# Chapter 845: The Ancient Hell
"Who?" Li Tian asked in surprise. He and Yan Yixi naturally didn't need a master, but Ye Fan's intention was entirely to find them a protector.
That day, Little Tingting led the way as Ye Fan and his group headed to the Jiang Family, hoping to request an audience with the White-Robed Divine King.
The Divine Maiden Furnace was forged by Eternal Universe Great Emperor himself, with mysterious dao patterns inscribed on its inner walls. If presented to Divine King Jiang for study, he might comprehend something from it, and accepting the two as disciples would naturally become difficult to refuse.
The Primordial Aristocratic Clan's aura remained as ever—grand, majestic, and awe-inspiring.
Never-sinking great mountains floated, towering into the clouds. Silver waterfalls cascaded down like heavenly rivers, with clouds and mist rising in splendor.
Arriving here felt like witnessing the Primordial Era when the ancient Great Emperors had dwelled. Everything was so magnificent and majestic that it shook one's heart.
Deep within dozens or even hundreds of floating great peaks stood temple after temple, and even more so, an immortal ancient city—the Jiang Family's most important place.
Jiang Yifei personally came out to welcome them. Dressed in white, elegant and refined, with a handsome and spirited bearing, his face carried a gentle smile that immediately inspired goodwill.
A man who had defeated the Jiang Family's Divine Body would attract attention no matter how low-key he remained. When he smiled, he appeared transcendent and refined, truly radiant.
As the future master of the Jiang Family, he was very warm toward them, inviting them onto a divine island and into an ancient main hall—a treatment of the highest standard, reserved only for sect leaders.
"It's been years since we last met, Brother Ye. Your bearing is even more impressive than before." Jiang Yifei ordered tea to be served.
Ye Fan responded with a smile, then explained his purpose. But he was disappointed—the White-Robed Divine King was traveling the world and hadn't stayed long at home, which was regrettable.
In the end, he went to see Old Uncle Jiang. They sat together, reminiscing about the past. The old man sighed repeatedly and insisted Ye Fan stay for a few more drinks.
He was hale and hearty, living a very content life these years. Little Tingting, the most dazzling rising star, had emerged. Who in the Jiang Family wouldn't court her? The Grand Yin Physique was destined to shine brilliantly within the clan and hold significant influence!
"An old man misses his homeland. Two years ago, Tingting accompanied me back to the Southern Domain once. That little shop was still there, and many old neighbors were still doing well. They told me something—a very beautiful woman had once sought out that place, asking about everything concerning you from your days at the shop." Old Uncle Jiang said.
"Is that so? Who was she?" Ye Fan poured wine, unable to think of who it could be.
"One of the old fellows asked her. She seemed to be called Lin Jia. She only went there once and never appeared again." Old Uncle Jiang said.
"What?" Ye Fan was stunned. It was a name from long ago—nearly twenty years since he'd last heard it, and he'd never seen her.
The people who had come to this world together weren't just him and Pang Bo, but over a dozen. Yet all these years, he didn't know where they were.
Li Xiaoman had chosen the path of life-and-death opposition. Kaide had been recognized by the Western Desert's holy monks as having extraordinary natural endowments and was taken away as the reincarnation of a Buddhist guardian vajra.
Lin Jia, Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen—each had extraordinary temperaments. Why had they never appeared all these years?
Now, suddenly hearing Lin Jia's name, Ye Fan's thoughts raced. Dust-sealed memories were opened, and past events surfaced before his eyes.
"She's an old friend you've lost touch with, isn't she? I went back two years ago. Calculating it, that woman probably sought out the shop about three years ago, asking about your past." Old Uncle Jiang said.
"It's nothing. Since the shop is still there and the neighbors are still around, I'll go take a look sometime and ask more carefully." Ye Fan came back to his senses and continued drinking.
Ye Fan and his group left the Jiang Family. Jiang Yifei personally saw them off, saying that perhaps one day they would fight side by side, watching them depart.
