Chapter 94: The Ancients Did Not Deceive Me
Silver flames flickered, surging continuously from underground, emitting a soft radiance. A spiritual energy pulsed, and holy light constantly merged into the medicine cauldron.
The entire stone chamber was filled with flowing white brilliance, like faint mist swirling around, creating a hazy scene resembling an immortal's cave dwelling, dense with spiritual energy.
This "Fire Calamity" was extraordinary. Aside from possessing the right temperature, its main function was to provide unique spiritual energy to dissolve herbs, condense life essence, and refine spiritual pills.
The silver flames leaped, and the bronze medicine cauldron was shrouded in milky-white spiritual energy, appearing as if it had come to life, the patterns upon it seeming to stir.
Elder Han sat quietly cross-legged to one side, eyes tightly shut, guarding the cauldron. His withered body showed no sign of life fluctuation.
At this moment, inside the sealed medicine cauldron, Ye Fan felt only one thing: excruciating pain. His limbs were pierced through, his chest was stabbed open, blood flowed, and all five wounds were severe. He felt incredibly weak. However, as Elder Han had said, he was not in immediate danger of death. His body was immersed in the greenish medicinal pulp, and after the wounds were moistened, the bleeding had gradually stopped.
Just then, the temperature inside the cauldron grew hotter and hotter. Numerous bubbles appeared in the medicinal pulp as the heat continued to rise. The pulp reached up to Ye Fan's chin. He wanted to struggle, but his body was sealed by Elder Han, making it impossible to move at all.
"To die like this is too humiliating. I really refuse to accept this..."
"Gulp, gulp"
Ye Fan began to drink the medicinal pulp in large mouthfuls. His mouth was the only thing he could move now. If his hands could also move, he would definitely grab the nearby nine-leaf phoenix grass, which shimmered with rosy light, and swallow it first.
Due to excessive blood loss, Ye Fan's consciousness was growing hazy. He bit his lip and said, "I cannot die!"
He had lost a massive amount of blood. Anyone else would have died long ago. Although the wounds had stopped bleeding under the pulp's nourishment, he was still failing, slipping into a semi-conscious state.
"I must not fall completely unconscious... otherwise I'll die..." Ye Fan was groggy, half-awake and half-dazed, struggling to hold on.
In this dazed state, many familiar people and scenes surfaced in his mind: his gray-haired parents calling him home, his cousin who married before him urging him to attend the wedding, his eighteen-year-old cousin who got into her ideal school smiling and asking for a gift, his friends scolding him for disappearing for so long...
All the family and friends from his hometown appeared in Ye Fan's mind. Many people were shouting loudly, reaching out to him, trying to pull him over. He kept running forward but could never get close to them.
Then, people and events from this world also appeared in his heart one by one: Pang Bo, filled with demonic energy, struggling bitterly; Little Tingting, her eyes blurred with tears at the Jiang Family; Elder Han showing a ferocious, cold smile...
Even Li Xiaoman's figure flashed by—from gazing across the sea to forgetting each other, and finally to cold indifference, telling him that immortals and mortals were two different worlds, that he shouldn't hold unrealistic fantasies, and should just live well as a mortal.
"I cannot die... I want to go home... There are so many family and friends waiting for me..." Ye Fan's consciousness blurred, and he made sounds like sleep-talking.
Elder Han, beside the cauldron, opened his eyes and said, "Slowly savor the taste of death."
Just then, the Fire Calamity beneath the cauldron released even more spiritual energy. The holy silver flames leaped vigorously, gradually enveloping the bronze cauldron.
Inside the cauldron, countless bubbles appeared in the greenish liquid, surrounding Ye Fan. Streams of silver light flowed, the unique spiritual energy of the Fire Calamity.
Just as Ye Fan was about to lose consciousness, a trickling stream appeared in his heart. Hundreds of ancient characters flowed slowly through his mind, stabilizing his spirit and allowing him to gradually revive.
Ye Fan slowly regained clarity, startled. The last time, when the Ji Family's knights had severely wounded him and he fell unconscious, it was the ancient scripture that had awakened him. This time was the same.
Now, the temperature inside the cauldron was rising higher and higher. The greenish liquid was about to boil. Ye Fan had no other choice. He silently recited the ancient scripture, gritting his teeth and enduring.
At that moment, he sensed a strange change. Streams of silver light rushed into his body, wandering continuously through his flesh and blood, full of vitality.
That was the spiritual energy contained in the Fire Calamity, capable of dissolving herbs, condensing life essence, and refining spiritual pills. Now, it was treating Ye Fan entirely as a spiritual medicine, rushing into his sealed body and moving around. The sealed life essence became active as a result, and the sealing power left by Elder Han slowly loosened.
In the end, Ye Fan was both surprised and delighted. He found that he could move, freed from his restraints! Elder Han would never have imagined that the special spiritual energy of the Fire Calamity had broken his seal.
