Chapter 292 Ye Fan's Secret
Inside the main hall, thirty-four Inner Sect disciples stood in a neat formation, even their breathing deliberately lightened.
Xiao Chen stood with his hands behind him on the high steps, the dark patterns on his black Sect Master's robe looming under the light.
His gaze was like lightning as he swept over every young face, his voice clearly entering everyone's ears.
"The content of this assessment—migrating mortals."
As soon as these words came out, many disciples showed confusion on their faces.
Xiao Chen seeing this, the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
"Today, I will let you witness the true foundation of my Immortal Spirit Holy Land!"
The hall instantly quieted down, and all disciples unconsciously straightened their backs.
Xiao Chen waved his sleeve, and a streak of golden light flew from his fingertips, rapidly unfolding in mid-air to transform into a stereoscopic shadow of a small world.
That shadow was lifelike; one could see mountains rising and falling, rivers meandering, the sun and moon alternating, and countless spirit birds and beasts shuttling through the forests.
"This is the Spirit Realm, a true Small Thousand World, capable of holding billions of living beings."
Xiao Chen's voice carried a hint of pride.
"This is the true foundation of my Immortal Spirit Holy Land!"
The disciples instantly fell into a deathly silence, one by one widening their eyes, their faces written with shock and yearning.
Ye Fan stared dead fixed at that small world, his heart beating like a drum.
At this moment, Li Hanzhou, who had been standing quietly to the side, stepped forward.
This usually cold Outer Sect Grand Elder had rarely worn formal attire today; the black iron token hanging at his waist emitted a chilling cold air.
His cold, hard voice was like the clashing of gold and iron.
"I will read out the rules for this assessment; there are five rules—"
"First, the assessment period is one year, and identities must be kept secret."
Li Hanzhou's gaze was like a knife as he swept over the crowd.
"You must not act in the capacity of an Immortal Spirit Holy Land disciple, nor reveal the existence of the Spirit Realm; violators will be immediately eliminated."
He specially emphasized the two words "immediately," causing several disciples whose thoughts had just become active to shiver.
"Second," Li Hanzhou took out a bamboo scroll from his sleeve.
"Mortals must migrate willingly. Those who deceive, coerce, threaten, or slaughter using their cultivator status, upon discovery, will not only be eliminated but also severely punished according to sect rules!"
"Third."
Li Hanzhou took out a jade box from his storage bag; upon opening it, thirty-four green jade pendants were arranged neatly inside.
Each jade pendant was engraved with complex space runes, flowing with a mysterious halo under the light.
"Each person receives one life-saving jade pendant. In a critical life-or-death moment, it can be triggered to transmit; as long as the enemy does not exceed the Longevity Realm, or you are not in a special barrier environment, you can safely transmit back to the Immortal Spirit Holy Land."
He paused, his voice turning colder.
"But once triggered, you are immediately eliminated."
"Fourth," Li Hanzhou raised his fourth finger.
"No cultivators may be mixed among the mortals. We will send enforcement disciples to secretly monitor; upon discovery, elimination."
He especially emphasized.
"Even if they are your blood relatives, it is not allowed!"
Finally, Li Hanzhou looked around at everyone.
"Fifth, victory will be determined by the number of mortals successfully migrated; the one with the highest number obtains the last True Inheritance spot."
He suddenly revealed a nearly imperceptible smile.
"Remember, quality is also important. If the migrants are all old, weak, sick, or disabled..."
The disciples immediately burst into laughter, and the tense atmosphere relaxed slightly.
Subsequently—
"Disciples accept the command!"
Thirty-four people responded in unison, their voices shaking the hall.
...
After returning to his residence, Ye Fan still found it difficult to conceal his excitement.
He rubbed the jade pendant he had just obtained, the words "Spirit Realm" echoing constantly in his mind.
The foundation of the Immortal Spirit Holy Land far exceeded imagination, causing him to rise with an even stronger desire for the True Inheritance position... Because... only by becoming a True Inheritance Disciple and possessing a sufficiently high status within the Immortal Spirit Holy Land could he obtain the sect's true protection.
When that time came, he could completely let go of this shadow-like fear that had followed him for sixteen years!
He had a secret hidden deep in his heart that he had never told even his closest brothers.
It was not because of wariness, but because anyone knowing might harm others.
Actually... he was not the descendant of the Ye family, a small clan on the border of Qing Prefecture, but came from distant An Prefecture — that of the direct line of the once glorious An Prefecture Ye family!
An ancient clan that had a Saint Venerable in residence during ancient times and played a dominant role on the Xuanying Continent! Sixteen years ago, above the ancestral land of the Ye family in An Prefecture, purple air came from the east for three consecutive days, extending unceasingly for three thousand miles.
On the night he was born, a star in the ninth heaven suddenly fell, transforming into a streak of flowing light that submerged into the delivery room.
