"Piece of cake. But this place has clearly been rearranged."
Casually tossing aside a severed limb, Su Min had to admit—she quite enjoyed melee combat. Back in the day, she'd fantasized about having eight-pack abs, dazzling everyone in sight.
Unfortunately, that was no longer possible. While she wasn't exactly the delicate "pale, young, and beautiful" type, she was far from burly. No eight-pack here—not even a single defined muscle.
Shaking off the regret, she reminded herself that her current body aligned perfectly with her preferences.
Right now, her attention was entirely focused on the room's layout. The signs of deliberate modification were obvious.
"The Medicine Buddha repurposed this place into a true legacy ground. What you inherited during the Water-Land Ceremony was his alchemy legacy. But in Buddhism, what they call a 'Buddha' is equivalent to an emperor elsewhere."
"Great. So I'm either going to die or lose a layer of skin."
Su Min's expression flattened into an "ORZ" of resignation. She had a feeling she was about to suffer.
An emperor's legacy wasn't something you could just waltz in and claim. Was this damn cauldron setting her up? Unlike Xie Yingying, who had inherited a legacy perfectly suited to her physique, Su Min had no such advantage.
Still, she couldn't help feeling a flicker of anticipation. Because advancing to the Unity stage came with a massive hurdle—the Dharma Body.
The hallmark of the Unity stage was the ability to manifest the colossal Dharma Visage—a fusion of all one's abilities into a singular form. Unless you reached this level, breaking it was nearly impossible.
Xie Yingying and Tian Hao had both received one-on-one guidance from their predecessors, solving this problem early. But Su Min? She was on her own.
Throughout history, the only renowned Five Elements Saint had been the Five Elements Emperor. Hell, most people hadn't even known what a Five Elements Saint was before her.
That was why so many opponents had been caught off guard when facing her—they simply didn't understand her saintly physique. Now, the entire continent knew: if you fought Su Min, forget flashy elemental attacks.
Brutal, law-based assaults and even more brutal physical strikes were the way to go. Thankfully, by the later stages, most cultivators had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.
So the days of her curb-stomping everyone were mostly over—especially since those opponents were usually Mahayana-stage experts.
"Ahead, in the main hall, there's a super puppet. Equivalent to late-stage Dao Comprehension. In life, it was a supreme body cultivator with laws focused on physical refinement—basically a weaker version of the Great Desolate Saint."
Expressionlessly setting down the puppet she'd been examining, Su Min knew the road ahead wouldn't be easy. While most puppets suffered a drop in combat power after being transformed, this configuration made them stronger.
No fear of death. No pain. No fragile soul to target.
Even Su Min felt a headache coming on. These legacies weren't going to be handed to her on a silver platter.
"The only pity is that the Puppet Ancient Emperor's emperor artifact was dismantled by the Medicine Buddha. I can't obtain it."
Glancing at the jade slip, Su Min sighed. The core issue was that the emperor had refined himself into an artifact—unlike a certain ruthless figure from legend, he hadn't succeeded.
The result? An emperor artifact without a spirit.
After his death, a chaotic, disordered artifact spirit would have inevitably taken over his corpse, potentially wreaking havoc on the world.
The Medicine Buddha, though compassionate, wasn't naive. He'd destroyed it immediately.
Su Min could only lament the loss. But there was nothing to be done. For now, she'd take it step by step. Cultivation had two paths: meditation and TATAKAI!!! (fighting).
While Su Min was busy with the legacy, two figures hovered outside the tomb.
"Old Six, this is Heavenly God Sect territory. We're not safe here. That sect has a late-stage Dao Comprehension expert. While he's no threat to us individually, if they activate an emperor artifact, we're in trouble."
One of them spoke cautiously. If Su Min had been present, she'd have been shocked—both were at the late Dao Comprehension stage, and one was on the verge of breaking through to Unity.
In their primes, neither had been weaker than the Bloodfiend Old Demon. They just hadn't been lucky enough to stumble upon a Kirin's lair. Still, they'd left themselves contingencies, and now they'd recovered well.
Especially the one called Old Six—he was close to regaining his Unity-stage strength. The only issue was the slight deviation in his laws after replenishing them, requiring further adjustment.
"Relax, Old Eight. While this is Heavenly God Sect territory, these mountains are resource-poor. Plus, their proximity to the core region makes this a blind spot. We don't need to worry too much."
"Then why are we here?"
Old Eight took a deep breath. The day before, Old Six had mysteriously summoned him.
"Remember the Puppet Ancient Emperor?"
"!!!"
Old Eight's face twisted with horror, as if recalling something traumatic.
"That freak who turned himself into a machine?"
They'd lived in the same era as the Puppet Ancient Emperor. And it had been a miserable experience.
While they'd been renowned experts, their glory had been utterly overshadowed by that monster. Sharing an era with an emperor was never pleasant. They'd both fought him—and both been humiliatingly defeated.
"Remember how he ended up?"
