Before Ye Fan had even approached the Ancient Heavenly Court, he sensed a divine power that threatened to shatter his very soul—something beyond words, a tremor that struck at the very root of a person’s being.
“It seems the heavenly tribulations ahead will be quite something to endure. When I cross future tribulations, the entire Heavenly Court might just come crashing down!”
Ye Fan naturally would not charge forward recklessly. Right now, two humanoid lightning beings were already keeping him fully occupied—he fought without cease, his body drenched in blood, coming close to death several times.
Strangely enough, the humanoid lightning beings were peculiar. One was nearly equal to him in strength, perfectly matched; even with two of them, the situation remained the same—they did not surpass him, yet were no weaker either, maintaining a kind of balance.
“BOOM!”
At last, the third humanoid lightning being appeared. Above the head of this human-shaped entity hovered a great dragon, swaying its head and tail, its offensive power matchless beneath the heavens, shaking all of eternity.
Then it transformed into a divine lamp—its light blazing across the star domain, crushing heaven and earth, terrifyingly powerful as it struck downward, cleaving through mountains and rivers in an instant.
“I don’t recognize this divine lamp. I’ve never seen it before. At least something different has finally appeared—something that isn’t a suspected weapon of an ancient Great Emperor.”
Ye Fan fought with all his strength, bathed in blood, surging through the sea of lightning. He engaged all three humanoid lightning beings in battle—they were no different from powerful human cultivators, capable of driving the Great Dao and invoking its laws.
This was a life-or-death clash, where not a sliver of carelessness could be afforded. One wrong step meant eternal ruin—instant death on this very ground.
“Their strength is always on par with mine, never exceeding it. Is this the working of the Great Dao’s laws?” Ye Fan was filled with astonishment and uncertainty.
In the end, the battle lasted a full day and night. Even Ye Fan’s All-Mother Qi Cauldron was nearly pierced through; his body’s golden blood sprayed out as he sustained severe injuries.
In the sea of lightning, ancient structures bobbed and sank in fragments. Ye Fan was ultimately unable to catch even a glimpse of what lay within—at his closest approach, he had barely drawn near before being blocked.
“BOOM!”
With one final thunderous roar, the endless lightning vanished and the infinite storm dissipated. Heaven and earth returned to clarity. Ye Fan’s joints shifted and crackled without pause, his entire body radiating brilliance like divine gold.
At the same time, the All-Mother Qi Cauldron trembled ceaselessly—the patterns engraved upon it intertwining like dragons, as though it had gained life.
It was all over. Though the great heavenly tribulation had been terrifying, it had not descended in its entirety. It had only engulfed Ye Fan without touching the immortal veins below.
“BOOM!”
After some indeterminate length of time, Ye Fan erupted with a radiance that pierced through heaven and earth. His entire being was pure and immaculate—fully restored to peak condition.
Everything had passed. The Yin-Yang Death Curse was extinguished. Ye Fan had ascended to a higher level, advancing into the Immortal Platform Secret Realm. His every movement now carried boundless power that would never run dry.
His black hair danced in the air. Ye Fan’s eyes were deep and full of spirit. Standing in the void, he swept his gaze in all directions, then let out a light shout—and the cauldron above his head flew out.
A mighty surge of energy erupted, like a great abyss opening wide to swallow the holy power of heaven and earth, drawing in the essence of the ten directions. The mouth of the cauldron was like a black hole, consuming everything in a frenzy.
From afar came a great cry. A man came flying backward, forcibly seized and dragged over. The crowd was stunned—that was a half-step Mighty One, yet he had been restrained.
“He’s just entered the Immortal Platform Secret Realm, yet he can already fight Mighty Ones?!” Many people shuddered.
“Ye, you little thief—go die!” the restrained man bellowed in indignation. He spat out a long ribbon of light—refined from the true water of the sun.
The great river surged with scorching intensity, so fierce that even the immortal veins were nearly reduced to tribulation ash. Every droplet was like a blazing sun. This was a sect’s prized treasure—even a Holy Lord’s heart would stir at the sight of it.
