Ch. 92 - Main Ingredient

Elder Han didn’t get angry. He remained calm, poured himself a cup of tea, brushed aside the white hair covering his face, and took a sip slowly.

At that moment, Ye Fan felt a chill run down his spine.

Elder Han’s fingers looked like iron rods, dry and shriveled, covered by nothing but a thin layer of skin. When the white hair covering his face was lifted, his jaw looked like a crumpled piece of waste paper, wrinkled, dull, and lifeless. Most disturbing of all were his lips and teeth. His gums and teeth were pitch black, completely devoid of blood or vitality, and even his tongue looked withered.

“Come with me,” Elder Han said after taking a sip of tea and gently placing down the cup. His voice was lifeless.

Ye Fan wanted to summon the golden book, but didn’t dare act rashly. He understood all too well that the difference in cultivation realms was like a chasm, unbridgeable.

“Elder Han, don’t you fear karmic retribution? Using living people as ingredients, your own peers wouldn’t tolerate such a thing…” Ye Fan spoke while quickly thinking of a way out. Falling into this man’s hands would be worse than death.

“I’ve prepared for everything. No one will know,” Elder Han said coldly, sitting there like a piece of deadwood. His calmness only made him more terrifying.

Ye Fan took out the jade pendant Elder Wu Qingfeng had given him. “If you kill me, Elder Wu will know.”

Elder Han raised a finger. A wave of icy energy surged forward, and with a bang, the jade pendant shattered. A cold, bone-piercing chill lingered in the air.

“This place is over a thousand miles from Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven,” Elder Han said lightly. “Breaking the jade right in front of me, there’s no way Wu Qingfeng will sense it.” He sneered. “You’re quite clever. That day in the ruins, I gently tapped you and left a hidden mark. I intended to come back for you, but you escaped before I could. You vanished from my senses until today.”

“You damn old freak…”

“It’s time to go,” Elder Han said, rising to his feet. People in the restaurant scattered, avoiding him like the plague.

Ye Fan moved like a leopard, trying to escape through the window.

“No point in struggling,” Elder Han said as he reached out his withered hand and yanked Ye Fan back with tremendous force, dragging him down the stairs.

The gap between cultivation realms was too vast to cross. Ye Fan’s heart sank. The old man had completely restrained him, he couldn’t move a muscle.

Outside the city, Elder Han muttered, “First, I need to visit an old friend who promised to collect a certain spiritual herb for me. Now that I’ve found the main ingredient, I’ll soon be able to refine the elixir.”

Ye Fan quietly glanced up at the sky, searching for the Jiang Clan soldier. He’d rather be killed by the soldier than end up being turned into a living pill.

After half a day, as the sun neared the horizon, Elder Han brought Ye Fan to a mountain range, nearing their destination.

“Why hasn’t the Jiang soldier shown up yet…” Ye Fan was growing anxious.

“An old friend comes calling…” Elder Han called out to a valley ahead, his voice echoing powerfully through the mountains.

Just then, a figure appeared in the sky, speeding toward them. The Jiang Clan’s soldier had been searching the area and had finally been drawn by the shout.

The soldier was incredibly strong, radiating terrifying killing intent and battle aura. His entire body was encased in armor, and he rode a massive beast that descended in a gust of wind so powerful it snapped the surrounding trees and grasses.

“Who are you?” Elder Han pulled Ye Fan back.

At the same moment, an old man with graying hair and a sinister face emerged from the valley. He didn’t look like a decent person.

“Leave that boy behind!” the soldier said coldly, glaring at Elder Han and the old man from the valley.

Elder Han could feel the soldier’s power, but he had no intention of letting Ye Fan go. He shouted toward the valley, “Help me!”

“Ssshhh!”

The Jiang soldier attacked without hesitation. A blood-red halberd slashed through the air, glowing with a sinister light, it had likely drunk the blood of many cultivators. Its energy waves were terrifying.

“Clang!”

Elder Han summoned a green wooden ruler, which glowed with emerald light and clashed with the halberd, but was knocked aside instantly. Elder Han staggered and retreated quickly, dragging Ye Fan toward the valley.

At that moment, the old man at the valley entrance also attacked. He summoned a bronze mirror that emitted a brilliant beam of light aimed at the soldier.

“Shh-shh-shh…”

Elder Han also unleashed twelve green wooden swords that traced mystical patterns through the air, sealing off the area and trapping the soldier.

“Petty tricks!” the soldier said, unfazed. He urged his beast into the air, dodging the mirror’s light, and used the blood halberd to sweep through the twelve wooden swords.

“This man is too powerful! Don’t hold back, kill him!” Elder Han shouted in panic. At the same time, he sealed Ye Fan and tossed him into the valley.

“Boom!”

Ye Fan crashed to the ground but wasted no time. He immediately began circulating the mysterious techniques recorded in the Dao Scripture to break the seal. Fortunately, Elder Han had acted hastily and didn’t know Ye Fan’s background, the seal was crude. Soon, Ye Fan completely broke free.

