Chapter 723: Heaven-Gifted Talent
"Tap," "tap"...
In the darkness, there was only silence.
Nothing else existed—no life, no light. This was a barren, deathly still place, where not even a blade of grass grew, where all vitality was extinguished. Only darkness and withered cold remained.
This land where ancient great emperors exiled the most heinous criminals was filled with the unknown and the eerie. It was an ocean eye, deep as an abyss.
There were no waters, no black ocean pouring in from above—only a deathly stillness. It was cold and dry here.
Ye Fan walked for dozens of li, yet still could not find the end. Along the way, he finally saw something unusual: several pieces of bone!
"Sage bones!"
The world had long since changed. In the present era, ancient sages were almost impossible to find. Even if there were one or two, their bones, blood, and flesh were immortal divine substances, usable for forging sacred weapons.
However, although the few bones on the ground were incredibly hard and indestructible, they emitted no sacred power fluctuations. They had long lost their divine nature.
"Has it been too long?"
Soon after, he found a piece of human skin—wrinkled and lusterless, with a few drops of blood clinging to it that were no different from ordinary blood.
"I see. Legend says this place can devour heaven and earth, refining even gods. That's why the ancient great emperors chose it for exiling criminals. Even a sage's blood essence can be drained here!"
Ye Fan traveled over a hundred li and discovered a terrifying truth: once imprisoned here, escape seemed nearly impossible. Over a dozen sages appeared to have self-destructed, trying to blast open a path, but none had succeeded.
"The divine thought born from the Human Saint Emperor gave me a great opportunity, but in the end, it locked me in this exile ground..." His heart was uncertain. Could he still get out?
This place was only about two hundred li in circumference. Ye Fan had reached its edge, where only chaotic qi swirled on all sides, impossible to approach.
He finally found a few intact corpses: two human and five from foreign races—strange shapes he had never seen or heard of before.
"Great Sages! Seven Great Sages! These were supreme figures at the pinnacle of ten thousand ages, yet they were exiled here!"
If you added the broken bones he had seen earlier, this place had once imprisoned nearly thirty sages. Truly astonishing—if word got out, it would shake this ancient star domain.
This was a cage meant to suppress sages, unbreakable for ten thousand ages!
Ye Fan searched for a long time but found no way out. Instead, he felt his entire body's essence energy being drained, rapidly leaking away.
"Just as I thought—the North Sea Eye refines gods and demons, devouring heaven and earth. These sages were all slowly drained to death here." He thought of his own fate. If this continued, he too would face a great calamity.
All around were misty threads—a chaotic expanse with no exit. This empty, dark place felt like the inside of a gourd, roughly the same shape.
Ye Fan retraced his steps. The Fusang Divine Tree stood like a bright lamp in the central area, its golden light forming a sun.
Only when he returned here did his essence energy stop draining. This was all because an immortal divine tree was rooted here.
However, Ye Fan couldn't get too close, because the stone coffin lay horizontally, its aura intimidating. The two pieces of old bronze had returned to his Wheel Sea.
With no other choice, he continued cultivating. Ye Fan held the ten-foot-long divine tree branch, sat cross-legged, and silently practiced.
On his brow, nine ancient characters appeared one by one, each emitting a divine ring. Nine rings surrounded him, like a god at the center of the limitless earth.
Ye Fan believed that the divine thought born from the Human Saint Emperor couldn't truly intend to exile him here. By studying the nine ancient characters left behind, he should find some clue.
Time left no trace. It passed quickly. Ye Fan cultivated alone in silence, his entire body submerged in golden light. The branch in his hand grew shorter, and some of its leaves disappeared.
Seven months later, he faced a heavenly tribulation. The scene was terrifying—it didn't spare him just because he had fallen into the North Sea Eye. Human-shaped lightning, heavenly palace thunderbolts, ancient towers, and more descended together.
When the divine punishment faded, all was silent. Only Ye Fan sat cross-legged within his divine rings, reflecting the light of the nearby Fusang tree. His body was like carved jade.
Enlightenment!
Cultivation!
With no distracting thoughts, forgetting both self and world, only by wandering and sublimating in the Dao realm could he understand his own existence. Silently comprehending—this was all he could do now.
Thus, time flowed like water, slowly passing. Ye Fan sat motionless like a boulder. The divine tree branch in his hand grew increasingly dim, and the golden leaves were almost all gone.
Strand by strand, the primal solar sacred power was absorbed into his body. The divine tree branch was nearly completely refined by him.
Four years passed. The golden divine tree branch slowly shrank, finally disappearing from his hand. His flesh was like divine gold forged—a brilliant radiance.
During this process, Ye Fan experienced heavenly tribulation many times. He ascended step by step on the nine small steps of the second level of the Immortal Platform. He was undeniably gifted in the path of cultivation—bottlenecks could hardly stop him!
Over two years, he cultivated solar sacred power, then turned to lunar essence, harmonizing them with the Great Dao of Taiji. Though he narrowly escaped disaster several times, he always passed safely.
"Taiyin and Taiyang—which is weak, which is strong? When yin and yang unite, one rules as emperor under heaven."
Throughout history, some Great Sages had cultivated this way, but they all ended up on a path of no return, dying with their Dao extinguished, leaving only regret.
Ye Fan was on the second level of the Immortal Platform, naturally incomparable to those Great Sages. That he could cultivate both simultaneously now didn't mean he could continue triumphantly. He was currently harmonizing the Dao through Taiji.
