Chapter 3: Heavenly Artifact

  Xiao Ji didn't know where the sound came from, but he had no time left, as the shockwave behind him was about to sweep over his feet.

  In the places where the shockwave swept through, the seabed was overturned, and all kinds of plants were uprooted by the force of the shockwave, leaving only pits and holes in the stone soil on the seafloor.

  Suddenly, a golden light burst forth from the ground and appeared before Xiao Ji's eyes.

  Just as the shockwave was about to sweep across Xiao Ji's body, he suddenly bit down on the golden light that had emerged from the ground, at this moment he had no other choice.

  In an instant, Xiao Ji's body disappeared without a trace. What was strange was that the mermaid and the two giant beasts seemed to have not seen the golden light at all, still confronting each other on the seabed.

  The shockwave radiated outward, annihilating all nearby animals and plants until they disappeared.

  The land nearby was also torn open by this powerful radiation force, creating several deep and bottomless chasms, leading to unknown destinations.

  After the golden light made Xiao Ji disappear, it flashed and jumped into the largest chasm, also disappearing without a trace.

  Xiao Ji was caught off guard and suddenly found himself in a completely different space.

  Originally a seabed filled with seawater, but now standing in front of a staircase.

  That staircase soared into the clouds, as if it were a legendary ladder to heaven that could reach the kingdom of heaven. It was also like an endless bridge to the other side, which could never be walked to its end.

  "What is this place? How did I end up here? What was that blue light and the voice that appeared in my mind just now?" Xiao Ji looked around, his heart filled with shock and uncertainty.

  "This is me communicating with you directly through spirit, this is my world. I know you have many questions, but as long as you can reach the end of the stairs, I will tell you the answers." A voice once again echoed in Xiao Qi's mind, exactly the same as the one that had just saved him.

  He crawled up the stairs with a snake's body, Xiao Ji was very clear that he had no way to retreat. He didn't know why this guy saved him, and his reincarnation seemed to have no exploitable value.

  Climbing up along the stairs, Xiao Ji didn't know how many flights of stairs he had climbed, but he didn't feel a bit tired or uncomfortable.

  He turned his head to look back, but it was already covered by a thick layer of clouds and couldn't be found anymore. The voice that told him to climb the stairs never appeared again, as if it was really waiting for him at the end of the stairs.

  It was unknown how long he had climbed, but according to Xiao Ji's calculations, he had already passed through nine cloud layers.

  Looking up, a golden gate appeared at the end of the stairs, and on both sides of the gate were endless clouds, as if they really wrapped around the Supreme Heaven.

  Xiao Ji finally climbed to the end of the stairs, outside the Golden Gate of Heaven.

  Looking at the golden gate on both sides, there are mysterious and ancient patterns carved, as if carrying a unique power that can penetrate past and future, crossing the long river of time, seeing unimaginable existence.

  Shila

  The golden gate slowly opened, revealing a vast and majestic river of time rippling behind the heavenly gate. Countless fragments of the river of time flashed before Xiao Ji's eyes, unfolding an endless epic tapestry of ancient scenes that told the story of the formation of heaven and earth, as well as legends from before the dawn of history.

  No one knows how the heavens and earth were formed, but humans and demons appeared in this world at the same time. This world is so vast that it's unimaginable; even the entire universe of the previous life may not be as wide and broad as this world. On this vast land, there lived ancient humans from prehistoric times and countless species of demons.

  In the natural food chain, humans and monsters are like arch-enemies.

  Monsters eat humans, and humans also eat monsters as food.

  In the infinite battles, countless stunning and elegant humans emerged, dominating a region, creating their own martial arts civilization.

  And the four powerful and boundless existences that appeared were the Four Sacred Beasts.

  The Eastern Holy Beast is the Azure Dragon; The Western Holy Beast is the White Tiger.

  The Southern Holy Beast is the Vermilion Bird; The Northern Holy Beast is the Black Tortoise.

  Each of these four sacred beasts has the power to trample the sun and moon, reverse the heavens and earth, and possesses a nearly endless lifespan.

  Although humans cultivate at a faster pace, they don't have as long of a lifespan as these demonic beasts.

  Then a chaotic war for racial survival began, enough to change the color of heaven and earth.

  In the subsequent content, Xiao Ji was completely invisible, as if the intense battlefield scene made it impossible for even the long river of time to pursue.

  Bang

  The golden giant Tianmen suddenly closed, and the entire staircase began to tremble, as if space was about to collapse.

  Xiao Ji was deeply fascinated by the history of the universe, and the terrifying powers of the two major races, until the abnormality of the ladder suddenly shocked him awake.

  As he looked at the collapsing staircase, his eyes lit up with excitement.

  "This world where martial power has reached its peak is what I'm striving for!"

  The stairs around him were about to collapse, and it seemed that the boundless heavenly ladder was about to fall, but he appeared calm and unhurried.

  He curled his body up on the last step, narrowed his pupils to the smallest size, and took a deep breath.

  He realized that all of this was just an illusion!

  "Not bad, really not bad. To have such a long lifespan is truly unimaginable."

