Chapter 845: Again Seeing Master Yuan

Chapter 847: Encountering the Source Heaven Master Again

Ye Fan and the others were all stunned. Even the large black dog's bell-like eyes widened, its scarlet tongue sticking out, looking a bit foolish. No one had expected Fatty Duan to pull such a stunt at the very end.

"Come over and help!" Duan De shouted. He couldn't hold down the Yin soldier by himself; it was incredibly strong, shaking the heavens and the earth.

"Fatty Duan, are you crazy?" The others finally came to their senses.

Ahead were tens of thousands of Yin soldiers, whom even ancient saints would avoid, giving them passage. If they charged back, who could stop them?

"It's fine, they can't come back!" Duan De yelled, pressing the Yin soldier to the ground and pulling out a demon-binding rope, ready to tie it up.

The way he was doing it truly resembled tying up a pig, so shocking that it left people speechless. This was an essential tool he always carried, a necessity when entering ancient tombs and mausoleums, consecrated by Feng Shui burial techniques.

"Roar..."

On the other side of the stone arch bridge, tens of thousands of Yin soldiers turned back and roared in unison, collapsing heaven and earth. A fierce aura swept over them, causing several to vomit blood and their bodies to nearly shatter.

The Yin soldiers charged forward, their murderous aura dominating the sky!

However, the mist thinned at this moment, everything on the opposite side became blurry, and the tens of thousands of Yin soldiers quickly faded, disappearing from the area along with the netherworld soil on the far bank. At that moment, even the monkey's palms were sweating. If they had charged back, none of them would have survived. They thought this fatty truly dared to play with fire, utterly audacious.

"Hurry up and help! If we want to rescue the wildman, we might have to start with this guy!" Duan De was barely holding the Yin soldier down, fumbling with the demon-binding rope but unable to tie it.

"You grave robber... you're too fierce!" Even the Black Emperor could only utter this, opening its huge mouth and rushing over.

Ye Fan and the others also rushed forward together, some holding hands, others grabbing legs, some twisting necks. It was the first time in their lives they had wrestled with a ghost like this. Its touch was icy and bone-chilling, somewhat prickly.

The Yin soldier only manifested on the stone arch bridge and the opposite bank. After being dragged back, its true form was unclear, but Duan De sprinkled a pile of powder, immediately making it visible.

"This is fine powder ground from the coffin lid of the ancient ghost, the Undying Heavenly Sovereign. Even if a Great Luo Immortal Ghost came, I could make it appear!"

The Yin soldier was incredibly strong. Aside from Ye Fan and the monkey, no one else could easily hold it down alone. Duan De tied it tightly with eighteen wraps, front and back.

When everything calmed down, they exchanged glances. This was the first time in their lives they had captured a physical ghost!

They had seen Yin spirits before, but those were spiritual bodies... easily turned to ash, nothing remarkable. This time, however, what they caught was different; it was a physical entity.

"Quite a unique feel," Duan De said, rummaging around its body. "If you don't believe me, come try it yourselves."

"You're truly perverted!"

Several people gathered, examining the Yin soldier. It was covered in black iron armor, its body pale with no trace of blood. The Black Emperor, quite curious, kept touching it, feeling its large paw almost freeze numb.

The battle armor on its body was ancient, its age unknown, filled with the marks of time, sturdy and indestructible.

"This armor must be an ancient type rarely seen even before the ancient era. It's incredible. It's not a legacy saint weapon, so how could it have existed for such an immense period?" The monkey was puzzled.

"Crack."

No sooner had he spoken than the black battle armor cracked, wisps of black netherworld energy overflowed, and the armor began to decompose, turning into dust.

"What happened? Many Yin soldiers gather together and can withstand the passage of time, but now it's finally time for dust to return to dust?"

"Clang!"

Duan De struck, knocking off the Yin soldier's helmet, revealing its true face: a pale complexion, tightly closed eyes, and long gray hair falling loosely. Its deathly aura was terrifyingly strong.

It was a man appearing to be forty or fifty years old, motionless. After being bound by the demon-binding rope, he didn't struggle, like a statue of death.

Duan De wanted to extract a fragment of an imprint from its glabella to understand what the so-called netherworld truly was. However, at this moment, the man's deathly aura intensified, and his entire body emitted a dark glow, as if he were burning.

"Retreat!"

They swept back, and the Yin soldier shot into the air, then emitted a dazzling light, continuously shrinking. It was extremely bizarre, becoming thumb-sized and falling to the ground with a faint clink.

With flickering dark light, the middle-aged man disappeared, leaving only a lifelike jade figurine, carved from multiple pieces of jade, identical to the Yin soldier from moments before.

"What is this thing? How did it turn into this?" The big black dog shuffled forward and poked it with its large paw.

