Pop!
Bubbles broke the surface of the stone pool from time to time, releasing soft sounds. They dissolved into billowing rosy mist that poured outward — like a warm spring breeze wrapping around the body, suffusing it with a comfortable, soothing warmth.
“What is this?” Ye Fan asked the violet-eyed girl.
He stared at the pool before him with astonishment. This misty spiritual energy had wrapped itself around him — and it was precisely its presence that made him feel a tribulation was imminent. The phenomenon was truly extraordinary.
The violet-eyed girl glanced at the pool with a trace of disdain and a slight edge of mockery. “Nothing but a pool of Life-Generation Water. It can temper metal to give it greater spiritual properties. Naturally, you natives have never seen anything like it.”
Having said that, she looked away and turned her attention to the damaged inner walls of the spacecraft, her expression that of someone pained by the destruction, as though she held the vessel in deep affection.
“So it’s a pool for tempering metal — I thought it was some kind of immortal elixir pool.” Ye Fan said absently, circling the pool twice.
He made a show of tossing a chunk of metal into it to wash, and asked the violet-eyed girl how the tempering process worked and what kind of effects it produced. The result was that he was completely ignored — she gave him nothing but the back of her head.
The violet-haired young man watched him seemingly about to waste part of the pool water, and the pain was enough to make the corners of his mouth twitch uncontrollably. He wanted to say something, but forced himself to hold it back, and subtly turned his head the other way — out of sight, out of mind.
The corners of Ye Fan’s mouth curved upward. “You both unanimously believe I possess the legendary Indestructible Golden Body, and that relying on flesh and blood is superior to depending on those scraps of broken metal. In that case, I might as well use this pool fluid to temper myself.”
With that, he began removing his battle garment and made to step into the pool, with every appearance of being about to do exactly as he said.
The violet-eyed girl and the young man whose bones Ye Fan had shattered in multiple places both changed color at once, no longer able to remain calm. They knew he had long since seen through everything. Throwing all restraint aside, they lunged toward the pool.
Ye Fan let out a laugh and gave the crystalline divine chain a light shake. Both of them were locked in place instantly, unable to move a muscle, fixed where they stood.
This was the most important location aboard the spacecraft — sealed behind metal walls inscribed with profound divine markings as a ward. For a stone pool to appear inside this central main laboratory, surrounded by all manner of mysterious instruments, was entirely out of place. It could not possibly be an ordinary object.
The stone was silver-grey in color, housing mysterious ores within, radiating a soft and gentle light. Drawing near, one felt a refreshing sense of rebirth. The pool itself churned with flowing rosy mist, yet carried no detectable scent.
Yet this five-colored divine fluid was too mysterious and unfathomable. The moment Ye Fan dipped his hand in, the golden sacred blood within his body surged and roiled, and the surface of his skin became interwoven with lightning and the crack of thunder.
“What is this?” He recoiled like a man struck by an electric current and swiftly withdrew his hand. He had not been unprepared for this to be a rare and precious liquid — yet it seemed to exceed even what he had imagined.
The violet-eyed girl went pale, her expression agitated. She tried desperately to stop Ye Fan, yet as a prisoner, it was utterly impossible. She was brimming with indignation.
“It seems this really is an immortal elixir pool — for you both to be this concerned…” Ye Fan said with a light smile.
Blue veins stood out on the violet-haired young man’s forehead. They had drifted through the cold and dark reaches of the universe for so many years, weathered a hundred calamities, blown apart countless desolate stars, and only through heaven-defying fortune had they gathered these rare ores. He did not know whether he would ever be able to refine this immortal fluid again in the remainder of his life.
“If you would only wait patiently for a few decades, until the rarest ores within the silver-grey stone have been fully extracted, this pool of divine fluid will rival an immortal pill!” the violet-eyed girl said.
According to what these two had said, this was only the initial stage of the most powerful bloodline evolution fluid — to use it in its current state would be a terrible waste, counterproductive, and could even be called a shameful squandering.
