Chapter 188: The Emperor Arrived Too Late

It was indeed a humanoid creature, standing two meters tall with a wingspan of four meters. It lunged at Ye Fan from the depths of the ancient mine.

Its sharp claws, gleaming coldly like knives, aimed directly for his throat. Simultaneously, it emitted strange fluctuations from its mouth, causing a buzzing sensation in his eardrums.

Ye Fan raised his stone knife and thrust it forward, blocking the humanoid creature's path.

Clang! Its sharp claws struck the stone knife, producing a metallic clang and sending sparks flying.

‘Old Man Zhang said the stone clothing repels evil, so why have I encountered this unknown creature right after entering?’ Ye Fan wondered to himself. However, he felt no fear, sensing that this humanoid creature would not be difficult to handle.

Whoosh! The humanoid creature spread its wings, shot into the sky, regrouped its strength, and swooped down again. This time, it spewed a bright beam of light from its mouth, which descended like a sharp blade. Ye Fan put away his stone knife, realizing this creature clearly possessed innate magical abilities, making it unwise to fight with just a knife. Swish, swish, swish! He spread all five fingers, sending five streaks of sword light shooting forth like dazzling lightning, illuminating the dark ancient mine. Clang! The blade of light spewed from the humanoid creature's mouth shattered upon impact, and the remaining sword lights all struck its body. Puff! Blood splattered as the humanoid creature was pierced through. It frantically flapped its wings, trying to escape deeper into the ancient mine. Ye Fan had no intention of letting it escape. With a soft shout, a wave of energy surged skyward, directly stunning it. He knew this couldn't be a creature from the Primordial Era; otherwise, it wouldn't be so weak and would differ greatly from legends. Ye Fan stepped forward, spread its wings to fully reveal its true form, and examined it carefully. This humanoid creature was two meters tall, covered in gray fur, and its wings were fleshy, like those of a bat.

Ye Fan recalled ancient records. This was a species that lived underground, known as Demon Bats. They were extremely rare, almost never seen.

According to legend, when bats became spirits and then powerful beings, their descendants, after dozens or hundreds of generations, would have their bloodline gradually diluted. If they could not advance, they would degenerate into Demon Bats. Ancient texts also stated that wherever Demon Bats appeared, it was a place of great misfortune and evil.

Perhaps due to their nature, ancient records mentioned that these rare underground creatures invariably resided on the fringes of deadly lands. ‘This is not a good sign!’ Ye Fan muttered to himself. He had believed that the Purple Mountain might contain the legacy of an ancient Great Emperor, but now it seemed far from benevolent.

Ye Fan did not delay and continued forward. After venturing a dozen li deeper, he encountered great trouble: a hundred Demon Bats. He showed no mercy, cutting down any that dared to attack him with the Golden Book.

Finally, a massive Demon Bat, five meters long with a ten-meter wingspan, appeared. Only after he shattered it with a single punch did the ancient mine fall silent.

After advancing another twenty li, everything was silent. The ancient mine was pitch black and exceedingly eerie. He muttered to himself, ‘Have I entered the deadly land’s perimeter?’

Ye Fan continued for another seven or eight li, advancing slowly and steadily. He noticed numerous stone carvings on the cave walls, all left by ancient people using knives and axes.

The patterns were very simple, documenting various aspects of resource mining from that era. Ye Fan did not find them dull; instead, he examined them patiently.

Initially, they depicted trivial matters. Later, the carvings began to show many corpses, with all the figures lying on the ground. ‘Were the ancients from over a hundred thousand years ago trying to leave something behind?’

The more Ye Fan looked, the more surprised he became. He felt it was telling a story: eventually, these people unearthed something strange, and even more people died.

Later, a creature with a single horn on its forehead appeared. It had been dug out of the mine by the ancients, and almost everyone was wiped out.

This horned figure had six arms and a pair of feathered wings, looking down on the world with disdain. In the depiction, it roared at the sky, causing the earth to crack, the mine shaft to collapse, and underground magma to gush forth.