Duan De's expression changed. With a flash of light, two similar black jade figurines, also thumb-sized and lifelike, appeared in his palm. He said, "I dug these out of an ancient mausoleum. They were left by a Feng Shui burial master."

"What's the use of this? How strange." Li Tian and the others gathered closer, picking up the Yin soldier jade puppet from the ground, utterly puzzled.

"Unfortunately, that handbook wasn't finished. The Feng Shui burial master was scared to death in the stone chamber, otherwise, we'd understand much more." Duan De held all three black jade figurines in his palm.

"Let's not bother with these for now; let's go rescue the wildman first," Li Heishui said.

"I feel uneasy. I don't know why, but I have a strong feeling that the Yin soldiers passing through was quite... sudden," Ye Fan muttered to himself, looking back but seeing nothing.

"What are you looking at? People scare people to death. The Yin soldiers disappeared long ago," Li Tian grumbled.

"Hmph!"

Ye Fan suddenly let out a cold snort and stomped his foot hard. The source energy underground transformed into a great dragon, surging forward, its head held high, leaping brilliantly.

"Is there really something there?!" The monkey and the others were startled. With their strong spiritual senses, they hadn't detected anything.

Ye Fan gazed at the dim ancient battlefield, where ribbons of demonic mist swirled. He saw no figures, yet something behind him continued to make him uneasy.

They proceeded in silence, no one speaking as they walked forward. However, Ye Fan had already borrowed the Goddess Furnace, remaining vigilant, ready to unleash a fierce attack at any moment.

"It's here, again. I truly sensed it; it must be coming for me..." Ye Fan transmitted his thoughts telepathically to the others.

Then, after traveling over a hundred miles, he suddenly activated the Goddess Furnace, striking backward. A towering divine light illuminated the entire sky, and the dim battlefield instantly became dazzling.

From behind, a shrill scream echoed, making their scalps tingle. A chilling aura enveloped everyone, a sensation difficult to describe.

In that brief flash, Ye Fan saw a figure dart past, evading the Goddess Furnace and disappearing into the darkness. The true face revealed in that fleeting glance sent a chill from his head to his toes.

"What did I see? A terrifying ghost monkey!" Yan Yixi gasped.

"It was covered in red fur, and those eyes were so vicious! That fleeting glance almost turned my body into an ice sculpture; it was too terrifying!" Li Heishui couldn't help but shiver.

Only Ye Fan remained silent, staring into the darkness, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Monkey Brother, do you have relatives? I clearly saw a red-furred vengeful spirit with a thunder god's mouth, looking a bit like you!" Li Tian said.

The monkey, furious, raised its staff to strike him, its fiery eyes shooting divine light, also revealing a solemn expression as it looked into the darkness.

"What was that thing? It seems very difficult to deal with. From my years of grave-robbing experience, that's definitely a tomb owner encountered once in tens of thousands of years, or even more terrifying!" Duan De concluded.

That red-furred face was so hideous, lingering in Ye Fan's mind. He caught a wisp of aura, similar to his own, a unique characteristic of a Source Heaven Master.

"It's him... a Source Heaven Master who encountered ill omens in his later years!" Ye Fan said in a deep voice.

Everyone's heart sank, knowing things were bad. They all knew how Spirit Valley was destroyed, and a Source Heaven Master who suffered ill omens was terrifyingly powerful.

"The third generation patriarch is in the Qinling Mountains, the fourth generation patriarch is in the Primordial Forbidden Zone, and the fifth generation patriarch died in Spirit Valley. This... is the first or second generation patriarch?" Ye Fan murmured to himself.

The others felt their hair stand on end. How many years must the first two generations of patriarchs have existed? If they could absorb the essence and laws of heaven and earth, even a pig would have become a saint.

Most crucially, their physical bodies were intact, but their consciousness was muddled, dominated by a strange malevolent thought, becoming boundless in ferocity, truly terrifying.

Now, their first thought was to flee. They believed that facing a patriarch of the Source Heaven lineage meant certain death, with no hope.

However, when they looked back, they found various Source Heaven patterns flickering, forming a continuous expanse. Even for someone with Ye Fan's powerful source techniques, breaking through them would be extremely difficult.

"Let's go, continue deeper. He has cut off our retreat," Ye Fan said.

"Then what do we do? Isn't this a dead end?" Yan Yixi asked.

"It's fine. The patriarch gave me something: eighty-one grand banners left by the Undying Heavenly Sovereign. If we truly fight to the death, we can even suppress and kill several Ancestor Kings!" Ye Fan replied.

Unless absolutely necessary, he was truly reluctant to waste such a secret treasure. Too much time had passed; the flagpoles were almost crumbling, and they could only be used one more time.

Now, he had sealed them with the nine ancient characters from the Dao Scripture, making them eternal; otherwise, they wouldn't have survived for long.

