Chapter Seventy-Five: Body Like Bottomless Cave

  Ye Fan continued to ponder the "Tao Te Ching" after dinner, and for the entire night, he was immersed in a profound and mysterious state. On the golden sea of bitterness, he breathed out and transformed, emerging from nothingness. The stars twinkled, the chaos was obscure, and everything changed endlessly.

  It wasn't until the second day that he woke up from this state, without a bit of fatigue. The vital energy in his life was overflowing, making him feel refreshed and invigorated.

  "Big brother has eaten breakfast......" Little Tingting jumped over to call him to eat, her small face filled with happy smiles. Although the clothes on her body were very ill-fitting and tattered, with many patches, they couldn't hide the radiant glow that was unique to her bright and youthful complexion.

  Ye Fan sighed, children are just children, yesterday they experienced such a miserable thing, suffered so much grievance, cried so sadly, but after waking up from sleep, they were no longer sad and soon forgot all the unpleasantness.

  "Tingting is very happy?" Ye Fan asked with a smile.

  "Uh-huh!" Tingting nodded seriously and said, "Now that we have food, Grandpa doesn't have to be stingy with his meals, he can leave some for me. Tingting is happy now."

  Ye Fan was taken aback, originally some people's happiness is so simple, being able to eat a full meal makes Xiaoting so satisfied, compared to those who try every means to contend for fame and wealth, this standard is really too low, perhaps it is precisely because of this simple happiness that such pure goodness and beauty are produced.

  Looking at her rosy little face full of smiles, so radiant, Ye Fan was deeply infected, doting on her and stroking her head, then pulling her together to walk out of the house.

  Around noon, the middle-aged man with a yellow face from the Li family came again. Seeing that the small restaurant was closed, he kicked it hard and scolded: "Open the door, Master is here to eat..."

  Inside the small shop, Tingting was extremely nervous, her big eyes full of fear, tightly clinging to the old man's bosom, afraid that those people would rush in. Old Man Jiang gently patted her back and softly comforted her.

  Ye Fan stood in the house, listening to those unpleasant insults, his eyebrows gradually furrowed, and his eyes became increasingly cold.

  "Go on, Old Ginger, if you don't do business, just wait to starve to death. You're already in your seventies or eighties, what else can you do?"

  The people outside cursed and smashed the two pots of flowers at the door, then scratched the door with a dagger, making it look messy, before leaving.

  "Grandpa..." It wasn't until much later that Xiaoting timidly asked: "Will those bad people come again tomorrow?"

  "It's okay, Tingting, don't be afraid, Grandpa won't let them hurt you." The old man kept comforting her.

  Ting Ting whispered: "Those bad people are evil every day, why don't good people come to punish them?"

  Ye Fan felt that in this world, children's words are indeed the most true. There are many unfair things, but it is impossible for someone to take care of all of them.

  "Tingting, don't worry, they definitely won't come tomorrow." Ye Fan squatted down and smiled: "Let's go eat, I'll make a good dish for you at noon today."

  "Big brother, can you cook?" Little Tingting's eyes were filled with disbelieving expression.

  "Underestimate me? Today I'll show you a trick, and I guarantee you've never had anything like it before."

  The little girl blinked her big eyes and said, "I don't believe it. Grandpa can cook any dish. In the past when we still had a restaurant, Grandpa would make delicious food for me every day."

  "Have you ever had sugar and vinegar spare ribs?" Although it's a very ordinary dish in his hometown, Ye Fan believed that it should not have appeared here yet.

  As expected, Xiaoting showed a puzzled expression and said: "How can sugar be put together with pork ribs?" Even the old man next to her was full of incomprehension.

  In the end, Ye Fan could only be a paper tiger, his culinary skills were really terrible. However, after the old man knew the method, he personally took action and finally perfectly presented the sugar vinegar ribs on the table. This meal made Xiao Tingting eat exceptionally fragrant and full of happy smiles.

  Ye Fan really liked this harmonious and joyful atmosphere, giving him a sense of home, vaguely letting him find a place to settle down.

  After lunch, the old man asked Xiaoting to take a nap. He brewed a pot of strong tea and placed it on the clean Eight Immortals table, asking Ye Fan: "Child, are you going to do something? Whatever you do, don't be impulsive..."

  Yefan smiled and said, "Don't worry, old man. Nothing will go wrong. Anyone can be a bad person, it's just a matter of whether they want to or not."

  "What do you want to do?"

  "If I really want to, it's not hard to harm people, I have a hundred ways to retaliate against them. But there's no need to do that, just use the simplest method and I'll make them too busy to come looking for trouble again. When I'm free later, I'll deal with them properly."

  Ye Fan left the town directly this afternoon. He didn't want to plot against the Li family, as long as those few people who were cultivating outside didn't come back, there was no need to do so.

