At this moment, the sky was dark and the stars glittered thickly.

In the mountain valley, the altar rose tall — built entirely of dark jade — and its surface was broad and open.

The Mad Old Man pressed his fingers together like a blade and marked and carved upon it. His expression was intensely focused. Stone chips flew in all directions. Complex Dao markings, dense and countless, were branded deeply into the surface — so abstruse they were entirely beyond comprehension.

The bright moon hung high. Pure, crystalline moonlight cascaded downward. In the domain gate’s valley, only the soft scratching sounds could be heard. The dark jade was translucent, carved into group after group of mysterious patterns.

Ye Fan stood to one side and watched, trying to comprehend — but felt wave after wave of dizziness. Those were infinite spatial imprints; it was very easy to become lost within them.

“Senior, where are you going?” Ye Fan spoke up to ask. He felt that following along rashly could be very dangerous.

Bang!

The altar shuddered. The dark jade blazed with light. The Dao markings he had carved were complete and fully formed. The Mad Old Man rose to his full height and stood at the altar’s center.

Seeing that he gave no response, Ye Fan hesitated. Should he follow in?

“Senior, I wish to travel with you.” He spoke again. A world-surpassing master such as this was practically a living ancient scripture. To receive guidance from such a figure — his cultivation could not help but advance by leaps and bounds.

Yet in that very moment, the old man went mad again — weeping one second and laughing the next — completely unresponsive to Ye Fan.

“I’ll go for it!” Ye Fan made his decision and resolved to follow. He had already been meaning to leave Tai Xuan Sect — it was no longer safe here. If he were taken back to the Ji Family, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Ye Fan shot upward and flew onto the altar, coming to the center and standing side by side with the Mad Old Man.

In that very moment, the altar began to draw in energy. The source-crystals buried underground blazed with light and flowed toward the altar like ripples on water.

The dark jade grew translucent, glimmering without cease. The Dao markings inscribed by the Mad Old Man seemed to come alive, trembling continuously — all of them resonating, brightening.

The void twisted, caving inward again and again — and then a dark, yawning gateway opened. The domain gate had been successfully activated. Where it led, no one could say.

The Mad Old Man — his mind scattered — lifted his foot and stepped through. Ye Fan followed close behind, and the two of them appeared in a vast, still void. Nothing could be perceived within it — eternal darkness, boundless silence.

The domain gate slowly closed, and then the entire altar began to draw upon endless source-crystal power.

Suddenly the Mad Old Man cried out. He clutched his head. The character “Immortal” on his forehead blazed with brilliant light, and a mysterious energy flowed from it, wrapping around him.

This was a terrifying power. The void itself became unstable — beginning to crack. In the eternal darkness, strange light flickered.

The Mad Old Man fell backward, tumbling into slumber. He floated there silently, motionless. Thread-like filaments covered him — all of them surging forth from the character “Immortal” on his forehead — enveloping him like a cocoon.

Ye Fan was greatly startled. What kind of change had come over the Mad Old Man — shattering space itself? In the very midst of traversing the void, the space here had become extremely unstable. This was a catastrophe of the first order.

This is terrible — how could this happen?! Ye Fan’s face immediately went pale. When something goes wrong during a void traversal, the result is invariably a shattered body and dispersed soul.

Crack, crack, crack!

The void traversal had failed. Great cracks appeared one after another and collapse was imminent.

Ye Fan began frantically circulating the mysterious methods recorded in the Dao Scripture, straining to mobilize the Primal Chaos Mother Qi. If the void shattered, without powerful divine power to withstand it, he would certainly be ground to fine powder.

It was a long, heart-rending process — an ordeal for Ye Fan — yet the void did not immediately collapse.

At last, a current of Primal Chaos Mother Qi finally began to flow within his body — hazy and indistinct, suffusing him with a thick, heavy aura.

I cannot bring out all of the Primal Chaos Mother Qi… Ye Fan seized hold of the Mad Old Man wrapped in his cocoon. Perhaps only that body could withstand the force of the void’s fracturing.

Crack, crack, crack!

Finally, the eternal darkness reached the limit of what it could endure, and with a boom it shattered.

When the void shatters and reaches its ultimate extreme, it is silent annihilation.

Great form is without shape; great sound is without noise!

The destructive force pulverized all things. In this moment, the Mad Old Man’s power was made manifest. The cocoon on his body flowed with strange radiance, propping up a sheet of light that held a space stable.

Bang! Bang!

The Mad Old Man and Ye Fan were blasted outward, reappearing in the real world. They had not left Tai Xuan Sect — having traveled only several dozen li — and they fell onto a stretch of uninhabited mountain ridges.

Just then, from behind them came a deafening sound, and radiance shot skyward — the dark jade altar had shattered and crumbled.

Boom!

It was an immense wave of energy, blazing light shooting straight to the heavens — making even the countless stars overhead dim and pale. That place looked as though ten suns had appeared simultaneously, illuminating all directions.

Ye Fan was seized by a wave of aftershock fear. Traversing the void was far too dangerous. That terrifying energy alone was sufficient to pulverize his body many times over. It was a blessing that he had been cast out from this place.

Within Tai Xuan Sect, cultivators on all hundred and eight main peaks were jolted to alertness. Where the domain gate stood, radiance blazed with ferocity — like dozens of volcanoes erupting simultaneously — causing the faces of all who witnessed it to change.

“This is… the domain gate has been opened, space has been pierced through, void traversal has failed!”

“Could it be that one of Tai Xuan’s great figures encountered an accident in the midst of void traversal?”

Many elders rose into the air, gazing toward the site of the domain gate.

