Ye Fan's heart was pounding, not out of fear, but excitement. His thoughts immediately turned to the Dao Scripture. The battle between the master of Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven and several great demons had centered around this scripture and a precious artifact from the Eastern Wilderness.
This golden sheet of paper was anything but ordinary. It looked as if it had been forged from the very essence of rainbow light, dazzling and radiant, so bright it hurt to look directly at it. In his hand, it felt incredibly heavy, many times denser than metal.
"Just one page... it must contain over ten thousand characters," Ye Fan squinted, studying the radiant golden paper. Even when he pushed his eyesight to the limit, he could only make out blurry outlines. Both sides of the paper were covered in dense text, each character glowing like a star, shining with divine brilliance, so bright it was painful.
Ye Fan's mind was in turmoil. If his guess was right, this had to be a page from the Dao Scripture, the very treasure he longed for most. He couldn't believe he had actually obtained it. It felt unreal. Clutching the dazzling golden sheet tightly, it took him a long time to calm down. In that moment, he thought of Pang Bo, whose face had been shrouded in a strange green aura. When he'd flung those corpses toward Ye Fan, he'd glanced over, a glance that now seemed deliberate, even meaningful.
"Did he throw them over here on purpose?" Ye Fan instantly considered the possibility. But the unknown entity possessing Pang Bo's body wouldn't be so generous, why would it help Ye Fan for no reason?
"It was… Pang Bo!" Ye Fan suddenly thought of another possibility.
Pang Bo had been struggling to regain control of his body. Maybe, in that critical instant, he'd briefly taken over. But then Ye Fan shook his head, that seemed unlikely. At best, Pang Bo could interfere slightly, but he probably couldn't overpower the being inside him.
"In a fight to the death like that, even a moment's interference could be fatal…" After thinking it over, Ye Fan figured that the unknown entity and Pang Bo may have reached a temporary truce, a mutual compromise to secretly pass him the Dao Scripture.
The more he thought about it, the more Ye Fan felt it was possible. Pang Bo had perhaps helped him, made sure he got the Dao Scripture. "Please don't let anything happen to Pang Bo…" Ye Fan muttered.
Recalling the demonic script that had appeared on Pang Bo's face, Ye Fan's heart sank. That unknown entity was likely of the demon race, though distinct from the great demons they'd seen. It had no interest in the human Dao Scripture, and was probably seeking some relic of a demon emperor instead.
Ye Fan forced himself to calm down, then thoroughly searched the other corpses. Nothing else turned up. The golden paper was a single sheet, dazzling and heavy, like cradling a treasure vault, it weighed on him both literally and figuratively. In truth, this one page was more valuable than any treasure.
Ye Fan wanted to see what it contained. He focused, connecting to his golden Bitter Sea, pouring all his effort into enhancing his sight, trying to decipher the page's contents. Threads of golden light rose from his inner sea, flowing up through his body, condensing into his pupils, which began to shimmer faintly with gold.
"Oceanic Wheel Chapter!"
At the top of the page were three slightly larger ancient characters, like three moons fixed in the sky, glowing and shifting with divine light. Further down, the characters became smaller, just barely discernible, but emitted painful rays, like golden needles piercing his eyes. The more he tried to look, the harder it became. His eyes swelled and throbbed with pain.
In an instant, Ye Fan's eyes turned red, stung badly, and overflowed with tears. He quickly looked away. The golden shimmer in his pupils faded, and after a few minutes, the pain eased. He was stunned. Looking at the page normally hadn't caused such pain, even if he couldn't read the characters. But when he channeled divine energy into his sight, it had nearly blinded him.
"This Dao Scripture page is truly extraordinary…"
Unwilling to give up, he rested a while and tried again, this time aiming at the reverse side, toward the bottom, instead of the start.
"Oceanic Wheel Chapter Complete!"
The final four characters were also larger and easy to read, glowing like a moonrise over the ocean, shedding divine radiance.
Aside from these four words, the rest of the back side was also unreadable. Each tiny ancient character was like a miniature sun, dazzling and painful, emitting divine light like golden needles, piercing his vision.
