Visions of the Ancestral Gods

"Refining the Heaven-Earth Furnace..."

Vaguely, Xiao Chen heard such words, now present, now absent, broken and intermittent. In the dead silence of the night, they sounded especially ethereal.

A dark cloud drifted past, blotting out the starlight and moon, plunging the stone forest into shadow. Huge stone pillars loomed not far away, like giants—their blurred outlines, tall and dark, weighed down the air with a somber, eerie heaviness.

Without wind or ripple, the indistinct voices reached Xiao Chen's ears again, but he could not clearly grasp them, could not make out their meaning.

"The heavenly realm... hell..."

At last he caught a few more words. His heart pounded. Who was speaking? Surely no ordinary person! The topics they discussed touched upon forbidden secrets—how could common folk be involved?

Xiao Chen desperately wanted to know who was speaking, yet dared not move a muscle, afraid to disturb them. Carefully he released his divine sense to investigate, but found nothing. A layer of mysterious mist seemed to shroud the surroundings, swallowing his probing consciousness like mud thrown into the sea.

Who? Who was it? Why were they discussing such forbidden topics?

Just as Xiao Chen was about to rise, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something, then it grew slightly clearer. Right before him, beneath the towering stone tree, two old men sat cross-legged on the ground. Though their figures were hazy, he could dimly make out two white-haired elders—one exuding awe-inspiring dignity, the other boundless kindness.

It was them. They were the ones talking.

No more than a few feet away!

How strange! The sensation filled Xiao Chen with a profound oddity. He seemed to be only a foot apart, yet it felt as if they were separated by half a starry sky. They were so close, yet it felt as though they straddled endless dimensions.

Could it be they did not see the person beside them? Xiao Chen had the feeling that the old men had not even glanced at him, treating him like an ordinary blade of grass or a stone.

"Youchao..."

He caught another word. One old man addressed the other by that name. Xiao Chen nearly gasped aloud.

Youchao... was the person before him an Ancestral God? An Ancestral God sitting only a few feet away?

"Suiren..."

The other old man's words reached Xiao Chen as well. It was... Suiren!

Xiao Chen felt his blood surge, his pulse racing. Before him sat... two Ancestral Gods?

This was beyond imagination!

"The mortal world..."

Xiao Chen grew agitated. Two Ancestral Gods sat not far away, seemingly discussing some great secret, but he could only catch a few blurred words. Every time it reached a critical point, the sound would cut off, leaving him desperate to approach the two Ancestral Gods and hear clearly.

But his urgency was useless. He simply could not hear distinctly. So near, yet so far.

"Stone Man nine parts..."

These four words sent a tremor through Xiao Chen's heart. The result, as expected, was the same—he could not make out the full statement.

Frustration!

Xiao Chen wished he could act immediately, charge forward. Only a few feet away—the Ancestral Gods should have noticed him long ago. Why were they ignoring him? Were they deliberately preventing him from hearing?

At that moment, the two blurry figures gradually grew clearer. He could now see Ancestral God Youchao and Ancestral God Suiren sitting face to face, cross-legged. Even their facial expressions became somewhat discernible—no longer merely a vague sternness and kindness.

And at that same time, Xiao Chen saw them move. The dignified Ancestral God Youchao opened his right hand, revealing several objects resting in his palm: a stone dagger, a stone ball, and a severed arm. Were those not the Ancestral God relics from Youchao's Heavenly Palace in the Tianluo Kingdom? How did they appear here again?

Xiao Chen knew clearly: the stone ball had been taken by Lord Tongtian, the stone dagger by the Martial Saint Sun Wu, and the severed arm—he himself had obtained it, and it was now within his body. He quickly turned his inner sight to see the broken Stone Man sitting cross-legged inside him, a stone drill resting in his palm, motionless as a wooden or clay statue.

And at this moment, the kindly Ancestral God Suiren also opened his hand. The stone drill, the Stone Man's left leg, the Stone Man's right leg... all appeared in his palm.

Xiao Chen suddenly realized: the Ancestral Gods were indeed before him, but not as real figures. They were phantoms from endless ages past, preserved here, manifesting at a particular time to replay the scenes of that era.

This was not a supernatural event. In special places like ancient castles or underground tombs, if the surroundings remain unchanged, historical illusions can reappear under specific conditions—the environment itself had vividly recorded the events of that time.

He no longer grew anxious. Gradually he calmed down and quietly watched the phantom images of the Ancestral Gods. The two Ancestral Gods sat there silently, no longer speaking, and the scene grew still.

As time passed, Xiao Chen suddenly felt a profound harmony and tranquility here. The space where the two Ancestral Gods sat seemed to radiate a soothing aura, involuntarily calming the mind.

No—it was not the Ancestral Gods' aura that did it, but their own serene, natural posture.

