Chapter 964: Taboo — The Nine-Nine Ancient Dragon Mountains of Antiquity
The old crane emerged from seclusion, his complexion ruddy, his hair snow-white, and his spirit vigorous. His eyes were filled with shock as he stared at the ninety-nine dragon mountains, claiming they truly existed in the world.
Ye Fan's heart trembled. Were they really about to find an Earth Immortal? Was this the place Chi Songzi had sought his entire life? Was there an opportunity for immortality and a great secret here?
The old crane stated that although the ancient terrain was vastly different from the present, it bore similarities to certain places in the current age, allowing clues to be found in reality.
He had heard some ancient secrets. The ninety-nine dragon mountains absolutely existed—they were not illusory. This map could not be fake; it just needed to be measured carefully against the real mountains and rivers.
"Look, doesn't one of them resemble the Yellow River? The terrain is like a dragon, surging into the sea, winding and twisting, vast and majestic."
Ye Fan and the Third Valley Master were both startled. How could the ancient dragon mountains be connected to the Yellow River? That seemed a bit far-fetched.
The old crane carved the ancient course of the Yellow River on the ground. It was vastly different from the present because, over tens of thousands of years, it had changed course countless times.
"Legend has it that in ancient times, there was no Yellow River course on the earth. A great power forcibly extracted a massive dragon vein from the ground, moved the dragon mountain away, and carved out the ancient Yellow River channel, allowing the raging waters to flow eastward into the sea."
Ye Fan was stunned. The ancient Yellow River channel was carved out by someone? A dragon vein once stood there and was extracted? This was truly astonishing.
He bent down and carefully compared the ancient Yellow River channel with the ninety-nine dragon veins. It really did resemble one of them. It was shocking, even somewhat absurd.
"This is just one dragon mountain. The terrain map shows ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains coiled and gathered together, vast and boundless. We're still far off."
Ye Fan said this, but in his heart, he still found it hard to believe. So many dragon mountains gathered together, all of them true great dragons—even the Big Dipper Star Domain didn't have that!
Moreover, after returning, he had heard from the Numinous Treasure Sect Leader and the Third Valley Master that in ancient times, the earth was vast and boundless, far larger than it is now. No one knew why it had been shrinking.
If it were true, just the dragon mountain where the ancient Yellow River channel was located would be millions of miles long. According to what they said, it could easily be calculated in the hundreds of thousands of miles.
"It's not just the earth that has changed; the entire solar system has shrunk. It wasn't like this in the past," the old crane said.
Ye Fan pondered. Ninety-nine dragon mountains coexisting, coiled together, really seemed unrealistic. How astonishing would that be? Setting everything else aside, just this terrain alone could give birth to unimaginable things.
Moreover, it would inevitably be an unparalleled existence across the ages. Even the ancient Great Emperors would have rivals, and most likely would not be able to prevail!
"That's it! Could it be that because these ninety-nine dragon mountains combined, they defied the heavens, thus giving birth to an Earth Immortal?"
Ye Fan was now only a hair's breadth away from becoming an Origin Heavenly Master. In both strength and experience, he was unmatched in the world. No one in the current age could compare to him. Yet the more he understood, the more shocked he became.
The old crane insisted that the ancient Yellow River channel must be one of the dragon mountains. Its shape was already very similar, matching one on the terrain map.
"This is going to be interesting. If the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains truly exist, then anything born from them would be believable," Ye Fan muttered to himself.
They decided to set off immediately for the ancient Yellow River channel, traveling upstream from the lower reaches, searching for old sites and finding the other ninety-eight true dragon mountains.
"You're saying it's hidden within a vast ancient formation, not in the mortal world, but can be found through the current mountains and rivers?" Ye Fan asked.
The old crane nodded solemnly. He rarely emerged from seclusion, only for cultivation, but now he had personally come to the banks of the ancient Yellow River channel.
They wanted to find unknown regions and locate the sealed ancient mountain ranges. As they traveled, they visited mountains and rivers, uncovering many ancient sites. They dug up many broken steles from the Yellow River silt, hoping to gain something.
However, they never made a major discovery. There was nothing on either side of the Yellow River—no sealed ancient dragon mountains at all.
"Earth Spirit, come forth!" When they reached an uninhabited area where the Yellow River waters roared, the monkey chanted a spell and summoned a small old man.
Ye Fan's eyes went wide, stunned speechless. He felt a strange illusion—was he in a mythical era?
The old crane explained that the ancient Yellow River channel was originally the site of an ancient dragon mountain, with endless residual dragon qi. Some people and demons who had attained the Dao naturally attached themselves to this place.
The earth spirit summoned by the Third Valley Master was actually just a pangolin that had gained a bit of Dao attainment, transforming into an earth spirit to cultivate here.
The monkey interrogated him thoroughly. This earth spirit trembled like a sieve and told everything in detail. His ancestors had lived here since ancient times and had indeed heard of the ninety-nine dragon mountains, but had never seen them.
Then, they continued upstream, passing through Ningxia and Gansu, following the ancient Yellow River channel. Many places had not seen the Yellow River's flow for thousands of years, as it had long since changed course.
Along the way, they summoned mountain spirits and earth spirits from uninhabited areas several times, searching for the most magnificent ancient dragon mountains, but always without great success.
Ye Fan had to shake his head. This kind of terrain really couldn't exist. Otherwise, it would truly defy the heavens. He couldn't even imagine what could be born from it.
However, just as he was wavering, the old crane discovered demonic traces. In a certain section of the Yellow River where the waters overlapped with the ancient channel, he said there was a great demon that might yield some results.
The monkey entered the water but was thrown back up. Demonic qi rolled thickly, and the Third Valley Master nearly suffered a major loss.
