A familiar beautiful face appeared through the screen — her soft voice sounding utterly helpless. Ye Fan sat there in a daze.
Then anger surged within him. The frail young woman staggered across a dead volcano, running unceasingly, stumbling and falling to the ground again and again. Hard rock cut open her skin, leaving trails of blood.
In the distance, everything was white — as if snowflakes were drifting down.
Liu Yiyi — this lonely and pitiful former classmate. The memory of her surfaced in Ye Fan’s heart. She had been forced into an ancient sacred ground to gather holy medicine, and after they had escaped separately, six years had passed without a meeting.
Now, of all things, he saw her image through a cell phone — suffering and tormented, with someone intent on killing her. The shock of it hit Ye Fan hard.
“Who did this…”
His first thought was that this was undoubtedly aimed at him. The opposing party wanted to lure him out of Yaochi and then kill him.
Grey and somber — this was an ancient dead volcano. Its surface was bare and barren. Leaden clouds pressed down nearly to the crater, and not a trace of life existed.
Liu Yiyi’s clothes were in tatters, stained with blood in multiple places. She had even lost her shoes, leaving bloody prints on the hard rock with every step, her expression full of terror and panic.
Ye Fan watched in silence for a long while, then shut the video and sank into quiet thought. Who exactly was trying to deal with him? There were many possibilities, but who among them could have found Liu Yiyi — and how had they discovered her? And where was Zhang Ziling, who had been with her?
Ye Fan made himself calm down, forced the anger away, and thought carefully. The enemy had clearly learned of their origin from the other side of the starry sky and possessed much information that could be used against him.
He took out his own cell phone — sealed away for many years now — and as threads of gentle light appeared between his fingers, he carefully channeled energy into the battery.
A melodious tune played as it started up. He opened it and looked through old memories, wanting to confirm whether any other people he knew might be drawn into this.
Ye Fan looked in silence for a long while, then continued tapping through Liu Yiyi’s phone and found another audio recording.
“I’m simply going to kill her — what can you do about it?!”
A deeply sinister voice came through — the kind that instilled revulsion from the bottom of one’s heart. There was the arrogance of someone relishing a petty triumph, and also the cold and merciless stench of blood.
“I give you one month. Find this dead volcano, then come crawling over here on your knees to beg me. Otherwise, I’ll slice her up piece by piece!”
The glacial voice drifted like a cold wind, saturated with venomous hatred and resentment. The grinding of teeth came through as though chewing human bone — full of bitter malice.
“Crack!”
Ye Fan snapped the phone shut and stared at the clear, jade-like small lake not far away. Water mist curled about it, and a few immortal maidens drifted gracefully across the surface — beautiful and otherworldly.
“A month to keep me rushing about frantically while someone in the shadows waits for a single killing blow? Or is he confident enough to simply torment me psychologically first…”
To harbor such deep resentment — one had to think carefully. There were indeed a few candidates, but it was difficult to pin down exactly who.
Ye Fan sat in thought for a moment, then opened Liu Yiyi’s phone again and played another recording. The venomous voice played back once more.
“Kneel before me with devotion, and wait for you to come begging. Otherwise, I’ll wipe out every last person you know one by one!”
The gale wind was strong, producing a wailing sound through the phone — they must be on a very high peak. Faintly, somewhere in the background, came the sound of pine trees in the wind.
“Pine trees in the wind. A howling gale. And the faint sound of snowflakes drifting — yet this is the season of blooming flowers…” Ye Fan gazed into the distance.
He tapped through the phone and came across a recording of Zhang Wenchang. He stood at the summit of a steep peak, breathing in the morning light, with energy like dragons flowing from his seven orifices.
Clearly, after being taken on by Elder Li Ruoyu, his cultivation had advanced substantially, and his bearing was no longer despondent. He had changed greatly.
“Look carefully. This will be the second person I kill in the future. If you don’t come kneeling to beg me, this person will die a wretched death in three months!”
