Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 302 - Ancient Bronze Script

At the instant Ye Fan stepped into the void, he heard Ji Haoyue’s shout. His heart tightened, indeed, the God Physique was keenly perceptive, sensing even the faintest anomaly.

Though the distance was vast, Ye Fan had not deliberately suppressed his Sacred Physique’s aura, allowing Ji Haoyue to catch the slightest resonance. But none of this mattered now, he had already crossed the void, entering the eternal darkness.

“Fix!”

From distant mountains came an ancient voice. Space itself quivered. The Profound Jade Platform Ye Fan had left behind failed to self-destruct, everything was frozen in place.

Xia Jiuyou, ethereal in white robes, treading nine strands of draconic might, was the first to rush onto the platform, and vanished instantly. Two gray-robed elders followed closely.

Ji Haoyue, the God Physique, radiant and majestic with a divine moon shining above his head, disappeared as well, successfully crossing the void.

Duan De, still wearing Ye Fan’s purple-clad guise, seized the chance like drowning man clutching straw, transformed into black smoke, and shot forward, vanishing too.

“Chase him!”

“Don’t let him escape!”

Shouts rang out as the crowd surged forward, beginning their own crossing of the void.

The pitiful Wooden-faced Daoist had only just struggled up, when seven or eight people stomped him flat, grinding their heels into his ribs before he too rushed forward, chasing after them.

Two thousand miles away, the void rippled and twisted, opening into a rift. Ye Fan and Tu Fei burst out.

“Not good, someone’s following us!” Ye Fan’s heart skipped a beat.

The turbulent void fissure behind them pulsed violently, clearly, many pursuers were crossing.

“Hurry, go! Some hidden expert froze the jade platform,” Black Emperor said.

But they were not afraid. They had prepared, having engraved a complex series of chained Daoist formations atop another mountain.

Quickly, Ye Fan and Tu Fei flew to the next great divine platform, ready to cross again.

Boom!

The void nearby tore open, spilling out a group, Xia Jiuyou, Ji Haoyue, Xiang Yifei of Grand Ascension Sacred Ground, the Daoist maiden of Absolute Dao Sacred Ground, a descendant of Purple Mansion Sacred Ground…

And of course, Daoist Duan De, flung out amidst battle, even within the darkness of the void fighting for his life, chased hard by a mob at his heels.

Most fearsome of all, several old monsters had crossed as well, locking onto both Duan De and Ye Fan.

“Imprison!” The ancient voice thundered.

“Go!” Ye Fan activated the chained patterns, stepping once more into the void.

The attempt to stop them failed. The formations Black Emperor carved were extraordinary, unaffected by the imprisoning force.

Within the darkness, Ye Fan asked anxiously: “Some terrifying figure is watching us. Black Emperor, are your formations reliable?”

“Don’t fear! Even if a Supreme Giant chases, escape is certain. If he isn’t strong enough, this Emperor will cripple him!” the black dog whispered smugly from inside Ye Fan’s sleeve.

Buzz!

The void quaked. They reappeared five thousand miles away, atop another jade platform.

“This platform can cross both ways. Destroy it, trap them inside the void,” the black dog said with a wolfish grin.

“This damned mutt is vicious…” Tu Fei was startled, then grinned as well.

Ye Fan wasted no time, shattering the platform with a punch. At once, he stepped onto another formation to cross again.

Boom!

Behind them, as the platform collapsed, the void tore apart. A mass of people tumbled out. Some exploded into blood mist on the spot.

But more survived, saved by more than ten old monsters wielding terrifying weapons, propping up the void against collapse.

“Stop hitting me! I give up! I’m not that bastard Ye Fan!” came Duan De’s wretched cry.

Even with all his skill, he couldn’t withstand such a mob. Surrounded by glaring old monsters, he dared not unleash his true strength.

Flash!

Ye Fan and his group vanished, crossing the void once more.

