The moment Ye Fan dove into the void, he heard Ji Haoyue’s shout, and his heart tightened — the Divine King Physique was truly keen, having sensed the slightest abnormality.

Separated by such a great distance, he had not deliberately suppressed his Holy Physique, and yet the other party had perceived something subtle. But none of that mattered anymore — he had already crossed the void and entered the eternal darkness.

“Halt!”

From somewhere among the distant mountain ranges, an aged voice suddenly rang out. This entire space hummed and trembled, and the Profound Jade Platform they had left behind failed to self-destruct — everything had been frozen in place.

Xia Jiuyou, clad in white robes untouched by the mundane world, with nine streams of dragon energy flowing beneath her feet, was the first to charge onto the Profound Jade Platform and vanished in an instant. Two gray-robed old men followed close behind.

Ji Haoyue, the Divine King Physique, stood with dignified bearing, a divine moon hovering above his head — luminous as a deity — and flashed out of sight, successfully crossing the void as well.

Duan De, in flowing violet robes, still wearing Ye Fan’s appearance, grabbed hold of this lifeline like a drowning man clinging to straw. He transformed into a wisp of black smoke and shot upward, disappearing without a trace.

“Chase!”

“Don’t let him escape!”

Those in the rear all shouted and surged forward, beginning to cross the void.

The hapless, slow-witted Daoren had not even managed to pick himself up before he was kicked seven or eight times and stomped on until he was grimacing in pain. He too launched himself forward in pursuit.

Two thousand li away, the void dimmed, and after a twisting distortion, a rift appeared — Ye Fan and Tu Fei burst through it.

“Something’s wrong — someone’s pursuing us from behind!” Ye Fan’s heart lurched.

The void rift was rippling violently; clearly, quite a few people had crossed through.

“Move quickly. Someone hidden in the shadows has frozen the Profound Jade Platform,” the Black Emperor said.

Even so, neither of them felt particularly afraid, for they had prepared well — on a mountain peak ahead, they had already inscribed a far more intricate series of interlocking Dao patterns.

Ye Fan and Tu Fei flew swiftly to the mountain ranges ahead, ascended the vast divine platform there, and readied themselves to cross the void once more.

Boom!

Not far away, the void was torn open and a crowd of people burst through — Xia Jiuyou, Ji Haoyue, Xiang Yifei the successor of the Great Yan Holy Land, a young female Daoist from the Dao Yi Holy Land, the successor of the Purple Mansion Holy Land…

Of course, there was also Daoist Duan De — he had been beaten out. Even amid the darkness of the void, he had been fighting for his life, with a pack of people hot on his heels, chasing him down.

Most alarming of all was that a group of old men had also successfully crossed through, locking onto Duan De while simultaneously fixing their eyes on Ye Fan’s side.

“Seal!” The aged voice resounded across heaven and earth.

“Go!” Ye Fan activated the interlocking Dao patterns and crossed the void once more.

Someone attempted to stop them from crossing, but the Dao patterns carved by the Black Emperor were remarkably unusual — they were unaffected.

In the darkness, Ye Fan said with surprise, “There are dangerous figures who’ve locked onto us. Black Emperor, will the Dao patterns you carved hold up?”

“Don’t worry about powerful men giving chase — escaping is absolutely no problem. And if he’s not strong enough, I’ll leave him half-dead,” the great black dog replied with complete confidence, transmitting its voice from within his sleeve.

Hum!

The void trembled, and they appeared five thousand li away, landing atop a jade platform.

This was a Dao pattern platform capable of void traversal in both directions. The Black Emperor grinned slyly, like a cunning wolf. “Destroy the jade platform here — cut them off in the void.”

“This damned dog is truly vicious…” Tu Fei started with alarm, then broke into a laugh as well.

Without a word, Ye Fan shattered the jade platform with a single palm strike, then stepped forward onto another formation pattern, preparing to cross the void once more.

Boom!

Behind them, the instant the jade platform was destroyed, the void itself was pierced open — a crowd of people came tumbling out, and quite a few of them instantly dissolved into bloody mist.

