Chapter 690: Thousand-Armed Demon God
The purple bronze ancient ship was dim and lusterless, covered in rust, dilapidated and old. In the central ancient cabin lay forty-three pieces of Divine Source, all of which had their divine essence completely drained.
"Have all the ancient kings of the Primordial Era died off?" Ye Fan's heart churned. Every ancient king of the Primordial Era possessed boundless magical power, commanding wind and rain, capable of anything. A single one of their weapons could shake the world.
Without reaching the realm of an ancient sage, one simply could not contend with an ancient king. If these Divine Source blocks sealed dozens of ancient weapons, the mere thought was terrifying.
Ye Fan observed carefully. The beings sealed within the Divine Source were vastly different—some had dragon heads, some had nine eyes, some resembled a divine phoenix, some were indistinguishable from humans...
They all exuded a terrifying aura. Though motionless and with their life essence dried up, the lingering majesty of a king even in death remained dreadfully imposing.
Moreover, despite their varied forms, they shared a common trait: they were all withered, like dry firewood, skin and bones, their essence completely spent.
And they were all incredibly aged, their wrinkled skin twisted beyond recognition, like ancient ghosts clinging to life across multiple lifetimes, utterly eerie.
"Not only did each king exhaust two or three cubic feet of Source blocks, but they also drained themselves to the point of utter depletion. What did they experience?"
Ye Fan was puzzled. Even for ancient kings who had lived for tens or even hundreds of millions of years, they shouldn't have exhausted their Divine Source blocks.
Could it be that these ancient kings lived in an even more distant era? Thinking along these lines was truly hair-raising. Just how ancient was the origin of life?
However, Ye Fan also considered another possibility. Traveling through star domains was extremely dangerous. Some ancient stars were mysterious and unpredictable, siphoning energy away.
Perhaps these ancient kings had passed through some terrifying places, exhausting their Divine Source blocks. Without divine essence, they naturally aged and died.
So many ancient kings, a whole ship full of powerful beings—this must have happened during the most glorious period of the Primordial race, all sitting together in death.
"That's right. Traveling through the universe consumes energy. I have some Divine Source blocks on me, but once they're gone, I'll follow in their footsteps." Ye Fan became alert.
The desolate universe, aside from pitch-black coldness, had nothing. Even breathing was impossible. Without Source blocks and the like, one could only consume their own essence, which would eventually run out.
In the universe, only when approaching some large stars could one capture essence, but most of the time, one was in darkness, merely depleting resources.
In this world, only those who had reached the sage realm could forcibly extract the universe's fundamental power in the dead void for their own use. This was the fundamental reason why only ancient sages could travel through the star domains.
The free-floating energy in the universe was imperceptible to ordinary people, let alone usable. There was no possibility at all.
"The Divine Source I carry can sustain my travels for many years. There's no need to worry for now."
Ye Fan stared at these Divine Source blocks, pondering for a long time. Then he tried to break one open, to cut out the ancient king's corpse and their weapons.
Any treasure on these beings would be heaven-defying. Who knew how they had all gathered together, so many of them!
"Crack"
A light sound came as he cut a slit into the Divine Source shell of an ancient being with a dragon's head and a human body.
Not all ancient kings evolved to look exactly like humans. Some were conservative, retaining their unique features.
This corpse was exceptionally heavy, the Divine Source block difficult to move. Such was an ancient king—even a fingernail could be heavier than a mountain.
As soon as the Divine Source block cracked open, a chilling aura flowed out. Though the dragon head was withered, it still made one's skin crawl, as if their body would split apart.
Ye Fan's main target was a pair of dragon horns. If he could get them off, they could definitely be refined into a pair of sacred objects. They didn't seem to have decayed with time, as their oppressive aura felt like blades cutting toward him.
"Crack"
Suddenly, another cracking sound. Ye Fan was stunned. He hadn't continued cutting the Source—why had it made a sound on its own?
Suddenly, his hair stood on end. Was something trying to come out on its own?!
At that moment, he felt a chill throughout his body. Could it be that so many ancient kings weren't all dead?!
Thinking of this possibility, Ye Fan's scalp broke out in goosebumps, tingling all over. Space travel was indeed terrifying—all kinds of bizarre things could happen.
"Crack"
This time, he heard it clearly. The sound came from ahead, not too far away. He immediately stood up, grabbed the black gourd, and moved forward. At this point, strike first to gain the upper hand.
Deep within this ancient cabin was another hall, where three Divine Source blocks stood like divine statues on a high platform.
One of them was cracking. Inside was sealed a being like an evil god, with blood-red hair, actually possessing a thousand arms, sitting cross-legged inside like a thousand-armed Buddha!
Of course, its appearance was far from Buddhist figures. Its body was black, and aside from its crimson hair, every inch of its skin shimmered with dark light.
"Was this also a powerful ancient king?"
At first sight, Ye Fan's heart sank. The three beings in this hall were very eerie, seemingly even stronger!
And this demon god-like being actually emitted a trace of aura, automatically cracking the Divine Source shell. Nothing could be more terrifying.
"Buzz"
An eerie sound, like a phoenix cry or a Kunpeng's wingbeat, sent out terrifying ripples. A strand of divine thought force drilled into Ye Fan's head, trying to split him open.
"Clang!"
The Primordial Qi Cauldron shook violently, as if struck by a hammer of billions of tons, nearly flying off into the universe, carrying Ye Fan back over a hundred zhang before crashing into the purple bronze cabin wall.
If not for this cauldron's special material, a sacred object exclusive to ancient great emperors, sturdy enough, any other weapon would have shattered along with Ye Fan.
