Chapter 46: The Golden Sea of Bitterness
In the span of a single day, Ye Fan drank a full thirteen bottles of Hundred Grass Liquid. Adding the seven bottles he had consumed over the previous two days, he had now reached a total of twenty bottles. Aside from the surging and boiling life essence within his blood vessels, he still felt no sense of discomfort whatsoever.
Seeing him drink like this, Pang Bo felt a chill of fear. "Let's stop for now, alright? My heart is pounding, and my eyelids won't stop twitching. I'm terrified you're going to go 'bang' and explode, and I'll never see you again..."
"You jinx, what nonsense are you spouting..." As he spoke, Ye Fan carefully sensed the condition of his Sea of Bitterness. "I think I'm starting to feel something strange."
"What? Did it actually work?" Pang Bo's face lit up with joy. "I'll go find Elder Wu Qingfeng to guide you."
Ye Fan stopped him. "Don't. I'll just feel it out slowly on my own."
Elder Wu Qingfeng had once said that Ye Fan's constitution could only rely on itself; outsiders were utterly incapable of guiding it. He had remarked that if an ordinary person's Wheel of Life was a patch of soil, then Ye Fan's Wheel of Life was a piece of divine iron. Plant a seed in soil, tend and cultivate it carefully, and the seed would surely take root and sprout, bursting with vigorous life. But with divine iron, no matter how much you invested, even if you planted an immortal root, it would be difficult for it to grow. In such a situation, only an internal transformation within the divine iron itself could give a glimmer of hope for life to emerge. Otherwise, no matter how superior the external conditions provided, it would be hard to change anything.
Ye Fan had a faint, peculiar sensation, and his heart was stirred with excitement. His constitution had been called a Sacred Body in the Primordial Era, but was now regarded as a Waste Body. He was deeply unwilling to accept this. Now that he had this slight, special feeling, he was naturally very encouraged.
At that moment, Pang Bo's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Watching Ye Fan gulp down bottle after bottle like water, his heart climbed into his throat.
"I say... let's take it easy. Seeing you like this really makes my heart tremble. Can we save the rest for tomorrow? I'm truly scared..." As Pang Bo spoke, a pile of empty jade bottles lay scattered on the ground. Ye Fan had already consumed forty bottles of Hundred Grass Liquid.
"Don't worry. I feel great right now. The boiling life essence in my blood has completely calmed down, and there's a violent fluctuation happening where my Wheel of Life is located."
After saying this, Ye Fan continued taking the Hundred Grass Liquid until finally, not a single bottle remained. Apart from the seven bottles Pang Bo had drunk, all fifty-nine remaining bottles had been consumed by Ye Fan!
"How do you feel?" Pang Bo asked nervously.
"I've finally sensed the existence of my Wheel of Life. The divine power source there is boiling..." As he spoke, Ye Fan fell silent and began to silently circulate the profound method recorded in the *Dao Scripture*, charging at his Sea of Bitterness.
Beside him, Pang Bo was somewhat dumbfounded, muttering to himself, "The divine power source within the Wheel of Life is boiling... I've never felt anything like that before."
The thatched hut gradually grew quiet. Ye Fan sat there motionless like a stone statue, while Pang Bo kept anxious and uneasy watch by his side.
No one knew how much time had passed when the hut suddenly blazed with brilliant light, erupting with the sound of tidal waves. From the area of Ye Fan's Sea of Bitterness, an endless divine radiance burst forth, a dazzling expanse of gold, accompanied by flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder.
Pang Bo was stunned speechless, staring blankly at the scene before him.
There, at Ye Fan's Sea of Bitterness, divine light shone in ten thousand rays, brilliant as rainbows. Golden waves were actually surging violently, accompanied by flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. A fierce tsunami was occurring there, with waves leaping to the sky!
Such a miraculous phenomenon occurring within the Sea of Bitterness was utterly unheard of. Pang Bo was shocked beyond measure. He felt that everything before him was incredibly unbelievable, muttering, "What in the world is happening..."
The thatched hut was filled with the deafening roar of a tsunami, like thousands of troops and horses galloping. Pang Bo slapped his own face hard to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"Tsunamis reaching the heavens, sounds like thunder, terrifying waves ten thousand layers high..." His mouth felt dry. It was all like a dream. The rumbling waves sounded like a vast army on the march. At this moment, it felt as if he wasn't standing in a thatched hut, but on a seashore, facing a vast, undulating ocean.
