“What is it?” Ye Fan had not been looking in that direction. Hearing them, he turned around and asked, not knowing what they had seen.
“I’ve been moving through underground ancient tombs for over twenty years, and this is the first time I’ve seen something like this…” Duan De’s lips had gone white. That even a man like him could be struck with fear said everything about the gravity of the situation.
“Could it be the ‘Divine Spirit Thought’ spoken of in the ancient tales?” The Old Blind Man’s expression shifted, a look of extreme gravity settling over his face.
“Most likely that very thing.” Duan De kept his gaze fixed on the corner of the cliff ahead, bracing himself as though facing a mortal enemy.
The Divine Spirit Thought — a vague, ethereal legend. Ancient texts contained very little about it, for people had always seriously doubted its existence, with only the barest traces found in certain ancient sects.
“You only caught a glimpse — how can you be certain?” The Old Blind Man pressed.
“This is most likely an ancient emperor’s burial ground — of course I came prepared. Look at what this divine spirit-rat is doing.” Duan De drew a small iron cage from his sleeve.
Inside it, a tiny mouse flowing with rosy light was rolling its eyes, convulsing uncontrollably, nine small pillars of light bursting from the crown of its head — a deeply uncanny sight.
“The extremity of numbers — nine thoughts manifesting simultaneously. Most likely it truly is — a Divine Spirit Thought!” The Old Blind Man’s expression jolted with shock.
“You know about this too?” The fat Duan De was somewhat surprised.
“I specialize in divination, so naturally I have some knowledge of ancient burial studies. This underground ancient tomb is truly a ground where immortals were buried!” The Old Blind Man’s face was grave, his eyes sweeping the surroundings.
“Do we retreat, or press on?” Duan De asked.
“We’ve already come this far — is there really a way back?” The Old Blind Man was tense and unsure.
“What exactly is a Divine Spirit Thought?” Dongfang Ye asked.
“The imperishable divine thought born after the death of an ancient deity…” The Old Blind Man’s voice trailed off solemnly.
“There are truly divine beings in this world?” The barbarian’s heart clenched. Growing up in a primitive tribe, he had trusted only his own strength — he had never heard of such things.
“Whether or not deities exist, even the great emperors of remote antiquity could not say — not a shred of evidence has ever been confirmed or accepted by the world. So ancient texts say almost nothing.”
The Divine Spirit Thought — a terrifying existence, born from the imperishable remnant thought of a divine being after its death, resembling a human in form, its power without match.
Yet the truly frightening aspect lay elsewhere: the Divine Spirit Thought was a demon — slaughtering living beings, destroying everything in its path, savage and extreme beyond all reckoning, nearly impossible to resist.
It was said to be the embodiment of the malevolent side of the divine being while alive, released only after death, forming a powerful thought-force that took the shape of a human-like devil.
“Has there truly ever been a divine being in this world?” Ye Fan murmured. This riddle had stumped countless cultivators throughout the ages — even the Monkey’s late father, the Battle-Saint Emperor, had been unable to answer it.
“Whether there are gods or not is difficult to say. But just now, the moment that figure flashed and vanished, this spirit-rat responded with the ultimate divine thought wave.” Duan De said solemnly.
Burial studies — a profound and vast branch of the esoteric arts. Duan De had devoted years to its mastery, venturing through great ancient tombs and plundering the burial sites of legendary undefeated kings.
He had uncovered, for instance, the Nine Sacred Weapons of the Feathered Transformation King — an invincible ruler of fifteen thousand years ago — bringing them back into the light of day. And the Sky-Demon Lantern from thirty thousand years past had likewise blazed again under his hands.
Duan De’s mastery of burial studies was at a grandmaster level. Naturally, he possessed many extraordinary methods — and the ultimate divine thought wave had been developed specifically to verify the existence of the Divine Spirit Thought.
“I assumed it was nonsense written in the Book of Burial Rites. I never imagined it was real — that one day I would see a Divine Spirit Thought with my own eyes.” Duan De murmured to himself.
