TL: Etude

The Pinnacle Inheritance was incredibly complete. As long as one had sufficient talent, potential, and resources, they could step into the Pinnacle Realm.

Other Invincible Dao Ancestors had no way to cultivate to the Pinnacle Realm, but Ye Tian believed he had no such limitations.

Moreover, the black wood he acquired this time was evidently a top-grade forbidden supreme treasure-level Spiritual Root Wood, and it was of the very highest tier. It could temper the Forbidden Body, even offering significant refinement effects for a major accomplishment Forbidden Body.

Without it, Ye Tian didn’t know how many years it would take to elevate his Forbidden Body to the perfected realm of 100%.

However, he was keenly aware that for anyone lacking the talent for duplication, walking the Pinnacle Path was an almost insurmountable challenge.

Even his closest family members had little hope of following the Pinnacle Path.

Therefore, he decided not to disclose the matter of the Pinnacle Path to his family for the time being. Otherwise, they might insist on pursuing it, only to achieve nothing and even hinder their own growth. There would be no point in that.

If, in the future, Ye Xingchen, Ye Xingyue, or his wife Xiao Yue showed potential to embark on the Pinnacle Path, he would then pass the Pinnacle Inheritance to them.

Ye Tian took out the black wood, shaved off a small piece, and ground it into powder before refining it. Otherwise, refining the black wood would have been almost impossible.

Boom! The powder was refined by Ye Tian, transforming into an incredibly pure energy that continuously tempered his Forbidden Body.

Originally, after Ye Tian’s Forbidden Body reached 80%, progress had slowed significantly. Even with the use of numerous forbidden wondrous objects, he couldn’t advance further.

But now, after refining the black powder, Ye Tian’s Forbidden Body began to progress again, and the tempering effect was extraordinary.

At this rate, it wouldn’t take long for Ye Tian’s Forbidden Body to reach 81%.

Moreover, his Forbidden Dao Force was also being tempered continuously, with highly favorable results.

Additionally, the Pinnacle Inheritance included secret techniques specifically designed to purify Forbidden Dao Force.

In the days that followed, Ye Tian diligently tempered his Forbidden Body and cultivated the Pinnacle Inheritance secret techniques. Time passed swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of years elapsed.

By then, Ye Tian’s Forbidden Body had been tempered to 84%, while the black wood had only been consumed by a thousandth of its total.

This showed the immense value of the black wood, which was clearly a condensed projection of some supreme treasure from the Dark Forbidden Domain. For instance, the treasure owned by Peng Zu, while similar to the black wood, was vastly superior in value.

“Tempering the Forbidden Body becomes increasingly difficult as it progresses. This black wood likely won’t be enough to bring my Forbidden Body to the perfected realm of 100%. In the future, I’ll need to seek out higher-grade forbidden supreme treasures to achieve perfection,” Ye Tian murmured to himself.

He frequently entered Blackwind Mountain to comprehend the Eternal Origin Stone Statue, gaining insights into the Forbidden Dao and the Infinite Dao. He aimed to cultivate the Infinite Dao to its limit and step into the realm of an Invincible Dao Ancestor.

Once he reached the realm of Invincible Dao Ancestor, he would undergo yet another transformation, reaching an awe-inspiring level. At that point, his safety would no longer be a concern.

…

Heavenly Emperor Palace.

Palace Master Golden Crow and Palace Master Azure Dragon were discussing a major issue—Blackwind Mountain.

Previously, Blackwind Mountain had repeatedly stolen opportunities from the Heavenly Emperor Palace, causing significant losses.

Now, with Palace Master Dragon Shadow stepping into the Unity Realm Half-Step Domain Ancestor level, the Heavenly Emperor Palace no longer needed to fear Blackwind Mountain in terms of either high-end combat power or foundational strength.

This time, their topic of discussion was Ye Tian.

Ye Tian had clashed with a projection of a roc, a creature comparable to a Half-Step Domain Ancestor, within a large forbidden treasure land. His terrifying combat power had been on full display.

Even though Ye Tian was not a true Half-Step Domain Ancestor, the actual gap was minimal.

For a Pinnacle Dao Ancestor to rival a Half-Step Domain Ancestor—what a terrifying concept.

Palace Master Golden Crow and Palace Master Azure Dragon had never heard of such a phenomenon even within the Divine Heaven Domain, which made them deeply wary of Ye Tian.

“We must kill the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws. If he advances to the Invincible Dao Ancestor level, it will be nearly impossible to eliminate him!” proposed Palace Master Golden Crow.

“Agreed,” nodded Palace Master Azure Dragon. “His Dao is immensely powerful. Advancing it to the limit level would take an extremely long time, but we cannot afford to give him that time. In the past, he wasn’t that strong, so we didn’t pay him much attention… But now, we have to take him seriously. If he fully rises to power, he will become a significant threat to our Heavenly Emperor Palace!”

Palace Master Golden Crow scrutinized the intelligence on Ye Tian, then coldly remarked, “From the reports, it’s highly likely that the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws and the Dark King are one and the same. Furthermore, the Dark King might just be the former Heavenly King Nine Limits. You previously claimed that Heavenly King Nine Limits couldn’t grow so rapidly and assumed the Dark King was one of the ancient Ten Kings. But your intelligence was wrong! If the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws can grow this quickly, why couldn’t Heavenly King Nine Limits?”

“But the Dark King and Heavenly King Nine Limits have appeared at the same time before, and the Dark King doesn’t seem to be a clone,” frowned Palace Master Azure Dragon.

“You have no idea how many hidden secrets the Dark Forbidden Domain holds,” countered Palace Master Golden Crow. “If the Dark King possesses some unique clone talent, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least! We can’t track the movements of the Dark King, but the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws is far easier to locate. I suggest we immediately launch an assault on the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws. Killing him would deal a massive blow to Blackwind Mountain. However, we’ll only have one chance. If the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws becomes aware of our intentions, killing him will become exceedingly difficult.”

“Who should we send?” hesitated Palace Master Azure Dragon.

“You will go personally!” commanded Palace Master Golden Crow. “The combat strength of the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws is close to that of a weaker Half-Step Domain Ancestor. If we send any other Palace Masters, they won’t be able to kill him. With your strength, you are capable of killing a weaker Half-Step Domain Ancestor. Combine that with several other Half-Step Palace Masters, and we should be able to take him down in a short time. As for me, I’ll handle intercepting any Half-Step Domain Ancestors from Blackwind Mountain who come to his aid. If necessary, Palace Master Dragon Shadow and the others will step in. If we manage to kill the Dao Ancestor of Ten Thousand Laws and a few Half-Step Domain Ancestors from Blackwind Mountain, it will be a perfect operation!”

“Let’s proceed with this plan,” agreed Palace Master Azure Dragon.

However, the Heavenly Emperor Palace never found an opportune moment.

During these years, Ye Tian had remained either in Blackwind Mountain or the Human Realm. The Human Realm was a medium Forbidden Void Realm, which even Half-Step Domain Ancestors could not invade. This left the Heavenly Emperor Palace without a chance to act, forcing them to bide their time and slowly wait for an opportunity.