Ye Fan showed not an ounce of mercy toward Han Feiyu. He had no idea how many slaps he had landed — his hand had grown sore from it all. Finally, he tossed Han Feiyu to the ground, rose to his feet, and walked toward the others. Screams of agony immediately erupted one after another.

“Ye Fan, stop hitting them — someone’s going to die,” Zhang Wenchang said, his expression tense.

“Don’t worry. They’re all tough.”

It wasn’t until another quarter of an hour had passed that silence finally settled over the place. Every last one of them had been beaten unconscious.

Ye Fan glanced at the weary, dispirited old man inside the small tavern, then looked over at the few other drinking establishments in the distance. Only then did he stop and lean in to ask softly, “The old man in the tavern…”

“Everyone who runs a tavern here is the same kind of person as me — no particular talent, half a lifetime wasted, nothing to show for it by the time old age comes, and yet unwilling to leave…” Zhang Wenchang let out a sigh.

Ye Fan nodded, then lowered his voice. “Tell me about these people. Let’s see if I can help you deal with this problem once and for all.”

“You… there’s no need for that, truly no need!” Zhang Wenchang shook his head in alarm.

Looking at this plain, slow-spoken old classmate of his, Ye Fan sighed and gently patted his shoulder. “I won’t do anything reckless. Tell me in detail — otherwise, how are we supposed to clean this up?”

After listening carefully to everything, Ye Fan let out a cold laugh. “So what if he has a sister at the Life Spring realm? That gives them the nerve to act this arrogant and bully their own sect members…”

Zhang Wenchang sighed. “Where there is light, there is shadow. Where there is white, there is black. It’s the same everywhere. Not everyone can be good, and not everyone can be evil — people are a mixed lot. Even if you can’t stand it, you just have to bear it…”

Ye Fan’s mood was far from settled. “I’ll take care of every single one of them, then deal with Chen Feng’s sister too. Watching you get pushed around by these people — I can’t be at peace with that.”

Hearing those words, Zhang Wenchang felt both moved and frightened. He stopped Ye Fan from continuing and glanced over his left shoulder. “Don’t stir up trouble, whatever you do. You don’t understand cultivation — the only reason you could beat these people is because your constitution far surpasses ordinary men after eating that sacred fruit. But you can’t begin to imagine how terrifying a cultivator at the Life Spring realm is…”

Ye Fan smiled. “Relax. I won’t cause trouble here.”

Zhang Wenchang’s expression shifted rapidly. “You should leave quickly. If you’re still here when they wake up and bring that woman back, things will get very messy. Even if Yiyi were to emerge from closed-door cultivation, she couldn’t stop it.”

“If I leave like this, won’t they just take out all their anger on you?”

“It’s fine. They won’t dare kill me — killing a fellow sect member without cause requires paying with one’s own life. Don’t worry about me, just get out of here fast!” Zhang Wenchang pushed at Ye Fan anxiously, urging him to flee.

Just then, Ye Fan sensed Han Feiyu and Chen Feng stirring back to consciousness on the ground. He immediately called out loudly, “All right — since that’s the case, I’ll leave at once.”

With those words said, he brought his foot down hard on Han Feiyu’s and Chen Feng’s faces, stamping on them several times. The two on the ground endured the searing pain in silence, not crying out at all. They were playing dead, intending to immediately send someone to ambush Ye Fan on the road the moment he left.

“Hurry up and go.” Zhang Wenchang urged him urgently and anxiously. “There’s a river outside the sect gate. I remember your swimming is excellent — once you get out, jump straight into the river and swim away. Stay underwater as long as possible; otherwise, that woman can fly and will spot you quickly.”

“Understood.” Ye Fan called back loudly, then turned and walked away. Zhang Wenchang followed behind to see him off.

The moment the two of them had gone, Chen Feng shot upright, grinding his teeth. “Think you can just walk away… not so easy. I’ll grind your bones to dust and scatter them to the wind!”

