“The Academy of Wonders — reopening once in ten thousand years. My heart longs for it so.” Ye Fan’s face was filled with longing — and then his tone pivoted abruptly. “Alas, what a pity. I have already self-severed my cultivation. From this point on, I have no way to continue practicing.”
“Damn it, you really aren’t going?!” The Great Black Dog was the first to get worked up, sending a frantic secret transmission, looking at him with an expression of someone pained to see such a waste.
What Ye Fan wanted right now was to find a place to cultivate in seclusion, right up until he reached the Saint level. He already had ancient scriptures, and he had sacred objects of the Great Emperors — there was simply no need for him to go there.
“That place has a connection to the world beyond the boundary, and bears a causal link to such ancient stars as Purple Subtlety. Don’t you even want to go and take a look?!” The Great Black Dog pressed urgently.
“Did the great emperor Wushi go there?” Ye Fan asked in secret.
“How many like Wushi have there ever been throughout all of history? He didn’t go to study there, but according to what has been passed down, in the end he fought his way in and obtained everything he desired.” The Great Black Dog muttered.
Ye Fan stopped paying it any further heed. He felt a certain sense of crisis looming over him, and wanted to vanish from the sight of the world for a period of years. Only upon reaching the Saint level could he truly walk the world freely.
“You are unwilling to go to the Central Continent?” The elder in the golden feathered robe was very surprised. The Academy of Wonders opened once in ten thousand years — an event of great significance — and no one had ever refused.
“The finest rulers from the Central Continent, the Northern Plains, the Western Desert, the Southern Ridge, and the Eastern Wastelands — all competing and comparing themselves over ten thousand years. It would be a true shame not to go. The Academy of Wonders cannot be judged by its surface alone…” The Queen Mother of the West offered a gentle reminder.
Every holy land was permitted to send only two people, and even the immortal dynasties were subject to the same limit. One could imagine what level of strength was required to be selected — the very worst among the candidates would still be a Holy Son or Holy Daughter.
The Academy of Wonders, reopening once every ten thousand years, could absolutely be called a sacred land. Its influence stretched across the ages, and the fact that every ancient lineage was willing to send their disciples there meant there were undoubtedly benefits not known to the outside world.
“I truly do wish to go — yet the renowned physicians of the Eastern Wastelands have already told me that I can use my full strength at most ten times. I have already wasted three of those.” Ye Fan said.
All present were left without words. Li Heishui and the others went without saying — they already knew the full truth. The Queen Mother of the West and the three elders, however, had a peculiar gleam flash through their eyes.
He had made his move three times: first slaying the Holy Son of Yin and Yang, then slaying the Holy Son of the Purple Palace, then slaying the Holy Son of Wan Chu. And yet many people had come to seriously doubt the truth of the renowned physicians’ original declaration.
“What ancient scripture does the Academy of Wonders teach?” Jiang Huairen could not contain himself and blurted out the question. The rest of them were all deeply tempted.
The elder clothed entirely in purple, bearing the air of an emperor surveying all beneath heaven, said, “We carry no ancient scriptures and impart no mystical methods. We only bestow the insights of the sages of old.”
Ye Fan had always firmly believed that his own path needed to be understood by himself — and that in the end he would need to transcend all the ancient scriptures he had studied, for every Great Emperor had blazed open their own Way and thereby become a supreme existence.
“One day, perhaps you will find that even the vast Eastern Wastelands and the boundless Central Continent are not so large after all. Perhaps the Academy of Wonders can open another window for you.” The elder who was utterly formless and insubstantial — like a wisp of mist — said these words.
“It may have a connection to the world beyond the boundary — this is a rare opportunity!” The Great Black Dog sent another urgent secret transmission.
Ye Fan was moved. Perhaps the path home could begin from this very place. Yet he did not wish to become a target for all the world. The moment he entered the Academy of Wonders, it would amount to proving before everyone that he was perfectly well. At that point, a peerless holy saint might very well emerge from the shadows and snuff him out directly. The threat would come from too far a distance, beyond even the deterrence of the old madman’s presence.
“I’ve heard that the three strongest individuals of the Academy of Wonders in every generation ultimately vanish, with no one knowing where they have gone…” Li Heishui murmured.
This was no longer a secret, yet the ancient lineages had never pursued the matter, and no one else could make sense of the situation.