At this moment, the liquid inside the cauldron had already boiled. Ye Fan felt a pain like his skin was splitting open. He quickly activated the profound method recorded in the "Dao Scripture." A large amount of life essence overflowed from his bitter sea, flowing to his limbs and bones. A faint luster shimmered on his body surface, blocking the boiling medicinal pulp.
Ye Fan remained still, sitting quietly, continuously circulating the "Dao Scripture" profound method. He gathered the vast life essence from the cauldron for his own use, healing his injured body.
Half an hour later, Ye Fan opened his eyes. Two bolts of cold lightning seemed to flash in the cauldron. He reached out and grabbed the lotus seed produced by the Black Jade Divine Lotus.
The seed was large, shaped like a pigeon egg, crystal clear all over, as if carved from black jade. It shimmered with light, emitting a hazy radiance that made even Ye Fan's hand appear translucent.
Such a rare spiritual medicine could not be dissolved quickly. Otherwise, Elder Han wouldn't have said it needed to be refined for seven days and seven nights.
Ye Fan placed the seed in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and swallowed it gradually. His mouth seemed filled with countless fragments of shining divine jade. Powerful life essence overflowed, and his mouth felt as if it held a divine object, its light dazzlingly brilliant.
Beside the bronze cauldron, Elder Han seemed to hear a faint sound. He sat motionless, a merciless cold smile at the corner of his mouth. "Can't hold on anymore? Soaked in life essence, even if the temperature rises, your skin splits, and you suffer torment, you won't die for a short while."
Elder Han showed no pity or sympathy. He closed his eyes again and fell silent.
Inside the bronze cauldron, Ye Fan was expressionless. Essence surged between his teeth and lips, black light flickered. The seed was crushed and completely swallowed. Then, he closed his eyes and began to silently circulate the profound method recorded in the "Dao Scripture." A crystalline luster immediately shimmered on his body surface.
A full hour passed. Suddenly, Ye Fan's bitter sea burst with golden light. All the qi and blood he had lost were fully restored, and his essence surged. At the same time, the golden bitter sea began to churn violently, on the verge of a tsunami, a terrifying phenomenon about to occur!
Ye Fan suppressed it with great willpower, preventing the bitter sea from expanding. At the same time, he deliberately made a slight sound, hoping to attract Elder Han's attention and get him to open the cauldron lid. Then he could unleash the golden book and strike with lethal force.
"What sound is that? It sounds like waves surging?" Elder Han opened his eyes, showing a strange expression, and muttered to himself, "Strange phenomena occur before a top-grade spiritual pill is produced. Could it be that this batch of pills will not only succeed but might even be top-grade?"
Ye Fan clenched his teeth tightly. He desperately wanted Elder Han to lift the lid, but hearing these words, he had to withdraw some of his power. Faint, indistinct sounds of waves emerged from the bronze cauldron.
"It really is the sound of waves..." Elder Han showed a hint of excitement. "Ancient alchemists recorded such phenomena. They say when the sound is loudest, it's deafening, as if truly facing a surging sea. Could it be that I'm about to refine a peerless pill?"
"Your grandfather's!" Ye Fan wanted to curse loudly. Elder Han had no intention of lifting the lid at all, and his lethal strike couldn't be executed.
"Rumble..."
At that moment, Ye Fan made the commotion even louder. Waves of tsunamis surged, his entire body blazed with golden light, and his bitter sea slowly began to expand.
"The ancients did not deceive me!" Beside the bronze cauldron, Elder Han sighed repeatedly. "In all my years of alchemy, I've finally encountered such a phenomenon. This must be a batch of supreme pills."
Ye Fan could no longer hold on. He couldn't suppress the violent essence within his bitter sea. In that instant, the golden bitter sea erupted with raging waves, and a terrifying tsunami fully exploded.
In a flash, divine light blazed intensely, ten thousand waves surged, towering waves reached the sky, deafening to the ears!
It was like thousands of horses and soldiers galloping, or endless meteorites smashing into the earth.
Amid the terrifying tsunami sounds, there were also rumbling thunderclaps. Lightning tore through the sky, interweaving above the golden bitter sea, the scene awe-inspiring.
At this moment, Ye Fan was extremely tense. The golden book flickered, ready to be summoned out of his body at any moment to assassinate his enemy!
However, Elder Han was already too excited to contain himself. "The ancients did not deceive me... The legends are true!"
He had already stood up, pacing around the bronze cauldron, almost dancing with joy.
"There are sounds of tsunamis and thunder, exactly as recorded in ancient texts. Legend says this is the omen before a supreme treasure pill is refined!"
Ye Fan didn't know whether to be angry or amused. He had prepared carefully, wanting to strike a lethal blow, but Elder Han refused to lift the lid and even found a reason that convinced himself.
"Your grandfather's!" Ye Fan cursed inwardly, calmed his mind, and began to focus on expanding his golden bitter sea.
"The ancients did not deceive me..." Elder Han continued to dance excitedly.