Chapter 614: Pointing at the Green Emperor
The mysterious ascetic monk from the Western Desert was cut in two at the waist, his life hanging by a thread. The head of that prodigy Yan Yunluan had been taken clean off, and he was about to fall.
This was a blood-stained scene. After Ye Fan transformed into a dragon-shaped Dao mark, both of these mighty experts tasted defeat, unable to withstand the Yin-Yang dividing line of the Taiji Diagram.
Ye Fan held Yan Yunluan's head in one hand, while his other hand transformed into a golden heavenly stele, suppressing the upper half of the ascetic's body as he stood in the center of the field.
Here, you could hear a pin drop. Blood flowed, drop by drop, like a somber Yellow Springs melody. Two great experts were overpowered by a single man, their bodies severed—a sight that sent chills through the heart.
In the distance, the crowd was dead silent. Ye Fan's final manifestation of the Battle Character Art was devastating and overwhelming, his methods so fierce that they felt suffocating, too terrifying by far.
After a long while, someone finally spoke, murmuring in low voices, their hearts filled with shock.
"The legendary Nine Secrets—the Battle Character Art—is indeed in his hands. It can deduce all combat techniques under heaven and evolve every method of battle."
"A pity, the ascetic Ku's 'Om' True Word was incomplete, unable to contend with the Daoist Battle Character Secret."
"The Buddhist Six True Words will surely reappear in this world. One day, they may truly vie for supremacy with the Daoist Nine Secrets."
Ye Fan stared down at the ascetic and said, "What's the story with the Battle Victory Buddha? What is his origin?"
This was also the answer others wanted to know. In the post-Ancient Saint era, Buddhism still had an ancient Buddha—truly a profound foundation, unimaginable.
Ku the ascetic refused to answer. He was extremely unwilling but remained silent. The incomplete 'Om' True Word left him deeply depressed.
"If you won't speak, then let form be emptiness, and death be emptiness."
"Stop!" Suddenly, a loud shout came from afar. Two old men flew over, staring at Yan Yunluan's head in Ye Fan's hand, their faces filled with horror.
"Release Yunluan!" the other man shouted, his face full of shock.
They were Yan Yunluan's guardians, though they weren't usually glued to his side. Now they knew they had arrived too late, and their expressions changed completely.
"You say release, so I release?" Ye Fan was unconcerned.
"Stop at once! Let Yunluan go!" The two charged forward.
"And if I don't?" Ye Fan asked.
"If you dare touch Yunluan, you'll have no good end. The Yan Clan will not forgive you..."
"I hate being threatened the most." Ye Fan cut them off directly. With a "bang," he crushed Yan Yunluan's head with a single finger, as easily as smashing a walnut.
"You... I'll kill you!"
The two men's faces turned deathly pale, drained of all color, their hearts plummeting into an abyss. Ye Fan had no taboos—he feared no Holy Land or Divine Dynasty. He had cleanly and decisively executed Yan Yunluan.
"Yunluan... Ye Fan, you little bastard, pay with your life!" The two Yan Clan members lunged at him, hair disheveled, looking like madmen.
"Since you miss him so much, go join him. Let you be reunited." Ye Fan put away Yan Yunluan's bronze battle armor and heavenly halberd.
"Kill!" The two experts charged.
At the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion, before a beautiful mountain peak, two young men hesitated, standing outside Wang Teng's cave dwelling, afraid to disturb him.
"Who's outside? Come in." A calm voice sounded.
The stone door rumbled open, and a surge of hazy spiritual energy burst forth, multicolored and radiant, surrounded by immortal qi. The two young men nervously walked in.
Inside the cave dwelling, on a bed of dark jade, a man sat quietly in meditation. His hair was thick, jet-black and glossy. In his eyes, endless stars flickered and died, unfathomably deep.
"We... we pay respects to Brother Wang," one spoke, his voice trembling slightly. This man before him gave him more pressure than his own patriarch.
"Do you have something to discuss?" Wang Teng asked flatly.
