Chapter 185: Emperor Jade

Ye Fan had no other choice; he had to become a Source Master. He didn't want to be shamed, so he would have to make others bear the shame instead. If he became a Source Master, the Holy City, tens of thousands of miles away, would be his paradise.

"Brother Ye, if you really manage to gamble for a Saintess, could you also win a sister-in-law for me?" Two-Silly asked naively.

Ye Fan immediately smiled and replied, "No problem."

"If he can win a Saintess, getting you a fairy wife is certainly not an issue," Wang Shu quipped, making fun of Two-Silly.

"In Stone Village, besides Old Man Zhang, who else knows a lot about sources?" Ye Fan wanted to start from the basics, knowing that becoming a Source Master wouldn't be easy.

"The elders all know a bit, but only Old Man Zhang Five is truly proficient."

Brother Ye nodded. In the past few days since arriving at Stone Village, his understanding of source patterns had greatly improved, and he needed to continue learning.

That very afternoon, shouts and horse neighs echoed from outside Stone Village, throwing the villagers into a panic. "Big Beard Chen is here! He brought more than a dozen men to destroy our village!" "Hide! The bandits are here, all armed, and they want to slaughter our village!"

Many young men organized the elders and children to hide, then, gripping sharp knives, they rushed to the village gate. "These damnable bandits only know how to bully common folk! Why don't they go raid those sects? Cowardly dogs!" "Many of them are connected to those sects; they have powerful forces backing them, working together in collusion and evil." The young men in the village were defiant. Seeing the bandits approach, they showed no fear and were all ready to fight. "Today is not about fighting to the death; behave yourselves," Old Man Zhang Five and several elders reprimanded the hot-headed youths.

Outside Stone Village, dust billowed as dozens of riders arrived in the blink of an eye. Shouts and horse neighs filled the air, thick with killing intent. All were mounted on Dragon Chariot steeds, their azure whale armor gleaming, looking fierce and ferocious. Each carried the scent of blood. Clearly, this was a group of ruthless thugs who had killed many people, far more brutal than ordinary bandits.

In the past few days, Ye Fan had killed some bandits within a hundred-mile radius, but he had never managed to find this particular group. Today, they finally came knocking.

In the center, mounted on a Dragon Chariot steed, sat a forty-year-old man with a large beard. His curly hair bristled like a lion's mane, giving him a ferocious appearance. "People of Stone Village, come out!" many bandits roared. "You dare to wait for us with knives? You must be tired of living!" Many bandits looked menacing.

Old Man Zhang Five stepped forward, standing inside the village. "Please calm your anger, gentlemen. Who among the men of the Northern Region doesn't carry a knife? We have always been like this."

A bandit sneered, "Enough talk. Are the sources you owe ready? Don't tell me the quantity is insufficient or you need more time; we have no patience." "If you don't hand over the sources today, your village will be utterly destroyed. We will raze it immediately and turn this place into a bloodbath." The bandits bellowed, their killing intent spreading.

Old Man Zhang Five knew that these were absolute executioners, not making idle threats. He opened a bag of sources, and a brilliant light instantly shimmered, drawing the eyes of all the desperate men. "Not bad, the quality of these sources is acceptable. Old Man Zhang, you're quite capable to have gathered them in such a short time," Big Beard Chen said, approaching with dozens of bandits. "This humble old man would not dare to disobey the esteemed sirs," Old Man Zhang Five replied, bowing. Several catties of sources, gleaming with vibrant colors, spiritual energy overflowing, and colorful light flowing.

These were all Ye Fan's sources, just over five catties. He didn't want to fight in Stone Village; he believed these bandits might have a sect backing them. If he started a massacre here, it might implicate the village, so he had Old Man Zhang Five hand over the sources first.

Big Beard Chen snatched the sources into his hand and laughed heartily, an ear-splitting sound like a broken drum. "Not bad, just over five catties. Consider yourselves lucky; your village is spared this time." He tapped Old Man Zhang Five's head with his horsewhip and said, "I've long heard that you, old man, have extraordinary judgment, and it seems to be true. Your old arms and legs won't last many more years, so you might as well stay in this region and keep finding sources for me..."

