Chapter 56: Heart Stirred
A divine rainbow shot up from the ancient architectural complex beneath the volcano, its brilliance illuminating the night sky as it flew toward the mountain where Ye Fan was hiding. This startled him, and he thought an expert had discovered him. Holding his breath, he concealed himself behind a massive rock, remaining perfectly still.
"Swish"
The divine rainbow arrived. Elder Wu Qingfeng landed on the mountain, placed Pang Bo in a hidden spot, then soared back into the sky to rejoin the others as they advanced toward the volcano.
Ye Fan emerged from behind the boulder and quickly approached. At this moment, Pang Bo had been sealed by several elders of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven. His eyes were tightly shut, his body stiff and immobile. A green aura clung to him, his complexion was unnatural, and faint, dim greenish light could be seen flowing slowly beneath his skin.
"What exactly entered his body?" Ye Fan dared not touch Pang Bo recklessly, as the seals placed by the elders still pulsed with divine power.
At the volcano's mouth, the atmosphere was extremely tense. Human cultivators and the demon clan faced off, both sides poised for battle, neither willing to yield. A great war was on the verge of erupting.
The old flood dragon, its crimson scales gleaming, stood upright like a blood-colored Great Wall, exuding a shocking sense of power. He roared, "People of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven, do you truly wish to break the centuries of peace and go to war with us?"
The sect master of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven argued his case, refusing to back down. "The treasured artifact of the Eastern Wasteland's human race must be reclaimed. How could it fall into the hands of your demon clan? As for the crucial scroll of the immortal scripture *Dao Scripture*, it is long overdue to see the light of day again. Having vanished from the Eastern Wasteland for over ten thousand years, it should rightfully be mastered by humanity once more."
The demon clan maiden with a pair of golden wings was stunningly beautiful, her voice melodious and magnetic, yet she was extremely aggressive and filled with killing intent. "This is the tomb of our demon clan's Great Emperor. You are merely using the pretext of a human treasure and the *Dao Scripture* to plunder the emperor's mausoleum. If you are willing to fight, then come forward!"
The sect master of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven was not intimidated and remained resolute. "Whether it is true or not, we will know once we open the ancient hall. If the treasured artifact of the Eastern Wasteland's human race and the *Dao Scripture* are not there, we will immediately offer our apologies and submit to your judgment. If they are there, you will let us take them. How about that? This will avoid a conflict and benefit both sides."
The giant, three meters tall with two horns on his head, spoke in a voice that boomed like a great bell, making ears ring. "If the treasures and scriptures you speak of are not there, you will surely cause trouble, insisting that other relics left by the Demon Emperor are those very items. I know your kind well—twisting words, confusing right and wrong, and turning black into white are your specialties. The tomb of the Demon Emperor is not to be desecrated by you!"
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Neither side would yield half a step, and it seemed a battle was inevitable.
"You great demons have gone too far. Today, no matter what, we will reclaim the sacred object belonging to the Eastern Wasteland's human race." The sect master of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven was firm in his stance and took another step forward.
"You leave us no choice but to attack!" The beautiful maiden with flowing golden hair spread her wings, and tens of thousands of golden divine feathers shot toward the sect master like golden divine arrows.
The sect master waved his sleeves, and a hazy purple mist billowed out, surging like a furious sea, blocking the endless divine feathers.
"Kill!" The demon maiden's voice was cold. Her body radiated divine light, and the golden feathers became overwhelming, covering the sky. The brilliant light merged into a golden net that shrouded the heavens, dispersing the purple mist and enveloping the sect master.
A purple copper furnace emerged from the sect master's body. Instantly, purple energy shot into the sky, light radiated in all directions, and divine purple light vibrated outward. All the golden feathers shattered inch by inch, finally bursting into a sky full of golden light, forming a blazing, dazzling golden energy stream.
The golden-haired maiden's expression was icy. With a flap of her wings, a pair of golden divine swords shot forth. They were crystalline, radiant with divine brilliance, and the golden light swirling around them burned like raging flames as they flew to slay the sect master.
