Shrouding the Heavens

At this moment, atop a majestic and imposing sacred mountain with a towering foundation, this sacred mountain was extremely quiet. The mountain was filled with abundant herbs, simply verdant and lush. In the heart of the flat mountain peak was a two metre wide spring, gurgling and frothing with sparkling brilliance, as though it were made from divine fluid. Within this extremely small spring was a person who seemed like a dried up corpse, his flesh was emaciated and the skin on his body was grey without any colour, dried to the point of cracking and firmly stuck to the bone. “I didn’t die…….” After falling into the spring, Ye Fan immediately came to his sense, the spring water had a dense qi essence of life which prevented his physical body from ageing further.

Ye Fan’s vitality was almost dried up and his five organs and six viscera were already shrivelled, as though his flesh had already experienced several hundred years of withering. At this moment while he was soaked within the spring, his body was swiftly absorbing the qi essence of life, like a desert receiving the sweet dew of rain.

Ye Fan continued to lie within the spring and he could feel that his throat was parched, his lips merely had a thin layer of skin covering it and he struggled before finally taking a big mouthful of water.

The spring water was extremely sweet and had a wonderful fragrance immediately moistening Ye Fan’s dried lips and throat, like bejeweled nectar that left one with lingering memories, an energy began to gradually well up within his body.

Ye Fan began to swallow big gulps of the spring water as the dried up vitality began to slowly show signs of life, his flesh was beginning to slowly recover as the withered organs and viscera were slowly nourished by the qi essence of life.

He knew that he had finally escaped from danger and managed to survive, within the divine spring, the demonic power of the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land could no longer cause him to age. Half a minute passed and he had drank so much spring water that he could not take in a single drop more.

Ye Fan continued to lie within the spring without moving a single step as he stared at the clear blue sky. Letting out a long sigh as he pondered about living after a calamity, his life force was gradually recovering, making him feel a huge burden lift off his mind.

He lay for a full hour as he felt the life force within his body gradually become stronger before finally moving a scrawny arm, his withered flesh had already swelled a little as his vitality continued to recover, his heartbeats also gradually gained in strength.

It was only at this moment did his five sense slowly recover, his body was extremely comfortable as he soaked within the spring water, large amounts of qi essence of lift continued to flow into the pores all over his body. “It’s good to be alive…….” A look of contentment could be seen on Ye Fan’s face, not long ago his flame of life had almost been extinguished and he currently felt that being able to live was the greatest blessing from heaven.

“A person will never be satisfied in easy and comfortable times, only when they are in dire and desolate straits and thoroughly understood despair would they be able to feel that simply living is a type of good fortune.” Ye Fan lay there as he gazed at the sky, a content smile covering his face as he slowly recovered his life force.

His flesh and inner organs were continually being nourished, his pulse continued to grow stronger as his skin slowly became smoother and glow. Ye Fan finally felt a sturdy strength within his body, no longer tired and lethargic as he slowly sat up. At this moment, his five senses had thoroughly recovered and he could feel the dense fragrance in the air which made one’s qi bright and clear as the fragrance swept through his face.

Surrounding the small spring were eleven small trees that were roughly half a metre tall, shining with a green glow as though they were carved from jadeite, sparkling and translucent, verdant dark green. They were like pine trees with needle-like leaves, seemingly carved from green jade as though the essential parts were grinded and polished while flashing brilliantly.

Ye Fan was no longer an ordinary mortal of the past, after having a success in cultivation, his spiritual sense was exceptionally sensitive and could naturally see and feel many things that he would have previously been unable to sense.

Although the eleven trees were very short, there branches were covered with old tree bark, vigorous and powerful, snaking out in all directions like river dragons. They seemed to have been growing for several tens of thousands of years and had existed for endless years, giving one a feeling of ancientness and uniqueness, no longer merely a vegetation but rather as though they were living fossils.

On the top of each small tree was a dazzling a resplendent golden fruit, as big as a longan, sparkling and translucent as though it were forged from gold, simply extraordinary.

The green jade trees that were like jadeite had borne such golden fruits and they complemented each other, exceptionally dazzling as a fragrance permeated the air, making one feel drunk in their brilliance.

All that effort to enter the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land was precisely for these divine medicines, Ye Fan was extremely agitated as he stared at the eleven fruits borne on the eleven small trees, feeling that everything was worth it.

The Sacred Grounds and ancient aristocratic families had planned for a long time before sending forth experts twice, using all their efforts and forging forbidden artifacts, even to the extent of using an imitation Desolate Pagoda but only resulted in their full extermination, all the supreme experts had fallen and the few superpowers attained nothing. At this moment, Ye Fan was actually seated within the divine spring and the divine medicines were all before him, easily obtainable, how could he not be agitated and content?

“Bang!”

Ye Fan strode within the spring and took two steps before reaching the shore, plucking a golden fruit as a dense fruit fragrance assailed him and entered into his organs and viscera, immediately making him exceptionally comfortable to the extent that his soul seemed like it could float outside his body. “This is indeed a divine medicine, who knows why it is only able to grow above the abyss of the forbidden area.

Ye Fan placed the golden fruit into his mouth as he gently chewed, a sweet flavour and abundant fragrance permeated through his mouth, becoming tangible and palpable, causing all the pores in his bodies to immediately relax and expand, his entire body was relaxed as though it were immersed in a spring gale.

