The Heavens: From Film and Mythology to Conquering Myriad Realms

Inside the guest rooms of pilgrims at Shaolin Temple on Mount Song.

After sensing that no one was watching him, Lu Yao took out the foreign object he had obtained from the hidden compartment of the Lankavatara Sutra.

A thin, golden title page appeared in Lu Yao's hand.

The golden title page was covered with densely packed small characters, making Lu Yao's eyes dazzled.

The fact that this golden title page could be stored undiscovered within the interlayer of the Lankavatara Sutra speaks volumes about its special nature.

In addition to being extremely thin, the cover page is also made of a special material that is highly flexible and cannot be damaged by ordinary pulling or tearing.

"Holy crap! It's Sanskrit!"

Looking at the words on the gold title page, Lu Yao slapped his forehead speechlessly.

The golden cover in Lu Yao's hand was not written in Chinese characters, but in crooked Sanskrit.

"It seems I won't be able to practice the Nine Yang Divine Skill for the time being."

Lu Yao sighed and put the golden cover back into his storage space.

......

The next morning.

Lu Yao took the several scrolls of copied Buddhist scriptures and left Shaolin Temple.

Now that we have obtained the Nine Yang Divine Skill, there is no need for us to stay at Shaolin Temple.

In fact, with Lu Yao's martial arts skills, he could have easily looted the Sutra Pavilion and taken all the Shaolin martial arts techniques for himself.

Unfortunately, firstly, Lu Yao didn't want to ruin his reputation in the martial arts world right now, and secondly, he didn't care for the ordinary martial arts techniques in the Sutra Repository.

The Shaolin Temple's divine martial arts techniques wouldn't be simply kept in the Sutra Repository; they would definitely be placed in some other, more secret and secure location.

......

After descending Mount Song, Lu Yao settled down in a nearby city.

Having such powerful skills but not practicing them is not in Lu Yao's nature.

Lu Yao found an old man in the city who knew Sanskrit and taught him to read it.

For Lu Yao, learning a new language is not difficult.

In just one month, Lu Yao had mastered the basics of Sanskrit.

"It's just Sanskrit, how could it possibly stump me?"

Lu Yao chuckled and took out the golden cover page from his storage space.

The font on the gold title page was no longer as unfamiliar to Lu Yao as it had been at first.

"The Nine Yang Manual?"

Looking at the contents on the golden title page, Lu Yao couldn't help but mutter to himself.

A moment later, Lu Yao put the golden cover back into his storage space and slowly closed his eyes.

As Lu Yao circulated the Nine Yin Manual, a faint red aura gradually emanated from his body.

The pale red true energy continued to rise, radiating astonishing heat.

Lu Yao's expression remained unchanged, but beads of sweat slid down his forehead.

As Lu Yao continued to circulate the Nine Yang True Qi to impact his meridians, his breathing became increasingly rapid.

"call!"

A moment later, the light red true energy on Lu Yao's body dissipated, and his breathing became steady and even.

"continue!"

Lu Yao's eyes were firm, and he planned to master the Nine Yang Manual in one go.

Several days later, Lu Yao, who had been diligently cultivating the Nine Yang Manual, finally reached the entry level.

The entry level means being able to use the Nine Yin True Qi to defend against enemies and comprehending the basic mysteries of the True Scripture.

"Haotian Pearl! Enhance it!"

As Lu Yao's mind stirred, a milky white fluorescent light enveloped him.

After a while.

"Alas! There isn't enough of the world's essence."

Lu Yao sighed helplessly and stopped cultivating the Nine Yang Manual.

After enhancing his Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and Toad Stance, Lu Yao only had eighty units of World Origin left.

This initial level of understanding is insufficient to elevate the Nine Yang Manual to the state of perfect mastery; it merely reaches a level of consummate skill.

"We need to find a way to collect the origin of the world."

Lu Yao couldn't help but start thinking about where to begin.

