Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

”Is it over?”

Seeing Yang Xiao open his eyes, Elder Long let out a faint sigh of relief.

Although he had intervened and sensed that the Netherworld Erosion Demon Venerable was dead, he had no idea what condition Yang Xiao was in.

Especially a moment ago. The Divine-Demonic Stele had suddenly flown away, and Yang Xiao had been completely motionless. The sight had given him a huge scare.

”Yes. Thank you for your help, Elder Long. If not for you, I’m afraid this would have been the end for me.”

Yang Xiao’s face was filled with gratitude.

Elder Long, however, waved his hand and said with a chuckle, ”This old dragon has his selfish reasons, too. It’s rare to meet a junior I find agreeable, especially one willing to help me out. How could I possibly stand by and watch you die?”

”You’re too kind, Elder Long. But rest assured, I will do everything in my power to accomplish the task you’ve entrusted to me. I will not break my promise.”

Yang Xiao said with great solemnity.

”There’s no hurry. Your cultivation is still weak. Wait until you’ve grown stronger, then you can handle it. For now, just focus on improving your cultivation. Your combat prowess is decent, but your cultivation level is ultimately a bit too low. The Demonic Essence from that Dark Night Demon God should help you somewhat, but beyond that, you’ll have to rely on yourself.”

Elder Long smiled faintly.

”But...”

Yang Xiao paused, wanting to refuse.

He knew that the power used to kill the Demon Venerable was saturated with a dense True Dragon Aura. Furthermore, judging by Elder Long’s appearance, it was clear he had even used his own Lifebound Blood.

How could he possibly accept such a tremendous gift?

But before he could refuse, Elder Long spoke. ”Don’t refuse. The matter I need your help with is of no small importance; it is extremely critical to me. If you refuse my gift, then this old dragon can hardly ask you to carry out that task for me!”

”Oh, right. You previously made a bet with an elder from the Lu Family and won the right to view all their secret scriptures. The Lu Family’s scriptures, known collectively as the Greater Yang Secret Scripture, were actually all passed down by me. Since that’s the case, I may as well give you the complete scripture. I imagine it will be of some help to you.”

As he spoke, Elder Long flicked his finger. With a light tap, a golden seed instantly appeared in Yang Xiao’s sea of consciousness. The moment his Spiritual Power made contact with it...

...an immeasurably vast amount of information flooded his mind.

The sheer volume of it shook Yang Xiao’s Heart Spirit to its core.

This scripture.

It was actually in no way inferior to the Nine Yang Celestial Skill.

Moreover, its contents were complex and varied, filled with all sorts of knowledge and secrets from Ancient Times. Yang Xiao was truly dazzled.

’I could get lost in this forever,’ he thought.

But the scripture contained far too much information.

Even with his current Spirit Will, it would likely take him a very long time to absorb and comprehend it all.

This was clearly not the right time for it.

Elder Long was still standing right in front of him, waiting.

Thus, Yang Xiao forced himself to withdraw from his state of meditative comprehension.

His face filled with gratitude, he bowed to Elder Long.

”Thank you for bestowing this scripture upon me, Elder Long.”

Elder Long smiled faintly and nodded. ”I see you’ve cultivated quite a few Secret Patterns. I imagine this is the path you intend to follow? It is by no means an easy path, but if you succeed, you will become incomparably powerful. The Greater Yang Secret Scripture contains not only the Greater Yang Dao but also many other Yang Daos. There aren’t a huge number of them, but if you can comprehend them all, it would be an extraordinary achievement. Alright, this old dragon must be going. If you need anything, you can find me at the Lu Family.”

With that, Elder Long’s figure flickered.

And then he was gone.

Yang Xiao stood there, slightly stunned.

It took him a good while to process what had happened.

A look of joyous surprise spread across his face.

’The Greater Yang Secret Scripture contains numerous Yang Daos? Doesn’t that mean... I can complete the Nine Yang Celestial Skill?’

With a thought,

...he eagerly immersed his Heart Spirit in the Greater Yang Secret Scripture once more.

As he searched, he indeed discovered Secret Patterns for several types of Yang Power. Counting carefully, he found seven in total. Besides the Greater Yang Secret Pattern, the Spiritual Yang Secret Pattern he had obtained from the Emperor’s Weapon Spirit and the Fiery Yang Secret Pattern from his Nine Yang Celestial Skill were both included.

The other four were Yang Secret Patterns he had never seen before.