He was a half-step Mighty One of the Yin-Yang Sect. After his defeat, he had not retreated—like many onlookers, he had lingered to spy, completely unaware that Ye Fan possessed the divine eye, which had long since seen through his true form.
“Puff!”
The great cauldron flipped and drew in every drop of the sun’s true water. At the same time it descended—formless and without shape, present everywhere—and struck him full on.
This Mighty One spat blood from his mouth. He was split in two on the spot, then shattered into nothing in an instant—evaporating from existence without leaving a single bone behind.
Ye Fan had just entered the Immortal Platform, yet he could already fight a half-step Mighty One—and without relying on his source arts, without throwing out divine origin stones. This was his own combat power.
“The Eight Forbidden Domain!”
The crowd drew sharp breaths. They realized a grave fact: each layer of heaven in the Immortal Platform could be divided into nine minor stages. Ye Fan, having just entered this secret realm, could already fight someone at the peak of the Platform’s first layer of heaven—what was known as a half-step Mighty One!
In truth, certain living fossils believed Ye Fan was even stronger than imagined, for they had sensed the terrifying sharpness of his divine consciousness—extremely refined.
“His divine will is powerful enough, and the first layer of heaven of the Immortal Platform is primarily about cultivating divine consciousness. Does this mean he may soon achieve a qualitative breakthrough?!”
Thinking on this, many people shuddered. Ye Fan’s rate of advancement might be very swift—he could break through multiple stages in quick succession before long. Who in the future could possibly restrain him?
The Immortal Platform Secret Realm: the first layer of heaven is for refining and strengthening the divine consciousness—like a whetstone sharpening a blade’s edge. Only from the second layer onward does one begin to unlock the other treasures of the human body, revealing limitless combat power.
“He is only at the first layer of heaven of the Immortal Platform—his combat strength is still difficult to quantify. It will only truly manifest when he begins cultivating with an ancient scripture.”
“And you—you made your move forty-nine days ago as well, didn’t you?” Ye Fan’s divine eyes flashed like lightning as he looked toward a different direction and raised his hand to extend his power.
“Ah…!”
From the distance came another great cry as yet another half-step Mighty One was forcibly seized and dragged over. This person was very powerful—he invoked a white bone banner, shook it forcefully, and a torrent of ten thousand swords slashed outward.
“Clang!”
Ye Fan extended a single finger, sending a golden streak of power that shattered all ten thousand sword rays. Then a great golden hand pressed down—and with a dull thud, the white bone banner was crushed to pieces.
The surrounding crowd was startled. The Eight Forbidden Domain was indeed fearsome—rare since ancient times. Having only just ascended to the Immortal Platform, Ye Fan was this dominant, and having touched the Eight Forbidden, he was nearly invincible within the Platform’s first layer of heaven.
“Kill!”
The half-step Mighty One had no wish to wait for death. He spat out a golden skull from his mouth—at first only an inch tall, then rapidly enlarging into a golden skull-shaped furnace.
“A Holy Lord-grade weapon, interwoven with the laws of the Great Dao.”
Ye Fan remained unmoved. The All-Mother Qi Cauldron flipped and flew out, crashing into the skull with a bang, shattering the golden cranium on the spot.
“This cauldron has advanced to a Holy Lord-grade weapon! It has passed through heavenly tribulations time and again and has begun to weave its own Dao-marks into itself!”
The crowd was astonished. This cauldron was now, like Ye Fan himself, beginning to come into its own. Its material was extraordinarily rare—scarce throughout all of history—and once it wove Dao-marks into itself, it would become something truly terrifying.
“The All-Mother Qi Cauldron and the Sacred Body truly are a perfect match…” someone sighed.
“Puff!”
The ancient cauldron gave a light tremor. That half-step Mighty One was crushed into pieces, inch by inch, dissipating into the void—his life ended there.
The powerful Sacred Body, having just entered the Immortal Platform, had already displayed such combat prowess. It stirred the four quarters, and powerful figures from many great forces arrived, all of them astonished.
“Suppressing the Sacred Body at this point is a bit too late. Eliminating him would require a tremendous price.”
“Not necessarily. A Holy Lord wielding the intact weapon of an ancient saint could kill him—he’d have nowhere to flee, neither in heaven nor underground!”
