Chapter 938: Second Disciple

The stone cave was very dry and smooth. Animals frequently entered and exited, polishing it until it shone brightly. A small stone Buddha was half-blocking the cave entrance, providing shelter from wind and rain.

"Rumble,"

One could see a pair of bright, large eyes in the cave. They looked a little scared, yet also curious, darting around.

This was a small creature. To possess such extraordinary cultivation in this Age of Dharma Decline was truly beyond Ye Fan's expectation; it was nothing short of a miracle.

"Come out, I won't hurt you," Ye Fan sent out a wisp of his divine sense.

The little creature in the stone cave, possessing extraordinary cultivation, had naturally become sentient and understood the meaning of his divine sense. But it was still a little timid because it sensed how powerful this person was. He could float in the air for a long time, something it couldn't do!

Finally, it poked its head out. Almost as if to curry favor, it blinked its large eyes and extended a pair of small paws, bowing. It stood cautiously at the cave entrance.

What kind of creature was this? Ye Fan was surprised; he didn't recognize it at first. It was a foot long, or two feet if its fluffy large tail was included.

Its whole body shimmered with purple light. Like silk, its purple fur was long and soft, making one want to reach out and touch it. It was excessively beautiful, probably capable of captivating any girl who liked small pets.

"A sable?" Ye Fan wondered, surprised. Then he shook his head; it didn't quite look like one, appearing cuter than a sable.

A squirrel!

Finally, he confirmed it. He was very surprised; it was truly rare for a squirrel to grow to look like this. Its entire body was as translucent as amethyst, exquisitely delicate.

Its eyes were like two large black jewels, blinking pitifully and sparkling with light.

"You really are an anomaly. How did you cultivate this way?" Ye Fan sat on the stone mountain and casually picked up the small stone Buddha. It was surprisingly heavy.

He was very surprised. The small stone Buddha, which looked quite rough, was only palm-high but weighed a thousand catties (approximately 500 kg). An ordinary person could not possibly lift it. He realized he had misjudged; this must be a treasure, otherwise, how could it be so heavy!

The extraordinary little squirrel on the ground stood upright, looking at the stone Buddha with reluctance, as if it had lost its most cherished treasure. Yet it dared not resist, lowering its head to look at its small paws.

For the first time in days, Ye Fan showed a faint smile and said, "Do you think I would take your treasure?"

Upon hearing this, the little creature immediately perked up. It blinked its large eyes ingratiatingly and bowed with its small paws, as if saluting.

Squirrels on Earth were almost never purple, unless a very few mutated ones had a slight hint of the color. But this one was as crystalline as a purple diamond, with every soft strand of fur shimmering with purple light.

It was so unique; he estimated that if it were sold as a pet, it would instantly captivate everyone.

"How profound is your cultivation? Show it to me," Ye Fan sat on the stone mountain.

The little creature's large eyes sparkled. Like a child showing off a treasure, it put on a strenuous display, waiting for his praise.

"Whoosh!"

It transformed into a beam of purple light and shot high into the sky, reaching over a hundred meters. Then it wobbled, taking a dozen steps in the air, before it couldn't sustain itself and quickly fell back down.

The human body's first secret realm is the Wheel Sea, which has four minor stages: Sea of Bitterness, Spring of Life, Divine Bridge, and Other Shore. One can fly in the air simply by cultivating to the Spring of Life stage.

In comparison, although demon races might differ, they were not much different when analogized.

This little creature, wobbling in the air, was clearly just starting its cultivation. Compared to the peerless sages of the demon race, it was truly heaven and earth apart.

However, to achieve such a performance on Earth was already impressive. Where the Great Dao could not be perceived, to cultivate to this level, it could be called an astonishing anomaly.

Moreover, Ye Fan observed carefully. This little creature was far more extraordinary than he had imagined. It was far beyond the Spring of Life stage; it had already broken through the Wheel Sea and entered the Dao Palace, the second great secret realm. Of course, this was according to the human classification system.

"Earth is truly formidable. Even Dao Palace cultivators are suppressed from prolonged flight. They can only fly for a hundred meters before losing endurance."

