Chapter 1099: Challenging a Sage
Slaying a Sage!
These two words were too illusory for cultivators. No one would harbor such delusions. If one was not a sage for a day, one was an ant.
The disparity in strength was too great, an insurmountable chasm. Even a half-sage could only occasionally display some sage might, but could never truly achieve it.
A sage was completely transcendent, rising above the masses like a deity. Ask an ordinary person how to slay a god? The difficulty was immense!
Black Emperor said, "Kid, I'm not saying this to discourage you, but you can't defy the heavens. The gap is immeasurable. In a sense, a sage is already a different life form, no longer human."
Even the slaughter formations he inscribed could hardly harm a sage under normal circumstances, for one reason alone—the gap was too vast. How could an ant bite a dragon to death?
"This... let's be realistic." Duan De also shook his head.
"Is there no hope at all?" Ye Tong refused to give up, clinging to the hope that his master could rise and vent the bitterness in his heart.
"Unless... we gather enough divine materials, and I inscribe a world-shaking slaughter formation, then there's a chance to kill a sage." Black Emperor said.
The divine materials he spoke of were naturally rare in the world, specifically used for Great Emperor array patterns, something one could only encounter by chance, not seek. Only then could the true power of that corner of the Wu Shi array diagram he mastered be unleashed.
"Another way is for Ye Fan to reach the Half-Sage realm, trigger the Divine Seal, break through like splitting bamboo, and completely shatter the sage domain barriers... then he might have a chance to fight a sage." Duan De said.
Both conditions were too harsh. At the very least, Ye Fan couldn't achieve either at the moment, making them impossible to realize.
"This..." Ye Tong's eyes dimmed. He felt stifled for his master. The ancient clans were too overbearing, yet there was no way to retaliate.
"Even so... I will still slay a sage!" Ye Fan's words were firm. Then he told Black Emperor to prepare array platforms for him, nothing else needed, but they must be chessboard imperial patterns, the kind of platform that could cross from Immortal Mountain.
The Human Clan's Sacred Body might be finished!
Recently, some ancient clans were discussing that in these few days, Huo Tan had been overlooking the Southern Domain, appearing in every major city, with an attitude of never stopping until Ye Fan was dead.
These past days, everyone knew that Ye Fan had indeed returned. Slaying the Celestial Prince, fighting the Golden Heavenly Maiden—all were his doing. There were no secrets left.
Huo Tan... wasn't very old. After awakening, he was the first genius among the ancient clans to become a sage in this world, holding a special status that would be recorded in history.
Now, he emerged forcefully. In just these few days, everyone in the Eastern Wasteland knew he wanted to kill Ye Fan.
"Ye Fan, aren't you proud of your divine bravery? What are you compared to my master? Hiding in a corner, afraid to show your face. You'd better stay hidden for your whole life."
Huo Tan's disciples had also arrived in the Southern Wasteland, their words sharp and sarcastic, utterly mocking, just to humiliate Ye Fan and make him feel uncomfortable.
Ye Fan naturally ignored them. These days, he walked through the ancient lands of the Southern Domain, even taking Ye Tong, Dragon Horse, and the others into the Fire Domain, letting them witness the true immortal flame.
In the tenth layer of the Fire Domain, a cluster of immortal flames composed of runes, untouchable... they were fortunate to see it, even from a distance, they couldn't help but gasp.
Even Black Emperor was dazed for a moment, saying, "So many years have passed, and it still exists. No wonder it's the immortal flame that could make the Desolate Tower sink here for thousands of years!"
"Pindao has a dream: to take this flame for myself, to use it for alchemy. But the difficulty is too great." Duan De sighed.
As they traveled around, Huo Tan also conducted a carpet search, because according to deductions, these people were in the Southern Domain and had never left.
"Our ancestors used humans as blood food, delicious in taste. The Human Clan's Sacred Body contains precious blood within, the flavor should be even more exquisite." Huo Tan's disciples loudly proclaimed, completely disregarding Ye Fan.
What could be tolerated could not be endured. Many cultivators who heard this felt enraged. If they had sufficient cultivation, they would have slapped them to death.
"Huo Tan, your grandfather is calling you home to wipe your nose!" That day, Dragon Horse stepped forward to respond, like a loudspeaker echoing across half the Southern Domain's sky.
Of course, it fled after shouting, using the formation to teleport, not giving the sage a chance to strike, otherwise, ten horse lives wouldn't be enough to kill.
Huo Tan's face turned green, his gaze cold and grim. He arrived at the place where Dragon Horse appeared in the first moment, but could only glare helplessly, with no way to deal with it.
"Huo Tan, as a sage, you have the nerve to compete with Ye Fan? He hasn't even become a sage yet. How thick-skinned are you? Why don't you go challenge the Battle Victory Buddha? I'm afraid you'd be scared to death before reaching Mount Sumeru."
