Chapter 187: The Imperial Jade
Ye Fan had no other choice; he had to become an Origin Heavenly Master. He didn’t want his own face to turn green, so he would have to let others’ faces turn green instead. If he became an Origin Heavenly Master, the Holy City thousands of miles away would be his paradise.
“Brother Ye, if you can really gamble and win a Holy Maiden, can you win me a wife too?” Er Lengzi asked naively.
Ye Fan immediately laughed, “No problem.”
“If you can win a Holy Maiden, winning you a fairy wife is no issue either,” Wang Shu teased Er Lengzi from the side.
“In the Stone Stockade, besides Uncle Zhang Wu, who else knows a lot about Source?” Ye Fan wanted to start from the basics; becoming an Origin Heavenly Master certainly wouldn’t be easy.
“The older generation knows a bit, but if you’re talking about mastery, only Uncle Zhang Wu is the expert.”
Ye Fan nodded. In the few days he had been at the Stone Stockade, his understanding of Source patterns had greatly improved, and he needed to continue learning.
That afternoon, shouts and horse neighs came from outside the Stone Stockade, causing panic among the villagers.
“Chen the Big Beard is here, with over a dozen men! They want to destroy our stockade!”
“Hide! The bandits are here, all armed, ready to massacre our village!”
Many young men organized the elderly and children to hide, then grabbed sharp knives and rushed to the stockade gate.
“Those damn bandits, always bullying the common folk. Why don’t they go plunder the sects? Cowardly dogs who only pick on the weak!”
“Many of them are connected to those sects, backed by major powers. They’re all in cahoots, birds of a feather flocking together.”
The young men of the village were tough. Seeing the bandits approaching, they showed no fear and prepared for battle.
“This isn’t a fight to the death today. Behave yourselves,” Uncle Zhang Wu and a few elders scolded these hot-blooded youths.
Outside the Stone Stockade, dust rose to the sky. Dozens of riders arrived in an instant, with shouts and neighs, and a murderous aura.
They all rode Dragon-Yuan Horses, clad in cyan scale armor that gleamed fiercely. Each man carried a bloody scent. Clearly, this was a group of vicious criminals who had killed many, far more brutal than ordinary bandits.
In recent days, Ye Fan had killed some bandits within a hundred miles, but he hadn’t been able to find this group. Today, they finally came to his doorstep.
At the center sat a forty-year-old man with a big beard, his curly hair and whiskers wild like a lion’s mane, looking very ferocious.
“People of the Stone Stockade, get out here!” many bandits shouted.
“Daring to face us with knives, you’re really tired of living!” many bandits said with hostile expressions.
Uncle Zhang Wu stepped forward from the stockade and said, “Gentlemen, please calm down. Every man in the Northern Domain carries a knife; it’s always been our way.”
A bandit sneered, “Less talk. Have you prepared the Source you owe? Don’t tell us it’s not enough and you need more time. We have no patience.”
“If you don’t hand over the Source today, this stockade will be history. We’ll flatten it and turn this place into a bloodbath,” the bandits all shouted, their murderous intent spreading.
Uncle Zhang Wu knew these were executioners, not joking. He opened a bag of Source, and it immediately shone with brilliant light, drawing the attention of all the desperadoes.
“Not bad, the quality of this Source is acceptable. Old Man Zhang, you’ve got some skill, gathering it all in such a short time,” Chen the Big Beard said, leading dozens of bandits forward.
“I wouldn’t dare disobey your orders, sir,” Uncle Zhang Wu said with a bow.
Several jin of Source, colorful and radiant, with spiritual energy overflowing and rainbow light swirling.
This was Ye Fan’s Source, just over five jin. He didn’t want to start a fight at the Stone Stockade, suspecting these bandits might have support from some sect. If he killed them here, it might implicate the village, so he had Uncle Zhang Wu give them the Source first.
Chen the Big Beard grabbed the Source, threw his head back, and laughed loudly, his voice like a cracked gourd, very unpleasant.
