Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 549: Chapter 553 The 3rd Beauty

“Did I pass?” the barbarian wearing beast-skin clothing asked honestly.

The right hand of the sovereign from Qi Shi Mansion was still twitching. How could he not pass? Such a monstrous talent hadn’t been seen in many years.

“You may enter.”

“Alright!” The barbarian, with disheveled hair, lifted his Wolf-toothed Stick and stomped into the Mountain Gate.

Every step he took caused the ground to quake with a THUD, like a great dragon on the move, his power immense enough to instill fear.

“He might really be that monstrous talent from the Eastern Wastelands. He has acquired the inheritance of the Heavenly Source Master, can change his appearance, and could have arrived in any form.” A voice drifted among the crowd, revealing this secret.

As soon as the barbarian entered the Mountain Gate, many eyes were fixed on him. Numerous people labeled him as a suspected Ye Fan—chaos was inevitable in his future.

「Five days later,」 the last exceptionally gifted individual arrived. He injured an elder guarding the Mountain Gate, was specially selected, and entered Qi Shi Mansion.

“Using the Sun Seal and Moon Seal with each hand, he made an elder of the Dragon Transformation Nine Layer Heavens spit blood with a single strike?!”

“Isn’t this the Dharma Seal Ye Fan often used in the past? Could it be him?”

The last monstrous talent was very mysterious. Few were fortunate enough to witness the battle when he entered Qi Shi Mansion, yet everyone had heard about it and speculated about his identity.

He had seriously injured an elder of the Dragon Transformation Nine Layer Heavens with just one strike, astonishing everyone as to what kind of inhuman being he truly was!

Everyone was shaken. The selection of elites by Qi Shi Mansion thus concluded; no one else arrived, and this chapter of events closed.

“Do you think that monstrous talent from the Eastern Wastelands came or not? I think that barbarian seemed somewhat like him.”

“Hard to say. Maybe he slipped in, or maybe he’s still holed up in the Eastern Wastelands and didn’t come.”

“I vaguely heard that the monstrous talent caused great trouble and might have escaped from the Eastern Wastelands to avoid calamity. He’s probably among us now.”

No one saw the sacred body, but everyone discussed him. He was the only individual who, despite not showing up, was constantly being talked about.

Among them, a few were suspected to be his True Body, leading to occasional tests that, in turn, caused some disturbances.

This past month, astonishing battle records had spread daily across the Five Great Domains, capturing the world’s attention. Everyone wanted to know who could overwhelm all other talents and emerge as the strongest.

After a bustling month, the selection finally concluded, leaving the world in awe—it wasn’t just about a few monstrous talents; future battles would surely be struggles between dragons and tigers!

Many people eagerly looked forward to that day arriving soon to witness the rise of an unrivaled individual.

“Black Emperor, damn you!” Ye Fan cursed, gazing up at the sky helplessly, from who knew how many thousands of miles away.

He had been flying across the endless grasslands for half a month without seeing a single person. It was desolately barren; he scarcely even saw a bird.

He had been eating rabbit meat for half a month and now felt like vomiting at the mere sight of it. He cursed the Black Dog repeatedly for its ridiculous Array Platforms; who knew how large the errors were.

Ye Fan highly suspected he had been teleported to the Northern Plains; otherwise, why would there be such a boundless grassland, with no end in sight?

That dog’s meddling was too absurd and unreliable. This time, its Array Patterns had finally misplaced him, leaving him uncertain of his location.

The veins on Ye Fan’s forehead bulged. He had finally discovered a stone tablet in the grasslands with the words “Northern Plains” clearly written on it, confirming his suspicions.

He had planned to go to the Central States to find Pang Bo. However, despite all his calculations, he hadn’t expected the Black Dog’s Array Patterns to be so atrocious. The deviation wasn’t just millions of miles anymore; it was now measured in tens of millions of miles.

Once he confirmed his location, he remained in a daze for a long time before finally pulling out another Array Platform, preparing to traverse the void again; otherwise, flying back would take at least a decade.

Oh no! That dog made me so angry I got careless! I used the wrong Array Platform! Ye Fan realized, having made a mistake in his haste.

He abruptly remembered that this Array Platform was directed toward the Western Desert. But it was already activated, and he had entered the void, unable to stop.