At the same time, Han Feiyu endured the agonizing pain of his broken bones and pulled himself to his feet. Murderous intent blazed from his eyes. “Brother Chen, go quickly and bring your sister to hunt him down. We must catch him — if we don’t flay him alive, this rage in my heart will never be satisfied!”

Ye Fan reached the sect gate and turned back to Zhang Wenchang. “Don’t worry — nothing will happen. Go back quickly.”

“Leave fast, and take care of yourself!” Zhang Wenchang urged, his face filled with worry.

“All right. Goodbye!” Ye Fan turned and strode away.

The river in front of the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven’s gate was wide and swift. Ye Fan walked downstream along its bank — not fleeing at all. On the contrary, he walked slowly. He was waiting for those who would come after him.

Right now, his greatest confidence lay in his own speed. Whenever he pushed himself to his full capacity in flight, the golden Bitter Sea would surge with towering waves accompanied by flashing lightning and rolling thunder. His body would be swallowed by golden light and electricity, with wind and thunder roaring around him — his speed reached a level that defied imagination.

Even if I truly can’t overpower them, I can still escape…

Only a quarter of an hour passed before the sound of air being rent apart came from upstream. Several silhouettes came riding arcs of light at great speed.

“Think you can just walk away… not so easy!” A woman in blue called out sharply. Her robes billowed and snapped in the wind as she descended in front of him, blocking his path.

Then the other three flew down as well, cutting off his retreat and surrounding him in the center. All four were cultivators at the Life Spring realm — two men and two women, all appearing to be around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. Their expressions were hostile; none of them regarded Ye Fan as a living person.

Ye Fan fixed his gaze on the blue-robed woman of attractive features before him. “Are you Chen Feng’s sister?”

“Yes.” The blue-robed woman’s face was as still as deep water. She looked at Ye Fan with cold, icy eyes and said, “So young, and already so vicious in your methods. If you’re allowed to grow up, who knows how many more people will suffer. Today, I’ll cut out this source of trouble.”

Ye Fan was not angered. “What a joke. Who is truly vicious, and who is truly the trouble — I think you know very well in your own heart.”

The blue-robed woman looked down at him from above. “What do you mean by that? You wounded people and now you think you’re in the right?”

“Do you really not know what kind of person your brother is? Arrogant and domineering, bullying fellow sect members, even declaring he’d cripple me. When he couldn’t best me in a fight and got taught a lesson, he turned around and brought you all to ambush me. You truly are a wonderful sister — sure enough, born from the same mother. Even your character is the same.”

“You… you’re looking for death!” The blue-robed woman had not expected Ye Fan to dare speak back to her like this. Her complexion turned extremely ugly.

The other three paid Ye Fan no mind whatsoever. One of the men spoke in a casual, unhurried tone, “Chen Yu, you called all of us here — isn’t this making a mountain out of a molehill? There’s absolutely no need to make such a fuss over nothing. He’s just an ordinary mortal — what’s the difference between him and an ant? Just kill him and be done with it. Why waste words on him?”

“Finish it quickly. No need to waste time.”

“I might as well just head back. One finger is enough to poke a mortal like this to death. No need for all of us to be here.”

The other two were even more direct. They had already written Ye Fan off as a dead man and didn’t spare him a proper glance.

“Don’t kill him yet — leave him for me…” A shout came from upstream. Chen Feng was sprinting toward them at full speed.

Han Feiyu followed with a hand pressed to his chest, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He rushed over, his teeth grinding. “He can’t be allowed to die painlessly!”

“You’ve truly written me off as a dead man already?” Ye Fan looked at the four people nearby, then glanced at Chen Feng and Han Feiyu approaching in the distance. A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth.

To one side, a man sneered, “You think you can still walk away alive from this?”