"Turned himself completely into an emperor artifact, nearly degenerating into an artifact spirit. Ruined his so-called 'Eternal Ascension' plan, then vanished. Probably went somewhere to 'fix' himself. Even if he lived another hundred thousand years, it wouldn't matter. His body had become his prison. Eternal life is about freedom, not trapping yourself like a beast."
"It's worse than that."
Old Six smirked. Though both had joined the Black Seal, the hierarchy was clear—Old Six was stronger.
So he knew a few extra secrets.
"He locked himself away, endlessly tinkering with his own form. By then, he had two choices: complete annihilation or becoming a full artifact spirit."
"Wait, you mean—?"
"Exactly. That means there's an unclaimed emperor artifact here. Right now, only the boss in the Black Seal has one. Our Heaven-rank high-grade treasures are decent, but they're no match for an emperor artifact."
"I see…"
Old Eight's eyes gleamed with greed. For anything else, he might hesitate. But an emperor artifact? The risk was worth it.
No one would ever complain about having too many emperor artifacts. Su Min might casually melt a Heaven-rank high-grade treasure, but she'd never dare treat an emperor artifact so carelessly.
Aside from the artifact spirits themselves, destroying an emperor artifact was beyond her and the little Golden Crow's capabilities. And if pushed too far, those spirits would fight back viciously.
"Let's move. This has to be ours. Once we have it, we won't need to kowtow to the higher-ups. But…"
Old Eight frowned at the endless, jagged peaks below. With dozens of mountains over 10,000 meters tall and complex terrain, finding their target wouldn't be easy.
"No rush. We've got time to search. Clues will turn up. Besides, there aren't any major operations right now. Though I heard Fourteen and Fifteen died chasing that Great Desolate Saint. Those two got too greedy—drooling over him the moment they saw him."
"Can't blame them. The Great Desolate Saint's bloodline is a supreme tonic for beings like us. And he's not affiliated with any faction."
"Stubborn fool. If I were him, I'd have joined the Immortal Sect. Then no one would dare touch him."
"The strong have their pride. What puzzles me is how the Lunar Sovereign Body agreed to follow the Five Elements Saint. Even with her being a top-tier alchemist, that shouldn't be enough. I wonder what price she paid."
"Enough speculation. Old Seven's already hunting the Great Desolate Saint. The top five haven't fully awakened yet. Once they do, the grand plan begins. Until then, we must seize every opportunity to boost your strength."
"Right."
"I sensed a ripple earlier. The tomb should be emerging soon. Once it does, every major faction will descend. If beings like us get too close, we'll face multiple emperor artifacts. So we have to get in first. The rest doesn't matter—that emperor artifact must be ours."
"Understood."
With their goal set, the two began combing the mountain range.
Inside the tomb's second hall—
THUD!
Su Min collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Her usual poise was gone—drenched in sweat, her hair clung to her forehead.
"These puppets are no joke. That Medicine Buddha—why'd he turn this into a one-way gauntlet? Does he expect me to fight my way through?"
Glancing at the dismantled puppets scattered around her, Su Min felt every pore on her body trembling. That battle had drained her.
Her strongest attacks were useless here—she couldn't risk collapsing the entire tomb.
Worse, these puppets didn't come one at a time. She'd had no chance to unleash her Four Symbols Annihilation. Instead, she'd been forced to dismantle them one by one.
The ordeal had been grueling. Right now, Su Min felt like her body might fall apart. Even as a Dao Comprehension-stage cultivator, such intense combat left its mark.
Not that she minded. It reminded her she was still human.
"Post-battle is the best time for enlightenment. Did the Medicine Buddha plan this? Forcing me to grow through combat?"
Sitting cross-legged, Su Meditated. Battles of this caliber were rare in the outside world. With so few top-tier experts—even counting hidden powerhouses—the number of Unity-stage cultivators likely didn't exceed single digits.
Opportunities for such high-intensity combat were scarce. No wonder the Medicine Buddha had modified this place. No wonder the cauldron had lured her here.
"Maybe I can solve my biggest hurdle before reaching the Unity stage…"
Closing her eyes, Su Min let energy flow through her.
Time passed slowly. Her progress was gradual—expected at the Dao Comprehension stage. Leaps and bounds were a thing of the past. Steady advancement was key. And she had plenty of time.
Outside—
"It should be here. This is the only spot with spatial distortions. But something's off—the ripples are too faint. Old Six, are you sure you sensed it correctly?"
The two stood where Su Min had vanished. Before them, an almost imperceptible spatial wrinkle shimmered.
"This is the place. But it doesn't make sense."
Old Six frowned. He'd clearly detected the Puppet Emperor's aura earlier. After his humiliating defeat, he'd seared that presence into his memory.
That's why he'd rushed here—not just for the emperor artifact, but to desecrate the bastard's tomb out of spite. But things weren't adding up. There was no entrance—just the faintest trace.
"Must've opened briefly. Without our target and meticulous search, we'd never have noticed."
"Do we force our way in?"
"No. Even if it worked, it'd alert the Heavenly God Sect."
"Then we do this the hard way…"