Chapter 1042: Pantheon
“That’s right. I have an immortal body. How are you going to deal with me?!” Xu Lie roared. “You don’t have a chance with your cultivation, totem, and treasures!”
“Haha. Still acting strong!” Fang Yuan laughed. “Every time you use Nirvana, it consumes the Eternal Flame. How many times can you do it with your cultivation?”
“Go!” Xu Lie’s expression changed as flame wings spread out behind him.
“Do you know why I’m saying so much? Because you are already a dead man in my eyes,” Fang Yuan said lightly.
The next second, Saber Qi appeared out of nowhere and punctured the back of his skull.
Whoosh!
The Eternal Flame appeared and engulfed Xu Lie once again, but it seemed slightly weaker.
“Saber Realm?” Xu Lie’s exclaimed uncertainly, even with a sense of despair in the flame.
“That’s right. Saber Realm!”
Overwhelming Sword Qi formed a killing net and entered the flame.
‘”Ahh!” Xu Lie screamed miserably.
Continuously being cutting, continuously dying, and continuously resurrecting—this kind of pain was more intense than a thousand swords piercing him at the same time.
“Forgive me… I’ll give you the inheritance!
“No, you can’t kill me… My master is… a barbarian Immortal!”
…
Words of begging and threats kept coming out from the flame, but Fang Yuan was unmoved.
Eventually, the black flame extinguished, leaving a trail of marks in place.
“Phoenix Nirvana is indeed a powerful peerless magical power. It actually lasted nine times!”
The blood-red rune vanished from Fang Yuan’s forehead, and the third star closed. His lower arm was shaking. “This body has reached its limit at the third star. Moreover, I can’t maintain it for long…”
The third star of the Nine Star Pearl increased his strength eightfold. This meant his Materialization strength was comparable to the early Primordial Core realm!
His comprehension of the Nomological Laws of Saber had also reached the Saber Realm! The so-called ‘Saber Realm’ was a saber domain that had Saber Qi everywhere and anywhere inside!
These two aspects together propelled Fang Yuan’s combat power to the peak of the Primordial Core realm.
Xu Lie was unfortunate to have met him, especially in a maze where he could not have escaped even if he wanted to.
“In fact, my body wouldn’t be able to take it if he could endure another seven or eight times…”
Fang Yuan took two steps forward and dabbled in the ashes.
“This Xu Lie is an Immortal’s disciple, so there’ll be some trouble in the future. But in a battle over lucky chances, I have to kill him… He should have a lot of treasures on him, right?”
Even if the barbarians might not be proficient in alchemy and refinement, who was Xu Lie? He certainly had some good stuff on him!
“This is… some jade bottles, pill residue? Fragments of magic artifacts? Unfortunately, they are all damaged…”
Fang Yuan was feeling sorry for himself when he suddenly dug out something with the tip of his saber.
“If this can remain even after all the magic artifacts were damaged, it is absolutely something extraordinary!”
He picked up a page and found that it was made of an unknown golden material with a huge amount of information recorded in silver runes.
“It seems like a remnant page of some secret manual? The material is so special… Pantheon Enhancement Technique?” Fang Yuan’s eyes brightened as he continued reading it. “Incredible, whoever compiled this manual must be a terrifying existence who cultivated their totem to the pinnacle!”
“Totem! The ‘innate aptitude’ of the barbarians can hardly be changed, yet this existence actually developed something that can enhance the totem!”
Right! This Pantheon Enhancement Technique was actually a mystic technique to enhance the totem!
This mystic technique enhanced your own totem through plundering other totems!
Fang Yuan had not heard of such a mysterious method since he came to this world.
“Such a heaven-defying mystic technique is probably on par with the Nine Star Pearl.”
Fang Yuan thought about it. “This Xu Lie is also someone with great providence. He managed to obtain such a mystic technique… Is it possible that he wasn’t born with the Phoenix totem but obtained it through continuous plundering? It’s very likely!”
Perhaps this was why Xu Lie’s Phoenix totem was not at large success and why he wanted Dongmu Cai’s greenwood dragon so badly.
“According to the ‘Pantheon Enhancement Technique’, even when plundering, it has to be compatible with your own totem. Xu Lie definitely wanted the wood element of the greenwood dragon to grow fire and make the flame of his Phoenix reach large success!
“So my opponent this time was not an actual peerless first-grade totem, but a fake totem…”
He smiled at a loss and sieved through the ashes again.
“There’s no need to search any longer. His storage bracelet exploded, and everything inside was destroyed by your Saber Qi and the Eternal Flame. This page from the ‘Pantheon Catalog’ was the most heaven-defying and could be preserved,” an icy-cold voice explained.
“Oh?” Fang Yuan turned around to look at the golden-armored puppet. “You finally spoke.”
Earlier, this puppet had looked on coldly at the battle between him and Xu Lie like a sculpture.
“This person’s totem was all right, but his comprehension was too weak. He had no hope of becoming Master’s disciple. However, you are a different story!”
