Chapter 151: Making a Name in Yongle

Everything was already clear. Since it was for his master, there was nothing more to be said. Besides, he had lost nothing; on the contrary, he had acquired so many treasures.

It was now the hour of dawn. The darkness in the sky was absolute, resembling the disciples' robes of the Everlasting Joy Sect, or perhaps as dark as the hearts of certain men.

Su Fan had risen long ago to wander about. While it seemed aimless, he was actually conducting a highly methodical patrol. More than one faction existed within this valley, so despite the heavy losses suffered by the Everlasting Joy Sect, the danger had by no means diminished.

For reasons unknown, Feng Shan had left the main group of disciples to travel ahead, but he certainly could not have left this realm. Since the duration was specified as one year, it would definitely last a full year; because no one opened the gates, no one knew where the exit lay.

Su Fan had initially thought the strength of the Everlasting Joy Sect was not all that formidable—that once Ye Yang was dealt with, the entire faction could be wiped out in one sweep. Yet Feng Shan had intervened halfway, causing Su Fan immense a headache. Had he not feared Feng Shan tracking him down afterward, Su Fan would have struck long ago.

When dealing with enemies, Su Fan possessed not a shred of mercy. Instead, murderous intent and ruthlessness entirely consumed him. He had always firmly believed that mercy toward an enemy was irresponsibility toward oneself.

To show mercy to the enemy at this moment would be to act irresponsibly toward the entire team.

Therefore, reconnaissance was unavoidable. Once an enemy was discovered, action was certain to follow. Fortunately, after a thorough search, everything was peaceful. Su Fan let out a long sigh and prepared to resume his cross-legged meditation.

Suddenly, a rush of hurried footsteps echoed through the air. Although this place was not boundless, the terrain was quite level; if footsteps could be heard, figures should have been visible.

Yet, as far as the eye could see, there was only a stretch of green grass, with no sign of the massive charging army he had imagined. Su Fan's expression instantly darkened, and he swiftly released his divine sense to investigate.

Releasing one's divine sense in such an unfamiliar place was extremely dangerous. A moment of carelessness could disturb some formidable fierce beast, and any beast appearing in this realm would be a primeval beast—far beyond what this group could handle.

However, driven by necessity, remaining blind to unseen dangers was impossible, and remaining ignorant of the enemy was even more terrifying.

Evidently, the disciples had also heard the terrifying sound and all rose to look around. Su Fan gave a cold cough and said, "Everyone be careful, maintain your defenses."

His words were commands, and the disciples swiftly formed a specific formation. This was an array Su Fan had suddenly remembered to teach them earlier. Although not particularly powerful, the joint effort of thirteen people was enough to cope with cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage.

Gradually, the earth began to vibrate violently. Within the range of vision, a monster resembling a small mountain could be seen, trampling through the darkness as it sprinted madly toward the disciples.

Su Fan’s expression was indifferent. After a long silence, he blankly uttered, "Is that a toad?"

Yu Ming tightly gripped the willow branch in his hand, his brows deeply furrowed as he stared fiercely at the monster, offering no reply to Su Fan’s question. The monster crouched on its hind legs, advancing in leaps and bounds, looking for all the world like a giant toad.

Only, this toad was countless times larger than an ordinary toad. As it ran, it spat out a long tongue, and deep green saliva dripped continuously. Wherever a drop landed, wisps of ghostly fire ignited, leaving deep craters moments later.

The toad advanced with increasing speed, drawing closer and closer to the group. The vibrations of the earth grew more intense, violent enough to rattle a person's bones apart. Yu Ming said in a deep voice, "How do we escape?"

Su Fan wore a troubled expression, staring bitterly at the giant toad as he sighed, "How to escape? You and I might still have a chance of survival, but what about these disciples?"

Yu Ming glanced at the disciples, all of whom wore expressions of unease, and shook his head helplessly. Then, in a solemn voice, he said, "I will go draw it away."

This was indeed a good method. If someone could lure the giant toad away, it would spare these disciples from a direct confrontation and prevent casualties.

However, the demands placed upon the person acting as the decoy were extremely high. On the one hand, their cultivation could not be too low; otherwise, a casual attack from the giant toad would cost them their life, making any talk of help meaningless. On the other hand, the person's footwork needed to be agile, allowing them to dodge attacks as much as possible.

Yu Ming was naturally an excellent candidate. Earlier, in the dense forest, when clashing with the Profound Fire Crystal Beast, Yu Ming had effortlessly evaded its multiple attacks.

Su Fan was silent for a long time before suddenly saying, "You cannot go. They still need you to protect them. I will go; you lead them forward quickly."

Before Yu Ming could speak, Su Fan had already flashed away. A streak of purple shadow drifted out, and the next moment, Su Fan was blocking the path of the giant toad not far away.

Without a second word, he directly hurled a miniature mountain. The small mountain was covered in raging flames—a technique Su Fan had learned from the Mountain Soul Fan. It was the Mountain Soul Collapse, and using it again now came quite naturally to him.

Even after mutation, the Mountain Soul Collapse still lacked overwhelming destructive power, but it was more than enough to infuriate the giant toad. And so it proved: before the miniature volcano could collide with the toad, it was shattered by a single puff of air blown by the creature.

Perhaps a trace of spiritual qi fluctuation had struck the toad, causing it to leap instantly toward Su Fan. With a single bound, the distance of several dozen zhang was drastically shortened.

Just one more leap would allow it to crash directly into Su Fan and smash him to pieces. Su Fan immediately retreated at top speed, leaving trails of purple afterimages in the air.

