The ancient city was utterly silent. Even the chirp of night insects could not be heard — especially in the latter half of the night, when not even a breath of wind stirred, sealed like a stone chamber shut from all sides.
Without a sound, vast black clouds appeared, dark as ink, blotting out the sky. Stars and moon vanished, and the earth sank into darkness — more deathly still than before.
Deep in the night, the black clouds pressed low like an overturned iron cauldron, bearing down with a suffocating weight. A great downpour seemed ready to fall at any moment.
Black mist churned and spread in all directions. Several silhouettes, like ghosts, stepped with mysterious footwork and slipped into the darkened courtyard — not a single sound.
At last, someone had been unable to resist making a move. Ye Fan and the others locked their gazes onto these ghost-like shadows, but their minds were not fixed on them — they were staring intently into the void.
The powerful cultivators of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty had merged with the void and were drawing near. Ye Fan saw through them with his divine eyes and relayed their positions to the others.
No killing intent, no breath of life — only black clouds pressing down, heavy and oppressive.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning descended from the black clouds above, illuminating the entire ancient city in a flash, shattering the present stillness.
Swords sang, shaking the heavens. Killing intent suddenly erupted, and an icy sword energy, a bone-piercing murderous will, swept across the entire deep courtyard in an instant.
Boom!
In that moment, murderous intent surged like the sea, rolling across ten directions. Swaths of buildings shattered and crumbled to powder — beneath that terrifying, formless killing will, nothing could be preserved. All ceased to exist.
Sword energy soared to the heavens, sword radiance split the sky. The blazing brilliance merged with the black clouds above, and this deep palace courtyard was no more — it had been ground to ruin.
Splat!
A flash of blood erupted. Ye Fan swung the Yin-Yang Sacred Sword and cleaved a ghost-like figure in two. Blood surged upward, scattering a vast shower of red.
Bang!
He reversed his sword in a backhanded swing toward the void — bang — and crushed a killer from the ancient dynasty who had merged with it, pounding the man into a pulp of flesh and blood.
The heavy sword struck like a war hammer. With his immense strength, he slew that powerful killer who had fancied himself well hidden and had drawn close — bones shattered, sinews snapped.
On the other side, Wu Zhongtian and the rest had also made their move. Sword radiance soared to the heavens, bursts of blood glinted in the dark, dazzling sword energy surged back and forth, releasing sounds like thunder and gale.
This place had become a killing field, its murderous intent like thousands upon thousands of active volcanoes erupting all at once — terrifying fluctuations everywhere, as more and more assailants charged out of the darkness.
Yet even as Ye Fan and the others engaged these ghost-like cultivators, they remained vigilant against the assassins lurking in the void — those were the ones capable of truly lethal strikes.
Splat!
Ye Fan began a great slaughter, cutting down several powerful foes in quick succession. Then his sword tip flicked upward again, cleaving into the void — severing a blood-drenched head. The man died with his eyes wide open, unreconciled.
Splat… splat…
Wu Zhongtian, Li Heishui, Jiang Huairen, and the rest made their moves one after another — almost simultaneously thrusting through the void, each pinning a figure to a sword before that figure burst apart.
“Kill!”
The people of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty realized that even their supreme concealment arts had failed to deceive their targets — they had been exposed from the start.
Moreover, the other party had exploited their concealment — the fact that they dared not make large movements — and launched their killing strikes. Nearly every one of them had slain a powerful cultivator; the deaths were extraordinarily unjust.
“Since you all played the coward, this emperor will turn you into actual cowering wretches!” The Great Black Dog howled and roared, its great paw also shattering a powerful expert from the Mortal World.
Boom!
Terrifying killing intent surged madly. All the people of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty launched their assault at once, joining forces with those ghost-like figures from the front to cut down Ye Fan and the others.
It was a raging tide — decimating and devastating. The formless killing will shaved the earth down several zhang deep, shattering and annihilating everything, with nothing able to withstand it.
The great life-and-death struggle began. The people of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty deployed their great arts of killing, and Liu Kou and the others nearly suffered disaster. Had it not been for the Great Black Dog’s warning, they would have come to serious grief.
These people’s killing arts were inexhaustible and endlessly varied. What they cultivated was the great Dao of killing — proving the Dao through slaughter — far better suited to combat than ordinary cultivators.
Thud!
Wu Zhongtian went berserk, smashing an assassin to pieces with his bare hands. Bone fragments sprayed in all directions, blood splattered everywhere. In days past, he had been summoned out by Tu Fei and the others to confront the Holy Son Yao Guang — which gave some measure of how formidable his strength truly was.
