Chapter 449: Cultivating the Great Emperor

Chapter 453: Cultivating a Great Emperor

"Swish!"

The two disheveled old figures vanished in a flash, reappearing in the distant sky. They had evaded the remaining two strikes of the Nine Cuts of the Demon Emperor. Covered in blood, they watched the duo with surprise and uncertainty.

The "Jie" Character Secret and the Nine Cuts of the Demon Emperor were both ancient and awe-inspiring divine arts. These techniques inexplicably shocked the two old individuals, instilling fear in their hearts. Despite being several realms above Ye Fan and Pang Bo, they had still been wounded, which truly terrified them.

Such an outcome should have been impossible. For young kings to fight against immortals, they typically needed to manifest powerful phenomena.

"Yin and Yang united, invincible under heaven..." the old woman murmured to herself. Suddenly, as if a thought struck her, she abruptly opened her eyes wide and spoke in a trembling voice, "Could it be one of the Nine Secrets?"

"Is it that secret art...?" The scruffy old man, whose arms hung past his knees and possessed astonishing combat power, had eyes that lit up like golden lamps.

Countless ages ago, their ancestors achieved the status of ancient sages. United by Yin and Yang, they were invincible in the Central Plains. However, when they ventured to the Eastern Wasteland, they were defeated, simply because they encountered a sage who possessed the inherited Nine Secrets.

The old woman and the scruffy old man, who resembled a large macaque, smirked coldly at Ye Fan. "We know what sacred art you're using, but you can't continuously unleash it; you need to constantly trigger it. With our Yin and Yang union, we'll slowly kill you!"

"And you..." They then looked at Pang Bo and said, "You possess the supreme sacred art of the demon race—it must be the awe-inspiring Nine Cuts of the Demon Emperor!"

The two old individuals, with blood-stained white hair, looked sinister and ferocious. Although they had suffered heavy blows, the disintegration of their Yin-Yang Diagram moments before had absorbed most of the force.

"Boom!"

They rejoined their arms, each summoning a Yin Diagram and a Yang Diagram. As the two combined, they radiated the aura of the Great Dao, pressing forward to attack.

"Too bad," Pang Bo sneered. "Your Yin doesn't contain a hint of Yang, and your Yang lacks a trace of Yin. Although you've combined them, it hasn't formed the true Taiji; you're missing the two Yin-Yang 'eyes'."

He and Ye Fan retreated together. The opponents, united by Yin and Yang, possessed four to five times their usual combat power, which they preferred not to confront head-on.

The two old individuals pursued them relentlessly. The Sacred Body harbored great secrets, and Pang Bo also carried supreme inheritances. This made their eyes red with greed. They were already determined to kill the two, but now, with the possibility of acquiring peerless ancient scriptures, they certainly wouldn't let them go.

"Boom!"

Ye Fan once again triggered the "Jie" Character Secret. Golden light surged from his entire body, and he became like a deity, starting to pursue them in return. Pang Bo also unleashed the Nine Cuts of the Demon Emperor.

The old woman and the scruffy old man used their Yin-Yang Diagrams to tear through space and rapidly flee, unwilling to engage directly. They understood the power of the "Jie" Character Secret and would only turn back to attack once its effects faded.

The two sides entered a protracted battle. Whenever Ye Fan triggered the "Jie" Character Secret, the two old individuals would retreat, only to be pursued by Ye Fan and Pang Bo. They took turns attacking and fleeing.

It must be said that these two old individuals were terrifying. They were powerful in their own right, possessed incredibly rich combat experience, and were extremely difficult to deal with.

"Alright, that's enough!" Just then, Tu Fei and Li Heishui shouted.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo burst out laughing simultaneously and rapidly retreated. The Black Emperor had already rushed over to guide them.

"Oh no!" the two old individuals cried out, but it was too late.

"Boom!"

Torrential black mist surged, and endless killing intent permeated the air. Heaven and earth were sealed, and they found themselves trapped in the void by large black banners. This was a formation that Ye Fan and the Black Emperor had secretly communicated about earlier, arranging for Tu Fei and others to set it up.

The large black dog was a true master of formation patterns, a grandmaster-level expert. With the assistance of Ye Huiling, Tu Fei, and Li Heishui, it had stealthily set up a super formation array, sealing off a vast area.

Not a single one of the Yin-Yang Sect's powerful cultivators could escape; all of them were trapped inside.

"You youngsters..." the old woman and the scruffy old man exclaimed in anger and shock, but they couldn't break free.

