Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 569: Chapter 573: Abnormality

Daoist Duan De was stunned. As a gentle breeze blew, a chill ran down his spine. Once he saw the situation clearly, he let out a heart-wrenching, wolf-like howl.

Being stripped bare made his vision go black. He staggered, nearly planted his face in the dirt, and then wailed endlessly, unable to believe this reality.

At this moment, apart from his underwear, he had nothing left. Even his Lightning Boots had been snatched by the barbarian, who now wore them.

“Unscrupulous Heavenly Venerate… damn you!” Daoist Duan De fumed, spinning in place eight times and then jumping nine times, almost spitting blood.

He was utterly mad. Thirty years of hard work had come to nothing. His countless spiritual treasures and many King’s Divine Weapons were all gone; not even his trousers had been spared.

Several li away in the primeval mountain range, Ye Fan stood on a peak, gazing at the scene, and couldn’t help but laugh.

The barbarian also giggled incessantly, muttering to himself, Serves you right. Who told you to always try and scheme against me?

“Bastards! How shameless! You even took this Daoist Lord’s trousers, shoes, and socks! Damn it, is there anything you *wouldn’t* take? I’m not finished with you!” Daoist Duan De stomped his feet, the veins on his forehead throbbing as he cursed relentlessly.

“You even took his socks?” Ye Fan asked Dongfang Ye.

The barbarian scratched his head. “They were woven from Heavenly Silkworm Silk, impervious to water and fire. I put them on, shoes and socks together.”

Ye Fan was speechless.

He reckoned that if Yu Die hadn’t been present, Daoist Duan De wouldn’t even have his underwear left, as that too was woven from Heavenly Silkworm Silk.

“AHHHH…” Daoist Duan De screamed like a pig being slaughtered. He was truly on the verge of insanity. Not a single one of his precious treasures remained. He felt like smashing his head into the ground.

“It’s smoking! He’s really smoking!” the barbarian exclaimed, pointing ahead.

Indeed, white smoke billowed from Daoist Duan De’s nose, ears, and mouth. To be precise, it was Innate Essence Qi, which could also be understood as a manifestation of his extreme fury; he was so angry he was literally fuming.

“He’s burning! He’s burning!” the barbarian cried, staring intently.

Daoist Duan De’s body surged with enormous Qi, fueled by his anger. Divine energy overflowed, and his entire form seemed to ignite, his hair standing on end, making him resemble a human torch.

THUD. THUD.

He bashed his head against a stone wall, consumed by regret, almost driven to suicide. His collection of treasures, worth more than the combined hoards of several Peacock Kings, had vanished just like that.

At this moment, he had only one thought: to bite someone. All those divine objects, excavated from Ancient Tombs, had been snatched away in an instant. It was more agonizing than being killed.

Daoist Duan De shrieked, unable to bear it any longer. He leaped up, rushed towards a mountain range, and began running in circles. If he didn’t vent his fury, he feared he would truly go mad.

“One lap, two laps, three laps…” the barbarian uncharitably counted for Daoist Duan De, with great patience.

“AAAAHHH… This Daoist Lord will never share the same sky with you!” Daoist Duan De ran one hundred twenty-seven laps around the mountain in one breath, then collapsed to his knees, repeatedly smashing his head against the ground.

Ye Fan sat on the mountain peak, chin in hand, chuckling. It was the first time he had seen the portly Daoist Duan De so thoroughly thwarted. Usually, Duan De was the one scheming against others, but today he was utterly defeated.

Afterward, Daoist Duan De resumed his frantic running, white smoke still pouring from his ears and nose. This time, he ran several hundred laps without stopping.

“Three hundred fifty-seven… three hundred seventy-two…” the barbarian counted patiently.

Finally, after a full four hundred laps, Daoist Duan De plopped onto the ground, his expression utterly dejected, as if he’d eaten a dead child, his face ashen.

This Daoist Lord spent his days hunting geese, only to have a goose peck out his eye… he muttered indignantly.