They arrived at Divine City and entered the Celestial Pivot Stone Workshop. Of course, they couldn't directly ask this saint to accept disciples; they just wanted to become familiar faces.
The entire Celestial Pivot sect had been nearly wiped out, and the Path of Human Desire had also had its lineage destroyed. They were somewhat similar—both were survivors of calamities.
After examining the Divine Maiden Furnace, the Celestial Pivot saint silently contemplated it for a long time before opening his eyes and saying, "I understand your intentions. You may come to the stone workshop often from now on."
With just this one sentence from the saint, it was enough. If he offered his protection, who in the world would dare to act? Even ancient ancestral kings would be intimidated. After the battle at Jade Pool, the human race's saint's might had awed all clans.
Ye Fan was stunned. He hadn't expected it to go so smoothly. The saint was unfathomable—he had discerned their thoughts, leading to this outcome.
Finally, they respectfully took their leave and returned to the Heavenly Court.
"Humph! Hah! Heh!"
The four little ones trained diligently, while Big Black Dog continued drilling the two Silver Blood Royal Clan members, with occasional bone-chilling screams echoing.
Everything was calm. All these matters were on track, destined to shine brilliantly in the future.
"Before I leave, if I can't rescue all my old friends from the past and kill all my great enemies, I'll have failed you all!" Ye Fan muttered to himself, standing atop a high peak, gazing at the vast Eastern Wasteland.
Where was the hell? There was no need to think much—Dongfang Ye had fallen off Falling Eagle Cliff. That must be the place. He wanted to guide him out.
Although he had long heard from the monkey that few could walk out of that place alive, he still wanted to venture in.
In ancient times, during the war of ten thousand clans, corpses piled up into mountains, and the earth turned blood-red. Falling Eagle Cliff had once been used as a burial pit, filled with countless dead.
It was originally an ancient battlefield, but it eventually became a mass grave, extremely heavy with yin and baleful energy. Living beings could hardly survive entering it—truly worthy of being called a hell.
Black Emperor approached and said, "If you want to save the barbarian, you need the grave robber to make a move. He's specialized in digging tombs and dealing with ghosts. Each has their specialty—he's the authority in this field."
"That fatty isn't easy to find." Li Tian said.
"That's not difficult. I have a way to summon him." Ye Fan said.
That day, a shocking piece of news spread: a valley in the Northern Domain had collapsed, suspected to be an ancient imperial tomb that had cracked open, manifesting in the world, with killing energy soaring to the nine heavens.
As soon as the news broke, it caused an uproar. Countless people rushed there. The Eastern Wasteland shook, and many major powers were alarmed.
Ye Fan, Black Emperor, the monkey, Li Heishui, Yan Yixi, and the others sat on a distant mountain peak, watching the valley as people arrived one after another.
"Isn't this trick a bit too underhanded? Look, the ancient clans are mobilizing in force. Some royal clans are rushing here as if their tails are on fire." Li Tian clicked his tongue.
"Even members of the imperial clans from Blood Phoenix Mountain and Divine Silkworm Ridge have shown up." The monkey said.
"It's better to believe it exists than not. I'm sure the major clans will send people to take a look." Li Heishui said.
With one piece of news from Ye Fan, chaos erupted. Countless powerful figures rushed over, surrounding the collapsed valley in an impenetrable circle.
"He's here. That damn fatty has appeared. I'd recognize him even if he were turned to ash." Black Emperor opened his third vertical eye, looking ahead.
A damn fatty appeared. No matter how high he held his head, he couldn't hide his sleazy aura. He circled the collapsed valley, observing, then cursed and grumbled, seemingly saying he'd been tricked, with endless curses.
"Absolutely brilliant. Just one move, and Fatty Duan was summoned." Li Tian praised, and then they all burst into laughter.
They transmitted a message to Duan De. The unscrupulous taoist immediately jumped up, cursing them for lacking morals, making him rush over eagerly only to find it was just to trick him into showing up.
