# Chapter 243: Western Emperor's Remnant Inscriptions
Stone mountains stood tall, with not a blade of grass growing. The cliffs were as if carved by knives, straight up and down. The towering mountain walls stood side by side, like steps of a ladder ascending to heaven.
This region had not a handful of soil, not a single blade of grass. Stone mountains stretched continuously, with many stone forests. Large rocks either resembled crouching oxen or green bamboo shoots, each with unique postures, truly a remarkable sight.
After entering the mountains, Ye Fan looked around. This stone region gave him a very special feeling, as if a foreign realm lay across here.
One mountain, one realm; one stone, one scenery. It seemed as if someone had used a grand hand to inscribe the naturally formed traces of the Great Dao. Every mountain and every stone here drew his gaze.
Entering this mountainous area, Ye Fan discovered that many carvings had become blurred and indistinct under the erosion of wind, frost, rain, and snow, barely discernible.
Unfortunately, most were not so-called cultivation methods. Many recorded ancient events, and there were even more scenic depictions, such as hundreds of birds and rare beasts, vivid and lifelike.
"Why would the fairy maidens of the Jade Pool carve these?" Ye Fan was suspicious and carefully observed.
"These things are all major events that once occurred at the Jade Pool. Unfortunately, their meaning is now difficult to understand."
After walking forward several dozen steps, Ye Fan arrived before a mountain wall and was immediately stunned. The stone carving there was very special, imprinted with two figures, one of which was not human.
It was a man, over two meters tall, born with four pairs of divine wings, majestic and imposing. Below his shoulders were eight arms, thick and powerful like dragons, and on his forehead grew a vertical eye.
Opposite him was a graceful and dignified beautiful woman, like a queen ruling the world, with extraordinary bearing that inspired reverence.
"So this truly records some major events that occurred at the Jade Pool—a mysterious creature confronting an unparalleled expert of the Jade Pool." Ye Fan was surprised.
"To be precise, confronting a Queen Mother." The big black dog spoke up.
Unfortunately, this was only a single image, with no continuation. They could not know the outcome of the confrontation.
They walked forward, carefully observing along the way. There were images of welcoming a demon king, of a new Queen Mother ascending the throne—all single images, very simple, revealing nothing.
When they arrived at a stone forest, Ye Fan finally saw a technique. On a large green stone shaped like a crouching tiger, there was half a stone carving. A figure stood forming a hand seal.
Although it was incomplete, with only half the body and missing one side, it was quite profound. That seal technique looked very familiar to Ye Fan. After careful study, he realized it was actually the Mountain-Embracing Seal.
The Li Fire Sect's supreme teaching was this very seal technique, extremely powerful. He had evolved it into one of the techniques of the Battle Saint Art. He hadn't expected to see it here again.
"Half of it has been deliberately erased..." Ye Fan felt a bad premonition rise in his heart.
After so many years, could the Western Emperor Scripture still exist? Had it also been erased by someone? He didn't quite believe the big black dog's words.
"Hurry and take me to find the Western Emperor Scripture!" Ye Fan urged.
"Isn't that what we're doing? It might be hidden in these wall carvings." Black Emperor replied.
"Don't tell me you don't know the exact location."
"You guessed right. That's exactly the case. This Emperor is also searching." The big black dog raised its head and replied unhurriedly.
This dog really couldn't be relied upon. Ye Fan wanted to kick it, but there was no other choice. In the end, he still had to depend on it.
"Do you have any certainty of finding it?"
"Probably can find it." The big black dog answered in an uncertain tone.
Ye Fan took out the Bodhi seed, held it in his palm, and sensed his surroundings. He couldn't rely entirely on this big dog now; he needed to search himself.
The big black dog, with an innocent expression, approached and then suddenly opened its mouth to bite his hand.
"Damn it, you dead dog, trying to bite me again!" Ye Fan had been on guard against it and quickly rushed into the sky.
"So stingy. It's just a nut. I smell it's very fragrant and want to taste what the kernel is like." The failed ambusher, the big black dog, was stubborn and refused to admit it, but its eyes kept glancing at the Bodhi seed.
