Chapter 110: Priceless Ancient Characters
After consuming four of the golden tea fruits, Ye Fan felt his condition restored to its peak, **flawless and pure, like a crystalline divine artifact. With every movement, his divine power surged, and he felt **significantly stronger.**
"The power of 'Desolation' in the bottomless abyss is truly terrifying. Even the Holy Lands and ancient aristocratic clans are helpless against it. In this world, only the sacred fruits can dispel it. No wonder it has been renowned throughout the Eastern Wasteland since ancient times—truly a divine medicine."
When entering the Ancient Forbidden Land, the collapse of a single white skeleton had caused over a dozen powerful knights to die one after another. This showed just how terrifying the power of 'Desolation' was. And Ye Fan, attacked by the even more fearsome Desolate Slaves, had been stained with an even stronger aura of 'Desolation.' If not for his Primordial Saint Body and the divine medicine he had taken, he would have surely died.
"There is some truth to the saying that antidotes grow near venomous nests."
This Forbidden Zone of Life was incredibly mysterious and sinister, yet in such a deadly place, nine types of sacred medicines grew, forcing one to marvel.
"Having fully regained my youth, I should now focus on improving my strength." Ye Fan's heart was filled with excitement. He needed powerful sacred medicines to help him make another breakthrough.
However, when he saw his reflection in the spring pool, he was stunned. He seemed to have grown even younger, becoming a boy of about thirteen. The delicate face in the water even carried a hint of childishness and innocence.
Ye Fan let out a helpless groan. "Damn your ancestors, if I take another golden sacred fruit, will I turn into a plump, tender baby?"
Thinking of this terrifying consequence, he felt a chill run down his spine. If he turned into a baby on the bottomless abyss, the joke would be on him.
"Your grandfather's..."
Ye Fan pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with any solution, feeling a headache coming on.
By the spring pool, there were eleven small trees in total, with seven golden sacred fruits still hanging. They were crystal clear, shimmering with light, and exuded a fragrant aroma that was intoxicating.
"I've got it!" Suddenly, he recalled a passage from the *Dao Scripture*. A few brief lines mentioned an ancient method of using an 'artifact' to suppress oneself, achieving 'eternity.'
"If I use my 'cauldron' to suppress myself and then consume the divine medicine, there should be no problem." However, he dared not take the risk here. If something went wrong, he would die without a burial place.
Ye Fan took several jade boxes from his bosom, carefully picked the golden sacred fruits, and placed them inside. He felt as if he were holding seven divine treasures, storing them with great caution. These were divine medicines for cultivating the Primordial Saint Body—he could not afford to lose them!
"Finally got them." He let out a long breath. After surviving countless dangers, he had finally succeeded. Thinking of how the forces of the Jiang Family, Ji Family, and Yaoguang Holy Land had been completely wiped out, with even cultivators at the Other Shore Realm unable to escape, he realized how difficult it had been to gather the sacred medicines. This filled him with a sense of accomplishment.
Ye Fan stood up and gazed at the other seven sacred mountains, muttering to himself, "There are still seven types of divine medicines."
He wanted to collect them all. If he could, his cultivation of the Primordial Saint Body would face no further obstacles, and he might even reach the pinnacle. But as things stood, it seemed impossible. Each sacred mountain was guarded by Desolate Slaves, beings with flesh and blood, each comparable to or even more terrifying than a Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Saint level.
Ye Fan didn't think the Green Copper Block would protect him again. Lucky events wouldn't happen a second time. If those Desolate Slaves attacked him directly, there would be no suspense.
"I really want to know what the other sacred medicines look like," Ye Fan muttered to himself.
Every sacred mountain had a type of divine medicine. This puzzled him—were they planted by someone? He could clearly sense that those small trees had existed for endless ages. In the distant past, what kind of place was this? What had happened here?
Ye Fan felt that in the Primordial Era, this place was likely a pure land. Otherwise, how could there be divine springs and sacred trees? It must have been a terrible catastrophe later that turned it into a Forbidden Zone of Life.
Then, he recalled the words of the Old Madman: "That crazy old man said, 'It's coming again.' What did he mean?"
Ye Fan looked toward a distant sacred mountain. There, the most white skeletons were piled up, far more than on other peaks. Skeletons kept climbing up from the abyss, forming a small mountain of bones on the summit.
"The giant bronze coffin is buried under the skeletons. What's going on? How did the ancient coffin return to the sacred mountain? Could it be the work of those Desolate Slaves? Are they afraid? Do they not want it to stay in the abyss?" Ye Fan's heart was full of questions.
This place was not safe to linger. He didn't want to delay. Walking to a nearby spot, he picked up a jade purification vase, only as tall as a palm, pure white like carved mutton-fat jade. This was a treasure of the Yaoguang Holy Land, given to him by Xu Daoling. It contained its own space, capable of holding a mountain, and was meant for collecting the divine spring.
Now, the jade vase had dimmed considerably, its divine radiance withdrawn. The patterns on it were blurry and about to disappear.
"Could this treasure have been destroyed by the sinister power of the Ancient Forbidden Land?" Ye Fan held the jade vase and went to the spring pool to start collecting the divine spring.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
The milky-white jade vase didn't fill up quickly. Ye Fan estimated he had collected about seven or eight catties of water, which delighted him. Though not as precious as the sacred medicines, this spring water was still called divine spring.
"Your grandfather's, didn't they say it could hold a mountain? Why is it full now?" He estimated he had only put in a dozen or so catties of water before the jade vase was full.
