Nine sacred mountains rose in solemn grandeur, towering and magnificent, their faces covered in ancient trees and jutting strange rocks — a sight that could only be described as majestic.
At the foot of the mountain, Ye Fan looked toward Jiang Hanzhong. “I have only one condition — release all six of them.” As he said this, he gestured toward Liu Yiyi, Zhang Ziling, Lin Jia, and the others.
Liu Yiyi and Zhang Ziling wore expressions of anxious worry, gesturing urgently for Ye Fan to flee while he still could, though they could not speak their thoughts aloud — mounted soldiers surrounded them on all sides.
Zhou Yi, Lin Jia, and Wang Ziwen had not expected that, even in a moment like this, Ye Fan’s first thought would be getting them away to safety. Li Xiaoman also paused at this, her gaze drifting to Ye Fan standing not far away.
“They’re of no use here and can’t help in any way. There’s no point in keeping them.” Ye Fan fixed his gaze on Jiang Hanzhong. “All you want is to use them as fodder to probe those skeletal remains on the mountain — there’s no need to sacrifice innocent lives.”
“You have loyalty and sentiment, I’ll grant you that — but you’re in no position to negotiate terms with us.” Jiang Hanzhong swept a light glance over the few individuals nearby and said nothing more, clearly with no intention of releasing them.
Not far away, Zhou Yi, Li Xiaoman, and the others all went pale. They could well imagine what the Jiang Family elder intended — in the end, it would be death to silence all witnesses; none of them would be allowed to leave alive.
Ye Fan picked up a stone from the ground — ten-some jin in weight — turned it over in his hand a few times, then swung his arm and hurled it with full force up the mountain. It was difficult to imagine how great his strength was — the stone traced a beautiful arc through the air, flying straight from the mountain’s foot all the way to the summit, crashing heavily down into a pile of bones.
“What are you doing?!” The Ji Family elder Ji Yunfeng erupted in fury, cold killing intent blazing in his eyes.
“You all wanted to probe those skeletons on the sacred mountain, didn’t you? I’ve done it for you directly — no need to send living people up anymore.”
The expression of the Yao Guang Sacred Ground elder Xu Daoling darkened immediately. “Who told you to act rashly?”
Killing intent also surfaced on Jiang Hanzhong’s face. He held the brocade box out in one palm, faint points of light glimmering across it — neither exactly wood, nor exactly jade — not dazzling in the slightest, yet ancient in feel and atmosphere, radiating no terrifying pulses of energy, and yet giving off an overwhelmingly dangerous sensation.
Ye Fan had a strange sense that what he was looking at was not a box but an entire realm unto itself — as if it could hold all things within it, mountains and rivers alike.
Boom!
At precisely that moment, a violent tremor erupted from the sacred mountain — as though some enormous being had been enraged. Countless rocks came rolling down, striking and snapping many of the trees in their path.
“The skeletons are coming down the mountain!” Many mounted soldiers cried out in alarm. Dense, countless skeletal forms could be seen crawling downward along the sacred mountain’s face — not with particular speed, but in such vast numbers that the sight of them, a blanket of pale white, made one’s scalp crawl.
“Look what you’ve done!” Jiang Hanzhong was furious, his gaze boring into Ye Fan, killing intent radiating unguarded and undisguised.
“You’d have gotten the same result if you sent anyone else up there!”
“Make your decision now — how do you wish to proceed? Do we still go after the divine medicine or not?” The Yao Guang Sacred Ground elder Xu Daoling’s expression was deeply unpleasant.
The Ji Family elder Ji Yunfeng’s expression was grave. “There is no point in holding anything back any longer. We take out each of our restricted sacred implements, force a path forward, and press on — we must ascend the sacred mountain and pick that divine medicine.”
The Jiang Family elder’s face was a dark iron mask. He shot a fierce glare at Ye Fan, then cradled the brocade box in his hands. “This restricted implement can make my divine power spring surge nine times — restoring my cultivation instantaneously. I have nine opportunities to act.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Fan was immediately struck with a jolt of shock. He silently thanked his luck that he hadn’t gone all-out — if he had truly fought for his life just now, he would have died beyond all doubt.
