The ancient desolate abyss had existed since time immemorial. What secrets it held, no one knew — the legends surrounding it were too numerous to count.
What was the desolation at the bottom of the endless abyss? Was it a living being, or a force? No one could say with certainty. Perhaps only the Great Emperors of antiquity had truly understood it.
It was utterly black, like a bottomless pit, as though it could devour the mind and spirit of any who looked upon it.
The Five-Colored Altar hung silently below, without the faintest tremor. What power sustained it, no one knew. It seemed as though it had not stirred once since the beginning of time.
It was incomplete and broken, bearing scars inscribed by endless ages. Its luster was buried beneath the dust of the ages, leaving behind only plainness and truth.
Ye Fan could not calm his heart. Mount Tai, the ancient star of Huoying, the ancient forbidden land… where next? The ancient star of Ziwei? This was a path whose course could not be foreseen.
He wanted to leap down. This Five-Colored Altar connected to the ancient star of Huoying — perhaps it was a road home. He truly longed to reverse his course, to set foot on the path that led back.
The setting sun dyed the sky crimson. Suddenly the desolate aura surged, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Ye Fan’s physical body was subjected to a powerful assault.
He quickly retreated to the Life Spring Pool for nourishment, then filled his jade-pure vase with the spring water and ran swiftly at a powerful pace toward the sacred mountain where the Ancient Bronze Coffin rested.
Ye Fan’s choice was correct. As the sky darkened, the ancient desolate abyss became ever more dreadful. It was as though a supreme and terrifying being was about to emerge, with fearsome fluctuations surging and heaven and earth trembling. The desolate aura spread outward, enveloping all nine sacred mountains, then pressed toward the even more distant reaches of the forbidden land. It was like the end of the world had arrived — without a single sound, only boundless oppression.
Ye Fan hid within the Ancient Bronze Coffin and quietly observed. His heart was shaken to its core. What existed below in that abyss — or what manner of force was it?
“Perhaps only a Great Emperor reborn could resist it — or perhaps this is the very aura of a Great Emperor?” His mind was filled with ten thousand thoughts, his musings endless. He could not arrive at a clear judgment.
He submerged the Qilin Seed and the seven-colored small stone in the jade-pure vase to be nourished by the divine spring water. Then he took out the several pieces of ancient jade left by Emperor Wushi and arranged them together.
Once the four pieces of Emperor’s jade were assembled, they formed half of a map. A purple mountain surrounded by nine encircling dragon veins appeared — he studied it for a long while, not knowing when he would ever be able to enter it.
At last, Ye Fan opened the small white jade cauldron and took out a pink fruit — carved as if from pink jade, no larger than a fist, shaped like a little pink infant, remarkably lifelike.
A sweet fragrance penetrated his five organs and six viscera, moistening every inch of his flesh and blood. Rich and intoxicating, this was a temptation impossible to resist. The crystalline, translucent fruit pulsed with infinite vitality.
“On the other end of the stellar void, from the primordial myths and legends — ginseng fruit. Could this be such an imperishable divine medicine? The resemblance is striking.”
Ye Fan bit off a mouthful of the fruit, which was like pink jade. Sweet fragrance filled his mouth, and radiance enveloped his entire body. He felt as though he might ascend in a burst of celestial light, his entire body suffused with a misty, rosy brilliance.
He did not consume it all at once. After each bite he sat in meditation to refine and transform the medicinal power, striving to bring its effects to their absolute fullest. He intended to remain in this forbidden land for several months — not to depart immediately.
In just an instant, his body felt as though it had been set ablaze. His dried and depleted flesh suddenly shone with brilliance, enveloped in blazing radiance.
“This is…” Ye Fan was startled. The Great Dao wound was being nourished. Though there was no sign of it closing, he felt a wave of comfort pass through him.
“Fragments of the Laws of Heaven and Earth!”
Two divine rays of light shot from his eyes. The radiance around his body grew more intense. Within this holy fruit there existed a kind of force of ordered law and principle — something that could only be perceived upon reaching the Four Extremes Secret Realm.
It was precisely the presence of this force that added a thread of vitality to his Great Dao wound. This was a very good omen. If he consumed more of the holy fruits, there would certainly be marked improvement.
“The imperishable divine medicine truly is extraordinary beyond measure. To think it contains such fragments of the laws of heaven and earth…” Ye Fan understood now — this was the finest medicinal agent for healing the injury of the Great Dao.
