The so-called holy weapons represented the absolute pinnacle a weapon could achieve. Throughout the entire Eastern Desolation, how many existed could be counted completely — all born from the hands of ancient Holy Sovereigns.
How many Great Emperors had there been throughout all of history? Those recorded in ancient texts were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Thus paramount weapons numbered only a meager few.
The earth-grey clay jar was plain to a fault, yet possessed enormous power. Driven jointly by the Azure Dragon King and Tu Tian, it devoured heaven and earth — nothing beyond its reach.
Crack!
In the sky, a Eight Trigrams furnace — the size of a small mountain — blazed with roaring flames, standing in its path as a barrier. Yet it could not stop the clay jar at all, and a cracking sound rang out from it.
Boom!
The enormous furnace split apart in an instant. Boundless fire surged and roiled, raging in all directions — yet it only churned for a brief moment before being entirely swallowed into the clay jar.
This was already the ninth weapon that had been destroyed by the Supreme Elders. Against a paramount weapon, nothing could withstand it — only obliteration.
The earth-grey clay jar appeared ordinary, but it was a holy weapon forged from the flesh and blood of an ancient Great Emperor — its power was beyond reckoning. If the lid had not been missing, the enemies would have been eliminated long ago.
“Let’s see how long you can hold on!” The Azure Dragon King bellowed and drove the clay jar once more together with Tu Tian.
Opposite them, an ancient cauldron slowly rose and fell. Dragon patterns emerged across its surface, archaic in form, with wisps of chaotic mist gathering about it.
This was a replica of the Yao Guang Holy Land’s dragon-patterned cauldron, controlled by one unusually powerful elder who was exerting every last ounce of effort to resist the earth-grey clay jar.
But a replica was still a replica. Even though this Supreme Elder had spent several hundred years tempering and refining it, it could not withstand a holy weapon forged by an ancient Great Emperor.
Driven by the combined efforts of all, it had barely held on for a quarter of an hour when the replica dragon-patterned cauldron began to tremble. The dragon patterns across its surface all peeled away, and its luster dimmed.
Crack!
The replica dragon-patterned cauldron could hold no longer. Fissures appeared across it. On the verge of shattering, it was being swallowed by the clay jar.
“Old Tu, this holy weapon of yours is too overwhelmingly powerful. I’m willing to pay any price to trade with you — you can take everything I currently possess.” The Azure Dragon King exclaimed in admiration.
“For this lifetime, I rely on it alone. There is no possibility of trading it to anyone,” Tu Tian refused outright.
At this moment, every face among the Yao Guang Holy Land’s people had gone ashen. All their weapons had been shattered — they could no longer hold on.
The terrifying might of a paramount weapon was bone-chilling. Unfortunately, the Yao Guang Holy Land’s dragon-patterned cauldron was a treasured relic that could not be easily brought out — had it been here, they would not have been reduced to such a passive position.
On another front, the Peacock King did battle against the Holy Lord of Yao Guang, moving through a hundred and eight worlds — their clash fierce and indecisive. Sun and moon went dark, heaven and earth lost their color. The power of these two great masters was boundless, and a single cry from them in the distant sky was enough to shatter the rocky mountains on the ground.
Ye Fan’s gaze swept across the scene in awe. The paramount weapon left him shaken. The elder figures of Yao Guang Holy Land — today they would be defeated by this clay jar.
He was no longer in a hurry to leave. The Azure Dragon King and his companions had an absolute upper hand. If they eliminated those elder figures and freed up their hands, the Holy Lord of Yao Guang would certainly be in an extremely dangerous position.
Right now was the perfect time for him to join the Peacock King’s side and leave together — no more need for flight.
“Genius brother, in our trade, we value loyalty…” Tu Fei had also charged to the edge, descended, and appeared at Ye Fan’s side.
The Saintess of Yao Guang had not given chase. By now, anyone could see that the powerful figures of Yao Guang Holy Land were in dire straits — suppressed by an ancient Great Emperor’s holy weapon, one wrong move and both body and soul would be destroyed.
Yao Guang Holy Land’s “deep reserves” were formidable, but distant water could not quench a nearby fire. Crossing the void would take too long.
Boom!
