Those few old men showed no expression, stepping forward through the void like several great mountains pressing down, making it hard for anyone nearby to breathe.
The four elderly women of the demon clan had cut their way out of the encirclement already utterly exhausted and covered in wounds. The seven old men before them were not weaker than them to begin with — if this battle were to continue, the outcome would hold no suspense whatsoever.
“No need to strike to kill — just subdue them…” The young woman in purple said through sound transmission, laughing and smiling all the while, her hair dancing lightly, her purple robes floating — like a sprite.
The elderly women of the demon clan sighed inwardly. They knew there was not the slightest chance of winning. Continuing to fight meant only death — nothing could be changed. These few women had all weathered great storms and were not rigid in their thinking. To die here would serve no purpose. In the end, they chose to break through.
All four of them used methods that would bring mutual destruction with the enemy — extremely fierce, refusing to yield even in death. Blood sprayed everywhere as they burned their own life force, and they finally broke free. But in doing so, they left Ye Fan behind.
The seven old men moved to pursue and kill, but were stopped by the young woman in purple. She wrinkled her delicate nose and said: “Let them go. I have no desire to see bloodshed. We did not come here to fight in the first place. Let the others deal with it.”
Saying this, she stepped forward herself, walked a circle around Ye Fan, looked him up and down, and asked: “Who are you? You are a human cultivator — why were you with those great demons?”
Ye Fan remained calm. He stepped forward to express his thanks. “Many thanks to you all for the rescue. I am merely a rogue cultivator who wandered into a demon clan cave realm by accident and was taken against my will. Fortunately, you intervened.”
“You are lying.” The young woman in purple smoothed her hair and smiled brightly, shooting him a sidelong glance. “You were obviously working together with those demons. You dare try to deceive me like this. If you don’t tell the truth, I have plenty of means to deal with you.”
“Sigh, it is a long story and I had no choice in the matter. It went like this…” Ye Fan rattled off a series of fabrications. He could not possibly reveal the demon emperor’s heart — if he did, those present would likely tear open his sea of bitterness on the spot and seize the sacred heart.
The young woman in purple walked up to him, pinched one of his cheeks with an ill-intentioned smile, and said: “Little brother, you are very naughty. If you keep lying to me, don’t blame your older sister for being unkind.”
This young woman was only seventeen or eighteen at most, while Ye Fan’s actual age had long since surpassed twenty. Being addressed this way left him completely speechless.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” The young woman’s dimple appeared on her left cheek, a clever gleam flashing through her eyes. She continued to pinch Ye Fan’s face and said: “I am actually a very kind person. Even if you don’t tell the truth, I won’t kill you — at most I’ll carve a little turtle on your left cheek and a little toad on your right cheek.”
“I have nothing to hide…” Ye Fan stalled for time while thinking of a way to escape. He had to get away as soon as possible. His sea of bitterness held far too many secrets — if he fell into the Ji Family’s hands, they would most likely be exposed.
From the distant sky, golden lotuses bloomed petal by petal, auspicious colors spreading in ten thousand directions. An elegant, graceful form transformed into a streak of flowing light and arrived — it was Yan Ruyu. Taking in the scene before her, she simply swept out her hand. Golden lotus flowers bloomed throughout the field, and in an instant, the seven old men were obliterated in body and soul.
Yet the young woman in purple did not fall. Though blood leaked from the corner of her mouth and she was sent flying backward, crystalline light shimmered across her entire body, which had blocked the golden lotus. She had not perished.
Yan Ruyu struck again. Planting golden lotuses in the sea of bitterness — the phenomenon manifested in abundance. The air carried wave after wave of rich fragrance, and blazing golden light drowned out everything below.
Yan Ruyu looked back toward Ye Fan and transmitted her voice: “People are after me. If you travel with me, it will be one near-death experience after another. You will have to rely on yourself.” And with that, she shot toward the distance and disappeared at the edge of the horizon.
Though she was the descendant of the demon clan great emperor, ten thousand years had passed. Times had changed. This branch of her bloodline had long since fallen into decline. If she could manage to escape, she could only go and seek refuge with powerful senior members of the demon clan.
