Chapter 958: Slaying the Demon God Clan
"Are you sure he is the person who disappeared atop Mount Tai back then?" A group of people in the pine forest were all astonished to the extreme.
Bo Yi nodded, spoke Ye Fan's name, and then ordered someone to retrieve the investigation materials from back then. When the two were compared, everyone was stunned.
"He really is one of the missing persons from that year!"
A group of great demons were shaken inwardly. This was a heaven-defying event! The Nine Dragons Coffin had taken a group of people into the heavens, becoming an unsolvable mystery. They never expected this person to return in reverse. What exactly had he experienced?
"Now you should understand. What I did was absolutely worth it. He is a living divine treasure! In just over twenty years, he has forged himself into a great supernatural power. If we extract his soul and learn his secrets, our achievements will be unimaginable, far surpassing his insignificant mortal self!" Bo Yi said coldly.
Deep within the primeval mountain forest, Ye Fan remained calm and composed, not in a hurry to break free. He led Guo Zhen and Little Pine through the ancient slaughter formation, searching for the whereabouts of the ancestral ginseng.
Along the way, they discovered several ginseng pits. This Changbai ancestral ginseng was bursting with vitality and spiritual energy, possessing an instinct to seek good fortune and avoid disaster. Otherwise, how could it have survived since ancient times?
"A bit troublesome. It can harness the earth's energy to move. As long as it doesn't leave the soil, turning Changbai Mountain upside down would be useless." Ye Fan frowned.
Guo Zhen was astonished. Trapped in an ancient slaughter formation, Ye Fan was still not anxious and was even plotting to capture the ancestral ginseng. This truly earned his admiration.
"Let me give it a try." Ye Fan let out a soft shout and executed the Source Heaven Imprisonment Divine Art. The sparse essence energy beneath the earth instantly boiled, causing the mountains to tremble.
The dying dragon vein of Changbai Mountain revived, obeying his command as it turned underground. Snowy peaks on the surface shook, triggering avalanches in many places that roared down with a terrifying momentum.
Ye Fan stood on the ground, his feet connected to the earth, his eyes tightly shut as he sensed all life and vitality underground, searching for the ancestral ginseng.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, sensing a startling mass of light containing boundless essence energy. It was a ray of undying divine radiance, nearly equivalent to half an undying divine medicine.
"Ancestral ginseng, truly a semi-divine medicine!" Ye Fan's eyes snapped open. He told Guo Zhen and Little Pine not to move and to wait on the ground.
Then, Ye Fan vanished from the surface. His Source Art had advanced by leaps and bounds, now only a hair's breadth away from matching an Origin Heavenly Master. He moved through the earth's veins like a true dragon returning to the sea.
Deep within the earth's veins, the cluster of undying divine light was too fast. The moment the dragon energy began to stir, it fled far away, foreseeing fortune and misfortune in advance.
"This old ginseng is indeed troublesome to deal with. Catching it will probably take several months." Ye Fan rubbed his chin. Only as an Origin Heavenly Master could he pursue it through the earth's veins; an ordinary person wouldn't have the slightest hope.
He chased after it, using the dragon energy as a guide to track its movements, hoping to map out the old ginseng's range of activity so he could set up a Source Array to capture it next time.
Suddenly, he discovered a piece of beast bone in the earth's veins, several meters long, engraved with bird script that looked like ghostly symbols. He stopped to study it carefully.
Its general meaning was that the essence energy of heaven and earth would soon dry up, and the earth's veins would wither. But the ancestral ginseng, being sentient, could activate the underground ancestral roots, generating dragon energy to keep the mountains and rivers spiritually vibrant. It hoped that future sages would show mercy and not harm it.
A flash of light appeared in the distance. A cluster of undying divine light emerged, fragrant and rich. A half-man-tall ginseng revealed itself, flowing with precious radiance.
Ye Fan was startled, almost thinking a little old man had appeared there. This old ginseng had manifested on its own, resembling a human with some vague facial features.
It was a semi-divine medicine, long since sentient. It sensed that the person before it could capture it, as he too could control the earth's veins. Thus, it manifested to beg for mercy.
