Shrouding the Heavens

Within the cauldron, nine ancient characters were etched on the walls of the cauldron, interweaving the Dao and the Way of the world. The first of the stars, divine lights flashing about, afterwards the primal chaos, spewing and spreading out Qi from nothingness, tens of thousands of changes, without any fixed form.

Named, the birth of all of living things.

Ye Fan felt as though he had returned to the era of the birth of all living things, the world had a fixed form, Yin and Yang coexisted, the combination of qi formed all living things, heaven bestowed while the earth transformed, life and decay, flourishing and extinction, continually exchanging in a wheel. What was eternity? What was an instant? At this moment there was simply no difference between the two.

A strange feeling welled up within Ye Fan’s heart, the blending of the nine ancient characters and the cauldron was like the establishing of the world, it seemed like it was establishing a world and at this moment the cauldron was becoming more profound and mystical, mysterious and unfathomable, as though it were formed from primal chaos, simple and unadorned yet imposing..

Although Ye Fan was within the cauldron, it felt as though he had come to the ends of the earth, standing at the start of the flow of time, one moment the sky was filled with stars, the next it was empty and desolate.

Based on the ancient technique which was recorded within the Dao Scripture, using the artifact to suppress the body one could achieve an instant of immortality, Ye Fan had finally done it and was prepared to use the divine medicine to increase his cultivation.

The inside of the cauldron was filled with a profound aura that was misty, and inside was an isolated world. Ye Fan opened the jade case as a dazzling brilliance shone out from the golden fruit, a dense fragrance immediately assailed the senses.

At this moment the cauldron had already achieved immortality and Ye Fan no longer hesitated as he placed a golden fruit directly into his mouth, gently chewing as the divine fruit which was the size of a longan instantly became a liquid of the immortals.

He began to circulate the mystical arts recorded within the Dao Scripture, digesting the divine medicine as the golden energy began to flow to his four limbs and bones, causing his entire body to glisten and shine, as though he were forged from gold.

Ye Fan used his artifact to suppress his body, allowing an instance of immortality, after digesting the divine medicine, it nourished his physical body but did not cause him to turn into an infant. The unique golden energy continued to cleanse his body, causing the flesh, organs and bones to become inconceivably tough.

Even so, although he was circulating the mystical arts recorded within the Dao Scripture, he was shocked to find that the golden energy could not flow into his sea of bitterness. “What’s going on?” Ye Fan was puzzled as he could not guide the golden energy, he could not use it to establish his sea of bitterness and had no way to improve his cultivation.

Time slowly passed and the unique energy flowed slowly, cleansing every inch of his flesh and nourishing his physical body, causing his physique to continually improve and his body to become stronger.

“Why doesn’t it flow into the sea of bitterness……..” Ye Fan was extremely befuddled.

Suddenly, the unique golden energy began to flow to the centre of his eyebrows, trickling slowly from all directions and flowing in, divine lights flashed and actually formed a vast golden lake there. “This is……” In This instant, Ye Fan could feel that his spiritual sense had improved significantly and his five senses were also more acute, the world within the cauldron actually seemed to be more vivid.

Finally, a large majority of the golden energy coagulated between his eyebrows, forming a vast golden lake. Only a small portion of the energy flowed into his physical body, his cultivation did not increase but instead his divine sense became more powerful.

“I understand, the legends are true!” Ye Fan seemed to have thought of something as he muttered: “The nine sacred mountains within the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land have nine different divine medicines which have totally different effects.”

It was easy to notice that the mysterious energy within the golden fruit did not enter the sea of bitterness of spring of life but rather continued to nourish his divine sense, causing it to grow significantly stronger.

Three years ago, Ye Fan had previously been informed that the primordial ancient divine body could not practice cultivation. However, in the years that followed, he actually improved at an astonishing rate, not inferior to any celestial sprout. He had always suspected that it was the energy within the divine fruit which he had consumed that flowed into his sea of bitterness, allowing him to break the curse.

“That could really be the case, the divine fruit three years ago had the qualities to aid in the establishing of the sea of bitterness while the divine medicine today could nourish the divine sense.”

It was rumoured that the nine different divine fruits had nine different effects, the only similarity was that they could give life to the dead, a miraculous effect. It would nourish the physical body and refine the physique, causing one to shed one’s mortal body and exchange one’s bones.

