Chapter 557: The Chart of Ten Thousand Spirits

The Primordial Truth — the Chart of Ten Thousand Spirits! Indeed, it’s here!

Shi Hao’s heart pounded fiercely. This was the thing he coveted most at present. How could he have imagined it would be enshrined within the Western Tombs, buried here as a sacrificial offering?

The altar was towering, constructed from colossal black stones. Beneath it, white bones lay scattered in multitudes. Upon closer inspection, they appeared terrifying, exuding an immense malevolent aura.

“These are bones of primordial beasts and divine birds?” Shi Hao was stunned.

He had once heard that the bones of the Divine Kings and Celestial Deities buried within the Western Tombs had decayed without leaving behind any genuine treasures. Yet now, clearly, that belief was flawed.

“The glyphic inscriptions have been erased,” said the Dark Turtle.

Shi Hao nodded. There were no glyphs upon those bones; thus, they could no longer be crafted into treasures. Their only notable quality now was their extraordinary sturdiness.

“Do you want the bones on the altar?” The large turtle’s eyes gleamed greedily, drooling as it spoke.

The few bones placed at the very top of the altar were unique. One was golden—the hand bone of some ancient creature, radiating powerful glyphs and without question capable of becoming a supreme artifact!

Additionally, there was a skull resembling crystal—luminescent and transparent. Its eye sockets were infinitely deep, mysterious and ominous. Staring into them felt as though one’s very soul might be drawn in.

Also upon the altar was an eyeball that still bore fresh blood. Even after countless ages, it had not dried—utterly sinister.

The final bone was, of course, the one Shi Hao most desired: the Primordial Bone of Truth. If united with the fragment he possessed, he would gain full command over the Chart of Ten Thousand Spirits.

“Do you think it’s safe?” the Dark Turtle asked. The creature was a coward at heart, having hidden behind Shi Hao all this time, constantly peeking around nervously.

“What do you have to fear with that armored shell of yours? I was even thinking of using you as a shield,” Shi Hao replied.

“My fur’s standing straight up! Don’t scare me like that,” the turtle responded, standing upright upon its hind legs, its back braced against its giant black shell as it cautiously retreated.

“Do you even have fur?” Shi Hao glanced sideways at it. He too remained vigilant—something about this place felt deeply wrong.

The sole consolation was that the area was eerily quiet, devoid of divine birds or ferocious beasts running rampant, as though this were a sacred haven.

Shi Hao advanced forward and, catching sight of the turtle peeking fearfully from behind his footprints, became annoyed. He grabbed it in one swift motion and held it out before him like a shield.

“Murdering the turtle! Save me! You can’t do this!”

“Be quiet!”

No sooner had he stepped closer than Shi Hao tensed his entire body—his skin hardened like copper hide—because a blade-like malevolent force surged toward him. Any ordinary cultivator would perish instantly, disintegrating on the spot.

The altar below was littered with bones of ancient beasts and celestial birds. Though the glyphs upon them had faded, rendering them unsuitable for forging treasures, the eerie aura they exuded was still unimaginably disturbing.

Combined, this energy felt like a storm of arrows—any average cultivator would be instantly obliterated.

“How terrifying! Even in death, their residual presence still possesses such might. How mighty would they be if still alive?” Shi Hao murmured to himself.

“Some of the Upper World’s greatest overlords rose to prominence from the battles of the Primordial Era. I suspect these were once those fallen supreme beings,” the Dark Turtle replied.

Shi Hao remained silent. If this were true, the bones lying here were even more fearsome.

He inspected carefully, confirming there were neither glyphs nor formations present, before finally exhaling in relief. He activated a rare treasure technique—light burst from his palm, reaching out toward the altar.

He dared not make direct contact. Retrieving the Primordial Bone of Truth was his priority. If no complications arose, he could then address the other three bones.

A crimson sparrow manifested, alighting upon the altar and swiftly snatching up the radiant white bone, flying rapidly back toward Shi Hao.

“Odd, nothing seems to have changed—no danger detected!” the Dark Turtle exclaimed joyfully.

However, Shi Hao felt his hair stand on end. As the glyph-formed sparrow carried the bone back, the bloodied eyeball atop the altar began rotating, locking its gaze directly upon him.

This was certainly no human eye—it was as large as a human face, the blood still glistening, far from dried. At this moment, it looked demonically eerie and unfathomably ominous.

Shi Hao sensed a profound terror. With a swift motion, he seized the small bone from the sparrow’s beak, immediately turning to flee.

