Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 491: Chapter 496: Baldy, Old Codger

On the black Great Mountain, the fog grew denser, so thick that one could barely see their hand in front of their face, yet the place was peaceful.

“Truly shameless! How can anyone just scribble and deface this place? Do those two old geezers really think they’re so mighty?!” cursed the big black dog.

The Investiture of the Gods flowed with golden light, never tainted by dust, dispersing the thick fog with an aura of the supreme Dao.

“Who the hell is this old baldhead anyway? He looks kind-hearted enough, but I bet he’s no good. And that wrinkled old geezer riding a bull, reeking of overwhelming demonic Qi—clearly not a good sort,” the big black dog swore.

Ye Fan was at a loss for words. The big black dog was outrageous, insulting Siddhartha Gautama as “baldhead” and referring to the other, who arrived with Purple Qi from the East, as reeking of overwhelming demonic Qi.

“Can’t you say something nicer…” Ye Fan said.

“What’s the story with this bald man with a head full of bumps, and that old cowherd?” The big black dog spoke utter nonsense, its words completely unreliable.

“Doggy, oh, don’t speak so recklessly,” the pitiful little girl gently patted it. The small girl was only a little taller than its knees, fair-skinned and innocent.

“Just looking at this baldhead and this cowherd infuriates me! Damn it, so disrespectful, daring to carve recklessly before the Investiture of the Gods!” The big black dog was indignant, feeling that scribbling before the seal left by Great Emperor Wushi was an act of profound blasphemy.

When Ye Fan considered the identities of Siddhartha Gautama and the old man riding the ox, and then heard the big black dog’s absurd words, he felt an urge to laugh out loud. This damned dog was truly vile in its speech.

“Don’t let me see them, or I’ll beat them every single time!” the big black dog boasted.

Ye Fan was utterly defeated by it and said, “Stop being so arrogant. Forget those two; you couldn’t even take on the old man’s bull.”

“Damn it, isn’t it just a water buffalo? Chop it up! It wouldn’t even be enough to pick my teeth with!” the big black dog declared, one hundred and twenty percent unconvinced.

“Even if you were ten thousand times stronger, you wouldn’t be a match for these two,” the old madman suddenly spoke. He was staring at the imprints, his expression grave as he observed them intently.

Ye Fan felt the Bodhi seed in his possession grow warm. He quickly took it out, holding it in his hand to sense it carefully. He discovered that the two imprints on the black mountain seemed to have come alive.

In a trance, he saw a compassionate Buddha seated beneath a Bodhi tree, endless Zen Chanting echoing around, bringing peace to the soul, making one wish to take refuge under him.

On the other side, Purple Qi heralded a coming from the East; a Green Bull carried an elder westward, flowing with Dao Qi, immeasurably distant, detached from worldly affairs.

It could be said that both Siddhartha Gautama and the old man riding the Green Bull possessed a supreme and lofty Dao charm.

Even the mere traces they left behind were enough to stir one’s soul, creating an irresistible urge to follow them—truly mystical.

Ye Fan felt quite restless, his thoughts almost boiling. How many ancient sages from the ancient palace had actually reached this end of the Starry Sky?

Perhaps my way home isn’t cut off after all, he thought. There are strands of hope. Maybe, one day, I can return to Earth.

“Damned baldhead, old geezer…”

Ye Fan was pulled back to reality by the big black dog’s cursing. He hadn’t found any cultivation method in the imprints, only proof that the two individuals had been there.

“Stop yelling! Even if you shout, those two won’t appear. It’s uncertain if they’re even still in this world,” Li Heishui said.

“I’m just so furious! Scribbling here is a great disrespect to Great Emperor Wushi!” The big black dog fumed.

The old madman closed his eyes, remaining silent. His divine scan probed into the Investiture of the Gods. After a long while, he opened his eyes and, without lingering, began to walk forward.

Suppressed for over a hundred thousand years, could whatever is inside the Great Mountain still be alive? Ye Fan was uncertain and wary.

“It’s hard to say. If it was buried in Divine Sources like the ancient creatures, it might actually emerge alive,” the big black dog said, its voice trembling, nearly frightening itself.

There had to be an unimaginable existence within this Great Mountain; otherwise, Great Emperor Wushi would not have needed to use the Investiture of the Gods to suppress it.

