Shrouded Sky

Chapter 218 - Robes Untouched By Blood, Dao Vast And Boundless

The warm jade glowed, radiating soft light through Ye Fan’s fingers, calming the heart like a walk under a hazy moonlit night. “The Dao is vast and unknowable…” Ye Fan stood with hands behind his back, touched by the words. The Dao, formless and infinite, how could it be grasped or fully expressed?

He stood before the stone cave, tracing the nearly faded ancient inscriptions, soon to vanish forever. Using his finger as a pen, he retraced the three lines, immersing himself in the mindset of Grand Emperor Beginningless. Forgetting all else, he stood before the cliff, his movements slowing, each stroke deliberate, heavy as if lifting a mountain, his spirit like a bright moon in a well, fixed before the cave.

Time seemed to flow backward. He glimpsed a figure buried in dust, standing on desolate land. He tried to approach, but the figure was boundless, without beginning or end, unreachable, Grand Emperor Beginningless, a mere imprint eroded by history.

Ye Fan entered a profoundly ethereal state, his fingers tracing heavily, as if bearing a mountain of immense weight. Yet he couldn’t reach that solitary figure at the world’s end. The Imperial Jade in his left hand grew hotter, the cave trembling, stone peeling away.

The jade’s light poured into the cave, dust flying as Ye Fan stepped forward, as if under a starry sky from tens of thousands of years ago. The jade’s glow intensified, scorching, illuminating the cave. A fragmented historical scroll seemed to unfurl before him, a faint figure flickering in and out.

“Gazing at the immortal path, seeing no ancients before, no successors after, I stand alone at the cloud’s peak.” The jade preserved this emperor’s words from eons ago, stirring Ye Fan’s heart. But time was too vast; the broken scroll scattered, leaving little behind.

“Great as the sea, small as dust, all things…” The voice faded.

Ye Fan remained still, tracing in the void, lingering in that ethereal state. Hours passed, his body glowing, pores open, pristine as jade, as if baptized. Two hours later, he awoke from the Dao’s charm.

“I must obtain the Beginningless Scripture!” Though he heard no profound teachings, the remnant imprint bathed his spirit and body in sacred light, an indescribable cleansing. Rumble. The cliff collapsed, forcing Ye Fan to retreat.

Looking back, the cave was gone, reduced to ruins. Though he knew the Beginningless Scripture wasn’t here, he felt regret. The jade still glowed, undimmed, hinting at more to discover.

Amid barren cliffs and low mountains, immortal vines linked peaks like bridges, serene and simple. Ye Fan moved forward, passing stone hills toward a quiet area. “Who are you?” Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven disciples, alerted, rushed forward, shouting.

Ye Fan, as if in an empty realm, swept his sleeves, sending the young disciples flying. Holding the jade, he followed its guidance. “Report to the elders! An intruder’s in our back mountains!” they cried, alerting the sect.

Ye Fan glided over lush peaks to a tranquil valley. The jade glowed brighter, burning, straining to fly free. The valley, a dumping ground, was filled with debris, herb dregs, broken furnaces, rusted swords, cracked talismans, dead and murky.

Frowning, Ye Fan swept his sleeve, sending debris flying, broken metal clanging as he cleared the valley. The jade grew hotter.

“You priest, what are you doing?” a Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven elder arrived.

Ignoring him, Ye Fan continued, debris scattering, the valley clearing. Bang. An elder rushed forward but was swept away with the rubble. More elders landed, surrounding the valley. Ye Fan, having sealed Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven, spoke fearlessly, “I’m the one who killed your Supreme Master.”

“What?” They were stunned, unaware their former leader, left in Sunset Clouds, hadn’t returned. “Tell your current leader I’ll take his life soon,” Ye Fan said, rummaging through the valley.

“Nonsense! Our Supreme Master, with profound power, unmatched in this region, secluded for years!” an elder retorted. Ye Fan unleashed the Departing Fire God Furnace, flames flashing, reducing several elders to ash, erasing them.

The others paled, terrified, fleeing in chaos as Ye Fan’s methods overwhelmed them. Using the furnace, he refined the valley’s debris, clearing it completely. Ding. The jade vibrated, glowing brighter. Digging at the valley’s base, Ye Fan uncovered black soil amid ruined materials, revealing another piece of Imperial Jade, caked in dirt, buried for ages.

