The crystal coffin shimmered like a dream, luminously glittering. Inside, the Demon Emperor’s Sacred Heart blazed with crimson mist, its radiance soaring skyward, outshining even the blazing sun, unable to compete with it in brilliance. The entire peach garden was suffused with spiritual energy and vital essence, blanketed in blood-red splendor.
Qin Yao opened the coffin. An ocean of vigorous vitality surged outward in an instant, making every person present feel as though bathed in warm spring air. Such a powerful aura of life — if it were constantly near, it would undoubtedly benefit one’s cultivation.
It was difficult to imagine how terrifying the Demon Emperor must have been in life. Ten thousand years had passed; he had fallen long ago, yet the sacred heart he left behind was still like this — his power could not be fathomed.
“The Great Emperor’s cultivation was so profoundly deep it defied measurement, and even he could not ascend to immortality. It truly makes one wonder — do immortals even exist in this world?” one of the elderly women lamented with immeasurable feeling.
Yan Ruyu bowed in silent reverence before the crystal coffin, then stepped forward herself. From the hands of a demon woman, she received a jade-green tray and placed upon it the heart that blazed with divine radiance like a red gemstone, then walked toward the divine iron pillar.
“Yan Ruyu…” Ye Fan communicated through his spiritual sense, trying to say something — but at that very moment, more than a dozen elderly women stepped forward, each performing their own divine arts, pressing toward the space between his brows.
Ye Fan’s heart reeled with shock. These dozen or so elders were terrifyingly powerful — they had sensed the anomaly of his spiritual sense, and on the spot moved to seal the golden lake between his brows. He struggled fiercely; golden light erupted from the space between his brows — but the binding was not broken.
Even so, the more than a dozen elderly women all changed color. One of them said: “This young man is truly extraordinary — the power of his spiritual sense defies imagination. For someone of his age, mental energy should not be anywhere near this formidable.”
In Yan Ruyu’s hands, the jade tray blazed with crimson mist tinged with points of golden light, enveloping her entirely. Her jade body was sacred and immaculate. She gazed at Ye Fan for a very long time in silence, then reached out with one slender jade hand and gently stroked his cheek — her touch as light as a spring breeze drifting across the face. Upon that face of peerless beauty, her expression was complex, defying any name — yet it quickly returned to calm. Once again she became serene and luminous, like an immortal of the Jade Pool, pure and transcendent.
“Your Highness, please stand back — we are about to begin.” One of the elderly women stepped forward and took the jade tray.
Yan Ruyu nodded and withdrew with a lightness like the wind.
Ye Fan truly did not want to accept this arrangement. What kind of change would occur if the Demon Emperor’s Sacred Heart were nurtured within his body — no one could say.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain. The dozen or so elderly women were forcibly breaking open his Suffering Sea.
“You need not be tense — we will not remove your heart. We are merely placing the Great Emperor’s Sacred Heart within your Life Spring, to use the divine spring unique to your Ancient Sacred Body to moisten this heart…”
Had Ye Fan been able to cry out, he would surely have screamed. There were too many secrets within his golden Suffering Sea — they absolutely could not be exposed.
“True to its name — the Ancient Sacred Body. Even the combined effort of all of us, all dozen or more, is not enough to open it. It is as hard as divine iron. Truly beyond belief.”
“This is humanity’s strongest battle physique — in ancient times it swept all before it. It is a pity that in the present era, the Ancient Sacred Body is virtually impossible to cultivate to completion. That this young man managed to cultivate it to the Divine Bridge realm is already extraordinary — one can only imagine what unimaginable encounters he must have had. This is all the better, however — so long as the divine spring within his body flows ceaselessly, it is more than enough to keep the Sacred Heart preserved indefinitely…”
“We cannot break it open…” The more than a dozen elderly women were all struck with amazement, completely at a loss. One of them turned and said: “Your Highness, please lend us the Great Emperor’s Sacred Weapon — we need it to break open the Suffering Sea of the Ancient Sacred Body.”
Yan Ruyu nodded with composure. In her palm, resplendent divine brilliance blazed — so dazzling that the exact nature of the object was impossible to discern, a holy radiance of extraordinary brilliance that drowned her jade hand entirely within it.
