Chapter 195: Primeval Creatures
This creature was covered in scales, shimmering with silver light, lying motionless on the ground. It was over two meters long, with bulging tendons and muscles, exuding a sense of power.
"It's already dead." Ye Fan let out a long breath.
He used his stone knife to flip it over, face upward. Its appearance resembled that of a human—if not for the fine scales, this creature could be called a handsome man.
Inside Purple Mountain, such creatures were by no means alone. Because the formless malevolent thoughts gathering around him took this same shape, meaning at least one more was still alive.
Ye Fan discovered a shattered stone tablet beneath the silver creature's body. Piecing the fragments together, he could only make out the words "Trespassers Die," the rest being illegible.
A warning sign rose in his heart. These were human characters. The primeval creature had died because of this. What had it touched? Was it the source block before him?
Upon closer inspection, he could see that the six-armed creature had struggled and retreated from the source block, ultimately dying there. "The source block is lethal..."
Source energy flowed, and the area was peaceful. Ye Fan stood up and examined the massive source block before him. It was two meters tall and likely weighed several thousand jin.
Although this source block radiated colorful clouds, it was not divine source—only a high-purity treasure source. But such a volume was absolutely rare in the world. "No, the stone garments on my body are glowing with strange light..." As he approached the source block, his armor and other items flickered continuously.
Ye Fan circled the source block and found many cracks, within which sparkled tiny points of light, mysterious as stars. "There are fragments of divine source inside..." He brought his stone knife close, and it immediately burst with auspicious light, like a rare treasure blade. "That's right, someone sealed divine source fragments within this massive source."
He was astonished and carefully examined the woman within the source. She was serene, as if in eternal slumber.
Ye Fan sighed. This should be a corpse, long devoid of life. Though lifelike, it could not conceal the truth that life had departed. The woman was very beautiful—enough to overshadow the moon and shame the flowers, to sink fish and drop geese. But it was all in the past; time had taken everything away.
Suddenly, Ye Fan spotted a jade pendant, also sealed within the source, half-hidden among her skirt. It was hard to notice without careful attention.
"Primeval creatures... also like such jade ornaments?" He frowned. Various signs suggested this was very likely a human.
Suddenly, Ye Fan's heart tightened. He saw something else within the source block—among the scattered divine source fragments were several red hairs. "Red hair..." He shuddered involuntarily.
On the night the first ancestor of the Zhang family vanished, a whirlwind of red hair swept across the blood-red land, and unknown creatures howled all night, refusing to leave. "The child who accompanied the Origin Heavenly Master was frightened into idiocy. At that time, he saw one of the first ancestor's hands covered in red hair..."
Thinking of this, Ye Fan shivered. When he entered Purple Mountain's interior and saw the inscriptions left by those strong figures, there were few women's names. "Could this be... the corpse of Yao Chi Holy Maiden Yang Yi from ten thousand years ago?"
Ye Fan did not act rashly. He stepped back and carefully searched this ancient mine for clues. Soon, he found some words on the mine wall: "Zhang Jiye pays respects." "A thousand years ago, that ancestor of the Zhang family came here!" Ye Fan's heart brightened. He felt he was not far from the Source Heaven Scroll.
The primeval creatures had all died here. Ye Fan did not touch the source block; many thoughts arose in his mind. "The fate of the Origin Heavenly Master..." Thinking of this, a chill ran down his spine. "If I become an Origin Heavenly Master, will misfortune also befall me in my later years?" Even after walking far away, this shadow lingered in his heart.
The demonic summons waxed and waned. Ye Fan advanced over ten li into Purple Mountain before making a major discovery. He saw a broken stone pendant, identical to the one he carried.
At the same time, Ye Fan's body flowed with light, his stone knife gleamed, and his star disk shone brilliantly. Silently, a procession of figures emerged from an abandoned mine, orderly and undisturbed. Ye Fan's scalp went numb. These were yin people and yin horses, cold and eerie, as if emerging from the underworld. "So many of these things have formed..."
They surrounded him like ghosts, silently closing in. All had pale, bloodless faces, devoid of life fluctuations, only a strange energy flowing.
Since learning cultivation, Ye Fan had pondered the so-called "ghosts," believing they were residual "field energy" from the dead, temporarily formed and destined to dissipate over time. "Over a hundred thousand years, too many died here. There must be no shortage of such things..." Ye Fan was not worried. He was not afraid of these things. As long as they weren't primeval creatures, everything was fine.
"Pfft." He swung his stone knife, and the surrounding yin people and yin horses quickly dispersed. The divine source stone skin was indeed naturally effective against evil.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang out, especially chilling in the desolate Purple Mountain, sending cold air through anyone's body.
Not far away, a shadow rushed over like a ghost. It was a disheveled woman in white clothes, charging straight at Ye Fan.
"Clang!"
The woman knocked the stone knife away with tremendous force, as if forged from molten iron.
"She is..." He was shocked to find that her yin body was very solid, like a physical entity.
"What doesn't Purple Mountain have..." This woman had been nourished by the yin energy within Purple Mountain, developing into a certain climate.
"Chi!"
Ye Fan took a five-colored flame from his cauldron and threw it at her. She screamed instantly and turned to ash.
