Shi Feiyang flew in from the Qinling Mountains to Shu, then continued southward, crossing the Sichuan Basin straight into the endless Mangcang Mountain.

This Mangcang Mountain was indeed a fine place. After Master Changmei of the Emei Sect ascended, he hid the Purple Ying, the Green Rope, and other treasures here, along with the Ten Thousand Year Ice Worm, the Wan Zai Kong Qing, and more.

Shi Feiyang followed the mountain ridges and dragon veins from the sky to discern Yin and Yang. In the northwest, where Yin energy accumulated, he could see from afar that the area was shrouded in an overcast haze with wild winds howling. Black wind columns twisted up into the sky, slowly moving. Once approached, they would explode with a rumble akin to the sky cracking and the earth splitting, scattering into a freezing miasma of cold Gang winds that froze everything in their path.

The cave was right below the Cold Gang, with channels connecting to the earth's core, harboring both the extreme Yin evil and the concentrated Yin qi of the Mangcang Mountain dragon vein. The combination of the two formed a fierce Gang Sha cold wave.

Shi Feiyang did not dare descend rashly. He took out the Nine Heavens Yuan Yang Ruler and waved it gently. The tip of the ruler released clusters of Golden Flowers, two of which supported him beneath his feet, and three suspended above his head. He then wrapped himself with Hongmeng Purple Qi before slowly descending into the gloom.

The Gang Wind and evil spirits here were extremely fierce. If he attempted to force his way in with his Flying Sword, even the sword light would be worn away. If he used the Circulation Treasure Umbrella for protection, the umbrella might be swept away, and if he encountered a return of the earth's qi, he might even be sucked into the earth's core along with the umbrella.

Only with the Nine Heavens Yuan Yang Ruler, which seemed to be easily destroyed by the Golden Flowers and Purple Qi, could he prevent the nearby Gang Sha cold wave from being immediately vaporized by the Pure Yang Qi, transforming into nothingness. The fearsome black frigid waves disappeared several meters away, and the dense black haze melted away as if it met a red-hot branding iron, effortlessly forming a hole.

Shi Feiyang, using the power of the treasure ruler, entered the cave with ease, and found that it branched off into many passages below.

He followed the airflow, discerning Yin and Yang to ascertain which passages led to the outside world and which to the earth's core. Finally, in a cave, he found the Ice Worm.

The worm was about two feet long, entirely snow white, emitting a silver radiance, cool and smooth as jade to the touch.

Shi Feiyang threw the Ice Worm into the Yu Ding, entrusting it to the care of God Gun and the others.

His purpose for coming here was not for the Ice Worm, but to find a place where he could devote himself to cultivation without disturbance.

Although the cave environment was harsh and could not be considered a place of geomantic treasure, it was even worse than the chaotic burial grounds outside. Not to mention ordinary people, even fierce ghosts with years of cultivation would be scattered by the Gang Wind and evil Qi.

But precisely because of this, it was sufficiently quiet. To enter here, one needed sufficient personal effort and treasures like the Nine Heavens Yuan Yang Ruler. If less capable, one had to calculate the timings of the earth core's tides, and only during the brief period of harmony between heaven and earth, when the Gang winds were weaker, could they come and go. Even then, it was not easy and—if one miscalculated—risked being pulled into the earth's core.

Shi Feiyang found an isolated side tunnel and cast spells to forcefully carve a route of more than three miles through the hard ridge of black rock, creating a large cave, and then sealed the entrance with a spell.

Inside the sealed cave, darkness prevailed.

He opened the Qiankun Bag he had forcefully taken from Bi Xiu and, as expected, found inside a Heavenly Book filled with Tadpole Script!

Guang Chengzi's Heavenly Book is divided into three volumes. Shi Feiyang had previously obtained the lower volume, which recorded "arts." This middle volume was obtained by two elders of Song Mountain. The two of them could not understand the Tadpole Script, so they asked Master Changmei to help decipher about half of it, but the remaining text remained a mystery to them.

The shorter of the two elders, Zhu Mei, was lacking in his cultivation efforts and would soon undergo reincarnation. Thus, the Heavenly Book fell into the hands of Bai Guyi. Bi Xiu, a traitorous disciple, took advantage of Bai Guyi's meditation, when his Primordial Spirit was wandering outside his body, to steal the book.

