Shrouding the Heavens

Ye Fan turned and wanted to leave, he did not want to have any connections with the sect that Li Xiao Man was in. When they met today, Li Xiao Man was indifferent without any ripples, that sort of coldness and indifference, although she attempted to pass some money to him, she gave one a feeling as though she were way above them, like she was giving alms to the poor.

“Asking me to be an ordinary person and not walk a crooked path, could I really be so useless……” He mocked himself but did not feel hurt or hatred, emotions faded with the passing of time and no markings were left behind. Ye Fan felt that if they met again, a simple smile as they passed was sufficient. There was no need to be overly reminiscent of anything, at times simply brushing shoulders and walking by was possibly a better option.

Ye Fan had already walked several tens of metres away when he suddenly stopped. He had always been contemplating how to escape from the horsemen of the Jiang Family and at this moment he immediately thought of using the Purple Sun immortal sanctuary to get out of this dicey situation.

Right now, he did not have sufficient strength and could not possibly face them head on. He could only use his brain to think of how to deal with the situation as he mumbled: “I haven’t been able to get rid of them, there must be a reason for this. Even an expert could not possibly have such acute spiritual sense enabling him to constantly find traces…….”

Ye Fan felt that Purple Sun immortal sanctuary which was one of the six immortal sanctuaries would certainly have Dao Inscriptions laid down in their area, coalescing all the mysterious energy causing this area to become a self contained world, if he went into the area he could possibly cut off any connections with the outside world.

“Not bad, I’ll borrow this area!” After careful consideration, Ye Fan continued into the depths of the mountainous region.

“Such dense spiritual qi, no wonder it’s an immortal sanctuary.”

The sky was already dark but between the mountain ridges, traces of purple qi could be seen swirling, the Purple Sun immortal sanctuary truly lives up to its name, purple mist could be seen bubbling forth and occasionally purple lights could be seen streaking across the sky.

Even though it was simply the outer region, it was already exceptional with azure peaks among jade green valleys, rippling clear streams and lush green vegetation. Many of the plants and trees seemed to have gained spiritual awareness and had glossy leaves that twinkled.

Ye Fan got closer to the Purple Sun immortal sanctuary and closely inspected, trying to find a way to sneak in. However, he found this task extremely difficult as there were people supervising the entryway and there were even ferocious beasts guarding.

Two unique beasts were covered in lumps and seemed like huge crocodiles, it was only that they had two flesh wings and seemed like two small mountains as they lay there, their jade coloured eyes which were as big as a face seemed to flash with a cold light.

“Eh, there seem to be a few youths kneeling there, what’s the matter?” Ye Fan was shocked to see that there were several sixteen to seventeen year old youths kneeling before the front door.

A cultivator which was patrolling the mountain happened to walk by and said: “You people should just leave, your aptitudes are too normal and even if you work hard there won’t be much results.”

“Immortal teacher, please give us one more chance.”

The cultivator sighed: “You people have kneeled for several days, I am not a heartless person but your aptitudes are simply too ordinary. There’s no way for you to pass the test, please head down the mountain.”

“Immortal teacher, we aren’t requesting for anything else, we only wish for one more chance.” The few youths were kneeling on the ground as they bitterly pleaded.

“Alright, I’ll give all of you one more chance. Half a month later we will be selecting new disciples, whether you can grasp this opportunity to stay will depend on yourselves.”

“Many thanks immortal teacher!” The youths bowed in unison.

Hearing this, Ye Fan took big strides as he walked forward.

“Who’s there?” The cultivator turned to look back.

“Immortal teacher, I’ve come here to be a disciple.” Ye Fan loudly shouted.

“It only begins half a month later, you’ve arrived too early.”

“My home is too far away and I’ve travelled for six months before arriving. I was afraid of being delayed along the way, please take pity on me immortal teacher.” Ye Fan had observed for a period of time and felt that this cultivator’s heart was rather soft and should be easily convinced.

“This doesn’t conform with the rules.”

Ye Fan’s face was very sincere as he described how he raised money, even to the point of begging, travelling over land and water, going over thousands of miles and journeyed for over half a year before reaching this area with difficulty.

