Stealing the Secret from the Cover of Heaven

Chapter 540: The Beginning of Darkness
"Mad man, you are really a mad man."

In the group of small worlds in the ancient secret realm of immortals, ancient freaks kept fleeing while cursing.

"Fellow Daoist, please transcend the tribulation!"

But this sentence follows them like a shadow, and no matter which world they escape to, they cannot get rid of the curse that fills their hearts with shadows.

"This is too much. I will fight him."

An ancient freak who couldn't stand the torture gritted his teeth and took out his most precious treasure, intending to fight to the death with Tuoba Yaoyang.

"Calm down, you must stay calm, and don't ever provoke him. This man is an invincible creature like the Ten-Crown King. He is definitely not someone you and I can contend with." Seeing this, the companions around the ancient freak hurriedly comforted him.

Even though it's frustrating, saving your life is the most important thing. This trip to the ancient secret realm is much more dangerous than ever before. If you want to stay alive, you have to keep your tail between your legs.

"But I can't stand it anymore. Who would force others to go through a calamity without any grudge against them? Isn't it obvious that they want to take our lives?" The ancient freak was furious and wanted to chop Tuoba Yaoyang to death.

There have been dozens of powerful first-generation and ancient freaks forced to undergo tribulation by Tuoba Yaoyang.

However, less than 10% of creatures successfully survived the natural calamity.

There was not a single living being left intact.

Even in the heavenly tribulations brought upon most living beings, there is no trace of the thunder pool, let alone the golden thunder tribulation liquid that can dissolve the ancient curse of the immortals.

But even so, there are still very few creatures that can survive the natural disaster.

"Why is this ancient freak's talent so poor?"

Tuoba Yaoyang no longer had the intention to catch up with them, but instead felt a sense of disappointment.

Before this, he had experienced the heavenly tribulations of many cultivators, but the quality of the heavenly tribulations brought upon those cultivators was simply incomparable to the one he was experiencing.

Although his joining caused the power of the heavenly tribulation to increase dramatically, it was still not comparable to the heavenly tribulation he normally brought about.

In fact, Tuoba Yaoyang wrongly blamed those ancient freaks.

Except for a few peerless geniuses such as the ten-time champion and the six-time champion, most of the other ancient freaks did not live up to their reputations.

Overall, the so-called freaks are just like looking for a phoenix in a chicken coop, only slightly more powerful than a rooster.

With their foundation, whether they can become cultivators of the first level of escape in the future is still unknown.

Most of these creatures that enter the ancient fairyland will be stuck in the realm of the gods and will not be able to make any progress in their lifetime.

As for the Supreme, it is just a wish.

Not to mention becoming an immortal in the future.

Among the millions of cultivators who entered the ancient secret realm of immortality this time, the number of creatures that could possess the potential to become immortals probably barely reached double digits.

You know, this is the 3,000th time that the Immortal Flower has bloomed, and it is also the last time.

This is the result of all the geniuses of every era being revived in this life.

It is obvious that the Three Thousand Dao States are directly connected to the Borderland, but the creatures of the Three Thousand States surrounded by the vast uninhabited area are so weak.

To put it nicely, it is because the broken heaven and earth make it difficult for all living things to practice cultivation. But to put it bluntly, they are a group of cowards who have no ambition and only dare to bully others in their own backyard and only dare to survive by hiding in the rear.

It is obvious that the border battlefield is a place where people can be trained very well.

As long as the rear continues to send fresh troops to the border, batch after batch of real gold will be dug out after the great waves.

Under the constant tempering of blood and fire, the major inheritances of the Three Thousand Dao States should be the strongest in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, and the least affected by the imperfections of heaven and earth.

After all, on a battlefield full of dangers, facing life and death crises, living beings are most likely to break their own limits in such situations.

Unfortunately, the customs of the Three Thousand States were distorted by a few remnant immortals who were trying to survive.

Even the ancient covenant seemed to have been forgotten.

It would be unjust if such ethnic groups and creatures were not eliminated.

"It seems that I have to find a truly important creature."

