dream, he clearly saw that the emperor, who was known for his power throughout his life, was in tears, grief-stricken to the extreme, and had carved a few words in front of his parents' coffins.

I want to save my parents!

Suddenly, Yan Ming clearly heard a voice that shook the heavens and caused all the realms to tremble and rumble, reaching the depths of his soul and cleansing his true spirit.

"I dreamt of my parents last night, and... I was so heartbroken!" Yan Ming was shocked. Knowing the reason for the dream, he sighed softly. Even the most powerful beings have a soft spot in their hearts.

Is this the later years of the Great Emperor Wushi?
In his final moments, he sealed away the Black Emperor. Old and frail, he came to his parents' tombs and fell asleep like a fool. He awoke from his dream with tears in his eyes, leaving behind only eternal sorrow.

In this state of mind, he refined his essence and blood, leaving himself a backup plan for future turmoil on the path to immortality.

"Emperor Wushi is worthy of the respect of the human race," Yan Ming said, expressing his admiration.

Many of the humans in the world of Shrouding the Heavens are so good that even a dog would shake its head in disbelief. Not to mention compared to the alien realms known for their unity, even the Heavenly Tyrant Bloodline has an internal moral standard that is definitely among the best of all the races in the heavens.

The Sun Emperor, the Moon Emperor... these people care deeply about their people, but how does the Ziwei Human Clan treat them?
The descendants of the two Ziwei empresses are almost extinct!

Similarly, Wushi passed away peacefully in Zishan, unknown to anyone and his fame remained unnoticed. His achievements were not spread among the world, and the biggest publicity was actually carried out by the big black dog to reveal Wushi's power and the strength of this supreme Heavenly Emperor.

"Is it worth it?" the Taoist priest asked in the dream, as if questioning his own heart. After a moment, he smiled, a sense of relief in his eyes, and shook his head.

In Yan Ming's view, clansmen who do not know how to be grateful are not his clansmen.

It was for this reason that he encouraged the Ziwei Ye clan to establish its own lineage, known as the Yang lineage of the Dao clan, to distinguish it from the human race.

Similarly, there are also Daoist Yin lineages. Since Kunpeng was suppressed and the Ziwei Star Domain was completely unified, some rare descendants of the Taiyin Empress have been found one after another.

When Duanmu usurped the throne, the main lineage of Taiyin was wiped out, and many people with the bloodline of the Human Emperor were also slaughtered. The territory of Ziwei is vast, and some lucky ones survived, fleeing to other regions and hiding their identities.

When the Duanmu clan was at its peak, the blood of the human emperor represented sin, which needed to be eradicated!
Only now, with the Taiyin Human Emperor faith being re-established by Yan Ming, have those unknown descendants of sinful blood reappeared before the world.

Now, the descendants of the two human emperors have shed their human identity, identified themselves with the Dao race, formed their own lineage, and help each other, which is better than their previous miserable situation.

What exactly did this so-called human race bring them?
Was it the Holy Emperor of the Sun who attained enlightenment in the Divine Land and distributed ancient scriptures and secret manuals to the branches of the human race in all directions? Yet his descendants were oppressed to the point of near extermination.

The Taiyin Emperor fought for the human race his whole life, but his bloodline was stolen and his inheritance was stolen, resulting in bloodshed across billions of miles. Yet, not a single human lineage stood up to rebuke the Duanmu clan and stop the bloodshed.
It was the Great Emperor Wushi who looked down over the nine heavens and ten earths, suppressed the turmoil, and maintained peace in the human world for a lifetime. In the end, his traces were buried in Purple Mountain, and he needed the big black dog to cheer for him and show his merits.

During the dark and chaotic times, countless people cried out, "The Void Emperor has returned!" and "The Eternal Emperor has returned!"

Where is the voice that calls forth from the beginningless past?

Yan Ming neither saw nor heard it.

"It's truly tragic; this is not the path I want to take." His black hair was disheveled as he saw an old man, all alone, refining his essence and blood.

After withdrawing his aura, this person was incredibly old, not far from passing away!

Yan Ming knew that the other party was deliberately pushing him into a desperate situation, otherwise it would be difficult to make a leap to the extreme.

Life is the greatest miracle in the world!
Sometimes, in the split second between life and death, when great terror strikes, one can best unleash the potential of the body and soul.

Suddenly, Yan Ming froze, realizing that the gray-haired old man was looking at him with a deep gaze.

"The Imperial Fire Spirit of the past, no, it should be the future... one flower withers and another blooms, and yet another similar flower?" Just then, the old man spoke, actually transcending the barrier of time and seeing the present world.

Yan Ming's pupils contracted, and he felt unable to move. Even with the protection of the Ancient Dream Butterfly, he couldn't move. His entire consciousness was about to freeze in place. He was surprised. How could this be!

This was the first time he had been noticed by anyone; even the ancient emperor of the Dream Dao had never experienced such a dramatic change.

This is truly unbelievable; is this the Supreme Being of the Time Dao?
Unbelievable, Yan Ming was astonished.

