Within the Pure Land, petals drifted and fell, each one stained with blood, gleaming like crystal — like a rain of tears descending, an image of bittersweet beauty.

The Divine King in White sat in meditation beneath the tree, eyes closed, utterly still. His divine blood flowed freely, blooming into the most beautiful flowers in all the world, making every other sight pale by comparison.

This was an eternal picture — no matter how many years might pass, it would never fade. Those who witnessed it could never forget it; it was branded into their hearts forever.

The world grew very quiet. Only the sound of falling petals remained, glistening and bright as they drifted one by one through the air, the fragrance drifting out of the Pure Land and falling upon the Divine City.

Though many were crying out aloud, and the people of the Jiang Family were calling out in anguish, this whole heaven and earth nonetheless felt profoundly still — only this eternal image remaining before them.

This was the power of the Pure Land, which rendered heaven and earth peaceful and harmonious, so that all clamor and noise was purified, transformed into a part of the sublime and wondrous scene.

Within the Pure Land, Ye Fan could neither move nor speak — there was nothing he could do to stop any of it.

Six crystalline blood blossoms bloomed, one after another flying out from the Peerless Divine King’s chest — brilliant and radiant, like seven-colored phoenixes soaring gracefully, alighting upon Ye Fan’s body.

This was divine blood, capable of purifying every law in the world. Even a Peerless Divine King possessed only the tiniest trace of it. Once six blood blossoms had emerged, it was nearly exhausted.

The divine blood possessed the wondrous effect of defying Heaven. As the first blood blossom fell and seeped into the innate Dao diagram, Ye Fan’s body shuddered suddenly — as though a layer of bondage had been stripped away.

He wanted to cry out for the Divine King to stop, yet no sound came. His heart was consumed with urgency, and yet he could change nothing.

As the second divine blood blossom fell, the innate patterned lines were stained crimson, gleaming brilliantly, growing somehow different. The searing agony that had been about to shatter Ye Fan’s physical body abated sharply.

“Pop.” “Pop.” …

Six divine blood blossoms fell in succession, entering Ye Fan’s body, seeping into the innate Dao diagram, and in that moment he was able to move again. Both his body and his divine sense were nourished and restored.

“Senior, please stop at once!” Ye Fan shouted.

The Peerless Divine King sat motionless in meditation. A seventh divine blood blossom bloomed. He intended to use his divine blood to help Ye Fan wash away the curse, to purify the Great Dao and sever the karmic ties.

This was an act of self-immolation. Once the divine blood was exhausted, the Divine King would most likely cease to exist. This blood was the very root of his existence as a peerless powerful being. Perhaps in moments, he would enter parinirvana.

The innate patterned lines grew dim. The divine blood truly possessed incomparable wonders — capable of purifying all karmic ties and extinguishing the Great Dao’s lines.

Ye Fan stumbled and lurched forward, trying to approach the ancient verdant tree and reach the Divine King in White — but the Pure Land seemed to have no end. No matter how he ran, he could not get any closer.

“Senior, if you were to perish, what face would I have left to live with? I do not want you to pour out your lifeblood to douse the curse upon me!”

“Pop!”

The eighth divine blood blossom bloomed. The Divine King in White grew ever more serene, sitting in meditation beneath the divine tree. His entire being was suffused with a sacred, flowing radiance — like a divine being walking toward the final threshold of life.

The crystalline rain of petals fell upon him, making him appear transcendent and apart from the mortal world. Through his singular effort, he defied Heaven to reconnect the Holy Body’s severed path, using the blood of his own body to wash clean the innate Dao diagram.

“Pop!”

The ninth divine blood blossom bloomed. The innate Dao diagram was cut free, driven out from within Ye Fan’s body and suspended in midair. This was the power of divine blood — capable of severing karmic ties.

Through his own singular effort, the Peerless Divine King had forcibly severed the connection between the Dao diagram and Ye Fan. Yet in the end, he had not been able to destroy the patterned lines entirely. And now, his divine blood was utterly exhausted. He had possessed only nine blossoms in all.

The Pure Land shuddered. The Divine King seemed to turn to stone, immovable, without a trace of strength remaining.

“Ancestral Patriarch Divine King!” The people of the Jiang Family called out in grief. At last, their voices were able to reach inside.

The Pure Land was dimming. No longer could it render heaven and earth silent. The outside world had long since erupted into a clamor, and countless cultivators were in an uproar.

