Chapter 578: Immortal Burial Map
Yan Yunluan triggered a boundless heavenly tribulation but failed to break through, leaving himself half-crippled and severely injured. No one knew how long it would take for him to recover.
This result stunned everyone, leaving them speechless. The one who had summoned the heavenly punishment was nearly struck dead by it, while his opponent walked out lively and full of energy, as if he had drunk dragon blood.
Yan Yunluan was charred black all over, lying limp and powerless, with occasional bolts of lightning surging out of his body, crackling. Meanwhile, the other man was leisurely waving to the crowd.
It was a speechless scene. Everything seemed reversed. Many people opened their mouths but ultimately said nothing. This was too demoralizing.
Ye Fan’s first thought was to finish off Yan Yunluan, but he realized that even if he did, others would already be suspicious. The main party was half-dead, while he felt as if he had eaten a ginseng fruit, every pore relaxed and full of vitality. It was simply inexcusable.
The ground was riddled with scars—broken mountains, great fissures, and deep abysses everywhere. The thunder tribulation had devastated this barren mountain range, turning it into a wasteland.
In the end, Ye Fan still extended his right hand to sever Yan Yunluan’s head. Even under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he had no qualms. At worst, he would just turn and leave, then change his appearance.
A cloud of auspicious colors drifted over. A golden Daoist robe rustled as an old man appeared, standing with his hands behind his back, as if about to ascend to immortality. He blocked Ye Fan.
“Spare him!” the old man said, saving Yan Yunluan. With white hair and a youthful face, he radiated vitality. One glance revealed his extraordinary cultivation.
Whenever the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion opened, this place became a free trading ground, quite ancient.
Ye Fan found it novel and wandered around. There were pavilions built from jade, displaying various divine weapons, as well as direct street stalls selling all kinds of spiritual medicines and ancient treasures.
Eventually, Ye Fan stopped before an old blind man. On the ground was only a tattered straw mat, on which lay a few blackened stones.
“Dragon-hard stone, a peerless rare treasure. Don’t miss it if you pass by,” the old blind man hawked energetically.
“How many jin of Source per piece?” Ye Fan crouched down to examine them carefully, weighing a few goose-egg-sized stones in his hand.
“One thousand jin of Source per piece. Fair price for young and old alike,” the old blind man replied. Though dressed in rags, he was asking an exorbitant price.
“Could he be a strange person?” Ye Fan wondered, activating his Source Heaven Divine Eye to see through the stones. In the end, he threw them all down. “Just fished out of the river recently, right?”
“Uh, about four or five days ago,” the old blind man said without any embarrassment. He shifted his seat, moving forward a couple of steps, and muttered mysteriously, “Little brother, let me tell you, I really do have treasures here. I wonder if you can afford them.”
Ye Fan’s heart stirred. He noticed a stone under the old blind man’s butt. It was still black, but inside it contained a few drops of dragon marrow.
“I’ll buy it!” He took out a piece of exotic Source, worth a thousand jin of pure Source.
The old blind man sat firmly on the stone and said, “Alright, but don’t tell anyone.” He pulled out a map and handed it over.
Ye Fan was speechless. This old fellow was definitely intentional. He revealed a treasure but sold something else entirely. He had no need for some worthless map.
“I want to buy that black stone under your butt.”
“Oh, this? Just fished out of the river recently. It’s comfortable to sit on. Not for sale.”
Ye Fan suppressed his urge to rob him and asked, “What map are you selling?”
“Shh—keep it down. If people find out, they’ll fight and crack each other’s skulls over it. This is an Immortal Burial Map,” the old blind man said mysteriously.
He spread out a wrinkled, tattered map on the straw mat. “See this? It’s a treasure map from within the Immortal Mansion World, containing the secrets of an ancient emperor’s scripture.”
Ye Fan crouched before the straw mat and studied it seriously. He was somewhat surprised. Some places he had visited were depicted accurately, down to the last detail.
