Ye Fan’s heart was completely calm. He had adjusted himself to his peak state, ready at any moment to unleash a fierce strike. The golden scripture flickered with a strange radiance within his Bitter Sea.

Elder Han, convinced that heaven itself favored him, was overwhelmed with excitement. His hand trembled as he reached out, grabbed the cauldron lid, and lifted it with force. In his mind, a furnace of supreme-grade precious pills was about to be revealed — they would surely blaze with brilliant light and scatter divine radiance in all directions.

Sure enough, blinding golden light burst forth, dazzlingly splendid, so radiant that one could not keep their eyes open. In an instant, it flew straight toward Elder Han. At first, he still thought it was the precious pill, spiritually awakened and shooting out of the medicine cauldron on its own. But in the very next moment, his soul nearly flew out of his body — he felt as though he had been flung straight from heaven into hell.

There were no precious pills. What was clearly there was a piece of divine iron blazing with brilliant light, racing toward his throat in a sweeping slash. And seated cross-legged inside the bronze medicine cauldron was a handsome young man — completely unharmed, not having been refined into a pill at all — staring at him without blinking.

“Not good!” Elder Han broke out in a cold sweat all over his body. Crying out in terror, he tried to throw himself backward and flee, but it was already too late. The golden light shot forward like lightning. With a soft thud, it sliced through his throat.

Blood gushed out in a torrent. The searing pain left Elder Han’s mind dizzy and his vision going dark. He toppled backward on the spot, crashing heavily into a pool of blood.

The golden paper was razor-sharp, slicing Elder Han’s neck open right then and there — only a thin layer of old skin still connected it. Blood gurgled forth like a spring!

However, Elder Han was, after all, a powerful cultivator. Though he appeared decrepit and seemed on the verge of his last breath, vast divine power was stored within his body. Even with his neck slashed, he did not die immediately. He reached out with his right hand, pressing down on his own skull, attempting to reconnect it.

At the same time, green light flickered in his Bitter Sea, blooming into a piercing radiance. The divine spring surged and flowed, providing him with powerful life force. Simultaneously, several green wooden swords shot out and came flying toward Ye Fan.

Ye Fan’s heart tightened. The gap between different cultivation realms was truly like a chasm between heaven and earth — utterly impossible to bridge! If he had not quietly endured in patience, striking only at the very last moment with that fierce blow, there would have been not the slightest hope of killing Elder Han.

He moved with the agility of a leopard, leaping up and taking cover behind the bronze cauldron, controlling the brilliant golden scripture and slashing it forward.

Elder Han had, after all, suffered grievous wounds, and life and death were uncertain. The several green wooden swords were still brilliant when they first shot out — their sword energy fierce, green light scattering in all directions — but their radiance quickly dimmed. The few green wooden swords swayed unsteadily and were about to fall.

Clang, clang, clang!

The golden paper was sharper than divine iron. Its resplendent divine radiance was as blinding as a blazing sun; it seemed to ignite. In an instant it intercepted the several green wooden swords, swept through them in a spinning slash, sending out a clanging metallic ring, and severed them all!

Ye Fan dared not be the slightest bit careless. The golden scripture transformed into a divine rainbow, like a bright moon cleaving through the dark sky, erupting with a surge of terrifying energy fluctuations, charging straight toward Elder Han’s abdomen.

Amid the dazzling radiance, blood splattered. With a thud, Elder Han’s Bitter Sea shattered in an instant. His body was sent flying on the spot, slamming heavily against the stone chamber wall, leaving a human-shaped bloody imprint before slowly sliding down to the base of the wall.

Golden light blazed in ten thousand streams; a thousand strands of auspicious color shimmered. The golden scripture transformed into a brilliant ray of light and shot back into Ye Fan’s body.

Elder Han had not yet died completely. He pressed his right arm tightly against his own skull, not allowing it to roll off his neck. One could well imagine just how terrifying a cultivator who transcended the Bitter Sea realm truly was — completely beyond what an ordinary person could deal with.

Ye Fan secretly wiped a cold sweat from his brow. If he had not quietly endured for seven days without making any rash moves, it would have been utterly impossible to cut down Elder Han.

At this moment, Elder Han’s eyes blazed with fury. He could not accept this reality! He had not seen any supreme-grade precious pills — what had greeted him instead was the scythe of the Grim Reaper. It was simply beyond his ability to believe. To plunge in a single instant from heaven all the way to hell — this unbearable feeling drove him to madness.

