Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 312 - Dragons Battle In The Wilds

In the Primordial Era, the Northern Region teemed with life. Verdant and lush, the spirit energy between heaven and earth was so thick it condensed into crystals, transforming into Source. Celestial grasses grew endlessly, and godly herbs could be found.

Now, that glory is gone. Flowers no longer bloom, vegetation has withered, the land lies barren. Red soil and rust-colored stone stretch across a desolate expanse.

Though many oases remain, they are but specks compared to the vast crimson wilderness, like scattered islands in a boundless sea. This contrast only highlights the immensity of the Northern Region, for even a single oasis might span thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of miles.

Between Boundless Prefecture and Tranquil Prefecture lies an endless expanse of red desert, a vast desolation stretching to the horizon.

Ye Fan carried the God-Striking Whip on his back as he walked alone into this barren red land. Word had reached him that among the Ten Young Masters of Radiant Light, some might be passing through here.

Tu Fei had gone toward Tranquil Prefecture, while the Black Dog remained in Boundless Prefecture to help track them.

The boundless, blood-colored ground felt cold and oppressive. Nothing but silence filled the air. The only features breaking the monotony were upright red rocks scattered here and there, hardly noticeable amid the vast, lifeless plain.

Ye Fan’s pace wasn’t fast, but every step was steady, leaving a clear trail in the ancient soil as he went deeper into the crimson wilderness.

Suddenly, he stopped. Standing still, he stared toward the far edge of the land. On the horizon, a tiny black dot was rapidly approaching.

“They’ve come.” A cold smile tugged at Ye Fan’s lips. The first battle was about to begin, and this time, he had resolved to fight to the death.

The figure in the distance moved quickly. Soon its form was clear, a broad, solid figure, moving as if suspended three inches above the ground. His shoulders didn’t sway, his feet never quite touched the earth. Each step he took seemed to shrink space itself, vanishing from one spot and reappearing instantly ahead. This was the profound art of Shrinking the Earth into Inches, this opponent was no ordinary man.

He was about twenty-one or twenty-two, not tall but powerfully built. His skin was bronze, radiating raw strength. His black hair flowed, his sharp eyes gleamed with cold light. His entire presence carried an aggressive dominance, the aura of one who sought to seize control of everything.

He was a man of heroic bearing, his bronze-hued body like cast metal. Every movement radiated might and confidence.

Clang!

He stopped abruptly, still hovering above the ground. His gaze locked on Ye Fan, and from his pupils shot two beams of dazzling light like twin god-swords.

“It’s you… Ye Fan!”

His voice rang out like a struck bell, reverberating through the barren land, making even the red earth tremble.

“Yes, it’s me.” Ye Fan stood calm and steady. He could feel it, the man before him was no common foe, even he felt a trace of pressure.

The bronze-skinned youth narrowed his eyes. “I’ve been searching for you. Never thought you’d present yourself. Were you waiting for me?”

“Exactly. I’ve been waiting here for you. Today, you’ll be the first I send to the afterlife.” Ye Fan’s reply was blunt.

“Hahaha!” The young man laughed wildly, his hair disheveled in the wind, his bronze skin glowing with a chilling light. “The entire Northern Region hunts you, yet here you are. I couldn’t have asked for more. Truly, I sought you high and low, and here you come straight to me.”

“State your name,” Ye Fan said. “Since you’re the first opponent I meet today.”

“Gu Litian!”

“So, one of the ten prodigies raised by Radiant Light’s hidden elders. Let’s see if you have what it takes. Don’t let me crush you with a single punch.” Ye Fan walked forward.

“You know quite a bit,” Gu Litian sneered. “And your mouth is big. But this isn’t the Desolate Era. Your so-called Sacred Physique was born in the wrong era.” He stepped down onto the ground, his aura pressing forward. “Ten prodigies were unleashed solely for you. That I was the one to find you first, that is heaven’s will.”

“Heaven’s will? You take me for meat on a chopping block?” Ye Fan smiled coldly.

“Everyone knows the Sacred Physique was called invincible among peers. But do you think the ten of us were born to throw our lives away?” Gu Litian mocked. “The world despises prodigies. The heavens no longer favor your physique. Other divine physiques have arisen. Even in raw flesh, you may not reign supreme.”

