Ye Fan’s spiritual consciousness was extraordinarily powerful. From the small golden lake formed between his brows, a sweeping beam of spiritual light went out without him consciously intending it, perceiving Elder Wu Qingfeng’s cultivation level in an instant — Divine Bridge realm.
“Elder, there is something I wish to give you.” At this point, his expression became grave, and he lowered his voice: “You must keep it carefully hidden — on no account must you let anyone else know, or it will bring harm to you.”
Elder Wu Qingfeng was somewhat surprised. He did not know why Ye Fan would say something like this, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
“Please go find a clean jade bottle.”
When Ye Fan produced the jade purification vase and poured out a single drop of divine spring water, an intense and concentrated vitality immediately emanated from it, and the elder was stunned on the spot.
“This is… such tremendous life force!”
“Even if this water cannot revive the dead and restore flesh to bare bone, it is more than sufficient for healing wounds and preserving life.” Ye Fan said gravely. The elder had shown him much kindness and consideration in the past. He was a person who understood gratitude. About to leave the Yan territory, not knowing when he would return, he naturally wished to repay that kindness.
“This water is too precious — I cannot accept it. Please put it away quickly.” Elder Wu Qingfeng shook his head and declined.
“Please say no more about it — I am completely sincere…”
In the end, Ye Fan filled a jade gourd with divine spring water and pressed it into the elder’s hands, adding a final emphatic warning: “On no account must you let anyone else know.”
Elder Wu Qingfeng carefully observed the divine water, sensing the boundless life energy within it. He knew it likely had an extraordinary origin, and looked toward Ye Fan in bewilderment: “This is…”
“Please do not ask.”
The elder could never have guessed that this water came from the divine spring of a sacred mountain within the Desolate Ancient Holy Land. Had he known, he would likely have been dumbstruck on the spot.
“My affairs here are settled — I am leaving the Yan territory. Please take good care of yourself, Elder.” Ye Fan bowed deeply to the old man.
“Child, where are you going — surely you are not truly heading for the Yaochi Holy Land?” Elder Wu Qingfeng looked at him and offered earnest words of counsel: “The Yaochi Holy Land is separated from the Yan territory by countless mountains and rivers. The journey is impossibly long. An ordinary person could never reach that region in an entire lifetime, and even if you somehow managed to arrive, I fear that…”
“Please set your mind at ease. I have my own plans. Even if I do not go there, I intend to roam the world — the Eastern Wilderness is so vast; it would be a real shame not to traverse it in its entirety while one’s years are good.”
Ye Fan then asked the elder whether the belongings he had left behind in the Lingxu Cave Paradise were still there, as he wished to retrieve them.
“I would need to send someone to ask. After you and Pang Bo disappeared, the sect assigned that valley to someone else. Whatever you left behind was most likely collected. It is only unclear whether it has been preserved.”
“Very well — I will go outside and walk around for a while first.” Since he was about to leave, Ye Fan wanted to take one last look at the primordial ruins.
The ruins were adjacent to the Lingxu Cave Paradise, the two having originally been part of the same whole. Looking out from a distance, the peaks ahead had collapsed, grass and trees had withered, and a scene of desolation and bleakness spread before him. The green mountains and lush valleys had become scorched earth; the vegetation had long since lost all vitality. The place had become a barren wasteland — a world apart from the teeming, life-filled scene it had once been.
Towering ancient trees, lush plant life — all of it had been destroyed, leaving nothing behind except a deathly stillness and a chill bleakness.
“The endless cultivators of the Eastern Wilderness descended upon this place. Bloodshed and death persisted for three years in the effort to force open the Demon Emperor’s yin tomb. This place has been thoroughly ruined.” Ye Fan was filled with feeling.
He quietly congratulated himself for having had the presence of mind to withdraw decisively when he did. Otherwise, he would very likely no longer be in this world. In the distance, those fractured and shattered great mountains bore witness to the terrible events of these past three years. The overwhelming force that had torn through them was chilling just to contemplate.
“Pang Bo disappeared here. I wonder where he is now?” Ye Fan came to where the Five Finger Mountain once stood, but found nothing at all. That perfect woman and the other powerful members of the demon clan had long since vanished without a trace.