“Black Emperor, your chained formations aren’t working! They’re still chasing. Only a few dozen died just now.” Ye Fan frowned.

“Don’t panic. They must transfer through over ten nodes. They’ll regret it,” the black dog still said calmly.

Buzz!

They emerged again, this time into a place of endless black mist, oppressive and deadly.

“Where are we?” Tu Fei exclaimed.

“This is the Nether-Slaughter Domain in the teleportation sequence. If they blunder in, they’re finished!” Black Emperor sneered.

Ye Fan finally understood why the dog had nearly collapsed engraving all these runes, each formation was a true deathtrap.

Under the black dog’s guidance, they slipped through, appearing on another jade platform.

Behind them, the void split, and the pursuers spilled out, only to be met with crushing slaughter.

Sword-light as thick as water tanks shot in all directions, unstoppable. Screams erupted, blood sprayed. Many died instantly, skewered.

Tu Fei glanced at the black dog with new eyes, realizing this mutt was truly terrifying.

Boom!

Suddenly, the Nether-Slaughter Domain collapsed, shattered to dust by the strike of a massive bronze bell.

“Damn! Some ruthless figure… could it be a Sacred Lord himself?” Ye Fan’s heart pounded as they crossed again.

They emerged into another deadly domain, icy winds like knives, stones turned to powder at a touch.

“In this place, I laid the Supreme-Lunar Wind Formation. One breath of this wind, and flesh turns to slurry,” Black Emperor warned.

“Damned mutt… such a sinister design…” Tu Fei shuddered.

Once more, their pursuers tore through the void, falling into the killing winds.

“Ahhh!”

Screams rang out as flesh and bone melted into mud. Even sacred weapons disintegrated instantly.

Boom!

A golden hand suddenly swept across the heavens, shattering the Taiyin winds and dispersing the formation with sheer power.

“Shit! Too vicious, bare hands smashed the formation! This person is terrifying!” the black dog yelped.

Ye Fan and the others fled again, yet the golden hand still pursued relentlessly, a nightmare they could not escape.

Seven, eight crossings later, it still clung to them.

On the ninth crossing, they arrived at an ancient battlefield, flames blazing, skeletons hanging in the air.

“Damn it, I don’t believe my formations won’t stop them!” The black dog was finally anxious.

“What formation is this?” Ye Fan asked.

“This is an ancient battlefield, the Sea of Lost Souls. Even the strong will sink, overwhelmed by deadly killing intent.”

They passed through, but the pursuers arrived again.

Duan De howled: “Guys! Stop chasing me! I’m really not that bastard Ye Fan!”

Indeed, Ji Haoyue, Xia Jiuyou, and others had long seen through him, he was not the Sacred Physique. But others attacked anyway, forcing him to reveal himself.

“Who are you really?” some saint sons sneered.

Suddenly, the Sea of Lost Souls erupted in slaughter. Ji Haoyue clashed with Xia Jiuyou. Duan De was forced into desperate battle against an old monster.

On the jade platform, Ye Fan and his group prepared to cross again.

“Hmph. This Emperor’s formations cannot fail…” the black dog sneered.

Boom!

Before he could finish, the golden hand appeared once more, smashing the battlefield apart, collapsing the Sea of Lost Souls.

Tu Fei’s face changed. “Oh fuck, it’s the Ancient Leviathan Monarch’s avatar! We must go! His true body may arrive at any moment!”

Ye Fan’s face also turned pale. He had captured the Leviathan Prince, of course the Ancient Leviathan Monarch was scouring the world for him. This incarnation was no surprise.

“Move!”

The Ancient Leviathan Monarch was a being even Sacred Lords feared, fastest under heaven, terrifying beyond belief.

“Don’t worry. After three more teleportations, we will reach my ultimate deathtrap!” the black dog said.

By now, few pursuers remained, many had been slain by the dog’s traps.

They passed through three more fields, finally arriving at the ultimate formation. They mounted the jade platform.

