Chapter 474: Divine Infant

**Chapter 478: The Divine Infant**

The second loud cry reverberated, causing all the mountains to tremble. Every plant and tree rustled, shedding their leaves. It was terrifying, like a dreadful mountain torrent striking the heavens.

The cry was brief and quickly ceased, but all the beasts still shivered.

Not long after, the third loud cry came, shaking every great peak in the endless mountain range. This land, resembling a leaping dragon, seemed to have thousands of great dragons soaring.

"All the mountains are about to flip over! How can one person's crying be so terrifying?"

A thunderous rumble filled the air!

As the peaks shook, rocks crumbled from the clouds, as if the world were being created!

At that moment, something remarkably strange occurred in the endless mountains: vegetation withered and then flourished, as if several years had passed.

In this land connecting heaven and earth, endless earth-dragon qi permeated above and below, linking the firmament and the ground, a truly astonishing sight.

"Who is crying? This is too scary!" Even the black dog shivered.

A moment later, complete silence fell. The Tianxuan Ruins regained their tranquility, with no sound remaining. Everything revived, neither wilting nor growing wildly.

Ahead lay a savage ancient land, with mountains like dragons, ancient trees soaring into the sky, and old vines covering the great peaks. It was vast, ancient, mysterious, and primal, imbued with an inexplicable aura.

The peaks were majestic, each one grand and imposing. Numerous large waterfalls cascaded down the mountains, thousands of feet long, appearing like a vast white expanse, incredibly magnificent.

Long after the loud cries ceased, spiritual beasts finally emerged. Longevity apes climbed sacred mountains, immortal cranes soared among white clouds, colorful divine deer leaped while carrying ganoderma, and many other rare and exotic birds and beasts, whose names were unknown, appeared.

"Should we go over and take a look?" Li Heishui asked.

"Don't go. The cultivation of the person crying is unfathomable. If we provoke him, it could lead to a monumental disaster," Physician Wang advised, stopping them.

"Could it be the Old Madman?" Ye Fan wondered, his mind uneasy. But the crying didn't quite sound like it; it wasn't like an old, white-haired person.

Their hearts were far from calm. They hadn't expected to encounter such an event: someone crying in a sacred land that had been destroyed for six thousand years.

"That person's emotions are very unstable. We'd better not provoke them. Let's go see what's happening in a couple of days." Even the black dog was terrified, a rare retreat for it.

Physician Wang's secluded dwelling was simple and rustic, perched on a cliff with a few thatched huts and a small bamboo grove. Flying waterfalls flowed into springs nearby.

In this nearby area, Physician Wang had cultivated several medicine fields, filled with spiritual herbs. The medicinal fragrance could be smelled from a great distance.

The medicine fields were vibrant with life, buzzing with bees and fluttering with butterflies. The leaves and flowers shimmered with iridescent light, clearly indicating they were all rare and precious herbs.

The black dog immediately drooled. Physician Wang sternly warned it not to randomly pick and eat, as some rare herbs were highly poisonous.

The Black Emperor readily agreed, but that very day, it snuck into the medicine field, was poisoned, foamed at the mouth, fell to the ground, and convulsed uncontrollably.

If not for little Nannan, who happened to be playing nearby and passed by the medicine field, seeing its miserable state and calling for help in time, that dog would have lost most of its life.

"Doggy, don't eat things randomly, okay?" Little Nannan blinked her big eyes, earnestly admonishing it.

"Serves you right!" Li Heishui, without an ounce of sympathy, uttered these two words.

"Woof!" The black dog, foaming at the mouth, bared its fangs in utter frustration.

Ye Fan also thought that dog was outrageous. It had just arrived at Physician Wang's place and immediately stole spiritual herbs to eat, only to poison itself almost to death.

Physician Wang didn't need to worry about Ye Fan's injuries, as his Dao injury had completely healed. Instead, he had been constantly pondering little Nannan's situation.

He confined himself in the thatched hall, flipping through various ancient texts, searching for clues. His brows were deeply furrowed, as he was truly stumped.

Not until two days later did he push open the door of the thatched hall and emerge, holding a yellowed ancient scroll, with a surprised expression, to find Ye Fan.

"Where is that little girl?" He seemed a bit nervous, his words even a little unnatural.

Physician Wang was not only a master of medicine but also a great power, a top expert in the world, respected by all Holy Lords. His current state was astonishing.

"Senior, what's wrong?" Ye Fan asked.

"It's hard to say. This little girl is far from simple, inscrutable. I need to observe her more closely," Physician Wang said.

"She's playing," Ye Fan said, pointing to the flower garden by the spiritual spring in the distance.

Little Nannan was very happy, running around and chasing colorful butterflies. Like a finely carved jade figurine, her small face was filled with innocent smiles, and her big eyes were clear and bright.

