allendalepharm Chapter 26 Forging Weapons, The Second Life!
Chapter 26 Forging Weapons, The Second Life!
Gai Jiuyou's expression turned cold.
The Stone Emperor's voice echoed into the Undying Mountain.
A gentle laugh, tinged with amiability, echoed from within the Primordial Ancient Mine.
"Fellow Daoist Shi Huang, you are both enlightened beings. You should know that cultivation lies in the person, not the vessel. We are all old and frail, barely clinging to life, only to witness whether immortals exist. Why care about these things? The path to immortality is the destination we both await. Everything else is merely external."
His words were understated, implying that an ancient being who was too old to be a threat, even if he were to reforge an imperial weapon, would not pose much of a threat, thus deflecting the Stone Emperor's question.
Shi Huang snorted coldly and said no more.
However, another voice took over the conversation.
From the direction of Burial Sky Island, an ancient emperor with a slightly familiar voice sneered, his voice like a dull knife scraping against bone: "You all are quite generous at the Primordial Ancient Mine. Today someone comes to take Chaos Stones, tomorrow someone will come to take Primordial Life Stones, and the day after tomorrow I'm afraid even the ancient mine will have to be handed over. For a hundred years, Hun Tian Ridge has been demanding from east and west, pressing us step by step. Your accommodating manner makes us feel uneasy."
His words were ostensibly a response to the Stone Emperor's words, but in reality, they were a sarcastic jab at the Primordial Ancient Mine for showing weakness.
Gai Jiuyou's gaze suddenly froze!
He could never mistake that voice.
Years ago, in that desolate star field, amidst the overwhelming heavenly tribulation and the illusory figure of the Azure Emperor, it was the owner of this voice who, from Burial Sky Island, revealed his murderous intent, intending to kill him within the sea of tribulation and seize his Dao traces and blood essence. That chilling killing intent had completely locked down the void around him; had it not been for the sudden activation of the talisman in his bosom, he would have already perished under the combined attack of the heavenly tribulation and the Supreme Being.
Golden Lion Ancient Emperor!
Several years later, upon hearing that voice again, Gai Jiuyou didn't utter a single unnecessary word.
He turned around directly outside the Primordial Ancient Mine and stepped into the sky.
The Heavenly Realm, also known as Burial Island, is different from other forbidden zones of life. It moves through the skies of the Eastern Wilderness according to a mysterious pattern. Unless a cultivator is extremely lucky and happens to stumble upon it, they will never be able to find it.
The Celestial Melody of Tribulation Transcending spread out like ripples beneath my feet, and the melodious celestial music rose up, covering the Nine Netherworlds in an instant, capturing traces of Burial Island in the outer heavens above the Big Dipper.
His aura was no longer restrained in the slightest. The light of the tribulation and the sound of the zither intertwined to form an overwhelming pressure that heavily crushed towards that ancient forbidden zone!
"Gai Jiuyou! What do you want? Do you want to fight me, the Emperor?"
On Burial Sky Island, the voice of the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor, filled with shock and rage, resounded.
He never expected that this junior, whom he had regarded as prey just a few years ago, would dare to come to his door and intimidate Burial Sky Island with his imposing presence!
Gai Jiuyou stood outside the sky, his black hair dancing wildly in the light of the tribulation, expressionless as he looked at the faintly visible imperial phantom deep within Burial Sky Island.
His voice wasn't loud, but it was as cold as a gust of wind blowing from the depths of the netherworld: "The Lord of Chaos needs a few auxiliary materials to forge his weapon. I've heard that the Ancient Emperor Golden Lion possesses a piece of Tribulation Gold, so I've come to borrow it!"
"How dare you!" The Golden Lion Ancient Emperor was furious. The chaotic mist above Burial Sky Island surged violently, and a monstrous killing intent swept out from it, transforming into an almost tangible pressure that swept over Gai Jiuyou.
That was true imperial majesty; even with a self-inflicted wound and a drop in cultivation level, the supreme ruler's killing intent could still dim the stars. He wanted to make this arrogant junior kneel before him, retracting his earlier words in the most humiliating manner.
However, Gai Jiuyou did not retreat an inch. He stood still, and the tribulation light around him was not extinguished, but instead burned even brighter under the crushing pressure of the supreme being. The Nine Nether Zither emitted a deep hum behind him, and although the Tribulation Transcending Immortal Melody was not played, it was already circulating to its limit within his body. His divine eyes shot into the depths of Burial Sky Island like cold lightning, his fighting spirit undisguised.
There was an old grudge. The slap from years ago was a perfect opportunity to settle things today.
If the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor were to truly be born, he would be more than happy to have it!
"A mere unorthodox path to enlightenment—"
The enraged voice of the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor was interrupted by another will. From the direction of the heavens, a supreme being who had never spoken before suddenly spoke: "Golden Lion, you attacked him several years ago while he was undergoing tribulation, so there is already a karmic debt between you. Handing over this piece of immortal gold today can be considered as settling this matter, which is only reasonable."
