Chapter 178: Eight Divine Brutal Force
The fourteen blood-colored great flags trembled, blotting out the sky and covering the sun, as if at the beginning of heaven and earth, chaotic and hazy, completely shrouding the heavens. The two Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land charged left and right, but found it difficult to break out of this blood-colored region.
The great flags fluttered, each one a hundred zhang tall. With every shake, they shot out streaks of sword light, indestructible, their sharpness pressing down on the sun itself. "Jiang Yi, your cultivation has reached this level. Only Divine Source is useful to you. Plundering the source zones of our Yao Guang Holy Land on a large scale is completely meaningless."
Just as a Supreme Elder of the Yao Guang Holy Land finished speaking, a sharp sword light illuminated the heavens, like a bolt of lightning streaking across the sky, instantly slicing off a corner of his sleeve. "Chi..." His expression turned ugly. "I can use source to exchange for what I need," Jiang Yi said calmly, seated on his Suanni beast, his hands slowly moving. The fourteen blood-colored great flags, like a surging flood, violently trembled, rapidly shifting positions.
Jiang Yi's hands seemed to possess endless demonic power. Though his movements were slow, the terrifying pressure they emitted made one's heart tremble, resonating with the fourteen great flags. "Boom!"
The void erupted, as if a huge millstone rumbled across the high sky. The two Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land both changed color.
Strong as they were, they were like duckweed in a raging sea, swaying in the sky, unable to steady themselves.
The fourteen blood-colored great flags trembled violently, clanging with unparalleled force, enough to tear the sky apart, majestic and vast. "Eight Divine Brutal Force!" The two Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land were very surprised. Jiang Yi's hands moved slower and slower, but the energy they emitted grew increasingly terrifying.
Those hands were demonic. The heavens trembled because of him, the void continuously collapsed. Under this demonic power, the fourteen great flags were like fourteen blood gods, their might overwhelming. "Boom!"
One of the Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land was caught off guard, half his clothes shattered by a great flag. His face turned ashen, and his body shook.
"He has actually cultivated the Jiang Family's Eight Divine Brutal Force to this level..."
This was beyond the expectations of the two Yao Guang Holy Land Supreme Elders.
The Eight Divine Brutal Force was the supreme art of controlling artifacts, possessing demonic power. Once cultivated to its peak, nothing could break it, and nothing could stop it.
This supreme secret technique was a peerless skill from the Jiang Family's ancient scripture, just like the Ji Family's Void Great Hand Seal, both being peak secret techniques of their respective ancient scriptures.
Jiang Yi's hands grew slower and slower, eventually nearly stopping in the air, but they became even more terrifying, as if eight true deities were exerting their brutal force.
This stretch of the heavens was like a swamp, or a demonic force field, causing the two Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land to move more and more slowly, about to be bound there.
Meanwhile, the fourteen great flags blazed with blood flames, forcing the two to draw closer together, their space shrinking.
"Boom!" Just as Jiang Yi's hands nearly stopped moving, he suddenly shook them.
The space ahead instantly collapsed. The fourteen great flags trembled violently as the Eight Divine Brutal Force transmitted through them, like ten thousand raging waves, wild and unmatched, directly sending the two Supreme Elders flying.
"You—!"
The two Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land both had traces of blood at the corners of their mouths, revealing shocked expressions.
"The Eight Divine Brutal Force is indeed terrifying, worthy of being called a supreme secret technique. But if this is all you have, I'm afraid you can't kill us—you'll be the one to leave your life behind!"
Their expressions were cold and fierce, their voices low. Being shaken until they spat blood by Jiang Yi made it hard for them to remain calm.
"Kill me? Come and try!" Jiang Yi sat unmoving on his Suanni beast, his hands beginning to move again.
At the same time, the two Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land each activated their artifacts. One offered up a purple-gold gourd, the other a bronze bell, both suspended above their heads. Streams of auspicious light cascaded down like curtain umbrellas, enveloping them.
The sword light emitted by the fourteen great flags, though dazzling, could no longer approach them, unable to strike near their bodies.