“Cough…” Down below, within the great gorge that had been split open, points of radiance flickered. The young woman in purple had somehow not died. She struggled her way out and muttered to herself: “That flawlessly beautiful demon woman is terrifying…”
Her face was ashen and smeared, and she kept coughing blood. Only her large eyes still held some life in them. Her body swayed unsteadily as she struggled to stand up among the rubble.
Ye Fan understood clearly just how powerful Yan Ruyu was. Even the senior generation powerhouses of the Ji Family could not withstand a single strike from her golden lotuses. Yet this young woman had somehow endured it without dying — this shocked him deeply.
From the distance, a ripple of divine sense approached. Ye Fan was startled. This was surely an extraordinarily powerful cultivator — likely a member pursuing Yan Ruyu, now searching through the distant mountains. He quickly hid himself down in the gorge below.
The young woman in purple started in alarm. “What are you doing?”
From a considerable distance, Ye Fan raised his hand and offered up his cauldron, pressing it down toward the young woman.
“You—”
The young woman struggled with all her might, but she was gravely injured — even standing was difficult, swaying as she was. That she had survived the phenomenon of planting golden lotuses in the sea of bitterness was already a miracle in itself. She could not block the descending cauldron.
“Stop — stop it!” The young woman in purple was both furious and alarmed.
The cauldron was of incomparable antiquity. Enlarged to five meters in height, it descended with a weight of ten thousand jun, pressing the young woman in purple down beneath it, immobilizing her completely.
Ye Fan quickly stepped forward, unleashing wave after wave of divine radiance. He not only sealed the young woman’s sea of bitterness but also restrained her physical body, preventing any unexpected incidents.
“What are you trying to do?” The young woman in purple blinked her large eyes, and surprisingly, she did not panic. She tilted her head and looked at him.
“I need you to escort me out of here.” Ye Fan knew that when the demon clan members had protected him during the escape, it had certainly been noticed by those of the Ji Family. If he were discovered, it would be very difficult to escape. This young woman was no ordinary person — keeping her in hand might serve as a talisman to ward off harm.
Suddenly, Ye Fan heard the sound of flowing water coming from down below in the great gorge. His divine sense was incomparably powerful. The golden lake at the center of his brow sent a beam of golden light shooting into the dark crevice below.
“There is an underground river below…” Ye Fan turned and grabbed the young woman, jumping down into the dark crevice.
“Hey, hey, hey — I am afraid of the dark, don’t jump! I can guarantee the Ji Family will not lay a hand on you. Come back up quickly.” The young woman in purple grew somewhat flustered. Being taken away by someone like this — there was no telling what accidents might occur.
“I am accustomed to keeping everything in my own hands. I have no desire to place my hopes in someone else’s.” Ye Fan replied calmly. “There is no need for you to serve as a talisman at this moment.”
It had to be said that Ye Fan’s divine sense was incomparably powerful — it had reached an astonishing level. The golden lake at his brow was like a vertical eye, blazing with radiance. In his eyes, the dark crevice was as bright as daylight, and everything within it could be perceived.
They fell a full four or five hundred meters before nearing the underground river. The current was swift and the water bone-chillingly cold, flowing in an unknown direction.
“Splash!”
Ye Fan grabbed the young woman and jumped straight in, carried along by the current and rushing toward the distance.
“You are insane!” The young woman cried out in alarm, her large eyes wide open, long lashes blinking rapidly. “Underground rivers are the most dangerous — you might go days, or even months, without seeing daylight again. There is no knowing where you’ll end up. It might connect to a sea eye, or it might lead into a region dense with malevolent energy.”
“Still safer than falling into your Ji Family’s hands.” Ye Fan replied flatly.
The young woman in purple smiled sweetly, her dimple appearing, looking captivating. She used a honeyed voice to coax him: “Little brother, you really should trust me. Come out and I will guarantee your safety. You saw it yourself — I even let those elderly women of the demon clan go.”
“What is your connection to Ji Haoyue within the Ji Family?” Ye Fan was unmoved and asked this instead.
“He is my seventh older brother. If you release me, there will be many benefits for you. I can have him teach you how to cultivate the bright moon rising over the sea phenomenon.” The young woman in purple’s eyes shone with light as she guided him step by step.
“Hiss!”