These words, though impartial, abruptly halted the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor's voice. The other supreme beings of Burial Sky Island did not side with him. The Path to Immortality had been open for less than ten thousand years, and at this critical juncture, they were unwilling to drag the entire Burial Sky Island into a direct conflict with Hun Tian Ridge because of the Golden Lion Ancient Emperor's old grudges.
The Golden Lion Ancient Emperor was furious to the extreme. His will surged violently within Burial Sky Island, and the ferocity of the ancient beasts and the majesty of the supreme emperor clashed fiercely within his body.
The Primordial Ancient Mine was exchanged for a scroll of ancient scripture, yet he was to be forced to take it empty-handed? This was clearly an insult. Moreover, he hadn't even uttered a single word of exchange in Gai Jiuyou's mouth; the other party was obviously there to intimidate him. Yet, the surrounding wills seemed to have reached a consensus, following past practice, and were trying to persuade him.
After a suffocatingly long standoff, a heavy, cold snort finally echoed from the depths of Burial Sky Island. That snort contained boundless killing intent, yet it ultimately did not materialize into a thunderous strike.
A piece of immortal gold, roughly the size of two fists, flew out from Burial Sky Island.
The Dao Tribulation Gold was dazzling, with naturally formed patterns interspersed within its gold color. Each pattern was a complete Dao Tribulation mark, as if an earth-shattering heavenly tribulation was sealed within this piece of immortal gold, ready to break free at any moment.
It is ranked alongside Chaos Stone as an ultimate divine material, extremely rare in the world, yet it was easily taken away merely as an "auxiliary material".
Gai Jiuyou raised his hand and accepted it without giving it another glance. He turned to face the direction of Huntian Ridge and, under the complex gazes of the Supremes, gave a slight bow.
At the summit of Huntianling Mountain, a faint laugh pierced through layers of black mist, echoing gently in the void.
There were no extra words, only an old, withered hand reaching out from the black mist and gently beckoning.
The Chaos Stone and the Dao Tribulation Gold traversed the boundless void with a wave of the hand and landed above the Hun Tian Ridge.
The gazes of many supreme beings followed the two divine materials, refocusing on the summit of that dark mountain.
Immediately afterwards, they witnessed a scene that made everyone's gaze fall slightly.
In the void, countless laws began to manifest. These were not mere fragments of laws, but complete chains of laws extracted directly from the very origin of heaven and earth using supreme means.
One by one, crisscrossing and intersecting, a huge outline slowly emerged above Hun Tian Ridge. At first, there were only a few lines, but in the blink of an eye, they became densely packed, and the shape of a furnace could be vaguely seen taking shape, purely constructed from the laws of the Dao. Each furnace wall was a complete law of the Great Dao, and each line was a manifestation of the order of heaven and earth!
Immediately afterwards, black and white streams of energy rose from the ruins atop Huntianling Mountain, spiraling upwards like two true dragons and disappearing into the bottom of the Dao Furnace. The moment the two streams of energy converged at the bottom of the furnace, crimson-gold flames burst into flame, licking the bottom of the furnace and illuminating the entire sky as if it were daytime!
"Using the laws of heaven and earth as a furnace, taking the yin and yang energies as firewood, and igniting the fire of the great void to forge weapons. Truly a fine method." In the Sea of Reincarnation, a Supreme Being watched with great interest, his voice filled with undisguised admiration.
This method of refining artifacts is completely different from that of the world. It does not rely on a cauldron or external force, but directly draws the laws from the origin of heaven and earth as the furnace and uses its own yin and yang energies as fuel. This method is truly ingenious.
Most supreme beings, however, remained indifferent and observed from the sidelines.
"Imperial weapons are objects of the ultimate realm, and a heavenly tribulation will inevitably descend upon them when they are completed. The Lord of Chaos is already so old, is he not afraid of destroying himself by forging such a divine weapon?" Deep within the Divine Ruins, a supreme being sneered.
It's unlikely that a supreme being would perish because of refining a weapon, but since the Divine Ruins and the Lord of Chaos already had a grudge, he naturally wouldn't mind casually uttering a curse.
However, it is an undeniable fact that refining the ultimate imperial weapon is extremely taxing on an aging supreme being.
The supreme beings who harbored hostility towards Huntian Ridge were delighted to see this Lord of Huntian sacrifice his own life force. An ancient being so old, dragging his crippled body to fight against the heavenly tribulation, even if he managed to forge the imperial weapon, the consumption would be immeasurable.
If the forging process results in excessive losses, even with a newly forged imperial weapon, it's uncertain whether its combat strength will be superior to its current state. If things go wrong, and the weapon weakens too much…
The Supreme Beings who are interested in Hun Tian Ling have never been limited to Huo Ling Ji Yan!
…………
Under the watchful eyes of the Supreme Beings, each with their own thoughts, the Dao Fire burned fiercely in the vast sky.