"I remember the Hero Tournament is about to be held around this time."

Lu Yao's heart stirred, and he remembered the heroes' gathering held by Guo Jing in the original novel.

The Southern Song Dynasty had been weak for a long time, and the Mongol Empire had been coveting it for quite some time.

Even in the city at the foot of Mount Song, Lu Yao could hear the people talking about Mongolia.

"It seems that the title of leader of the martial arts alliance is rightfully mine."

Lu Yao's lips curled up slightly as he began to make a plan.

But there's still no news about the Heroes' Gathering, so going to Xiangyang City to wait now would be premature.

"Let's go back to the ancient tomb first. It's been months since we last saw each other, and I wonder how Long'er is doing."

Lu Yao thought to himself, deciding to return to the ancient tomb.

Lu Yao arrived outside the city, summoned the giant eagle, and headed towards Zhongnan Mountain.

......

Dozens of meters above the ground near Zhongnan Mountain, Lu Yao rode a giant eagle slowly toward the Tomb of the Living Dead.

After a while.

Lu Yao and the giant eagle arrived at the entrance of the Tomb of the Living Dead.

"Brother Eagle, I'll introduce you to some new friends later."

Lu Yao smiled gently and touched the eagle's broad wings.

"Screech."

The giant eagle shook its head, ignoring Lu Yao.

"wrong!"

Lu Yao approached and realized that something was wrong with the tomb entrance.

Because the entrance to the Tomb of the Living Dead is recessed, like a cave, and the tomb door is on the inside, Lu Yao did not notice anything unusual at first.

The original stone tomb door was now broken into pieces, scattered on the tomb passage, and there were also traces of black flames burning on the surrounding passage.

"It's gunpowder!"

Lu Yao's nose twitched slightly, and he immediately determined what caused the marks on the tomb passage.

Lu Yao dashed through the rubble and rushed into the tomb.

"How could it be a Mongol? It's Khodu!"

Lu Yao frowned as he looked at the corpses remaining in the tomb passage.

After a short while, Lu Yao stopped, only to find a huge dragon-severing stone blocking his way.

"The Dragon-Slaying Stone! Long'er has encountered a formidable enemy!"

Lu Yao took a deep breath, never expecting such a change to occur as soon as he returned after being away for several months.

Without further hesitation, Lu Yao immediately withdrew from the tomb passage.

"Brother Eagle, wait here for me for a moment."

As soon as Lu Yao emerged from the tomb passage, he didn't linger. After saying something to the giant eagle beside him, he disappeared from the eagle's sight.

"Huh?"

The giant eagle hesitated for a moment, then had no choice but to continue waiting at the entrance of the Tomb of the Living Dead.

Lu Yao used his lightness skill to quickly arrive at the secret passage in the pool.

They entered the tomb directly through the underwater passage.

Lu Yao emerged from the stone coffin and carefully surveyed his surroundings.

Nothing was found.

Lu Yao continued to search each tomb chamber from the inside out.

A pavilion in the water.

Lu Yao entered the pavilion but did not find Xiaolongnu. However, all the items were neatly arranged and showed no signs of damage.

"It seems the enemy hasn't broken through to this point."

Lu Yao looked around and thought to himself.

Lu Yao followed the tomb passage and approached the tomb entrance.

Finally, another body was discovered.

"Hong Lingbo?"

Upon seeing the female corpse in the tomb passage, Lu Yao immediately recognized her as Li Mochou's disciple, whom he had met once before.

"It seems that Li Mochou has connections with the Mongols."

Lu Yao looked at Hong Lingbo's body, squatted down, and examined it carefully.

Hong Lingbo's body was already somewhat decomposed. Given the low temperature of the ancient tomb, the fact that it had corroded to this extent suggested that he had been dead for some time.

"It's Li Mochou's Crimson Serpent Palm! Master and disciple have turned against each other?"

After examining the cause of Hong Lingbo's death, Lu Yao looked puzzled.