Of course, people could only speak of such things in private. To kill Ye Fan, there were many formidable powers—but the key question was whether they could corner him.
“Easier said than done. He has source arts—he can change his appearance without a trace. He’s shown himself now, but he’s at the Extraordinary Scholar’s Mansion. You can’t just make a move there.”
“You lot really are bold!” Ye Fan gave a cold laugh. He spotted some members of hostile factions—those who had not yet reached the half-step Mighty One level—lurking in the shadows.
“Puff.” “Puff.” “Puff.”…
Ye Fan struck in rapid succession. One blood blossom after another bloomed as dozens of people perished in the blink of an eye, all cut down.
“What? Has he cultivated the Heavenly Eye or something? How is there nowhere to hide?” The remaining enemies all fled.
Yet there were still many people at this location. Over the past month, news had reached many great sects, and they had converged here. As for the talented disciples of the Extraordinary Scholar’s Mansion themselves—needless to say, they had been watching the whole time.
Several Mighty Ones of the Ji Family were present, holding a divine crimson-blood lamp—an incomplete weapon left behind by an ancient saint—which kept many people in check. The Extraordinary Scholar’s Mansion was unfathomably deep; no one was willing to provoke them, and no one wanted to cause trouble here.
In the distance, Princess Moon Spirit’s heart trembled. The Nine Li Divine Dynasty had robbed Ye Fan once—things would likely not end well between them in the future. At this rate of the Sacred Body’s development, he would certainly become a tremendous pressure.
The Holy Maiden of the Jade Pool, the Divine King Body of the Jiang Family, the powerhouses of the Southern Ridge, the ascetic monk of the Western Desert, the lords of the Central State—all of them were unsettled, watching in silence.
In this moment, the feelings of the younger generation varied, yet all of them felt a great pressure weighing down upon them.
“Brat, pay your debts!”
The last one to approach was not dragged over by Ye Fan—he came of his own accord. Duan De, his face dark, a cracked bowl atop his head, had killed his way up to the front.
The aggrieved party had come to collect!
Ye Fan genuinely found it hard to make a move. For one thing, he was somewhat in the wrong; for another, the man had half an imperial weapon. If they actually fought, Ye Fan would surely end up on the losing end.
“Fellow Daoist Duan, it’s been many years. I trust you’ve been well?”
“Well, my ass. You and those turtle-spawn companions of yours stole even my underpants, and now you’re going to talk fancy at me?! Return my Nine Divine Soldiers, my Longevity Lock, my eighteen divine pearls, my Heavenly Demon Lamp—spit them all back out!”
From a distance, the crowd nearly choked with laughter. Dongfang Ye tried to slip away—the hair-clips, the socks, the shoes had all been taken; naturally it was him who had done the stripping, leaving Duan De completely bare.
Ye Fan was getting a headache. The fat monk was difficult to deal with. Was he truly going to have to fight him? As for handing over the Nine Divine Soldiers—that was impossible.
“That fat one got robbed too. Serves him right!” Ji Ziyue puffed up her cheeks in anger from afar.
The Ji Family’s Mighty Ones were also grinding their teeth. The fat monk had entered their family’s burial grounds and dug open the tomb of an ancient invincible Divine King from the distant past—though they hadn’t caught him at the time.
“Give me back my weapons!” Duan De gnashed his teeth.
Every weapon he named was a king-grade divine soldier—all of them legendary, each having left an endless legacy of renown across this land. The whole world knew of them.
“King-grade divine soldiers—what is his background, that he once had all of these in his hands?” Everyone was astonished. They were not unfamiliar with this fat monk, yet none of them could quite figure him out.
“Elder Brother Duan, don’t be angry. Think back to the old days—you were imposing and robust, and we hit it off the moment we met. Have you forgotten? When all those sentient weapons came flying out of the Demon Emperor’s burial mound, I gave them all to you without a single word of refusal. Now a brother’s finances are a little tight, so I wanted to borrow a few weapons from you. Yet here you are with this attitude—truly disloyal.” Ye Fan said.