At that very moment, the Dark Turtle also became alert. Witnessing the eyeball’s slight rotation, it couldn’t help but cry out in horror: “It’s watching me!”

Its scalp tingled—even without fur, it felt goosebumps rising. In an instant, it shrank into its shell and jumped onto Shi Hao’s back.

Shi Hao gritted his teeth and yanked it down, swiftly retreating.

“It’s watching me—the pupils are too deep! How come I feel my soul’s about to be erased?!” the Dark Turtle shrieked in fear. Though it had averted its gaze, it still felt locked in the eye’s terrifying gaze.

Shi Hao was equally unnerved. Though he had already turned away, he could still feel that bloodied eyeball watching him—more accurately, staring straight into his very soul.

“Whoosh!”

Shi Hao tore through the air, unwilling to linger. Activating the Kunpeng Method, he raced at full speed, desperate to escape this place—it had become too sinister and horrifying.

“Boom!”

Suddenly, an earth-shattering explosion nearly knocked him unconscious. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth as he endured an unimaginable impact.

Behind him, the altar trembled, sending out waves of indescribable energy that seemed to tear the heavens and earth apart.

“Cursed heavens! What is this? Even the birth of the Kunpeng wasn’t so intense! Could something ancient and evil be sealed here?” the Dark Turtle shrieked in terror.

Black rays surged from the altar behind, spreading outward in ripples. Along the way, immense boulders and ancient trees disintegrated into dust.

Shi Hao cast just one glance behind and knew no mere resistance would suffice. Even a being ignited with divine fire wouldn’t stand a chance. He accelerated furiously while conjuring a High Sage’s artifact, hurling it backward to intercept the force.

“Pop!”

The artifact turned instantly to ash, vanishing like dust in a lake—without resistance or disturbance.

Even before that ripple reached him, Shi Hao was coughing blood from all seven orifices, his bones cracking ominously—a result of the invisible pressure. It was truly too terrifying.

He had never encountered such an overwhelming force. If struck directly by those ripples, he would be utterly annihilated.

Worse yet, ahead, divine beasts howled—Celestial Kings roared. The Golden-Winged Great Peng, the True Howler, the Gluttonous Demon—all stirred by something, descended upon him in a frenzied attack, fearsomely uncontrollable.

The Dark Turtle’s face turned greener still, its limbs trembling uncontrollably. How could they possibly escape? This was a death trap.

“Throw the bone away—otherwise, we’ll both die!” it cried out desperately.

Shi Hao sighed. Even if he discarded the bone now, it would be utterly useless. The ripple wouldn’t halt but would continue toward them relentlessly.

Though the Kunpeng Method was among the fastest techniques under heaven, those black ripples were rapidly catching up. By now, his eyes had blurred, smeared with flowing blood.

At this moment, not only had blood begun flowing from his seven orifices, but deep fissures now formed upon his very skin—caused solely by the invisible pressure.

The Dark Turtle also screamed in terror. Although it had already withdrawn entirely within its shell, the shell itself had begun to crack under the pressure, clearly about to shatter completely.

“Roar!” An onrushing Gluttonous Demon charged toward them.

Shi Hao never would have imagined that an altar appearing so tranquil would, in the end, unleash such fierce turmoil—a dire catastrophe beyond reckoning.

“Buzz!” Without hesitation, he activated his bronze treasure box and dove inside. There was simply no other recourse—he could only flee into this sanctuary.

In an instant, the box sealed shut, and the invisible pressure vanished temporarily.

“Huh? Where are we now?” the Dark Turtle peeked out curiously, then suddenly exclaimed, “There’s actually a woman here—you’ve constructed a little love nest of your own!”

The Lunar Grace Goddess was there too. Shi Hao had hesitated to leave her behind at the palace; she was too dangerous to be allowed to flee.

Seeing Shi Hao in such a battered state, his body covered in blood as he rushed inside, she looked startled—this fierce young master, ‘Little Shi,’ had suffered grave wounds.

And seeing the nearly shattered giant turtle beside him, she could only feel bewildered—the very strangeness of this pair perplexed her.

Upon entering, Shi Hao said nothing. He retrieved a handful of dark jade-like seeds, quickly swallowing four or five at once. In an instant, his entire body radiated with light, his divine strength surging as he rapidly healed his wounds.

“These are Mo Kui seeds! You… are you trying to defy heaven?! You actually eat them like snacks? They come from the lineage of an Upper World Overlord!” The Dark Turtle cried, gaping in disbelief, spitting out a mouthful of blood foam.