“Now it’s safe,” said the black dog.

A flash of light, and they were gone.

In the darkness, Ye Fan asked: “You’re sure? This is the final formation. If it fails, we’re dead meat.”

“Chill out. Once we leave, the formation will seal, transform, and only we can cross. To others, it’ll be a deathtrap.”

Indeed, after their departure, the formation shifted. The land howled with deadly winds, sword aura surged, it became a slaughter ground.

The ultimate rune carried them fifty thousand miles in one leap. At last, they were far beyond the Chaos Cloud Prefecture, arriving at a vast desert.

“What place is this?”

An endless golden desert, stretching tens of thousands of miles without a trace of life. They flew for half a day and still saw no end.

Finally, the black dog carved another formation, crossing again. Yet they remained within the boundless desert.

“Damn it, what place is this? We shook our pursuers, but where the hell are we?”

Even the black dog was unsettled. He had crossed space with formations before, but had never physically arrived here.

They had transferred through dozens of formations, covering over a hundred thousand miles. They no longer knew where they were.

“Let me think…” Tu Fei frowned, then paled. “Ten thousand miles beyond Chaos Cloud Prefecture lies the infamous God Desert.”

“What kind of place is that?” Ye Fan asked, uneasy.

“A cursed land. Countless cultivators have entered, few ever left. Some escape in weeks. Others die of old age, never finding the exit. This desert is monstrously strange.”

The black dog’s face darkened, muttering curses. “Damn! It’s this place. Back then, this Emperor was trapped here for more than a hundred years! #%@¥#%…”

“You were trapped here for a century?” Ye Fan was shocked.

The dog’s face twisted with bitterness. “Long ago, seeking that ruthless one’s Dao Domain, I wandered into this desert. Nearly suffocated here for a hundred years!”

From the outside, one could cross into it by void-travel. But leaving was another matter, the formations meant little. That was the desert’s curse.

Ye Fan realized the gravity of it. If even the black dog, at his peak, had been trapped a century, the danger was immense.

“Maybe we’ll be lucky, walk a dozen days and find the exit,” Tu Fei offered optimistically.

“Hopefully,” Ye Fan said, though his heart was heavy.

They marched on. Days passed. Still no sign of escape.

Six days later, unease grew. The desert stretched endless. By day, the heat was a furnace. By night, cold cut to the bone.

On the seventh day, beneath the blazing noon sun, Ye Fan suddenly stiffened, pointing ahead. “A building!”

Through the shimmering heat, something appeared at the horizon.

They rushed over, astonished to find a small Daoist temple, half-buried in golden sand.

It was not grand, smaller than a poor man’s stone hut. Yet it had withstood ages, still standing.

Ye Fan swept his sleeve, scattering sand, revealing the ancient temple in full. It was built of common northern rocks, weathered but unfallen.

“How could there be such a temple here?” Tu Fei murmured.

Ye Fan stepped inside. At a glance, he froze.

On the walls, writing. Familiar to him.

Characters from the other side of the stars.

Bronze script of the Pre-Qin era!

Ancient Chinese characters, utterly different from this world’s script. Ye Fan recognized them at once. His heart pounded violently.

“Pre-Qin bronze script…” he whispered, trembling.

Since arriving in this world, Ye Fan had long sought some connection to the heavens beyond. He had found nothing in their ancient texts.

But here, in this cursed desert, he saw Pre-Qin Chinese writing. The shock was indescribable.

“In the Pre-Qin era, people already came here from Earth?!”

Excitement surged. The two worlds were not isolated. The ancients had crossed before. Perhaps he too could find the way home.

“What are you mumbling about? What kind of bird-scratch writing is this? I don’t recognize a single word,” the black dog said, suspicious.

“Let me see what it says…” Ye Fan’s voice shook with excitement as he leaned close to study the ancient inscriptions. “Pre-Qin Energy Refiner?”