“See here? There’s a skull mark. You absolutely cannot go there, or you’ll die for sure. And here, there’s an immortal mark. Know what this is? The place where an ancient great emperor sat in death, containing an ancient scripture,” the old blind man rambled.
“Aren’t you blind? How can you point things out?” Ye Fan rolled his eyes. This old liar was speaking nonsense with his eyes wide open.
“I’ve cultivated a heavenly eye, so naturally I can see,” the old fellow said calmly, without a hint of embarrassment.
Ye Fan stood up, not wanting to argue with him anymore. This was just an old swindler. How could he fall for it?
“Let me tell you, if you miss this, you’ll regret it for life. This map contains the secrets of the Supreme Emperor Scripture, or perhaps the Beginningless Scripture, or even the Indestructible Heavenly Art.”
“Then go find it yourself.”
“Young man, don’t rush off. How about this: you can go verify it first, see if I’m telling the truth, then come back and buy the map,” the old liar pointed to a spot on the tattered map. It had a mark, though blurry. “This place isn’t exactly an immortal land, but a saint sat in death here. It’s very suitable for enlightenment.”
Ye Fan was startled. That spot was indeed the place where an ancient saint had dissolved into the Dao. Even the small blue lake and the straight stone mountain were marked.
He looked strangely at this old liar. Could he really be selling an Immortal Burial Map? Aside from the key marked locations, even this saint’s dissolution site was quite ordinary.
“How much for this map?”
“Ten thousand jin of pure Source.”
“Why don’t you just rob me?” Ye Fan was tempted to disrespect the elderly.
“This is already a discounted clearance sale. Otherwise, I planned to sell it for a hundred thousand jin of Source,” the old blind man said leisurely, unhurried.
“One hundred jin of pure Source. I’ll take it,” Ye Fan said.
“How about this: give me eight thousand jin of Source.”
“I don’t have that much. This map is only worth two hundred jin of Source.”
“Young man, be fair. Seven thousand jin of Source, no lower.”
The two haggled endlessly. Finally, Ye Fan couldn’t take it anymore. He threw down a thousand jin of Source, grabbed the map, and left.
“I’ll let you have it cheap this time. Come back often!” the old blind man waved from behind.
“I’ll just consider myself cheated once,” Ye Fan muttered, walking away without looking back. He found a secluded spot and studied the map carefully.
The Immortal Burial location was marked with an immortal ascending. It was deep within a barbaric world, with complex terrain. It clearly looked like a place connecting to the heavens. There were faint, blurry inscriptions of Immortal Emperor, Southern Ridge Heavenly Emperor, Supreme Emperor, and Wu Shi.
“This old liar really dares to write anything!” Ye Fan looked for a while, then put the map away, planning to examine it closely when he entered the Immortal Mansion World again.
Before long, he returned to the area near the old blind man’s stall, grinding his teeth. The old fellow was muttering mysteriously. In no time, he had latched onto someone. At first, those people were impatient, but soon they were haggling with him to buy maps.
Ye Fan patiently counted. In less than half an hour, the old man had sold over a dozen Immortal Burial Maps. The cheapest went for five hundred jin of Source, and the most expensive actually sold for ten thousand jin.
“This old liar! He’s mass-producing these maps to this extent,” Ye Fan realized. Under that straw mat was a thick stack, no less than a thousand copies.
Each map was aged to look tattered and ancient, giving off a faint hint of an authentic Immortal Burial Map.
“This old liar sets out a few worthless stones, really just selling dog meat under the guise of lamb. In such a short time, he’s already made tens of thousands of jin of Source.”
When the old liar had sold thirty maps, a sudden commotion arose. People from the Great Xia Imperial Dynasty had arrived, including a Great Power.
The old blind man rolled up his tattered straw mat and ran, leaping directly off the Immortal Cliff, vanishing in an instant.
“Where did he go? How dare he sell such a secret map publicly? Who is he?!” The imperial uncle of the Great Xia Dynasty was furious.
Ye Fan was shocked. He tightened his grip on the ancient map. Could this really be an Immortal Burial Map? That old liar was indeed somewhat mysterious.