Bringing up the past made the fat monk’s heart ache. Thinking of the green copper he had missed out on, he said sorrowfully, “Let’s not say anything more. Give me a piece of the ancient copper, and we’ll let this go. We can still be friends.”
“No problem.” Ye Fan moved forward, draping an arm over his shoulders, and said, “Elder Brother Duan, as you can see, I’ve been in serious trouble lately—many people want to kill me. Lend me the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar for half a year, would you?”
“I hear you have several ancient scriptures on you. Would you lend them to Elder Brother Duan here to study for two years?”
The two of them—one with the Sacred Body’s flesh to rely on for pressure, the other with the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar as a deterrent—walked shoulder in shoulder, bargaining away with reckless demands, heading toward the inner reaches of the Extraordinary Scholar’s Mansion.
“Fat Duan, what do you want a source-heaven divine formation for? And a hundred of them at once—do you think carving them is like drinking cold water?!”
“Is a hundred a lot? You just need to crook your finger and it’s done. You had a grand time robbing those king-grade divine soldiers of mine, didn’t you? Maybe I should just rob you back sometime?!”
“Your ancestor’s grave, Duan De! Each grievance-heaven divine formation requires carving a million talisman inscriptions and four divine origin stones the size of a human head. Why don’t you go commit highway robbery? Go open a holy ground’s treasury and see if you can find that much!”
“Kid, aren’t you a source-heaven master? Take a lap around the Northern Domain and you’ll have everything you need. How about this—carve me fifty, at the very least?”
“Fat Duan, go die! Just one grievance-heaven divine formation is worth two million catties of pure origin. Even if you excavated a Great Emperor’s tomb, you wouldn’t find that many divine origin stones!”
“I didn’t say you have to give them all to me now. You can owe me first. Can you at least carve me ten or eight up front?”
The fat monk had been obsessed ever since witnessing Ouyang Ye’s source-heaven divine formation—and after learning that Ye Fan had used it to kill a Mighty One, his heart burned with longing all the more.
“What do you need so many source-origin formations for?” Ye Fan was genuinely puzzled.
“The Northern Emperor—isn’t he scheming against the Ancient Emperor Mountain? He wants to retrieve the Wushi Bell. How could something like that go on without me, Duan, being involved? I want to go meet the Wushi Great Emperor.”
“You damned Duan De, you cursed turtle-spawn, Wang Teng…”
“What the hell, brat—why are you cursing me? Curse the Northern Emperor if you want. Come with me to the Ancient Emperor Mountain.”
Ye Fan kept turning it over in his mind. The Northern Emperor truly had the audacity—he was actually scheming after the Purple Mountain. Back in the day, even imperial weapons couldn’t open it; could he manage it?
“I’m not going. That’s pure suicide—I have no desire to throw my life away for nothing.”
“Boy, don’t regret it. The Northern Emperor has persuaded several primordial royal clans—they may be able to enter and exit the Purple Mountain. By then, they might even carry out the Wushi Great Emperor’s remains.”
“Do you have any other news?” Ye Fan asked.
“Way too much. This past month, the Eastern Desolation has been anything but calm—many things have happened.” The fat monk clapped him on the shoulder. “Come with me. With your source arts plus my divine arts combined, the two of us benefit and nothing in this world can stand against us.”
“I’m not going. I don’t want to die.” Ye Fan shook his head.
“You ought to know—those king-grade divine soldiers of mine are priceless. No one could buy them. You cleaned me out in one sweep. How do you plan to settle that debt? Come help me work it off.”
“Get out of here. You weren’t talking about fairness when you grabbed my sentient weapons. And what about those few weapons of mine?”
“I offered them up as weapon-soul sacrifices—to better control the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Jar. Don’t bother counting on those.”
“Then we’re even!”
“You’re that calm about it? Even that dog in the Eastern Desolation has gone crazy, yet you’re not the least bit tempted?” Duan De said.
“What kind of comparison is that—get out of here. Tell me what’s happened.”
“That dog in the Eastern Desolation is too bizarre. It got several Mighty Ones killed and nearly crippled Wang Teng—and it’s the same insufferable dog that traveled with you. Don’t you want to go see it?”