Though he knew that this journey held little hope of success, and that dangers lurked at every turn, Ye Fan could not but come. He did not wish to carry the weight of guilt in his heart for years to come — empty regret, a debt to his own conscience.

Setting aside all that had come before, the battle in the Qin Mountains of the Central Province alone was reason enough. Ji Ziyue had poured her cultivation into him at no small cost, helping him survive a life-and-death struggle — nearly trading her own life for his escape, suffering grievous wounds in the process. That debt of gratitude had to be repaid.

Now Ji Ziyue was in peril, weeping that she refused to marry, pleading for someone to rescue her, wishing to flee from the Ji Family’s estate. Setting aside everything else, for the sake of that bond forged in the Qin Mountains alone, Ye Fan had no choice but to come. He could not pass judgment against himself.

The Southern Domain stretched on in lush abundance — vast lakes, misty waters drifting in haze, boundless wilderness teeming with life in every direction, without a single barren stretch.

Ye Fan walked across this land, moving in and out of the primordial wilderness, quietly pondering how to proceed. Having left the Northern Domain, his battle power would be greatly diminished — his advantage was gone, placing him at a severe disadvantage.

“Screech!”

In the great wilderness, a teal-green luan bird swooped down, seized an elephant in its talons, tore it apart in the air — blood spraying — and carried the pieces toward a cliffside in the distance, where its nest lay with several chicks awaiting their meal.

Ye Fan paused in a moment of contemplation, then continued forward. He came upon a fire-scaled tortoise, shaped like a Black Tortoise yet bearing the head of a qilin, its body covered in dense scales. It opened its mouth and exhaled, and a vast sheet of flame reduced an entire hill to ash.

From a stone cave underground, a golden ape bearing divine wings burst forth, rushing at the fire-scaled tortoise. Its pair of golden divine wings released great cascades of lightning that crackled and boomed, sinking the earth and blasting open a deep abyss.

Ten thousand trees shook, withered leaves scattered, sand and stone flew, the earth crumbled — like mountains collapsing and seas overturning, a scene of devastating destruction wiped out everything. That ape was powerful to a terrifying degree.

“Spit!”

But the fire-scaled tortoise was as large as a small mountain — it had cultivated for untold tens of thousands of years, and some of the qilin blood within it had already awakened. It opened its mouth with a simple exhale, and the world shifted.

A blazing qilin purple flame roared and raged, scorching the heavens and earth, reducing the great mountains within this entire region to molten lava, which then became dust and finally vaporized entirely.

Ye Fan watched from a safe distance, not drawing near — these were Saint Lord-level fierce beasts. He felt a shiver in his heart: one technique, breaking ten thousand methods. It gave him boundless inspiration, and in that instant he thought of a devastating follow-up strike that would leave the enemy with no answer.

“Boom!”

The qilin purple flame surged skyward. That mighty ape screamed as it burned, and in the end became nothing but the dust of its own destruction — leaving behind only a single divine pearl, which the fire-scaled tortoise, as large as a small mountain, swallowed whole.

“Cultivating for thousands of years, possessing supreme battle power, and yet incinerated to nothing in the end…” Ye Fan retreated to a safe distance without approaching.

He pressed on through the great wilderness — an extremely dangerous journey. This was the domain of savage beasts, and the beast clans here had chosen not to take human form, thus extending their lifespans, making each and every one of them immensely powerful.

It was said that across these vast stretches of wilderness there might still exist immortal divine medicines. The occasional beast that consumed even a single plant could live for nearly ten thousand years, and such ancient beast lords were terrifyingly powerful beyond imagination.

“Boom!”

A deafening sound rang out in the distance. Ye Fan’s heart lurched. Before him he saw a cluster of enormous graves — nothing that could possibly be a human burial ground.

Each tomb was the size of a small mountain, magnificent and imposing. He watched as an aged, ancient flood dragon tore open a cliff face, shaped it into a stone coffin, and buried itself within.

The stone coffin ignited, sinking into the earth beneath, and a vast earthen mound rose in its place, joining the line of others that stretched out before him.

“The most powerful strange beasts of this great wilderness have all chosen this place for their burial in their final moments.” Ye Fan approached and surveyed each massive grave. No divine pearls had been left behind — they had all reduced themselves to ash.

And yet Ye Fan was deeply moved. He murmured to himself: “Perhaps it is worth attempting. If it succeeds, I will have gained yet another powerful follow-up strike.”