“The Divine King is going to enter parinirvana — the era of the Peerless One ends here.”

“How lamentable — one generation’s Divine King, whose spirit and bearing four thousand years ago were vigorous and magnificent, who looked down upon all the world, only to be sealed away in Purple Mountain at the height of his glory. Returning at last, he lost the one he loved, and now faces his own twilight years.”

“The Peerless Divine King looked down upon all under heaven. Though he could have reigned supreme in this world, half his life was spent in loneliness and bleakness. And now his curtain falls.”

…

There was not a single person unmoved. Everyone was speaking of it. Many were sighing. The life of the Divine King in White left them deeply sorrowful.

Ye Fan cried out aloud. At last, he pitched forward and collapsed before the Divine King Tree, prostrating himself before the Divine King, hot tears streaming from his eyes.

“Divine King, you cannot die…”

The Divine King slowly opened his eyes — yet they were dim, without light. He said: “Heaven and earth have not yet given their recognition. The curse is not yet broken. We are only one step short.”

“Divine King, please say no more — I have a Qilin Divine Medicine seed here. Please take it at once.” Although Ye Fan saw him open his eyes, his heart grew even more unsettled.

The moment the Qilin Divine Medicine appeared, an endless breath of life filled the air, filling the entire Pure Land with vibrant vitality.

“It is of no use.” The Divine King in White shook his head. Then he raised a hand and pointed — Ye Fan was once again immobilized, unable to move so much as an inch.

The Peerless Divine King began chanting the Great Dao’s doctrine aloud, the sound resonating throughout heaven and earth, suppressing all other sounds. Even the small golden creature in the distance, undergoing its tribulation, found some relief — the surging lightning all around was suppressed.

Everyone was astounded. The Peerless Divine King had exhausted all his divine blood — how could he still command such cultivation? His realm was truly beyond comprehension. As the Sovereign of the Dark Night had once said, he had absolutely surpassed the realm of the fully mature Divine King.

All the Great Dao’s divine sound converged toward a single point, enveloping the Dao diagram suspended in midair, seeking to grind it away and destroy it.

These sound waves had substance and form, like ripples of seven colors, clearly visible to the naked eye — magnificent and brilliant, possessing a divine quality beyond words.

Outside, every cultivator fell silent. They sensed something lofty and boundless. Many felt a peace settle over their hearts, as though within this divine sound of the Great Dao, they had suddenly gained a measure of insight.

“Heavens — this is… the Divine Prelude!”

At last, someone perceived the mystery, saw through to what kind of power this truly was, and could not suppress the cry that burst from them.

“How is this possible? The Divine Prelude — how many times has it ever sounded throughout all of history?!”

“This melody is not wholly tied to cultivation. It is a manifestation of one’s state of mind — it holds within it the understanding of the Dao, but more than that, the comprehension of every facet of the mortal world’s joys and sorrows.”

“It is said that the Divine Prelude is only its beginning stage. Should it fully evolve into a true Divine Melody, one would obtain a power approaching that of a divine being!”

No one was not shaken. No one could have anticipated that the Divine King in White was this breathtaking a talent — that he had attained the Divine Prelude.

Though it bore no direct relation to one’s cultivation level, being instead an elevation of one’s spiritual state, a cultivator’s greatest potential lies in their innermost heart. Perhaps one day, it might illuminate the world.

“Only through the sorrow and loneliness of the Divine King’s life could he have attained the Divine Prelude.”

People thought of the Divine King’s life — half of it spent in loneliness and bitter hardship, an entire existence steeped in bleakness. The one he loved had passed. He himself faced his twilight. He carried too many regrets.

“The Divine King has exhausted his divine blood and played out his divine movement. He has truly prepared to enter parinirvana here.”

People understood his meaning. They knew he could not linger in this world much longer. Perhaps it was only fitting — to bring his bleak and regret-filled life to an end here, that in itself might be a release.

“Divine King…!” Many among the Jiang Family wept openly.

Even cultivators from other factions were moved. Many found their noses stinging, their eyes prickling. How pitiable was the life of this Peerless Divine King — it was truly a life of sorrow and desolation.

The Divine Prelude seemed possessed of truly divine power, engulfing the Dao diagram suspended in midair. The seven-colored ripples pulsed and washed over it, causing it to dim steadily.

Petals drifted down, stained with blood, falling gently one by one. The Divine Prelude echoed through the Pure Land. Yet the Divine King’s life force was growing weaker and weaker with each passing moment — he was like a withered lantern, liable to be extinguished at any instant.