“Not bad, just over five jin. You’re lucky; your stockade is spared this time.” He tapped Uncle Zhang Wu’s head with his horsewhip and said, “I’ve heard you old fellow have good eyes. Sure enough. You’re old and frail, not many years left, so just keep finding Source for me in this area…”
Just then, Er Lengzi, his eyes red, rushed over and shouted, “Chen the Big Beard, where’s my sister? Give her back!”
A bandit beside Chen the Big Beard laughed crudely, “You mean that girl we took back a month ago? She was quite tasty, but unfortunately, we didn’t get our fill. She jumped into the river half a month ago.”
“I’ll fight you to the death!” Er Lengzi burst into tears. Though he was a bit simple, he was very strong. Four or five young men from the stockade couldn’t hold him back.
“This fool dares to challenge us?” several bandits glared.
“Don’t come closer! I remember now, my grandfather and the others talked about it. Within five hundred miles, it’s all the territory of the Qingxia Sect,” Er Lengzi said, staring fixedly at the river deep in the stone forest.
“The dead can’t come back. Try to let it go,” Ye Fan patted his shoulder, then extended his divine sense and found there were fifty-one bandits in total.
Chen the Big Beard and another had reached the Divine Bridge realm, seven or eight were at the Life Spring realm, and the rest were at the lowest Sea of Suffering realm.
He didn’t want to let a single one escape. Following the records on the beast-skin ancient scroll, he carved some Dao patterns around the stone forest to seal the area.
“Alright, go avenge your sister,” Ye Fan said, leading Er Lengzi into the stone forest.
“Who are you?” a bandit shouted.
“Pfft!”
Ye Fan pointed directly, and a golden light shot out, leaving a bloody hole in the bandit’s forehead. The corpse fell to the ground.
“Who dares trespass on our turf?” With a whoosh, all the bandits rushed over.
“So it’s you, the fool. You’ve come to us willingly. Did you bring your little sister?” “No, that’s not your sister, it’s a young man…” The group hadn’t yet seen the nearby corpse and approached recklessly.
In the distance, Chen the Big Beard sensed something was wrong. Without a word, he tried to fly away, but was blocked by the Dao patterns and couldn’t escape. He shouted anxiously, “Brothers, kill them!”
“Er Lengzi, you may look simple, but your sisters were quite pretty…” The bandits laughed lewdly.
Er Lengzi gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
“You’re full of evil. Today, all your sins end here,” Ye Fan said, pointing continuously. One corpse after another fell, each with a hole in the forehead pierced by divine light.
“You…” The bandits panicked. Even though they killed often, facing death themselves brought fear.
“Pfft!” “Pfft!”
Ye Fan threw his stone spear, pinning five men to the ground. These were the ones who had killed Er Lengzi’s sister.
Ye Fan patted his shoulder, telling him to take his revenge himself, or the pent-up anger would destroy him.
The pinned men screamed in agony as Er Lengzi, nearly mad, slashed and bit them, covered in blood.
“You scum! Just because you have some power, you think you can do whatever you want? Who are you? Do you know our background?” Chen the Big Beard blustered, but his instincts, honed from years in the thick of death, told him this was a bad situation.
“Aren’t you just working for some old bastard from the Qingxia Sect?” Ye Fan sneered. “I’ll deal with you first, then find a chance to kill that old geezer and rid this place of a scourge. As a Northern Domain sect, secretly doing such heinous deeds is unforgivable.”
“Before you kill us, think about the consequences. Opposing the Qingxia Sect means you can’t survive in this area,” Chen the Big Beard roared, backing away.
“I won’t shout it to the world. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know—who else?” Ye Fan sneered. “I’m about to break through soon and could use some whetstones. I wouldn’t mind if the Qingxia Sect sends people after me.”
“Chi!” A cyan light flew from the stone forest, aiming for Ye Fan’s neck, fast as lightning.
“Dang!” Ye Fan flicked his finger, and a crescent blade shattered, falling to the ground.
“Boom!”
He swung his fist forward, and with a thunderous crash, a large section of the stone forest was pulverized. The Divine Bridge realm bandit at the same level as Chen the Big Beard screamed, his bones breaking and tendons snapping as he writhed on the ground.
