“A man of culture carries an air of nobility from within — but you, Uncle, are destined to be nothing but a lecher.” Tong Tong tilted her head, blinking her large, bright eyes, and spoke with complete seriousness.
“Where did this little brat come from? Are you saying I’ve got nothing inside me but lechery?” Li Tian shot the little one a sideways glance.
Ye Fan laughed. “Children always like to speak the truth.”
“What do you mean by that, you surnamed Ye?” Li Tian’s face was thoroughly displeased.
“If you want to come with me to the Northern Dipper, you’d better bring the Divine Maiden Furnace. Otherwise, the ancient-era women there are no ordinary pushovers — one slender jade hand might just slap you to death. By then, I guarantee you won’t want to be a lecher anymore. You’ll be sobbing and begging to become a eunuch. Come to think of it, that might actually be an improvement — one less scoundrel in the world.”
Li Tian’s reasonably handsome face immediately darkened, wearing a sour expression even more disagreeable than before, and he stared at Ye Fan sideways.
“Don’t be offended — I’m telling you the truth.”
“The truth can go to hell. I happen to love strong and formidable ancient-era women. Just wait for the day the great Li Tian descends — the whole world shall tremble!” Li Tian declared with supreme confidence.
Ye Fan couldn’t have been more eager for him to come along for the return. If he brought the Divine Maiden Furnace, they would be nearly unmatched beneath the imperial weapon — for it was a weapon personally consecrated by an Ancient Great Emperor.
“Is this the last surviving bloodline of the Human Race’s Sacred Emperor?” Yan Yixi said with a warm smile — graceful and refined, like an exiled immortal descending from the heavens.
Wherever little Tong Tong went, her exceptional nature was evident to all, for within her body dwelled divine Yang energy, her bones and blood lustrous and overflowing with radiance.
“A fine seedling indeed. Let me put her through a few years of training — she’ll surely astonish all under heaven.” Li Tian’s face carried its usual roguish air as he patted Tong Tong on the head and pulled her to stand in front of him.
Tong Tong’s small face immediately crumpled. She pursed her little lips with one hundred and twenty degrees of unwillingness.
“What’s that expression for, little brat? Do you know how many people cry and beg me to teach them a move or two? Why do you look like you’ve stepped in something foul?” Li Tian said.
By unfortunate coincidence, at the very moment his words fell, Tong Tong actually did step on his foot — causing the veins on Li Tian’s forehead to bulge wildly, and he nearly brought his palm swinging down.
“Damn it, you little runt — did you do that on purpose?!”
“I’m sorry, Lecher Uncle. I didn’t mean to.” Tong Tong apologized with an utterly innocent expression.
“I @#¥%#¥……”
Ye Fan stepped forward. “This child is a descendant of the Human Emperor. Don’t get any ideas about her. Be careful the Solar Sacred Emperor doesn’t crawl up from the underworld to wring your neck.”
He asked the two brothers in detail about the situation at the Supreme Clarity Holy Land, learning everything he could about the Mysterious Metropolis Cave of the Eight Sceneries Palace, searching for an ancient route home.
Li Tian said: “No one has ever gotten in there — Yin Tiande has monopolized it entirely. Who would dare invite trouble? That lord crushed every sect master who spoke against him more than a decade ago, and not one dared utter a word of protest.”
Yan Yixi said: “I’ve heard he has two attendant boys. One, along with his younger brother, was killed by you. The other is currently out on his behalf, procuring aged medicinal herbs for alchemy. You could find that one and get some answers.”
“And here’s the thing — now may actually be a good time to enter the Palace of Eight Sceneries. Yin Tiande, following the example of the ancients, has mounted a green ox and journeyed westward to contemplate the true meaning of the Dao. The Supreme Clarity Holy Land presently sits unguarded.” Li Tian said.
Ye Fan furrowed his brow. This person was truly formidable — to pursue his cultivation, he could set everything aside, including the enmity of a slain younger brother, choosing instead to ride an ox westward.
“Though he has not made a move, he did speak one line: upon my return, I will slay you as a sacrifice to the Dao. This single statement has made many great powers reluctant to keep courting your favor.”
It was a display of overwhelming dominance — one sentence, and all sides were cowed into carefully weighing the consequences. The scope of his prestige spoke for itself.
“Slay me as a sacrifice to the Dao… Very well. He has finally said it. If he had done nothing — simply riding his ox westward in detached indifference — that would have been truly terrifying.”
“Your troubles are no small matter either, as it stands. Lu Ya is out there in Shenzhou, gripping his Crow-Wing Gilt Trident, looking for you — he wants to reduce you to a puddle of blood.” Yan Yixi said.