“The first type of divine medicine allowed me to successfully step onto the path of cultivation, aiding in the establishment of the sea of bitterness of the primordial ancient divine body, the second type of divine medicine strengthened my divine sense, what sort of opportunity would it give me?”

When everything finally calmed down, Ye Fan felt full of vigor, his divine sense was astonishingly strong and his spiritual sense was extremely acute, keeping the cauldron and reappearing within the cave dwelling, this feeling was even more obvious.

Thereafter, he walked out of the cave dwelling as he stood atop the peak of the mountain and gazed into the distance. He immediately felt that his vision had broadened significantly and objects that were far away could clearly be seen. Ye Fan earnestly felt the changes and could sense all the living things within the world, each tree and each blade of glass began to feel more lively.

“Although this is definitely a very good development, under the current circumstances what I really require is help in establishing my sea of bitterness, allowing the divine spring of energy to gurgle forth and increase my cultivation.”

He felt elation but also disappointment, his feelings were very contradictory, although the effects of the divine medicine were extremely strong, they were not what he currently really wanted.

He muttered to console himself: “It’s rumoured that once a cultivator cultivates to a certain realm, only by strengthening their divine sense would they be able to feel the natural laws of the world. When one reached that level and wanted to cultivate further, they could only rely on their comprehension and would have no other methods. At this moment, I am paving the path for my future progression. Thinking of this, Ye Fan no longer felt dismayed as his feelings gradually calmed down.

In the following month, Ye Fan did not consume any divine medicine but rather slowly cultivated, he wanted to thoroughly absorb the divine medicine without wasting a single portion.

During this process, he was shocked to find that his physique had improved tremendously, allowing his establishment of his sea of bitterness to be without much difficulty. A month passed before Ye Fan used his cauldron to suppress himself once again, creating a moment of immortality before consuming a second golden fruit.

This time, the unique golden energy continued to cleanse his physical body, nourishing every inch of flesh, raising the level of his physique before finally trickling to the gap between his eyebrows, allowing the golden lake to become even deeper. Ye Fan could feel his divine sense grow stronger again as he kept the cauldron. Arriving outside the cave dwelling, he could hear the breathing of wild beasts and even the sounds of ants crawling in the distance could be clearly heard. Due to his divine sense, he did not need to see or ear but could feel everything in an area extremely clearly. “My spiritual sense is also continually becoming stronger.”

Besides this, there was a transformation that left Ye Fan pleasantly surprised, as his physique continued to improve, his flesh began to glow with a golden light and when he established his sea of bitterness, there was no longer a strong obstructive force.

He immediately began a closed door meditation for a full month, when he finally came out, Ye Fan appeared slightly enigmatic.

In this manner in the time that followed, he spent each month using the cauldron to suppress his body, consuming the divine medicine and shed his mortal body and exchanged his bones, his divine sense continued to improve and seemed like it could actually take form and gain life.

Also, another pleasant surprise was the transformation to his physical body, as his physique improved, a divine glow would be emitted from his flesh, allowing his establishment of the sea of bitterness to be unobstructed.

Time passed by swiftly and Ye Fan had already consumed the sixth golden fruit, after bitterly cultivating for another month, he came out of the cave dwelling once again and his entire aura had gone through a significant change. It was as though there were clouds shrouding his body, as the mountain wind blew, his clothes fluttered making him seem like an immortal that was standing atop the peak of a mountain.

Between Ye Fan’s eyebrows, a vast golden lake was extremely deep, seemingly unfathomable and deep. He developed a complete spiritual force and could even condense and form it.

As for his golden sea of bitterness, there seemed to be a phenomenal change, waves surged to the heavens as divine lights flashed, lightning flashed and thunder roared and it had more than doubled its size, quickly becoming the size of a fist.

Within the centre of the sea of bitterness, a spring of life gurgled as the divine spring of energy frothed, the eye of the spring which was at the bottom had expanded significantly and was continually gurgling, occasionally releasing a flash of light. “Divine energy like waves, lights covering the sky, I have already reached the peak of the Spring of Life realm.” Ye Fan was extremely excited.