  He had figured out that the Li family went to the county town every month to purchase grain and goods, and they almost monopolized half of the business in the small town. Tomorrow was the day for the big procurement trip to the county town. The yellow-faced middle-aged man was a manager of the Li family, and he was usually responsible for this matter.

  The county town was about 70 or 80 miles away from the small town, and it was much more prosperous, with a population of tens of thousands. The streets were lined with shops on both sides, and the sound of hawkers calling out to customers was endless. For Ye Fan, who had a physical constitution far superior to that of ordinary people, this distance was not a problem at all. In just one hour, he arrived easily. After exchanging the few heads of game he had hunted in the mountains for money, he bought a lot of candy and snacks for Xiaoting, and then bought her several small dresses and shoes. Only then did he buy what he needed to use tomorrow.

  It wasn't until it was getting late that he headed back, the main purpose of today's outing was to check out this road between the town and the county, to see where it was desolate and secluded.

  Ye Fan didn't return until the time of lighting the lamp, and when he saw that he was safe and sound, the old man's hanging heart finally put down. Xiaoting was very happy and excited, holding those beautiful little clothes, her face full of joyful smile. Opening those paper bags filled with candies and snacks, she first stuffed the delicious ones into the mouths of the old man and Ye Fan, then she happily started eating herself.

  "Tingting, why don't you go change your clothes?" Ye Fan asked her.

  "I'll wear it later, Tingting's current clothes can still be worn." She carefully wrapped up the new clothes.

  Looking at the tattered and worn-out little dress that had been mended and sewn again and again on her body, Ye Fan felt a sense of melancholy. The children from poor families made him feel heartbroken, so young yet so sensible, although it was an unintentional remark, it made him somewhat unable to calm down.

  "Don't worry, from now on, Tingting will have new clothes to wear every day, go change quickly." Ye Fan thought that with such a lovely little girl like Tingting and such a kind old man like Old Man Jiang, if they were bullied again, it would be unbearable.

  That night, Ye Fan continued to ponder the Tao Te Ching. He found that when he held the rosary beads in his hand, his mind became exceptionally clear and his understanding of the Tao Te Ching was much deeper.

  "It's indeed the Wudao Tree..."

  The next afternoon, Ye Fan left the small town and walked through the mountain forest. He soon turned onto the road leading to the county seat, which included a section of mountain road that had to pass through a small gorge.

  Ye Fan quickly climbed up the cliff, changed into a black outfit here, covering his face, and put on a pair of high stilts, disguising himself as an adult. Then he opened all the oil barrels that had been prepared here yesterday and quietly waited for the Li family's purchasing personnel to return.

  It wasn't until dusk that the sound of rumbling wheels echoed through the mountain road, with over a dozen large carts, all loaded to the brim with goods ranging from silk fabrics and clothing materials to daily necessities and food.

  Ye Fan stood up and threw down one by one oil barrel with great force, "bang bang" sounds kept coming, more than a dozen big cars were all splashed with oil, and the people below suddenly became chaotic.

  "It's oil, it's oil, someone wants to set fire to the car!" The people of Li's family shouted loudly. Many people panicked and ran away, while some were searching for the person who wanted to start a fire. At this time, someone finally saw Ye Fan on top of the valley. He was tall and wore black clothes, throwing down torches one after another from his hand.

  "Pffft"

  A raging fire suddenly broke out, and a dozen or so large vehicles instantly turned into a sea of flames, making it impossible to extinguish the blaze, with flames shooting up into the sky.

  "Who are you, daring to set fire to the Li family's supplies? Don't you fear the pursuit of the monks?" The middle-aged man with a yellow face shouted in panic, thinking of the terrible consequences he would face when he returned.

  Bang

  Another bucket of oil came crashing down, barely missing his head, and splashing a lot of oil stains on his clothes. Then a flame fell from the sky, and the middle-aged man with a yellow face suddenly let out a miserable cry, rushing towards the distant mountain stream like a fugitive, his whole body engulfed in flames.

  Ye Fan took a glance and disappeared into the valley above, then quickly removed his stilts and black clothes, hugging them as he flew away.

  Tonight, the entire town of Qingfeng was shaken. The Li family suffered heavy losses, with over a dozen large trucks loaded with goods burned to ashes, leaving nothing behind. Seven or eight people were also injured in the fire.

  The whole night, the small town was restless. The Li family were like madmen, almost going from door to door searching for clues. For them, this was a devastating blow, a huge loss that left the Li family outraged.

  It wasn't until late at night that the town finally calmed down. The Li family thought that no one in this town dared to do such a thing, and they didn't have the skill or courage to do so. They suspected it was an enemy from afar, and the entire Li household immediately became tense. They ordered someone to send a message to the Heavenly Cave of Smoky Clouds overnight.

  That night, Ye Fan quietly left the small restaurant and came to the depths of the mountain range. He had to quickly improve his strength. He didn't know how many miles he had gone deep into the mountains before finally finding a stone cave. Ye Fan sealed himself inside with a giant boulder and then took out several spiritual medicines.