After seeing those ancient freaks escape to the small world with many indigenous tribes, Tuoba Yaoyang stopped his plan to ask people to help him transcend the tribulation.

Unlike those ancient freaks, he had little to do with the natives.

There were no predecessors among our ancestors who stayed in the ancient immortal world.

Many major sects in the Three Thousand States had more or less disciples staying in the ancient secret realm to reproduce and thrive when it was opened.

To a certain extent, it can provide help to those who come later.

Even the most top-level Taoist sect like the Immortal Palace is no exception.

The contemporary heir of the Immortal Palace, Di Chong, is able to rank among the top three geniuses of the time in terms of his cultivation and talent.

However, Di Chong’s predecessor, Di Kun, the heir of the previous generation of the Immortal Palace, was unexpectedly stranded in the ancient secret realm of the Immortal World.

If this is the case with the Immortal Palace, what about other sects?

However, there are powerful races left over from the ancient times within the Xian Gu secret realm, and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth contains a dark curse, so it is difficult for the disciples of the major sects who are stranded in the ancient times to develop.

In the ancient immortal world, the more powerful the cultivator was, the greater the impact of the curse would be. When the curse accumulated to a certain level, the cultivator would lose his mind.

Often starting from the realm of gods, one needs to sleep to avoid being affected by the power of the curse.

However, no matter how difficult the situation is, there are always survivors.

Therefore, most ancient freaks with powerful backgrounds have more or less special connections with the ancient immortals.

At the critical moment, perhaps we can seek shelter from the ancient immortals.

Tuoba Yaoyang did not have this convenience.

As for Li Zhi, he would not take action when he was competing with those young geniuses.

Even if he was killed in the battle with those geniuses, Li Zhi would not intervene.

Just like how the ruthless emperor treated Ye Fan back then.

After giving Ye Fan enough opportunities to succeed, he just watched his growth silently.

Now, after resolving the influence of the great causal force, Li Zhi's mentality has returned to normal.

In order to find an answer, a powerful Immortal King can personally cultivate a living being into a true immortal.

But when they need to sacrifice their lives, they will be killed without hesitation.

Although it seems cold-blooded and ruthless, it is actually the difference in life levels that makes the powerful Immortal Kings almost never treat creatures below the Immortal King as their own kind.

Although all intelligent life forms are sentient beings, their seven emotions and six desires are the same.

However, for those immortal kings who have lived for a long time, their heart of Tao has long blocked out all interference from the seven emotions and six desires, and they cannot empathize with ordinary creatures at all.

Li Zhi has lived for millions of years, so his character will naturally be closer to that of most Immortal Kings.

After all, rich emotions can only be developed in childhood.

However, his childhood was not as colorful as that of Emperor Huang Tian.

There will always be some cruelty and indifference in a heart of Tao.

In fact, Tuoba Yaoyang also lost a lot of emotional cultivation, especially the years when Li Zhi took away his physical body for training, which was the stage when his emotions were initially developed.

But Li Zhi used the Immortal King's divine consciousness to train him.

When he woke up again, he had already passed puberty.

Relatively speaking, Tuoba Yuer is much better. She spent most of her adolescence under her own control. Her personality is obviously different from Tuoba Yaoyang.

With a clear goal in mind, Tuoba Yaoyang went directly to the Nest Realm.

This was the only place where he could be sure that a peerless genius resided.

The feat of killing 200,000 lives in one fell swoop was born from the hands of a banished immortal.

The banished immortal may seem ethereal, but the evil spirit on his body is much heavier than that of an ordinary genius.

Unfortunately, Tuoba Yaoyang came at the wrong time. The exiled immortal was not in the nest world and seemed to have gone out for training.

After many twists and turns, Tuoba Yaoyang came to a special mountain range. Something in the mountain seemed to attract him.

When he broke through the mountain and entered the mountain, he unexpectedly discovered Shi Hao who was protected by numerous formations.

At this time, there were countless wounds on Shi Hao's body, and the whole person seemed to be torn into pieces, but there were two streams of fairy air surrounding his body, which preserved his body.