Black Emperor said, "Grave digger, what are you yelling about? This time we've prepared a big tomb for you to dig. It's said to contain at least eight hundred thousand to a million corpses, maybe even ten times that."
"Nonsense. I, Daoist, have traveled the world and dug every kind of tomb there is. I've even climbed Wu Shi's dao platform. I've never heard of such a big tomb." Duan De said disdainfully.
"Woof! You really haven't given up, have you? You're still thinking about Purple Mountain." Black Emperor nearly started fighting with him.
Ye Fan quickly separated them. This pair was a couple of bastards—neither was easy to deal with. If they really started fighting, it would be chaos.
The monkey stepped forward and told him that such a place indeed existed. There might even be a supreme being buried beneath that battlefield. His father, the Battle Saint Emperor, had entered it and killed a sacred spirit.
"What? There's a corpse of a sacred spirit that could rival an ancient emperor? Let's go! We must go!" Duan De acted like he was saying, "Don't stop me!"
That day, many in the Eastern Wasteland cursed. The ancient imperial tomb only yielded a few nests of mountain rats—nothing else. Normally, no one would be so unscrupulous as to deceive everyone like this. Many cultivators, including quite a few ancient clans, were grinding their teeth in anger.
As for the instigator, he had already broken through the void and arrived at the Northern Domain's famous forbidden land—Falling Eagle Cliff.
As the name suggested, even eagles would fall if they landed on the cliff face. One could imagine how steep and perilous it was—truly treacherous and astonishing, impossible to stand on.
"Tens of millions of ancient powerful warriors are buried here?" Even Duan De, the expert, found it hard to believe, let alone Black Emperor.
The cliff was steep, piercing into the clouds. But the valley below was too small. Though unfathomably deep, it didn't seem capable of holding millions of people.
"You'll know when you go down later." The monkey smiled.
Falling Eagle Cliff was ten thousand ren high, straight up and down. The valley it enclosed was like a chimney—steep and perilous. Its entire surface was dark red, as if stained by blood.
According to the monkey, it was truly because the ancient battles had boiled over, dyed this color by the blood of powerful warriors, and it had never faded since.
They leaped in. Wind whistled past their ears as they descended rapidly, scraping their skin painfully. Various black clouds and baleful energy surged around them.
"It's getting bigger! How is it expanding down here?" Li Tian exclaimed in surprise.
Below, faintly visible, were rolling mountains and open plains stretching endlessly. This was no valley—it was like a continent.
"In ancient times, this was a battlefield..."
In those days, too many had died in battle. The ancient battlefield was littered with corpses everywhere. Baleful energy soared to the heavens. Ghosts appeared in broad daylight. Gloom and misery prevailed, with ghosts wailing and gods howling.
Because so many had died in battle, this vast region had nearly become a hell on earth, with many bizarre occurrences.
Finally, an ancient emperor from an unknown era used great power to grasp the entire land in his palm, refining it beneath Falling Eagle Cliff, resulting in what it was now.
Soon after, they landed on the ground. The area ahead was incredibly open. With divine eyes, they could see the scenery, though it was somewhat dim.
"There are people!"
They were startled. Over twenty people were guarding the entrance to the battlefield, motionless, wearing ancient battle armor like ghost soldiers.
"What is this? Guardians of hell? Does a Netherworld Heavenly Prince truly exist in the world?" Li Heishui was shocked.
"No, they're ancient clans. If I'm not mistaken, they should be from Primordial Lake. Why are they guarding here? What's happening inside, or is there some secret treasure?" The monkey was uncertain.
"Primordial Lake?"
"It's an ancient imperial clan from ancient times—the race Yuangu belongs to." The monkey said.
"Who are you? Why are you intruding into the hell?" The twenty-plus people ahead discovered them and shouted.
"It's... the Holy Prince!"
"And the human race's Sacred Body!"
Obviously, the Battle-Saint Ape Lineage was renowned throughout ancient times, recognized by all clans. And Ye Fan, due to the battle at Divine City where he killed until people's hearts turned cold, was remembered by many ancient clans who had seen his portrait.
