Cao Ya activated the Devouring Demon Jar, unleashing a surge of demonic power. The eighty-one banners personally crafted by the Undying Emperor shattered, revealing the red-haired monster.

"Wake up!" Cao Ya uttered the words as if they were divine pronouncements.

"ah!!!"

With a mournful cry and immense pain, the red fur on the red-haired monster gradually softened, its ferocity faded, and its eyes gradually cleared.

"I am Zhang Lin! I am Master Yuan!"

Zhang Lin's body was covered with thick red hair, some reaching more than half a foot in length, almost every inch of it, making him look ferocious and savage, like a demon.

Despite his frightening appearance, his eyes calmed down, no longer filled with gloom and ferocity, but with endless sorrow.

"Thank you," Zhang Lin said.

Cao Ya stopped activating the imperial weapon and returned the body and lid of the Devouring Demon Jar to Duan De and the old blind man, respectively.

Cao Ya dared not rashly touch the Emperor's weapon.

Sigh, if only I could possess an ultimate imperial weapon, one that truly acknowledges me… In the Perfect World universe, Kunpeng's incomplete divine weapon, Heavenly Desolation, acknowledged me in that universe…

Ha, what are you thinking? Dreaming of something wonderful! You should be secretly happy if this happens even once...

Cao Ya calmed his turbulent emotions and looked at this fifth-generation Source Master, whose later years were shrouded in mystery, his body covered in red hair.

Zhang Lin's figure was forlorn, his face bitter.

"Grandmaster." Ye Fan gazed at his figure and uttered two words.

Ye Fan is the new generation of Source Master, and he also studies the "Source Book".

However, compared to the previous Source Master, Ye Fan has also cultivated many Emperor Scriptures and possesses the Ancient Sacred Body, making his future limitless.

However, all the imperial scriptures that Ye Fan cultivated were incomplete. For example, the Dao Scripture, the Western Emperor Scripture, the Supreme Emperor Scripture, and the Void Emperor Scripture all only contained the secret techniques of one realm.

That's why he, like Duan De and the old blind man, was extremely envious of the "Beginningless Sutra" before.

"A new generation of Source Master? What's your name?" Zhang Lin also sensed something and recognized Ye Fan's identity.

Ye Fan introduced Zhang Lin to the situation.

"Thank you all." Zhang Lin said again, his voice desolate and filled with a sense of loneliness.

Duan De, the old blind man, and the Black Emperor were all shocked. The fifth generation Yuan Tian Master had been missing for more than 10,000 years and had turned into an unknown red-haired monster. Unexpectedly, he had come to his senses today.

"It was only thanks to the imperial might of the Devouring Demon Jar that I was able to regain my senses," Zhang Lin said.

Ye Fan was filled with mixed emotions. In this situation, he encountered the patriarch of the Yuan Tianshi lineage, who was half-demon and half-human, and no longer possessed the demeanor of the peerless genius he once was.

He also felt uneasy, knowing that various ominous and terrifying things would happen to Master Yuan in his later years.

The fifth-generation Yuan Tianshi standing before us is a case in point.

Ye Fan pressed for details, wanting to understand what exactly was causing the ominous signs in Master Yuan's later years.

Zhang Lin said he didn't know either, but he had seen the previous generations of Yuan Tian Masters. In his later years, he also saw many terrifying scenes, such as ghost soldiers borrowing the way, and even ancient sages had to make way for them.

Cao Ya had a general understanding of the matter, but since it involved the ancient emperor who was still alive and the ruler of the underworld, how could he dare to say more?

Anyway, Ye Fan is still young and his old age is far away. When Ye Fan is old, even the ancient emperor of the underworld will be no match for him.

Zhang Lin and others should have passed away long ago; they are now an unusual existence, having all gone mad.

"The ominous events that befell Master Yuan in his later years ultimately boil down to a matter of strength," Cao Ya interjected. "If he possessed the power of an ancient emperor, what ominous events would he have to fear?"

Zhang Lin smiled bitterly. Even in the ancient times before the great changes of heaven and earth, there was only one great emperor in tens of thousands of years. He had to defeat the geniuses of all races and immortal beings, and survive the tribulation of emperors in order to achieve the Dao.

Master Yuan is indeed powerful, but compared to the Great Emperor, he is nothing.

Ye Fan, however, was invigorated.

He possesses the Ancient Sacred Body, having achieved mastery of the Sacred Body, and can challenge even the Great Emperor.

He thought to himself, "Perhaps I can escape the fate of Master Yuan."

"With the emergence of the myriad races of antiquity, a dark upheaval is imminent, and the human race faces a critical situation," Ye Fan said.

"Is the Dark Turmoil back again?" Zhang Lin muttered to himself, raising his head, his red fur trembling, his eyes flashing with a cold light, and said, "Then let me exert my last bit of strength. The lineage of the Source Celestial Masters shall once again display its divine might, and I will stand with you to pacify the Northern Region."

