Chapter 70: Departure
The unscrupulous Taoist sighed repeatedly, saying, "There's no way to enter this yin tomb again. Damn it..." He was fixated on the green copper, and now that he had suddenly lost the opportunity, he was filled with regret and vexation.
The killing formation within the cold pool had been activated, but those outside the pool were in no danger.
Just then, five dazzling beams of light shot over rapidly. Five great figures had all been alerted and arrived at the mountain ridge in no time, exuding a powerful pressure as they hovered in the air like deities.
Ye Fan wanted to observe them, but found that he could not see through the brilliant divine radiance. He could only make out five clusters of bright light, nothing more.
"The Demon Emperor's yin tomb!" One of them drew in a sharp breath. His eyes were like torches, and he understood at a glance what lay beneath the cold pool.
"The active volcano is the yang tomb, and the nether cold pool is the yin tomb. One yang, one yin, embracing and guarding the Taiji, seizing the transformations of heaven and earth, capable of evolving endless changes." Another great figure also sighed deeply, saying, "The Demon Emperor is truly extraordinary. If not for this accidental discovery, it would have been truly difficult to find. He actually set up two tombs, one yin and one yang."
"This is a huge problem now. The yin tomb has activated its lethal formation; it's very hard to enter!"
"The Eastern Wasteland human race's supreme treasure has yet to be seen. The Desolate Tower is most likely inside this yin tomb!"
Several great figures could not remain calm, but for the moment, they could think of no solution and dared not enter the Demon Emperor's yin tomb recklessly.
"It's not completely hopeless. Ten thousand years have passed. No matter how perfect the arrangement, there will be a flaw. We can carefully sneak down, take a look, and then decide."
"Alright!"
At that moment, the five clusters of light all descended. One of them instantly enveloped the unscrupulous Taoist.
"I heard someone say earlier that even if they met a disciple of a Holy Land, they'd dare to slap them to death. It seems you are quite extraordinary. This place was triggered by you, so why don't you come down with us?"
The unscrupulous Taoist's face instantly turned green. He hurriedly said, "Several seniors, I was just spouting nonsense. Please don't take me seriously. This yin tomb has activated its lethal formation. With my cultivation, if I go down, there's no chance of survival."
"You're certainly not simple. You even know about the yang tomb and yin tomb. It seems you are indeed extraordinary. Come down with us!"
"Don't! I beg you, seniors, have mercy..." The unscrupulous Taoist screamed miserably.
"Swish"
With a flash of five lights, the five super-great figures, dragging the green-faced unscrupulous Taoist, instantly vanished into the blood-colored cold pool. The unscrupulous Taoist's pig-slaughter-like screams abruptly ceased.
As they entered, the cold pool began to boil, surging with sky-filling blood light. The demon generals had already disappeared inside moments earlier.
"Truly, evil people are tormented by other evil people. Damn fatty, may you find your own fortune!" Ye Fan stood up, patted the dirt off his backside, and left the place. There was no way he was staying here any longer.
"Rumble"
Blood-colored light blazed, and the entire primeval ruins were shrouded in blood radiance. The place became eerie and strange, exceptionally terrifying.
At that moment, everyone felt a sense of dread. Beneath the blood-colored cold pool, earth-shattering changes seemed to be taking place!
Ye Fan left that mountain ridge and fled far away.
At this point, the surrounding mountains and rivers were all inscribed with Dao patterns, sealing off this ancient land. Ye Fan could not break through and could only wander among the hills. He was waiting for an opportunity to leave. Having obtained a page of the golden book and unexpectedly acquired a mysterious piece of green copper, he could be said to have achieved a "bumper harvest" that would drive any cultivator mad. Fleeing far away was the best choice.
"I hope the restrictions break soon..."
Ye Fan's cultivation was too low; he simply could not compete with those cultivators for the spiritual weapons. He understood his own situation and deliberately chose desolate paths to walk.
Ye Fan opened a jade box, and a fragrant aroma assailed his nose. The Jade Snake Orchid was rich and fragrant. At this moment, he wanted to take action. Could he take this opportunity to search for spiritual medicine? Now that he had obtained a page of the golden book, the complete "Wheel Sea Volume" would guide his path forward. If he could also find enough spiritual medicine, he would surely achieve something in a short time.
Ye Fan moved quickly, heading deeper into the mountains. With the emergence of the Demon Emperor's tomb, most of the spiritual beasts had fled, leaving only a few hiding in their caves, unwilling to come out. Picking spiritual medicine now was countless times easier than usual.
Earlier, when he had come deep into the ruins, Ye Fan remembered passing by a swamp where he had sensed a powerful strange beast, seemingly guarding something. He had taken a wide detour at the time, but now he decided to go and take another look.
Finding that mountainous area, Ye Fan soon located the swamp. He faintly sensed a fierce aura and discovered many huge scales in the swamp, each as big as a palm.
"It seems there was a big fellow hiding here earlier. Fortunately, it has already left."