There was a living creature!
An ancient king of the Primordial Era—he still had life! He hadn't aged to death! How terrifying was that!
"Boom"
Ye Fan didn't care about anything else. Even if a great emperor had come, he had to act. He activated the black gourd, unleashing endless great flames that blazed fiercely.
Nine-colored misty threads burned the ancient cabin, melting it into purple liquid. The divine patterns within were stripped away, incinerating everything.
It must be said, the sacred flames of the ninth layer of the Fire Domain were astonishing, their heat unparalleled. They turned the demon god's Divine Source shell to ashes and directly burned onto him.
A muffled groan. The thousand-armed ancient king's entire body caught fire. After all, he was already at the end of his rope. Even with heaven-defying divine power, he couldn't unleash it.
He was instantly engulfed by flames, suffering a fire tribulation!
However, this was an unimaginable existence after all. Even time couldn't finish him off. After endless ages, he still had a breath left in the world.
He opened his mouth and sucked, absorbing all the sacred flames. His burning body extinguished, emitting a terrifyingly overwhelming aura.
"What?!" Ye Fan was horrified. The nine-colored misty threads could incinerate everything in the world, but against a withered, nearly decaying ancient king, they were ineffective.
Just how terrifying an existence was this? Ye Fan's black gourd could burn almost all enemies in the human world, but it failed against an ancient being that was nearly dead.
Even more terrifying, this thousand-armed demon god opened his eyes and began to refine the flame's divine energy, claiming it for himself to replenish his dried-up body.
In this boundless universe, he didn't know how many years he had drifted. His Divine Source was exhausted, his body decrepit, unable to capture free-floating energy. Only at such close range could he seize it.
At the same time, his nearly shattered primordial spirit forcibly split off a strand of divine thought and attacked Ye Fan again, trying to shatter him and seize everything he had.
"Break for me!"
Ye Fan shouted. He inverted the Primordial Qi Cauldron, revealing the aura of the ancient sage within. It was terrifying, nearly causing the entire ancient hall to collapse.
The thousand-armed demon god seemed startled. His dim, almost dust-like eyes shot out two beams of light, quickly withdrawing his divine thought, sensing danger.
He had once been invincible across heaven and earth, but now he was on the verge of decay, unable to exert even a ten-thousandth of his strength, utterly incapable of opposing an ancient sage.
"Treasure, please turn around. Gourd, transform into a Dao sword!"
At that moment, Ye Fan roared. The black gourd stirred, spewing out a condensed ancient universe. Countless stars gathered, star domains flickered, transforming into an immortal sword that flew out.
"Pfft"
The immortal sword instantly severed the ancient king's head, passing through in a flash, too fast.
Ye Fan didn't expect that after the last time, a casual shout would succeed a second time. The divine chain from the black gourd was unstoppable.
"Thud, thud, thud"
The ancient king's head fell to the ground, but it spun and flew back, reattaching to the neck. The wound had no blood.
Ye Fan's heart tightened. This ancient king was practically sitting in death, barely able to move, yet still possessed such divine power. Truly chilling.
In his prime, he must have been invincible across heaven and earth!
Ye Fan retreated decisively. The black gourd could only be used once. A second call was useless. He used the ancient sage's aura as a deterrent and backed away.
The ancient king stared fixedly at the black gourd, his expression unreadable. He slowly moved his withered body, following step by step.
Before leaving, Ye Fan gritted his teeth and lifted the ancient being with the dragon head and human body from the outer hall, ready to hurl it at any moment.
Thus, one retreated, the other advanced, leaving the purple bronze ancient ship. Ye Fan leaped up and returned to the Nine Dragons Coffin.
The dying ancient king seemed extremely shocked. Standing on the ancient ship, he stared fixedly at the nine dragon corpses and the bronze coffin, but ultimately stopped, not pursuing.
Ye Fan's palm emitted a divine chain, striking the purple bronze warship. The two separated, drifting apart.
Slowly moving away, gradually disappearing. In the pitch-black universe, only the gaunt figure standing on the ancient ship could be seen, still gazing in this direction.
"Ziwei Ancient Star..."
Ye Fan muttered to himself. The ancient ship had originally been heading toward the Ziwei Ancient Star Domain. After separating, he corrected the course and continued forward.
Boarding the ancient ship, he had gained greatly. He obtained a crescent moon pendant containing the secrets of the Great Yin, and he had carried back a Divine Source shell sealing an ancient king. Though a corpse, it was a treasure all over.
"Where am I going?" The purple bronze ancient ship had gone far. In this vast void, he didn't know his path.
He only knew that he wasn't far from the Big Dipper Star Domain now. Beyond that, he knew nothing.
Of course, this "not far" was relative to the boundless universe. If he flew back himself, it might take a lifetime.
Ye Fan corrected the direction several times, but found that it would revert before long. The Nine Dragons Coffin wasn't drifting aimlessly. Though slow, it always moved in one direction.
He didn't try to change it again. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the bronze coffin and began to go into seclusion.
Time passed. For three whole years, he didn't move. During that time, heavenly tribulations descended, with thunder and lightning, terrifying in the dead universe.
Most of the time, he was in a state of self-forgetfulness, unaware of the year, unaware of where he was, almost forgetting himself.
His most recent session lasted half a year of deep sleep, completely unaware of the outside world, no different from sitting in death.
Suddenly, he was jolted awake from his closed-door state, feeling a violent collision. He was thrown off.
"What, an ancient star!"
Ye Fan was shocked to find that the Nine Dragons Coffin had crashed onto an ancient star. The impact with the ground had sent him flying.