Chapter 791: Black Emperor's Origins
After stepping in dog feces, Duan De spun around eighteen times in a frenzied state, flailing his limbs wildly, nearly convulsing with rage as veins bulged on his forehead. He glared viciously at Ye Fan and demanded, "That dead dog didn't follow us in here, did it?!"
Back in the day, the Big Black Dog was the only one who had ever made him eat humble pie, shouting about taking him as a human pet. Every time they crossed paths, Duan De never came out ahead. Black Emperor was utterly unscrupulous—when the advantage was his, he'd bark and bite wildly; when things looked bad, he'd cut and run without hesitation, even leaving Ye Fan behind as cannon fodder.
The terrain here was complex, with an ancient path stretching deep into the shadows. Dust-covered divine pearls flickered with dim light, illuminating the way forward.
"Based on my many years of experience, you just stepped in dog feces from over a decade ago," the Old Blind Man said, deliberately poking at Fatty Duan's sore spot.
Duan De had barely calmed down when he started jumping again, cursing the Old Blind Man for being a worthless old thing. But he had to admit that those were indeed "traces" left long ago.
Ye Fan carefully searched the area, his mind full of doubts. Could it be that Black Emperor hadn't actually returned, and these were all just fur left behind from before?
"What's that dog's origin? Don't tell me it's not the same one that used to follow you around. I'd recognize its bones even if they were ground to ash. Why did it hang around here?" Duan De asked.
"It came from here," Ye Fan replied. He had long suspected Black Emperor's origins, and seeing traces of its presence here only confirmed his suspicions.
"It's not some ancient creature, is it? I always knew it was no good—it must belong to some kind of species," Duan De said.
"Why don't you think it's Emperor Wu Shi?" Ye Fan joked.
Those words hit Duan De like a thunderbolt, nearly making him stumble. He actually started pondering the possibility, his expression shifting between shock and uncertainty.
"Maybe that's actually possible. I've seen the array patterns it laid down, and they carry the profound mysteries of an ancient Great Emperor..." Duan De muttered suspiciously.
The Old Blind Man smacked him on the back of the head and said, "If Emperor Wu Shi were really like that, would he have such an unmatched reputation? He'd have to be called 'Shameless' instead of 'Wu Shi.'"
Duan De said, "I remember now. In a great tomb in the Eastern Wasteland, I once dug up some jade slips that recorded all sorts of random things."
The jade slips were a mess, like some kind of unofficial history. Their records were anything but orthodox, touching on many ancient figures, even fragments about the ancient Great Emperors.
One passage recorded trivial details, claiming that Emperor Wu Shi shook the ages, intimidating the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths like a deity. But it also showed his very human side: in his later years, he found a dying stray dog and used ancient arts to save it and take it with him.
"Damn!" Ye Fan couldn't help blurting out two words he hadn't spoken since arriving in this world, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground.
He had already deduced that Black Emperor was connected to Purple Mountain and to Wu Shi, but he never imagined it had once been a stray dog. He thought it was some kind of celestial hound that had become a spirit.
"Damn it! If I'd known it was connected to Purple Mountain, I'd have made it show its true colors long ago," Fatty Duan said, stunned. He never imagined that this was a dog from over a hundred thousand years ago that had followed Wu Shi!
The Old Blind Man was also dumbfounded, muttering, "It's that little stray dog Emperor Wu Shi picked up in his later years? Unbelievable. It's living alongside us in this era, having survived until now."
A piece of unofficial history, a small detail, had revealed Black Emperor's origins, leaving the three of them stunned for a long time as they mulled it over.
There was no need to overthink it—Wu Shi's dog surely knew many great secrets. It might have even read the Beginningless Scripture. This was practically a living immortal treasure!
Why could the Big Black Dog live for over a hundred thousand years, longer than the ancient Great Emperors themselves? This wasn't a difficult mystery to solve.
Since ancient times, apart from naturally occurring Divine Source liquid, only the ancient Great Emperors could refine it. It could seal living beings, keeping them unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years. However, the Great Emperors themselves couldn't seal themselves—their blood energy was too powerful, piercing through the heavens. Divine Source liquid was utterly ineffective on them, and there was nothing in this world that could suppress them.
With a little thought, one could deduce that Black Emperor had been sealed by Wu Shi and only now emerged into the world.
At this point, Black Emperor's origins were no longer a secret. Its background could be easily inferred, but it still made the three of them sigh with emotion.
This was a dog that had lived for over a hundred thousand years, and most importantly, it had followed a human Great Emperor—Wu Shi!
"As a follower of Wu Shi, I should look up to it with reverence. But this dog—I'd love to stew it alive!" Fatty Duan gritted his teeth.
"Did something really happen to Black Emperor? Has it not been in Purple Mountain for the past decade?" Ye Fan asked worriedly.
The Old Blind Man said, "Based on my many years of experience, it came back. There's a pile of 'traces' from seven or eight years ago over there. That grave-robbing little thief almost stepped in dog shit again."
Hearing this, Duan De immediately started jumping again.
Ahead, there was a small pool formed by earthly milk, only a few feet long. The milky liquid was crystalline, with a fragrant scent. A few shiny black dog hairs lay there, left behind several years ago.
"It came back. It definitely isn't dead, but it seems like it hasn't been active for years. Where did it go?" Ye Fan wondered.