The three mighty experts clashed, and the heavens instantly erupted, as if the Milky Way were pouring down, brilliant and dazzling. A destructive aura flooded that area.
The ground was also affected, but one great flag thrust into the earth, a hundred zhang tall, emitted streaks of blood light that enveloped thousands of mortals, leaving no one injured. "Eight Divine Brutal Force..." Ye Fan looked up at the sky, muttering to himself. He thought of some records in the "Records of the Grand Historian: Fengshan Book." "The Eight Divinities: First, the Heavenly Lord, worshipped at Heaven's Qi. Second, the Earthly Lord, for Heaven loves yin, worshipped beneath high mountains, on small hills, called 'Qi.' Third, the War Lord..."
Before long, strange beasts roared, and dozens of riders charged over. Jiang Yi's men returned fully loaded, having plundered a large amount of source. "Boom!"
Jiang Yi activated the Eight Divine Brutal Force, his hands violently shaking in the void, forcing the two Supreme Elders back. "Let's go!"
He soared into the sky with the riders, the fourteen blood-colored great flags holding back the two Supreme Elders, preventing them from pursuing.
On the ground, four great flags pulled out of the earth and followed.
In the end, the fourteen great flags behind them also blotted out the sun with blood light, piercing the sky, and disappeared.
The two Supreme Elders gave chase, unwilling to let them go. At the same time, shouts of battle came from the horizon—the Yao Guang Holy Land's reinforcements had arrived.
Around the Primordial Ancient Mine, within a radius of one hundred thousand li, the various Holy Lands of the Eastern Wasteland had divided the territory. The Yao Guang Holy Land had several source zones here, each guarded by experts. Unfortunately, Jiang Yi had prepared well. He struck once and fled far, opening a Domain Gate, completely vanishing without a trace.
In the end, the Supreme Elders of the Yao Guang Holy Land returned empty-handed, their expressions very grim. Ye Fan was secretly astonished. The Thirteen Great Bandits were too arrogant, even daring to rob a Holy Land.
In fact, each of the Thirteen Great Bandits had extraordinary origins. Some were powerful figures from the Eastern Wasteland who had rebelled against their Holy Lands, some were Great Powers who had wandered here from the Central Province, and others were giants who had fled from the Northern Desert.
This storm soon passed. The thousands of newly arrived mortals were dispersed and assigned to various areas of this source zone. Though they had just arrived, it was hard to feel any novelty. Desolation was the eternal theme. Low stone huts, reddish-brown earth and rocks, mining areas everywhere—no life, no vitality.
In the distance, the source miners worked expressionlessly, mechanically toiling, entering and exiting the mine shafts, carrying out blocks of stone. They were nearly numb, showing no reaction to the newcomers, as if they had lost their souls.
Many felt a chill in their hearts. Was this their future? Monotonous labor, day after day of repetition, becoming walking corpses...
In three days, Ye Fan learned a great deal.
During normal times, mining source was nothing special—just physical labor. But once evil events occurred in the mine shafts, it became extremely dangerous. Not to mention mortals, even powerful cultivators could hardly survive. Few people lived more than ten years, and very few returned to the Southern Domain with large amounts of gold coins.
Ye Fan frowned. The surrounding area was covered with Dao patterns, isolated from the outside world. Only during special times could one leave. Escaping would require careful planning.
He wasn't anxious, though. This place was a true treasure land. Source stones were buried underground. If he could collect them for cultivation, it would surely double his efficiency.
In this region, his only concern was... the Holy Maiden Yao Guang. If Yao Xi came here, things would be very bad. Thinking of the chest garment in his bosom, he couldn't help but smile.
Surely, even if the dignified Holy Maiden of Yao Guang came to the Northern Domain, she wouldn't enter the dusty, sandy mining areas. She must have other important matters.
Ye Fan cracked his own bones, painfully resetting them. Many parts of his body had deformed and needed proper realignment. "Damn it, this hurts like hell."
In the dead of night, Ye Fan grimaced in pain, correcting all his bones back to their original positions, breaking out in a cold sweat.
