Shrouded Sky

Chapter 140 - Supreme Secret Art

Cultivators at the Other Shore Stage possessed godpower and boundless techniques. Against someone relying solely on brute strength, they had endless methods.

“You think you’re some kind of god, standing high above the clouds?” As these words fell, Ye Fan suddenly soared into the sky, closing the distance once again.

Li Xiaoman was shocked. She never imagined Ye Fan could fly. Clearly, he was cultivating, at the very least at the Life Spring Stage. This was far beyond mere physical strength.

“His physique shouldn't allow that,” she thought, her heart rippling with turmoil.

Chen Feng was surprised at first but quickly composed himself. Judging by the aura, Ye Fan was only at the Celestial Bridge Stage.

“A firefly dares to compete with the moonlight?” he sneered. He opened his palm, releasing starlight like molten mercury, gentle in appearance but crushingly heavy. He intended to refine Ye Fan alive with godpower.

Ye Fan moved across the sky with a mysterious step technique. Each footfall felt as natural as flowing Dao, easily avoiding the starlight.

Below, Ji Ziyue whispered behind her hand, “This guy has so many secrets… That really looks like the movement technique of the legendary mad old man.”

Even Chen Feng changed expression. The movement technique posed a real threat and was extremely profound.

Ye Fan moved like drifting clouds or a shifting breeze, unpredictably weaving left and right, making it impossible to track him.

This footwork was indeed extraordinary. Ye Fan had studied it for over a year but only grasped the basics.

He remembered the day the madman stepped forward, leaving endless mountains and valleys behind him. It was truly "shrinking the earth into inches", many times faster than flight or teleportation. The impression it left was unforgettable.

The Dao Runes the madman had left behind were complex beyond measure. Ye Fan had only comprehended a fraction and hadn't fully mastered them.

“Limitless Starlight!” Chen Feng shouted. He raised his right hand, and a river of stars poured out, starting as a trickle, but soon overwhelming the sky. No matter where Ye Fan fled, he was engulfed in light.

Ye Fan flipped his palm, revealing a purple bronze Eight Trigrams Mirror, emitting god light like a blazing sun. It shone toward Chen Feng.

Brilliant and intense, the light instantly shattered the starlight, it was the most powerful treasure of a Jiang Clan elder, a rare and sacred item.

“What?!” Chen Feng recoiled in shock at the power of the treasure.

Far away, Ji Ziyue chuckled, “He’s not just fists, you know. If he gets in close again, it’ll be worth watching.”

Suddenly, her smile froze. Her face changed. “Void Scripture!”

Ye Fan's body seemed to vanish, turning into a wisp of black smoke that drifted forward. In an instant, he reappeared, delivering a slap!

Ji Ziyue was stunned. First, he used a mysterious movement technique, and now he was displaying the Grand Void Art from her Clan's Void Scripture.

This was a supreme secret technique recorded in the Void Scripture. At its peak, it allowed one to traverse space, ghostlike and unfathomable.

“I only wrote him a small section of it! Without a powerful cultivation base, it shouldn’t even work. He must have studied an immortal scripture, equal to the Void Scripture!”

Chen Feng, too, was stunned. He barely dodged in time, nearly struck.

Boom!

Space itself trembled, like it might shatter!

Ye Fan didn’t pursue him, but suddenly a massive black hand appeared beside Chen Feng, descending like a falling sky!

“An incomplete Void Palm?!” Ji Ziyue gasped. “He must’ve studied another ancient scripture. Without it, he couldn’t possibly use the Void Palm.”

Smack!

Chen Feng moved fast, but his left arm was struck. The bone shattered instantly, his arm hung limp.

The black palm faded from the sky, but its power left everyone stunned. Chen Feng turned pale, drenched in sweat.

From afar, the Star Peak disciples were shaken. Chen Feng, so powerful, had never once gained the upper hand, and now, his arm had been broken!

“Who is this guy? Where did he learn such skills?”

“How is this possible?! Even Senior Brother Chen couldn’t stop him!”

Ji Ziyue clenched her delicate fists. She realized Ye Fan had many secrets, far more than he let on.

“Tch!” Chen Feng snarled. A starlight river surged from his spirit sea, flooding toward his left arm.

Crackle!

His left arm trembled, then quivered, and, under the nourishment of star energy, it healed.

This was the ability of an Other Shore cultivator, their injuries could rapidly recover.

“What kind of technique was that?” For the first time, Chen Feng looked serious. The black palm had left him deeply uneasy.

Ye Fan was also surprised. The Void Palm was extremely domineering, but he only knew an incomplete form. He couldn’t unleash its full power.

By contrast, the Dao Scripture’s Oceanic Wheel chapter emphasized foundational strength, not powerful attacks. It lacked offensive techniques.

“Didn’t you say you’d break every bone in my body? Go ahead, show me what you’ve got!”

