Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 625: Chapter 629: Ancestors of the Cai Family

An elderly man riding a Green Bull from the Outer Domain, along with Siddhartha Gautama, once visited the Immortal Transformation Pool—this revelation shook Ye Fan’s heart, making him think deeply.

These things from the Outer Domain, from the other side of the starry sky, stirred him greatly. Ye Fan had always wished to return to Earth, his homeland. The fact that these two individuals could cross the starry sky filled him with hope.

“Elder, you know a lot. Could you please elaborate?” He humbly sought guidance, truly wondering how the ailing old man knew this. Had he seen those two?

Ye Fan couldn’t help but scrutinize him. This old man had sparse hair and appeared to be in his fifties. He seemed weak, but it was hard to tell from which era he truly hailed.

“I saw it in a predecessor’s notebook. My knowledge is limited,” the ailing old man said, but he still explained some details, giving Ye Fan a deeper understanding.

As the ailing old man began to speak, starting from the Green Emperor and the Cai Clan, it was hard for Ye Fan to remain calm, for the tale involved several secret matters.

The origins of the Immortal Transformation Pool are mysterious, and no one can fully explain them. Who knows what exactly transpired there from past to present? Immortal Treasures are said to have sunk into its depths, inspiring awe yet remaining unattainable.

Perhaps before the Ancient era, there were unprecedented battles, and possibly even the birth of deities. Supreme Divine Weapons were shattered and fell into the Immortal Transformation Pool.

The Beginningless Great Emperor found the Chaos Stone in the pool and refined the Immortal items contained within, forging the Beginningless Emperor Bell. When the bell sounded, it moved all eternity, its power unparalleled!

The Green Emperor was originally a green lotus that sprouted here, rooting on the green copper, from which it gained enormous benefits. However, before it could take humanoid form, the green copper was lost, departing from it.

The Demon Emperor, exceptionally talented, ultimately did not rely on external items. Instead, he proved the Dao and became an emperor in the Post-Huanggu Era through his own efforts, becoming one of the strongest individuals of all time.

The Cai Clan also had members with great fortune who entered the Immortal Transformation Pool. Thirty thousand years ago, one of them used the Soldier Secret to extract a piece of green copper, gaining immense benefits from cultivating it.

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan’s heart stirred. Could this be the fundamental reason why the Green Emperor destroyed the Cai Clan? A historical mystery surfaced.

However, the ailing old man shook his head, saying, “Ancient Great Emperors possessed great magnanimity. They would not annihilate a clan for such a reason. There was another cause.”

Ye Fan was puzzled, asking, “What other reason could there be?”

“It all began with the ancestor of the Cai Clan…”

The Cai Clan possessed the Soldier Secret, the highest secret art of Taoism, originating from the Eastern Wastelands. In fact, investigations revealed that their ancestors had migrated from the Eastern Wastelands.

“This family is inauspicious. Every ten or twenty thousand years, some strange events occur, harming the world. That is why the Green Emperor acted.”

The Cai Clan is inauspicious? Ye Fan was even more astonished upon hearing this, feeling there was much hidden within.

“Seventy thousand years ago, their ancestor, in his later years, came from the Eastern Wastelands to the Central States, heading straight to Qinling. He wished to be buried in this special place,” the ailing old man slowly narrated.

Qinling spanned a million li, vast and boundless. However, relative to the vastness of the Central States, it was merely a corner in the west.

Since ancient times, Qinling has been the subject of endless legends. Many Ancient Tombs lie beneath its surface, and it is widely said that at night, ancient corpses frequently crawl out of these tombs to absorb moonlight.

Indeed, this was the case. Since ancient times, countless Emperors, Divine Monks, and other prominent figures have been buried here, a fact people had long grown accustomed to.

It is said that being buried here may lead to becoming a Corpse Immortal. However, the ancient book from which this record originates is unknown. Only some supreme figures accepted this belief, leading to the actions of later generations.

The Cai Clan’s ancestor, in his late years, came directly to Qinling from the Eastern Wastelands. Originally, this was unremarkable. However, when he performed Dragon Pointing to select a Dragon Cave and began arranging his own afterlife, it alarmed many people.

During those days, the entire Qinling range echoed day and night with celestial cries, and Dragon Qi ascended to the heavens—a terrifyingly extreme sight.

However, this phenomenon did not last long before disappearing, and normalcy returned. People knew that the Cai Clan’s ancestor must have been an extraordinary individual, capable of Dragon Seeking Vein and Determine Immortal Burial Cave.

“This clan is truly inauspicious…” the ailing old man continued.