"Why are you here?" The monkey asked.
"Go!" Upon hearing this, they all changed color and rushed into the valley.
Ye Fan and the monkey acted together. One's golden blood energy soared to the heavens, the other's entire body shimmered with golden fur, illuminating the area ahead. Their dharma bodies reached a thousand zhang tall. One foot stepped forward, cutting off their path, nearly crushing them beneath.
"Pfft," "Pfft"...
Seeing this, these ancient clans were very decisive. They all self-destructed, turning into over twenty balls of blood mist, dying on the spot.
"So ruthless even to themselves!" Ye Fan was astonished. He reached out a large hand to seize their fragmented divine thoughts, wanting to examine them closely.
"This is..." He only restored one memory image—a man and a woman walking into the valley. These people couldn't stop them in time. It was Hua Yunfei and Li Xiaoman.
What was happening inside the hell? How had it attracted the ancient imperial clan of Primordial Lake? And even the inheritor of the Ruthless Person had appeared. Truly strange!
Ye Fan wanted to capture more divine thought fragments, but there was no time. They were all shredded by the baleful energy, turning into smoke and ceasing to exist.
"Something has changed in the hell. Everyone, be careful!" The monkey warned.
This place had been sealed by an ancient emperor from some unknown era. And the monkey's father, as the Battle Saint Emperor, had also been here and even killed a sacred spirit. It was no pure land.
"There are likely powerful figures from Primordial Lake inside. Yuangu might be here. Be sure to watch out!" Duan De said.
"Hua Yunfei and Li Xiaoman have also entered. If we encounter them, we must kill them!" Ye Fan said in a deep voice.
Then, they walked into the vast, boundless battlefield. It truly was like a continent—endless, with no limit in sight.
After traveling several dozen li, Ye Fan opened his heavenly eye. It was like a wilderness under dusk, with some ribbon-like black mist swirling around—very secluded and eerie.
Soon, they saw large clusters of graves. Each was like a small mountain—grand and enormous, somewhat frightening.
"When I looked from above, I thought they were mountain ranges. I never expected them to be ancient graves!" Li Tian clicked his tongue.
Duan De's eyes immediately lit up. He rubbed his hands together, eager to move forward.
"Let's handle the main business first. I didn't really bring you here to rob tombs!" Ye Fan grabbed him.
"Those buried here were all powerful warriors. Otherwise, their corpses wouldn't have been cared for. But there should be no burial goods." The monkey said.
They advanced cautiously, finally entering an open area. Everywhere were corpses—or perhaps they should be called fossils, as they had turned to stone.
As far as the eye could see, there was no end. And this was just one corner of the ancient battlefield. It was hard to imagine how many people had died back then.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, an earth-shattering aura erupted ahead. It was cold and intimidating. Even as powerful as they were, their bodies turned ice-cold, as if plunged into an ice cellar.
"I, Daoist, have a feeling. Maybe we can dig open an ancient imperial mausoleum, or discover an immortal's tomb, or even unearth a Palace of Yama." Duan De rubbed his hands, claiming it was purely intuition.
"What? That is..." Ye Fan's expression changed. He was extremely shocked, staring blankly ahead, wanting to curse Duan De for being a jinx.
The others couldn't see anything, even with their heavenly eyes or the monkey's fiery golden eyes. But they all felt a tragic and fierce aura, as if tens of millions of living beings were wailing, as if a horde of ancient savage beasts were charging across the land.
"Ghost soldiers borrowing the path!" Ye Fan's face stiffened.
He saw an unimaginable scene. Ranks upon ranks of ghost soldiers, perfectly uniform, wearing ancient clothing, holding iron halberds or rusted war spears, marched across the area ahead, striding forward in great numbers—at least tens of thousands—charging toward the infinitely distant front.
Wasn't this the eerie sight that only appeared when an Origin Heavenly Master encountered misfortune in his later years? How was he seeing it now? His body felt cold, and he was momentarily lost.