Adding these to the six he already possessed—the Greater Yang, Pure Yang, Fiery Yang, Spiritual Yang, Lesser Yang, and True Yang Secret Patterns—Yang Xiao was shocked to realize he now knew a total of ten types of Yang Power.

’The Nine Yang Celestial Skill is based on unifying nine types of Yang Power,’ he thought, stunned. ’But I have ten! If I fuse all of them together, won’t the result be even more formidable than the original Nine Yang Celestial Skill?’

For a moment, Yang Xiao was completely dazed.

He knew that the Nine Yang Celestial Skill was the Ultimate Skill of his master, the Nine Yang Supreme. It was a Saint Emperor Level technique, and the World-Destroying Divine Wheel and Indestructible Golden Body it contained were immensely powerful.

The World-Destroying Divine Wheel, in particular, was an ultimate Divine Technique created by fusing nine types of Yang Power.

But now...

He had ten types of Yang Power. If he cultivated the World-Destroying Divine Wheel with all ten, just how powerful would it become?

Yang Xiao could hardly imagine it.

More importantly,

...aside from these Yang Powers, the Greater Yang Secret Scripture also contained records of other Secret Patterns.

For example, it had the complete Five Elements Secret Pattern.

It also had the Void Secret Pattern.

To Yang Xiao, these were all incredibly useful.

Take the Five Elements Secret Pattern, for instance. He already had the Wood, Gold, and Fire Elements, and was only missing Water and Earth. Now that he had them, he could cultivate the Five Elements Divine Pill.

Once he did, he could form the Five Elements Rotation Array, condensing the power of all five Divine Pills into one. This would increase its might more than tenfold.

Then there was the Void Secret Pattern.

Although Yang Xiao had already condensed a Heart of Void, achieving what could be considered Great Success in the Void Secret Pattern...

...the Void Secret Pattern was one of the most profound Secret Patterns in existence. Ten thousand True Gods would perceive ten thousand different variations of it. Therefore, the one Yang Xiao had condensed was simply the version he had comprehended on his own.

Now, having a new version of the Void Secret Pattern to study, he was naturally overjoyed. It meant he could deepen his own understanding and make it even more powerful.

He might even be able to raise the grade of his Heart of Void.

’When I first created the Void Sword Manual, I based it on the all-encompassing nature of the Void Secret Pattern, which can contain the Ten Thousand Dao. That was its greatest feature. Now, I use the Heaven and Earth Origin Fire as my foundation, but if I didn’t have something with a similar nature like the Power of Heaven and Earth Origin, I’d probably still have to rely on the Void Secret Pattern.’

From the Heaven and Earth Origin Fire, Yang Xiao had comprehended the Chaos Secret Pattern, making it the foundation for fusing the Ten Thousand Dao.

If he could upgrade his Heart of Void, his comprehension of the Void Sword Manual would deepen, making the technique even more powerful and creating a foundation for a dual fusion.

In that case...

’My path forward will be even broader,’ he mused. ’I never imagined that on this outing I would nearly die, yet also encounter such a great opportunity. A Demon Venerable Level Essence Pill and the Greater Yang Secret Scripture... I suppose this is what they mean by surviving a great catastrophe brings great fortune.’

Yang Xiao sighed softly to himself.

His gratitude toward Elder Long deepened even further.

At the same time, his desire for the Star Secret Pattern grew more intense.

With the Greater Yang Secret Scripture in hand, he no longer needed to deliberately search for other Secret Patterns.

He just needed to obtain the Star Secret Pattern, and he could achieve a breakthrough immediately.

With his current foundation, breaking through to the Peak of Small Divine Power Realm would be a simple matter. He might even be able to risk advancing directly to the Great Divine Power Realm.

And once his cultivation improved, his true combat power would likely be comparable to that of a True God.

This would be Yang Xiao’s own, solid power—not the unstable Power of the Emperor, nor strength borrowed from an external source.

’At that point, with the addition of the Bloodthirsty Divine Sword, my combat power would be considered top-tier even among Tier One True Gods.’

Yang Xiao smiled faintly.

He wished he could obtain the Star Secret Pattern right now and immediately enter secluded cultivation.

However, the thought of all the loose ends he had yet to tie up made him suppress the urge.

With a thought,

...a rift opened in the void before him.

Yang Xiao’s gaze narrowed as he watched the spatial rift.

A moment later, a slender figure emerged from within.

It was Ye Wanyu.

And she was the first matter he needed to address.