Seeing Su Fan suddenly vanish, the giant toad fiercely sprang upward from the spot. The earth shook violently once more, raising layers of dust into the air. In that brief moment, Yu Ming had already led the disciples around to the rear of the giant toad and swiftly retreated.

Infuriated by Su Fan, the giant toad ignored the maggot-like figures of the others and gave chase to the vanishing Su Fan with all its might. Its copper-bellied eyes bulged outward as if about to fall from their sockets, looking utterly terrifying.

Su Fan did not know how long he had been running; at any rate, he was already panting heavily. The split-second evasions just now had been heart-stopping. Had he not moved fast enough, he would have long since been crushed beneath the giant toad.

Pausing slightly, the heavy sounds of impact echoed from behind once more. Su Fan gave a bitter smile and formed hand seals. Instantly, layers of fire appeared across the horizon, blocking out the sky, shifting at the command of his fingers.

A gigantic finger rose up with a roar. The finger possessed a terrifying majesty, as if destined to rule the world, and pressed downward fiercely. Everything beneath the finger was mere dust.

The magnificent Purple Shadow Illusory Immortal Finger plummeted swiftly, aiming straight for the giant toad's heavy body. At that moment, even the giant toad paused for a fraction of a second. Regrettably, it was only a pause, and then it continued charging forward, completely ignoring the finger about to descend upon it.

The Purple Shadow Illusory Immortal Finger, which had originally approached with such ferocious momentum, now appeared utterly awkward. Su Fan, staking everything on a desperate gamble to unleash his absolute limit by executing his most powerful technique to date, received nothing more than a glance from the giant toad.

Actually, this was already remarkable. If the purple-robed elder had known that his purple-tier technique had managed to attract a glance from a primeval beast at the three realms of Dao Realization, there is no telling how overjoyed he would have been.

Moreover, Su Fan was merely at the early Nascent Soul stage. If word of this spread, Su Fan would undoubtedly make a name for himself within the Everlasting Joy Sect in no time. Unfortunately, no one here would witness this scene.

Naturally, Su Fan hoped no one would see it either, because besides primeval beasts, everyone here was either an enemy or—supposedly—teammates. But teammates were the last thing Su Fan wanted to see, as that would mean his arduous effort to lure away the fierce beast had ultimately failed.

The giant flame finger, which had utterly failed to shake even a fraction of the giant toad, finally descended with a modicum of celestial might. Splashes of blood instantly erupted from the giant toad's body, yet the creature seemed completely insensible to it.

It continued its frantic charge, acting as though it hadn't felt anything strike it and draw blood from its flesh just moments before.

Su Fan gave a wry smile and sprinted forward at top speed. After crossing several more mountain forests and peaks, a dense forest appeared ahead.

Just as Su Fan intended to press onward, he was drawn to a stone tablet standing beside the forest. The tablet appeared exceedingly ancient, with the two characters "Forbidden Ground" faintly carved upon it.

Under normal circumstances, Su Fan would never rashly trespass into such a forbidden zone. Although fortuitous encounters always happened in such places, Su Fan believed that greed was the root of all loss of life.

Alas, this was a time for fleeing for his life. Even if the forest contained a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, he had to force his way in. Just as he was about to step into the forest, Su Fan suddenly noticed that the giant toad had stopped.

Su Fan certainly did not think the giant toad had stopped to rest because it was tired of running; rather, the existence of this forbidden zone made suspicion flare in his heart once more.

Since it was no longer pursuing him, he might as well take another brief rest. Su Fan sat cross-legged, took out a handful of recovery pills and shoved them into his mouth, then slowly formed seals to replenish the spiritual qi deficit within his body.

Having heard no movement from the giant toad for a long time, Su Fan relaxed slightly. With the help of the jade pendant, recovery was swift, and he soon returned to his peak state.

Suddenly, a black shadow dropped down, landing precisely in the clearing where Su Fan had previously been. Su Fan’s expression shifted slightly; he slowly stood up, placing his right hand near his storage bag.

In the blink of an eye, a figure flashed out from the shadow. The person wore the standard robes of an ordinary Everlasting Joy Sect disciple and possessed a very unremarkable appearance, yet his identity was far from ordinary.

"Fellow Daoist Feng Shan, long time no see," Su Fan took the initiative to cup his fists and greet him.

Feng Shan coldly swept his gaze around, cupped his fists at Su Fan without a word, and then strode quickly toward the dense forest.

A pang of realization struck Su Fan’s heart. He thought to himself that since Feng Shan belonged to the Everlasting Joy Sect's intelligence agency, the place he wished to go must be extraordinary. He had heard tales of an ancient, millennia-old sect in Qingming Valley; presumably, the destination Feng Shan was heading to held great opportunities.

Thinking of this, Su Fan quietly followed behind him, taking a step into the dense forest.

Not long afterward, a short figure dressed in animal skins, gripping a heavy saber in his hand, looked around with extreme vigilance and also entered the dense forest.

A moment later, a young man wearing pale blue Daoist robes appeared. His complexion was slightly pale, and his robes bore patches of bloodstains—while not entirely wretched, he was close to it.

He tightly gripped the green-hued sword in his hand and gazed coldly around. After a long, careful look, his brows furrowed slightly, and he muttered to himself, "The Temple Master said the gates of the Ghost Domain open only once every ten thousand years. Could someone else know this secret as well? Forget it, if I encounter them, I’ll just kill them."

After a long pause, he shook his head and swiftly walked into the dense forest.