The Way of Natural Peace!

In that instant, a flash of insight struck Xiao Chen. The Way of harmonious peace awakened him.

Lately, he had been too anxious for cultivation speed. Haste defeats purpose. At Fuxi's ruins he had comprehended and created the Eight Aspect Worlds divine ability. Now, at Ancestral God Suiren's meditation site, he hoped again for some gain. Though he had not insisted on a result, his heart had been expecting one—and that had already fallen into the inferior path.

It went against the Way of Nature.

This time he had no particular opportunity, but Xiao Chen's state of mind suddenly calmed. No longer agitated, his heart became peaceful and natural.

But was this truly correct? Was the Ancestral Gods' Way of Nature necessarily right? He had his doubts. Perhaps it was not suited for him...

Ahead, the peaceful, serene images of the two Ancestral Gods seemed to be slowly imprinting themselves upon his heart. Two streaks of light were drawing near.

In the dead of the night, the Ancestral Gods' figures entered Xiao Chen's heart. He felt peace and nature.

Morning. Sunlight scattered its golden beams. Xiao Chen opened his eyes. A few green leaves, blown from somewhere, drifted lightly into the stone forest.

Xiao Chen rose to his full height. Facing the morning clouds, he stretched out his hands and caught two falling leaves. In the glow of sunrise, the two emerald leaves sparkled with a jadelike luster, dripping with vitality. Xiao Chen gazed at them silently for a long time.

Though the two leaves appeared similar, upon close inspection they were quite different. No two leaves in this world were exactly alike, and naturally no two cultivation paths were identical. Though enlightened by the Ancestral Gods' Way of Peace and Nature, Xiao Chen could not truly walk their path. At that moment, the two Ancestral God images within his heart slowly faded until they vanished completely.

He wiped them clean from his mind!

He could walk and experience another's path, but the true Way lay beneath his own feet. That was his Way.

A gentle breeze brushed past. The morning glow was dazzling. He lightly raised his hands, and the two emerald leaves fluttered away like green butterflies, eventually falling to the ground.

In the morning sunlight, Xiao Chen's body shimmered with faint radiance. He looked so natural and harmonious, as if he had merged into this world, become an inseparable part of it, as if he were one with the surrounding stone forest and giant trees, connected into a single whole. A green leaf condensed between his hands, glowing with a soft green light. Then it soared upward, suddenly shattering into a blaze of intense divine radiance that shot straight into the heavens, startling nearby residents.

In an instant, the soaring green light withdrew abruptly, falling from the sky back into Xiao Chen's body.

That was his own unique "green leaf"—sprouting in the treasure trove of his body, taking shape in the sea of divine consciousness, now manifesting in form. A leaf turned into pure energy, dissolving into his treasure body, causing the two Ancestral Gods and the two green leaves to disappear completely from his heart.

Xiao Chen awoke from the wondrous, mysterious state. The mountains were still the mountains, the clouds still the clouds. Everything had always been thus, never changed. Hard training and rapid progress were not wrong.

Nine days of meditation, one morning of enlightenment—a subtle realm that could only be felt, not described. In the end, Xiao Chen let out two loud laughs. He was still the same Xiao Chen. With broad strides, he walked out of the stone forest.

Golden sunlight fell upon him, as if faint flowing brilliance emanated from his body, giving him an indescribably unique temperament.

All of this was because Xiao Chen had made another breakthrough, crossing from Spirit-Treasury Sixth Heaven into Spirit-Treasury Seventh Heaven. His flesh and divine consciousness were naturally different from before.

Earlier, his spiritual state had already broken into Spirit-Treasury Seventh Heaven. This time, at the ruins of Ancestral God Youchao, nine days of meditation and one morning of enlightenment allowed him to fully ascend to Seventh Heaven.

His treasure body grew even more formidable. His skin shimmered with a crystalline luster. His first divine ability, Melting Weapons into Body, advanced by several layers. This ability was directly tied to his physical form; whenever his body grew stronger, its power multiplied.

Moreover, his divine consciousness became more condensed. The Eight Aspect Worlds emerged, clearer than before, resembling real worlds, undergoing a similar transformation.

Residual afterimages flickered. The various nearly divine seals and scattering techniques became more refined, their power greatly increased.

This filled Xiao Chen with newfound confidence. He felt as if he could single-handedly challenge a Demigod!

Xiao Chen knew that the strongest experts of the great religions must have already arrived in Yin Capital, and the clashes with the outstanding young experts of Great Shang had likely begun.

Leisurely as a stroll in a garden, one step took him several streets away. He did not want to miss the chance—he wanted to see just how powerful his peers had become. If the Tiger Clan had come, he was ready for a fierce battle before withdrawing.