Ye Fan wanted to shout himself hoarse, but he still could not move a single inch. Hot tears poured from his eyes. This kindness was more than he could bear — it was too heavy, far too much.

“I do not want this!” he screamed within his heart, yet he could change nothing.

The Ancient Era’s curse was nearly impossible to undo. In over a hundred thousand years, not a single person had ever broken through into the Four Extremes Secret Realm. To shatter such shackles carried a price that was truly staggering.

The Divine King was sacrificing his life to reconnect the severed path for him — using divine blood to dissolve the Dao diagram, using the Divine Prelude to grind away the innate patterned lines, severing all karmic ties on his behalf. Yet this was the price of a life.

“Pop!”

Within the Pure Land, patch after patch of flowers and grass withered and died. Withered leaves swirled and tumbled, blanketing the ground. This small heaven and earth, once teeming with life, was approaching its end.

The Divine King could endure no longer. The Pure Land too could barely sustain its existence in the world — it was about to scatter and vanish, never to be again.

“Hoo!”

A gentle wind blew through the Pure Land. Withered leaves whirled chaotically. Flowers of every kind wilted. In an instant, all vitality was gone.

Looking around, there was only stillness and death. The chiming spirit springs had run dry. The fragrant flowers and grasses had withered and rotted. All was lifeless and cold.

The lush greenery and vibrant life were gone. The eye could see only desolation and decay. The Pure Land had become a dead land, no longer lit by any light — rapidly darkening, growing cold and bleak.

The only remaining point of light was at the center of the Pure Land, where the Divine King Tree alone had not yet fallen. Yet even it shed leaf after leaf of yellowed foliage, filled with the desolate sorrow of autumn.

This ancient tree was called the Divine King Tree, its life bound to that of the Peerless Divine King. If it too were to wither and die, it would mean that the Divine King’s own life had reached its final end.

The Divine Prelude lingered on, lending to the darkening Pure Land a faint, mournful quality. The Divine King Tree was nearly bare now, one withered leaf after another floating down and drifting away.

The Jiang Family called out in anguish. Many wept and cried out. Yet none could stop any of it.

The Dao diagram within the Pure Land gradually faded and was worn away, slowly vanishing, until at last it was gone entirely. The Holy Body’s curse had been broken. The Peerless Divine King, through his own singular effort, had defied Heaven and reconnected the severed path for him!

Yet the Divine King himself had lost all vitality. The light had faded from his eyes. He looked up at the ancient tree — not a single leaf remained upon it.

The Divine Prelude had originally been the means of opening the path toward the divine. Yet today it had not been played for the Divine King’s own sake — it had been given fully to Ye Fan, to help him break through his shackles.

The innate Dao diagram had vanished completely, lost forever. Heaven and earth had refused to accept — and the Divine King had defied Heaven and changed all of it.

“Divine King!” Ye Fan at last could move again. He rushed to his side, tears brimming in his eyes. He took out the seed of the Undying Divine Medicine, intending to have the Divine King take it — but he was unable to fulfill that wish.

The Divine King in White’s eyes, though dim, were unwavering and resolute. He slowly rose to his feet, still bearing that bearing that looked down upon all the world, his presence undimmed by even a fraction.

“I cannot die yet.” He had only these words to say. Step by step, he walked outward.

Ye Fan followed behind him. They emerged into the great world, standing side by side beneath the night sky.

“Whoosh!”

The Divine City erupted with noise. The clamor rose to the heavens.

After more than a hundred thousand years, the Ancient Holy Body had at last broken its curse. In the future, a fully mature Holy Body might once again appear in the world!

Every single person who looked at Ye Fan now wore a changed expression — especially the younger generation, who felt a formless, suffocating pressure bearing down upon them.

A constitution that had carried supreme renown before the Ancient Era — once grown to full maturity, it could contend with the Great Emperors of antiquity — had truly returned to the world. Even the supreme sect masters from the Central Continent felt their hearts unable to be still.

An endless killing intent surged outward, flooding toward Ye Fan like a vast ocean, boundless and all-encompassing, surrounding him on all sides.

In this moment, he truly understood what it meant to stand against the entire world.

Yet he felt not the slightest fear. His black hair billowed freely. His eyes were deep and fathomless. He stood in the void, sweeping his gaze in all four directions — utterly composed and tranquil.