The old crane stepped in. He was now a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, with profound Dao attainment, ranking among the top of the current sect leaders. As long as no reclusive great power users emerged, no one could contend with him.
"Boom!"
Waves surged into the sky. An ancient flood dragon rose up, matching his strength. It roared in anger, demanding to know why they had disturbed its water palace and disrupted its cultivation.
This was an old flood dragon of the Yellow River, having cultivated for over seven hundred years. Since ancient times, its ancestors had lived here, hidden in the underground water palace for cultivation.
The Great Valley Master explained, finally calming the old flood dragon's fury. The Yellow River's waves subsided, and it invited them into the water palace for a visit.
This was a water palace, with no extravagant decorations—simple and plain, everything made of stone, blocking the water from entering, built on a patch of silt.
Underground, wisps of dragon qi gathered. The old flood dragon's lineage cultivated using this, rarely appearing in the world. They were not like the demons of common imagination, who always stirred up trouble.
It invited the three to sit down and told them some ancient tales. Although it knew little, what it knew was passed down from its ancestors, finally giving them an important clue.
The old flood dragon said that in ancient times, the legend of the ninety-nine dragon mountains indeed existed. One of them had intertwined and coiled with the ancient Yellow River channel, vast and boundless. Later, it was moved away by someone with world-shaking power.
The three listened in stunned silence. So this legend was real. The old flood dragon confirmed that one of them still existed and named it—the Taihang Mountain Range.
"Isn't this a bit too absurd?" Even the monkey was dumbfounded.
The old crane heard this, showed a contemplative expression, and then spoke, saying that Taihang was indeed a dragon mountain. Its dragon qi had nurtured the six-dynasty ancient capital in the north.
"I once heard that the supreme dragon vein in ancient times was ten thousand times larger than this. Can you imagine how long that dragon mountain was?" the monkey said.
"Even the ancient Yellow River channel was formed by moving away a dragon mountain. What's so surprising about the Taihang Mountain Range being moved?" the old crane said calmly.
Ye Fan rubbed his chin. This was truly astonishing. Even the Taihang dragon vein was one of the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains. How magnificent would the scene of all the dragons dancing together be?!
The old flood dragon only knew of one ancient dragon mountain, not the others. According to it, this involved ancient taboo matters that could not be investigated deeply, or great disaster would follow.
This was a fragment passed down from its ancestors. Before they left, it repeatedly warned the three to stop while they could, never to pursue the matter further. Even the ancient sages dared not touch it, or they would surely meet with calamity.
This was truly shocking and hair-raising. What kind of ancient secret was this? What taboo did it involve?
Was this what Chi Songzi had been seeking?
Ye Fan and the others followed the ancient channel, entering the Sichuan region from Gansu, about to enter Qinghai and reach the source of the Yellow River.
However, in the Sichuan region, they found a breakthrough clue. They encountered an old turtle in the ancient Yellow River channel. Although its Dao attainment was not terribly frightening—having just entered the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm not long ago—its lifespan was very long, having lived over nine hundred years.
Its racial advantage was obvious.
After some conversation, they learned another astonishing fact from the old turtle. Its clan also cultivated using the dragon qi of the ancient Yellow River channel and knew some ancient anecdotes.
This time, it involved the Qilian Mountain Range, which had been moved from this place. It was an ancient great dragon.
Ye Fan and the others carefully compared and fell silent. It really did resemble one of the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains. This was frightening.
"In ancient times, the Qilian Mountain dragon vein was millions of miles long. This is truly shocking!"
The old turtle told them a secret that made them unable to remain calm. It said that the ninety-nine dragon mountains had been a taboo topic since ancient times. They could not be discussed, could not be spoken of, and no one dared to investigate them.
Ye Fan and the others bid farewell to the old turtle and entered Qinghai Province. Finally, they reached the source of the Yellow River, standing at the foot of a snow-capped mountain, staring blankly. They found nothing else.
"I feel like we've accidentally touched something we shouldn't have been investigating..." the old crane muttered.
Ye Fan had already sensed it. They seemed to have truly touched a taboo heavenly secret. If the Taihang Mountain dragon vein and the Qilian Mountain dragon vein were both millions of miles long, then ninety-nine such dragon mountains coiled and intertwined together would be utterly heaven-defying!
Saying it gave birth to an Earth Immortal was almost an understatement!
"Let's compare carefully and take a good look." They merged the nine ancient jade pieces together and then carved out all the famous dragon mountains in the world, comparing them one by one. The more they looked, the more shocked they became.
"This is the Hengduan Mountain dragon vein."
"This is the Tianshan Mountain dragon vein."
The group felt cold sweat on their backs. The famous dragon mountains of the world could all be found in the ninety-nine ancient dragon mountains, matching one by one.
On the ancient jade pieces, the largest of the ninety-nine dragon mountains was at the center, occupying nearly a quarter of the area, the most vast.
Ye Fan and the others carefully compared and found that its tail section matched the current Kunlun Mountain range's layout, almost perfectly overlapping.
"Most of Kunlun is hidden within ancient formations. Moreover, the mountains and sacred peaks manifested in the world today have all shrunk many times over," the old crane said.
The group was inexplicably shaken. What had happened in ancient times? The ninety-nine dragon mountains had originally been joined together, coiled and entangled in a complex terrain. Who had separated them?
What a monumental feat!
It was terrifying across past, present, and future. This was a heaven-defying means.
The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became. The mountains and rivers of the world seemed to have been deliberately arranged. The original layout of each dragon vein was not like this!
"This is too terrifying. It's a heaven-defying feat that shakes past, present, and future. We really have accidentally touched a taboo..."
[Laughter, looking back, a whole string of chapters is about to burst forth. Either we don't feel any pain at all, or we feel pain many times. We're about to explode. Seeking support. Seeking no pain.]