After dealing with the Black Tortoise Divine Beast, Liu Bai finally comprehended the Gui Water Divine Tribulation Thunder. At this point, among the Five Element Divine Tribulation Thunders, only the Bing Fire Divine Thunder remained.
However, after the Five Element Beasts of this Fallen Land gained intelligence, they developed an instinct to seek fortune and avoid danger. Many of them sensed the terrifying fluctuations caused by Liu Bai's previous actions and hid themselves long before he arrived.
As a result, even as he was about to step into the central region of the Fallen Land, Liu Bai did not encounter a single additional Five Element Beast.
Then he saw the volcanic region ahead. One enormous firebird after another rose into the sky as if igniting the entire world.
"Vermilion Birds? All of them are Vermilion Birds?"
They were the Southern Spirit of the Four Heavenly Spirits, the supreme divine beast Vermilion Bird. Liu Bai was not surprised to see one but rather shocked by the sheer number.
"Earlier those Five Element Beasts were just ordinary Spiritual beast forms. I did not expect that upon reaching the center of the Fallen Land even Vermilion Bird Divine Beasts would appear in bulk." Liu Bai smiled lightly and shook his head.
As expected, nothing on this continent could be judged by common sense.
Even so Liu Bai did not hesitate. With a lift of his hand a series of seals formed and four colored thunderclouds spread across the sky.
Thunder roared.
Terrifying bolts of lightning fell from above and in an instant a Vermilion Bird was completely annihilated by the thunder. All that remained was a cluster of crimson fire essence and a fire origin infused with soul energy.
Such overwhelming power caused the entire flock of Vermilion Birds to scatter. Liu Bai did not intend to pursue them. His primary goal was the Five Element Spiritual Talisman. So after absorbing the Fire Origin to comprehend the Bing Fire Divine Tribulation Thunder he headed directly toward the central area.
A notification echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations to the player for fully comprehending all Five Element attribute Divine Tribulation Thunders. Minor Divine Spiritual Art Geng Metal Tribulation Thunder, Yi Wood Divine Tribulation Thunder, Wu Earth Divine Tribulation Thunder, Gui Water Divine Tribulation Thunder and Bing Fire Divine Tribulation Thunder fulfill fusion requirements. Would you like to fuse the major Divine Spiritual Art Five Element Divine Tribulation Thunder Art?"]
"Fuse."
[Fusion successful. Congratulations to the player for obtaining the major Divine Spiritual Art Five Element Divine Thunder Art.]
The original minor Divine Spiritual Arts directly advanced into a major Divine Spiritual Art and Liu Bai instantly felt his combat power rise dramatically once again.
Very soon he arrived at the center of the Fallen Land and saw a mountain around one hundred Zhang tall.
The mountain was not majestic. Compared to the thousand Zhang or ten thousand Zhang peaks in other regions it appeared almost delicate. Yet the entire mountain was formed from pure Five Element source energy. If one observed carefully the peak of the mountain even had a palm sized five colored talisman floating above it.
The first thing Liu Bai thought of when he saw this was a childhood animation he watched in his past life Huluwas.
This mountain resembled the one formed by the seven Hulus when they sealed the Snake Demon. Except that was seven colored whereas this was five colored.
"I originally thought it would be something like the Five Finger Mountain used by Buddha to suppress the Monkey. I did not expect it to be Huluwas." Liu Bai said with slight disappointment after observing for a while.
But what exactly was sealed beneath this mountain?
Liu Bai pondered quietly. Based on his experience reading the original novel there was a high chance that something like an outer realm feind clan's Heavenly Emperor was sealed here. After all anything capable of perishing together with a figure like the Five Emperor Divine Sovereign absolutely could not be weak.
If that were the case then the shadow he previously saw might not actually be the true Five Emperor Divine Sovereign.
Perhaps the appearance was correct but whether the internal essence was a divine sovereign or a devil emperor could not be confirmed.
This reminded him of the Ancient Heavenly Palace arc in the original story where the Nine-Corpse Sky Monarch had possessed the Heavenly Emperor's physical body to deceive everyone. Not to mention what Liu Bai saw earlier was only a shadow which made deception even easier.
