Chapter 1531: The Old Grounds of the Jade Pool
"Some inauspicious things happened..." The Holy Maiden of Yao Chi's face was gloomy, and she did not say much, unwilling to reveal it, showing that it contained an extraordinary secret.
In the end, Ye Fan took his leave, giving a strand of Dao Source to Liu Yiyi, and departed with the Divine Child.
"Little fatty, if you glare at me again, be careful—I might stew you," Ye Fan teased him.
The child puffed out his cheeks, a look of defiance on his face, but he was also somewhat scared. He couldn't escape if he wanted to, and couldn't win in a fight, leaving him fuming.
"Why aren't you talking? Tap into your subconscious; maybe you can recall your true origins," Ye Fan said.
The child glanced at him with big eyes and ignored him, clearly sulking in silence.
Ye Fan smiled, finding the little one quite amusing.
"I hate you!" The jade-like child couldn't hold it in anymore. Seeing Ye Fan always teasing him, he flailed his arms and legs, trying to break free.
"Don't move around too much. If you break the Immortal Source, you'll be crying—you won't be able to seal yourself inside again," Ye Fan said.
On the cold Northern Domain land, stretching for hundreds of thousands of miles without a soul, walking like this might mean never encountering a living being in a lifetime.
Red soil stretched endlessly, barren of any grass—this was the reality of the Northern Domain. Ye Fan headed in one direction, and the closer he got, the more oppressive he felt, with a vast fluctuation of laws.
This was the direction of the Primordial Forbidden Zone. Still over eight hundred miles away, he could already feel an invisible force of order, making his heart tremble.
Ye Fan soared into the sky, gazing into the distance. The ancient mine was deep, devouring the essence of the sun and moon, emitting an aura that made even the ancient venerables shudder, enduring through the ages.
By now, all the forbidden zones showed signs of awakening. Not long ago, it was said that a woman playing a flute had swept across the Primordial Ancient Mine, and no one dared to approach anymore.
Ye Fan stopped there as well, not wanting to get too close. He only came to the outer area after many years to take a distant look and see if there were any special changes.
"Magnificent halls have risen again on the earth!"
Within the Primordial Forbidden Zone, on those special terrains, some grand palaces stood tall, vast and boundless, clearly unearthed from underground—some sacrificial temples had emerged.
The Primordial Ancient Mine was stirring, and its true emergence was not far off.
Ye Fan did not linger long. In this place, anything could happen now. He quickly departed, arriving at a stretch of Gobi desert over twenty to thirty thousand miles away.
Moonlight spilled down, shrouding the entire land in a hazy glow. The red earth and stones looked desolate, devoid of any life.
Suddenly, at the edge of the vast land, wisps of white light emerged, rising into the sky and flying toward the heavens, about to vanish into the blue void in an instant.
Ye Fan shot into the sky instantly. With his world-class speed, he could reach the eight extremes with a single thought, arriving swiftly in the heavens. But he was still a step too late, only able to see a few white figures dispersing. They were too fast, ethereal and flickering, vanishing into the darkness like immortals.
"Jade Pool Soaring Immortal!"
Back then, he and Black Emperor had used this to find the location.
Regarding the Jade Pool Soaring Immortal, there had never been a clear explanation since ancient times.
Occasionally, on moonlit nights, this place would manifest the miraculous scene of a soaring immortal, but no one could explain what it was. Seen from afar, it was hazy; up close, it was elusive and would vanish in an instant.
Legend said this was a residual shadow from the Primordial Era, a reflection from endless years ago, a replay of ancient events.
The old grounds under the deep night were very quiet, without a sound. The moonlight was bright, illuminating the red gravel and stones until they were translucent.
Ye Fan headed in one direction, extending his powerful divine sense, and found a dry well beneath the red sand sea, exuding an aura of the Primordial Era.
The wellhead was built of jade, covered by a large stone. When he lifted it, the starlight and moonlight in the sky poured down like water, spilling into the well.
It was devouring the essence of heaven and earth, replenishing the divine energy within the old grounds of the Jade Pool.
Ye Fan flashed and plunged into the wellhead. He descended who knows how many zhang, then walked diagonally forward at the bottom, finally emerging from the bottom of a dried-up great lake.
He knew he had truly entered the old grounds of the Jade Pool!
This was a secluded pure land, where spiritual energy was so dense it couldn't be dispersed. But the grass, trees, and ancient trees here were all dead, their leaves fallen, devoid of any life.
Many withered giant trees were terrifyingly thick, towering into the sky like mountains, but not a single leaf or trace of vitality remained.
The surroundings were silent, lifeless. Originally a world of flowers and birdsong, it had now turned into a barren land, filled with an eerie atmosphere.
This place wasn't lacking in water; along the way, he saw one or two spiritual springs, but there was no life. The fish, grass, and trees were mostly dead, showing nothing but desolation.
Halls and pavilions appeared, many collapsed on the ground. The magnificent buildings were now ruins, left for later generations to mourn.
Finally, ahead, immortal mist swirled, mountains loomed faintly, and large stretches of intact, magnificent halls appeared, standing atop clouds and perched on cliffs.
It was like a fairyland, captivating, but still flawed—no vegetation, and the silver waterfalls had dried up, turning it into a dead zone.
"Here again," Ye Fan murmured. Back then, when he and Black Emperor had broken into this place, they had been shocked for a long time.
Now, he strongly suspected that the dry well was actually a dog hole dug by Black Emperor back in the day. In this world, probably only he understood the Jade Pool best, after all, Wu Shi originated from here.
