Here it was silent, the pristine divine pool nearly dried up. Shi Hao had been sitting cross-legged here for a long time without moving a muscle.
A divine punishment, a cataclysmic lightning tribulation—just like that, it had ended.
His skin was reborn, snow-white like jade, nourished by the sap of the Evil-Warding Divine Bamboo, giving him a lustrous glow accompanied by a sacred aura.
The greatest harvest, naturally, was the transformation of his bones—like a silkworm breaking free from its cocoon, a leap in the hierarchy of life. His physical strength had increased dramatically. Though he had not fully studied the scriptures of body refiners, he had become even stronger.
Shi Hao sat quietly, reflecting on what had transpired, his heart trembling. He had come perilously close to death—just a hair’s breadth away. Moments ago, it had been truly harrowing; every bone in his body had shattered.
A tribulation unlike any before—unfathomable was the will of Heaven, unstoppable the wrath of thunder—yet he had endured it all!
Shi Hao stood up, brimming with vibrant life force, a sensation of rebirth. His skin was as tender as an infant’s, and his vitality was extraordinary.
“Such an aura…”
Shi Hao was astonished. This was no illusion—it felt as though he had experienced a cycle of reincarnation, reborn anew in this place.
The breath of all things at their inception—the vitality of nascent life was the most precious!
For at the dawn of creation, all things carried the most primal life force. Even a trace of it could greatly benefit the human body.
For instance, many cultivators welcomed the morning glow, absorbing the first rays of dawn, refining their path by consuming its radiance, all in pursuit of longevity.
Newborn life was the same, bearing innate mystical energies that would gradually fade as they grew amidst the mortal world, until nothing remained.
Now, Shi Hao was suffused with a dense, newborn vitality, pure as an infant’s—something exceedingly rare for him.
Standing in the pool, Shi Hao stretched his limbs and threw a punch, stirring thunderous winds even without invoking divine power!
Tempered by a hundred bolts of lightning, baptized by the sap of the Evil-Warding Divine Bamboo, his physique had improved to an astonishing degree. A single punch from him could slay a Heavenly God in an instant.
“Hmm, there’s another aura—an obscure yet tangible power!”
Two beams of light shot from Shi Hao’s eyes as he examined himself internally. He sensed this energy permeating his flesh and blood, merging with him, pure and sacred.
At first, he had thought his reborn skin merely lent him an ethereal air. But now, he realized this was genuine sanctity—within his flesh, his bones, even his marrow—an immaculate essence transcending the mortal world.
For a moment, Shi Hao couldn’t discern its purpose. When he tried to channel it, he found it inseparable from his body, as intrinsic as his own flesh and blood.
“Mysterious aura… Could this be what counters the power of corruption?” Shi Hao murmured in realization, making this judgment.
People from the otherworld had come here seeking the Evil-Warding Divine Bamboo, likely in search of this very secret force—or perhaps the medicinal potency of the divine bamboo itself.
At present, it didn’t seem particularly useful, but Shi Hao didn’t dismiss it. He believed it might prove invaluable in the future.
Having undergone the baptism of the bamboo’s sap, his body was undoubtedly different now. Perhaps it could resist curses, enduring them unscathed.
Shi Hao retrieved a jade cauldron to collect the remaining liquid in the divine pool, then took out a jade vial to catch the white sap dripping from the bamboo’s hollows.
This fragrant liquid was priceless—any single drop would incite envy if taken outside, a treasure among alchemical ingredients.
Yet Shi Hao had just squandered half a pool of it, soaking his body in extravagance. If others knew, they would surely curse him as a prodigal wastrel.
The ancient bamboo swayed, rooted in the stone mountain, radiant and snow-white.
Shi Hao was puzzled. After all these years, why hadn’t this bamboo gained sentience? It defied logic.
But he didn’t dwell on it. Without lingering, he set off toward the distance—his next goal was to harvest the Yellow Spring Fruit!
Leaving the mountainous region behind, rolling hills stretched ahead, shrouded in mist like an immortal’s homeland. It was no wonder this place was called the Immortal Mounds.
The so-called Yellow Spring Fruit sounded ominous, as if it should grow by the banks of the underworld’s river. Yet as Shi Hao traveled, he encountered no sinister aura.
On the contrary, the mountains exuded immortal energy, the waters shimmered with divine light, and an air of tranquility pervaded the land—completely unlike what he had imagined.
A small river he encountered along the way glowed with a soft golden hue, startling him. Was this the Yellow Spring?
Shi Hao followed its course, for according to the Grand Elder, the Yellow Spring Fruit grew at its end, ripening only there into plump, full fruits.