“That is a form of opportunity. Otherwise, with the ancient scriptures and peerless experts all the holy lands already possess, why would they bother sending their disciples into the Academy of Wonders?” The elder in the golden feathered robe smiled.
“I am deeply grateful for the senior figures’ profound regard, yet I suffer from an ailment of the body and am unable to go and receive instruction.” Ye Fan declined politely.
“To each their own aspirations.” One of the elders nodded, and said nothing more.
“Senior figures, when the time comes, we will certainly make our way there — we only fear we may not be able to gain entry.” Liu Kou said eagerly.
“Defeat a Holy Son, and you may enter.” The elder in purple robes wore a stern and commanding bearing, yet a hint of a smile touched his face.
“Little Ye, you have seven uses of your full strength remaining — help each of us take down one Holy Son.” Jiang Huairen grinned.
The elder in purple said nothing, casting a mild glance their way before paying them no further attention.
As they left the marshland, the Great Black Dog quickly forgot all about the Academy of Wonders. With every third step it glanced back, its eyes locked on those three Dragon Loaches, from which golden light surged skyward and spiritual energy overflowed in abundance.
“Doggy, no drooling.” Xiao Nannan gave it a gentle pat.
“If you dare come here to disturb the Dragon Loaches, I will suppress you in the eye of the Northern Glacial Sea for two thousand years!” The voice of the Jade Pool’s Queen Mother of the West drifted over — its tone utterly serene and peaceful, and yet it was enough to make the Great Black Dog shudder from head to tail.
“Ah, the memories. Last time I came here, I even ate one.” It muttered in a voice too low for anyone to possibly hear.
They made their way through a stretch of rolling hills, putting some distance between themselves and the marshland, before Li Heishui spoke. “Little Ye, you really aren’t going? There are bound to be tremendous benefits there — otherwise, all those Holy Sons and Holy Daughters, and all the various king-physiques, would never set foot in the place.”
“The greatest young talents of the five major regions, all gathered together — this will be a grand gathering unlike any other. It would be a tremendous pity to miss it, and it only comes around once in ten thousand years.” Wu Zhongtian also added.
Jiang Huairen said, “And I was looking forward to watching you show off there — defeating all the great Holy Sons, overpowering every king-physique, unmatched across all five regions. What a sight that would have been. We would have shared in the glory too.”
“Absolutely. We could have used the occasion to flirt with the holy daughters of the Eastern Wastelands, the breathtaking princesses of the Central Continent, the female bodhisattvas of the Western Desert — what a delightfully carefree life that would have been.” Liu Kou said with a strange laugh.
Ye Fan smiled faintly and shook his head. Too idealistic. It would end in tragedy. Going would mean that every single step was a killing trap, every smile stained with blood — and who knew how many people would fall in battle.
“I dare say that Pang Bo will definitely go to the Academy of Wonders. He might even be waiting for you there.” Li Heishui said.
“He should be grateful to your emperor. I gifted him such an extraordinary opportunity — practically delivered him straight to his destination.” The Great Black Dog had a face thick enough to stop a sword or spear.
But the moment those words left its mouth, Li Heishui, Jiang Huairen, and Liu Kou all started pounding on it furiously, seething with indignation. Tu Fei was their closest friend, yet it was this wretched dog that had gotten him lost.
“The Northern Plains are so vast. No one knows how he’s ever going to make it back. Old Grandfather Tu said that on his own, he’d need at least twenty years of flying to get here!”
The Great Black Dog felt a guilty pang and dared not bring up the subject any further.
“Doggy, when are you going to find Tu Fei’s elder brother and bring him back? Didn’t you say you’d consider crossing the void to fetch him?” Xiao Nannan asked softly.
“The timing isn’t right yet. The array patterns left behind by the Void Great Emperor are peculiar, and the coordinates are very difficult to calculate. I’m afraid that if I miscalculate even slightly, I might end up landing on Mount Sumeru.”
“Brother Ape — when the time comes, come along with us to the Academy of Wonders. Without little Ye going, making the journey on our own is going to be awfully dull.” Jiang Huairen wanted to bring this powerful ally along for support.
“No time. I need to go to the Divine Ruins to find the undying flat peach tree of my lineage.” The monkey had been thinking about this matter all along.
Everyone drew sharp, cold breaths. The Divine Ruins was an utterly sinister and treacherous place — even ancient saints who entered never made it back out. This monkey was far too audacious.
