Ye Fan heard these reports but did not immediately withdraw. With the Movement Character Secret at his command, he was not particularly afraid, and was rather curious to see what would happen when the so-called primordial beast kings led hundreds of thousands of strange beasts in revolt.
Throughout that day, he continued testing the Undying Wondrous Tree, sweeping it dozens and then hundreds of times. The crimson jade leaf would shoot out its haze of light, capable of sweeping away a towering mountain.
Yet after half a day, he was somewhat disappointed. It took dozens upon hundreds of sweeps just to produce a single strike, and though the crimson jade leaf launched its misty radiance and could send a mighty mountain flying, the mountain remained perfectly whole — it had not been reduced to dust. He was at a loss for words. After all that divine power consumed, was the only result sending the target flying rather than annihilating it?
“There is some use, I suppose — after all, that was a mountain. If it were a person instead, they would likely be sent flying to the ends of the earth.”
However, it consumed far too much divine power. An ordinary person could not possibly wield it. Even Ye Fan found it somewhat taxing — he could be drained completely in a single instant.
“This is only the ability of the crimson jade leaf — there are still six more I don’t know about.” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
The Undying Wondrous Tree was lustrous and translucent, bearing a total of seven leaves — yet today he had only managed to activate the crimson jade leaf’s power; the other six produced no reaction whatsoever.
Could it be that my cultivation is insufficient, and that is why I cannot draw out its true terrifying power? The thought stirred excitement in Ye Fan’s chest, and he put the sacred tree away with the utmost care.
The Immortal Palace world — a truly divine land, vast in scope, preserving the characteristics of the Archaic era. Many extinct spirit medicines could be found here, as could incomparable immortal rarities like dragon loaches, ancient scriptures, and Saint-level weapons.
In truth, this was a pure land harboring priceless divine treasuries, and who could resist its pull? The great sects of the outside world were all working tirelessly to locate entrances and gain access.
Even with the rumor of a beast king uprising on the horizon, no small number of people still moved through its depths, not yet rushing to leave. For opportunity and danger walked hand in hand — those who gained an early understanding of this primordial wilderness gained an early advantage. Whether or not the Great Emperor’s ancient scripture could be found, this early advantage was immensely valuable.
“Deep within the primordial ancient world, there almost certainly are remnants of a Great Emperor’s ancient scripture. Someone has caught a faint trace of it and is searching for the ancient emperor’s cave dwelling!”
Ye Fan had been here for more than half a month now, yet had lost his earlier good fortune. After obtaining the Mountain-Embracing Seal, the Sovereign’s Seal, and the Heaven-Flipping Seal, he had gained nothing further. He had come across several cave dwellings, but all were empty.
“Perhaps it truly is time to leave — come back after some time has passed.” He saw the strange beasts beginning to gather with unusual movements — clearly something was very wrong.
“More powerful individuals have died — five of them half-step Great Adepts.” Ye Fan overheard these discussions. Across this region, many cultivators were withdrawing, a sense of foreboding in the air.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, from a distance, a fierce and violent aura erupted — like floodwaters overwhelming heaven and earth — instantly submerging the entire world. Then a pillar of Sacred Light, thick as a mountain range, pierced the firmament, causing range after range of mountains to collapse.
“Sacred Light illuminates the sky — a divine object has emerged into the world!”
Many people cried out in excitement and rushed forward immediately. Though powerful individuals died at intervals across this world, it also delivered many thrilling surprises, with precious treasures surfacing from time to time.
Within mere moments, fully seventy or eighty silhouettes had surged forward. Ye Fan’s heart grew solemn — just in this single area, dozens of powerful individuals had been lying in wait. A multitude of heroes watched the prize.
Among them, a grey-robed figure rose with a surge of boundless divine power, and with a single shudder in the void sent everyone else spitting blood and tumbling away in shock, halting in their tracks. A Great Adept had appeared here!
The hearts of all present went cold. There might be an unparalleled divine object ahead — yet with such a supremely powerful figure having arrived, how could anyone else compete?
With a long howl, this Great Adept transformed into a streak of flowing light and flew forward. The others were unwilling to concede, but could only stand their ground — even those half-step Great Adepts present, if they went forward, would only be delivering themselves to death.
