Up to this point, only thirteen of Ye Fan’s group remained — all the others had perished. Setting aside Ye Fan with his unusual physique, the remaining twelve could be divided evenly, allowing each Grotto Heaven and Blessed Land to take away exactly two people.
It was a choice made without much say in the matter, yet Zhou Yi, Lin Jia, and the others did not resist. As the elders of Lingxu Grotto Heaven had said, this was an opportunity of fate for them.
In the end, Ye Fan found himself in an awkward, in-between position — once the center of everyone’s attention and hope, he was now ignored entirely, with nobody giving him a second glance.
“If you don’t take Ye Fan with you, I won’t go with you either.” At this moment, Pang Bo looked no more than eleven or twelve years old, yet his words carried considerable backbone: “At worst, Ye Fan and I will go make our way in the mundane world together.”
One of the Lingxu Grotto Heaven’s elders explained: “There are no ordinary mortals within a Grotto Heaven. If he joins in that state, it may not be a good thing for him.”
Ye Fan listened carefully and, after thinking it over thoroughly, considered the various situations that might arise. Inside a Grotto Heaven, everyone was a cultivator — who would pay any mind to a mere mortal? Even with Pang Bo to look out for him, it wouldn’t be a sustainable arrangement. There would certainly be a great many unforeseen troubles in the future.
“Pang Bo, you go with them. I won’t be joining any Grotto Heaven or Blessed Land. Perhaps it’s better to simply live the life of an ordinary person, plain and uncomplicated.”
“No. I’m taking you with me, no matter what.” Pang Bo refused absolutely.
“All right. We’ll take Ye Fan with us and bring him along too.” The elders of Lingxu Grotto Heaven, not wanting Pang Bo to harbor any resentment, decided to bring Ye Fan along as well.
“Wait.” Ye Fan showed no delight at this. His expression remained perfectly calm: “I said — I will not be joining any Grotto Heaven or Blessed Land. I thank you all for your kind intentions.”
“Ye Fan, this is an opportunity…” Pang Bo urged hurriedly.
Ye Fan shook his head: “You don’t need to persuade me.” He had thought it through carefully and understood perfectly — once he joined a particular Grotto Heaven, he might face all manner of troubles. Moreover, one of the Lingxu Grotto Heaven’s elders had already hinted at as much.
“If you’re not going, then I absolutely won’t go with them either.” Pang Bo was deeply loyal — no matter what, he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Ye Fan behind and setting out alone.
Ye Fan smiled: “I’m counting on you entirely from now on, so you’d better cultivate diligently. In the future, I’ll be depending on you to support me — for instance, an immortal maiden here, a sacred maiden there… send me a few at random, I’m not picky at all.”
Pang Bo’s eyes rolled back in his head. The cultivators from the various Grotto Heavens nearby also wore strange expressions, and several of the female cultivators shot him a sharp glare.
“Ye Fan, you should still come with me.” Pang Bo urged him again.
“I do want to go with you — but only as a guest for a while, not to join permanently. I wonder whether the people of Lingxu Grotto Heaven would permit that?” Ye Fan suddenly said this. He was not willing to completely sever his connection with the immortal path just yet, and hoped to enter Lingxu Grotto Heaven this way in order to learn more about it — while at the same time, he was unwilling to be bound to any one sect.
“Good, as long as you’re willing to go.” Pang Bo’s spirits immediately lifted. As long as Ye Fan was willing to go, he felt there would always be a way to persuade him to stay. He immediately looked toward the elders of Lingxu Grotto Heaven.
“Very well.” The several elders finally nodded.
Ye Fan’s group was about to part ways, their future paths unknown. Everyone felt a mix of uncertainty and anticipation. In their final gathering, all exchanged farewells and promised to meet again in the years to come.
At this moment, Ye Fan was undeniably in a somewhat different position from the rest. His road ahead held no prospects for cultivation — he and the others were already as good as people from two entirely different worlds. Even if someone were to suggest a future reunion, one could easily imagine that he would not be standing among them. Everyone who looked at him wore a peculiar expression, their feelings varied and difficult to read.
In the end, farewells were exchanged, and the group parted ways.
“Ye Fan, this is for you…” Before Liu Yiyi left, she pressed the string of prayer beads in her hand into Ye Fan’s without waiting for him to refuse, then quickly walked away.