"The Sacred Body Ye Fan has appeared..." One of them quickly recounted what had happened outside.
But after waiting a long time, Wang Teng said nothing. The two exchanged bewildered glances.
"Brother Wang..."
"I know." Wang Teng only uttered these words, showing no intention of acting.
"He used the Nine Secrets, defeating Yan Yunluan and an ascetic with the Battle Character Art. The Buddhist 'Om' True Word also appeared," one of them added.
"Is that so? The Nine Secrets..." Wang Teng's eyes flickered. A beam of divine light shot out from his crown, and a golden ancient war chariot rumbled into view.
The divine light coalesced into a majestic figure, his entire body shrouded in golden radiance piercing the sky. On his back was a sacred sword, like a Heavenly Emperor descending to the world, standing on the war chariot.
Around him, divine light blazed brilliantly. Nine true dragons, nine divine phoenixes, nine white tigers, and nine black tortoises flashed with dazzling light, forming the Four Symbols that encircled him.
"Lead the way!" This figure gave a light shout, shaking the skies.
The two young men found themselves standing on the war chariot, already having shot out of the cave dwelling and flying into the sky. Their hearts trembled.
Even a single incarnation of Wang Teng was this powerful, standing on the golden ancient war chariot. Dragons and phoenixes sang in harmony, white tigers roared at the sky, black tortoises parted the seas—a thousand layers of golden light, dazzling and magnificent, like an ancient emperor on a celestial tour.
"It's... Wang Teng!"
"Wang Teng has driven his chariot out!"
"This is just one of his incarnations, bearing the imperial sword. Who is he going to slay? Could he be heading for a decisive battle with the Central Emperor?"
At the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion, beautiful peaks stretched in clusters. Many people witnessed this scene and were utterly shocked. Figures shot up one after another, following behind.
Every move Wang Teng made drew intense attention. The departure of one of his incarnations naturally stirred the hearts of many, who trailed along.
"He's going to slay that prodigy from the Eastern Wasteland!"
"What? The Sacred Body Ye Fan has appeared again? He's fighting in the distance. This time, he's likely in grave danger."
"The Nine Secrets have appeared. Wang Teng has ambitions to collect all the Daoist Nine Secrets and master them all. No wonder he's acting personally."
Along the way, figures flickered. Several hundred people followed. Most of the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion was stirred, all wanting a glimpse of the Northern Emperor's style.
The Nine Secrets appeared, the Northern Emperor emerged from seclusion. The golden ancient war chariot sped like the wind and lightning. Along the way, dragons roared, phoenixes sang, white tigers blazed across the sky—a scene of splendor and grandeur.
But by the time the chariot arrived, the battlefield was already cold and quiet. Everything was over. The two experts guarding Yan Yunluan had been defeated and killed, and Ye Fan had been gone for some time.
Ku the ascetic was also dead, leaving only a tattered corner of his monk's robe. All the experts had been slain by Ye Fan; not a single one escaped.
"A pity, we missed it again. Didn't make it in time," someone lamented. It was rare to see Wang Teng emerge from seclusion, yet they couldn't witness his invincible style.
Ye Fan knew nothing of this. He was already a thousand miles away, bidding farewell to Pang Bo, Li Heishui, and the others. He wasn't too worried about their safety.
The second-ranked Great Bandit of the Northern Domain had recently appeared in the Central Province, even showing up at the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion with the Devouring Demon Jar. He might not interfere in the younger generation's rivalries, but if someone tried to take their lives, the living fossil would certainly not allow it.
"Thirty-some thousand miles isn't that far. We can meet often," Ye Fan said as he parted from them, heading west.
It must be said that the Extraordinary Scholars Mansion was very mysterious, with all kinds of ancient texts. Pang Bo had found many materials for him, and now he could deduce a general scope.
Ten thousand years ago, there was a flourishing Cai Clan in the Central Province. Its heritage was long, its foundation terrifying. It was suspected of possessing one of the Nine Secrets, yet it was wiped out overnight.
