Su Yu shot him an annoyed look, unwilling to beat around the bush with him.
"If I were really that overbearing, do you think you would have gotten the Bodhi Seed? The Bronze Lamp? Go pick up your stone bricks." He really was getting anxious. Looking at the divine fruits of the Nine Marvels Immortal Medicine without being able to get his hands on them was far more tempting than anything Lin Jia or Mother Ye had to offer.
Black lines covered Ye Fan's forehead. He was a little flustered; he had never expected this Daoist to know everything.
After a brief exchange, Ye Fan repeatedly declined, saying that he and Pang Bo would look elsewhere. Then, after some flattering words, he walked over to this side.
The real "scion of imperial blood" had taken his seat. The feast could begin.
The pressure on Su Yu eased considerably. He walked forward and soon saw a spring a meter deep. Beside the gurgling Divine Spring stood thirteen small trees, half a meter tall, verdant green and flickering with green light, as if carved from jade. None was more than half a meter tall, and their leaves were like human palms, resembling little figures with many arms.
The fruits on the trees were exquisitely translucent and beautiful. Life essence gushed out of them, forming waves of mist and giving off an incomparably enticing fragrance.
Pang Bo was drooling at the sight, and Ye Fan swallowed. If Su Yu had not been there, the two would have rushed over and started eating long ago.
Once Su Yu said that everyone who saw them should have a share, Pang Bo could no longer hold back and rushed over, with Ye Fan close behind. They were both starving.
Su Yu also gazed longingly at the Immortal Medicine fruits, but he restrained himself. He had to wait for this place's master, the Lord of Desolation's elder brother, to eat first.
He was a guest, merely tagging along for a seat.
It was one thing to eat and drink for free, but picking up his chopsticks first would be far too rude. He could not do that.
It was also a mark of respect for the Lord of Desolation.
Pang Bo had just picked a fruit and was looking at the Sacred Fruit, so red it seemed ready to drip. He could hardly resist swallowing it whole, but Ye Fan stopped him.
"Daoist priest, these fruits are so precious. Just two for us will be enough. Please take the rest."
But Ye Fan had spoken too late. Pang Bo bit into it, sending juice flying.
The feast had begun!
Su Yu abruptly relaxed and moved with lightning speed. Each of the thirteen small trees bore one fruit. He reached out and picked four Sacred Fruits, then forcibly restrained his right hand from picking more, telling himself that too much was as bad as too little.
He was a fake descendant.
Never mind him-even the original owner of his body had been a bootleg descendant of the Ruthless One. It would have been more accurate to call him a descendant of one of the Ruthless One's followers.
Ye Fan, on the other hand, was something else altogether: the Empress's own elder brother.
Their standing was different, so the things they could do were different too...
Su Yu sighed softly and ate a Sacred Fruit.
As soon as he finished it, his body grew hot. He then circulated the Indestructible Heavenly Art, and his body began refining the fruit's medicinal power.
He looked back and saw that Ye Fan and Pang Bo had stopped after eating their fruits, not daring to touch the other five. Their intention was obvious.
Su Yu did not decline. He picked the five fruits, then thought for a moment and gave one each to Ye Fan and Pang Bo, saying that they could save their lives in the future.
After that, he took out two pieces of white jade and two green jade pendants and quietly placed them on the two men.
He had obtained seven fruits in total today, three of them unexpectedly. He needed to make up for that a little.
With that, Su Yu was very pleased with his haul. The Plucking Character Secret was clearly quite effective.
[The author considers the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body to be watching Ye Fan here. If other cultivators were searching, their chances of finding the Sacred Fruits would be extremely slim.]
Chapter 17: Passing of the Years, Transformation of the Phenomena
After taking a couple of drinks from the Divine Spring, Su Yu took out the Silver Moon Jade Pagoda. This Saint Weapon was cast entirely from Silver Moon Divine Jade. Three corners of its eaves were broken, yet it remained incomparably sacred. A silver waterfall cascaded from its spire, giving it an ancient, majestic appearance.
Su Yu activated a hand seal and restored it to its original size. In an instant, a jade pagoda nearly three meters tall appeared out of thin air. Immortal light and Saint Dao runes wreathed its body. This was the sacred pagoda's original size.
Ignoring the two astonished men beside him, Su Yu began collecting water from the Divine Spring. In the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land, all pocket-space artifacts were rendered useless, and ordinary Dao principles had no effect. Only their original size could be used to hold the spring water, and Su Yu had prepared for this long ago.
Ye Fan looked at the mineral water bottle in his hand, then at the three-meter-tall jade pagoda, and immediately began drinking deeply from the Desolate Ancient Divine Spring.