Without a word, Shi Hao tossed another four or five directly at the turtle. That would suffice—enough to restore its divine energy and heal its wounds.

Naturally, the turtle eagerly gobbled them up, shouting joyfully about the miracle. Few dared to consume the “seeds” of the Mo Kui Garden in the Upper World, for it was infamous.

Once slightly stabilized, Shi Hao took out the three bone fragments. Before he could even attempt to join them, they suddenly emitted chaotic light and flew toward each other, vibrating softly in resonance.

To Shi Hao’s astonishment, these bones grew luminous and translucent, their fractures sealed as though newly restored—flawless and complete!

Truly wondrous power lay hidden within them.

Yet the question remained: By whom—and how—had these bones originally been shattered?

Remember, even the Little Tower had coveted them, claiming their indestructibility—nearly no force could ever hope to damage them.

“Boom!”

The bronze treasure box world violently trembled from within, shaking dreadfully. Whether Shi Hao, the giant turtle, or the Lunar Grace’s secondary form—they all quivered with a sense of impending doom.

Eventually, a resounding crack echoed through, and the world within the box became transparent—revealing the outside world. This meant the box was on the verge of shattering.

“What?!” Shi Hao gasped in disbelief.

Through the nearly transparent bronze walls, he could see a crystal skull outside, biting through the box. It effortlessly tore apart the tiny world.

One of those strange bones from the altar—the crystal skull—possessed astonishing power.

Beyond that, the black ripples outside also threatened to destroy the treasure box and break through.

“Finished! I haven’t even lived enough yet to die like this!” the Dark Turtle shrieked in desperation.

The Lunar Grace Goddess’s expression paled. Never had she expected such a calamity. What exactly had this ‘Xiao Shi’ done to provoke such a bizarre bone into attacking them?

At that moment, the Chart of Ten Thousand Spirits, which had been emitting chaotic light, floated upward, vibrating gently. The Gluttonous Demon, Vermilion Bird, True Howler, and other spirits emerged from its depths.

The bone expanded, resembling a magnificent scroll unfurling across the void.

Outside the bronze box, both the skull and the black ripples seemed to sense something, hesitated momentarily, and eventually retreated.

After what felt like an eternity, Shi Hao finally regained his senses. The bone had reduced to palm size, resting silently in his hand—its former brilliance gone, leaving only a smooth and warm whiteness.

“What immense hidden power lies within the Chart of Ten Thousand Spirits?” Shi Hao questioned, unsure. Was this a supreme magical artifact? Yet somehow, it felt unlike one.

Surviving the catastrophe, the Dark Turtle howled mournfully.

Shi Hao rolled his eyes in annoyance—he’d never seen a Sage so cowardly.

The Lunar Grace Goddess, still stunned, stared at Shi Hao again, then at the bone. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with uncertain thoughts.

“We need to leave—now. I never want to stay one extra moment in this Western Tomb Realm. This place nearly scared the soul out of this turtle!” the Dark Turtle urged anxiously.

When Shi Hao finally emerged from the bronze treasure box, the outside world had returned to stillness.

Ultimately, he escaped unscathed, accompanied by the giant turtle, exiting the Western Tombs, gazing down at the Chart of Ten Thousand Spirits in his hand, murmuring to himself, “This is the finest gift I received before leaving the Lower Realm.”

“Shi Hao, you finally came out! What just happened? It felt like the end of the world! The Western Tomb Realm was actually emitting chaos-light—it was too terrifying,” Xiao Tian said.

Xia Youyu and others also bore expressions of horror, having heard the terrifying roars that had echoed just moments ago.

“There must be something sinister here. Don’t ever come back,” Shi Hao warned, briefly recounting what had occurred, but carefully concealing the existence of the Chart of Ten Thousand Spirits—better to keep its power a secret lest it invite disaster upon them all.

Still uncertain, Shi Hao once again climbed the nearby Beast Mountain, seeking answers from its inhabitants about when this Western Tomb Realm had emerged.

Ultimately, he received the answer—it had appeared not long ago!

Previously, it had only been an ancient cemetery. Now, it had become an independent world.

“Indeed! This place is no ordinary graveyard. It holds unfathomable secrets, only revealed in this era!” the Dark Turtle exclaimed.

No matter what, Shi Hao had no intention of returning. He led everyone away, leaving the Western Tombs behind him forever.