Ye Fan and the others rushed forward. Since they had reached this point, they wanted to quickly find the wildman, rescue him, and then use the formation flags to break through together.

They ran along, searching everywhere, and successively found dozens of recently deceased bodies in this vast battlefield. All were ancient creatures, and their skullcaps had been peeled open.

"They're from the Primeval Lake, not a single weak one among them, and there are true members of the imperial family!" The monkey was startled.

Ye Fan knelt down and picked up several red hairs from their exposed skullcaps. They were so striking; there was no doubt it was the work of a Source Heaven Master.

"Boom!"

Thunder rumbled ahead; it was an even more terrifying battlefield. The baleful aura there was impenetrable, and crimson lightning bolts appeared, making a shocking display.

"This is the core of the battlefield. Dongfang Ye was most likely chased into this place and has been unable to escape. It spans about five hundred miles!" The monkey said.

Ahead, after passing through a patch of pitch-black demonic mist, the path suddenly became dazzling. Various lights flew, ancient weapons clashed, and laws shimmered.

"What? These are... the weapons of ancient Ancestor Kings, their laws. Is someone fighting here?!" All of them were greatly startled.

The monkey shook its head, saying, "No, these are just murderous thoughts, indestructible resentment, transformed from the battle intent of fallen heroes!"

This was a terrifying battlefield where various ancient weapons and divine lights, all transformed from laws, surged and crisscrossed, never fading.

"The laws unleashed by the ancient Ancestor Kings in the past, gathering the essence of heaven and earth, cycle endlessly. If this continues, this place will become an eternal killing field. It's hard to survive by entering!"

"Heavenly Eye!"

Ye Fan let out a low cry, divine light flashing from his eyes like lightning. He gazed hundreds of miles, trying to penetrate this terrifying killing field, but various laws quickly cut off his vision, making it impossible to see through.

"Thump!"

He stomped his foot hard, and a source pattern quickly spread from the ground, extending into the distant depths of the battlefield. Ye Fan closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them after a long moment, saying, "Dongfang Ye is alive! I sensed his Monkey Tooth Saint Weapon; it's protecting his Dharma body!"

Suddenly, a terrifying aura appeared behind them, bone-chillingly cold, like thousands of steel needles piercing their backs.

Not far away, a monster covered in red fur appeared, growling softly. It extended a terrifying red-furred claw, moving it forward and then pulling it back, seemingly indecisive.

Ye Fan held the Goddess Furnace, ready to strike at any moment. All of them looked solemn. They were finally facing him directly: a Source Heaven Master who had suffered ill omens, unimaginably terrifying.

"He's crying!" Li Tian exclaimed.

"I... don't want to kill you." The voice was old and hoarse, as if struggling to control itself. He was trembling, his red fur shaking, his body swaying.

On his red-furred face, tears rolled down continuously. His fierce gaze receded, and a hint of clarity seemed to emerge. He spoke with difficulty, saying, "You... will soon become a Source Heaven Master too. We are... the same kind. I don't want to kill you..."

His words were fragmented, difficult to speak coherently in one breath. Ferocious light flickered in his eyes, unable to control himself, constantly trembling.

Duan De, with his sharp eyes, whispered, "He's not from ancient times. Look at the magic artifact in his hand; it was refined recently."

"Could it be that he's from the Source King lineage? Their old ancestor was just one step away from becoming a Source Heaven Master in his later years but encountered ill omens and disappeared a few years ago. That clan invited a top disciple of the Divine Calculator to perform a divination, which also resulted in the disciple suffering misfortune." Ye Fan immediately thought of all this.

"It's me..." The red-furred monster ahead heard his whisper and immediately became agitated. A hint of clarity appeared in its eyes, and much of the fierce light was suppressed.

"I... was captured by the Fourth Generation Source Heaven Master!" He forcefully uttered this complete sentence.

"What?!" Ye Fan was startled. The Fourth Generation Patriarch had hidden in the Primordial Forbidden Zone in his later years, yet still suffered ill omens and disappeared without a trace. Ye Fan had seen his relics in that "place where extremes reverse" years ago.

"He made me guard this place... escort the Yin soldiers... ensuring they passed safely," the red-furred monster said with difficulty.

"What? The Yin soldiers passing through is related to you, and where is the Fourth Generation Source Heaven Master Patriarch?" Ye Fan, Duan De, and the others were all shocked.

"He's about to appear... a situation even saints might not be able to handle..." the red-furred monster said with effort, seemingly struggling internally again. "I don't want to kill you, we are of the same kind, but I'm losing control."

"Senior, please stay conscious! You can definitely recover!" Ye Fan roared, his voice deafening.

"A word of advice... the domain of Source Heaven Masters is full of ill omens. Do not easily step into it... They are coming soon... You must leave quickly!" His words sent shivers down their spines. Who was coming? All of them were deeply alarmed.