The midwife delivering the baby later recalled that when the infant landed, his body was wrapped in purple glow that did not dissipate for a long time.
Even more miraculously, the ancestral tablets enshrined in the Ye family hall for a thousand years vibrated in unison, emitting a clear humming sound that lasted for an entire hour.
The old servant guarding the hall was so scared he knelt on the ground, unable to stand, thinking it was the manifestation of the ancestors.
"Desolate Heaven Saint Body!" When an elder tremblingly announced this test result, the entire Ye family boiled over.
This was the physique possessed by that Saint Venerable ancestor of the Ye family in ancient times, and it was one of the nine Supreme Saint Bodies recorded in the "Saint Body Records" of the Xuanying Continent!
As long as one did not die prematurely, cultivating to the Saint Realm was almost a certainty!
Several old ancestors of the Ye family who had been in seclusion for many years were alarmed and came out of seclusion, convening a clan assembly overnight.
At that time, Ye Fan, who was only three years old, was brought to the ancestral hall.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, his small hand pressed on the inherited Spirit Testing Tablet, and instantly purple light rushed to the sky.
The tablet inscription appeared: "Desolate Heaven Saint Body, unparalleled in the current world."
However, this joy had not lasted for three days before disaster followed one after another.
The Tianjue Holy Land, also located in An Prefecture, sent an emissary, bluntly saying they wanted to see "that child."
At that time, Ye Fan's father, Ye Lingxiao, the then head of the Ye family, declined on the grounds that the "infant was weak."
Unexpectedly, the next day, the eldest disciple of the Saint Venerable of the Tianjue Holy Land personally arrived at their door.
"The Severing Heaven Saint Body and the Desolate Heaven Saint Body cultivate the same Heavenly Dao Law."
Ye Fan still remembered his father's pale face when he said these words.
"When the two meet, they are natural Dao enemies who will fight to the death."
And that Saint Venerable of the Tianjue Holy Land had attained the Dao precisely by relying on the Severing Heaven Saint Body.
Now knowing that the Desolate Heaven Saint Body had appeared in the world, how could he tolerate the growth of another existence that might threaten his own Dao lineage?
Ye Lingxiao made a decisive decision in the moment, finding an infant who had just died overnight and using secret methods to change its facial features, announcing to the outside world that Ye Fan had suddenly died of a serious illness.
At the same time, he secretly sent a trusted aide to send the real Ye Fan to the branch in distant Qing Prefecture — the Ye family of Qing Prefecture.
To cover people's eyes and ears, he even specially planted a seal within his body to conceal the characteristics of the Saint Body.
However, the Tianjue Holy Land would rather kill by mistake than let go; just a few short years later, a team of masked cultivators launched a night raid on the Ye family of Qing Prefecture.
That night, the firelight reached the sky, and screams of misery never ceased.
Ye Fan's adoptive father hid him in the secret passage of the ancestral hall at the last moment, while he himself collapsed into a pool of blood.
"Fan'er, remember..." Before dying, the adoptive father stuffed an ancient jade pendant into his hand, fresh blood dripping along the cracks in the floor onto his tender face.
"Never expose your identity!"
That jade pendant was precisely the ancestral heirloom of the Ye family of An Prefecture.
Over these years, Ye Fan had always kept it close to his body, never showing it to anyone.
And the main family in An Prefecture, under the suppression of the Tianjue Holy Land, declined day by day; it is said that they have already retreated to the ancestral land and closed their doors, refusing to come out.
"True Inheritance..." Ye Fan took a deep breath and unfastened his clothes.
Under the moonlight, a hideous scar on his chest glowed with a strange purple light — this was the mark of the sealed origin of the Saint Body.
For other disciples, the True Inheritance position might be just a path to the heavens; but for him, Ye Fan, it was a life-saving talisman related to his very life!
It was his only hope to survive in this cultivation world where the weak are prey to the strong.
Hey readers! Want to stay 40 chapters ahead of free members? Join our Patreon today! You'll instantly unlock 20 chapters the moment you sign up to start closing that gap.
You'll enjoy 14 new chapters every week. Plus, we have 3 other exciting fics with the same release rate, giving you a massive 42 chapters per week total! Stop waiting and join the adventure now!
Patreon: https://patreon.com/Alex_Cruise
Hey everyone, I really need to be honest with you all. With the recent wave of Patreon cancellations, things have become financially difficult for me, and it's getting harder to keep everything running smoothly. If you've been enjoying the translations and want to support me, please consider joining Patreon—it truly makes a huge difference.
I'm also planning to take on new fics. Just comment the genres or specific titles you want to see translated, and I'll pick them up. If there's a novel or fanfic you believe deserves a proper translation, tell me—I'm open to expanding and giving you more variety.
Your support keeps this work alive. Thank you for sticking with me.