# Chapter 184: Origin Heavenly Master
For the first seven days, Ye Fan's entire body flowed with radiant light. His life force was like an ocean, and within his Wheel Sea, various phenomena manifested, emitting all kinds of sounds.
After continuing like this for seven days, the radiance gradually faded. The entire cave dwelling became somewhat dim. Ye Fan's body surface no longer had luster, like withered wood, with life force hidden within, no longer flowing outward.
On the eighth day, his flesh dried up and shriveled, compared to its previous crystalline sparkle, now like tattered cloth.
On the ninth day, his five viscera and six bowels stopped functioning. Compared to their past vigorous vitality, they were now deathly still.
On the tenth day, his bones turned gray and dark, no longer snow-white and clean, as if they were about to decay and could not endure.
This was the transformation of the Other Shore realm.
Upon reaching the Other Shore, a cultivator's flesh, blood, organs, and bones would all wither into stillness, then undergo a different kind of rebirth. They would undergo nine consecutive blood exchanges and bone transformations to complete the transformation (tuìbiàn).
However, it was clear that Ye Fan's situation was somewhat different. He was advancing step by step, not beginning his transformation only after reaching the peak of the Other Shore.
His nine transformations were carried out separately. This was merely the first transformation, not a continuous cycle of extinction and rebirth.
Ye Fan's entire being seemed to return to dust, nearly decaying, his life force seemingly at its end.
It wasn't until the eleventh day that he, like vegetation that had endured winter, was revitalized, surging with heaven-reaching life energy.
The cave dwelling blazed with brilliant light, filled with life essence. Ye Fan's essence blood was reborn within him, rushing like a great river. The sound was so loud it could be heard from far away.
His heart beat with powerful force, like a drum being pounded, thumping with sound. If an ordinary person saw this, they would surely be terrified. His five viscera and six bowels vibrated together, like clanging music. His bones constantly creaked and cracked, the grayness completely receding, becoming snow-white like jade, each one translucent, while trembling continuously.
The hidden injuries he had suffered before—whether to the skin, the organs, or the bones—although already repaired, underwent another baptism during this bodily rebirth.
The entire body, without dust or filth, was completely reborn. This transformation lasted several days before Ye Fan fully awakened, divine power surging within him.
This time, it wasn't exactly a complete rebirth, but his physique had been greatly improved, his body much stronger.
"There are still eight more chances for transformation. If they continue to the end and accumulate, they should be comparable to one complete rebirth."
Having consumed the sacred fruit twice and tempered his body once with the Demon Emperor's Sacred Heart essence blood, he had undergone three complete rebirths. He felt that the nine transformations of the Other Shore combined might be equivalent to one complete rebirth.
Ye Fan discovered that he had refined a total of nine jin of Source. This shocked him greatly. Such enormous consumption was beyond his expectations. He had originally thought that this much Source would be enough to bring him to the Great Perfection of the Other Shore and enter the Dao Palace Secret Realm.
"Calculating this way, even dozens of jin of Source blocks can't support me through nine transformations. I still need to find Source."
Consuming more Source also meant the transformation was more thorough, the physique improvement greater. But this was still astonishing, far surpassing ordinary cultivators.
"This is a luxurious squandering..." He sighed with emotion. If he hadn't come to the Northern Domain, it would probably be very difficult to solve this problem.
In the following days, Ye Fan went into seclusion for bitter cultivation, not going out. His Jade Purification Vase had plenty of food and water, so he didn't need to worry.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, two months had passed. Ye Fan had undergone six transformations, consuming all his Source.
Six transformations made him even more powerful, and at the same time, his Wheel Sea had become different.
In the cave dwelling, Ye Fan sat unmoving, surrounded by lightning arcs, accompanied by an azure lotus. Above his head appeared a clear sky, and he sat within a golden sea.
This wasn't a true divine phenomenon. It was merely a further evolution of the Wheel Sea, breaking through the confinement of his physical body and manifesting in reality.
That azure lotus, like the Dao giving birth to the One, still had only three leaves, as if the Three gave birth to all things. It gently swayed, chaotic mist shrouding it, enveloping Ye Fan within.
That clear sky was as pure as a gem. Below, electric dragons swam, interweaving countless bolts of lightning, as if they were the tribulation lightning of the creation of heaven and earth, evolving here.
The golden sea rose and fell, but Ye Fan was like a rock, unmoving, allowing the tides to surge and recede, rippling around him.
This was a strange scene. At first, the sound of waves and thunder was deafening. Later, everything calmed down, becoming a peaceful and harmonious picture.
Not a divine phenomenon, yet comparable to one, it surrounded him, making him seem to stand within a strange world.
At this moment, Ye Fan was without waves or ripples, united with the pulse of heaven and earth. Within the tranquility lay a strange and mighty force.
A long time passed before he opened his eyes. The azure lotus, clear sky, lightning, golden sea, and everything else converged and disappeared.
Ye Fan now faced the situation of having to go find Source. His body was like a bottomless pit; no amount of Source was enough.
