Chapter 1297: Breaking Through at the Corpse Mountain
The surroundings were silent, white mist swirling, feeling out of place in this land of death. Ye Fan followed the black River Styx upstream, occasionally spotting one or two corpses floating down the bank.
Of course, not all were ancient saints; even in the mythological era, there weren't that many powerful cultivators.
The aura of death assailed him, making it feel like he had entered the underworld. Ye Fan traveled several hundred li and reached the end.
This was a range of ice mountains, cold air billowing. They were constantly melting, converging into a River Styx that flowed downstream.
In the white ice mountains, corpse after corpse was frozen, wearing ancient garments, belonging to various races, each with a different death pose, looking eerie and ferocious.
This was a pile of corpses, frozen by someone, forming such a terrifying demonic land.
To be precise, this should be a battlefield from the mythological era. While the battle was raging, it was suddenly frozen, forming these endless ice peaks.
"Who did this? It looks like a supreme emperor-level expert used a forbidden secret technique, freezing three thousand worlds in an instant, killing all cultivators of various races, including saints, on the battlefield!" Ye Fan murmured.
A chill ran through his heart. What kind of powerful figure was this? A hand that could cover the sky, a supreme being from the mythological era that made one tremble.
Something was off. The River Styx was black, full of death, but this ice mountain range, though densely packed with frozen cultivators, was pure white and translucent.
Ye Fan soared into the air, entering above the ice mountains, and looked down, finally seeing the true cause.
The source of the River Styx was surrounded by ice mountains, located at the center, pitch black—it was actually a deep pool.
Bottomless, black as ink, black steam rose in bursts, and occasionally corpses floated up. A terrifying power emanated from the pool, like the source of destruction, filled with a powerful aura of death.
Ye Fan, with the Primordial Qi Cauldron above his head, retreated far enough, then pointed his fingers like a sword and slashed forward.
Chi!
A golden sword light shattered the sky. The mere fluctuation caused some ice mountains around the deep pool to collapse instantly. The sword light struck into the pool.
Boom!
A thunderous roar erupted, violent fluctuations, and runes rose one after another. The deep pool was like a Nether Emperor's palace, death energy surging to the heavens.
Ink-black waves rolled back. As a large amount of water splashed, the deep pool was evaporated. In that instant, Ye Fan saw a well—definitely man-made—at the bottom of the pool.
There was a demonic well in the pool!
On the well's rim were ancient Dao marks. For a moment, it seemed like an old Daoist was chanting scriptures there, but it flashed and vanished, leaving only ancient runes sealing something.
Ye Fan drew in a cold breath. Looking around, the vast ice mountains were filled with dense corpses. Who knew how many had died in battle here? All seemed to be trying to approach that well.
What was sealed inside? In the mythological era, so many fought for it. Just thinking about it made one's soul tremble.
After endless years, had the thing inside been worn away? Nothing could withstand time. Did the demonic well still hold any meaning?
Ye Fan explored, encountering terrifying fluctuations. Black gas seeped from the ancient well. The sealing power remained, though infinitely weakened compared to the ancient past, but it still couldn't be opened.
Ye Fan had to retreat. Then he tried to shatter the solid ice to search. The corpses inside turned to ash upon contact with air, only those that fell into the River Styx remained in a rotting state.
As for weapons from the ancient past, they had long since shattered; not a single one had survived.
The entire ice mountain range, the demonic well, and the River Styx were filled with the power of death. This was the cultivation ground Ye Fan needed. He waited for the Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon for a day and a night, then began his seclusion after they arrived.
"As expected of a burial ground for gods and ghosts, truly terrifying." The Dragon Horse's heart pounded.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was nearly petrified. Among the ice mountains were many supreme experts, some definitely far stronger than them, yet all had fallen here.
Had an ancient emperor truly struck? All the saints couldn't escape this calamity, becoming corpses in an instant.
Death energy spread. The ice mountains melted, revealing corpse after corpse, including powerful saints, all rushing into the River Styx.
Thread after thread of death power rose from the ancient corpses of the mythological era, gathering toward Ye Fan.
Though time had worn away much, with so many remains, so many former peak experts, their death energy converging was still earth-shattering.
The Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon bared their teeth and fled, afraid of being swept in. So much death power could corrode a person into a pool of filthy blood; even a saint had to retreat!
Ye Fan sat motionless before the demonic well, his entire body shrouded in death energy. Thread after thread entered his Wheel Sea, where it seemed like the world was being created, emitting wind and thunder sounds.
One could say he was walking on the edge of death. One misstep could lead to eternal damnation.
The Wheel of Life and the Sea of Suffering represented life and death. Once the balance was broken, even an ancient great emperor couldn't save him.
Ye Fan's primordial spirit sank into his Wheel Sea, comprehending the mysteries of life and death, dancing with death, hovering at the gates of hell.
The Wheel Sea absorbed death power. Black mist surged in continuously, turning even the golden Sea of Suffering black, like an ocean roaring in fury.
At the same time, a divine medicine seed floated—the seed of the Flat Peach Divine Medicine. It went from dim to radiant, appearing in the Wheel Sea.
Ye Fan drew death power into his Sea of Suffering and gathered the life force of the immortal medicine seed into his Wheel of Life, making both more vast, violently surging and colliding.
