Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 510: Chapter 515: Uproar

In the latter half of the night, the heavy clouds dispersed. Starlight, like water, cascaded down, and the ancient city fell silent.

However, the city was far from tranquil. The stench of blood was overpowering, and a thick atmosphere of death permeated the air, resembling a scene of Asura descending upon the mortal realm.

The grinding disc formed by the Beginningless Killing Array vanished. Under the cold moonlight, the ground lay covered with thick layers of blood mud and some snow-white bone splinters.

This was a bone-chilling scene where white bone splinters mixed with pulped flesh. Anyone who witnessed it could not help but feel horrified; it was a living Human World Purgatory.

Aside from Jiang Huai’an, everyone died. No one managed to escape. This was the power of the ancient Great Emperor Array; merely a fragment could slaughter them all.

Ye Fan stood within the Ancient Killing Array, yet he did not see Yao Xi or the Dayan Saint Heir, Xiang Yifei. They must have come for him as well, but they had not entered the array.

He looked towards the night sky, unable to sense a trace of Qi mechanism. Those who had not entered the array were frightened away, intimidated by the power of the Beginningless Killing Array; no one dared to linger.

Long after, figures appeared at the horizon’s edge, watching from afar. All were terrified, chilled from head to foot.

In the latter half of the night, the moonlight was soft, but the entire ancient city was oppressively silent, without a sound, not a soul stirring.

Ye Fan set a great fire, burning the fragments of bone and blood mud on the ground. They crackled in the firelight, eventually turning to ashes, thoroughly consumed.

Suddenly, he lifted his head, feeling a sense of crisis, yet found nothing.

Could it be that a Saint Master Level figure has arrived, or someone terrifying from the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty is watching? Ye Fan’s heart jolted.

“We should leave this place!” Wu Zhongtian, Jiang Huairen, and the others also preferred not to stay long. With this place about to become a storm center, leaving early would be wise.

The Black Emperor carved array patterns and then erased the Beginningless Killing Array. With a flash of light, they traversed away, disappearing from their original location.

「The next day, the news broke, causing an uproar!」

This time in Smoke Cloud Ancient City, the attackers had suffered endless casualties. No one knew how many lost their lives; bodies fell one after another.

Among them were five half-step sovereigns, all overlords of their regions. If they could have progressed further and developed their Dao, they would have been figures on par with the various Saint Masters. Unfortunately, they perished here.

“What? Even half-step sovereigns have fallen? To what realm have Ye Fan and his group cultivated to possess such means?!”

“Is this true? The top experts from the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm were cut down like weeds, their casualties innumerable!”

“Everything is true. I witnessed it with my own eyes last night. It was truly a Human World Purgatory! Life was cheaper than grass; no matter how strong you were, you couldn’t withstand a single strike from the killing array!”

“It’s pierced the heavens! People from the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm died in droves. Although their true bodies were hidden, it’s obvious they were from various Great Sects.”

“Such terrifying methods! One battle annihilated them all. This young man is truly fearsome!”

The blood-soaked night battle caused a major tremor. No one expected Ye Fan to possess such means, daring to annihilate all strong individuals. People gasped in astonishment.

When the sky brightened, Ye Fan released the pitiful little girl from the pure jade bottle. He had not let her witness the bloody battle of the previous night.

At that moment, they were in an oasis, temporarily avoiding the storm. No doubt the outside world was in turmoil.

Liu Kao brought a person, throwing him heavily to the ground, and said, “What should we do with him?” This was the sole captive who had survived the killing array.

Jiang Huai’an’s heart was filled with fear. Although a top master of the Dragon Transformation’s eighth change, his Wheel and Sea had been ruined by an arrow and his divine energy had dried up; he was in complete despair.

“What… what do you want?” His voice trembled. He felt that it was better to live badly than to die; he did not want to die.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you,” Ye Fan glanced at him.

Passing by a small village, Ye Fan paused. Circling around a fishpond, he said, “This place is quite suitable for you to retire.”