“Ugh… ah… guh…” Elder Han’s slashed throat was draining blood, while blood also seeped from the corners of his mouth. He could barely speak, yet his eyes were wide open, staring fixedly at Ye Fan.

“Why… why…” In the end, Elder Han laboriously forced out a few indistinct words. It seemed he could not bring himself to swallow that final breath — he did not want to die in such a wretched way.

“Did you really take me for a fool?” Ye Fan was not at all careless, watching Elder Han with calm composure. He said: “A pity you are not the Supreme Elder.”

Blood continued seeping from Elder Han’s wounds. He opened his mouth with great difficulty and said: “You… I… I hate this…”

Thud!

He was vomiting blood in great mouthfuls. His eyes were filled with unwillingness and despair. Deep within his heart surged a monstrous grievance. Everything had been perfectly arranged, yet the final outcome was so cruel — even in death he could not accept it.

“Did you truly think I was a soft persimmon, to be squeezed however you pleased? You actually tried to refine me as a divine medicine — a person as vicious and malicious as you deserves exactly this fate.” Ye Fan stood not far away and struck mercilessly: “You have not the slightest grievance in this death. I endured for seven days and seven nights, only unleashing this killing blow at the very last moment. In your next life, be a good person — otherwise you’ll still come to a bad end.”

Elder Han was consumed by rage and fury. His neck was nearly severed, yet he still refused to swallow that final breath. Blood continued to spurt from his mouth; he gritted his teeth and, speaking indistinctly, said: “I… refuse to accept this… you… you deserve to die…”

Ye Fan glanced over at Elder Han, then opened every one of the nearby medicine cabinets. Immediately, wave after wave of fragrant scent assailed his nostrils. He took out all of the more than ten rare and world-class spiritual medicines — none inferior to the divine Phoenix Grass.

“Old stick-in-the-mud, I can see you have been exceedingly hardworking. Laboring your whole life, comparable to an old ox, you managed to collect this many rare and world-class spiritual medicines — something an ordinary person would not even dare dream of. Truly admirable. I can only say here: thank you very much. I’ll graciously accept all of this!”

“You…” Elder Han was so furious he coughed up blood in great mouthfuls. His eyes blazed with rage. If he could still move, he would have swallowed Ye Fan alive.

“Rest assured, I will not let your life’s work go to waste. These rare heavenly treasures and earthly precious resources, I will put them all to good use — striving within two years to break through into the Spring of Life realm.”

“You… damn you!” These three words coming from Elder Han’s mouth were inevitably startling, but they were a genuine expression of his greatest fury.

“When things happen, stay calm and composed. Opportunity always favors the prepared…” Ye Fan’s lips carried a faint smile as he teased: “The ancient sages truly did not deceive me!”

When he heard those words — “the ancient sages truly did not deceive me” — Elder Han went completely mad. The blood in his mouth gushed out like a mountain spring, and he spat out his final words: “The ancient sages… I… hate this…”

Elder Han was literally infuriated to death. His right hand fell powerlessly to his side. His skull rolled off with a thud. He died an unnatural death, his eyes wide open — unable to rest in peace even in death.

“May you be born into a good family in your next life…” Ye Fan said the exact same words that Elder Han had once said to him. One could well imagine that the two had felt exactly the same when speaking those words, yet the outcomes were entirely different.

If Elder Han knew this from the afterlife, he would surely spit up another three pints of blood and struggle to drag himself upright.

Ye Fan strode over to a corner of the stone chamber, picked up his Bodhi Seed from the stone table, and tucked it into his chest.

This extraordinary Bodhi Seed could help one comprehend the Dao; its value was incalculable. If word were to spread, all the powerful cultivators in the Eastern Desolation would likely come fighting to seize it. Furthermore, it was predictable that the more powerful a figure was, the more they would treasure this mysterious seed — for the further one progressed in cultivation, the more difficult it became. Every moment of insight and enlightenment was an unimaginably great stroke of fortune.

Ye Fan’s cultivation realm was still low at present, and he could not yet truly appreciate this. He did not know how arduous “comprehending the Dao” was for cultivators in later stages. When that time came, no heavenly treasure or divine medicine would be of use — the true pinnacle powerhouses would need “enlightenment” in order to break through.