The collision of the strongest young experts from two empires had indeed begun. This time, it was not held in the military camps outside the city, but in a royal garden within the city, which contained a massive training ground large enough for the young experts to display their skills.

This was a grand gathering, an intense clash of the younger generation, the first confrontation of the future peak experts of two empires. Some were destined to become famous across the world through this event.

Thus, every person of status in Yin Capital had come to this royal garden, eager to watch the dragon-and-tiger struggle.

Responding to public demand, the royal garden was opened to all. Anyone who paid a certain amount of gold coins—even ordinary citizens—could watch from outside the training ground.

On this day, the vast training ground was surrounded by a sea of people—tens of thousands had gathered.

Among them were military generals, experts of Yin Capital's aristocratic families, young talents from all over the Eternal Continent, elder masters, as well as nobles ignorant of cultivation, and ordinary folk who had come purely for the spectacle.

Yan Qingcheng, A Bing, and Third Princess Ying Ying sat together. Qi Liao, Yu Wenfeng, Huo Niao, and A Shui, whom Xiao Chen had not seen for days, also appeared. Even the taciturn Dugu Jianmo had arrived.

On the other side, Bo Shi, Chen Hangjin, and other princely lineages were surrounded by large groups of aristocratic youth. The Four Talents of Yin Capital—Chu Xingkuang, Yan Lingkong, and the others—had all gathered together. Their popularity was unimaginable; that area was packed so tightly that no one could pass.

The mere fact that these four experts were together again was already a sensational piece of news.

Of course, though they were among the strongest, they were certainly not the so-called "number one." The four were scanning the crowd, knowing that the legendary figures had surely arrived.

As for the Roman Empire's side, their momentum was even greater. The five hundred knights of the Sun Knight Order, all riding savage beasts, had come to the scene. They encircled the outermost periphery, guarding the high-ranking experts and important figures of the great religions, creating a relatively quiet and spacious zone for them. Though the supreme experts of the religions could not be seen, the mere sight of the outer ring of beast-mounted knights was enough to make hearts tremble.

Each savage beast was a colossal creature—winged leopards, nine-headed pythons, shimmering giant eagles... Their murderous aura was chilling, their presence awe-inspiring.

Niu Ren shook his pair of huge ox horns, standing in the crowd with a face full of frustration. He had spotted Yu Wenfeng not far from Third Princess—that fellow had actually obtained a Horse King Soul!

Thanks to the keen spiritual perception of the Ox King Soul, the fat youth immediately detected an anomaly. Careful observation confirmed the problem: the legendary Ox Head and Horse Face had come together, mutually sensing each other's existence.

What infuriated Niu Ren the most was that Yu Wenfeng showed no sign of "Horse-Facing" at all. He looked perfectly normal, nothing like Niu Ren's conspicuously "eye-catching" appearance.

On the other side of the crowd, a sleazy-looking fellow was weaving and dodging among a group of noble ladies, loitering annoyingly.

One noble lady glared at him in anger. "Who are you? Why do you keep barging in and out? Trying to take advantage of us?"

"That's right, look at those peach-blossom eyes—they haven't left us since he came."

"Scumbag. Get lost!"

"Lo-lo-lo... lovely ladies, I-I-I... I am the le-le-le... legendary flower-flower... guardian angel! Th-th-this area has rogues! S-s-see that?" The sleazy man pointed at Niu Ren off in the distance. "Th-th-that guy has lecherous eyes flashing everywhere, his ox head wobbling—he's a he-he-he... horny ox pervert!"

Then he turned and pointed at Dugu Jianmo in another direction. "S-s-see that guy? D-d-don't let his cool looks fool you—he's a co-co-cold-faced lecher! Cruel and violent!"

"A-a-and that scarface over there." This time he pointed at Bo Shi. "Th-this is definitely a-a-a wolf in sheep's clothing, a demon king of lust! In the business, we-we-we call him Number Two Baldy Lust Demon—five-star danger level!"

"A-a-and that pretty boy... he was still wetting the bed at ten, but even then he was already a menace, specializing in ta-ta-targeting young girls! Known as... the Jade-Faced Little Lech!"

"Get lost, you scumbag!" A girl threw a handful of snacks squarely into the sleazy man's face.

"You're the real scumbag—you dare slander others? You look the most like a villain!"

"Beat him!"

A group of women surrounded the sleazy man and gave him a thorough pummeling.

But the sleazy man slipped through like a fish in water, dodging while stammering in his defense: "In-in-injustice! I-I-I came here just to-to-to catch a rogue! Th-that guy named Totti—a d-d-dirty scumbag, ab-ab-absolutely dangerous!"

"Roooar!"

Several long roars rang out, instantly quieting the clamorous training ground. Several enormous white tigers shot across the sky and landed among the crowd.