These four years, Ye Fan had also been studying the Eight Forbidden Domain. He struggled to comprehend the Dao, constantly pondering. Occasionally, he had a novel experience—a momentary sublimation, breaking through the Eight Forbidden!
However, in four years, he had only experienced it eight times. That feeling was too wondrous. The All Secret could be used, increasing his combat power tenfold, surpassing the Eight Forbidden!
For an instant, he felt as if he were ascending to immortality. Every pore of his body opened wide, as if receiving a baptism from the gods. But each time, he quickly fell back to the mortal world, unable to sustain it.
"Ancient legends say that only by standing in the Eight Forbidden Domain can one have a stunning moment and experience the infinite wonders of the Eternal Divine Forbidden Domain—but one can never truly enter it..." He recalled what Yi Qingwu had said.
That was the Divine Forbidden Domain!
As long as one was human, they could never touch it. Only those in the Eight Forbidden Domain could have a momentary experience. Yin Tiande had once had a similar insight.
Cultivating in solitude, reciting Dao scriptures in leisure—this was Ye Fan's life. Trapped alone in a sage's exile ground, with desolation as his companion and darkness as his friend.
No joy or anger, no parting in life or death. Alone, he chewed on loneliness. Here, there was only cultivation, forgetting everything in the world. Nothing else to do.
"Heaven-gifted talent—is that what they call me?"
Ye Fan woke from his enlightenment state again, muttering to himself. It wasn't narcissism or arrogance, but a calm statement of fact.
In over four years, he had ascended step by step from the first small step of the second level of the Immortal Platform to the eighth small step.
It all happened so naturally. Whenever a shackle appeared, his will, like the intent of his Six Paths Reincarnation Fist, charged forward without hesitation and shattered it in one blow!
"Immortal Three Severing the Dao—is this saying true?"
Ye Fan asked himself. He thought of the lamentations of some Saint Lord-rank figures, recalling the experiences of one living fossil after another.
Some brilliant prodigies and sect masters, ascending step by step on the second level of the Immortal Platform, were mostly blocked at the eighth small step. A few were trapped at the ninth peak.
Trapped for two thousand years!
In the present era, whether in the Big Dipper Star Domain or the Ziwei Ancient Star Domain, there was no shortage of sect masters at the second level of the Immortal Platform, but figures at the third level were almost unseen.
This was Immortal Three Severing the Dao!
Otherwise, why would aging old Saint Lords enter the seven Forbidden Zones of Life, seeking immortal divine medicine to extend their lives?
It was because they were too unwilling. They had cultivated their entire lives, reaching the peak of the second level of the Immortal Platform in their early years, only to be trapped for nearly three thousand years.
Clearly, one foot had already stepped out, but it could never touch the ground, never enter the third level of the Immortal Platform. That was the regret of their lives!
Reading the Nanhua Scripture in solitude, reciting the Huangting Classic in leisure—after over four years of cultivation, Ye Fan began to change. He tried hard to recall the scriptures from the other end of the starry sky, using them to pass the years.
"I ascended step by step, reaching the eighth small step of the second level of the Immortal Platform. But I still can't escape."
Ye Fan didn't give up. He believed that the divine thought born from the Human Saint Emperor wouldn't let him die here. Every day, he studied the nine ancient characters.
"Hum—"
On this day, Ye Fan imprinted the nine ancient characters onto his body, then carved them into the void. When he repeatedly combined them, this void-like place actually split open a crack.
Ye Fan's heart stirred. He carved the nine ancient characters over and over, trying different combinations.
In the distance, the immortal tree seemed to respond, shaking out a sky full of golden divine light. Its golden leaves rustled loudly.
At the same time, the stone coffin emitted a strange aura. The North Sea Eye became unstable, shaking violently. Above, the sea surged with towering waves, and some demon beasts patrolling there were knocked over.
"Just as I thought—the nine ancient characters left by the Sun Saint Emperor can break the seal!"
Ye Fan guarded his Dao heart, condensed his essence and spirit, and focused with extreme concentration. He carved the nine ancient characters, forming a mysterious Dao mark.
"Boom!"
The sea eye opened wide. The ocean above seemed about to pour down. At that moment, Ye Fan moved without any hesitation, shooting upward.
The bottomless abyss below receded. He plunged into the black sea, using the Stride Art to part the waters and escape.
Ye Fan shot into the sky like a golden lightning bolt, standing among the clouds, moving at incredible speed.
Below, some demon beasts looked suspicious. The black North Sea surged with towering waves, like a terrifying ancient beast awakening, churning and stirring.
But soon, it calmed down. The sea surface returned to normal.
"Did you see that? I thought I saw the sea eye appear just now?"
"Impossible. The North Sea Eye is where ancient great emperors exiled criminals. How could anyone open it? You must have seen wrong."
"No mistake. I saw a golden lightning bolt shoot out. Do you think it could be that person who disappeared with Tanggu four years ago?"
This was a group of powerful demon cultivators, some from the sea and some from land. In the past, Tanggu had appeared and then vanished, shaking this star domain. Major powers had left people here to watch.
"If that person really broke out, there'll be big trouble. He's a ruthless one."
"Not necessarily. The master of the Eight Scenic Palace dominates the world. Who can rival him now?"
"The divine maiden Yi Qingwu is peerless. These four years, she's advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking into the Eight Forbidden Domain. She dazzles the world—who can compare?"
"The nine princes of the Golden Crow Clan are each braver than the last. The current Lu Ya probably has few who can match him."
"Sanque Daoist and the Taiyin Divine Son are both heaven-gifted geniuses. It's said that the Longevity Temple and the Human King Hall are exchanging immortal scriptures..."