The deep night was peaceful. He sat motionless, refining this fruit little by little.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, in the second half of the night, Ye Fan was jolted awake by an enormous sound. This expanse of heaven and earth seemed to be turning upside down as all nine sacred mountains swayed.
“Rustle, clank, clank!”
The sound of enormous iron chains — like demonic sounds from hell — filled the sky and shook the clouds.
Terrifying iron chains, a sound like death, an enormous clamor, bone-chillingly cold — as though some supreme terrifying being had broken out from a hellish cage.
Ye Fan was filled with dread. Every hair on his body stood on end. He felt a supreme killing force — had he not been inside the bronze coffin, his body might have been torn apart.
He stood at the edge of the bronze coffin and looked up toward the sacred mountain. An icy chill rose up his spine as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.
Endless demonic clouds roiled out from the abyss, surging like crashing waves striking the clouds. Dimly visible amid them were several enormous iron chains gleaming coldly, stretching upward toward the horizon.
A terrifying existence had been firmly locked in chains. It strained in the heavens above, and this entire expanse of heaven and earth nearly collapsed. Accompanying it were bursts of low, rumbling howls that reverberated inside the hearts of all who heard, like a great mountain descending.
“What is that?” Ye Fan murmured to himself. When they had first come to this world all those years ago, on the deep night when they had left the ancient forbidden land, he had witnessed this same terrifying spectacle.
Some in the world said this was a Desolate Slave — an untamed supreme figure of the ages. Others said it was a doppelgänger the desolation had forged for itself. The truth was impossible to know.
Ye Fan retreated to the depths of the bronze coffin, quieted his heart, and continued refining the holy fruit. He would not let external things disturb the root of his mind. He forgot everything, undisturbed by the sounds.
Three full days passed before Ye Fan had completely refined one ginseng fruit, drawing out its medicinal power to its absolute fullest and absorbing every last bit of its vital energy.
Within the Great Dao wound, vitality surged. Signs of improvement appeared. His blood energy grew greatly more robust, and his physical form recovered its vigor.
“Indeed… the injury of the Great Dao requires corresponding laws to soothe it. Life vital energy alone is not sufficient!” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
He then spent another three days refining and absorbing the second ginseng fruit. The life energy within him surged powerfully at once, golden blood energy circling his body.
However, Ye Fan’s brows creased together. The fragments of Great Dao laws he had absorbed were redundant — they had not produced much effect.
“Is it truly as the legends say, that the same variety of holy fruit contains the same divine effects?”
Within the forbidden land there was, in truth, only one divine medicine. The nine varieties of divine fruit were all offshoots grown from it, and could not be considered a true imperishable medicine. Yet if one gathered all nine varieties of fruits together and combined their effects, they would be comparable to two or three imperishable medicines.
The original main root, though it had not transformed into nine individual divine medicines, had nine divine roots that had mutated. If their medicinal effects were unified, they could match two or three imperishable medicines.
Of course, this carried a significant drawback. Imperishable divine medicines were all singular — after being divided into offshoots, they lost their spiritual nature and could no longer fly and move on their own. The laws of heaven and earth they contained were also incomplete — not whole.
Only by reuniting them all into one could the true, flawless, and mature effect of an imperishable divine medicine be obtained.
Ye Fan sealed the third holy fruit and set it aside, consuming no more. He decided to brave the dangers of climbing the mountain again to harvest the other holy fruits and heal his Great Dao wound.
“What if I encounter a Desolate Slave again?”
This was Ye Fan’s greatest concern. It was impossible that he could escape danger every single time. Perhaps the next encounter would result in his death — his spirit and body both destroyed.
He went to the depths of the bronze coffin and embraced the small coffin within it, shaking it forcefully. But it did not budge at all. His heart was filled with endless curiosity. He wanted to open it, but could not move it even slightly.
“Carrying the coffin up the mountain is somewhat unrealistic. It seems I can only rely on myself and risk my life!” Ye Fan sighed at length, then tilted the jade-pure vase and poured the divine spring water into his mouth.
Then he took out the Qilin divine medicine seed and the seven-colored small stone and charged up the sacred summit.
In daylight, the nine sacred mountains were very quiet. The desolate aura, though still concentrated, was far weaker than at night. Ye Fan continued to drink the divine spring water and draw upon the energy of the divine medicine seed and the small stone, aging only slightly.
He climbed a sacred mountain he had never ascended before. From afar, he could see a gleaming expanse with endless fragrance drifting toward him. Ye Fan quickly drew close, plunged into the Life Spring Pool to first drink his fill, and then examined the holy fruit.
