Shrouded Sky

Chapter 201 - Mysterious Bloodline

The setting sun cast a gentle glow, its twilight like flowing water, bathing the stone village in faint red hues. Houses built of stacked stones stood sturdy as Ye Fan and Fifth Master Zhang sat on a bluestone, gazing at the red sun on the horizon, speaking in low tones.

“Our founding ancestor, in his later years, acted strangely and often vanished. Once, he disappeared for over half a year. When he returned, he brought back two infants, remarkably unique,” Fifth Master Zhang said.

Ye Fan understood these were the ancestors of the Wang and Lei Clans. “What made them special?” he asked.

“Those infants had immense strength, able to lift adults.” This was passed down through the Zhang Clan’s oral tradition.

Ye Fan was stunned. Infants lifting adults defied logic, even for the most gifted. “Were they… human?” he asked, voicing a suspicion tied to the mysterious bloodline and Tu Fei’s cryptic remarks, which had sparked many theories.

“You’ve guessed it. Indeed, they had traits unlike humans,” Fifth Master Zhang said calmly. “Their blood was silver, their foreheads glowed, and their eyes held double pupils. Many peculiarities were lost to time.”

Ye Fan was shocked. Silver blood clearly marked them as non-human. A glowing forehead suggested innate godpower. Double pupils, tied to ancient Chinese myths of emperors, hinted at something extraordinary, especially if not human.

“So… unique…” Ye Fan mused, rubbing his chin. After a pause, he asked, “Did the Celestial Source Master say anything about their origins?”

“At that time, our ancestor was erratic, his actions hard to fathom. He personally sealed the two infants…”

He told descendants to marry them to humans. If their children were abnormal, they too were to be sealed, but he never revealed their origins.

Over countless generations, the Wang and Lei families’ blood turned from silver to red, becoming nearly indistinguishable from normal humans. Occasionally, a child would emerge with a glowing forehead, subsiding after a hundred days, born with divine arts and strange abilities.

Ye Fan glanced toward the village, where Er Lengzi waved. “Brother Ye, my mom says you’re eating at our place tonight!”

“Sure, I’ll be there,” Ye Fan smiled.

It was unbelievable, mysterious origins, non-human. He immediately thought of the Primordial Era’s creatures. The Celestial Source Master was audacious!

“In his later years, our ancestor sighed, regretting never entering the Primordial Mine, his unfulfilled wish tied to Purple Mountain’s future.”

Ye Fan’s heart trembled, unable to calm. “If I become a Celestial Source Master…” he pondered, wondering if he’d face ominous fates in his later years.

For now, he set it aside. He needed source, strength, and the power to cross the starry skies. Five years in this world left him with a sense of urgency.

The next day, Ye Fan left the village, sealing himself underground to avoid harming its people during his breakthrough. His goal wasn’t just Other Shore perfection but a complete transformation into the Dao Palace realm.

He’d been studying Jade Pool’s heart technique. Though incomplete, with only a few pages in the Celestial Source Tome, it offered endless inspiration.

“Dao Palace realm, here I come!”

For half a month, his seclusion was silent. On the sixteenth day, dust clouded the sky, and mist surged. The barren, reddish-brown land, dotted with sparse weeds, burst with life. Green sprouts, like flames of hope, spread from the soil.

Ye Fan achieved Oceanic Wheel perfection, his body reborn through the ninth Other Shore transformation. Life essence overflowed, reviving withered grass. After two sacred fruits and refining his body with an Emperor’s holy blood, this was his fourth transformation.

Every gesture radiated godpower. He opened his eyes, gazing at the sky and earth, savoring the profound change. Without lingering, he soared off, finding another spot to burrow underground, preparing to enter the Dao Palace.

Holding the Ancient Insect Source, its vibrant essence enveloped him. The Oceanic Wheel lay below the navel, palm-sized, while the Dao Palace was above, within the chest, cradled by ribs. Studying Jade Pool’s partial scripture, Ye Fan understood its link to the five organs, birthing Daoist power and life essence, a cradle of vitality.