On the other side, Jiang Huairen, Li Heishui, and the rest went all-out as well, locked in fierce combat with the members of the assassin divine dynasty. Blossoms of blood continued to bloom.
Every single person felt the danger. The Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty still had powerful seed-killers lurking in hiding — their true strike had not yet come.
Boom!
Terrifying danger descended. More than a dozen cultivators of the Dragon-Hidden Secret Realm appeared, their divine might awe-inspiring. They struck simultaneously, slapping toward Ye Fan — intent on beating him alive into a paste of flesh.
Flash!
Ye Fan moved like a spirit ape, leaping into the void and deploying the Escape character secret. He left behind several phantom images, then shot upward like a hawk striking the vast sky, suddenly launching himself toward the firmament.
Splat!
The Yin-Yang Sacred Sword in his hand slashed diagonally, cleaving a powerful cultivator of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty vertically in two. The two halves of the body sprayed blood, dyeing the sky crimson as they fell.
“Kill!”
More than a dozen cultivators of the Dragon-Hidden Secret Realm locked onto him and gave chase into the high sky. Their intent was clear — destroy him and seize the cauldron. This was a squad of powerful cultivators united in purpose.
Thud!
Their combined might was immense. They shattered the night sky, turning a patch of void into a black hole. Each of the dozen-odd individuals was supremely powerful — Ye Fan could only avoid the sharpest of their attacks.
“Kill!”
The people lurking in the shadows, seeing Ye Fan being hunted, could no longer restrain themselves. More and more charged out, surging into this region. In the deep of night, killing cries shook the heavens, turning the desolate ancient city into a scene of dread.
Silhouettes flitted everywhere as numerous powerful cultivators launched their assault, very nearly trapping Ye Fan. Had it not been for the Escape character secret, he could not possibly have broken free.
“Little Ye, it’s time to activate the Wushi killing formation!” Li Heishui sent a voice transmission.
“Wait — we must wait longer. You all fall back first!” Ye Fan replied through gritted teeth. The one he truly wanted to kill had still not appeared and was yet watching from the sidelines.
“You’ll be in danger if this goes on much longer.” Wu Zhongtian also sent a voice transmission. They had long since been drawn into fierce battle — nearly surrounded.
In the deep of that night, no one could say how many cultivators had arrived. This region had erupted into chaos — flashes of blades everywhere, treasured artifacts flying thick through the air, sword radiance rending the heavens, cold light stabbing the eyes, a scene of dazzling brilliance.
This region was on the verge of being swept clean — it had nearly reached a boiling point!
Boom!
Jiang Yichen’s great-uncle Jiang Huai’an appeared, bringing over a dozen people in a silent approach. He struck without warning, thundering toward Ye Fan, nearly scattering the overcast clouds that filled the sky.
Ye Fan leaped, his body arching like a dragon, shooting through in a single burst — speed pushed to its absolute limit, evading the blow.
Flash!
Ye Fan had nearly been encircled. Quite a few cultivators had surrounded him. Suddenly, a sword radiance surged upward, very nearly cleaving Ye Fan in two, leaving a bloody gash on his body!
Clang!
At the same time, Ye Fan swung the Yin-Yang Sacred Sword and caught a blood-red sword’s blow, sending a long shower of blinding sparks cascading forth, the murderous intent piercing through to the bone.
The truly powerful killers of the Mortal World and the Underworld had now emerged!
In this moment, the most fearsome ones were none other than the seed-cultivators of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasties — they had become kings of the darkness, seizing absolute initiative within the chaos of battle.
“Don’t worry about me — fall back, quickly!” Ye Fan shouted aloud, urging Jiang Huairen and the others to withdraw first.
Boom!
The gates of the Underworld seemed to swing open. The boundless killing will surged like a raging torrent, as several powerful old cultivators descended together and struck at Ye Fan simultaneously with their divine arts.
He activated the Escape character secret and leaped, moving as though treading through emptiness — his form flickering in and out of sight — barely, narrowly avoiding a killing blow.
Zheng!
A blood-dripping divine sword cut through the air horizontally, tracing a radiance like a comet across the heavens, illuminating the pitch-black night sky. A powerful seed-candidate of the Underworld cleaved toward Ye Fan’s skull.
Clang!
The light in Ye Fan’s eyes flickered and dimmed. His body grew thin as phantom smoke. He unleashed the Heaven Court’s great art of killing, twisted his frame into near-incorporeality, and then the Yin-Yang Sacred Sword swung out at an inconceivable angle.