There were fully seven small trees here, their entire bodies pure white — both leaves and branches alike — gleaming with crystalline light. On each tree hung one crescent moon-shaped fruit, slightly different in color from the trees — brilliant silver, like small moons hanging from the branches.
Ye Fan took out his jade cauldron and harvested all seven silver moon divine fruits, sealing them carefully. Then he charged toward another sacred mountain. The Desolate Slaves had not appeared — this was an excellent opportunity. He wanted to harvest all the divine medicines from all nine sacred mountains in one go.
He arrived at another sacred mountain. Five small jade-green trees swayed with a rustling sound, flowing with shimmering light. Atop each one hung a single heart-shaped fruit — crimson as blood, vividly beautiful, as though polished from the most brilliant red gemstones, their fragrance piercingly sweet.
When the small trees swayed and the red heart-shaped fruits trembled, they truly resembled five hearts beating vigorously, brimming with strong vitality and power.
Ye Fan harvested them quickly and prepared to press on to the next sacred mountain. But when he glanced down into the abyss, his expression changed dramatically. The Holy Maiden of Tianxuan rose up from the abyss like a water-walking immortal.
Ye Fan turned and fled. At this moment his vitality was still fairly robust, and his speed was extreme — golden blood energy swirling around his body, like golden divine fire burning.
But the Holy Maiden of Tianxuan was even faster. She traversed the air and arrived at his side in an instant, descending slowly, white robes billowing. Her grace and bearing were peerless, like a divine being descended from beyond the heavens.
She did not strike. She merely fixed her gaze on Ye Fan’s feet, staring in a trance, with streams of light flowing through her eyes.
Ye Fan’s mind was sharp. In an instant he thought of one possibility. He exerted every ounce of ability he had and began to display the Old Madman’s footwork, charging toward the ancient coffin.
Just as he had anticipated, the Holy Maiden of Tianxuan’s dark hair flew freely around her as she moved through the air, eyes fixed only on his feet. She made no move to attack him — she was watching this strange footwork.
“Swish!”
After a short time, Ye Fan rushed back and disappeared into the Ancient Bronze Coffin. The Holy Maiden of Tianxuan stilled herself and did not follow. Her expression was somewhat vacant, as though she were striving to recall something.
“The Old Madman is not dead. I do not know whether he is your senior brother or your senior uncle…” Ye Fan sent a voice transmission.
Silently, the Holy Maiden of Tianxuan departed. In a single motion she was atop the sacred mountain; in the next, she had vanished into the abyss.
After returning this time, Ye Fan immediately went into seclusion, refining the silver moon fruits and the crimson heart-like fruits.
Rosy mist drifted and fragrance assailed the senses. Over the next half month, Ye Fan’s entire body was luminous, shimmering with radiance, as though about to ascend to immortality. His golden blood energy surged like a vast ocean of vital energy.
Most remarkable of all was that, seated in meditation, his body was encircled by one Dao diagram after another — mysterious and unfathomable. He seemed like a divine being, at one with heaven and earth, drawing the Dao into his body.
Ye Fan sat completely motionless. The Great Dao wound within his body slowly healed in part. The incomplete fragments of the laws of heaven and earth were highly effective for him in this primordial stretch of sky and earth.
“Swish!”
He opened his eyes, and two blazing beams of divine light shot forth. Over this half month, he had refined three silver moon fruits and dissolved two of the heart-like fruits.
“If I refine two or three of each variety of divine fruit, the Great Dao wound will certainly be dissolved!” His entire body’s vital energy surged powerfully, one incomplete Dao diagram after another encircling him, ceaselessly being branded into his body.
Ye Fan stood and went to the coffin-within-the-coffin, pushing against it with force.
“Clang!”
It moved — he had actually managed to shift the small coffin!
Ye Fan’s heart trembled. What was inside this coffin? He pushed forcefully at the lid, wanting to open it and see what lay within.
“Hum!”
The moment the small coffin shifted, the great outer coffin began to shake. All manner of bronze engravings on it flickered with radiance — especially the starscape engraving, which became most wondrous of all, as though a real expanse of the heavens had manifested, with stars gleaming and scintillating.
A vast cosmos, a boundless starry void — cold, dark, and bereft of life. Desolation was the eternal theme.
The indistinct ancient road through the stars shimmered like a thread of silk before swiftly vanishing. Ye Fan was truly astonished.
The ancient road through the stars — endless and without terminus. Who had laid it down, and where was it destined to lead? To the ancient star of Ziwei, or to an even older and more mysterious stellar domain?