Chapter 780: The Birthplace of Immortal Light
The grasslands stretched endlessly, vast and boundless. Ye Fan visited several ancient sects trying to find Tu Fei's whereabouts but found nothing. The Wolf Tribe, the Snowy Sacred Mountains, and other places all bore his footprints.
Over a decade had passed. By all logic, even if Tu Fei had flown on his own, he should have returned to the Eastern Wasteland by now. Yet there was still no result.
"Why? Could it be that he's not in the Northern Plains at all, or perhaps even farther away, having entered the place where the Arctic Immortal Light is born?"
That was a world of ice and snow, with no land, only glaciers, everything white as far as the eye could see. Legend had it that divine ruins existed there, and once every hundred thousand years, a strand of immortal light was born, ascending into the heavens.
A hundred thousand years ago, a Greatly Accomplished King from the Wang Clan had obtained one such strand, which became their clan's hidden foundation. Unfortunately, limited by his talent, he had only managed to set one foot into the Saint realm.
Should he go search or not? Ye Fan felt that Tu Fei might be trapped in that frozen world; otherwise, he should have appeared long ago.
"Since we have nothing else to do, let's go take a look. Maybe we'll encounter that immortal light that only ascends once every hundred thousand years," Li Tian urged.
Ever since arriving in this world, he had wanted to wander everywhere, eager to explore the entire realm and understand it thoroughly, so he could pass down the Path of Human Desire's teachings.
"I think many forces in the Southern Ridge are laying plans against you. They must have made extensive preparations. We should act unpredictably, keep them guessing, and strike back at the right moment," Yan Yixi said. He also agreed to go to the Arctic.
The Path of Human Desire had once had Saints who crossed the starry skies, so they naturally had deep knowledge of spatial secret arts and various teleportation formations. The group found many array patterns in several handwritten notes, all capable of long-distance teleportation.
However, they could only understand the most basic first volume, enough to set up teleportation platforms covering hundreds of thousands of li. Crossing entire major domains was extremely difficult.
"No matter. We have plenty of Source and plenty of Dark Jade. We can carve many divine arrays and make several hundred consecutive crossings. We'll definitely get there."
Tens of thousands of iron cavalry had leveled the Wang Clan. Although they had only taken a symbolic amount of treasures, it was still an unimaginable haul, including "divine materials" for ancient teleportation grand arrays.
"Swish"
A flash of green light, and they vanished from their spot, beginning a tedious journey of crossing. Crossing again and again, they came to appreciate the true meaning of the infinite void and the vastness of heaven and earth.
Finally, they set foot on a vast white snowfield. Everywhere were glaciers, bitingly cold. The breath they exhaled instantly turned into ice crystals.
It was hard to find any living creatures here. This was a frozen, bitter land. Aside from the endless white snow, there was nothing else to see.
"What is that?" Not long after stepping onto the ice field, they spotted a massive block of ice, with something seemingly sealed inside.
Ye Fan gave a soft shout, blowing away the white snow to expose the glacier. The ice was clear and transparent. Inside was a gigantic finger, several zhang long, dripping with blood, severed and frozen within.
"What race is this?"
They all showed strange expressions. According to their estimates, this thing was at least hundreds of thousands of years old, but this creature was far too large.
"Ancient Giants!" Ye Fan recalled records from some ancient texts. A race had once lived on this ice field, their bodies towering over a hundred zhang tall.
"Boom!" "Boom!"...
In the distance, tremendous sounds rang out. The glaciers were cracking, huge fissures spreading all the way to where they stood.
"A giant ape, towering into the clouds!" Li Tian exclaimed.
At the edge of the sky, a massive figure was walking, over a hundred zhang tall. On its back, it carried a whale it had fished from the icy sea, holding it as easily as one might carry a river fish.
Its entire body was covered in snow-white fur, each strand several zhang long, densely covering its form.
"Aren't the Ancient Giants supposed to be extinct? How is there still one?" Ye Fan was astonished.
This creature was terrifying. They were a special race, innately knowing cultivation methods, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. They had an advantage over humans because of their enormous size; the divine power they gathered daily was unimaginable.
Ancient records stated that the old chieftain of the Ancient Giants had once fought several human Saints, sweeping all before him and overturning heaven and earth.
"This one is just average. Its divine power is limited, nothing to fear. I just wonder how many of them are here."
The ice field was not as vast and boundless as the Five Great Domains. The group pressed on toward the very center, passing several enormous ice palaces along the way, towering into the clouds, even more magnificent than mountains.
These were clearly ancient ruins, built by the giants, inscribed with immortal divine patterns that kept them standing forever.
This race was nearly extinct. In traveling through most of the region, they had only seen two giants.
Finally, they approached the heart of the Arctic. This was a terrifying field, impossible to enter. All kinds of colorful mists swirled, their radiance interweaving brilliantly.
At the center, it looked like a demonic well, unfathomably deep and vast. Chaotic lights revolved around it.
"What is this place? A massive whirlpool hundreds of li in diameter, seemingly leading straight underground."
Ice shards flew everywhere, multicolored, carrying mysterious power, blooming into dazzling lights in the air, steaming and rising.
Could this be the birthplace of the Arctic Immortal Light?
They stopped, sensing immense danger. This chaotic light forming a whirlpool was terrifying enough to shred a Saint Lord.
"The birthplace of the Arctic Immortal Light is truly insane. How do we get in? Even a Greatly Accomplished King couldn't reach the deepest part!" Li Tian said, unwilling to give up.