The malicious voice roared like a low, seething demon, echoing clearly — carrying a cruel undertone that made one deeply uneasy and repulsed.
“They are not the only two. After them there will be a third, a fourth… until every person you know has died!”
Ye Fan rubbed his temples. This person knew everything about him, yet felt no awe at learning of his past. Ye Fan stood up, and two beams of cold light shot from his eyes.
“Of course, you may choose not to come. You can ignore their lives and deaths, live on without feeling, and watch them all die. But afterward I will seek you out on my own!”
“Crack!”
Ye Fan shut the phone again. This person was clearly not his match at present — or had no certainty of victory — otherwise he would not have spoken this way.
What was certain was that the moment he stepped out of Yaochi, he would be walking into a death trap. The opposing party would not face him alone — they had surely drawn in other powerful figures.
“Don’t bring a single companion. I’m giving you the chance to play the lone hero saving a maiden. Wait for you to kneel before me, and then, heh heh…” This was the final message — cruel and merciless.
Ye Fan thought. This person knew his character and calculated he would go, rather than coldly abandon those he knew.
He rose and strolled among the clusters of lakes — fallen petals drifted, flowers scattered their fragrance, and crystalline light shimmered — a scene of beauty and enchantment.
“Young Master Ye, please stop.” A white-robed beauty blocked his way, not letting him proceed further, a faint blush rising on her cheeks.
Ahead, cloud and mist billowed and white spiritual energy flowed. The sound of women splashing in water could be heard.
Ye Fan was struck speechless. Lost in thought, he had wandered aimlessly and arrived at the bathing place of Yaochi’s immortal maidens. He smiled to himself and turned to walk back.
“Is something on your mind? You were lost in thought and ended up here.” A melodious voice reached him — gentle with a hint of resonance, like a celestial song washing over one’s soul.
The Yaochi Sacred Woman stepped out from the immortal lake, drifting forward with graceful steps. She wore a snow-white robe, and her ink-black hair was damp. Her soft, delicate skin was tender enough to be broken by a breath of wind, dotted with droplets of water.
Within Yaochi’s sacred grounds, she did not conceal her immortal beauty — and Ye Fan’s divine eyes had long since seen through her true appearance, so there was no need.
“Something came up and I lost myself. Luckily I didn’t wander into the immortal pool by mistake — otherwise that crowd of immortal maidens would have wanted to fight me to the death.” Ye Fan smiled, though there was a trace of regret in his expression.
The Yaochi Sacred Woman was at a loss for words and gave him a long, pointed look before saying: “What has happened to leave you like this?”
This was a face of unrivaled jade beauty without a single flaw — beautiful as a dream. Her lashes were long, her eyes like still water, holding the essence of poetry. She was like an immortal blossom emerging from water, brilliantly pure and otherworldly.
Water droplets clung to her hair and her ivory-smooth, tender skin. The Yaochi Sacred Woman’s every expression was incomparably captivating.
This was an unblemished jade face as perfect as Yan Ruyu’s — flawless and faultless, able to contend with An Miaoyi for the title of the Eastern Wasteland’s most beautiful woman of the human race. Her beauty was literally breathtaking.
If anyone could still be praised as a celestial fairy from the Cold Palace of the Moon, it might only be her — she truly carried that air of not belonging to the mortal world, which other women could not match.
“Do you know this place?” Ye Fan took out the phone and played the video.
“What is this?” The Yaochi Sacred Woman was startled, her ivory skin still scattered with droplets that shimmered with seven-colored radiance.
Though she was clearly intelligent and perceptive, even she was taken aback at this moment — unusually flustered.
“This is a divine object from beyond the realm. When time allows, I will explain it fully to you, immortal maiden.” Ye Fan told the whole story from beginning to end.
“The Eastern Wasteland is boundless and endless. A towering mountain like this, with snow falling in the height of summer — there may be tens of thousands of such places, or even more. However, the sound of pine trees in the wind, in such conditions, must without doubt be ice pines — ninety percent of the possibilities can be ruled out.”