Another woman wore an expression of contempt. “You don’t know what’s good for you. For a mortal like you, I could take your life with a single drop of spit. Killing you is no different from squashing a bedbug.”

“In your next life, don’t be so reckless,” yet another man mocked, “otherwise you’ll end up the same as today — dying without even knowing how you died.”

Chen Yu’s blue robes rippled. The killing intent on her face gradually receded. “Killing him would dirty my hands. Leave him for that Han boy — it’ll also keep the sect from gossiping about us.”

Watching Chen Feng and Han Feiyu almost arrive, Ye Fan shook his head with a smile, then let out a soft sigh. “Truly falling over each other to deliver themselves to their deaths.”

The words had barely fallen when Ye Fan suddenly struck. He lunged directly toward one of the men standing three meters away and swung his palm out with full force.

An ordinary mortal launching a sudden attack — not one of those present was prepared. Ye Fan’s speed was too fast, like a bolt of lightning. He was at the man’s side in an instant and sent him flying with a single slap. The sound left everyone’s eardrums buzzing.

Crack!

The power behind that slap was beyond imagination.

The man’s skull cracked open directly. His eyes were filled with terror and unwillingness; until death, he never understood how a mortal could be so terrifying. He was beaten to death outright.

In that same moment, one of the women let out a scream. The golden scripture Ye Fan unleashed blazed like a sun shrouded in divine golden fire. It swept through in a single surge, cutting her head clean off. Blood sprayed outward as her corpse crumpled to the ground.

This all took only an instant. Ye Fan had already eliminated two Life Spring cultivators. Chen Yu and the remaining man fell back rapidly, each drawing out their own weapons to hold before them.

“This is…” Both felt a chill run through their entire bodies. They never imagined that the refined-looking young man before them could be this terrifying — dispatching two companions with a raise of his hand.

“What you said applies equally to yourselves.” Ye Fan shook his head. “You’ll die without even knowing how…”

Chen Yu and the man’s expressions became unspeakably ugly. Without a word, they shot into the air, intending to flee by flight.

Not far away, Chen Feng and Han Feiyu were utterly dumbstruck. They could barely believe their own eyes. Two Life Spring cultivators had died in an instant — it shook them to the core.

“Nowhere to run!”

Ye Fan’s golden scripture dove back into his body, and in a flash a small golden cauldron flew out, shooting after the fleeing man like a bolt of golden lightning.

Clang! Clang!

Two metallic rings rang out. The man’s two sacred treasures were both shattered. The small golden cauldron pierced straight through his skull and burst through. His corpse plummeted to the ground.

The small golden cauldron did not stop. It swiftly caught up to Chen Yu. Its golden light blazed brilliantly — nothing could withstand it. In rapid succession it shattered all three of Chen Yu’s treasures, reducing them to dust.

“No!” Chen Yu screamed in terror. She unleashed her divine ability, sending a blinding sheet of flame from her fingers toward the small golden cauldron. At the same time, she slashed repeatedly through the air, calling down bolts of lightning that ripped across the sky in a brilliant display.

But none of it could stop the small cauldron. Its golden light blazed fiercely and brilliantly, reducing all in its path to nothing. It pierced straight through the center of Chen Yu’s forehead, leaving a blood-hole as wide as a thumb. Her corpse fell.

The small cauldron gleamed with radiant light as it flew back — remarkably eye-catching, its divine resonance appearing as if born naturally of the Dao.

I look forward to the day when a single vessel breaks ten thousand techniques!

A flash of light — and the cauldron sank back into Ye Fan’s body, vanishing.

“My golden Bitter Sea is unlike any other — the divine power it contains is many times greater than ordinary people’s. It has not disappointed me…” Ye Fan had few feelings of particular wonder about this battle. From the moment he laid eyes on those four, he had known he could cut them down.

Not far away, Chen Feng and Han Feiyu’s faces drained of all color. They spun and ran. Their legs were trembling, and they staggered as they fled — both of them scared out of their wits.

