The box cracked like fine jade, then bloomed like a celestial flower, petal by petal, scattering radiant light and flames capable of burning the heavens.
The Origin Ancient Artifact had awakened!
“Ah—!” Shi Hao roared, clutching his head as he staggered back, drenched in blood. His skull felt as if it were being split open, his entire body riddled with cracks.
Despite his unparalleled cultivation, standing supreme even among Immortal Kings, he could not endure the unbearable agony. Struck by nine-colored radiance, his body was on the verge of disintegration.
This was unimaginable. He had long forged an Immortal King’s physique, tempered by the Indestructible Scripture, unrivaled across the Immortal Domain and the Boundary Sea. In terms of physical prowess, who could rival him?
Even if there were such beings, they would at best be his equals.
Yet now, the moment the Origin Ancient Artifact opened, his flesh split apart, bones exposed, his skull seemingly struck by a heaven-cleaving axe, on the verge of shattering.
Inside the box, a blinding light enveloped an object.
Even someone as mighty as Shi Hao, when he gazed forward, his eyes bled. An Immortal King could not even look directly—how terrifying was this?
**Thud!**
Shi Hao retreated but ultimately steadied himself. Though his eyes bled, he forced them open, staring intently until he finally discerned what lay within.
A mass of light, swirling with nine colors!
It was so dense that the light had liquefied, resembling divine nectar, refining… a skull.
A skull? Was it truly a skull?!
Shi Hao was stunned. No matter how he imagined it, he never expected to witness such a sight—a sacred corpse?
“No!”
Gritting through the pain, he wiped the blood from his eyes and focused again, using his supreme divine vision and keenest perception to pierce through the mystery.
The skull seemed to fade, transforming into snow-white bone, still wrapped in nine-colored radiance. At its core, however, lay a thick, inky darkness.
The contrast between the white bone and the black substance was stark.
“An Emperor’s Crown?!”
Shi Hao’s voice trembled as his body swayed, decaying under an inexplicable force that sought to erase him entirely.
He was certain that any other Immortal King would have already shattered into nothingness. Even he, with his Indestructible Body, was fracturing, on the brink of explosion.
**Whoosh!**
The snow-white bone flew out, shaped like a regal crown, exuding an ancient aura and supreme majesty—as if an emperor descended upon the mortal world!
This was a crown crafted from a skull, pristine and crystalline, radiating eerie brilliance as it scattered light, its nine-colored mist capable of annihilating all things.
Shi Hao could not endure it. His body trembled, his soul on the verge of being extinguished.
**Boom!**
With overwhelming pressure, the crown descended toward Shi Hao’s head, touching his dark hair as if to place itself upon him.
The Bone Crown weighed like infinite stars combined—no, like an entire universe condensed into one point, pressing down upon Shi Hao’s skull.
Shi Hao screamed. His skull cracked under the pressure, his soul fracturing, on the brink of annihilation.
This was a calamity!
Where was the so-called fortune? This was nothing but a death trap!
**Rumble!**
Chaotic lightning erupted as the mysterious and mighty Bone Crown settled on Shi Hao’s head, sprouting bone spikes that drilled into his skull, as if taking root.
Simultaneously, nine-colored radiance flowed, permeating every inch of Shi Hao’s body.
But the most terrifying aspect was the thick, inky darkness coiled around the white crown, seeking to invade Shi Hao’s flesh.
Shi Hao knew—this was the essence of Darkness, far denser than any he had encountered before, countless times more potent!
A mere wisp could corrupt three thousand provinces!
All of this happened in an instant, too fast to react.
“Get off!”
Shi Hao roared in fury. The crown pressed down, riddling his body with cracks, its spikes burrowing into him—was it draining him or merging with him?
**Clang!**
With one hand, he struck his own head with the rotten wooden box, forcing the bone spikes to retreat.
What origin did this rotten box have to be so miraculous?
**Swoosh!**
With his other hand, he swung the Great Luo Sword Embryo, slashing at the crown. Sword light flashed, accompanied by dazzling immortal radiance.
**Clang!**
The sword struck the Bone Crown.
**Roar!**
A faint cry seemed to emerge from the sword, revealing a vision—a lone figure seated atop an ancient coffin, gazing desolately at a blood-soaked land strewn with endless graves. Suddenly, he lifted his head.
**Thud!**
Struck by the sword, the Bone Crown fell away!
**Pop!**
One by one, the petals of the box closed, its fragments reassembling, sealing the Bone Crown within and concealing everything.
Silence returned, as if nothing had happened. The box floated midair, shimmering with resplendent light.
But how could nothing have happened?
Shi Hao’s body was ruined, his soul dimmed. He had suffered grievous wounds, nearly perishing.
Had Ao Sheng, Tai Shi, or others been present, they would have been obliterated—such was the unimaginable force at play.
That Shi Hao endured was a testament to his near-defiant path of cultivation.
“Farewell, Burial Kings!”
Shi Hao departed in haste, dragging his broken body out of the Burial Ground and vanishing.
The Burial Kings were bewildered, sensing only a violent disturbance that sent chills down their spines.
