Ch. 129 - Marraige Alliance

"How could this be?" Ji Ziyue’s beautiful eyes shimmered, her rosy lips slightly parted in disbelief. She couldn’t understand why the Black-Gold energy appeared on Ye Fan’s fists.

At that moment, Ye Fan’s golden fists, just by sight alone, radiated a powerful aura, as if they could destroy anything. The motherly energy of all things seemed to have fused into them.

“Black-Gold Dualforce is the primordial energy born from the union of Heaven and Earth, a sacred substance for refining weapons. How did it end up attached to your fists? How did you do that?” Ji Ziyue’s eyes sparkled with intrigue.

Ye Fan unclenched his golden fists, and the motherly Black-Gold energy instantly vanished, flowing back into his Bitter Sea, swirling around the green copper piece. He was just as surprised, worried that he might be pulverized. This kind of motherly energy was unimaginably heavy; a single wisp could crush a mountain.

Just now, each fist held a wisp of Black-Gold, which made his heart race. Fortunately, the green copper was suppressing it, preventing any accidents.

The green copper sat submerged in the Oceanic Wheel, with the motherly energy clinging to it. As a result, Ye Fan’s body had become a conduit. When operating the Oceanic Wheel, it might draw out the essence of Black-Gold Dualforce.

This made him feel uneasy. Without the green copper’s suppression, he could be reduced to dust at any moment. So much motherly energy could crush him countless times over.

Still, danger and opportunity always walk hand in hand. Though it brought great anxiety, if he could harness it properly, it would be like possessing an indestructible weapon!

A fist wreathed in even a single strand of Black-Gold essence, how terrifying would that be? No matter how many godrune artifacts or secret techniques one wielded, he could smash through them with one punch!

Ye Fan began considering whether he could eventually fuse the Black-Gold essence directly with his body. But thinking it through, it was clearly far too difficult for him at the moment.

True Black-Gold was extremely hard to refine. Supreme cultivators used it to forge divine weapons, almost no one ever attempted to fuse it with their body because it was simply too dangerous. “The path must be walked step by step. Everything takes time…” he thought. He wasn’t in a rush. He had time to figure it out.

“Your body is very unusual…” Ji Ziyue, ever perceptive, had picked up on something.

“What did you see?” At this moment, Ye Fan had returned to a pure, innocent state, smiling with a sunny face, looking no more than a fourteen-year-old youth.

“Just now, your body was glowing like a flawless jade lamp, more divine than any treasure. That shouldn’t be possible…”

During Ye Fan’s third metamorphosis, his body had glowed brilliantly. His flesh nearly turned transparent, all of which had been seen by Ji Ziyue. That kind of transformation shocked her.

When cultivators reach the Other Shore stage, they undergo rebirth, new blood, refined bones, a metamorphosis akin to a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

But as Ji Ziyue noted, the kind of rebirth those cultivators experienced didn’t even come close to what Ye Fan had undergone.

“Your transformation is not normal,” she said, her lashes trembling as she carefully examined him, eyes full of doubt and amazement.

By Ji Ziyue’s measure, if other cultivators were butterflies emerging from cocoons, Ye Fan was a worm turning into a phoenix. “Even if you used the Demon Emperor’s sacred blood to temper your body, it still shouldn’t be like this. This is comparable to the rebirth of ancient supreme cultivators.”

The more she thought about it, the more astonished she became. “No ordinary practitioner’s transformation, no matter how profound, could match even a tenth of yours. Could it be… you’re also a God-King Physique?!”

Ye Fan didn’t answer. He already knew his metamorphosis was even more profound than what occurs at the Other Shore stage. After all, he had consumed divine medicine and refined the Demon Emperor’s sacred blood. Once his Primeval Desolate Sacred Physique evolved, it was naturally extraordinary.

“No other cultivator’s transformation even counts as true rebirth compared to yours,” Ji Ziyue said. Her vibrant eyes gleamed. “Could you really be like my brother… a God-King Physique?!”

