Martial Saint!

The man in white robes was, of course, Lu Chenzhou.

"My sect friends and I have known each other for decades. Under normal circumstances, even if I was reduced to ashes, they could still recognize me by my familiar aura. This Hidden Essence Technique's third layer really is formidable—no wonder it's a mandatory method for those outlaws of the Great Wilderness, fleeing pursuit after murder and theft!"

Lu Chenzhou hadn't originally planned to come.

But the Northern Guardian King sensed something odd about the opening of this cave, so he commissioned Lu Chenzhou to follow incognito and under a false name.

The commission fee: 2,000 mid-grade Primordial Stones.

Lu Chenzhou naturally agreed. Currently, he was strapped for cash, and with the Mountain and Sea Tower soon to open, he needed at least ten thousand Primordial Stones to even qualify for trading inside.

Besides, his three close friends, along with Hong Tianxiang, Bai Miaomiao, Zhou Ruoxue, and Ye Zhiqiu—all of them had joined this expedition, so he couldn't help but worry a bit.

Just as he had trained his Hidden Essence Technique to the third layer, he was now capable of altering his appearance, physique, aura, and even partially the display effects of some martial arts techniques. As long as he didn't use certain uniquely identifying abilities, unless an Absolute Peak Expert was present in person, no one could see through him.

And so, he took the alias Han Feiyu to come here.

As long as there wasn't a calamity with massive casualties, he wouldn't intervene in the regular dangers of the exploration process—even if people died, it had nothing to do with him.

This was the wish of the Northern Guardian King.

Of course, if his friends were in crisis, he could secretly lend a hand or two—such are human feelings after all.

"Fellow Daoist Han, where does your mastery come from?"

As they walked, Lin Xia asked off-handedly.

"No particular sect, I just dabble in Elephant Form Fist and swordsmanship. Don't worry, I won't slow you down."

Lu Chenzhou smiled.

Lin Xia nodded thoughtfully.

She promptly sent a voice transmission to Wang Xian and Qingtian Cang.

"Seems it's not the younger junior brother. He only practices spear skill. It's said that, back then, he could have drawn out the Cauldron Sword, but didn't, just because he didn't want to learn the sword."

"So it was me overthinking things."

"Chenzhou should be in seclusion at this moment."

Lin Xia then sent a voice transmission to a Great Grandmaster—none other than the Eight Extremes Heavenly Spear, Yu Cheng. The old master was in charge of the team and maintaining order. "Predecessor Yu, is there a Grandmaster called Han Feiyu in this operation? How come I've never heard of him before?"

Old Master Yu smiled and said, "Grandmaster Han is said to be a relative of a certain Heavenly King, having always been adventuring outside until now."

Hearing this, Lin Xia dropped the matter. Heavenly Kings had plenty of privileges. Arranging for a descendant to undertake a trial was easy—so long as the person's identity checked out, all was fine.

Lu Chenzhou remained silent, approving inwardly.

"Senior Sister is certainly alert. She appears careless on the surface but is actually quite meticulous. Not bad at all."

Dong——

The great door of the cave closed.

So far, no real danger had arisen within the cave, which was itself odd. Lu Chenzhou let his spiritual power drift out slightly, but did not dare to probe recklessly.

Whoosh, whoosh—the sound of flowing water came.

The group followed the only path forward, soon arriving before a mighty, surging river. A brilliant rainbow bridge of seven hues arched into the sky, the other end shrouded in clouds and mist.

Nothing could be seen clearly.

Only radiance from treasures glimmered throughout.

[Heart Inquiry Bridge—cross if your heart is sincere.]

[Forget Love River—set foot and your memories are lost.]

On either side of the bridge, there was a pair of couplets.

"The first trial of this inheritance tests spiritual cultivation. According to the classics of the Great Wilderness, the Forget Love River is a branch of the Wangchuan River. The latter is the Dao venue of a Great God in charge of death. The owner of this cave is no ordinary Heavenly Realm expert, to have obtained something like this." The team's accompanying expert in arcane arts explained. He was skilled in arrays and esoteric knowledge of the Great Wilderness.