The Jiang Family elder produced a peculiar fist-sized stone, jet black in color, covered densely in innumerable carved patterns and lines that carried a natural resonance with the Dao.
“This restricted implement was personally consecrated by a Supreme Elder of my Ji Family — imprinted with endless Dao patterns. It can briefly condense ‘Heavenly Force,’ granting me nine opportunities to act.”
Ye Fan felt a chill in his heart. The foundations of these ancient families were astonishingly deep — that they could produce such objects, capable of briefly restoring divine power even within an ancient forbidden zone, was truly staggering.
The elder of the Yao Guang Sacred Ground held out a palm-sized piece of jade-green leaf, glowing with a green light, also densely covered in profound and intricate Dao patterns — extremely fluid, like the natural veining of a real leaf.
“To enter this forbidden zone and pick the divine medicine, a Supreme Elder of my Yao Guang Sacred Ground personally consecrated this implement. It grants me three opportunities to act.”
Jiang Hanzhong did not believe it at all and sneered: “That can’t be right. The Yao Guang Sacred Ground is no weaker than our ancient families — for the sake of entering a life forbidden zone, why would they be so careless as to produce only this kind of inferior restricted implement?”
The Ji Family elder’s expression turned icy as well. “Brother Xu, there is no need to hold back anything at this point.”
“Though I have only three opportunities to act, this restricted implement contains divine power sealed within it by a Supreme Elder of my Yao Guang Sacred Ground — and that power can be drawn upon twice.”
Upon hearing this, both Jiang Hanzhong and Ji Yunfeng drew sharp, startled breaths. That palm-sized green leaf was genuinely a priceless treasure.
The three elders gathered together and exchanged a few brief words.
Ye Fan, standing nearby, heard every word clearly. What they called restricted implements were precious treasures specially consecrated for entering ancient forbidden zones. These sacred grounds and ancient families possessed immense strength, profound foundations, and means that reached the heavens. He couldn’t help asking: “Why didn’t you prepare more restricted implements?”
“What does a mortal like you know about anything!” Jiang Hanzhong’s expression was deeply unpleasant — he was fighting the urge to strike someone down right now, because Ye Fan’s rash action had caused the skeletal forms on the sacred mountain to come swarming down in droves.
Xu Daoling cast him a glance and said: “Refining a single restricted implement requires materials beyond imagination — materials sufficient to consecrate a ‘great implement’ of overwhelming power in their own right.”
“There is no more time to waste — we move now!” The Ji Family elder Ji Yunfeng urged.
Ye Fan was forced to walk at the very front, the three elders close behind him, then the many cultivators, and finally Li Xiaoman and the others.
The sacred mountain was lush with vegetation and strange in its rock formations — genuinely beautiful — but no one had eyes for any of it. Standing at death’s very threshold, everyone’s hearts were clenched tight.
Having barely climbed to the mountain’s midpoint, still far from the summit, a sinister, demonic aura was already palpable. Every beast among them began to roar.
“I — I’m aging!” One mounted soldier cried out in alarm.
In that same instant, many people’s appearances had aged — as though ten years had passed in the blink of an eye. A number of middle-aged individuals had gone white at the temples.
“We’ll die if we keep going forward!” Someone shouted, and more than a few people began to waver.
“Calm yourselves!” Jiang Hanzhong turned and barked, “If we succeed, each and every one of you will gain an extraordinary fortune!”
At this moment, Ye Fan’s appearance had not changed; the three elders showed no abnormality either — the restricted implements in their hands were emitting a strange aura, protecting them. Beyond that, Zhou Yi, Liu Yiyi, Wang Ziwen, Li Xiaoman, and the others at the very rear also showed not the slightest change.
“How are they also unaffected?” Jiang Hanzhong’s eyes showed a flash of astonishment.
Ye Fan’s mind immediately raced through a host of possibilities. That day, when they had stood at the summit of the sacred mountain, no terrible change had befallen them — it was only after leaving the forbidden zone that many had begun to age.
Could it have something to do with the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin?
Below, Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and the others were also murmuring among themselves.
“Most likely it has to do with the nine Dragon Corpses and the Ancient Bronze Coffin — perhaps during our crossing through the stellar realm, their aura left its mark on us.”