"I once went to pay my respects to that desolate mountain range in the Central Region," Wushi said calmly. The vitality on the surface of his body was dissipating, and deathly energy permeated the air, both terrifying and serene. If a quasi-emperor were to be touched by even a trace of it, he might be reduced to a skeleton in the blink of an eye.

"Senior... is this a deliberate act to live a third life?" Yan Ming asked.

“I am still in my first life,” Wu Shi said, his eyes suddenly shining brightly, with images of the sun, moon, and stars falling, all things and phenomena appearing in his pupils, and even a faint phantom of a river of time floating within them.

That was a tributary he truly summoned during his peak, and it suppressed and killed more than one supreme being.

"The first life!" Yan Ming was somewhat taken aback. According to the information he had, the other party was born more than 100,000 years ago and disappeared after 'transforming' in Zishan 80,000 years ago.

As the first innate holy body Dao embryo in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, how long did this ancient emperor's son live in his first life? It's a question that makes one ponder deeply.

“Holy Spirit, favored by Heaven, with nine orifices and spiritual power, takes millions of years to form, which is not easy. Killing it will offend Heaven. I once suppressed a nine-aperture stone spirit, but in my later years I dreamed of a fire spirit. It was carved and sculpted, and something was not right…” Wushi lowered his head, and the gash in his palm slowly healed. His words had a sense of detachment from life and death, and he was not as majestic as one might imagine.

"Is it that tragic event from ancient history?!"

Yan Ming understood this ancient history. Over 100,000 years ago, a stone king nurtured by a sacred land emerged, wreaking havoc and killing all living beings in that land, including a massacre of humans. He was ultimately suppressed and killed by an ancient emperor. In his view, that ancient sacred land had courted its own demise. It sought to convert the nearly perfected Holy Spirit, leading it to acknowledge the sacred land as its master, and finally succeeded, its entire lineage being sent away by the Greatly Accomplished Holy Spirit.

A group of ants trying to raise a young dragon is really overestimating their abilities.

The rare stone king in the Yaochi Holy Land outside the city probably had a similar experience. It was probably brainwashed by the Yaochi lineage, which allowed the holy spirits inside to get close to them.

Yan Ming brought this up.

“I have met her and made a promise to her that there will be no hidden dangers.” Wu Shi shook his head, having done his best for his mother’s lineage, leaving behind the last layer of insurance.

When he killed the Nine-Aperture Stone Man, the heavens held a grudge. At that time, he was at his peak, dominating the heavens and the earth, and he didn't care about the backlash. Unexpectedly, in his later years, he was entangled in karma and even dreamed of future generations. It was truly bizarre.

Moreover, the Fire Spirit before him... his gaze was deep and far-reaching, his primordial spirit deep within the Immortal Platform was dim and lifeless, yet his whole being possessed an astonishing aura, his Daoist thoughts as vast as the ocean, gazing upon future generations.

"You've lived a second life?" Wu Shi Dao was genuinely surprised. No matter when, anyone who can live a second life on their own is a hero.

"By sheer luck... I was on the verge of death, barely surviving the ordeal."

"Your bone age should be no more than a hundred, yet you are so eager to live out your next life?" Wushi examined the people of the future and said slowly, "Don't you know that if you take one wrong step, you will be doomed forever? There will be no room for redemption."

"Sooner or later we'll all have to face the life-and-death arena and be sliced ​​to death. What difference does it make whether it's sooner or later?" Yan Ming shook his head. He had known for a long time that there was a mortal life-and-death realm in this world.

Even with the elixir of immortality and the Nine-Turn Immortal Pill, one still needs to cross six Life and Death Bridges to reach the eighth incarnation.

Whether it's the perfect Shi Hao or Ye Fan from Shrouding the Heavens, they both transformed during their eight lifetimes in the mortal world, remaining untouched by time and comparable to true immortals.

After another transformation, one can rival the pinnacle of true immortals, who can be called quasi-immortal kings, while mortal immortals are even rarer.

The woman in the desolate forbidden land had an accident in her fourth life; her body shattered, and her blood splattered in the bronze palace. She finally survived with great difficulty.

“Without a fearless spirit, if one fears death, what difference does it make if one lives to be a hundred or even ten thousand? It’s nothing more than a handful of ashes under the great mill of life and death. What difference does it make?” Yan Ming said, having his own insights into the path to immortality.

His mindset revolves around moving forward without hesitation, regardless of any difficulties or obstacles ahead; he simply goes through them!

I'd rather die speaking out than live in silence!

"A life lived in a daze is not as good as a glorious death..." As Yan Ming's eyes opened and closed, reciting the last words of the Nine-Leaf Immortal Sword Grass from the mythical era, there was truly an invisible sword energy vibrating, touching the primordial spirit, severing the soul, and being extremely sharp.

"With a mind as sharp as a sword, unwavering even in the face of death, and belonging to the Holy Spirit, how could such a being be born?"

The old man opposite seemed to have grasped something, and his breathing became increasingly faint.

