Chapter 498: Chapter 496: Heavenly Emperor’s Secret Transmission: Heaven-Devouring Spirit-Eating Skill

Crack!

Crackle!

What met his eyes was a scattering of tokens shattering, transforming into a series of strange ancient characters.

In an instant.

The entire roof of the grand hall was covered densely with ancient characters!

Xu Yang realized he didn’t recognize these characters at all.

They were bizarre and obscure, impossible to comprehend the mysteries within!

Yet all this made his hair stand on end, his scalp tingling!

As if unimaginable terror dwelled within them.

He couldn’t help but question again in his heart, just what exactly had the legendary Emperor Qian left behind?

At this moment, only the token remained unchanged.

Buzz!

Countless ancient characters seemed to be swept up by an invisible breeze, spiraling around the token like a vortex, swift and overwhelming.

Crack!

The token appeared to be struck by an invisible thunderbolt, covered in cracks.

Then it shattered into pieces.

Tiny flecks of pale gold light surged out, instantly scattering like lightning into the surrounding multitude of ancient characters.

Whoosh!

These characters seemed to be infused with spirit and life, each one lifelike and vivid.

"I think I can recognize these ancient characters now..."

Xu Yang was shocked to find that, after the token transformed, these bizarre ancient characters gradually became clearer to his eyes, revealing their meaning within the distortion.

"That’s the character for devour!"

"And this, the character for seize!"

Xu Yang muttered softly.

Boom!

All the ancient characters suddenly surged toward Xu Yang.

A terrifying sight, as if ten thousand fearsome divine weapons were coming at him.

Xu Yang instinctively tried to retreat.

But he found he couldn’t move.

As though bound!

He watched helplessly as the flood rushed toward him, his eyes twitching, closing instinctively.

Thud!

A ripping, swelling agony struck from the depths of his soul.

As if his soul was stuffed full to the brim, stretched to the edge of bursting!

Even more nightmarish than a body crammed with some massive object.

Xu Yang convulsed all over, his face twisted, feeling the urge to howl with pain.

But though his mouth gaped wide, his throat seemed clogged by something huge—no sound could escape at all.

This lasted for dozens of heartbeats.

Meanwhile, the hall returned to its deathly silence.

No trace of disturbance!

Zheng Yan, Zheng Long, and the others remained in a daze, as if they existed in a different world from Xu Yang, frozen in place, eerily unmoving.

At one moment, Xu Yang suddenly closed his mouth, his body shuddered, and he regained control.

He hunched over, gasping heavily, beads of sweat the size of beans dripped from his forehead.

The whole ordeal felt just like surviving a fierce life-and-death struggle.

Though he was recovering, Xu Yang’s eyes shone with an unbelievable look of shock.

The ancient characters that had flooded into his body, once gathered together, formed a secret technique!

Beyond imagination—almost unbelievable to him.

Heaven-Devouring Spirit-Devouring Skill!

The secret legacy from Emperor Qian himself!

Seizing the fortune of heaven and earth, devouring the heavens and swallowing the earth!

Xu Yang immediately recalled how the first Emperor Qian tried to devour the entire source of the spiritual river to strengthen himself, attempting to break the shackles of the Spirit Realm.

This was definitely the very secret technique!

This secret skill gave him the same feeling as the Celestial Refining Divine Scripture and the Heaven Locking Three Seals.

Not a Spirit Realm inheritance!

Of course, there was also the chance it belonged to a powerful being from the heyday of the Spirit Realm tens of thousands of years ago.

All of this was just conjecture for now.

But its power was undoubted.

With the Celestial Refining Divine Scripture, and now matched with this Heaven-Devouring Spirit-Eating Skill, Xu Yang couldn’t imagine how terrifying his future cultivation would be.

It was as if he were already heaven-defying, the top talent of a great holy land, and then was handed a cheat device on top!

The wings of a tiger, ready to soar—a true game breaker.

"What happened just now?"

"Where did those peace tokens and spirit tablets go?"

"How did they all disappear?"