  The jade-like snake orchid is as soft and smooth as sheep's fat jade, exuding a fragrance that intoxicates the heart. The golden stem left by the ancient tree shines brightly, its light flowing and turning.

  Ye Fan grasped the Bodhi fruit, calming his mind and contemplating the Tao Te Ching until he felt the turbulent sea of suffering and thought he could break through, then he took the Jade Snake Orchid.

  Half a time later, the mountain cave was blocked by huge rocks, but it still emitted waves of sea-like sounds, with golden light bursting out, like a tsunami that shook the sky, and the sound of thunderous drums.

  It wasn't until the second half of the night that everything calmed down. Ye Fan looked inward and found that the golden bitter sea had increased by more than double. He moved the giant rock, rushed out of the cave, his body light and strong, his power and speed increased again, like a wisp of smoke quickly rushing through the mountains and forests.

  He returned to the cave, sealed the entrance with a boulder again, and without hesitation swallowed the golden stalk left by Gu Mu Jing. Then, holding the Bodhi beads, he meditated on the Dao De Jing.

  In the second half of the night, a deafening sound burst out in the mountain cave, and the huge stone blocking the entrance suddenly shattered, with rocks flying out.

  Like a volcanic eruption, like the Milky Way pouring down from the ninth heaven, the cave was filled with dazzling light everywhere, the tsunami shook the sky, and the thunder continued. Ye Fan's bitter sea turned into a golden ocean, rolling towards the high sky.

  This situation lasted for a whole hour, and the terrifying sound slowly subsided. The divine light gradually dissipated, and Ye Fan quickly rushed out. The cave behind him emitted a "rumbling" sound and quickly collapsed. It didn't collapse earlier because the golden light was supporting it.

  At this moment, it's almost dawn, and the forest is no longer pitch black. Ye Fan feels his body filled with vitality, and a strong vital energy is circulating within him.

  The golden bitter sea had expanded from the size of a soybean to that of a pigeon egg overnight, increasing by several times. He was extremely surprised, all thanks to the golden stumps left behind by Gu Mu Jing, which contained ten times more life essence than Yu She Lan, truly a rare treasure.

  Ye Fan's heart was unable to calm down, he discovered that his physique was like a bottomless pit, and there was no need to worry about the medicine being too potent. As long as he could provide enough life energy, he could continuously open up the bitter sea.

  "Isn't the curse of the Ancient Sacred Body supposed to appear on me? Or is this the curse, where every step forward requires a massive amount of life essence, making the road narrower and more difficult to open up in the later stages..."

  If an ordinary person had absorbed so much of the essence of life, they would have probably pierced through the sea of suffering and their body would have already collapsed. "Ordinary people, if they were to absorb all these essences over a long period of time, should be able to open up a sea of suffering that's even bigger than mine..." Ye Fan pondered, thinking that this kind of cultivation was simply a luxurious waste, muttering to himself: "Is it a waste? I don't think so."

  At this time, he discovered that his bitter sea was exceptionally condensed, although it was only the size of a pigeon egg, but it had nineteen "divine patterns" and possessed extremely vigorous vitality.

  "When ordinary people's bitter sea is as big as a pigeon egg, it's probably still hard to condense the 'divine pattern', but my golden bitter sea has already achieved it." Ye Fan didn't feel luxurious at all, on the contrary, he felt very accomplished, his golden bitter sea was different from others.

  "Hehehe"

  Ye Fan lightly plucked his ten fingers, and instantly more than a dozen "divine patterns" shot out, like a dozen dazzling sword tips, piercing all the rocks in front of him.

  "Opening up a similarly vast ocean of bitterness, the divine power I possess will be many times stronger than others." This made Ye Fan's thoughts fluctuate.

  "But for someone with my physical constitution to achieve success in cultivation, I would need a massive amount of life essence as backing." Thinking about this issue made him furrow his brow.

  However, it's not just limited to spiritual medicine. If one can find the 'source' mentioned by Wu Qingfeng, and cultivate in a place with extremely dense spiritual energy, they should also be able to break through.

  According to ancient records, in the era when heaven and earth merged their energies to give birth to all things, the world was shrouded in a chaotic mist, with spiritual energy swirling about, extremely dense. Many spiritual beings could absorb the primordial vital energy between heaven and earth, forming crystals like amber, which enclosed vast life essences within.

  What has been preserved up to now is called "yuan", which is extremely precious for monks, and some of the best "yuan" are worth a city.

  From the era of the birth of all things to the ancient and desolate years, the original energy of heaven and earth gradually became thinner, and it was difficult for spiritual objects to condense into "origin".

  However, in the final glorious period, all things flourished, life was strong, and spiritual medicines were abundant, resulting in the formation of many rare "Divine Origins". Later generations discovered that a biological body was sealed within a crystal-like amber stone. After excavating such a "Divine Origin", it could provide endless vital energy.

  "What a wonderful era that was..."