However, there was no trace of any spiritual energy in Shi Hao's body. Shi Hao's state was almost identical to that of the Little Immortal King in the Human Immortal Palace.

Upon seeing this, Tuoba Yaoyang's expression suddenly turned serious, and he then summoned the Ancestral Dragon Mountain Seal.

“Teacher, please save Shi Hao.” As it was related to darkness and weirdness, Tuoba Yaoyang could only ask for help from the mini dragon living in the Ancestral Dragon Panshan Seal.

"Huh!" When the mini golden dragon flew out from the Ancestral Dragon Panshan Seal, it immediately made a surprised sound.

Then he said to Tuoba Yaoyang: "You have accumulated enough heavenly thunder tribulations, and it is time for you to experience a real tribulation test."

"What disaster?" Tuoba Yaoyang looked confused. It was clearly he who asked the Golden Dragon to rescue Shi Hao, but it turned into a test for him.

"You'll know soon." The mini dragon's eyes were full of smiles, and it seemed that it was looking forward to Tuoba Yaoyang's ability to adapt to the upcoming experience.

Then the mini golden dragon borrowed the power of the Immortal King from Li Zhi's original body.

Under the power of the Immortal King, a mysterious three-story altar suddenly appeared in the belly of the mountain.

"Sit on it, I will send your soul to a mysterious world for training." The golden dragon pointed at the altar and said to Tuoba Yaoyang.

At the same time, a mysterious altar-shaped rune was imprinted into Tuoba Yaoyang's soul.

"Soul, go home."

As the golden dragon cast a spell, Tuoba Yaoyang seemed to see a mysterious passage made of runes, leading to a dark and unknown place.

Before he could react, his soul disappeared from his body.

When Tuoba Yaoyang woke up again, he found himself in a cold and dark cage.

Around the dark cage, it seemed as if many fragments of time were flashing, trapping him tightly inside.

Moreover, his spiritual power seemed to be constantly being consumed by the darkness around him.

After trying several times to break the cage without success, Tuoba Yaoyang forced himself to calm down.

Then he recalled the years he had experienced when his soul was sleeping in his body, and his heart suddenly became unusually calm.

"I am a god, and when the light shines, darkness is only the background for me to reach the pinnacle of the divine path."

Tuoba Yaoyang practiced his profound skills, and his soul suddenly emanated with thousands of divine lights. Under the shining divine lights, his soul was no longer corroded by the darkness around it. Instead, it was able to absorb the dark power in the void to strengthen its own soul.

At the same time, he also saw that in that dark area, there were cages one after another, all drifting in the void, with fragments of time flying around. The auras in several of the cages were particularly strong, and the light of the soul emanating from them was particularly bright.

Moreover, there was an ancient atmosphere in those dazzling cages, as if there were peerless geniuses who had been imprisoned in dark cages since the ancient times of immortals.

"Go and catch them." At this moment, the altar mark on Tuoba Yaoyang's soul glowed, and Li Zhi's voice sounded in his ears.

Afterwards, Tuoba Yaoyang discovered that he could control the dark cage and fly in the void in a certain direction.

It seemed like only a moment had passed, but it also seemed like three thousand years had passed.

Tuoba Yaoyang felt a sense of fatigue and vicissitudes, and finally managed to control the dark cage and move it to the vicinity of those bright spots of light.

Then the three-layer altar imprint suddenly flew out of his soul and turned into a physical entity that appeared under his feet.

In an instant, the fragments of time around the dark cage seemed to be suppressed.

The feeling of a thousand years in an instant suddenly disappeared.

Then the altar emitted a terrifying suction force, directly sucking away the soul in the dark cage.

One, two, three...

It was unknown how much time had passed, but Tuoba Yaoyang continued to control the dark cage and walk in the dark land of nothingness. After devouring the souls in dozens of dark cages, he encountered a special dark cage.

Shi Hao's soul was actually imprisoned in that dark cage.

"Brother Yaoyang, how come you were also imprisoned in the dark cage?" Shi Hao, who originally felt extremely lonely, was surprised after seeing Tuoba Yaoyang.