Dragon Horse appeared in another area, neighing loudly, like a big trumpet again, shouting all over the world, also mocking.
"Ye Fan, if you dare to come out and fight, my master won't bully you. He'll seal his cultivation and crush you with just one finger." Huo Tan's disciple shouted.
"Huo Tan, your mother is calling your disciple home to rinse his mouth!" Dragon Horse was never a very decent master. Though an auspicious beast, it was no pushover.
A Dragon Horse stirred up chaos in the Southern Domain, shouting everywhere, causing Huo Tan to constantly cross star regions, trying to hunt them down.
"The Human Clan's Sacred Body, others say how impressive you are, but to me, you're nothing but a stinking bug, insignificant. If you dare to show up, I'll crush you with one foot." Huo Tan said grimly. One could imagine how much anger he had bottled up inside to say such words.
He was a sage, having attained the Dao fruit, yet now he was repeatedly shouted at by a Dragon Horse, not taken seriously at all. He wanted to catch it immediately to establish his authority.
"Huo Tan, come and die!" Ye Fan appeared. Having been repeatedly insulted, he began to challenge the sage, actually wanting to duel him.
"Hahaha..." Huo Tan laughed loudly upon hearing this, arriving in the first moment, his roar shattering the sky. "You think you can fight me? An ant trying to bite a dragon to death? Overestimating yourself!"
In the current world, everyone was stunned. Was Ye Fan really going to duel a sage? Had he gone mad with anger?
This was a wilderness, overgrown with wormwood and ancient trees. In the Southern Domain, there were many such wild expanses, with vast uninhabited areas covering ninety percent of the region.
Huo Tan appeared. From far away, he reached down with a large hand, grabbing toward this place. A sage's strike was meant to turn dozens of miles into scorched earth.
"Boom!"
Ye Fan appeared. He made no other move, directly offering up the cauldron. Mother Qi of All Things swirled around it. With a violent shake, the great cauldron flipped, and towering flames surged upward.
Nine-colored mist threads became streaks and wisps of Dao marks. This was the divine flame of the ninth layer of the Fire Domain, capable of burning sages to death, surging and fierce.
As the blazing sage radiance emerged, the entire wilderness turned into a sea of fire. The earth became magma. The few stone mountains that remained vaporized, leaving nothing behind.
The nine-colored fire threads were too terrifying. It wasn't purely high temperature, but also contained mysterious and unfathomable Dao power, capable of grinding Ancestral Kings to death.
Huo Tan was startled. His reaching right hand was burning hot, blood splattering, bones aching to the core. But after all, he was a sage. With a forceful wipe and the operation of his Dao practice, the injury immediately stopped.
Moreover... he shifted thousands of feet horizontally, instantly evading the sea of fire, and said coldly, "If you're not a sage, you're ultimately just dirt. Crushing you is as easy as stepping on a dead dog. Without corresponding strength, relying on external objects to fight me? You don't know your place!"
However, Ye Fan was also decisive. The moment he offered the divine flame, he put away the cauldron and stepped into the chessboard array pattern, turning to leave.
"The moment I appeared, I already locked onto you. You still want to run? Even if an Immortal King descended, he couldn't save you!" Huo Tan's expression was cold. He pointed a finger, and a beam of light burst forth. This was to destroy the void, shaking Ye Fan out of the domain gate.
"Eh..." He was startled. The domain gate remained motionless, about to disappear.
This was a chessboard array pattern, once used to cross from Immortal Mountain. Even the slaughter formation of an ancient Great Emperor hadn't worn it away. Naturally, a sage couldn't damage it.
"You came well-prepared. But unfortunately, to a sage, you're ultimately just a stinking bug. Since I've locked onto you, you only have one path to death!" Huo Tan didn't care, sneering coldly. He stepped in with one step, following just as the domain gate was closing.
By his side, four disciples followed, enveloped in his sage radiance, also entering the domain gate, pursuing Ye Fan.
"Boom!"
After Ye Fan came out, he directly stepped into another domain gate. At this place, light shot into the sky. Various Dao patterns activated together, forming a peerless slaughter formation.
This was carefully laid out by Black Emperor, using the mountain and river terrain. Though without divine materials, combined with the Source Heaven Divine Formation, it achieved a terrifying Seven Extremes Great Formation!
Huo Tan let out a furious roar, shaking out a sky full of sage radiance. His body was crisscrossed with dozens of wounds. If not for his protection, his four disciples would have been chopped into mud.
"I didn't expect a sage to be so terrifying. Even a corner of a dense imperial formation couldn't wear him down. Unfortunately, I didn't have divine materials to inscribe the array." Ye Fan muttered to himself, stepping into the void, directly destroying the array platform left outside, not giving Huo Tan a chance to track him.
