# Chapter 1698 - A Realm's Tomb
The ancient Yinghuo was clearly much larger than it was now. Only due to a cataclysmic change did it rapidly contract, becoming what it is today.
The North Sea Eye was dry, without any water. When Ye Fan and the others arrived here, all they saw were sand grains and boulders, washed clean, mostly reddish in color.
Some said this was caused by blood soaking. In that battle back then, the entire ancient Yinghuo star was stained red. If not for that immortal treasure suppressing everything, the so-called Solar System would no longer exist.
"Bang"
The Hundred-Legged Heavenly Insect made a move, shifting a giant boulder, uncovering a seal, revealing a pitch-black hole. A cold, dense and eerie aura emerged, startling the heart.
Ye Fan stepped forward, the first to walk inside, going straight into the depths underground. Faintly, they could hear the sound of waves crashing. This was a vast world, far more expansive than imagined.
There were seals below, not difficult to break at first, not even a problem for Great Sages. It wasn't until they heard faint chanting of scriptures that they became more vigilant.
"Ah, it's that group of monks, turned into a band of ghost monks."
A large ship was blocking the way there, radiating golden light ten thousand feet high. Buddhist chanting echoed out, but it was very weak, on the verge of breaking off at any moment.
"No, it's different from a few hundred years ago." Ye Fan murmured.
His divine sense was extremely powerful. Those ancient Buddhas and Arhats were no longer there. A layer of powder lay on the ship—they had all dissolved, turned to dust.
The chanting was emitted by the ship itself, an echo of past Buddhist sounds, not anyone reciting scriptures.
Clearly, something had happened. This place was different, far more terrifying than before, a warning. And this wasn't even the deepest part.
Finally, they arrived at the underground world, all of them shaken. There really was a vast ocean, black as ink, boundless and endless. Such a strange sight underground was eerie.
"This place is its own world." Great Xia Vermilion Bird said.
According to what he knew, approaching this endless sea was extremely difficult, even for a Great Sage. Yet now it was so easy—clearly, the great seal of this place had been broken through.
"Be careful!" Mountain Phoenix warned.
"Don't worry, old rooster—no, Lord Mountain Phoenix!" Silver Serpent quickly corrected himself. He had accidentally spoken out of habit and was truly afraid of inviting deadly disaster.
"Now that we're here, we must work together. Everyone must clearly state what they know in advance to avoid major problems." Ye Fan said.
With that, he was the first to descend into the black ocean, testing the waters.
No incident occurred. This place was deathly still, devoid of life. No fish in the sea, no demons—a dead sea, silent and soundless.
Was this the place that buried an era and interred emperor-level experts? Nothing could be seen, only water, only a black sea.
No danger. It was very calm here, but the silence was almost terrifying, making one feel something was wrong.
The group followed beside Ye Fan and Mountain Phoenix, advancing toward the depths of the sea. After all, these were two quasi-emperors, giving everyone enough confidence to proceed—truly a luxurious lineup.
At their speed, crossing a star domain was no problem, yet they still couldn't reach the end of the sea. Truly a great realm.
Finally, they saw an island, black as a mountain ridge, protruding from the water.
But as they approached, their expressions changed. This was no island—it was a spine, lying across here, enormous and boundless, stretching tens of thousands of miles.
How massive a skeleton must this be, sunk in the ocean, yet protruding like this? It was astonishing.
"This is a star beast, still in its juvenile form, feeding on star cores. I never thought such creatures actually existed. Not many have been seen throughout history."
Everyone was amazed. This kind of being had unlimited potential, reaching quasi-emperor level strength in later stages. In fact, the few that appeared in history had stirred up boundless storms.
If not for this race's rarity, they would surely become a great calamity for the universe.
"Boundless watery realm, when will it end?" Someone muttered.
Ye Fan extended his divine sense, but strangely, this place was extremely peculiar. Even someone as powerful as him couldn't fully probe it—blocked by some mysterious fluctuation.