Not long after, the entire Cai Clan relocated from the Eastern Wastelands. Their ancestor was on his last breath, yet no one dared approach him.

He was clearly out of Life Essence, yet he found it difficult to die. He frequently appeared in Qinling, returning at midnight. During that time, the clan witnessed many bizarre occurrences.

During that period, a Great Success King from the Central States paid a visit, triggering a shocking event: he was strangled to death by the Cai Clan’s ancestor.

“A Great Success King, nearly four thousand years old and invincible in the world, was strangled alive. And by someone whose Life Essence was depleted, whose cultivation wasn’t strong, and who only knew how to find Dragon Caves! This is like a fantasy tale,” the ailing old man shook his head.

Ye Fan was stunned, his hair standing on end. He felt a sense of déjà vu. This was extremely like a certain legend, one that had great relevance to him.

“In his final years, during his last moments, the place where he dwelled was constantly dim and dark. Gales of red, swirling wind blew, sinister and terrifying, accompanied by inexplicable howling sounds.”

The Cai Clan’s ancestor, barely clinging to life, lasted for over half a year. All sorts of eerie occurrences took place, even scaring several disciples of his own family to death.

Eventually, no one dared approach his dwelling place. He finally vanished one night, leaving behind a letter with only a few words: if he could not achieve transformation into a Corpse Immortal, his descendants would suffer great misfortune.

The Cai Clan members entered Qinling and searched for decades but never found his burial site. They did not know what had transpired; they only knew that their old ancestor had been exceedingly bizarre in his later years.

“Eight thousand years later, on a stormy night filled with lightning and thunder, the old ancestor of the Cai Clan returned…” the ailing old man said.

“What? How could he live so long?!” Ye Fan was shocked.

“He had long since died. In the black, torrential rain, people glimpsed him. He looked exactly like the family portrait, with the sole difference being that he now had red hair…”

Ye Fan’s scalp tingled. He increasingly felt this was connected to him; this was precisely that kind of legend.

“He was no longer human. After a fleeting appearance, he vanished into the depths of Qinling. However, the Cai Clan lost half its people overnight. The survivors often experienced strange events, frequently losing their senses and causing chaos around Qinling.”

Afterward, another ten thousand years passed. Similar events recurred, and they became even more terrifying because, by then, the Cai Clan had grown very powerful, naturally escalating the scale of the disturbances.

Once things calmed down, they invited mystics from the Central States, Western Desert, Southern Mountains, and Eastern Wastelands to ascertain the truth.

At that time, a Golden Body Arhat from the Western Desert came personally. He asserted that the Cai Clan’s ancestor had found the largest Dragon Cave in Qinling, an Immortal Burial Ground. Unless he became a Corpse Immortal, he would be difficult to obliterate.

A Dragon Seeking Heavenly Master from the Central States was horrified at the time. He stated that the Cai Clan’s ancestor had encountered misfortune in his later years and had been forced to take such measures, hoping to use the Immortal Cave in Qinling to contend against some existence.

The misfortune of a Heavenly Source Master in his later years was truly terrifying! Fleeing to the Central States couldn’t save him, and even his descendants were dragged into it, Ye Fan felt a chill down his spine.

He had also studied the Heavenly Source Book and had sensed that kind of eeriness. He would probably face a similar day in the future, and he didn’t know how he would resolve it then.

“That’s right. The ancestor of the Cai Clan was the third-generation Heavenly Source Master from the Eastern Wastelands. After leaving, he buried the Heavenly Source Book in the Eastern Wastelands. It was found by someone twenty thousand years later. The fourth-generation Heavenly Source Master came to the Central States, sighed once in Qinling, and then departed.”

Ye Fan’s heart was greatly moved. Is this a kind of destiny? Why did Heavenly Source Masters encounter such things in their later years? What kind of existence pursued them, rendering even fleeing to the Central States futile?

In the Eastern Wastelands, there were a total of five Heavenly Source Masters. Without exception, all of them encountered terrifying events in their later years. The third-generation Heavenly Source Master, the ancestor of the Cai Clan, fled to the Central States.

The fourth-generation Heavenly Source Master went through exhaustive efforts, calculating for decades, to escape into the Taichu Forbidden Area. He hid in a place where things reverse when pushed to extremes. The terrain there is connected to a dragon, forming a True Dragon Pulling Coffin Cave. Yet, in the end, he failed to escape catastrophe.

The fifth Heavenly Source Master, the founding ancestor of the Zhang family, disappeared one night amidst ghostly wails and divine howls, scaring a child witless. It is suspected that he entered the purple mountain, the burial place of the Beginningless Great Emperor.

