“Four years ago, you slew the Ninth Prince of our Golden Crow Clan and destroyed our elders using the Divine Maiden’s Furnace. And now you wage war against our clan once more. Do you truly believe a single person can hold back our entire clan?!” An elderly Golden Crow stepped forward, his expression dark as still water.
He was a Daoren past his fiftieth year, with golden hair draped over his shoulders, sharp and gaunt features, a pair of golden pupils that were eerie and unsettling, a tall and slender frame, and a golden wooden staff held in his hand.
It was clear his status was exceedingly high. Within the Golden Crow Clan he occupied a position of great weight and influence — standing at the very front while many around him showed deep reverence.
“You see only your own pain, yet remain blind to the suffering of others. When your Golden Crow Clan annihilated the descendants of the Human Clan’s Sacred Emperor, did you ever pause to consider how it felt from the other side?” Ye Fan’s body radiated a vast golden mist that surged upward, rolling like clouds tinged with twilight, accompanied by waves of thunderous rumbling. He roared: “Let alone just your clan — even if ten clans came together, I would slaughter them all the same!”
“Is that so? This humble Daoren, Xuanyi, would like to see just how powerful you truly are, to dare speak such wild words.” The elderly Daoren past fifty stepped forward with his golden wooden staff in hand.
He wore a golden crown upon his head and a robe adorned with the Eight Trigrams, his expression showing neither joy nor sorrow — yet a distinctly dangerous aura emanated from him. His long golden hair hung loose as he advanced step by step with a measured and deliberate pace.
The Golden Crow Clan was a peculiar people — their names and customs were strange, all chosen freely according to personal preference, and some among them had inherited ancient Dao lineages and dressed in the manner of Daoren.
Ye Fan remained completely composed and said nothing further, advancing step by step to meet him. This was undoubtedly a formidable adversary — constrained by the Three Cuts of the Immortal Platform — his entire being like a vast golden abyss.
Clang!
Above the head of this Daoren called Xuanyi, a black iron mountain appeared — towering and majestic as the Kunlun Range, with the character “Xuan” carved upon it — wreathed in swirling clouds and mist that coiled around him.
He advanced with golden staff in hand, stepping at a leisurely yet steady pace, standing suspended in the void as he swung it downward.
Boom!
The black ocean was instantly beaten to its very depths, leaving a vacuum crater tens of thousands of feet deep. Every wave was sent surging skyward, scattering the clouds themselves.
The golden wooden staff in Daoren Xuanyi’s hand stretched and thickened like a mountain ridge, sweeping down with overwhelming momentum and crushing force.
Clang!
A blade cry rang out across heaven and earth. Ye Fan activated the Soldier Character Art, drawing up the jade-blood demonic blade that had plunged into the great sea, raising it horizontally to the sky and clashing it against the wooden staff.
Crack!
Daoren Xuanyi’s wrist flicked, and the golden wooden staff slid down along the blade toward Ye Fan’s hand, striking at the bones of his knuckles — and with a boom, a sheet of golden flame burst forth.
This was the Solar Fire Essence he had refined over more than two thousand years of cultivation — capable of incinerating all things — even a figure at the level of a Cult Master, should they be touched by even a drop, would be reduced to ash and cinders.
Yet Ye Fan paid it no heed whatsoever. The light of his Immortal Platform flashed, the space between his brows cracked open, and he drew the golden fire essence inward, completely refining and absorbing every last trace of it.
“The Ancient Solar Scripture!”
“He has cultivated the Ancient Solar Scripture!”
Many among the Golden Crow Clan cried out. They had always longed for this supreme cultivation art and naturally understood all of its unique properties — every one of them revealed an expression of shock.
Boom!
The black iron mountain atop Daoren Xuanyi’s head — dark as ink, towering and imposing — released tens of thousands of streams of black light downward, sweeping toward Ye Fan.
This was a tremendous tearing force; the black light submerged the long blade in Ye Fan’s hand like waves of water.
Clang!
The demonic blade let out a mournful cry, shuddering violently, its body on the verge of shattering.
Yet Ye Fan’s strength was incomparably great — his physical body peerless — it was simply impossible for anyone to wrest a weapon from his grasp.
Clang!
The jade-green long blade snapped in two. Half remained in Ye Fan’s hand while the other half was struck by the black light, refined into pure gold, and absorbed into the black iron mountain.
“A Mysterious Magnetic Mountain!”
Ye Fan was astonished. This was an extraordinarily rare treasure for refining weapons — a piece no larger than a soybean would weigh in excess of ten thousand catties, bearing an inextinguishable magnetic force, and innately capable of overcoming weapons forged of refined gold.
The Golden Crow Clan had always been formidable — having destroyed the Dao lineages of numerous human clans and acquired many inheritances in the process. This was a secret treasure of an ancient Dao sect, complete with an ancient cultivation method attached.
