Chapter 65: The Stone Stele

Jiang Li had once stood on other celestial bodies, gazing down at the continent, and had finally seen its true form.

The entire continent was a celestial corpse.

More precisely, it was the Dao Ancestor’s celestial corpse.

The corpse was so massive that it spanned two provinces—dozens of planets in size. The sun, moon, and stars all revolved around it, forming the cosmos that the humans of this world perceived.

The beasts roamed the space from the Dao Ancestor’s thighs to his head, while humans lived on his lower legs and feet.

Jiang Li had never encountered such a thing before, so he had Immortal Changcun take a look. The old immortal wept bitterly, bowing nine times before the Dao Ancestor’s corpse. He declared that someone had refined the Dao Ancestor’s body into this colossal form, but he couldn’t understand the purpose behind such an act.

Jiang Li also believed it to be the work of the Outer World Demons, yet he couldn’t grasp their motive.

If they had the power and means to refine the Dao Ancestor’s corpse into a continent, why didn’t they just kill everyone outright? Why go through the trouble of corrupting beasts to let them kill humans instead?

Considering Yin-Yang Heaven Seal’s immature mind, Jiang Li originally planned to send it back to the Nine Provinces and tell it the truth only once it had matured.

Who could have expected this little fool to revive the entire continent?!

“No! This is impossible!”

Yin-Yang Heaven Seal knew that it could only grant intelligence to inanimate objects. But how could Master be dead?!

He had called himself the Dao Ancestor! He had a destiny strong enough to bear the weight of that title! He might even have been an incarnation of the Dao Ancestor from the Celestial Realm itself!

How could such a person die?!

Whether it believed it or not, the Dao Ancestor’s corpse lay before it, and it had just granted it sentience.

“You damn bastard, Tianyin! Erase the Dao Ancestor’s sentience immediately!”

“I… I can’t control him anymore!”

If it were just an ordinary continent, Yin-Yang Heaven Seal could freely bestow or erase its intelligence. But this was the Dao Ancestor’s celestial corpse—a body far beyond the strength of any ordinary immortal. The moment it gained intelligence, its survival instinct kicked in, severing Yin-Yang Heaven Seal’s influence.

“You should’ve stayed in the Dao Sect and trained a few more times!” Jiang Li cursed. “You’re small, but you cause more trouble than anyone!”

Fortunately, the Dao Ancestor’s newly formed consciousness was weak. It couldn’t control its massive body yet—only its head could move, while its limbs remained stiff.

For now, it wasn’t a significant threat to humanity.

But if it ever regained full control—if it stretched its arms and legs—every human living on its lower legs would be crushed instantly!

“It’s just big, right? Well, I can get bigger too!” Jiang Li roared, activating Heaven and Earth Dharma Form, growing to an unimaginable size.

He pinned down the Dao Ancestor’s arms, holding its head in place. His Yang Spirit emerged from his body and dove straight into the Dao Ancestor’s forehead.

Inside the Dao Ancestor’s spiritual platform, the landscape was barren and decayed. A white-robed phantom stood in the center, frowning, unable to comprehend its own existence.

It was deeply irritated, yearning to destroy something—anything. It knew it had the power to do so, but it couldn’t control itself yet.

It wanted control.

A gut feeling told it that once it could control its body, it would be unstoppable.

This was the new intelligence that had just formed within the Dao Ancestor’s corpse. And the phantom was gradually solidifying.

“You may not understand this, but you shouldn’t exist. I’m sorry.”

Jiang Li’s Yang Spirit burned with a radiant fire, an overwhelming counter to the Dao Ancestor’s phantom, which wasn’t even a proper soul.

The Dao Ancestor had been an unmatched Daoist master in life, but this phantom was like the Mortal World Celestial—completely ignorant of its past. It knew no Daoist arts, only attacking instinctively.

But how could such a clumsy being possibly defeat Jiang Li?

In no time, Jiang Li erased it completely.

His Yang Spirit returned to his body, and Jiang Li forced the Dao Ancestor’s head back down.

It wasn’t even a battle. It was just cleaning up Yin-Yang Heaven Seal’s mess.

Jiang Li grabbed the seal and squeezed it, causing cracks to form on its body.

Yet this time, Yin-Yang Heaven Seal didn’t cry—it simply endured the pain in silence.

It knew it had made a terrible mistake.

Though the crisis was over, countless mysteries remained, making Jiang Li frown.

Suddenly, he recalled something—when he first asked the system shop if it sold nuclear bombs, the system had replied, “Please visit another world first.”

He opened the shop interface.

As expected, the inventory had updated. It now included items from this world—things like quantum processors, artificial suns, and so on. None of them were expensive.

He didn’t need any of those for now. What he wanted was something else.

Among the high-tech goods, there was one out-of-place ancient object—a stone stele that cost hundreds of thousands of Source Points.

The shop’s description read:

“A message left by the Dao Ancestor in his final moments.”

Jiang Li had guessed correctly—someone as powerful as the Dao Ancestor wouldn’t have left nothing behind.

Finding his remains would take years of searching, scanning inch by inch with divine sense. That was a waste of time.

So, Jiang Li bought it directly.

After all, it only cost as much as a few dozen Soul Formation-stage cultivation techniques.

“To the remnants of the Celestial Realm: If you are reading this stele, it means you have already defeated Aqing, my mount…”

“The Celestial Realm fell into great turmoil… With no other choice, I fled to this world with your ancestors… The enemy pursued us… We fought a great battle… They were too powerful… I was defeated… I refined myself into a continent… to shelter you… so they wouldn’t dare… But they have corrupted my Aqing… I can no longer stop them… I am sorry…”

The stele was heavily damaged, its location unknown. Only parts of the message remained legible.

The Nine Provinces and the Celestial Realm used the same language. At first, Jiang Li had assumed the stele was written for the people of the Nine Provinces.

But after reading its contents, he realized it was meant for Ming Zhong and the other remnants of the Celestial Realm.

Jiang Li had learned this world’s language after arriving. It seemed that, over the course of their long history, Ming Zhong’s people had forgotten their own language.

He knew the Celestial Realm wasn’t only populated by immortals. Immortals had descendants, and they needed people to serve them. Not all Celestial Realm inhabitants had achieved immortality. The ones the Dao Ancestor had taken with him were likely these mortal cultivators.

But after the Dao Ancestor’s death, something had happened, causing Ming Zhong’s people to forget their origins and instead embark on a path of technological advancement.

“Can I use Source Points to restore the stele?”

【This item does not support Source Point restoration.】

Since the shop had actually provided something useful this time, Jiang Li didn’t bother complaining about its limitations.

The stele explained some things, but one question remained unanswered—

Why hadn’t the Outer World Demons killed Ming Zhong’s people?

The Dao Ancestor’s message had said: “They don’t dare.”

Jiang Li gave the stele to Yin-Yang Heaven Seal and Ming Zhong, saying he had found it in the Dao Ancestor’s forehead.

“So… we come from the Celestial Realm.” Ming Zhong was silent for a moment before accepting it.

Now knowing that Ming Zhong’s people were those the Dao Ancestor had sought to protect, Yin-Yang Heaven Seal, despite its sorrow, felt a newfound fondness for this world.

“Since the Dao Ancestor left it for you, the stele belongs to you.” Jiang Li handed it to Ming Zhong, preparing to leave.

“Will we meet again?”

Jiang Li smirked. “That depends on whether you can find a sentient Brahma Tower.”

Ming Zhong didn’t understand, but Yin-Yang Heaven Seal’s voice was firm:

“We will find it!”