“Is that so? Let me study it myself.” Ye Fan had not anticipated that the gains from this encounter would be so immense. It was as though a vault of immortal treasures had been thrown open — to have obtained a pool of this divine substance was enormously significant.
In the Northern Domain, undercurrents ran deep. These past many days had been anything but peaceful. The ten great royal tribes had posted bounties — anyone who could provide information on Ye Fan’s whereabouts would be rewarded with a sacred artifact. The bounty was enough to shake the world.
Of course, this was not public knowledge — it circulated only within the ancient clans, never reaching the open light of day. By this point, their wariness of the human race had grown considerably. They feared, too, stirring up trouble for themselves.
“Whoever can kill the Human Race’s Sacred Body, a saintly king will personally guard their path of cultivation. No matter what transgressions they have committed, all can be pardoned — nine deaths forgiven.”
It was said that an ancient clan had a supreme scripture of unrivaled Dao emerge into the world, to be offered as the ultimate reward. The name of this scripture was left unsaid, but it was absolutely an ancient classic capable of shaking all ages.
Furthermore, another piece of secret information had surfaced: whoever truly cut down the Human Race’s Sacred Body would prompt a mysterious Great Saint to emerge from secluded cultivation and accept them as a closed-door disciple.
All manner of such claims had spread within the ancient clans, moving many hearts while simultaneously filling them with awe. That the Human Race’s Sacred Body had drawn the focused attention of ancient saints — who were resolved to end his life — demonstrated just how terrifying his growth potential was, unsettling parties from all sides.
“It will be difficult for the Human Race’s Sacred Body to cross this threshold. Even ancient saints have been mobilized against him. Who could save him? The moment he shows his face, he will certainly die!”
“If not for the restraint certain parties felt, there might have been a Supreme Great Saint who stepped forward personally to deal with the Human Race’s Sacred Body…”
Those within the ancient clans with access to intelligence were trading such discussions, and the name Gai Jiuyou came up — a name that filled even the Great Saints of the ancient clans with deep dread.
“What kind of person is this?”
“An unfathomably profound elder. He is said to be nine thousand years old — he has traveled to other ancient stars and journeyed extraordinarily far down the path of proving the Dao. Were it not that his body could no longer withstand the ravages of time, causing his realm to fall, he would be even more terrifying!”
In the Village of Heaven, the Sacred Emperor’s Son appeared and brought a message — he wanted to tell Ye Fan not to show himself for the time being, for the situation had grown too tense. No small number of royal tribes were looking to eliminate him in secret.
Even with the Fighting Victorious Buddha standing upon Mount Sumeru, looking down upon all beneath heaven, not every ancient clan could be kept in check. Some were on the verge of taking desperate risks, and ancient saints who acted left almost no trace behind — assassinating a Severing Dao cultivator could be done cleanly, with little evidence to follow.
During these days, even the Monkey had grown considerably more low-key. Word had it that someone intended him harm as well.
The lineage of the Undying Heavenly Emperor, the clan of the Kunzhou Great Saint — there would inevitably be survivors among them, people who had slipped through the last great calamity. This was unavoidable.
The Black Emperor was frank: they currently had no idea where Ye Fan was and could not find him at all. Passing along messages effectively was impossible.
“Others are one thing — but one must be especially wary of the Blood Moon Tribe. They rank among the most aggressive and bloodthirsty of the ten great royal tribes. In the primordial era, they fed on humans as their prey. They once ruled vast territories, and during that age, roughly half of the ancient saints born to the human race in that era were torn apart and devoured by them.”
The Blood Moon Tribe — the name of a savage and ruthless race. Even among the ancient clans, they were notorious for their viciousness. No one wished to antagonize them. To offend them was to invite the extinction of one’s entire clan.
