Chapter 229: Great Emperor's Sacred Battlefield

The Divine Lihuo Furnace blazed with towering flames, clanging loudly like a burning, crystalline divine mountain. It was intensely hot and unbearable, and its body was constantly battered and deforming.

The unidentified creature possessed astonishing strength, battering the furnace into a twisted, distorted shape, emitting thunderous clangs, and causing many bulges to appear on its surface.

Over a hundred meters tall, the Divine Lihuo Furnace burned fiercely, turning half the sky crimson and shaking violently, threatening to topple over at any moment.

The incessant clanging continued as the furnace body was battered, at one moment resembling a flattened persimmon and the next, a broken teacup, taking on bizarre forms.

Such power was bone-chilling; even cultivators of the Third Secret Realm would be unable to withstand it—it was truly an earth-shattering might.

The Divine Lihuo Furnace was like clay; it could be molded into any shape, yet it refused to break apart.

"Daoist Priest, what kind of furnace is this? It seems almost indestructible,” Yao Xi couldn't help but ask.

This dilapidated furnace was incredibly sturdy; battered into a twisted, shapeless mess, it seemed utterly absurd, yet it remained unbroken, astonishing everyone.

Ye Fan gave a wry smile, saying, "This humble Daoist found it while wandering the world.”

The Jade Lake Saintess looked thoughtful as she gazed at the deformed Divine Lihuo Furnace and said, "It greatly resembles a replica of the Sun God Furnace, but its power is insufficient.”

"This old furnace actually has such a grand origin?" Li Desheng exclaimed, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Its power is indeed far inferior to a replica of the Sun God Furnace,” Old Blade muttered, "but in terms of durability, it far surpasses it. It simply can't be broken!”

The Shaking Light Saint Son stood like an Immortal King on the furnace lid, radiating myriad rays of holy light. An eternal radiance emanated from him, completely suppressing the furnace beneath him. The unidentified creature roared in terror inside the furnace, unable to break free.

"Everyone, let's work together and quickly refine this fiend. This place is not suitable for us to linger,” Old Blade suggested.

The five of them acted simultaneously to assist the Shaking Light Saint Son, as streams of divine power surged into the furnace, making it shimmer with crystalline brilliance.

Although it continued to deform, its power wasn't exceptionally strong, yet it could absorb all the divine power from the six individuals, showing no signs of bursting.

"Aooooooh—” The desperate roars grew weaker and weaker. The furnace shimmered with light, and the vague imprints of a sun and several divine birds on its surface glowed with extraordinary brilliance.

"Huh, the patterns on the furnace body have disappeared!” Li Desheng exclaimed.

On the Divine Lihuo Furnace, the sun and divine bird imprints shone brilliantly and then vanished completely.

"This dilapidated furnace is truly extraordinary,” Old Blade mumbled, adding, "The sun and divine bird imprints must have entered the furnace to assist in refining the demon.”

Everyone sensed that the furnace's temperature rapidly escalated, and their divine power, like rivers flowing into the sea, was absorbed into it. The furnace shone with brilliant radiance.

The unidentified creature screamed repeatedly before finally weakening completely and falling silent, emitting no further sound. At the same time, the furnace also quieted down, and the vague patterns on its body reappeared.

At this moment, the copper furnace was grotesquely shaped, like a multi-headed gourd. The lid had deformed and was sealed tightly, making it difficult to open. Ye Fan spent a long time before he could finally open it.

When the furnace was inverted, a pile of black ash poured out. The powerful unknown creature had been refined into dust and ashes, which left everyone secretly astounded.

"This thing definitely needs major repairs, doesn't it?” Li Desheng wanted to laugh; the furnace looked so bizarre.

Ye Fan waved his hand, and the furnace shrank to an inch in height, appearing in his palm. Although it resembled a squashed persimmon, it remained crystal clear and translucent.

"Daoist Priest, would you be willing to part with this furnace? I would exchange a valuable treasure for it,” the Shaking Light Saint Son asked with a gentle smile, landing on the ground.

Ye Fan shook his head. Given the furnace’s indestructibility and ability to self-repair, he couldn't part with it. He needed to find time to understand it properly.

Old Blade suggested, "We should leave quickly. The creature we refined was likely just a pawn, a soldier, perhaps, of some terrifying entity.”