The sacred aura grew increasingly dense, as if he had stepped into the dawn of creation, where every blade of grass, every tree, even ordinary stones pulsed with spirituality.
Some plants emitted auspicious light, while hills were wreathed in radiant hues.
Ahead, especially, towering flames seemed to rise—though upon closer inspection, they were not fire but light, so concentrated it appeared to boil like flames.
“Such an intense aura!” Shi Hao marveled, certain that something extraordinary lay ahead—perhaps immortal fruits, a world-shaking fortune.
His heart stirred, eager to discover what awaited him.
Outside the mountain gate, a group of powerful geniuses had gathered, unable to enter, blocked by the boundary barrier.
Just moments ago, they had all sensed something extraordinary happening within—thunderous tribulations, divine punishments—rippling through the barrier.
“Was someone undergoing a tribulation?” That was their first thought.
Who had entered? Only one—Huang. Though reluctant to admit it, he was indeed stronger than them, having forced his way in alone.
“Huang… What did he do? Did he provoke a heavenly tribulation?” a prodigy from the Sacred Academy murmured.
The crowd fell silent, certain it was Shi Hao’s doing—though none voiced it, given the strained relations between the two academies’ elites and him.
“Such a commotion—it must be Huang’s doing, right?” A graceful woman in white approached, her beauty ethereal, a faint smile on her lips. “Oh? Weren’t you all here first? Why are you still stuck outside, letting the latecomer Huang take the lead?”
She glanced at Wang Xi, deliberately provoking, her smile turning playful.
Wang Xi’s expression remained calm, but a flicker in her eyes betrayed her unease. She looked at Princess Yao Yue but said nothing.
**Boom!**
Another violent tremor erupted from within the mountain gate, startling the gathered geniuses. What had Huang done now to cause such a disturbance? They burned with curiosity, fearing he might monopolize all the opportunities—a mix of envy and resentment swelling in their hearts.
“Let’s join forces and break through quickly!” someone proposed.
Those gathered here were the cream of the crop, the pinnacle of young geniuses. Yet now, they had no choice but to unite, setting aside their differences—otherwise, they wouldn’t get in at all.
At this moment, whether willing or not, they had to acknowledge Huang’s overwhelming strength—he had breached the barrier alone!
Deep within the Immortal Mounds, Shi Hao pressed forward until he came upon an ancient stone bridge, weathered and crumbling, spanning the golden river.
Crossing it, he reached the opposite bank, where the dazzling light radiated from a valley ahead.
No sooner had he stepped onto the shore than the arched bridge collapsed, plunging into the golden waters with a thunderous crash, sending towering waves skyward.
The river wasn’t wide or deep—how could it produce such a cataclysmic surge?
It was as though boundless divine power had erupted, churning the waters into fury!
Shi Hao glanced back but didn’t linger, hurrying toward the valley encircled by hills. What he saw there stunned him.
“This is…” His eyes widened in shock, his body trembling, his heart roiling with unrest.
He had expected immortal fruits, perhaps even a longevity herb—but reality defied his imagination.
The place was sacred, the “flames” actually condensed from radiant light. Yet these were no manifestations of celestial herbs—instead, they were corpses.
Five or six massive bodies lay strewn across the valley, some like star-spanning giants, others resembling star-devouring beasts, with a few humanoid figures among them.
Some were decayed, others desiccated, but all shared one trait—they were holy and serene, devoid of any sinister aura despite being dead.
Even in decay, they dissolved into motes of light, emitting no foul stench. Instead, a pure energy lingered here.
Could these be the corpses of true immortals? Shi Hao was awestruck. What else could explain their luminous brilliance even in death?
Or perhaps they were fallen sovereigns from the otherworld.
His heart raced. He wanted to inspect them closely, but a force enveloped the valley—a radiant barrier he couldn’t penetrate.
Testing it with a secret treasure, the moment the artifact touched the light, it shattered into scrap metal.
The sacred energy had corroded it instantly.
That artifact had been Heavenly God-tier—meaning any Heavenly God attempting to force their way in would meet the same fate!
Even Shi Hao, unparalleled among Heavenly Gods, one of the strongest in history, paled. He knew brute force wouldn’t work.
Without hesitation, he turned and left, resisting temptation.
Though treasures might lie upon those corpses—relics of immortal beings—he wouldn’t risk his life for what he couldn’t obtain.
At the river’s end, resplendent light surged. There stood three plants, each no taller than a man, neither tree nor flower, forged as if from gold, radiating soothing golden radiance.
One bore fruit resembling plums—golden, dazzling.
“Is this the Yellow Spring Fruit?” Shi Hao murmured, surprised by how smoothly he had reached it, encountering no obstacles.
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