The old crane emerged from seclusion. His complexion was rosy, his hair as white as snow, his spirit sharp and vigorous. His eyes were filled with astonishment as he stared at the ninety-nine dragon mountains and confirmed that they still existed in the world.
Ye Fan’s heart trembled. Could they truly be drawing close to finding the Earth Immortal? Was this the place Chi Songzi had pursued throughout his entire life — the place that held the chance and great secret of achieving immortality?
The old crane said that although the ancient terrain had changed greatly compared to the present, it bore similarities to certain places that exist today, and that clues could be found in the real world.
He had heard some ancient secrets. The ninety-nine dragon mountains absolutely exist — this was not fantasy. This map could not be false, but it would require careful comparison with the real mountains and rivers of today.
“Look at this one — doesn’t it resemble the Yellow River somewhat? The terrain flows like a dragon rushing to the sea, winding nine curves, vigorous and boundless.”
Ye Fan and the Third Valley Master were both startled. How could an ancient dragon mountain be connected to the Yellow River? That seemed to be stretching things rather far.
The old crane carved the ancient course of the Yellow River on the ground. It bore little resemblance to its current path, having changed course countless times over thousands upon thousands of years.
“Legend has it that in ancient times, there was no course of the Yellow River upon the earth. A great practitioner of immense power literally pulled out a great dragon vein from the ground, moving the dragon mountain away, and opened up the ancient course of the Yellow River, sending the raging floodwaters eastward to the sea.”
Ye Fan was stunned. The ancient course of the Yellow River had been opened up by a human hand? There had once been a dragon vein rising there, which someone had uprooted and carried away? This was truly astonishing.
He crouched down and earnestly compared the ancient course of the Yellow River with the ninety-nine dragon veins. Indeed, it resembled one of them quite closely — startling, even bordering on the absurd.
“But this is only one dragon mountain. The terrain map shows ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains coiling and converging together, vast and magnificent — we still have many more to account for.”
Ye Fan said this with his mouth, but in his heart he still harbored some disbelief. So many dragon mountains gathered in one place, all of them true great dragons — not even the Big Dipper Star Region had anything like that!
Moreover, after returning home, he had heard from both the Lingbao Hierarch and the Third Valley Master that in ancient times the earth had been boundlessly vast, far wider and larger than it was now, though no one knew why it had grown progressively smaller.
If this were true, even just the single dragon mountain where the ancient Yellow River course lay would be of unknown millions of li in length. Following what they described, the figures could easily run into the hundreds of thousands of li.
“It isn’t just the Earth that has changed — even the entire solar system has grown smaller. It wasn’t like this in the past.” The old crane said.
Ye Fan pondered. Ninety-nine dragon mountains existing simultaneously and coiling together truly did seem a bit unrealistic. Just how staggering would that be? Setting everything else aside, that terrain alone would be capable of giving rise to something beyond all comprehension.
Moreover, it would necessarily be an existence supreme over all of ancient and modern times — even the great emperors of antiquity would have had adversaries there, and in all likelihood would have been outmatched.
“Could it be — is it precisely because these ninety-nine dragon mountains converged together and defied heaven itself that they gave birth to an Earth Immortal?”
Ye Fan was now only a hair’s breadth from becoming a Source Heaven Master. In both ability and experience he was unmatched in the world — no one of the current era could compare with him. Yet the more he came to understand these things, the more astonished he became.
The old crane insisted with absolute certainty that the ancient course of the Yellow River must be one of those dragon mountains, for in terms of shape it was already quite similar, and matched one of the veins on the terrain map.
“Well, this gives us plenty to look at now. If the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains truly existed, there’s nothing that couldn’t be believed about what they might have given birth to.” Ye Fan murmured.
They decided to set out immediately for the ancient course of the Yellow River, traveling upstream from the lower reaches, visiting ancient sites along the way to seek out the other ninety-eight true dragon mountains.
“You’re saying it lies hidden within a vast ancient formation — not in the mortal world — yet can be traced through the present-day mountains and rivers?” Ye Fan asked.
The old crane nodded, his expression grave. He had not left seclusion even once in decades or even a century, devoting himself entirely to cultivation. And yet now he had come personally to the bank of the ancient Yellow River course.
