Chapter 449: Visiting Old Friends
“Don’t act rashly for now. The situation in Yan Capital is complicated right now. Any move I make will probably be watched. Let’s hold off on striking while we’re in the eye of the storm,” Ye Fan said.
What concerned him most was still the issue of the Ruthless Person. That inheritance was too powerful and terrifying. If such a successor were allowed to grow, he would undoubtedly become an unmatched enemy in the future.
One Flower Blooms, Sovereign Over Realm represented the Ruthless Person’s peerless grace from back in the day. That technique, combined with the unmatched Myriad Transformations Sacred Art, was nearly enough to cut down all the heroes under heaven.
According to legend, the Ruthless Person had also created a supreme secret art specifically for slaying kings, unmatched in the world. Even just the tales of it were enough to make one tremble.
“He used his old body to nurture a divine fetus, being reborn in his later years. That’s too terrifying. It’s practically like living through two lifetimes as a Great Emperor!” Li Heishui clicked his tongue in amazement.
“They say he lived the longest. Could he still be in the mortal world even now?” Tu Fei also had his doubts. His grandfather possessed the Ancient Devouring Demon Jar, and the deeper his understanding of the Ruthless Person grew, the more his heart pounded with unease. He felt it was a hot potato.
“Impossible. If he were still alive back then, Emperor Wu Shi would definitely have fought a battle with him that would shake the ages,” Black Emperor muttered.
“Did none of the ancient Great Emperors survive? They were brilliant beyond compare, looking down on past and present. I really can’t believe they all passed away,” Pang Bo said.
“If he weren’t dead, I dug up his Dao field and excavated his grave. With his temperament, he would have jumped out long ago and skinned me alive,” the big black dog grumbled.
The group fell silent for a moment. Thinking it over, it was indeed true. If he were still alive, how could he have allowed the Devouring Demon Jar to be split apart and scattered across the world instead of keeping it in his own hands?
Ye Fan felt the pressure. The various secret techniques corresponding to the Devouring Demon Art were all supreme sacred arts, and the Indestructible Heavenly Art was even more mysterious. Even Black Emperor didn’t know what astonishing secret arts it corresponded to.
“I need to go to Sacred Cliff and find the third of the Nine Secrets…” Ye Fan had this thought.
Although he had studied the Dao Scripture and the Western Emperor Scripture, they were only the mental cultivation methods for a single secret realm, not the complete scriptures. They did not record any supreme sacred arts.
At this moment, he keenly felt the lack of secret techniques. Having only powerful mental cultivation methods was far from enough.
Fortunately, the Battle Saint Art was unmatched in the world, number one in offensive sacred power. It could undergo a thousand transformations and evolve endless life-slaying grand arts. Otherwise, when facing his mortal enemies, he would inevitably be stretched thin.
“Did you find any news of the Divine King?” Ye Fan asked.
Back when he had crossed over from the Northern Domain, he had made an agreement with a few people. If he could heal the Dao wounds, he would definitely make some noise, allowing them to find the Peerless Divine King.
“No. It’s like a stone sinking into the sea. Not a single clue. I asked Jiang Huairen to look into it. His grandfather, Jiang Yi, personally entered the Jiang Family, but still found no leads,” Tu Fei said.
Li Heishui also sighed. “The Eastern Wasteland is too vast. Finding the Peerless Divine King is no easy task.”
Ye Fan frowned. After surviving countless dangers, he had finally pieced together a complete Divine Immortality Pill, but there was no way to find the Divine King. This gave him a headache.
“Don’t worry. If the Jiang Family gets any news, we’ll know about it immediately,” Li Heishui said.
The Peerless Divine King had shown Ye Fan great kindness. He didn’t want to see the Divine King fade away in obscurity. He wanted to find a path to resurrection for him. Now that there was a glimmer of hope, there was no way to act on it.
“I think the Divine King probably hasn’t passed away yet. After all, Little Tingting is with him. When he felt his time was short, I think he would have sent that little girl back to the Jiang Family,” Pang Bo judged.
Ye Fan shook his head and sighed. “That’s exactly what worries me most.”
He was very concerned that the Divine King might use his last remaining strength to defy heaven and change Little Tingting’s fate, exhausting the last hope of his own resurrection.
This was a very real possibility. Ever since the Divine King had disappeared with Tingting, Ye Fan had had this thought.
The Divine King had lived a sorrowful life. If such a heartbreaking piece of news were to spread, it would be truly heartbreaking and bring tears to one’s eyes.
At this moment, the outside world was in turmoil. Many major figures were heading to Grand Mystery, to the Star Peak.
The inheritance of the Ruthless Great Emperor had emerged. No one was indifferent. If it were true, it would be a catastrophe, an unbearable calamity.
The eyes of the world were all focused here, even more so than when the Sacred Body had broken his curse. Unsurpassed great sects had all sent people.
Ye Fan had succeeded. He had diverted the world’s attention. A dying Sacred Body was no longer something to fear, but the inheritance of the number one ruthless person in history was a different matter entirely.
He finally smiled. The stars had shifted, the disaster had been diverted. Everyone was now staring at another person. The world had begun to search for the Ruthless Person’s successor.
Hua Yunfei had disappeared. Everyone was searching for him, tracking his whereabouts. Although there was no clear evidence yet, he was practically an enemy of the entire world.
“This move is brilliant. Hua Yunfei alive is far more useful than dead. He’s taking on that heavy burden in Ye Fan’s place!” Tu Fei laughed.
