Chapter 164: Scripture of Divine Concealment

"Big Brother, where did you get this ancient ring? Why do I see countless gods and demons roaring, and countless skeletal remains floating up and down in the void?" Little boy Tongtian trembled slightly, his eyes filled with absolute shock.

Amidst the hazy cyan light, he beheld a celestial battlefield where immortal radiance splashed. Countless terrifying entities roared on the battlefield, their blood flowing endlessly, divine light shaking the mortal realm.

There were ancient giants with three heads and six arms, Kunpeng whose wings were like clouds hanging from the sky, Tengshe soaring through the firmament, and Jiao-people holding precious vases, numbering beyond count.

These entities were ancient and terrifying, any single one of them powerful enough to sweep across the heavens and roam the myriad worlds. Even a mere upward glance or a flick of the hand possessed the might to shatter stars.

"Pfft!"

"Too terrifying, too terrifying! It was my fault, it was my fault!" Tongtian's mind instantly lost its composure, and a mouthful of dark blood spurted from his lips. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he cast a bizarre look at Luo Hao. "Big Brother, why are you completely fine? Didn't you see those terrifying entities?"

"Uh, apart from this cluster of cyan light, I didn't see anything at all. What supreme entities? Are you losing your mind just like your master after spending too much time with him?"

With that, Luo Hao took a slight step aside, his calm gaze sweeping past the dark-faced Tongtian, his expression clearly implying that distance creates beauty and that Tongtian should stay away to prevent his madness from being contagious.

"I..." Tongtian was left speechless on the spot, Fatty felt truly wronged in his heart!

Yet at that very moment, the two discovered that the ancient bronze ring had actually begun moving deeper into the forest of steles, as if something ahead was calling out to it.

"Come on, follow it!" After a brief contemplation, Luo Hao immediately took a step to follow. No one knew better than him just how extraordinary the origins of this ancient bronze ring were.

Just imagine, the ancient gods and demons sealed within the God-Demon Well had all perished during the long expanse of time. Yet this bronze ring remained perfectly intact. If anyone claimed this was an ordinary ancient artifact, Luo Hao would never believe it even if beaten to death.

"Big Brother, should we really keep following it?" Behind Luo Hao, the little fatty Tongtian asked with a trembling voice.

Because at some unknown point, the environment around them had changed. Ribbon-like black mists drifted through the air, resembling pitch-black nightmares.

The ground beneath their feet had also transformed from the originally soft soil into frozen earth. Thick frost had long since blanketed the ground, radiating a piercing, bone-chilling cold at every moment.

"This is!"

Suddenly, the ancient bronze ring stopped ahead, and Luo Hao immediately halted his steps. Utilizing the cyan radiance of the bronze ring, he was horrified to discover a terrifying pressure surging forward from ahead.

This pressure rushed over like a tidal wave of gods, carrying a trace of a familiar aura that made the breathing of the two stall for a moment. Following that, what came into view was a massive skeleton stretching for hundreds of feet horizontally.

"So huge! What kind of entity's skeleton is this?" Tongtian exclaimed in shock.

Luo Hao gazed at the skeleton, his eyes somewhat shifting. The skeleton was as translucent and crystal-clear as jade, without a single impurity. The skull of the skeleton was prominently raised, featuring dual horns resembling those of a deer, and a long tailbone dragged behind it.

"The shape of this skeleton looks somewhat like a dragon. Could this be a dragon skeleton?" Tongtian's breathing grew heavy, his darting little eyes shining brightly. If this truly were a dragon skeleton, this would be a magnificent stroke of fortune!

The power of the dragon race went without saying. If he could glean some martial arts secrets of the dragon race from this skeleton, Fatty would be able to walk sideways across the Ancient Heavens unimpeded. Just thinking about it made him slightly excited.

Although the skeleton before him closely resembled the legendary dragon skeleton, Luo Hao knew clearly that this was definitely not a dragon skeleton, having witnessed a complete dragon skeleton with his own eyes.

"What are you getting so excited about for? This isn't a dragon skeleton. If my speculation is correct, and judging by the frozen earth on the ground, this should be the skeleton of a cold-flood-dragon. Although not a pure-blooded dragon race, the cold-flood-dragon is undeniably a true descendant of the dragon race!"

Faced with Luo Hao's affirmative words, the little fatty Tongtian felt somewhat disappointed, but he quickly came to terms with it. Dragon skeletons were not so easily found, after all; they were not like cabbages sold cheaply on the street.

"Even if it's not a dragon skeleton, it's still a fortune. This is a peerless divine material for forging artifacts!" With that, the kid produced a bronze compass and, braving the pressure of the cold-flood-dragon's skeleton, prepared to charge right up.

"Wait, look at how the ancient bronze ring traveled all the way here yet stopped in this exact spot. Don't you find that strange?" Pulling the little fatty back, Luo Hao spoke calmly.

At these words, the little fatty Tongtian gave a sudden shudder, breaking out in cold sweat on the spot. If not for Luo Hao, he would have nearly lost control of himself and walked straight into danger.

"Big Brother, look over there! Behind the cold-flood-dragon's skeleton, there seems to be a shorter stone tablet." Following the direction pointed by Tongtian's finger, Luo Hao's gaze narrowed slightly. Sure enough, behind the cold-flood-dragon's skeleton, another stone tablet was faintly revealing a corner.

"No!"

Looking closer, his breathing abruptly grew heavy, because that was not a stone tablet at all, but a tombstone. It was simply obscured by the massive body of the cold-flood-dragon, revealing only the tip of the iceberg.

