Chapter 221: Robes Unstained by Blood, the Dao Vast and Boundless
The Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect let out a great roar, his long hair disheveled and silver strands flying wildly as he exerted every ounce of his power to control the Li Fire Divine Furnace, attempting to draw Ye Fan back inside.
The bronze furnace shook, its entire body crystalline and translucent, flames soaring skyward. The furnace mouth expanded like a black hole, madly devouring everything around it.
"Boom!"
Beside it, a green peak trembled, its summit collapsing as a twenty-meter-high section of the mountain broke off, sucked into the Li Fire Divine Furnace like a speck of dust.
"Crack!"
The green mountain continued to fracture, larger boulders and chunks of rock constantly peeling away, hurtling toward the terrifying furnace.
It was a chilling sight—the power of the Li Fire Divine Furnace surpassed imagination, possessing the might to uproot mountains and evaporate seas, a force that could swallow the heavens.
Though Ye Fan had forcefully fought his way out, he was once again dragged down by the furnace below, about to be pulled into its scorching depths.
At the same time, multicolored mist swirled as the furnace lid flew back, smashing directly toward Ye Fan to crush him inside and seal him once more.
"Clang!"
Ye Fan's gaze was sharp as he pressed down with a golden thumbprint, striking the multicolored lid and sending it flying away.
"Seal!"
The Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect grew frantic, spitting three mouthfuls of essence blood onto the furnace, binding his mind to it as he used all his strength to drive this great killing weapon.
"Rumble!"
Boulders tumbled, great trees were uprooted, all flying toward the massive black hole in the sky, devouring everything.
Beside it, the broken mountain collapsed another twenty meters, sucked in by the mighty divine furnace and instantly reduced to ash within.
The Li Fire Divine Furnace could refine all things; its mouth was pitch-black, like a connection to the abyss of hell, with no end in sight.
"Bang!"
Ye Fan was forcibly pulled down, but he didn't fall into the bronze furnace. Instead, he planted both feet heavily on its rim, like a ten-thousand-jun hammer striking it.
A resonant metallic sound pierced through metal and stone, shaking all eighteen Green Cloud Peaks. Many screamed, covering their ears as they fell from the distant sky, blood trickling between their fingers.
Ye Fan's feet left deep imprints on the furnace rim, as if he possessed the strength to kick through the heavens, causing the entire furnace to tremble violently.
Not far away, the Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect bled from his mouth and nose, fine cracks appearing on his body.
"Ah!" The Supreme Elder of the Mysterious Moon Cave was anxious; the demon painting he had summoned was too far away to harm Ye Fan, but getting closer risked being devoured by the bronze furnace.
Ye Fan stood on the furnace rim, facing this mountain-sized bronze cauldron, firmly anchoring himself as if rooted there, the powerful devouring force unable to budge him.
"Clang!"
His hands moved like windmills, constantly striking down onto the furnace, producing thunderous booms.
The Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect trembled, needing to supply vast divine power to drive this killing weapon, as if he were fused with the bronze furnace.
Though the furnace was massive, it constantly shook, on the verge of being overturned at any moment, rumbling as flames shot skyward.
Ye Fan's golden palm fingers were more terrifying than others' magical treasures, striking the furnace with earth-shaking sounds, leaving clear fingerprints on its surface.
"Pfft!"
The Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect finally couldn't hold on, his Dao power nearly exhausted, coughing up blood, his body swaying as he was about to fall from the high sky.
Ye Fan's divine power was surging and inexhaustible, unmatched among cultivators of the same rank; his attack power not only didn't diminish but grew stronger.
"Clang!"
In the end, he slapped the Li Fire Divine Furnace away with a single palm. Though he still couldn't shatter it, he sent this hundred-meter-tall giant furnace flying into the distance.
With unparalleled combat power, a soaring sharpness, and an indestructible attacking sacred art, Ye Fan stood mighty and awe-inspiring, forcibly sending the Li Fire Divine Furnace flying.
At this moment, he turned abruptly. Though still youthful in bearing, his edge was fully revealed as he stepped through the void, charging toward the Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect.
In the distance, all the young disciples were terrified, not daring to breathe.
"Ha!"