Ye Fan once again had to avert his eyes. His heart pounded. He was now nearly certain, this was the Dao Scripture's crucial opening chapter!
The so-called Oceanic Wheel clearly referred to the Life Wheel and the Bitter Sea, the source of godpower, and the foundation of all cultivation. No wonder the Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven's master had called it the most important chapter. It was the base of the entire scripture, the cornerstone of a towering immortal path.
The elder Wu Qingfeng from Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven had once said that if a cultivator could refine the Life Wheel and Bitter Sea to perfection, it would benefit them for life, making them a peak powerhouse. That spoke volumes about the importance of the Oceanic Wheel Chapter.
Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven had only a fragment, a single section, of this chapter. That fragment was less than one-tenth of the whole and could only help new disciples open their Bitter Sea. It lacked any further methods, something that had always frustrated Ye Fan. Now, he had the complete Oceanic Wheel Chapter, and it could support him throughout his cultivation path, a complete system.
Ye Fan carefully stored the golden page away. He knew he must not let this secret leak, otherwise, he would be dead without a burial place. Even the master of Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven would likely turn to a Sacred Ground for protection if he got this, otherwise, it would spell the destruction of his sect. A single page of the Dao Scripture was priceless, but also dangerous, like a dormant volcano that could erupt at any moment.
One golden page was enough. It was an immense stroke of fortune. Ye Fan had no desire to linger. He didn't have the strength to fight for anything else. Escaping far away was the smartest move.
He charged down the mountain, running the Dao Scripture's mystical method. Instantly, golden threads surged from his Bitter Sea, flowing into his limbs and bones, nourishing his body and dramatically increasing his speed.
But just then, Ye Fan felt something strange, the golden paper in his arms seemed to tremble. At first, he ignored it. Then suddenly, he felt a cold sensation, the golden page seemed to touch his skin directly.
"What's going on? I didn't place it next to my skin..." He stopped abruptly and checked. To his shock, his arms were empty, the Dao Scripture page had vanished.
"What?! That's impossible!" Ye Fan was stunned. Even the master of Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven couldn't have stolen it so silently, how could it just disappear?
At that very moment, he felt his life force boiling. The Dao Scripture method began to operate on its own, uncontrollably, and his Bitter Sea shone with brilliant golden light.
"Huh?!"
Ye Fan was astonished. Then he noticed something odd in his Bitter Sea. Something was there that hadn't been before. He quickly turned his focus inward. What he saw left him speechless, in the golden Bitter Sea, the size of a soybean, a golden page had appeared!
The golden sheet had shrunk and somehow ended up inside his Bitter Sea. He stared in disbelief, completely unable to explain how it had happened. He tried everything, but couldn't move the page, it wouldn't budge, nor could it be retrieved.
Ye Fan stood in a daze, thinking for a long time, unable to figure it out. Still, his body and Bitter Sea felt fine, so that was some relief.
Once he'd calmed down, Ye Fan decided to leave and resumed his journey.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a thunderous noise erupted behind him. In the distance, the ancient temple in the sky began to shake violently, emitting countless rays of god-light. They blasted the nearby monstrous birds and beasts, even the elders of Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven, sending them flying.
"I can't leave!" Ye Fan couldn't stop worrying about Pang Bo. Even though he knew staying wouldn't help, he couldn't do anything, he couldn't bring himself to go. Not until he saw Pang Bo safely escape. His heart simply wouldn't settle.
Of course, he wouldn't act recklessly. This time, he picked a more distant mountain and watched from afar.
"Zzz zzz zzz…"
From the far horizon came piercing sounds, like something ripping through the air. Dozens of divine rainbows shot toward the area.
"RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE…"
Next came the roar of thousands of beasts charging. Behind those divine rainbows, waves of fog surged, cloud and mist blotting out the sky. Dozens of giant beasts flew in, riding the clouds. Each one carried a cultivator on its back. Though in the air, their arrival sounded like tens of thousands of troops charging at once.
These beasts were ancient remnants, rare and monstrous, covered in scales and terrifying to behold. Riding the central beast was a cultivator holding a large flag that flapped loudly in the wind, exuding a powerful aura. On the flag were four bold words:
Radiant Light Sacred Ground!