Chapter 67 Desolate Pagoda and Green Copper
The shameless Daoist paced back and forth, his eyebrows scrunched and his hands wrapped around his back. He muttered to himself, “The reputation of the Demon Emperor truly is deserved. He actually set up a Yang Tomb and Yin Grave. Here...is an opening he purposely left behind?”
The shameless Daoist was completely bewildered, gazing back and forth from the distant volcano to this unfathomably deep black pond. His eyebrows were scrunched against each other as he said, “If I’m not wrong, then this Yin Grave beneath me is not so simple. However many people enter is how many people will die…”
“Didn’t respected Daoist make it out alive and well?” Ye Fan interrupted from the side.
“Are you trying to piss me off?” The shameless Daoist felt that Ye Fan was extremely irritating, “You little brat, go down and keep the Demon Emperor company!”
“No, respected Daoist shouldn’t put his anger on me. This has nothing to do with me at all.”
“UGH!” The shameless Daoist sat on the ground, appearing extremely dejected. “Although I found this heaven-shaking secret, there’s nothing to be done. There must definitely be killing traps down there. If I had reached the bottom and entered the Yin Grave, I’d probably no longer exist in this world.”
“Then does that mean the Eastern Wastelands’ human race’s most precious treasure, the Desolate Pagoda, is within the Yin Grave beneath this black pond?” Ye Fan sat further away on top a boulder, not staying too close in order to avoid an unlucky accident. “No wonder those five elites were unable to find the Desolate Pagoda no matter what. It was actually hidden down here.”
The shameless Daoist didn’t pay him any attention, seeming to be pondering deeply. He then started to draw some things on the ground, apparently in order to deduce the Yang Tomb and the Yin Grave’s connections. In the end, he helplessly sighed, “I’ve accidentally found the most precious treasure was within the Yin Grave, yet there’s no way for me to enter. It truly is vexing.”
“Aren’t there those few powerful elites?” Ye Fan indicated to the five peak experts at the volcano.
“Even if it were them who entered, they would most likely not be able to escape without injury. That is a sure-kill trap! The Yang Tomb was purposely left behind by the Demon Emperor in order to pass on the demon clan’s most precious treasure as well as the source of his power, his heart. As for this place, it was kept secret, and outsiders are not allowed in. He revealed the Yang Tomb in order to conceal the Yin Grave! Or maybe there might even be even more clever meanings behind it. One Yin, one Yang, containing the Taiji...truly mysterious.” Saying this, he then continued disappointedly, “Unless one had the Eastern Wastelands human race’s most precious treasure, there’s no way to enter. Even if the top cultivators within the land were to come here and break the sure-kill trap, they would not be able to block the way of the Yin Grave. It would enter into the depths of the Eastern Wastelands like a dragon hiding within the ocean, disappearing beneath the land with no way to track it.”
“Is the Desolate Pagoda that miraculous? Is it that much more powerful, able to stop the Demon Emperor’s Yin Grave while the top cultivators in this generation are not?” Ye Fan asked in surprise.
“Of course!” The shameless Daoist revealed a longing expression as he said, “It is reported that the Desolate Pagoda has existed for countless years. Even what era it came into existence is completely unknown. In this world, there is no person it cannot suppress!”
“It’s that formidable?”
Revealing a distant look, the fat Daoist said, “Since ancient times, the existence of Immortals has been unconfirmed. But each legend pertaining to Immortals within the Eastern Wastelands is related to the Desolate Pagoda.”
“What kind of relationship?” Ye Fan asked, astounded.
“There are records of Immortals appearing within this land multiple times over these countless years, but each time, these Immortals would be suppressed and killed by the Desolate Pagoda.”
“What?! How could the Desolate Pagoda be that terrifying?” Ye Fan was very shocked. After all, the existence of Immortals was unconfirmed, but if one were to appear, it was obvious that they would be much more powerful than anyone currently existing in this world. Yet they would all be suppressed by the Desolate Pagoda? That was simply too shocking!
“Naturally it is formidable, otherwise how could there be this many elites contesting for it! Not long from now, I bet that many of the heads of the Sacred Lands will even come. After all, the Eastern Wastelands are too huge, and some people will receive the news late. But once they hear it, they will definitely lay down Dao Glyphs to cross through the void here.”
“What is the origin of the Desolate Pagoda for it to be this extraordinary and powerful?” Ye Fan asked excitedly, unable to stay calm.
“According to legends, before the Eastern Wastelands even gave birth to life, the Desolate Pagoda was already in existence. Thus, no one knows its origins.”
“It’s a pity that the most precious treasure that reached your hands was thrown away by you when you assumed that green copper to be useless trash.” Ye Fan shook his head and sighed, making a big act of it.
Hearing this, the shameless Daoist’s face immediately became unsightly, even greener than the green copper. He angrily said, “If it weren’t for you, it’d already be in my hands.”
“Respected Daoist, how can you say it like this? It was you who threw it away first. It truly is a pity about the Desolate Pagoda.”
“Who told you it was the Desolate Pagoda? You think that it was the Eastern Wastelands human race’s most precious treasure?”
