"The two elders instructed me earlier," the young cultivator quickly replied. "If Young Master Ye arrives, I am to lead him to them."
"Two elders?" Ye Fan feigned confusion.
Hearing the cultivator say this, he already suspected it was those two old fellows.
However, one couldn't be too careful.
It was better to be cautious.
"I am not yet qualified to know the names of the two elders," the young cultivator said somewhat sheepishly.
"Then can you describe their appearance, or any distinctive features?"
"The two elders are bald, and one of them has a left eye..."
After hearing his answer, Ye Fan was finally certain.
It was indeed those two old fellows!
"Then I'll trouble you, fellow cultivator," Ye Fan said politely.
"It is my duty."
And so.
The cultivator led the two of them further inside.
On the journey that followed, Ye Fan's eyes were truly opened!
The people they encountered, if not all, then at least seventy to eighty percent were, damn it, spiritual powerhouses!
For instance, a cultivator stood still, repeatedly headbutting the air at an incredible frequency.
Or by the roadside trees, three cultivators hung upside down with their eyes closed.
And on the rooftop nearby, a cultivator was chanting incantations to a shovel...
Ye Fan now completely confirmed his earlier guess!
Those two old fellows had truly come home this time!
This place shouldn't be called Sacred Mountain at all; it should just be called Green Mountain...
And the young cultivator leading them was no longer perceived as particularly normal by Ye Fan.
Because he could provide explanations for all the oddities they had just witnessed.
For example, the one headbutting the air was fighting a terrifying demonic beast!
The three hanging upside down from trees were practicing spiritual cultivation techniques!
And the one talking to the shovel on the rooftop was cultivating an external avatar!
As he spoke of these, the young cultivator's eyes showed immense envy and longing.
"It's a pity that I've only just begun my cultivation and am not yet qualified to study these profound techniques..."
The young cultivator sighed, his words full of regret.
Ye Fan's mouth twitched again.
It seemed his earlier assumptions had been too simple.
The remaining thirty to forty percent were not normal people, they simply hadn't started their cultivation yet...
Half a day later.
The three arrived at the back mountain.
"That is a forbidden area ahead, I am not yet qualified to go further," the young cultivator pointed forward. "Fellow cultivators from Daliang Country are already waiting there. Please, the two of you."
With that, the young cultivator turned and left.
Actually, he didn't need to say anything.
As soon as Ye Fan arrived, he saw familiar faces opposite them...
Liang Dekuai was standing at the front of the crowd, waving enthusiastically at Ye Fan.
Soon, Ye Fan and the Little Demoness arrived in front of everyone.
Ye Fan scanned them.
Including Liang Dekuai, everyone's expressions and actions were clearly beyond the scope of normal people.
As expected.
The entire group from Daliang Country had been completely overwhelmed...
Looking at it, there would be no need to return in the future; they could just arrange beds for them on Sacred Mountain...
As for the oddly shaped mutated demonic beasts by the side, they were likely also the handiwork of the two old fellows.
"Ye Fan, you've finally arrived," Liang Dekuai said excitedly, pointing at the cave behind him. "The two elders are waiting inside, you should go in quickly."
"Alright," Ye Fan replied politely and entered the cave with the Little Demoness.
At this moment, he had no intention of pondering over this group of newly emerged spiritual powerhouses.
He wanted to see what the two old fellows wanted him to come for.
The moment he stepped into the cave, Ye Fan couldn't help but frown.
There seemed to be some unknown power within the cave, separating the inside from the outside.
At the same time, Ye Fan felt a sense of summoning in his heart once more!
However, this feeling was not as strong as the last time; it was noticeably weaker.
The cave was deep and dark.
Ye Fan and the Little Demoness traveled for a full hour and a half before seeing a trace of light.
Passing through the light, they found themselves in an underground karst cave.
The cave was filled with stalactites of various shapes, emitting multicolored luminescence.
The two old fellows, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, were squatting in the center of the cave, looking up at a gray ball of light suspended in mid-air.
"Ye Fan, you're here."
Hearing footsteps, the two old fellows turned and greeted him.
Familiar movements, familiar expressions...
"Is this the good stuff you mentioned in your letter?" Ye Fan asked, pointing at the ball of light in the air.
"This thing is very interesting."
"But also very scary."
The two old fellows replied.
Ye Fan stepped forward a few paces and stared at the ball of light.
The gray ball of light was not blinding, but he couldn't see clearly what was inside.
And the summoning he had felt earlier was emitted by this very thing!