At the same time, he couldn't help but be amazed. This amethyst-like squirrel was extraordinary. It was a heaven-defying little demon that had grown under circumstances where the Great Dao was intolerant!

Ye Fan carefully sensed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but within a large area, he could only capture a few wisps. It was too thin. To cultivate to this stage under such conditions, was it the son of a Demon Emperor?

He immediately showed a strange expression, wanting to see through the little creature. The purple squirrel immediately became frightened. It held up the stone Buddha with its small paws, looking pitiful, and offered it forward to curry favor with him.

"I won't take your things; I just want to know how you cultivate."

The purple squirrel wagged its fluffy tail. It put down the stone Buddha, pointed to the Buddha's head, and then pointed to the sky. This puzzled Ye Fan; he had already examined the stone Buddha and found nothing apart from its sturdiness and weight.

Not long after, the sky grew dim. Stars dotted the sky, and a silver disk (the moon) appeared. At this point, the stone Buddha exhibited an anomaly: a circle of Buddha light, formed by moonlight, emerged from behind its head.

"So that's it; you cultivate with it," Ye Fan nodded.

The purple squirrel absorbed moonlight. Through the transformation of the halo behind the stone Buddha's head, the spiritual energy became imbued with mysterious Dao imprints. This was how it became possible for it to approach the Dao.

The moonlight was originally very diffuse, but after being drawn by the stone Buddha, the light particles in this area multiplied countless times. All of them were absorbed by this little creature.

"This truly is a peculiar treasure. I actually couldn't see through it. Although all qi practitioners have left Earth, they still left behind some mysterious things."

In the middle of the night, the little creature tugged at a corner of Ye Fan's clothing, shyly inviting him to go somewhere, seemingly for some purpose.

Ye Fan was surprised and followed it down the mountain. They arrived at the ruins of an ancient temple, built into the mountain. There was a huge crack in its foundation, leading underground.

The little squirrel darted down. Ye Fan followed. After twisting and turning for several dozen meters, he was immediately startled to see a massive dragon head, identical to that of a true dragon!

This utterly astonished him. How could something like this exist here? Even in the Big Dipper Starfield, an ancestral vein stretching for millions of miles might not give birth to such a thing, and Earth certainly couldn't have such a vast territory.

This was an ancestral root deep underground that had transformed into a dragon shape, manifesting as a stone dragon head. However, it had already withered and died, meaning this geoline had lost its spiritual essence.

Earth was in the Age of Dharma Decline, so a lack of spiritual essence was normal. But there shouldn't be such a lifelike stone dragon. It would be absolutely difficult for one to be born in such a limited territory, making it rare worldwide.

Ye Fan explored with his powerful divine sense. He was startled to find that this withered stone dragon belonged only to this area and did not extend for a great length.

"What's going on? Was Earth far more vast in ancient times than it is now?"

In front of the true dragon's mouth was a dilapidated small clay pot. It contained a small amount of crystalline liquid, from which wafted wisps of refreshing fragrance that delighted the heart.

The purple creature ran forward, carefully picked up the pot, and offered it to Ye Fan to drink. But it couldn't help but swallow its own saliva, clearly longing for it itself.

Ye Fan picked up the small clay pot, sniffed it, and showed a surprised expression. This was Earth Spiritual Milk. For such a thing to appear on Earth now was truly rare, but it was of no use to him.

This had dripped from the dragon's mouth, and it took about half a month to accumulate half a small bowl. He sighed softly. This great dragon was completely dead; this was its last "dragon's saliva."

Ye Fan returned the clay pot to it. The little creature seemed a bit confused. Then it blinked its large, black-gem-like eyes and genuinely offered it to him again. In the process, it quietly swallowed a mouthful of its own saliva again, clearly indicating how precious it was to it.

"I don't need it," Ye Fan communicated with it using his divine thoughts. He asked if there were other anomalies that understood cultivation. Because he felt it was pure and kind, he hadn't presumptuously intruded into its mind with his divine sense.

This purple squirrel couldn't speak, but its divine sense expressions were quite clear. It had never left this area and had never seen any cultivated creatures.

At the same time, Ye Fan also learned its origin.