Jiang Huai’an’s face turned green immediately. Discovering an outhouse near the fishpond and recalling Ye Fan’s words, he felt an urge to die.

Like throwing a javelin, Ye Fan cast him out. SPLASH! A vast spray of water rose, the stench overwhelming.

“UGH…” Jiang Huai’an nearly vomited bile, nauseated to the point of fainting. He screamed, “You… you can’t do this!”

Ye Fan pondered, then said, “Your Wheel and Sea is ruined, but your Dao Palace remains. You can live at least one or two hundred years. So, I don’t want you to die. I’ll just suppress you for a hundred years.”

“No… help!” Jiang Huai’an cried out, wishing he could slap himself to death. What had he been thinking, provoking this group? Their ideas were shameless to an extreme.

Ye Fan ignored him. His fingers released beams of light, sealing Jiang Huai’an at the bottom of the outhouse. Then, Ye Fan carved a stone tablet and pressed it in.

“Finally, I’ve vented some resentment! Those few birds in the Jiang Clan were revolting; suppressing them like this is what they deserved!” Li Heishui laughed heartily.

“We should catch Jiang Yichen too! That kid is the most hateful. Not suppressing him would be unfair to ourselves,” Liu Kao couldn’t let go of his anger.

Days passed, but the turmoil remained, intensifying. With so many people dead—including powerful scattered cultivators and Sacred Land experts—the event became the focus of public discussion.

“Did you hear? The Purple Mansion Saint Heir is already dead, cleaved alive by Ye Fan’s sword.”

“What? That’s impossible! Too shocking!”

“It’s without a doubt, but no one dares to break the silence. Among those who assaulted Ye Fan that night was this Saint Heir. Unfortunately, he was killed like a bystander.”

“Oh my, this is astonishing news! Will the Purple Mansion Sacred Land rest easy? Their future lord was obliterated just like that!”

“The Purple Mansion Saint Heir altered his appearance to attack the sacred body and was ultimately caught and killed. Who’s to blame? Even as a mighty Sacred Land, they cannot openly retaliate.”

In recent years, it was the first time a Saint Heir had perished in the Eastern Wastelands. This naturally caused a great stir and was discussed in every corner.

People knew that the era of rising kings had come. It would surely lead to heaven-shaking battles. The fall of Saint Son Level figures was inevitable, but who could stand alone, ruling over their contemporaries?

“The sacred body is so powerful! Slaying the Saint Heir of the Central States, and then the Saint Heir of the Eastern Wastelands, constantly setting precedents—unstoppable!”

“Using a shocking killing array to slaughter so many powerful figures, and then personally cutting down a Saint Heir as if he were a passerby—this was definitely deliberate.”

People were buzzing with discussion, everyone digging for the insider details.

Sure enough, not long after, another shocking piece of news spread: the Wanchu Saint Heir was also dead!

“Two Saint Heirs died in one night?!”

People were dumbfounded. It wasn’t just a Purple Mansion Saint Heir; there was also a Wanchu Saint Heir, leaving countless cultivators in shock.

“Truly shaking the heavens! Two Saint Heirs dead! Has the era of heaven-shaking battles arrived!”

The Eastern Wastelands were shaking!

The bloody night battle was even more astounding than people had imagined. No matter how hard they pondered, they couldn’t believe that Ye Fan had actually slain two Saint Heirs consecutively.

“This is the arch-enemy of all Saint Heirs…”

“The sacred body is rising later; it doesn’t seem self-severed. Could it be that the King Divine Doctor was lying?”

Many people were discussing this.

「Half a month later, Liu Kao flew back excitedly, laughing heartily. “I activated some connections, and they have indeed proven effective.”」

Liu Kao brought back news that Jiang Yichen was about to appear and would attend the Yaochi Grand Gathering, providing a perfect opportunity to capture him.

“Can you confirm?” Wu Zhongtian asked.

