Ye Fan had no choice left — he had to become a Source Heaven Master.

He did not want to be the one with the ill-looking face, so he would have to make everyone else wear that expression instead. If he became a Source Heaven Master, the holy city tens of thousands of li away would become his paradise.

“Brother Ye Fan, if you really can gamble a Saintess back, could you also win a wife for me?” Er Lengzi asked with earnest, guileless hope.

Ye Fan burst out laughing. “No problem.”

“If you can gamble a Saintess back, winning you an immortal-fairy wife would be no trouble at all,” Wang Shu teased Er Lengzi from the side.

“Besides Old Man Zhang the Fifth, is there anyone else in the stone fortress who knows quite a bit about sources?” Ye Fan wanted to build from the very foundations — becoming a Source Heaven Master was surely not going to be easy.

“The older generation all know something, but for true mastery, it’s still only Old Man Zhang the Fifth.”

Ye Fan nodded. In the few days since his arrival at the stone fortress, his understanding of sources had grown considerably, and he needed to keep learning.

That very afternoon, a commotion broke out outside the stone fortress — the sound of shouts and the neighing of horses, throwing the entire village into a panic.

“Big Beard Chen is here! He brought more than a dozen men — he’s going to wipe out our fortress!”

“Hide quickly! Bandits are here! Every one of them is armed — they’re coming to wash this village in blood!”

Many of the young and able-bodied men organized the old and young to take cover, then seized their blades and rushed to the fortress gate.

“Those murderous thugs — they only know how to bully common folk! Why don’t they go rob those sects instead? Cowardly, bullying curs!”

“Most of them have ties to those sects. Big powers are backing them from behind — they’re all in it together, predators in the same pack.”

The young men of the village were unyielding. When they saw the bandits charging in, not one of them showed fear — every man readied himself to fight.

“No brawling today. Everyone settle down.” Old Man Zhang the Fifth and several elders barked at the hot-blooded young men to hold back.

Outside the stone fortress, dust billowed into the sky. Dozens of mounted riders arrived in the blink of an eye, their horses screaming and their killing intent pouring off them in waves.

Every single rider was mounted on a Dragon Scale Horse — its blue-green scales glinting, its form savage and fierce, and every man carrying the lingering stench of blood. Clearly these were a band of killers who had taken many lives, far more brutal than ordinary bandits.

Over the past several days, Ye Fan had tracked down and slain a number of bandits within a hundred li or so — but he had never been able to find this particular group. Today they had finally come to him.

At the center of the formation, mounted on a Dragon Scale Horse, sat a bearded man of around forty years of age. His curly, bushy beard billowed like a lion’s mane — a ferocious and wild sight.

“Everyone in the stone fortress — get out here!” Many of the bandits bellowed.

“You dare greet us with blades ready? You must be tired of living,” numerous bandits said, their expressions dark and hostile.

Old Man Zhang the Fifth stepped forward through the crowd and stood inside the fortress gate. “Dear sirs, please ease your anger. What Northern Region man doesn’t carry a blade? This is simply how we are.”

One of the bandits laughed coldly. “Save the talk. Have the sources you owe us been prepared? Don’t tell me the amount is short and you need more time — we have no patience for that.”

“If you can’t hand over the sources today, your fortress is finished. We’ll level it on the spot and turn this place into a field of blood.”

The entire group of brigands was howling and snarling, their killing intent surging outward like a tide.

Old Man Zhang the Fifth knew that these men were absolute cutthroats — no idle threats. He opened a sack of source stones, and immediately a radiant light flashed forth, capturing the gaze of every last outlaw in the group.

“Not bad. The quality of these sources is acceptable enough. Old man Zhang, you have some skill — you actually scraped it all together in this short a time.” Big Beard Chen led his several dozen brigands forward.

“When the esteemed sirs give an order, this old man does not dare disobey.” Old Man Zhang the Fifth clasped his hands in a bow.

