Chapter 223: Primordial Divine Guidance

The moonlight was like water, casting a tranquil silence over the empty land. The red gravel underfoot, the large rocks several hundred feet away, and the distant stone mountains were all shrouded in a hazy moonlight, like a thin mist.

Ye Fan and the four others with Old Dagger, however, could not share this tranquility. They were now certainly very close to the Primordial Mine, standing on its blood-red sandy ground. Their hearts pounded in their throats.

Two cultivators, Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan, were trembling uncontrollably, almost unable to stand, their hearts filled with terror. The Primordial Mine was renowned throughout the world as one of the Eastern Wasteland's seven great Forbidden Zones, a place of ill repute where countless terrifying events had occurred since ancient times.

“Who can save us? I truly don't want to die!”

“How can we escape this place? Old Dagger, do you have a plan? Daoist, can you find a way out?” Their voices trembled with near despair, and their faces were ashen.

They were now less than a hundred *li* from the Primordial Mine, and reaching this proximity likely meant more doom than fortune.

“What are you panicking about?” Old Dagger hissed. “We haven't entered the divine mine yet! We're still ten *li* away; there's still time to retreat!”

“But isn't it said that those who encounter the Primordial Mine are doomed?” they stammered, clinging to a sliver of hope as they looked at Old Dagger. “We've almost seen it. Is there really a way out?”

“That's when you get too close!” Old Dagger retorted. “We're still far enough to escape!” Without another word, he turned and sprinted away. This was no place to linger; staying here meant certain death.

Ye Fan also turned to run, following Old Dagger. He felt exceptionally unlucky lately; he had only intended to observe the Primordial Mine from a distance, not to be swept in by a black whirlwind.

Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan, their faces pale, scrambled to follow behind. Completely disoriented and without a plan, they passively trailed Old Dagger and Ye Fan.

The four, including Ye Fan and Old Dagger, ran fifty *li* without stopping, finally pausing to catch their breath. But then their expressions changed again.

“Wait, this isn't right!” Old Dagger whispered, alarmed. “How can we still see the Primordial Mine?”

Ye Fan also sensed something amiss and activated his divine eyes to gaze into the distance. At the horizon, starlight poured down like water, a vast, luminous expanse converging towards a single point on the ground.

Without a doubt, it was the Primordial Mine, still a mere ten *li* away! Waves of unease, terror, anger, and grief emanated from the distant mine, almost overwhelming them, just as they had felt moments earlier.

“How can this be? We clearly ran fifty *li*! Why hasn't the distance changed at all?”

Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan's faces instantly turned green. Every inch of their bodies, save for their eyeballs, trembled uncontrollably.

“We were clearly running in the... opposite direction. How is it that we're just circling it?”

This unsettling discovery sent shivers down their spines, leaving all four utterly unnerved.

“We're still alive, aren't we? Keep running!” Old Dagger's voice was low and grim. Clutching his tobacco pouch, he sprinted forward, covering hundreds of meters in an instant.

By now, Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan were practically crawling, their movements clumsy. They stumbled several times before managing to run again. Their fear was understandable; countless Holy Lords had perished here throughout history. Compared to such figures, these two were utterly insignificant.

Ye Fan also murmured to himself, recognizing a similarity between their current predicament and the records in the latter half of the Source Heaven Book. Unfortunately, that section was too profound for him to fully grasp at his current stage.

After running another fifty *li*, they stopped, only to discover they were still circling the Primordial Mine, just as before. They hadn't escaped at all.

“This is incredible, I can't make sense of it...” Old Dagger muttered, bewildered. While running, he felt they were moving away from the Primordial Mine, but every time they stopped, they found themselves merely circling it, not truly gaining distance. He squatted on the ground, pulled out his tobacco pouch, and began puffing, his brows deeply furrowed in thought.

“Old Dagger, you can still smoke at a time like this?” Li Desheng whined, his face a picture of misery.

“Think of a way, quickly!” Chen Huaiyuan urged, anxious, sitting on the ground and gasping for breath.

Ye Fan was now certain: this was the phenomenon described in the latter half of the Source Heaven Book. The divine sources had created a "field" that warped space and interfered with time. This was the most terrifying aspect: it wasn't a deliberate creation but a natural emanation from the divine sources, essentially altering the very "rules" and "order" of this world. For now, their situation was still relatively safe; they hadn't yet entered a truly perilous zone. Otherwise, triggering unknown laws of heaven and earth could have been devastating.

“Daoist, have you figured something out?” Li Desheng asked, looking at him hopefully.

Chen Huaiyuan also leaned closer, saying, "Young master, if you can find a way to get us out of here, I'll reward you handsomely!"