“The demonic force beneath the abyss could not overcome the bronze coffin — didn’t we see that with our own eyes? That creature bound in iron chains, raging and roaring in the dead of night…”
The youngest of the mounted soldiers could not bear the feeling of his youth being stripped away, and called out in a panic: “Elder, we cannot go any further—”
“Useless wretch — what good are you!” With a single-handed thrust of his long spear, Jiang Hanzhong pierced straight through him. Blood sprayed as he was launched off the ground and sent flying dozens of meters before crashing down hard.
The others were silenced like crickets in autumn, none daring to utter another word.
Through the dense foliage, the mountain’s summit had begun to appear dimly in the distance. And it was at precisely this moment that the skeletal forms from the mountain drew near — they would encounter the group momentarily.
“Elder, use the restricted implements now — we cannot hold out much longer!” By this point, everyone had aged several more years; some of the beasts had already grown weak.
The mountain was blanketed in white, bones beyond counting, every skeleton crawling and moving — the sight of them was enough to make the scalp crawl. A sinister, demonic aura drifted down on the mountain wind, and many people let out cries of horror.
Something terrifying began to happen. The flesh of many mounted soldiers started to wither and wilt. Many of them aged twenty years in a single instant; the scene was now full of white-haired elderly men.
“I’ll move first!” Ji Yunfeng produced the black peculiar stone and held it in his palm. In a heartbeat, dark light poured out in streams, spreading outward.
Boom!
A terrifyingly powerful wave of force surged from Ji Yunfeng’s body — vast and immeasurable as an ocean, rolling out in all directions. This was his true strength.
Ye Fan’s heart trembled with awe. The Ji Family elder was enormously powerful. He felt himself like a leaf of duckweed compared to the elder’s boundless sea — there was no basis for comparison whatsoever.
Is this his true strength?
Under normal circumstances, Ye Fan would have died without question in such a confrontation — the gulf between them was as wide as heaven and earth, and the distance in power too vast. A casual blow from the elder would have been enough to grind him to dust.
A Heavenly Net Umbrella burst forth from within Ji Yunfeng’s body, stirring up wave after wave of fierce winds and shaking trees and stones to ash. The dense skeletal remains in the path ahead were likewise reduced to powder in an instant.
“Move upward — now!” Ji Yunfeng shouted, charging to the front himself. The Heavenly Net Umbrella shook violently, carving out a stretch of clear ground a hundred meters long — every skeleton shattered and swept away by the gale.
In a flash of radiance, the Heavenly Net Umbrella flew back. Ji Yunfeng’s body shuddered — his divine power spring had run dry. A crack appeared on the black peculiar stone in his hand, marking one use expended. Eight more remained.
“Move quickly!” Both Jiang Hanzhong and Xu Daoling were shouting. There was no time to spare — they had to seize this chance and advance without delay.
Suddenly, shouts erupted from the rear. Li Xiaoman, Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and Lin Jia had seized an unguarded moment and sprinted down the mountain. Several white-haired mounted soldiers, their bodies no longer agile, failed to stop them.
“Ye Fan!” Liu Yiyi and Zhang Ziling shouted up toward the mountain.
“Go — all of you! Don’t worry about me!” Seeing the two of them hesitate, Ye Fan roared down at them. Zhang Ziling clenched his teeth, then wheeled around and, grabbing Liu Yiyi by the hand, ran without looking back.
Several white-haired mounted soldiers hurled their long spears — they nearly skewered the two of them, the spears grazing past just barely before plunging into the earth and quivering.
“I’ll go after them!” Some mounted soldiers made to drive their beasts down the mountain.
Jiang Hanzhong bellowed: “Ignore them! Move up the mountain — do not waste the opportunity we created by drawing on the divine power spring!” As he said this, two sharp beams of light shot from his eyes, boring into Ye Fan. “And you — behave yourself. If you try to flee, I will turn you to ash this instant.”
At that moment, Li Xiaoman was in the lead, with Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and Lin Jia close behind — all four vanished from sight in the blink of an eye. Then Zhang Ziling and Liu Yiyi were also swallowed by the mountain forest, their figures gone. They had seized this precious opportunity. With the people above in no position to give chase at such a critical moment, all six had finally broken free of their captors and escaped down the mountain.