Of course, far more were simply left in a wretched state, for a dozen or so old men had propped open the void with terrifying weapons, preventing catastrophic casualties.

“Stop fighting — this poor Daoist admits defeat! I am not that bastard Ye Fan!” came Duan De’s anguished cry from within the crowd. Even with his formidable strength, he could not hold out against being ganged up on by so many, and with a pack of old men watching him like wolves, he dared not fight with everything he had.

Flash!

Light flickered, and Ye Fan and the others vanished swiftly, crossing the void once again.

“Black Emperor, your interlocking Dao patterns aren’t holding up — they’ve chased us down again. Just now, only a few dozen were killed,” Ye Fan said, sensing that things were not looking good.

“Don’t panic. The interlocking Dao patterns require more than a dozen relay points — they’ll have plenty to deal with ahead!” The Black Emperor remained calm.

Hum!

The void shuddered faintly, and they burst out to find the outside shrouded in black mist so thick that one could not see one’s hand before one’s face — a killing aura hung dense and cold.

Tu Fei cried out in alarm, “What place have we come to?”

“This, in the sequence of Dao patterns, is — the Nether Killing Field. Those who stumble in by mistake will have quite a time of it!” the Black Emperor said with a cold laugh.

Only now did Ye Fan understand why the Black Emperor had been half-dead with exhaustion after carving these Dao patterns — it had truly put in real effort. To unknowingly blunder into this place would absolutely mean death.

Led by the Black Emperor, they quickly found their way out and appeared on a jade platform not far away, with killing intent seething behind them.

The void split open. The instant the pursuers burst out, killing intent soared to the heavens — swords of nether darkness launched themselves in every direction, each as thick as a water barrel, capable of shattering anything.

Thud. Thud…

Blood splattered, cries of agony rang out — many were pierced through and died on the spot. It was nothing short of a massacre.

When Tu Fei looked at the Black Emperor, his expression shifted to something peculiar. He felt that this damned dog was genuinely extraordinary — and genuinely terrifying.

Boom!

Suddenly, the Nether Killing Field shattered all at once, pounded into fine powder by a great bronze bell.

“Damn it — there’s a truly formidable one in there. Could it actually be that a Holy Lord has arrived?” Ye Fan’s heart seized with alarm. He crossed the void once more and fled.

Between heaven and earth, black wind cut like blades, fog drifted in wisps, and rocks tossed into it crumbled to powder at the slightest contact — a soft, yielding power circulated through everything.

“In this region, I have carved the Supreme Yin Dao Patterns,” the Black Emperor said, leading the way ahead. “The Supreme Yin Tempest Wind blows through here — flesh and blood will instantly be turned to pulp. You two be careful. Do not take a single wrong step, or you’ll be dissolved into a puddle of bloody pus.”

“This damned dog truly has a talent for this — how could it carve something so vicious…” Tu Fei’s heart was hammering in his chest.

They had barely made it out when the void behind them cracked open again — that group had once more managed to freeze the platform and come in pursuit. They were nearly impossible to shake off.

“Ahhh…”

Screams of utter despair rang out one after another.

This region was dim and dark. When the Supreme Yin Tempest Wind blew through, many were reduced to flesh and bone dissolved into mud — they could not resist it at all. Even powerful weapons were reduced to powder in an instant.

Boom!

Suddenly, a great golden hand materialized in the air and came crashing down with a strike that split the heavens and split the earth, dispersing the Supreme Yin Tempest Wind and using absolute force to obliterate the Black Emperor’s Dao patterns.

“Good grief, that’s brutal — bare-handed shattering of the Supreme Yin Dao Patterns. This person is absolutely terrifying!” The Black Emperor was given a tremendous fright.

Ye Fan and the others fled at the first opportunity, but they still could not shake their pursuer — the Profound Jade Platform would always be frozen and rendered unable to self-destruct.

After crossing the void seven or eight times in succession, that great golden hand still could not be shaken off — like a dreadful nightmare, it clung to them without relenting.

On the ninth crossing, they emerged in an ancient battlefield. Crimson fires blazed here, yin energy surged to the sky, and countless white skeletal remains hung suspended in the air — an utterly eerie scene.

