Shrouded Sky

Chapter 188 - The Grand Emperor Arrived Too Late

It was indeed a humanoid creature, about two meters tall, with wings spanning four meters, swooping toward Ye Fan from the depths of the ancient mine. Its sharp claws gleamed like knives, aiming for his throat, while emitting strange soundwaves that made his eardrums buzz.

Ye Fan raised the stone knife, thrusting it forward to block the creature’s path.

Clang!

The creature’s claws struck the stone knife, producing a metallic sound and sparking in the darkness.

“Damn... didn’t Old Man Zhang say the stone clothing wards off evil? Why did I attract this unknown creature right after entering?” Ye Fan wondered, though he wasn’t afraid. He sensed this humanoid creature wasn’t particularly formidable.

Whoosh!

The creature flapped its wings, soaring upward to gather momentum before diving again. This time, it spewed a blinding beam of light from its mouth, slashing down like a sharp blade. Ye Fan sheathed the stone knife, recognizing the creature’s innate magical abilities. Using the knife would be ineffective.

Swish, swish, swish!

He extended his five fingers, and five sword-like beams shot forth, dazzling like lightning, illuminating the pitch-black mine.

Clang!

The creature’s light blade shattered, and the remaining sword beams struck its body.

Splatter!

Blood sprayed as the creature was pierced, frantically flapping its wings to escape deeper into the mine.

Ye Fan couldn’t let it get away. With a soft shout, he unleashed a surge of energy that shot upward, shattering the creature. He knew this wasn’t a being from before the ancient era; it was far too weak compared to the legends.

Approaching the corpse, Ye Fan spread its wings to examine it closely. The creature was two meters tall, covered in gray fur, with fleshy wings resembling those of a bat. He recalled ancient texts describing a rare subterranean species called a Hellbat, nearly extinct and seldom seen.

According to legend, when a bat achieved great power and became a Supreme Giant, its descendants, after dozens or hundreds of generations, would dilute their bloodline. If they couldn’t advance, they’d degenerate into Hellbats. The texts also noted that places where Hellbats appeared were always on the edges of deadly, ominous lands.

“This isn’t a good sign!” Ye Fan muttered. He had hoped Purple Mountain held the legacy of an ancient Grand Emperor, but now it seemed far more sinister.

Without lingering, Ye Fan pressed on. After traveling a dozen miles deeper, he encountered serious trouble, hundreds of Hellbats. He showed no mercy, cutting down any that attacked with his golden book. When a massive Hellbat, five meters long with a ten-meter wingspan, appeared, he shattered it with a single punch, restoring silence to the mine.

After advancing another twenty miles, the mine grew deathly quiet and pitch-black, exuding an eerie atmosphere. “Have I entered the boundary of a deadly zone?” Ye Fan wondered aloud.

He proceeded another seven or eight miles, moving cautiously and unhurriedly. On the cave walls, he noticed numerous stone carvings left by ancient miners’ tools. The carvings were simple, depicting the daily struggles of source mining. Ye Fan didn’t find them dull; he studied them patiently.

Initially, the carvings showed trivial matters, but later, they included many corpses, with figures sprawled on the ground.

“Were the ancients from over a hundred thousand years ago trying to leave a message?” Ye Fan wondered.

The more he looked, the more shocked he became. It felt like a story unfolding. As the miners dug deeper, they uncovered strange things, and more people died. Eventually, a creature with a single horn on its forehead was unearthed from the vein, leading to near-total annihilation.

This horned creature had six arms and a pair of wings, exuding an aura of dominance. In the carvings, it roared at the heavens, causing the earth to crack, the mine to collapse, and magma to surge from below.

Ye Fan sucked in a cold breath. Could this be a creature sealed in a Godsource? Its earth-shaking roar was terrifying, explaining the massive death toll. The subsequent carvings were even more chilling. The horned, six-armed, winged creature was shown kneeling before a massive source, kowtowing.

“Such a powerful creature, yet so reverent, bowing to another?” Ye Fan’s heart raced.

Eagerly, he moved to the next carving, hoping to see the being within the Supreme Godsource and its overwhelming presence. However, the next image didn’t reveal the creature. The source remained shrouded in light, yet countless corpses surrounded it, stretching into the distance.

“What’s inside that source?” Ye Fan marveled.

Without even emerging, it had caused boundless slaughter. The carvings suggested tens of thousands had perished. In the following images, the Godsource remained central, with no creature emerging, only mounting piles of corpses, including many cultivators. Blood formed rivers, winding into the distance, resembling a hellish scene.

The horned creature continued kneeling devoutly beside the source, never acting. “Over a hundred thousand years ago, such a horrific event occurred. How many died? The carvings show the land itself shattered, so how does this mine still exist?” Ye Fan questioned.

He had come for the Celestial Source Tome, but the ancient carvings captivated him. In later images, the Godsource remained vague, with no creature emerging, only more human corpses piling up. The kneeling creature never attacked, continuing to kowtow.