“Swish!”
Ahead, deep in the wilderness, the Sacred Light piercing the clouds grew even more brilliant, drawing at the soul, making one feel an irresistible urge to fly toward it.
Yet in the very next second, every soul present was seized with terror. A centipede the size of a mountain range reared upright, sending wildlands collapsing and boulders raining into the clouds — a heaven-shaking, earth-sundering spectacle!
Such a centipede was truly enormous beyond imagining. Heaven only knew how many years it had lived. Its body was covered in earth and overgrown with ancient trees. This day it had emerged from the ground, sending soil and stone cascading down, smoke and dust billowing to the sky.
“This is the ancestor of all centipedes!” Every soul present went rigid with shock.
Its body was massive and ponderous, a hundred legs churning in unison. The mountains around it — and the very earth itself — cracked open and crumbled, then collapsed and sank. The leaden clouds overhead were blasted apart by its mere aura.
The Sacred Light originated from its skull — indeed, a divine object rested there: something resembling an ancient mirror, its fluctuations terrifying, refined and absorbed into the bone at the center of its brow.
“Spit!”
The colossal centipede opened its mouth and spewed a beam of dark light that engulfed the Great Adept before he could dodge. It shattered even his divine protective radiance.
“Supremely toxic — this is the ancestor of centipedes, and even a Great Adept cannot withstand it!”
Those behind felt their hearts quake with fear, privately relieved they had been stopped and had not rushed forward — otherwise death would have been certain.
A Great Adept would not simply yield to death. Divine radiance erupted across the figure’s entire body as he made to flee, bursting through the air and away. Yet at that very moment, the Sacred Light from the center of the massive centipede’s forehead shot outward, instantly pinning him in place — unable to move so much as an inch.
“Whoosh!”
It opened its mouth and inhaled — nearly drawing the entire sky in. The whole space dimmed in an instant, terrifying beyond measure. It used its dark light to haul the Great Adept into its maw, then refined him alive until he was dead!
All present were overcome with horror. To witness a Great Adept die before their very eyes — it shook them deeply. Yet very quickly, the ancient mirror embedded in the centipede’s skull drew every one of their gazes irresistibly to it.
“A sacred object! That is an ancient Saint’s weapon — it has been refined into the beast’s body!”
A shaft of Sacred Light swept forth and pinned a Great Adept in place — unable to resist, unable to fight back — and then easily slaughtered him. This could only be an ancient Saint’s weapon. Nothing else would possess such capability.
At last, this primordial world had revealed a truly supreme divine object — one that would drive people to madness, that would have them fighting until their heads were bloodied in their scramble to seize it.
The mountain ranges seething with excitement, countless cultivators took to the sky, each sending word to their respective great powers, hoping to summon supreme figures to come and subdue the Heavenly Centipede. An ancient Saint’s weapon — no one was unmoved by it.
Ye Fan’s heart too was in turmoil. This world was too mysterious — the emergence of an ancient Saint’s weapon would draw in even more powerful individuals!
“A Saint’s weapon… hundreds of thousands of fighters on an ancient battlefield… the Undying Celestial Sovereign…” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
“Hum!”
The void collapsed. The Heavenly Centipede, as large as a mountain range, flew toward the depths of the primordial ancient world and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Ye Fan dared not chase it. Even a Great Adept had been refined alive within it. To go after it would be suicide — at minimum, several Imperial Sovereigns would be needed before it could be subdued.
If I find one more site where an ancient powerhouse once sat in seclusion, discovering the traces of their enlightenment, I’d certainly break through at once into the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, and at that point…
Ye Fan thought of his Heavenly Tribulation again. If he chased after that Heavenly Centipede while undergoing tribulation, might he have an opportunity to slay it and claim the ancient Saint’s weapon? He was greatly tempted.
Yet the great secret realm of advancing from the Four Extremes into the Dragon Transformation was bound to bring an extraordinary and terrible Heavenly Tribulation — surviving it unscathed would be enormously difficult.
