Chapter 135 Secret Art Reappears
Zhuo Peak was completely ordinary. Even the bow within Ye Fan’s hand didn’t appear extraordinary in any way. Painted black, it looked like there were worm holes in it, giving it a decayed look, as if it might completely rot at any moment.
But it was also a decayed bow that had released an aura that caused even s.p.a.ce to twist. Some shapeless force field had spread out from it that made the Star Peak’s disciples tremble in fear, their faces white as paper.
Several Elders from the Star Peak descended, bowing to Li Ruoyu within the broken temple. One of them said, “Congratulations senior brother, Zhuo Peak is once more going to s.h.i.+ne.”
Li Ruoyu walked out and greeted everyone, saying, “Why would you say that?”
“With the appearance of the Zhuo Bow, it appears the inheritance is on the verge of reappearing. As one of the nine secrets, the other main peaks will inevitably be eclipsed and Zhuo Peak’s light will soar to the heavens.”
Li Ruoyu shook his head. “The Zhuo Bow is something I accidentally obtained and does not indicate the legacy will reappear.”
“Senior brother Li, where did you obtain this bow?” Star Peak’s Elders were all amazed.
“There was a badger hole halfway up the mountain, and the bow was used as part of its nest.”
Everyone was stupefied when they heard this. Zhuo Peak really was strange. For such a precious treasure to be used as nesting material for a badger nest caused them to be speechless.
“With the reappearance of the ancient bow, the day of Zhuo Peak’s rise to prominence is not far,” forecast one of Star Peak’s Elders.
“How could it be so easy for Zhuo Peak to rise again? The inheritance has disappeared for five hundred years, and now disciples are few and far in between. To once more return to glory is extremely difficult,” Li Ruoyu sighed.
One of Star Peak’s Elders indifferently glanced at Ye Fan and said, “This should be a pretty good sprout.”
Ye Fan became anxious. These seniors were definitely not simple. He was afraid that he had made a mistake. If those Elders were angry that he used Zhuo Bow’s might to frighten off the Star Peak’s disciples, that would not be good for him.
At this time he had already recollected the ancient bow and released its frightening pressure. A couple old crows started to cry, rus.h.i.+ng away from his body and flying to a withered old tree not far from him.
The Star Peak’s Elders all said goodbye and left. Li Ruoyu called out to stop them from behind, saying, “Zhuo Peak is once more reinforcing its gate rules. Younger brothers, please tell the master of the Star Peak to at least control his disciples a bit. Zhuo Peak is a main gate, so don’t intrude again.”
When they heard this, their movements all began sluggish for a moment. “I will pa.s.s this message on.”
Only when they had left Zhuo Peak did the Star Peak’s Elders begin to quietly discuss this. One of them frowned and said, “Why has the Zhuo Bow appeared again like this?”
“Looks like senior brother Li isn’t so simple. We all underestimated him, thinking his talent was too low and he couldn’t achieve anything. Who would have thought that after guarding Zhuo Peak alone for so many years we would be unable to see through him anymore.”
“Zhuo Peak is very strange, and it can’t be measured by common sense. Couldn’t Li Ruoyu become Zhuo Peak’s second supreme existence?”
Thinking back on the past of Zhuo Peak, there was once a disciple whose apt.i.tude was not high but even when the inheritance was not available, he still found a cultivation method that turned him into one of the supreme cultivators of the past.
“I have a feeling that Zhuo Peak will once more s.h.i.+ne and reach its former glory soon,” said one of the older Elders.
“Even if Zhuo Peak once more rises into a golden age, what does it matter? The Star Peak is Taixuan sect’s foundation, with one of the strongest inheritances. Over half of its experts were cultivated from our peak.”
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Now Ye Fan was very cheerful, so he only cooked that rabbit and let those nine old crows off. He didn’t know what would happen if he were to cook them.
The black ancient bow’s worm holes were very eye grabbing. Ye Fan felt it was strange no matter how it thought about it. How could such a precious treasure be bitten through by insects?
Li Ruoyu stood in front of the Nine Steps to Heaven and received the bow from Ye Fan, gently caressing it before placing it on top the ancient jade steps.