“You’ve done every evil, your hands stained with blood. Time to go,” Ye Fan said, pointing repeatedly. Golden beams shot out like shooting stars.
“Pfft, pfft, pfft…” The sounds didn’t stop as corpses fell one after another.
“Don’t kill me…” Chen the Big Beard screamed. Though he was the bandit leader, at the final moment, he was more cowardly than others.
Ye Fan slapped and shattered his Sea of Suffering, then threw him in front of Er Lengzi.
By then, Er Lengzi had already torn apart the bandits pinned by the stone spear, his body drenched in blood, sobbing, “Give me back my sister!” He grabbed Chen the Big Beard and bit into him fiercely.
Ye Fan killed all the bandits, then turned and walked deep into the stone forest. He found twenty jin of Source—he didn’t know how many villages these thugs had plundered to gather so much.
Additionally, he discovered an ancient jade, about half a palm in size. It was a broken piece, clearly a fragment.
Holding it in his hand, he felt an ancient and desolate aura, giving him a strange sensation.
“A map?”
Ye Fan was surprised. On this ancient jade were carved some mountain and terrain patterns. It had been passed down for who knows how many generations, the markings nearly worn away.
There was a character on it that shook his heart. Though it was blurry, careful examination revealed it to be the character “Emperor.”
“Er Lengzi, don’t kill him yet! I have questions for him!” Ye Fan shouted urgently.
By then, Chen the Big Beard was a mess, covered in blood, but fortunately not dead yet.
“Where did you get this ancient jade?”
Chen the Big Beard had long since lost his nerve. He answered everything, “My brothers dug it out of a Source vein while excavating a Source mine.” He kowtowed repeatedly, clutching Er Lengzi’s legs, begging, “Spare me…”
“How could something sealed in a Source mine have characters on it…”
“I’m not lying. It was from an ancient mine left over from before the Primordial Era, dug up during excavation…”
“Where is that ancient mine?” Ye Fan demanded.
An ancient jade from before the Primordial Era shook him, especially the character “Emperor,” which made him think of many things.
After all, in this area, the Purple Mountain was connected to an ancient Great Emperor, and he wanted to enter it to find the Source Heaven Scroll. Now, finding this jade, he couldn’t help but make connections.
“Don’t kill me, and I’ll take you there,” Chen the Big Beard said, grasping at straws.
Ye Fan kicked him away, extended his powerful divine sense, and directly pierced his sea of consciousness, reading his memories. This was the advantage of strong divine sense—the other’s mind was almost defenseless.
Ye Fan frowned. This guy had indeed done every evil imaginable, countless heinous deeds. Soon, he found the information he wanted.
The ancient mine was two hundred miles away, not too far.
“Alright, Er Lengzi, continue your revenge,” Ye Fan said, standing up.
An hour later, Chen the Big Beard’s screams finally stopped. Er Lengzi wailed, jumped into the river, and kept calling his sister’s name.
Ye Fan sighed. This was the real Northern Domain—a paradise of sin. Without strength, any tragedy could happen.
“Let’s go.”
He made Er Lengzi wash clean in the river, threw him a set of clothes, erased all traces of the scene, and took him into the sky.
As they were about to return to the Stone Stockade, Ye Fan stared at the thousands-of-meters-tall Purple Mountain, repeatedly examining the ancient jade in his hand. Suddenly, another mountain range caught his eye.
“It’s here!” He caught something, flew high enough into the sky, and looked ahead.
Around the massive Purple Mountain were nine mountain ranges, but they were so far away, on the distant horizon, like caterpillars, barely visible. If drawn on a map, one would clearly see the Purple Mountain at the center of these nine ranges.
Ye Fan looked down at the ancient jade. The incomplete map’s mountain ranges should correspond to two of these ridges.
“The complete jade map must include the Purple Mountain. I never thought those mountain ranges on the distant horizon were also connected to the Purple Mountain…” Ye Fan’s heart shook.