The moment Ye Fan moved to act, the Stone King shuddered and lurched backward several steps, and the primordial chaos energy thickened further still.
Whoosh!
Between Ye Fan’s golden fingers, the chains of order wove themselves together, descending like divine phoenix feathers falling to earth, fixing the stone in place so it could no longer move.
Boom!
The chaos surged and suddenly exploded — like a world being split asunder. The entire stone workshop shook violently. The crowd was filled with terror; the Stone King was even more powerful than they had imagined.
What was this thing? The chaos energy was overwhelming. Usually only a newly opened small world or the frontier reaches of a universe would have such energy — how could it be this concentrated here?
Ye Fan used his finger as a blade, carving and cutting into the stone material carefully, not wanting to harm whatever lay inside — peeling it away layer by layer.
Crack!
A layer of dull-grey stone skin fell away, and in that instant the place erupted with nine-colored divine radiance, so dazzling that people could not open their eyes. Truly, a breathtaking sight.
The crowd fell back in alarm, watching from a distance, their hearts filled with shock and uncertainty. From ancient times to now, no one had ever encountered such a spectacle in cutting stones — first primordial chaos, and now this kind of brilliant immortal radiance.
Ye Fan moved again. Stone fragments fell in a shower as a large section of the outer shell broke away, causing the stone to shudder and shake violently.
Rumble!
Waves of pure energy surged upward, transforming into streaks of dazzling light, like soaring immortals. Wondrous visions appeared throughout the garden — as though one great sovereign after another was calling out, as though the gates of an immortal realm had been flung open, revealing a vast and fantastical world within.
Immortals Flying Out of the Stone!
That scene appeared once more. Ordinarily, only the emergence of a supremely rare and precious object would cause this kind of extraordinary vision to manifest.
But the visions accompanying different immortal materials varied — and this particular instance of “Immortals Flying Out of the Stone” was unmistakably more earth-shattering than any before. People truly felt as though one great sovereign after another was roaring, was struggling with all their might.
“What is that?”
The crowd felt a trembling sensation. This was only a vision, not any real figure — and yet every single person was trembling. When had cutting a stone ever produced something like this?
What appeared seemed truly to be one shadow of an emperor after another, standing side by side, gazing down upon all of eternity, facing all of living creation, radiating an aura of supreme and matchless dominance that almost made people fall to their knees.
There was not the slightest fluctuation of power, not a trace of any oppressive aura — and yet it was utterly awe-inspiring. An incomparable supremely noble presence made every single person feel reverence.
What was inside this stone? Everyone was shaken, murmuring in their hearts. Immortals Flying Out of the Stone — but this time the vision was unlike anything described in legend, and it silenced every powerful person present.
The illusory immortal realm gradually faded within the light and shadows. Those great emperor shadows all disappeared, slowly dispersing into the heavens and the earth.
Crack!
Ye Fan continued to cut the stone, pulling people’s thoughts back to reality. And with that, every wondrous vision of the Immortals Flying Out of the Stone vanished, bringing the phantasmal spectacle to an end.
Yet no one could let it go. It was as if they had truly experienced a moment when many great emperors existed in the same age — as if they had felt a vast and boundless magnificence. For a long time, no one could find words to speak.
As the cracking sounds continued one after another, a great deal of stone skin had been shaved away from the battered stone. And now it began to struggle again — fiercely.
Even Ye Fan, who prided himself on divine strength born into him, felt a surge of shock. The raw force within this stone was truly formidable, far surpassing that of an ordinary Saint. Had he not been pressing down upon it, it would surely have flown away.
At the same moment, a surge of primordial wild energy suddenly erupted — and an entire world came crashing down toward Ye Fan!
Indeed — it was an enormous, incomparable world. Towering mountains stood majestic and immense, divine waterfalls stretched vast and boundless, ancient trees soared to the heavens. It seemed like a great primordial divine land, where ten thousand tribes lived together — pressing down to crush him.
An entire world suddenly appeared in the void, bearing down upon Ye Fan. Anyone would have been greatly alarmed — for this was a powerful surge of consciousness formed into a world, intent on assaulting his sea of consciousness and suppressing his Immortal Platform.
Powerful as Ye Fan was now, he naturally would not be caught by the Stone King. The golden little figure between his eyebrows sat cross-legged, directly blocking all of it and sending it back. He did not shatter it, however — because looking at it, it seemed strangely familiar, putting him into a momentary trance.
“This is…”
Ye Fan was deeply startled. He looked carefully. It was a vast landscape of mountains and rivers, and so many of the scenes seemed like something he had seen before.
“The other shore of the starry sky — Earth!”
He finally recognized it. This was the land of his homeland — not the version seen in the present day, but the vast world that only cultivators could come into contact with.
He had once returned to Earth. After careful observation, he had discovered that the true land was incomparably vast — unimaginably larger than the portion he already knew — yet all of it was covered by a great formation and sealed away.
The mortal world of the present was only a very small part of it. He had once visited Kunlun, Longhu Mountain, Maoshan, and the ancestral mountain of Changbai — all of them locked away by great formations, with only a little bit exposed on the outside.
“This is the ancient land of Earth before it was sealed…” Ye Fan was genuinely stunned. The first time he had returned to Earth, descending from beyond the domain, he had caught a hazy glimpse — all manner of mountain ranges soaring into the sky, countless tens of thousands of feet tall, almost identical to what he had just witnessed.
How could this be? How could this Stone King be reflecting the world of the other shore of the starry sky in a bygone age? Could it mean that the living being inside the stone had come from Earth?
This was simply too astonishing, truly enough to challenge the limits of a person’s heart and mind.
Fuxi, the Yellow Emperor, Rong Chengshi, Laozi, the Buddha — one by one, these supremely powerful figures had entered the universe and never been seen again. He had never expected that today, in this place, he would encounter one of them.