"Let me give it a try."

A Grandmaster of the Po Suo Sect floated with feet off the ground and hands clasped in prayer, walking across the bridge in midair, crossing safely.

More people crossed the bridge.

Only one person slipped and fell into the water, then vanished. The one who fell lacked sufficient spiritual cultivation.

Seeing this, Lu Chenzhou contacted the Northern Guardian King, learning that the person had appeared outside and let out a breath of relief.

But all memories of everything inside the cave had apparently been erased by some rule within the forget love water. Under Lu Chenzhou's gaze, the trio of Wang Xian crossed the bridge safely as well.

Lu Chenzhou strolled along the rainbow bridge, gazing at the river. He could sense a wordless force of Dao Essence flowing here—this Dao Essence was what erased the memories of those who fell in.

The Martial Arts Tree was growing once again.

[Reincarnation: First Rank (1%)]

He simply stood in place awhile.

"Interesting."

The Dao of Reincarnation—famous and resounding.

From what he knew, in the Great Wilderness Divine Court, the group of Divine beings controlling [Reincarnation] and [Life and Death] Dao Rules formed the Yin Bureau, in charge of the universe's sentient beings' cycles of lifespan and rebirth.

Lu Chenzhou shook his head.

"Reincarnation and Life and Death are limited to living beings only—not as grand as my [Withering and Flourishing Dao]. If I can walk my path to the end, I could theoretically master the universe's withering and flourishing; even if the universe perishes, I could restart everything."

Still, he remained standing there a while longer.

As long as a Dao can be embraced by the world and boost the Martial Arts Tree's growth, he would accept them all. For the tree's next evolution, a million zhang was needed—if he relied on his own epiphanies alone, it would take too long.

[Reincarnation: Second Rank (1%)]

Upon reaching the Second Rank, the Martial Arts Tree's growth halted. There was still lingering Dao Essence in the Forget Love River, but the absorption efficiency was much lower than before. He still had business to attend to, so he moved on.

As he walked, he stopped. In a daze, he found himself in the Great Wilderness, seeing—from the river's perspective—a handsome young man in blue robes sitting motionless atop the bridge.

Lu Chenzhou met his gaze.

At a certain moment, the youth opened his eyes. He seemed to look at Lu Chenzhou across time and space, a boundless sea of spiritual power overwhelming Lu Chenzhou as if he were facing the starry heavens.

When he awoke from the illusion.

In his mind, only the Martial Arts Tree's alert rang out.

[Jialan Nine Secrets (Fragment)]

[Great Void Unlimited Spell: Beginner (1%)]

Lu Chenzhou's eyes brightened. "Within the Forget Love River, there's a legacy secret technique left by the cave's owner—the Jialan Nine Secrets. I wonder if anyone else gained insight into it?"

The Jialan Nine Secrets, judging by its spot on the Martial Arts Tree, was actually of the same tier as the Mountain Moving Scripture.

From the information of the inheritance, the Jialan Nine Secrets comprised nine methods, each at the Ninth Rank. What Lu Chenzhou obtained was a method of spiritual defense.

Its name: [Great Void Unlimited Spell]. This spell requires at least a Sixth Realm spiritual level to cultivate; it refines and fortifies the spiritual world, purifies to emptiness, finally condensing spiritual power into a [Spiritual Relic].

The spiritual relic serves as the dwelling place for all of soul, spirit, memory, will, and other forms of spiritual force. As long as the relic is undestroyed, the soul will never enter reincarnation. Even if the flesh is left behind, the soul can sleep within the spiritual relic for millennia, and upon finding a suitable body, can be reborn.

With success in [Great Void Unlimited Spell], even when facing soul seizing or body seizing by someone an entire Great Realm higher, one can defend at will. Simply hide the soul within the relic and the opponent won't even find the target for body seizing, possibly themselves lost in the vast emptiness of the spiritual world, to perish there.