They came to the face of the rock formation. The figure had long since vanished — but on the ground lay several corpses. Not a single wound was on their bodies. Their eyes were wide open; they had died unable to rest in peace.
“Frightened to death!” The old swindler frowned and crouched down to examine them closely, finding that the divine thoughts within them had all shattered — it appeared they had died in a state of extreme terror.
The Divine Spirit Thought… there was a demon here! That realization left no one with a calm heart. None of them knew when they might come face to face with it.
Ahead, battle cries rang to the heavens as yet another cave dwelling was discovered. Many rushed over to claim it, including several supreme elders from sacred sites, engaged in fierce combat.
“Valuable cave dwellings keep appearing — before long, even emperor-lord figures will be making their move.”
A dozen-odd li further ahead, a colossal sheer cliff loomed across their path. Its surface was covered in blurred impressions — birds, beasts, fish, and insects in abundance — along with many ancient patterns whose meaning could not be interpreted.
This place drew many cultivators, including a few who were half-a-step into the great power realm. They stood at the forefront, gazing at the surface without so much as blinking.
“This is most likely a Dao-comprehension diagram — let’s stop and study it.” Dongfang Ye was a combat fanatic. The moment he spotted the mysterious diagram, he could not tear himself away, standing there in contemplation.
“This is a diagram of heaven and earth’s natural way, containing the true meaning of the Great Dao. Even a saint-lord would likely be unable to fathom it.” Jue Youqing, who had not spoken in some time, broke her silence — white-robed as a deity, her voice carrying a resonant quality, as though a bodhisattva walked among the mortal world.
Ye Fan studied it carefully, and his heart gave a jolt. The patterns carved into this vast cliff face and the scroll of the natural ancient scripture that Princess Rain Butterfly had given him were drawn from the same source.
That handwritten scroll and the carvings on the cliff wall — they must have been created by the same person. No profound secret technique, no specific cultivation method — only an exposition of a natural way.
“Incomprehensible…” Everyone shook their heads. It was too profound and elusive. Any person with the seven emotions and six desires could never embody what it described — to be without action, to withdraw from the world, to exist without desire or thought.
“Is this an ancient scripture intended for immortals? How could any person of flesh and blood cultivate it? If one truly completed it, they would be no different from a tree or a rock — all that we call human emotion would be gone.” Even the half-step great powers said as much before turning and leaving.
Bang!
Without warning, a powerful weapon tore through the void and appeared from nowhere, striking hard against Ye Fan’s spine — sending him flying three hundred zhang before smashing into the sheer cliff face.
The rock wall instantly cracked, a human-shaped cavity opening in it. Ye Fan was driven deep into the cliff, embedded within — one could only imagine the force of that blow.
Bang!
The stone wall shattered, and Ye Fan burst forth, a thread of blood at the corner of his mouth. Fury blazed within him — someone had launched a sneak attack. The force had been staggering beyond measure!
Had it been any other cultivator, that blow would have obliterated them body and soul, leaving not even bone dust. Even as it was, Ye Fan’s blood and qi surged violently, and he coughed up blood.
Not far away, a black stone seal was hovering and sinking in the air — clearly, it was the weapon that had struck his spine, leaving him with minor injuries.
Clang!
A silver battle-spear, very slender — no longer than a pair of chopsticks — appeared just as suddenly, driving toward the crown of his head with vicious intent.
This time, Ye Fan was prepared. He shifted his form and sidestepped. The chopstick-length spear moved like a bolt of silver lightning, capable of passing freely through the void, its power extraordinary.
“That is a killing-type forbidden weapon — even a great power can be pierced by it!” The Old Blind Man muttered, visibly unsettled.
Both the black stone seal and the silver spear were forbidden weapons — limited in use yet enormous in power. Nothing less could have injured Ye Fan’s physique.
In the distance, a group stood slack-jawed, unable to speak for a long moment. They had unleashed forbidden weapons, fully expecting a fatal strike — certain that Ye Fan would be obliterated body and soul. Instead, he had merely coughed up blood.
“Even a great power would have been pierced just now — what kind of background does he have, to take a blow like that?!”