"Can you separate them?" Ye Fan quietly asked the Black Emperor.

"That's easy," the large black dog replied confidently. Dozens of large banners flew within the formation, shifting from their original positions to divide the area into two separate spaces.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo exchanged glances, each choosing an opponent, and resumed their battle. Otherwise, relying solely on the formation array to refine the two old individuals would take an unknown amount of time, and they didn't want to wait.

This time, Ye Fan could engage his opponent even without using the "Jie" Character Secret. He still chose to fight the old woman.

Pang Bo confronted the scruffy old man, but he didn't enter the core of the formation. Instead, he attacked from outside the array. The Nine Cuts of the Demon Emperor, when powered by immense magical energy, was infinitely terrifying. He began "slicing" the scruffy old man as if he were peeling a radish.

"You brazen youngster, come inside if you dare! What kind of skill is it to scheme against me like this?" The old man, resembling a large macaque, flew into a rage.

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting! You old geezer deserve to be carved up. Weren't you planning to drink Ye Fan's blood? I think it's better if you bleed dry first!" Pang Bo continued to "slice" him with the Nine Cuts of the Demon Emperor, clearly enjoying himself.

By the time Ye Fan finished off the old woman, Pang Bo had also "sliced" the scruffy old man into a "radish-stick" form, completely ending the battle. Even Li Heishui and Tu Fei stared wide-eyed in amazement.

"I was just shooting at a live target..." Pang Bo shook his head.

Cleaning up the battlefield was troublesome. The formation had trapped many people, and it was impossible to kill them all. Ye Fan couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he probed their divine consciousness, erased their relevant memories, leaving them blank, and then released them all.

The remaining children were a problem. Ye Fan got a headache just thinking about them. There were over thirty children, all with extraordinary talent, and he didn't know where to send them.

"Why don't we just establish our own sect?" Li Heishui suggested. "These are all immortal seedlings, little geniuses!"

Everyone was surprised. These children indeed possessed very rare talents; they truly wondered how the Yin-Yang Sect had found them.

"Let's leave this place quickly." Ye Fan's anger had subsided, and he no longer wished to seek trouble with the Yin-Yang Sect's Saintess. This place was not somewhere they could linger; it was a secret ground of a supreme great sect, and if a powerful figure appeared, it would spell disaster.

"Big brother, do you really know Nannan?" little Nannan asked, blinking her big eyes.

"Of course I do," Ye Fan said, gently flicking her nose.

Traveling with a large group of young children was very inconvenient. Fortunately, Ye Huiling was there; ethereal and elegant, beautiful and intelligent, she was very popular with children. Otherwise, with a multitude of wailing children, Ye Fan and Li Heishui would have been at a loss.

They arrived at a small town. The first thing Ye Fan did was to take little Nannan to buy new clothes. Her old clothes were too tattered, and her small shoes had holes at the toes. A three-year-old child might not notice, but it made others feel uncomfortable.

"Can we eat something first?" little Nannan whispered, looking timidly down.

After losing her colorful small stone, she was like any normal child and would feel terrible if she didn't eat. In the Yin-Yang Sect's secret place, her situation was very difficult; she often went hungry, and her small face was very thin.

"Okay, I'll take you to eat first," Ye Fan said softly.

"Really?" Little Nannan had forgotten Ye Fan. Recently, she had always been treated harshly by others. Although the person in front of her was very kind, the little girl was still a bit uneasy, which was why she was so timid.

"What would you like to eat?"

"I want..." Little Nannan tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said in a childish voice, "I want to eat spirit medicine porridge. When I was very, very hungry and almost falling asleep, a big sister secretly gave me some, and it was delicious."

Ye Fan felt a pang in his heart. It was clear that when the little girl said she was almost falling asleep, she meant she was so hungry she was on the verge of collapsing.

The Black Emperor had emptied the Yin-Yang Sect's secret spiritual medicine store, so there was no shortage of spirit medicines. Ye Fan prepared a small bowl for her and told her to eat slowly.

Afterward, he changed her into a bright new outfit. Little Nannan immediately transformed into a delicate, porcelain-like doll, endearing herself to everyone. Even Li Heishui and Tu Fei couldn't help but come over, pat her head, and make her laugh.

Ye Fan took out a crystal-clear jade, pressed it against little Nannan's forehead, and embedded in it memories from Yan Capital. He had specifically left these memories to prevent the little girl from forgetting her past.