The nine differently colored ancient jade steps rippled and the bow submerged itself into them. A fire abruptly started, beginning to burn the ancient bow.
“Senior, what are you doing?!”
“According to legends, the mountain is the scripture while the bow is the foundation. Perhaps this bow is the key to Zhuo Peak and can allow the inheritance to once more appear.”
Staring at the burning ancient bow, Ye Fan asked, “This is a precious treasure. Will it really be burned away?”
“It won’t disappear. It will merge with Zhuo Peak, allowing it to become even more flouris.h.i.+ng. With the mountain and bow as one, even the dome of the sky might be broken.” Li Ruoyu sighed emotionally. “I doubt that the inheritance will appear, though. I just don’t know how to do such a thing.”
With the flames blazing, the Zhuo Bow merged within the Nine Steps to Heaven and completely disappeared. Everything calmed down once more, and Ye Fan felt a faint chance.
This mountain became even more reserved, completely ordinary, and even seemed to become several hundred meters shorter. It was now only 2700 meters tall. Many of the surrounding ordinary mountains were now taller than it.
“If I die here silently, you should leave.” After saying this, Li Ruoyu sat down in lotus position in front of the Nine Steps to Heaven, seeming to be no different than an old withered tree, completely motionless.
“Senior Li…” Ye Fan was startled, wanting to persuade him, but in the end not saying anything.
He walked to the side and started to peruse the yellow notebook the Elder had given him. There were a few cultivation methods inside, but it was mostly insights and experiences.
Ye Fan was quickly attracted to this. He didn’t lack cultivation methods; the Dao Scripture was an ancient scripture of the Eastern Wastelands that was the best for cultivating the Wheel and Sea secret realm. He had always been searching in the dark alone, not having anyone with experience to guide him. This old yellow notebook was definitely just what he needed.
He was completely immersed in it that night. Many of the questions he held in his heart were completely answered.
A Divine Meridian was growing within Ye Fan’s body, appearing just like a bridge extending forward above his golden Sea of Bitterness, mist lingering around it.
In just this one night, the Divine Bridge actually grew by quite a bit. This was a result of having the doubts in his heart answered, and having a compa.s.s to guide him, an instantaneous effect. If he could traverse the Sea of Bitterness and arrive at the other side, he would have reached the Paramita realm.
Caw, caw, caw…
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Ye Fan felt speechless over the next few days. He felt surrounded by black light. A couple old crows would occasionally spiral over his head.
It was said that these were spirits formed by the ancient bow. If they were shot out, they could pierce through the sky.
Ye Fan suspected these spirits were a Vessel’s “Divinities”. He didn’t know what level such a weapon had reached, but it was definitely a terrifying one.
Those nine arrows were just carriers and not that special. The crucial point was that when the ancient bow and those nine spirits were together, their power became extremely terrifying.
These last few days the Star Peak’s disciples didn’t intrude into Zhuo Peak, but many people were very indignant and frequently lurked in its surroundings.
Ye Fan didn’t pay any attention to them, constantly exploring over these few days. He felt that a supreme existence like the Taixuan sect might not be on the same level as the Ji Family or the Flickering Light Sacred Land, but they should definitely be able to form a Domain Gate that could allow him to traverse half the Eastern Wastelands.
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Half a month later, Li Ruoyu woke up and repeatedly muttered to himself, “Great perfection seems flawed, great status seems humble, great skill seems clumsy…”
Ye Fan quickly walked up to the old man and bowed, saying, “Did senior make any gains?”
“Zhuo Peak truly should be like this and there’s no need for immortal mist to fill the air or auspicious lights to s.h.i.+ne out. I think I’ve found a couple causes.” Li Ruoyu seemed to have learned some things, saying, “The mountain as the scripture, containing the inheritance’s secret technique, seems to need a certain mental state that conforms with it before the immortal art will be branded.”
The fact that the old man hadn’t died while doing whatever he had been doing relieved Ye Fan. He started to handle the mountain gate. In the past half month, there were many Star Peak disciples going back and forth there, seemingly waiting for him to leave the mountain.