“Don’t compare me to him. Sooner or later, I’ll beat the crap out of him.”

“You, ” Ji Ziyue was clearly unhappy, scrunching her nose. “Wait until Brother Haoyue shows up. Then we’ll see who runs away.”

“I’m just not interested in dealing with him right now. But when I finish cultivating, I’ll make sure to turn that arrogant punk into a pig’s head,” Ye Fan said casually.

“Hmph!”

Ji Ziyue snorted and shot him a sidelong glance. She was clearly displeased that he dared speak about her brother that way.

“Even if you trained for another hundred years, you still wouldn’t beat my brother,” she grumbled.

“So what if he has a celestial phenomenon, The Moon Rising Over the Sea? When the time comes, I’ll pluck his moon and piss all over his blue ocean.”

“My brother’s God-King Physique has just matured. Among the younger generation of the Eastern Wilderness, he’s practically unmatched. With you still stuck outside the Dao Palace realm, how can you even think of fighting him?”

Ye Fan didn’t say it out of rivalry, he was just teasing. He pinched Ji Ziyue’s delicate nose and said, “Just wait. If I don’t beat up that smug moon boy, it would be a waste of my fists.”

“You’ll be the one getting beaten!” Ji Ziyue was fuming. She opened her little mouth and bit at his finger, flashing her crystal-like teeth.

“You little puppy, you actually bit me…” Ye Fan laughed. “What’s so great about a God-King Physique? His little sister still ended up as my prisoner.”

Though he said that, Ye Fan truly felt conflicted. The Ji Clan was a major force in the Eastern Wilderness. If they learned that Ji Ziyue was in his hands, it would be a disaster.

“What should I do with her?”

He couldn’t kill her, but letting her go would be just as dangerous. She knew too much, like the existence of the green copper piece, something that must never be exposed.

“Why was the Imperial Demon Heart in your body?”

“What’s the truth about that green copper?”

“Your body’s transformation is just like my brother’s. Are you really a God-King Physique?” Ji Ziyue kept pressing, but Ye Fan didn’t answer.

During his time in hiding, Ye Fan had gone out once to explore the outside world.

To his surprise, after drifting through an underground river for a whole month, he was still within the borders of the State of Wei, just moved from west to east.

There, a powerful sect called Supreme Mystery dominated the region. It had vast territory. The eastern lands and endless immortal mountains belonged to it. The sect had 108 main peaks, each representing a unique inheritance, far surpassing small sects like Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven.

In this vast region, aside from the Ji Clan and the Radiant Light Sacred Ground, no other sect could rival Supreme Mystery’s scale.

The Eastern Wilderness was vast beyond measure, with countless kingdoms.

Back in its heyday, Supreme Mystery ranked among the Eastern Wilderness’s top hundred powers, a true giant. Especially in this region, it was incredibly influential. Across dozens or hundreds of nearby kingdoms, few sects could compare.

“A true superpower…” Ye Fan didn’t want to cross them. More than anything, the news he heard most frequently was about Ji Haoyue.

The God-King Physique of the Ji Clan had appeared, shaking the Eastern Wilderness. This meant the Ji Clan would likely rise to prominence for thousands of years. God-King Physiques were believed to live for millennia.

Ji Haoyue rose quickly, attacking the demon race relentlessly. He had already overthrown the lairs of several powerful demons, unstoppable. Over the past two months, no one had made a bigger splash.

Many top-tier sects were speculating: why was the Ji Clan going to such lengths?

Ye Fan had a hunch, Ji Ziyue was not ordinary. Otherwise, she couldn’t have survived under Yan Ruyu’s Golden Lotus phenomenon. The Ji Clan must value her greatly. Yet, strangely, no one had mentioned her disappearance, as if it were being deliberately kept quiet.

Ye Fan guessed the Ji Clan believed Ji Ziyue had fallen into the hands of the demon race and thus launched their campaigns, which sent chills down his spine.