"It's the aura of that supreme treasure, transformed into formless great Dao, obstructing everything here."
"It might be underwater." Mountain Phoenix shared the clues he had obtained.
Hundred-Legged Heavenly Insect said, "Ah, then let's go down and take a look. But this sea doesn't seem right no matter how you look at it. Rushing down might cause something unexpected."
"Let's try a strike first. If something terrible is lurking, a battle will come sooner or later—better to do it early." Silver Serpent said.
"Let me!" That immortal crane transformed into its true form. Its wings spread, blotting out the sky, then slashed down fiercely. Divine wings like gleaming heavenly blades split the sky, cleaving the vast sea in two.
Suddenly, a terrifying aura surged upward, locking onto the immortal crane. A massive tentacle reached up, like a demon from the abyss of hell, covered in bumps and mucus, stretching thousands of miles.
The immortal crane clashed with it. Silver wings erupted with brilliant light, clanging loudly as it flew sideways.
That tentacle was very strong, continuing to extend, nearly wrapping around it and pulling it into the sea. There was a terrifying demonic power.
"It's an octopus, this huge, filled with corrosive power, death energy spreading."
As the sea water rose and fell, they saw a gray octopus as large as a mountain reaching the heavens, shrouded in deathly mist and a rotting aura.
This wasn't a true prehistoric octopus, but an undead spirit, composed of countless rotting flesh, with overwhelming yin energy.
"Spirits rest in peace, death slaves guard the tomb... This is what my master told me when he was alive. It seems it really is under this sea." Someone said in surprise.
This octopus was very strange. It had Great Sage corpse flesh on it, as well as broken quasi-emperor weapons. It was powerful, weaker than an abnormal Great Sage, but certain parts were even stronger.
"Pfft"
However, before a true quasi-emperor, it was nothing. Mountain Phoenix pointed a finger, and that massive thing shattered directly, turning into mud, with yin energy and stench overwhelming.
Mountain Phoenix pointed again, opening a passage, isolating the sea water, going straight down to the depths of the ocean.
"This is..."
They crossed who knows how far, finally passing through the water layer, arriving at the bottom. It was vast and empty, without water. The vast sea hung above, not falling down.
And on the ground, densely packed everywhere, were bones and cold corpses of living beings, stretching endlessly. It made one's scalp tingle.
How many people died back then? So many, stretching beyond sight?
"This is it. We've arrived at the ancient battlefield that buried an era. There are even emperor-level figures who fell here!" Silver Serpent said excitedly.
"No, that's not right. It's said that ordinary people simply can't get in. How did we come so effortlessly?"
"The seals of this place were broken by someone. So we weren't blocked and came directly to this battlefield!"
Learning this result, their hearts sank. Someone had beaten them to it, arriving many years earlier.
Ye Fan looked down at this endless battlefield, sensing boundless yin energy and a wisp of vibrant life force, knowing there was great danger here.
Back then, it was speculated that yin spirits might be reborn here. Now it seemed to have come true.
"This is practically a second Underworld. The most terrifying situation might occur!" Great Xia Vermilion Bird said, his face very dark.
Ye Fan took out the Azure Lotus, holding it in hand as a precaution, and walked forward.
They proceeded, growing more alarmed. Countless broken weapons and tattered banners lay on the ground, including quasi-emperor artifacts. Although they were destroyed beyond use, even the divine nature of the materials gone, one could tell they were definitely quasi-emperor weapons.
How terrifying was that battle back then? So many broken artifacts remained, their level too high.
Moreover, they discovered that the battlefield had many layers, originally all sealed. The deeper they went, the stronger the seals. But now they were all broken, allowing unimpeded passage.
"Too terrifying. It was broken long ago by someone—shocking!" Even Mountain Phoenix was astonished.
Because, after they approached the core area, the residual sealing power of the battlefield made even him feel it was very troublesome. If he had to break the seals, he probably couldn't have reached this place.
The ground was covered with endless bones, the soil black and red—formed from countless blood mud and residual blood. In battles of that level, it was hard for corpses to remain; they would inevitably turn into blood mist.