The golden-armored puppet said in astonishment, “You are only at the Materialization realm but seemed to have comprehended the Nomological Laws of Saber to large success, and you managed to cultivate to the third star of the Nine Star Pearl within a month. Such a combination is an absolute rarity even outside of the Hundred Thousand Mountains! I’m afraid I wouldn’t be your opponent if I used strength at the Primordial Core realm!”
“Oh?” Fang Yuan was a little surprised. “Does that mean we don’t need to battle anymore?”
“There’s no need. I announce that you’ve passed the trial and can become the disciple of my master, Immortal Hong Chen!”
The golden-armored puppet gave way, and the fog covering the palace dissipated. The words ‘Pantheon Palace’ appeared on the signboard.
“Pantheon Palace? Pantheon Catalog?” Fang Yuan linked them together. “Are you saying the mystic technique page in my hand is part of the Pantheon Catalog?”
“That’s right. Follow me!” The golden-armored puppet stepped into the palace.
Fang Yuan shrugged and followed.
There was not one speck of dust in the huge palace. Many night luminescent pearls and precious stones radiated light, illuminating the space inside.
The main hall was very spacious, and there were ninety-nine gold pillars holding it up.
At the center was a mahogany table. The figure of an Immortal wearing white clothes and holding a sword was on it.
“This is my master, Immortal Hong Chen! You, go up and kneel to him!”
The golden-armored puppet stood on one side.
It’ll probably beat me to death if I don’t agree? Fang Yuan thought in his heart as he carried out the motion.
“Very good!” the golden-armored puppet said. “From now on, you are the only disciple of Immortal Hong Chen. This Pantheon Palace and all the treasures inside are yours.”
“Okay, do you have a name? Tell me everything!” Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and waited.
“Of course. My name is ‘Gold Ingot’, the artifact spirit of this immortal artifact—the Pantheon Palace!” Gold Ingot said in a deep voice.
“Immortal artifact?”
“Above the magic artifacts are spirit artifacts, and above spirit artifacts are dao artifacts. Immortal artifacts are treasures that surpass dao artifacts… Even Immortals fight bloody wars over them, and many fell…
“My master, Immortal Hong Chen, had the great fortune to obtain a remnant page of the Pantheon Catalog when he was young. He cultivated to the Immortal realm and was one of the more powerful ones. He explored the endless continent, gathered the treasures he had found, and finally made me, the Pantheon Palace! Unfortunately… Master eventually fell as well!”
Gold Ingot might only be a puppet, but it expressed its anger clearly. “You must avenge Master when you are powerful enough!”
“Of course. I will bear his fruits if I inherit his works! Do you need me to swear?” Fang Yuan nodded.
“There’s no need to anymore! Since you’ve cultivated the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique, Master’s enemy won’t let you off if they find out. Even if you can escape them successfully or even cultivate to the realm above Immortal, you will realize that this karma will become the greatest obstacle to your cultivation. You will never be able to progress if you can’t remove it,” Gold Ingot said with certainty.
Looks like Immortal Hong Chen really wants revenge. Fang Yuan rolled his eyes inwardly. “Who is his enemy?”
“I’ll naturally tell you when you cultivate to Immortal!” Gold Ingot shook his head. “I’ll tell you now that there’s only one dao artifact in the entire Pantheon Palace, which is this puppet. There are many other spirit artifacts, magic artifacts, and countless cultivation techniques. All of this is yours.”
“There aren’t any dao artifacts because they were used to build this Pantheon Palace, right?” Fang Yuan nodded.
“Yes. However, Master collected numerous mystic techniques, combat skills, and even his cultivation comprehensions. These are all treasures,” Gold Ingot said assuredly.
“After Master arranged the inheritance, he ordered me to be the supervisor. I had always kept an eye on the inheritance channel and would reward suitable cultivation techniques and magic artifacts to the people who passed the stages…”
“As expected, you specifically arranged the rewards for clearing the stages.” Fang Yuan smiled. “What do you think I have to do now?”
“Change your cultivation technique of course!” Gold Ingot said without hesitation.
“The Water Moon Secret Manual is barely a good enough cultivation technique. I couldn’t give you anything better since it was the second stage. However, all the secret manuals in this entire Pantheon are open to you! You can discard the Water Moon Secret Manual. There is a ‘Water Moon Heavenly Cave Secret Manual’ here that you can use to cultivate all the way to the Immortal realm. The Water Moon Secret Manual was simplified from it. This is the most suitable for you.
“Besides this, you have to cultivate the Nine Star Pearl Mystic Technique. Everything else is up to you.
“Originally, I was worried that your totem wasn’t up to standard, but it must be heaven’s will that this page of the ‘Pantheon Catalog’ landed in your hands!” Gold Ingot concluded eagerly.
“Right! What is the origin of the Pantheon Catalog? Did Immortal Hong Chen ever obtain other remnant pages?” Fang Yuan asked.