The phenomenon of the Rising Moon Over the Sea was an anomalous manifestation belonging to a supremely powerful figure of ancient times. Its might was beyond measure. On that day, Ji Haoyue had used this rare phenomenon to obliterate countless great demon beasts, sweeping through all opposition, with none capable of standing against him.

Yet now, he was using this world-rare manifestation against an obscure and unknown youth — something that left the surrounding geniuses and heroes unable to hide their astonishment.

Ye Fan was genuinely startled. The difference in their reputations was as vast as heaven and earth, yet Ji Haoyue — revered as the Sacred Physique — had made a move against him. This surpassed Ye Fan’s expectations, as well as everyone else’s.

Though Ye Fan possessed the Holy Physique, with a golden Bitter Sea of extraordinary and incomparable nature, he was unable to manifest it outwardly — it could only surface within his body.

Ye Fan did not believe the golden Bitter Sea was a phenomenon at all. He felt it was merely a kind of primordial power, and that cultivating it into a true phenomenon would still require time.

At this moment, his most powerful attack might be to draw out the Primal Mother Qi of All Things, yet he could not truly control it.

All of this unfolded in the span of a single spark.

The moonlight flowed like water, arriving in an instant, halting right before Ye Fan but not descending. Ji Haoyue stood like a deity, nine halos of light swirling above his head like a divine king’s crown, gazing at Ye Fan with an extraordinarily sharp expression.

Beside him, Ji Ziyue let out a long breath and called out: “Haoyue Brother, what are you doing?! Stop quickly! You’ve cultivated three Secret Realms, while he is merely a cultivator of the Wheel-Sea Secret Realm. Why would you use a phenomenon to test him?”

The others suddenly understood, having mistakenly assumed Ji Haoyue truly intended to strike down this obscure youth with the Rising Moon Over the Sea.

Hua Yunfei stepped forward and said: “Brother Haoyue, quickly withdraw the phenomenon. As one bearing the Sacred Physique, there is no need to use this to pressure Little Brother Ye.”

“Do you truly think I am merely testing him?” Ji Haoyue did not turn around, fixing an unblinking gaze on Ye Fan, his expression growing grave. “I am indeed using the phenomenon to suppress him, yet I have been obstructed. The moonlight has not descended.”

“What?!”

Behind him, everyone’s expressions changed. How could this be? Many thought at once that Ji Haoyue was joking.

But what Ji Haoyue said was true. At such close range, the moment he first laid eyes on Ye Fan, a peculiar feeling had surged within him. His Sacred Physique had begun to glow involuntarily, which he found deeply strange.

Either the other party carried some supreme treasure that was drawing his reaction, or the other party’s physique was extraordinarily special — triggering a unique resonance within his own Sacred Physique.

Hua Yunfei ceased his attempts to intervene. His entire bearing became one of serene stillness, his blue robes flowing gently around him as though he had entered a state of deep meditation, clearly sensing something with careful attention.

The Holy Maiden of Yao Guang — the most outstanding female disciple of the Yao Guang Sacred Ground — was radiant as a luminous pearl. Her skin was translucent and crystalline, a soft brilliance swirling about her person. Her immortal figure stood gracefully upright, like a divine lotus in full bloom. Her entire bearing was ethereal and otherworldly, her unparalleled countenance serenely calm. She too closed her beautiful eyes and focused intently on sensing the situation.

Above Ji Haoyue’s head, the bright moon turned gently, and a sweep of lunar radiance flowed downward like rippling water, surging toward Ye Fan.

Yet, just as before, the flowing moonlight halted before Ye Fan and did not descend, as though obstructed by some invisible force.

The lunar disc trembled. It was as though vast sheets of pure white feathers were scattering down — each crystalline fragment shimmering — and faint clanging sounds rang out from within.

Still it was the same. The white moonlight was held in place, unable to press downward, locked before him by an invisible force.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The bright moon trembled again. Moon-blades shot out like rays of light. On that day, the demon clan’s various magical treasures had crumbled before these blades, ground to dust without exception. Now Ji Haoyue struck directly with this power.

“Brother…” Ji Ziyue cried out in alarm, but found herself rooted to the spot, unable to intervene.

Hua Yunfei’s expression shifted. Having once battled Ji Haoyue at length, he knew well the might of those blades. Yet what unfolded before them left everyone dumbstruck. The moon-blades moved like lightning — and yet, impossibly, did not strike through. Though they pressed downward and drew close to Ye Fan, they were halted all the same.