He strode forward and entered the abandoned mine. A bone-chilling cold surged over him. This was an ice cellar, filled with solid ice. "Senior Zhang Jiye, you didn't die here, did you?"
Soon after entering, Ye Fan's scalp went numb. This mine shaft connected to a yin vein. In the deepest part, he saw densely packed yin people and yin horses, writhing and moving.
No bones. Zhang Jiye had not died here. Ye Fan directly summoned his cauldron and unleashed five-colored cloud flames, burning all the yin people and yin horses clean.
These yin creatures had clearly not matured; their formation time was limited. But he felt uneasy. Over a hundred thousand years ago, many had died here. Deep within Purple Mountain, there were likely yin people that had formed over many years.
With such thoughts, he sensed trouble. Besides primeval creatures, there might be other ghostly beings. Ye Fan advanced another ten li and saw a broken stone knife and a shattered star disk. "Senior Zhang Jiye, your cultivation wasn't high. How did you get so far..." He marveled.
Suddenly, the azure lotus in Ye Fan's Wheel Sea trembled, forming a green light screen around his body. "Is there something here?" Suddenly, he felt something behind him and turned abruptly.
In an ancient mine dozens of meters away, a massive creature was staring at him coldly.
Its lower body was that of a serpent, as thick as a water vat and dozens of meters long. Its upper body resembled a human, with black beast fur half a foot long. Its arms were very long, and its palms were covered in black fur. "Can you... understand me?" Ye Fan was on guard.
"Boom!"
The unknown creature charged over instantly, its hands like pincers locking onto Ye Fan's throat with astonishing strength, like a mountain crushing down. Ye Fan dodged to the side. His stone knife struck, sending sparks flying, as if hitting iron and stone.
In the distance, a gust of evil wind surged, and a piercing shriek rang out.
A strange bird rushed over. It had no feathers, its body covered in scales. Unfortunately, its body was too large to fly, so it could only run on the ground. Its massive body, over ten meters long, thundered through the rock tunnels. "Damn it, primeval creatures!"
Ye Fan had seen fossils of such creatures in the mine shafts. It did not attack the snake-furred monster; instead, the two creatures joined forces and chased after him. "So they've been stirred up after all!"
A powerful killing intent surged like a tide, relentlessly pursuing. The violence of that force was heart-stopping. "At least... they're not purely humanoid creatures."
Ye Fan sensed their murderous intent. Through it, he learned a fact. Primeval creatures awakened from their source would not live long. Outside the source, they would quickly decay. Once the source cracked, even if they retreated back, it would be useless. "It seems only creatures accidentally sealed during the source's initial formation can survive to the present."
These two monsters were like evil gods, their killing intent overwhelming, eager to pounce on Ye Fan.
Unfortunately, Purple Mountain's interior had too many rock tunnels, some very narrow. They struggled to pass through, severely slowing them down.
"Boom!"
A force like a collapsing mountain struck at Ye Fan. This power was absurdly strong, enough to split mountains and rivers.
When he saw the creature behind him, his expression changed. The six-armed humanoid creature had appeared—the one that had condensed formless malevolent thoughts around him. Its entire body shimmered with silver light, burning like flames.
Ye Fan had no choice. He summoned his cauldron, took himself inside, and charged forward.
"Bang!"
The immense, unparalleled force sent the Primordial Qi Cauldron flying. It smashed through over a dozen ancient mines, the tunnel walls as soft as tofu.
"Oooh... roar..."
The long howl was blood-curdling. Even inside the cauldron, goosebumps rose on Ye Fan's skin.
This monster was too ferocious. That terrifying strike was truly unstoppable. Without the Primordial Qi Cauldron, he would have been ground to dust. "So this is the terror of primeval creatures..." Ye Fan piloted the cauldron. He found himself approaching Purple Mountain's center. The demonic summons grew increasingly intense.
"Bang!"
The silver creature caught up and struck from afar with a palm. The Primordial Qi Cauldron buzzed and trembled, smashing through another dozen ancient mines.
At this moment, Purple Mountain was no longer calm. Several more eerie cries rang out, even more terrifying than the six-armed creature. Even hiding in the cauldron, Ye Fan felt his soul on the verge of shattering. This shook him deeply. "How can they be so powerful..."
At the same time, from Purple Mountain's deepest depths, the demonic summons suddenly intensified tenfold. Even inside the cauldron, Ye Fan involuntarily wanted to rush toward that direction. "What is this!"
A suffocating pressure spread out. The summoning force grew several times stronger. Now, Ye Fan found he could not resist. He could not control his body; he wanted to answer the call.
"Clang!"
Suddenly, a melodious bell sound rang out, like a heavenly melody, instantly calming the turbulent Purple Mountain. "Over a hundred thousand years ago, when the Great Emperor suppressed the creature within the peerless divine source, he unleashed an extreme weapon—a bell as tall as the heavens..."
Hearing the bell, Ye Fan moved like lightning, charging forward. The primeval creatures behind him actually stopped and did not pursue.
"Swoosh!"
Ye Fan rushed into a spacious cavern, like a great hall, very vast. The bell sound had vanished here.
Upon careful inspection, it was indeed an empty hall, but it was enormous, no different from a square. "A skeleton..." He first spotted a human skeleton. Beside it lay a silver scroll, gleaming with a cold, faint luster.