Because it had an instinct to seek good fortune, it felt this was the most opportune moment. It shook its arm, sending over twenty drops of five-colored crystalline liquid flying toward Ye Fan.
Moreover, it knelt down, appearing pitiful in its aged state. Although it had long been sentient, like undying divine medicines, it could not cultivate any cultivation base.
Ye Fan collected these droplets in a white jade bottle and sighed. "You don't need to do this. I have already seen the record on this white bone. Rest assured, you may leave."
The old ginseng bowed from afar, then vanished in a flash, disappearing deep into the earth's veins, never to be seen again.
Ye Fan carefully examined the medicinal liquid. Five-colored radiance flowed within it, rich and fragrant, penetrating to the bone. It was indeed divine liquid. He roughly estimated that four such old ginsengs could nearly equal one undying divine medicine.
He pulled up some array flags in the earth's veins. These were restrictions set by the Heavenly Scale Clan for capturing the old ginseng later. Many of the artifacts were made from materials predating the ancient era; once destroyed, they would be difficult to repair.
Finally, he returned to the surface. Little Pine immediately jumped over, looking nervous, having been worried about him.
"It's fine. This ancient formation can't kill me yet. Let's go settle the score with them now."
Guo Zhen's heart surged upon hearing this. This Brother Ye was truly ferocious. Even an ancient formation that could kill a Dao-Cutter King couldn't harm him. What kind of divine power was this!
Ye Fan wasn't careless. This ancient slaughter formation was profound and complex, with deadly traps at every step. If he wasn't careful, he might truly meet his end here. He dismantled the formation step by step, pulling out all the array flags to completely clear it.
Dozens of miles away, Bo Yi said, "The avalanches just now and the shaking peaks indicate the slaughter formation was activated. He surely has no way to survive. His primordial spirit will be automatically drawn into the main flag. However, to be safe, let's return first and come back in three days to collect his corpse."
The others nodded, afraid that entering the formation too early might cause accidents. They returned along the path to the Primordial Dragon Cave.
Ye Fan destroyed the ancient slaughter formation but didn't rush to travel. He looked around, observing the primeval forest, and spotted several temples with sacrificial inscriptions personally written by a Qing Dynasty sage emperor.
They saw many stone tablets praising merits and virtues, designating Changbai Mountain as a sacred mountain, above the Five Great Mountains.
Then, after walking a bit further, they saw some ancestral temples from the Jin Dynasty, grand and majestic. Though nearly collapsed, they still showed signs of past glory.
"Back then, mortals could also enter this area," Guo Zhen said.
Ye Fan said nothing and continued forward. Amid a stretch of mountains, they saw several dragon tablets. These should have been left by ancient ancestors, carved with flowers, birds, fish, and insects, not resembling written characters.
"This is primitive worship. The Heavenly Scale Clan has existed for an incredibly long time. For their own benefit, they supported human dynasties from different eras," Guo Zhen remarked in surprise.
Half an hour later, Ye Fan and the others returned. Ahead, snowy peaks stretched in clusters. Beneath the main peak at the center, the Primordial Dragon Cave spewed auspicious energy, swirling with dragon-shaped divine radiance.
"You... came out alive?!" Over a dozen men in Heavenly Scale battle robes, with long hair flowing and demonic aura swirling, all turned pale with shock and struck first.
Ye Fan said nothing. He formed a blade with his fingers and swept forward. With a series of *put put* sounds, the dozen men were all cut in half at the waist. Blood flowed freely, staining the ground crimson.
"What happened?" A burly man appeared, a true demon with a human body covered in scales. He looked over—this was a demon general.
"Bad news! That person has killed his way back alive!" some demon soldiers shouted.
"Sir, please stop! Let's talk this out!" the demon general shouted, trying to stabilize the situation.
*Put*
Ye Fan moved forward in silence, forming a sword with his fingers and pressing down from the air. A large spray of blood flew up. The demon general was cleaved in half on the spot, split from the crown of his head down to his crotch. He didn't even have time to groan before falling as two halves of a corpse.