"If you dare bite me again, you can forget about that dark turtle for the rest of your life. Hurry up and find me the Western Emperor Scripture. If you can't get it, give up early and don't mention any conditions to me." Ye Fan said with a dark face.
The big black dog tilted its neck and looked at Ye Fan. "Kid, what kind of nut is that in your hand? Can it be eaten?"
"Don't play dumb with me!"
"What's so special about that broken nut of yours? I saw a bald head on it earlier. It looked somewhat lifelike. Did you carve it?"
Ye Fan knew this sly, dark, and wicked dead dog was up to no good again, coveting the Bodhi seed. There was no way he would give this seed to it.
"Who is that bald head? I feel it's a bit unusual." The big black dog couldn't contain its curiosity when Ye Fan ignored it.
"His name is Shakyamuni. Have you heard of him?" Ye Fan's mind stirred.
"What a lousy name, four characters long. Is this bald guy famous?" The big black dog asked.
Ye Fan was speechless. The dignified Tathagata being discussed by a big dog like this... He glared and said, "Stop the nonsense. Hurry up and find me the Western Emperor Scripture!"
"Kid, what kind of attitude is that?" The big black dog bared its teeth. "If you continue to disrespect this Emperor, forget about the human race's supreme ancient scripture. Oh, and if we can find the Western Emperor Scripture, you have to give me that nut with the fat bald head carved on it."
Ye Fan didn't respond and walked away, observing one stone carving after another. Occasionally, he would see some incomplete techniques, and whenever that happened, he would carefully study them.
Half an hour later, Ye Fan arrived before a cliff. This was a very extensive set of carvings, over a hundred images long, much longer than what he had seen before.
At first, he didn't pay much attention, because although the carvings were long, they weren't particularly profound—all were the most common techniques. But after seeing over thirty images, his expression changed. These ordinary techniques gradually sublimated, and as they continued, they gave the feeling of turning decay into magic.
He calmed his mind and continued watching. For a full hour, Ye Fan didn't speak. Only after seeing the end did he sigh deeply: "The Jade Pool truly deserves to be called a Holy Land. These should be for young disciples to study, each containing profound meaning."
They weren't special secret methods, but widely circulated, very common techniques. Yet they sublimated from the ordinary, combining to turn decay into magic, unleashing unimaginable power.
"A hundred ordinary techniques combined can evolve into completely different great power. Very mysterious."
Ye Fan pondered for a long time before continuing downward. He discovered another hundred or so carvings and carefully observed them.
Finally, he was truly shocked. This was a series, totaling over five hundred stone carvings in succession.
"This is..."
Ye Fan was extremely astonished. This was deducing some supreme secret method, starting from the ordinary and progressing to the profound. He immediately saw the mystery within.
This was deducing the supreme offensive technique among the Nine Secrets!
The unparalleled expert of the Jade Pool was astonishing. Starting from the ordinary, gradually evolving toward the Battle Saint Art, trying to recreate the Nine Secrets' supreme technique.
Turning decay into magic, deriving the Nine Secrets' offensive grand art—this must have been a remarkably talented individual.
Unfortunately, they ultimately failed, unable to deduce the Battle Saint Art.
Such figures were rare throughout history. Those techniques were all related to worldly legends about the Battle Saint Art. Based on that, this person had derived to this stage, which was impressive enough. They must have been a peerless figure.
"Connecting the fragments scattered throughout the world and deducing to this point is truly astonishing!" Ye Fan sighed.
This person started from simplicity and moved toward complexity. But the Battle Saint Art had countless variations, never reaching an end, making it very difficult to reach the "end of complexity."
The true Nine Secrets' supreme offensive technique first obtained the One, then transformed into the Ten Thousand, reached the end of complexity, and then returned to the One. Others could not derive it.
In the end, this technique was the Great Dao reduced to simplicity!
Ye Fan stood silently for a long time, carefully pondering. Although this deduction had taken a wrong path, it gave him great inspiration, deepening his understanding of the Battle Saint Art.