  That voice echoed again in Xiao Ji's mind, and he looked around, but there were no more stairs or cloud layers, only a vast expanse of darkness.

  "Who are you? Why bring me here?"

  Xiao Ji still doesn't understand what the other party's purpose is until now.

  "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. To be precise, I am a heavenly instrument."

  "What's Tian Qi?" Xiao Ji didn't recognize it.

  "Heavenly artifact is a rank of magical treasure, heavenly ranked treasure, and it's inside my body."

  "What?" Xiao Jih's heart was greatly shocked.

  In the past, although there were some famous masters who forged weapons, such as Chun Jun and Yu Chang, which were extremely sturdy and could cut through iron like mud. However, legendary weapons like the Fa Bao only exist in fantasy novels and do not actually exist in reality.

  Although he knew it was a world similar to mythology, seeing a talking treasure still made Xiao extremely surprised.

  "Since you are a treasure, why did you bring me here?" Xiao Ji looked around, but didn't find any trace.

  The machine hesitated for a moment, as if recalling the dusty history.

  "I am also a remarkable treasure in the human world, and my name is Tian Que."

  He paused for a moment, and the device seemed to be sizing up Xiao Ji.

  "I can grasp time!"

  The Tianjie treasure's words thoroughly shocked Xiao Ji, grasping the river of time that has been flowing ceaselessly since ancient times would be incredibly powerful.

  "The Time Principle is a generally inverted existence among all principles. To activate the treasure of the Time Principle, one must sacrifice their own lifespan in order to successfully defy the heavens."

  "Burning one's own lifespan can make the flow of time within the treasure space different from that outside, but burning lifespan is a terrifying thing."

  "Burning a year of life can make the flow rate outside the magic treasure and the flow rate inside the magic treasure space reach a ratio of 100 to 1. A year of life can make the magic treasure burn for one day, which is equivalent to 100 days of time inside the magic treasure."

  Xiao Ji understood this point, if he simply cultivated outside, his lifespan would be enough for him to cultivate for a year, but inside the treasure, he could only cultivate for 100 days. It seemed like a losing deal, but the cultivation ratio was enough to drive anyone crazy.

  "One after another, hundreds of humans obtained me, all of whom were extraordinary geniuses among humans. However, due to that endless **, frequently borrowing my power for cultivation, they all died from exhaustion of their lifespan."

  "There are also humans who, for revenge, borrow my power without regard for the consequences, only to succumb to madness in the end."

  "In the end, humanity listed me as a forbidden treasure and sealed me in this place. My true body cannot move, I can only cast out a projection."

  "Fellow Daoist Fahai has long since advanced to a higher stage, but I alone, since my birth in ancient times, have never made any progress." As he spoke, the Fahai Tianque seemed to be staring straight at Xiao Ji.

  "So, I need a long-lived creature to cultivate with me."

  Xiao Ji was stunned, he understood that this heavenly artifact would consume a huge amount of the user's lifespan every time it was used. With human lifespans being only about a hundred years, how could they possibly use this artifact frequently and still advance?

  Humans must have also understood this point, which is why they sealed this treasure in this place.

  "I can guide you in your cultivation, granting you unparalleled power. Since ancient times until now, I have mastered countless cultivation methods, enough to make your journey smooth sailing." The voice came again.

  Xiao Ji knew, this is what he had been pursuing all along.

  He looked around and asked, "What should I do?"

  "Just spill some fresh blood on the ground." After the voice of Tian Que sounded, the surrounding space suddenly lit up, illuminating every corner of this space clearly.

  Xiao Ji was also stabbed in the eyes by this sudden bright light. After his eyes slowly adapted, Xiao Ji looked around.

  This place is extremely spacious, about ten thousand square feet in circumference.

  Among them are mountains and rocks, flowing water, buildings, as well as room after room of dwellings.

  Xiao Ji looked at the wound on his abdomen, and what surprised him was that the place where his abdomen had been injured by the stone had completely healed, as if he had never been hurt.

  Xiao Ji had no choice but to use his sharp teeth to tear open another wound on his own abdomen.

  Gently squeezing the abdominal muscles, a drop of bright red blood was squeezed out and fell onto the flat ground. The blood seemed to seep into the ground and quickly disappeared from view.

  Xiao Ji felt that at this moment, he had a mysterious connection with the entire Fa Bao space, and this feeling was very strange, indescribable.

  At this moment, a faint itching sensation came from the abdomen. Xiao looked down and found that the skin on his abdomen was slowly squirming, and it actually recovered quickly.

  "Not bad, a very strong recovery ability, no wonder it's the longest-lived guy I've ever seen." In front of Xiao Ji, a golden light gate appeared in front of him, which was exactly the same as the Heavenly Gate he saw at the top of the stairs earlier, but shrunk by several times.

  "Are you Tian Que?" Xiao Ji looked at the golden light gate in front of him, which emitted a mysterious and profound glow.

  "Yes and no. I am the vessel spirit of Tianque's treasure, you can call me Huang."

  。

  。