"What was this?" Ye Fan picked up the Green Copper Block curiously. Suddenly recalling the conversation between those great figures, his heart began pounding. "Could this be that supreme treasure of humanity?"
But he quickly shook his head. "How could a treasure be so easily obtained? Still, this Green Copper Block looks pretty sturdy. It should make a good brick for smashing people!"
With that thought, Ye Fan grabbed the Green Copper Block and waved it around, wanting to test how it felt. He activated the Bitter Sea within him, and strands of golden light drifted out.
But before he could swing it down, the Green Copper Block in his hand suddenly vanished. When he looked inward again, he found that it had appeared within his golden Bitter Sea!
Realizing the Green Copper Block's miraculous nature, Ye Fan finally became certain that he had struck it rich.
"Boundless fucking Heavenly Venerable! Ganging up on the few with the many—what kind of righteous cultivators are you?" Duan De muttered as he flew back. Seeing Ye Fan, his eyes immediately lit up. Rubbing his hands like a fly, he asked, "Kid, did any treasures fly this way just now?"
How could Ye Fan dare let him know about the Green Copper Block? He hurriedly shook his head. "No. I didn't see anything."
"Really? I don't believe you!"
Seeing the unscrupulous Daoist still sizing him up, Ye Fan quickly changed the subject. "Daoist, what realm did that young man just break through to? The commotion was enormous!"
Duan De was indeed distracted. His expression turned solemn. "The Sea of Wheels Secret Realm is divided into four major realms: Bitter Sea, Spring of Life, Divine Bridge, and the Other Shore. He just broke through from the mundane world to the Other Shore in a single step!"
"That's amazing!" Even so, Ye Fan still did not quite understand how impressive that was. "Is that kind of breakthrough normal?"
"Normal my ass!" Duan De cursed. "Even I had to put in quite a bit of effort back then to break through to the Other Shore. In his case, it was very likely the result of discarding his cultivation and starting over!"
"Discarding his cultivation and starting over?" Ye Fan asked in surprise.
"The Sea of Wheels Scroll of the 'Dao Scripture' is the best foundational cultivation technique in the world. It would be understandable to discard one's cultivation and start over for it!" Duan De said with a sigh. "That youth looked only fourteen or fifteen, yet he had already cultivated to the Third Secret Realm. He even decisively discarded his cultivation and started over after discovering the Sea of Wheels Scroll of the 'Dao Scripture.' Whether in talent or temperament, he was among the very best in the world. I wonder which sacred land's Holy Son he is?"
Ye Fan nodded subconsciously. To be fair, even with his meager current cultivation, he would find it hard to part with it if he had to discard it. The youth's resolve and decisiveness were plain to see!
But he quickly realized something else. "The Third Secret Realm? Shouldn't it be the Second Secret Realm?"
Duan De chuckled. "That girl was clearly his maid. If even his maid possessed the strength of the Third Secret Realm, then his cultivation before he started over was definitely no lower than the Third Secret Realm!"
As the two spoke, three divine rainbows flew back, revealing the figures of those great personages.
One of them gritted his teeth. "That divine copper actually vanished! We must seal off these ruins and dig three feet into the ground if necessary to find it!"
Hearing the great figure's curses, Ye Fan guiltily looked away.
At that moment, two more divine rainbows flew back.
One of the great figures among the first three said sourly, "Which of you got your hands on the demon race Great Emperor's sacred weapon?"
It would have been better if he had not mentioned it. The moment he did, the two men became so furious that their black hair flew wildly. "Those little demon brats set up the Treasures Gathering Basin ahead of time. They took the Demon Emperor's Sacred Weapon!"
"Hmph! Sooner or later, we'll settle accounts with those demons!" Having been outmaneuvered by the demon race, the expressions on the great figures' faces were extremely unpleasant.
The Demon Emperor's Mausoleum had opened, yet they had failed to obtain even one of the three most important opportunities. As the strongest people present, they could already imagine how they would be mocked and reprimanded upon returning!
In their humiliation and rage, one of the great figures quickly found someone to vent his anger on.
Inside the ruined ancient hall, Shen Ye was still adapting to his body after the breakthrough.
Although the cultivation systems of the two worlds differed, the bodies that carried those systems were the same.
It was like two circles with overlapping portions. Ordinary people cultivating the Sea of Wheels Secret Realm needed to climb step by step, but Shen Ye had already cultivated the Star Core System. Many doors of potential within his body had already been opened.
That was why, after comprehending the mysteries of the Sea of Wheels, he had ascended to the Other Shore in a single step.