I don’t want to go to the Western Desert to trace Siddhartha Gautama’s footsteps yet…

The Western Desert and Buddhism were complex and dangerous. His current strength was insufficient, so it wasn’t advisable to venture there prematurely. Otherwise, he would most likely face a fatal disaster.

After all, even Siddhartha Gautama had become a taboo there. Heaven knew what secrets lay within; venturing rashly to investigate would surely lead to catastrophe.

In his original plan, he was to go to the Central States. He would cultivate while searching for Pang Bo, and when their strength was sufficient, they would go to Sumeru Mountain together.

SWISH.

A clear light flickered, and he emerged from the void into the Great Heaven and Earth. Before him, the sounds of slaughter shook the heavens. Corpses were piled high—it was a scene of utter carnage.

Where am I? Have I arrived in the Western Desert? Are those Buddhist warriors in battle? Ye Fan was shocked.

This was a massive battlefield. Endless ferocious beast knights were charging forth, their spear tips gleaming, penetrating opponents’ bodies, sending sprays of blood into the air as they dragged corpses far behind them.

Further in the distance, Long Blades slashed, their light flashing like lightning. Men shouted and horses neighed amidst rivers of blood. Corpses were everywhere as both sides fought a battle to the death.

An Ancient City stood majestically, but its walls were cracked and bloodstained. In the sky, powerful cultivators wielded ancient treasures, bombarding it incessantly.

The city’s defensive arrays glowed, but they couldn’t withstand the onslaught. The protective light barrier had long since cracked and was on the verge of being breached.

BOOM!

A Great Cauldron descended from the sky, smashing dozens of cultivators into pulp. The shockwave flung Ye Fan away, nearly involving him in the destruction.

How can there be such bloodshed and slaughter in the supposedly serene lands of Buddhism? This is a vast battlefield! He was utterly amazed.

Not only were there mortal soldiers, but many powerful cultivators also participated. The strength of their generals was unfathomable as they battled relentlessly in the sky.

ROAR… Ferocious beasts shrieked, their cries tearing across the battlefield.

The attackers received strong reinforcements. A group of cultivators riding strange and powerful beasts charged forward like a torrent, crashing into the city’s protective barrier and rapidly causing it to shatter.

BOOM!

The entire battlefield shook. It was a terrifying charge. The battle had reached its final, desperate stage, with both sides locked in fierce combat.

Cultivators participating in the battle… this is truly shocking!

Ye Fan marveled. The destructive power was immense. The clash between the two sides affected a vast area. Even though it was cultivators against cultivators and mortal soldiers against mortal soldiers, the spectacle was still overwhelmingly grand.

DONG!

In the vault of heaven, the Big Bell roared, its sound waves, like blades, spread out. They not only shattered many cultivators in the sky but also caused mortal soldiers on the ground to fall in droves.

BANG!

An ancient cauldron shook, resisting the Big Bell. Continuous collisions and attacks made the sky boil as cultivators constantly perished.

Mystic Light flickered. Someone sat cross-legged in mid-air, strumming zither strings, their music sweeping through the low-altitude cultivators. Ye Fan was also within range; an azure light, tens of feet long, descended like a Pilean.

PUFF! PUFF!

Cultivators’ heads were severed, blood gushing like fountains, as corpses fell one after another.

POP!

Ye Fan formed a seal to block, dispersing the azure light. This astonished the cultivator at the Dragon Transformation Nine Layer Heavens, who then strummed the zither strings again. Hundreds of azure lights descended at once, like a curtain of rain.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a tremendous noise came from the nearby Ancient City. It had been completely breached; the light curtain collapsed, and a large section of the city wall crumbled.

“Kill! The city is breached! Capture Princess Yu Die alive!”

“Don’t let anyone escape! Seal the void with a great battle formation!”

“Kill! Spring and Autumn City has fallen! Capture Princess Yu Die, one of the top ten beauties of the Central States, alive! Reward: five hundred thousand Source!”

…

The shouts of killing shook the sky. The Ancient City was breached. The attackers’ morale soared sky-high as they charged forward like wolves and tigers, seizing the absolute initiative.

On the other side, the defenders suffered a total rout, their formations crumbling like a collapsing mountain. The defeated troops fled like a tide, but no one paid them any mind; all efforts were focused on surrounding and intercepting the powerful cultivators.

In the sky, the experts at the Ninth Transformation of Dragon Transformation ignored Ye Fan and instead rushed into the city to encircle the core figures. Others also directed their various spiritual treasures toward that location.

