Ye Fan’s plan to break through on the night of the full moon had stirred the nerves of many great powers. The entire world watched with rapt attention, and countless cultivators kept their eyes fixed on the Sacred City as the winds of change converged upon it.

Yet in this sensitive moment, Ye Fan was not quietly calming his mind and steadying his spirit — instead, he was moving about in search of divine source stone husks. The Immortal Tomb and Blood Altar had long since been stored away by him.

Through various means, he had also obtained some from the sacred ground’s stone workshops — remnants left behind from stones that had previously been cut and discarded.

“What are you trying to do, kid?” The Great Black Dog was suspicious, then seemed to remember something. Its copper-bell eyes went wide as it stared at Ye Fan, crying out in alarm: “Have you lost your mind?!”

“What are you shouting about?” Ye Fan shot it a glare.

“Are you tired of living? Even with your world-shaking source arts, that place cannot be visited twice — many peerless figures of their age could only sigh in resignation.” The Great Black Dog warned.

“You don’t need to concern yourself with this one. It’s not what you’re imagining.” Ye Fan said nothing further and continued to come and go between the various stone workshops, quietly and without fanfare collecting stone husks.

“Can you compare yourself to Li Mu? Can you compare yourself to Jiang Taixu? Can you compare yourself to Gu Tianshu? To enter Purple Mountain a second time is to court certain death!” The Great Black Dog bared its teeth in warning.

“You’ve guessed wrong. I won’t throw my own life away — say no more.” Ye Fan did not want to alarm anyone else. This time, he was determined to break through into the Four Extremes Secret Realm.

A full thirteen million jin of source — a truly astronomical figure — yet in his heart he still felt no certainty. What if he succeeded? What if he failed? He had considered every possibility.

Ye Fan had no intention of being stopped. No matter what, he would break through into the Four Extremes Secret Realm. If he were to end in defeat at the Dragon Transformation Pool, he had decided he would fight his own way toward a future.

Without entering the Four Extremes Secret Realm, the Desolate Holy Body would fade into obscurity among the masses. Across the vast and boundless land, experts were as numerous as the clouds, and cultivators of the Dao Palace Secret Realm could only look up at others from below.

The Holy Maiden of the Jade Pool appeared. Tall and graceful, standing in elegant composure — the same as ever — she was wreathed in immortal mist, like a divine flower swaying through snow, like a sacred lotus lightly touched by water, as though a proud daughter of the heavenly realm had descended into the mortal world.

She passed Ye Fan a sandalwood box and said: “To help you succeed in your breakthrough — this is a gift from the Jade Pool.”

In years past, the Jade Pool had been on the closest terms with the Source Heavenly Master, and now had no conflict with Ye Fan either. The sacred ground hoped he might make a visit to the Jade Pool to deal with several stone kings using the Immortal-Sealing Six Locks.

“What is this?” Ye Fan asked, puzzled.

“Three leaves from the ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree.” The Holy Maiden of the Jade Pool parted her red lips softly.

Ye Fan was astonished. The ancient trees within the Undying Mountains — every single leaf was different, suffused with the markings of the Great Dao. Even for figures at the level of a Holy Master, these were sacred objects.

He was truly stunned. The ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree shedding thirty leaves from the Undying Mountains per year would be considered quite good; he had no idea how many Holy Master-level figures were keeping their eyes on them. For the vast Eastern Desolation, there simply were not enough to go around.

Three leaves from the ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree — for Ye Fan, who was on the verge of his breakthrough, this was a great gift indeed.

Two divine rays shot from Ye Fan’s eyes. The Holy Maiden of the Jade Pool was startled, thinking he had activated his Source Heaven Divine Sight, and let out a soft exclamation. She extended her fair hand and swept out a path diagram, which she held up before her as a shield.

Within the mist, her face flushed crimson, and she was rather indignant. Remembering the last incident, she rebuked him: “What are you doing?!”

“Immortal maiden, please don’t misunderstand — I did not use my Source Heaven Divine Awareness. I was simply somewhat surprised. I won’t offer empty thanks for such great kindness; someday I will certainly come to resolve the Jade Pool’s stone kings.”

Inside the purple sandalwood box, the three leaves were each distinct from the others.

One of them flickered with purple light and was shaped like a rhombus. On its surface, remarkably, there was a small dragon — vivid and lifelike — coiled among many Dao markings.

The second leaf was as red as blood and shaped like a fan. Upon it was a hazy human silhouette, seated high in the nine heavens, wrapped in flowing dark-yellow energy, with Dao markings drifting like clouds and mist, densely covering the figure’s entire body.

The last leaf was snow-white as jade, crystalline and translucent, and quite extraordinary. It was circular in shape, bearing a yin-yang diagram upon its surface — yang at its peak cradling yin, yin at its peak cradling yang. Moreover, there were scattered pinpoints of stars, as though it were a fragment of the night sky, with innate markings interwoven throughout.

