Invincible Young Master in the City
Chapter 872 - 868: Loose Cultivator Plundering

Chapter 872: Chapter 868: Loose Cultivator Plundering

Ye Fan’s first impression of the Pangu Secret Realm was that it seemed like Earth’s Ancient Primordial Period, where heaven and earth were still indistinct, and life had yet to be born, mired in chaos, akin to the initial opening of the universe.

But upon closer scrutiny, it’s not exactly so.

Judging by Ye Fan’s current location, traces of artificial carvings were evident, akin to the remnants of ancient city walls, and the surroundings weren’t completely devoid of life’s presence—at least dried wood stood there like charcoal fossils hardened through some drastic change, only to endure for millennia in solitude.

This suggests that there were wars in the Pangu Secret Realm, where cultivators’ powers reached the heavens-altering and earth-destroying levels. The desolation before him was likely caused by those cultivators.

"It’s important to find Master and Third Senior Brother sooner."

Not interested in pondering the causes and consequences of the Pangu Secret Realm’s formation, Ye Fan was preoccupied with finding Zhuo Junwu and Shen Biancheng, and as soon as possible, locating Li Zhaojun. He believed he could still awaken Li Zhaojun’s feelings for him; such deep bonds are hard to sever.

Taking out the Immortal Pointing Needle, he hoped to use it to discern the direction of the Immortal Fate Stele. Yet, the Immortal Pointing Needle wasn’t a compass, offering no specific directional guidance, requiring him to move around to determine the needle’s reaction strength before proceeding in a chosen direction.

He speculated that the western region of the Pangu Secret Realm’s Great Mournful Domain wouldn’t be very large, making it not difficult to locate the Immortal Fate Stele.

However, he was unaware that even the Great Mournful Domain of the Pangu Secret Realm was far larger than Earth’s landmass.

The Pangu Secret Realm was a world from the chaos opening period, lacking the concept of planets—here was simply the sky is round and the earth is square, with the notion of boundaries. Beyond the chaos lay the outer world, connecting to Earth and other outer exits. The western part of the Great Mournful Domain bordered the galaxy and the Pangu Secret Realm, where not only Earth’s cultivators could arrive, but also people from other planets in the Milky Way.

Ye Fan had walked a certain distance, yet the Immortal Pointing Needle in his hand showed little reaction, unable to clarify any direction.

Just then, he felt a presence moving towards him from afar. While his eyes couldn’t see anything, his spiritual sense detected the presence of several cultivators.

Zhuo Junwu had once warned him that in the Pangu Secret Realm, not everyone reaches Golden Core Stage to gain five hundred years of lifespan and then continues cultivating to Transcendance Tribulation Stage seeking ascension. The Pangu Secret Realm also distinguishes between "Sect Cultivators" and "Loose Cultivators." So-called Sect Cultivators train within sects, yet only in systematic sects; apart from the seven major clans of the Pangu Secret Realm, there are no more than a hundred deserving the name "Sect Cultivator" among thousands of Pangu Secret Realm sects, making them exceedingly rare.

Most cultivators are "Loose Cultivators".

The spiritual energy in the Pangu Secret Realm is strong; anyone can gain some cultivation, yet forming a Golden Core requires a mature cultivation system, and most small sects are merely gatherings of cultivators, akin to ancient martial arts sects—numerous but lacking combat routines, unable to produce significant experts. Those joining sects are like this, while Independent Practitioners devoid of sects fare even worse. Even with thousands of years of lifespan, they never reach the Golden Core Stage.

In pursuit of breakthroughs, Loose Cultivators formed a predatory system known as "Hunting".

Hunting refers to the mutual predation of Loose Cultivators, killing others to claim their cultivation for one’s advancement, as one can only absorb a portion due to differences in spirit root and body vein attributes. If encountering someone with similar attributes, one might absorb one to two tenths of the other’s power, but if attributes differ, the absorption rate might not even reach half a tenth.

This leads to the formation of small groups within the realm of Loose Cultivators, where individuals with varied spirit root and body vein attributes join forces to hunt others, thereby improving success rates. Afterward, the attributes of the hunted decide who absorbs the power.

The closer one gets to the boundaries of the Pangu Secret Realm, the more prevalent these predatory Loose Cultivators become, since other realm cultivators may arrive here, usually possessing lower cultivation and unfamiliar with the Pangu Secret Realm’s environment.

Today, Ye Fan encountered a group of such predatory Loose Cultivators.

Ye Fan didn’t attempt to evade them, as his initial judgement told him these Loose Cultivators held relatively low cultivation, belonging to the Qi Refinement Realm. With his ancient martial arts reaching Transforming Energy, and after cultivating the first layer of the Nine Yang Divine Skill, equating the Path of Holding the Pill, his ability could handle dozens of Qi Refinement Realm Loose Cultivators effortlessly. Even comparing cultivation, he was in the Foundation Establishment late-stage, nearing success in cultivating a Golden Core.

Even if Ye Fan did not embrace these Loose Cultivators’ methods, perceiving them as demons wouldn’t be excessive, yet every world has its survival strategies, for the universe’s highest law is the law of the jungle. Not even stars and the universe can escape the fate of predator versus prey; much less insignificant cultivators.

But those who block my path will not find me merciful.

The several Loose Cultivators ahead rapidly rushed towards him, having detected Ye Fan.

"Looks like an outsider rather than a sect disciple," remarked a sharp-voiced old man.

This old man’s cultivation was relatively high—he had reached the early Foundation Establishment stage, possessing fairly pure spiritual energy. Perhaps initially self-cultivating, and sensing life nearing its end, he was unwilling to perish, thus engaging in hunting.

A nearby man interjected, "If you say so, who could refute your wisdom? Charge!"

For Loose Cultivators, time equals life; dedicating finite time to infinite hunting offers the only chance at Golden Core formation. Once they’ve identified their target, they won’t show mercy, opting first to capture the prey.

They had clearly underestimated Ye Fan’s strength.

"Haha, you’ve come from outside, haven’t you?" The Loose Cultivators, surrounding Ye Fan, assumed a superior posture, greedily eyeing him, demanding, "Kneel! Offer up all valuable possessions willingly! We might leave you a whole corpse!"

"You’ve brought this upon yourselves!" Ye Fan’s body suddenly unleashed a surge of potent spiritual energy, exerting immense pressure on the Loose Cultivators, with only the old man managing barely to withstand.

"What kind of technique is this?" The old man, initially confident in his understanding of sect techniques, was caught off guard by a cultivator transitioning from ancient martial arts to spiritual cultivation, whose seemingly unremarkable Ye Fan wielded such explosive force.

Despite sensing the pressure, the Loose Cultivators thought, one-on-one isn’t feasible, but surely a group can handle one?

Total surrender or decisive battle, gaining no quarter for hesitation.

A crowd lunged at Ye Fan, yet they were no better than eggs thrown against a rock. Ye Fan swung the sword Zhuo Junwu had given him, swiftly severing the head of the strongest old man among them.

"Ah?"

Some faltering, trying to flee, yet they never got far before Ye Fan decimated them in his path, cutting them down decisively.

In the end, only a young girl bound with chains stood, gazing with terror-filled eyes at the blood-drenched, reddened-eyed Ye Fan.