Shrouded Sky

Chapter 214 - Invincible Against All Daos

Without God-King Jiang Taixu’s War Paragon Art, who could rival him? The Radiant Light Saint was deemed a rare gem, a future Radiant Light Sacred Lord of this era.

In the current Eastern Wilderness, the Ji Clan and Jiang Clan each boasted a God Physique, seen as the strongest for the next three to four thousand years. Living in the same era as a God Physique was a tragedy for other cultivators, no matter how prodigious, they paled against a fully realized God-King.

Yet outside Richcloud City, many felt a shift. The Radiant Light Saint might be an exception, his radiance unmatched even by God-Kings. Five elder cultivators lay dead at his feet, slain effortlessly, a stunning display of prowess. He stood like a divine furnace, capable of refining all creation. His life essence surged like an ocean, overwhelming half the sky, injuring souls, spirits, and vitality of those nearby.

With every casual move, boundless holy light soared, a mere gesture unleashing blazing radiance across all directions. He was like an immortal king overlooking the mortal realm, his natural holy light eclipsing heaven and earth.

“Brother Ye, you’re riding high,” Blackwater and the others spotted Ye Fan, communicating via secret transmission without approaching.

“What’s there to be proud of?” Ye Fan asked, puzzled.

“Don’t play coy, you fake priest. I’m starting to suspect you’re that unscrupulous priest, maybe even worse,” Blackwater grumbled.

“My heart burns with justice. How can you slander me?” Ye Fan retorted.

Tu Fei exclaimed, “Ye Fan, you’re young but black-hearted. If Yao Xi learns it was you, I can’t imagine her reaction, but I’m eager to see it.”

Blackwater, indignant, said, “My heart’s pure, don’t compare me to him.” Rubbing his hands, he added, “Keep it up, Ye Fan. Flirt with Yao Xi, exchange glances. I want to see her face when she learns the truth, heh.”

“You two are the real scoundrels. Am I that bad? It was all coincidental, unintentional,” Ye Fan protested.

“Sure, intentional. The more you explain, the phonier you sound. We’re rooting for you,” Jiang Huairen transmitted. “Grabbing the nun’s hand in front of the Great Xia prince? Bold, promising. No misdeed’s beyond you, you’re a genius of our trade.”

“Now, rekindling things with Yao Xi, we’ll help you hook up,” Liu Kou teased.

“Rekindling what?” Ye Fan asked.

“You two flirting, of course. Don’t fall for her beauty, stay undercover and strike when the time’s right. We’ll back you up, wishing you a scandalous success,” Liu Kou said.

Ye Fan didn’t avoid them, joining openly, though their talk stayed in secret transmissions. They appeared as acquaintances, not close allies, while Ye Fan warmly greeted others, naturally sociable.

“Don’t worry, they won’t trace us. It’s arranged, outsiders will see us as mere acquaintances,” Wu Zhongtian transmitted.

“Alright, we’re off!” Tu Fei and Blackwater called, flying away.

The Radiant Light Saint approached, each step haloed with light, a radiant disc behind his head illuminating all, godlike. Wu Zhongtian lingered, facing him from afar, gave a deep look, then soared off.

The Radiant Light Saint smiled brightly, nodded, and turned into a streak of dawn, leaving golden sunlight as he flew to Richcloud City.

“The Nine Secrets…” Ye Fan mused, not lingering, flying off before the crowd dispersed. The Nine Secrets, supreme arts at their peak, included two he’d mastered, their profound mysteries clear. He believed they’d be his trump cards in dominating the world soon.

Satisfied with his Richcloud trip, having earned a Jade Pool invitation, Ye Fan sped toward Sunset Clouds Sect. He delayed visiting Jade Pool to perfect his Heaven-Swapping Earth-Changing technique. It could fool sacred ground heirs, but Jade Pool’s Sage Mother’s divine eyes might expose him, with dire consequences. Time was short, he needed to resolve this urgently.

Sunset Clouds remained lush, its eighteen peaks misty, waterfalls cascading, scenery serene. Returning as himself, the “young demon lord,” Ye Fan stirred complex emotions among the sect.

“Have Departing Fire Sect, Falling Glow Sect, Seven Stars Pavilion, or Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven attacked?” he asked.

“No attacks, but mysterious figures lurk, coveting Sunset Clouds,” an elder replied.

Ye Fan sneered. “Leave Sunset Clouds for twenty days. Return then, and I’ll resolve everything.”

“Leave Sunset Clouds?” The three elders hesitated.

“They’ve seen through our bluff. Staying risks annihilation. It’s not abandoning Sunset Clouds, just strategic retreat,” Ye Fan said, turning away.

He could summon Wu Zhongtian and Tu Fei to crush the four sects but avoided drawing attention. These bandits were Northern Region’s storm-stirrers, watched by many. Being linked to them would complicate things.

After sending everyone away, Ye Fan left Sunset Clouds, entering seclusion. With 800-900 kilos of source, enough to break through the first stage of the Dao Palace realm, he carved a cave in a secluded stone mountain hundreds of miles away.

For half a month, Ye Fan secluded himself, refining his heart’s divine treasury. It glowed fiery red, like an unopened lotus, birthing streams of essence but no god-spirit. Puzzled, he wondered why no change occurred despite refining a 500 kilos of source.