They set out to find the unknown territories, seeking the sealed ancient mountain ranges. Traveling all the way, they examined mountains and rivers along their route, discovered many ancient ruins, and excavated a number of weathered steles from the Yellow River silt, hoping to find some harvest.
However, no significant discoveries were made. Both banks of the Yellow River had nothing to show — absolutely no sealed ancient dragon mountains could be found.
“Come forth, earth deity.” When they arrived at an uninhabited region, at a stretch of the Yellow River where the waters ran fierce, the Great Sage recited an incantation and summoned a small old man.
Ye Fan stared with wide eyes, utterly stunned, struck by a powerful illusion — had he perhaps wandered into a mythological age?
The old crane explained that since the ancient Yellow River course had once been where the ancient dragon mountain stood, remnant dragon energy lingered endlessly there. People and demons who had developed some Daoist cultivation would naturally attach themselves to such a place.
The earth deity summoned by the Third Valley Master was actually nothing more than a pangolin that had developed a modest degree of Daoist cultivation and had taken on the form of a local earth deity to practice here.
The Great Sage questioned him carefully. This earth deity lord shook with fright like a sieve and gave a thorough account of everything. His ancestors had been here from the beginning, and indeed he had heard of the ninety-nine dragon mountains — but he had never actually seen them.
Afterward, they traveled further upstream, passing through Ningxia and Gansu, following the ancient course of the Yellow River. Many stretches had not seen Yellow River waters flow through them for thousands of years, the river having long since changed course.
Along the way they summoned mountain gods and earth deities from uninhabited regions several more times, seeking news of the most magnificent dragon mountains of the ancient world — but there was still no significant harvest.
Ye Fan had to shake his head. A terrain like this truly could not possibly exist — otherwise it would be a defiance of heaven itself. He could scarcely imagine it, with no way to predict what it might have given birth to.
However, just as his conviction began to waver, the old crane detected demon tracks. A certain stretch of the Yellow River overlapped with the ancient course. He said there was a great demon inside who might be able to provide some information.
The Great Sage entered the water — and was beaten back out. Demonic energy rolled in waves, nearly causing the Third Valley Master to suffer a serious setback.
The old crane took action. By now he had reached the Great Perfection of the Dragon Transformation stage — a cultivator of profound Daoist attainment, ranking among the very top of those at the hierarch level. As long as reclusive great practitioners did not emerge, no one could contend with him.
“Boom!”
The waves surged to the sky. An ancient flood dragon reared up, its power nearly equal to his own. It bellowed in fury, demanding to know why they had disturbed its underwater manor and interrupted its cultivation.
This was an ancient Yellow River flood dragon that had been cultivating the Dao for more than seven hundred years. Since ancient times, its ancestors had always lived here, hidden in the underground water palace.
After the Grand Valley Master explained at length, the old flood dragon’s fury finally subsided. The Yellow River waves grew calm, and it invited the group into its water palace to sit.
This was an underwater palace — without any extravagant furnishings, simple and unadorned. Everything was made of stone, keeping the water out, built upon a stretch of silt.
Underground, threads of dragon energy gathered continuously. The flood dragon’s lineage cultivated by drawing on this energy, rarely manifesting in the world above — not at all like what people imagined, that demons must stir up storms and cause chaos.
It invited the three guests to sit and recounted some events of the ancient past. Though its knowledge was limited, it had all been passed down from its ancestors, and in the end the three were able to discover one important clue.
The flood dragon said that long before ancient times, there had indeed been accounts of ninety-nine dragon mountains, and that right here, one had coiled and intertwined with the ancient Yellow River course, boundlessly magnificent. Later, someone with peerless great power had moved it away.
The three listened with dropped jaws. So it was truly as described. The flood dragon confirmed that one of these mountains still existed today, and even gave its name: the Taihang Mountain Range.
“Isn’t that a bit too absurd?” Even the Great Sage was a little dumbstruck.
The old crane fell into a thoughtful expression, then spoke up, saying that Taihang was indeed a dragon mountain, and that with the inhalation and exhalation of its dragon energy, the ancient capital of the north had been nurtured into existence.
“I have heard that in ancient times, the supreme dragon vein was ten thousand times larger than it is today. Can you imagine how long that dragon mountain would have been?” The Great Sage said.