Just then, Two-Silly, eyes bloodshot, rushed over and cried, "Big Beard Chen, where's my sister? Give me back my sister!"

A bandit next to Big Beard Chen laughed crudely, "Are you talking about the girl we took back a month ago? She was quite tasty, but unfortunately, we hadn't fully enjoyed her before she jumped into the river half a month ago."

"I'll fight you!" Two-Silly burst into tears on the spot. Though a bit slow-witted, he was incredibly strong; four or five young men from the village couldn't hold him down together.

"You idiot, you dare to challenge us?" Several bandits' eyes immediately turned fierce. "If you defy us again, we'll wipe out your village immediately!" These men were ruthless killers, utterly desperate, and they meant what they said.

"Sister..." Two-Silly wept loudly. Although usually simple and carefree, at that moment, he was heartbroken, struggling and sobbing uncontrollably, veins bulging all over his body.

An elder from the village walked over and touched Two-Silly with a finger, instantly making him unable to move. The young men nearby gripped their knife handles, wishing they could rush forward immediately.

"Why bother getting angry with an idiot?" a bandit said with an ill-intentioned smile. "I remember last time, this idiot also had a pretty sister. We'll take her this time."

"Idiot, go get your sister!" A bandit stepped forward, flicking his horsewhip and pointing at Two-Silly.

"Gentlemen, you cannot do this. We have already handed over the sources as demanded. Do not harm anyone else in our village," Old Man Zhang Five interjected.

"Old man, mind your own business. We have something to tell you later; just stand aside for now." Several bandits shoved him aside, then forcefully whipped Two-Silly several times. "Get up and call your sister!" One of them removed the restraint on him.

"I'll fight you!" Two-Silly's lips were bleeding from biting them. He grabbed a sharp knife from the ground. Seeing this, the other young men also raised their gleaming blades and strode forward.

"Insolence! A group of mere mortals dares to resist?!" The thugs' eyes widened. One of them swung his whip heavily, knocking Two-Silly to the ground. He spat and said, "You idiot, if you don't want to live, don't drag your village down with you. Go quickly and bring your sister, or else I'll slaughter everyone here..." These desperate men were incredibly savage and overbearing. "I'm speaking! Didn't you hear me? Go quickly and call your sister!" Another one whipped Two-Silly several more times.

The young people in Stone Village were seething with rage, wishing they could strike immediately.

"Enough, no more nonsense this time," Big Beard Chen said from behind, waving his hand. He was afraid of inciting public outrage because he still needed people from this village to do work for him. He turned to Old Man Zhang Five and said, "You old man, you really have a knack for finding sources. We urgently need sources now, so here's another task."

"What task?"

"In twenty days, hand over another five catties of sources."

"What? We just handed them over," Old Man Zhang Five looked bewildered.

Big Beard Chen offered a fake smile. "This is the last time, because right now, we really need them. There will be benefits for you later."

"But, in such a short time, we really can't find..."

"Stop with the excuses!" Big Beard Chen's face immediately darkened. He turned his horse and left, leaving behind only a chilling remark: "If you don't gather five catties of sources within half a month, just wait for your village to be wiped out."

"Old man, make good use of the few years you have left," a bandit snapped, whipping Old Man Zhang Five, spitting, and riding off on his dragon-scaled steed.

"You idiot, you got off easy this time. Be careful next time," another bandit whipped Two-Silly a few times, then leapt onto his horse and departed.

"These damnable bastards!" "Why don't these bloodsuckers get struck by lightning?" The people of Stone Village were furious. Watching the departing figures, everyone clenched their fists. Two-Silly howled like a beast, and Wang Shu held him tightly, preventing him from giving chase.

Ye Fan walked over, patted Two-Silly's shoulder, and said, "Come with me." Old Man Zhang Five and the others didn't ask further; they knew what Ye Fan was going to do. Taking Two-Silly along was also good; otherwise, the boy might truly go mad.

The dozens of bandits continued their journey, visiting seven or eight small oases and collecting over a dozen catties of sources in total before riding off into the distance. Ye Fan, with Two-Silly in tow, followed leisurely behind, noticing that these men were very cautious, stopping and starting, as if fearing being tracked.