Ye Fan was startled, saying, “If it wasn’t the Desolate Pagoda, then why is Daoist acting so angry? Wasn’t it just a lump of useless copper? I agree that it has no relation to the Desolate Pagoda.”
“You friggin brat, what do you understand? I can’t be bothered with you.” The fat Daoist was furious with a belly full of anger, not wanting to say anything else about the green copper.
Although Ye Fan currently only appeared eleven years old, he was actually already over twenty. Being called a brat by other people truly did irritate him, and he muttered to himself, “Fuck you!”
“Fuck who?” the shameless Daoist asked in astonishment.
“Fuck you!” Ye Fan was extremely irritated, hence he gave such a reply.
“Fuck me? What sort of weird brat are you? I can’t be bothered to deal with you.” Saying this, the shameless Daoist turned to face the black pond, lost in thought as he stared into it.
“Respected Daoist, since you don’t dare to enter the Yin Grave and it doesn’t really matter that much, it’s better for you to just tell me what the green copper is and its origins. After all, it was thrown away by my hands…”
“You...you still have the face to talk!” Hearing this, the fat Daoist became infuriated, and even his eyes turned red.
“Looks like it really was not ordinary. I guess that it’s only inferior to the Desolate Pagoda by just a tiny bit…” Ye Fan truly didn’t have any good intentions, purposely provoking the shameless Daoist. But of course, he wouldn’t dare to irritate him too much.
“You friggin brat, you actually dare to mess around with me! I’d rather choke you then tell you anything.” The fat Daoist turned and stopped paying him attention.
“Respected Daoist, you’re not being reasonable. You took three spiritual weapons from me, and now that I just want to ask you a little thing, you actually give me such an attitude.”
Seeing Ye Fan being so cocky, the fat man truly did want to choke him. “Even if it were ten, a hundred, or even a thousand spiritual weapons, they would not be equal to the green copper you threw away!”
“Respected Daoist, I have to say that such anger is definitely not good for you. All I did was randomly toss it into this pool. Isn’t it your fault for not telling me that it was an important treasure…”
This eleven-year-old brat was incessantly chattering in front of him. The more he recalled what happened, the more upset the fat Daoist became. In the end, he even wished to cry, but no tears came. He even wanted to chop off his own hands; how could they have thrown away something so precious that had landed right within them?
“Godsdamnit!” He let out a deep breath of air. “Do you have to chatter so much? Just simmer down.”
Ye Fan shook his head and sighed, but inside he felt cheerful and invigorated. In just a short time, he had already succeeded in making the shameless Daoist incessantly remorseful. Making the immoral Daoist this depressed could be considered an accomplishment.
Seeing that Ye Fan had shut up, the fat Daoist regretfully said, “Who said that that useless copper was not equal to the Desolate Pagoda? Thousands of years ago, the Eastern Wastelands almost turned upside down because of that lump of green copper.”
“Something like that actually happened?” Ye Fan asked, unconvinced.
“Yes. At that time the Desolate Pagoda was lost, it didn’t cause such a commotion. But that lump of green copper caused the entire Eastern Wastelands to turn chaotic.”
“The Desolate Pagoda was capable of suppressing to death even Immortals, and its might was unblockable. It is considered the Eastern Wastelands human race’s most precious treasure. Does the green copper possess such a similar power?”
The fat Daoist listlessly said, “The green copper came from the Central States. When it disappeared, all of the peak cultivators of the Central States practically overturned all of the Eastern Wastelands, the Southern Mountains, the Western Desert, and the Northern Plains. That was a heaven-shaking chaos!”
Ye Fan sucked in a breath of cold air when he heard this.
He was very clear that the Central States were even more endlessly vast than the Eastern Wastelands. Even cultivators capable of riding divine rainbows were unable to traverse it from one end to the other. The only way to travel from end to end of it was to engrave Dao Glyphs onto the land and condense Heaven Power to shuttle across the void.
It was said that the Central States were full of ancient inheritances, spiritual places, and many powerful cultivators. It was a mysterious and prospering ancient land.
“Who had such great guts to provoke all the peak masters of the Central States…?”
“Naturally it was the Demon Emperor who had united all the Eastern Wastelands’ demons. He wanted to cause trouble for the Eastern Wastelands humans!”
“Apparently the Demon Emperor was extremely powerful, capable of causing chaos everywhere, truly an existence that could not be allowed to exist,” Yan Fe mused.
The shameless Daoist didn’t have any cheer as he glanced at him, saying, “Obviously. If he weren’t strong enough, how could he unite the Eastern Wastelands’ demons and become their Immortal Emperor?"
Ye Fan thought about it for a while and asked, “How can you be sure that lump of green copper was from the Central States? And just what is it?”
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Author notes: Dear readers, this new novel Shrouding the Heavens has been out for a month now, and already has over two hundred thousand words. I expect that it will reach three hundred thousand words by the time it enters the bookcase, so I hope that the various readers will all support me and give me the passion and energy to continue.
Translator notes: Hope you guys are enjoying the novel! Chapters for this novel average 3400 characters in Chinese, which ends up around 2500 words in English. Some chapters are even 5500 Chinese characters long!