The black dog lay lazily to one side. Little Nannan occasionally ran over, and it would carry the little girl around a couple of times. Its good temper was astonishing.

"Damn it, this dead dog has been fierce and greedy ever since I met it. I don't know how many times it has bitten me," Li Heishui fumed.

The vicious black dog was completely different towards little Nannan, making Ye Fan and Li Heishui think a lot. Their intuition told them the black dog knew some "truth."

"Nannan, be good, here, have a spiritual fruit," Physician Wang offered the little girl a golden and translucent spiritual fruit, its fragrance wafting.

"Thank you, old grandpa," little Nannan thanked him obediently.

Physician Wang seriously took her pulse, carefully examined her limbs and bones, and then stroked her head, showing a look of surprise and uncertainty.

"Stop checking! She's healthier than anyone, no treatment needed at all!" The black dog bared its fangs nearby, seemingly unwilling for Physician Wang to find anything.

"Old grandpa, is Nannan really sick?" little Nannan asked softly, then looked down at her small shoes, saying, "Nannan always forgets the past, why is that..."

The little girl was disappointed, a bit sad and wronged, feeling that she was different from others.

"Children, when they haven't grown up, naturally easily forget the past. When you grow up, it won't be like this," the black dog said from the side.

"Doggy, is what you said true?" Little Nannan asked innocently, her big eyes pure.

"Of course it's true. This Emperor never lies."

"Don't worry, Nannan isn't sick, she's very healthy, everything is normal. When you grow up, you'll naturally be fine," Physician Wang said, stroking his snow-white beard.

"Oh, then Nannan is relieved," the little girl became happy again, very simple-minded, chasing the black dog into the distance.

"What did you find out?" Ye Fan asked.

Physician Wang looked serious, opened the yellowed notebook, turned to a page, and pointed to an ancient drawing on it. He said, "Look, isn't it a bit similar?"

Ye Fan's expression froze. On this ancient scroll, there was a little girl with clear, pure eyes, untouched by the slightest worldly aura, very ethereal.

"It's too similar, almost identical to little Nannan!"

He couldn't help but be surprised. This ancient scroll looked quite old. How could there be a little girl just like Nannan in the distant past? Both were less than three years old, looking very young, with no difference in their flawless eyes.

"It's indeed remarkably similar, but the Eastern Wasteland is so vast, it's understandable to encounter similar-looking people," Li Heishui nodded in surprise.

Physician Wang shook his head, saying, "You're wrong. Look carefully at the records above."

"Monthly memory loss, eternal vitality..."

Ye Fan and Li Heishui read further down, both changing color. On these few pages of the yellowed notebook, the records were limited but incredible.

An old couple without children, in their later years, found a pitiable little girl. Overjoyed, they adopted her as their own.

But something strange happened, day after day for years. The little girl never grew up, and every full moon night, she would lose her memory, forgetting everything from before.

Eventually, the old couple passed away one after another. The little girl remained the same, deemed a monster by locals, and almost drowned by being submerged in water.

Finally, a kind old woman released her. The pitiful little girl drifted to another land, becoming a little beggar, and disappeared into the vast crowd.

Monthly memory loss. Her symptoms were too similar to little Nannan's, and she remained eternally youthful, never changing. Little Nannan had been like this three years ago and had not changed since.

"This... what in the world is going on?!" Ye Fan's heart pounded. This was too unbelievable. Could these two abandoned children be the same person?

"This is hard to believe. Is it the same symptom, or the same person? How many years ago was this?" Li Heishui was also surprised and uncertain.

"This notebook has existed for at least two thousand five hundred years. It was left by one of my ancestors, and there are some supplementary records at the back."

Existed for two thousand five hundred years... Ye Fan was shocked. Comparing it to history from another end of the starry sky, that would be the pre-Qin period.

It didn't sound like much, but on second thought, it was incredibly distant. Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han had not even been born yet!

"Are you sure this is true?" Li Heishui was almost stammering. If correct, little Nannan's origin was too mysterious.

Physician Wang's ancestor had once passed through the town where the old couple lived, diagnosed the little girl, but had no way to treat her.

Later, this divine physician went again. The old couple had passed away, and the pitiful little girl had become a beggar again, disappearing into the vast crowd.

The matter didn't end there. Several centuries later, in his old age, Physician Wang's ancestor once passed through the ancient city of Zitiandu and saw that pitiful girl again. Although it was a fleeting glimpse, the impression was extremely deep.

However, he was being chased by enemies at the time and couldn't stop. He eventually missed her, and when he went to look for her again, he didn't find her.

This was a great regret for the old divine physician, weighing heavily on his mind. Less than half a year later, he passed away, leaving only a yellowed notebook.

"How is this possible? It's unbelievable!" Li Heishui got a headache, rubbing his temples, unable to comprehend.

The pitiful little beggar. Ye Fan thought of little Nannan from the past, her small clothes tattered, even her little shoes having toe holes, which made him feel sad.