Lu Ya — a genius of the Golden Crow Clan the likes of which appeared only once every tens of thousands of years, with talent beyond all measure. After four years of closed retreat, nine ancestral crow divine manifestations had appeared behind him, shocking all under heaven.
“What’s your relationship with Yi Qingwu? What exactly happened between you two back then? Word has it she’s come to Shenzhou as well.” Li Tian looked at Ye Fan sideways and asked.
“The Guanghan Palace has been returned to her. Don’t create conflict with her — at a critical moment, she will stand on my side.” Ye Fan said.
“The most beautiful woman in the world — the most dazzling and resplendent flower in existence — and you, a pile of manure!” Li Tian was deeply indignant.
Ye Fan’s face darkened as well. He wanted to give him a slap — this bastard’s words were truly grating to hear.
Yi Qingwu was now venerated as a divine maiden — jade bones and immortal bearing, wreathed in a sacred halo, as pure and flawless as ice-clear jade. Wherever she went, great numbers of outstanding young men were willing to prostrate themselves at her feet — she was the very embodiment of beauty and sanctity.
Li Tian’s face carried its characteristic roguish air as he said: “Well done — the divine maiden worshipped by all, her radiance like a luminous pearl casting rays of rosy light, her immortal skin glowing with splendor — and she’s entangled with you.”
“Don’t spread nonsense. She’s a highly capable partner. Becoming the world’s foremost divine maiden carries many advantages — in the future she will supplant Yin Tiande, and I will give her my full support.”
“A devil’s plan for crafting a divine maiden — if those devoted young men who worship her ever found out, what would they feel?!”
Ye Fan discussed things at length with the two brothers. Both of them had intentions of going to the Northern Dipper Star Domain, for the Divine Maiden Furnace had earned them notoriety and outrage from both mortals and divine beings alike in this place.
The attendant boy of the Eight Sceneries Palace was actually a great demon in human form. Though he appeared harmless — seeming no older than his teens — he had in truth been cultivating for one thousand eight hundred years. If only they had a demon-revealing mirror, he could probably be found quickly.
“Let me out — my Master is here now.” From within a magical treasure, Tong Tong was crying with a wide-open mouth.
“You insufferable little thing — first recite the complete tenets of the Path of Human Desire for me. You’ll thank me for this in eighteen years.” Li Tian found it highly amusing to force a small child who cried and wailed about not wanting to be a lecher to study these texts, and was genuinely starting to feel like taking on a disciple.
Ye Fan turned a blind eye and deaf ear, feeling that a few unusual experiences in early childhood would serve the child well in later growth — so long, of course, as the fundamentals stayed intact, which he felt were still perfectly manageable.
“There — he’s over there.” Yan Yixi spoke up, his gaze directed ahead at a youth with red lips and white teeth.
The boy was not tall — he looked no older than fourteen or fifteen — dressed in white python robes, wearing serpent-ascending boots, his jet-black hair tied up in a purple-gold coronet. He walked with his hands clasped behind his back, the bearing of a youth with a certain arrogance and self-assurance.
“Not unworthy of coming from the Eight Sceneries Palace — and yet he’s merely a young attendant boy, and he already possesses the cultivation of a sect master.”
On reflection, it made sense. He was in truth a demon who had cultivated for many years; his Dao cultivation would naturally be extreme. He had been subdued by Yin Tiande before being made to serve as an attendant.
“Wait — don’t make a move yet. This snake demon attendant boy is filthy rich, controlling the financial authority of the Eight Sceneries Palace. And by the look of him, could he possibly be here to bid on that slab of Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold on Yin Tiande’s behalf? Now there’s a fat lamb ripe for the slaughter — let’s get him after this!” Li Tian said.
Within the Primordial Ruins, wisps of white mist drifted about. Most cultivators here had simply set up ground stalls; there were no great palaces or halls, it was much like an open market — yet it contained countless treasures.
The one distinctive feature was a tall platform constructed of white jade stone, situated at the very center of the Primordial Ruins, used only when items of extraordinary rarity and priceless divine objects were to be auctioned.
The snake demon attendant boy stepped forward — hands behind his back, head held high, the purple-gold coronet gleaming — his manner very eager and with the air of someone absolutely set on winning.
Ye Fan and the others also stepped forward. Upon the white jade platform, someone was presiding over the auction. It didn’t take long before a sky-high price was reached, and someone produced four or five fist-sized divine source stones, spending gold like dirt.