“Since you’ve already come, there’s no going back.” Ye Fan covered the distance to them in a few strides. He reached out and pressed his hand forward. Chen Feng died on the spot, crashing face-first into the dust.

Han Feiyu cried out in terror, “Don’t kill me… I’m…”

“Whoever you are, it won’t help. Your great-uncle was already cut down by me.”

“What? You…” Han Feiyu’s face went ashen. He let out a desperate cry. “No!”

“Elder Han is waiting for you down below!” Ye Fan was swift and decisive. A single extended finger — and Han Feiyu died completely.

After cleaning up the scene, Ye Fan had only just stood up when the sound of air splitting reached him from the horizon. An elderly man with silver hair and a childlike complexion, carrying the air of an immortal sage, came flying over with Zhang Wenchang and descended swiftly.

“Thank heaven and earth — you’re unharmed.” Zhang Wenchang was deeply moved. He came running over quickly. “I’ve brought Elder Ma Yun here. He’ll escort you away.”

Ye Fan was moved as well, and smiled. “Relax — I’m very hard to kill.”

“You…” Just then, Elder Ma Yun’s expression changed abruptly. He caught the smell of blood in the air, and stared at Ye Fan. “You killed all of them?!”

“They wanted to kill me. There was no choice — I had no option but to fight back.” Ye Fan answered calmly.

This old man was not unfamiliar to Ye Fan. Three years ago, it was he who had brought Liu Yiyi and Zhang Wenchang back to the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven, and it was he who had first perceived Ye Fan’s Desolate Holy Physique.

“You…” Though Elder Ma Yun had the bearing of an immortal transcendent and appeared otherworldly, killing intent surfaced on his face in that moment.

“Elder Ma Yun, I have always respected you deeply. From the very first time we met, I felt you were a benevolent elder. I hope you won’t disappoint me. Right and wrong — I believe you understand and know the truth of it.” At this point, Ye Fan slowly rose into the air. Golden divine fire blazed outside his body, like a deity descended into the mortal world. He continued, “With my speed, you will not be able to stop me.”

“You… you can actually cultivate?!” Elder Ma Yun’s face was filled with astonishment. He murmured to himself, “You are of the Desolate Holy Physique — you clearly could not cultivate… and yet now you have reached the Life Spring realm. Can it be that the sacred fruit from the Forbidden Desolate Land has this kind of miraculous effect? This cultivation speed… it’s terrifying.”

“Merely a stroke of luck.”

“Would you be willing to join my Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven?” Elder Ma Yun’s face was filled with hopeful expectation.

“I appreciate your good intentions, Elder, but I’ve grown accustomed to freedom and wandering — I’m truly not suited to joining any sect.”

Ma Yun’s expression turned deeply regretful. He sighed. “Back then, we were all blind — we actually turned you away at the door…”

“Elder Ma, how do you intend to handle today’s matter?” Ye Fan asked calmly.

Beneath them, Zhang Wenchang was completely stunned. He stared at Ye Fan, wrapped in brilliant golden light, feeling this was almost impossible to believe.

“I know the character of those people.” Elder Ma Yun deliberated for a long while before finally speaking. “You… go.”

“Thank you, Elder.” Ye Fan continued, “I’d like to take Wenchang with me.”

“Are you worried about him?” Elder Ma Yun shook his head. “Back then, it was I who brought Wenchang and Yiyi into the sect — and I did not look after them well enough. Today, I will take Wenchang as my disciple. From here on, no one will dare mistreat him again.”

“Then I’m at ease. Thank you, Elder Ma.”

Below, Zhang Wenchang felt as though he were in a dream — all of this felt unreal.

“I ask that the Elder please not speak of my affairs to anyone.”

Ma Yun nodded. “I understand.”

Ye Fan landed and walked to Zhang Wenchang’s side. “Farewell. I’ll come to see you again someday.”

