# Chapter 1292: Demon Emperor Cave
The great lake was tranquil, with misty water vapors, spanning thousands of li in circumference. No living creature dared to intrude.
On the shore, ancient trees were verdant and full of vitality. Spiritual medicines grew on the stone cliffs, emitting faint fragrances.
Ye Fan had been comprehending the Dao several dozen li away. In recent days, he had triggered many unusual phenomena, already alarming the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon in the lake. Yet it had not appeared, enduring silently all this while.
Because it had witnessed the anomaly of that person on the shore—many scriptures materialized, like ancient characters cast from metal, revolving around his body. The spectacle was too astonishing.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was a saint beast, the overlord of this region. Unlike ordinary beast cultivators, its strength was super powerful, with extraordinary immortal roots.
In past years, it had slain more than one saint to seize this water mansion and obtain an ancient inheritance. Its talent made many elder ancient beasts extremely wary.
Yet today, its heart pounded with fear, feeling as if targeted by a ferocious beast. From head to toe, it was ice-cold, its entire body filled with a bone-chilling coldness.
This had never happened before. Was there a savage beast fiercer than itself? What an irony!
"True dragon blood flows within my veins. No one fully knows my potential—I am among the strongest species since ancient times. Yet now, some living being wants to hunt me!?" The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was furious. It swam up from the water mansion, coiled on a reef, revealing its massive body.
Its entire form was golden, as if cast from gold—dazzling, brilliantly piercing to the eyes. Within its body surged an explosive power.
This was a colossal creature: a golden body, dense scales gleaming with golden radiance, a true dragon's head, a crocodile's torso, and nine tails, each hundreds of zhang long.
"It's that human!" The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon squinted. Its golden body flowed with saintly radiance as it lay on the reef, filled with deep wariness.
It was this human who had been comprehending the Dao by its water mansion for so many days without leaving, even venturing deep into the lake, unsettling its heart.
That person walked across the water, his physique robust, black hair flowing loose, eyes deep and profound, ethereal like an immortal. Yet within that slender body seemed to contain power capable of refining the universe, sending chills through the crocodile dragon.
Ye Fan's body radiated light, peaceful and harmonious, appearing calm and detached, transcending worldly affairs. But it placed immense pressure on the crocodile dragon, as if an Immortal King were treading the waves.
"Human, halt. You have entered my territory—this is a provocation and disrespect to me," said the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon.
Golden rosy clouds bloomed as its body shifted. Golden scales clanged, scattering vast swaths of brilliant light, with saintly might spreading everywhere.
Ye Fan did not stop. Behind him, the Dragon Horse neighed loudly, stirring up thousand-fold great waves on the vast blue waters—a vast, surging mass charging forward.
"Human, and your mount, stop immediately. Let us keep our distance and not interfere with each other. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude," the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon shouted.
"A saint beast with some dragon blood flowing within, a rare ancient surviving variant—not bad. You shall be my attendant," the Dragon Horse called out.
"Wicked horse! You push me too far! I have endured again and again, yet you press step by step!" The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon roared. Its golden body caused the thousand-li great lake to boil, sweeping toward the Dragon Horse and the others.
A great battle erupted. The Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon fought fiercely. Their blood energy pierced the sun and moon, their battle intent split the sky—this was a world-shaking battle between saint beasts.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon roared. For so many years, it had always been the one stirring up trouble; no one had ever dared to provoke it.
Just a few days ago, it had devoured over a dozen human experts, including some at the saint realm who had become its blood food, far from its match.
Ye Fan's Dao robes fluttered, his hair crystalline, draped over his chest and back. Using his Source Art, he sensed rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures in this place and began searching carefully.
It must be said, the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was a tough opponent. It fought fiercely with the Dragon Horse for a long time, evaporating the lake water for thousands of li and turning tens of thousands of li of mountains and rivers into ashes, without being defeated.
"I don't believe this! I can't subdue an attendant I've set my sights on!" the Dragon Horse growled fiercely.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was even more shocked. It was a rising saint beast, feared by many ancient beasts, undefeated at the same level, never having met an opponent. Who knew there was a beast even more heaven-defying than itself? It fought until it spat blood, barely escaping death.
"Heavenly Dragon Eight Steps!" the Dragon Horse shouted. Its hooves pounded like heavenly drums, shattering the vast sky. A massive golden crocodile dragon fell, crashing to the ground, its body drenched in blood.
"How about being my attendant?" The Dragon Horse looked at it askance.
"Dream on!" The crocodile dragon roared, spitting out a magical artifact—a saint weapon—about to burn it up, preferring death to submission.
"If you want to kill yourself, I won't stop you. But afterward, I plan to skin you and make a pair of dazzling golden crocodile-skin war boots," the Dragon Horse said leisurely.
...
This was the Dragon Horse's battle. Ye Fan did not participate. He had noticed the anomaly of the great lake. Earlier, when the two fierce beasts fought, the water had completely evaporated, yet it instantly filled again.
"It's an ancient cave dwelling, suppressing a rare heavenly material and earthly treasure."
Using his Source Art to observe the celestial and terrestrial forces, he saw through the mystery. He pointed a finger, and a saint-level formation collapsed, emitting sky-piercing radiance.
"No!"
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon cried out, also shocked. Ye Fan had shattered an ancient formation with a single finger—it was like a heaven-piercing sword qi.
Inside the underwater cave dwelling were some magical artifacts, cultivation methods of the saint beast, and even supreme secret arts for condensing dragon blood and evolving toward a true dragon.
This startled even the Dragon Horse, leaving it dumbfounded. After subduing the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, it voraciously studied these ancient methods.