“This damn broken Immortal Mansion! Just one incomplete Undying Miao Tree and nothing else! Damn it, it was a fake Immortal Mansion after all! And it cost this Daoist Lord so many treasures! I hate this!” Daoist Duan De strode to the front of the Immortal Mansion and slammed his palm down. BOOM! The entire stone cliff shattered.

Clubbed from behind, a black brick to the face from the front… Damn it, aren’t those my favorite tricks? Daoist Duan De gritted his teeth. He hadn’t even seen a shadow of his assailant before he passed out. It was truly humiliating.

My bowl! It contained ancient scriptures, inscribed with Emperor’s Texts! The foremost divine object of all time, just gone… This Daoist Lord refuses to accept this! I will defy the heavens! Daoist Duan De pounded the ground.

“The bowl contains the universe, a world unto itself…” he mumbled, revealing many secrets in his delirium. “The ancient scriptures are named ‘Tribulation Crossing,’ seizing the fortune of heaven and earth, supreme through all ages…” His words were profound and captivating.

Dongfang Ye was intrigued and edged closer. Could that bowl truly contain ancient scriptures? Why is his voice getting fainter? I can barely hear him.

“Not good! Let’s go! That damn fatty is putting on an act! He’s probably already discovered someone is spying on them,” Ye Fan said, his expression changing.

He grabbed Dongfang Ye and dashed towards the depths of the mountain range, hoping for a stealthy retreat. However, Daoist Duan De pursued them like a wisp of smoke.

“That damn fatty’s spiritual perception is too sharp!” the barbarian exclaimed, astounded.

“Go!” Ye Fan pulled him along, then executed a motion technique, instantly transforming into a bolt of lightning and vanishing with a SWOOSH.

Daoist Duan De, initially gritting his teeth in anger, was suddenly dumbfounded. His adversaries hadn’t even left him a glimpse of their backs as they disappeared over several mountain ridges, their trail completely lost.

Ultimately, Ye Fan and Dongfang Ye returned to the Ancient Cave. They stared at the broken bowl and the Treasure Gathering Cornucopia, studying them for a long time but finding no way to open them, feeling utterly helpless.

In the distant mountains, Daoist Duan De sat cross-legged on a Blood Sacrifice Platform. Using his blood as a catalyst, he chanted incantations. Overwhelming dark clouds descended, a terrifying sight.

Streams of blood flowed as the leaden clouds pressed down to the ground. A vast Ancient Array activated, raging in all directions, as if an Ancient King was awakening.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. Blood-red lightning intertwined, as if ancient war souls were awakening in the pitch-black world, releasing terrifying, ocean-like waves.

BOOM!

Far away, the Ancient Cave where Ye Fan and the others were located trembled violently. The broken bowl seemed to come alive, gulping down the energy of heaven and earth, almost instantly draining the Spiritual Qi from the entire mountain range.

“This is bad! Is this the weapon of an Ancient Saint, about to awaken?!”

“It might even be a Great Emperor’s Holy Weapon!”

They quickly retreated. The interior of the broken bowl seemed to hold a universe, a starry sky capable of swallowing the Sun and Moon. It then transformed into a black hole, devouring everything.

It first engulfed the Treasure Gathering Cornucopia, then vibrated intensely, emitting an unbearable pressure, as if a peerless Demon Lord had crossed worlds to arrive.

BOOM!

The broken bowl shuddered, instantly causing more than half of the great mountain to collapse. Then, it soared into the sky, rapidly flying into the distance.

“It flew away!”

Ye Fan and the others shot into the sky. Outside, the sky was as clear as washed jade. However, dark clouds had already gathered densely at the horizon, where blood-red lightning lashed about, as if a devilish land was opening.

As they flew closer, they saw Daoist Duan De, his hair disheveled, standing on a Blood Sacrifice Platform, muttering incantations. The dark clouds pressed down directly above his head.

This Variation naturally caught the attention of others. Many people appeared, reaching for the broken bowl. However, with a loud shout from Daoist Duan De, the broken bowl transformed into an Abyss, devouring a dozen people on the spot and leaving only a mist of blood.