"If that was truly the soul fragment of a devil emperor disguised as the Five Emperor Divine Sovereign then what does he want? Destroy the Five Element Spiritual Talisman and escape the seal? Possible. Or perhaps seize my body to reincarnate and even obtain the Ancient Saint Artifact Immortal True Form Scroll along with the Five Element Spiritual Talisman capable of sealing him? Also possible."
In Liu Bai's opinion the latter was far more likely.
"How should I choose?"
He was curious. If his speculation was true then the real Five Emperor Divine Sovereign might still have a remnant true spirit in existence.
So where would that true spirit be housed?
He looked at the Five Element Spiritual Talisman atop the five colored sacred mountain then at the Immortal True Form Scroll within his Qi Sea. If the Divine Sovereign truly still had a surviving true spirit then it could only be hidden within one of the two.
That questionable shadow had used a false recognition technique to draw the Immortal True Form Scroll into Liu Bai's Qi Sea but Liu Bai could not sense the internal situation of the Scroll at all.
This was an Ancient Saint Artifact. Truthfully he had never seen a genuine one even in the original story so he understood nothing about its internal structure.
"Forget it. I will gamble."
As the saying went humans die for wealth just as birds die for food. Even Liu Bai could not resist the temptation before him. If he succeeded his harvest would be immense.
As for failure…
He was certain of one thing. The Immortal True Form Scroll undeniably possessed immense soul protection ability. This was evident from how the Immortal Page inside Mu Chen reversed death multiple times.
His system even had the ability to force the Ancient Saint Artifact to acknowledge him as master. If he still did not dare take a risk then he truly did not deserve such fortune.
Taking a deep breath Liu Bai radiated five colored divine light echoing with the five colored sacred mountain. Then he began climbing step by step on foot toward the summit.
The higher he climbed the greater the pressure he felt. He had no choice but to frantically activate the Five Element Divine Light Art and draw on all Five Element spiritual power to resist.
"Fortunately I cultivate Five Element spiritual power. Otherwise forget climbing. Just getting close would have crushed me directly under the Five Element force emitted by this sacred mountain." After finally reaching the summit Liu Bai wiped the sweat from his forehead. Every movement carried immense pressure and he felt nothing but gratitude.
A few steps forward brought him within reach of the Five Element Spiritual Talisman. Liu Bai slowly extended his hand.
A hum rang out.
Sensing his palm approaching the talisman released a loud vibration.
Liu Bai's heart lurched and his entire body froze. He did not dare move.
Sweat poured from his forehead soaking him in moments.
Fortunately after the initial vibration the talisman quieted down again. Liu Bai exhaled in relief. Elsewhere an unknown being also quietly breathed out in relief.
He gently closed his hand around the talisman.
The radiance faded. In his palm lay a seemingly ordinary talisman. Its material was unusual. It was entirely woven from five colored strands.
Just as Liu Bai studied it, the Immortal True Form Scroll that had remained silent within his Qi Sea suddenly began to emit tendrils of black mist.
In an instant before Liu Bai even sensed it the black mist wove into a vast net and surged into his limbs and bones.
"System recognize me as master of the Immortal True Form Scroll."
The moment he saw the dense black lines spreading beneath the skin of his palm Liu Bai roared in his heart.
[Congratulations to the player for successfully acknowledging the Immortal True Form Scroll as master.]
As the system voice rang out, Liu Bai felt his soul abruptly enter a separate space.
Here, towering imperial stone statues, each ten thousand zhang tall, stood between heaven and earth. They formed a half circle and simultaneously lowered their gazes toward a black light sphere suspended ahead.
Countless strands of black qi shot out from that sphere, densely spreading outward and filling Liu Bai's entire body.
Seeing this, Liu Bai instinctively wanted to sever the connection between the black sphere and the outside world.
In the next moment he saw the five imperial statues of different colors suddenly open their eyes, releasing glows identical to their own colors which then shot directly toward the black sphere.
Liu Bai faintly heard a terrifying demonic sound erupt from within the sphere, and the next instant his vision turned dark as a tremendous force smashed him out of that space. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips.