Splat!
Even as several elder figures pursued and hunted him, Ye Fan swung the sacred sword and hacked off one of the seed-candidate’s skull — cutting away nearly half the head. Blood gushed upward, white brain matter flowed, and the corpse plummeted downward.
Hiss!
Jiang Yichen’s great-uncle Jiang Huai’an raised a green ancient pagoda in one hand and pressed it downward — enough to topple mountain ranges, its might terrifying beyond measure. People all around it were driven back in waves.
At the same time, the dozen-odd people who had come with him all unleashed their divine weapons, which shot like beams of divine light in all directions, slashing toward Ye Fan.
Flash!
He deployed the Escape character secret and vanished from his original position, reappearing a thousand zhang away. From the void, without a sound, a crimson blood sword thrust out, aimed straight at his temple — sharp and ruthless.
Clang… clang… clang…
Ye Fan encountered this seed-cultivator of the Mortal World in close quarters. Speed matched against speed — in barely an instant they exchanged over a thousand sword strokes, and then Ye Fan’s form suddenly vanished.
Splat!
The Yin-Yang Sacred Sword in his hand pierced downward through the crown of the head, driving into the top of his opponent’s skull — and the unfathomably terrifying seed-candidate was slain.
This outcome caused many hearts to sink. No one had seen him display terrifying Dao power — yet this killing method was frightfully formidable in its own right.
Boom!
Nine elders of the eighth level of the Dragon-Hidden Secret Realm descended from the sky, each launching a palm strike. They shattered the void. Ye Fan fled swiftly, but even the fringe of the resulting storm nearly swallowed him whole.
Clang!
An ancient cauldron materialized above Ye Fan’s head, releasing tens of thousands of mother qi streams downward — each one like a small dragon, each capable of crushing a mountain range flat, enclosing him in impenetrable protection.
The void shattered. Even with the Myriad Things Mother Qi shielding his body, he was still blasted backward seven or eight hundred meters, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth in thin trickles.
“The Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron!”
Everyone went mad. Why had they come? Was it not for this very cauldron?
Countless masters, an endless tide of cultivators, all charged forward together — every one of them intent on killing Ye Fan and seizing the cauldron.
Ye Fan retreated in flight, but silhouettes filled every direction. He was trapped in a deadly encirclement, with no way to escape.
Splat!
Without a whisper of sound, a cyan-gold divine sword stabbed through — vicious, precise, exact — aimed directly at the trajectory Ye Fan was bound to pass through, nearly slicing his waist and abdomen open.
Fortunately, he had pushed the Escape character secret to its absolute limits and managed to escape by the narrowest of margins — yet even so, a gash appeared on his body, and no small amount of golden blood flowed.
Ye Fan’s expression turned cold. He swung the Yin-Yang Sacred Sword and cut forward, only now realizing that the one who had struck was the Holy Son Wanchu — who had somehow pressed right to his very face and nearly ambushed and killed him in a single blow.
At this moment, the Holy Son Wanchu was sheathed in cyan radiance from head to toe, his entire body enveloped by it. A cyan divine robe concealed his true appearance — without the divine eyes, no one could possibly see through it.
Hum!
The Holy Son Wanchu stood like a cyan-gold war god, his radiance blazing. From his hand he suddenly launched a beam of blood radiance, accompanied by a colossal devouring force that manifested, dissolving all things.
Ye Fan’s heart went cold. He pushed the Escape character secret to its limits and burst free. Where he had just stood, a blood-red void appeared — quite a few people plunged into it and dissolved into bloody water.
“The Heaven Demon Blood Box!” Many people cried out in alarm.
Ye Fan’s heart leapt violently. That was a divine object once sacrificed by a peerless heavenly demon of ancient times using its own blood as material for its descendants — unparalleled in might. Any master drawn into it would have body and spirit alike destroyed.
Just now, had his reaction been even the slightest bit slower, he would have nearly fallen for the trap!
The Holy Son Wanchu appeared harmless and genial in ordinary times — yet now he had produced such a vicious and malevolent divine object, capable of dissolving any tangible substance. It was absolutely fearsome.
No one would have imagined that the one holding the Heaven Demon Blood Box could be a holy son of such great promise.
Boom!
Suddenly, a radiance of primordial chaos appeared beside Ye Fan — supremely sharp, incomparably keen — nearly slashing him, annihilating the very void around it.