“Damn it all — I refuse to believe my Dao patterns can’t stop them!” the Black Emperor snapped, losing its composure. Its painstakingly carved killing fields had been destroyed one by one, and it was beginning to grasp the severity of the situation.

“What kind of formation pattern is this?” Ye Fan asked.

“This is an ancient killing field — the Lost Sea. Powerful ones will sink into it, unable to extricate themselves, and terrifying killing intent will emerge to destroy them.”

After Ye Fan and the others walked out of the ancient killing field — the Lost Sea — the pursuing forces crossed the void and appeared behind them once again.

Duan De screamed, “Stop hunting me down! You should all be able to tell by now — I’m not the Desolate Holy Physique. I have absolutely nothing to do with that bastard Ye Fan!”

Ji Haoyue, Xia Jiuyou, the young female Daoist of the Dao Yi Holy Land, and many of the senior figures had long since seen through the disguise — he was absolutely not Ye Fan.

But the others continued to attack him relentlessly. Even some Holy Sons were coldly laughing, pressing him to reveal his identity. “Who exactly are you?”

Within the ancient killing field — the Lost Sea — killing intent erupted in all directions, and many fell into its trap. Xia Jiuyou and Ji Haoyue fell into open battle, while Duan De was reluctantly drawn into a life-or-death struggle with a cantankerous old man.

Ye Fan and the others stood on the jade platform, ready to cross the void. The Black Emperor said with a cold laugh, “Dao patterns carved by this Emperor — how could they possibly be useless…”

Dong!

But before it could finish, the great golden hand appeared once more, smashing apart the ancient battlefield and dissolving the Lost Sea.

Tu Fei’s complexion changed instantly. “I know now — this is the Peng King’s avatar. We must go quickly. The Peng King’s true form could arrive at any moment.”

Ye Fan’s color changed on the spot as well. He had taken the young golden-winged Peng King prisoner, and the Peng King had been scouring the world in search of him — the arrival of an avatar was hardly surprising.

“Move, now!”

The Peng King was a demon sovereign that even the great Holy Lords had to be wary of — unfathomably powerful, possessed of supreme speed under heaven, and the most difficult foe to tangle with.

“Don’t worry. After passing through three more Dao pattern killing fields, we’ll reach the ultimate Dao pattern ground I’ve carved,” the Black Emperor said.

Behind them, the pursuing forces had already thinned considerably — many had been killed off along the way by the Black Emperor’s Dao patterns, eliminating people without a drop of blood in sight.

After passing through three more killing fields, they finally arrived at the ultimate formation ground the Black Emperor had spoken of and charged up onto the jade platform.

“Alright — we are absolutely safe now!” the Black Emperor declared.

Light flashed, and they vanished.

In the darkness, Ye Fan asked, “Are you certain we’re safe? This should be the last Dao pattern. If we still can’t shake them, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

“Rest easy. Once we leave, the Dao patterns will close and evolve anew — only we can cross the void from there. It will become a death trap for any who remain.”

And indeed, that proved to be the case. After they departed, light flashed at the original location, the Dao patterns reformed and transformed completely.

Between heaven and earth, baleful winds howled with fury, sword energy arced like a rainbow — the place had become an absolute killing ground. A pity they could no longer witness it with their own eyes.

The ultimate Dao patterns carried them fifty thousand li across the void in a single crossing, taking them completely out of Chaotic Cloud Province and depositing them in the middle of a vast desert.

“What is this place?”

The golden desert stretched for tens of thousands of li with no sign of human habitation. Ye Fan, Tu Fei, and the Black Emperor flew for half a day and still could not find the edge.

In the end, the Black Emperor carved Dao patterns to attempt another void crossing — but they still could not escape this boundless, endless desert.

“What in the world — we’ve shaken that crowd, but just where in damnation have we ended up?”

The Black Emperor had crossed the void while carving these Dao patterns, but had never personally been to this place. In their first dozen or so relay crossings they had covered sixty thousand li, and in the final one another fifty thousand — more than a hundred thousand li altogether. They had no idea where they had ended up.

“Let me think…” Tu Fei pondered briefly, then his expression shifted abruptly. “A region a hundred thousand li from Chaotic Cloud Province — that should be the notorious… Divine Desert!”

