Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 310 - Black Emperor Goes Wild

“Grandfather…” Xu Yuan was first startled, then overjoyed. He shouted madly, “Grandfather, kill them!”

“Xu Tianxiong…” Tu Fei was horrified, staggering backward in fright.

“Can you spare my grandson?” Xu Tianxiong’s face was expressionless. Though only a wisp of divine sense, his presence seemed fused with the Dao itself.

“I didn’t want enmity with him. But you heard it yourself, he wants you to kill us. With that temperament, he’ll only bring me harm in the future.” Ye Fan stood beneath the Cauldron of Motherly Energy of All Things, the God-Striking Whip gripped in his hand.

“You truly intend to kill my grandson?” The elder’s face remained impassive, but his aura spread with crushing weight, chilling all who felt it.

Buzz!

Without hesitation, Ye Fan struck first. Even before Xu Tianxiong, more dreadful than the Azure Flood Dragon Monarch, he showed no fear.

Wooo!

The whip lashed out. That wisp of divine sense had lain dormant for years, only awakening when Xu Yuan’s life was at risk. Though Xu Tianxiong’s power was boundless, he knew nothing of the whip’s nature. He pressed forward, seals flashing.

Crack!

Whip and divine projection collided head-on, the clash violent enough to shake even the golden pagoda, sending it flying.

Tu Fei quickly sheltered himself with the imitation Heaven-Devouring Jar, while Xu Yuan screamed, his body flung aside like a dead leaf.

“What kind of treasure is this?!”

Cracks spread across Xu Tianxiong’s manifested body. Still, he managed to voice his shock.

Ye Fan gave no reply. He struck again with the whip, shattering the wisp into scattered light.

Boom!

A third blow followed, dispersing the glow completely, reducing it to ashes scattered in the sky.

“You attacked Xu Tianxiong’s divine sense?!” Tu Fei was aghast. He had never imagined Ye Fan would dare such a thing.

“Best to strike first. He dotes on his grandson. If I gave him a chance, who knows what secret method he might unleash.” Ye Fan carefully inspected the pagoda, wary of hidden tricks. “Besides, we’ve already offended this lineage. We need to wipe the slate clean, leave nothing behind for them to trace.”

“Don’t kill me…” Xu Yuan was chilled to the core. He hadn’t even known the pagoda held his grandfather’s divine sense. What he thought was salvation turned out to be despair.

Tu Fei sighed. “Xu Tianxiong is terrifying. That was only a strand of his divine thought. Imagine if his true body came, just the thought makes my skin crawl.”

After thorough inspection, the golden pagoda revealed no further tricks. Ye Fan tossed it to Tu Fei.

“This is a fine treasure. You keep it.”

Tu Fei shook his head like a rattle.

“Who dares use this? If Xu Tianxiong finds out, he’ll hunt me to the ends of the earth.”

Ye Fan chuckled. “Leave it for that mutt. I bet once he sees it, he’ll snatch it for himself.”

“You really mean to kill him?” Tu Fei frowned, troubled by the consequences of killing Xu Yuan.

“Do I have another choice? If I let him go, you know as well as I do, he’ll stir up endless trouble and come for my life.”

“Don’t kill me! Let me go, I swear I won’t cause you any trouble!” Xu Yuan screamed, terror overwhelming him. His fate rested on Ye Fan’s whim.

Tu Fei thought for a moment. “Perhaps it’s better to suppress him for now. Keep him alive. Xu Tianxiong will eventually learn of this, and then there’ll be no turning back. If war breaks out, even the great Sacred Lords will have headaches.”

“That works.” Ye Fan nodded. Unfortunately, he lacked a suitable sealing artifact. He couldn’t risk opening the Departing Fire God Furnace, outside the chaotic force field, releasing it could allow the Leviathan Prince, Yao Xi, or the Radiant Light Saint to break free. As for using the golden pagoda, he didn’t trust it, it was Xu Tianxiong’s weapon after all.

“Let me hold him.” Tu Fei sealed Xu Yuan into the Heaven-Devouring Jar.

At that moment,

“Woof!”

The Black Emperor came bounding over, its copper-bell eyes bulging.

In a flash of black lightning, it lunged furiously at Tu Fei.

“Damn mutt, it’s gone mad!” Tu Fei shouted, realizing the hound was furious beyond reason.

Ye Fan quickly intercepted, whip barring the dog.

“What’s gotten into you? Why are you raging?”

The great black dog panted heavily, eyes blazing.

“Where did you get that jar?!”

“You greedy beast, it’s only an imitation, not the real thing. What’s there to fight over?” Tu Fei snapped.

“I know it’s a fake! But how could you make a copy without seeing the real one first?!” The dog’s massive body trembled with agitation.

Tu Fei squinted at it.

“You didn’t crawl out of a grave, did you? Everyone in the Northern Region knows my grandfather held an incomplete Heaven-Devouring Jar. Naturally he made me a replica.”

“Awooo…” The Black Emperor let out a mournful wolf-howl, furious and grief-stricken all at once.

“Damn it! That was my destined treasure! How could that old thief of a grandfather steal it?!”