This guy is truly terrifying! Ye Fan and Dongfang Ye quietly backed away, not joining the commotion. Daoist Duan De had reclaimed the broken bowl; it was certainly impossible to get it back now.

An unknown amount of time passed before the dark clouds above the Blood Sacrifice Platform finally dispersed. Daoist Duan De’s face was pale. He collected the broken bowl and Treasure Gathering Cornucopia, then flew away, grimacing.

Don’t let this Daoist Lord find out who you are! He felt an oppressive tightness in his chest. The one who had clubbed him from behind and struck him with a brick must be an acquaintance; otherwise, they wouldn’t have spared his life.

In a Pure Land filled with the fragrance of flowers and the songs of birds, Spiritual Springs gurgled, and the aroma of ripe spiritual fruit filled the air. Ye Fan and the others ate some spiritual fruit and then bid farewell.

“Some sovereigns have speculated that the Barbaric Ancient Beast Kings of this world are going to join forces. They may drive hundreds of thousands of strange and powerful beasts to attack human race cultivators. You should withdraw as soon as possible and return after the storm has passed,” Yu Die advised.

Ye Fan nodded; this news was very important. The Immortal Mansion World was on the brink of a great storm. The arrival of many human race cultivators had disrupted the tranquility of this place, provoking the dissatisfaction of the various strange beast kings.

Princess Yu Die left the Immortal Mansion World. The barbarian also found a place to go into seclusion and refine the Heavenly Demon Lamp, fearing Daoist Duan De might use some mysterious art to summon it back.

Ye Fan found a deserted, uninhabited mountain and began to test the power of the Undying Miao Tree, his heart filled with anticipation. This young branch was only a little over half a foot long, bearing seven jade leaves that flowed with brilliant light, sparkling as if about to drip.

He held the Treasure Tree, stood before a cliff, and gently brushed it forward. After waiting a long time, there was no change. He brushed it forcefully again, but the cliff remained unmoved, and all was calm.

Isn’t it said that the Undying Miao Tree can break all things with a single sweep? He examined it from every angle, turning it over and over.

Unconvinced, Ye Fan swung the Treasure Tree again. A misty, auspicious light flowed from it, and streams of this radiance cascaded onto the cliff, yet it still had no effect.

Although there was no apparent result, each sweep of the Treasure Tree absorbed all of Ye Fan’s divine energy, like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.

It just consumes divine energy but has no effect?! He nearly threw the Treasure Tree to the ground. If he hadn’t possessed a sacred body, making his divine energy incredibly resilient and hard to deplete, he would have collapsed from exhaustion after just those few attempts.

Stubbornly, Ye Fan continuously channeled his divine energy, swinging the Treasure Tree again and again.

After he had exhausted his power forty-nine times, one Red Jade Leaf on the Undying Miao Tree finally flashed with a brilliant radiance, emitting a beam of crimson light that landed on the cliff.

BOOM!

The cliff let out a rumbling sound and unexpectedly rose from the ground. Like a fallen leaf, it was lightly swept away, flying far into the distance.

It swept away an entire mountain! Ye Fan was astonished.

Soon thereafter, astonishing news arrived from the regions ahead. A dozen powerful cultivators had entered the depths of the Barbaric Ancient World, but only one half-step sovereign had managed to escape. However, he had gone mad, constantly muttering the words “Undying Emperor.”

Furthermore, someone heard battle cries shaking the heavens from the depths of the Immortal Mansion World. It sounded as if hundreds of thousands of troops were fiercely clashing, darkening the sky. Saints seemed to be involved in the massive battle, blocking the path forward and making it impossible to approach.

“Quickly, leave! The Barbaric Ancient Beast Kings are about to launch their attack! Hundreds of thousands of strange and powerful beasts are going to slaughter human race cultivators…”

Many people received this news. They couldn’t be bothered with the secrets in the depths of the Immortal Mansion World; escaping the imminent catastrophe was paramount. The strange and powerful beasts were about to riot.