"That’s very likely the case, and the surrounding area is probably dangerous,” the Jade Lake Saintess nodded.

The beings living in the Primordial Forbidden Zone are extremely ferocious and terrifying, and encountering them would almost certainly mean death. Although this creature was powerful, it was far from comparable to those spoken of in legends.

Ye Fan’s heart was stirred with a chilling realization that an ancient royal family might be slumbering beneath this area, and this creature was merely a guardian.

"Let’s go!” The six of them flew away, daring not to delay for a moment.

Usually, a weaker being is left to guard a slumbering entity. Once a stronger being awakens or the royal family is disturbed, even the great Sacred Lords would meet their demise.

It was already late night, and they had only traveled a few miles when they heard low roars from behind, accompanied by a surge of intense malevolent energy.

They were startled, realizing that a more powerful creature had indeed awakened. However, they found some relief in the fact that it did not immediately pursue them.

"Hmm, what’s that ahead?”

At the edge of the horizon, shadows flickered faintly as a massive dark silhouette blocked their path.

"It’s ruins, a vast expanse of them!” It was indeed a very expansive ruin, laden with an aura of decay, with broken walls and crumbling remnants stretching before them.

"Let’s go around it.”

They didn’t want any accidents to occur, fearing that startling anything within would lead to endless trouble.

The six chose to proceed to the right, hoping to bypass the ruins.

Suddenly, an ominous, malevolent aura surged toward them, sending chills down their spines and making the hairs on their bodies stand on end.

"That thing is catching up!” Li Desheng shivered with fright, his face deathly pale.

The six turned to look, and ten *li* away, there was a disheveled black silhouette, similar in height to a human, with grey hair reaching the ground, completely obscuring its true appearance. Its body was covered in terrifying hair.

Heavy, ragged breathing could be clearly heard from one *li* away. It matched the low roars they had heard earlier, confirming it was the same creature.

"Run!”

This creature was far more powerful than the previous one, sending shivers down everyone's spines. They had no thought of fighting it.

Now, all they could do was flee for their lives. They certainly couldn't defeat it; charging forward would be suicide.

A brutal malevolent aura surged toward them, sharp as a blade, causing goosebumps to rise on everyone’s skin.

The six ran wildly, their feet barely touching the ground, like six phantoms under the night moon.

The unidentified creature let out a low roar and gave chase. But puzzlingly, it only advanced a few hundred *zhang* before stopping.

"Why did it stop?” Everyone was puzzled.

"Wait, stop!” Ye Fan’s heart sank, and he stopped them.

He felt a deep unease; though the path ahead seemed clear, it gave him a bad feeling.

Behind them, the terrifying creature with grey hair reaching the ground and a trembling malevolent aura stared at them for a moment, then turned and vanished into the darkness.

"It actually left? It didn’t pursue us. Why?” Li Desheng asked, puzzled.

Ye Fan’s expression grew solemn, and using the terrain observation method recorded in the *Source Heaven Book*, he scanned the area.

"Master Digger, have you discerned anything?” Li Desheng had considerable faith in Ye Fan’s expertise in this regard.

"I also feel something is amiss,” Yao Xi said, frowning.

"Indeed, there’s something strange here—an extremely yin and gentle aura, highly dangerous.” The Shaking Light Saint Son, whose spiritual senses were extremely keen, instinctively perceived the danger.

"Everyone, we’ve encountered big trouble!” Just then, Ye Fan’s expression shifted, his heart filled with dread. He had never imagined encountering such a terrain.

"Aren’t we almost out of the Primordial Forbidden Zone? Are we encountering danger again?” Li Desheng pressed.

"Yes, and it’s a considerably terrifying danger. This is an extremely rare terrain.”

Ye Fan pointed forward and said, "Look closely, and you will certainly perceive the abnormality.”

"A blood moon!” the Jade Lake Saintess exclaimed.

"A blood-stained crescent moon, utterly yin and gentle.” A look of astonishment appeared on Yao Xi’s exquisite, ethereal face.

"Is there some special significance to this?” Old Blade asked.

"This is the legendary Crimson Blood Cavern,” Ye Fan replied, "a demonic land beneath us, imbued with an extreme yin and gentle energy.”