Yet he felt his growing power. The heart’s sun rose and fell, cycling endlessly, innate essence blazing, nourished by acquired essence, merging into a crystalline red sun, almost tangible. His body roared, visions of vast seas, rising and setting suns, vibrant life, and boundless vitality filling his mind.

Boom.

The heart’s treasury soared, fixed in his inner void like a midday sun, reaching its peak, exuding boundless aura. Ye Fan knew he’d crossed the first Dao Palace realm, but unlike others, no god-spirit formed, his sun remained suspended.

The heart’s treasury reached perfection! Though no god-spirit appeared, Ye Fan wasn’t disappointed. He preferred no second self within him, fitting his desires perfectly. Unsure why no god-spirit formed, he felt immense power, as if he could shatter mountains with a stomp.

“This is what I need, no god-spirit, just the heart’s treasury as a sun, serving me!” Flames of innate essence, wrapped in acquired fire, surged from his body, incinerating his clothes. His crystalline body shimmered with mysterious power. The flames eventually subsided, merging back inside.

In his inner world, misty energies swirled as he approached the next treasury, ascending as if climbing a heavenly stair. Crossing this threshold was like transcending mortal and immortal realms. The second stage of the Dao Palace realm’s power far surpassed the first, an uncrossable chasm.

The sun illuminated his path from above. Soon, he sensed a sharp aura, the Lung’s Divine Treasury, aligned with metal in the five elements. The lung’s treasury, linked to spiritforce, covered the organs, positioned highest, called the canopy, the chief of the five viscera. It drew the purest heaven-and-earth essence, central to the five treasuries.

He felt vibrant life! This treasury circulated essence, nourishing organs, limbs, skin, and hair, its role immense beyond imagination. With hundreds of kilo of source left, Ye Fan sat, refining ceaselessly, channeling source qi into the canopy treasury.

All energy and vitality belongs to the lungs! Each breath connected to heaven’s energies. Ancient texts emphasized this fundamental truth. Entering this realm, Ye Fan felt his pores open, linking to the heavens, accelerating his ability to harness earth’s essence manifold.

“Truly, each realm is a new world!” Ye Fan marveled. This transformation would boost cultivation speed, wielding vast essence for a qualitative leap in strength.

On the eighteenth day, his essence surged, dragon energies coiling around him, resembling the Great Xia prince’s Imperial Dragonforce.

Bang.

Radiance flared as he broke through the stone wall, stepping into the sky, eyes shooting sharp beams.

His strength soared, and his Heaven-Swapping Earth-Changing technique reached perfection for altering his form.

“Time to enter Jade Pool,” he said, donning a Daoist robe, striding through the void with the Old Madman’s steps, returning to Sunset Clouds instantly.

The mountains remained, but many halls had collapsed, herbs uprooted, even stone walls with inscribed techniques stolen. Ye Fan found several Sunset Clouds disciples’ corpses, those who hadn’t fled, dead tragically. The main peak was carved away, taken for its ancestral insights, a treasure to the four sects.

“Thorough,” Ye Fan muttered, burying the disciples’ bodies. Standing before a waterfall, mist swirling, he turned coldly.

“Who are you, priest, daring to snoop here?” Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven’s Prime Descendant, Li Youran, emerged, fanning himself.

Departing Fire Sect’s Prime Descendant, Du Chengkun, appeared, joined by figures from Seven Stars Pavilion and Falling Glow Sect. Ye Fan had sensed them but didn’t call them out, having once slapped all four sects’ heirs.

“Departing Fire, Falling Glow, Seven Stars, Profound Moon, sparing you won’t be easy,” he said, shaking his head.

“Big talk!” Li Youran sneered.

Du Chengkun, arrogant, said, “Another priest, likely kin to that fat one. You’re not leaving today!”

Confident, they’d probed Sunset Clouds' weaknesses, backed by Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven’s supreme leader on a peak and Departing Fire Sect’s retired elder under a waterfall, untouched by the cascading water.

“You waited here to kill me?” Ye Fan scanned them, a cold smile forming. “Seems I’m fated with the Beginningless Emperor. Without you, I wouldn’t have found his abode.”

“What? Who’s the Beginningless Emperor?” the waterfall elder snapped, eyes opening.

“Born and raised in the Northern Region, you’ve never heard of him?” Ye Fan asked, probing despite low expectations.

“Stalling?” Du Chengkun mocked. “The Northern Region has no such emperor. What audacity, claiming that title, pure fabrication!”

“I’m speaking to your elder. Silence,” Ye Fan said, glancing at him.

“A young priest, still wet behind the ears, dares talk to me like that?” Du Chengkun, Departing Fire’s Prime Descendant, bristled at being dismissed by a teenage priest.

“Facing death, still playing mad?” Li Youran advanced, fanning.

Ye Fan snorted, flicking his sleeve. Bang. Both were sent flying. Ignoring them, he faced the waterfall elder and Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven’s supreme leader on the peak. “In the Northern Region, the Jiang Clan had an emperor, Jade Pool a Sage Mother, from the desolate era, over 100,000 or 200,000 years ago,” the Departing Fire elder said, frowning.

“Beginningless Emperor… was there such a person?” Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven’s leader, eyes closed, sat on a peak’s stone.

Ye Fan smiled faintly. “If you don’t know, so be it. I’ll seek him myself!”