Ye Fan stood for a long time in silence, his thoughts ranging far. But in the end, the old Daoist had indeed pointed toward the whereabouts of one of the Nine Secrets. Perhaps it could be found.

The Cai Family — this was a critical clue that could certainly be traced. And before passing on, the old Daoist had walked three circuits around the small Daoist temple and finally gazed toward the west, with clear intent.

“I drank a cup of wine in the hall at home, and when I looked back, eight thousand years had passed…”

All of it strung together pointed toward a faintly visible path. If one followed it with care, the whereabouts of one of the Nine Secrets could surely be determined.

A saint had entered eternal rest here — passing with perfect serenity. His every word and movement held a profound principle, yet none of it was known to anyone. This perhaps was what a true supreme master was.

Ye Fan took up long-term residence here. Half a month later, he had fully refined and absorbed all the Dragon Marrow. He comprehended the law fragments contained within it, and a great dragon surged up along his spine. A breakthrough was imminent — and the dragon’s roar shook the Nine Heavens.

“No — I cannot cross the tribulation here. When the lightning falls, this low hill will be no more, and this place where the Dao was dissolved will one day allow a great sect to flourish. I cannot destroy it.”

Ye Fan shot upward into the open sky. He needed to find a remote and uninhabited region, and he had no desire for anyone to witness his tribulation. He flew on across boundless mountains and rivers.

At last, after flying three thousand li, he came to a halt in an uninhabited wilderness — a vast open expanse dotted with lakes and marshes, mist rising off the water.

He moved like a cyan dragon, a howling cry issuing from his mouth, flying across the sky and entering the great wild marshland, at a speed that defied comprehension.

“Flying so fast — are you in a hurry to be reborn!” someone shouted loudly.

“Outrageous! What kind of madman dares to charge into the entourage of Xunlong Superior!”

In the vast marshland with its sprawling swamps and great lakes, shrouded in rising water vapors, there had originally been no signs of life — not a soul had set foot here for who knew how many years.

Today, apart from Ye Fan’s passing, there also happened to be a group of cultivators traveling through on the wind. When they saw Ye Fan leap over their heads, several of them shouted out.

“Bring him down! Flying over our heads without knowing where death lies!”

Ye Fan looked down in surprise. “Bold words. If an immortal flew past overhead, would you want to shoot them down too?”

Those below struck with ruthless swiftness, saying little. Each unleashed their treasured artifacts. Flashes of light blazed and flew upward toward the sky.

Ye Fan let out a cold laugh. He was on the verge of a breakthrough and had no time to tangle with these people. He transformed into a streaming beam of light and vanished into the horizon, leaving no trace.

The group froze. Such speed left them deeply unsettled — there was no way they could give chase. A shadow of unease crossed every face.

“That person wouldn’t be heading for the Ancestral Root, would he? Could the news have leaked, and someone has come to fight over the immortal treasure?”

“Not necessarily. We still can’t confirm whether Dragon Marrow has been born in the underground Ancestral Root. He may have simply been passing through.”

“Xunlong Superior — do you think this place truly holds dragon qi that has transformed into divine marrow?” someone asked respectfully, addressing the person within a dragon-drawn carriage.

…

Ye Fan flew another five hundred li before coming to a stop in the uninhabited zone. He stood in the marshlands and did not trigger the tribulation immediately — instead, he first surveyed the terrain.

If he crossed the tribulation here, it would shake heaven and earth and could not possibly be concealed. There was no telling what enemies it might attract. He muttered to himself: “Better to make some preparations.”

Using the Origin Art Sealing Methods, he carefully etched inscriptions onto several divine source fragments — spending a full day and night, expending every last measure of concentration. Then he thoroughly examined the Profound Jade Platform.

“When crossing the tribulation, the God-Slaying Whip can likely no longer conceal heaven’s will. Those with enough ability may well be able to deduce my location at that time.”

Ye Fan had considered going to the Yin-Yang Sect to cross his tribulation there, but upon reflection, he set that idea aside. To act so boldly in the Central State might well draw a killing catastrophe down upon himself.