“The being in that source must have been a terrifying existence before the ancient era…” Ye Fan thought, stunned.

He continued studying the carvings. The creature never emerged, but the surrounding cultivator corpses grew, blood staining the earth red. Finally, a human powerhouse, shrouded in a radiant halo, descended from the sky, shifting the tide.

The figure’s face was unclear, gender indistinguishable, enveloped in auspicious light. Above their head was carved a single character: “Emperor.”

“The ancient Grand Emperor!” Ye Fan’s heart surged as he eagerly continued.

True to the title of a world-ruling Grand Emperor, with one strike, they suppressed the horned creature guarding the source, slamming it into the ground. The carving’s simple strokes conveyed a trace of the Grand Emperor’s supreme might, clouds dispersed, energy pierced the heavens, and stars trembled. This was the Grand Emperor’s power! With a single move, the creature was subdued.

In the next carving, the Grand Emperor targeted the Godsource, but here the cave wall was damaged, the image fragmented, obscuring the outcome. Skipping this section, Ye Fan continued, feeling as if he were transported to the ancient land of over a hundred thousand years ago, witnessing the Grand Emperor’s unparalleled grandeur.

The being in the supreme Godsource was clearly terrifying, forcing the Grand Emperor to wield a weapon, a massive bell as tall as the heavens, descending to cover the source.

“A Paragon Artifact!” Ye Fan exclaimed. The power of a Grand Emperor’s weapon was unlike anything he’d seen, as if it could pierce through a hundred thousand years, the Grand Emperor’s majesty almost leaping from the wall. Ye Fan’s heart surged with awe and aspiration.

In the next carving, the Godsource cracked, and the creature began to emerge, but only a slender, jade-like hand was depicted before the stone wall broke again, leaving the image incomplete. Ye Fan’s heart pounded as he hurried forward, but for a long stretch, the walls were ruined, the carvings lost.

After a hundred thousand years, it was miraculous the special stone of the mine had preserved anything at all; damage was expected. After walking over a hundred meters, intact carvings reappeared, but the battle had ended. The Grand Emperor, using the Paragon Artifact (the bell) had suppressed the ancient creature, sealing it back in the Godsource. The creature’s true form remained unseen.

“A slender, jade-like hand, likely a woman, yet so powerful…” Ye Fan drew a sharp breath. The beings from before the ancient era were unfathomable, surviving in Godsources into later eras.

He admired the Grand Emperor even more for suppressing such a terrifying creature, truly a peerless figure overlooking the vast earth. Unfortunately, the damaged hundred-meter section of wall likely held the most thrilling battle scenes, now lost. Ye Fan walked another dozen meters, reaching the final carvings.

The Grand Emperor restored the land to its original state, then, with the bell suppressing the Godsource, flew toward a distant mountain.

“Purple Mountain!” Ye Fan recognized it instantly as the “pearl” guarded by the nine dragon veins.

After viewing everything, Ye Fan stood still, silent for a long time, lost in thought. These carvings, left by ancients over a hundred thousand years ago, recorded the events of that era, detailing the mining of this land beneath one of the so-called dragon veins.

With nine dragon veins in this region, all guarding a single pearl, each likely held Godsources. Did this mean every vein contained a terrifying creature? Had similar events occurred in each, only to be suppressed by the Grand Emperor?

In the Radiant Light Sacred Ground’s source mine, when a pyramid radiated light and restored green vitality, Ye Fan had witnessed source formation. Creatures sealed in sources were coincidental, with source liquid dripping to encase corpses.

Were the powerful beings from before the Desolate Era here passively sealed by sources, or did they enter the dragon veins and seal themselves in Godsources to slumber?

Logically, once a Godsource solidified, it couldn’t be entered without shattering, as the vein had already formed. This was a natural source vein, not artificially arranged. Yet Ye Fan sensed it wasn’t so simple.

If these ancient beings had sealed themselves in Godsources, it opened up more possibilities. With nine dragon veins, there were at least nine Godsources, each potentially containing a terrifying creature. Did they know each other?

In that distant past, did nine fearsome ancient beings, possibly acquainted, make the same choice to seal themselves here? Old Man Zhang’s ancestor, a Celestial Source Master, had said that only a Grand Emperor could manipulate the “grand formation” of this place. Did these ancient beings dare to tamper with such a formation before the Desolate Era?

Pushing further, Ye Fan arrived at a chilling realization. If powerful beings from before the Desolate Era had already claimed this place, did that mean Purple Mountain was the same? If so, with each of the nine dragon veins housing a terrifying creature, what were they guarding?

Only a Grand Emperor could manipulate this grand formation. The human Grand Emperor was a latecomer. When he arrived, other races had already claimed this place.

By this reasoning, the Grand Emperor had come too late!

“Everything lies within Purple Mountain…” Ye Fan realized that the root of all these mysteries converged on that mountain.