“Are he and that barbarian born from the same womb? Brothers by blood? How can a physique be this monstrous?!”
They controlled the black stone seal and the chopstick-length silver spear, pressing their assault in a relentless barrage, intent on killing Ye Fan. Two among them took to the air and closed in rapidly.
“Ye Fan, you little brat — surrender your life!” This was Xiao Zhi of the Xiao Family — a half-step great power who not long ago had been sent flying by Ye Fan across an untold number of mountain ranges and was unable to pursue.
“Ye Fan, the sky-cloaking demon — give me back my younger brother’s life!” The other was a man of around forty, also of formidable cultivation, at the Ninth Transformation of the Dragon-Transformation realm — the elder brother of Xiao Mingyuan.
Shh, shh…
Others of the Xiao Family planted formation banners across the ground, intending to ensnare Ye Fan — but it was useless. Formation arrays had ceased to function in this place, and none below the great power realm could fly.
“Surround him — don’t let him escape!”
The Xiao Family members rushed forward. Among them were two half-step great powers who had sealed off several escape routes, laughing coldly as they closed in.
“You arrogant little wretch — you dared to run wild in our Xiao Family’s territory and even shot Mingyuan dead. Today I will flay you alive!”
“Killing him is too merciful. Draw out his divine soul and seal it in a bronze lamp — burn it for a hundred years, make him suffer every torment before the end!”
The group swept in from all sides — three half-step great powers in total, the rest all at the peak of the Dragon-Transformation realm. Each summoned their weapons and struck toward Ye Fan, every single one of them radiating killing intent.
Clatter!
The Old Blind Man cast a divination on the ground with his tortoise shells and shouted to Ye Fan, “Go east — the gate of life is wide open, there is certainly a path out!”
“Casting divinations in the middle of a life-or-death battle?” Dongfang Ye shot the old man a glance, then raised his wolf-fang cudgel and said, “Brother Ye Fan — I’ll help you.”
Hum!
He swung his wolf-fang cudgel into motion, turning one Dragon-Transformation realm powerhouse into a pulp on the spot — no suspense whatsoever. Not even the ancient treasures survived, reduced to powder.
“Xiao Family — you all brought this on yourselves!” Ye Fan had taken a sneak attack earlier and suffered minor injuries. Though nothing serious, his fury was undiminished.
He reached out and ripped a hundred-zhang cliff face straight from the earth, stunning every onlooker within sight into gaping silence.
“Absolutely monstrous — is that even a person? That kind of strength!”
Boom!
Ye Fan threw it. The impact turned several Dragon-Transformation realm powerhouses into pulp on the spot, burying them beneath it. Then he ripped up another hundred-zhang cliff face and hurled it toward one of the half-step great powers.
Bang!
The half-step great power summoned an ancient treasure to shatter the cliff, sending dust billowing skyward. When he looked again, Ye Fan had already drawn his bow, pulling the string again and again in rapid succession.
“Ahhh—”
Screams rang out continuously from the Xiao Family. One after another, they were pierced through, their bodies shattering, blood and bone flying.
“Die!”
The three half-step great powers erupted in rage. They transformed into three streaks of light and charged forward, great hands sweeping through the air, unleashing a purple-bronze eight-trigram furnace a thousand zhang high and more — joining forces to cut Ye Fan down.
“This way!” Duan De called out from a distance ahead, leading the path.
Dongfang Ye swung his wolf-fang cudgel and smashed four or five people to death in succession. Jue Youqing made her move as well, using her Buddhist light to hold back a portion of the attackers for Ye Fan.
Only the Old Blind Man crouched down to cast another divination with his tortoise shells. “East, then south — a supremely auspicious omen. The ancient emperor’s cave dwelling is about to appear.”
“Think you can run? Today you have no way to heaven and no road to earth — Ye Fan the sky-cloaking demon, I will burn every last one of you alive!” Xiao Mingyuan’s elder brother followed in the wake of the three half-step great powers, his voice dripping with venomous hatred.
“The Divine Spirit Thought — I see it again!” Duan De shuddered, his lips turning faintly blue.