Ye Fan also froze. He had only said it casually. Yet this brooding gourd had actually stirred — that streak of light had been too fast, too swift for even the Northern Emperor to evade.
The head had tumbled to the ground. Struck again and again by the sword-radiance, it had been reduced to a mass of white paste flecked with threads of blood — unrecognizable, a pitiful sight.
In Ye Fan’s hand, an ancient cosmos appeared at the gourd’s mouth — specific and minute, the stellar region deep and profound. The streak of sword-radiance that had burst forth was conjured from it, and now it had returned.
“I want to see how you come back from this!” Ye Fan called out. The head was the vital point of the human body — the primordial spirit resided within. Shatter it, and the divine consciousness would also turn to ash — spiritual annihilation, more thorough even than physical death.
Of course, he was still somewhat uneasy. The Northern Emperor’s reputation was simply too great — known across the five domains, his power defying the heavens. Ye Fan had no desire for any unexpected outcome.
Without delay, he drove the black gourd. An endless surge of fire burst outward, rushing toward Wang Teng’s remains — Ye Fan intended to completely incinerate the body and reduce it to ash.
A Wang Family elder went into a frenzy, unable to endure it any further, and struck at Ye Fan.
From a distance, the Scarlet Dragon Daoren gave a cold snort. The True Dragon’s Eight Stances attacked — a single pointed strike breaking through the elder’s forbidden technique, blocking the way.
Pop!
Suddenly, a strange sound rang out in the air. The Northern Emperor’s paste-like head rapidly sealed itself shut. His body began to take shape, and he retreated like a flying arrow, avoiding the sacred flames.
His entire body was enveloped in a golden divine radiance, bathing in sacred light — like a phoenix reborn from fire, giving off an impression of the sacred and inviolable.
“How is this possible? Even his head was smashed apart — how can he still be alive? Could it be that his primordial spirit escaped first?”
“Impossible. This defies all logic. Even the most powerful of beings — once their primordial spirit is shattered, they cease to exist, erased from this world. I clearly saw his divine consciousness break apart just now.”
Everyone found it beyond belief, unable to accept what was happening before their eyes.
Only Ye Fan felt a jolt in his heart. In an instant, he arrived at one possible explanation: some kind of Great Emperor’s sacred object had saved Wang Teng’s life. It must be the Chaotic Ancient Emperor’s Symbol!
Indeed — in the distance, between Wang Teng’s brows, a walnut-sized divine symbol blazed with clear, bright light, like a rising sun, breathing in and out essence-qi, filled with the energy of life.
“The Chaotic Ancient Emperor’s Symbol!”
At last, a Living Fossil cried it aloud — guessing the identity of that incomplete rare treasure.
In the past, Wang Chong had carried one as well. Cracked and broken as it was, it had been able to preserve his life and allow him to regenerate.
Wang Teng had been willing to give that treasure away because he had another — one to guard his own safety. And now, at last, it had revealed itself.
“The Chaotic Ancient Emperor was a figure of stunning brilliance. This divine symbol he engraved defies the natural order, possessing an inconceivable and mighty power. Even after the primordial spirit has been severed it can revive — truly beyond all reason!”
Eyes in the crowd shimmered with unusual brilliance. A treasure like this, worn on one’s person, was equivalent to having an extra life. Even a situation of certain death could be broken through because of it. Truly enviable.
“It is truly astonishing. What kind of enemy did the Northern Plains’ only Chaotic Ancient Emperor ever encounter, to have even his divine symbol cracked apart? One can imagine how grueling that battle must have been.” One Living Fossil turned the thought over in his mind, unable to suppress his shock. An endless stream of notions arose — unless someone had entered one of the seven great forbidden zones like the Primal Ancient Ore Vein, what existence could possibly give a human race Great Emperor such a hard time?!
“Treasure, please turn!” Ye Fan recited the so-called incantation once more.
This time, the black gourd showed not the slightest reaction. Even the ancient cosmos at the gourd’s mouth sank back inside.
“Treasure, please kill someone!”
“Treasure, please sever heads!”
“Treasure, please chop him apart!”
…
“Treasure, your grandfather!”
Ye Fan called out again and again, yet to no avail. He was so frustrated he nearly hurled the black gourd away. This thing was nothing like the legends he had once heard — it was definitely not the same object at all.
Everyone present: “…”
On the other side, Wang Teng used the Chaotic Ancient Emperor’s Symbol to rebuild his source, standing in the void, gazing over coldly. He could not quite understand it.