“You think a few secret arts are enough to be my match? Your godpower is miles behind.” Chen Feng’s face darkened. He spat out a breath of primal energy, and eight stars lit up around him.

Seven of the stars were as large as human heads, shining like small suns before shooting off in all directions.

Instantly, the sky darkened, stars filled the heavens. Chen Feng used his godpower to seal the sky, forming a cosmic prison to trap Ye Fan.

“Borrowing the power of the Big Dipper Star Lords!” Chen Feng shouted.

The seven stars flared, it wasn’t the true Big Dipper, but starforce he had cultivated for years. At the Other Shore Stage, cultivators could use astral resonance. These stars had become his greatest weapon.

“Heavenly Pivot Divine Sword!” he roared.

From the Heavenly Pivot Star came a blinding sword beam, slashing at Ye Fan.

“Heavenly Disaster Divine Sword!”

Another dazzling blade from the Heavenly Disaster Star slashed down.

“Heavenly Rebuke Divine Sword!”

A third blade streaked across the sky like lightning.

Clang!

All the Big Dipper stars blazed, forming seven god swords that slashed and cleaved.

Chen Feng saw Ye Fan as a serious threat. He held nothing back. “I said I’d break your bones, and I will!”

Ye Fan danced between the strikes with his mysterious footwork. The sword light was sharp, he didn’t want a direct clash.

Buzz!

Ye Fan unleashed another Void Palm, a huge black hand appearing in the sky, slamming toward Chen Feng.

But this time, Chen Feng was prepared and dodged.

The black hand faded, but its terrifying energy lingered. The Void Palm’s flaw was its slow speed. As an incomplete form, it couldn’t strike instantly or kill with one blow.

“Any other tricks? Show me!” Chen Feng sneered.

Ye Fan dashed left and right, but the Big Dipper swords followed him relentlessly, cutting down continuously.

“Senior Brother Chen has truly refined the Big Dipper stars, unmatched swordforce, endlessly regenerating!”

“Ordinary disciples can’t bind their spirits to the Big Dipper. Senior Brother Chen is extraordinary. Seven god swords in the sky, this fight won’t last much longer.”

Ye Fan soared upward, throwing a golden punch to destroy the stars.

Mystic golden energy shimmered over his skin, forming a protective barrier.

Chen Feng’s godpower was overwhelming, Ye Fan had to resist using motherly energy of all things, his ultimate reliance against an Other Shore cultivator.

Finally, he tore through the suppression and reached the stars directly.

His golden fist slammed into the heavens. Space twisted and collapsed.

In close quarters, Ye Fan was confident. He smashed the Heavenly Disaster Star, sending starlight scattering.

More punches followed. The motherly energy flashed over his body. He crushed the other six stars.

“How is this possible?!” Chen Feng was stunned. As a cultivator in the Other Shore Stage, he should be able to suppress Ye Fan completely.

But now, his natal stars were shattered, he felt deeply uneasy.

“Is this guy even human? He crushed Senior Brother Chen’s natal stars. How powerful is he?!”

“Even most Other Shore experts couldn’t do that!”

The Star Peak disciples were shaken and confused.

Ye Fan’s body was absurdly strong, and with motherly energy around him, nothing could stop him.

“My body doesn’t perish, my stars don’t perish. You think shattering them ends this?” Chen Feng growled. The stars appeared once more.

“Then I’ll shatter you!” Ye Fan knew it was now or never. The difference in Stages was too great. Even with his secret arts, it was exhausting.

“Seven stars, seal time and space!” Chen Feng shouted. The Big Dipper turned into seven beams, enclosing Ye Fan.

Boom!

The stars shone brightly as if a galaxy crashed down, sealing Ye Fan in a celestial prison.

The Big Dipper birthed countless stars, a pocket cosmos.

Though not real stars, they were condensed starlight, enough to seal a Celestial Bridge cultivator.

The godpower collided like titanic mountains, attempting to grind Ye Fan to dust.

Other Shore cultivators had terrifying power, eventually, it would refine him to ashes.

But Ye Fan didn’t panic. His greatest asset, the motherly energy, shielded him from harm.

Though he couldn’t unleash it fully, the starlight that crashed into him shattered harmlessly on contact.

“If only my godrune cauldron was fully refined… or if I had used the motherly energy to temper my body, I wouldn’t be so passive.”

Since the battle began, Ye Fan had been trying, but hadn’t succeeded until now.

This Nine Secrets Art was legendary. Though complex and profound, it wasn’t long. It could integrate with the Dao Scripture. He had activated it hundreds of times.

The wait dragged on. Star Peak disciples stopped talking, waiting for Ye Fan to be refined to ash.

Chen Feng glowed, radiant in white, like a celestial being untouched by the mortal world.

“Now!” Ye Fan's heart stirred, after hundreds of cycles, he finally succeeded.