"These remains were piled in later by someone. Otherwise, there would only be residual blood. They were buried here by someone, turning this into a realm's cemetery."
A great realm becoming a graveyard—how terrifying was that?
"I don't think later generations buried them here. Someone did it themselves, needing these flesh and blood bodies."
Ye Fan frowned. He sensed a powerful life force. Although drowned by dense, ocean-like death energy, his spiritual perception could still detect it.
"We've arrived. The core burial ground."
"What is that? Several corpses, blood drained, dead here!"
They were shocked. At the deepest part of the battlefield, there was a palace, grand and vast. Many flesh and blood corpses surrounded it, but three were special, lying at the palace gate.
A divine tiger—definitely a quasi-emperor!
Ye Fan was astonished. This was the mount of the Longevity Heavenly Venerable from the Immortal Mound. Before the final battle, when the immortal path collapsed, this tiger disappeared. Unexpectedly, it appeared here.
It lay dead, its blood essence drained dry. The rotting blood on the ground had long lost its spiritual energy.
Beside it, another corpse was recognized.
"This is someone from the Underworld. They actually found this place. It's a war slave!" Ye Fan was already very familiar with the Underworld and recognized its origin. It bore the Reincarnation Seal and the mark of an Underworld slave.
It hadn't truly awakened, yet possessed great strength, sent out to carry out a mission, but died here.
There was also another quasi-emperor, unrecognized. It seemed to have fallen at least several hundred years ago, also drained of blood essence, rotting blood spilled everywhere.
In this place, not to mention other demons, even Mountain Phoenix felt his heart pounding. Quasi-emperors had died here, each with great origins. If he went in, he likely wouldn't escape either.
Ye Fan stared ahead. With the Azure Lotus in hand, he swept it, breaking through the thick yin mist. Otherwise, this kind of thing could block even heavenly eyes.
In the magnificent hall, there were three severed arms, half a head, and many pieces of flesh and blood, not belonging to the same person.
Ye Fan's mind roared. That was the flesh and blood of an emperor-level expert. Who had eaten them, leaving only these remnants?
He had fought against a Supreme Being before and knew that aura well. The flesh and blood definitely belonged to an emperor-level expert. But now the blood essence was gone, the emperor-level laws worn away, making one unable to feel that supreme majesty anymore—only that distinctive aura remained.
And they seemed to have been devoured by some large beast.
This made one's scalp tingle!
Carefully sensing, he found that the severed arms, broken head, and shredded flesh were filled with the power of time, left behind after being devoured in the distant past.
Ye Fan's body turned cold. What was buried deep beneath Yinghuo? What was the truth? It was far from as simple as the outside world claimed.
Something was sleeping here, devouring this endless flesh and blood, eating the remains of emperor-level experts. The Supreme Beings who fell in that era that buried a time—they had ended up like this.
Was that thing still alive? The divine tiger, the Underworld's war slave, and the nameless quasi-emperor had all died outside in the last few hundred years, their blood essence gone.
Ye Fan's eyes burst with light. His Source Heaven Eye broke through the void, illuminating the entire hall. The yin mist dissipated.
"What is that?" Someone trembled.
In the void above the hall, there was a bloody meatball, very much like a large cocoon. It was being pulled into a void door, about to disappear from this world at any moment.
Behind that door, there was a chaotic great bell, emitting a suction force. It was pulling the meatball in. The two sides were locked in a stalemate, a state that seemed to have lasted for quite some time.
"How is it here?!"
Even someone with a will as firm as Ye Fan's changed color greatly, crying out in shock. This was too shocking for him. That was actually the Primordial Bell!
Back then, this bell had filled the immortal path. Why was it here now? It was trying to pull that terrifying meatball into another world!
The Immortal Bell was absent, but the Primordial Bell appeared, causing waves of shock in Ye Fan's heart. The depths of the ancient Yinghuo star indeed held great terror, hiding a bloody, great secret.