The creature pointed to a stone cave not far away. Inside lay a small skeleton, belonging to a squirrel—more precisely, its mother.

A series of images appeared in Ye Fan's mind. A fierce bird swooped down. A squirrel desperately fled, protecting its young, but it was still severely wounded. In the end, it could only carry one of its young in its mouth and escape into a crevice in the ground, arriving here.

Not long after, the injured squirrel died. The young one crawled around, growing up on the Earth Milk dripping from beneath the dragon's head.

Ye Fan sighed. This little creature wasn't human; it was just a small being. Yet it still made him sigh, for he had just been separated from his own parents forever.

However, the purple creature pointed at the stone cave where its mother's remains were buried, but it seemed oblivious, not knowing what sorrow was, looking completely innocent.

Ye Fan took out a piece of Divine Source. Instantly, spiritual energy overflowed, illuminating the entire stone cave. The purple squirrel was almost scared stiff, dropping the small clay pot and timidly retreating a few steps.

"Don't be afraid, it's for you," Ye Fan handed it over. In this era of scarce spiritual energy, a piece of Divine Source was priceless for low-level cultivators.

The little creature recovered, recognized it as a rare treasure, and immediately hugged it close, extremely happy. It obliviously rolled around beneath the dragon's head.

"Are you willing to leave here with me?" Ye Fan, seeing such a cultivated little creature, found that after spending some time with it, it temporarily made him forget his sorrow, and he wanted to take it with him.

The amethyst-like squirrel was startled. It had never thought of leaving and was full of attachment to this place. After arriving on the stone mountain, looking at the bright moon and the dilapidated ancient temple, it didn't know what to do.

"Never mind. Living means being at ease, and it's the same for you. Just cultivate well here," Ye Fan stood up and turned to leave.

"Squeak!"

As if a flash of insight crossed its mind, the purple creature followed, grabbing his pant leg and looking up pitifully. Although reluctant, it decided to leave.

Ye Fan helped it put away the small stone Buddha. Stepping on moonlight, like an immortal descended to the mortal world, he flew away, leaving the Tibetan region.

"From now on, you shall be my second disciple." The purple creature was confused, but it was still very happy, laughing innocently.

In a trance, amidst the purple glow emanating from its body, Ye Fan saw a trace of divine light. He couldn't help but murmur to himself, "A Demon Emperor."

After saying this, he was greatly startled. He found that the stone Buddha in his hand also trembled. In that instant, the divine halo behind the stone Buddha's head seemed to transform into a stone mirror.

Looking closely again, there was nothing. The purple squirrel was still as adorable, and the stone Buddha remained as ancient and unadorned. Yet Ye Fan remained silent for a moment.

On the way back, Ye Fan tried various methods. Finally, he extended his divine sense into the stone Buddha's interior. There was nothing else, only a few golden, ancient characters—ancient Sanskrit—like several Buddhas seated in meditation!

He didn't understand their meaning and planned to look them up to find out what they were.

Ye Fan returned to the city. Although sorrow still lingered in his heart, the trip to the Tibetan region had somewhat eased it. He forced himself to bury his grief, as there were still things he needed to do.

Before embarking on his journey back, he had discussed with Pang Bo to visit the homes of all their classmates who were lost in the Big Dipper Starfield and look after their families on their behalf.

"Pang Bo, I naturally trust you. I've always considered you a brother through thick and thin."

Before ascending the five-colored altar, Pang Bo had suddenly left, and then Li Xiaoman said he was greatly evil. But Ye Fan didn't believe it. Even if there was something strange about Pang Bo, their friendship, once shared through life and death, could not be fake.

After returning to the city, Ye Fan first treated Xu Qiong's family to a meal. In this mortal world, he didn't want to reveal too many divine abilities, so as not to be too shocking. Moreover, he always felt that Earth was too mysterious, fearing that someone was overseeing everything in the human realm.

He asked Xu Qiong for help to quickly locate where some of their classmates' families were. And in the process, he also gave the ancient Sanskrit characters from the stone Buddha to Yang Xiao, asking him to find someone to help decipher them.

Not long after, Yang Xiao indeed found someone to translate them for him and gave him the results. This greatly astonished Ye Fan!