“Brother Ape — this is far too dangerous!” Ye Fan urged against it, then said, “If you wish to save someone, I can give you a sacred fruit.”
When they had come to a place with no one around, Ye Fan produced a fruit shaped like a small cauldron and handed it over.
“The undying immortal medicine of the Divine Silkworm clan!” The monkey was greatly astonished. From his golden eyes, a blade-like light shot outward.
The Divine Silkworm undergoing its nine transformations and becoming the supreme and unmatched king of antiquity — spoken from the mouth of the Source Heaven Master, this was by now known to all throughout the world.
“You recognize it?”
“Of course!” The golden light in the monkey’s eyes blazed brilliantly.
The undying immortal medicine of the Divine Silkworm clan was known as the Nine Wonders Undying Medicine. It took thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of years to mature once, and it was endlessly varied and ever-changing — across nine distinct cycles, each of the nine fruits it bore took a different form. Ye Fan, listening as the monkey explained in detail, finally understood why the undying immortal medicine from the ancient forbidden land, having divided from its root, would produce nine different sacred fruits. It was called the Nine Wonders Medicine because it inherently possessed these nine forms.
“Could it be that each of the several great primordial royal clans once held one variety of undying immortal medicine?” Ye Fan asked.
The monkey nodded. “That was essentially the case. Before the primordial age, those varieties of undying immortal medicine all had masters. Later, they apparently fell into the hands of the human Great Emperors, and after that they must have flown into the Seven Great Life-Forbidden Zones.”
“The undying immortal medicine of the great emperor Wushi — what was it? It seems to still be within the Purple Mountain, and hasn’t flown away — is that correct?” Ye Fan casually threw this question at the Black Emperor.
“The Undying Immortal Phoenix Medicine.” The Black Emperor let these words slip out instinctively, then immediately clamped its mouth shut.
“That wretched dog knows an awful lot…” Li Heishui muttered.
“It seems like there’s nothing it doesn’t know.” Jiang Huairen agreed.
“To think it’s that divine medicine — among the foremost in existence!” Even the monkey was greatly astonished, his gaze blazing with incomparable eagerness.
“Damn it, I knew monkeys were never any good…” The Great Black Dog muttered under its breath in a voice barely audible.
“Is the Undying Immortal Phoenix Medicine especially remarkable?” Ye Fan asked.
“Of course. It can grant a person complete rebirth — a total transformation from the foundation up. In terms of medicinal potency, it ranks among the very foremost of the undying immortal medicines, and is by no means something as simple as merely prolonging life.” The monkey paid the Great Black Dog’s disrespect no heed.
“Don’t you have a brother who also survived?” The Great Black Dog said through clenched teeth.
“No. When the great calamity struck back then, it seemed only one uncle was far away in the Western Desert at the time — his fate unknown.” The monkey sighed.
In the primordial age, the Battle Sage Ape clan had always numbered only two or three at most, yet their bloodline was incomparably powerful, capable of intermarrying with other clans to continue the sacred ape lineage.
“The kings of the primordial age are stirring back to life. I must find the undying flat peach tree and bring it back, or it may fall into the hands of another clan.” The monkey said to himself.
“After they awaken, will they come to seize the undying immortal medicines?” Ye Fan and the others were all greatly alarmed.
“Most likely. After all, in the old days those things belonged to them, and naturally they will want to reclaim dominion over them.” The monkey nodded.
Yet he also explained that the primordial races were not all vicious and savage by nature — those who slaughtered the innocent indiscriminately were only a minority among their numbers, and they were not destined to be at irreconcilable odds with the human race.
“In the primordial age, there were also human beings — though their numbers were sparse. They may have appeared weak and insignificant, yet among them too arose beings of unmatched, invincible existence.” The monkey divulged this piece of information.
“What — human beings existed as far back as the primordial age…” Everyone was stunned and astonished.
“Brother Ape, what exactly happened in the primordial age? How did the life on this great land seem to be utterly annihilated all at once?”
“And what exactly are the Primordial Ancient Mine, the Divine Ruins, the Immortal Mountain, the Immortal Mausoleum, and these other Life-Forbidden Zones?”
The monkey was without question like a living fossil. The moment everyone thought of these questions, a hundred claws seemed to scratch at their hearts, and each of them was burning with impatience to get to the bottom of it all.