The blood landed precisely on the Five Elements Spirit Talisman in his palm. Radiance instantly surged. Within the boundless divine light, an old man wearing an imperial crown robe appeared beside Liu Bai.
"Five Emperor Divine Sovereign?" Liu Bai exclaimed without even wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
The old man was clearly stunned when he heard this. He turned to Liu Bai in surprise and said, "You are someone from the Great Thousand World? How do you know of me?"
It was obvious that this old man was the true spirit of the Five Emperor Divine Sovereign. However, he looked as though he had only just awakened and did not even recognize Liu Bai.
Before Liu Bai could speak, the Five Emperor Divine Sovereign noticed Liu Bai's current state. Dense black lines had almost completely wrapped around him. If he had not severed the connection between the black sphere and the outside world, he would have already been devoured.
"The Hundun Demon Emperor?"
The old man's expression instantly turned solemn. He raised his hand and the Five Elements Spiritual Talisman floated upward, releasing brilliant light.
Under this radiance, the black lines covering Liu Bai's body rapidly melted away. In just over a dozen breaths, they disappeared entirely.
Seeing his body return to its jade like clarity, Liu Bai finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Many thanks to Senior Divine Sovereign for saving my life."
The old man lightly nodded and then asked, "Is the Immortal True Form Scroll in your possession?"
Liu Bai did not hide it. With a wave of his hand, the scroll of the Immortal True Form Scroll appeared before him.
This scene left the Five Emperor Divine Sovereign visibly shocked. He asked, "This is astonishing. You have actually been acknowledged by it?"
Clearly, from how Liu Bai had freely summoned the scroll, it was evident that the treasure already recognized him. Otherwise, not to mention someone who had not even reached the level of a Sovereign, even a genuine Heavenly Sovereign would not be able to forcefully control this Saint Artifact.
Liu Bai revealed an embarrassed smile. "I do not know what happened. This item was given to me by someone who manifested Senior's appearance. I stored it in my Qi Sea space. At first I could not control it at all and it never even responded to me.
But just now the scroll suddenly released countless black lines that nearly took over my body. After that I do not know how I was brought into a mysterious space where I saw five imperial statues and a black sphere. I instinctively tried to sever its link with the outside world and somehow things became like this."
People often say that the highest level of lying is mixing nine parts truth with one part falsehood, yet Liu Bai proved that this was not the highest level. The highest level was when all ten parts were true yet he intentionally omitted certain details.
After hearing Liu Bai's explanation, the Five Emperor Divine Sovereign's expression grew solemn.
"Fortunately, the Immortal True Form Scroll acknowledged you at the crucial moment. Otherwise, the Hundun Demon Emperor would truly have succeeded. If he had taken over your body, he could have used the Five Elements power within you to break the Five Elements Spiritual Talisman. Once he reclaimed his sealed demonic body, that monster would have fully revived."
"Hundun Demon Emperor? Senior Divine Sovereign, is that the same foreign evil race expert who invaded the Great Thousand World?" Liu Bai asked with genuine confusion and curiosity.
The Five Emperor Divine Sovereign nodded. "Correct. The Hundun Demon Emperor was a peak expert of the Hundun Demon Clan among the foreign evil races. Back then he led four thousand eight hundred demon kings to attack the Great Thousand World. I fought him alongside many powerhouses. In the end both sides suffered immense losses. The entire continent was destroyed. I sacrificed my life to seal the Hundun Demon Emperor and his demonic offspring within half of the battlefield and forced that piece of land to detach from the Great Thousand World and drift into the starry sky."
"Senior Divine Sovereign's righteousness is unmatched." Liu Bai straightened his expression and bowed deeply. "I never imagined the battle back then was so tragic. If not for you and the countless forebearers who sacrificed yourselves, we later generations would not have the peaceful lives we have now."
This suddenly reminded Liu Bai of the land he lived in during his previous life, which had also suffered brutal invasion from foreign enemies and where countless martyrs had sacrificed themselves to win a future for their descendants.
So this bow was filled with absolute sincerity, without a trace of pretense.
Seeing Liu Bai's genuine gratitude, the Five Emperor Divine Sovereign's face also revealed a look of comfort.
At the very least, the sacrifices of those years had not been in vain.
...
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