"I was not imprisoned here. My teacher sent me in." Tuoba Yaoyang said, pointing to the mysterious altar under his feet.

"Then can we get out?" The loneliness in Shi Hao's heart disappeared in an instant.

"Not yet." Tuoba Yaoyang shook his head.

"Why not?" Shi Hao asked.

“Our souls must continue to become stronger, strong enough to break the cage that imprisons us, so that we can be led out by external forces. Otherwise, we will never find the way back.” Tuoba Yaoyang explained.

This is what the mini dragon told him.

Of course, it is not the whole truth, it is just to inspire his motivation to practice.

If it were so easy for creatures imprisoned in dark cages to leave, there wouldn't be so many peerless geniuses whose souls were unable to return.

Tuoba Yaoyang was able to return because Li Zhi had imprinted a mysterious three-tiered altar on his soul.

Shi Hao was able to return because the primordial qi he cultivated had not completely dissipated. The primordial qi allowed his soul and body to always maintain a mysterious connection.

Otherwise, if the soul imprisoned in the dark cage can be summoned back just by summoning the soul, then the dark cage would be too shameless.

But then again, although the dark cage is terrifying, the dark power in the void is an excellent tonic for nourishing the soul, and its effect is even better than the elixir of immortality.

Once one is able to utilize the power of darkness in the dark cage to strengthen one's own soul, then to a certain extent one will not be afraid of the erosion of darkness until one cultivates one's soul to the immortal level.

Just as Tuoba Yaoyang and Shi Hao began to practice hard in the dark cage.

Suddenly, a loud dragon roar was heard from an ancestral temple deep in a foreign land.

The sound of the dragon's roar seemed to be mixed with supreme power that surpassed the heavens and the earth, causing the entire world to tremble slightly.

The world tree from the foreign land manifested directly, drawing in a vast amount of laws of heaven and earth and sprinkling them towards the ancestral temple.

It seems that he is assisting the Immortal King who sits in the ancestral temple to suppress the terrifying creatures under the ancestral temple.

Soon, one after another, the images of the immortal kings descended into the ancestral temple.

Looking at the constantly shaking ancestral temple, all the immortal kings worked together to completely suppress it.

After completing the suppression, solemn looks appeared in the eyes of many Immortal Kings.

"Let's use the ancient artifact of origin to suppress this place." An immortal king said.

“No, the Ancient Artifact of Origin cannot be moved lightly. And I doubt that the Ancient Artifact of Origin can no longer suppress him. Perhaps only by truly opening the Ancient Artifact of Origin can we summon a more powerful force to suppress him.” said another ancient immortal king.

"The ancestral temple has rioted several times during this period. I suspect its restlessness is related to the primitive ancient world." Another immortal king spoke.

"Then send people to the primitive ancient world to find the answer." said another immortal king shrouded in thick chaotic mist.

"Due to various reasons, the army of our world finally withdrew from that world. Now it is time to end the battle that was not fully accomplished." said an Immortal King.

"The dark cage moved unusually. A living creature rushed out of the dark cage, causing the dark seal to be disturbed, and the restriction that suppressed the Ancestral Dragon began to fluctuate." At this moment, an immortal king who was originally sitting in the ancestral temple spoke.

"Then find all three of Zulong's true body magic tools, or find the key to the ancient artifact of origin and completely destroy him." A very ancient immortal king said.

"Let me preside over the battle to destroy the nine heavens and ten earths." At this moment, the Immortal King An Lan spoke.

Back then, he and Yu Tuo were taught a lesson by Zulong as if he were teaching his grandsons.

"At the top of the immortal world, looking down upon the world, as long as I am An Lan, there will be heaven!"

Zulong's playful expression was still fresh in his memory.

That private battle with Zulong almost caused his Taoism to collapse.

It was only after Zulong was suppressed that he regained his confidence.

But he never forgot the shame.

Li Zhi didn't even know that the unusual movement in the dark cage hidden deep in the nine heavens and ten earths had actually triggered a chain reaction in the foreign land.

It indirectly promoted the arrival of the second world-annihilation war.

(End of this chapter)