Chapter 1074: Yearning for the Dao
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As dawn broke, Ye Fan, the Holy Prince, and Ji Zi had also drunk quite a bit of wine, quickly relaxing and falling asleep.
In the dead of night, all was silent.
"I want to enter the Immortal Domain, to seek Emperor Wu Shi." In the quiet of the night, Black Emperor ground his teeth, muttering in his sleep.
"The Innate Saint Body Dao Fetus must come into this world. The Emperor said his successor can only be of this constitution. I must make it appear, I must revive the Emperor." Black Emperor gritted his teeth, and these dream words startled the people of Guanghan Palace, leaving them dazed and horrified.
At dawn, a ray of morning light spilled in, shining through the window into the great hall. The few of them opened their eyes.
"Black Emperor, what you said last night..." Ye Fan wanted to press further.
"What did this Emperor say? Nothing at all!" The big black dog turned his face away, refusing to admit it, acting like a completely different person.
"You want to swallow back the words you said in the night?" Ye Fan glared at him.
"Kid, debts must be repaid. When are you going to pay back the Innate Saint Body Dao Fetus you owe me?" The big black dog stared with bell-like eyes.
Ye Fan slapped him. This bastard had completely come back to his senses; all the sadness and melancholy had been thrown to the winds.
"Debts must be repaid, it's only natural!" Black Emperor bared his teeth. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he jumped high, saying, "Damn, I missed a great opportunity. Let's go see if it's still in time."
"What's the matter?" Even Ji Zi showed a curious expression.
"The Celestial Prince is dead, the Eight Divine Generals are all wiped out. Let's go loot the main peaks where those Ancestral Kings were in seclusion." Black Emperor set up an array platform and quickly opened a Domain Gate.
The others suddenly understood. There really might be sacred treasures to be found. They all stepped into the Domain Gate and quickly disappeared from this place.
In the Northern Domain, on the vast red earth, they arrived at the Immortal Emperor's former palace. This time, their target was the surrounding several main peaks.
"Damn, we're too late. This place has been dug up by someone. Not a single hair left!" Black Emperor said angrily.
Several main peaks had been visited by strong individuals. It was as if they had dug three feet into the ground, leaving nothing, sweeping everything clean.
"How is this like grave robbing? So many holes..." Ye Fan was speechless.
"This was definitely done using grave-robbing techniques, breaking in with the Devouring Demon Jar leading the way. It's that... dog-fucking Duan De!" The big black dog said angrily.
Ye Fan was also stunned. That Fatty Duan was truly omnipresent; wherever there was treasure, he would appear. His reaction was too fast.
In the end, they found another cemetery deep in the mountains, belonging to the ancestors of the Eight Divine Generals, only to find it had also been visited.
"This bastard leaves nothing clean wherever he goes. Don't expect to find even a single hair left. He loots both the living and the dead."
Finally, the big black dog went to Heavenly Village, and the monkey also went into seclusion. The path to immortality was about to open, and everyone needed to start preparing.
Ye Fan and Ji Zi traveled south together, returning to the Southern Domain. He wanted to see old friends.
"The Ji Family... Hmph!"
At this moment, a powerful aura in the Southern Domain was heading straight for the Ji Family. Although it wasn't for extermination, the intimidation was obvious.
However, in that instant, this mysterious Ancient Clan Ancestral King turned pale, turned around, and fled, not daring to stay in the Southern Domain for even a moment.
Ye Fan and Ji Zi happened to arrive here. Seeing this scene, Ji Zi was very calm, as if he had expected it.
"A family that produced a Great Emperor is indeed unfathomable." Ye Fan thought to himself.
They parted ways there. Ye Fan headed straight for Grand Mystery's Clumsy Peak. This place was overgrown with weeds, lacking any spiritual scenery, unchanged from the past.
A few crumbling ancient buildings were hidden under ancient vines. Crows perched on withered trees, and wild rabbits appeared on the small paths.
Ye Fan did not sense the presence of the old man Li Ruoyu. He only saw Zhang Wenchang. Over a decade had passed, and his temples were streaked with gray, adding much weariness.
"Ye Fan... it's really you!"
He stood up abruptly among the dilapidated buildings, his emotions stirred. He quickly walked out to greet him.
"You successfully returned to Earth, and now you've appeared again..." Zhang Wenchang's body trembled, as if in spasm. He grabbed Ye Fan's arm, his face full of hope and longing.
"It's me..." Ye Fan patted his shoulder.
"How are my parents, my wife and child?" Zhang Wenchang's voice trembled, even with a hint of fear. After years of cultivation, he could barely control himself now, afraid of hearing bad news.
When he left, his wife was pregnant, and the child was almost due. At the time she needed him most, he had disappeared from Mount Tai.
"They are all fine. Your parents are advanced in age; everyone has their time of birth, aging, sickness, and death... You have a child, named Zhang Yi. He looks a lot like you." Ye Fan said.