“Without becoming a Corpse Immortal, it’s difficult to be obliterated. Every ten or twenty thousand years, the Cai Clan experiences misfortune. No matter where they flee, it’s of no use…”

The situation was complicated. Ten thousand years ago, someone again saw a red-haired humanoid creature emerge from Qinling. At that time, across the million-li expanse of Qinling, an unknown number of living beings perished.

“The ancestor of the Cai Clan, dead for sixty thousand years, yet his body hasn’t decayed, and he appeared once more?!” Ye Fan was astonished.

“Indeed. And in the dead of night, he made a brief appearance within his own family. This ancient family was many times stronger than before, yet still, it couldn’t resist the misfortune…”

“Ten thousand years ago, the Cai Clan was exterminated. The reasons were complex…”

The Green Emperor once entered Qinling to search for that humanoid red-haired creature but failed to find any trace of it. Otherwise, he would have wiped it out as well.

So, he’s still in the world… Ye Fan was terrified.

“As long as he doesn’t become a Corpse Immortal, he won’t be freed. Qinling has many Ancient Tombs; the words of the ancients are not without reason. This region is very mystical.”

Ye Fan was moved. Even Heavenly Source Masters couldn’t find peace after death. What kind of existence was this, that even a Great Emperor had to intervene to eliminate it?

The ailing old man said, “There are no Immortals in this world; becoming a Corpse Immortal is almost impossible. However, he likely couldn’t persist forever either. I imagine he was mostly dealt with ten thousand years ago.”

“What happened?”

Ten thousand years ago, before his passing, the Green Emperor accomplished many deeds that shook heaven and earth, past and present. He delved deep into the Divine Ruins to seize the Desolate Pagoda and journeyed far to the Central States in search of green copper.

Ultimately, before he sat in transformation, he obliterated the Cai Clan with a single finger. Furthermore, employing the Demon Emperor’s boundless divine mystical arts, he launched a strike towards Qinling.

The Green Emperor did not know the whereabouts of the humanoid red-haired creature; he merely unleashed a sliver of the Demon Emperor’s killing intent in that direction. Even if he passed away, this intent would not dissipate unless it struck its target.

“Where did he unleash that killing intent from?” Ye Fan asked in astonishment.

“Seated in the Eastern Wastelands, with a single thought, he stirred the world!” the ailing old man said.

“What?!” Ye Fan was stunned into a daze. This was incredible! Just how powerful had the Green Emperor become?!

“The Green Emperor was unfathomable. To be the only one to prove the Dao and become an Emperor in the Post-Huanggu Era, he was naturally stunning throughout the ages. His might is immeasurable,” the ailing old man said.

The Great Emperors of old were aligned with the Dao, their pulse in sync with the world’s. They were so immensely powerful that ordinary people could not comprehend it. Even in death, it would take tens of thousands of years for their Dao to completely dissipate.

At the same time, Ye Fan was quite amazed. What was the ailing old man’s background? How did he know so many secrets? Not even the major Divine Dynasties might be aware of these things.

That damn fatty, Daoist Duan De! Suddenly, Ye Fan was surprised. He saw a familiar figure moving about in the mountains ahead.

“More people will probably arrive soon. The Immortal Transformation Pool and the Qinling Dragon Cave—both places hold unimaginable heavenly fortune,” the ailing old man said.

Ye Fan hadn’t expected that the red-haired humanoid creature in the Dragon Cave also possessed immense value. It could very well contain an Undying Divine Pill!

The people from Qi Shi Mansion are also here…

Soon, some familiar figures came into view, including the Flickering Light Saint Heir, the Yaochi Saintess, and others. After more than two years without meeting, these individuals had all made considerable progress.

Wang Teng is here too! His eyes shone.

A golden ancient war chariot, its radiance soaring to the sky, appeared. Wang Teng stood atop it, passing across the sky like a Heavenly Emperor. Dragons and phoenixes sang in harmony, a white tiger leaped towards the heavens, and a Mystic Turtle traversed the seas—an extremely magnificent spectacle.

The ailing old man said, “Not long ago, someone saw some of the old corpses in Qinling showing strange movements. It’s speculated that the entity within the Dragon Cave is about to appear. Whenever the Dragon Cave shows unusual activity, the Immortal Transformation Pool will inevitably manifest.”

This was a heavenly opportunity, stirring up the situation in the Central States. It could be anticipated that experts from all directions would soon appear in Qinling.

“The Jiuli Divine Dynasty is the most prepared. That Princess Moon Spirit arrived more than two years ago, and not just for the nine secret arts.”