The Nine Secrets were the highest secret techniques of the Dao tradition. The nine wondrous arts represented the ultimate pinnacle of nine different domains — transcending all that could be surpassed.
Ye Fan derived his own art, comprehending his own Dao. The root source of all of it was the Battle Secret Art — the fundamental art of combat, possessing supreme and profound meaning.
The golden blood within his body boiled. Blood aura surged out and transformed into a golden circle, enveloping him from head to foot. Through the Battle Secret Art he had evolved the Tai Chi circle — no technique could touch his body.
Ye Fan’s hands moved. Two yin-yang fish swam — one supremely hard and yang, one supremely soft and yin — intertwining together, drawing in and exhaling the breath of the Dao.
Bang!
Yin and yang interacted. Both hands shook together. The yin-yang fish leapt up, flying out from the Tai Chi circle. The two fish breathed in and out the breath of the great Dao, draining all essential energy from the ten directions in a single breath — the world momentarily grew dim.
Boom!
Hua Yunfei was struck flying yet again. Blood covered him. He still could not block it. His form showed cracks — and five-colored light shimmered. The blood within his veins contained five-colored radiance.
“The Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art has transformed his constitution to this degree…” Ye Fan was astonished. This great enemy not only had an extraordinarily powerful physical body — even the color of his blood had changed.
Hua Yunfei’s expression was solemn. His blue robes were soaked with blood, yet he still possessed an air of empty clarity. His entire body was bathed in five-colored divine light, his eyes clear as a little lake.
Hum!
The heavens and earth trembled. His mind was tranquil. Once more he summoned the Immortal Ascension Art — the power that transcended the utmost limits of the human body poured forth like the Milky Way, then gave a great resonant roar and surged forward.
Mountains collapsed, the sea roared, rocks shattered through clouds!
The Immortal Ascension Art was unleashed — wind and clouds moved together, heaven and earth lost all color. Though he was not a great emperor, unable to truly draw forth the power of an ascending immortal, it was still inconceivably terrifying!
Upon the earth, mountain after mountain crumbled. Range after range of peaks sank and subsided. Stones and soil burst and splattered, smoke and dust filled the sky — it was a scene of great collapse.
In the sky, clouds in all ten directions were extinguished. Every one was shaken apart and leveled by this terrifying vibration, sweeping everything flat.
This was the Immortal Ascension Art — its offensive power legendary, awe-inspiring to any who witnessed it, enough to make them tremble and shudder. It was the Ruthless Emperor’s dazzling and magnificent holy technique.
Bang!
Ye Fan’s body was like a coiling dragon. His torso bent and turned — as the yin-yang dividing line within the golden Tai Chi circle, he vibrated with full force and shot forward like lightning, colliding head-on with the Immortal Ascension Art.
Whoooo…
Gales rose fiercely. Sand flew and stones whirled. The world was a vast blur, all obscured by dust and sand. Vaguely one could see mountain after mountain being swept up into the sky like blades of straw.
The two fought their fierce battle — mountains crumbling, seas roaring — a scene of apocalyptic devastation. Entire mountain ranges were blasted into the air, drifting like floating continents.
Boom!
A violent collision. Stones flew in all directions. Mountains were shattered to pieces. Not a single peak remained standing — in that world-shaking strike, all were reduced to dust.
Bang!
Ye Fan flew backward. A thread of golden blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but he quickly arrested his movement.
On the other side, Hua Yunfei coughed up a great mouthful of blood — the blood flashing with five-colored radiance — soaking his lapels as he flew backward more than a thousand zhang before stopping.
Below, a vast desert had appeared. There were no towering ancient trees to speak of — even the mountain peaks had disappeared, wiped from the face of the earth, beaten flat into a swath of yellow sand. There was nothing left.
A stretch of lush, mountain terrain teeming with life had been extinguished, left without a blade of grass — barren and desolate wasteland, with nothing remaining.
In the distance, mountains still stood tall and covered in verdant growth. The appearance of such a desert patch amid the boundless Qinling Mountains was indescribably eerie, leaving onlookers stunned.
This was the result of two great powers striking with their full strength!