He then came before the Demon Emperor’s yin tomb. The deep pool was black as ink — a black that sent a chill down the spine. A grim and desolate aura shot straight up into the sky, making even the blazing sun seem cold. Only the ridge of mountains where the cold pool was located had been preserved. All the other great mountains around it had been shattered. The entire area was a dark, dull red — stained by the blood of cultivators. The mountains of corpses had been cleared away, but the dried blood remained, its blackened traces bearing testament to the brutality of what had transpired there.
“Pang Bo… once I have the strength, I will certainly find you and bring you to safety.” Ye Fan left the place and returned to the Lingxu Cave Paradise.
Ahead, a waterfall cascaded down from one of the beautiful celestial mountains, hanging like a silver ribbon against the cliff face.
Several young men and women stood not far from the waterfall. One of them — a young woman of roughly twenty years of age — wore a pale yellow dress gathered with a jade belt that accentuated her slender waist, her graceful form making her curves all the more captivating. She was quite attractive, with a beauty mark at the corner of her lips that lent her an additional bewitching quality.
As Ye Fan walked past the waterfall, the young woman showed a puzzled expression, then seemed to recall something. Her complexion shifted slightly, and she immediately let out a cold laugh: “So it’s you!”
Ye Fan naturally recognized the young woman before him — it was Li Lin, one of the Lingxu Cave Paradise’s gifted prodigies, well acquainted with Han Feiyu. Three years ago, in the primordial ruins, she had targeted both him and Pang Bo while standing up for Han Feiyu.
Several others stood before the waterfall. A young man of roughly twenty years of age heard this and turned around. The instant he saw Ye Fan, first astonishment crossed his face, followed immediately by unveiled killing intent. He said coldly: “It’s actually you. You were lucky enough to escape back then — and you actually dare come back to our Lingxu Cave Paradise.”
This young man was also not unfamiliar — it was Li Yun from that day. Extraordinarily talented, no less gifted than a prodigy, he had always stood side by side with Li Lin.
Ye Fan smiled and pretended not to recognize them. “Who are you two? Why are you blocking my path?”
“Playing dumb, are you? You think you can bluff your way out of this?” Li Lin’s pretty face was icy cold, and a cold light glinted in her almond-shaped eyes. “Three years — I have thought about meeting you again every single moment of every day. I never imagined you would truly dare to come back.”
“Do I hold such great fascination for you, that you would think of me so? Naturally, you’d find me far more interesting than the fellow standing beside you.”
Li Yun’s expression darkened. He fixed his cold gaze on Ye Fan and said: “You good-for-nothing who cannot even cultivate — death is knocking at your door and you still flap your lips. Besides that, what else can you do?”
“I say, you two — do we really have such a great enmity between us?” Ye Fan asked with a composed smile.
“Never mind the grudge between you and Junior Brother Han. On the grounds alone that you lured out the jade-horned serpent in the primordial ruins and sent it to attack us, this cannot be let go. I once swore that if I ever encountered you, this good-for-nothing, again, I would certainly kill you!” Li Yun thought back to those past events, and his face turned cold as a block of ice, radiating a bone-chilling air.
Li Lin was also crying out, as memory after memory of that day rose in her mind and made her want to fly into a rage. If Elder Han had not appeared suddenly in the primordial ruins to cut down that jade-horned serpent, both she and Li Yun would certainly have been devoured by the old serpent. At the time she had sworn to grind Ye Fan’s bones to dust and scatter them to the wind. Now encountering him unexpectedly, she trembled with excitement, and said in a cold voice: “To think we would see this day come. You couldn’t even cultivate, yet you repeatedly defied us and nearly got us killed. You good-for-nothing — today I will certainly kill you!”
Li Yun’s expression was nearly vicious. “There’s nothing to say to him. I will torture him to death with my own hands.” With that, he walked forward.
To one side, the several other young disciples all looked on like spectators watching a show.
“I have an impression of him — he used to be together with that gifted prodigy Pang Bo back then. Later, the two of them disappeared at the same time.”
“That’s right, I remember too. Those two once beat Han Feiyu half to death and threw several people into a mud pit.”