Long after Ye Fan had departed, Zhang Wenchang still stood silently watching the direction in which he had gone.

“Though you are somewhat slow-witted, you have a kind heart — and being honest and sincere is itself a blessing…” Elder Ma Yun walked over and patted his shoulder, then looked in the direction Ye Fan had gone, gazing into the distance in a daze, lost in his own thoughts.

Two days later, Ye Fan heard that the ancient Jiang Family and the Yao Guang Holy Land had joined forces and were about to enter the Forbidden Desolate Land. Upon receiving word, he rushed swiftly toward that place.

That terrifying life-forbidden zone was located in the central territory of the Yan Nation. One could approach from any direction, but since the Jiang Family and Yao Guang Holy Land had settled on a particular route, nearly every cultivator who had come upon hearing the news chose that same direction.

Several days had already passed. The powerful figures of the Jiang Family and Yao Guang Holy Land were lodged in a small town at the foot of the mountains and still showed no signs of setting out. The other cultivators had no choice but to linger outside the mountains.

Ye Fan had originally intended to venture in alone, but after learning more about the situation, cold sweat ran down his back. He decided to follow behind the Yao Guang Holy Land and Jiang Family.

Let them go face the danger first. I’ll fish in troubled waters from behind. The sacred medicine’s pull on him was too great. No matter how dangerous it might be, he had to obtain it. His greatest advantage was that he had consumed a sacred fruit and could resist the curse within the forbidden zone.

In the area outside the mountains, fresh unfamiliar faces could be seen each day. Cultivators from across the Eastern Desolation were arriving in an unending stream, and their numbers grew larger and larger.

Over these past several days, Ye Fan had been scouting around nearby and had gathered a great deal of valuable intelligence.

Long ago, a certain immortal sect and holy land had launched an assault on the Forbidden Desolate Land and was completely annihilated — turned to dust and ashes without a trace. From then on, the Forbidden Desolate Land had become even more terrifying. It exerted a tremendous influence on cultivators, capable of sealing all divine abilities and powers, and could even strip powerful figures down to the level of ordinary mortals.

For me, this may perhaps be an opportunity! Ye Fan felt no fear. On the contrary, his eyes blazed with a penetrating light.

Another half a month passed. The Jiang Family and Yao Guang Holy Land still showed no sign of moving. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Then one day, Ye Fan spotted from a distance — Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, Lin Jia, and Li Xiaoman, all four of them — being escorted by a host of powerful figures from both the Jiang Family and Yao Guang Holy Land as they walked into the small town.

Ye Fan furrowed his brow. He knew that these two factions had certainly learned that these four had previously entered and exited the Forbidden Desolate Land, and were most likely trying to gather information from them — or perhaps even have them accompany the expedition.

“Dead… all dead… all dead…” A white-haired old madman outside the mountains wept and laughed in turns, constantly repeating the same words.

Ye Fan walked over and asked him, “Old man, what are you saying?”

“Dead… all dead… all dead. Anyone who enters the forbidden land — not one can survive…” He wept and laughed, rambling and incoherent. “I have already seen the image of rivers of blood, mountains of bones…”

“You…” Ye Fan looked at him with suspicion and unease.

“Turn back quickly, or you will die too…” The old madman wept and laughed at once. “Boundless withered bones, seas of blood and mountains of corpses… it… has come again…”

Ye Fan listened, completely baffled and at a loss.

Just then, an old woman appeared silently not far away. She stared vacantly at the old madman in the distance and murmured to herself, “Could it be him? Six thousand years ago — all the powerful figures of that supremely flourishing immortal sect, didn’t they all perish within the Forbidden Desolate Land? How is it that I see him again…”

Hearing those words, Ye Fan felt his head throb.

“Boundless withered bones, seas of blood and mountains of corpses… it… has come again…” The white-haired old madman cried and laughed by turns, wandering back and forth outside the mountains.