Ye Fan sat motionless, cross-legged. Within his Sea of Bitterness, divine splendor bloomed, dazzling and brilliant. At this moment, the sound of waves was unceasing, golden light blazed, lightning danced and struck, and monstrous waves surged to the sky.
"That golden ocean... could it really be his Sea of Bitterness? Why is it shining outward, visible even to outsiders?" Pang Bo was astonished and uncertain, staring fixedly at Ye Fan. His Sea of Bitterness glittered with brilliance, divine radiance shimmering, waves surging and rolling continuously.
He had already confirmed that the sound of the tsunami indeed originated from Ye Fan's Sea of Bitterness. This was truly mind-boggling. A Sea of Bitterness, normally hidden within the body, was actually producing the unceasing roar of a real ocean.
Pang Bo stood there, nearly petrified. The rumbling sound from ahead was intense, and the golden waves seemed as if they might burst forth at any moment, giving off a powerful sense of oppression.
"Why is it gold?" After being shaken by the tsunami's roar, it took Pang Bo a long time to slowly calm down.
If that golden ocean was Ye Fan's Sea of Bitterness, it was far too unusual. Pang Bo found it incredible. He could now look inward at his own Sea of Bitterness, which was pitch black, appearing lifeless and dead. Elder Wu Qingfeng had once said that without a Sea of Bitterness connected to the Wheel of Life, life essence could only swirl above the Sea of Bitterness. As for the Sea of Bitterness itself, it remained barren and still, without a trace of life's fluctuation, either a dark green or a pitch black.
Yet Ye Fan's Sea of Bitterness was so different, completely unlike what Elder Wu Qingfeng had described.
"Rumble..."
Above the surging golden Sea of Bitterness, bolts of lightning burst forth from time to time, intertwining with the sky-high tsunami. The world was filled with blazing light, sea and sky connected, everywhere a dazzling golden radiance, exceptionally brilliant.
Pang Bo watched nervously, afraid that something might go wrong. Throughout this process, Ye Fan himself seemed completely unaware, remaining silent and still, quietly circulating the profound method recorded in the *Dao Scripture*.
A full several hours passed before the golden light slowly receded, and the sound of the tsunami gradually diminished. After another half hour, the thatched hut finally fell silent. Ye Fan's Sea of Bitterness returned to calm, its radiance withdrawn, the sound of waves gone.
Not long after, Ye Fan awakened. His eyes shone with divine light. The moment he stood up, his entire being seemed much more agile, gaining an aura of the immortal path.
"What exactly happened just now? How do you feel now?" Pang Bo asked impatiently.
"Just now, I sensed my Wheel of Life and saw the boiling divine power source. Then I charged at my Sea of Bitterness and actually saw a golden ocean. I don't know if it was an illusion."
Hearing Ye Fan's description, Pang Bo's mouth fell open in shock, and then he nodded repeatedly. "It wasn't an illusion, because... I saw it too."
"You saw it too?" Ye Fan looked surprised.
"That's right. You have no idea how grand the spectacle was just now. The tsunami reached the heavens, divine light shone in ten thousand rays, everything was brilliant. The whole thatched hut was shaking. Luckily, we live in a remote place, or else it would have definitely caused a huge uproar."
After listening carefully to Pang Bo's account, Ye Fan finally confirmed that the golden ocean and tsunami he had seen were not the result of an illusion.
Pang Bo asked with concern, "How do you feel? I saw that golden Sea of Bitterness completely disappear at the last moment. Did it not succeed?"
"I don't know if it counts as success..." As he spoke, Ye Fan circulated the profound method recorded in the *Dao Scripture*. At the location of his Sea of Bitterness, a tiny golden speck appeared, no bigger than a sesame seed, but it glittered brilliantly.
"Your Sea of Bitterness is a bit small, but that's not a problem. As long as you keep cultivating, it will gradually grow larger." Pang Bo's expression was very excited. "I'm sure your Sea of Bitterness is absolutely extraordinary. It's actually gold, completely different from ordinary people's. Its radiance can even shine outward..."
Although he had only cultivated a "single grain of sea," Ye Fan was very happy. He had finally broken the deadlock and opened up his own unique golden Sea of Bitterness.
"How come I feel a trace of divine power fluctuating from your sesame-seed-sized Sea of Bitterness? Could it be that concentration is the essence..." Pang Bo wore a puzzled expression.