Chapter 580: Entering the Immortal Burial Ground
Xiao Mingyuan let out a miserable scream. His head, limbs, and torso instantly shattered, blood flowing everywhere. In the end, not even a single bone remained. He vanished completely from this world.
He never anticipated until his dying breath that Ye Fan would be so domineering and dangerous—ambushed in Lu City, he had come straight to the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion to kill him, decisive and ruthless.
"Mingyuan!" The half-step great power of the Xiao family cried out. Witnessing this scene, there was no turning back the tide. Even as powerful as he was, he had no way to resurrect a dead man.
The next moment, his face turned ashen, his expression twisted like a ferocious beast about to devour someone as he lunged at Ye Fan. With a sweep of his hand, he summoned a purple-bronze Eight Trigrams Furnace, towering a thousand zhang high, collapsing the very sky.
"Dong!"
The purple-bronze Eight Trigrams Furnace was as massive as a mountain, soaring into the heavens, filling half the sky. Purple-gold light flowed, metallic luster cold and piercing, pressing down on people until they could barely breathe, almost suffocating.
"Junior, hand over your life!" Xiao Zhi, the half-step great power of the Xiao family, roared. He was truly enraged, watching his own nephew shot dead before his eyes while he was too slow to stop it.
"Hong!"
Endless great flames burst forth. The purple-gold Eight Trigrams Furnace, a thousand zhang tall, released an aura like an abyssal sea—boundless and immeasurable—spewing a sheet of purple flames that drowned half the sky.
Ye Fan did not linger to fight here. This was a half-step great power; the gap in their cultivation realms was too vast, separated by major secret realms. He had no desire for a deathmatch. Activating the Stride Art, he fled into the distance.
"Ye, you little brat, where do you think you're going!" Xiao Zhi bellowed, giving chase without pause. But to his utter shock, Ye Fan merely flickered once and left him behind by several mountain ranges. A wave of helplessness washed over him—how could he possibly catch up? He couldn't even eat the dust trailing behind.
Eight days later, news arrived: the great beast uprising in the Immortal Mansion World had finally subsided, restoring peace. Countless powerful cultivators were poised to enter.
During these days, the Immortal Burial Map had been hyped to an astronomical price, skyrocketing until it once reached a hundred thousand jin of Source per copy. Ye Fan took the opportunity to replicate seven or eight copies, selling each for thirty thousand jin of Source.
Unfortunately, the Immortal Burial Map became so widespread that in the end, nearly everyone had one. No one was willing to be a fool anymore, and this signaled that the Immortal Mansion World would soon be drenched in blood and storm.
Across Central Province, there were at least a dozen entrances into this primeval ancient space. Many major powers had arrived, all eager to claim a share of the spoils.
Ye Fan returned to the immortal cliffs in the neighboring territory, a free market where he exchanged some necessities to prepare for entering the Immortal Mansion World.
Before long, he was startled to see Duan De and the Barbarian walking together. The sight of them meeting was truly amusing.
Duan De greeted him with a beaming smile, going out of his way to ingratiate himself, as if planning to discuss something. Meanwhile, Dongfang Ye was on high alert, mistakenly thinking the past misdeeds had come to light—that his ransacking of the fat man had been exposed.
"We had some misunderstandings before. I just wanted to take a look at that wolf fang club..." Fatty Duan rambled, grabbing his hand with exaggerated warmth.
Dongfang Ye's expression was odd. He had personally stripped Duan De bare, and now seeing the fat man made him uncomfortable, but the other party seemed to be trying to win him over without noticing anything.
"What do you want?" The Barbarian shook his Wolf Fang Great Club.
Duan De lowered his posture, actually trying to recruit the Barbarian to join him in exploring the Immortal Burial Ground. Dongfang Ye relaxed completely—it had nothing to do with the previous incident.
Ye Fan, not far away, felt like laughing. This fat man was looking for helpers, and of all people, he had latched onto that Barbarian. It was quite comical.
"Is just me enough? Maybe I should find a few more people," Dongfang Ye said.
Fatty Duan rubbed his hands together and nodded. "That would be even better. We need strong people, but not those so-called half-step great powers. If we bring them along, it'll be hard for us to take the lead."
"Hey, Brother Ye, you're here too." Dongfang Ye, sharp-eyed, spotted Ye Fan and waved him over.
"Who's this?" Duan De squinted as he sized up Ye Fan.
"He's Ye Zhetian. He defeated many disciples of the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion. Even Yan Yunluan ended up splitting himself silly because of him—now he's half-dead."
"So you're that lord who specializes in eating spirit beasts?" Duan De covered the small iron cage he was carrying, inside which was a mouse shimmering with rainbow light.
Ye Fan really wanted to kick him twice. This damn fat man was too much—did he think Ye Fan would eat this spirit mouse?
"Don't stare. This divine rat can't be eaten. It'll be very useful for exploring the Immortal Burial Ground!" Duan De warned him.
This bastard was definitely doing it on purpose, deliberately needling him. Ye Fan grumbled inwardly and shot him a glare. "Don't worry, I'd rather eat you than it."
"We're still a bit short on manpower. We should get a few more strong ones, preferably prodigy-level figures," Fatty Duan said.
That very day, they set out. There was truly no time to waste. All the major powers had already entered. If they delayed any longer, they might not even get the scraps.
This time, Ye Fan entered the Immortal Mansion World through the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion's entrance. With Duan De and the Barbarian as cover, no one bothered to check him.
This primeval ancient world was pristine and wild, its spiritual energy many times denser than the outside. Birds and beasts roamed freely, most of them ancient mutant species, all extremely powerful.
Now, all major powers had agreed to strictly prohibit hunting auspicious beasts for alchemy. Anyone who violated this rule would face severe punishment, to prevent another beast uprising.
"Should we head to the Immortal Burial Ground, or search for that centipede's whereabouts?" the Barbarian asked.
Because not all cultivators on this journey were heading to the ancient great emperor's cave dwelling. Too many were converging there, and once the chaotic battle erupted, only the major powers would likely gain anything in the end.
"That centipede isn't easy to deal with either. The ancient mirror on its forehead bone is definitely an ancient saint's weapon. A group of Western Desert women who can attain Buddhahood as Bodhisattvas?" Duan De was astonished.
But Ye Fan's eyes locked onto another person beside the lotus platform—a very slovenly old man who was waving at them and shouting, "Come along with us! We'll join forces and go in to seize the great emperor's sacred weapon." It was the old blind man who had sold the Immortal Burial Map.