At the same time, the Tai Xuan Sect Master and numerous venerable elders were even more shaken. The energy fluctuation — like a vast, deep ocean — filled them all with unease.

“Who was it that opened the domain gate?” A Supreme Elder asked.

“The void has collapsed. If anyone was within it at the time, their chances of survival are poor.” Another Supreme Elder revealed an expression of uncertainty.

Several dozen li away, Ye Fan’s heart pounded, and he quietly rejoiced at having survived.

Without the Primal Chaos Mother Qi — without the Mad Old Man’s cocoon — I would almost certainly have been dead.

He slowly calmed himself.

At this moment, they had fallen into a stretch of mountain ridges. The Mad Old Man was enveloped entirely in his cocoon, sunken in deep slumber — utterly motionless.

A figure of such world-surpassing caliber — truly beyond all reckoning. Even the void shattering could not do anything to him! Ye Fan’s heart trembled with awe.

In truth, the reason the void had collapsed at all was entirely because of the Mad Old Man.

Ye Fan did not dare to linger. He lifted the Mad Old Man and flew like the wind back toward Zhuo Peak — not taking flight, but weaving through the mountain forests.

At this moment, Tai Xuan Sect was thrown into great commotion. On all hundred and eight main peaks, many powerful figures were rushing toward the site of the domain gate. Not a single person was paying attention to the direction of Zhuo Peak.

Ye Fan brought the Mad Old Man to Zhuo Peak and settled him inside the crumbling palace where he himself resided.

Li Ruo appeared without a sound, and said in a low voice: “Just now — all of that — did it have something to do with you?” His spiritual perception was exceptionally keen and he had sensed the anomaly.

“Nothing to do with me…” Ye Fan pointed directly at the Mad Old Man.

Li Ruo probed with his divine sense — and immediately his Dao-heart grew unsettled. His body felt as though it were about to tear apart. The flow of his Natural Dao was disrupted. The cocoon ahead of him was like a demonic embryo, filling him with wave after wave of dread.

“This is…” He drew a sharp breath and retreated several large steps in succession.

Ye Fan concealed nothing — directly revealing the Mad Old Man’s identity, and recounting what had just happened in simple terms.

“He who does not become an immortal falls into madness — an invincible master from six thousand years ago…” Li Ruo was moved, unable to maintain his composure.

Anyone who learned this would be shaken. The Mad Old Man had passed through countless eras, truly comparable to a living ancient scripture.

“Such a figure appearing on my Zhuo Peak — I wonder whether this will be good or ill for Tai Xuan…” Li Ruo knit his brow.

At this moment, the Tai Xuan Sect Master and several venerable elders stared at the shattered dark jade altar, silent for a long while, their hearts filled with awe.

“These Dao markings are far too abstruse. They are difficult to comprehend — even the domain gates of the holy lands may not surpass this.”

“Who on earth inscribed them?”

Just then, the elders who had been standing guard here regained consciousness and quickly recounted what had happened.

“What — it must be him!” The Tai Xuan Sect Master and the venerable elders all showed expressions of shock.

Not long after, the Tai Xuan Sect Master and the sect’s venerable elders all appeared on Zhuo Peak. Li Ruo brought them here — the appearance of the Mad Old Man on Zhuo Peak was a matter of great importance; he could not conceal it.

However, Li Ruo made no mention of Ye Fan. He claimed the Mad Old Man had fallen out of the void and appeared on Zhuo Peak by accident.

In the days that followed, all was calm. Tai Xuan Sect sealed away the news and did not allow it to spread.

The senior elders of Tai Xuan Sect treated the Mad Old Man as a sacred object, placing him under devoted care, assigning dedicated people to guard him, terrified of any disturbance reaching him.

The Mad Old Man was in a wondrous state — enveloped in his cocoon, with a mysterious energy flowing within him. One of Tai Xuan’s venerable elders attempted to probe it — and was sent coughing up blood.

“Have you noticed there’s something strange about Zhuo Peak — there must be some secret here…” Ji Ziyue whispered quietly to Ye Fan.

Ye Fan was speechless. Li Ruo had warned him: he must not let anything slip, or he might be drawn into this affair.

I hope the Mad Old Man wakes up soon and that nothing goes wrong… All Ye Fan could do was quietly pray for this.

In the days that followed, things remained completely calm and uneventful.

By now, Zhuo Peak had risen in prominence and standing, accepting many outstanding disciples. The main peak was no longer desolate.

Every day, disciples from other main peaks came to visit. Ye Fan got to know many young disciples, while Ji Ziyue was surrounded by people vying for her attention like stars orbiting the moon.

One day, Star Peak sent someone — inviting Ji Ziyue and Ye Fan. Upon learning this, Ye Fan immediately furrowed his brow. Ji Ziyue, however, smiled radiantly — she had no fear of them making trouble at all.

That same day, Ji Ziyue also told Ye Fan mysteriously: “My great-great-grandfather has come.”

Ye Fan was startled, and instinctively said aloud: “That old one who refuses to die has come again?”

“What kind of way is that to speak?!” Ji Ziyue glared at him with wide eyes.

“A slip of the tongue. Is he here to take you back?” Ye Fan asked awkwardly.

“No. The mad old man appeared on Zhuo Peak. Tai Xuan Sect thought they could keep the secret, but both my family and Yao Guang Holy Land already know. Several great figures have now arrived here, and without question something unusual is about to happen.”

Ye Fan felt ashamed — there were many things he could not tell Ji Ziyue, yet she shared everything she knew with him, holding nothing back.

In the distant sky, an ancient golden war chariot rumbled across the heavens — its body covered with blade-cuts and arrow-holes, radiating a boundless air of age and great antiquity.