According to ancient legend, the Radiant Sun and the Luminous Yin were the common ancestors of all Sacred Spirits. It was because of these two that the myriad Sacred Spirits came into being, and from them arose the glorious era of the Ancient Epoch, when Sacred Spirits ruled the myriad realms.
In that age, across the Three Thousand Worlds, Sacred Spirits of every shape and every kind could be found everywhere.
Unfortunately, a war that lasted for untold millions of years brought countless Sacred Spirit clans to extinction. In the present day, across the vast expanse of the cosmos, the number of surviving Sacred Spirits could be counted on one's fingers. Many of those that remained teetered on the very brink of extinction. The one undeniable truth was that Sacred Spirits were extraordinarily powerful — every adult Sacred Spirit was comparable to a Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator of the Human Race, and by continually refining their bloodlines, they could grow to rival the Ninth Order.
However, according to what Yang Kai had personally learned from Brother Huang and Sister Lan, the notion of common ancestors was nothing but an unfounded rumor, passed along through hearsay. Those two had been bickering since time immemorial over who was the elder and who was the younger. Yin and Yang were fundamentally incompatible — how could they possibly have given rise to all those Sacred Spirits?
By means of the Sun and Yin Records, the powers of the Radiant Sun and the Luminous Yin could be fused together to form the Purifying Light — the most effective weapon against the Force of Ink currently in the Human Race's possession.
Before the Purifying Light had emerged, the only power capable of restraining the Force of Ink was Sacred Spirit power. Of course, Sacred Spirit power's restraint was not as pronounced as that of the Purifying Light, but it was still remarkably effective.
Ancestral Spirit Power, found within the Ancestral Land of Sacred Spirits, could be considered an enhanced form of Sacred Spirit power. At the end of the Ancient Epoch, the Giant Ink God Spirit had been sealed within the Demon Sealing Ground by the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress, using the sacred artifacts of various clans and the power of more than half the Ancestral Land. As the ages passed, even the Force of Ink within the Giant Ink God Spirit had been continuously dissolved and dispelled by the Ancestral Spirit Power.
When Yang Kai had opened the Demon Sealing Ground all those years ago, the Giant Ink God Spirit had been reduced to nothing but an empty shell. Had it not subsequently been occupied by one of Ink's avatars, the Giant Ink God Spirit could never have awakened again.
That beam of light was the antithesis of darkness — had it not split into the twin forces of Yin and Yang, manifesting as the Radiant Sun and the Luminous Yin? So the combined power of Brother Huang and Sister Lan could perfectly counter the Force of Ink.
But then, what made Sacred Spirit power capable of restraining the Force of Ink?
Could the Sacred Spirits truly have no connection whatsoever to that beam of light?
Now, the Sacred Spirits had dwindled greatly. The number of living Sacred Spirits and their remaining species was exceedingly scarce, and their ancient glory had long since faded. Yet the Ancestral Land of Sacred Spirits still existed. Even without Sister Lan's reminder, Yang Kai had already planned to pay a visit to the Ancestral Land. Perhaps he would find something there.
The Shattered Heaven had originally been a place of exile within the Three Thousand Worlds — a gathering ground for villains and scoundrels, a motley mix of dragons and serpents.
Back in the day, Open Heaven cultivators who did not come from the Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands, if they wished to advance to the Seventh Order, would mostly choose to come to the Shattered Heaven. This was a region that even the Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands struggled to govern.
They could advance to the Seventh Order here in peace, without worrying about being summoned by any Cave Heaven or Blessed Land.
Of course, in hindsight, the Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands had always possessed the ability to purge the Shattered Heaven. It was simply that the world always needed a place like the Shattered Heaven to serve as a dumping ground for filth and corruption.
Even across the boundless expanse of the Three Thousand Worlds, absolute purity could never exist. Order and chaos, like light and dark, were two sides of every coin — always dependent upon each other for their existence.
In the deepest reaches of the Shattered Heaven lay the Ocean of Divine Abilities — a formation established by mighty cultivators at the end of the Ancient Epoch, encircling the Ancestral Land of Sacred Spirits. It served as both a natural barrier and an invisible cage.
Yet now, as Yang Kai stood outside the Ocean of Divine Abilities, he could clearly see a vast and safe passage leading straight toward the Ancestral Land of Sacred Spirits.
This passage had been carved out the last time the Giant Ink God Spirit had charged out of the Ancestral Land.
It saved him the trouble of having to fight his way through the Ocean of Divine Abilities.
He walked forward step by step, his form flowing like water. Under the surging of the Space Laws, each stride carried him a hundred thousand li.
Before long, Yang Kai traversed the passage and arrived at the Ancestral Land.
It was a vast world, saturated with an atmosphere of primordial antiquity. If the Myriad Beast Domain still barely retained the aura of the Ancient Epoch, then the Ancestral Land of Sacred Spirits had maintained the environment of the Remote Antiquity Era unchanged since time immemorial, never altered by the passage of time in the outside world.
Counting this visit, Yang Kai had come to the Ancestral Land of Sacred Spirits a total of three times.
The first time, he had been fleeing for his life from the Divine Lord Sheng Yang, escaping alongside a Seventh-Order woman named Xia Linlang, and had stumbled into the Ancestral Land by chance. Perhaps it was because he carried Dragon bloodline — at that time, he had been only a Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator.
The second time, he had come to intercept an Eighth-Order Human Race Ink Disciple attempting to resurrect the Giant Ink God Spirit. Regrettably, he had arrived a step too late. Forced into a corner, he had killed Lu An — someone with whom he had some prior acquaintance — with his own hands, and had witnessed the resurrection of the Giant Ink God Spirit firsthand.
That Giant Ink God Spirit had charged out from the Demon Sealing Ground, burst through the Ancestral Land, crossed the Shattered Heaven, and arrived at the battlefield in the Domain of Empty Space.
This was his third visit.
The first time he came, though he possessed the Dragon bloodline, he could not truly be considered a Dragon. The second time, all of his attention had been focused on the Giant Ink God Spirit, and he had not had the chance to feel much of anything.
But this time, the moment he set foot in this Ancestral Land, a sense of comfort and kinship rose spontaneously within him, as if a wanderer had finally returned home and fallen into his mother's embrace. The Dragon blood coursing through his veins surged with restless energy, and he could barely resist the urge to let out a dragon's roar to release the emotions welling in his heart.
Though he had been born into the Human Race, at his core he was now a pure-blooded Dragon. It was only natural that he would feel a profound sense of belonging to this land.
Yet before long, his brow furrowed.