He now knew how precious the Sacred Fruits and Divine Spring were. They were treasures worthy of the name immortal treasures. As for his remaining fruit, he intended to take it to Liu Yiyi...
Just as in the original story, the timid Liu Yiyi had still had her Buddhist artifact stolen and had received Ye Fan's protection.
The Ye Fan of this moment did not yet know how important this fruit was...
After collecting several thousand jin of Divine Spring water, Su Yu tried to put the sacred pagoda away, only to discover that strange rules were resisting the Saint Dao Laws on the Silver Moon Jade Pagoda. He could not change its size at will.
He could only use Source to activate the Devouring Heaven Demon Lid. In an instant, boundless immortal light poured in and out of the lid, and life essence surged madly toward it from all around.
Half an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon was of sufficient standing. Its inner space was immeasurably vast, as though a starry cosmos lay hidden within it, capable of swallowing even the sun and moon. It took the enormous Silver Moon Jade Pagoda into the Emperor Weapon's space; the rules of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land could not affect an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon.
"That one move cost thirty thousand jin of Source. I'm so poor I'm nearly begging for food. I have to go to the Northern Region now."
Su Yu felt somewhat helpless. His own magic power was not strong enough, so he could only rely on Source as a shortcut. In the space of about three breaths, he had burned through thirty thousand jin of Source, adding frost to snow for Su Yu, who had never been wealthy to begin with.
After filling not only the Silver Moon Jade Pagoda but every container he had with Divine Spring water, Su Yu thought for a moment. Five-colored divine radiance swirled between his fingers and covered the top of Ye Fan's head.
"An immortal stroked my head and bound my hair, granting me longevity..." Ye Fan froze for a moment, then recalled the famous verse. The scene before him was too much like it.
"The Desolate Ancient Sacred Body bloodline is extraordinary. I shall grant you a stroke of fortune!"
Su Yu's gaze sharpened as he passed on a Holy Lord-level movement art from his inheritance.
In a haze, Ye Fan closed his eyes, and his soul seemed to see a black-robed old Daoist standing atop a cliff in the boundless void, looking down upon all living beings.
A fine golden thread wandered through the white-haired old Daoist's eyes. Along it ran Dao traces capable of slowing time itself! He took a slight step, and the sun, moon, and stars behind him all became reflections. Ripples spread through the void, scattering strands of silver light like starlight.
This was not merely a Holy Lord-level movement art, but an opening form. The complete stealth art was a scripture created by an ancient sage...
After passing on the movement art, Su Yu became ghostlike. Spatial divine patterns surged, and he vanished into the woods with illusory steps.
"Ye Hei Zi, if fate allows, we'll meet again!"
Ye Fan came back to his senses, his face darkening. He had no idea how the Daoist knew the nickname he had had in college.
Watching Su Yu depart, Ye Fan bowed to him from afar, genuinely grateful this time.
Passing of the Years! It's a footwork technique. He spoke to himself inwardly, savoring the wondrous realm of the inheritance he had just received.
He could not fathom the truth of this secret art, but its corresponding Dao diagram had been etched deep into his mind, impossible to forget...
Using Passing of Fleeting Light, Su Yu walked out of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land step by step. Although, for some reason, the forbidden land's flight restriction had not appeared, he did not want to draw that much attention.
He was carrying six thousand jin of Desolate Ancient Divine Spring water and six Sacred Fruits. Having reaped such enormous benefits, all he wanted was to run.
The moment he stepped out of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land, he took to the air, making no effort to conserve his magic power. He did not stop until he had flown nearly ten thousand li.
He was in a quiet valley with clear streams and beautiful mountains. After laying down an array of patterns, he began refining the medicinal power within his body.
The Ruthless One's scripture, like an eternal, profound ray of immortal light, continually tempered Su Yu's flesh and soul. At the same time, his body was releasing life essence.
Su Yu sensed his Bitter Sea. Pure white divine radiance shot into the sky from it, and all manner of strange sights appeared. Faintly, Chaos Qi spread through it, and a strange, pale golden light shone in his eyes.
A golden sun rose from Tang Valley, a vast ocean bore the drifting remains of gods, and a withered hand appeared in a patch of void. All gave off terrifying fluctuations, as though they would open up space and reenact chaos...
The Ghost-Face Jade Jue in his Bitter Sea also emitted waves of light, leaking a golden mist that carried the breath of longevity.
The mysterious mist began to change in the void. At that moment, a golden phantom several zhang tall formed behind him, indistinct and faceless, yet supremely majestic.