Ye Fan reached out his hand, attempting to touch the ball of light.
"Don't!"
"It's too dangerous!"
The two old fellows grabbed Ye Fan from either side.
"What's dangerous about it?" Ye Fan asked curiously.
"We don't know."
"We just feel it's very dangerous."
The two old fellows shook their heads in unison.
Although the two old fellows weren't very sharp mentally.
But never forget, they were absolute powerhouses!
Ye Fan still didn't know what realm they belonged to.
Powerhouses could be mentally slow, but their instincts were absolutely not to be ignored.
Since the two of them felt it was dangerous, it was probably truly so.
If it were in the past, Ye Fan would have been more cautious.
But now...
Infinite respawns, anyone?
"Don't worry," Ye Fan comforted. "I know what I'm doing."
The two old fellows stared intently at Ye Fan for a long time, then nodded heavily.
"Good!"
"Ye Fan..." the Little Demoness called out softly, her expression seeming a little worried.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Ye Fan gestured. "You take the two elders and step back."
After the three retreated to the side, Ye Fan slowly placed his hand on the ball of light.
The moment he touched it, the ball of light vanished.
And what was hidden within the ball of light was a gray stone!
Exactly the same as the two he had fused with before!
Its exterior was incredibly ugly, emitting a faint, attribute-less energy fluctuation!
The stone floated above Ye Fan's palm, trembling slightly.
At the same time, the stone in Ye Fan's spiritual sea also began to tremble!
It seemed some kind of resonance had been generated between them.
Suddenly!
The stone shot out with a *whoosh* and plunged into Ye Fan's眉心 (meixin - glabella, between the eyebrows)!
After entering his spiritual sea, it flew towards Ye Fan's existing stone!
The closer they got, the more violently they trembled!
After circling each other for a few rounds, they finally came together.
Once the two stones touched, they began to fuse into each other.
After a moment.
The two stones had completely fused into one!
The newly fused stone still floated quietly above Ye Fan's spiritual sea, appearing no different from before.
It was as if all this had never happened...
Suddenly!
"Boom—!"
An explosion echoed in Ye Fan's spiritual sea!
When he came to his senses, he found himself in an unknown world!
There were no living beings here; the entire world was silent and dead!
At the same time, a vast amount of information appeared in his mind!
This was one of the myriad worlds, and one of the most special.
Because this entire world was composed of the power of rules!
The so-called power of rules was the core law that constructed the world.
It was the supreme existence above all cultivation systems!
And the world represented one of the strongest among countless rules.
Devouring!
Devouring all things, strengthening oneself!
Suddenly!
A chasm opened in the ground!
A shadow shot out from the chasm and hovered in front of Ye Fan.
It was an ugly gray stone, emitting faint, attribute-less fluctuations all over.
According to the information he had just received, this was the origin core of the Devouring World!
The stone circled Ye Fan a few times, then plunged into his body!
After the stone disappeared, the chasm in the ground closed.
The scene vanished.
He found himself back in the underground karst cave.
Ye Fan slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment, he finally understood the reason for the strange changes that had occurred within him earlier!
The Law of Devouring!
He had, by chance, obtained such a monstrous thing!
Regarding laws, he had heard of them in his previous ninety-nine lives.
However, this thing was too ethereal, and he had never found any clues before.
But one thing was certain: this thing was definitely an overpowered existence!
No matter what cultivators, immortals, or even gods they were, they were ultimately limited by their respective cultivation rules.
Compared to the power of laws...
What a joke!
There was simply no comparison!
It was no exaggeration to say that.
Even an ordinary mortal who obtained the power of rules could, in the future, easily crush all kinds of cultivators, immortals, or gods!
Of course.
This was provided that the ordinary person had enough time to master and fully integrate the power of rules.
If they were killed before that, it would all be in vain.
Fortunately, Ye Fan could now revive infinitely, so he didn't need to worry about that.
Ye Fan licked his lips.
According to the information he had just received, the Devouring Rule he had obtained was not complete.
Or rather, it had not reached perfection.
What he had obtained so far was only the origin of the Devouring World.
To achieve perfection, he would have to fuse with the entire Devouring World.
Only then would the Devouring Rule be considered complete.
However, Ye Fan didn't know where the Devouring World was.
Fortunately, Ye Fan's mindset had always been good.
To have obtained the complete origin of Devouring was already a great fortune.
As for the main body of the Devouring World, he could find it slowly.
The most important thing now was to quickly fuse and master the origin of Devouring, in order to deal with the impending demon army!