Shrouding the Heavens

The immense mountainous region was completely silent without any sound, filled with the stillness of death. The words of the crazed old man had come true, as far as the eye could see, corpses littered the ground and everyone had died, blood stained the ground and Ye Fan silently muttered: “You were wrong, the two of us are still alive.” Ye Fan had a lingering fear in his heart, not long ago he had personally witnessed the ten odd ferocious beasts massacring all the cultivators and it was completely one-sided, no one could defend against the attacks.

In that instant, Ye Fan had surmised that he would die as well. The powerful elders from both the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground and Jiang Family could not even withstand a single blow from those frightening monsters. He did not expect that although the crazed old man stood there in the middle of the forest in a dazed state with a silly smile on his face, those ferocious beast stood far away as though they were avoiding him.

“Wu Wu Wu”

The crazed old man began to cry as tears streamed down his face, forcefully pulling his disheveled white hair.

“Old man, stop dwelling on the past, it’s already been over six thousand years, what is there to continue dwelling about.”

The crazed old man raised his head as he miserably cried while beating his chest, thereafter he began to drift through the forest like a spirit, not once looking at Ye Fan, totally absorbed within his own world.

Ye Fan closely followed beside him, he was afraid those unique beasts would attack again. The crazed old man continued to be in a dazed state as he finally crested a mountain and gazed in the direction of the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land, standing there in a stupor without moving for almost have a day, as though he had become a boulder. In the end, he actually stood there for an entire night, his swollen old eyes did not blink and only when the sun rose with the first rays of light entering his eyes did he finally come to his senses.”

“All good things must come to an end, gone and scattered, in the future I’ll return to visit all of you.” The crazed old man continued to cry for a while more before a faint smile returned to his face as he descended the mountain.

When the deranged old man began to take big strides, Ye Fan was shocked to find out that each step he took was several Li. Not just in name only, but also in reality, if it were not for the fact that Ye Fan was still grabbing onto his arm, he would have already been left behind.

“Dao Inscriptions!” At this moment Ye Fan was stunned, each step the crazed old man took was exceptional, unexpectedly interweaved with lines of mysterious inscriptions. This was simply a beautiful Dao, as if it was made by the heavens.

His heart was extremely stunned, the cultivation level of this crazed old man was unfathomable, he could easily form a Dao aura, carelessly leaving behind Dao Inscriptions. There was simply no way to estimate how powerful he was.

“It’s rumoured that Dao Inscriptions were comprehensions of experts of old with regards to nature, carving these understandings onto items and handing these understandings down through the generations. A random movement from the old crazed man could create Dao Inscriptions, this was simply too frightening, he was comparable to the experts of old in legends. It was no wonder that the unique beasts that had easily killed the elders from Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground would avoid him like the plague.” Ye Fan muttered in his heart feeling exceptionally stunned as he gathered his attention to carefully memorise the Dao Inscriptions on the ground.

He could have been said to be stuck to the old crazed man while his entire focus was on each footprint, the Dao Inscriptions flashed before disappearing in an instant.

All the Dao Inscriptions were identical and each footprint had the same markings, when they were finally far away from the piece of mountainous region littered with corpses did Ye Fan finally memorise the markings.

In the mountains far away, there were several cultivators who were gazing from a distance at the primitive mountainous region, no one ventured forth to check, these people were all very prudent and could sense that something terrifying had occurred within the area.

They had not followed behind the previous day but rather chose to halt in the outer regions, they had managed to escape from calamity otherwise, they would have joined the pile of corpses.

Ye Fan glanced behind him, it seemed as though matters had occurred a lifetime ago, only he and the crazed old man had made it out alive and anyone in his shoes would feel restless.

The crazed old man flicked his tattered sleeves immediately sending Ye Fan flying several metres away, it was clear that he was planning to leave.

“Old man please wait, this person of the younger generation is willing to follow and be instructed by you.” Ye Fan hurriedly chased.

The crazed old man seemed to be slightly lucid as he glanced at him in puzzlement: “Who are you?”

“I……”

“I’m actually not supposed to exist within this world, could it be that you wish to turn into loess like me?” Having said this, the crazed old man flicked his sleeves and immediately disappeared.

Ye Fan paused for a moment before making a detour and leaving this mountainous region.

Upon returning, Ye Fan could see Zhou Yi, Lin Jia, Li Xiao Man and Wang Zi Wen. They were together with the elders from their sects and had not ventured into the depths of the mountains.

Not long after, the news had spread and the entire word was shocked, the Eastern Badlands was in a total clamor.

“Near the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land, there is a capable general of the demonic race that is about to be born, endless amounts of frightening unique beasts are guarding the area and all who enter will die, that area is even more frightening than the demon emperor’s burial mound, it’s an area for the reaping of souls for Asura.”

These discussions circulated everywhere and made all the cultivators within the eastern badlands restless, many people even pointed out that the heart which had managed to fly out from the demon emperor burial mound was being used by the demonic race to continue the bloodline of the demon emperor within the Eastern Badlands.

Half a month later, experts from the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground and Jiang Family had once again been sent forth to the outer regions of this mountain area. According to rumours, a venerated elder from the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground and a clan member of the Jiang Family were working together. These two were the true bigshots and their esteemed presence in this small town once again caused this place to be filled with opportunities again.

Ye Fan did not leave the outer region of the mountains, he was unwilling to leave and wanted to wait for matters to settle down before attempting to venture forth again.

In the following ten odd days, an expert would venture forth into the depths of the mountains each day to explore however none returned, only when the venerated elder of the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground and the clansman of the Jiang Family personally moved out did people feel that matters would come to light.