Ye Fan stepped forward, arriving at the deepest part of the Jade Pool's sacred grounds. Life suddenly appeared. Looking across the entire old grounds, only this place surged with auspicious energy, the most radiant.
In the distance, multicolored light shot out, auspicious colors burst forth, like a place of primordial life.
Here, there was a celestial pool, from which the name "Jade Pool" originated. In this place, grass flourished, cliffs were green, and silver waterfalls cascaded down with a thunderous roar, very grand.
Paired with halls and pavilions, it looked lively and peaceful, ethereal and natural, extremely beautiful.
"Finally, there's sound, no longer dead and silent."
But upon reaching this place, Ye Fan's expression grew more solemn. He was on high alert, not forgetting the real scene he had witnessed in the past.
At the center of the Jade Pool was a celestial lake, steaming with auspicious light, hazy with mist, flowing with brilliance—it was like a place to become an immortal.
By the lakeside, various exotic flowers and rare herbs emitted a refreshing fragrance, intoxicating and mesmerizing, as if one had stepped into a paradise or entered the Immortal Domain.
Ye Fan would never forget what he and Black Emperor had experienced when they jumped into the lake. The lake bottom was filled with female corpses, all with beautiful faces, all disciples of the Jade Pool.
By now, he had strength comparable to a Great Sage, and he even held an Imperial Artifact, so he came to investigate thoroughly, to find out what had happened here.
A few dark shadows drifted by, cutting waterlines across the lake. Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye and saw clearly—they were corpses, all wearing white long dresses, not decaying even after so many years.
Ye Fan pulled out the Divine Child again, letting him sense if there was any special aura in this place. He believed the child's bloodline was extraordinary and might yield unusual discoveries.
"Little fatty, sense it carefully."
"You're the fatty!" The Divine Child was very dissatisfied with this nickname. In truth, he wasn't fat; children his age were just round and chubby.
This child of mysterious origins, born a saint, fumed, glaring at him with big eyes in a standoff.
But when Ye Fan threw him into the lake and he saw the female corpses, he was so startled he screamed and immediately calmed down.
Ye Fan took him into the water. Even though it wasn't his first time seeing this, his scalp still tingled. At the lake bottom, corpse after corpse lay strewn about, densely packed—a burial pit.
A rough count revealed hundreds of people, filling the lake's center, piled up, terrifying. Those jade-like arms, those slender legs, still had a faint sheen, but their bodies were stiff, devoid of any life.
All the women had disheveled hair, pale faces, wearing white linen clothes with the Jade Pool mark. Their hair strands moved like snakes, tangled and chaotic, making the dim lake bottom even more hair-raising.
Now, Ye Fan was comparable to a Great Sage, here to uncover secrets. He couldn't stop. He personally moved the corpses aside, clearing the lake's center completely.
There were no water plants or fish, only ancient corpses. During this process, several women suddenly opened their eyes, shooting out terrifying light.
The Divine Child was so scared he nearly fainted, but Ye Fan observed carefully. Unfortunately, they had only turned into yin beings, losing their past memories—what mortals called corpse ghosts.
Such beings were nothing to him, and he dealt with them all.
At the lake bottom, Ye Fan found a spring eye, from which the celestial pool's water surged. His heart stirred. Legend said that the Immortal Tear Green Gold was found in this lake, later forged into the Western Emperor Tower.
And before the Jade Pool moved, that Imperial Artifact was also suppressed in this pool, making the place shrouded in mystery.
Ye Fan exerted force, lifting a few green stone slabs at the lake bottom, enlarging the spring eye into a deep, dark hole that could fit one person.
"Can we not go in?" the Divine Child said fearfully.
"Little fatty, you're a born saint—how can you be so timid? Were you scared into this?" Ye Fan teased him.
"I'll fight you!" The fair, chubby child, riding the Immortal Source, rammed into him with force.
"You'd better behave." Ye Fan took him and plunged straight into the spring eye, deep into the earth.
Once inside, the water became even more sweet and clear, flowing with essence, filled with divine radiance.
This was an underground lake, not very large. What made one's heart race was that there were also many corpses here, all with impressive cultivation in life, their faces beautiful.
The Divine Child immediately quieted down, silent, a hint of fear on his small face.
Ye Fan's expression was grave. He drew the Imperial Sword, holding it in hand, searching carefully. Still, he found no major gains, so he dove into the spring leading further underground.
Thus, Ye Fan descended a full seven thousand zhang underground, encountering seven layers of lakes, all filled with many corpses. Especially the seventh layer, where some saint corpses appeared!
Finally, entering the eighth layer, his hair stood on end. Several corpses seemed to be swimming, all of them saints, even Great Sages, with Divine Source fragments scattered everywhere.
"Was this part of the Jade Pool's former foundation? For some unknown reason, the Divine Source shattered, and they all died here!" Ye Fan was shocked.
In the past, the Western Emperor Tower had suppressed the celestial pool, naturally protecting this place and ensuring the foundation's safety. Yet even so, part of the Jade Pool's foundation had met disaster.
"What happened?" Ye Fan wondered, unsettled.
Coming to the spring eye again, it was even deeper and darker below. Only he, with his Source Heaven Eye, could see; anyone else would be blind by now.
"The answer should be in the ninth layer!" Ye Fan took out the Green Copper Cauldron, suspending it above his head. With the reluctant little fatty in his left hand and the Imperial Sword in his right, he sank into the spring eye.