“With Sage Cao Ya here, the fifth-generation Source Celestial Master, you don’t need to risk your life,” the old blind man said.

"A sage?!" Zhang Lin was startled. No matter the era, a sage is always a powerful figure.

“Not just sages…” Duan De muttered, glancing at Cao Ya.

“Actually, you should just focus on your cultivation,” Cao Ya said calmly. “The human race has dominated the Big Dipper Ancient Star for millions of years. Does it lack reclusive powerhouses? It’s just that such figures rarely appear in the world.”

"For millions of years, from ancient times to the present, the human race has dominated the universe, which is more than a million years of history!"

"Even the Great Emperor probably cannot fully comprehend the true nature of the human race."

Everyone was taken aback.

"Is it really that terrifying?" Ye Fan exclaimed in surprise.

"After the mythological era and the ancient era, it was basically the era of the human race. In the desolate ancient era, most of those who attained enlightenment were human emperors. Tell me, with so many great emperor families or holy lands, how could the human race be weak?" Cao Ya laughed.

Humanity has produced many emperors, but the number of supreme beings in the forbidden zones has also increased significantly over the millennia.

This makes the Human Emperor appear lonely, lacking comrades, and forced to fight alone in the forbidden zone.

Emperors and sovereigns never meet!

The Supreme Being of the Forbidden Zone is merely a Supreme Being; they cannot be considered an Emperor, Ancient Emperor, or Celestial Venerable.

Even with the ultimate sublimation, seemingly equal in combat power, his endurance is far inferior. Moreover, he cut himself in two, willingly hibernating in the forbidden zone, abandoning everything. In order to survive, he even went so far as to launch a dark upheaval, slaughtering all the spirits he once protected, committing such heinous sins. After being engulfed by karmic fire, the Dao heart of the supreme being of the forbidden zone was completely distorted, making him unfit to be an emperor or sovereign.

Even if it is still the same living being, how can it be compared to its previous state?

"Our idea is to unearth a human saint to suppress the Big Dipper. If we can ring the Boundless Bell to intimidate the ancient races, that would be even better," Ye Fan said, revealing their plans for this trip.

"With Sage Cao Ya, your first goal can be considered accomplished. As for the Beginningless Bell..." Zhang Lin shook his head and sighed, "Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!"

He then explained the difficulty:

"The Beginningless Bell is an ultimate imperial weapon. If it rings, who can stop it? Even a sage... cannot stop it!"

Cao Ya nodded. Even a saint is nothing more than an ant before a great emperor.

“Then we won’t ring the Boundless Bell. The Devouring Demon Jar is also a flawless imperial weapon, made by the same human emperor, and is equally powerful enough to intimidate all the ancient races,” Cao Ya pondered.

"The Devouring Demon Jar... isn't as powerful as the Boundless Bell?" The old blind man paused for a moment before asking.

They thought that the era of the Ruthless Great Emperor was not as good as the era of the Beginningless Great Emperor.

That's why he specially brought the Devouring Demon Jar into Purple Mountain, firstly to excavate the Sage, and secondly to use the Devouring Demon Jar to ring the Beginningless Bell, so that the bell's waves would resound throughout the ancient Big Dipper, thus recreating the splendor of the Beginningless Emperor.

"Who said that?"

Cao Ya countered with a question:

"Among emperors and sovereigns throughout history, the Ruthless Great Emperor can be considered to be in the strongest tier, ranking alongside the Emperor Venerable, the Undying Heavenly Emperor, and the Beginningless Great Emperor."

"The Ruthless Great Emperor's Imperial Weapon is also close to becoming a Celestial Artifact!"

The Ruthless Great Emperor is no less powerful than the Beginningless Great Emperor; both are equally strong and are close to becoming immortals in the mortal world.

However, in terms of the deeds left behind, Emperor Wushi seems to be even more invincible.

But Cao Ya lived in the era of the first incarnation of the Ruthless Great Emperor—the Devouring Heaven Great Emperor, an era when forbidden zones lay dormant and holy spirits dared not emerge.

The ancestral land of the Holy Spirit Royal Family was destroyed by the Ruthless Great Emperor with a single sword strike, turning it into ruins.

The Great Holy Spirit was a being who could challenge the Great Emperor, yet he was also slapped to death by the Ruthless Great Emperor.

His unparalleled charm is unmatched by many throughout history.

Most importantly, Cao Ya knew that the true form of the Ruthless Great Emperor was located in the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.

If an unexpected situation arises and the true form of the ruthless person appears, even the complete and fully sublimated ancient emperor will be calamized.

Emperor Wushi has entered the strange world between the Shrouding the Heavens Universe and the Immortal Realm, making it difficult for him to interfere in human affairs. Otherwise, why would he leave behind his supreme imperial weapon—the Wushi Bell?