The two discussed the Dao, and he began to explain his understanding of life and death. Starting from the Dao of Time, which has no beginning, life is a short journey. Time, as the third dimension, contains countless mysteries, including the Dao of Life and Death.

He stepped into the realm of time, able to influence the passage of years, and could cause living beings to wither away rapidly within his sight, but this did not apply to himself, as the Dao of Time could not transform his primordial spirit.

It can seize the life force of others, but it is difficult to reverse the death energy within itself.

"In my deduction, the laws of time should theoretically allow one to alter their own age and attain immortality, but this is not the case in this world." Wu Shi gazed at the endless void and the soul of his future life, and sighed, "It seems something is missing from this world now..."

His voice carried a sense of vicissitude, uncertainty, and tranquility. Even though his lifespan was nearing its end and he was about to perish, he still possessed an unparalleled imperial demeanor. His words were eloquent and captivating, and the earth seemed to gush with spiritual springs, making the place even more ethereal and sacred.

As for the other path...

"What are your thoughts on self-mutilation, senior?"

"A true strongman never cuts his own throat!"

Faced with Yan Ming's question, Wu Shi raised his head and retraced his steps. Although the emperor was old, he still possessed an undeniable majesty, overlooking all the heavens throughout the ages. Just like when he used a stone bell to fight his way from the Eastern Wilderness and Northern Region to the Nine Heavens Imperial Palace, he was invincible and swept away all enemies. He never retreated.

"It seems that the Supreme Being of the Forbidden Zone not only severed his imperial status by cutting off his own sword, but also had a deeper impact." Yan Ming pondered. The Nine-Turn Immortal Pill could extend one's life by one lifetime, but in the hands of the Supreme Being who cut off his own sword, it could only extend his peak imperial life by two thousand years.

If a normal emperor were to live another life, his lifespan would be around ten thousand years, but if he were to commit suicide, he would only receive one-fifth of that lifespan.

The difference is obvious!
"That strike damaged the immortal platform of the one who attained enlightenment, shattering their flawless body. Even rare celestial treasures cannot compensate for it," the Emperor of Time explained. He indicated that even if the Supreme One had not taken the elixir of immortality in their first life, as long as they severed their own life, the efficacy of the elixir would be greatly reduced if they took it again, to only about a quarter or a fifth of its original effect.

Even the most potent Xuanwu Immortal Fruit can only extend the lifespan of a supreme being in the forbidden zone by three thousand years, and cannot restore them to their imperial status.

Although both are elixirs of immortality, their focuses differ, resulting in different effects. In this respect, the Xuanwu Fruit is far superior, while the worst is the Netherworld Red Lotus, which contains the essence of death and is an unparalleled treasure for the dead. However, it is far inferior to other immortal medicines in terms of regenerating life force, and can only extend the lifespan of an emperor by six thousand years.

Normally, four semi-divine herbs are comparable to one immortal herb, the Xuanwu herb is equivalent to five semi-divine herbs, and the red lotus in the underworld has the medicinal effect of less than three herbs.

If one can live another lifetime with the elixir of immortality, who says six thousand years isn't a lifetime of imperial destiny? 0.6 ten thousand years, rounded up, is approximately ten thousand years.

Under heaven, only the Nine-Turn Immortal Pill can defy the heavens and reshape the world, continuing the emperor's peak destiny!
These secrets are something that even some supreme beings in forbidden zones would find difficult to understand, yet the Great Emperor Wushi revealed them so easily, clearly indicating that he had conducted a thorough investigation.

"Senior has visited the Undying Mountain? Seen the Xuanwu Immortal Medicine?" Yan Ming twitched his lips, having a guess in his heart. In the novel "Covering the Sky," it was mentioned that the other party was walking his dog on the Undying Mountain. Now it seems that it was not just a simple matter of walking a dog.

"Unlucky me, that old tortoise didn't come to a conclusion, so there was no battle." Wu Shi shook his head, a smile on his face, his every move exuding the demeanor of an emperor. He didn't mention at all that he had carelessly lost Xuanwu, and that when he was walking the dog, he had made a lot of threats, which had made the whole group of supreme beings in Undying Mountain unable to breathe. When he was full of pride, he relaxed for a moment, and that old tortoise used the veins of Undying Mountain to escape.

It's even less likely that he forcefully took away the Wudao Ancient Tea Tree, intending to raise it himself, and almost killed the old tea tree, leaving him no choice but to put it back.

After some time, this giant of time studied the soil of the Undying Mountain and made some progress. He confidently moved the ancient tea tree to a new location, and the outcome was predictable... In the end, the immortal root suffered greatly and almost went through a nirvana.

Things that are detrimental to the Emperor's image must never be said!

During their conversation, Yan Ming mentioned the fallen Holy Spirit.

"That was a Dark Stone Phoenix, at the Great Perfection stage, with flesh and blood, but its malevolent aura was too strong, lacking the peace of a phoenix. Even without that sacred land interfering, it would still stir up boundless chaos. It was originally a combination of innate resentment and Dao fire, nourished by strange stones for millions of years..."

(End of this chapter)