Shrouding the Heavens - Chapter 48

 The scripture not belonging to this world

“If there are any fortunes we will share them and any difficulties we will face them together. Since you want to leave, I will definitely follow.” Pang Bo was very firm and staunch, making the decision to follow Ye Fan should he leave. There was no way that Ye Fan would agree, Pang Bo had already been declared as a celestial sprout, his future was bright and if he left like this, everything would come to naught. The future would be filled with uncertainty and accidents might even occur.

“There’s another reason why I’m leaving, we pressured Han Fei Yu with such force thus embarrassing him…….”

Pang Bo cut him off and said: “There’s no need to be worried about him, I’m now a celestial sprout. I believe in that within the near future he won’t dare to be reckless and once our strengths have grown there’s even less reason to be afraid of him.”

Ye Fan shook his head and said: “This matter isn’t as simple as it seems on the surface. These past few days I’ve been scouring for information and I’ve found out that Han Fei Yu’s granduncle is an expert at refining medicines. He is currently trying all ways to refine a panacea in order to increase his lifespan. In the past few years, Elder Han has been using all means at his disposal to look for the panacea, at times personally travelling deep into the mountains and swamps to look. This time round, a few days after he returned, Han Fei Yu targeted us, I think this matter clearly isn’t that simple.”

Hearing this Pang Bo nodded, he also felt that it was strange, they had no enmity or grudges with Han Fei Yu and should not have any altercations with him. They had never communicated with each other before the incident.

“You couldn’t possibly be guessing…… that his uncle has ill intentions towards us right?” Pang Bo was quick witted and immediately thought of many possibilities. The two of them had previously got lucky and eaten a divine fruit, unexpectedly returning to their youths. If elder Han knew of this matter, he would certainly have ill intentions towards them.

“I think that his life is nearing its end and he’s desperate to refine the “Yang Returning Pill”, it’s very likely that he has his eyes on us.” Ye Fan shared his speculations and said: “With your current status as a celestial sprout, he has no way to deal with you. As for me, if I continue to stay here, it would be likely that certain unforeseen circumstances may occur.”
“That old fart!” Pang Bo frowned as he no longer attempted to stop Ye Fan from leaving but insisted on accompanying him on his journey.

“If you wish to go together then I won’t leave.” Ye Fan was adamant in his speech and he did not wish to interfere with Pang Bo’s cultivation. Ling Xu sanctuary was clearly the best choice for Pang Bo right now.

Pang Bo understood Ye Fan and seeing him like this, he did not persuade any further and just silently sat there.

“Go get get the paper and ink, I’ll leave you the ancient scriptures for you.”

The fact that Ye Fan had obtained ancient scriptures from the bronze coffin was only shared with Pang Bo, Ye Fan previously recited the scriptures for Pang Bo however it was simply too profound and he had no way to understand. Even now Ye Fan still had not understood it and had been analyzing it for a long time without any progress.

“Those scriptures to me are akin to a bunch of illegible writing, leaving them for me is useless. In the Ling Xu sanctuary I’ll have no lack of mystical arts to learn from, you don’t have to do superfluous things.”

Ye Fan ignored him, grabbed the paper and brush and began to write. Upon writing, his soul suddenly resonated a voice that was clear as a bell. Hundreds of archaic words appear to trickle in and started to spread out while flowing within his innermost being. Immediately he felt a mysterious, pure and crisp feeling. Ye Fan’s brush moved about like a snake-like dragon as he brushed and painted in one go. In a short period, the paper had lines and lines of writings however at this moment something occurred.

When his brush stopped, all the words disappeared!

Once the brush within his hand stopped, the ancient words that were written down gradually faded and the paper became ash, as though there was a mysterious energy hidden within the strokes of the brush.

At the same time, the hundreds of words within Ye Fan slowly began to recede, as the sounds disappeared as well. By the side, Pang Bo was stupefied, this matter was simply too mysterious making one feel absolutely bewildered. After a long time he finally spoke: “I think….. you’d better not write anymore, that obscure writing is simply too bizarre.”
The several hundred ancient words had never been seen or heard before, even more ancient than bronze inscriptions. Initially Ye Fan also didn’t recognise the words but the presence of the divine sound helped assist in branding the hundreds of archaic words within his innermost being. He started to understand some of the meaning of these words.

Ye Fan was in deep thought as he recalled the words of elder Wu Qing Feng, back in the ancient times there was divine writing, every word contained an element of the Dao, it was filled with a mysterious power. Just by copying the words would result in some strange happenings. Some people speculated that when writing these words, one could communicate with the energies of heaven and earth, leading to a disruption in vital energies thus resulting in all the strange occurrences.

“Could it be, every stroke within these ancient characters has some sort of “influence”. During the process of writing the surrounding qi essence of heaven and earth would be disrupted resulting in the eventual disintegration of the paper……” Ye Fan muttered.

Thereafter, he began to draw on the floor. As the strokes of his brush stopped, a sliver of electricity streaked past the ground and all the words disappeared.

Pang Bo felt astonished as he said: “This obscure writing is simply too strange! Stop writing!”

“It’s not that the obscure writing is evil* , it’s the ancient words that are extraordinary. Every stroke has a type of “influence” which can affect the fluctuations of qi essence between heaven and earth. All the “influence” gathered together is sufficient to affect the surrounding energy within heaven and earth wiping away any trace of the ancient words.” Ye Fan made a deduction from what he had seen.

