“How can this be?” Ji Ziyue’s beautiful eyes shimmered with flowing light, her rosy lips parted slightly, her expression full of disbelief. She could not comprehend why the Profound Yellow dual energies had manifested upon those fists.

In that moment, Ye Fan’s golden fists — by sight alone — gave the impression of unstoppable force, as if nothing in the world could withstand them. The mother-energy of all things seemed to have been smelted directly into them.

“The Profound Yellow is the mother-energy born from the harmonious union of heaven and earth — the sacred material for refining spiritual instruments. How did it come to adhere to your fists? How did you do it?” Ji Ziyue’s large eyes flickered with a strange and wondrous radiance.

Ye Fan opened his golden fists. The Profound Yellow mother-energy immediately disappeared, flowing back into the Bitter Sea and swirling around the green bronze fragment. He was equally astounded and alarmed. He feared being ground to dust — the weight of this mother-energy was something he could not endure. A single wisp was enough to crush an entire mountain range.

Just now, a wisp had manifested upon each fist — this left him with a pounding heart. Fortunately, the green bronze had suppressed the mother-energy, and no mishap had occurred.

The green bronze sat at the bottom of the Wheel Sea, with the Profound Yellow mother-energy adhering to it. By extension, his body too had become a vessel — operating the Wheel Sea might very well guide the Profound Yellow quintessence outward.

This filled him with deep unease. Without the green bronze suppressing it, he might at any moment be ground to dust. This much mother-energy was more than enough to pulverize him countless times over.

But danger and opportunity always coexist. Though it brought anxiety, if used properly, this was tantamount to wielding an invincible weapon!

A fist upon which even a single wisp of Profound Yellow vital energy could manifest — how terrifying would that be? No matter how many treasures you possessed, no matter how boundless your divine abilities — I shall pierce through with a single punch!

Ye Fan considered whether it might truly be possible to smelt the Profound Yellow mother-energy directly into his body. Yet on reflection, this seemed far too difficult — as things stood, he was likely unable to achieve it.

To truly refine the Profound Yellow was enormously difficult. Supreme cultivators used it for refining spiritual instruments. It was almost unheard of for anyone to temper their body with it — because it was simply too dangerous.

“The road is walked one step at a time. Everything can be explored slowly…” He was not in a hurry for immediate results. He had plenty of time to grope his way forward.

“Your body is very special…” Ji Ziyue was perceptive and sharp, sensing something at once.

“What did you make out?” At that moment, Ye Fan had returned to his plain and ordinary self — a smiling, harmless-looking boy of about fourteen years.

“Just now, your body was luminous and crystalline, like a glazed lantern of precious radiance — unblemished, undefiled, transcending spiritual treasures. It should not have been this way…”

When Ye Fan underwent his third physical rebirth, his body had blazed with radiance, his flesh and blood becoming nearly transparent — and all of it had fallen within Ji Ziyue’s gaze. This process of transformation had left her profoundly astonished.

After cultivators reach the Other Shore realm, a different kind of rebirth occurs — an ongoing exchange of blood, a refining of the bones, a transformation like a butterfly breaking free from its chrysalis.

Yet according to Ji Ziyue, that manner of renewal — washing blood and bones — was far, far beyond comparison with Ye Fan’s transformation!

“Your kind of sublimation is remarkable — it defies what is considered natural.” Her eyelashes trembled as she studied Ye Fan carefully, her expression wavering between shock and uncertainty.

According to what Ji Ziyue described, if reaching the Other Shore realm was like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, then Ye Fan’s transformation could be called a caterpillar becoming a phoenix.

“Even tempering your physical body with the Demon Emperor’s sacred blood should not have produced this result. This level of transformation is comparable to the physical rebirths of the great ancient masters of old.”

Ji Ziyue grew ever more astonished, speculating aloud to herself: “An ordinary cultivator’s physical transformation, however extraordinary, could not equal even one-tenth of yours. Could it be that you too are a… divine body?!”

Ye Fan made no reply. He had long known that his physical rebirth was more wondrous than the blood-exchange and bone-refinement that occurred when reaching the Other Shore realm.

After all, the sacred medicines and the Demon Emperor’s holy blood were what he had consumed. And once his Desolate Holy Body transformed, it was naturally extraordinary.

“Compared to yours, the transformations of other cultivators don’t even qualify as a true rebirth.” Ji Ziyue said this and then, her large and perceptive eyes gleaming with a strange radiance, continued: “Could you truly be like my brother… possessing a divine body?!”