"The Nine Secrets originated from the Eastern Wasteland and were scattered. One secret actually fell into the Central Province. A pity, the other secrets seem to have truly lost their transmission."
But what unsettled Ye Fan even more was: who had acted to cause the Cai Clan's collapse? Who could destroy an ancient aristocratic clan not much weaker than a Divine Dynasty?
The various ancient texts from that time had no clear conclusion. There was no evidence or clues, not a single trace—an unsolved case.
Ye Fan flipped through these materials and found that there was no conclusion at the time. But after several thousand years, many speculations had emerged, each with a different viewpoint.
Some said the Great Xia Divine Dynasty had acted, wielding the extreme imperial might of the Supreme Emperor Sword, annihilating the Cai Clan with a single strike. Others said the Jiuli Divine Dynasty had used an extreme weapon to refine this ancient inheritance into nothing.
Some said it was someone from the Eastern Wasteland, wielding an extreme imperial weapon, who erased the Central Province's Cai Clan to reclaim the Nine Secrets, leaving no trace.
Still others said the case was the work of the Western Desert's Buddhist sect. Mount Sumeru was very mysterious, unfathomable, with extraordinary figures stationed there who could accomplish all this.
"The Battle Victory Buddha? No, the timeline doesn't match."
Then Ye Fan saw many more inferences, all sounding very reasonable.
"It's truly become a historical cold case. Hard to see through."
Finally, Ye Fan came across an unofficial history, tucked among the pile of materials. Inside was a shocking deduction, vastly different from the earlier viewpoints.
"It wasn't a group of people doing the killing, but a single person, lightly flicking a finger from ten thousand miles away, that destroyed an immortal inheritance..."
When Ye Fan read this, he shuddered violently. A single person, with a flick of a finger, erased an ancient aristocratic clan?
This was too horrifying to imagine. After all, the Cai Clan of that time was barely weaker than a Divine Dynasty!
This unofficial history didn't name the person, but it vaguely pointed to one individual. Such terrifying combat power, from ancient times to the present, belonged to only a few. And in that era... the answer was almost obvious!
The Green Emperor!
Ten thousand years ago, there was a Great Emperor living in this world. If such a person truly existed, it could only be the Green Emperor.
"It involves a Great Emperor. What really happened back then? Was it truly the Green Emperor who acted?"
Ye Fan was stunned. This was a shocking deduction. Why would the last Great Emperor of this world do such a thing? What was worth the Green Emperor's personal intervention? Was there some hidden secret?
"Various inferences, hard to distinguish..." He sighed. Too many years had passed. Everything was now a mystery, and he could only guess wildly.
Traveling west for over three hundred thousand miles, Ye Fan arrived at an ancient land. He saw endless desolation, with boundless ancient trees surrounding a stretch of ruins.
The surroundings were lush, with endless primeval forests stretching without limit. Only the central area was barren, silent and cold.
"This is the Cai Clan's ruins..."
Only a few broken walls and collapsed tiles remained. Crows perched there, cawing mournfully. The prosperity of the past, the desolation of the present—a stark contrast.
A massive chasm, over a hundred miles long, cut through this barren land. Rubble and debris lined its edge. It was easy to imagine that countless heavenly palaces of the past had been sunk and fallen into it.
"In the past, the Cai Clan's pure land must have been built over this great canyon, but it collapsed."
Ye Fan flew into the sky and observed with his Source Heaven Divine Art. In an instant, his heart stirred violently!
The chasm had no regular shape, looking terrifyingly chaotic. But he had cultivated Source Arts and could restore the original landscape, accurately deducing the changes in terrain.
His eyes flickered with light, bright and then dim, as he repeatedly deduced, reconstructing the various landforms of the past.
The chasm constantly shifted, then took on a regular shape, over a hundred miles long and unfathomably deep!
"This is a finger mark!"
Ye Fan could hardly believe his eyes. The hundred-mile chasm looked as if it had been flicked out by someone's finger, and later erased!
"Was it truly the Green Emperor who acted? Why would he do such a thing..."