Li Lin and Li Yun closed in simultaneously, cold smiles on their faces. Their impression of Ye Fan was still that of several years ago — they could never have known that he had already become a cultivator of the Divine Bridge realm.
“I want to see him kneel and beg for mercy…” Li Lin said this, feeling that killing Ye Fan outright would not give her the satisfaction of revenge. Only by humiliating him personally would she feel fulfilled.
“Why haven’t you knelt down yet!” Li Yun barked coldly, stepping forward until he stood directly before Ye Fan, looking down at him from above, his face icy.
“There is no one in this world worthy of my kneeling — certainly not you two…” Ye Fan coolly swept them with a glance.
Li Lin was a gifted prodigy; Li Yun was extraordinarily talented. Three years had now passed, and both had long since reached the Spring of Life realm. Very few people dared to provoke them, and they were always flattered as geniuses by those around them. Being mocked by someone they considered a good-for-nothing naturally turned their faces iron-grey.
“I’m making you kneel whether you like it or not!” Li Yun directly kicked toward Ye Fan’s knees. A cultivator of the Spring of Life realm was extraordinarily powerful. If such a kick landed on an ordinary person’s kneecaps, it would certainly shatter the bone.
“Even if a hundred like you came at once, it still wouldn’t be enough.” Ye Fan stepped lightly back several paces, graceful and effortless. Having reached the Divine Bridge realm, he did not take such a person seriously and had no desire to lower himself to their level.
“A good-for-nothing like you dares to call me small fry?!” Li Yun’s voice was ice-cold. Having always been regarded as a genius, he was now being disdained by someone he considered an ordinary person. His face was utterly unsightly. He pivoted his right leg and kicked hard toward Ye Fan’s jaw.
Having reached his current realm, Ye Fan had no desire to lower himself to their level, but that did not mean he had to simply endure. With a resounding “bang,” he seized Li Yun’s ankle, swung him around, and smashed him hard into the ground.
It was clean and efficient — like flowing water and drifting clouds. Those watching had barely registered a flash before Li Yun was face-down on the ground like a dead dog, groaning in pain and unable to rise for some time.
Li Lin sensed something was wrong. She did not press forward but instead moved to bring out her weapon to cut Ye Fan down directly.
But once Ye Fan moved, how could he possibly give her an opening? He left behind a phantom in his original position, appeared before Li Lin in an instant, delivered a knife-hand strike to the side of her neck, and knocked her unconscious on the spot. He then grabbed her, and with a “splash,” threw her into the deep pool beneath the waterfall.
“Glug, glug, glug…”
Half-unconscious, half-aware, Li Lin had no idea how much pool water she swallowed. Her body began to bloat rapidly.
“You good-for-nothing…” Li Yun groaned in pain, struggling to sit up. A flash of killing intent crossed his face as the radiance of the Sea of Bitterness flickered to life.
“Bang!”
But Ye Fan gave him no opportunity to bring out a weapon. He stomped forward with one foot, shattering that radiance outright, and in the same motion stepped forward with the other foot to press him flat against the ground.
All of this appeared remarkably simple. Two Spring of Life realm cultivators, as though they knew nothing of cultivation at all, had been subdued by Ye Fan in just a few moves. The bystanders all assumed it was merely a coincidence.
“Good-for-nothing…” Li Yun was frantic with rage. He, too, assumed it was a coincidence. He could never know that Ye Fan had returned to plain simplicity, and that those few simple moves contained infinite intricacy. His lungs were practically bursting with fury.
“What does it matter if you’re a genius? If you truly are one, then you’re the kind that’s meant to be stepped on.” With that, Ye Fan, in a thoroughly unscrupulous display, took the sole of his shoe and pressed it into Li Yun’s face, rubbing it back and forth. To make sure it left a clear impression, he went over it again and again — up, down, left, right — covering every inch.
“You… I will kill you!” Li Yun’s face was swollen, his eyes practically shooting fire.
“Bang!”
Ye Fan kicked him into the pool beneath the waterfall as well, then walked away without so much as a backward glance. He had absolutely no interest in either of these two.