The Central States… Ye Fan was dumbfounded. It wasn’t the Western Desert; he had actually arrived in the Central States!

The veins on his forehead throbbed again and again. That damn dog was too much! The Array Platform meant for the Central States had sent him to the Northern Plains. Then, after using the wrong Array Platform, he’d thought he was in the Western Desert, only to end up in the Central States!

This damn dog is so unreliable!

By some fluke, he had ended up in the Central States. This brought him some comfort, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Once Ye Fan understood his location, he turned to leave, intending to use the chaos as cover to slip away from the battlefield. He didn’t want to get involved in such a massive battle.

“Kill! Princess Yu Die has broken through! Quickly, stop her! She absolutely must not escape!”

“The third most beautiful woman in the Central States! Whoever captures her can win her favor!” someone shouted loudly, inciting a chorus of wolf-like howls from a pack of hot-blooded young cultivators.

“Charge! Capture Princess Yu Die alive!”

The battlefield descended into a frenzy. The pursuing cultivators fought with increasing valor, slaying enemies as if cutting weeds. Drenched in blood, they rapidly closed in.

Ye Fan glanced back and realized he was caught in the crossfire. He had originally been hiding among the chaotic army, intending to retreat quietly. But unexpectedly, Princess Yu Die and her companions broke out in his direction, and their pursuers attacked from behind with a barrage of endless spiritual treasures.

He cursed inwardly. With no time for anything else, he shot into the air and fled directly, no longer concealing his abilities.

“So fast! That’s a big fish that slipped through the net! Don’t let him get away!” Someone, eyes fixed on Ye Fan, issued this order.

A sovereign has actually joined the battle… Ye Fan’s heart skipped a beat, and he began to accelerate.

“Princess, you go! I’ll hold them off!” an old man shouted, leading some people to charge back and block the pursuers.

“None of you will escape! A Great Array has been set up within a hundred-li radius. It’s impossible to traverse the void!” a sovereign from behind them declared coldly.

Vast numbers of strange and powerful beasts thundered across the sky like a raging flood, carrying over a thousand knights in pursuit. They were an unstoppable force, crushing everything in their path.

Ye Fan curled his lip. He himself had just traversed the void; the so-called Great Array couldn’t possibly stop the Black Emperor’s Dao Glyphs. It wasn’t unbreachable.

However, he didn’t dare to be careless. After all, there were sovereign-level experts behind him. He activated the ‘Walking’ Secret Technique and fled rapidly.

Huh? Something’s wrong! Ye Fan was shocked. Someone behind him was sticking to him like a shadow, having locked onto him. No matter how fast his ‘Walking’ Secret Technique was, he couldn’t shake them off.

He looked back and saw a young woman following him. Her dark hair was like a cloud, her eyes bright, her teeth pearly. Her smile could topple cities; she was dreamlike in her breathtaking beauty. Her clothes fluttered, and she resembled a Lingbo Immortal.

That’s… a Lightning Talisman! Ye Fan suddenly realized.

Among the Ancient Divine Talismans, there was a type called the Lightning Talisman. Only a supreme Sect Hierarch could refine one. Once it locked onto a person, the Lightning Talisman would match their speed, no matter how fast they moved.

“Save me…” the young woman pleaded, her voice like a sorrowful song. “…I will reward you greatly!” Her eyelashes were long, her beautiful eyes misty, her lips moist and red, her teeth like jade.

Ye Fan cursed his rotten luck. Although she was a peerless beauty, she was also a huge trouble, and he didn’t want to get involved.

However, this Lightning Talisman couldn’t be broken quickly; it was as if it was dragging the two of them forward together.

“Kill them! Don’t let them escape! That’s Princess Yu Die, the third most beautiful woman in the Central States!”

The pursuers didn’t give up. Their shouts could be heard from afar, along with the terrifying shockwaves of a confrontation between sovereigns.

Two ancient nations were at war, an event with significant impact. Ye Fan didn’t want to get involved. This was just one battlefield; Heaven knew how great the future turmoil would be.

“Take me with you, and I’ll give you a scroll of ancient scriptures!” Princess Yu Die, the third most beautiful woman of the Central States, transmitted mentally. Her voice was like the Nine Heavens Profound Lady playing an Immortal Song, pleasant and captivating.

(To be continued, to find out what happens next, please visit www., more chapters are available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)