“I've only discerned a small clue; this place is far too complex...” Ye Fan admitted honestly. The disturbing field energy in this region clearly arose from the interaction of multiple divine sources, naturally generating and proliferating. However, if there were other factors at play, it would be impossible to predict the outcome without a true Source Master present.

“The Primordial Mine, containing divine sources, has likely become sentient long ago,” Old Dagger sighed beside them.

“If that's the case, it's far more troublesome,” Ye Fan said, frowning. “It could spontaneously generate deadly formations, leading to unforeseen, horrifying consequences.” What was worse was that these were all mere speculations; no one truly knew what lay within.

“Let's keep running and see if we can find a way out,” Ye Fan said, standing up. He intended to measure the strange spatial distortions of the area.

And so, the four of them began running once more. An hour later, Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan were nearly foaming at the mouth, collapsing to the ground. They had no idea how many "fifty *li*" stretches they had run, yet they still couldn't escape.

“How... how can this be...?” they gasped, completely exhausted.

“Could the divine sources here be sealing living beings?” Old Dagger muttered, his voice barely audible.

Ye Fan remained silent; the probability was high. Any race sealed within would undoubtedly be extraordinary, adding another layer of uncertainty to the area.

“I've heard rumors that Holy Spirits have emerged from the ancient mine,” Li Desheng began, “and that even a fully accomplished Eastern Wasteland Divine King would perish upon entering.”

“And another theory,” Chen Huaiyuan added, “is that an immortal race resides within...”

Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan, now also seated on the ground, offered these anecdotes. After running for so long, they were drenched in sweat and, paradoxically, less afraid. These were all merely superficial rumors; no one knew the true secrets. All these legends could be considered mere "preludes." According to the later records in the Source Heaven Book, they could give rise to conjectures ten times more horrifying. Ye Fan, having studied only a small portion of the later chapters of the Source Heaven Book, was already filled with boundless awe for the Primordial Mine based on what he was currently witnessing. This initial glimpse, this "prelude," was already so profound, yet he hadn't yet seen the true essence of its mysteries.

According to his conjectures, even a complete comprehension of the Source Heaven Book might not be enough to fully understand the "truth" of the Primordial Mine. This place was likely far more terrifying than anyone imagined, almost certainly harboring earth-shattering secrets. Otherwise, why would even true Source Masters not dare to enter? The founding ancestor of the Zhang family, a figure who stood at the pinnacle of his craft, was powerless and never dared to enter the Primordial Mine in his lifetime, viewing it as his greatest regret.

“Are we truly doomed to die here?” Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan asked, their faces grim. Seeing Ye Fan remain silent, they assumed he had no solution.

“Not necessarily,” Ye Fan said, standing up. “In a few more *li*, we'll have completed a full circle around the ancient mine. By then, we should be able to figure things out.” He revered the Primordial Mine, but they were still ten *li* away, not close enough to its core. He believed it might still be possible to find a way out, a method to break free. After all, this was just the periphery, not the true core region.

After running another twenty-odd *li*, they did indeed return to their starting point.

“Daoist, I can tell at a glance that you're a true Master of Digging, an extraordinary expert in this field! You simply must find a way for us!”

Ye Fan was speechless upon hearing Chen Huaiyuan's words. The term "Jueye" (爵爷), meaning "Master," was a playful homophone for "Jueye" (掘爷), or "Digger Master," another name for disciples of Source Masters. Those in this profession spent their adult lives excavating mountains and tunnels, disappearing beneath the earth, rarely seeing daylight. Those who unearthed source veins were playfully dubbed "Digger Masters."

“Daoist, Digger Master, have you figured out a way for us to escape?” Li Desheng asked, equally anxious.

“I have a method, but it will require taking a risk...”

“What kind of risk?” Old Dagger asked, taking a puff from his tobacco.

“This time, we need to advance several *li* towards the Primordial Mine,” Ye Fan calmly explained. “We need to better understand the 'field energy' of this place. Only then can we find a way out and escape.”

“Digger Master, are you insane?!” Chen Huaiyuan instantly leaped up, agitated. “Who willingly walks towards the Primordial Mine to die? Even Holy Lords only make such a desperate move when their lifespans are ending in old age!”

Ye Fan, without lifting his head, continued to draw and calculate on the ground. “Only by constantly measuring like this can we understand the situation and find a way out.”

“Alright, let's do it then!” Old Dagger declared, taking a deep drag from his pipe, tapping it against the ground, and standing up.

“To be cautious, we'll only advance five *li*, no deeper than that...” Ye Fan said, leading the way.

Li Desheng and Chen Huaiyuan, with glum expressions, were highly reluctant, but they dared not stay behind alone. At this point, their only hope rested on this Digger Master.