The Supreme Elder of the Mysterious Moon Cave shouted softly, once again unfurling the demon painting in his hand. It spread out with a rustle, filling the sky like a great river blocking the path ahead.
Ye Fan shouted lightly, his hands shifting rapidly as he formed seals at incredible speed, creating illusions—hazy and indistinct, like a thousand-armed Guanyin or a multi-armed demon.
A phoenix cry shook the heavens as a fire phoenix soared upward, burning the sky, flapping its wings and crying out, its divine feathers shining as an overwhelming phoenix might swept across the high heavens.
The fire phoenix crossed the sky like thousands of troops and horses charging, or like ancient war chariots rumbling across the void, shaking the heavens.
"This is..." The Supreme Elder of the Mysterious Moon Cave was shocked. This fire phoenix was even more powerful than the one that had emerged from the furnace.
"How did he unleash a fire phoenix?!" The disciples of the Li Fire Sect were stunned.
The Nine Secrets were supreme secret arts, the ultimate method for attack. Once comprehended, they could transform infinitely, with endless killing techniques. Each insight brought different life-slaying grand arts.
Just now, sealed inside the Li Fire Divine Furnace and facing the raging flames, Ye Fan had gained a realization, and now he formed the Fire Phoenix Seal.
"Boom!"
The fire phoenix beneath the sky, carrying a blaze that covered heaven and earth, charged at the massive demon painting. The two clashed violently, flames everywhere.
The fire phoenix against the demon painting—a terrifying aura spread, flashing without cease. Ye Fan crossed the sky, appearing before the Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect.
Now, no one could save him. Ye Fan was murderous, his combat power boiling, as he struck forward with a palm.
"Smack!"
Over a dozen weapons were crushed to powder by the Battle Saint Art. The golden palm struck the Supreme Elder of the Li Fire Sect's body, instantly smashing his flesh.
Even his head, though not directly hit by the golden palm, burst open, white brain matter splattering like bean curd.
"Pfft!"
Ye Fan swept out a backhand slap, his millstone-sized golden palm turning everything in the sky to ash, leaving nothing behind.
"Demon! This Daoist is a demon!"
In the distant sky, the disciples of the Li Fire Sect were pale. This outcome was hard for them to accept. The sect's strongest elder, wielding the sect-guarding divine furnace, had been beaten to ashes. How could this be?!
They wanted to flee but found Green Cloud sealed off, with no escape route. One by one, their faces turned deathly gray.
The Supreme Elder of the Mysterious Moon Cave's heart sank halfway. Even the Li Fire Divine Furnace couldn't suppress this young Daoist. He knew today would be dire.
The demon painting rustled, like a world sinking and floating, covering the sky as it pressed toward Ye Fan. A thousand purple mists and ten thousand strands of fog formed a great vortex, trying to suck Ye Fan into the painting.
Unfortunately, though the painting was extraordinary, it couldn't compare to the Li Fire Divine Furnace and couldn't draw Ye Fan in.
"Boom!"
Ye Fan spread his arms, striking toward the high heavens. His offensive sacred arts changed endlessly. For a full quarter-hour, he made the very sky tremble!
"Crack!"
In the end, Ye Fan tore through the void with his bare hands, ripping apart the massive demon painting that covered the sky!
The Supreme Elder of the Mysterious Moon Cave screamed, but he couldn't change anything.
Ye Fan arrived in an instant, his golden hand covering the sky, pressing down on him.
He sealed off this stretch of sky, pushing his cultivation to its limit, unleashing his most powerful combat strength.
Life-slaying grand arts emerged one after another!
There was no suspense. The golden fist pierced through, shattering the Supreme Elder of the Mysterious Moon Cave into pieces, his eyes wide open in death.
The golden fist wind vibrated, and the Supreme Elder of the Mysterious Moon Cave vanished into ashes, forever erased from this world.
Throughout this process, the former sect master of the Mysterious Moon Cave had unleashed countless weapons, even summoning several deities from within his body, but none could stop what happened.
One realm apart, separated by a single heaven, Ye Fan, a mortal striking at immortals, had crossed ranks to kill—success!
Ye Fan stood silently in the void, his black hair dancing, his eyes clear, his Dao robes clean. Having slain two powerful experts, he was unstained by a single drop of blood.