They continued forward. Without the threat of ancient creatures, the dangers within the mountain's belly dropped sharply, and many places were now passable.
Before long, they reached a remote corner filled with massive boulders. Ye Fan was startled. "This place..."
He saw the patterns left by the Origin Heavenly Master, which had once sealed strange stones here. Soon, he found a Creation Source Eye!
"A Creation Source Eye really exists?" Ye Fan stood dumbfounded for a long time, unable to speak.
Among the piles of rubble was a black hole, no bigger than a human head, shaped like an eye socket connecting to the depths of the earth. Occasionally, colorful mist would rise from it, making one feel utterly relaxed.
"What's a Creation Source Eye?" Duan De asked eagerly.
"It's a place of creation within source veins. I can't explain it clearly. The Source Heaven Scroll only has vague records mentioning it. It's said that in ancient times, it could nurture deities," Ye Fan said solemnly.
"No way, that's incredible. Doesn't that mean we've hit the jackpot, finding a Creation Source Eye?" Duan De laughed wildly.
"Don't get your hopes up. This Creation Source Eye has dried up. All its essence has been sucked dry," Ye Fan deflated him.
"What? Who? Was it that dog?" Fatty Duan's face immediately fell.
Ye Fan examined it closely, studying the Creation Source Eye, and finally said grimly, "It was the Celestial Prince of the ancient clan!"
"What? How could it be him?" Even the Old Blind Man couldn't stay calm. He had been keeping an eye on this heaven-defying divine son of the ancient clan, because his talent was too terrifying—a mere decade of cultivation surpassed others' millennia!
Compared to the ancient Great Emperors, he was more than their equal. All the ancient clans said he was the offspring of a deity, and it was only fitting.
"Back then, the Origin Heavenly Master took a strange stone from Purple Mountain and placed it at Jade Pool. I eventually cut a divine egg from it, and this place carries its aura."
The three of them stood stunned. In the endless ages before the ancient times, the name Immortal Emperor resounded across heaven and earth. All races worshipped him as the only immortal deity. Everyone had to pay homage.
His offspring was naturally hailed as the Son of a God!
There was no need to think twice—the Celestial Prince possessed the most terrifying bloodline. Now, having absorbed the Creation Source Eye, it weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
"The direct descendants of the ancient Great Emperors are all unparalleled figures who shook the ages. In the end, they were only half a step away from attaining the Dao. They possessed unmatched talent and terrifying bloodline power. If they hadn't been born in the same era as their emperor fathers, they would have been absolutely extraordinary!" the Old Blind Man said.
Then he glanced at Ye Fan, the implication clear. Even if the Sacred Body reached great accomplishment, it would still have enemies. The bloodlines of the ancient emperors were not just one now, and all of them had avoided their fathers' eras. They would surely shake the world.
Especially the Celestial Prince—now that they knew he had absorbed the Creation Source Eye, he was even more terrifying. He would most likely become a second Immortal Emperor.
"The other ancient emperor bloodlines—Huang Xudao, Huo Qizi—are also unimaginable. Their fathers likely left behind things similar to the Creation Source Eye," the Old Blind Man said.
Then he patted Ye Fan on the shoulder. "As a Sacred Body born in this great era, even if you reach great accomplishment, you'll still have enemies. Those ancient emperor bloodlines are no lambs—they're all crouching divine lions."
Ye Fan suddenly asked, "The ancient emperors long realized that as long as they lived, their direct descendants couldn't attain the Dao, because there can only be one emperor in heaven and earth. So they sealed them for the present era. Didn't the human Great Emperors foresee this? Didn't they make arrangements for their descendants? Didn't they leave behind a most powerful imperial son for a later era?"
"That... it's hard to say!" the Old Blind Man shook his head.
"I know some secrets about this. In the past, an imperial son emerged and died in the Dark Calamity, quelling the great chaos," Duan De suddenly said.
"This..." The three of them sighed and didn't continue.
The Old Blind Man performed divination, Duan De studied feng shui, and Ye Fan probed the source veins. They moved forward without incident, encountering a few dead ancient creatures along the way and nothing else.
"Weng"
Suddenly, at that moment, the Devouring Demon Jar resonated on its own, shaking without being activated. The lid and the jar aligned, hovering above their heads.
"What's going on?" the Old Blind Man exclaimed in shock.
This jar was different from other imperial weapons. It seemed to possess a life beyond ordinary understanding, hailed as one of the most terrifying imperial weapons in history.
"If any weapon can resist the bell waves of the Primordial Bell, it's this one," Duan De said, carefully observing their surroundings for any anomalies.
"It's here..." Ye Fan found the place familiar. He had once hidden here to avoid a group of terrifying ancient creatures.
This was an open area, a plaza, but also a terrifying stone hall. Upon closer inspection, one would be shocked to realize that the hanging stone wall above was shaped like a giant bell.
"The Primordial Bell!"
"It's hidden within the stone, and it's this huge! I'd love to see its true form!"
Duan De and the Old Blind Man were terrified. If they accidentally entered, the bell might ring endlessly, slaughtering everything!
"Let's go around it first. Whatever you do, don't make the bell ring," Duan De said. The Old Blind Man nodded in agreement. Only Ye Fan stood in a daze, lost in thought. The Primordial Bell was the most critical part of his mission.