The divine medicine had been a legend since ancient times, the rumours regarding it were too many, having an inconceivable divine effect. The unique golden energy prioritised nourishing and strengthening the divine sense while at the same time transforming his physique, it did not flow into his sea of bitterness but still allowed him to reach the precipice of the Spring of Life realm. “Divine medicines really have a justified reputation.”

Besides the Wheel and Sea, a person had other mysterious realms. Jiang Han Zhong and the others were existences that had surpassed the Other Shore realm, causing Ye Fan to feel a large chasm, pressuring him to become stronger.

There was only a single golden divine fruit remaining and Ye Fan held in his palm as he returned to the cave dwelling, using the cauldron to suppress his body as he once again achieved an instant of immortality.

After consuming this golden fruit, Ye Fan could feel his body trembled as his bones emitted cracking noises, his flesh continued to vibrate as his five organs and six viscera trembled, causing his entire body to be wreathed in pain. “This is…….” He grit his teeth as he endured this hellish torture.

In an instant, he understood that this was a transformation that really shed one’s mortal body and exchanged one’s bones. The consumption of six golden divine fruits could only be considered an improvement in physique but did not constitute a transformation. It was only now that he was like a caterpillar that was coming out of its cocoon to become a butterfly, flesh, organs and bones were being reforged, this was a type of unconventional rebirth.

This was similar to the first time Pang Bo and him had partaken of the divine fruit, after walking out of the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land, they had returned to their youth, this was a change of a similar level and could really be considered to have shed one’s mortal body and exchanged one’s bones!

His bones were white like jade after the baptism, the hardness of his bones was at an inconceivable level, akin to to the blades of heavenly weapons. His five organs and six viscera were faultless and without blemish, without a single impurity like that of a divine artifact. His exterior was glistening with a lustre after receiving the nourishment, nearly translucent as he flashed with a dazzling light.

Ye Fan’s physical body was dazzling and resplendent, the unique golden energy became a flow as it entered the centre of his brow, a golden light flashed as it entered that bottomless lake.

Thereafter, Ye Fan immediately entered closed meditation. Two months later, rumbling sounds could be heard from within the cave dwelling as the sound of the howling sea surged to the sky, thunder rumbled as streaks of multicoloured lights shot forth.

At this moment, Ye Fan’s golden sea of bitterness had already been established to the size of a fist, a lustrous rainbow hung in the air, cutting across the blue dome of heaven, exceptionally dazzling. He had finally formed a small divine vein which rested above his sea of bitterness, he had finally become a cultivator of the Spiritual Bridge realm!

Ye Fan stood up before walking out of the cave dwelling, there were no strong energy fluctuations surrounding him nor did he seem otherworldly. In fact, he currently seemed delicate and pretty, like the boy next door. He was not as memorable and gained an ordinary feel.

He did not act to test his current cultivation because he did not need to do so, he already knew where he was at. Ye Fan was extremely calm, he continued to live a simple life for a full month, sitting atop the mountain as he watched tigers battle, sitting by the river to watch it flow, only then did he continue cultivating.

This time, he began to forge his artifact, using the first sentence in the mysterious ancient scripture that was obtained within the ancient bronze coffin ‘The way of heaven takes from the abundant and gives to the lacking’, attempting to imprint it onto his cauldron. The imprint of the words did not last long and the ancient words quickly faded but this small cauldron actually became more and more extraordinary.

Finally, after cultivating for over a year, Ye Fan comprehended many things and his understanding of the Dao had become much deeper.

The nameless one recites the dao, originating from nothingness for the beginning of the heavens and earth. The named designates that the heaven and earth have form, strong yet soft, the mother of all living things. He felt that the cauldron, dao and world had a natural connection.

The cauldron, three legs and two ears, mystical and profound, three legs firmly on the world, two ears giving birth to Yin and Yang, the circular cauldron containing primal chaos within. The evolution of Dao and Logic was nameless. Born with form, encompassing all living things, these were named.

The cauldron, it was like a naturally occurring artifact that could perfectly combine the nameless and the named, forming the Dao and the mother of all living things. The cauldron is my artifact and it is indeed the right choice, it is no wonder it was the most mysterious sacred object of ancient China.

After cultivating for over a year, Ye Fan finally decided to leave this place, it was time to venture out into the world.