"And she..." Zhang Wenchang's lips quivered.
Ye Fan naturally knew he was asking about his wife. At that time, their feelings were very strong, but they never expected to be separated at opposite ends of the heavens.
"She is a good woman. She has been taking care of your parents, raising your child. There is a good man... who treats her well." Ye Fan said.
Zhang Wenchang choked up, unable to speak. He walked step by step toward the dilapidated courtyard wall, sat down weakly on a broken stone, and held his head in his hands.
"I... how I wish I could return to her side, but this... this star domain has forcibly separated us." Tears streamed down his face, which was no longer young.
What could Ye Fan say? He sat beside him, took out a pack of cigarettes brought from the other end of the starry sky, and gently tore it open.
In the past, Zhang Wenchang's smoking habit wasn't light.
"Cough..." Zhang Wenchang trembled as he held the cigarette, took a deep drag, coughed loudly, and tears choked him up again.
At this moment, he was not a cultivator, just an ordinary middle-aged man, even stepping into his twilight years.
"Time... the starry sky... I hate it!" He couldn't help but shout at the sky.
Then he burst into loud sobs. His graying temples, wrinkled eyes, and turbid tears; his fingers holding the cigarette trembled, barely able to bring it to his lips.
"I don't want Severing the Dao, I don't want the Immortal Path... I only want to return to their side, to grow old with them, to be an ordinary mortal. I don't want to stay in this world."
Zhang Wenchang coughed, looking up at the sky.
Ye Fan took out some photos and some specially recorded clips, piling them in front of the broken hall, letting him look at them slowly.
"This is... my child?" Zhang Wenchang clumsily flipped through the photos, rubbing them repeatedly.
"This is him when he was little. He looks just like me." He laughed and cried at the same time.
After seeing everything, Zhang Wenchang stared at his wife's photo, his eyes filled with nostalgia, sadness, happiness, struggle, and various other emotional waves.
"I have wronged her... I hope she can be happy!" After saying this, tears streamed down his face. He stood up, stumbled, and ran into the desolate, broken hall.
Ye Fan said nothing, nor did he try to console him. He strolled on Clumsy Peak, looking at the old scenery of this place.
The nine-level jade steps—Ji Ziyue had once challenged them. But where was she now? The nine old crows were still there. Who knew they were divine spirits, transformed from nine arrows?
A day later, Zhang Wenchang appeared, looking much haggard, as if he had aged twenty years overnight.
"Try to see things more openly."
"I know. As long as they are all well, what more could I ask for?" Zhang Wenchang said, holding back tears. He now had only one goal in life: to cultivate. Perhaps one day he could go back and see them.
Li Ruoyu was not on Clumsy Peak. He had been traveling the world for six years and had never returned, which made Ye Fan somewhat regretful.
Zhang Wenchang's cultivation was not high. After decades of practice, he had only just entered the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, but his foundation was very solid.
Ye Fan wanted to help him, but he shook his head and said, "Master Li said it's fine to go slowly. He told me to calm my mind and not rush for results."
He then mentioned another matter, saying, "Ten years ago, I saw Lin Jia. She is still alive... Back then, Liu Yunzhi, Li Changqing, and the others didn't catch her."
"What?" Ye Fan was startled.
"She obtained a great opportunity in the Immortal Palace outside the Ancient Forbidden Land. She said it might be a corner of the Ancient Heavenly Court, perhaps with a path leading beyond this domain..."
Upon learning that Ye Fan had found a way to leave this world, she also went to seek immortal fortune, thinking there might be a path to the starry sky there.
"Moreover, Lin Jia guessed that Zhou Yi and Wang Ziwen might never have come out back then. Either they are still in the Immortal Palace, or they accidentally went to another star domain."
"Partial ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Court..." Ye Fan frowned.
He left Grand Mystery's Clumsy Peak and once again headed for the Ancient Forbidden Land. He stood at the periphery, but unfortunately found nothing.
"Only by entering from the Forbidden Zone can one find that Immortal Palace? But who can guarantee they can definitely enter?"
Would those people one day walk out of the Immortal Palace, or had they already gone to another star domain? He pondered silently.
"Starry sky, how many secrets have you buried? How many life-bearing ancient stars are there? Where is the Nine Dragons Coffin heading?" Ye Fan looked up at the sky and murmured to himself.
Now, he had no time to delve into these matters. The path to immortality was about to appear. Who knew what this world would become? Everyone needed to prepare.
He left the Ancient Forbidden Land, passed by the Ji Family again, and whispered, "Where are you?"
Ye Fan decided that after handling some matters, he would go to the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion. If truly necessary, he would go to rescue old friends.
He activated the chessboard array platform, opened a Domain Gate, and the next moment appeared in the Western Desert, immediately sensing a mysterious force of thought. (To be continued)