Ye Fan gasped. Could this be a creature from a divine source? Shaking heaven and earth, such might was truly terrifying. No wonder so many people died.

The subsequent carvings were even more startling. The horned humanoid creature was actually kneeling, kowtowing to a massive divine source. ‘Such a powerful creature, yet it's so fearful, kowtowing to something else?!’ Ye Fan was shocked.

He eagerly looked at the next carving, wanting to see what the creature within the peerless divine source looked like, that it commanded such awe. In the following carving, the creature within the peerless divine source did not appear; it was still a shadowy mass. Although it had not emerged, countless bones surrounded it, piles of bodies stretching endlessly.

‘What exactly is inside that divine source?’ Ye Fan couldn't help but feel startled.

Even before its emergence, the slaughter was boundless. According to the carvings, the dead were countless, numbering in the tens of thousands.

For several consecutive carvings, the divine source remained there, no creature emerging, only showing the corpses around it increasing, piling up into mountains, many of them cultivators. Blood gathered into real rivers, winding and flowing into the distance, truly like a hellish purgatory.

Meanwhile, the creature with a single horn on its forehead, six arms beneath its shoulders, and feathered wings on its back, remained devoutly kneeling beside the divine source throughout. ‘Such a horrific event occurred over a hundred thousand years ago. How many people died? The carvings clearly show this land shattered, so how does this ancient mine still exist?’

Ye Fan had originally come to find the Origin Stone Manual, but he was now deeply captivated by the carvings in the ancient mine.

In the subsequent carvings, the peerless divine source remained very vague, with no creature emerging, only more and more human corpses accumulating. And the humanoid creature kneeling before the divine source never intervened, constantly kowtowing. ‘The creature within this divine source was likely a terrifying existence even in the Primordial Era…’

Ye Fan couldn't help but be astonished. He continued to observe. The creature never emerged from the divine source, but the bones of cultivators around it grew more numerous, and blood stained the earth red.

Finally, a human expert, enveloped in a halo, descended from the sky. Only then did everything begin to change.

Their appearance was unclear; it was impossible to tell if they were male or female. Their entire body was wreathed in auspicious light. Only a character, ‘帝’ (Emperor), was carved above their head. ‘The ancient Great Emperor!’ Ye Fan’s heart jolted, and he quickly looked further down.

As expected of the Great Emperor who ruled the world, with a single move, they suppressed the horned humanoid creature devoutly guarding the divine source and directly slammed it deep into the earth.

That aura, awe-inspiring across heaven and earth, was carved by the ancients with simple strokes, yet it conveyed a sliver of its soul, showcasing the Great Emperor’s supreme might. Clouds in all directions dissipated, energy surged like a rainbow, stars and moon trembled—such was the Great Emperor’s might! From their very first move, they suppressed the humanoid creature.

In the subsequent carvings, the Emperor directly acted upon the divine source. Unfortunately, at this point, the ancient mine wall was broken, and the patterns were fragmented, making it impossible to see the outcome.

Skipping this section, Ye Fan continued to look further. He felt as if he had traveled back to the ancient desolate land of over a hundred thousand years ago, sensing the supreme bearing of that Great Emperor.

The existence within that peerless divine source was clearly terrifying and immensely powerful, forcing the Great Emperor to unleash a weapon. It was a massive bell, as tall as heaven and earth, descending to cover the divine source. ‘An Ultimate Weapon!’ Ye Fan was astonished. The Great Emperor’s weapon, when fully unleashed, was truly terrifying; he had never witnessed such might. It seemed to pierce through a hundred thousand years, as if the ancient Great Emperor’s supreme bearing wished to emerge from the wall itself! Ye Fan’s heart surged with emotion, the peerless divine might of the ancient Great Emperor filling him with longing.