The Chaos Stone slowly melted in the flames, its gray-black body gradually transforming into a chaotic liquid. Within it, the seemingly dormant primordial universe began to surge violently under the intense heat.
The Dao Tribulation Gold melted simultaneously, the golden liquid intertwining with the deep purple Dao Tribulation marks, dyeing the chaotic color of the Chaos Stone with a dazzling golden-purple light. Several auxiliary materials that flew out from Hun Tian Ridge were also thrown into the furnace one by one, merging into the surging liquid under the refinement of the Dao Fire.
Yu Dao's hands moved slowly in the void, and each change in gesture instilled a new Dao mark into the furnace.
Those Dao marks were completely different from the laws of any lineage in this world, carrying the primordial meaning of creation and the profound mystery of reincarnation, one after another imprinted into the depths of the divine material. Under the carving of the Dao marks, the liquid divine material gradually took shape, and the outline of a disc could be vaguely seen.
"boom!"
As the ultimate divine weapon gradually took shape, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth finally became aware of it. The sky above Hun Tian Ridge darkened at a visible speed, not with the arrival of night, but with a deeper, more oppressive gloom. Calamity energy surged from all directions, condensing into a vast, sun-obscuring cloud above Hun Tian Ridge. Lightning flickered within the cloud, covering not only the area above Hun Tian Ridge but also the entire Big Dipper Starfield; each flash caused the ancient Big Dipper star to tremble slightly!
If it weren't for the fact that the Big Dipper served as the burial star of emperors and possessed infinite Dao formations, and instead it were a life source star without any trace of an emperor, it would probably perish under the calamity!
The dim light of calamity pressed down from the sky, enveloping Huntian Ridge, the northern region of the Eastern Wilderness, and the entire ancient star!
Whether they were visiting friends and drinking tea or deeply cultivating, the cultivators on the Big Dipper were all shocked by this calamity light, and their expressions changed drastically!
"What happened? How can such a dense aura of calamity be generated?!"
"An aura of supreme power is being nurtured, and a calamity is descending upon heaven and earth... Could it be that after the peerless quasi-emperors of the Central Plains, someone else is about to undergo an imperial tribulation?"
"Why undergo tribulation in the Big Dipper Star Region? Is this to destroy this ancient star?!"
Countless cultivators were gripped by fear and unease. Some sages had already begun to summon their Jade Platforms, preparing to traverse the starry sky to escape this land that was about to be transformed into calamity.
Those who witnessed Gai Jiuyou's tribulation several years ago turned pale. That calamity turned an entire star field into ruins. If it happened here again, could the ancient star of the Big Dipper withstand it?
At the summit of Huntianling Mountain, Yu Dao stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the nascent tribulation clouds. A faint smile played on his lips.
"I imagine there are many supreme beings who have severed themselves, waiting for me to contend with the heavenly tribulation and fight until my life force is completely withered away..."
His gaze swept across the direction of the Divine Ruins, the Undying Mountain, and the Burial Sky Island, with a meaningful look.
If things really go as they wish, and their life force is completely depleted during the heavenly tribulation, there are only two paths they can take.
Either they're left with only their last breath, and from then on, they're no longer a threat.
Alternatively, like those supreme beings who instigated dark upheavals, they could devour billions of living beings to replenish their vital energy.
In the former case, his threat level would be greatly reduced, and he might even attract the attention of some supreme beings who, after assessment, deemed them highly likely to succeed, to hunt down this remnant of the chaotic ancient era.
The latter can also find it amusing.
So what if they are ancient people from the chaotic past? So what if they have gone astray? At this critical juncture, everyone is like them, everyone is a supreme being of darkness!
"It's time."
Yu Dao said softly.
The next moment, beneath that aged and withered body, a monstrous wave suddenly surged within the Sea of Wheels. The Sea of Bitterness churned violently as if boiling, and from the Spring of Life, strands of crystal-clear immortal essence gushed forth, rushing down the limbs and bones into every meridian and every inch of bone and blood!
The withered, gray aura surrounding him crumbled inch by inch under the impact of this celestial essence. His long, gray hair began to fade from the roots, a deep black spreading out like a tide, the grayness receding, replaced by a waterfall of jet-black color. His gaunt cheeks visibly filled out, the deep wrinkles being smoothed out by plump skin, revealing a young and handsome face emerging from the shell of age, his features deep and sculpted as if by a knife. His emaciated body seemed to be infused with boundless vitality, his muscles bulging again, his bones emitting a deep, rumbling sound, and every inch of his skin beginning to radiate a warm, lustrous glow.
That boundless surge of blood energy soared into the sky, shattering the perpetual black mist above Hun Tian Ridge and crashing into the nascent tribulation clouds, causing them to churn violently. It was a true supreme being living a second life, a withered tree blossoming in spring, a rebirth from annihilation, a moment of splendor exchanged for millions of years of silence!
The terrifying aura, many times stronger than when Gai Jiuyou was repairing his Dao injury, suddenly erupted!