"Earlier, I felt like I fell into some kind of chaos, dazed—didn’t see anything at all. What about you guys?"

"Same here."

Exclamations sounded out abruptly.

Zheng Yan, the three brothers, Zheng Xiaoman and the others looked at each other in shock.

Then, they all turned to look at Xu Yang.

Xu Yang slowly straightened, pondering their conversation, heart stirring.

They hadn’t seen even those strange ancient characters?

But thinking it over, he understood.

The Celestial Human Realm experts would surely covet such secret techniques.

So the first Emperor Qian set up so many obstacles.

It was normal to hide them from others.

Xu Yang looked at the group, exhaled, and said, "It was a supreme treasure!"

"A supreme treasure?"

Their pupils contracted, expressions changing.

To say they weren’t tempted would be a lie!

The first Emperor Qian’s supreme treasure?

How extraordinary must it be?

Zheng Yan was the first to recover, taking a deep breath, and smiled slowly, "Congratulations!"

"Show it to us." Zheng Yaoxian couldn’t help but say.

Zheng Yan immediately glared at Zheng Yaoxian.

"No harm in that."

Xu Yang smiled boldly, and with a thought, summoned forth the Celestial Refining Divine Tripod!

Naturally, he wouldn’t mention the inherited secret skill.

You know a person’s face but not his heart. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

And, there was no lack of Soul-Searching Secret Skills.

In fact, killing all those before him was the safest choice.

But Xu Yang couldn’t cross that line!

It was thanks to them that he obtained this secret technique.

And they’d already been trapped here for ten thousand years.

He wasn’t one to slaughter innocents.

So, this was his best solution!

"A tripod?"

"This tripod..."

The brothers hadn’t expected Xu Yang to be so straightforward—stunned, they all stepped forward to examine it closely.

A moment later, they looked at one another.

Saw nothing at all.

Xu Yang smiled faintly at this.

That’s as it should be.

The origin of this tripod, he thought, might be even greater than the Heaven-Devouring Spirit-Eating Skill.

Even Celestial Humans might not see through it, let alone True Lords!

"This tripod is quite special. It can also be used for alchemy."

Xu Yang explained casually, then cupped his fists to the group, "Many thanks, seniors."

Zheng Long waved his hand, "This was yours by right."

"We just wonder if we can get out now."

Xu Yang’s gaze focused, hesitating, and said, "Why don’t you give it a try?"

He hadn’t received any hints about their confinement.

"Let me do it!"

Zheng Yaoxian was the first to speak excitedly, immediately darting off.

Zheng Yan and Zheng Long glanced at each other suddenly, both seeing hope and anxiety in the other’s eyes.

If they really could get out...

About half an hour passed.

An excited howl sounded from outside.

"We can get out!"

"Third brother, big brother, we really can get out!"

"Hahaha!"

The sound of joyful laughter rang out.

Everyone in the hall trembled, unable to hold back—they rushed out together.

Xu Yang’s face broke into a smile.

This was a good thing indeed.

Following them out, he saw the three brothers clutching each other with no concern for appearances, almost overcome with emotion.

Xu Yang could understand their feelings.

Ten thousand years!

Generations!

Torture worse than any punishment.

Now, they were finally free.

"Thank you." Zheng Xiaoman suddenly whispered.

Xu Yang smiled with surprise, then said, "Now that you’re out, what will you do?"

Zheng Xiaoman replied distantly, "No idea, I’ve never been out before. Honestly, it feels pretty strange."

"There’s always an adjustment period. And this place can be your base of operations."

Zheng Xiaoman’s eyes lit up slightly.

That’s right, leaving didn’t mean they had to settle in the outside world.

After a long while.

The three brothers finally calmed themselves, walked over briskly, and all cupped their fists to Xu Yang.

Xu Yang hurried to dodge aside.

This salute, he felt, was more than he could bear.

"In fact I should apologize—because I accepted the inheritance, your ancestral spirit tablets were destroyed." Xu Yang smiled wryly.

Destroying someone’s ancestral shrine was no less than digging up their ancestral grave!