After one of the elderly women received that blazing mass of brilliant light and made a single light pass across Ye Fan’s Suffering Sea, he nearly lost consciousness. He felt his Suffering Sea had been forced open. Scorching golden mist erupted outward; the sound of roaring seas filled the air, waves crashing skyward.
“Heaven — a golden Suffering Sea — this… how can this be?!”
Everyone was stunned — nothing like this had been expected. Golden seas surged to the heavens, lightning and thunder interwove throughout — it was as though Heaven and Earth were at their first beginning, nurturing and incubating endless vitality.
“Could this be the very reason the Ancient Sacred Body once stood alone and unmatched beneath the heavens?”
A golden Suffering Sea — never heard of, never seen. Even Yan Ruyu was moved, unable to maintain her composure. Shock was written across her face of peerless beauty, her beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly upon it.
Ye Fan could not move. If he could have shouted, he would already have cursed every single one of them thoroughly. He ground his teeth in silence, but could not make a sound. The sharp pain made him feel as though he were on the verge of passing out.
“It is said that in ancient times, the great masters’ Wheel Seas possessed all manner of mysterious and wondrous phenomena — the bright moon rising over the sea, stars blazing in an azure sky, a golden lotus blooming in the Suffering Sea. Each of these phenomena would bring with it incomparable power. This young man’s Suffering Sea is golden — which in itself is already the mightiest and most extraordinary phenomenon. In the future, he will very likely give rise to even more of those legendary wondrous phenomena.”
“It is a pity that in the present era, the Ancient Sacred Body is all but impossible to fully cultivate. That he managed to reach the Divine Bridge realm is already remarkable — one truly cannot imagine how he accomplished it. But this works in our favor. So long as the divine spring within him flows ceaselessly, it is more than sufficient to keep the Sacred Heart preserved indefinitely…”
The dozen or so elderly women dared not delay. Fearing that Ye Fan’s vital energy might suffer great harm, they sank the Demon Emperor’s Sacred Heart into the ceaselessly flowing Life Spring, then quickly withdrew and put away Yan Ruyu’s Sacred Weapon.
In that moment, the golden Suffering Sea seemed all the more extraordinary — a boundless ocean surging, lightning and thunder interwoven, nurturing limitless vitality. On the spot, it closed in upon itself. Not the slightest abnormality manifested — it repaired itself swiftly.
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
After enduring a bout of searing pain, Ye Fan finally settled into calm. His mind turned over the words of the elderly women: In ancient times, the great masters’ Wheel Seas possessed all manner of wondrous phenomena — the bright moon rising over the sea, stars blazing in an azure sky, a golden lotus blooming in the Suffering Sea… Their meaning was clear from their names alone. Even in such dire circumstances, they filled him with longing.
“Speaking of which, the sacred lands and the ancient clans truly are extraordinary. It is said the Ji Family has produced someone with a divine physique who has now completed their initial cultivation. The news has only just spread. It is said their Wheel Sea possesses multiple wondrous phenomena — terrifyingly powerful.”
“I wonder how the divine physique now shaking the Eastern Wasteland compares to the sacred body of ages past. It is a pity the sacred body has declined and there is no way to compare — otherwise it would truly be something to look forward to.”
“With a divine physique born in the Ji Family — so long as they are not cut down before their time — the family is likely to flourish for several thousand years. None will be able to stand against them.”
Ye Fan felt a surge of shock. The Ji Family — one of the ancient clans from the Archaic Era — had actually produced a divine physique. This left him deeply unsettled.
A full half an hour passed before Ye Fan felt he had returned to normal. He had already been untied and the binding released.
Qin Yao stepped forward with a smile: “You have seen for yourself — we will not harm you. There is truly nothing to worry about. Having the Demon Emperor’s heart nurtured within your body can only benefit you, never harm you.”
Ye Fan said nothing. He sat cross-legged quietly to the side, feeling the changes within his body. The green copper block was silent and still as a bedrock — lodged in the spring’s mouth — and those elderly women had not sensed it at all.
The Demon Emperor’s Sacred Heart had sunk into the Life Spring and was being moistened by the divine spring; vigorous vitality was circulating through it. Its position outranked the golden scripture by quite a margin — yet it still could not compare to the green copper block. Squeezed above it by the copper, it had no way to approach the spring’s mouth at the floor of the sea.