Surprisingly, their stronghold was three hundred miles away. They didn't cause much commotion in their immediate vicinity, always raiding distant locations. "With so many sources collected this time, the old man should be able to make a breakthrough," Big Beard Chen whispered to a nearby bandit. Soon, they entered a mountainous area filled with stone forests. There was little vegetation here, only a river flowing through. "We need to deliver these sources to the old man as quickly as possible..." Ye Fan was surprised. From their conversation, he learned that there truly was a sect supporting them.

"Is the Green Mist Sect well-known in this area?" Ye Fan asked Two-Silly.

"I think I've heard of it. I remember now, my grandfather and others used to talk about it. Within a five-hundred-mile radius, it's all Green Mist Sect territory." Two-Silly said, all the while staring intently at the river deep within the stone forest.

"The dead cannot be brought back to life; try to be open-minded," Ye Fan said, patting his shoulder. Then he extended his divine sense and found a total of fifty-one thugs. Big Beard Chen and one other person had reached the Divine Bridge Realm, with seven or eight cultivators in the Life Spring Realm, and the rest were at the lowest level, the Bitter Sea Realm.

Not wanting to let a single one escape, Ye Fan carved some Dao patterns around the stone forest, as described in the ancient beast-skin scroll, sealing off the area. "Alright, go avenge your sister," Ye Fan said as he led Two-Silly into the stone forest.

"Who are you?" a thug yelled.

*Pfft!* Ye Fan pointed a finger directly, and a golden light shot out, creating a bloody hole in the thug's forehead. The corpse instantly fell to the ground.

"Who dares trespass on our territory?" With a whoosh, the bandits all rushed forward. "So it's you, you idiot! You dare to deliver yourself to us? Did you bring your sister?" "No, wait, this isn't your sister, it's a young man..." A group of thugs, not yet seeing the dead body nearby, ignorantly walked closer.

From a distance, Big Beard Chen sensed that something was terribly wrong. Without a word, he immediately tried to flee, but he was blocked by the Dao patterns and couldn't escape. He shouted anxiously, "Brothers, kill them for me!"

"Two-Silly, you may be simple-minded, but your sisters are quite fetching..." Two-Silly gritted his teeth, his eyes red with fury.

"Your evil deeds are complete; today, all your wickedness ends," Ye Fan said, continuously pointing. One corpse after another fell, their foreheads pierced by divine light.

"You...!" The bandits panicked. Even though they were accustomed to killing, fear gripped them when it came to their own lives. *Pfft!* *Pfft!*

Ye Fan hurled the stone spear in his hand, pinning five men to the ground one after another. These were the ones who shared the great hatred for Two-Silly's sister's death. Ye Fan patted his shoulder, letting him carry out the revenge himself; otherwise, he would surely be consumed by this suppressed rage. The men pinned to the ground shrieked in agony. Two-Silly was nearly mad, hacking with a knife and biting, covered in blood.

"You scum, just because you've gained some power, you think you can act lawlessly?" "Who are you? Do you know our origins?" Big Beard Chen's ferocity was a facade; he had long wallowed in piles of corpses, and his intuition was sharp. He knew today was a bad omen.

"Aren't you just serving an old geezer from the Green Mist Sect?" Ye Fan sneered. "I'll deal with you first. When I'm free, I'll find a chance to kill that old fellow and rid this place of a menace. For a Northern Region sect to secretly commit such heinous acts is truly unforgivable."

"Before you kill us, you must consider the consequences! If you become an enemy of the Green Mist Sect, you won't be able to survive in this region!" Big Beard Chen roared, retreating constantly.

"I won't go shouting it to the world. Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, I know. Who else knows?" Ye Fan sneered. "I'm about to have a breakthrough soon, and I happen to need some whetstones. I don't mind if the Green Mist Sect sends people to find me."

*Swoosh!* A green light shot out from the stone forest, striking towards Brother Ye's neck with the speed of lightning.

*Clang!* Brother Ye flicked a finger lightly, and a crescent blade instantly shattered, falling to the ground.

*Boom!* He moved his fist, smashing it forward. With a thunderous roar, a large section of the stone forest nearby was instantly pulverized. The Divine Bridge realm cultivator, who was on the same level as Big Beard Chen, shrieked, his bones broken, and rolled on the ground.

