Shrouding the Heavens

He returned back to his stone residence and not long after lugged over a heavy wooden chest. It was yellow from being so old, and with a just a glance it could be seen that it came from a long ago era.

“What is this?” Ye Fan asked curiously.

“Before that ancestor from a thousand years ago entered the purple mountain, he left behind some meticulous preparations. This is what he left behind.”

Fifth Grandpa Zhang opened the iron lock and opened the wooden chest. A decayed wooden smell immediately came out. Who knew just how many years had passed for even the interior of the wood to begin rotting.

“This is…” Ye Fan first noticed a set of stone clothes.

This was a set of stone clothing made by stringing small stones together. It was extremely plain and simple.

“What is this supposed to do?” This meticulous set of stone armor had clearly taken a great deal of effort to make.

Fifth Grandpa Zhang took out the stone clothing and stroked it. “This was personally made by that ancestor from a thousand years ago. He wore a set in and left behind a set.”

Ye Fan placed it into his hand and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary about it. The rock it was made of was the kind of special stone that wrapped around Sources.

This kind of stone could block divine sense probing and could not be seen through. Thus without actually cutting through the Source stone, it was difficult to deal whether there really was a treasure inside or not. Stone gambling was also based on this.

Ye Fan believed that as long as he wished, he could easily tear apart this kind of stone armor. Such armor had no use to him at all.

“Don’t look down on this set of stone armor. It’s not ordinary. It has a powerful spiritual nature.” Fifth Grandpa Zhang saw through his thinking.

“It has spirituality?” Ye Fan carefully probed it and still didn’t find anything special about it.”

“This isn’t ordinary stone skin.” Fifth Grandpa Zhang rubbed it fondly. “This is the stone skin found around Divine Sources. It’s a material only for a Heavenly Source Master’s discerning eyes.”

“This is the stone skin that was wrapped around Divine Sources?” Ye Fan held the stone armor closely and carefully examined it, but was still unable to see anything about it.

“As a cultivator, you are unable to see through just how precious this stone clothing is.” He unfolded it and said, “Every single person looking for Sources would want such a set. After mining for days, it’s always possible to meet some unlucky situations. Such a Divine Source clothing can ward off the evil and allow you to avoid those unfortunate things.”

Ye Fan nodded. He immediately thought of many things. Back when he was mining in the Flickering Light’s mining site, he had repeatedly run into dangerous situations, so he naturally knew about the dangers involved.

“Stone skin from Divine Sources have a special spirituality that can avoid such evil things…”

According to what Fifth Grandpa Zhang was saying, this kind of stone skin coexisted with Divine Sources and had been infected by their spiritual nature. It had its own spirit that could seek luck and avoid calamity.

There was also a stone helmet within the wooden chest that could cover the face.

“You have to wear this stone clothing, as well as this stone helmet. It will conceal your whole body’s air. It might not be hard enough for you, but it can isolate you from the outside world, maybe allowing you to avoid the ominous lifeforms within the purple mountain,” Fifth Grandpa Zhang solemnly warned him.

Ye Fan started to feel nervous. “Weren’t the powerful lifeforms from that era all sealed within Divine Sources?”

“Who would dare say with confidence what is in the purple mountain? It’s better to be more prepared. Actually, I still wish that you wouldn’t take this risk.”

Ye Fan truly did start to have some second thoughts now. “I don’t want to enter into the depths of the purple mountain. As soon as I find the Heavenly Source Book I’ll come back. I don’t want to disturb any of those living lifeforms.”

“Also take this stone pendant.” Taking out a stone pendant from the wooden case, he said, “This was refined from my Zhang family’s ancestor. If you really end up attracting the focus of evil demons, it might be able to have some kind of effect.”

He then took out a stone dagger. The wooden chest had long since rotted, and the instant he took out the dagger, the chest completely broke into pieces.

This blade was only two feet long. On top of it were some carved stars, along with the sun and moon. There were also some other strange lines.

“Beneath the ground, you might end up seeing some strange things. Unless it absolutely cannot be avoided, don’t disturb them.” Fifth Grandpa Zhang gravely said, “Whether its ghosts or whatnot, if whatever is inside doesn’t attack you, treat it as an illusion and use this blade to cut a path forward.”

Ye Fan was somewhat nervous now. Before Grandpa Zhang said all these things, he hadn’t taken it seriously. But now he really did feel a bit unprepared.

Finally, Fifth Grandpa Zhang handed him a starry plate. “Now that this star plate has been inherited all the way to my generation, it contains a huge amount of astral star divine energy. Take care to use it at a critical moment. If you end up inside a ghost mine, it can be used to help you find a way out.”

Ye Fan truly was a bit speechless and hesitant now. He muttered, “Gramps, are you trying to support me or scare me? The more things you explain, the more terrifying it sounds.”

The stone clothes, stone helmet, stone dagger, and stone star plate were all made from the stone skin around Divine Sources. Nothing special could be seen from them, but they all possessed a spiritual nature.

“Gramps, where did that first ancestor of your family go? Did he peacefully live out his years in this village?”

Ye Fan had once asked about that Heavenly Source Master’s past, but the old man had only vaguely explained it. All he said was that he had known too many secrets about Sources and that unfortunate things were bound to happen to him in his later years.

“His death is a mystery.” The old man shook his head.

“What happened?”

“In that ancient past, the northern region successively produced five Heavenly Source Masters. In their later years, they all underwent dangerous trials. My Zhang family’s ancestor was no exception.”

“What dangerous trials?” asked Ye Fan.