This was Ye Fan’s first time seeing leaves from the ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree, and he was quite amazed — he could hardly imagine what kind of ancient tree could grow leaves so utterly wondrous.

The Great Black Dog’s drool began flowing at once. It came forward fawningly and said: “Let me put those away for you.”

“Giving them to you would be a true case of throwing meat buns at a dog — never to return.”

“Woof!”

Not long after, Tu Fei and Li Heishui brought word: several great outlaws had joined together to contribute one million jin of source in total, which they sent to Ye Fan through their descendants.

This, too, was a great gift!

“Ye Fan, accept it without reservation,” Tu Fei clapped him on the shoulder and shook his head. “These old fellows — every last one of them is as shrewd as a ghost.”

In this world, goodwill never comes without reason. When the sacred grounds had been hunting Ye Fan down, Tu Fei and Li Heishui had stepped forward in his defense and aided him greatly, all while a handful of great outlaws had kept careful watch.

Looking back on all of it, those past events had been too subtle. Upon reflection, they were full of calculated intent and deliberate arrangement. If Ye Fan’s Holy Body were to succeed, everything would proceed smoothly. If it failed, the true motives of those several great outlaws would be genuinely difficult to unravel.

Regarding all this, Tu Fei and Li Heishui had not concealed it — they had hinted at it long ago. If the intentions of those elders turned ill, they would tell him to flee at the first moment.

This world was pragmatic, and the hearts of men were complex — yet that did not mean sincere friendship was absent from it. Tu Fei and Li Heishui had not schemed for anything. That they had told him the truth in full so long ago was itself proof enough of their loyalty.

“An Miaoyi has invited you?” Tu Fei was surprised.

With less than a full day remaining before the night of the full moon, An Miaoyi’s desire to see Ye Fan at this moment could only be interpreted one way — she was reaching out to win him over and forge ties.

Li Heishui mulled it over and said: “This is no ordinary move — no ordinary move at all.”

“How so?” Tu Fei asked.

“An Miaoyi has real boldness of spirit. She may well be placing her bet,” Li Heishui said.

“What do you mean?”

Li Heishui replied: “Adding flowers to brocade is far less meaningful than offering charcoal in the snow. If An Miaoyi were to come and win him over only after Ye Fan broke the curse, it would be worth little more than that phrase. But if she comes before — that changes everything entirely.”

“Surely An Miaoyi wouldn’t be…” Tu Fei’s expression shifted.

“She very likely intends to stake herself on it. A fully realized Holy Body is a once-in-ages opportunity that, once missed, is gone forever. Since the Wondrous Desire Convent has such a tradition, it far surpasses the selection of a Holy Son.”

“I don’t have time to go,” Ye Fan shook his head, unmoved.

Yet at precisely that moment, An Miaoyi had someone deliver a jade box — a great gift for his breakthrough.

“Another leaf from the ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree!”

Inside the jade box lay a single golden leaf, radiant and blazing, as though cast from molten gold. A faint fragrance drifted forth. Upon the leaf was a painting of mountains and rivers, adorned with many innate markings, and the entire room was filled with its fragrance.

Tu Fei exclaimed in admiration: “This is a peerless wonder of the world — you’ll have no choice but to pay her a visit.”

Li Heishui let out a strange cry: “Little Ye, I might as well just take over your body and go in your place!”

That evening, the sacred moon hung high in the sky. Silver radiance poured down like drifting cloud and mist, casting the entire land in a haze, as though it had been draped in a thin veil.

The Wondrous Desire Convent rested in the air above. Below it, a lake lay serene, glimmering like a sapphire; above it, moonlight flowed like water, drifting slowly onward.

These buildings were enveloped by the sacred moon, bathed in a dreamlike and fantastical hue, mysterious and ethereal against the night sky.

Ye Fan ascended into the air, and someone led him to the front of a grand and magnificent palace hall. Standing there was a peerlessly beautiful woman of rare and timeless splendor. In the flowing moonlight she was nearly divine — like an immortal who had fallen from the silver moon, untouched by the dust of the mortal world.

“Am I truly so unbearable to An Miaoyi?” she smiled. In her snow-white robes, she swayed gently in the night breeze, as though she might drift away upon the wind.

“Immortal Fairy An’s charm is simply too great. I didn’t dare come — I feared the impropriety of approaching such a beauty,” Ye Fan said, his words betraying his true feelings.

An Miaoyi’s gaze moved like rippling water, and she smiled lightly: “Liar.”

Her full-length white dress trailed along the ground, setting off her graceful jade form like rolling hills — proud and shapely in her bearing, with a slender and supple waist, and rounded, flawless curves — not a single flaw to be found, every line tracing a perfect arc.