After advancing five *li*, they stopped, only to be startled to find the ground suddenly recede beneath them with a whoosh.

“What is this...?” Even Old Dagger was startled, his hair standing on end.

They had only walked five *li*, yet upon stopping, they found themselves suddenly twenty *li* deeper. The starlight converging towards the Primordial Mine was visible, appearing like a vast, white waterfall stretching across the horizon.

“Daoist, you're going to get us killed!” Chen Huaiyuan cried out in alarm.

“No harm done; we'll return the way we came,” Ye Fan replied, though he was also startled. The "laws" and "order" of this place were severely distorted. Getting in was easy, but getting out proved difficult. Over a mere twenty *li*, the four struggled for a full hour, finding they weren't moving back but merely circling. If Ye Fan hadn't, in advance, carved special patterns and markings along the path according to the Source Heaven Book, they would never have found their way out. All the markings left by Old Dagger and the others had vanished without a trace, mysteriously erased. Only some of Ye Fan's Source Heaven patterns remained.

“Why do I feel like we weren't walking in a straight line at all?” Old Dagger asked, perplexed. “It felt like we were constantly turning left and right, making many curves just to get out.”

“This is caused by the field energy naturally generated by the divine sources,” Ye Fan explained. “Fortunately, we're only at the periphery, and the complex changes here haven't fully manifested yet. We're relatively lucky.”

“Can we escape?” Li Desheng urgently asked.

“I'll need to test it a few more times from different angles. Otherwise, I can't be sure.”

“We have to try again?!” Chen Huaiyuan exclaimed, tense.

“Do you have a better idea?” Old Dagger shot him a sharp glance.

Over the next hour, Ye Fan attempted several more probes. The last one was the most perilous, as they suddenly found themselves thirty *li* further in, even turning Old Dagger's face pale. Now, they were less than fifty or sixty *li* from the Primordial Mine, and they could clearly see rivers of silver light streaming down from the sky. A pure white radiance completely enveloped the area, making it appear soft and sacred.

“What is that?!” Ye Fan exclaimed, surprised.

The Primordial Mine itself was underground and couldn't be seen directly. However, everything in the sky was visible: some dazzling objects were surging out from the ancient mine, rising and falling. The sky was filled with rivers of starlight, cascading down like waterfalls. Yet, these objects were even more brilliant, alternately ascending into the air and submerging into the earth.

“They might be divine sources!” Old Dagger squinted, his eyes emitting two sharp rays of light.

“Divine sources?!” Ye Fan exclaimed in surprise. Unwrapped by stone skin and devouring starlight—could these sources have gained sentience? There were definitely more than one; four or five points of light were rising and falling, and this was just what he could perceive.

“I see... bodies...” Li Desheng stammered, his lips trembling and his face turning green.

“What? Where?” Ye Fan asked, startled.

“Right there, in the sky above the Primordial Mine,” Li Desheng stammered, trembling. “They're floating up and down, sometimes disappearing underground, sometimes rising into the starlight.”

“Nonsense...” Old Dagger scoffed. “The Primordial Mine is obscured by a mysterious power. Even I can't see clearly, only faint points of light. How could you see anything?”

“My left eye... it's a natural Yin-Nether Eye. Occasionally, I can see certain special things.” Li Desheng explained, utterly terrified.

“A Yin-Nether Eye in your left eye...?” Old Dagger was astonished.

Ye Fan's heart also skipped a beat. He had heard of such eyes; they were incredibly difficult to acquire through cultivation and were usually a natural birthright, allowing one to perceive the netherworld.

“Quick, tell us! What else did you see?!” Ye Fan and Old Dagger pressed simultaneously.

“Those bodies... they keep rising into the starlight, then slowly sinking back into the earth... there are many of them.” Li Desheng spoke in a near trance, his face utterly drained of color. He couldn't see anything else, not even the divine sources. His cultivation was insufficient; his left eye could only occasionally glimpse into the netherworld.

Based on his description, Ye Fan and Old Dagger could already envision the scene sixty *li* away. Within the silver waterfalls of starlight cascading from the sky above the Primordial Mine, numerous corpses floated, bathed in the sacred glow. The mere thought of this sight made their hearts pound. What on earth was going on?! Furthermore, points of light and other objects could be vaguely seen, rising and falling.

“No wonder even the Source Master of the Zhang family, a true prodigy, dared not enter the Primordial Mine...” Ye Fan mused to himself. This place was utterly enigmatic.

*Buzz.*

Suddenly, an immense suction force emanated from the Primordial Mine. The starlight in the sky was instantly drained, plunging the entire expanse into pitch darkness, where they couldn't see their own hands. The ground below seemed to become a massive black hole, capable of devouring everything.