By now, shock was written across every face. How could an obscure and insignificant cultivator possibly withstand a Sacred Physique’s attack?

Why was this happening? Every gaze converged on Ye Fan, each face bearing an expression of astonishment and incomprehension.

All present understood that this was not because the Rising Moon Over the Sea phenomenon was falsely reputed — it was a creation of a supremely powerful ancient figure, of extraordinary might. Even powerful cultivators of an older generation would struggle to withstand its edge, and could be ground to dust with ease.

On that day, many great demon beasts — including those ancient old crones — had been utterly powerless before the Rising Moon Over the Sea, slain and shattered with ease. It could rend mountains and strike down the earth with equal facility. This phenomenon was among the most terrifying in existence.

Yet the scene unfolding now was something else entirely — something that left people profoundly astonished.

My instincts were correct from the very first moment I saw him… there was something wrong… Ji Haoyue murmured within his heart.

Clang!

The bright moon above Ji Haoyue’s head trembled and began to rotate slowly. Behind him, a jade-green sea surged violently, its towering waves rolling toward Ye Fan.

At this moment, Ye Fan’s inner state was peculiar. The golden Bitter Sea within his body was swelling and surging, purple lightning interweaving within it — straining to break free — yet he could not manage it, for he did not know how to guide it.

Even so, a nameless power seeped outward from him, blocking the other party’s phenomenon. Only Ye Fan himself truly understood what was happening.

This was the Desolate Holy Physique confronting the Eastern Desolation Sacred Physique!

The jade-blue ocean surged close — capable of uprooting mountains and splitting the earth, capable of immobilizing all things, capable of trapping even a cultivator with three cultivated Secret Realms like a fly caught in mud, unable to stir.

Yet the jade sea did not immobilize Ye Fan. Instead, it was itself held in place before him. The terrifying waves crashed down and the fearsome tide was stilled — in an instant, the wind fell and the waves calmed.

In that very moment, the bright moon began to sink slowly downward. This was the ultimate trump card of the Rising Moon Over the Sea phenomenon.

Legend held that the bright moon could move mountains and fill seas, rend the heavens, and shatter the earth — that it could easily slay a cultivator who stood a full Secret Realm above oneself, possessing an incomparable and awe-inspiring might.

The Wheel-Sea Secret Realm had four stages; the Dao Palace Secret Realm had five. One could well imagine just how terrifying this phenomenon was — capable of crossing four or five stages to slay cultivators of far greater cultivation. Truly, it deserved to be called a world-rare phenomenon.

It was said that the Rising Moon Over the Sea phenomenon would never reach its ceiling, never reach its end. So long as a cultivator advanced in their cultivation, this phenomenon would continue to sublimate — the more advanced the stage, the more terrifying it would become.

The bright moon sank slowly, radiant as jade, its brilliance soft and gentle — like fragments of shattered crystal scattering down, or like seven-colored glazed light refracting its luminance.

Crystalline light filled the sky. Boundless brilliance cascaded down in swirls, like translucent jade blossoms falling, casting this place in five colors of radiance, with auspicious light bursting forth in waves.

Ye Fan’s body ached deeply. Even his precious physique struggled to bear it. He felt as though he might be shattered to dust. Boundless radiance poured over him, nailing him to the spot, unable to move a single inch.

The bright moon pressed down slowly yet powerfully — seeking to rend his body, shatter his soul, and obliterate his spiritual consciousness.

His heart was unwilling. His Holy Physique was yet uncompleted. To resist the Sacred Physique of someone who had cultivated three Secret Realms was naturally an overwhelming task. This was entirely a question of cultivation — it had nothing to do with the phenomenon itself.

Now, the lunar radiance enveloped Ye Fan completely. The bright moon hung directly above him. It seemed that a single tremor would be enough to shatter his physical form.

Boom!

Within Ye Fan’s body, a vast ocean surged to the heavens as lightning intertwined — and at last, a peculiar energy erupted outward, blocking the terrifying suppression and slowly grinding away the lunar radiance surrounding his body.

At the same time, it pushed the bright moon slowly upward, forcing it to rise.

Everyone present was stunned. The Rising Moon Over the Sea phenomenon had been withstood. This was utterly astounding.

Only Ye Fan himself quietly lamented his situation. He was barely holding on — he had only just managed to block the bright moon.

