An inexplicable aura swirled as Shi Hao stood there, having secluded himself in this place for hundreds of thousands of years. Could he truly leave now?
The void blurred and twisted before his eyes. He saw a stone chamber not far away, hazy yet unmistakable—the very chamber he had entered all those years ago.
A drop of blood slid down the rough stone wall—the same mysterious ancient blood.
The *Heaven Transformation Unfettered Art* was indeed unfathomable. Had he traversed the ages, or was this all but a grand illusion?
Shi Hao couldn’t tell. He was lost in confusion.
He stepped forward, but as he neared the chamber, it distorted once more, revealing another path—one that led to a field of burial mounds!
What place was this?
Shi Hao was stunned. Adjacent to the stone chamber lay a stretch of dark-red graves, mound after mound, burying beings of unknown origin.
*”Heaven Transformation Unfettered… I shall return…”*
Faint yet unmistakable, the voice echoed through the world of the *Fallen Emperor Era*, reverberating in the indistinct stone chamber and drifting across the mist-shrouded graveyard.
As Shi Hao took a step forward, an inexplicable pull stirred within him. He turned toward the burial grounds.
Fragments of time danced like water, while radiant light and dense rain of brilliance enveloped the entire graveyard in an otherworldly glow.
*”It resembles the dwelling of the Burial Clans… It feels eerily familiar,”* Shi Hao murmured as he advanced.
**Boom!**
Suddenly, he saw a chest—neither metal, stone, nor wood, but of an unknown material—radiating nine-colored brilliance so dazzling it eclipsed the heavens.
*”The Origin Ancient Artifact!”*
Shi Hao’s pupils contracted. He had seen it before—deep within a dark abyss of the Burial Lands, alongside Sanzang and Shen Ming.
It shone with nine hues, its light resplendent!
Yet as he stepped forward, everything vanished. The world stood silent, devoid of sound.
The ancient graves were gone. The Origin Ancient Artifact had disappeared without a trace.
*Where is this?* Shi Hao surveyed his surroundings, struck by an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
Then, his body trembled. His eyes widened in disbelief.
*How could I be here? Am I no longer in the Immortal Domain?*
He had been here before—the outskirts of the *Desolate Wastes*, a branch of the Burial Lands. A female Burial Clans member had once guided him here, right beside the place where the *Rotten Wooden Chest* had been unearthed.
And this—this was one of the three sacred sacrificial grounds of the Burial Clans!
Shi Hao emerged, breathing in the air of the *Borderlands*. There was no mistake. He had inexplicably returned from the Immortal Domain, arriving directly beyond the *Nine Heavens and Ten Earths*.
*”Hmm?”*
In an instant, he sensed it—beneath the earth lay the bones of supreme beings, along with a presence that sent a tremor through his soul.
*”My bones!”*
He found it impossible to believe.
**Bang!**
Earth and stone scattered as he uncovered fragments of skeletal remains. Then, realization struck him.
He had reversed life eight times, undergoing rebirth, shedding his mortal shell…
Several times, he had discarded old bones, burying them with his own hands.
He had returned—but those bones still slumbered beneath the earth, right here.
He remembered the strange dream he had when the female Burial Clans member brought him here—his soul had left his body, fluttering like a butterfly.
Back then, she had told him he was already dead, his bones buried here, while his unyielding will had taken the form of a spectral butterfly, wandering the world.
—
**Immortal Domain, Ancient Cave, Outside the Stone Chamber.**
The Lord of the Forbidden Lands, the Crystal Skull, and others studied the rough stone wall. At the end, they were stunned—the final vision pointed toward a burial ground.
*”That’s beyond the Borderlands!”*
*”How?”* Even the Golden Bone Palm emitted a ripple of divine sense, filled with doubt.
Shi Hao had departed—not returning to the stone chamber, but heading straight for the Borderlands.
The rough stone wall only recorded his journey toward that direction. What followed belonged to another era, leaving no further traces.
*”This is bizarre… utterly bizarre!”* The Bleeding Eyeball pulsed with divine thought.
Indeed, some things defied reason.
They all turned their gaze to the drop of blood clinging to the rough stone wall.
*”Without a doubt, all of this is connected to it!”* declared the Lord of the Forbidden Lands.
The stone chamber fell silent. All inscriptions vanished, absorbed by the wall—even the drop of blood.
*”Woof!”* The puppy snarled.
But no matter their reactions, the chamber remained undisturbed. Even the churning chaos energy dwindled, as if drying up.
—
**Borderlands.**
Shi Hao strode forward, each step a flicker of existence. His power was peerless, his Dao unfathomable.
Yet beyond this region, he encountered an overwhelming formation—one that blotted out the sky, severing the connection between the *Foreign Realm* and the *Imperial Pass*, barring all beings from crossing.