The sect master lightly tapped the air, and the purple copper furnace beside him soared upward. Endless purple flames spewed forth, engulfing the two golden divine swords. The intense fire attempted to refine them on the spot.
"Boom"
The two swords, like bolts of lightning, clashed within the vast purple radiance, causing the sky to tremble.
"Kill!"
"Stop them!"
At that moment, the other great demons also attacked. Demonic energy surged into the heavens, killing intent pierced the clouds, and demonic power roiled like a vast ocean, with thousand-layered waves sweeping across the sky.
Simultaneously, the four supreme elders of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven stepped forward. The divine power source within their Seas of Suffering boiled, their bodies shone with dazzling divine light, illuminating the entire sky and dispersing the demonic energy that rushed toward them. The four mighty experts struck together.
Here, demonic energy crisscrossed, divine radiance shot into the sky, and the great demons and human experts engaged in fierce combat. Multicolored light burst forth, various weapons filled the air, and the night sky became as bright as day.
Divine drums, immortal lamps, copper furnaces, golden swords, Eight Trigrams mirrors, blood blades, and flood dragon scale blades seemed to possess life, spewing divine light, crowding together, and colliding endlessly. The clanging sounds were unceasing, each clash a contest of divine power that made the sky tremble.
At the same time, the lightning bird, shimmering with golden light and crackling with electricity, and the silver centipede, as if cast from silver, along with other super fierce birds and savage beasts, all arrived at the volcano's mouth. Meanwhile, Wu Qingfeng and the other elders of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven also reached the scene from another side, confronting these super fierce birds and beasts. A great battle between them was about to begin.
In the distance, Ye Fan's heart could not remain calm. Watching from afar, the great battle above the volcano's mouth left him dazzled and yearning.
It was impossible for Ye Fan not to have thoughts about the Demon Emperor's tomb, but he was powerless to act. He desperately wanted the scroll of the *Dao Scripture*, the famed immortal scripture of the Eastern Wasteland. The crucial scroll, valued by the Demon Emperor, was bound to be extraordinary. It was something he urgently needed, as he lacked the subsequent cultivation methods.
As for the so-called treasured artifact of the Eastern Wasteland's human race, Ye Fan knew nothing about it and felt no attachment. Only the *Dao Scripture* filled him with intense desire.
Although he had obtained an ancient scripture from the bronze coffin, no matter how he looked at it, the hundreds of ancient characters imprinted in his mind did not seem to describe specific cultivation methods. Instead, they appeared to be a general outline, something he could not yet comprehend.
The *Dao Scripture* was renowned throughout the world, a legendary immortal scripture. For tens of thousands of years, across the vast Eastern Wasteland, only a few ancient scriptures could rival it, but none had ever completely surpassed it. It recorded profound and mysterious cultivation methods, from cultivating the Wheel of Life and opening the Sea of Suffering, to connecting the Divine Bridge of Heaven and Earth, reaching the Other Shore, and entering the next cultivation secret realm within the body. All were explained in detail. It was the supreme immortal scripture Ye Fan urgently needed.
"Thump," "thump," "thump"...
At that moment, a dull sound echoed repeatedly, like a heart beating violently. Five-colored radiance shot up from the volcano's mouth, dispersing the surging demonic energy and the vast divine power fluctuations in the sky.
The magma, red as blood, boiled and surged out from the volcano's mouth, scorching half the sky red. The majestic ancient hall rose and fell, vibrating within the magma. It was radiant, crystalline, and exuded the aura of time.
"Boom"
With a final violent tremor, the ancient hall slowly rose from the magma. Complex and profound demon patterns flickered faintly but could no longer restrain the hall as it floated upward.
"Rumble"
The volcano shook. The majestic ancient hall burst out of the volcano's mouth, its dazzling light illuminating the ancient land as if it were daytime. The stars in the sky all dimmed, and five-colored divine light swirled around it.
The great demons and the experts of the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven immediately stopped fighting and rushed toward the majestic ancient hall. All wanted to be the first to open its doors and enter, to obtain the inheritance and divine treasury of the Demon Emperor.