“Don’t compare me to him. I’ll give him a thorough beating one day.”

“You…” Ji Ziyue was deeply displeased, wrinkling her nose. “I’m afraid that when my brother Haoyue appears, you’ll be the one running away.”

“I have no desire to deal with him right now. But once my cultivation matures, I’ll definitely beat him into a pig’s head.” Ye Fan said it without a care in the world.

“Hmph!”

Ji Ziyue snorted lightly, cutting her eyes sideways — naturally displeased at such talk about her brother. She muttered under her breath: “Even if you cultivated for a hundred years, you still couldn’t beat my brother.”

“He just has an unusual trait — the Bright Moon Rising over the Sea. When the time comes, I’ll pluck his moon and plant flowers and grass in his sea.”

“My brother’s divine body has just taken form, and in the young generation of the Eastern Desolation he is nearly unrivaled. As for you right now — you haven’t even touched the threshold of the Dao Palace’s secret realm. You still dream of rivaling him? That’s just…”

Ye Fan had no genuine desire to pick a fight. He was simply making light of the situation. He pinched Ji Ziyue’s delicate nose. “Just wait and see. If I don’t give that arrogant moon a thorough beating, my fists will never be satisfied.”

“Wait to be beaten yourself!” Ji Ziyue, furious, opened her small mouth and flashed her gleaming teeth, biting toward his fingers.

“You’re like a little dog — you actually bit me…” Ye Fan laughed, and said: “What’s so impressive about a divine body? Even his little sister ended up as my prisoner.”

Though he said it lightly, Ye Fan truly had a headache. The Ji Family’s name shook the Eastern Desolation — it was a transcendent power of the first order. If they learned that Ji Ziyue was in his hands, it didn’t take much imagination to know what would follow.

“What am I to do with this girl?”

He couldn’t kill her, couldn’t release her — Ji Ziyue knew too many of his secrets. The green bronze fragment, for instance, absolutely could not be exposed to the world.

“Why was the Demon Emperor’s heart inside your body?”

“What’s the story behind that green bronze?”

“Your constitution is so extraordinary, and your rebirth so similar to my brother’s — could you truly be… a divine body?!”

Day after day, Ji Ziyue kept pressing him with questions. Ye Fan could not possibly tell her.

During his time in seclusion here, Ye Fan had gone out once — to find out what was happening in the outside world.

What struck him as deeply strange was this: after drifting along the underground river for a full month, he had still not left the Wei Kingdom — he had merely moved from the western part to the eastern part.

In this region, there was an enormous power called Tai Xuan, which occupied an immense territory — all the endless immortal mountains of the eastern region fell under its domain. Within its unbroken chain of mountain ranges, there were no fewer than one hundred and eight main peaks. Each peak represented a distinct lineage, and each lineage far surpassed small sects like the Spiritual Void Cave to the point of being incomparable.

Across this vast domain, aside from the Ji Family and the Sacred Ground of Yao Guang, no sect could firmly overpower a massive power of this scale.

The Eastern Desolation was boundless, with nations beyond count.

In its heyday, Tai Xuan had been capable of ranking within the top hundred in the Eastern Desolation — a true behemoth. Especially within this particular region, its prestige was formidable. Within the surrounding dozens to hundreds of kingdoms, few sects could stand alongside it.

“An enormous power…” Ye Fan had no desire to attract their attention.

Beyond this, what he heard most was news concerning Ji Haoyue.

The Ji Family’s divine body had emerged into the world, shaking the Eastern Desolation — a portent that the Ji Family would reach the pinnacle of glory for thousands of years to come. A divine body could easily live for thousands of years; this was the common understanding.

Ji Haoyue had risen forcefully, launching continuous assaults against the demon race, having raided the caves of several great demons, sweeping through everything in his path without obstruction.

In the past two months, when it came to prominence and notoriety, no one could compare to him. His radiance was dazzling in the extreme!

Quite a few of the greatest powers were speculating about why the Ji Family was making such a massive show of force.

Ye Fan had an instinct: Ji Ziyue was far from ordinary. Otherwise, she could not possibly have survived the golden lotus divine manifestation of Ji Haoyue. The Ji Family must place tremendous importance on her.

Yet in all this time, there had been no news of Ji Ziyue going missing — as though it had been deliberately concealed.

Ye Fan pondered in secret: the Ji Family most likely assumed that Ji Ziyue had fallen by accident into the hands of the demon race, and had therefore been launching punitive campaigns far and wide — a thought that made cold sweat run down his back.