Even this area was affected, cut off from the *Imperial Pass*.
During the final battle of old, the *Celestial Abyss* had trembled, unleashing endless Dao principles. The supreme formation had sealed the path beyond the Borderlands, preventing the *Foreign Realm* from invading.
Originally meant to last five hundred years, it had endured for countless ages.
Under ideal circumstances, even an entire epoch might not break this seal.
But with the invasion of the Dark Beings, Shi Hao knew this barrier would not hold forever. Anlan, Chi Wang, Yu Tuo, Wu Shang—sooner or later, they would return.
Shi Hao’s eyes flickered as he studied the terrain, searching for a way back.
Fortunately, the supreme formation only blocked the path between the *Foreign Realm* and the *Imperial Pass*.
This area, though affected, was not a dead end.
Having spent hundreds of thousands of years refining his mastery of formations, his skill now surpassed even his own Dao.
After days of calculation, he found a precarious path—step by step, he navigated the perilous terrain, advancing toward the *Imperial Pass*.
*”Good… this isn’t the sealed main path,”* Shi Hao sighed in relief. Otherwise, he might never have returned.
—
*”Huang! When did he leave seclusion?”*
When Shi Hao arrived beneath the *Imperial Pass*, calling for passage, the guardians of the colossal city were stunned.
After exhaustive verification—dozens of methods to confirm his identity—they finally permitted him entry.
*”What year is it now?”* Shi Hao’s first question upon returning.
The city’s experts exchanged puzzled glances. What had happened to Huang?
Learning that no time had been lost, that he had not missed this era, Shi Hao exhaled deeply in relief.
To them, he seemed more imposing than even the immortal beings of old. What had he experienced?
The next moment, Shi Hao vanished, truly returning to the *Nine Heavens and Ten Earths*.
*”Master?!”* The Red Dragon was the first to spot him.
Shi Hao’s return to the *Heavenly Court* caused an uproar.
*”You… you’ve changed,”* they remarked, sensing the weight of time in his eyes—the weariness of countless years.
Had he faced setbacks in the *Immortal Domain*?
*”Are you alright?”* Yun Xi asked, her heart heavy with worry.
*”I’m fine.”*
Shi Hao secluded himself again. He needed to reflect.
Had he truly lived for hundreds of thousands of years? The memories felt too real, and his power had undeniably grown.
His divine soul glowed as a blade of pure light emerged, slashing away the clutter—the trivialities of millennia.
He needed clarity, unburdened by the weight of ages.
In the end, his soul crystallized like flawless quartz, pristine as before.
Cultivators often retained childlike hearts despite their years. Such self-purification was inevitable.
Shi Hao revived, brimming with vitality once more.
He retained only the insights of his cultivation, discarding all else.
His heart was clear, his spirit untarnished—still that youthful man in his early twenties, unchanged in appearance.
Tianjiao Ant, Cao Yusheng, Mu Qing, Shi Zhong, Imperial Butterfly, and the God-Slaying Stone rushed to greet him upon his return.
Shi Hao led them back to the lower realm, to *Stone Village*, where they celebrated.
Though overjoyed at his safe return, none truly understood the depth of his emotions.
Hundreds of thousands of years apart—yet they had reunited in this lifetime. The feeling was indescribable.
Seeing the old village chief, his parents, and his childhood friends—Da Zhuang, Er Meng, Pi Hou—now white-haired, Shi Hao’s eyes stung.
But he concealed his emotions.
*To meet again was enough.*
—
Ten years later, the Lord of the Forbidden Lands and his companions returned. They had waited in the *Immortal Domain* for a decade, certain Shi Hao would not reappear.
*”Woof! You really came back early?!”* The puppy was astounded, having followed them to this realm.
That day, Shi Hao and the Lord of the Forbidden Lands spoke in private, recounting his journey at length.
—
A century passed. Shi Hao rose from seclusion, having spent the time contemplating this world, comparing it to the one he had left.
*”I feel as though you’ve become unfathomable—surpassing even the True Immortals who descended in the past,”* Tianjiao Ant remarked.
During the Dark Beings’ invasion, he had witnessed multiple True Immortals.
*”My Dao has advanced. I’ve found a path,”* Shi Hao nodded.
*”When can we seek the remaining chapters of the *Indestructible Scripture*?”* Tianjiao Ant asked.
The scripture originally belonged to the Tianjiao Ant lineage, but it was incomplete. Together, they had found fragments in the *North Sea of Boundless Heaven*.
Yet the final chapters lay within a forbidden zone.
Over the centuries, Tianjiao Ant had discerned which one.
*”Let us go there now,”* Shi Hao declared.
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