Several jin of source stones — shimmering with all colors, radiating spiritual energy, with streams of luminous light flowing through them. These were Ye Fan’s source stones, just a little over five jin in total. He had not wanted any violence within the stone fortress, suspecting that this gang of bandits had a sect backing them. To massacre them here might drag the village into trouble, so he had instructed Old Man Zhang the Fifth to hand over the source stones in advance.

Big Beard Chen snatched the source stones into his hands and threw his head back in a loud, grating laugh like a cracked drum — unpleasant to hear.

“Not bad at all — just over five jin. You’re lucky; your fortress escapes disaster today.” He swung his riding crop and tapped it against Old Man Zhang the Fifth’s head. “I’ve long heard that your old bones have a remarkable eye. It seems that’s no lie. You’re getting on in years — a few more good ones at most — so while you still can, put that talent to good use finding sources for me…”

At that moment, Er Lengzi’s eyes went bloodshot. He shoved forward through the crowd. “Big Beard Chen! Where is my sister? Give me back my sister!”

One of the bandits beside Chen laughed coarsely. “You mean the young girl we took back about a month ago? Nice enough, I suppose — pity we hadn’t had our fill yet. She jumped into the river half a month ago.”

“I’ll fight you all to the death!” Er Lengzi broke into wrenching sobs right then and there. Though he was a little slow-witted, his physical strength was immense — four or five young men of the stone fortress together could barely restrain him.

“You little fool — you think you can make trouble for us?” Several bandits fixed cold, hard stares on him immediately.

“Say another word against us and we’ll level your fortress right now!” These men killed without batting an eye. They were hardened outlaws, and they meant every word they said.

“Sister…” Er Lengzi wept brokenly. Though he was ordinarily somewhat simple-minded and carefree, in this moment his grief was raw and shattering. He thrashed and struggled, the veins standing out all across his body.

An elder of the village stepped forward and pressed a single finger against his body, rendering him unable to move. The young men standing around him gripped the hilts of their blades, each one longing to charge forward.

“Why get worked up over a fool?” One of the bandits smiled unpleasantly. “I recall seeing last time that this fool has a younger sister too — quite a pretty thing. Take her along this time.”

“Hey, fool — go bring your sister over here.” One of the bandits stepped forward and raised his riding crop, jabbing it in Er Lengzi’s direction.

“Dear sirs, you cannot conduct yourselves this way. We have already delivered the sources as demanded — please do not harm any more people in our fortress.” Old Man Zhang the Fifth stepped forward.

“Old man, mind your own business. We still have things to say to you in a moment — go stand over there for now.” Several bandits shoved him roughly aside, then brought the riding crop down hard across Er Lengzi’s body several times.

“Get up! Go fetch your sister!”

One of them released the restriction he had placed on Er Lengzi’s body.

“I’ll fight you all to the death!” Er Lengzi bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, snatched up a blade from the ground, and prepared to fight to the end.

The other young men, seeing this, all raised their gleaming blades too and advanced with heavy strides.

“You actually dare defy us — just a bunch of ordinary people?” The brigands’ eyes went hard. One of them swung his riding crop in a vicious arc, knocking Er Lengzi to the ground, then spat on him. “You fool — if you want to die, don’t drag your whole village down with you.”

“Get going and bring your sister here — otherwise we’ll bathe this place in blood…”

This gang was savage beyond measure, their arrogance without limit.

“I’m talking to you. Didn’t you hear me? Go bring your sister here right now!” Another man brought the riding crop down on Er Lengzi several more times, hard.

Every young person in the stone fortress felt their blood surge with fury. Each one wanted nothing more than to strike.

“Enough — no need to make trouble over this.” Big Beard Chen waved a hand from the back. He was wary of stirring the crowd into a frenzy, since he still needed the people of this fortress to work for him. He turned to Old Man Zhang the Fifth. “Old man, your source-finding skills are admirable. I have another task for you now.”

“What task?”

“In twenty days, hand over another five jin of sources.”