As he walked through the wilderness and received these insights, he conceived of two trump cards — preparing to hold them in reserve against the Wang Family.

“The Holy Body has come to the Southern Domain.” Within the Ji Family’s Grand Heavenly Palace that housed their honored guests, a powerful Wang Family cultivator spoke up. He had learned this from a major sect of the Northern Domain — that Ye Fan had borrowed passage through their void traversal array.

“So he has come to deliver himself to his death after all. Young man, you are still too green — with just a slight maneuver, I have forced you to come here and die!” Wang Chengkun said, hands clasped behind his back.

“Away from the Northern Domain, unable to employ Origin Arts — let him be a dragon, he’ll have to curl up. Let him be a tiger, he’ll have to lie down. Head bared to the blade, without a single chance!” One of Wang Teng’s uncles laughed.

Within the Grand Heavenly Palace, several powerful cultivators studied a scroll. Upon it were the coordinate array markings from when Ye Fan had crossed the void — they were calculating in which part of the Southern Domain he had materialized.

News that the Holy Body had come to the Southern Domain could not be kept secret. Many learned of it, and all were astounded, debating endlessly.

People felt that Ye Fan had been far too reckless — coming to the Southern Domain to fight, stripped of every advantage, he would face near-certain death, most likely dying with his blood staining the southern frontier.

Many sighed, lamenting that the Holy Body — the only one since ancient times to break the curse — showed every sign of shining brilliantly in years to come, yet had now walked into a dead end. There seemed to be no hope of survival.

He was undeniably powerful, yet he had not grown to the point where he could defy all the sacred grounds at once. Without the support of his Origin Arts, how could he contend against peak Saint Lords?

Five days later, someone spread word that the Northern Emperor would become engaged to Ji Ziyue — and this set off a fresh wave of clamor.

Had it truly been confirmed? Or was this simply a way to pressure the Holy Body into revealing himself quickly?

By this point, if Ye Fan wished to exert even the slightest effort to help Ji Ziyue, there was truly no time left for careful planning. With such a short deadline, how could he possibly stand against them?

Externally, no one was optimistic about the Holy Body. People felt that he was very likely to fall in the Southern Domain. Since he had already come, he could not remain idle — yet he held not a single advantage. How could he succeed?

The Ji Family possessed the Dao-limit weapon. With what could he stand against it? Facing an ancient noble clan, how pitifully small was the strength of one man alone? It was impossible to rescue Ji Ziyue. To go there was certain death.

In the Ji Family’s Grand Heavenly Palace, Wang Chengkun’s lips curved into a cold, thin smile. “We don’t even need to act ourselves. If he dares to cause trouble within the Ji Family, their Eighth Elder will crush him to death.”

Years ago, Ye Fan had struck in the Southern Domain, slaying numerous Ji Family experts. Among those key figures was an old woman named Ji Hui — and the entire chain of events had begun with her. Ji Hui had been deeply cherished by the Ji Family’s Eighth Ancestor, who had never been able to let it go and had long sought an opportunity to eliminate Ye Fan and avenge Ji Hui.

Not long after, word spread that Ye Fan might very soon storm the Ji Family’s gates. The Southern Domain was shaken. All eyes converged at once.

How many years had it been — how many long ages — since such a thing had last occurred? To dare storm an ancient noble clan — from ancient times to the present, such an act had happened only a handful of times.

The Ji Family in particular — beneath the Void Ancient Mirror, even the greatest of heroes would be reduced to ash. There was simply no way past that obstacle.

At present, even if the Battling-Heaven Holy Monkey of Mount Sumeru were to cross over from the east, or even if the Old Madman of the Eastern Desolation were to appear, they would have to think long and hard before acting. There was no one in the world who did not hold the Ji Family in awe.

Furthermore, who could truly fathom the Ji Family’s reserves? Their present great cultivators were formidable combatants in their own right — and how many great powers would dare go head-to-head with them?

“Pang Bo, inheritor of the Demon Emperor and great demon of the Eastern Desolation, comes to pay his respects!” On this day, several figures appeared before the Ji Family’s grand and soaring Heavenly Palace, their voices resonating like rolling thunder.

Pang Bo had come — not with the humble courtesy of a junior requesting an audience with Ji Family elders, but by invoking his identity as the Demon Emperor’s heir, elevating this visit to the level of a meeting between the demon race and the human race as two great peoples.