The Ji Family elder Ji Yunfeng laughed coldly: “Surviving isn’t so simple. The moment you step out of the life forbidden zone, nearly everyone will age to death and crumble to ash.”
The skeletal remains blanketed the mountain, countless skeletons struggling to crawl down from the summit. This time it was Jiang Hanzhong’s turn to act. He cradled the brocade box in his palm, and in an instant a terrifying aura spread throughout the air. The energy he radiated was overwhelmingly dreadful — as though a million great mountains had come crashing down simultaneously, filling the heart with dread.
Ye Fan went cold from head to toe. A being of this level was, to him, truly like a god dwelling in the clouds — unfathomable, the depth of their power impossible to gauge.
And so it went — Jiang Hanzhong, Ji Yunfeng, and Xu Daoling took turns acting, and at last drew close to the summit of the sacred mountain, now less than two hundred meters from the peak.
At that same moment, screams erupted from behind. People kept falling. The closer they drew to the summit, the more rapidly the life force of many mounted soldiers drained away — many of them simply aged to death.
“We can’t hold on either!” At this moment, though Jiang Hanzhong, Ji Yunfeng, and Xu Daoling held their restricted implements, their own appearances had also grown noticeably older, their frames somewhat stooped.
“At this rate, we will certainly die. We cannot get any closer to the summit.”
“Fall back — all of you fall back.” Xu Daoling shouted, ordering the mounted soldiers to retreat. Their original plan could no longer be executed — these people they had brought were utterly useless.
Jiang Hanzhong fixed a cold stare on Ye Fan. With the brocade box in his grip, divine light blazed from his entire body, a surging, ocean-like power flooding outward — in a single instant, Ye Fan was completely immobilized. Then Jiang Hanzhong produced a sealed jade vial, broke the seal on the spot, and a streak of black light flashed straight into Ye Fan’s body.
“A puppet brand?” Ji Yunfeng asked.
“Correct. I can’t trust this young man — if he went up there and destroyed the divine medicine, or worse, swallowed it himself with no regard for anything else, we would have drawn water with a bamboo basket.” Jiang Hanzhong patted Ye Fan on the shoulder. “Go on up!”
Then, turning to the other two, he said: “Now, the three of us give everything we have to support him — send him to the summit. We must obtain that divine medicine.”
“Agreed.” Xu Daoling nodded.
Ji Yunfeng said: “Between us, we still have nine chances to act. Even at the risk of being reduced to ash, if we advance another hundred meters, we should be able to clear all the bones and send him to the peak.”
The closer they drew to the summit, the more oppressive the sinister aura became. Even with the skeletons cleared, the three elders continued to age rapidly — and even Ye Fan could no longer resist it, his appearance shifting from boyhood to young adulthood.
In this moment, hundreds of ancient characters were reverberating within Ye Fan’s heart — resonating like great temple bells — and they shattered the dark light that had surged into his spiritual sea, driving it out entirely. The puppet brand had not taken effect on him at all.
Ye Fan let out a cold sweat. At the final moment, he had nearly been crippled — the Jiang Family elder was viciously underhanded, striking without any warning at a time when he had utterly no power to resist. Now, he feigned being under the brand’s control and gave every appearance of obeying the three elders’ every word, striding with long steps toward the mountain’s summit.
“Take this!” Xu Daoling tossed over a jade pure vial. “This vial can contain an entire mountain within it — it forms its own interior space. Once you’ve picked the sacred medicine, use it to collect the divine spring.”
With only a few dozen meters left to the summit, the three elders had cleared every last skeleton and came to a stop, not daring to take a single step further. Where they stood, they could be reduced to ash at any moment — they had already aged to a terrible degree, barely recognizable.
Ye Fan felt his own life force ebbing away. The moment he set foot at the summit, his hair had turned snow-white, and he had aged beyond recognition.
“That is…” In that instant, his expression went rigid. Standing quietly on the sacred mountain was a woman of incomparable, breathtaking beauty — and at this exact moment, she turned sharply to face him.