“Right. Pushing him out lets Little Leaf cultivate in peace and slowly build up his strength. By the time those people come to their senses, everything will be too late,” Li Heishui also laughed heartily.
“Don’t be blindly optimistic. The more I hear, the more I feel that this Hua Yunfei is not easy to deal with. Deep scheming, ruthless methods. Someone like that won’t die easily. Don’t let him be forced into becoming the second Ruthless Person,” Black Emperor warned.
Pang Bo laughed. “We can make arrangements at our leisure from now on. This time we pushed out a Ruthless Person. Next time, we’ll push out a Wu Shi.”
The outside world was in an uproar, a cacophony of noise. All kinds of discussions filled the air. Ye Fan could finally relax for a while.
In the following days, he kept searching for Little Nannan. He had to find this little girl. Otherwise, he felt he couldn’t face his own conscience.
But it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He couldn’t find a single clue.
“Ye Huiling should have come out by now. When she hears that I’m safe, she should come to get the sacred fruit.”
Ye Fan took out the sacred fruits and distributed them to the group. Black Emperor drooled with greed, his old habit of snatching treasures flaring up again as he tried to rob his own people.
Fortunately, Li Heishui and Tu Fei knew him well enough and reacted quickly. Although they got bitten a few times, they managed to keep the fruits.
“Damn it, this dead dog is too hateful! He’s fine in every other way, but this habit of snatching treasures at the sight of them is incurable!” the two cursed repeatedly.
“Is this emperor that kind of person? I was just testing your reaction speed,” the big black dog said, his face thick-skinned beyond words.
At first, everyone insisted on not taking them, because they knew that various sacred fruits needed to be combined to form a complete Divine Immortality Pill, which was needed to save the Divine King and Little Tingting.
Ye Fan still insisted on giving each of them one, but he didn’t take any himself, because there was barely enough. He already needed a divine root to make up the difference.
After several days, they still couldn’t find Little Nannan. Ye Fan felt uneasy, afraid that something unexpected might happen.
In the end, he and Pang Bo left Yan Capital to go visit some old friends. Their former classmates who had come to this world should still be in the Yan region if nothing had happened.
Their first stop was naturally Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven. The two had lived here for nearly a year. Everything that had happened in the past was still vivid in their minds.
But when they arrived, they received bad news. That classmate named Zhang Ningfei had died.
Back then, the thirteen of them, including Ye Fan, had been brought out of the eight-hundred-mile primeval forest by Wei Wei. The six cave heavens and blessed lands had each taken two as disciples.
Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven had taken Pang Bo and Zhang Ningfei as disciples. Ye Fan had only come along with Pang Bo; he wasn’t a true disciple, because he had been found to have the Primordial Saint Body.
After arriving here, Zhang Ningfei had gone into seclusion with his master. Ye Fan and Pang Bo had only seen him a few times. They never expected that when they returned, this classmate had already been buried for over a year.
“Let’s add some soil to his grave.” Both of them were a little downcast. Having come to this world together, they hadn’t expected that someone had already passed away, never to be seen again.
Zhang Ningfei hadn’t been killed by cultivators. A year ago, while picking a spiritual herb, he had been torn apart by a fierce beast. He had died a miserable death.
“Remember when we graduated? You were drunk, crying and laughing, talking about your ideals and regrets…”
“After coming to this world, we never got to spend much time together. In the end, we didn’t even get to see you one last time.”
The two poured wine over his grave and were silent for a long time. This was the world of cultivators. Everything was brutally cruel, filled with danger.
When the two returned to Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven, many people didn’t even dare to breathe. Even the Spirit Ruins Sect Master was nervous. He himself was only at the first level of the Dao Palace. He was afraid that the two might become angry and punish them.
“There’s no need for that. Spirit Ruins has shown us kindness. His accident had nothing to do with Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven.”
Nearly six years had passed. They were now cultivators in the Four Extremes Secret Realm, enough to look down on the entire Yan region.
The Eastern Wasteland was simply too vast. Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven was the most basic sect. A figure at the first level of the Dao Palace was already the top expert in the Yan Kingdom. A cultivator in the Four Extremes Secret Realm could dominate over a dozen countries.
Dozens of countries might produce one medium-sized sect. Hundreds of countries might not produce a single large sect. The boundless Eastern Wasteland had countless countries.
Old Man Wu Qingfeng was invited out. The Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven Sect Master was still a little uneasy. He knew that this elder had shown kindness to the two.
In truth, besides visiting their classmate, Ye Fan and Pang Bo’s main purpose was to see this old man. He was the one who had led them onto the path of cultivation.
A few years had passed. Old Man Wu Qingfeng had aged a bit, but his spirit was still good. He was very happy to see them.
“Child, I heard about your situation. Your Dao wounds…” the old man sighed.
“It’s fine. His life is tough. He’ll get through this. Don’t worry,” Pang Bo said with a smile. He couldn’t tell the truth, because the stakes were too high.
“I never imagined you would achieve such success, able to contend with those holy sons,” Old Man Wu Qingfeng said excitedly. One of them was his disciple.
The two spent a long time with Elder Wu Qingfeng. Then Ye Fan left behind a few catties of divine spring water, with a divine root soaking in it, before departing. This parting might be their last meeting…
They walked a long way and found the old man still standing at the mountain gate. His white head, his no longer straight back, his gaunt figure. The old man seemed to have turned to stone there, watching them leave.
This was very likely their last meeting. Ye Fan and Pang Bo were also sad. They turned around, bowed deeply from afar, and then shot into the sky.