“So you’re here to suppress my body, are you? Let’s see if you truly can.” Ye Fan strode forward.

Gu Litian showed no fear, closing in boldly, intent on close combat. As he advanced, light flared at his brow, and a shard of violet star-iron manifested, shielding his forehead and sea of consciousness.

Ye Fan’s eyes narrowed. So this was the counter, his divine sense, though vast as the sea, would find little use here. His reputation for slaying foes with spiritual might had spread across the Northern Region. Anyone facing him had long since been warned: protect your spirit sea first.

Gu Litian blurred into a streak of bronze lightning, closing the distance in just five steps. Self-assured, he dared engage Ye Fan’s physique head-on.

“Your head will serve me well, a tribute to my master!” he shouted, his bronze skin glowing, coils of dragon energy curling around his frame.

Boom!

His punch struck with the force of an earthquake. The ground beneath their feet shook violently. His arm moved like a flood dragon, fierce and unstoppable.

Crash!

Ye Fan’s golden fist swung to meet it. Their blows collided with a thunderclap, like lightning striking the earth.

Gu Litian, at the peak of the Fifth Stage of the Dao Palace realm, possessed astonishing battle strength, enough to crush cultivators in the first layer of the Four Pillars. Just as Weiwei had said.

Rumble!

But Gu Litian was hurled backward, shock written across his face. “You… advanced again? The Fourth Stage?! Where did you get so much Source?”

His disbelief was understandable. 15,000 Kg of Source was staggering already. How could a mere rogue cultivator gather such wealth?

Yet even shaken, Gu Litian did not falter. His aura remained dangerous, no weaker than any Four Pillars cultivator.

Suddenly, a draconic roar erupted. The red wasteland quaked violently as Gu Litian’s body underwent a shocking transformation. Violet mist surged from him, his flesh sprouting violet scales that shimmered with light, even his face was covered.

“A demon race body?!” Ye Fan’s eyes narrowed.

Gu Litian gave no reply. He lunged like violet lightning, his aura explosive, his body radiating monstrous physical strength.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Their fists clashed again and again, sparks flying like colliding divine hammers.

Ye Fan was taken aback, the man’s body had grown so much stronger that even his golden fists could not easily crush him.

But Ye Fan only sneered, his whole body erupting in golden radiance, a war god reborn.

Boom!

His strike sent Gu Litian, clad in dragon scales, flying once more, forced onto the back foot.

“The Sacred Physique truly is something else…” Gu Litian growled. “Since childhood I’ve tempered my flesh with flood-dragon blood, twenty years without fail, yet still I fall short of you.”

His master had subdued eight flood-dragons as guardians of the Sacred Ground. From the age of three, Gu Litian had been forced daily to bathe in dragon blood for three hours, his flesh tempered relentlessly. For another two hours he was sealed in cauldrons of medicinal fluids, his master refining his body with countless treasures.

His physique had reached terrifying heights, but against Ye Fan’s, he was still at a disadvantage.

“No wonder you could rival the Four Pillars,” Ye Fan admitted. Even he felt a twinge of envy. “The resources consumed to forge such a body… only a holy land could provide it.”

“Let me show you the divine arts of Radiant Light, or you won’t live long enough to try.”

“Few disciples taught by hidden elders study Radiant Light’s orthodox arts,” Gu Litian replied coldly. “You’ve reached the Fourth Stage, that I hadn’t expected. But it changes nothing. I’ll still take your head.”

“Empty words,” Ye Fan scoffed. “Your physique is still beneath mine.”

Gu Litian shook his head. “You think this is my limit? Watch as I claim your head!”

He swallowed a violet flood-dragon inner core. At once, his bones crackled like firecrackers, his body swelling with a terrifying aura.

Ye Fan’s eyes sharpened. He summoned the Grand Void Seal, enhancing it with the War Paragon Art.

His golden palm blazing as it descended, splitting the crimson land apart.

But Gu Litian only roared, his aura flaring tenfold. Purple light blazed, dragon scales thickened, his arms transformed into near-claws tipped with half-foot talons. He had become a humanoid violet dragon.

Though only a fragment of a flood-dragon’s inner core, it was enough to transfigure him utterly.

Now, he stood as a walking calamity, part man, part dragon, his aura burning like purple fire.