“What? We’ve only just delivered a batch.” Old Man Zhang the Fifth looked at him with hollow eyes.

Big Beard Chen put on a false smile. “This is the last time, because at this stage we genuinely have an urgent need. There will be benefits for you afterward.”

“But in such a short time, we truly cannot find that much…”

“Enough of your excuses!” Big Beard Chen’s expression darkened instantly. He wheeled his horse and rode off, leaving only a single cold-blooded remark in his wake: “If you can’t scrape together five jin of sources in half a month, get ready to watch your fortress be wiped out.”

“Old man, make good use of whatever years you have left.” One of the bandits whipped Old Man Zhang the Fifth across the head, spat on the ground, then rode off on his Dragon Scale Horse.

“You fool — count yourself lucky today. Mind yourself next time.” Another bandit lashed Er Lengzi a few more times, then vaulted onto his horse and galloped away.

“Murderous bastards, every one of them!”

“Why doesn’t lightning just strike those bloodsuckers dead!”

The people of the stone fortress raged, watching the receding figures, every fist clenched tight.

Er Lengzi let out a howl like a wounded beast. Wang Shu clutched him tightly with both arms, refusing to let him give chase.

Ye Fan walked over, placed a hand on Er Lengzi’s shoulder, and said, “Come with me.”

Old Man Zhang the Fifth and the others asked no questions. They knew what Ye Fan was about to do. Taking Er Lengzi along was also a good thing — left behind, the boy would surely drive himself half mad from suppressed grief.

The several dozen bandits rode onward, stopping at seven or eight more small oases, collecting over ten jin of source stones in total, and only then spurred their horses and galloped into the distance.

Ye Fan followed behind with Er Lengzi, neither hurrying nor lagging, and discovered that this group was extremely cautious — stopping and starting, clearly wary of being tailed.

Three hundred or more li later, they arrived at the bandits’ stronghold. This group did not generally cause trouble in the immediate area — they always rode far away to raid and plunder.

“With this much source collected this time, the old man should be able to break through at last,” Big Beard Chen muttered quietly to one of the bandits riding beside him.

Soon after, they entered a stretch of mountainous terrain full of stone forest. There was almost no vegetation here — only a single river cutting its way through.

“We need to get these sources to the old man as quickly as possible…”

Ye Fan was alarmed. From their conversation, it was now clear there truly was a sect backing these men.

“Is the Green Mist Sect well known in this region?” Ye Fan asked Er Lengzi.

“I think I’ve heard of it. Now that you mention it — my grandfather and the others have talked about it. Within five hundred li in every direction, everything falls within the Green Mist Sect’s sphere of influence.” Er Lengzi answered, but even as he spoke, his gaze was locked unblinkingly on the river that wound through the depths of the stone forest.

“The dead cannot return to life. Try to make peace with it.” Ye Fan patted him on the shoulder, then extended his divine sense and determined that there were fifty-one outlaws in total.

Big Beard Chen and one other had reached the Divine Bridge realm. Seven or eight more had reached the Life Spring realm. The rest were at the lowest level — the Bitter Sea realm.

He had no intention of letting a single one escape. Following the records in the beast-hide ancient scroll, he carved several dao-patterns around the perimeter of the stone forest, sealing off the entire area.

“All right — go and avenge your sister.” Ye Fan led Er Lengzi into the stone forest, and using his hand as a blade, shaved several stone spears from the rock face.

“Who are you two?!” One of the brigands shouted out.

“Pfft!”

Ye Fan extended a single finger. A ray of golden light shot forward, and a bloody hole appeared in the man’s forehead. His corpse crumpled to the ground on the spot.

“Who dares trespass on our turf?!”

There was a rush and a scramble as all the bandits came surging forward at once.

“Oh, it’s you, you fool — you actually walked right into our hands. Did you bring your little sister with you?”

“Wait — that’s not his sister. That’s a young man…”

The gang of thugs hadn’t yet noticed the corpse not far away, and came strutting forward with not the slightest awareness of what they were walking into.