"There's someone inside!" Yan Yixi said.
The icy whirlpool mingled with chaotic light, forming a demonic well that could devour everything. Dozens of li ahead, there was a giant creature.
"It's an old snow ape."
"No, it's an aged giant, frighteningly old. Its back is bent to an extreme degree."
This Ancient Giant was struggling painfully, trying to approach the central birthplace of the immortal light, but failing. Its body bore terrible wounds.
Without a doubt, this Ancient Giant was very powerful; otherwise, it couldn't have taken even a single step into the whirlpool. It radiated terrifying divine power fluctuations like a furnace.
Ye Fan and the others didn't take risks. They opened their divine eyes, carefully observing, peering into the deepest part.
At the very center was an old woman!
All three were shocked, involuntarily stepping back, exchanging horrified glances.
At the center, the various lights blazed even more fiercely. There were also terrifying Yin Essences, gushing forth like rivers and seas. Anyone ordinary who entered would be instantly reduced to powder.
"It's her!"
Ye Fan recognized her immediately. This was the old woman from six thousand years ago, a figure from the same era as Old Madman.
Above her head floated a pyramid made of green-gold metal, with sun, moon, and stars revolving around it, cascading down hazy green energy that wrapped around her.
"She disappeared for so many years and ended up here!"
Ye Fan clearly remembered that this green-gold pyramid had been unearthed from an ancient Source mine in the Northern Domain. It had caused a stir among many major figures at the time, and was eventually taken by the mysterious old woman.
The green-gold pyramid had been buried underground since the Primordial Era, remaining undecayed to this day. It was undoubtedly a legendary Saint Artifact.
The old woman sat cross-legged above the demonic well, facing the various erupting chaotic lights, motionless. She seemed to have entered a meditative trance there, as if waiting for something.
"Unfathomable. This is most likely an ancient Saint, or at least someone with one foot already in that realm," Li Tian said, feeling a sense of awe.
Seeing her sitting here, guarding the demonic well, a little thought made it clear: she must be waiting for that strand of immortal light that only ascends once every hundred thousand years.
With a Saint like this here, no one else had any hope. Judging by her appearance, she seemed to have been waiting for many years.
"There are many chaotic lights in that huge ice cavern, and it looks like there are quite a few corpses," Yan Yixi said.
"Let me take a look." Ye Fan's eyes suddenly lit up, shooting out two divine lightning bolts hundreds of li long.
This was the Heavenly Eye Penetration technique. Still in its early stages, he could only maintain it for a very brief moment, but that was enough.
Inside the ice cavern, colors were dazzling. Light steamed like water vapor, bone-chillingly cold. It was enormous, containing hundreds or even thousands of corpses, most of them frozen and cracked, spinning along with the whirlpool.
They wore all kinds of clothing, mostly from ancient times, having died countless millennia ago.
"Eh!"
Ye Fan was suddenly startled. In a particular piece of divine ice, a young man was sealed within. In a fleeting glance, it looked like Tu Fei.
Just as he tried to focus, that piece of divine ice sank deep into the cavern and never floated back up. The power of the Heavenly Eye Penetration also faded.
"Could it really be Tu Fei? How did he get sealed in divine ice and fall into this place? Is he alive or dead?" Ye Fan stared blankly.
"No, I have to go in!" No matter what, he had to find out for sure.
"Ye, don't take the risk. Only Saints can set foot inside. Even with your unmatched physical body, you can't take this chance," Li Tian advised.
But Ye Fan's mind was made up. The main purpose of this trip was to find Tu Fei. Having glimpsed him in a flash, how could he give up?
"Boom!"
Ye Fan charged into what felt like a terrifying black hole. All kinds of destructive forces struck him. Even his powerful body felt intense pain.
But he didn't stop. He advanced step by step, leaving imprints in the void, passing through various clouds and mists, closing in on the death zone.
"Monstrous! Is the Sacred Body's physical defense even more terrifying than a King's? He's surpassed that Ancient Giant and pushed in over seventy or eighty li!"
After advancing a hundred li, Ye Fan could no longer bear it. Blood streaks appeared on his body. Even his unmatched flesh couldn't withstand the world-grinding force.
"Saints, stop here!"
Ahead, there was a stone tablet spinning with the whirlpool, clearly engraved with several ancient characters, shocking to behold. Ye Fan sensed that just ahead, an even more terrifying aura was spreading, as if it could shatter the heavens.
Even if he took out the Purple-Gold Hammer, he couldn't hold out. He couldn't advance another step. He seriously doubted whether he would be crushed into meat paste if he tried to enter.
"Brother Ye, stop now! The path you've already walked surpasses that of a Greatly Accomplished King. Don't take the risk," Yan Yixi transmitted from behind.
Ye Fan frowned, staring ahead. He really had no way to get through. At the very least, a strong cultivator with one foot in the Saint realm was needed to set foot there.
"Senior, do you remember me? We've met twice before," Ye Fan shouted loudly.
But the old woman deep in the whirlpool showed no reaction at all, as if she had been sitting in meditation for decades. Ye Fan's heart trembled. Before a Saint dissolved into the Dao, they usually appeared like this. Could she really be about to fall here?
"Now, the Ancestral Kings of the Ten Thousand Primeval Clans are all about to emerge. Old Madman died fighting beyond the domain, his blood staining the sky. You are the only one left in the human race who can turn the tide!" Ye Fan shouted again.
Yet the old woman still had no response at all. It was as if her life force had completely extinguished, still as a rock.