The distant sky shook. Men cried out, beasts roared. Rank upon rank of iron cavalry trampled the sky apart, rumbling forward. The sky was as though a flood were rushing toward them — killing intent surging to the heavens. A great banner in the center snapped in the wind, bearing a single great character upon it: Jiang!
The people of the ancient Jiang Family had arrived. They were one of the lords of the Northern Domain, their power in this region far exceeding that of the Yao Guang Holy Land.
“Fellow Daoists of Yao Guang — our Jiang Family has come to your aid!”
Several hundred iron cavalry charged forward, with several great figures at the center, their battle intent surging skyward like a rolling tide — fierce and surging — an icy aura that chilled the bones.
“What rotten luck!” Tu Fei swore.
In the sky, the Peacock King, the Azure Dragon King, Tu Tian, and the others also changed their expressions. With the powerful Jiang Family arriving as reinforcements at this moment, their effort had fallen just short of success.
The cultivators of Yao Guang Holy Land let out a unified battle cry. They had fought until now, many of their number having already died in battle, and with defeat and destruction seemingly imminent — the sudden arrival of this fresh force naturally filled them with renewed spirit.
“Genius brother…” Tu Fei turned back around, only to discover that Ye Fan had long since made his escape and was almost out of sight. He stared in stunned disbelief and shouted, “I say, genius brother — people in our trade can’t be this disloyal.”
Ye Fan had no intention of dawdling. He knew his own limitations. With great bandits and a Holy Land locked in a life-and-death struggle, someone of his strength had no business staying here — he’d only be cannon fodder.
These were all powerful figures — not a single weakling among them. Those whose cultivation was even slightly lacking had already been killed in the earlier melee. Blood mist drifted through the air; this battlefield was exceedingly brutal.
Boom!
The rear shook violently. The battle entered its most intense phase. The Azure Dragon King and Tu Tian went all out, prepared to spare no cost in eliminating a group of the powerful figures.
The Peacock King’s eyes were sharp with killing intent that shook the surrounding wilderness. He transformed into a five-colored peacock and tore apart heaven and earth.
At the rear, everything boiled — sky and earth seemed on the verge of annihilation.
Ye Fan was like the wind and lightning — a streak of flowing light flashing across the earth — driving his mysterious footwork to its absolute limit, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
“I will return someday…” He disappeared into the vast expanse of the earth.
He needed to find a place to cultivate in peace and advance his strength. He had no business involving himself in battles and killings.
The reddish-brown earth stretched endlessly in every direction without vegetation and without water — only openness and silence.
Seven or eight days had already passed. Ye Fan had no idea how many li he had traveled, but not so much as a small oasis had appeared — not even a single leaf.
Far from that Source area, Ye Fan let out a long breath. From here onward, the sea was wide enough for a fish to leap and the sky high enough for a bird to soar — he would be free of all constraints.
Yao Guang Holy Land’s roots were in the Southern Domain. Even if the Saintess of Yao Guang knew he was somewhere in the Northern Domain, she could not dispatch enough personnel to search for him.
The Thirteen Great Bandits were their greatest headache — guarding the Source mines alone would require enormous effort, leaving little capacity to attend to anything else.
“I need cultivation methods from the secret realm of Dao Palace…” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
This was the greatest purpose for which he had come to the Northern Domain. He had already cultivated to the Other Shore realm, and time waited for no one — he urgently needed the Jade Pool Heart Method.
Thinking of this problem gave him a headache. He felt he had set himself an enormous challenge. The ideal was beautiful, but putting it into action would be extremely difficult — getting his hands on it would be no easy feat.
“The most effective approach would be to kidnap a Jade Pool Immortal from the Dao Palace’s secret realm, then demand the esoteric method.”
But the consequences of that would be extremely severe. He had learned only one unsurpassed secret technique from the Ji Family, hadn’t even cultivated the Void Ancient Scripture, and had already brought down a world-ending disaster upon himself.
If he truly kidnapped a Jade Pool Immortal and cultivated her esoteric methods, it would inevitably bring about another tremendous catastrophe.
In the past, people had cultivated the ancient scriptures of Holy Lands — but in the end, they had either had their entire clan exterminated or their entire sect destroyed, their every trace wiped from existence.
Holy Lands and ancient aristocratic families guarded their own ancient scriptures above all else. Whoever learned them would inevitably have the full force of their power directed at eliminating that person.