“In his later years, he saw many dirty things that others were unable to see. He said that was the final destiny of Heavenly Source Masters.”

“Dirty things?” Ye Fan asked in surprise.

“Yes. In the end, he disappeared and no one knows where he went. That night before he left, a whirlwind of red fur blew outside and howls from nameless terrifying lifeforms rang out the entire night.”

“Gramps, I’m not someone who gets scared. If you don’t want to help me, then don’t be like this…”

“I’m not trying to scare you. Everything I said is true. My Zhang family’s first ancestor truly did disappear like this. The Jade Lake Sacred Lady was informed and once went over the entire northern region looking for him, all to no avail. In the end, she personally raised a gravestone for him,” Fifth Grandpa Zhang sighed.

That was a person who had managed to turn each of the sacred lands’ faces green, a peerless figure of his generation in his own sense. The fact that he could just die without anyone understanding how or why caused complicated emotions to arise in Ye Fan’s heart.

“Were there no clues at all?”

“That night, my Zahng Family had a four year-old child who had once followed beside that ancestor’s side and was scared witless into dementia.” Fifth Grandpa Zhang shook his head and said,” Over half a month passed before his fit of dementia passed. He said…”

“What did that child say?” Seeing him pause, Ye Fan pursued his questioning.

“He said that that night, he saw the ancestor’s hand suddenly grow a bunch of red fur and there were a bunch of human-shaped lifeforms outside the window. He only turned his head for a moment and the ancestor disappeared forever.”

“Gramps, you can’t scare me like that. You know that I must enter the purple mountain…”

“All of these are things that the ancestors have passed down orally. I’ve never told anyone else about them.” Fifth Grandpa Zhang shook his head.

Ye Fan shivered. This blood=covered land was filled with far too many secrets. There were many frightening things that surpassed his imagination.

“How great is a Heavenly Source Master’s strength?”

“Are you talking about battle strength?”

“Yes,” Ye Fan nodded.

“My first ancestor fought to a standstill with the Jade Lake Sacred Lady in his youth,” calmly stated Fifth Grandpa Zhang.

Ye Fan gasped. Such a person was truly amazing. He was a Heavenly Source Master and possessed such a great strength. No wonder the Jade Lake Sacred Lady had become a close friend of his in the end.

“After becoming a Heavenly Source Master he could find a dragon vein and lock onto a Divine Source. He couldn’t remain weak even if he wanted to.”

In the end, Ye Fan still decided to go forward with it.

“Brother Ye, when will you come back?” Wang Shu sent him off. He didn’t know he was going to the purple mountain and only thought he was going on a long journey.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back in a few days. Then I’ll bring you guys stone gambling, turn those sacred lands’ faces green, and win a Sacred Lady as my prize!”

“The whistling wind chills the Yishui River; a fallen hero cannot be revived…[1]” Tomfool simplemindedly waved his hand.

“You… amongst all the things I taught you, why do you only remember this one line?” Ye Fan was very speechless.

“I’m afraid you won’t come back…” Tomfool scratched his head.

Ye Fan couldn’t be mad at him. He smiled and waved before quickly rushing into the distance, disappearing in just a moment.

---

According to what Fifth Grandpa Zhang said, the only way to enter the purple mountain was through the nine dragon veins. He had to travel underground along one of the mountain ranges until he reached the bottom of the purple mountain, where he would have to cut his way in.

Just directly arriving outside the purple mountain and trying to enter that way, he would place himself in extreme danger.

Ye Fan picked the eastern dragon vein to enter from because that was the one the Zhang family’s ancestor had chosen when he had entered.

He continuously muttered the ancient scripture he had obtained from the ancient bronze coffin. Over the past two months, he had been continuously carvings those words into his cauldron.

Although the words would never stay engraved and would always quickly disappear, he still never gave up on it.

It was forged from Origin Qi foundation and was his greatest support at the moment. Even if the void broke, he was still able to avoid death by hiding himself within that cauldron.

---

The towering mountain range was lofty and grand, appearing like a coiling dragon along the land.

The huge stone mountain range was completely bare. There were no plants or anything. It was just a reddish-brown color with the slightest tinge of purple, a shade similar to the huge purple mountain.

According to Fifth Grandpa Zhang, this dragon vein had long since been excavated and the dragon path underground went all the way to the purple mountain.

Ye Fan didn’t just directly break into the land. In case of an ominous result, he didn’t wish to break in like that.

He instead went searching and finally noticed an ancient mine. The Zhang family’s ancestor had gone through that place a thousand years ago.

Ye Fan put on the stone clothes and immediately felt tightly bundled up. His entire body’s aura had been completely sealed and not even the slightest hint could enter the outside world.

Carrying the star plate on his back, putting on the stone helmet, and holding the stone blade, he silently floated down the ancient mine.

Ye Fan was calculating inside and was completely shocked as he descended over three thousand meters before reaching the bottom.

The pitch-black ancient mine had been excavated hundreds of thousands of years ago. It was filled with an ancient air and it was so quiet it was disturbing.

Ye Fan moved lightly, not using any divine energy but simply walking forward step by step as he carefully sensed everything around him.

Everything here had a link to an ancient Great Emperor, placing a heavy pressure on him. He had never acted this carefully.

In this manner, Ye Fan silently walked for several kilometers as the ancient mine became darker and darker

“What is that?!” Suddenly, his heart shook. The sound of beating wings came from ahead, and he could vaguely see a human-shaped lifeform flapping its wings there.

“I just entered, but I’ve already met some kind of existence from ancient times?!” This turn of events was far from good for Ye Fan.

[1] This is a line from an ancient poem.