"You have committed countless evils, your hands are stained with blood. It's time for you all to go on your way," Ye Fan said, continuously pointing his fingers. Streams of golden light shot out like meteors. *Pfft, pfft, pfft...* The sounds were ceaseless as corpses repeatedly fell to the ground.

"Don't kill me..." Big Beard Chen shrieked. Though he was the bandit leader, at the final moment, he was more cowardly than anyone else. Ye Fan shattered his Bitter Sea with a palm strike, then threw him in front of Two-Silly. At this point, Two-Silly had already torn apart the bandits pinned by the stone spears; his body was covered in blood-red, and he wept, "Give me back my sister!" He grabbed Big Beard Chen and bit him savagely.

Ye Fan eliminated all the bandits, then turned and walked deeper into the stone forest, where he found a total of twenty catties of sources. He truly wondered how many villages these thugs had plundered to collect so much. In addition, he discovered an ancient jade, about half the size of a palm. It was a broken piece, clearly snapped off from a larger artifact. Holding it, he immediately felt an ancient and desolate aura, giving him a strange sensation.

"A map..." Ye Fan was somewhat surprised. Etched on this ancient jade were topographical maps of mountains and rivers. It was unknown how many generations it had been passed down, as the markings were almost worn away. There was a single character on it that startled him. Although it was nearly illegible, with careful discernment, he could still make it out: "Emperor."

"Two-Silly, don't kill him! I still have questions for him!" Ye Fan urgently shouted. At this point, Big Beard Chen was a horrific sight, covered in blood, but fortunately, he hadn't breathed his last.

"Where did you get this ancient jade from?"

Big Beard Chen had long since lost his courage, answering whatever was asked. "My brothers dug it out from a source vein when excavating a source mine." He kept kowtowing, clutching Two-Silly's legs, begging both of them, "Spare me..."

"How could it be something sealed in a source mine? This ancient jade has characters on it..."

"I didn't explain it clearly. It's an ancient mine left over from before the Desolate Era. We dug it out from that ancient..."

"Where is that ancient mine?" Ye Fan pressed.

An ancient jade from before the Desolate Era deeply shocked him, especially the character "Emperor" on it, which led him to many conjectures. It was known that in this very region, the Purple Mountain was connected to ancient Great Emperors, and he was planning to enter it to search for the Source Heavenly Book. Now, having obtained such a piece of ancient jade, he couldn't help but make some connections.

"Don't kill me! I'll take you there to find it," Big Beard Chen pleaded, as if grasping a lifeline.

Ye Fan kicked him away, then extended his powerful divine sense, directly piercing his sea of consciousness to read his memories. This was the benefit of powerful divine sense; the other party's mind was completely defenseless against him.

Ye Fan frowned. This fellow truly committed countless wicked and harmful deeds. Soon, he found the information he sought. The ancient mine was only two hundred miles away, not very far.

"Alright, Two-Silly, continue your revenge," Ye Fan stood up.

An hour later, Big Beard Chen's screams finally ceased. Two-Silly wept heartbrokenly, then jumped into the river, continuously calling his sister's name. Ye Fan sighed. This was the true Northern Region, a paradise for crime, where any tragic event could happen without strength.

"Let's go," Ye Fan said. He had Two-Silly wash himself clean in the river, threw him a set of clothes, then erased all traces from the area before soaring into the sky with him.

As they were about to return to Stone Village, Ye Fan stared at the thousands of meters high Purple Mountain, repeatedly examining the ancient jade in his hand. Suddenly, another mountain range appeared in his vision. "It's here!" He immediately grasped something. Flying high enough into the sky, he looked forward.

Around that massive Purple Mountain were nine mountain ranges, but they were incredibly distant, appearing like tiny caterpillars on the far horizon, almost imperceptible. If drawn on a map, it would become clear that the Purple Mountain was situated at the center, encircled by these nine ranges.

Ye Fan looked down at the ancient jade. The mountain ranges on the incomplete map must have been two of the ranges in this region. "A complete map on this ancient jade must include the Purple Mountain. It's surprising that even those mountain ranges on the distant horizon are connected to the Purple Mountain..." Ye Fan's heart was stirred.