The Desolate Forbidden Zone.
With the Bronze Coffin coming to a halt.
Ye Fan and the others finally arrived on the Big Dipper.
Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Lin Jia, Li Xiaoman, Li Changqing, and the others stood within the forbidden zone.
"Ye Fan, just who is this Uncle Luo of yours?" With no one else nearby, Pang Bo could not help asking.
Along the way, their group had faced danger after danger and nearly been wiped out. They had started with thirty or forty people, yet in the blink of an eye, only a dozen or so remained.
And throughout this ordeal, Ye Fan had undoubtedly performed the best. Not only had he fought a ferocious beast to a standstill, but the Jade Stone pendant in his hand had even driven back the Crocodile Monster on Mars.
Pang Bo knew Ye Fan well and knew that everything he possessed had been taught to him by the man he called Uncle Luo.
Li Xiaoman knew a little too, but because of her special relationship with Ye Fan, she had only told their classmates that he had such an elder. She knew nothing else.
Ye Fan gave a wry smile. "Honestly, I don't know where Uncle Luo comes from either, but I'm certain he's one of those legendary Cultivators!"
"A Cultivator?" Pang Bo repeated the words in bewilderment. Such things had once seemed far beyond his reach, but now he had no choice but to believe.
Ye Fan said quietly, "You know what? When I first met Uncle Luo twenty years ago, he looked like he was in his early twenties. More than twenty years have passed, and his appearance hasn't changed at all! What ordinary person could do that?
"One night, I happened to overhear my parents talking. When I was little, some bad people abducted me. Uncle Luo took just one second to travel from our residential complex to the outskirts dozens of li away and rescue me from the kidnappers!
"Do you know how many seconds it took him to kill those bad people?"
Pang Bo shook his head.
Recalling the scene from that day, Ye Fan said slowly, "One second! In less than a second, Uncle Luo made the heads of all three men who kidnapped me fall to the ground!"
He had once naively believed that Uncle Luo was some martial arts master. Now, it was clear that Uncle Luo was no martial arts master at all, but one of those legendary Cultivators.
"Enough about that. Keep this half-drop of Divine Liquid safe. I stole it from Uncle Luo's house a while ago!" Ye Fan put the half-drop of Divine Liquid into a small bottle and handed it to Pang Bo.
The fat fellow naturally knew what this half-drop of Divine Liquid could do. Not long ago, Ye Fan had used the other half-drop to revive a classmate he was on good terms with. "No, this is yours. If you give it to me, what will you do?"
Ye Fan revealed his most deeply buried secret, one he had never told his parents, never told Li Xiaoman, and never spoken of to anyone.
"When I was twelve, Uncle Luo placed three drops of this Divine Liquid inside my body. He said they could save my life three times, so take this to protect yourself! Don't tell anyone about this!" Ye Fan said solemnly.
Pang Bo nodded in understanding. "Don't worry. I won't breathe a word!"
He accepted the small bottle, then said as though something amusing had occurred to him, "Those three drops of Divine Liquid are just like the three lifesaving hairs."
Ye Fan smiled. It was not merely three drops of Divine Liquid; another three drops of some unknown, forbidden substance were hidden within his body. He could sense that they were even more important than the Divine Liquid.
"Ye Fan, look! Is that someone over there? She looks like a beauty, too!" Pang Bo said excitedly, as though he had spotted a peerless beauty.
In fact, she really was a peerless beauty. With her otherworldly bearing, flawless body, and incomparable face, she seemed like a Goddess descended to earth, a lotus rising from the mud unstained.
The two could swear they had never seen such a stunning woman. Merely standing there, she was beautiful enough to take their breath away.
The woman glanced at them, then vanished into the distance.
"There's a grave over there!"
Ye Fan immediately spotted a stone tablet and a small mound of earth where the peerless woman had been standing.
"There's someone in the grave, and he's still alive!" Both were shocked. His skin was ulcerated and his features barely recognizable. If not for the faintest trace of breathing, Ye Fan and Pang Bo would have thought he was dead.
"Elder..."
"To think two youngsters have wandered into this place. Leave quickly. This is no place for you," the old man said, his eyes unfocused.
"To tell you the truth, we've been searching for a way out."
"Mm."
The old man seemed unwilling to say more. His life had reached its end, and he had made himself a grave here to await death in silence.
"Elder, can you tell us how to get out?" Ye Fan asked.
The old man said, "I can't get out myself. If you truly want to leave, you can ask the person who was just here."
"May I ask who she is, Elder?" Ye Fan asked.
A wistful look appeared on the old man's face. "The foremost beauty of the Eastern Wasteland six thousand years ago. She was sealed away until this age, when she emerged again. Her current strength rivals the Holy Lords of the various sects."
"Someone from six thousand years ago! Elder, you're not joking, are you?"
The old man said nothing. He had already passed away.
"That woman's back!" Pang Bo suddenly said.
The Tianxuan Saintess formed a Divine Seal with her fingers and buried the old man.
"Fairy, please wait!"
Seeing that the Tianxuan Saintess was about to leave, the two immediately called out to stop her.
Unfortunately, the Tianxuan Saintess did not stop and vanished once more.
Pang Bo said regretfully, "What a shame. That woman was so beautiful, even prettier than the stars on television!"
Ye Fan nodded in agreement. Her reputation as the foremost beauty was no empty claim. Her beauty was suffocating, as though she did not belong to the mortal world.
"Is this television you speak of a square object that resembles a mirror?" Suddenly, an icy voice sounded behind them.
The Tianxuan Saintess had returned, appearing behind them without warning. Her figure, pure as ice and flawless as jade, radiated an aura that made them want to prostrate themselves in worship.
"It's more or less as you described, Fairy." Ye Fan was inwardly stunned. Someone here actually knew about television.
"Where do you come from?"
Pang Bo and Ye Fan exchanged a glance, looking apprehensive.
Only then did the Tianxuan Saintess say, "I'm looking for someone. Perhaps he comes from the same place as you!"
"Who are you looking for, Fairy?"
The Tianxuan Saintess looked sorrowful. She struggled to remember, then shook her head in disappointment. "Someone who does not exist in my memories."
"Some say we were an immortal couple. Others say we were intimate confidants. But I can no longer remember."
"I've searched for him for hundreds of years, yet I've never found any news of him."
Pang Bo asked quietly, "Could he be dead?"
The Tianxuan Saintess fell silent. "Someone told me the same thing hundreds of years ago. But I don't think he's dead. I must find him, because I owe him this."
"Owe him what?"
"I don't know."
Could this peerless beauty have something wrong with her head?
The thought crossed both their minds.
"If we tell you where we come from, could you take us out?"
"I can only point you toward a path. I still need to search this place for someone who knows the truth. Perhaps not even his corpse remains," the Tianxuan Saintess added softly, with regret.
Fifty years ago, a deranged Saint had charged into the Desolate Forbidden Zone, and nothing had been heard of him since.
There was someone she could not let go of, hidden among the spider-silk traces of her memories. She wished to forget but could not; she wished to see him but knew not where to look. He had become her obsession.
Like a friend, like a promise, yet also like a dream, an illusory flower in empty air.