Xuanyi was a powerhouse who had lived for two thousand eight hundred years. He had been stuck on the ninth minor step of the second level of the Immortal Platform for over two thousand years already — his strength a marvel that shook the world.
Crack!
Ye Fan formed the Mountain-Embracing Seal with his hands and hurled it upward into the sky, colliding violently with the Mysterious Magnetic Mountain — severing the divine magnetic light and sending the mountain flying tens of thousands of feet through the air.
“Truly fearsome!” The expression of the elderly Daoren Xuanyi grew grave.
He had studied and mastered the ancient supreme arts of the human clan with a depth of power that was unfathomable. Constrained by the Three Cuts of the Immortal Platform, he had been trapped in this realm for over two thousand years — yet though his cultivation had not advanced a single step, he had spent that time deeply studying methods of breakthrough, having touched upon the domain of the Seven Restrictions.
An ancient fossil such as him, combined with the domain of the Seven Restrictions, could absolutely roam unrivaled throughout the world — rarely meeting any worthy adversary. Yet now, facing Ye Fan, he found himself completely suppressed.
One could say his power was unmatched — a figure of great renown within the Golden Crow Clan, with tremendous influence and authority, one whom very few dared to offend — a senior elder of immense consequence.
Swish!
Suddenly, Ye Fan vanished from the void — causing everyone present to be greatly startled, for it was truly uncanny.
High above in the heavens, a bolt of golden lightning emerged from nothingness. Ye Fan had pierced through the void using the Great Void Art and closed the distance rapidly, bringing down the Void Great Hand Seal in a crushing blow.
It was a vast golden hand — like a sweeping mass of golden clouds — rolling down with great and mighty pressure, covering both Daoren Xuanyi and his Mysterious Magnetic Mountain beneath it.
This was a terrifying pressure — as though the nine tiers of heaven had come crashing down — bearing down upon the elderly Daoren Xuanyi and causing every hair on his body to stand on end, his loose golden hair flying wildly in all directions.
“Rise!”
He let out a sharp cry, sending the Mysterious Magnetic Mountain surging upward in counterattack to block the golden hand seal — the tens of thousands of streams of divine magnetic light were terrifyingly powerful, piercing through the heavens.
Ye Fan was astonished — this precious material was truly extraordinary, an unrefined gem that, if carefully consecrated and refined, would surely astound the entire world.
He shifted from palm to claw and slashed downward — still blotting out the sky and covering the earth — and with a thud grasped the Mysterious Magnetic Mountain firmly in his hand. With a forceful wipe, he erased all the divine soul imprints upon it, and from that moment it had a new master.
Then, like the Lord of Heaven descending into the world, the great golden hand seized this towering magnetic mountain — as though grasping the Great Seal of the Heavenly Emperor — and pressed it downward with full force.
The heart and gall of Daoren Xuanyi ran cold. His methods were extraordinary, his power absolute — he could roam unrivaled throughout the world — yet here he was utterly passive, his flesh and bones on the verge of rupturing under the strain.
A light cry escaped his lips as he transformed into a massive golden crow, spread his wings, and attempted to flee. Yet he was a step too late — the golden hand descending from the sky like the Heavenly Emperor pressing his seal came crashing down, and with a thud shattered one of his divine wings.
Blood dyed the sky crimson. The elderly golden crow let out a faint cry and fell at an angle, reverting once more to the form of a Daoren — his entire left arm gone, blood streaming freely.
Everyone present was profoundly shocked. Daoren Xuanyi’s arts had reached the level of communing with creation itself — having touched upon the domain of the Seven Restrictions — yet in all the present world, very few adversaries were capable of slaying him.
The crowd surged forward as one — knowing that Xuanyi was no match — rushing to lend support and attempting to overwhelm Ye Fan through sheer numbers.
Yet Ye Fan moved faster still. Unwilling to let this battle be interrupted, he intended to settle things with this elderly golden crow once and for all. In the blink of an eye he was right before him, the black iron mountain in hand, pressing down to blot out the entire sky.
Daoren Xuanyi retreated rapidly, wielding his wooden staff in his right hand and swinging it in a fierce backhand strike. Golden light surged forward like a great river, forming a sweeping storm of stars.
Boom!
The Mysterious Magnetic Mountain descended, shattering the wooden staff into powder — reducing it to a sky full of golden dust. And the black mountain body was incomparably vast, crushing Daoren Xuanyi beneath it.
A spray of bloody light erupted. This senior elder of the Golden Crow Clan had his bones shattered and sinews broken under the weight. In the instant his divine soul surged upward to escape, it was struck by a golden Dao sword that flew out from between Ye Fan’s brows and reduced to flying ash.
“Kill!”
“Avenge Elder Xuanyi!”
Outraged, the Golden Crow Clan surged forward as one to attack, all rushing toward the center of the battlefield as all manner of sacred weapons filled the sky.