"What is going on?"

The next moment, amidst the cries of shock from the two, the ancient bronze ring directly ignored the pressure of the cold-flood-dragon and shot violently toward the tombstone behind the skeleton. The very instant the ancient bronze ring touched the tombstone, Luo Hao discovered that the ground beneath the entire forest of steles began to vibrate wildly.

"Roar, roar, roar..."

At that exact moment, roars carrying dragon might echoed from underground. Tongtian looked at the bronze compass in his hand, his eyes widening abruptly as he screamed, "Big Brother, this is bad! Dragon qi has turned into malefic energy, the subterranean dragon veins are mutating! Quickly recall the ancient bronze ring!"

Luo Hao's expression shifted, and he struck out with lightning speed. His blood qi roared, transforming into a massive palm that instantly lunged to grab the ancient bronze ring.

Yet the next moment, the unadorned ancient bronze ring suddenly erupted with an astonishing immortal radiance. The palm condensed from blood qi shattered instantly, and the hundreds-of-feet-long skeleton of the cold-flood-dragon turned to ashes beneath that world-shaking immortal radiance.

"Damn it, what a terrible waste!" The little fatty Tongtian wailed on the spot. This was a peerless divine material!

"Bang!"

The next instant, the strata were torn apart, and earthly qi spewed forth like wisps of misty, poisonous barriers. This earthly qi was terrifyingly abnormal, carrying a chill and a suffocating pressure.

At this moment, the martial artists in the forest of steles were shaken with terror, all feeling the ground beneath their feet tremble as if something beneath the earth was about to burst out.

"Bang!"

"Ah, ah, ah..."

"Pfft, pfft, pfft..."

Cries of agony and blood explosions instantly resounded throughout the forest of steles.

Due to the mutation of the dragon veins, the earthly qi beneath the forest of steles had rebelled, becoming terrifyingly volatile.

"Let's go!"

Without a word of explanation, Luo Hao grabbed Tongtian, hoisted him up, and exerted force through his legs. His body leaped into the air like a roc, landing steadily atop the summit of a stone tablet.

At that split second of imminent peril, he noticed that the erupting earthly qi seemed to deliberately avoid the stone tablets. Indeed, just as he had anticipated, standing atop the stone tablet, they were completely unaffected by the assaults of the earthly qi.

White earthly qi surged, shrouding the entire airspace above the forest of steles, resembling an absolute domain. The human martial artists outside the forest of steles similarly felt the intense tremors.

"This is bad, something has happened!" Ji Rou wore an anxious expression, silently praying in her heart for Luo Hao to be safe and sound.

"Huhuha, that scared the fatty to death! I thought for sure I was a goner, never expected to encounter a dragon vein mutation and an eruption of profound ice earthly qi. It makes no sense though—normally, unless disturbed by a powerful force, dragon veins do not mutate!"

Saying this, Tongtian's little eyes subconsciously glanced sideways at Luo Hao, that small gaze seeming to say that all of this was caused by his damned ancient bronze ring.

Luo Hao had long since ignored Tongtian's sidelong glances. At this moment, his expression was grave as he looked downward. Amidst the profound ice earthly qi below, a cluster of cyan light glowed faintly. With the cold-flood-dragon's skeleton gone, Luo Hao finally beheld the full appearance of the hidden tombstone.

It was a dark-brown tombstone, forged from an unknown material. What baffled and awed Luo Hao even more was that along the edge of the dark-brown tombstone, there was a distinct imprint, sinking nearly two inches into the tombstone.

That was the fingerprint of an index finger, and at the joint position of the fingerprint, there was a clearly visible ring-shaped depression.

"The groove for the ancient bronze ring!"

Guided by Luo Hao's movement, the ancient bronze ring locked seamlessly into the groove on the tombstone. On the dark-brown tombstone, a series of runes lit up imperceptibly for a fleeting second.

Yet the next moment, to Luo Hao's utter astonishment, the dark-brown tombstone shattered with a resounding crash. What had just lit up on the tombstone must have been god-demon runes.

Though it lasted for only a split second, Luo Hao was certain he hadn't seen wrong. Those runes bore a resemblance to the god-demon runes of his own bloodline, and undoubtedly belonged to ancient gods and demons.

"Whoosh!"

The next second, a cluster of cyan light pierced through the erupting profound ice earthly qi and flew straight toward Luo Hao. Before he could even react, it slipped directly onto the index finger of his right hand.

"Big Brother, are you alright?!" Tongtian asked anxiously.

"I'm fine!"

Luo Hao instantly felt a suction force erupt, and his blood naturally surged toward the ancient bronze ring. Three breaths later, the suction receded. Cold sweat dripping down his face, he cast a glance at the ancient bronze ring on his right index finger. He saw that a ring of mysterious patterns had inexplicably appeared on the surface of the ancient ring.

Luo Hao attempted to pull the ancient bronze ring off, but quickly discovered that the ring seemed to have taken root, making it impossible to remove unless he chopped off his index finger along with it.

"Eh? What is this?"

Suddenly, Luo Hao furrowed his brow slightly. Through inner vision, he discovered that the bone of his right index finger had actually turned into a bronze color. Lines of mysterious ancient patterns were emerging upon the bronze finger bone.

He attempted to touch the bronze finger bone with his divine sense, and abruptly, three archaic characters surfaced in his mind: "God-Concealing Scripture!"