The onlookers before the waterfall stood with their mouths agape, watching Ye Fan stride away with casual ease, then looking at the two unconscious figures in the water. Not one of them could quite believe their own eyes.
Ye Fan returned to Elder Wu Qingfeng’s residence and waited there for a time before the elder arrived.
“Elder, are the things I left behind here still around?”
Elder Wu Qingfeng furrowed his brow. “They are — but…”
“What is it?” Ye Fan was puzzled.
“I went to request them on your behalf, but…” Elder Wu Qingfeng appeared somewhat awkward, and opened his mouth but said nothing.
“Is there someone who intends to keep them for themselves and not return them to me?” Ye Fan asked.
That was indeed the case. As an elder of the Lingxu Cave Paradise, Elder Wu Qingfeng naturally felt this reflected poorly on him. He took Ye Fan’s hand and said: “Come with me — I will help you get them back.”
“Who exactly is it that wants to keep my things? Those worn-out bronze artifacts are long since damaged — they hold no real value whatsoever.”
“It is Elder Han Yishui. He has a deep fondness for the art of weapon-forging. He has been studying the copper lantern, the Vajra pestle, and the Great Thunder Sound Temple bronze plaque for quite some time now.”
“The Elder with the surname Han…” Ye Fan was immediately startled and quickly pressed for details. Just as he had suspected, this Elder Han Yishui was Han Feiyu’s own grandfather.
The Elder Han who was the medicine-refiner was Han Feiyu’s great-uncle — Ye Fan had heard this before. Han Feiyu’s paternal grandfather was also an elder of the Lingxu Cave Paradise.
The valley where Han Yishui resided was tranquil yet lively. Fine trees grew lushly, strange rocks were arranged in rows, a little bridge arched over a flowing stream, and pavilions were dotted about — the whole scene had a poetic and picturesque quality.
Within one of the pavilions, three elders sat together drinking tea. When they saw Elder Wu Qingfeng approach with Ye Fan in tow, the gaunt-framed, fair-complexioned elder in the center immediately furrowed his brow.
“Elder Han, I have brought this child here. Please return those bronze artifacts to him.”
The fair-complexioned Han Yishui sized Ye Fan up for a moment, then looked back at Wu Qingfeng and said blandly: “Weren’t those bronze artifacts the property of our sect disciple Pang Bo? What connection does he have to them?”
“You…” Elder Wu Qingfeng’s expression changed in an instant.
Ye Fan also felt a wave of displeasure. He said: “Elder Han Yishui, how can you say something like that? Some of those worn-out bronze artifacts are mine, and some belong to Pang Bo. Pang Bo has now gone missing — I am his closest friend. What do you mean I have no connection when I come to retrieve our belongings?”
Han Yishui’s expression immediately darkened. He said coldly: “Who are you exactly? This place is filled with elders of the Lingxu Cave Paradise, all of the Divine Bridge realm. What is discussed here are the secret techniques of cultivation. Is this a place for someone as insignificant as an ordinary person to trespass? Get yourself out of here!”
Elder Wu Qingfeng’s face immediately fell. “Han Yishui, what do you mean by this?”
Ye Fan also grew angry. He had not expected Han Yishui to adopt such a posture — looking down from a great height with an air of righteousness, keeping his sacred objects for himself, and then treating him with such contempt.
Han Yishui’s expression remained impassive. He smiled slightly at Elder Wu Qingfeng and said: “What I mean is that this valley is an important place. Someone like him — an idle ordinary person — has no standing to be here.”
“I am here only to retrieve my own belongings.” Ye Fan’s expression was calm as he fixed his gaze on Han Yishui. “Elder Han, please return those bronze artifacts to me.”
“What connection do those bronze artifacts have to you?” Han Yishui swept him with a cool glance. “I have already made myself very clear: those are the possessions of our sect disciple Pang Bo. He has now disappeared — his effects naturally belong to our Lingxu Cave Paradise. What business is it of yours as an outsider? You have never joined our sect — you have no place to speak here. What standing do you have? Remove yourself at once.” At this point, his expression darkened. “To trespass upon this important place of our sect — if you do not leave immediately, your life will be forfeit!”