Before long, that region ahead was filled with the noise of crowds, and who knew how many powerful individuals had set off along the trail of the Heavenly Centipede’s aura in pursuit.
How many years this centipede had lived was difficult to say. As a general principle, strange beasts that did not transform into human form cultivated more slowly, but lived comparatively longer lifespans — heaven was fair in that way.
Ye Fan did not press close behind, but simply followed from a distance at an unhurried pace — he had no intention of being turned around and swallowed in a single bite by the Heavenly Centipede.
Not long after, he had traveled more than a thousand li and arrived at a stone forest. Here he sensed a current of the Dao permeating the air, and stopped.
Could it be that someone once cultivated here in seclusion in years past?
Ye Fan discerned some traces of the Dao’s rhythm. The stone forest was peaceful and still. A small lake of deep, luminous blue appeared ahead — perfectly tranquil, its color breathtaking.
Beside the lake stood a stone mountain, less than a hundred zhang in height, yet mysterious and profound. Though it sat plainly in the open with no mists or clouds wreathing it, it gave one a sense of being ethereal and distant.
The stone mountain rose straight and narrow as a brush, and on it grew several spirit medicines, rooted in the sheer cliff face, their medicinal age approaching ten thousand years — not consumed by strange beasts, which was remarkable in itself.
The stone mountain was bare and austere, but these few ancient spirit medicines lent it an ineffable sense of spiritual vitality, so that everything in the vicinity bore the faint imprint of the Dao.
Ye Fan sensed an unusual aura and rounded the stone mountain, finding several people confronting one another at a distance, invisible killing intent hovering between them.
“I have nothing more to say. Leave immediately — or do not blame me for striking without mercy and opening a river of blood.” Yan Yunluan’s face was ice-cold, his hands clasped behind his back as he stood.
On the other side, Li Heishui and Liu Kou stood facing him with expressions of fury and defiance.
“Yan Yunluan, you’re being far too overbearing. We found this place first — on what grounds do you demand we leave?”
“On the grounds that I am Yan Yunluan.” He clasped his hands behind his back and paced forward, carrying a supreme self-assurance, his eyes cold and contemptuous as he looked down at the two of them.
“What’s there to be so arrogant about? All you did was enter the Academy of Remarkable Scholars while crossing a Heavenly Tribulation — if you have what it takes, go and match yourself against Little Ye Fan and try splitting a few Great Adepts with lightning.” Liu Kou muttered.
“You have ten breaths. Vanish from my sight immediately, or you know the consequences. I have no objection to staining my hands with blood here — no one will bother themselves about killing a couple of people in this wilderness.” Yan Yunluan’s expression was indifferent. In this primordial world, killing two people meant nothing, and no one would ever come asking about it.
Liu Kou’s fury burned. To be treated like this was suffocating — as a descendant of a great bandit, to be so utterly disregarded was something that had never once happened to him before, and it set his heart ablaze.
“Don’t act impulsively!” Li Heishui pulled him back, fully aware of the gulf between them and Yan Yunluan. If a fight broke out, they would be cut down in short order.
“Fine, fine, fine — we’ll leave!” Liu Kou also grasped the situation, and said: “Don’t think your prodigious talent makes you invincible — there will always be someone even more prodigious to come and press you down!”
“Are you referring to that person from the Eastern Wilderness? He didn’t even dare come to the Academy of Remarkable Scholars — what does he amount to?” Yan Yunluan replied with a cold smile.
From the shadows, Ye Fan stepped out without a word. He raised the Ten-Thousand Calamity Bow in his hands, drew back the bowstring directly, and a golden rainbow a hundred zhang long blazed through the air.
Yan Yunluan’s expression changed. Having suffered badly before and nearly been shot dead, he now faced Ye Fan again with the Ten-Thousand Calamity Bow in hand — and his heart was filled with deep and instinctive wariness.
In terms of raw cultivation, he feared no one — even a Dragon Transformation ninth transformation individual who came for him would be killed. But against this secret treasure, he was born at a natural disadvantage.
“I’ll give you ten breaths — get lost immediately, disappear from this place. Otherwise, there will be no mercy!” Ye Fan turned the man’s own words back on him with crushing force.