[T/N* note: The word used is demon or evil monster, used to describe an omnious phenomenon or thing]

This made the ancient scripture seem all the more mysterious, it was difficult to estimate the sort of person who could leave such a section of ancient writing. Several hundred of the ancient words were strung together however this ancient script could not be recorded down in any way, making it seem as though this ancient script was a mysterious script not meant to exist within this world.

Ye Fan did not persist any further, the ancient scripture was very abstract and even if he left it for Pang Bo it would be very difficult to comprehend.

In the end, Ye Fan still decided to leave and Pang Bo gloomily sent him off. He followed the cobblestone pavement, walking out of the depths of the celestial mountain and reached the exit of the Ling Xu sanctuary. Upon stepping onto the limestone steps, the ancient scripture within Ye Fan’s heart began to resound again. He turned to look at Pang Bo saying: “These hundred over limestone steps must have something exceptional beneath them, when you’re free you should come here often……”

At this moment, Pang Bo’s eyes were wide as he said: “Don’t go.”

Ye Fan felt that something was amiss and turned back to look. He saw a familiar figure suddenly dodge and disappear, it was one of the youths who they had thrown headlong into the pond.

“Han Fei Yu hasn’t given up, he actually sent people to spy on us.”

“Don’t go first, you’ve already been seen leaving. They will surely kill you along the way.”

Ye Fan nodded and the two of them turned to return. That youth could no longer be seen but on his return, Han Fei Yu could be seen rushing crazily in their direction with several people in tow.

Pang Bo’s face was ashen, if they had not inadvertently discovered the youth trailing them and Ye Fan had just left like that, he would have definitely regret it for life. He immediately loudly scolded: “Han Fei Yu you bastard! Do you feel that because you have your granduncle supporting you from the shadows you can do whatever you want, kill whoever you want? If you really have the ability why don’t you just come over and kill me!”

Hearing the anger in his voice, Han Fei Yu’s face changed. If the elders or sect leader were mistaken and thought that he wanted to get rid of the Ling Xu sanctuary’s celestial sprout, even his granduncle would not be able to protect his life.

“You better not talk nonsense, it’s only a coincidence that I’m going by this area.” Having said this, he led the few people onwards into the distance, cutting quite a sorry figure. His intent was indeed to go for Ye Fan, upon learning that Ye Fan was planning to leave he had immediately rushed out and planned to kill him along the way.

Pang Bo was enraged and grit his teeth as he said: “This kid is really vicious, he’s been constantly spying on us and it seems like he’s just waiting for the opportunity to get rid of you. I think it’s better if you don’t leave yet.”

Ye Fan nodded, without sufficient strength he could not rashly leave otherwise his life might be in danger.

In the following month, everything was peaceful and Han Fei Yu no longer dared to send people to spy on Pang Bo and Ye Fan. He had seemingly withdrawn a lot in fear that Pang Bo would seek out the elders.

Pang Bo came back from visiting elder Wu Qing Feng and he looked crestfallen.

“What’s the matter?” Ye Fan asked.

“It may be good news to you but to me it’s not.” Pang Bo sighed before continuing: “I also feel that if you remain within the Ling Xu sanctuary there’ll certainly be danger lurking. I just went to seek elder Wu Qing Feng to help send you off……”

“This is indeed a good piece of news.” Ye Fan laughed: “It’s not like we’re parting forever, don’t need to get so upset. In the future we’ll surely see each other sooner or later. By that time hopefully you would have already be able to rebuke heaven and earth* and be known as Pang of the martial fraternity, famous throughout the eastern badlands, letting those so called sacred ground and ancient aristocratic families feel fear.

[T/N* Idiom: All-powerful]

Pang Bo simply could not bear parting ways with Ye Fan but he had no other choice as he said: “You have to wait for a few days. Within the next few days, elder Wu Qing Feng will select a few talented disciples and bring them outside the Ling Xu sanctuary to the primitive ruins to gain experience.

Countless years ago, the area where Ling Xu sanctuary was currently situated was a ruin. Only after people came and did a make over of the place did it become an immortal sanctuary. It could be said that the Ling Xu sanctuary’s history was deep and if one were to follow it, this piece of ancient land could certainly be traced back to the ancient times.

The primitive ruins covered a huge area, extending almost endlessly into the distance. The Ling Xu sanctuary was but a small portion of the area and there was a much larger area that had not been tidied. On this piece of ruin, ancient trees covered the sky and various rare animals and birds could often be seen. There was also a variety of rare medicinal plants and each year the Ling Xu sanctuary elder would bring disciples to gain experience. This was not only a form of tempering them, but also enable them to improve their knowledge.

The ruins with ancient trees scatter about was not some pure land. Within the ruins dwelled many brutal beasts and vicious animals. Although there were elders accompanying them, every year blood will be spilled.

“It’s rumoured that inside there are many rare and valuable medicinal plants as well as even rarer panaceas. If one was able to have the fortune of picking one, he could immediately exchange it with the accompanying elder for medicinal pills.” Pang Bo turned to look at Ye Fan and continued: “Right now you urgently need large amounts of hundred plants extract, if you manage to make gains in that place you can possibly meet your current needs.”