His true battle power feared no one under heaven. As long as the Battle-Saint Buddha, the Old Madman, and the Peerless Divine King did not appear, he could run rampant through the world — capable of standing nearly on equal footing even with Living Fossils. Yet today, he had suffered one calamity after another, with Ye Fan using every manner of technique to cut him down. His heart was burning with a rage that could not be expressed. On the path to Great Emperor, a defeat was something that could not be borne — he could not afford to lose. A true emperor must be undefeated.
Once damaged at someone’s hand, he must kill that person — otherwise he could never cross the threshold in his heart. An emperor must be without equal.
“Nine Secrets — the Scripture of Fore!” Wang Teng silently recited within his heart. He intended to unleash the Nine Secrets to slay his enemy — obtained from the Eastern Desolation, to be used against his Eastern Desolation enemies!
A nine-colored divine haze shot from his entire body. Above all else, the point between his brows blazed like a golden sun at its zenith, casting down ten thousand ribbons of light that enveloped him within.
Ye Fan immediately sensed it. This was a resonant aura — the other party carried a secret art of the same lineage as his own. The Nine Secrets!
Wang Teng’s left eye became a true dragon, his right eye a divine phoenix. They were on the verge of transforming into Dao and emerging outward. Centered on the point between his brows, the ribbons of light distorted the surrounding space, forming a special domain that spread in all four directions.
Ye Fan’s heart lurched violently. He activated the Script of Movement to retreat rapidly, and called to the black gourd once more — this time with no result.
Without a sound, without a warning, Ye Fan met with resistance. The distorted domain had already occupied half the sky — enveloping him beneath it. This was a form of intangible killing intent. It could not be touched, yet the killing intent it emitted cut to the bone.
From a distance, Zi Tian Du’s eyes flickered with an indefinable strange light, staring at the black gourd without blinking. His lips moved quietly: “In the age of the Great Antiquity, it unleashed a terrifying and ferocious power — even in a battle of that magnitude it was not destroyed, only partially damaged!”
His elder sister — the young woman with violet pupils — also stirred with an unusual expression, staring at the black gourd without cease. She asked in the ancient tongue: “Are you certain you’re not mistaken?”
“No mistake. It matches what is recorded in the ancient texts written in Great Antiquity script, word for word. I never imagined that after that great battle, it would still have survived!” said Zi Tian Du. The violet light in his eyes grew more intense, fixed unwaveringly on the black gourd.
In the arena, Ye Fan drove the sacred flames from within the black gourd against the distorted domain — intending to burn it all away.
“This is…” He was greatly startled. The domain persisted, coexisting with the sacred flames without being destroyed. It evaded all fire — sensing everything in advance and withdrawing beforehand, rendering the fire’s effect null. It pressed in without gaps, closing to within arm’s reach.
Clang!
His whole body blazed with light. The Battle-Saint Scripture manifested — the golden Taiji circle appeared, clashing with the domain, producing a rippling wave.
Then, he shuddered violently. His primordial spirit came under attack. Against his will, his body lurched. This was no ordinary form of assault — it acted on the person’s divine consciousness, passing through nothingness, ignoring all physical defense, arriving as an intangible domain!
Thankfully, his golden Taiji circle was indestructible and blocked that devastating strike. Otherwise, he might have been finished with a single blow just now!
“This is the Nine Secrets’ Scripture of Fore!” Ye Fan felt a shock within his heart. He had long heard of this secret scripture. He had craved it deeply — yet had not imagined it would be with Wang Teng.
The Scripture of Fore cultivated the primordial spirit. It could make the divine consciousness undying — and even influence the physical form, expanding one’s divinity — beyond all compare!
“No wonder his primordial spirit was so formidable — his physical body endured the fire tribulation and held on for so long.” The understanding struck Ye Fan instantly, and he grasped the underlying cause.
Of course, the true power of the Scripture of Fore was not limited to this. In addition to cultivating the primordial spirit and granting undying divinity, once one reached a deep enough level, one could also sense everything in advance.
“Fore” — the name itself came from this very quality. The sea of consciousness within the human body was the most mysterious of all things, holding endless immortal potential. Reach a certain level, and one could sense all things in advance — knowing everything before it came. The Scripture of Fore cultivated this — allowing everything to be one step ahead.