As long as the Origin Ancient Artifact remained, they had no cause for concern—its loss was all they feared.
Yet, each Burial King wondered—what had happened to Shi Hao? He seemed to have fled, drenched in blood.
“May he be unharmed!” Burial King Huo Heng murmured.
Shi Hao entered the Boundary Sea, choosing a desolate spot to sit and heal.
But the situation was worse than he imagined. A wisp of black essence had invaded his body, wreaking havoc. His soul grew sluggish, teetering on the brink of darkness.
This was the essence of Darkness—far worse than the corruption that once plagued the three thousand provinces.
Meanwhile, an inexplicable force crushed him from within, making him cough blood incessantly. His skull and bones cracked horrifically.
Even his soul was splitting, on the verge of destruction.
Shi Hao acted decisively. His soul left his body, evading the black light, while his purest essence blood surged forth.
He abandoned his flesh!
**Boom!**
Nearby, the essence blood reformed an indestructible body. He reconstructed himself swiftly, his soul returning as he consumed a nine-colored immortal pill to nourish himself.
This was a supreme elixir refined from immortal herbs and the Three-Life Herb—a treasure any Immortal King would covet. Only during the Era of Fallen Emperors had such a pill been crafted before.
Yet even now, Shi Hao’s newly forged body bled, enduring an unseen force, especially the Darkness essence that refused to dissipate.
In the distance, his discarded body shattered, a wisp of Darkness essence drifting above it.
“Be destroyed!”
Shi Hao roared, attacking his own abandoned flesh, fearing it would fall into darkness and birth a new soul.
**Splat!**
With one punch, he obliterated his former body, reducing it to a mist of blood.
The wisp of Darkness essence lingered. Shi Hao stared, then suppressed and sealed it with great power.
This was playing with fire—one misstep, and he would be eternally lost to darkness.
Then, Shi Hao fled, returning directly to the Immortal Domain to seclude himself. For decades, he coughed blood, recuperating.
Centuries passed, yet he remained in seclusion, nurturing his soul.
Ten thousand years flickered by, and Shi Hao still had not emerged. His injuries were too severe, requiring extensive recovery.
He refined his blood repeatedly, purging the Darkness, while tempering his soul to eliminate any hidden dangers.
Throughout this process, immortal light erupted from his secluded cave, accompanied by blood energy and terrifying fluctuations.
Every Immortal King witnessed this, astonished—Shi Hao was injured?
What kind of injury required ten thousand years of recovery, with no sign of healing?
Shi Hao was powerless to fight. During this time, the Boundary Sea erupted in chaos as powerful beings returned, invading the Immortal Domain.
Dark Willow Deity and Second Under Heaven shielded Shi Hao. Though his universe suffered violent impacts, he remained undisturbed.
Yet the Immortal Domain was left in ruins!
Meanwhile, the Foreign Realm was also assaulted repeatedly, suffering heavy losses. But they remained unshaken, for their own giants were returning from the Boundary Sea.
“Shi Hao is gravely wounded. How interesting—let us see if we can send him on his way,” sneered an Immortal King of the Foreign Realm.
Despite facing pressure from the Boundary Sea, they still sought to invade the Immortal Domain and eliminate Shi Hao.
They came, for the barriers between realms had long fallen. The ancient passes, once guarded, had been broken for millennia, never repaired.
**Boom!**
The Refining Immortal Pot appeared as Kun Di took action personally, stirring upheaval and alarming the Immortal Kings.
“How dare you!” Bird Grandpa and Essence Grandpa raged, rushing to intercept, for this was Shi Hao’s secluded ground—no disturbances were permitted.
“Tch!”
Other Immortal Kings of the Foreign Realm charged forth, eager to slaughter.
Had Shi Hao been present, who would have dared invade? Now that he was weakened, they sought to eradicate him at once.
**Roar!**
The Heavenly Horned Ant went berserk, entering his clan’s most terrifying frenzied state. His eyes turned blood-red, his strength surging beyond even an Immortal King’s.
This was the might of the Ten Fiends—each possessed a uniquely savage aspect, unleashing their racial power to dominate the battlefield.
He intercepted the Immortal Kings, eager to tear them apart.
Dark Willow Deity struck, piercing a king’s skull with one blow—such was the horror of a supreme powerhouse’s might.
The crisis deepened as Shi Hao’s secluded cave was shattered, revealing his true form—sitting cross-legged, black blood trickling from his lips as he refined his essence.
“Kill him! Shi Hao is finished—today, he meets his end!” someone bellowed.
Shi Hao remained motionless. Over the years, he had been healing while contemplating the path to Emperorhood, seeking to transcend during this seclusion.
Indeed, he had made great strides. Now, immersed in the Emperor’s path, his soul blazed with radiant light, unable to awaken.
“I have found the way. This time, I will succeed!”
The Bone Crown from the Origin Ancient Artifact had subjected Shi Hao to extreme trials, allowing him to glimpse his path amid near-death.
For millennia, he had pondered.
“Becoming an Emperor—there is a way!”
Yet reality was dire, for enemies surrounded him.
One misstep, and Shi Hao would meet his doom!
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