Given how chaotic the world was, Ye Fan’s best choice was to lie low. If people discovered he had taken Ji Ziyue, it would bring unimaginable disaster.

A few days later, Ye Fan began reforging his weapon. His original cauldron had been reduced to nothing, now one with the Black-Gold Dualforce. It was time to recast it.

It was an extremely difficult process. The motherly energy of all things was unparalleled. Merging it with the cauldron and forging a weapon out of it was as hard as ascending to the heavens.

Ye Fan chose to forge the new cauldron atop the green copper piece, shaping it on its flat edge. Astonishingly, within half a month, the basic shape of the new cauldron was formed!

The green copper was beyond mysterious, and refining Black-Gold on it wasn’t as difficult as expected.

The tiny Black-Gold Godrune Cauldron appeared ancient and natural, exuding Dao resonance. It was extraordinary, hard to look away from.

But the moment it left the green copper piece, the cauldron instantly dissolved into Black-Gold energy again, disintegrating. Ye Fan was helpless.

Heaven and Earth unite and give birth to the essence of all things. When heaven and earth harmonize, their essence flows, that is Black-Gold. The motherly energy is extremely hard to stabilize. Truly forging a cauldron from it was nearly impossible!

At the same time, that also meant, if he ever succeeded in refining it, the result would be a peerless weapon.

After finishing his training session, Ye Fan once again thought about the Ji Clan, and grew a bit anxious.

Leaning against an ancient tree, chewing on a grass stem, he looked at Ji Ziyue in the distance and said, “Little girl, how about I find you a husband?”

“Drop dead!” Ji Ziyue snapped, glaring at him.

“No need to be so uptight. You’ll get married eventually. I’ll make sure to find you a good husband.” Ye Fan grinned. “Then we’ll be family. I won’t bother your brother anymore.”

“You’re talking nonsense!” Ji Ziyue puffed up in anger and refused to look at him directly.

“After thinking it through, I realized the only way to keep myself from accidentally killing your brother one day is through a political marriage.” Ye Fan shamelessly muttered to himself. “Honestly, your Ji Clan is pretty respectable. Marrying into your family wouldn’t be a loss for me.”

“I’ve never seen someone so shameless!” Ji Ziyue’s cheeks flushed pink. She really wanted to bite him.

Ji Haoyue was a God-King Physique, he had burst onto the scene in a blaze of glory. Ye Fan was nowhere near his level right now. The Ji Clan’s power and status in the Eastern Wilderness were unmatched, yet Ye Fan made it sound like marrying her would be a favor to her family.

“I’ve found you a remarkable match. He inherited the legacy of a great demon race overlord. His name is Pang Bo, definitely worthy of you.”

“Then you marry him!” Ji Ziyue turned away, pouting. “I hope you and your demon live happily ever after, and give birth to a little monster… no, a shemale!”

“You’ve got a sharp tongue, little girl.” Ye Fan laughed, tossing away the grass stem. “If you don’t want to marry a monster, I’ll do you the honor of digesting you myself.”

Ji Ziyue’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “Actually… I wanted to tell you a secret.”

“What secret?” Ye Fan leaned against the ancient tree lazily.

“Secrets aren’t spoken to six ears. Come closer…”

Ye Fan stepped forward. “If it’s about ancient scriptures, I’d love to hear it.”

“The secret is… I want to BITE YOU!”

Ji Ziyue lunged and bit his ear, completely furious.

“Don’t be so fierce.” Ye Fan lifted her chin and smiled. “Actually, this marriage alliance is for your own good. I want to set you free. Otherwise, keeping you around all day feels… wrong.”

“You’re just scared my brother and the Ji Clan will come looking for me.” Ji Ziyue’s red lips glistened. Her little tiger teeth sparkled. She really wanted to bite Ye Fan again to vent her frustration.

“This is giving me a headache… let me think it over,” Ye Fan muttered, rubbing his temples.

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