Silence, deathly silence.
Chen Xiao opened his mouth, but found he could not utter a sound.
"What exactly is this place?" Chen Xiao's mind was filled with questions.
"You have come. I have waited for you for five hundred years."
Suddenly, an ancient yet resonant voice echoed in the space. Then, Chen Xiao saw a shadowy figure, hundreds of meters tall, faintly appear before him. The figure was enveloped in a halo, looking incredibly sacred.
This was an elder of indeterminate age, with white hair and beard, clad in a loose, wide robe.
Though far away, the immense size of the phantom allowed Chen Xiao to clearly see the deep wrinkles on its face. It was a weathered and desolate countenance, with only a pair of eyes shining with brilliance, utterly devoid of turbidity.
"Five hundred years? Could he be the legendary Sage Wuzhe?" Chen Xiao's thoughts raced, but he was unable to inquire, as he still could not make any sound.
At this moment, the elder spoke again, "Oh, I almost forgot. You cannot speak here. This poor old man has not seen any living person for five hundred years. To finally see one, only to find they cannot speak, what sorrow, what sorrow."
The desolation on the elder's face deepened, tinged with a hint of regret.
"Allow me to make a simple self-introduction. Since you can receive my inheritance, you must have already guessed who I am. That's right, I am the Sage Wuzhe you speak of, but I prefer to be called Master Wuzhe. That 'Sage' nonsense is just a false title bestowed upon me by mortals."
"What you see now is merely a wisp of my soul, not the entirety of Master Wuzhe. I am only responsible for overseeing the inheritance within the God-Slaying Book. Therefore, I am Master Wuzhe, but Master Wuzhe is not me. This question has troubled me for five hundred years. It was only with your appearance that a spark of inspiration struck me, and I found the answer."
"Damn it, why is this old man so long-winded? They say Sage Wuzhe was a loner with no friends. I'm starting to suspect his friends left because they were tired of his rambling." Chen Xiao grumbled inwardly, feeling helpless.
"Alright, let's get down to business." Sage Wuzhe's face turned serious. "Yesterday, I gave you a prescription. You only spent one night to comprehend and refine the elixir, and even surpassed its original grade. This is enough to prove your exceptional talent, coupled with perseverance and endurance. Therefore, you are qualified to receive my inheritance."
"What? Haven't I already received the inheritance? The Supreme Spiritual Seed Physique, the God-Slaying Art, the Six Harmonies Fist – aren't these all his inheritances?" Chen Xiao was somewhat confused. "I clearly already received the inheritance, so why is he only now saying I'm qualified?"
"I know what you're thinking. What you have received are merely my most trivial skills. I entered the Dao through alchemy. The world is ignorant; they only know my cultivation is heaven-defying, but they don't know my strongest skill is alchemy."
The elder's words shocked Chen Xiao. The Supreme Spiritual Seed Physique, the God-Slaying Art, the Six Harmonies Fist – any one of these, if revealed, would be coveted even in the Sacred Domain. Yet, to him, they were merely insignificant skills.
If that were the case, how powerful must his alchemy be?
"Since you have received my inheritance, you must also inherit my dying wish. I entered the Dao through alchemy at the age of forty, broke through at one hundred, and entered the Sage realm, allowing me to glimpse the secrets of heaven. For the next hundred years, I traveled the heavens and earth, searching for the truth of the world, and inadvertently discovered that gods truly exist in this world."
Hearing this, Chen Xiao's expression shifted slightly. "I never imagined that gods actually exist in this world!"
The elder did not give Chen Xiao time to ponder, continuing, "At the same time, I discovered that gods have no Dao, and are no different from pigs and dogs. Despite receiving the worship and reverence of the world, they view mortals as ants. And I, a mighty Sage realm expert, was considered merely a slightly stronger ant in their eyes."
As he spoke, Chen Xiao noticed that although Sage Wuzhe was merely a phantom, his face visibly flushed with anger. This was enough to show his extraordinary hatred for the gods.
But why? Was it merely because he was looked down upon? This old man had quite the temper!
"Later, I found my life's ambition: to kill all the gods under heaven, to overturn this world, and to transform it into a different scene!" The phantom's face first showed passionate fervor, then contorted with immense pain. "Alas, ants are ultimately ants. My strength alone is limited and utterly insignificant before the gods. In the end, I suffered the fate of my body being shattered. This wisp of soul only managed to hide in the Land of Reincarnation to avoid annihilation."
Chen Xiao's expression grew solemn. He had a feeling the elder was hiding something from him. What exactly had the gods done to make Sage Wuzhe so desperate?
"Therefore, my dying wish is to slay gods! And you, you are the one I have chosen to fulfill my wish!" The elder's voice boomed, striking Chen Xiao's heart directly!
"Damn it, what is all this? Slaying gods?! That's an impossible mission! Isn't this just sending me to my death?" Chen Xiao couldn't help but protest.
The elder naturally could not hear Chen Xiao's protest, and even if he could, he would ignore it. He continued, "Alright, I am very satisfied to have spoken so much today! Chen Xiao, prepare yourself to receive my inheritance!"
"This old man even knows my name. He's been monitoring me in secret!" Chen Xiao grumbled inwardly again. However, he was still incredibly excited at the prospect of the elder bestowing his inheritance, his heart pounding with anticipation, wondering what surprise awaited him this time.
At the same time, the elder's phantom grew fainter and fainter, eventually disappearing. Then, in the dark space, four large characters appeared – "Medicine Saint's Elixir Formulas."
Following this, countless medicinal names and formulas surged into Chen Xiao's mind like a flood. Despite Chen Xiao's formidable willpower, the pain was unbearable.
Chen Xiao gritted his teeth and struggled to endure, but it was to no avail. Finally, under the onslaught of wave after wave, like a raging tide, he fainted.
...
When Chen Xiao woke up again, he found himself still in his room in the Zhengyi Pavilion. Everything that had happened felt like a dream.
It wasn't until he discovered countless high-grade elixir formulas in his mind that he dared to believe everything that had just happened was real and not a dream.
"Could this be Sage Wuzhe's true inheritance? He wants me to use these formulas to contend with gods? If he wants me dead, he should just say so, not try to harm me like this!"
Chen Xiao was speechless. He felt like he had been tricked. He had been full of anticipation, only for the elder's so-called inheritance to turn out to be just a pile of elixir formulas. But no matter how powerful the elixirs he refined, what use were they if they couldn't be converted into direct combat power? Facing a strong enemy, they would be useless.