The Huo Tan that Ye Fan had slaughtered was a saint of a branch lineage of this very tribe. The main tribe was formidable — though it was no longer at the peak of its primordial power, it remained far from ordinary, carrying the fearsome name of the Blood Moon Royal Lineage.
This time, the call to kill Ye Fan had been initiated by this very tribe, and it was they who would provide the sacred artifact as the reward. The ancient king of the Blood Moon was immensely powerful, counted among the ranks of saintly kings.
Moreover, the king’s grandson had also recently achieved sainthood — only a few hundred years old, he was a peerless prodigy of his generation, of the same generation as Huo Tan, and the two had been close.
“Humans are the livestock we keep for their blood!” These words had once been spoken by certain vicious ancient saints of this tribe.
All of this was unknown to Ye Fan. For now he had no attention to spare for such things. He removed his battle garment, baring a lean and well-built physique that glimmered with precious radiance, and stepped into the silver-grey stone pool.
The violet-haired young man let out an anguished howl. His eyes burned red, as though someone had gouged out his very heart — the pain was piercing and absolute. So many years of effort, stripped away just like that.
The most powerful bloodline evolution fluid — seized from the bounty of heaven and earth, forged at the cost of limitless toil, through a hundred refinements and ten thousand extractions, barely achieved — had changed hands the moment it was complete, to be enjoyed by an enemy.
“Ahhh…” He could not accept this reality. If he could have lunged forward, he would have torn Ye Fan alive from limb to limb and swallowed him whole.
“Stop screaming. You were the ones who provoked me first — you tried to capture me and make me your battle pet. Anyone who does that had better be prepared for the consequences. Starting today, this spacecraft, the two of you, and this pool of evolution fluid are all mine.” Ye Fan passed judgment over them, declaring all of it his private property.
Beside him, the violet-eyed girl watched him unblinkingly — though not because she was moved by his powerful and lean physique. Her face was pale, filled with indignation and fury.
“This feels wonderful…” Ye Fan soaked in the fluid. The five-colored divine liquid glowed and shimmered, bubbling and rising in waves, enveloping him in a mist of rosy light.
He felt every single cell in his body dividing and reorganizing — as though he were about to ascend into the heavens, wrapped in an ethereal immortal light. Divine radiance flickered in and out through his pores.
This was the most powerful bloodline evolution fluid. It could even strengthen the divine consciousness — elevating a person’s constitution and combat power in every direction. Otherwise, it would not have earned such a name.
Even his bones were dissolving, then reforming, shimmering with a crystalline luster and ringing with resonant sound.
Ye Fan came close to letting out a groan of pleasure — drifting as though transcending this world. His flesh was being cleansed and purified. He was already a sacred body by nature, so his evolution toward the so-called strongest bloodline would be limited, yet a gradual transformation was taking place nonetheless.
After the pleasure came sudden and violent pain. Every inch of his body blazed with divine radiance, as though a sharp blade were running wild through him from within.
The medicinal power of the mysterious ores was too dominant. To achieve true bloodline evolution, various supplementary medicines and secret formulas were needed — the people aboard this spacecraft had yet to complete the refinement.
Fortunately, Ye Fan had mastered the Word Technique of Zhe. It repaired his ruptured blood vessels and bones in real time, leaving him unafraid of the overwhelming medicinal force, and he persevered.
The violet-eyed girl and her elder brother alternated between hope and curses, but as they watched Ye Fan hold firm — his body bleeding from the onslaught yet suffering no lasting damage — they could only sigh in despair. The Indestructible Golden Body was simply too powerful!
During this time, the group that had escaped drove the “Sixteen-Foot Golden Figure” back to harass them several times. All they managed to do was carry off some prisoners from the various clans and a few instruments — they could not get anywhere near the main laboratory.
In the end, Ye Fan let out a long and comfortable breath, suppressing his own state to prevent a tribulation from descending. He then opened a domain gate, bringing the massive flying disc back with him to the Village of Heaven.