“I have set myself an enormous challenge…” Ye Fan lightly rubbed his temples. If he had a choice, he truly had no wish to take on such a challenge.
“Jade Pool Immortals can be wed, but the conditions are reportedly very strict…” He remembered what the old man Wu Qingfeng had said.
The lofty Jade Pool Immortals — how could they possibly wed someone like him, a minor cultivator?
Time was pressing. There was hardly time to slowly and gradually approach the Jade Pool Immortals. This path carried considerable difficulty.
“Am I really going to have to become a great demon lord and steal a Jade Pool Immortal by force?” Ye Fan was truly finding himself at an impasse.
He had no desire to make an enemy of the Jade Pool — but he very much wanted their heart method.
“Becoming a son-in-law of the Jade Pool — what conditions would that require…” Ye Fan’s thoughts wandered.
“Perhaps there is still some breathing room.” He thought of the old man Wu Qingfeng’s words. Many ancient masters of great antiquity had cultivated only a single secret realm and still managed to bring their cultivation to the pinnacle.
“The Wheel Sea must still have many secrets left to uncover. Perhaps I can re-cultivate it from the beginning, preserving enough time to draw closer to the Jade Pool Immortals.”
Ye Fan felt that right now, the most crucial thing was advancing his strength — using every possible means. Unless absolutely forced, he had no wish to become a “demon lord.”
After careful deliberation, he decided he needed two contingency plans. Whichever path he chose, he would need the strength of a demon lord — powerful enough to defeat the Jade Pool Immortals of the Dao Palace’s secret realm.
Ye Fan had no desire to cultivate in this region — it still didn’t feel far enough — and he continued to press forward. Along the way he would sometimes stop, split open the reddish-brown earth, and search for Source.
The gains were meager, however. Throughout the journey he hadn’t excavated more than a few pieces of Source — he hadn’t grasped the essentials of finding the ore.
More than ten days later, Ye Fan finally discovered an oasis and spotted signs of human habitation.
“I’ve been traveling with an unsurpassed secret technique — stopping and going — but it must be seventy thousand li by now. To travel this far before seeing any sign of people…”
The vast scale of this land, already beyond all the continents of the Earth combined, filled him with a wave of feeling.
“Countless ages ago, this land was covered in thriving grass, with many races standing alongside each other, and powerful humanoid figures who could split the sky with their bare hands, their land filled with all manner of temples — what on earth happened to transform the Northern Domain into this barren wasteland?”
Ye Fan did not linger, and continued pressing forward. It was not until the twentieth day that he stopped, deciding to seek a place and cultivate in seclusion.
Along the way, the oases he had seen ranged from a few li across to over a thousand li, scattered across the reddish-brown earth.
The Northern Domain’s folk customs were fierce and unyielding. He had witnessed quite a few bloody incidents — fighting for oases, fighting for control of Source mines, battles breaking out constantly.
Ye Fan had not entered any oasis. In the end, he settled in a desolate stretch of open wasteland, chiseled open a stone mountain, carved out a cave dwelling, and began his cultivation inside.
Summoning the Jade Clarity Vase, five-colored Source of every hue fell before him — dazzling and brilliant, glittering, illuminating the entire cave with its radiance.
A rough estimate put the Source at around sixty catties altogether — an enormous fortune that could advance his strength significantly.
Ye Fan began his cultivation, preparing to make a breakthrough.
The so-called Other Shore realm was a realm of transformation. It was said that ancient masters who had cultivated solely within the Wheel Sea’s secret realm would undergo nine cycles of death and rebirth in transformation.
Ultimately, breaking free like a butterfly from its cocoon, they would attain the great completion, and the moment they emerged from seclusion, the ten directions would resonate, and extraordinary phenomena would fill the sky.
Of course, this was the accumulated result of long years of cultivation — some had spent their entire lives working toward it. It was not something accomplished in a single step.
Cultivating a single secret realm required not only a powerful heart method but also the supplementation of certain ancient secret techniques. Ye Fan did not know these — and so, at present, there was absolutely no possibility of comparing himself to those ancient great masters.
Over the following seven days, the cave dwelling was suffused with a misty spiritual energy. Ye Fan’s Wheel Sea produced all manner of extraordinary visions — the green lotus trembled, the golden sea surged, azure sky intertwined with thunder and lightning… His transformation had begun.