“Those are important figures from the Hall of the Human King — how enormously generous. And that’s just the opening bid — heaven knows how high the price will be driven by the time a deal is struck.”
“Has the exchange between the Hall of the Human King and the Ancient Longevity Monastery for the divine immortal scripture actually succeeded? It’s been the source of endless rumors for the past several years.”
Ye Fan’s heart stirred. He too felt profound longing for that solitary page of the divine immortal scripture, and wished to know exactly what was going on — but years had passed with no result. All one could say was that both sides were being far too cautious, each too afraid of being deceived by the other.
“The people of Sea-God Island are here! Look — what have they brought out? Heavens — dust-repelling pearls, fire-repelling pearls, water-repelling pearls… a whole pile of sea-god pearls!”
The crowd gasped in amazement. That heap of pearls was so brilliantly dazzling it could almost rival the Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold itself — lighting up the world between heaven and earth with breathtaking radiance.
“Damn it, these are all magnates of immense wealth. Ransacking a single one of them would set you up for life.” Li Tian cursed under his breath, then fixed his gaze on the Emperor’s sacred object. “That slab of Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold is enough to craft a bracelet. If presented as a gift, there isn’t a woman in the world who wouldn’t be moved — even ancient-era women would go weak in the knees.”
“Lecher Uncle, I look down on you. Let me out.” Tong Tong said with a wide-open cry.
“Crybaby — go recite your books.” Li Tian tucked away the jade-pendant shaped magical treasure, giving the child no further opportunity to speak.
Just at this moment, great powers such as the Ziwei Divine Dynasty and the Guanghan Palace also had people step forward to bid, and the auction grew increasingly fierce.
“Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold — impossible to see even a single speck of it across hundreds of centuries. To encounter a whole slab like this today is something that must be secured and offered to the clan king. With his creation-level divine power, he will surely be able to forge it into something supreme.”
Just then, several tall silhouettes approached — each with golden hair hanging to their shoulders, eyes shooting sparks of light, powerfully imposing: these were experts of the Golden Crow Clan.
Every one of them radiated boundless authority. As they strode forward in great steps, everyone who had not joined the bidding immediately stepped aside, unwilling to provoke them — for the Golden Crow Clan was too powerful, and few dared antagonize them.
Ye Fan did not move aside. Standing there, he was somewhat conspicuous — enough to make all the Golden Crow Clan members furrow their brows. One stepped forward. “Are you here to bid on a divine object?”
“No.” Ye Fan replied.
“Then step aside — we wish to bid here.” The Golden Crow’s Tenth Prince spoke with domineering arrogance. Having walked proudly through the world for so many years, indulged by everyone because he was the youngest — he had always been this way, more imperious than any of his older brothers.
“You wish to bid — you may certainly do so. There is plenty of room here. Is there truly not enough space for me to stand?” Ye Fan replied.
“Now that one person surnamed Ye has appeared, does all under heaven think the Golden Crow Clan is easy to bully?” The Tenth Prince’s expression turned cold. He thrust one hand forward, channeling tremendous force — enough to crush a person to a pulp of flesh.
“This land has no master — anyone may stand here. And yet you say my standing here counts as bullying the Golden Crow Clan? One can only imagine how arrogant and overbearing you must have been in the past.” As Ye Fan spoke, he raised one hand to deflect the blow.
“Tenth Brother, fall back!” An elder of the Golden Crow Clan bellowed, opening his Heavenly Eye — and the moment he saw Ye Fan’s true face, he was overwhelmed with shock.
Boom!
The Tenth Prince’s outstretched arm twisted out of shape at once, then went limp as a noodle. He was hurled backward as though he had run headlong into a mountain.
“You… who are you?”
“He is Ye Fan!” The other Golden Crow Clan members cried out, as the First Prince, the Second Prince, and one elder all stepped forward together.
The Primordial Ruins shook at once — everyone turned to look. Ye Fan’s fame was simply too great, and today he had finally formally shown his face on the mainland.
“Are you sure Lu Ya will appear — that you intend to deal with him here today?” Li Tian transmitted through a secret voice.
“Indeed. The intelligence I received should not be wrong. With these few people appearing here now, all the better — if trouble arises, Lu Ya, who is not far away, will surely come rushing over. At that point, with two sacred weapons brought out together, he will have no wings to escape, and we can seize the Crow-Wing Gilt Trident!” Ye Fan replied.
“That has to be intelligence from Yi Qingwu. You two — and you still say there’s nothing between you — one of you sending people, the other sending sacred weapons…” Li Tian cursed under his breath.