Had she always lived like this, tasting all the bitterness and sweetness of life, enduring the coldness of human nature? If so, how much suffering had she gone through?

A little abandoned child, less than three years old, struggling to survive alone in the vast crowd, constantly forgetting the past. Having endured so many years, she must have experienced every human suffering imaginable.

"This is truly unfathomable!" Ye Fan sighed with a touch of melancholy.

"Even Holy Lords don't live for more than two thousand five hundred years, yet little Nannan has never changed..." Li Heishui was completely bewildered.

"Physician Wang, did you not find any clue?" Ye Fan asked.

"My ancestor, before his death, emphasized this little girl again and wrote a deduction on the last page of the notebook."

"What deduction?" Ye Fan and Li Heishui's eyes lit up.

"He only wrote two words—Divine Infant!" Physician Wang said.

"What does that mean?" Li Heishui asked, puzzled.

"I don't know what it means. Too many things have been lost in our lineage. By my generation, the medical skills we possess are less than one-tenth of the original, perhaps even less than half a tenth."

"So much has been lost..." Ye Fan was surprised. This old man was called a Divine Physician, after all.

"My distant ancestor, in ancient times, could even treat Great Dao scars. He was also a Saint himself. Later generations cannot compare," Physician Wang shook his head.

"What exactly do these two words, 'Divine Infant,' mean? That senior from two thousand five hundred years ago, although without your distant ancestor's Saintly arts, probably deduced a thing or two."

"I don't know either. 'Divine Infant' probably has some ancient allusions, but unfortunately, over ninety percent of my Wang family's medical books are lost, so I don't know the specifics."

"A god existing eternally in the human world..." Ye Fan pondered.

Two thousand five hundred years ago, little Nannan was still in the central region of the Eastern Wasteland. Eventually, she reached the Southern Domain, having almost traveled across half of the Eastern Wasteland.

"Grab that dog and interrogate it! It definitely knows something!" Li Heishui said.

Ye Fan nodded and softly called Nannan. The little girl happily and joyfully ran back, her big eyes fluttering, looking up, her voice very soft and tender, saying, "Big brother, what is it?"

"Later, Nannan will have some black dog meat," Ye Fan said with a smile, patting her head. Then he and Li Heishui stepped forward, suddenly attacking and holding down the black dog.

"Woof... Are you two tired of living? How dare you provoke this Emperor?" The black dog boasted shamelessly.

"Tell us, what is 'Divine Infant'?" Ye Fan grabbed its square head and large ears to avoid being bitten.

"You know about Divine Infant?!" The black dog was quite surprised. Clearly, this sudden question was unexpected.

"Hurry up and tell us, or today you'll be stewed into black dog hot pot!" Ye Fan pressed.

"Big brother, don't eat the doggy. Although it's very naughty, it's not bad."

Little Nannan took it seriously, timidly trying to dissuade them.

"Woof... Today I'm going to eat the Saint Body!" The black dog was completely unyielding, loudly howling.

"Doggy, be good, don't talk nonsense," little Nannan urged, a bit scared, but still extending her small hand, wanting to pull them apart.

"Can Divine Infant be eaten? This Emperor knows nothing, don't ask me!" The black dog bared its fangs, barking fiercely.

"Damn it, this dog deserves a beating!" Li Heishui couldn't help but swing his large palm, slapping its backside a few times.

"Woof woof woof..." The black dog barked wildly, its big mouth suddenly extending very long, fiercely biting Li Heishui, almost swallowing him whole.

"Damn it, I still got bitten by the dog like this..." Li Heishui was furious.

The two pressed for answers, but the black dog was very stubborn, absolutely refusing to say what a Divine Infant was, instead continuously howling.

They had no choice. They couldn't actually cook the black dog, but they did get bitten by it many times.

"Four days have passed. Should we go take a look at the Tianxuan Ruins?" Li Heishui suggested on the fourth day.

"We can go take a look." Ye Fan nodded. He had wanted to investigate for a while.

The black dog was already impatient, carrying little Nannan and walking at the very front.

Ahead, towering mountains and majestic peaks formed a "leaping dragon" land, with myriad phenomena. The mountain range was grand and imposing, almost reaching the high heavens.

As soon as they entered this area, they discovered rare beasts like flood dragons, Qilin beasts, and nine-tailed foxes, all of which were on cautious alert.

After advancing more than a hundred *li*, they arrived at the Tianxuan Ruins' mountain gate. Broken walls and crumbling ruins, a desolate scene, filled with a bleak aura. A supreme sacred land, due to a single calamity, had completely become a wisp of historical smoke.

"Damn it, there's a person there!" The black dog cried out, staring at a figure like a wooden stake inside the mountain gate. Its entire body of silky black fur stood on end. It growled, "Incredibly powerful and outrageously strange!"