And yet her bearing was lofty, pure, and unworldly. Beneath the night moon she was like a sprite — her jade face bare of the slightest powder or rouge, snow-white and radiant, her eyes like autumn waters, her delicate nose and cherry lips as though carved by a divine artisan of the heavens. Such beauty was breathtaking.

The palace hall within was ornate with carved beams and painted rafters, resplendent in gold and jade, with wisps of cloud and mist curling through it — as though one had wandered by mistake into a celestial palace, giving one a sense of unreality.

It was a bedchamber. Lustrous pearls and fine jade were set into every surface; antiques, calligraphy, and paintings adorned the walls and shelves. Atop a white jade table, exquisite delicacies tempted the eye and aromatic wine perfumed the air.

“Tomorrow you attempt your breakthrough. Do you feel confident?” An Miaoyi poured the wine. Her bright red lips were alluring, her pearly teeth gleaming; her slender hand lifted the jade cup, each complementing the other, both alike crystalline and lustrous.

“I will enter the Four Extremes.” Ye Fan smiled.

“A fully realized Holy Body has not appeared in over a hundred thousand years. It could contend with the Great Emperors of antiquity — what an indomitable and magnificent bearing that must be. It truly sets the heart to wandering.” An Miaoyi smiled sweetly and said: “Now, right before my eyes sits a Holy Body — I must take a good long look and study him carefully.”

“Even if the breakthrough succeeds, it will only be a minor realization of the Holy Body. How could I possibly stand shoulder to shoulder with the Great Emperors?” Ye Fan smiled and shook his head.

“That day won’t be far off. Miaoyi is looking forward to it.” An Miaoyi’s dark hair drifted around her, her gaze like flowing water, lashes long and sweeping, skin as white as snow and translucent as glass. A luminous moon pearl adorned the center of her brow, shimmering in the light of the crystal lamps — noble, resplendent, and alive with spirit, a beauty that took the breath away.

“My thanks to Immortal Fairy Miaoyi for sending me the Enlightenment Tea.” Ye Fan raised his cup in a toast.

“Miaoyi only offered a small measure of aid. I hope Brother Ye will break the curse and press forward triumphantly — and in time, shine as brightly as the Great Emperors.” An Miaoyi’s smile was deeply captivating; her red lips touched the wine and grew more vivid still.

The night deepened. Moonlight filtered through the glass windows, cascading into the palace hall — everything was as a dream, as an illusion.

Unable to hold much wine, An Miaoyi’s lovely face flushed with a rosy blush. Her eyes shimmered with feeling, and she seemed soft and delicate, boneless and languid: “What I want… is a fully realized Holy Body…”

Ye Fan, himself pleasantly tipsy, teased her: “I’m right here. How exactly do you intend to have it?”

“Miaoyi means to say — I want a fully realized Holy Body to… protect my path in the future. I will become a Great Emperor myself someday.” An Miaoyi’s smile sent a hundred kinds of charm blooming all at once, dimming even the bright moon overhead.

She was already one of the most beautiful women in the Eastern Desolation — some even called her the foremost beauty of the Eastern Desolation. After the touch of wine, her complexion became rosy and luminous with a radiance that was impossible to resist.

Deep into the night, they had long since lost count of how many cups they’d drunk. The wine cups had fallen to the floor, and the two of them gradually became entangled together.

“Ha ha…” An Miaoyi laughed sweetly, her voice as lovely as a silver bell, stirring the heart.

Ye Fan had his arm around her slender form and held a silver wine vessel, tipping it into his own mouth, then tipping it toward An Miaoyi’s alluring red lips.

Everything unfolded naturally. Ye Fan was not the sort of rigid, old-fashioned scholar who would hold back with stiff propriety — he did not fear the thorns of a rose and decided to eat the candy coating whole.

Not far away stood a white jade bed hung with pink gauze curtains, giving off a particular feeling. The two of them tumbled together onto that warm and rosy bedding.

Before long, a figure of snow-white jade was revealed — soft and fine skin, translucent and luminous, rosy and lustrous, beautiful and enchanting, a peerless temptation.

An Miaoyi’s hair fell loose around her, her peerless face flushed in a daze. A faint and gentle radiance shimmered over her entire form, her skin a delicate crimson, intoxicating to behold.

Ye Fan felt a tremor in his heart. He drew down the pink gauze curtains — even he could not resist this incomparable allure.

Chit!

A breath of finger wind swept past. The candle flame was extinguished. Only the moonlight, liquid and gentle, poured in — and through the haze, one could see the warmth glowing upon the jade bed.

Soft and lingering sighs, a tangle of tender feeling, fanciful thoughts blooming in abundance — the two of them entwined together. This was a sleepless night, a night of intoxicating passion.