The Yaochi Sacred Woman paused briefly, then said: “The key issue, however, is that they only need to see you step out of Yaochi.”
“Precisely. And the moment I do, I walk into their killing trap.” Ye Fan nodded.
“Is this person someone you absolutely must go to save?” The Yaochi Sacred Woman asked. This was clearly a death trap — to walk into it willingly seemed to promise no good outcome.
“Yes. I cannot stand by and watch her die.” Ye Fan sighed. He had no way to be cold and indifferent about this.
“That enemy has read you exactly right. He calculated you would go — he understands your character well.” The Yaochi Sacred Woman noted.
“I know.” Ye Fan nodded.
“What would you have us do to help you?” The Yaochi Sacred Woman asked.
Ye Fan sighed softly. The opposing party had forbidden him from bringing anyone — clearly intent on finishing him off. He could choose not to go, but the opposing party would kill Liu Yiyi without hesitation.
This was a problem laid before him: knowing it was a killing trap, he still had to jump in — there was no way to avoid it.
On this day, Ye Fan sat by the lake and thought in silence for a long while. At last he stood, asked Yaochi’s people to help locate that place, and made up his mind to keep the appointment.
“You truly mean to walk to your own death?” The Yaochi Sacred Woman was alarmed.
“I won’t let myself fall into a hopeless situation — but there will certainly be many difficulties.” Ye Fan frowned.
“What plan could you possibly have? You can’t bring anyone with you — this is certain death!” The Yaochi Sacred Woman said.
Ye Fan asked Yaochi to help him find that place no matter what, and also sent word to summon Crimson Dragon Daoren and the Peacock King, requesting them to arrive at the critical moment.
Then he entered closed seclusion, cultivating intensely, as if he had set everything else aside and was simply illuminating his own Great Dao.
Not until the end of the month did he emerge from seclusion — full of vitality, his spirit at its sharpest — and asked about the current situation.
“If no error has been made, it should be the Fire Demon Ridge in the central region of the Eastern Wasteland.” The Yaochi Sacred Woman answered.
“Brother, Uncle and the others have come…” Xiao Nannan came running over, with Crimson Dragon Old Daoist and the Peacock King following behind — they had already been there for many days.
Ye Fan opened the recording and had everyone listen again.
“Crawling like a dog to come beg me…”
When the Great Black Dog heard that venomous voice, it was even more furious than Ye Fan, howling endlessly: “What do you mean crawling like a dog… Damn it, this Emperor will beat it to a pulp! I’ll make it a beast-pet of my human-pet!”
“This poor sister…” Xiao Nannan watched Liu Yiyi on the screen stumbling and staggering across the dead volcano, leaving trails of blood — she couldn’t bear to watch.
Ye Fan stood up. “Let’s go. We kill them now.”
The Yaochi Sacred Woman was astonished. She had no idea where his confidence came from. If he kept this appointment, it was clearly a certain death trap — how was he supposed to escape, let alone slaughter the enemy?
“Young man, you ought to think this through carefully.” One of Yaochi’s Grand Elders advised.
“No need to fear. We simply kill everyone there.” Crimson Dragon Old Daoist said.
Ye Fan had gifted him a sacred fruit — a debt of life extension. The moment he received the message, he had come at once, and now he could walk unhindered across the Eastern Wasteland without fearing anyone.
The Peacock King also bore the Primordial Precious Seal above her head, emanating ten thousand strands of radiance. She looked down on all under heaven and feared no battle — even if she encountered one of the living fossils, she could hold her own.
At the last moment, the Crow Daoist received word and also appeared in Yaochi. This supreme powerhouse of the demon race, when he emerged, made their lineup all the more formidable.
“To the Central Region — let the blood flow!”
A domain gate appeared — dark inside. Ye Fan, Crimson Dragon Daoren, and several of Yaochi’s Grand Elders stepped through one after another and vanished from the sacred grounds.