Chapter 86: Life-and-Death Danger

Around Clearwind Town lay vast mountains with towering ancient trees and dense primeval forests. The deep mountains were home to many strange beasts, and ordinary people dared not venture far.

After Ye Fan had lived in Clearwind Town for some time, he learned that this endless mountain range was actually the outer region of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.

The Yan Kingdom stretched two thousand li from north to south and three thousand li from east to west. The Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land was located in the central part of the kingdom, surrounded by endless mountains, covering an area of over eight hundred li.

Six blessed lands, including the Spirit Ruin Cave Heaven, Mist Cloud Cave Heaven, and Jade Cauldron Cave Heaven, all encircled the outer edge of this primeval region.

At this moment, Ye Fan plunged into the deep mountains, running continuously through the dense forest. He wished he could rush straight into the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land, feeling his life threatened and desperate to get away from the town behind him.

"I hope my premonition is wrong..." After running for over an hour, having crossed who knew how many mountains, he finally stopped to catch his breath in a hilly area.

Suddenly, he heard the deafening roar of a savage beast, a sound like thunder ripping through the sky, echoing powerfully towards him.

"It's from the direction of Clearwind Town..." Ye Fan, like a nimble ape, quickly climbed a cliff, pushed aside some vines, and entered a hidden stone cave. He held his breath, suppressed his vital energy to the lowest possible level, and made his body cold and lifeless.

Soon after, he peered through the vines and saw a strange beast, its body covered in azure scales, carrying a knight from the Jiang family, flash across the sky.

"They really came after me..." Ye Fan's pupils constricted. A chill ran through him as he recalled the terrifying power of the Jiang family's knights, something he had witnessed firsthand. If discovered, he would surely die.

Moments later, the powerful knight returned, riding the strange beast, circling continuously between the distant mountains and this area.

"He's locked onto this area. Has he found me?" Ye Fan felt a chill throughout his body, sensing death was near.

At the same time, he was filled with intense anger. The other party was clearly after the valuable treasure he possessed; if discovered, there would be no escape. Yet, he dared not show any emotion. He remained absolutely still, his life force suppressed to a freezing point, hiding in the stone cave like a piece of dead wood.

Two full hours passed before the azure beast in the sky finally flew away, gradually disappearing into the horizon. But Ye Fan didn't dare move until darkness completely fell. Only then did he nimbly climb out of the stone cave and swiftly move towards another mountain range.

"The Jiang family..." Ye Fan gritted his teeth.

That night, Ye Fan didn't start a fire. He merely picked some wild fruits to satisfy his hunger, then hid himself in a dense thicket of thorns.

Throughout the night, the roars of unknown wild beasts echoed one after another, making the wilderness exceptionally restless. The stars and moon were dim, an ominous aura permeated the air, and trees in the desolate mountains swayed like menacing specters.

Suddenly, the roars of beasts in the area ceased, and the forest fell silent. Ye Fan's heart tightened instantly. His body became almost lifeless; he dared not move a muscle.

At some point, a strange beast appeared in the sky, circling with a person on its back, causing the animals below to sense danger.

It wasn't until the latter half of the night that the knight disappeared from the area. Ye Fan was drenched in cold sweat, realizing this couldn't go on; he would surely be tracked down sooner or later.

"A direct confrontation means certain death. How can I shake him off?" Ye Fan found no solution, so he could only continue fleeing for now.

Over the next two days, Ye Fan continuously moved and hid within the mountains, narrowly escaping detection several times. He was constantly brushing shoulders with death.

On the third day, he encountered his greatest crisis. The opponent seemed to have sensed he might be hiding in the area and struck viciously, unleashing a spiritual weapon that cleaved several stone cliffs, shattered large swathes of forest, and destroyed vast areas of thorny bushes, leaving the mountainside barren.

Ye Fan was hiding in a nearby swamp, completely still, covered in mud and rotting leaves. He held his breath, waiting silently for the knight to leave.

However, the opponent didn't even spare the swamp. The spiritual weapon, like a blue bolt of lightning, streaked through the marsh, creating enormous furrows that completely split the wetland.