After several reassignments, the people around him kept changing, so he wasn't worried about drawing attention. These days, he had been smearing his face with dust to avoid exposing himself.
It wasn't until several more days passed, after another division of labor, that he was completely at ease, no longer worrying about his changed appearance arousing suspicion.
In the end, Ye Fan was assigned to the Fifteenth Mining Zone. These days, he had been learning about source from others, working above ground.
Source was very precious and extremely rare. When digging mine shafts, one first had to determine the vein. A single source vein served as one mine shaft.
Even in this region, source was not inexhaustible. A small-scale source mine—that is, a single source vein—might yield a few jin of source at best. Barren source mines might produce only a few liang.
A large-scale source mine might yield over one fang of source, an astonishing amount, but such veins were rarely seen. "No wonder that old woman Ji gave me a fist-sized piece of source and thought it was enough to repay me. Source is indeed a rare treasure. A fist-sized piece of source can allow a cultivator at the Divine Bridge realm to advance one level."
At that time, he had been at the Divine Bridge realm.
However, for a bottomless pit physique like Ye Fan's, a fist-sized piece of source was far from enough to break through a realm.
This wasn't a flaw, though. While he needed vast amounts of life essence, his divine power was also far greater than others'. Cultivators of the same level could hardly compare to him. Moreover, he could continuously absorb source and convert it for his own use without limit.
For an ordinary Divine Bridge cultivator, a fist-sized piece of source could raise them one level, but they couldn't absorb it immediately. They had to slowly draw it out, taking a long time to refine it into their bodies.
If a mountain of source were placed before him, Ye Fan could continuously refine it. Ordinary cultivators couldn't; they could only take it slowly, staring helplessly with envy.
Of course, refining heavenly materials and earthly treasures for one's own use was only feasible in the early stages of cultivation. Once one reached the Third Secret Realm, it became difficult to rely on external objects. At that point, one must comprehend the Dao.
After reaching the Third Secret Realm, only enlightenment could raise one's cultivation, with few other shortcuts.
The Fifteenth Mining Zone was a vast, boundless expanse of land. The reddish-brown earth and rocks were extremely hard, difficult to dig.
In this area, over a dozen mine shafts had already been dug, but the source yield was low—each shaft produced only one jin of source.
Each vein yielding only one jin of source was indeed somewhat barren, but the source mined was crystal clear, with few impurities and high quality.
Moreover, the Fifteenth Mining Zone stretched endlessly and had only just begun to be exploited. It was too early to conclude that there were no super-grade source veins here.
On the twentieth day, after learning enough, Ye Fan was finally sent down a mine shaft to begin his first source mining session. "Boundless Heavenly Venerable, Amitabha. Let me mine source, and I'll refine it all clean for you."
Of course, as soon as Ye Fan descended into the mine shaft, shouts of alarm came from outside.
Hearing such cries, experienced source miners scrambled desperately to climb out of the shafts, panic-stricken. "Damn it! On my first day mining source, am I running into evil events?"
Ye Fan's bones had long been reset. His physical body was unmatched, agile as a spirit monkey. He was the first to climb out.
"That mine shaft ahead is haunted!"
"There's something ominous in that vein. Everyone who went in died. An old cultivator from the Yao Guang Holy Land, very powerful, didn't even make a sound before dying inside!"
Ahead, the neighboring mine shaft emitted an eerie aura, as if something were about to burst out.
Seeing this, Ye Fan immediately sprinted, quickly retreating. He had a bad feeling—this place was not safe.
Near that mine shaft, many people had fallen, corpses everywhere.
The Fifteenth Mining Zone was in chaos. The source miners were terrified.
Running several li away, Ye Fan stopped and watched from a distance.
Yao Guang and Yao Chi were two different Holy Lands. Yao Guang was in the Southern Domain of the Eastern Wasteland, the sect of the Holy Maiden Yao Guang. Yao Chi was in the Northern Domain of the Eastern Wasteland, the Holy Land where the protagonist sought the Dao Palace Secret Realm's cultivation methods. Seeing some readers confused, I offer this clarification.