Several more phenomena then began to evolve amid the currents of Chaos Qi.
The path of the soul led to the Dao of utmost sincerity; the path of body refinement could break through the void and allow one to see the divine. As the Great Emperor's scripture circulated again and again, he felt as though his whole body were filled with an indescribable sensation, as if he were about to break out of this world and ascend to the Immortal Domain.
Chaos Qi enveloped the valley. His body stretched out, and light formed from tens of thousands of jin of Source continually passed in and out of him, dyeing his sea of consciousness and five viscera with a dazzling brilliance.
Among the countless currents of Chaos Qi, ten covered the Dao diagram of "clouds in the blue sky, water in the vase." The diagram slowly merged into the Chaos Qi.
The originally pale currents took on mysterious blue-black patterns and shot out ten thousand rays of golden light. As though they had gained lives of their own, they became incomparably crystalline and brilliant, an astonishing sight as they coiled around him.
During this process, Su Yu seemed to sense something. The ten strands of true Chaos Qi began to melt together, becoming one.
Then purple light began to burn, and the new phenomenon that had been about to evolve was swallowed once more by chaotic golden light. Divine radiance shot into the sky.
The embryonic phenomenon seemed to burn away in that light. Everything utterly dissipated, leaving only a zhang-long strand of true Chaos Qi, tinged with golden light, dancing in the air.
The Dao diagrams behind Su Yu-Fusang of Tang Valley, Tenfold Divine Sea, Divine Bone Void...-collapsed one after another, becoming nourishment for that strand of true Chaos Qi and driving it to grow ever more condensed and evolved. Its originally zhang-long form gradually shrank and became increasingly real. At last, it became a Chaos Immortal Spirit and fused with the pitch-black bottle behind Su Yu.
All those terrifying, bizarre phenomena merged into a Chaos True Dragon.
At once, an oppressive pressure descended on the valley, and the entire mountain range seemed to tremble. It was as though a single burst of anger from the True Dragon would be enough to level the place.
Chapter 18: Clouds Follow the Dragon, Minor Accomplishment of the Sky-Blue Phenomenon
Seated cross-legged, Su Yu had endless majesty emanating from his somewhat youthful face, as though he were the sovereign of a vast divine dynasty.
His current realm was the Four Extremes First Heaven. Of his four limbs, his right limb had already been fully tempered. At this moment, his legs and left limb burned with raging life essence, bursting with boundless brilliance.
The Four Extremes Secret Realm drew upon the Great Dao of the four extremes of heaven and earth. The human body had four extremes, and so did heaven and earth...
To some extent, Su Yu's limbs seemed to have become pillars holding up the heavens, capable of drawing upon the Great Daos of the myriad heavens. He could feel that his arms seemed to have been engraved in the void, becoming Dao diagrams and turning eternal!
At that instant, his soul connected with heaven and earth. Three Dao diagrams settled behind him, and his presence surged like a volcanic crater on the verge of eruption.
Heaven and earth rumbled, dark clouds gathered, and a bolt of purplish-white heavenly lightning struck a towering ancient tree.
The heavenly tribulation was coming.
Su Yu opened his eyes. Both arms and his right leg shone with intense brilliance. The bones within them gave off strands of dazzling silver light that could pierce through flesh and blood.
"Boom!"
Just then, a startling bolt of purple lightning fell from the heavens and struck at Su Yu!
The first bolt of heavenly lightning fell. Su Yu's whole body glimmered like crystal, and under the protection of the Chaos Dragon Qi, he was not hurt in the slightest. After being tempered by the lightning tribulation, the Chaos Golden Dragon also gained a trace of vitality.
His heavenly tribulation was far more terrifying than the one he had faced at the Four Extremes First Heaven.
Soon, the second heavenly tribulation struck with the speed of lightning, too fast to cover one's ears. It was no longer a single bolt, but an entire curtain of lightning rain that turned the area into scorched earth.
"Boom."
As the lightning rain fell, Su Yu's soul shuddered. His soul, which had originally been in harmony with his body, was struck partially apart from it by the second heavenly tribulation. The radiance on his soul remained brilliant, incomparably crystalline and sacred.
But he could feel his spirit body beginning to separate from his flesh.
Is this the flaw of possession? Forcibly separating a soul and body that were never compatible. It seems I'll have to watch out for lightning-type divine abilities in the future... Su Yu was somewhat shocked. The lightning could not hurt his flesh, but it could reach his spirit body and separate the two.
Once he understood this, he stopped using his flesh to withstand the heavenly tribulation head-on and instead sent the strand of Chaos Dragon Qi around him charging toward the lightning tribulation.