At this point, he greatly envied the disciples of the Holy Lands. They had the most powerful ancient scriptures and endless heavenly materials and earthly treasures. They only needed to cultivate diligently.
As for him, not only did he have to scheme to obtain cultivation methods, but he also had to dig mines himself to find Source blocks. For the sake of a single secret technique, he had been chased to the Northern Domain, escaping death by a hair's breadth.
"Rumble"
Ye Fan used the Golden Book to split the earth, searching for Source veins. He nearly turned this entire area upside down, leaving large cracks and shattered earth and stone everywhere.
It wasn't until the fourth day that he finally found a stone vein—the kind of rock that contained Source. But after completely excavating it, he was greatly disappointed. He had only gathered less than half a jin of Source, truly too little.
Half a month later, Ye Fan had obtained a total of just over one jin of Source. This made him fully understand that the Source regions controlled by the Holy Lands were the best areas. Relatively speaking, other places were very barren.
This couldn't continue. He had to think of another way.
When Ye Fan returned to his dwelling—the stone mountain cave—he suddenly spotted a group of about a dozen people. Among them was an old man, the rest being able-bodied young men. They were circling the stone mountain, observing it.
"Sigh, Chen the Big Beard is too rampant, truly going too far. If we can't hand over five jin of Source, he'll wipe out the young and old of our village."
"There's no way around it. The strongest person in our village is only at the Life Spring realm. How can we fight them? They're a powerful group of bandits."
"The deadline is very close. If we can't find Source, our village is really in danger."
"Fifth Uncle Zhang, you've circled the stone mountain once. Is there Source here or not?" A very honest-looking young man asked.
"There must be Source inside this stone mountain, and it's definitely a rich vein. Unfortunately, this is a three-hundred-meter-tall stone mountain. With our strength, it won't be easy to mine." The gray-haired Fifth Uncle Zhang sighed.
Ye Fan had been living here for over two months and didn't know there was Source nearby. The other party had determined it just by walking around once. This piqued his interest.
"Let's go. Let's look elsewhere." Fifth Uncle Zhang sighed. "After years of mining, all the minable places have been exhausted. It seems we'll have to go farther away. I wonder if we'll make it in time."
The dozen or so people turned their horses and headed into the distance.
Not long after, Ye Fan flew out, standing atop this stone mountain. He summoned the Golden Book and slashed vertically and horizontally.
Earth and stone flew everywhere. Soon, he had shaved off more than ten meters from the mountain peak and actually saw a Source vein.
He set to work excavating and dug out a full two jin of Source. In this area, this was indeed a rich vein.
"That old man has eyes like lightning. He saw it accurately!" Ye Fan was somewhat surprised.
The sound of horse hooves rang out. Fifth Uncle Zhang and the dozen or so able-bodied young men had turned back. They had heard the commotion behind them and returned.
Seeing the mountain peak shaved off, with a fourteen or fifteen-year-old youth standing atop it, everyone was astonished.
"This young master, no, this young immortal, this old man greets you." The gray-haired Fifth Uncle Zhang dismounted and performed a grand bow.
Seeing this, the other able-bodied young men also dismounted and bowed.
"Elder, there's no need for this." Ye Fan replied from above.
Among these dozen or so people, there was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old half-grown man who was the most clever. Seeing Fifth Uncle Zhang's actions, he immediately understood something and quickly knelt, saying, "Young immortal, save us, please help us. We truly have no way to survive."
The others also came to their senses and knelt down one after another, saying, "Chen the Big Beard wants to kill our entire village. Young immortal, save us."
A young man named Er Lengzi kowtowed forcefully, his forehead bleeding, saying, "Young master, save us. They captured my sister. She definitely won't have a good ending. Now, for the sake of Source, they want to kill our entire village..." He wept bitterly.
Fifth Uncle Zhang also knelt down, his white head touching the ground, sighing, "Young immortal, save us. We truly have no way to survive. There's no way to gather five jin of Source in such a short time. Those beasts have declared that if we can't gather it, they'll kill all the men in our village and take the women away."
Ye Fan didn't want to cause trouble, but he couldn't bear to see the weak bullied. This was his nature. He found it hard to walk away coldly.
"Elder, please rise." He landed on the ground and helped the bleeding old man up, asking, "What kind of people are they?"
"A group of bandits, committing every evil. They don't have the integrity of the Thirteen Great Bandits. They only bully the weak."
"There are actually many such bandits, but ones as evil as them are rare."
...
The group spoke all at once, explaining the whole story.
These bandits had no fixed dwelling. They roamed everywhere robbing Source, killing people at will, and violating young women—committing every evil imaginable.
According to their description, these bandits included cultivators at the Divine Bridge realm. Although the village had cultivators, they couldn't fight back.
Ye Fan's mind turned. These bandits roamed everywhere plundering. They must have Source in their hands. He could become a lone bandit, specifically robbing these bandits.
"Elder, let me ask you. Are there many bandits like this?"