“The news was sent by Sun Kun, so it shouldn’t be wrong.”

Sun Kun, the grandson of the tenth great bandit Sun Tianyun, was indeed a descendant of great bandits and had deep ties with them.

Without further ado, the group crossed through the void and headed to the Jade Lake Sacred Land. They did not actually enter but waited outside.

The Jade Lake Pure Land was filled with fragrant flowers and bird calls, the scenery as poetic as a painting. From a distance, it truly seemed like arriving at an Immortal’s abode.

“That young man did indeed come!”

After several days of waiting, Ye Fan and his companions saw Jiang Yichen walking together with a middle-aged man in purple clothes.

The middle-aged man in purple clothes carried an impressive aura, with a tiger’s stride and a dragon’s pace, like the descent of the Heavenly Emperor. He was extraordinarily special—the extremely powerful Thirteenth Elder of the Jiang Clan.

“This legendary old Thirteenth Elder is someone we can’t mess with…” mumbled the big black dog.

This person not only possessed overwhelming magical power but also mastered a fragment of the array patterns of Great Emperor Hengyu; if he truly locked onto them, the group would be doomed.

“Are you sure the space trap you’ve set is effective? We’re practically pulling teeth from the tiger’s mouth here!” Li Heishui said.

“This is a mysterious art from before the Ancient Desolation. I don’t believe he’s so cautious, protecting Jiang Yichen every step,” the big black dog said.

This Thirteenth Elder was extremely powerful and very arrogant; he definitely would not expect anyone daring enough to snatch someone right under his eyes. This was the conclusion the group came to after thoroughly studying his character.

“Alright, they’ve entered that area! Black Emperor, take action!” Ye Fan urged.

The big black dog activated the array patterns, and the space in the distance blurred. Jiang Yichen suddenly fell into it, exclaiming loudly in shock.

“HMPH!” The Thirteenth Elder let out a cold snort and reached out to grab forward. But the blurred space flashed, and a black hole appeared; Jiang Yichen’s figure traversed continuously inside it.

“Chain space trap…” The Thirteenth Elder was astonished. He quickly began carving array patterns in the void, attempting to stabilize this space with the deepest Innate Patterns.

“Too late! Besides fearing your cultivation base, my Dao Glyph skills far surpass yours!” the big black dog sneered inwardly.

BOOM! All black holes vanished. The void was calm again, restoring peace as if nothing had ever occurred.

“Let’s go too!” Ye Fan and his companions quickly traversed the void, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The Thirteenth Elder reacted swiftly. The moment Jiang Yichen vanished, he immediately locked onto Ye Fan and his group’s position and, with a long howl, was there in the blink of an eye.

However, when he arrived, everything had returned to peace, and he didn’t even see who the enemy was.

“Good, good, good! Daring to snatch someone from my hands! Truly, you have nerves of iron!” He stood in place for a long while, silently deducing something.

Tens of thousands of miles away, the big black dog howled in a desolate expanse. “My methods? You want to deduce them? Go ahead and try!”

“You all…”

On an altar in front, Jiang Yichen’s figure emerged, dragged there by the space trap and confined on the blood-colored high platform.

“Little nephew, we meet again.” Jiang Huairen walked over with ill intentions.

“I say, young man, we’ve missed you very much,” Li Heishui said, flexing his muscles continuously and chuckling.

Jiang Yichen regretted it deeply. Why had he gone to Jade Lake? Now he was blocked by this group. Nothing could be worse than this; he truly wanted to bash his head in and die.

“Little nephew, why aren’t you speaking now that you see your little uncle?” Jiang Huairen asked with a smile.

“Weren’t you planning to take us out back in the Jiang Clan? Calling the wind and summoning the rain, so majestic! Why don’t you continue now?” Li Heishui laughed heartily.

“This young man is nothing. I wouldn’t even want him as my pet. I want to select an unrivaled sacred lady at the Yaochi Grand Gathering,” the Black Emperor commented from the side.