Clang — clang…
Ye Fan drove the captured black iron mountain he had seized, unleashing tens of thousands of streams of divine magnetic light that instantly destroyed the majority of the refined-gold sacred weapons filling the sky — its efficacy was devastating.
At the same time, he fixed his gaze upon a powerful cultivator, transformed into a bolt of blazing lightning and shot toward him — the Character Art for Movement rendering him as though passing through a land with no opposition — raising his fist and delivering a killing blow.
Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist!
After four years of contemplation and Dao comprehension, his understanding of this supreme fist intent had deepened profoundly — utterly unstoppable, sweeping away all obstacles in its path. The powerful cultivator let out a single wretched cry before being obliterated by a single punch.
“Activate the Golden Crow Divine Formation!”
Among them, a senior elder shouted the command, and every elite of the Golden Crow Clan fell back simultaneously. Above, banners unfurled and rippled, flames blazed and roared, and divine clouds churned and rolled.
The Golden Crow Clan had come with over a hundred elite warriors. Three great masters had fallen, and now only two terrifying elders remained, along with four formidable Golden Crow princes.
“Refine him for me!” Several of the Golden Crow princes gnashed their teeth. Ye Fan had already slain two of their brothers — naturally this was an irresolvable blood feud.
High above in the sky, one sacrificial altar after another materialized — an ancient killing formation of primordial origin — intended to trap Ye Fan within it and refine him into nothing.
Clang — clang — clang…
Ten thousand swords rang out in unison. Golden crows filled the heavens — every ancient sacrificial altar releasing thousands upon thousands of sword radiances that flew toward Ye Fan at the center.
This was an ancient killing formation of primordial origins, and moreover, vast amounts of life essence had transformed into golden crows that dove down to tear him apart — blotting out the sky and covering the earth, swarming in every direction.
Within this ancient formation whose divine radiances were woven together like a net, Ye Fan moved like a divine spirit on procession — his entire body encircled by a golden Taiji sphere — his feet executing the Character Art for Movement as he shifted and displaced with rapid precision.
He descended first upon the reef below, retrieved the restriction formation laid down with nine divine source stones, and picked up the child who had been crying nearly to the point of collapse — placing him upon his own shoulder and saying: “Stop crying. Let us send your Uncle Jiang off on his journey.”
The old servant’s body was entrusted to the black sea, while the young child wept until his voice was hoarse and his throat raw, weakly reaching out a small hand toward the waters below, grasping desperately at nothing.
“Crying cannot resolve anything. Your Uncle Jiang’s wish was for you to grow up strong. Now let me teach you your first lesson.”
Ye Fan placed the child on his shoulder, rose into the sky, and stood at the center of the ancient killing formation. “Do you truly believe a divine formation can trap me?!”
The Fourth Golden Crow Prince said coldly: “Escape it first, then speak.”
“Activate the ancient formation for me! Grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes — let him never be reborn!” The Fifth Golden Crow Prince issued an ice-cold command in a loud voice.
The ancient killing formation swallowed the vital energy of heaven and earth. In an instant, a furious dark wind howled, black clouds surged like a flood across the sky, and this entire corner of the world was submerged — the terror of it was incomparable.
“Uncle Jiang, don’t go — Tong Tong misses you. I have no family left, only you…” The poor child wept with grief, sobbing in bitter anguish.
Ye Fan carried him upward against the heavens, raising the Myriad Calamity Bow in his hand as he went. “Only by growing, only by becoming strong — can you bring comfort to your Uncle Jiang’s spirit. Watch closely!”
Hum!
A soft tremor — the bowstring loosened — a stream of golden light stretching dozens of miles pierced upward into the heavens!
This arrow had concentrated every last ounce of his power, been endowed by him with life itself, imbued with his comprehension of the Great Dao. From the very moment it appeared, heaven and earth resonated in harmony, the Great Dao rumbled and surged, and auspicious radiance rained down from above!
Thud!
A spray of blood exploded outward. The Fourth Golden Crow Prince let out a great cry as an arrow pierced through the space between his brows — a divine rainbow stretching dozens of miles — and he was obliterated in the void.
“What?!”
“Fourth Prince!”
……
The members of the Golden Crow Clan cried out in unison, every one of them stricken with terror.
“Again!” Ye Fan roared, drawing the bow once more toward the heavens. Divine power surged, the life essence within his body boiled, and his entire being seemed cast from molten gold.
Thud!
A divine rainbow dozens of miles long tore through the sky and drove into the brow-bone of the Fifth Golden Crow Prince, carrying his corpse forward hundreds of miles before it exploded into a mist of blood!
“Again!” Ye Fan roared once more — and this sound, like a demonic curse rising from the Nine Nethers, chilled every last member of the Golden Crow Clan to the bone, causing them to shudder uncontrollably.