"Spare... me..." Du Chengkun, the chief disciple of the Li Fire Sect, trembled.
Ye Fan turned and lightly pointed a finger. "Pfft!" A blossom of blood bloomed as a bloody hole appeared in Du Chengkun's forehead, killing him on the spot.
"You..." Li Youran, a disciple of the Mysterious Moon Cave, showed fear and quickly retreated.
"Pfft!"
Ye Fan pointed again, and another blood flower bloomed on Li Youran's brow, sending him falling backward.
Ye Fan didn't speak, only extending his divine sense to sweep across the eight directions.
He was not a bloodthirsty man, but in this blood-soaked Northern Domain, some people had to be killed.
The Li Fire Sect, the Mysterious Moon Cave, and the Green Cloud Sect were nominally religious sects, but in secret, they committed great evils, plundering everywhere. In their eyes, human life was as cheap as grass, their hands stained with blood, their crimes countless.
Ye Fan probed their consciousness seas with his divine sense, flicking his fingers repeatedly. Beams of light shot out, and strings of blood blossoms splattered.
The grass and trees were stained with blood as he drifted past, leaving a trail of corpses behind.
When Ye Fan stopped, the Green Cloud Sect was lifeless. Over seventy people had died by his hand, all mercilessly slain.
He sighed, stepping onto the ancient stone steps, walking away one step at a time.
Killing was not a pleasant thing. No one willingly stained their hands with blood, no one was born heartless, but he had no choice but to act.
Some people had to be killed. Facing those deserving death, if one showed mercy, it was equivalent to condoning evil. Ye Fan felt he wasn't a bad person, but he certainly wasn't a saint either. How many villains were there in the world? He couldn't go around killing them all; he could only act when he encountered them and had the power to do so.
"Hum!"
The Li Fire Divine Furnace rose from the ground, flying over from the thirteenth Green Cloud Peak, slowly shrinking to an inch tall, appearing in Ye Fan's palm. Its entire body sparkled, emitting waves of heat.
"Clang!"
Multicolored mist drifted as the furnace lid was also summoned by Ye Fan, sealing the bronze furnace perfectly, becoming one. It was bright and exquisite, looking very beautiful.
On the furnace body, there were some blurry carvings, very unclear, perhaps worn away by the passage of time.
Vaguely, one could see a sun and a few divine birds, their marks indistinct and hard to identify.
"Could this really be a replica of the extreme imperial weapon, the Sun God Furnace?"
Ye Fan's fingers turned golden as he pressed and squeezed with force, but still couldn't damage this inch-tall divine furnace.
Through this battle, he felt the gap between different realms. One realm above him, he had faced considerable pressure killing a mortal as if striking at an immortal. If it were two realms higher, he would surely be in grave danger.
But he saw his own potential and felt the extraordinariness of the Nine Secrets. If his realm were elevated, he would fear nothing!
Ye Fan left the Green Cloud Sect, flying directly toward the Falling Cloud Sect, transforming into the appearance of the Li Fire Sect's Supreme Elder as he charged in.
At the mountain gate, he summoned the Li Fire Divine Furnace, instantly unleashing towering flames, turning one of the immortal peaks into a sea of fire.
Then, he put away the bronze furnace and charged toward the Seven Star Pavilion, using the Li Fire Divine Furnace to release a sky-filling inferno, burning down two immortal peaks before drifting away.
Ye Fan didn't linger further. With his sleeves billowing, he arrived at the Mysterious Moon Cave, appearing at the former residence of Emperor Wu Shi.
Stone cliffs stood tall, barren of vegetation, extremely desolate.
In the most remote area, amid broken stone mountains, there was an ancient cave. Time flowed like water, the void hummed like sound, as if the Dao were flowing out.
Ye Fan stood there with his hands behind his back, gazing at the three lines of ancient characters on the cliff wall, nearly worn smooth.
"The Dao is vast and boundless, without knowledge; the heart is unrestrained, without fetters; things are endless, without error."
In the silent, desolate land, it gave a feeling of endless time, never reaching its end.
The Imperial Jade in Ye Fan's hand grew warm in his palm, shining with a soft radiance that flowed through the gaps between his fingers.
Starting on the ninth, I should be able to manage two chapters then. Please support me, dear readers. Thank you.