“My bright moon can complete nine rotations. This is merely the first. There are still eight more. Come and try.” Above Ji Haoyue’s head, one halo blazed with brilliant radiance, while eight more halos flickered in and out of visibility, connecting together like a crown — as though a divine king had descended into the mortal world.

In truth, with the emergence of the Sacred Physique, he was indeed like the descent of a divine king upon the Eastern Desolation. Once fully realized, he would be invincible, without rival — truly deserving of the title Eastern Desolation Divine King.

“Haoyue Brother, you cannot do this! He is merely at the Divine Bridge stage, while you have already cultivated three Secret Realms. Of course he cannot hold you off!” Ji Ziyue called out loudly.

“I have only drawn upon a fraction of my sacred power. Very well — I will continue the suppression, but only at the strength of the Wheel-Sea Secret Realm.”

Ye Fan immediately felt the pressure ease. But as the bright moon continued to rotate, he felt as though one great mountain after another was descending upon him. His body cracked and groaned as though it might fracture at any moment.

Nine rotations of the bright moon. Radiance burst in all directions. Auspicious clouds of light swirled around them. Ye Fan’s entire body felt on the verge of rupture.

Then, suddenly, a blinding brilliance erupted from within his Wheel-Sea — like a golden sun blazing forth — causing the bright moon above to dim and grow dark.

Dong!

The silver bright moon shot straight up, flying backward to crash into the mountain peak not far away.

“What kind of physique is this, to have withstood the Rising Moon Over the Sea phenomenon…”

“How is this possible?!”

None present would have doubted the terrifying power of the Rising Moon Over the Sea. The flying moon quickly proved its horror — after crashing into the mountain peak, silver radiance cascaded out like rippling water, and without a sound, the entire peak was reduced to dust.

This caused many to go completely pale. The Sacred Physique had deployed the Rising Moon Over the Sea phenomenon, and an obscure, insignificant cultivator had withstood it. This was nothing short of a tale from beyond the heavens.

However, at this very moment, Ye Fan was also sent flying backward — crashing into a cliff face several hundred meters away before finally coming to a stop.

He had not been injured. He had merely been sent hurtling away by an enormous force.

On the grassy meadow, those assembled geniuses and heroes could not calm themselves.

“Why did this happen? He displayed no phenomenon of his own. How could he possibly withstand the Rising Moon Over the Sea?”

“Could he also be a Sacred Physique? Legend says that only a Sacred Physique can directly receive the assault of a phenomenon…”

At this moment, Li Xiaoman was the most shaken of all. Only she understood within her heart that Ye Fan possessed the Desolate Holy Physique — and it had clearly been cultivated to a degree where it could contend with a Sacred Physique.

An even match.

Many present gave it that assessment.

Ji Haoyue had deployed the rotating moon at the strength of the Wheel-Sea Secret Realm to suppress Ye Fan — and the result was that the moon had shot up into the sky, while Ye Fan was similarly sent flying.

Standing even with the Eastern Desolation Sacred Physique — this was something utterly beyond imagination. It was enough to drive people to the edge of madness.

What kind of terrifying physique did this obscure cultivator possess? Many eyes now fixed themselves upon him.

Ji Haoyue’s star was at its zenith. Yet a youth had met his phenomenon with bare flesh and blood — and all present could sense Ye Fan’s potential. If properly cultivated, who was to say he could not one day stand against a Sacred Physique?

To many of those present, he was nothing less than a divine seedling — looking no older than around fourteen — and well worth nurturing.

“Truly unbelievable. This deserves to be called a miracle.”

“Beyond all reason — to have withstood the Sacred Physique’s Rising Moon Over the Sea phenomenon…”

The assembled cultivators stared at Ye Fan as though gazing upon a priceless treasure, making him feel somewhat uneasy. His head began to ache. This was very far from ideal.

Hua Yunfei’s expression remained tranquil. He plucked at his qin strings, and at once a distant, immortal melody rang out — flowing like a clear, gentle stream — gradually soothing everyone’s agitated spirits, as they took their seats one by one.

Li Xiaoman’s expression was complex. She cast a glance in this direction before her face resumed its calm.

Ji Ziyue sat beside Ye Fan and did not take a seat beside Ji Haoyue. Though the Eastern Desolation Sacred Physique furrowed his brow at this, he said nothing more about it.

The Holy Maiden of Yao Guang, radiant as a luminous pearl with crystalline skin, looked as though a celestial immortal had strayed by mistake into the mortal world. She was seated one table away from Ye Fan. She gave a gentle nod toward him, conveying a thread of goodwill.