Chapter 43: Divine Patterns
Han Feiyu’s face was dark and gloomy, two beams of cold light shooting from his eyes. A faint sneer curled at the corner of his mouth as he stared at Ye Fan and Pang Bo like they were already dead, saying nothing more.
The four young men beside him, upon hearing his almost commanding words, stepped forward together, faces full of mocking smiles as they slowly surrounded Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
One of them lowered his voice, as if not wanting those around to hear, and said, “You don’t know your place, do you? In the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven, there are some people you just don’t offend. For the likes of you two to dare speak those words just now—you don’t know how to spell death!”
Beside him, another young man pressed forward a few steps, a cold smirk on his face as he taunted, “Impressive, really. Barely through the gates, and already putting on such airs. You clearly don’t know how to write the word ‘death.’ But I reckon you two won’t die—because worse than dying is suffering alive. You won’t be able to die until you’ve been tormented enough.”
“Actually, there’s a way for you two to suffer a little less,” another spoke up, his tone casual, as if the two before him were nothing more than a couple of grasshoppers he could crush at will. He sneered, “You could break your own legs, kneel down and beg for mercy, then crawl into the lotus pond and stick yourselves headfirst into the mud. A real upside-down planting.”
“If I were you, I’d just bash my head against a wall and be done with it. Save yourself the misery.”
The four of them were completely at ease, not taking Ye Fan and Pang Bo seriously at all. They alternated between mockery and sarcasm, standing at four corners to block any chance of escape.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo were never the type to swallow their anger. The words of these four were far too excessive, but they didn’t lose their temper. Instead, they remained nonchalant, replying calmly and unhurriedly.
“What are these four idiots doing?”
“I figure they got their heads smashed by a doorframe on the way out. Otherwise, why would they all look so brainless, mumbling nonsense nonstop?”
They spoke like outsiders, completely indifferent, as if they were bystanders watching a show, occasionally throwing in a casual remark. This immediately infuriated the four young men. The two boys they regarded as mere grasshoppers showed no fear at all, acting this way as if they didn’t even acknowledge their existence. Their sharp, venomous tongues made the four’s anger surge, their faces darkening as they could no longer maintain their mocking smiles.
“Courting death!” one of them barked coldly, but he didn’t rush forward. They had already noticed that these two possessed extraordinary strength and didn’t want to capsize in a ditch.
“Chi”
From below his navel, a faint glow rippled out. A divine pattern, like a water wave, shot forth like an iron chain, rapidly winding toward Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
“A divine pattern surging from the bitter sea!”
“The Dharma Transmission Elder said that only when one’s cultivation has achieved some success can they use mystic techniques. This is an expert.”
……
The onlookers burst into exclamations. Most of them were newly initiated disciples who rarely saw mystic techniques in action, and they watched with tense expressions.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo moved swiftly, dodging to either side. The light pattern, like an iron chain, grazed past their bodies but quickly turned back, continuing to entangle them.
This was their first time fighting a cultivator who could use mystic techniques. Unsure of the power of the divine pattern emerging from the bitter sea, they dared not touch it lightly and dodged again. But the pattern clung to them like a shadow, impossible to shake off. It shimmered brightly, metallic in texture, looking crystalline as it rapidly coiled around.
“Bang”
Ye Fan suddenly lifted a massive rock beside him and hurled it at the diving divine pattern. The two collided with a loud crash, leaving a deep mark on the thousand-jin green stone, as if carved by a blade or axe.
This made both Ye Fan and Pang Bo change color. A cultivator capable of using mystic techniques was indeed formidable. If they were ordinary mortals, they would have no way to contend.
“Chi”
The iron-chain-like divine pattern left a deep scar on the green stone but seemed to exhaust its power. Its light dimmed significantly, turning into a faint shadow as it quickly retreated into the young man’s bitter sea. His body shook, and he staggered back two steps.
“These two grasshoppers really aren’t ordinary in strength. Be careful—if they manage to hurt us, it’ll be a real loss of face,” one of the four young men said in a low voice.
“Chi,” “Chi,” “Chi,” “Chi”
Several soft sounds rang out. Four different-colored lights bloomed from the bitter seas of the four young men, and four divine patterns, like iron chains, shot toward Ye Fan and Pang Bo from four directions.
At the same time, Ye Fan and Pang Bo launched a fierce counterattack. The area near the stone cliff was full of rocks, and they hurled thousand-jin boulders one after another, causing the four divine patterns to tremble repeatedly.