“Actually, there’s nothing wrong with being an ordinary person. May you live a life of happiness.” Li Xiaoman walked over, said these words, looked at him for a long moment, then turned and departed.
“Ye Fan, I wish you all the best from here on. I believe that with your abilities, you’ll be able to make a rich and colorful life for yourself in the mortal world.” Lin Jia said these words, then left.
Shortly after, Zhou Yi and Wang Ziwen also came to say their goodbyes.
“Actually, there’s nothing wrong with being an ordinary person — it’s a kind of blessing in its own right.” Zhou Yi smiled lightly, gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, and said: “There’s nothing to be disheartened about.”
Ye Fan’s expression remained untroubled. He smiled faintly: “As for what comes next — who can say?”
…
Shortly after, more than a dozen divine rainbows rose one after another into the sky, cleaving through the still night air, like brilliant shooting stars gradually disappearing at the edge of the horizon. And so, everyone went their separate ways.
After the people from the other Grotto Heavens had departed, the elders of Lingxu Grotto Heaven turned to Pang Bo and Ye Fan and said: “Actually, our Grotto Heavens and Blessed Lands are not all that far from one another. If you ever wish to meet again, it won’t be difficult.”
The people of Lingxu Grotto Heaven did not set out until the following day. Riding divine rainbows, they moved with swift and thunderous speed, mountains and rivers below retreating rapidly in their wake.
At last, the group came to a stop before an ethereal mountain range shrouded in mist. The place radiated harmony — lush and verdant ancient trees filled the landscape, pavilions and towers were scattered here and there, cascading springs and waterfalls flowed freely, and sacred cranes danced through the air in a scene of vivid natural splendor. It was truly a place of exceptional beauty.
“Is this Lingxu Grotto Heaven?” Pang Bo couldn’t help but ask — though what he said next rather spoiled the mood, as he muttered under his breath: “Those cranes look awfully plump… think I could catch one or two and roast them up…?”
One of the nearby elders shot him a disapproving glare: “Those cranes have awakened spiritual intelligence. Don’t get any foolish ideas — with your current abilities, you couldn’t even get close to them.”
This place was not yet the interior of Lingxu Grotto Heaven, merely the outer mountain gate. Within, immortal mist drifted in dreamy wisps, rare flowers and exotic plants grew all around. As they ventured deeper into the cloud-hidden depths, a great slab of dark greenish stone appeared ahead, upon which two ancient characters were carved: Lingxu!
Pang Bo naturally couldn’t read these ancient characters. It was only after one of the nearby elders told him what they said that he understood they had finally arrived at Lingxu Grotto Heaven.
It was said that in ages beyond counting, this place had once been a vast expanse of ruins. Later generations had cleared it somewhat, and it had since become a Grotto Heaven and Blessed Land. One could say that Lingxu Grotto Heaven had a history reaching back immeasurably far — traced all the way back, this ancient ground extended to the primordial era itself.
Later generations had once carried out large-scale excavations and clearings here, hoping to find some divine artifacts among the ruins, but in the end came away empty-handed.
The powerful cultivators who had practiced here across the generations always felt that this place was not as simple as it appeared. Yet unfortunately, no significant discovery had ever been made.
Passing the great slab of stone and stepping into the immortal mist ahead, the scene suddenly transformed utterly. Inside was a world of incomparable splendor — as though one had stepped in an instant into an entirely different realm.
“This is Lingxu Grotto Heaven?”
“It’s completely like its own self-contained world!”
The several elders were quite pleased with Ye Fan and Pang Bo’s reactions.
The vegetation here seemed to have been especially favored by the essence of the sun and moon — even the most ordinary grasses and trees were an extraordinary shade of green, as though carved from jade. Ancient trees soared into the sky, medicinal herbs filled the air with fragrance, spiritual birds danced overhead, rare beasts moved through the undergrowth, and holy springs gurgled ceaselessly.
In this moment, Ye Fan fell into a brief trance. Deep within his heart, an ancient passage of scripture suddenly rang out — like the distant toll of a divine bell, like the trembling resonance of a celestial sound. It was none other than those several hundred characters of ancient scripture he had obtained from the Ancient Bronze Coffin.