Bi Xiu had intended to offer it to the Taiyin Hunyuan Ancestor and thereafter join the Wutai Sect. Because the Ancestor had lost an arm to Qi Shuming during their swordfight on Emei Mountain and, being disgraced, had scheduled a rematch ten years later. Although he later found Spiritual Medicine to reattach his arm, it was an immense humiliation. He was now secluding himself for sword refining in a hut on Maoshan, attended only by a few disciples, with no others to be seen.

Bi Xiu's trip to the Northwest was, in fact, to seek out the Taiyin Hunyuan Ancestor's chief disciple, Master Tuotuo, on Hua Mountain. En route, he was tempted by the beauty of Fairy Bipeach and her disciple and, hearing that they were favored by both the Wutai and Hua Mountain Sects, he decided to take both the beauty and treasure for himself, but he lost his life in Qinling!

When Shi Feiyang first set out to claim the treasure, he only calculated there would be several people coming, with a rough idea of their features—how many men and women. Upon overhearing the boasting chit-chat, he knew he was Bai Guyi's disciple. The Gua Xiang indicated that he had fled from betrayal, carrying a highly important item, which was an ancient text closely related to Shi Feiyang... He quickly guessed it was this volume of the Heavenly Book.

The middle volume of the Heavenly Book described "laws," with several cultivation methods listed. It included Guang Chengzi's own Cultivation Method and the one he imparted to the Yellow Emperor, subdivided into upper, middle, and lower achievements. The upper one could attain Bodily Ascension and certify as a Golden Immortal; the middle one could raise the Yang God and certify as a Heavenly Immortal; the lower one could attain an Undying Body and certify as an Earth Immortal.

All these methods laid before him, yet they weren't for everyone to master.

Shi Feiyang, too, had only deciphered half of the Tadpole Script on the Heavenly Book; much of it was still guesswork. By comparison, the Earth Immortal Technique was simpler and he could decipher most of it. The Golden Immortal Technique was the most challenging, with paragraphs that were cryptic and difficult to understand. Shi Feiyang had to strive to reconstruct in his mind the era from four to five thousand years ago, imagining a time when the world was in the tribal stage, with only a few cities, and the land was covered with primeval jungles inhabited by primordial beasts and yet uncivilized humans... Guang Chengzi, within a cave on Kongtong Mountain, contemplating the Dao: The essence of the ultimate Dao, deep and unfathomable; the extreme of the ultimate Dao, dim and silent...

With these Cultivation Methods at hand, he then took out the Inner View Primordial Sect and various other texts for cross-reference, assimilating and integrating them, even comparing them with Chi You's Sun and Moon Refining Technique, gaining new insights and enlightenment on human spiritual ascension and how to connect with the Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Aside from these Cultivation Methods, he took out the Classic of Mountains and Seas and examined it carefully.

The lower volume of the Classic of Mountains and Seas was overflowing with content, far more than all the Daoist books he currently possessed combined, with densely packed embroidery of diagrams and Tadpole Script.

He had read the Classic of Mountains and Seas in his previous life, but the content did not even amount to one percent of this. It recorded numerous events from Ancient Times.

He deferred examining the sections that detailed which regions produced what Biological Immortal Grass, first looking at the sections about the ancient divine beings, among which Emperor Jun fascinated him the most.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas depicted mountains, rivers, people, and gods, birds and beasts, minerals, and local specialties, all clearly described—yet curiously omitting any dates. Only by inferring from relationships between characters could he hypothesize, and the book had much to say about Emperor Jun. Although he could not fully recognize all the writing, with the help of the illustrations, he could infer even more.

The book contained great exaggerations. Shi Feiyang, combining information from other books to speculate, concluded that Emperor Jun must have been another sovereign at the level of a Human Emperor, following Heavenly Emperor Fu Xi and preceding Emperor Xuanyuan. Jun ruled over ten large states with cities and countless tribes. His wife, Xi He, personified the sun, while Chang Xi represented the moon, using both to establish the calendar system and control the legitimacy of time for the world!

Emperor Jun was like Nuwa, Fu Xi, and the Yellow Emperor—an ancient saint who obtained the Dao. In his astronomical endeavors, he would have to make various calculations and compilations. Once successful, he would guide the lives of his subjects using celestial timing. Among his descendants, Pan Yu invented boats, Xi Zhong invented chariots, Yan Long created musical instruments, Hou Ji pioneered agricultural cultivation, and Shu Jun introduced ox-driven plowing...

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