From a distance, Big Beard Chen felt that something was deeply wrong. Without a word, he immediately attempted to flee through the air — but the dao-patterns blocked him, and he could not escape. He bellowed in panic: “Brothers — kill them both!”

“Hey fool, your look is pretty dim, but your sisters are quite the lookers…” The brigands were still swaggering forward, as oblivious as ever.

Er Lengzi ground his teeth, his eyes completely red.

“You have done evil beyond measure. Today, all of your crimes come to an end.”

Ye Fan’s finger moved again and again. Corpse after corpse collapsed, every forehead pierced clean through by divine light.

“You…”

Panic spread through the bandits. Though they had killed many people over the years, when it was their own turn to face death, fear set in.

“Pfft.” “Pfft.”

Ye Fan hurled the stone spears in his hand forward, pinning five of them to the ground in succession — the five men who bore the blood debt of Er Lengzi’s sister.

Ye Fan patted Er Lengzi on the shoulder and let him go deal with them himself. If he didn’t give the boy an outlet for this smothering, festering fury, it would surely eat him alive.

“Ahhh…”

The men pinned to the ground let out agonized screams. Er Lengzi had gone near-berserk — he hacked with his blade and bit with his teeth, his entire body drenched in blood.

“You scum. You seized a little power and truly thought the rules no longer applied to you?” Ye Fan fixed his gaze on Big Beard Chen.

“Who are you? Do you know who we are?” Big Beard Chen barked with a bravado his eyes could not back up. He had rolled through killing grounds for years — his instincts were sharp, and he already knew today was unlikely to end well.

“Aren’t you just lackeys serving some decrepit old man in the Green Mist Sect?” Ye Fan said coldly. “I’ll deal with you first, and when I have time, I’ll track down and finish off that old fossil too — ridding the region of a scourge. To be a sect of the Northern Region and carry out acts this unconscionable in secret — truly guilty of every possible evil.”

“Before you kill us, you’d better think about the consequences. Making an enemy of the Green Mist Sect, you’ll find no place to survive in this region.” Big Beard Chen bellowed and snarled, backing away steadily.

“I won’t go shouting about it to the world — only the heavens, the earth, you, and I will ever know. Who else?” Ye Fan said coolly. “I’m about to make a breakthrough soon and happen to need some whetstones. I wouldn’t mind if the Green Mist Sect sent someone out to look for me.”

“Hiss!”

A streak of blue-green light shot out from within the stone forest, slashing toward Ye Fan’s throat — fast as a bolt of lightning.

“Clang!”

Ye Fan flicked out a single finger. A crescent blade shattered in an instant and clattered to the ground.

“Boom!”

He swung his fist forward. A tremendous explosion rang out, and a great swath of stone forest directly ahead was reduced to powder in a single blow. The cultivator at the Divine Bridge realm who had launched the attack — the one who stood on equal footing with Big Beard Chen — let out a cry of pain, his bones snapped and his tendons torn, rolling across the ground.

“You have committed all manner of evil, your hands soaked in blood. Time for all of you to be on your way.” Ye Fan’s finger moved in rapid succession, sending ray after ray of golden light shooting forth like a stream of falling stars.

“Pfft, pfft, pfft…” The sound rang out without pause. Body after body collapsed to the ground.

“Please don’t kill me…” Big Beard Chen screamed in desperation. Though he was the head of this group, in his final moment he was more pitiful than any of the rest.

Ye Fan slapped his palm out, shattering the man’s Bitter Sea, then hurled him to the ground at Er Lengzi’s feet.

By now, Er Lengzi had already torn the five pinned bandits to pieces. He was drenched head to toe in red, weeping without stopping.

“Give me back my sister!” He seized Big Beard Chen and tore at him furiously with his bare hands and teeth.

Ye Fan finished off every last bandit, then turned and went deeper into the stone forest. He searched thoroughly and turned up more than twenty jin of source stones — he could only imagine how many villages and settlements this gang had terrorized to collect so much.