“Kill each other, and preferably both die!” Ye Fan ran deep into the valley, climbed a steep cliff, and escaped into the mountains.

He sprinted until he saw a great river. Without hesitation, he dove in headfirst.

He drifted with the current for who knows how many miles. Only when stars filled the sky did he crawl ashore. In the desolate wilderness, he rested briefly, then continued walking into the distance.

Half an hour later, lights appeared ahead, he wasn’t far from a town.

“Hehehe…” Suddenly, a chilling laugh echoed from behind.

Ye Fan was startled. Without even turning his head, he bolted.

But the laughter moved with him, near and far, like an owl’s cry in the night, always circling around him.

“You old bastard, you’ve got a tough life!” Ye Fan finally stopped. He realized escape was impossible.

From the darkness, Elder Han’s skinny figure appeared, floating like a ghost, feet not touching the ground. His left arm was severed, his hair wild, his body covered in blood. In the dark, he looked like a demon.

Ye Fan felt a cold shiver run from his head to his toes. The old freak had survived the soldier’s assault, now Ye Fan was truly in despair.

“My poor old friend was hacked to pieces. I barely escaped with my life…” Elder Han’s voice was icy and filled with hatred, like a ghost grinding its teeth.

“Pity he didn’t finish the job,” Ye Fan mocked.

Elder Han’s eyes gleamed with cold light. He silently floated closer, his dried-out body emanating a deathly aura.

Ye Fan hoped to strike with the golden book when the time was right, but before he had a chance, a green glow lit up the night. Like ghost fire, it enveloped him, sealing him in place. In the darkness, Elder Han’s corpse-like body loomed near, white hair flying, his sunken face twisted and terrifying, ghostly light flickering in his hollow eyes.

“I love fresh life. Your body is full of vitality, I bet your blood tastes delicious…” Elder Han grabbed Ye Fan’s arm and soared into the sky.

Ye Fan’s heart sank completely. After all the hardship and days of running, he still couldn’t escape death.

“I left a mark on you. You can’t run,” Elder Han said as a green light surged from his body. Wrapped in its glow, he and Ye Fan vanished into the night sky.

Instead of returning to Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven, Elder Han took Ye Fan to a remote mountain in the State of Yan. They entered a stone cave on a cliff that led deep into the mountain.

“Don’t be afraid, death isn’t painful…” Elder Han’s eyes flashed with malice.

The cave residence was deep, but not dark, pearls embedded along the way lit the path. Soon, they arrived at a spacious stone chamber filled with the scent of herbs. Inside were over a dozen large cauldrons, each more than a meter tall, engraved with intricate patterns, looking ancient and mysterious.

“At last, I’ve gathered all the spiritual herbs. Hahaha…” Elder Han laughed horrifically, his voice like a ghost’s wail, it made one’s skin crawl.

Besides the cauldrons, the room held dozens of medicine cabinets. Elder Han opened them one by one, releasing waves of medicinal fragrance.

“See what I’ve prepared for you, herbs money can’t buy!” He opened a wooden box, revealing a lotus seed the size of a pigeon’s egg, jet black and glossy like carved obsidian. A rich fragrance filled the air, seeping into the bones.

“Know what this is? A lotus seed from the Black Jade God Lotus. It takes five hundred years to grow just one. Its value is immeasurable, filled with boundless life essence.”

He set the box down and opened another, this one an ancient jade container. A gleaming green fruit the size of an egg lay within, translucent like carved jade, glowing softly.

“This is a fruit from the legendary Green Jade Snow Lotus. It grows on snowy peaks tens of thousands of meters high, never sees sunlight for a thousand years, and is guarded by powerful beasts. It took me eight years to get this.”

Each item contained potent life essence. If Ye Fan consumed them, his golden Bitter Sea would expand greatly.

Elder Han continued, picking up another wooden box. Inside was a nine-leafed herb, deep red and crystal clear like carved ruby, emitting a special fragrance.

“This is the legendary Nine-Leaf Phoenix Grass!” Elder Han exclaimed, clearly excited. “It’s said this divine herb only grows where phoenix blood once spilled. I spent over a decade traveling through ancient lands and ruins before finding it. Priceless, rare beyond belief!”

He opened box after box, revealing more than a dozen precious spiritual herbs, each unbelievably rare and valuable.

The cave glowed with multicolored light from the herbs, filling the air with their intoxicating fragrance.

Even under these dire circumstances, Ye Fan felt dizzy. These herbs were too precious. If he could consume them, his cultivation would soar.

Elder Han grinned wickedly. “Don’t be jealous. Soon, you’ll all be in the same cauldron. These herbs will be refined along with you.”

“You’ve collected enough herbs to extend your life. Why do you still need me?”

“If I were only making a revival elixir, these would suffice. But since I’ve learned you consumed the legendary Sacred Fruit and Divine Springwater, I’ve raised my standards.”

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