"Many. Like locusts, one batch leaves, another comes. It's the same everywhere in the Northern Domain. Very chaotic." Fifth Uncle Zhang shook his head.
This was also why there were cultivators in the village. Without martial power to protect themselves, their situation would be dire.
Ye Fan's eyes brightened. He felt that his current problem was completely solved. He nodded first, saying, "Fifth Uncle Zhang, I'll go back with you."
"Thank you, young immortal." These people were excited and bowed again.
"There's no need for this. You don't have to." Ye Fan quickly stopped them.
On the way, Ye Fan asked Fifth Uncle Zhang for advice, asking him how he could tell there was Source in the stone mountain.
"That stone mountain has a condensed aura, scales on its top, and stone vines seem to wrap around its waist. Additionally..." Fifth Uncle Zhang said a bunch of things, finally concluding, "Various signs indicate that this is a contained stone heart Source."
Ye Fan was dumbfounded. Source-seeking was this complicated? According to what the old man said, even the changes in ground color when the sun, moon, and stars moved had to be considered.
"So complicated..." Ye Fan was very surprised.
"This is only the most superficial method (pímáo)." Fifth Uncle Zhang shook his head. "Source-seeking is indeed extremely profound. You need to observe mountains and rivers, understand the flow of underground hidden veins, and sometimes correspond them with the stars in the sky..."
Ye Fan had to be amazed. Source-seeking had so many principles. It was truly broad and profound.
"Is everything you said true?"
"Naturally, it's true. Fifth Uncle Zhang is the most famous Source Seeker in our area."
"Fifth Uncle Zhang's Source readings are accurate. He rarely makes mistakes."
But Fifth Uncle Zhang shook his head, saying, "I've only learned the superficial aspects (pímáo) of what my ancestors passed down. This knowledge is almost completely lost."
"Fifth Uncle Zhang's ancestor was an Origin Heavenly Master. He could find the Source Dragon Veins and stabilize peerless Divine Source, preventing it from escaping." The nearby Er Lengzi said this.
"Origin Heavenly Master... peerless Divine Source can escape?" Ye Fan was shocked.
"Divine Source has life. It gestates within the Source Dragon Veins. Even if people accidentally discover it, it's hard to catch." A middle-aged man nearby added.
Fifth Uncle Zhang shook his head, saying, "According to what my ancestor said, it's not that Divine Source has life, but that the creatures sealed within it still have life."
"What?!" Ye Fan was even more shocked. An ordinary person was so knowledgeable about Divine Source.
"According to my ancestor's speculation (tuīcè), those creatures are extremely powerful. Even the strong cultivators of today probably wouldn't be their match." Fifth Uncle Zhang spoke of the past without hiding anything. "My ancestor once personally saw an ancient person walk out from peerless Divine Source. With a single piercing and mournful (qīlì) howl, an entire mountain range collapsed."
Ye Fan's heart tightened. His mind raced with thoughts. The Northern Domain was truly too mysterious. This land held too many "past events." Although the surface was devoid of life, the "past events" underground were not finished, sealed away.
"How much did your ancestor know about these 'ancient creatures'?" Ye Fan asked.
"Not much." Fifth Uncle Zhang shook his head. "According to what my ancestor left behind, those mysterious creatures are taboo existences in the Northern Domain. It's best not to speak of them often, or else unlucky things easily happen."
"Your ancestor was an Origin Heavenly Master. His status seems extraordinary. He actually knew these secrets..."
"Origin Heavenly Master is a title. In the distant past of the Northern Domain, there were very few. Now, there are no such figures anymore." The middle-aged man seemed somewhat emotional.
"Hiss"
Ye Fan drew in a cold breath. He didn't know much about the Northern Domain. It seemed the Origin Heavenly Master had a great background, probably not just an ordinary person.
"In the Northern Domain, there's a sacred land called Jade Pool. They once respectfully invited Fifth Uncle Zhang's ancestor to be their guest." Er Lengzi interjected.
"What?!" Ye Fan was shocked.
To be invited to a feast at the Jade Pool Holy Land—this showed that the Origin Heavenly Master was definitely a transcendent and saintly (chāofán rù shèng) figure. Being able to find Dragon Veins and stabilize Divine Source was certainly unimaginable.
"Later, did the people from Jade Pool ever come to your village?" Ye Fan asked.
"They came once five hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the 'Origin Heaven Scripture' had been lost for over a thousand years. The descendants only learned the superficial aspects (pímáo) and couldn't help them much." Fifth Uncle Zhang shook his head.
"I imagine your ancestor must have been an extraordinary and remarkable person. Did he spend his later years peacefully in this village?" Ye Fan felt that the Origin Heavenly Master was transcendent and saintly (chāofán rù shèng), difficult to fathom (nányǐ chuǎidù), so he asked this.
"Sigh!" Fifth Uncle Zhang sighed. "The Origin Heavenly Master knew too many secrets of Source. Inevitably, unlucky things would happen..."