Hua Yunfei was gravely wounded again. From within his body came a phoenix cry that resonated through the nine heavens. Five-colored divine flames blazed fiercely. His body recovered once more.
The Phoenix Tribulation Rebirth Art!
He did not retreat. His expression was cold and indifferent as he moved once again — manifesting the Ten-Thousand Transformations Sacred Art, encircling Ye Fan in attack, attempting to break through the golden Tai Chi circle.
When these two battled, the spectacle was truly astounding. Even the great sand desert below was transformed by his art — the five elements cycling, the four extremes collapsing — all in a misty haze.
The Ten-Thousand Transformations Sacred Art claimed it could dissolve every wondrous technique in the world, break through every art — yet it was consistently unable to penetrate the golden Tai Chi circle, unable to dissolve that perfectly rounded Dao marking.
Yet Hua Yunfei persisted relentlessly. Already gravely wounded several times, he charged back in every time, attacking unceasingly, with no sign of intention to flee.
Ye Fan’s mind stirred. He understood his opponent’s thoughts mirrored his own from earlier — fighting relentlessly, studying the holy technique in the life-or-death clash, purely to improve himself.
“Ah — he has the Phoenix Tribulation Rebirth Art, so he has nothing to fear!”
Boom!
There was no denying it — Hua Yunfei’s methods were extraordinary, his strength formidable. He compressed vast mountain peaks into marble-sized balls, ceaselessly striking them at Ye Fan — a terrifying bombardment. Within his mind he slowly derived the divine diagram, pondering how to crack it.
“Let’s see how long you can hold out!” Ye Fan bellowed, increasing the ferocity of his attacks. He surged forward in one charge like a true dragon bending and coiling, consecutively shattering eighty-one great mountain peaks.
Dust and sand swirled. The boundless mountains of the Qinling range trembled. The two clashed fiercely. Blood dripped from time to time, flowing with divine radiance — a sight to astonish onlookers.
“Kill!”
With a sharp cry from Ye Fan, the golden Tai Chi diagram turned. He shot forward like a streak of light. His hands transformed into yin-yang fish — one yin, one yang — leaping simultaneously.
Boom!
Hua Yunfei was struck flying. Bones shattered in several places. His body was nearly beaten to pieces. Five-colored blood streamed from him, shimmering with point after point of radiance.
“Do you have any more techniques? Otherwise there will be no more chances!” Ye Fan pressed forward. The golden blood aura took form — perfectly round and complete — sheltering him within.
“The Ruthless Emperor in his lifetime never yielded to anyone — invincible through all ages. He created the Immortal Ascension Art and the Ten-Thousand Transformations Art specifically against the Nine Secrets, surpassing every technique. That I cannot suppress you now is not because those two arts are insufficient — it is because I have not fully comprehended them.”
Hua Yunfei spoke plainly. The phoenix cry sounded. He repaired his body. There was not the slightest despondency about him — rather, he was supremely transcendent.
“You observe my technique, hoping to use it to comprehend the Dao and dissolve my holy art?” said Ye Fan, unconcerned in the slightest.
“Who is weaker and who is stronger — it is still too early to say. The Immortal Ascension Art and the Ten-Thousand Transformations Art are both peerless wondrous techniques. You will all witness their terrifying side.”
In that moment, Hua Yunfei’s bearing changed. The ethereal quality retracted inward. An attitude of supreme dominion emerged — the posture of one who rules alone, tolerating no rival. His black hair was disheveled, his eyes deep and profound as the starry sky.
Boom!
A world-destroying aura of energy was released. Overwhelming surges shook the arena. Every living thing trembled. All ten directions shook. It was as though an ancient great emperor had appeared in the world.
Above his head, black radiance flashed and rapidly interwove, forming a black sacred vessel that gradually grew clear and solid — as though it would last for all eternity, imperishable.
Hua Yunfei was like a divine demon. A terrifying vibration spread outward. He stood quietly in the void, his eyes incomparably hollow, swallowing people’s hearts and spirits.
Thread after thread of black radiance poured out from his heavenly spirit aperture, forging a sacred vessel above his head. The black radiance flowed — crystalline as black jade.
It was ancient and natural in its style, not at all intricate in design, giving the feeling of the great Dao as simplicity itself. It was like a vessel carrying the Dao — capable of suppressing every heaven and world, profoundly mysterious and unfathomable!