“What kind of place is that?!” Ye Fan’s sense of unease deepened.

“It is a wretched place. Many cultivators who enter become lost within it and never find their way out for the rest of their lives,” Tu Fei said.

“That can’t be right…” Ye Fan furrowed his brow. This was decidedly not good news.

Tu Fei’s expression grew heavy. “According to ancient records, some may find their way out in half a month, while others wander until their lifespan runs dry and still cannot leave. This Divine Desert is perversely bewitching.”

The Black Emperor looked as though it had swallowed bitter herbs — the corners of its mouth twitched as it cursed, “Damn it all, so this is the place. Back in the day, this thing trapped me here for over a hundred years. I’ll be… #$@%#…”

“How did you end up trapped here for over a hundred years?” Ye Fan asked in astonishment.

The great black dog’s face went sour and black. “Back then, searching for a certain formidable one’s cultivation grounds, I blundered into the Divine Desert. Over a hundred years — it nearly bored me to death!”

One could enter from the outside through void traversal, but trying to leave via void traversal was largely useless — such was the perversity of the Divine Desert.

Ye Fan sensed the gravity of the situation. This Divine Desert was no ordinary place — it had once trapped even the Black Emperor at the height of its power for over a hundred years.

“Perhaps our luck is good and we’ll be out of here in a couple of weeks,” Tu Fei offered, making an optimistic conjecture.

“Let us hope so.” Ye Fan nodded.

And so they traveled through the Divine Desert, losing their way day after day with no path out in sight.

Six days later, Ye Fan and the others began to feel uneasy — there was still no sign of finding an exit.

The vast desert stretched as far as the eye could see. At midday it blazed like a furnace; at deep night it chilled to the bone — the temperature swings were extreme.

On the seventh day, right at noon with the sun beating down mercilessly, Ye Fan gazed into the distance and his heart suddenly gave a jolt. “There are structures ahead!”

In the great golden desert, with the sun blazing like fire, at the very edge of what lay ahead, a not particularly tall structure wavered into view — appearing and disappearing like a mirage.

In this vast, desolate wasteland capable of trapping cultivators, the sight of a structure naturally startled them. They flew toward it at once.

It turned out to be a Daoist shrine — not at all grand, remarkably small in scale, less spacious than the stone dwelling of even a poor household.

Though ancient, it was still largely intact, having been swallowed by sand until more than half was buried, with less than the height of a person remaining above the surface.

Ye Fan swept his wide sleeve, scattering the golden sand and revealing the ancient little shrine in its entirety.

It had been built from the most common rock of the Northern Region, ground smooth and mortared together. Though many years had passed, the stone Daoist shrine had not collapsed — it still stood.

“Why would there be a stone Daoist shrine like this here?” Tu Fei marveled.

Ye Fan stepped forward and walked directly into the shrine, which had no gate. He looked up and around — and his expression froze.

On the walls, he saw a familiar script — the writing of the world on the other end of the starry sky.

It was the Bronze Vessel Script from ancient China’s pre-Qin period!

Pre-Qin ancient script was entirely different from the writing of this world. Ye Fan recognized it in an instant, and a surging, mountainous shock crashed through him — his heart began to pound fiercely.

“Bronze Vessel Script from the pre-Qin period…” He was utterly astonished.

Since arriving in this world, Ye Fan had learned a great deal and had tried to find connections between this world and the world on the other end of the starry sky — yet he had never found a single clue in any ancient text.

To unexpectedly find pre-Qin ancient script here today — the magnitude of his shock could well be imagined.

“Someone from the pre-Qin period had already come from the other end of the starry sky to this world!” Ye Fan arrived at this conclusion.

His heart surged with indescribable excitement. The two worlds were not isolated from each other — ancient people had come before him. Perhaps through this, he could find the path back.

“What are you muttering about? What kind of bizarre script is this? I can’t recognize a single character,” the Black Emperor said, a puzzled look on its face.

“Let me see what it says…” Ye Fan gazed upon these ancient Bronze Vessel Script inscriptions with his heart overflowing with excitement.