At this most critical time, Ye Fan’s best option was to remain in hiding. If anyone discovered he had carried off Ji Ziyue, that would be a catastrophe of the highest order.

Several days later, Ye Fan began to forge his spiritual instrument. The cauldron had already shattered beyond form, merged with the Profound Yellow dual energies — and was now ready to be recast.

This was an extraordinarily difficult process. The mother-energy of all things was supremely remarkable, and fusing it together with the cauldron into a finished form was, to say the least, akin to ascending to heaven.

Ye Fan chose to cast the cauldron atop the green bronze fragment — forging it upon the fractured surface. What struck everyone as inconceivable was that a rough form of the cauldron took shape within just half a month!

The green bronze fragment was unfathomably mysterious. Refining the Profound Yellow atop it was not nearly as difficult.

Once the Profound Yellow small cauldron took form, it was ancient and plain, its Dao resonance born of nature — extraordinary at first glance, impossible to look away from.

Yet the moment it left the green bronze fragment, the small cauldron instantly dissolved back into the Profound Yellow dual energies, coming apart in a flash — which left Ye Fan at a loss.

When heaven and earth are in harmonious union and mutually nurturing, the quintessence overflows — all things mix and move as one, heaven’s essence and earth’s marrow permeate everywhere, and this is called the Profound Yellow.

The mother-energy of all things is exceedingly difficult to fix into a definitive form. To truly forge it into a finished cauldron is of staggering difficulty!

But this also meant that once the refining succeeded, the spiritual instrument obtained would be without peer.

When this period of cultivation came to a pause, Ye Fan’s thoughts turned once again to the Ji Family — giving him a headache.

He leaned against an ancient tree, a grass stalk dangling from his lips, eyeing Ji Ziyue not far away. “Little one, let me find you a husband.”

“Drop dead!” Ji Ziyue fumed, glaring at him with her large eyes.

“Why so worked up? You’ll have to marry someone eventually. I guarantee I’ll find you a good family.” Ye Fan lazily chewed on the grass stalk, musing to himself: “Then we’ll be practically family ourselves — and I won’t go looking for trouble with your brother.”

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Ji Ziyue puffed up with anger, refusing to even look at him properly.

“All things considered, to avoid me accidentally killing your brother one day, a marriage alliance is the only path forward.” Ye Fan said shamelessly, still talking to himself: “Come to think of it, your Ji Family is quite a distinguished household. A marriage alliance with your family would be no bad deal.”

“I’ve never seen such a shameless person!” Ji Ziyue’s jade-smooth cheeks puffed out on both sides — she very much wanted to bite Ye Fan.

Ji Haoyue possessed a divine body, had burst onto the scene like a comet, radiating glory beyond measure — utterly beyond what the current Ye Fan could compare to. The Ji Family’s standing in the Eastern Desolation was supremely elevated — and yet Ye Fan spoke of it as though marrying her would be doing the Ji Family a favor.

“The family I have in mind for you is quite remarkable — he has inherited the legacy of a great demon, and his name is Pang Bo. He is absolutely worthy of you.”

“If you want to marry someone off, go marry him yourself!” Ji Ziyue turned her head away and quietly cursed under her breath: “I wish you and a demon a hundred years of marital bliss — and may you give birth to a little demon. No — a half-human, half-demon creature.”

“That little mouth of yours really is venomous.” Ye Fan laughed despite himself, spitting out the grass stalk. “Since you’re unwilling to marry a demon, I suppose I’ll just have to reluctantly absorb you into my own family instead.”

Ji Ziyue’s eyes shimmered with luminous life. “I actually want to tell you a secret.”

“What secret?” Ye Fan leaned against the ancient tree, lazily asking.

“Secrets shouldn’t be told with others nearby. Come closer…”

Ye Fan walked over. “If it’s a secret about the ancient scripture, I’m very happy to listen.”

“The secret is… I want to bite you!” Ji Ziyue erupted completely, lunging to bite his ear — she had been pushed well past the limit of her patience.

“Don’t be so ferocious.” Ye Fan cupped her chin in his hand, smiling. “Actually, the marriage alliance is for your own good. I’d like to give you back your freedom. Having you beside me every day is making me uneasy.”

“You’re afraid that my family — and my brother — will come looking for you, aren’t you?” Ji Ziyue’s red lips glistened, her little canine teeth gleaming brilliantly. She very much wanted to bite Ye Fan — only that would feel satisfying enough.

“What a headache… Let me think.” Ye Fan gently massaged his temples.