Chapter 787: Purple Mountain Grand Tomb

In front of Purple Mountain, Duan the Fatty panicked. He decisively brought out the lid of the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Pot, then took off running.

He didn't want to fight. Although he held half a Supreme Imperial Armament, it wasn't complete, and activating it would certainly drain him dry.

Lacking any master's demeanor or heroic spirit, he used the lid of the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Pot to protect himself and sprinted like mad.

That Saint was skin and bones with withered flesh, yet the vital energy emanating from him was terrifyingly formidable. Wearing a tattered battle attire from an unknown era, he chased after them.

This was, of course, Ye Fan. After taking over the Saint's body and arriving here, he had, upon seeing Duan, wanted to teach him a lesson. This naturally terrified the scoundrel Daoist, who ran faster than a rabbit.

However, after Ye Fan briefly adapted to this body, he immediately unleashed the Spacewalk Technique and quickly caught up, cackling sinisterly.

"Damn it, that laugh is so creepy..." Duan the Fatty's hair stood on end. He shrunk his neck and rolled like a ball, his speed instantly increasing several times over.

Ye Fan pursued fiercely. The sparse hair on the body fluttered wildly, and the deep-set eye sockets glowed eerily, truly like a ten-thousand-year-old corpse.

"Heh heh heh..."

Hearing this laughter, Duan De got goosebumps all over. Seeing the other party extend a large hand, seemingly to grab his backside, he let out a scream of fright, transformed into a streak of black light, and plunged directly underground.

Ye Fan activated his Divine Eye and saw that there was a secret tunnel leading to an altar deep underground; the damn fatty was so terrified he intended to traverse the void from there.

"Hahahahaha..." Ye Fan burst out laughing.

Standing on the altar, Duan the Fatty's expression shifted uncertainly. He then slowly began to figure things out: if it were truly a Saint intending to kill him, they would have attacked the Ancient Heaven-Devouring Demonic Pot long ago.

Duan De burst out of the secret tunnel and stared at Ye Fan for a long time. Frustrated and infuriated, he began to curse loudly, almost lunging forward to beat him up.

He understood Feng Shui geomancy and burial studies and had cultivated the Yin-Yang Divine Eye. Upon careful observation and sensing, he detected a familiar aura emanating from the Saint's skull.

After Duan De finished his tirade, his eyes then gleamed with excitement. He said, "With such a Saint's body available, entering Purple Mountain will be much safer."

After Ye Fan became familiar with this Saint's body, he felt that the withered Sea of Suffering, Dao Palace, and other areas within had all recovered some vitality. Even the broken bronze bell and battle halberd flew out for him to use.

But he also sighed. The strength of this physical body was absolutely beyond words, unbelievably powerful! He felt as if he could shatter a Saint Weapon. However, although some divine power had recovered, it couldn't be fully revived, as the body had been dead for many years. Furthermore, the original spirit had perished, leaving no Saintly laws or imprints of Dao comprehension behind.

After Ye Fan's spirit took possession of this Saint's physical body, the body itself was absolutely invincible. However, unleashing power like a true Saint would be exceedingly difficult, as it lacked the corresponding heaven-defying law imprints.

"Those things are born within the spirit, and their imprints have long since vanished with time," Duan De said. "Otherwise, how could you have taken possession of the Saint's body? You would have been obliterated long ago! Unless it's the physical body of an ancient Great Emperor—it's estimated that even their strands of hair, or even their trimmed fingernails, would be interwoven with supreme Daoist principles and imbued with the most primordial patterns of heaven and earth."

Ye Fan asked the scoundrel Daoist why the old blind man hadn't arrived yet. He replied that the old blind man had gone to borrow the Demonic Pot from Tu Tian, the Seventh Great Bandit.

The two waited there for several days until they finally saw the old blind charlatan. Compared to a decade ago, he looked even more like an old swindler from the jianghu.