In that instant, he felt overwhelming power. His combat strength soared, as if he had reached the Other Shore Stage.

“Tenfold power… Ten times the strength!” It felt like a dream, this supreme Nine Secrets Art was truly priceless.

It was a miraculous transformation, beyond logic, turning weakness into godpower!

BOOM!

Ye Fan’s punch shattered the stars above. He stepped forward, his speed ten times faster, charging in with the madman’s footwork.

BANG!

Chen Feng couldn’t dodge, Ye Fan’s punch launched him through the air. Bones cracked everywhere, dozens broken in one hit.

Starlight scattered. Chen Feng’s godpower collapsed. He lost all fighting ability.

At the same time, Ye Fan felt drained. His tenfold power faded like a retreating tide, vanishing instantly.

It was bizarre, like ascending a mountain peak in an instant, then falling back just as fast.

“Nine Secrets Art, truly a treasure!” Ye Fan was awestruck. He believed it more valuable than the Void Scripture.

“How could this happen? Senior Brother Chen… lost?!”

“He shattered the stars, and defeated an Other Shore cultivator, what kind of forbidden art was that?!”

The Star Peak disciples stood stunned, unable to accept reality.

Li Xiaoman was most shocked, waves of emotion roiled in her heart. The scene felt surreal.

“Breaking bones is one thing, but I won’t take your life,” Ye Fan said, walking toward the fallen Chen Feng.

Now covered in dust, hair disheveled, face pale, Chen Feng lay helpless on the ground, unable to move.

“You and I both know who was right or wrong. Star Peak always wants dominance and can’t stand others rising. I hope you change.”

After defeating an Other Shore expert, Ye Fan felt unexpectedly calm, all restlessness gone.

Just then, many Star Peak cultivators flew over.

“Time to go, someone stronger is coming!” Ji Ziyue tugged Ye Fan, and they took to the sky.

At that moment, a rainbow bridge soared from Dull Peak, spanning multiple mountains like a god arch. On it stood Li Ruoyu, welcoming Ye Fan and Ji Ziyue.

Gasps echoed. That power, forming a rainbow over dozens of peaks, was terrifying.

In the distance, several elders halted and bowed. “Senior Brother Li, we mean no harm.”

“I know,” Li Ruoyu said simply.

The rainbow bridge shimmered like rippling water, and in an instant, the three of them reappeared atop Dull Peak.

“Senior Brother Li is no ordinary man…”

“I think he might become an ancient-level powerhouse…”

The elders of Star Peak murmured.

Ji Ziyue clicked her tongue in awe. She sensed Li Ruoyu was even more mysterious than the elders of her own Ji Clan.

“Star Peak disciples really can’t take a beating,” she joked, glancing sideways.

“You haven’t seen Star Peak’s best yet,” Li Ruoyu replied. “They may not rival the Eastern Desolate God Physique, but they’re not ones you can handle at your current level.”

Yawning, Ji Ziyue gracefully strolled back to her wooden hut.

Only then did Ye Fan turn to Li Ruoyu and ask, “I had to activate that forbidden art hundreds of times before it worked. Is there any way to increase the success rate?”

“As your Stage rises, the success rate will increase. More importantly, if you can master other Supreme Secrets, each one will raise the success rate by 10%,” Li Ruoyu explained.

Ye Fan was stunned. So this was why the Nine Secrets were called the ultimate arts, they were too extraordinary.

If all nine combined, even just this one from Dull Peak could reach perfection, near guaranteed success.

“That’s hard to believe!”

“Indeed, it’s miraculous,” Li Ruoyu nodded. “Perhaps they’re so incredible that even Heaven forbade their union. That’s why the Nine Secrets were scattered.”

“Who is it that dares trespass on Dull Peak? Why not show yourself?” Li Ruoyu suddenly said aloud.

Silence. No response. Everything was still.

No unfamiliar figures were visible, just new disciples building huts halfway up the mountain. They seemed unaware of anything unusual.

Ye Fan’s golden lake at his brow pulsed. His spiritual sense swept out, but the strange presence was elusive.

Li Ruoyu remained calm atop the peak. Without moving, grass and trees around him flourished and grew.

“So it’s a Ji Clan elder. The Void Scripture truly lives up to its name, capable of traversing space. A supreme art indeed,” Li Ruoyu said, eyes fixed upward, as if piercing through space to the source.

A vine sprouted beneath his feet, vibrant and green. At its tip, a flower bud glowed with radiant light.

The vine surged upward like a dragon. The flower bloomed in midair, petals crystal-clear, radiant, and bright. It sealed a portion of space in its blossoming.

This was the Dao of Nature. The petals symbolized eternity, freezing space in place!

“Dull Peak truly is extraordinary. Is another ancient powerhouse about to rise?” Space twisted, and an elder stepped out, standing on the petal.