“Could it be that the Sacred Body who cultivated in seclusion here in the past, whose blood stained the Holy Cliff in his later years—was it related to the existence within this mountain’s belly?” Li Heishui exclaimed in alarm.

Ye Fan said, “Perhaps so. A creature that caused a Great Accomplishment Sacred Body to die with regrets in his twilight years must be terrifying beyond imagination. Fortunately, Great Emperor Wushi sealed it.”

It was able to contend with a Great Accomplishment Sacred Body, yet it waited until his twilight years to act? Could it have been hiding in the mountain’s core all along?

All of them knew that the Holy Cliff had been severed from the Undying Mountain by the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body himself to serve as his place of seclusion. Thinking about it carefully, it was truly terrifying.

“The Great Emperor’s Qi Mechanism…” The big black dog rarely showed sadness, but after seeing the Investiture of the Gods, such an expression appeared on its face repeatedly. Eventually, it departed with reluctance.

The fog sealed the mountain. They walked for more than another two hours and were finally not too far from the summit. Ahead, a towering figure stood on a rock, looking down at them.

“Didn’t we avoid him earlier? How did he get ahead of us again?” Li Heishui’s face changed color.

This person was immensely tall. His eyes lacked pupils, containing only two beams of cyan light that could pierce through the dense fog, an extremely駭人 sight.

The old madman had told them not to look, to consider it an Ancient Corpse. Yet this terrifying corpse, devoid of any life fluctuations, was moving on its own, blocking their path.

“What kind of existence is this? How could it appear on the Holy Cliff, daring to obstruct a contemporary Saint…” The big black dog’s fur stood on end.

The old madman stopped, facing the icy body above. His thick, long hair was disheveled. His imposing aura flared as he took several large strides forward.

“You all do as before: do not look, do not extend your divine sense. Wait here!” the old madman cautioned, then strode forward resolutely.

This isn’t good; it’s forcing even a Saint to take action, they all thought, feeling uneasy.

“Uncle, you have to be careful!” the pitiful little girl called from behind.

Ye Fan and the others heeded the warning, not looking upwards and retracting their divine senses, completely isolating themselves from whatever was above to avoid any misfortune.

BOOM!

From above, a terrifying shockwave erupted, so powerful it almost made them collapse to the ground. If not for the Array Patterns left here by Great Emperor Wushi, the entire Great Mountain might have ceased to exist.

A contemporary Saint had made a move, engaging in a fierce battle with that unknown existence. The intensity of it was transmitted down through the array patterns of the ancient Great Emperor.

Terrifying… Finally, the big black dog plopped down on its rear, its entire body trembling, utterly unable to withstand such oppressive might.

Li Heishui fared even worse, collapsing limply to the ground before the dog. His body refused to obey his commands. He grumbled indignantly, “Dead dog, you’re sitting on me!”

The big black dog, as sturdy as a large bull, nearly crushed the air out of Li Heishui, leaving him weak and unable to push it off.

Ye Fan struggled to resist. His physical body was incredibly tough, his entire being surging with enormous Qi, his Golden Blood Qi churning. He managed not to fall under the Saint’s oppressive power.

Only the pitiful little girl was unharmed. She made no attempt to resist, merely blinking her large eyes, squatting on the ground, watching the big black dog and Li Heishui.

A short while later, the boundless, terrifying pressure vanished. The fog swirled as the old madman walked back, step by step, his entire left side stained with blood.

“Uncle, you’re hurt…” the pitiful little girl cried out.

“What? Even a contemporary Saint is injured and bleeding!” The big black dog scrambled to its feet, its large, bell-like eyes wide as it stared.

“It’s not my blood. It’s from that Ancient Corpse,” the old madman replied.

For blood to be splattered on a Saint was frightening enough. That Ancient Corpse must have forced the old madman to use his true capabilities.

Ahead, the imposing body lay on the ground, motionless. Glowing blood could be seen flowing from it, a very eerie sight.

“The Holy Cliff is boundlessly terrifying! One wrong step and you plunge into Hell. These ancient powerhouses perished countless ages ago, yet they still emerge to cause trouble!” Li Heishui frowned with worry.