“Are you guys bored or what? Just wandering out in front of Zhuo Peak, are you thieves?”
There were Star Peak disciples below who sneered, “The great compet.i.tion between main peaks is going to start in two months. Don’t get stage fright when the time comes.”
“So what? I don’t have any intention of partic.i.p.ating. Having fun fighting on your own and I’ll go cheer for you.” Ye Fan stood atop Zhou Peak, smiling in response to the people below him.
“As Zhuo Peak’s sole disciple, you aren’t allowed to not partic.i.p.ate. I hope you’ll still be able to smile when the time comes.”
The Star Peak’s disciples had suffered due to Ye Fan, and so they were quite hostile to him. Obviously once the great compet.i.tion began, they would target Ye Fan.
“If such a rule is true, then I forfeit!” Ye Fan didn’t redden at all.
“Where did this guy come from? His skin is so thick. You’re even capable of saying such a thing?” They were dumbstruck.
“Unfortunately, you have to at least partic.i.p.ate in ten battles before forfeiting…” Someone shook his head, delighting in his misfortune. “At that time there will be many people who will properly take care of you. Savor it slowly.”
“Is this a fight between similar levels or a fight between different realms?” asked Ye Fan.
“Do you think you have a divine body? You want to step over realms to fight…” All of the Star Peak’s disciples disdainfully looked at him.
“Then if it’s a battle between the same level, why don’t we have ourselves a little fight now?” Ye Fan mischievously laughed, “I welcome all Sea of Bitterness realm cultivators to come to Zhuo Peak to exchange pointers.”
These Star Peak disciples below the mountain were all in the Spring of Life realm. They had all come here just to find an opportunity to take care of him, so they all looked at each other in dismay.
Several of them smiled and walked up, saying, “Since we’re all Sea of Bitterness realm cultivators, let’s compare notes.”
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An hour later, news pa.s.sed to the Star Peak that over ten of their disciples were beaten black and blue by someone, and were now being forced to work on cleaning up the mountain path of Zhuo Peak.
The fact that Zhuo Peak had this many disciples working there caused many people to fly over. Some of them wanted to barge in, but they were blocked by others, all of them descending before the mountain gate.
“They lost a bet. I didn’t force them…” Ye Fan stood atop the mountain, shouting, “Have you guys also come to help repair Zhuo Peak?”
“Where did this brat come from? He’s so weird. He even dares to detain our Star Peak’s disciples.”
“Do you not know that half a month ago he severely beat up quite a few of the Star Peak’s disciples, and then even took out a devilish bow to confront dozens of my Star Peak’s disciples, and even disturbed its Elders?”
“Before the great compet.i.tion, Zhuo Peak will hold a little compet.i.tion and welcome Sea of Bitterness realm cultivators to swap pointers.” Ye Fan appeared completely harmless. “However, they have to fight one after another.”
Atop Zhuo Peak, the dozen Star Peak disciples that were confined there were all raining curses on Ye Fan. This shameless guy was now once more trying to bait people.
However, this time no one rashly stepped forward. With a precedent, these people naturally understood there was something strange, and that Ye Fan definitely held an ancient treasure on the same level as the Zhuo Bow.
Star Peak disciples continuously flew over, wanting to see what person would dare detain their Star Peak’s disciples. One of them was a white-clothed woman who stared blankly, feeling this was inconceivable. It was Li Xiaoman.
At this time, Ye Fan didn’t pay the slightest attention to her. Quickly rus.h.i.+ng back up the mountain, he felt something strange.
The bodhi seed within his robes lightly trembled a couple times and warmed up slightly. A strange feeling arose within his head.
“Could that secret art be reappearing?” Ye Fan flew off at his top speed, quickly reaching the mountain summit.
An extremely peaceful empty s.p.a.ce appeared above the mountain’s peak. Inside that s.p.a.ce, the plants thrived, then withered; one moment green-leafed, and then wilting.
The Nine Steps to Heaven were surrounded by haze, continuously enlarging, and a fabulous jade palace appeared above that s.p.a.ce.
Li Ruoyu seemed to have turned to stone, sitting in the lotus position and facing the Nine Steps to Heaven.