Simply relying on the tribulation lightning was unlikely to destroy a top-tier great sect outright — at most it would throw them into chaos. And there was no reason to assume that only the formation patterns left behind by Wushi the Great Emperor could conceal the workings of heaven. Similar divine inscriptions existed in at least four varieties, by the Black Emperor’s account, two of which had already spread into circulation and were possessed by numerous great sects. If the Yin-Yang Sect held one such array, going there to cross a tribulation would in all likelihood end in disaster.

Ye Fan spent three full days making preparations, ensuring there were no loose ends. Only then did he fly up into the high sky, choosing the only stretch of mountain range in the marshlands, and standing at its summit to begin crossing his tribulation and make his breakthrough.

Boom!

Ten thousand zhang of lightning descended from beyond the heavens. Before long, this place was submerged entirely — transformed into a vast ocean of crackling electricity that buried the mountains below.

The heavenly tribulation was immense. Although nothing so dramatic as breaking through a major secret realm — which would summon eighty-one celestial dragons — it was still extraordinarily fearsome. Primal chaos lightning bolts struck down without cease.

Ye Fan brought out the Ten Thousand Things Mother Qi Cauldron, using it to absorb the assault of the lightning sea and engrave onto it the markings of the great Dao. By now it had already begun to manifest the laws of heaven and earth.

Simultaneously, from the golden lake at his brow, a golden homunculus shot upward, opening its mouth to swallow and breathe out lightning, tempering his powerful divine sense.

Very few people would dare do such a thing — subjecting their divine sense to the baptism of a great heavenly tribulation. One misstep and it could mean irreversible devastation. The divine sense was the very foundation of a person’s existence. To damage even a fraction of it was potentially fatal.

Physical injuries could still be repaired. But if the divine sense shattered, one might lose entire stretches of memory, or part of one’s own identity — an utterly lethal outcome.

Yet Ye Fan had no great fear of it. He had done this multiple times and by now had accumulated considerable experience. He progressed gradually and incrementally, not attempting to confront the entire lightning sea at once.

At that moment, he stood in midair. The boundless ocean of electricity surged and crashed around him. His physical body, his cauldron, and his divine sense all moved together, receiving the baptism as one, drawing in endless lightning.

Endless electricity boomed and rang, deafening. Primal chaos energy coiled and floated. The Ten Thousand Things Mother Qi Cauldron rose and fell within the sea of tribulation — struck and hurled about, but with each blow, new patterns of heaven and earth were carved deeper into its surface.

And Ye Fan’s physical body was likewise bathed in the most terrifying tribulation lightning. Every inch of flesh became crystalline and translucent. The tribulation lightning struck the crown of his head and surged through him, erupting from the soles of his feet.

It was a fearsome sight. Endless bolts of lightning — each capable of shattering a mountain peak — all descended upon a single point. Ye Fan became a blazing sun.

There was no way to count how many lightning bolts entered through the crown of his head and vanished within him. The blinding light pouring out from the soles of his feet swept across the mountain range below like a great ocean, leveling it.

The golden homunculus that had been seated at his brow shot upward toward the highest heavens, arriving at the most ferocious heart of the tribulation, opening its mouth to swallow and breathe — drawing down even more powerful lightning, tempering itself, transforming toward an indestructible spiritual soul.

Every variety of electric flame poured into its mouth, engulfing it completely. The golden homunculus formed of divine sense tempered itself without pause, advancing toward the state of an imperishable divine spirit.

Ye Fan let out a long howl. Both eyes blazed with beams of divine light several li in length, piercing through the lightning — a roar that shook the mountains and rivers.

The Ten Thousand Things Mother Qi Cauldron responded in kind, humming together with him as one. Together they shook the heavenly tribulation apart, the cauldron rising and falling within the vault of heaven, its surface being branded with ever more intricate and abstruse Dao markings — growing ever more mysterious.

And the golden homunculus formed of divine sense also howled, its sound even more violent than the sonic wave of the physical body — collapsing the void, and causing the lightning sea to boil with the force of it.

He broke through. He had finally entered the Fourth Transformation of Dragon Sublimation. His power increased enormously. He stretched his arms, extended his legs — powerful and firm. A single fist could now shatter a mountain peak.

“The Fourth Transformation of Dragon Sublimation — I can feel that power!”

Ye Fan opened his mouth and drew the cauldron back inside. The golden homunculus flew back on its own, settling once more at the center of his brow. The three became one again, using the remaining lightning for one final round of tempering.