Ye Fan’s heart seized with shock. He quickly evaded and turned to look back. Not far away, a strange figure with disheveled hair wore a straw rain cape and a bamboo hat, gripping a rotted wooden hammer — and from it had emanated that beam of light.
The Holy Son of the Purple Mansion!
This person was actually the Holy Son of the Purple Mansion. Outside of Ye Fan, no one else could have known it was him — and even he too had been unable to resist and had made his move!
Flash!
The Holy Son of the Purple Mansion also had a large, pitch-black gourd strapped to his back. It suddenly erupted in a torrential flood of black evil water that corroded all things. On the spot, quite a few people were destroyed in body and spirit, and it nearly submerged Ye Fan entirely.
This black water exuded an aura of death. There was simply nothing it could not contaminate — any divine weapon or sharp blade that came into contact with it would dissolve into black mist and vanish without a trace.
Boom!
The evil water surged to the heavens. Black waves roared and crashed toward Ye Fan, nearly knocking him off his feet.
These holy sons were truly remarkable — each one possessed extraordinary destiny. Beyond their own inherited arts, they all possessed other fearsome methods.
Thud!
The black gourd of the Holy Son of the Purple Mansion was dreadful — but even more terrifying was the rotted wooden hammer in his hand, which sent out yet another beam of primordial chaos light, crashing directly into the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron.
He intended to use this divine object to knock the ancient cauldron off Ye Fan’s head and seize it. At the same time, he sought to break through the cauldron’s defense and drive the black water inside to destroy Ye Fan’s sacred body.
“That is the Heaven Yin Absolute Water — those touched by it are certain to die!” An elder cultivator who recognized it finally identified the origin of the black water.
Yet no one could identify the origin of the rotted wooden hammer that could emit primordial chaos light — no one knew the nature of this divine object.
The Holy Son of the Purple Mansion had acquired both the hammer and the black gourd; the Holy Son Wanchu possessed the Heaven Demon Blood Box. It appeared both of them had studied other inherited transmissions.
Boom!
Suddenly, a terrifying oppressive power blanketed the sky, causing this patch of void to collapse in a continuously spreading wave — great cracks dense across the high heavens.
A half-step Great Ability expert had made his move!
In this moment, with the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron above Ye Fan’s head — the ten thousand laws unable to touch his body, merged with the great Dao — all eyes burned with envy, and finally even the most powerful figures could no longer restrain themselves.
Against such a terrifying individual, Ye Fan had not even a trace of a chance to resist. If he did not flee, having the cauldron snatched from him was only a matter of time.
At this moment, the Escape character secret made his body like an arc of lightning — swift beyond measure.
Now, a full five half-step Great Ability experts had appeared from separate quarters. They were not allies, yet all of them made their moves toward Ye Fan simultaneously. Each wanted to seize the initiative and be the first to claim the cauldron and make it their own.
At the same time, Ye Fan also sensed a killing intent — having mastered the Heaven Court’s inheritance, he naturally understood that a supremely terrifying assassin was peering at him from the shadows.
The threat of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty was immense. From the very start until now, it had been ever-present, lurking everywhere.
“If you won’t leave the cauldron behind, then leave your life!”
“The Sacred Physique has become a thing of the past, reduced to dust!”
…
Several half-step Great Ability experts all struck with lethal force, intent on destroying Ye Fan. He surged forward swiftly, fleeing with the Escape character secret.
And at this moment, everyone else launched their moves too — heaven and earth seething. Especially the Holy Son of the Purple Mansion and the Holy Son Wanchu, hiding in the shadows, ambushing with their terrifying instruments of destruction — their threat was extreme.
“Black Emperor, seal all of them for me!” Ye Fan let out a great shout. He had no way to escape any longer — even the Escape character secret would not avail him. The sky had been sealed and locked down by others; ten directions were boxed in. Another moment’s delay and he would die without question, not a shred of hope for survival — body and spirit alike would be destroyed.
Boom!
Heaven and earth lost their color. Wind and clouds shifted. Endless patterns manifested throughout this patch of void, enveloping everyone beneath them. A formless killing will set the heavens trembling.
A fragment of the ancient Great Emperor’s killing formation emerged. The incomparable slaughtering energy stirred the great Dao of heaven and earth — as though capable of annihilating every living being in existence.
Ye Fan did not know whether all the holy sons and holy daughters had been sealed within — but he knew with absolute certainty that this time, rivers of blood would flow without question, triggering a seismic upheaval!
“You all wanted to kill me and take the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron…” Ye Fan swept his gaze across everyone and said: “I’m afraid not. I’ll be sending every single one of you on your way.”