Hua Yunfei forged the Great Dao Sacred Vessel from his own life essence. This was the Dao in corporeal form. In time it could gather boundless power — and already now it possessed immeasurable divine ability.
Ye Fan’s heart tensed. He had long heard that the Ruthless Emperor’s art was uniquely superior, capable of suppressing ancient divine beings. Now that mystique was manifesting one revelation after another.
Hua Yunfei brought both hands together in a seal and raised them over his head, forming the Great Dao Sacred Vessel seal. At the mouth of the vessel where his hands joined, it breathed in the essence of the sun and moon, the primal energy of heaven and earth.
Extremely terrifying. Boundless killing intent erupted in that moment like a flood. Ye Fan felt ten thousand blades scraping at his bones. With the Great Dao Sacred Vessel locked onto him, his entire body felt on the verge of shattering.
It was an uncanny scene. The black-radiance-flashing sacred vessel faced off against the golden Tai Chi circle. Between the two, each was breathing in and out Dao energy, countless law-threads interweaving.
Boom!
In that moment, a world-shaking ultimate confrontation erupted. They clashed together and engaged in the most terrifying battle.
The black-radiance-flashing Great Dao Sacred Vessel suppressed every heaven and world, possessing undying divine power. It breathed in the primal source of the great world, pressing down in suppression.
The golden Tai Chi circle — the Dao following nature, blazing with golden light — was likewise a vessel of the supreme great Dao. It pierced through all heavens, eternally enduring, imperishable through ten thousand tribulations.
This was a collision of the great Dao — a confrontation of different profound meanings. Black light and golden light from the two surged skyward, drowning out the heavens and earth, leaving nothing else in existence.
The vast desert melted, becoming a boundless sea of red. Lava boiled and surged outward in every direction.
In the distance, mountains were like straw — as the terrifying wave of force swept over them, all toppled, rapidly collapsing, wiped flat from the face of the earth.
On the other side, the Immortal Transformation Pool was shrouded in mist — innumerable acres of green waves evaporated completely. The great lake dried up entirely, becoming one massive crater in the earth.
In an instant, withering and crumbling. The black Great Dao Sacred Vessel and the golden Tai Chi circle clashed — the consequences were too terrifying. Countless towering mountain peaks disappeared, one after another.
Boom!
Further away, mountain after mountain consecutively collapsed. Smoke and dust spiraled upward ten thousand zhang. Heaven and earth were dim. The two clashed fiercely in mortal combat.
The black sacred vessel and the golden Tai Chi circle collided — no one knows how many times — before at last they stopped. The two vessels of the Dao hung in the air across from one another. In an instant, heaven and earth grew still.
Golden blood seeped thread by thread from Ye Fan’s mouth. His body rose and fell unsteadily. The Tai Chi circle turned, its luster undimmed, not dissolved.
On the other side, the black-radiance-flashing Great Dao Sacred Vessel drifted up and down — also undamaged — but it had separated from Hua Yunfei’s heavenly spirit aperture, drifting several hundred zhang away.
His body was broken and tattered, nearly shattered — having sustained unimaginable injury. Were it not for the Phoenix Tribulation Rebirth Art, Ye Fan could have finished him off this time.
Hum!
Hua Yunfei’s body emitted black radiance. At his heavenly spirit aperture, blood aura pierced through the heavens. His body crackled and popped. The black Great Dao Sacred Vessel flew back immediately, hovering above his head.
Ye Fan walked forward step by step, wiping the golden blood from the corner of his mouth, and said: “It seems you have no chance to devour my origin source. Let me send you to rest in the pure earth.”
Hua Yunfei smiled coldly and said: “I have grown ever more intent on the Sacred Physique’s origin source. This is not yet over.”
The black-jade-like Great Dao Sacred Vessel drifted up and down, breathing in the origin source of heaven and earth. One thread of black radiance after another descended from it, drowning him in its depths below — these were the laws of the great Dao!
In the distance, a graceful silhouette had watched the entirety of that last battle unfold. Li Xiaoman floated like a banished immortal, her robes flowing, standing upon a mountain peak.