"Bad news! This is terrible!" The demon soldiers panicked. Some rushed into the cave to report.
"What's all the fuss about!" a great demon shouted.
"That person named Ye Fan broke out of the ancient formation and has come back, slaughtering everyone outside," a demon soldier reported in terror.
"What?!" Bo Yi was stunned, his body turning ice-cold, then drenched in cold sweat.
The other great demons were also horrified. That ancient slaughter formation was terrifying—hundreds of years ago, it had ground two great supernatural powers to dust. How could a cultivator in the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm have broken through it now?
"Let's go out and take a look." A group of great demons looked grim.
Bo Yi and the others rushed out of the cave and looked ahead. Ye Fan was completely unharmed, moving like he was in an empty land. Anyone who dared to block him was killed on the spot. Blood splattered, melting large patches of white snow and staining the ground red.
Ten kills per step!
Ye Fan was like a god of slaughter, his expression cold and emotionless. Anyone who blocked his path was killed with a single finger strike. There was no opponent who could last even one exchange.
"Stop! Let's talk this out!" a great demon shouted.
*Put*
Ye Fan ignored him completely. His left hand slashed diagonally, cleaving off half the demon's head on the spot. The corpse flew dozens of zhang away, blood splashing onto Bo Yi, turning his face deathly pale.
"Brother Ye... please stop first. Let's discuss this properly." He spoke with difficulty, his heart bitter and his body cold. He never imagined it would come to this.
"Aren't you the ones who like to bully the weak? What is there to discuss? I originally didn't want to use my power to oppress others and wished to visit with courtesy. But now... I can't be bothered to talk to you." Ye Fan was very calm.
Since his return, no matter how weak the cultivators he encountered, he treated them as equals, unwilling to bully them with his strength. However, if someone truly provoked him, he would not hesitate to kill. He did not bully the weak, nor did he fear the strong—he treated everyone the same.
"Brother Ye... please stop. We were wrong." Bo Yi regretted it deeply, his intestines turning green.
"You say 'stop' with your mouths, but the killing intent in your hearts has reached its peak. My divine sense can detect it." A cold smile curled at the corner of Ye Fan's mouth.
He killed one person per step, as leisurely as strolling in a courtyard. Blood splattered as bodies continuously fell at his feet.
*Put*
Ye Fan pointed a finger, and a great demon at the Four Extremes Secret Realm had his head explode. Brains and blood splattered everywhere as he fell backward to the ground.
*Ka*
He swung his arm like an eternal beam of light. One of Bo Yi's elder brothers was instantly cleaved in two, blood gushing out.
"If you want to live, don't let me sense any hostility from you," Ye Fan said calmly, walking forward steadily. The cold wind surged, and his black hair flew wildly. He was like an Asura, with corpses littering the ground beneath his feet.
*Put*
He flicked a finger, and from dozens of zhang away, a great demon at the Four Extremes Secret Realm had his skull blasted off. Blood and brains shot up several meters high before he died a violent death.
He raised his right arm horizontally, then slashed outward. A killing light surged like thunder, nearly shattering all the snowy mountains.
Blood light shot up one after another!
The seven or eight great demons standing with Bo Yi all exploded into a mist of blood, their forms and spirits utterly destroyed.
These were his peers, the backbone of the Heavenly Scale Clan's combat strength. To have them wiped out like ants being crushed made his heart bleed.
"Ah... who exactly are you?" he roared in anguish, his eyes turning red as he sacrificed dozens of magical artifacts and charged forward to attack.
"The Lord of the Heavenly Court, Ye Fan."
Ye Fan's expression was indifferent. His palm blade swept across, turning all the flying artifacts into dust. At the same time, half of Bo Yi's head flew off. Blood spilled as his corpse fell to the ground.
Everyone was shocked, completely stunned. This was like a myth. Although Bo Yi had just entered the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, he could be called a peerless expert in the current era. This might be an ancient cave where a sage emperor once resided.
At the same time, he did not let his guard down. The experts of the Heavenly Scale Clan could not be limited to this.