Ye Fan glanced over, pondered for a moment, and memorized a few techniques he could use. The other beast cultivation paths were useless to him.
He walked deeper into the water cave, reaching the innermost part of the ancient dwelling. Before a stone wall, he stood silently for a moment, then pressed his hands against it, pushing with astonishing divine power. A dull rumbling sound echoed as he moved the stone wall aside.
Within the ancient cave dwelling was another cave, even more mysterious. Over countless millennia, up to the generation of the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, no one had discovered this cave.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon in the outer cave was dumbfounded. The water mansion had existed for many years, passed down through generations of masters, yet none had discovered the core secret.
Clearly visible, swaths of rosy light shot out, spraying auspicious colors, passing through the water mansion, spreading across the great lake, dyeing this stretch of the sky brilliant.
Not only the nearby Dragon Horse and Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon but even distant cultivators could tell that an ancient treasure had emerged.
"Ancient Demon Clan Heavenly Scripture!" the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon shouted, its eyes turning red. It had guarded a treasure mountain empty-handed, never obtaining the most important thing, unaware that a divine treasure lay within arm's reach.
These were nine pieces of ancient heavenly jade. Each piece was steeped in antiquity, flowing with the meaning of ages, emitting a peaceful, hazy rosy mist.
If not for Ye Fan's unparalleled Source Art, he would not have discovered this inner cave dwelling, which had deceived many generations.
He extended his divine sense to examine the content of the Ancient Demon Clan Heavenly Scripture. He saw sets of imprints. The nine jade pieces were different, each recording different methods.
This greatly surprised Ye Fan. It was not a complete ancient scripture but rather lost, profound Dao traditions of the Demon Clan, recorded in fragments.
For example, purifying blood to gradually nurture dragon blood within a saint beast, slowly condensing and purifying it. This was far more complete than what he had seen in the outer cave.
These were not a single ancient scripture, but for Demon Clan saint beasts, they were extremely important methods, covering a wide range of fields, not limited to one area.
"This must have been left by a generation of Demon Clan prodigies. They deliberately collected and organized these. Their Dao cultivation was profound—I'm afraid even if they didn't become an emperor in the end, they were not far off," the Dragon Horse said in shock after viewing.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon wished it could eat the Dragon Horse. All of this should have been its, yet an outsider had taken it first, filling its heart with unwillingness.
In one jade piece, Ye Fan saw hypotheses and explorations about some lost Dao traditions of the Demon Clan. Only someone exceptionally brilliant could deduce such things. The viewpoints were sharp and insightful.
"This might be something left by a generation of Demon Clan Great Emperor when he was young, before attaining the Dao. It can be called a world-shaking heavenly scripture!"
Although this was not the true Demon Emperor Scripture, it recorded what he had dabbled in during his youth, along with some speculations. Through this, one could glimpse his thoughts!
In a sense, although the methods recorded on the nine ancient jade pieces were supremely precious, they could not compare to those insights and deductions. This was a cultivation handbook.
"Through this, one can observe the sparks of thought from someone walking the path to becoming a Dao. This is priceless!"
The Dragon Horse repeatedly examined them and even generously showed a few pieces to the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon. Both of their hearts pounded, unanimously believing that these were most likely jade pieces left by a Dao attainder in his youth.
Ye Fan watched silently for a long time. The Dao traditions were not very useful to him, but the creative thoughts behind them felt stunning, giving him a sense of seeing an opponent across time and space.
"It's him... a generation of Demon Emperor!"
Ye Fan discovered a seal, identical to the one he had seen at the Southern Ridge Demon Emperor Hall in the Big Dipper Star Domain. It resembled a demon god descending to the world, or a flying ancient character.
Whether the Demon Emperor had truly existed, even the great demons of the Big Dipper Southern Ridge lacked sufficient evidence. He was too ancient. Even the Green Emperor had to address him as an ancestor. Later generations found it difficult to verify his name.
Legend said the Demon Emperor came from the depths of the starry sky, entered the Big Dipper in his later years, and dwelled in the Southern Ridge.
It was not unusual for the Demon Clan to walk the Human Clan's ancient path. Even now, figures like the Southern Demon continued this tradition, simply because they were closer to their own life star.
Just as some humans would ultimately take the nearest Demon Clan or God Clan ancient paths, all would eventually converge on the ultimate singular ancient path.
Of course, the dangers faced this way were also immense. If one's identity was exposed, the attacks suffered could be many times greater. Only those who defied heaven dared attempt it.
"So, are you willing to be my attendant? The Ancient Demon Clan Heavenly Scripture can be yours to view," the Dragon Horse shamelessly tempted.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon compromised, but demanded they call each other brothers, not master and attendant.
The Dragon Horse reluctantly agreed, saying, "Fine. Just don't let your cultivation fall too far behind mine. And help me find some saint beast attendants—the more, the better."
Ye Fan let it be. The Great Demon God and Di Tian had both recruited some subordinates. If the Dragon Horse wished to follow suit, he would support it.
"There's also a box. The life force is so strong—what's inside?" The Dragon Horse was uncertain, noticing another wooden box on the stone table.
Ye Fan opened it, and a vigorous life force surged forth—exactly the vitality he had sensed earlier.
"A... seed!" the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon exclaimed.
"Mm, what good fortune. This great lake hides such an ancient cave dwelling, containing a peerless divine treasure."
The rosy light from the cave shot into the sky, alarming many powerful beings nearby. A group of human trial takers arrived first.
Among them, a young woman with a flower-like face and moon-like beauty smiled faintly. "I won't say much. Leave immediately, and I won't make trouble for you."
Another man, clearly also a central figure, surrounded by divine halos, smiled and said, "Put down the things, and you may go."