He could only collect this much. Unable to continue, Ye Fan stood up and went to the eleven small trees. He plucked a few needle-shaped leaves, put them in his mouth, and chewed, feeling a strong surge of spiritual energy.
"If it were a greedy person, they would probably uproot these sacred trees." Ye Fan didn't want to waste such heavenly treasures. These divine trees could only live by the divine spring. He didn't want to commit an act of destruction. Perhaps he would return here in the future to gather more divine medicines.
He only broke off a few slender branches, placed them in the jade vase, and then strode down the mountain.
Not far from the mountain peak, Ye Fan saw a purple bronze mirror. It was the weapon of Jiang Hanzhong, an elder of the Jiang Family. Now dull and lusterless, it lay among the scattered rocks.
"A weapon refined by a cultivator at the Other Shore Realm must be extraordinary." Not long ago, he had witnessed the terrifying power of the purple bronze mirror, which dimmed the sun and moon, drained the color from heaven and earth, and shot out brilliant beams that shook with oceanic divine power.
Ye Fan picked up the purple bronze Eight Trigrams Mirror. "Like the jade vase, its divine radiance has withdrawn, and its Dao patterns have disappeared. I wonder if it will recover once I leave the Ancient Forbidden Land."
Not far away, there was also a Heaven-Encompassing Umbrella, the weapon of Ji Yunfeng, an elder of the Ji Family. It had been pierced through by a Heavenly Saint Holy Maiden's finger and was somewhat damaged. But Ye Fan still collected it.
After searching the area and finding nothing else, Ye Fan quickly rushed down the mountain, unwilling to stay a moment longer. He didn't want his newly restored youth to turn old again.
"I can't go back the same way."
The Jiang Family, Ji Family, and Yaoguang Holy Land each had a divine chariot stationed outside the forbidden land. The people riding in those chariots were so powerful that even Jiang Hanzhong and the others had to bow and pay respects. One could imagine their strength.
Ye Fan chose a direction without any delay and rushed outward at maximum speed.
"If those big shots are willing to expend their vital energy, they can open their immortal eyes and see for hundreds of miles. That's how they discovered the giant bronze coffin. I must leave quickly, lest they have a whim and look this way. Then, there will be no place for me in the Eastern Wasteland."
Soon after, Ye Fan rushed out of the Forbidden Zone of Life. Without hesitation, he began gulping down the divine spring water. He was afraid that, as Jiang Hanzhong had said, leaving the Ancient Forbidden Land would trigger a terrible change.
Clearly, he was worrying too much. He was already a cultivator at the Life Spring Realm. On the sacred mountain, he had quickly absorbed the divine medicine and completed his transformation. No further changes would occur now.
"I wonder how Liu Yiyi and Zhang Ziling are doing."
Ye Fan quickly charged into the deep mountains ahead, far away from this Forbidden Zone of Life. He knew that in the coming days, a huge uproar would erupt. The news that all the strong cultivators from the Jiang Family, Ji Family, and Yaoguang Holy Land had been wiped out in the forbidden land would surely spread. That would cause a massive shock.
"I'll have to lie low for now. After a year or so, when things calm down, I can show myself again." He didn't want to take risks. He decided to carve out a cave dwelling in this primeval mountain range, live in seclusion, and improve his cultivation without letting anyone know.
In the end, Ye Fan chose a stone mountain and carved a cave dwelling inside it.
Time passed quickly, and a month went by. Ye Fan tried using the 'cauldron' to suppress himself and achieve 'eternity,' but the *Dao Scripture* had very few relevant records—just a few lines. He nearly suppressed himself to death.
"Damn your ancestors!" After struggling for an entire month, he finally freed himself and put away his cauldron. His face was deathly pale. He quickly took out the jade vase and gulped down a lot of divine spring water to recover.
Thus, he spent another two months groping around before finally figuring out the method. That cauldron, ancient and natural, slowly expanded to five meters tall inside the cave dwelling, then drew him inside and suppressed him within.
Following the ancient method recorded in the *Dao Scripture*, Ye Fan imprinted nine strange ancient characters inside the cauldron. This time, the nine characters were perfectly arranged, as if possessing the terrifying power to reshape heaven and earth. Instantly, the inside of the cauldron became chaotic and misty, as if returning to the dawn of creation.
"These nine ancient characters..." At this moment, a flash of insight struck Ye Fan, and he suddenly thought of a possibility.
Long ago, when he studied the *Dao Scripture*, he had felt that these nine ancient characters were very special.
In the *Dao Scripture*, they were listed as symbols without specific explanations of their meaning. Naturally, he couldn't recognize them. There were only a few lines, briefly mentioning an ancient method. According to the *Dao Scripture*, imprinting these nine ancient characters inside the cauldron could provide source power, suppress oneself, and achieve 'eternity.'
"I understand!" Ye Fan's heart was filled with excitement. These nine ancient characters reminded him of the ancient scripture he had obtained from the bronze coffin. The nine characters were very similar to the hundreds of ancient characters there, as if they were the same script!
"These nine ancient characters possess such great power, and that mysterious ancient scripture is entirely recorded in this kind of ancient script. Not to mention the true value of the scripture itself, just those hundreds of ancient characters, if extracted one by one, could be called priceless treasures!"
At this moment, the nine ancient characters were imprinted inside the cauldron. Chaos and mist swirled, and time seemed to stand still. Only the rhythm of the Dao flowed, as if they had reached eternity.
(Taking off the hat of slow updates—unlike *Divine Tomb* and *Eternal World*, this book has never had a single chapter per day. I will continue to work hard. Brothers, please support me.)