Life force and death power intertwined, forming a Taiji diagram that continuously evolved, becoming more solid, like a supreme treasure being nurtured and taking shape.
"Is he crazy? Absorbing so much death power, can he still survive? Even if he doesn't die, he'll be crippled!" the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon said in shock from afar.
"Fortune comes from risk. Without paying, without taking risks, how can one quickly get what they need?" the Dragon Horse said solemnly.
"I can understand absorbing life force, but what's the use of absorbing death power? It damages the physical body." The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon swallowed hard.
Not just him, even the Dragon Horse didn't know, feeling a hidden worry that Ye Fan's "demonic technique" was too violent to cultivate.
Exactly nine days, no more, no less. Ye Fan absorbed the life force from the seed and a vast amount of death energy into his Wheel Sea, motionless, his abdomen rumbling.
One ancient character after another appeared outside his body, radiating divine light. The sound of scripture chanting shook heaven and earth.
In his abdomen, a Taiji diagram was taking shape, but it also showed signs of collapsing. Life and death forces clashed. The yin fish and yang fish could scatter at any moment, merging together.
If that happened, even an ancient emperor couldn't help. Ye Fan would surely perish, body and soul turning to ashes.
During this process, the Taiji diagram absolutely could not shatter. Once it disintegrated, it would sweep through his body and mind, making him the source of destruction, completely exploding.
The yin fish and yang fish intertwined, very unstable, trembling slightly, seemingly about to explode!
At that moment, vast life essence and death power intertwined, terrifying beyond measure. In Ye Fan's abdomen, runes and ancient characters were reflected. The scriptures he had created circulated on their own, manifesting in the world.
"Bad, he's about to explode, body and soul will be destroyed!" the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon said, retreating continuously.
The Dragon Horse's expression also turned grim, sensing Ye Fan's crisis. No one could help at this moment; intervening might only hasten his destruction.
At this time, Ye Fan's face flickered with immortal radiance and black mist, life and death alternating.
Boom!
In his Wheel Sea, yin and yang forces lost balance, about to disintegrate, creating a terrible crisis. Light shone brilliantly, spilling from his body, surging into the sky.
Ye Fan sighed inwardly. He was too eager, too ahead of his time. When others cultivated the saint realm, they all spent time grinding and tempering. Few dared to be so violent, seeking success directly.
A single mistake in the saint realm would plunge one into the abyss, eternal doom. Even the greatest heroes dared not be impatient at this realm.
But in the current context, whether on the Ancient Stellar Path or the path to immortality, there were immense crises. He couldn't escape any of them, only by strengthening himself as quickly as possible.
"Ultimate, the end of all things in the universe..." The Past Self, Dao Self, and True Self chanted scriptures together. He was pushed to a dead end.
He didn't give up because he had left himself room. Even when all things are destroyed, there is a thread of life, let alone when he was in control.
The Wheel Sea was seen by Ye Fan as the place where all things in the human body begin. Now, it was like the creation of the world, chaotic energy hazy, life and death opposed, about to collide and disintegrate.
However, at the final moment, a Chaos Azure Lotus emerged from the Wheel Sea, swimming like a true dragon, separating the ocean of life force and death.
This was the azure lotus in Ye Fan's Wheel Sea, something extra that others didn't have. Now it swam continuously, forming a dragon-shaped curve.
Boom!
In the creation of the world, amidst chaotic energy, Ye Fan's Wheel Sea stabilized. The Chaos Azure Lotus became the dividing line of yin and yang, separating the yin fish and yang fish.
It became the most crucial line in the Taiji Immortal Diagram, separating life and death!
At this moment, Ye Fan's eyes snapped open. He knew he had succeeded and was about to break through!
Now, his entire body flowed with light, his flesh radiant, every inch of his blood incomparably brilliant.
"Success!" the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon exclaimed.
"You're not about to undergo tribulation, are you?" the Dragon Horse was also stunned.
Most people in the saint realm had to solidify their foundation; few dared to rush. Ye Fan, relying on such powerful accumulation, broke through between life and death, and succeeded.
"I need to disperse the power I just gathered. I need to change places for the tribulation," Ye Fan said.
"Haven't you already refined that life force and death power?" the Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon were shocked and confused.
"I need opposing forces to break through, but I don't merge or absorb them. The Dao I cultivate only needs my own power. I just need to open the treasures of the body, unlocking the divine gates within."
Now, Ye Fan only wanted to cultivate his own power.
The Dragon Horse's eyes immediately burned with heat. "Then the life force you release, can it benefit others?"
Ye Fan nodded. "There will be boundless life force released."
"And the death power you absorbed, if released, wouldn't it become a great killing weapon?" the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon thought of the vast death energy.
Suddenly, terrifying fluctuations came from afar. A group of powerful beings approached rapidly.
"Who is it? Getting there first, snatching the master's ancient artifact?" A loud roar came. Someone from the Sacred Spirit lineage in the outer domain had arrived.
"Not good. A great battle has broken out. The Tenth City of the Human Clan and this ancient star have probably become a terrible killing ground. We have to break out!"
The worst-case scenario might have already happened. The Supreme Sacred Spirit was leading thousands of troops, charging from the depths of the universe!