Shrouding the Heavens

The bottom of the lake was very gloomy and extremely dark, the light released by Ye Fan’s body was like a lantern within the water.

Up ahead was an immense bronze palace that was mottled with rust, a unique energy fluctuation could be felt from it, making him feel a great sense of unease.

Ye Fan carried the purple clothed lady as he retreated, the lake gurgled as seven to eight waxed corpses began to float, appearing especially eerie.

“Faster!” The purple clothed lady looked pitifully at him, her face a pasty white.

Ye Fan was not a foolish person, in such an unknown environment he would not easily take risks as he left the water, attempting to leave the lake.

However, just above was a frightening aura that seemed to shroud the entire area, causing the two to feel startled. A huge shadow began to slowly float over, like dark clouds which covered the sky.

Ye Fan felt it difficult to bear as the glow shrouding his body instantly extinguished, the purple clothed lady was almost suffocated as the two were pressured by an immense force, heavily falling back into the lake.

“What is that thing?” Ye Fan was stunned as his powerful divine sense went forth, it was all grey above them as though a huge creature were swimming by.

He was relentless as he carried the purple clothed lady and continued to swim, attempting to once again break out of the lake. However, a similar scene occurred as the space above them began to darken,

Like an impossibly high mountain pressing down, giving one a feeling of suffocation, Ye Fan felt as though he had been smashed by the hammer of Thor, his body trembled as he fell down once again, simply failing to fly any higher.

“What is that thing? Is it even a living thing?” His expression was serious, the situation seemed extremely dire.

The divine energy of the purple clothed female was still sealed, having suffered repeatedly from the frightening pressure, she had fallen unconscious and was leaning against Ye Fan.

“Wake up.” Ye Fan prodded.

“It’s over, we can’t escape.”

The blood had drained from the face of the purple clothed lady, her spirited eyes were filled with terror without a trace of the previous mischievousness.

The huge shadow was like an ancient beast from the primitive past, boundless as it shrouded the entire upper area of the lake making it impossible to fly out. Ye Fan wanted to find the underground river and follow it back but was simply unable to find any trace of it.

“Stop searching, that is a formless river, once one leaves it, there will no longer be any trace of it.” the purple clothed lady sobbed, her expression solemn.

At this moment, the surroudings were sealed with simply no where to run, Ye Fan no longer struggled as he calmed himself down before carefully asking: “What is going on? What kind of place have we found ourselves in and what is the background of the bronze immortal palace?”

The purple clothed lady had a scrunched expression as she blinked: “Wuu……wuu….. I don’t wish to die, I’m so pretty and smart, such a peerless beauty, I haven’t gotten the chance to shine and be known throughout the Eastern Badlands, how could I fall in such a place?”

“Stop wallowing in self pity, quickly speak.” Ye Fan spoke as he rudely pinched her cheeks.

“The bronze immortal palace has appeared several times in history, it’s background is mysterious and no one knows of its past, once a person enters, there is no way to leave alive……” The purple clothed lady sighed.

“Do we really have to die here?” Ye Fan began to feel restless.

“It is the tomb of a peerless expert, each time it appears, it will shake up the entire Eastern Badlands, experts from everywhere will fly like moths to a fire, ignoring everything as they rush forward.

“Why?” Ye Fan was clueless.

“It’s rumoured that this majestic bronze palace was forged by an immortal, with the passing of countless years, the Eastern Badlands no longer seems to have any immortals, those experts who are at the precipice of the road to immortality naturally find it impossible to resist the enticement.

“Ssss”

Ye Fan sucked in a breath of cold air, this bronze immortal palace had a phenomenal background.

“Speak in more detail.”

The purple clothed lady was still shivering with fear but her emotions had settled as she rubbed her nose: “It has even appeared way back in the primordial times……”

“So ancient……” Ye Fan felt stunned, the bronze palace seemed to be part of the Eastern Badlands boundless past.

“It’s rumoured that it was forged by an immortal, but there is no proof. It has appeared four to five times in the past, burying countless numbers of experts.

Based on the words of the purple clothed lady, the bronze immortal palace was extremely mysterious, this historical remnant could move within the Eastern Badlands, appearing each time in a different area, following the flow of the formless river.

“The rumours may not be true, there must surely be a way to escape.” Ye Fan was in deep thought as he frowned before continuing his line of questioning: “Think carefully, are there any loopholes to make use of?”

“This is all I know. These were all recorded within ancient texts and there wasn’t much material to work with.” Having said this, the purple clothed lady seemed to think of something as she spoke: “It seems that there is a……”

The purple clothed lady had once heard of a rumour, in a certain era when the Eastern Badlands was flourishing, there appeared several exceptional experts, they had worked together, managing to bring a corpse out from within the bronze palace.

“It’s rumoured that it was the corpse of an immortal……”

Ye Fan was startled: “There are really immortals?!”

The purple clothed lady shook her head: “This matter isn’t recorded within ancient texts. This is merely a rumour that has been passed down within the Eastern Badlands, it is impossible to verify the accuracy of the story.”