As soon as they met, he affectionately grabbed Duan De's hand and shook it, then cleanly, efficiently, and incredibly skillfully "relieved" him of a string of Sky Demon Divine Beads, putting them on his own wrist without a blush or a racing heart.

Duan De stomped his feet and cursed him, calling him an ungrateful, heartless wretch, saying he had saved his life for nothing.

The old blind man, rolling his eyes, retorted that he was the one who had saved the scoundrel Daoist's life, and that it was the damn fatty who had robbed an ancient mausoleum of a certain Primordial Royal Family, which drew out a Grand Ancestor's clone to hunt him down.

Neither of them was a good person—this was Ye Fan's perception. Both were truly scoundrels, and when together, they were equally matched.

The old blind man's cultivation was now frighteningly powerful; Ye Fan couldn't quite fathom it. According to his guess, someone of the same level as Red Dragon back then would now be a King after the changes in heaven and earth.

"If we just walk in," Ye Fan asked, "putting aside everything else, what if we disturb the Primordial Royal Family within?"

"Don't worry, they've all long since cleared out," Duan De said, revealing some unknown secrets. "Back then, when the Bell of Wu Shi rang, all the ancient kings here were swept out."

Back then, Great Emperor Wu Shi took residence in Purple Mountain and imprisoned all the guardians of the nine dragon veins within Ancient Sovereign Mountain, leaving them a place to serve as gate guardians.

"Calling them gate guardians sounds nice," the old blind man said, "but in reality, they were forcefully confined here to serve as gate-keeping servants."

The last time the bell rang loudly, all the Primordial Races were shaken out, unable to remain there. Purple Mountain was almost empty.

"Let's go, what are we waiting for?" Duan De said impatiently. "It's rumored there's an Immortal Divine Phoenix Medicine inside. Even if we just get a whiff of its fragrance this time, that'll be good."

"You little grave-robbing thief, you've been staking out this place for over a decade," the old blind man said. "I knew you weren't up to any good, daring to enter even the mausoleum of a Primordial Royal Family. Today you finally can't resist setting your sights on an ancient Great Emperor's tomb."

"Damn it, I'm merely a great archaeologist!" Duan De retorted. "Everything is just to restore history and witness miracles. Don't compare my noble ideals with your petty charlatan's mindset!"

"Bullshit!" the old blind man retorted concisely.

"Stop arguing," Ye Fan asked. "Should we force our way in, or find a passage?"

"Every grand tomb is a magnificent work of art," Duan De said. "Forcing our way in would be a crime and a desecration. We would be eternal sinners. We must enter gracefully, with a noble state of mind, to appreciate it."

"Get lost!" The old blind man slapped him on the back of his head, then casually threw a pile of tortoise shells on the ground and began to search for a highly auspicious divination.

Finally, he pointed to a dragon vein and said that it was the Gate of Life, showing auspicious signs.

Ye Fan smiled at a glance; it was precisely the path he had taken years ago. But once they entered along the ancient underground vein, their smiles vanished.

In the deepest part, the naturally formed Yin-Yang diagram had transformed into a chaotic expanse, becoming a point that made them feel trepidation and tremble.

Ye Fan was deeply moved. Yin and Yang had reversed, transforming into Wuji—the Ultimate Nothingness, the primordial beginning of Dao. This was a terrifying Dao transformation!

They absolutely couldn't enter here. Those who forced their way in would likely return to Wuji and instantly transform into Dao, becoming a wisp of law as their very being dissipated between heaven and earth.

"Your divination is useless; you're nothing but a muddled charlatan, far inferior to my geomancy," Duan De grumbled as the group retreated.

"Even the most skilled make mistakes, and even the strongest stumble," the old blind man countered. "That was once the safest gate, but since Young Ye walked through it, it has become the most perilous place."

Subsequently, the old madman continuously performed divinations, the tortoise shells rattling and rolling around on the ground.

His expression was solemn as he successively rejected five dragon veins. He verified them one by one, and indeed, they were all dead ends that previous people had traversed, turning them into impassable chasms.