It could be said: once the sea of consciousness was fully excavated, boundless secret treasuries would open. The Scripture of Fore was the technique devoted to cultivating it — making everything advance by one step.
What Wang Teng had unleashed right now was a sea-of-consciousness domain generated by the Scripture of Fore — without form, without trace — using it to sever and destroy the primordial spirit!
Ye Fan felt a chill of dread. He observed carefully and discovered that the sacred fire was not incapable of destroying the domain — only that the distorted “realm” sensed everything in advance, withdrawing beforehand. It was as if the fire had no effect at all.
“He wants to sever my primordial spirit!” He was alarmed — yet also relieved that this secret scripture was extraordinarily difficult to master. Even the Northern Emperor had only glimpsed its entrance. It was impossible to truly foresee everything in advance. Otherwise, there would be no need to fight at all.
But even so, it was enough. The Scripture of Fore had made Wang Teng’s primordial spirit exceptionally powerful — always able to sense things half a step ahead — giving him an undying divinity that provided him with every possible advantage in battle.
Ye Fan deployed the Battle-Saint Scripture while holding his ground with the golden Taiji circle. Then he also activated the Scripture of Soldiers, sacrificing the black gourd outward, spurting flames to strike at Wang Teng.
The so-called sensing half a step ahead, calculating all things — that came with a precondition: that the forces involved fell within a controllable range. But now the black gourd was bearing down with an annihilating energy. Wang Teng’s expression changed at once.
The Scripture of Soldiers was without equal — the most supreme technique for controlling weapons under heaven. The black gourd pierced through nothingness, nearly plunging into Wang Teng’s body — to say nothing of the torrents of flame that followed.
He retreated instantly. And at the same time, he unleashed the Chaotic Sky Secret Art — intending to drive the black gourd into a boundless dimensional abyss, to sever its connection with Ye Fan.
This was truly the best stratagem. Exiling the black gourd would cut off Ye Fan’s most powerful means of attack, stripping away his combat power. Yet the Scripture of Soldiers was matchless under heaven — Ye Fan’s mastery of weapon control was divine and inspired.
Even the Northern Emperor’s Chaotic Sky Secret Art could not sever the connection. It failed to exile the black gourd. He was nearly burned to ashes himself. Moreover, the gourd began to press against his “domain” — flames cascading down. Sense it in advance as he might, there was no escaping all of it.
The formidable Northern Emperor, faced with the sacred flames of the ninth layer of the fire domain, had no solution. Unless he retreated, he could not withstand it.
“Chaotic Ancient Scripture!” Wang Teng bellowed. At last he began to manifest the peerless secret technique of the Northern Plains’ only ancient emperor. In this moment, past and present descended into chaos.
He demonstrated a supremely terrifying divine art — disrupting time and space, splitting the space around Ye Fan into many “fragments,” each fragment’s time flowing in a discontinuous and disordered manner.
“Scripture of Fore — strip the primordial spirit, imprison eternally in nothingness, chaotic binding!”
Simultaneously, the Scripture of Fore was unleashed once more, combined with the Chaotic Ancient Scripture. The degree of terror surpassed all imagination, sending even several Living Fossils reeling with shock.
Within the discontinuous stretches of time and space, in a particular pocket of nothingness, Ye Fan found his primordial spirit existing in one domain while his physical body and black gourd existed in another — as if they existed in different spans of time and space.
“How does one break through this secret art?!” The Fifth Great Bandit, Wu Dao, was horrified.
“There is no solution — only one who is overwhelmingly stronger can break through by brute force!” The Scarlet Dragon Daoren’s expression was grave.
From a distance, the other sect masters also changed color. Had it been any of them, they might well have been slain by Wang Teng already — none of them could think of a way to break through.
“The secret arts of the ancient Great Emperors are truly terrifying — not yet at full mastery, merely stepping into the threshold, and already this kind of unsolvable situation has been created!”
Joy spread across the faces of the Wang Family members. The few surviving young people brightened with high spirits. Wang Chengkun laughed coldly without cease.
Ji Ziyue, Pang Bo, Li Heishui, and the others were overwhelmed with anxiety. The Holy Maiden of Yaochi also followed the battle closely. Both the Southern Demon and Qi Huoshui were moved, all attention converging on the arena.
“Sacred Physique — what do you have left to fight me with? A gap in ability is a gap in ability. External paths cannot amount to anything!” Wang Teng bellowed. His black hair stood on end, his primordial spirit materialized in physical form, sharing the same span of time and space as Ye Fan’s divine consciousness — pressing forward in attack.