“Where did the corpse of the immortal end up?”

“It seems……. That is was equally divided between the Sacred Grounds and ancient aristocratic families.”

“There was actually such an event……” Ye Fan found it difficult to stay calm, it was no wonder that is was referred to as the bronze immortal palace, it seemed that it really was connected with immortals.

He immediately thought of the Ji Family as he continued: “In that case, doesn’t this mean that your Ji Family also has a part of the immortal’s corpse?”

“It’s rumoured that ages ago, our family received an arm of the immortal corpse, however, the elders continually deny this. At least I haven’t personally seen it.”

“Even if it were real, they would definitely deny it, how could they let a young lass like you learn of it.”

“Hey hey hey, little brother, don’t act like an old man, you aren’t older than me.” The young lady glanced over at him unsatisfied.

Ye Fan laughed as he pinched her nose: “This old man has already lived for ten thousand odd years, how could a young lass like you compare.”

This imposing bronze palace that was like a city had an imposing presence, it exuded a magnificent atmosphere, over the years, green rust covered the walls. Ye Fan circled about the walls a few times, not daring to enter inside.

It had rocked the Eastern Badlands several times, burying countless experts, there was no way to determine its background and no one had truly managed to make it out alive, causing it to be shrouded in even more mystery.

Ye Fan began to carefully look at the waxed corpses, hoping to find some clues from their bodies.

“These corpses could possibly be peerless experts of the past…….” The purple clothed lady continued to wiggle as she spoke: “Let me go, I can help look for clues.”

Ye Fan’s emotions were riled, if these were really peerless experts from the past, it might be possible to find precious treasures on their bodies. He immediately removed the grease off a waxed corpse as a body was exposed, this was a Daoist nun, beautiful like a flower as though she were merely taking a nap, seeming to almost be alive.

However, the rosy red cheeks of the Daoist nun suddenly withered in the blink of an eye, this was followed by her body, becoming a dried up corpse, as the water rippled, the bones disintegrated into dust, leaving nothing behind.

“This is…….”

“The power of time is truly frightening, if one doesn’t become immortal, they simply can’t stand against it.” The purple clothed lady had an expression of alarm: “This corpse has been around for countless years, shrouded in a mysterious energy which allowed it to be preserved till now, once the body was exposed, it could no longer remain whole.”

Ye Fan continued to open several waxed corpses, each time the grease was removed, a seemingly living ancient person would be exposed, however, it would disintegrate into dust in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing behind.

As he searched, he found some scrap metal, these were likely the powerful spiritual treasures of the ancient people, weathered by time till they had completely fallen apart.

“These are people who existed before the primordial era, who knows how many tens of thousands of years they existed, nothing could possibly withstand the test of time……”

The purple clothed lady shouted once more: “Let me go, maybe I can find some useful clues.”

Ye Fan had gone through ten odd corpses with the same outcome, they would instantly disintegrate into dust once exposed.

At this moment, Ye Fan felt a strange fluctuation coming from within the immense bronze palace. He swiftly said in a heavy voice: “Shit! We need to get out of here now!”

He lifted the purple clothed lady, rushing skywards once again as he attempted to forcefully flee. However, the immense pressure exerted itself on them once again.

“Ai! Quick, run!” The purple clothed lady screamed, she released that they were tumbling in the air towards the bronze palace and would fall there at any moment.

Ye Fan was startled as his sea of bitterness began to bubble, the spring of life gurgled forth as his divine energy exploded forth. This was still insufficient, the bronze palace seemed to have a mysterious demonic power that continued to suck them in.

“Bang!”

The two people fell heavily to the ground, at this moment they were within the bronze palace, vast and empty, eerily silent, it was dark and gloomy making it hard to discern what was within.

They were unable to find the palace door, it was as though they had come to a piece of desert without any life, time seemed to have come to a stop here, as though they were at the ends of the world.

“I don’t wish to die, who knew that this peerless beauty Ji Ziyue would fall here in this place before becoming an immortal……”

“Can you not be so pessimistic?” Ye Fan was really speechless.

A faint mist swirled making it difficult to see ahead clearly, it seemed endless within the empty palace, as though they had arrived at the beginning of the world.

“Crack!”

A crisp crackling sound resounded as the purple clothed lady screamed: “What did I step on?”

Snow white skeletal remains could be seen on the ground, the skeleton was cracked in many areas, silently prone on the ground as though a mere touch would cause it to disintegrate.

“This person must have been a peerless expert, his bones have actually withstood the test of time even though they were not protected by any mysterious energy.” Ye Fan was extremely shocked as he crouched down to carefully investigate.

There were some dried bloody words on the ground, blurry but filled with a strange aura, as though all the essence of the expert was firmly marked within, giving one a strange sensation as though he were transmitting his emotions.

“I would dare to question heaven, are there really immortals?” These few words seemed to be filled with the regret and indignation of this person before he had died.

Bones which were able to withstand the test of time, this was surely a peerless expert, however, one could feel the regret and indignation he had felt before his death, unable to see the clear blue skies once more.