The five organs, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, were the “five god-god-spirits,” storing essence without leaking, preserving life eternally. With the five god-spirits intact, connecting the five energies to heaven and earth, one could endure forever.

The Dao Palace was a critical realm for immortality, requiring deep effort to ascend and evolve the five elements for the immortal path.

The Ancient Insect Source melted, its mist and terrifying energy encasing Ye Fan like a bronze furnace refining an immortal elixir. As the Other Shore’s clouds faded, a divine palace emerged. Above his Oceanic Wheel, a celestial gate appeared, leading to a new realm.

“Raise my divine sail, break from the sea, ascend to the next heaven!” Ye Fan intoned, his voice echoing in the Oceanic Wheel. Riding the wind, his Bitter Sea surged, lifting him to the clouds.

A divine bridge stretched beneath his feet, guiding him to the celestial gate. From afar, he saw a new world. Striding forward, he’d accumulated enough to enter the Dao Palace, no mere dream.

Boom.

A divine aura emanated from the gate, Daoist power palpable. One step away, Ye Fan paused, looking back at the surging sea and clouds, seeing not just his Oceanic Wheel but past memories. His path wasn’t just a realm but a span of time. Turning sharply, he stepped through.

The next moment, a vast new world opened, brimming with vitality. His body rumbled, five energies soaring like dragons, piercing the sky.

“What person is this? Five god-spirits piercing the heavens! Is this real?” A hundred miles away, a cultivator witnessed the spectacle, incredulous. “Such a phenomenon is rare. Even great Patriarchs in the prime of their youth never showed this.”

“Is it the Jiang Clan’s God Physique? No, he’d never be here, and he’s past this realm. What physique is this? Who’s breaking through?”

The distant cultivator rushed toward the site, but the dragon-like qi pillars vanished swiftly. Too far to arrive in time, he missed the source.

In the Dao Palace, Ye Fan faced a choice: which god-spirit to cultivate first?

“The heart drives blood through the body, channeling godpower. I’ll start with the Heart’s Divine Treasury,” he decided after brief thought.

The Dao Palace was misty, awaiting exploration. Guided by instinct, he broke through the fog, nearing the heart’s god-spirit, a budding lotus, not yet human-shaped, still forming. For immortality, this was the starting point.

Essence was the body’s foundation. In the Dao Palace, the task was to transform essence into divinity, birthing the god-spirit.

“Life’s origin is essence; two essences clashing birth divinity…” Ye Fan recited ancient scriptures.

Familiar with similar texts from his homeworld, he progressed smoothly. “Innate essence forms at birth; acquired essence is refined to nourish life.”

Nearing the heart’s treasury, he felt searing heat, its yang energy overwhelming. “Man aligns with heaven and earth. Heaven has its sun; man has his sun, the heart,” he realized. The heart’s treasury, the body’s sun, was the root of vitality, paramount among the five stages of the Dao Palace Realm.

This Divine Treasury, the Solar God-Spirit, drove life’s cycle with yang energy, sustaining immortality. The Fire Red Source in his hand flared, its fiery essence surging into the lotus-shaped god-spirit.

“The heart is the fire organ, illuminating all,” Ye Fan comprehended. “The body’s sun, needing yang to nourish life, is the root of endurance.”

Boom.

The lotus god-spirit dispelled the fog, and Ye Fan felt ease, his pores opening as a strange Daoist power flowed through his flesh. Entering the Dao Palace, his innate essence birthed the heart’s god-spirit, like a sun rising, marking the body’s genesis.

The Dao Palace opened, a new world to forge step by step. “Oceanic Wheel births yin and yang; the five treasuries form the five elements…” Ye Fan glimpsed the ancient Supreme Giants’ secret of cultivating a single realm.

Standing tall, he emerged onto the vast earth, having entered the Dao Palace, initiating the body’s cosmic genesis. His realm had soared.

In harmony with heaven and earth, his steps carried a Daoist charm, weaving natural runes, like an immortal descending.