This immortal teacher was not very old and looked to be about twenty seven to twenty eight years of age, he was soft hearted and as he looked at Ye Fan with his tattered clothes and face which was stained with blotches, he finally sighed as he nodded: “Alright, you’ll go together with them.”

Ye Fan hurriedly said his thanks as he followed the group of youths into the Purple Sun immortal sanctuary. All the immortal mountains had purple qi swirling around them and they seemed hazy and indistinct, palaces could be seen on each of the mountain tops, simply ephemeral, with a flavour of the land of immortals.

“This Purple Sun immortal sanctuary has even denser spiritual qi than Ling Xu immortal sanctuary……” Ye Fan muttered in his heart as he nodded, this place was clearly exceptional.

Entering into the depths of the immortal mountains, the vegetation was lush and spiritual medicine was abundant, a fresh air blew by, this was an extremely beautiful and peaceful immortal sanctuary.

Ye Fan and the few youths were settled down beside a patch of bamboo forest, there were wooden houses here that were catered for odd labourers, disciples who cultivated seldom came to this area.

Reaching this area, Ye Fan gradually calmed down. If they were still able to find him, he would only be left with the choice to struggle with his life on the line, there were no other options available.

“It’s likely that there’s something on my body that allows them to sense it and chase.”

Ye Fan eliminated the aurichalcite, this mysterious precious treasure, back in the day many cultivators got a hold of it but could not differentiate it, now that it was located silently within his golden sea of bitterness it would be even more impossible to differentiate.

Was it the Dao Scripture? This was also quite improbable, if he did not circulate the mystical arts recorded within, his golden sea of bitterness would be silent, like a divine piece of metal without any fluctuations and outsiders would be hard pressed to sense anything.

“Could it be this piece of ‘source’ that is exposing my tracks? It shouldn’t be the case.” Ye Fan contemplated deeply but did not manage to find an answer as he muttered: “I won’t care about all this first, let’s first absorb this ‘source’.”

In the next few days, the patch of bamboo forest was extremely peaceful, no outsiders came to disturb and it really was a place suitable for cultivation. The expert horsemen from the Jiang Family also did not appear.

Ye Fan had began to absorb the ‘source’ and each time he would hold it in his palm as he carefully smelted, each day he would only melt a small amount, he was worried that if he were too forceful, the vast amount of qi essence of life would all rush out, causing waves of source energy, allowing others to notice.

On the sixth day, the bright moon was hanging in the sky and Ye Fan once again smelted a small portion of the ‘source’. At this moment, the sounds of the howling sea suddenly transmitted from within his golden sea of bitterness, the clamor was astounding and he hurriedly stopped as he hid the ‘source’.

“This is so problematic……” The unique physique made him helpless, he had imagined that he would be able to control it but the frightening sound had suddenly erupted. The unique imagery caused by his sea of bitterness was astounding and if it were discovered by others, a huge ruckus would be created.

“It seems that I won’t be able to completely smelt this piece of ‘source’, I can only wait till I leave this area before I continue.”

However, his gains were not minimal and his golden sea of bitterness had grown a full circle, there were eight additional divine symbols swirling above his sea of bitterness. Ye Fan then smelted these eight divine symbols into that lump of divine metal that was already present within his sea of bitterness and constantly molded it on the aurichalcite, copying the Dao Inscriptions onto it.

This day, the silence was broken as several of the young cultivators came here and noticed Ye Fan.

“It’s you…… that little beggar!” There were looks of astonishment on the faces of the few of them, these were the disciples of the Purple Sun immortal sanctuary who he had chanced upon a few days back, Li Xiao Man was currently not in their midst.

The previous day, Ye Fan had created a loud clamor and a few cultivators had come to inspect the area. In the night they had not discovered much and the few people were curious therefore came in the early morning to inspect once again.

“How did you enter our Purple Sun immortal sanctuary? Could it be that you came looking for junior sister Li?” The few people were shocked and had never imagined that they would see Ye Fan here.

“The sect leader of your Purple Sun immortal sanctuary chanced upon me and mentioned that my aptitude was exceptional, wanting to take me as a disciple no matter what…….” Ye Fan blatantly lied.

The few people naturally did not believe this as their faces seemed unhappy, a girl amongst them said in a heavy voice: “Little beggar, your skin is really quite thick!”