Ye Fan’s heart grew heavy, his expression deeply solemn. He dared not be the slightest bit careless, and once again began to cut the stone, intent on peeling the living being from within it.
The vast panorama of the world vanished, but those images had been branded into Ye Fan’s heart, filling him with a sense of the breath of his homeland — as though calling out to him, beckoning him to return.
He had many questions. This living being had been sealed within the stone, and it felt like it was at the very least a creature from the most ancient of ancient eras — far predating those figures such as the Flame Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, and Rong Chengshi.
It was not one of those beings, half-human and half-divine, like Fuxi or the Yellow Emperor. So who could it be? Into how ancient a time would this push things?
“The era of the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains? That would be ancient indeed — that catastrophe swept through all the heavens and myriad realms, and in the end fell upon Earth.”
Ye Fan’s fingers kept moving as he slowly cut the stone. He felt that the being inside was something he would be capable of suppressing — so it certainly was not one of those ancient sages listed above. This person was simply ancient enough.
By now, Ye Fan felt ever more strongly that Earth was shrouded in mystery beyond comprehension. Aside from Kunlun having ultimately come to rest there, it seemed there were many secrets that remained unknown to the world.
Crack!
A soft sound rang out, and the stone split open — releasing a brilliance of ten thousand feet, like a small sun bursting into bloom, causing many people to instantly shut their eyes, unable to look directly at it.
Was this some kind of immortal material?
The most powerful among the cultivators endured the searing pain in their eyes and fixed their gaze here, wanting to see clearly.
Ye Fan’s heart and mind shuddered. The light shooting from his Heavenly Eye was breathtaking. He found himself hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. This was a kind of source — something that theoretically existed according to the Source Heavenly Scripture, and which according to deductions should exist somewhere in the world, but which no generation of Source Masters had ever actually witnessed.
In the past, Ye Fan had only heard of it when he was at the Sacred Cliff, from someone who had spoken of it.
The primordial spirit of the Undying Daoist had been sealed within immortal source — and this should have been precisely that kind of substance.
Based on what was known: to maintain undying preservation, not even this kind of source could seal a great emperor — it was simply not feasible, unless they were willing to pay an unimaginable and enormous price. For supreme sovereigns, this substance was merely somewhat stronger than divine source.
Within the divine source, a living being was sealed away. Vigorous life energy radiated outward, making one feel the vital spirit of the time when all things first came into existence.
As the remaining stone skin fell away, this rarely-seen-since-ancient-times immortal source gradually revealed most of itself — and within it, a little fellow was staring directly back at Ye Fan!
“Ugh-maw-la-eh-doo-na…”
A murmuring sound came from within the immortal source. This being was speaking to Ye Fan, sounding as though it was expressing some anxiety and a measure of dissatisfaction.
“What are you saying?” Ye Fan locked the immortal source in place and released his golden battle energy, ready to respond to any situation.
“Ah-lee-rwor-ma-ya-la-gu-na…” The little living being kept speaking, its voice clear and distinct as it reached Ye Fan’s ears.
The primordial chaos energy pervaded the area, mysterious mist swirling and coiling around the immortal source, blocking the view of everyone else — like an impenetrable immortal fog. But at this moment Ye Fan was right there, close enough to see clearly what lay within. Inside the immortal source was actually a child!
This left him utterly incredulous. He had clearly sensed a force comparable to a Saint, yet when he cut it open, there was a child inside — and at that, a round, chubby, plump little child with an adorably innocent look.
This was a child who appeared to be about three or four years of age, completely unclothed, a little boy. His pupils were like black gemstones, his whole body fair and clean, seemingly without a hint of danger — in fact, rather adorable.
Ye Fan was momentarily stupefied. He had turned it over in his mind at length and had never imagined it would be a round, chubby little baby like this — white and pudgy, utterly harmless.
“Sha-duh-leh-fah-suh-tee-dahn-foo-fen…”
Seeing that Ye Fan had not moved to act, the baby grew bolder, setting aside the frightened and alarmed look on his face, and began speaking to him loudly.
The immortal source was shaped in a peculiar way — like a small coffin, or like a crystal bed. The baby lay within it, looking perfectly at ease.
It was just that now, with Ye Fan holding it up and keeping it locked in place, the anxiety in the baby’s heart had not fully dissipated. He kept a wary eye on Ye Fan as they faced each other.
And the primordial chaos energy around the immortal source refused to disperse, making him appear even more extraordinary. One had to understand: any living being that could naturally gather primordial chaos energy around itself was bound to be exceptional in the extreme!
Ye Fan’s expression shifted between uncertainty and deliberation. He kept the immortal source locked in place and thought it over carefully. The whole affair was too strange — no matter how he looked at it, there was something uncanny about it.
Just a baby, and one this small at that — yet already possessed of a Saint’s strength. This was not merely defying the heavens; it was something utterly unheard of, contrary to all reason, overturning everything one thought one knew.
Unless this was not truly a baby, and only his appearance was that of one — otherwise, there was simply no way to make sense of it. It surpassed the natural gifts of any person Ye Fan had ever known or heard of.
“He awoke more than a hundred years ago, sealed within the immortal source. If he had been cultivating during this period, the immortal source should have cracked by now, just as it did with the Holy Prince back then.”
Evidently, this baby had not been cultivating. Not a single crack had appeared in the immortal source, which remained in the same sealed state as when it had first been encased. This gave Ye Fan quite a headache.
He carefully examined the baby’s body, then fixed his gaze upon the child’s Immortal Platform, preparing to investigate thoroughly. The appearance of this child was simply too unusual.
“Most importantly — he may well have come from the other shore of the starry sky, from Earth. Mysterious beyond all measure. I must get to the bottom of this!”