The mountain range below had disappeared. Even the earth had been driven down a hundred zhang, leaving behind a vast and terrifying canyon — boundless in its reach.

“Cough… what happened?”

“Did heaven and earth collapse? How could this be — we almost got buried alive!”

From beneath the earth, someone coughed in outrage, voice alternating between coughing and roaring.

“Damn it all — what is going on? Someone is crossing their tribulation!”

“Blazes — the tribulation lightning shattered this mountain range and drove the earth a hundred zhang lower. We were here searching for Dragon Marrow, and we got caught in a completely undeserved disaster.”

The group was furious. To suffer such a calamity for no reason at all was simply not right.

Ye Fan was taken aback. Within the boundless lightning, he sensed all of this — and immediately broke into a smile. It was the same group he had encountered three days before, the ones who had declared they would take his life.

“It’s him…”

Some of them recognized Ye Fan. Three days ago he had flown over their heads, and now he had gone even further — crossing his tribulation directly above their heads.

“Get out of the lightning sea quickly! Bring Xunlong Superior out — do not let him be caught up in the heavenly punishment!” someone roared, relaying the message to the others.

They were hiding underground and dared not come up, terrified that if they touched the lightning, they too would be drawn into the tribulation. That would leave them almost no path to survival.

“Are you searching for Dragon Marrow?” A thought struck Ye Fan. Wrapped in endless lightning, he descended.

“Retreat — run!”

Everyone was terrified. The earth was driven lower on the spot. The cracked valley collapsed once more — nothing could withstand the bombardment of the electric sea. It was reduced to ash in an instant.

These people fled with desperate speed, escaping through underground veins far into the distance, fleeing as though from a demon.

“What sort of person are you to dare make an enemy of the Earth-Reading lineage, and steal the Dragon Marrow we discovered?”

“This old one, Xunlong Superior, has taken note of this grievance.”

“Before, you charged through our formation. Now you steal the divine marrow we located. In time you will repay this with your life!”

Those people were deeply aggrieved. They fled through the underground passages in all directions.

“You are all noise. You declared before that you would kill me — this is simply you receiving the consequences of that.” Ye Fan descended.

The lightning sea drove into the earth, opening a path of its own. Ye Fan followed the ore vein they had dug and moved deep underground.

“This geological formation resembles the dragon veins that hold divine sources — the two correspond to each other and can be compared.”

Ye Fan was surprised. The ore-reading techniques these Central State searchers possessed likely shared something in common with the Origin Arts of the Eastern Desolation.

Ahead, the path came to a dead end. They had only excavated this far and had not yet located the rare treasure.

“According to the Origin Arts, there should indeed be a divine object here — but it is also a dangerous place, inhabited by some unknown creature!” Ye Fan was startled.

Yet he did not retreat. With the heavenly tribulation still upon him, this was the perfect opportunity to use it — to break open this marrow vein and obtain the rare treasure.

Boom!

Ten thousand zhang of lightning continued to descend. Though the tribulation was winding toward its end — only the final remnant of calamity remained — it was still ferociously powerful, striking the earth vein without cease, driving it further and further down.

After advancing another thousand zhang, deep within the earth vein, a pair of massive stone doors blocked the way forward, standing across the passage.

“Strange — there are ancient doors even this far underground. Something has clearly been living here.”

Ye Fan did not stop. He carried the endless lightning forward to the stone doors and, in a short time, clouds of dust rose thick as the ancient doors were struck by the heavenly tribulation more than a hundred times and shattered apart.

This was an ancient mine — someone had come here in ages past, untold tens of thousands of years ago. Quite a few skeletal remains lay inside. Ye Fan followed the ancient cavern forward several hundred more zhang and finally reached the end.

“Marrow!”

Ahead was a marrow pool — not even a full meter across. Boundless dragon qi pulsed in and out of it. Within it lay thirty-six crystalline, luminous drops of liquid, each one containing a small dragon that swam back and forth within — dazzling and resplendent, their fragrance nearly intoxicating.

Roar…

A sound that made one’s scalp crawl reached him. Three silver creatures appeared beside the marrow pool, holy light flickering off them like three sacred beings — and they fixed their gaze unblinking upon Ye Fan.