Suddenly, the spiritual weapon, like a blue bolt of lightning, sliced through the mud barely a meter away from him. Although it didn't directly strike his body, a tiny speck of blue light grazed his abdomen. Ye Fan felt an intense pain but forced himself to remain motionless. Had his physique not been extraordinarily robust, any ordinary cultivator would have been cut in half by that terrifying blue light.

It was half an hour later before everything finally became quiet. Ye Fan gritted his teeth and struggled out of the mire. Blood gushed from his abdomen, staining the mud a vivid red.

"Jiang Yichen, sooner or later, I will kill you! Even an ancient aristocratic family won't be able to protect you!"

Ye Fan felt his head spin. He had lost too much blood, and his abdomen had been almost completely split open. If not for the mud blocking the wound, he would have bled to death long ago, especially after remaining motionless for so long.

He quickly found a mountain spring to wash his wound, then removed his mud-covered outer clothing. He tore his relatively clean inner clothes into strips and wrapped them around his injury. However, the abdominal wound was too severe; his intestines were almost visible, and the bleeding simply wouldn't stop.

From excessive blood loss, Ye Fan felt his whole body weaken. His hands were stained with blood. He tore up all his clean clothes to try and staunch the horrific wound. Still, the bleeding was hard to stop; his lower body was soaked in red, and his skin had turned pale.

Ye Fan pressed both hands against his wound, blood continuously seeping between his fingers. He bit his lips, struggling to stay conscious and avoid fainting. Silently, he circulated the Dao Scripture, mobilizing his vital energy throughout his body, attempting to stabilize his injuries.

"The Dao of Heaven diminishes the excessive and augments the insufficient..."Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a voice echoed deep within his mind. Hundreds of ancient characters flowed like a trickling stream through his spiritual core, gradually bringing him back to full awareness from his dazed state.

Ye Fan gradually calmed down, his mind recovered, and he was no longer groggy. Meanwhile, the Dao Scripture silently operated, and his vital essence continuously flowed towards the wound. Eventually, faint blue light surged from the ghastly, gaping wound, forcing out the terrifying killing intent that had permeated his body. With the circulation of vital essence, the bleeding finally stopped.

Ye Fan was incredibly weak, but he gritted his teeth and stood up, swaying as he moved his body towards the forest. He absolutely had to find a hidden place to conceal himself; his injuries were too severe for him to run anymore.

Originally, Ye Fan had intended to escape into the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land within these few days, as only then would the knight be hesitant to pursue him deeply. However, he had no strength left. After a moment of careful thought, he stumbled back along his original path.

Eventually, he stopped in a chaotic stone forest that had been extensively damaged by the knight, hiding between two stone peaks.

This area had already been searched. Ye Fan, speculating on the knight's mindset, figured it would be a blind spot for a short period.

Ye Fan neither ate nor drank, hiding within this stone peak for two days and two nights until his injuries were completely under control, though he still couldn't exert himself strenuously.

Over those two days, the knight continuously circled high above the mountains, and many forests were utterly destroyed by him.

On this particular night, Ye Fan crawled out of the rock crevice, gathered some wild fruits, and moved to another hiding spot. The new area had just been ravaged by the knight: trees were snapped, rocks were shattered, and the ground was a mess.

"I'll slowly follow behind you. Wherever you've searched, that's where I'll hide." In this perilous situation, with his life constantly at risk, Ye Fan could only think carefully, evading cautiously, choosing to hide in the knight's blind spots.

Five or six days passed in this manner before he gradually recovered. It was an ordeal; over those few days, due to lack of food and the torment of his injuries, he had lost a noticeable amount of weight.

"If my physique wasn't far superior to ordinary cultivators, that blue light would have extinguished my life force long ago." Ye Fan gazed at the horizon and muttered to himself, "I must escape this ordeal; I cannot die here."

"The Jiang family..." Ye Fan gritted his teeth.

He currently lacked sufficient strength. At this moment, perhaps only by risking his life to hide in the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land could he escape the knight. Once his body had mostly recovered, Ye Fan began to travel a roundabout path, aiming to approach the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.

"I've consumed the Sacred Fruit; perhaps I can resist the curse there. Entering the forbidden zone might even be an opportunity for me!"