In the next carving, the divine source cracked, and the creature inside finally emerged. However, it only depicted a slender hand stretching out. The subsequent stone was again fragmented, preventing a complete view.

Ye Fan's heart could not calm down, and he quickly walked forward. But after walking a considerable distance, the stone walls were all broken, and the carvings had completely fallen off.

After all, over a hundred thousand years had passed. If the stone material inside the mine shaft hadn't been special, it would have been impossible for them to be preserved until now. Damage was to be expected.

It wasn't until he walked over a hundred meters further that the carvings reappeared. Unfortunately, by then, the battle had long concluded. The Great Emperor had used their Ultimate Weapon—the bell—to suppress the Primordial creature, sealing it within the peerless divine source. Ultimately, he still couldn't see the terrifying creature's true form.

‘A slender hand, like jade, seemingly a woman’s, yet so powerful…’ Ye Fan took another sharp breath. Creatures from the Primordial Era were indeed unfathomable. To survive within a divine source and live until later ages was astonishing.

However, he admired the Great Emperor even more for having suppressed such a terrifying creature. They were indeed a supreme human talent who overlooked the vast lands.

It was a pity he couldn't see the details of that great battle. The hundred-plus-meter-long stone wall was damaged, which must have depicted the most thrilling and intense combat scenes. Ye Fan moved forward another dozen meters, finally finishing the last of the carvings.

The Great Emperor from before the Desolate Era restored the land to its original state. Then, using the bell to suppress the divine source, they flew towards a distant mountain.

‘Purple Mountain!’ Ye Fan recognized the mountain at a glance. It was precisely the ‘pearl’ guarded by the nine dragons.

After seeing all this, he did not advance. He stood in place for a long time, silent and lost in thought.

These were carvings left by ancients over a hundred thousand years ago, documenting some of the circumstances of that time. Everything about the ancient mine's excavation was depicted. This mine vein was located beneath a mountain ridge, which was also a so-called dragon vein.

In this region, there were a total of nine dragon veins, arching around a single pearl. They must all contain divine sources. Does this mean that each dragon vein contains a terrifying creature? Did similar events occur in all of them, ultimately suppressed by the Great Emperor?

In the Origin Zone of the Yaoguang Holy Land, when that pyramid glowed and brought green vitality back, Ye Fan had personally witnessed the formation of an Origin. Creatures being sealed within an Origin was purely coincidental, as Origin fluid would drip down and encase bodies on the ground.

Here, were the powerful creatures from the Primordial Era passively sealed by the Origin, or did they actively enter the dragon veins and put themselves into slumber within the peerless divine sources?

Logically, once a divine source solidified, it couldn't be entered. After all, the mine veins had already formed; forcibly entering would only shatter the divine source, making it impossible to preserve. This was an original Origin vein, not artificially arranged. However, Ye Fan felt it wasn't that simple. If the powerful creatures from the Primordial Era sealed themselves within the divine sources, then much more could be inferred. There were nine dragon veins here, meaning at least nine divine sources. If they all contained terrifying creatures, did they know each other?

In that distant past, did these nine terrifying ancient creatures know each other and collectively make such a choice?

Old Man Zhang’s ancestor, the Origin Stone Master, once said that the ‘Grand Vein’ of this place could only be moved by a Great Emperor. In the distant Primordial Era, those ancient creatures chose this place. Did they dare to disturb this ‘Grand Vein’?

Pushing his thoughts further, Ye Fan considered another terrifying possibility: powerful creatures from the Primordial Era had already occupied this place. Did this mean the Purple Mountain was also like that? If so, with each of the nine dragon veins having a terrifying creature, what exactly were they guarding?

Only a Great Emperor could disturb the ‘Grand Vein’ here. The human Great Emperor was, after all, a latecomer. When they appeared here, other races had already taken residence. Yes, according to this speculation, the Great Emperor arrived late! ‘Everything lies within Purple Mountain…’ Ye Fan understood that the root of all these events ultimately converged upon the Purple Mountain.