"You want to run? There's no way out for you in the nine heavens and ten earths. Do you really think a sage can be humiliated? Atone with your blood!" Huo Tan sneered coldly, shaking out a secret treasure from his hand. The destroyed array platform quickly restored itself to its original state. He led his disciples, forcibly activating the domain gate to pursue.
This was a secret treasure given to him by a Great Sage. No matter how peerless your array patterns were, even if you crossed to the outer realms, it was useless. It could briefly restore your array platform, tracking you like a shadow, following relentlessly.
Without a doubt, this was a deadly situation. There was no way to shake off a sage. In no time, he would be caught up to. Surviving was harder than ascending to heaven.
"Human Clan's Sacred Body, you thought you were well-prepared. Before my master, no matter how many tricks you have, they're useless. With insufficient strength, nothing you say matters!"
"A bit of divine flame and a broken ancient imperial slaughter formation, and you thought you could wear down a sage? You're too naive. My master came well-prepared for you, specially borrowing a secret treasure to leave you no escape!"
"A mere Dao Cutter dares to challenge a sage? My master kills you like killing a chicken!"
Huo Tan's several disciples laughed loudly. They were within the sage light, following at extreme speed, seeing Ye Fan's figure in the void.
"Swish"
However, to their surprise, Ye Fan once again offered an array platform in the void, changing the void path in the eternal darkness, disappearing again.
Changing direction in the void, altering the path—this technique made even Huo Tan change color. He clenched his fist tightly, thinking he had lost the trail.
"Swish"
He forcefully slashed, and the secret treasure in his palm flashed, restoring a piece of damaged array patterns in the dark void ahead, following in.
"I didn't expect the Great Sage's secret treasure to be so miraculous..." He laughed loudly, no longer worried.
Ye Fan fled at extreme speed, changing array platforms more than ten times, each time in the void, but he could never shake off Huo Tan. If it were any other sage, they would have been thrown off long ago.
"The Great Sage's methods are awe-inspiring. He can pursue all the way. We can't shake him off." One of Huo Tan's disciples said in surprise, while also deeply fearing the Dao practice of the ancient clan's Great Sage.
"Where is this? Every time we change direction in the void, we don't know the location. There's no way to predict the path ahead."
Another disciple frowned.
"Let's see how many array platforms he has. When he runs out, he'll die before our eyes. Master can crush him with one finger!"
Before long, Ye Fan's figure grew closer and closer, almost visible. Huo Tan had a cold smile on his lips, reaching out a large hand to grab forward, wanting to crush him!
"Boom!"
At that moment, the domain gate opened wide. Ye Fan rushed out of the void, entering the real world, falling out.
"He has no more array platforms. Death is right before his eyes, haha..."
"Human Clan's Sacred Body, your death is imminent!"
Huo Tan's four disciples were overjoyed, laughing cruelly.
Huo Tan's eyes were cold. His purple hair scattered, his tall and mighty figure as imposing as a mountain. He stepped forward first, but with one step, he stumbled and fell to the ground.
Behind him, his four disciples were even worse, directly falling from the high sky to the ground, covered in blood.
"This... what place is this? How... have we lost our cultivation!?"
The four disciples showed fear, their hearts pounding, feeling something was terribly wrong.
Huo Tan also changed color. His entire Dao practice was suppressed to the lowest point, barely operable. This sent chills down his spine. After all, he was a sage!
All around, it was silent. Vegetation was lush. Ancient medicines had tens of thousands of years of age. This place was too quiet, without a sound, like a dead land.
Ahead, Ye Fan stood with a dark golden spear in hand, his expression very cold, very calm and composed, no longer fleeing.
"What place is this?" Huo Tan felt waves of terror. As a sage, the cultivation he could use now was pitifully little. He probably couldn't even fly.
"Ah... my Dao practice, my life source!" One of Huo Tan's disciples screamed in terror. He felt that not only had he lost his cultivation, but his life was also rapidly draining away. Wrinkles slowly crept onto his face!
"Shut up!"
Ye Fan snorted coldly, leaving an afterimage in place. He crossed over Huo Tan, and with a "puff," pierced through the brow of one of his disciples. Blood splashed high, and he lifted him up.
"Bang"
He forcefully shook his hand, and the corpse flew dozens of feet away, lying motionless on the ground, a large pool of blood spreading out.
"You..." Huo Tan was furious. He was a sage, how could he tolerate Ye Fan's arrogance? He swept a palm forward, but the vast, ocean-like power didn't surge out.
Ye Fan swept out with his spear. Golden light overflowed between his palm and fingers, his strength astonishing. Just the power of his physical body could tear apart the high sky!
Huo Tan let out a muffled groan. When his arm touched the spear, it trembled violently, nearly cramping, in excruciating pain. He knew it was bad. In this place, even his heaven-reaching Dao practice was useless!
"What exactly is this place?!"
"Welcome to the Ancient Forbidden Land. Today, I will slay a sage and send you on your way!" Ye Fan said coldly.