“If even the ancient course of the Yellow River was formed by the removal of a dragon mountain, what is there to be astonished about by the movement of the Taihang Mountain Range?” The old crane said with great composure.
Ye Fan rubbed his chin. This was truly staggering. Even the Taihang dragon vein was one of the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains — so just how magnificent would the scene of all those dragons rising and soaring together actually look?!
The flood dragon only knew of one of the ancient dragon mountains and was ignorant of the others. According to what it said, this touched on matters of ancient forbidden territory — it could not be investigated further, or great calamity would follow.
This had been passed down in fragments from its ancestors. Before they left, it repeatedly warned the three to exercise restraint, to never pursue this matter — even ancient sages and worthy men did not dare touch it, and if they did, disaster would certainly follow.
This was truly a startling and terrifying matter. Such ancient secrets existed, touching on forbidden territory?
Was this what Chi Songzi had been pursuing?
They continued along the ancient course, passing from Gansu into the Sichuan-Shu region, about to enter Qinghai and reach the terminal point — the source of the Yellow River.
However, while still within the Sichuan-Shu region, they had another breakthrough. Inside the ancient Yellow River course, they encountered an old turtle. Though its Daoist cultivation was not tremendously intimidating — having only recently entered the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm — its lifespan was extraordinarily high, having lived for over nine hundred years.
The advantages of its species were evident.
In their conversation, they learned from the old turtle another astonishing piece of information. Its clan also cultivated by drawing on the dragon energy of the ancient Yellow River course, and it too knew some ancient anecdotes.
This time it involved the Qilian Mountain Range — another great dragon of the ancient world that had been moved away from this location.
Ye Fan and his companions made careful comparisons and fell into silence. It truly did resemble one of the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains — rather frighteningly so.
“In ancient times, the Qilian Mountain dragon vein stretched millions of li in length — truly astonishing to hear!”
The old turtle shared one secret that left them unable to remain unmoved. It said the ninety-nine dragon mountains had already been a forbidden topic far before the ancient era — not to be spoken of, not to be discussed, and certainly not to be investigated by anyone.
Ye Fan and his companions bid farewell to the old turtle and traveled onward into Qinghai Province, finally arriving at the source of the Yellow River, standing at the foot of a snowy mountain range, lost in thought, with no further discoveries to be made.
“I have a feeling that we’ve accidentally stumbled onto something we shouldn’t have been investigating…” The old crane murmured.
Ye Fan had already sensed this long ago. It seemed they had truly touched upon a secret forbidden by heaven. If the Taihang Mountain dragon vein and the Qilian Mountain dragon vein both stretched millions of li, and ninety-nine dragon mountains of such scale coiled and interlocked together — that would be an absolute defiance of heaven!
To say that it gave birth to a single Earth Immortal would actually be understating it.
“Let’s make a careful comparison and take a thorough look.” They combined the nine ancient jade pieces and then carved out all the famous dragon mountains in the world, comparing them one by one. The more they looked, the more their hearts filled with alarm.
“This is the Hengduan Mountain dragon vein.”
“This is the Tianshan dragon vein.”
The group felt cold shivers running down their spines. Every famous dragon vein in the world could be found within the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains on the jade — a one-to-one correspondence was possible.
Of the ninety-nine dragon mountains on the ancient jade pieces, the largest single one occupied the central position, taking up nearly a quarter of the entire area — the most immense and magnificent of all.
Ye Fan and his companions made careful comparisons and found that a terminal section of it matched the orientation of the present-day Kunlun Mountain Range exactly — the two could be almost perfectly overlaid.
“A great portion of the Kunlun Range is hidden within an ancient formation. And moreover, all the mountains and sacred peaks that manifest in today’s world have been reduced many times over in size.” The old crane said.
The group was inexplicably overwhelmed. What on earth had happened during the ancient era? The ninety-nine dragon mountains had originally been together, coiling and intertwining in a complex terrain — who had separated them?
What a grand, far-reaching hand this represented!
Worthy of shaking all of antiquity and all future ages. This was a heaven-defying act of incomprehensible scope.
The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. The mountains, rivers, and earth of the entire world had almost certainly been arranged deliberately. None of the dragon veins had originally followed their present courses!
“Too terrifying. This is a heaven-defying stroke that shakes the past, present, and future. We truly have accidentally touched upon the forbidden…”