Only the last three remained. He divined each one and found they were all passable. In the end, they chose the path with slightly better omens and began to advance.

"Have we come to the cosmic starry sky? Why does it look like a starfield?" Duan De mumbled.

This dragon vein was difficult to traverse; they didn't know how many array patterns they had broken through. Passing through one perilous life-or-death area after another, they reached its end.

This was a brilliant starry sky. One would get lost stepping into it; there was simply no way to pass through, and they didn't understand why.

"It really is a starfield..." Even Ye Fan was somewhat dumbfounded. This path was too mysterious.

He couldn't help but recall the secret history of Laozi's departure from Hangu Pass to the west: opening the western gate of Hangu Pass connected to a starfield, leading to the ancient starry road.

Could this dragon vein be similar, leading into a starfield at its end?

"This isn't a true starfield, but it's close," the old blind man said. "This is likely a miniature starfield casually refined by Great Emperor Wu Shi."

Ye Fan was dumbfounded. How were they supposed to cross this? How many years would it take to fly across a starfield? They probably wouldn't reach the end even if they flew until they died of old age.

"It's not a true starfield, so there are flaws to exploit," the old madman said. "Since Great Emperor Wu Shi left paths in the previous dragon veins, there must be a way through here too."

"This might not necessarily be left by Wu Shi," Duan De said. "It could have been refined by that old devil, the Undying Heavenly Sovereign, since this was originally his burial ground."

"That's not impossible, but as long as it's not a true starfield, there's still a way," the old blind man said, beginning to divine with tortoise shells.

And so, they began another difficult journey, advancing at the risk of their lives.

Overnight, the old blind man pulled out so much hair that it littered the ground. He finally figured out a method: search for spatial nodes, which must lead to a path of survival.

Several days later, they became lost in this terrifying starfield, unable to discern direction and completely losing their sense of space.

Suddenly, a black hole mysteriously appeared and swallowed all of them inside.

Boom!

At this moment, the Saint's body, now inhabited by Ye Fan, displayed a terrifying aspect. It shattered the void with a single punch, carrying the others as it flew out.

"No, that's it!" the old blind man suddenly cried out. "It's this black hole! Pass through it, and we'll cross this starfield!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Duan De said. "Unleash the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Pot and pass through."

"No," the old blind man said, shaking his head. "If we use a Supreme Imperial Armament now, it will likely trigger the Wu Shi Bell to vibrate, and it will probably shatter this place, putting us in grave danger." He then stared at Ye Fan.

"Alright, if you're comfortable with it, then let me try," Ye Fan said.

What is a starfield black hole? It devours everything, destroys everything. Probably only a Saint's physical body could withstand it; others would simply be annihilated.

Ye Fan drew them into his body, then took a deep breath and transformed into a beam of light. Golden vital energy surged skyward, illuminating the entire miniature starfield.

Boom!

He plunged into the black hole and instantly passed through. After an unknown amount of time, he appeared inside a purple mountain's belly.

The light was somewhat dim. Jade-like palaces and towers seemed to be covered in dust. Ancient paths and ancient caves led in all directions.

They successfully entered the interior of Purple Mountain. Duan De jumped high, rubbing his hands excitedly, and exclaimed, "People in our line of work have been researching a major topic: how to conquer the tombs of ancient Great Emperors, especially the Tomb of Wu Shi. I am the first archaeologist to enter this place!"

"Have we directly arrived at the deepest part, at Great Emperor Wu Shi's place of meditation?" The old blind man felt uneasy all over, staring at a high platform behind the splendid jade palaces.

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan and Duan De also looked deeper inside, and instantly, their hair stood on end.

There was a Dao platform, incredibly grand and tall. Many wisps of mist swirled around it, making it seem mysterious and terrifying.

Faintly, a tall figure could be seen seated cross-legged upon it. An aura that made one's heart palpitate emanated from it.