Ye Fan drew a sharp breath. The young woman he had captured was of exceptional status — she was actually the younger sister of Ji Haoyue, the bearer of the divine body. He muttered to himself: “It seems I am going to have to be harsh with a flower…”
“You — don’t do anything reckless!” The young woman in purple was startled.
“You are an important figure of the Ji Family. Now that I have taken you captive, if the Ji Family learns of this, they will certainly silence me. So I can only apologize.”
The young woman in purple struggled urgently. “If you want to live, you absolutely cannot kill me — don’t you know? Those of us in the Ji Family who are special carry marks on our bodies. The moment we die, no matter the distance, the news is transmitted directly back to the Ji Family.”
“Marks… You are one of the Ji Family’s special children?” Ye Fan had heard vaguely of such a thing.
“You must not do anything rash — otherwise, if you kill me, your own survival will be in grave danger.” The young woman in purple was genuinely afraid Ye Fan might cut her down on the spot. “I withstood the golden lotus phenomenon of that flawlessly beautiful demon woman without being slain on the spot — that alone should speak for itself.”
Ye Fan felt this young woman was truly extraordinary. He leaned more toward thinking she had a powerful treasure on her person. He chuckled and mimicked her earlier tone: “I am actually a very kind person. Even if you don’t tell the truth, I won’t kill you — at most I’ll carve a little turtle on your left cheek and a little toad on your right cheek.”
“You— what do you want me to say?” The young woman in purple was both furious and alarmed, her large, luminous eyes wide open and round.
“Hand over every single treasure you have on you.”
“What?!” The young woman in purple’s little mouth fell open, her lashes fluttering, her expression filled with complete disbelief. “You — you are robbing me?!”
“That is correct. I am robbing you. Hand over everything you have.”
A full month passed before Ye Fan and the young woman in purple finally left the underground river. They were swept into a vast lake. Ye Fan felt the powerful water pressure — an ordinary person would certainly have been crushed to pieces.
The water below was pitch-black, impossible to see through with the naked eye. But for Ye Fan, it posed no issue at all. The golden lake at his brow blazed with light, and his powerful divine sense swept in all directions, everything entering his awareness.
“What is this place?” He was astonished. At the bottom of this water, amid crumbling walls and ruined foundations, there were remains of many palaces. Ye Fan moved through the water with careful wariness.
At this moment, the young woman in purple was enveloped in a protective veil of his divine energy. She could barely make out objects within two or three meters, and she cried out in alarm: “Heavens — is this a relic from before the ancient era?”
Ye Fan moved forward, and suddenly his heart shook. Ahead was an enormous bronze hall — immense beyond reckoning, almost comparable to a small city — imposing and majestic. It had not collapsed, and its preservation was reasonably intact. Green rust mottled its surface, and it gave off an ancient and grand impression — an overwhelming feeling of desolation.
He could scarcely imagine what kind of place he had been swept into.
“Ah—” Just then, the young woman in purple inside the veil suddenly cried out in alarm. If she had been able to move, she would likely have fled in a panic already.
At first, Ye Fan had been drawn by the bronze hall — which rivaled a small city in scale — and had not paid attention to the surroundings. Only now did he notice the dozens of corpses. As he moved, the water stirred, and those corpses floated up from among the ruins, appearing behind him.
Their faces could not be seen clearly. All were sealed beneath a waxy layer of grease, their entire bodies like a cocoon — eerie and disturbing.
“They are just a few corpses. What is there to fear? What lake has never claimed a drowned person?”
“These — these are waxy corpses from before the ancient era!” The young woman in purple cried out in alarm, her face drained of all color. “On an ordinary day, even one is nearly impossible to encounter. That dozens have appeared here — and it seems there are even more — heavens, what kind of place is this?!”
Ye Fan’s heart grew solemn. He proceeded with careful vigilance toward the great bronze hall ahead. When he drew near, the young woman in purple saw the bronze hall — enormous and majestic as a small city — and her face instantly went ashen. “The Bronze Immortal Palace… How can this be? It truly exists in the world?!”
“Is something wrong?” Ye Fan could see from her expression that something was amiss, and he felt increasingly uneasy.
“Run — we have to leave this place immediately, otherwise we are both going to die!” The young woman in purple had not been afraid even after being taken captive by Ye Fan. But now her face was filled with absolute terror.
Ye Fan felt a chill in his heart. “What is this place?”