“Bang, bang, bang”
Ye Fan and Pang Bo displayed astonishing divine strength. Boulders flew up continuously, crashing into the divine patterns in midair, while many green stones also rained down on the four young men.
The four young cultivators, who had only just begun to grasp mystic techniques, were thrown into chaos. Though they had cultivated a trace of divine power and could condense it into iron-chain-like divine patterns, they couldn’t control the patterns’ flight speed fast enough to dodge the boulders or effectively harm their opponents.
After cultivating a bit of divine power in their bitter seas, their physiques had greatly improved, but in terms of pure strength, they were no match for Ye Fan and Pang Bo. Now, with thousand-jin boulders constantly crashing down, they could only dodge.
Boulders flew wildly. Not only were the four young cultivators blocked, but they were also forced to retreat, terrified of being crushed by the massive stones.
“Swish”
At that moment, Ye Fan suddenly charged forward at incredible speed, leaving a faint afterimage in his wake.
“Bang”
The next instant, he appeared before one of the young cultivators. With a simple, direct punch, he struck the man squarely in the face, sending him flying sideways.
It was a punch of both beauty and power! Ye Fan moved with effortless grace, his right arm swinging with a natural, Dao-like lightness. But when the fist landed, it was brutally violent, sending the young man flying more than ten meters.
A string of blood sprayed from the cultivator’s mouth and nose, arcing several meters through the air in a crimson curve. Seven or eight teeth flew out with it, clattering to the ground.
On the other side, Pang Bo couldn’t hold back either. He attacked swiftly, smashing a massive rock onto another cultivator’s body. The sound of breaking bones rang out, and that man flew off crookedly, crashing to the ground.
“Bang”
“Bang”
Two more heavy impacts followed. The remaining two were also knocked down by Ye Fan and Pang Bo. They were putting on a display of violent aesthetics, their fists like hammers, smashing the two until they spat blood.
At this point, the four divine patterns dimmed and quickly vanished into the four men’s bitter seas. Ye Fan and Pang Bo lined up the four limp bodies side by side on the ground, then stood over them, looking down.
“What were you saying earlier? That we don’t know our place? That we don’t know how to spell death? Now I want to ask—do you know?” With that, Pang Bo kicked each of them four times, sending them rolling like balls on the ground.
“You think we’re grasshoppers you can crush whenever you want?”
“And you told us to break our own legs, kneel and beg, then crawl into the lotus pond and stick ourselves headfirst in the mud…”
“You even said you’d make us wish we were dead, torment us until we die. What a load of crap!”
“Bang, bang, bang…”
Ye Fan and Pang Bo were utterly disgusted with these four. They showed no mercy, kicking and stomping them like they were squashing bugs, until the four lay limp like piles of mud.
“Enough!” Han Feiyu, who had been watching coldly from a distance, finally spoke. His eyes were icy, and his face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water.
Pang Bo shot him a sidelong glance. “You say enough, so it’s enough? Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Let them go!” Han Feiyu’s voice was frigid, making everyone around feel as if they’d fallen into an ice cellar. Though he looked only fourteen or fifteen, his demeanor and aura were completely at odds with his age—far too sinister.
“Why should we listen to you?!” Pang Bo wasn’t buying it.
As for Ye Fan, he completely ignored him. He crouched down casually, picked up two of the men, then straightened up and swung his arms with a light, graceful motion.
The two figures shot through the air like spears, flying forty or fifty meters away and plunging straight into the mud of the lotus pond. They stood upright like two poles driven into the ground, only their feet visible above the mire.
“You’re asking for death!”
Han Feiyu finally showed real anger. His whole body exuded a chilling coldness as he advanced with an icy aura.
Ye Fan paid him no mind. He picked up the other two and hurled them as well. With two soft “plop” sounds, another pair of upside-down plantings landed, sticking straight into the distant mud.
The onlookers were dumbfounded. The outcome was both shocking and speechless.
“Chi”
From Han Feiyu’s navel, light burst forth, dazzling and blinding. A small, square wooden seal, less than an inch long, emerged from his bitter sea, swirling with layers of emerald light. It rapidly expanded and pressed down toward Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
The crowd gasped. This was a real green wood seal, not a divine pattern formed from divine power in the bitter sea. It was on an entirely different level from the four divine patterns.
As the green wood seal emerged from the bitter sea, streams of green qi flowed from it, radiating a heavy, oppressive pressure.