The golden fruit which was as big as a longan was barely a mouthful and in a single bite it had become a bejeweled nectar which flowed down his throat. Ye Fan felt as though he would suddenly soar into the sky, he had a feeling as though he had already left the ground and was floating like an immortal. Right now, Ye Fan was already a cultivator and he would certainly not treat the fruit like any other ordinary food back when he was a mortal. Swiftly sitting down as he leaned on a small tree, he began to circulate the mystical arts recorded within the Dao Scripture.

However, he was simply too weak and his physical body was in a state of decay, he had almost died from old age and although he had recovered much strength due to the divine spring, his hair was still white like snow and wrinkles still covered his withered body. The unique golden energy entered his body and did not flow to his sea of bitterness or divine spring but rather permeated his entire body, nourishing his decrepit body and allowing the flesh to gradually shine with a lustre.

After circulating the mystical arts recorded within the Dao Scripture, only the speed which the divine medicine was absorbed increased, in barely half a minute, Ye Fan’s flesh had swelled and was no longer withered, increasingly rosy as his snow white hair also became black.

Stretching his hand forth, Ye Fan grabbed a second golden fruit as he placed it within his mouth and chewed, the sweet nectar from the fruit became a golden energy which swiftly flowed to various parts of his body, causing his skin to glow with a golden brilliance and dots of divine splendour were released.

Half a minute later, Ye Fan felt refreshed and his flesh was filled with energy, it was once again filled with a vigorous life energy and his skin was bouncy. After two divine fruits, he had thoroughly regressed in age and was now a middle aged man of in his thirties, the qi essence within his body was abundant.

Ye Fan stood up and his every step was filled with vigour, no longer was there any feeling of decay as he had already swiftly regained his youth. At this moment, he seemed to recall something as the expression on his face suddenly changed, rushing towards a certain area.

A hundred metres away, a golden book was flashing with a brilliance as it silently lay within the wild grass. It had not fallen with the sacred woman into the endless abyss and Ye Fan hurriedly picked it up before placed it back within his sea of bitterness. “Lucky!”

Retrieving the Dao Scripture, Ye Fan swiftly headed back as he carefully measured his surroundings. The sacred mountain was silent and no skeletons appeared, seemingly extremely peaceful.

Looking into the distance, he could feel his scalp numb as unceasing amounts of white skeletons continued to climb from the depths of the endless abyss onto the other sacred mountains. “How could it be like this? This is the only area with nothing, totally silent.” Ye Fan’s mind was churning as he immediately thought of the aurichalcite. “It actually sent the sacred woman flying and she has not appeared again, could the aurichalcite actually have a formidable strength?” He was shocked and puzzled, unsure if this was the case. “The Desolate Pagoda could seal immortals and the aurichalcite is also a precious treasure, it should also have such a frightening power.

The aurichalcite was motionless as it laid within the eye of the spring within the sea of bitterness, it was like a rock that could not be shaken, he had no way to control it and could not use it to fend against his enemies.

Not long ago, the sacred woman of the celestial rotating jade had inspected his sea of bitterness and made contact with the aurichalcite, causing her to be heavily injured. The mysterious aurichalcite could not be encroached on or controlled, leaving Ye Fan with a feeling of hope and helplessness.

“That is……”

Ye Fan’s expression became rigid as he saw a person of flesh and blood appear on a neighbouring sacred mountain, the distance was very far and he could not see the person clearly but it was definitely not a skeleton.

Atop the peak of that mountain was a big metal sword that was over ten metres in length, it was stabbed straight into the mountain and the person was silently standing on the sword as his black cloak fluttered in the wind. “Desolation Slave!” Ye Fan immediately made such a judgement, a real physical body could not live for long within this area and this was definitely an existence like that of the sacred woman of the celestial rotating jade.

“There’s more……” When Ye Fan carefully inspected, he realised that there was also a figure on another sacred mountain, he was also of flesh and blood and stood on the peak of the mountain, a silver bell that was as large as a house was glowing with a brilliance as it silently floated above him.

Ye Fan’s expression became solemn as he saw a third person standing on the summit of another sacred mountain, skeletons were avoiding him as they climbed up and above his head was an ancient pagoda that had nine levels, ten odd metres high giving off a pressure as though it could seal a piece of the world. “Number four!” At this moment, Ye Fan saw a fourth Desolation Slave, the person was standing with his hands behind his back as his purple clothes fluttered, above his head was a big square mark that seemed filled with ancientness, releasing a vast aura. “What’s going on?!” Ye Fan was extremely shocked and could see that each sacred mountain had a figure on it.

Bells, pagodas and marks were the most difficult to forge and people who could use them as weapons were definitely not ordinary characters. The ones who managed to successfully cultivate to the end with them would definitely have unimaginable success.

“It’s rumoured that only peerless experts are able to become Desolation Slaves, these people who have all these items as weapons must have been exceptionally frightening individuals back in their day, they could possibly even be found in ancient records.”

Ye Fan swiftly went back to the side of the spring, he wanted to thoroughly recover his vitality and immediately plucked two golden fruits as the golden energy flowed into his body, nourishing his organs and bones.

His body was releasing a bright and dazzling splendor, a golden energy could be seen shrouding his body which made his body bright and translucent as though it were carved from divine jade, a vigorous qi essence of life was continually being released as his physical body fully recovered, flashing with a brilliance. At this moment, Ye Fan had once again become a youth of below twenty.

He could feel the strength of the divine energy and the qi essence of life was roiling like waves, surging and swelling. His organs and viscera were releasing a divine glow, perfect without blemish and his bones were dazzling with a dazzling radiance. As for his skin, it was currently glowing with a dazzling brightness, it no longer seemed like a normal physical body but rather a god that was worshipped by mortals.