At this moment, a middle aged man appeared within the bamboo forest as he walked a few rounds around the area before stopping: “I feel the aura of a ‘source’ here.”

“Greetings senior elder!” The few youths hurriedly paid their respects.

Ye Fan was shocked, this person’s spiritual sense was too sensitive, the source had already been sealed by him but was still discovered.

“No need to be overly polite.” The middle aged man’s face was rosy and his hair was jet black, however, his eyes seemed ancient and seemed to be in conflict with his outer appearance.

“This person’s real age must be seventy to eighty years or higher……” Ye Fan estimated in his heart, he felt that this was a frightening expert.

“It’s on your body……” He stared at Ye Fan.

“Greetings elder.” Ye Fan paid his respects.

“You aren’t a disciple of our Purple Sun immortal sanctuary?”

“No, I’m not.”

The middle aged man did not seem to move but suddenly appeared before Ye Fan, as though he had teleported as he grabbed Ye Fan’s hand.

“Elder, what are you……” Ye Fan was shocked and actually thought that the elder was going to act.

“Your physique……” The middle aged man had a shocked expression before he shook his head and sighed. It was clear that he had seen a lot and immediately made a judgement.

In that instant earlier, Ye Fan’s heart was extremely nervous. It was fortunate that his sea of bitterness was deathly silent, darkness shrouded the golden sea of bitterness as though it were a desolate piece of land. When the middle aged man had inspected the area, he did not discover any abnormalities.

Ye Fan felt astonished in his heart, if he purposefully chose to hide it, even such an expert personally checking could be easily tricked.

“Do you have a piece of ‘source’ on your body?” The middle aged man asked.

Ye Fan had no way to hide this fact any further as he retrieved a small wooden case: “I’m not sure if this is a ‘source’ but this is something that was passed down from my family’s ancestors.”

The middle aged man opened the wooden case and glanced at the object within before saying: “That’s right, it is a source. Although it isn’t pure, it’s already very rare. I wonder if you’re willing to part with it?”

“This……”

“You can’t cultivate, this piece of ‘source is useless to you. Don’t worry, I won’t cause you to lose out. If you’re willing to make an exchange, you will gain enough wealth to last you ten lifetimes.”

“However, I really don’t want to exchange it……” Ye Fan had an awkward expression on his face. He had entered the Purple Sun immortal sanctuary and temporarily got rid of the horsemen from the Jiang Family. However, he did not think that the fact he had a ‘source’ would be leaked and this made him feel very helpless.

“You really don’t wish to make an exchange?” The middle aged man asked with a calm expression, appearing to not be forcing Ye Fan into anything.

“I…….”

“It’s alright, since that’s the case, I also won’t want to make things difficult for you. It’s only a piece of source, to me I can have it or not, makes no difference.” Having said this, he turned and left, only walking a few steps before disappearing from the eyes of the group.

Ye Fan’s heart shivered, this was definitely an expert.

“Little beggar, I did not expect that you would actually have a ‘source’ on you, although it isn’t a pure piece, a small ‘source’ is even more valuable than spiritual medicines.”

The few youths had amazed looks on their faces, they would never have imagined that there would be such an item on Ye Fan and a few of the people naturally began to have greed in their hearts.

“Little beggar, you really don’t know how to grasp opportunities. Do you know who the person earlier was? That was the number two expert within our Purple Sun immortal sanctuary, he has cultivated for slightly over hundred years but is already stronger than all of our grand masters. If you had handed the ‘source’ over to him and formed this good karma, the benefits would have been endless…….”

The few youths attempted to persuade Ye Fan with various benefits to attain this ‘source’ but Ye Fan was adamant in his refusal.

It was only when the group left before Ye Fan muttered: “Although I’ve temporarily avoided the horsemen of the Jiang Family, the fact that I have a ‘source’ has been leaked, who knows what troubles may come.”

An hour later, Li Xiao Man appeared within the bamboo forest with the few youths who had left earlier in tow.

Li Xiao Man did not ask how Ye Fan had appeared here and instead said in a calm voice: “Ye Fan, you can’t cultivate. Holding onto this piece of ‘source’ is useless, why not use it to exchange for ten lifetimes worth of wealth……”

Ye Fan immediately shook his head as he rejected: “I’m not exchanging!”