Ye Fan stilled his heart. The Dao Scripture, the Western Emperor Scripture, the Eternal Universe Scripture, the Primordial Emperor Scripture, and the True Scripture of the Sun — all five ancient scriptures rang out in unison, playing out the divine sound of the Grand Dao within this chaotic span of time and space.
His entire body became crystalline — like a seven-colored glass divine lamp. With five scriptures sounding together, he then activated the Scripture of Soldiers, deploying the supreme weapon-control art of the world!
Hum!
The Ancient Bronze Coffin trembled. It flew straight toward him — breaking through its restraints, entering this pocket of nothingness. Within Ye Fan’s sea of consciousness, the golden little figure drove the coffin with tremendous force, releasing a deafening resonance. The bronze coffin soared skyward — and was swung in motion.
Crack!
“Ahh…!”
The Northern Emperor cried out in agony. The bronze coffin landed squarely upon his primordial spirit, shattering it in an instant.
“Trying to flee? There is no road for you!” Ye Fan bellowed. Using the Scripture of Soldiers to drive the bronze coffin, he struck again.
Splat!
The Northern Emperor’s primordial spirit — formidable beyond all measure — scattered and dispersed. The golden little figure within Ye Fan’s sea of consciousness reached out one hand and with a bang snatched the Chaotic Ancient Emperor’s Symbol.
“I want to see what you’ll use to resurrect yourself!” In an instant, Ye Fan broke through that strange span of time and space. His divine consciousness returned to his physical body — and with a single stride forward, he swung the bronze coffin down.
Splat!
Wang Teng’s physical body also dissolved into pulp, splattering outward — reduced to an unrecognizable form.
Everyone now understood — the Northern Emperor was beyond any hope of survival. For all his heaven-defying divine powers, none of it could be brought to bear. He had been completely countered and suppressed.
All the blood and flesh splashed onto the golden ancient war chariot — a vivid scarlet, incomparably bloody, along with fragments of shattered bone, making all who witnessed it shudder.
It had to be said: this golden ancient war chariot was a sacred object. Even after the fire tribulation, it had not been destroyed — it had survived intact.
“Teng!”
Wang Chengkun felt his heart and gallbladder splitting apart, nearly falling unconscious. Together with the elders at his side, he charged — intending to lay brutal hands on Ye Fan while also seizing the ancient war chariot.
Ye Fan did not stop. He summoned the black gourd and drove the flames to burn — intending to destroy the ancient chariot and completely refine everything belonging to Wang Teng into nothing.
Now, whoever stood in his way would be killed. His singular intent was to eliminate his enemy’s every last vestige. Even if the divine came, he would fight — mercilessly driving the sacred flames toward the several great experts.
“Stop!” The Eight Ancestor of the Ji Family bellowed. His eyes blazed with divine radiance as he stared coldly over.
Ye Fan paid him no mind whatsoever, acting entirely as he pleased — driving the flames to engulf everything before him.
“Outrageous — how dare you run wild in my Ji Family!” The Eight Ancestor of the Ji Family’s voice was cold as ice.
Suddenly, Ye Fan felt a tremendous crisis descend. He stamped the Script of Movement into motion and retreated several thousand zhang away in the blink of an eye.
In the vault of heaven above, a ray of sacred light descended. The ground where he had just been standing was instantly obliterated — silently annihilated. A supreme and overwhelming pressure expanded across the sky.
The Ancient Void Mirror — the bedrock treasure of the Ji clan, suspended forever in the void. Within the family grounds, certain key figures could draw upon a strand of imperial might to guard the undying Ji Family.
“Eighth Ancestor of the Ji Family — you’ve gone too far!” The Scarlet Dragon old Daoist leapt to his feet.
From a distance, the monkey gave a great shout and came forward holding the black gold staff. “If you use power to bully others, I won’t mind inviting one of the ancient kings here!”
“Ji — whatever-your-name-is — Eighth — you offered me no fairness whatsoever, took the Wang Family’s side, and used an ultimate-grade imperial weapon to try to kill me. I want an explanation from you!” Ye Fan was truly furious.
Everyone was shaken. The Ji Family possessed an imperial weapon of the Void — suspended in an eternally unknown place, capable of releasing a supreme imperial might at any moment. And yet Ye Fan dared to challenge and confront them like this.