Ye Fan searched carefully for a long time but found nothing. Finally, at the spot where the most scales had fallen off, he noticed something unusual. There was an unknown plant there, looking very ordinary, but the strange beast seemed to have carefully avoided it, never stepping on it.
Suspicious, he crouched down, dug into the soil, and excavated toward the roots. He dug over a meter deep but found nothing unusual.
Just as Ye Fan was about to give up, a glint of gold suddenly caught his eye. Beneath the soil, at the end of the main root of this plant, there was actually a golden tuber, no bigger than a longan, shining brightly.
"This is..."
Ye Fan was greatly startled. He suddenly remembered that when he had browsed through the spiritual medicine classics at the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven, he had seen a record. It was said that when some ancient trees that had become spirits failed their tribulation, they wouldn't necessarily be completely annihilated. They would often leave behind a bit of life essence, attaching it to the roots of other plants, with the potential to regenerate in the future.
"Could this be a bit of essence left behind by an old tree spirit?" Ye Fan looked at the golden tuber, a look of joy appearing on his face. He then placed it into a jade box.
Afterward, he set off for the next location. Soon, he arrived before a stone mountain. At the base of the mountain was a huge black cave, from which a faint, elusive fragrance wafted out.
Ye Fan showed a joyful expression and quickly walked inside.
Suddenly, a low roar came from deep within the stone cave, accompanied by waves of terrifying fierce aura.
Ye Fan's body stiffened instantly. He hurriedly retreated, fleeing like the wind.
A rumbling sound came, and a savage beast poked most of its body out of the stone cave, growling continuously. It looked like a jackal, but had no fur at all. Instead, it was covered in sharp, venomous spikes, pitch-black in color, looking somewhat terrifying.
It was seven or eight meters long, with an extremely heavy bloody and fierce aura. As it growled, black light kept flashing across its body, like black flames burning.
Ye Fan hid in the distance and knew at a glance that this savage beast was something he couldn't afford to provoke. It was much stronger than the Jade Horned Snake, and its aura was very intimidating.
"Other strange beasts have all fled, but it dares to stay. It must be extraordinary!"
In the end, Ye Fan gained nothing here and began searching elsewhere. Two hours later, he found three more types of spiritual medicine, but they were not particularly rare herbs, far less valuable than that golden tuber.
"Boom"
Just then, from the cold pool, a sky-filling blood light surged. Several figures shot up into the sky, engaging in fierce battle.
There was actually a monster, completely black, shaped like a lion, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't. It closely resembled the legendary Suanni, and it was fighting evenly with one of the great figures, not at a disadvantage.
"Who would have thought! The Demon Emperor's mount from back then was frozen here. Its corpse is undecayed, transformed into a spiritual corpse, and has become the tomb guardian!" Several great figures in the sky surrounded the monster, trying to destroy it.
"Legend has it that the descendant of the Suanni is truly extraordinary. It followed the Demon Emperor for only a short time, yet it has transformed to such an inconceivable realm."
The black Suanni beast charged and rampaged, showing no signs of defeat. Several times, it nearly broke back into the cold pool.
"Rumble"
The cold pool seemed to boil, constantly spewing out the corpses of various demon generals, controlled by that Suanni, attacking the sky.
"Even if we destroy this Suanni corpse, we cannot break the Dao patterns laid down by the Demon Emperor. We cannot truly enter the yin tomb..."
In the distance, Ye Fan was very shocked. There seemed to be many strange things beneath the yin tomb, and now so many monsters had rushed out.
"Clang, clang, clang"
Suddenly, from all directions of the ruins came a series of clanging sounds. At first, it was like the vibration of metal and stone, then like a tsunami, vast and undulating, rumbling loudly. Following that, divine beams shot up from all sides, and endless divine radiance flooded the ten directions.
The "Dao patterns" laid down by the five great figures had been forcibly broken!
This shocked everyone! They knew that top-tier experts had arrived, and not just one. They had shattered the "Dao patterns" set by the five great figures, dismantling the not-quite-perfect "heavenly momentum."
Then, streaks of divine rainbows rushed in. Countless cultivators arrived, several times more than before. The few great figures who had acted covertly did not show themselves, but they had clearly entered the ruins as well.
In the primeval ruins, centered on the cold pool, blood mist drifted, growing more and more eerie. Countless monsters rushed out, and cultivators gathered in greater numbers. No one left; more sects were arriving.
The restrictions on all sides had been broken. Ye Fan was overjoyed; he could finally leave.
At this moment, his golden Sea of Suffering contained the green copper. It was both a great blessing and an immense calamity. If discovered, he would instantly fall from heaven to hell. He decided to leave this ruin far behind immediately.
"Fight on, then. Let heaven and earth shatter, let ghosts howl and gods weep. It's none of my business anymore."
Ye Fan quickly moved away. Only when he was about to leave the ruins did he look back and say, "Walk my own path, and let others search for the supreme treasure."
If the unscrupulous Taoist knew the truth and heard his words at this moment, he would surely vomit blood and want to skin Ye Fan alive.
Of course, if other cultivators knew the situation, they might react even more strongly.