Buzz. The two jade pieces met, radiating vibrant light. Ye Fan picked up the second, dirt falling away, and placed them together, their glow harmonious. “Still incomplete, only two fragments, six or seven more needed,” he mused, not expecting to complete it now.

Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven’s leader and eight elders arrived, sparking a battle. But it was one-sided. Ye Fan’s furnace burned a peak to molten slag, flames roaring. Soon, silence fell, nine leaders slain. Stepping to the front mountain, Ye Fan, calm as a still well, killed one after another, ending lives with a flick. A massacre, over a hundred died, all evildoers eradicated. Only thirty-one, untainted by evil, were spared.

Opening Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven’s treasury, Ye Fan found 700 Kilos of source, matching Sunset Clouds', which he took. He studied their supreme scripture, then gave it and weapons to the survivors, leaving. They’d be future “miners,” though he didn’t say so.

Before Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven, disguised as Departing Fire’s elder, Ye Fan burned peaks at Seven Stars Pavilion and Falling Glow Sect, sparking conflict with Departing Fire Sect, though no major battle ensued. Departing Fire had two third-realm Dao Palace elders; Ye Fan killed one, leaving another. The sects suspected the furnace was stolen, not wielded by Departing Fire’s elder, but their guesses changed nothing.

Over days, Ye Fan struck each sect, Departing Fire, Seven Stars, Falling Glow, wiping them out, amassing 3,300 Kilo of source, a vast haul. Yet, to reach the third stage of the Dao Palace realm, he needed 5,000 Kilo, 5 tonnes. The thought dizzied him; his needs, once measured in Kilo, now required tonnes. Five thousand was conceivable, but fifty thousand kilos for the next step was staggering.

Without the Celestial Source Tome, he’d abandon cultivation, such amounts were impossible. Even sacred grounds would balk at later requirements. Sunset Clouds, Seven Stars, Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven, Falling Glow, and Departing Fire became his miner reserves. His gains were immense, especially a tattered booklet from Departing Fire with the Mountain-Holding Seal, akin to his Seal of Mountain and River, enhancing his War Paragon Art.

“With another few tonnes, I’ll reach the third stage of Dao Palace realm,” Ye Fan mused, planning to enter Jade Pool. The sects’ destruction wouldn’t stir waves. These minor sects, the Northern Region’s lowest tier, beneath mid-tier, large factions, and Sacred Grounds, were insignificant. Unless tied to Forbidden Burial Grounds or divine gardens, Sacred Grounds ignored them.

The Northern Region was vast, crossing it took months. Sects were often tens or hundreds of thousands of miles apart. Major powers were known, but minor ones like Departing Fire and Profound Moon Grotto-Heaven were obscure, noticed only by local peers. Like ants to celestial towers, Ye Fan didn’t fear Sacred Grounds noticing.

The Eastern Wilderness held seven Forbidden Burial Grounds, including the Southern Region’s Forbidden Ancient Desolate Realm and the Northern Region’s Primordial Mine, among the most mysterious. A source mine turned death zone, it claimed countless sages and immortals. Named Primordial, it predated heaven and earth, its age unimaginable. Some said it wasn’t human-made, existing before humanity; others claimed humans dug it, with whispers of “true immortals,” though doubted.

A Forbidden Burial Ground, it devoured even prodigies. Seven hundred years ago, a Middle Continent emperor, a mighty ruler, vanished there without a ripple. Outside the mine, Sacred Grounds claimed vast barren source-rich lands. Amid this red-brown wasteland stood Source City, a small stone city built by cultivators, free of mortals, housing disciples and source transporters.

Three thousand miles from the mine, Ye Fan arrived, learning Jade Pool’s Saintess was nearby, transporting stones, not yet returned. Holding her jade pendant, he hesitated to enter Jade Pool early, with time until the stone-appraisal event. He also wanted to glimpse the Primordial Mine.

Source City, built of red-brown stone, was a famed hub for miners’ supplies. Ye Fan confirmed the Saintess, Yao Xi, and the Radiant Light Saint were at the mine’s edge, a thousand miles away, not daring to venture closer.

“What is the Primordial Mine?” Ye Fan pondered, stroking his chin.

The Celestial Source Master’s greatest regret was not entering the mine, a place even that immortals feared. Ye Fan wouldn’t rush in but hoped to observe from afar, using the Celestial Source Tome to uncover its mysteries.