In addition, he discovered a piece of ancient jade — roughly half the size of a palm. It was clearly a fragment, broken from a larger piece.

The moment he held it in his hand, he felt a sensation of profound antiquity and desolation — an indescribable, otherworldly feeling.

“A map…”

Ye Fan was struck with mild surprise. On the surface of this ancient jade were carved the outlines of mountains and river-vein patterns. There was no telling how many generations it had passed through — the markings had nearly been worn away to nothing.

There was a single character on it, and it made his heart tremble. Though it was nearly obscured by time, by focusing carefully he could still make it out — unmistakably, it was the character for “Emperor.”

“Er Lengzi — don’t kill him yet! I still have questions for him!” Ye Fan shouted in urgent alarm.

At this point, Big Beard Chen was in a horrifying state — covered in blood from head to toe — but he still had not drawn his last breath.

“Where did you get this piece of ancient jade?”

Big Beard Chen had long since lost his will. He answered every question honestly. “My men dug it up while excavating a source mine — found it inside the source vein.”

He kept bowing his head to the ground, clutching at Er Lengzi’s legs, begging both of them in turn. “Please spare me.”

“How could it possibly be something sealed inside a source mine — this ancient jade has a character on it…”

“I didn’t explain it well. It’s an ancient mine from before the Desolate Age. We came across it while digging for source stones.”

“Where is that ancient mine?” Ye Fan pressed him sharply.

A piece of ancient jade from before the Desolate Age — it stirred something deep in him. And that single character — “Emperor” — sent his thoughts racing in many directions.

He had not forgotten: right here in this very region, the Purple Mountain was connected to an ancient great emperor. He had been planning to enter the mountain and search for the Source Heavenly Tome. And now this ancient jade fragment had fallen into his hands — how could he not draw connections?

“Don’t kill me — I’ll take you there myself.” Big Beard Chen grabbed at these words as if they were a lifeline.

Ye Fan kicked him aside, then extended his powerful divine sense and drove it directly into the man’s sea of consciousness, reading the memories that lay within.

This was the advantage of overwhelming divine sense — the man’s inner sea offered no defense whatsoever. Ye Fan broke through with ease.

Ye Fan’s brow furrowed as he browsed through the memories. This man had truly been evil without limit — the unconscionable things he had done were too many to count. But Ye Fan quickly located the information he needed.

The ancient mine was only two hundred li away — not particularly distant.

“All right, Er Lengzi — finish what you started.” Ye Fan stood up.

An hour later, Big Beard Chen’s screaming came to an end. Er Lengzi wept with heaving grief, then jumped into the river and called out his sister’s name again and again.

Ye Fan let out a quiet sigh. This was the true face of the Northern Region — a haven for sin. Without the strength to protect yourself, any manner of tragedy could befall you.

“Let’s go.”

Ye Fan let him rinse himself clean in the river water, tossed him a fresh set of clothes, then erased every trace of what had happened in that place before leading him skyward.

When they were nearly back at the stone fortress, Ye Fan stared at the Purple Mountain — several thousand meters tall — and turned the ancient jade over and over in his hands.

Then something new entered his field of vision.

“This place…”

Something clicked into place in an instant. He flew up to a sufficiently high vantage point in the sky and looked ahead.

Surrounding the immense Purple Mountain were nine ridgelines — but they were far, far away. All nine stretched out to the distant horizon, each one faint as a caterpillar, barely visible at this distance.

If plotted on a map, it would be immediately clear: the Purple Mountain sat at the very center, encircled on all sides by those nine ridgelines.

Ye Fan looked down at the ancient jade. The mountain ranges on the incomplete, fragmentary map — they should correspond to two of the ridgelines in this very region.

“A complete map of this ancient jade would certainly include the Purple Mountain. To think that even at the far reaches of the horizon, those distant ridgelines are all connected to the Purple Mountain as well…” Ye Fan’s heart shook with the weight of it.