"The blue-robed youth in the illusion, could he be a Great Power of the Heavenly Heart Sect?" Lu Chenzhou had thought this was just an ordinary Heavenly Realm cave. This trip was worth it: he'd previously explored the Heart Realm, but gained no valuable inheritances. The Heavenly Heart Sect's inheritance-seeking methods were always shrouded in mystery.

Of the three great ruins—Battle Realm, Dragon Realm, Heart Realm—humans knew the least about the Heart Realm. It was rumored that the first genius of Po Suo perished in the Heart Realm's depths.

So, after obtaining the Primordial Mountain Cave Heaven, Lu Chenzhou had given up on exploring the Heart Realm and Dragon Realm, and focused exclusively on the Battle Realm.

For body cultivation, there was the Mountain Moving Scripture.

Yet for spiritual cultivation, though he had spiritual power, the methods he grasped were scarce, stuck at the Superior True Technique level of Lantuo Temple. This journey would fill that gap.

With this, paired with the spiritual world already stabilized by his World Dao, his spirit would truly be impregnable.

Even facing the Sect Hierarch's soul-seizing, he would no longer fear—should he master it to the Great Power Realm, he could directly face the Divine!

...

Inner Scenery Land.

"Jialan Nine Secrets?"

Qiang Erniang and others looked confused.

The fox woman shook her head and said:

"Never heard of it. Of the Four Heavenly Sects, the Heart Sect has the least presence and is most mysterious. Ever since its destruction after the Divine War, all we know is that the Heavenly Heart Sect had three Great Powers: the Heart Emperor, Red Leaf Ancient Emperor, and Blue Mountain Ancient Emperor. As for their Daos and secret techniques, nothing is known."

The man in black robes was equally at a loss.

"My master is a loose cultivator, so doesn't know much hidden knowledge about the Heavenly Heart Sect. But since it's a Ninth Rank combat technique, also called Jialan, it's probably a legacy of the Ancient Emperor Lanshan."

Lu Chenzhou pondered inwardly.

"No hurry—let's ask eldest senior brother when I return."

...

Meanwhile.

Demon Palace.

"Damn it, Witch Master was right. According to our intel, Lu Chenzhou really didn't enter the cave.

Originally, I wanted to kill him with the fierce beast of the third trial, but now it seems that won't work... Forget it, wiping out a hundred human Grandmasters this time is still a gain."

The Gu Yue Demon Emperor's face was ashen.

The Qingtian Demon Emperor laughed. "Don't worry. With the Witch Master's means, Lu Chenzhou will die eventually. It's just that, now with the great barrier protecting him, our room to maneuver is too small.

Whether it's the Shadow Stream Dominator or Lord Red Lotus, any Breakthrough Seven can sweep through the Human World. By then, the Heavenly Person List will be nothing but a death list—ha!"

The Wang Yue Demon Emperor chuckled. "Humans would never guess we have already secretly taken control of the Gatekeeper of the third trial."

The trialists didn't know that this ancient cultivator's cave had three stages, already explored by the demon race, who, by manipulating the Gatekeeper, now controlled some of the cave's permissions.

...

First trial—99 Grandmasters succeeded.

"Fellow Daoist Han, what's the matter?"

Wang Xian saw the white-robed youth arrive belatedly.

"Nothing. Did you notice anything unusual on the bridge—like illusions or any sort of legacy?"

He asked casually.

Wang Xian shook his head.

"All right, let's move on."

Lu Chenzhou disappeared from view, hands clasped behind his back.

Wang Xian and Lin Xia sent voice transmissions on the spot.

"It seems this Fellow Daoist Han got something, too."

"Maybe, but it can't possibly be better than yours. You actually gained a supreme divine skill level Seventh Rank spiritual inheritance on that bridge! Wang Xian, you've struck it rich!"

Lin Xia's tone was excited.

When Wang Xian crossed, perhaps due to some special quality of his soul, he inadvertently received a Seventh Rank inheritance.

Its name: [Great Hiding Technique].