At that moment, his Sea of Wheels was a vast, boundless universe!
"Cosmic Stars Array?" Shen Ye understood. The Lord of the Stars who governed the cosmos was his phenomenon, but it was still dim and without light, unusable for now.
By his estimation, he would likely need to wait until he opened the five divine stores of the Dao Palace, allowing the five divine deities to enter the five luminaries of the star palace, before he could wield part of his phenomenon's power!
At that moment, a voice suppressing its anger rang out from the sky. "Junior, you deliberately broke through and caused us to lose the initiative and miss out on the supreme treasures. Have you thought about how you will repay this karma?"
"Karma?" Shen Ye raised his head and looked at them with a faint smile. "How do you want me to repay it?"
One of the great figures said, "Hand over that page of the 'Dao Scripture' first. You've already cultivated to the Other Shore, so that text is useless to you."
Another great figure nodded slightly. "Obtaining the Sea of Wheels Scroll of the 'Dao Scripture' means we haven't come away empty-handed."
"Indeed, this Golden Page does not mean much to me." Shen Ye nodded, then asked, "Anything else?"
The first great figure to speak examined him for a moment and said, "You have decent talent. Join my Ji Family and become a knight. If fortune favors you, you may even have a chance to marry into the family in the future!"
"Marry into your family?" Shen Ye narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous aura radiated from his body. "Can your Ji Family bear the consequences?"
When the great figure from the Ji Family met his gaze, his heart actually began pounding beyond his control. What is this junior's background? Why does it feel as though the patriarch himself is watching me?
After the shock came endless humiliation and fury. "Junior, you are courting death!"
He did not care what faction the other party came from. What force could compare with an Ancient Desolate Family descended from a Great Emperor?
Shen Ye's tone was indifferent. "You haven't even entered the Immortal Platform, yet you really think you're some great figure?"
The Destiny Orb gave no warning at all. Clearly, these people were still within Xingtian One's ability to handle. They were most likely peak Transforming Dragon cultivators or half-step Immortal Platform cultivators—once Immortal Platform Divine Sense was condensed, there was a danger of forcibly seizing control of the puppet armor. The Destiny Orb would never remain completely silent.
As for soul attacks?
His soul was protected by the Destiny Orb. No matter how fallen this supreme treasure was, it was not something a Transforming Dragon cultivator could shake!
The great figure from the Ji Family was somewhat uncertain, but he still could not help shouting, "What arrogance!"
Mindful of his status, he was unwilling to act personally.
But the several knights who had cleared the way for him were exceptionally eager. "My lord, this subordinate will certainly present the head of this insolent wretch at your feet!"
Seeing this, Ye Fan asked in confusion, "Daoist, you can tell that youth is extraordinary. Can't these great figures tell as well? Aren't they afraid that provoking him like this will offend the force behind him beyond repair?"
"Of course they aren't afraid. Didn't you notice that none of them acted personally? That is the confidence of an Ancient Desolate Family. Even if the other party truly has an exalted identity, tossing out a few sacrificial pawns would be enough to settle the matter! And naturally, their purpose in doing this is to test him!"
Duan De sneered. "The young masters of the great families and the Holy Sons of the Great Sect Sacred Lands are all kept hidden away. Now that a figure suspected of being at the level of a Holy Son has appeared, of course they want to test him for their own young masters! With that merit, they won't be reprimanded too harshly when they return!"
"They really are all thousand-year-old monsters. In this world, people as pure and kind as me are becoming fewer and fewer!" Ye Fan sighed sincerely.
Thanks to reader Yuanjie 27 for the 500 reward.
I searched for a long time, and there should not have been any mention of the cultivation levels of these five great figures, so I roughly set them myself. In Shrouding the Heavens, "great figures" are used as a general designation in many places, but the great figures of the later stages definitely do not have the same cultivation as those in the early stages. So I tried to find an original passage relatively close to the early period, Chapter 103, which is still fairly close to the Green Emperor's Tomb incident: "A Grand Elder of Yaoguang Sacred Land and a clansman of the Jiang Family Patriarch arrived together. True great figures had descended." Generally speaking, Transforming Dragon cultivators in sacred lands are elders, the first Immortal Platform realm consists of Grand Elders—though there are also second Immortal Platform realm cultivators, but they seem relatively rare—and the second Immortal Platform realm consists of mighty experts. Since the Grand Elders mentioned here are called true great figures, the great figures mentioned in the preceding dozen or so chapters should be slightly weaker, so I set them as half-step Immortal Platform. In any case, this setting is not that important. I'm just casually mentioning it.
Before you continue