Right ahead, there was a stretch of silence. If one didn't look carefully, nothing would be perceived. However, by calming one’s mind and sensing carefully, an anomaly would quickly be discovered.

On the ground, there was a small blood moon, reflecting the bright moon in the sky and drawing in its ethereal glow from across the heavens. However, once it entered the ground, it turned crimson.

It was a blood-stained crescent moon, radiating an aura of extreme yin and gentleness. The more one gazed at it, the more bone-chilling it became.

"What’s… beneath the ground?” Li Desheng asked, his voice trembling.

Ye Fan did not answer. This was the infamous "Crimson Moon Cavern,” an extremely terrifying place, and what lay beneath was utterly unfathomable.

"A blood moon on the surface, a divine cavern beneath—this is a demonic land.”

The Crimson Blood Cavern was described in painstaking detail across many pages of the *Source Heaven Book* as one of the most terrifying forbidden lands.

"I understand now why that terrifying creature behind us retreated—it was scared away by the Crimson Moon Cavern,” Old Blade said in a deep voice.

By now, everyone knew they were in grave trouble. They had personally experienced how dangerous that creature was, and they utterly couldn’t contend with it.

The chilling tremor they felt earlier still made them feel a chill when they recalled it, yet it had been scared away by this Crimson Moon Cavern.

A blood-stained crescent moon, imprinted on the ground, was a truly shocking sight.

"Daoist Priest, how can we escape this calamity?” Li Desheng placed all his hope on Ye Fan.

"We can only go around it. Our only fortune is that we haven’t yet entered that blood moon.”

The blood moon extended for several *li*. Their current position was precisely between the ruins and the blood moon; they had not yet stepped inside.

"Retreating is impossible. That creature is still behind us. We can only move slightly closer to the ruins and then proceed forward,” the Shaking Light Saint Son said.

"Don’t act rashly yet; let me take another look.” Ye Fan observed the ruins.

The unexpected sight of the Crimson Moon Cavern unsettled him. They were about to leave the Primordial Forbidden Zone, yet such a world-shaking forbidden land still existed here. He felt a profound strangeness, and a bad premonition arose within him.

"This…” Ye Fan’s expression changed. The more he observed the ruins, the more alarmed he became, his bad premonition proving true. This was Fallen Sun Ridge.

Fallen Sun Ridge was as renowned as the Crimson Moon Cavern. They occasionally coexisted, and if both were present, the danger would be extreme and terrifying. Such occurrences were rare throughout history, with no more than three known instances.

"Daoist Priest, what have you seen?”

"Something is wrong,” Ye Fan said, surprised. "Fallen Sun Ridge shouldn't have such a strong *yang* aura; it’s different from what I imagined.”

"I sense a black blazing sun, possessing extreme rigidity and *yang* energy, but it cannot overcome the extreme *yin* of the Crimson Moon Cavern,” the Shaking Light Saint Son said.

"That’s right, there’s faintly a black sun imprinted among the ruins,” the Jade Lake Saintess said, frowning.

Yao Xi, having also sensed the black sun's presence, asked, "What kind of terrain is this?”

"This is the legendary Fallen Sun Ridge, as renowned as the Crimson Moon Cavern. If they coexist, even gods and Buddhas would be slain,” Ye Fan replied, then added, “However, something feels off. The aura of extreme rigidity and *yang* seems slightly lacking.”

"What? This is Fallen Sun Ridge?”

"It’s actually *this* place!”

"This… could it be Emperor Hengyu’s weapon forging ground?”

The Shaking Light Saint Son, Yao Xi, and the Jade Lake Saintess all exclaimed in unison.

Old Blade was also visibly moved, his face etched with shock, and said, "The place where Emperor Jiang of the Northern Region’s Ancient Desolate Jiang Family forged his ultimate weapon?”

"Emperor Hengyu, whose divine might shook the world and whose name resonates through all ages, was born in the ancient desolate era. It’s probably over a hundred thousand years since then, isn’t it?” Li Desheng also looked utterly astonished.

Ye Fan was greatly shocked to hear these words. An Emperor had once entered the Primordial Forbidden Zone and used the terrifying "Fallen Sun Ridge” to forge an ultimate weapon. That was truly terrifying!