"Big brother, it's you! I remember now..." Little Nannan was overjoyed. After regaining these memories, she was no longer as timid and uneasy as before, because now she knew who Ye Fan was.

Then, Ye Fan took out the colorful small stone and placed it in her palm.

"Nannan gave this colorful stone to big brother, she can't take it back," the little girl said, shaking her head, looking very serious.

"No one can give this stone away, or Nannan will get sick. You must keep it safe and never lose it," Ye Fan said. He fashioned the colorful small stone into a small pendant and hung it around her delicate neck.

He had searched the innkeeper's memories and knew that if anything happened to the small stone, Nannan would fall seriously ill, and at her worst, she had almost died. It could not be lost.

Pang Bo, Li Heishui, and Tu Fei also grew very fond of little Nannan, finding her docile, adorable, and naturally endearing.

"Little Nannan is like a delicate porcelain doll, but it's not quite suitable for her to stay with us, as we often face life-or-death battles. What do you plan to do?" Pang Bo asked.

"Initially, I planned to send her to Zhang Wenchang on Mount Taixuan's Clumsy Peak to be his daughter. But I forced Hua Yunfei of that sect to become an enemy of the whole world, so now we can't go there."

"Nannan doesn't want to go anywhere else..." The little girl was alarmed. Although she was playing with some other young children in the distance, her spiritual senses were very acute, and she had overheard their conversation.

Ye Huiling chuckled, squatted down, and gently flicked her delicate little nose. "From now on, you'll be with big sister. We'll go to the Central Plains, and you can be a truly carefree little princess there."

"Nannan doesn't want to be separated from big brother..." The little girl lowered her head, her spirits low.

Hearing this, Ye Fan smiled and said, "Don't worry, how could I abandon you?" He quickly motioned for Pang Bo to stop talking.

Little Nannan immediately brightened up, her big eyes sparkling as she broke into a pure smile.

"You must keep her by your side; don't send her anywhere else," the Black Emperor suddenly stated. Ever since seeing the little girl, the large black dog had been deep in thought, pondering something unknown.

"Did you figure something out?" Ye Fan's heart stirred. Pang Bo, Li Heishui, and Tu Fei also looked over.

The Black Emperor immediately cleared its throat and mumbled, "This Emperor didn't see anything." Then, it trotted over to the little girl and enticed her, "Little darling, do you want to become a disciple?"

"Why become a disciple?" little Nannan asked innocently.

"Become my disciple, and I'll give you spirit medicine porridge every day. I'll teach you supreme unique skills that even surpass those created by the Ruthless Emperor in her later years, perhaps even better!" The Black Emperor, like a big-tailed wolf, patiently tried to lure her.

The Black Emperor must have seen something special—this was the consensus among Ye Fan, Tu Fei, Pang Bo, and Li Heishui. This damned dog usually snatched any treasure it saw, but this was the first time in its life it wanted to "snatch" a person.

"From now on, you don't need to worry about her. I'll take care of her," the large black dog declared, taking full responsibility. It stared at little Nannan as if it had discovered an ultimate treasure, almost drooling.

"You rotten dog, if you dare to eat a child, I'll skin you alive!" Ye Fan roared.

"Bah, where did your mind go? This Emperor is going to cultivate a Great Emperor! You just wait and see!" The large black dog grew more and more excited as it spoke.

"What exactly did you figure out, you rotten dog?" Tu Fei asked.

"Little Nannan is a Great Emperor? No, a future Great Emperor?" Li Heishui also wondered.

"Little Nannan... a Great Emperor?" Not far away, Ye Huiling, who was playing with the group of children, also looked over in surprise. "Such a cute little thing, so tiny, and you can tell she can become a Great Emperor?"

The Black Emperor simply ignored these questions, turning its head with an air of importance. Then, with a face full of smiles, it began to entice little Nannan once more.

"I'll take you into the Undying Mountain to pick tea to eat, how about that?"

"I'll take you to the Immortal Mausoleum to search for supreme treasures, want to go?"

"How can Little Nannan understand any of that?" Ye Fan reprimanded.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you," the large black dog mumbled. Then, it once again plastered a smile on its face and doted on little Nannan with great care.

"Such a cute doggy!" Little Nannan was very happy, her voice full of innocence.

The large black dog instantly turned to stone. For the first time in its life, someone had called it cute, and it was a little girl at that. It wanted nothing more than to smash its head against the ground.

"Haha..." Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and the others all burst into laughter.