“Uncle, those people we saw earlier have appeared again…” the pitiful little girl pointed into the dense fog, delivering very unwelcome news.

Above on the cliff, several figures stood like statues in the dense fog, motionless, looking down.

“Aren’t they Ancient Corpses? How can they all move?” Li Heishui felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

Ye Fan’s scalp tingled. These were indeed the figures they had seen halfway up the mountain—decrepit with age, both men and women, all clad in ancient attire.

The old madman said nothing. He took out the corner of the Array Map from the big black dog and studied it intently, thinking quietly. Ye Fan and the others dared not disturb him.

Just like that, they stood there for a full day and night before the old madman finally raised his head and continued forward. A golden path suddenly appeared beneath their feet.

“He actually manifested such a ‘Path,’ leading directly to the Peak…” The big black dog had a strange look in its eyes.

Thus, they proceeded along the golden path. Some ten minutes later, they arrived above the Peak. The figures in ancient attire did not approach them.

This was a vast cliff, exceptionally broad, spacious enough to build a small town upon.

However, the place was a barren wasteland; not even a blade of grass grew. It was entirely pitch-black, and there were many dark red bloodstains.

In some places, there were even pools of liquid, strikingly crimson. So much time had passed, and though the Spiritual Qi had long since dissipated, for some unknown reason, the sacred blood had never dried up.

Most eye-catching was the edge of the Holy Cliff. There, an enormous Stone Coffin, a full hundred zhang long, was suspended on the precipice of the cliff.

An ancient coffin, existing for nearly two hundred thousand years… everyone mused, their hearts stirring.

If nothing unexpected happened, this was the burial site of the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body. He ought to be inside that coffin.

A Great Accomplishment Sacred Body is a treasure from head to toe! A single bone is priceless, and the entire physique is enough to be considered a holy relic for refining peerless sacred weapons!

They arrived before the huge, hundred-zhang-long Stone Coffin, all of them observing it closely. This was a Burial Saint Land; there might be peerless Immortal Treasures within.

Where is the Movement Secret, one of the Nine Secret Arts? Could it be inside this ancient coffin?!

Their main purpose in coming here was to find the Walking Rune Secret, this world-shaking, unparalleled Holy Technique. Every cultivator yearned for it; even Saints coveted it.

“Has this Stone Coffin grown moldy? There’s a lot of moss…” The big black dog sounded suspicious.

“That’s not moss, it’s long green fur!” Li Heishui felt a chill run from his head to his toes; his entire body turned cold.

Although dense fog permeated the mountain Peak, they had approached the ancient coffin closely enough to see the scene clearly.

“Damn it, it’s green fur growing out of the coffin! It’s so dense it’s almost submerging the ancient coffin!” The big black dog’s black fur stood on end, and it leaped high into the air as if someone had stepped on its tail, thoroughly terrified.

Damn, this is bad! Could it be that the corpse of the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body has undergone some kind of transformation?

No matter how many tens of thousands of years ancient Great Emperors have been dead, their physical bodies do not rot or decay. The Great Accomplishment Sacred Body should be no different. If his corpse has transformed… that peerless, unparalleled physique…

Everyone was stunned, a sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.

“Let’s quickly find the ‘Movement’ secret of the Nine Secret Arts, get out of here fast, and whatever we do, don’t touch this ancient coffin!” the big black dog shivered, for the first time encountering treasure without being greedy.

Ye Fan took out the Ancient Scroll. After careful comparison and examination, he was stunned into silence. The Movement Secret of the Nine Secret Arts actually pointed to the location of this ancient coffin.

Do we really have to open the coffin? he thought with a shudder. If they provoked some ancient corpse of a Great Accomplishment Sacred Body, they might all be annihilated here.

“Damn it, that blasted baldhead and that old cattle-herding geezer were here too! Their marks are here!” The big black dog cursed in anger.

Beside the ancient coffin stood two stone tablets, inscribed with words of mourning.

Additionally, there were two enormous Star Sky Maps. It seemed they had separately performed deductions here; the maps were densely packed, with stars scattered everywhere.

In each Star Sky Map, there was a fine line, barely visible, pointing towards the depths of the Starry Sky. This made Ye Fan’s heart stir. Could this be the Ancient Path of the Starry Sky?