No matter how extraordinary the genius, without first obtaining the Nine Secrets' imprint, they could not derive this supreme holy technique.
Ye Fan thought for a long time. He felt he could further enhance the power of this offensive technique. This was truly an unexpected gain. The genius of the Jade Pool had given him great enlightenment.
The sky had long since darkened. Ye Fan continued observing the carvings under the night sky. By late night, he had seen most of the carvings throughout the mountains, but the Western Emperor Scripture remained nowhere to be found.
"There are no profound techniques here. Even if there are, they're just ordinary methods. You're not fooling me, are you?" Ye Fan's expression turned unpleasant as he stared at the big black dog.
"Didn't I tell you? Even if you see the Western Emperor Scripture, you might not recognize it. You need to slowly ponder it." The big black dog said.
The moon was bright, the stars sparse. Ye Fan paced forward, having almost circled all the cliffs, but still couldn't find the Western Emperor Scripture.
"Found it! Here!" The big black dog shouted. In the dead of night, the sound carried especially far, with echoes ringing out.
Ye Fan arrived in a few bounds. This stone mountain was imposing, but there was no so-called scripture on it. The surface was bare.
"Where?"
"This mountain is part of the scripture. Whether you can obtain it depends on your fortune." The big black dog raised its head and replied.
"You're just brushing me off. Pointing to any random stone mountain and calling it the Western Emperor Scripture—how am I supposed to believe you? Can you actually find the scripture?" Ye Fan demanded.
"That depends on your comprehension." The big black dog stammered.
"Stop your nonsense!" Ye Fan glared.
The big black dog also became anxious. "There's definitely part of the scripture here. I heard someone say so with my own ears."
"What did you hear back then?" Ye Fan pressed.
"The stone mountain carved with a sun contains part of the scripture. The stone mountain carved with an ancient tree contains part of the scripture..."
According to the big black dog, when the Western Emperor Scripture was first created, the Western Queen Mother inscribed it while comprehending the Dao, scattering it among these stone mountains.
On this cliff, there was indeed a blurry sun, only the size of a palm. Even with careful observation, it was hard to imagine this was man-made. It looked very much like a natural formation.
"A ring like this is the so-called Western Emperor Scripture? You're not joking, are you?"
The big black dog raised its head, tilted its neck, and said, "That has nothing to do with me. You need to comprehend it yourself."
This dead dog! Ye Fan wanted to teach it a lesson, but he knew he couldn't beat it. In the end, he flew up to the cliff and observed that sun.
Ye Fan rubbed the sun imprint with one hand while holding the Bodhi seed in the other. But after sitting in meditation for a long time, he sensed nothing unusual.
"Black Emperor, you're lying. Where is the scripture here?!"
"There definitely is, but it requires astonishing comprehension. Whether you can obtain the Western Emperor Scripture depends on your own ability." The big black dog was somewhat guilty at heart when saying these words.
On the cliff, Ye Fan held the Bodhi seed, his mind empty and still, quietly experiencing. But all was silent. He couldn't discover anything.
"How many Great Emperors have there been throughout history? The scriptures left by these few aren't so easy to obtain..." The big black dog shouted from below. "I've found the Western Emperor Scripture for you. Whether you can comprehend it is your own business. You must give me that dark turtle."
The Source Heaven Scroll recorded part of the Western Emperor Scripture, belonging to the Dao Palace volume. At this moment, Ye Fan silently activated it, holding the Bodhi seed and pressing it against that sun.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, brilliant light burst forth. The stone cliff rose up a sun, blazing hot. Ye Fan was completely engulfed.
The entire stone mountain turned red. Flames soared, the great fire reddening half the sky. The red sun hung in the air, huge and vigorous. Ye Fan stood within the sun, dignified and solemn.
"Damn it, how can he actually learn it? Didn't it require not only astonishing comprehension but also the Jade Pool's 'Scripture Guide'? What a loss! This kid really got the Western Emperor Scripture..." The big black dog looked utterly dejected, as if it had swallowed a dead child.