“Watch your tongue, mutt!” Tu Fei snapped. “My grandfather got it centuries ago. What does that have to do with you?”

“Awoo… woof!” The dog howled and barked, running wild around the mountaintop, unable to calm down.

“It’s lost its mind...” Ye Fan sighed. He knew this dog had long obsessed over the treasures of the Ruthless One. This Heaven-Devouring Jar had to be the very relic it desired. He quickly explained to Tu Fei, so as not to provoke the dog further.

“How did your grandfather get it?” the dog finally demanded, still seething.

“He picked it up.” Tu Fei answered bluntly.

“Picked it up?! Are you trying to kill me with rage? I risked my life for years in the Ruthless One’s ruins, and your grandfather just… picked it up?”

“Yes. Everyone in the Northern Region knows the story. He found it by chance centuries ago near a dried-up riverbed, never expecting it to be the fearsome Heaven-Devouring Jar of the Desolate Era.”

“Woof, woof, woof…” The Black Emperor howled, circling the mountain in despair.

“Where exactly did he pick it up?” it demanded.

“Remember when you made a scene in the Cloud Severing Mountains? Long ago, he found it outside that very range, along a riverbank.”

The dog nearly spat blood from rage and grief. It bellowed to the heavens,

“No justice! Truly no damn justice! How can the heavens treat me like this?!”

In ancient times, the Heaven-Devouring Jar had shocked the world. Many legends surrounded it.

Some said that when the Grand Emperor of the Desolate Ancient Xiao Clan neared death, he used his own primordial spirit as fire, his flesh as clay, and forged his body into a Paragon Artifact for his descendants.

Others claimed he practiced the Undying God-Art. At the brink of death, he birthed a divine embryo within himself, shattering his old body and reforging it into the Paragon Artifact, the Heaven-Devouring Jar.

“Whether it was his old body or his true self, it was still his flesh. What a ruthless man, to refine himself into a supreme weapon!” the dog muttered with awe. “And this only shows how priceless materials like Phoenix Blood Red Gold and the Motherly Energy of All Things are. Even Grand Emperors couldn’t always obtain them. Otherwise, why sacrifice oneself?”

“So your grandfather only stole the jar body? No lid?” the dog pressed.

“Watch your mouth, mutt!” Tu Fei glared.

“Fine, I spoke wrong. But the lid, has it not appeared?”

“No. In today’s world, only the jar body exists. My grandfather searched far and wide, but never found the lid.”

“The lid is the essence! Legend says it was forged from the Grand Emperor’s skull, tempered with immortal materials, bearing his divine imprint. The word ‘Devil’ of the Heaven-Devouring Devil Jar, all its terror is rooted in that lid!”

The Black Emperor finally regained some hope. It swore to find the lid one day. Then it glared at Tu Fei.

“Tell your grandfather to watch his back. I’ll be coming for him.”

“Damn mutt…” Tu Fei cursed.

Eventually, the dog calmed down, and its gaze fell on the golden pagoda nearby. Just as Ye Fan expected, it pounced instantly, pressing it under a paw.

“This pagoda is barely adequate, but it’ll do for me.”

“That’s Xu Tianxiong’s treasure. We’ve suppressed his grandson. Do you dare use it?” Ye Fan asked.

“Xu Tianxiong? Never heard of him.” The dog was unconcerned.

“He’s ranked above the Azure Flood Dragon Monarch. Think about it.” Tu Fei warned.

“Damn it…” the dog swore. Still, it didn’t let go. “Fuck it. This is too good to pass up. I’ll take it first, decide later.”

After this, Ye Fan and his group didn’t linger in Tranquil Prefecture. Following Xu Yuan’s hidden arrangements, they moved into Boundless Prefecture, sweeping through the region in search of source stones.

Xu Yuan’s ambitions had been vast. He secretly fostered forces unknown even to his grandfather and brother, plotting for the future. But encountering two men and a dog, everything crumbled into nothing.

In half a month, Ye Fan looted every bandit force in Boundless Prefecture, seizing 14,000 Kg of source, far more than expected.

Boundless Prefecture was a land of beauty. Evergreen trees covered its mountains, green pines, celestial maples, violet bamboo, and cold vines.

Even in late autumn, life thrived. Maple leaves sparkled like jade, glowing bright green for miles. Some bore snow-white blossoms, petals drifting in the breeze, filling the air with fragrance.

Streams of celestial spring water flowed gently through the maple groves.

“Eh? Someone ahead, a girl, and a peerless beauty!” Tu Fei nearly howled like a wolf. “So pure, so stunning, like a crystal heart, like a sacred flower blooming on an icy peak.”

For Tu Fei, who dreamed of marrying a Saintess as his life’s highest goal, to be so impressed spoke volumes.

In the glowing maple forest, a girl in blue walked untouched by worldly dust, ethereal as a white lotus beaded with dew, as if a snow lotus had bloomed upon a snowy mountain.

The green jade-like maples, the drifting white petals, and the fragrant air framed her like an otherworldly spirit, graceful beyond compare.

“It’s her…” Ye Fan was startled.