“Ye Fan is the protector of my demon race’s path. Whoever kills him makes an enemy of my demon race!” Pang Bo had truly become desperate. The Southern Domain was a dragon’s den and a tiger’s lair. He feared that Ye Fan would make his move and end up with his blood staining this land, so he went all out, appearing with this sensitive identity.

With those words spoken, the Southern Domain erupted again in exclamations. The demon race had become entangled in this — the ripples from this incident were destined to spread wide.

On this occasion, the Immortal Crane King and the Bat King had come along with Pang Bo, brought by him through his own connections, in order to reinforce his identity as the heir of the Azure Emperor and press pressure upon the Ji Family.

“What a pity — after the battle in the Qin Mountains, the Crimson Dragon King and the others entered seclusion. Otherwise this would be even more effective!” Pang Bo sighed softly.

Even so, the Ji Family did not treat them lightly. Powerful cultivators came forward to welcome them and invited them inside. Though no commitments were made regarding Pang Bo’s words, the Ji Family had no wish to make enemies of them either.

“The demon race, and the heir of the Azure Emperor…” One of Wang Teng’s uncles paused as he received the news, instinctively sensing that an unexpected variable had appeared.

“Go and check whether the Demon Emperor’s divine weapon and the Heaven-Devouring Demon Urn held by the Thirteen Great Outlaws have been lent to the Holy Body.” Wang Chengkun’s face was expressionless.

Not long after, reliable information arrived: after the battle in the Qin Mountains, the Old Blind Man, the Peacock King, and those like them had all entered seclusion with their imperial weapons as guardians of their retreat. There was no possibility of lending them out.

“Holy Body — how do you expect to survive?” Wang Teng’s father Wang Chengkun laughed coldly. “Without an imperial weapon, even if you storm the Ji Family, you don’t need us to make a move — you’ll die all the same!”

The next day, Li Heishui, accompanied by several of the Thirteen Great Outlaws of the Northern Domain, arrived at the Ji Family’s estate in the Southern Domain, making clear their intention to protect Ye Fan and ensure he came to no harm.

Many cultivators of the Eastern Desolation were shaken. Both the demon race and the Thirteen Great Outlaws had sent representatives — this was a formidable force that no one could afford to ignore. Even sacred grounds would have to show some caution.

Before half a day had passed, the Crimson Dragon Daoist appeared, personally emerging from his seclusion. Though he had not brought his Dao-limit weapon, he had come in person — and once again, the tension in the Southern Domain ratcheted higher.

The Crimson Dragon King was someone who could rampage through the Eastern Desolation. Setting aside the Saint-level cultivators, who at present could kill him? And yet he had come personally for Ye Fan’s sake — many drew sharp, cold breaths.

“Boom!”

On the third day, a thunderous crash rang out. A monkey blazing with golden light from head to toe appeared, staff of black iron in hand, planting himself before the Ji Family’s palace complex, sending dust and smoke surging skyward.

“Wang Teng, get out here!” The Battling-Heaven Holy Monkey had come — crossing the void all the way to the Eastern Desolation specifically for Ye Fan’s sake, wielding his great staff with intent to beat the Northern Emperor to death.

The ten thousand primordial clans were about to emerge into the world, and the Holy Emperor’s Son had also come. His identity was supremely sensitive — far more noble than Zi Tiandu, the young lord of the Spirit Valley with whom Wang Teng was acquainted.

The many great powers all felt a sense of apprehension.

“Northern Emperor — who gave you that title? On what basis do you think you can prove your Dao and become a Great Emperor? While I draw breath, you will not. From this day forward, put that title away — the further you go from me, the better!” The monkey was extraordinarily arrogant, standing there with his great staff, looking down upon everything before him.

His voice carried for hundreds of miles in every direction, the entire void rumbling in resonance.

The main character, Ye Fan, had not yet appeared, and yet before the gates of the Ji Family it was already a scene of swirling winds and rising clouds. Everyone was shaken, with a premonition that this incident had already grown very large.

“It does not matter. Without a Dao-limit imperial weapon, no matter how many come, it is useless. The Holy Body will inevitably shed his blood here within the Ji Family. He will not survive. He will become the stepping stone upon which my son climbs toward the emperor’s path. As the many kings rise, Teng’er will be the one to take his head first!” Wang Chengkun remained impassive, utterly unconcerned.

“Wang Family — since you are too cowardly to come to the Northern Domain, I, Ye Fan, come to the Southern Domain to slay you!” At last, Ye Fan’s voice arrived — and the Southern Domain shook with tremendous force.