“This green copper block is truly extraordinary…” Ye Fan was inwardly astonished. Even the sacred heart of the demon race’s Great Emperor could only yield before it — one could not help but marvel.
Suddenly, Ye Fan felt that heart quiver slightly several times, then begin ferociously absorbing his life essence. The Life Spring surged and gushed like a volcanic eruption, all of it converging toward that heart.
His expression changed dramatically. This was not a good sign at all. If that heart kept drawing out his life essence like this, he would be completely drained dry.
“Thud!”
At that very moment, the green copper block in the spring’s mouth trembled once. Instantly the Suffering Sea became still as calm water. The divine spring no longer surged ceaselessly; everything was frozen in place — and that heart too fell into silence, motionless.
“Hiss!”
Ye Fan drew a sharp breath inward. The green copper block was indeed extraordinary — lodged in the spring’s mouth, it was fully capable of suppressing every treasure sealed within the Wheel Sea.
“If not for the green copper being here, I would be in dire straits. They never fully sealed this heart…”
After composing himself, Ye Fan took out the “cauldron” he had tempered through a thousand trials, and offered it toward that heart which blazed with splendor like a brilliant gemstone. Inwardly he murmured: “I wonder if I can squeeze out a few drops of the Demon Emperor’s sacred blood.”
“Thud!”
The moment the cauldron made contact with the Demon Emperor’s Sacred Heart, the crimson heart gave a faint, weak beat — the entire golden sea erupted into a boil instantly — but then the green copper block trembled again, and in an instant everything was calm once more.
Ye Fan’s body shook as though struck by lightning. He found that on the small cauldron, a thread of blood had formed, transforming into boundless blood-light that burst out of the Suffering Sea and spread to every part of his body.
In that moment, his flesh quivered — as though being tempered and forged — radiating a blinding brilliance, blood-light enveloping his entire body.
“Impossible — the Great Emperor’s Sacred Heart only just sank into his Life Spring, and it is already nourishing his flesh. How can it be this fast?” One of the elderly women revealed a look of shock.
The others were equally baffled, all showing expressions of puzzlement.
Ye Fan was now convinced. These people had no real intention of harming him. They believed they had sealed the Sacred Heart — but in truth, they had never truly suppressed it at all. Had the green copper block not been there, the consequences earlier would have been beyond prediction.
“Excellent — excellent — excellent!” One of the elderly women repeated the word three times: “With the Demon Emperor’s Sacred Heart being nurtured, it can remain vital and alive indefinitely. Your Highness may now cultivate the supreme demon art without worry.”
Before long, the blood-light faded from Ye Fan’s body. He could feel that his flesh and blood had undergone a kind of cleansing — clearly strengthened and more robust than before. He sighed inwardly at the wonder of the Demon Emperor’s sacred blood — merely a thread of residual blood, and it had already produced such an effect. If he could extract a full drop, ten drops, or even refine the entire heart — what would become of him?
Yan Ruyu’s composure was shaken. She stared at Ye Fan, murmuring to herself: “Should I cultivate alongside him?”
“This… Your Highness should decide for herself.”
At that moment, Ye Fan rose to his feet, feeling his entire body ease and clear — refreshed and invigorated.
“You will stay here for the time being. In a few days I will arrange different accommodations for you.” Yan Ruyu said this simply.
Then the group made their way out of the peach garden.
“Immortal Yan — wait a moment.” Ye Fan called Yan Ruyu back alone and walked toward her. He studied this flawless, peerless woman with not a shred of awkwardness, a faint smile at the corner of his lips: “Do you truly intend to marry me?”
Yan Ruyu was like an immortal maiden of the Moon Palace descended to earth — her form graceful and willowy, her skin flowing with luminous jade-like light. Her lashes were long and her eyes profound, full of a poetic depth, blessed with the intelligence and spirit of Heaven and Earth. She gazed at Ye Fan quietly — and said nothing.
Beside them, Qin Yao suddenly broke into soft laughter: “Hey — you have your hand in the wrong place. That is Her Highness’s palm.”
At the same moment, Ye Fan felt himself become airborne, thrown through the air by Yan Ruyu and left hanging high on the cliff face of the Peach Blossom Valley.