Shrouded Sky

Chapter 225 - Source Heaven

The Grand Xia Emperor wasn't the only powerhouse buried here, four Sacred Lords and one Eastern Wilderness God-King met death in this pine forest as well.

This was a Celestial Source Master’s journal, carved clearly onto the pillars, identifying the victims through their artifacts and recording these words.

The ancient pavilion was about four meters tall, its roof littered with pine needles and surrounded by overhanging trees. Moonlight made it elegantly secluded. Four stone pillars were densely inscribed:

Emperors, Sacred Lords, and even the Eastern Wilderness God-King, each entered this sacred grove late in life, hoping to prolong their lifespans. Though they wielded earth-shattering power, they all perished here.

Ye Fan studied the first pillar for a long time. He sighed. Even the greatest souls couldn’t defy time. These people came seeking longevity and failed.

He moved to the second pillar, which recorded the Celestial Source Master’s own history, his achievements in life.

Ye Fan skimmed the text and stared in disbelief: this was the Fourth Generation Celestial Source Master, in some way, Ye Fan’s ancestral teacher!

The pillar traced the lineage of Celestial Source Arts in the Northern Region. Only five Celestial Source Masters have ever arisen, and they were directly descended in this line.

It even mentioned Zhang Lin, Grandpa Zhang’s ancestor, who was apprenticed to the Fourth-Generation Master at age 200, as he prepared for his final years.

“Meeting my spiritual ancestor…”

The third pillar described critical insights about the “When things reach the limit, they reverse” terrain, almost unsolvable, but the Fourth-Gen had found a path to survive. His engineering of the surface terrain made that area safe now, though the underground forces remained untouchable.

His warning to future generations was stern: Even with Heaven-Shattering cultivation and Celestial Source Master power, do not recklessly meddle with this place. Otherwise, death is certain.

Ye Fan gasped. The surface had been tamed, yet it remained lethal enough to almost kill him. He imagined how horrible the land beneath must be.

Some terrain cannot be changed by human will. Ancient earth conceals secrets too profound to disturb. That was the Fourth-Gen’s grave warning.

The third pillar’s final lines were hazy, but Ye Fan, carefully studying them, uncovered hints of the forest’s secret:

Mountains and rivers bury ancient saints... Beyond reversed terrains, this sacred grove holds a godsource, this is a grand tomb.

Ye Fan pondered in silence. The underground was indeed terrifying. If the Fourth-Gen Master couldn’t decipher it, neither could he.

He approached the fourth pillar. His jaw dropped, it contained a Source Art!

During his 200 years of trials, this Celestial Source Master had encountered forces beyond the scope of the Celestial Source Tome. When all else failed, he improvised genius Source techniques, crafting paths through impossible places and surviving to old age.

The characters carved deep, three inches into the pillar, were his final revelation, inscribed before his death: a supplement to the Book itself.

For a Digging Master like Ye Fan, this knowledge was as valuable as the Beginningless Scripture, a divine scripture unattainable even by godsources.

In all of history, only five Celestial Source Masters had emerged. This was one’s life’s culmination, a treasure beyond measure.

Ye Fan carefully memorized every symbol, refused to miss even one stroke. The art was so complex that it was mostly unreadable, almost resembling Dao itself. Ye Fan simply absorbed it silently.

Once he had fully memorized it, he swept his sleeve, and the carving crumbled away, lost to time.

He estimated: this art would fill over nine pages of the Celestial Source Tome.

“The Fourth-Gen truly was a genius… extending the Book by nine pages.”

After studying all four pillars, Ye Fan wondered: Why did this Master come here? And what became of him?

Inside the pavilion was a stone table with four stools, carved with the word “Passing”, subtle and deep with age.

Oddly, there was no dust. Though ancient, they were preserved clean.

He leaned on the table and read faint inscriptions, too light to see clearly. He climbed onto a stool, heart racing.

The text spoke of the Celestial Source Master’s own later years, not due to old age, but sensing misfortune incoming. He didn’t want to experience that fate, so he came to the Forbidden Zone seeking to reverse his destiny by harnessing the extreme-reversal terrain.

“Could it be that he… died here?”

Ye Fan scanned the dark forest. The moon was gentle. Streams flowed. No fresh grave moved him. Yet, at the end of the inscriptions, an arrow pointed deep into the forest.

This grove was boundless in moonlight and quiet mist.

Ye Fan paused inside the pavilion, then walked onward. As he left, the Celestial Source Tome rustled, emitting auspicious lights.

Source Runes on the ground sparked, guiding a path.

He realized: the pavilion and these runes were left for someone who carried the tome, otherwise, they would never be visible.

What truly became of the Master in his final days? Did he succeed? Did he avoid the curse? Answers lay ahead.

He reflected: Celestial Source Masters spend lives forging dragon veins and extracting rare sources, digging into the earth’s depths. Maybe that drew heavenly wrath.

Maybe he’d met tragedy in his later years.

He walked through the forest, the runes weaving like dragons and turtles across the earth, drawing power from the stars, scattering moonlight around them.

“The Fourth-Gen truly touched fate itself, using Source Arts to seal the ground, after over 10,000 years it still stands unbroken.”

Ye Fan was deeply impressed. Facing a deadly grotto that had slain Sacred Lords and Emperors, the Master forged a path forward without equal. Even the Middle Continent emperor couldn’t compare.

If the Master solved the surface… why am I still trapped? How can I break free? Maybe the answers lie ahead…

He feared lingering too long, something might awaken.

After several miles, he found three more ruins, each ancient, small, and crumbling. Their persistence in this place was miraculous; he believed source runes lay inside. Still, he didn’t risk exploring, he stayed on the rune path.

The path wound like silver threads into the forest under the stars.

After another four miles, a grand structure loomed ahead, blocking the way. The runes led right to it.

The ancient temple was massive, towering beyond the tallest pines. But moonlight didn’t bless it. Instead it seemed foreboding and dark.

Its walls of black stone absorbed the light, like an abandoned fortress sealed for centuries, utterly silent.

The gates stood wide open, inside an abyss of darkness, no details visible.

“Did the Celestial Source Master retreat here in old age? Did he alter his fate?”

Ye Fan felt uneasy. The building was too grim, so dark that even his vision couldn’t penetrate it.

But he had to go inside.

He proceeded forward.

Pine needles were so thick they covered half the stairs, making each step soft. After ten meters, he reached the temple entrance.

There, on an open courtyard of stone slabs, he found etched diagrams, maps of the Flame Dragon Grave and Dragonblood Spill, the pine forest, all carved in precise detail.

He was stunned. Those carvings connected the Dragon Grave and this forest. Most astonishingly, a coffin hidden within the forest was depicted on the map.

A low ridge of mountain joined the Dragon Grave to the pine forest, like a sacred chain drawing a coffin. This was exactly the Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin!

Ye Fan’s expression changed. This topographic carving was breathtaking. The coffin’s lines were so detailed, they even showed its pattern. It felt strangely familiar.

No doubt about it, it resembled the bronze grand coffin that had carried the Nine Dragon Corpse into this world.

Not identical, but unmistakably close.

“What in heaven…?!”

Goosebumps rose on his arms. The Dragon Grave and Dragonblood Spill were literally drawn, with the pine forest coffin linked by a ridge. This was a real-world terrain map, etched right here, revealing that Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin phenomena.

The level of craftsmanship, on a 100-mile scale, accurately captured in stone, was deeply awe-inspiring.