A day and night had passed before the two bigwigs retreated with pale faces, an even more frightening piece of news circulated throughout the Eastern Badlands, the two bigwigs had forcefully opened their immortal eye, gazing from several hundred miles away and seen a frightening sight, a large bronze coffin was floating above the abyss within the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land.

Those powerful unique beasts seemed to want to trespass into the forbidden area to whisk the ancient bronze coffin away but were currently sealed in the outer regions.

When Ye Fan learned of this information, he felt shocked, others would not know much about the large bronze coffin but he was very clear.

“Didn’t it fall into the depths of the abyss? Why has it appeared again?”

Half a month later, another piece of news was spread. Those powerful unique beasts had finally acted but had all been miserably defeated, seven unique beasts had entered but none had made it out alive.

Finally, those powerful unique beasts no longer barricaded the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land but rather dispersed. The Eastern Badlands was in a clamor, an ancient bronze coffin had appeared within the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land attracting the attention of all the bigwigs within the area. However, none of the Sacred Lands or ancient aristocratic families acted rashly, the frighteningly powerful experts of the demonic race had been eradicated and they were very cautious.

It was a full month later before three extreme experts of the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground, Jiang Family and Ji Family worked together to enter the depths of the forbidden area.

This time, there were also several cultivators who followed but a large majority were there merely to take a look, not many wanted to venture into the depths and each sect were there as spectators.

“Ye Fan, it’s you!” In the outer regions of the mountainous area, an extremely pretty lady had an astonished expression on her face, her slender figure with jade-like skin, curves in all the right places, graceful and lithe, her figure could be compared to that of a succubus with the face of an fairy. Her red phoenix eyes faintly arced upwards, an aura that was strange and mesmerizing, extremely attractive.

“Lin Jia!” Ye Fan was shocked, he did not expect to be spotted by Lin Jia, he had known long ago that Lin Jia, Zhou Yi, Wang Zi Wen and Li Xiao Man were within the small town up ahead. This time, the three parties planned to work together and had summoned them once again, it was likely that they were going to question them further.

Not far away, several powerful horsemen heard the noise and immediately rode their mounts as they rushed over.

“He’s my friend, don’t be mistaken.” Lin Jia hurriedly shouted as those horsemen immediately stopped far away.

“They are…?” Ye Fan asked.

“They are people of the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground, whenever Zhou Yi, Wang Zi Wen, Li Xiao Man or myself wanted to come out, there would always be people guarding by the side.” Having said this, Lin Jia shook her head: “These are all matters within the world of cultivators, even if I say it you won’t understand. The world of cultivators within the Eastern Badlands is currently in a mess.”

Looking at Ye Fan from head to toe, she asked: “Why are you here? How have you been these past three years?”

Ye Fan smiled: “I’ve been very good, everything has been smooth sailing.”

“If you have any difficulties, you can share them with me. I could possibly help you resolve them.”

“I don’t have any problems at the moment. I’d like to congratulate granny Lin for regaining her youth, once again becoming as beautiful as a flower.”

“Looking for a beating?” Lin Jia glared at him before laughing: “It seems that you have really fared quite well these past three years, very different from what I imagined.” Having said this, she sighed: “Time flies by so quickly, it has already been three years, I really miss the good old days.”

“Maybe one day we’ll be able to go back.”

“That hope is close to zero.” Saying this, Lin Jia seemed to recall something as she softly spoke out: “If you have any problems in the future, you can look for me at the Yan Xia immortal sanctuary. Hurry and leave this area first.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I don’t have any other choice, we’re being forced to enter the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land again. If those people find out that you’ve eaten the divine fruit, you will be in trouble. You better hurry and leave this place.”

Ye Fan did not say much more and immediately nodded: “Take care of yourself!”

However, trouble still managed to find its way as barely a minute passed before Ye Fan was soundlessly surrounded by ten odd horsemen within the mountainous region. The old horseman leading the group made Ye Fan feel trepidation, he did not attempt to break through the encirclement because he could sense a vast frightening energy fluctuation from the body of the old man. If he acted recklessly the other party would instantly explode forth.

“I understand your intentions, alright, I’ll follow you.” Ye Fan was very calm.

Finally, Ye Fan was brought back to the small town but he did not see Lin Jia, Zhou Yi, Li Xiao Man or Wang Zi Wen. The people of the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground had learned that he had eaten the divine fruit and disguised him as a horseman, wanting to use him at a critical juncture to acquire the divine fruit.

“Based on your physique, you will definitely be able to withstand the strength of the curse. If you manage to acquire the divine medicine, the Sacred Ground will reward you amply.” The old horsemen warned as a fierce light shined through his eyes. “I understand.” Ye Fan nodded but coldly laughed in his heart, by the time they entered the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land, he wanted to see who was making use of whom.

Five days later, the Twinkling Brilliance Sacred Ground, Jiang Family and Ji Family once again set out into the depths of the mountainous region. Ye Fan could see Lin Jia, Li Xiao Man, Zhou Yi, Wang Zi Wen, Zhang Zi Jun and Liu Yi Yi from a distance, they had actually all been brought here.

Ye Fan was currently riding atop a ferocious beast and was wearing divine metal armour, no one recognised him.

This time, no frightening ferocious beasts stood in the way and the people from the three parties reached the boundary stone of the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land.

A few carriages flashing with divine lights floated in the air, no longer advancing. These few bigwigs were prepared to support from the outside, they did not dare to personally risk entering because the curse within the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land had a large effect on extreme experts, to the extent that they could even be reduced to ordinary mortals.”

About to enter the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land again, Ye Fan began to feel excited, the greatest fortune of his life was possibly before him. He also thought of the large bronze coffin, it was unknown why it had left the depths of the abyss and appeared above the sacred mountain.

“The divine fruit must be obtained.” The few bigwigs transmitted these words from the sky as the carriages continued emit a dazzling divine splendour.