Everyone had said that the Golden Crow Clan’s most glorious great era had arrived — ten extraordinary talents from a single family. The world believed the future would belong to them.
Yet blood and white bones had forged a mournful song, shattering that belief. All ten crown princes of the Golden Crow Clan had fallen. Even the most powerful among them, Lu Ya, had met his end and departed in obscurity.
This outcome left cultivators across the world pale with cold dread. Such a battle record — blood and scattered bones — had been the work of a single person.
Ye Fan, alone, had slain all ten crown princes of the Golden Crow Clan. Such a glorious feat was sure to be sung and recounted for many years, perhaps even becoming legend in the ages to come.
Shooting down the golden crows with a bent bow, battling divine sons, fighting fiercely against a fully accomplished king’s projection from beyond the Celestial Domain… One after another, world-shaking battle after world-shaking battle caused Ye Fan’s name to spread rapidly across all the land.
In this era when sages did not manifest, when fully accomplished Divine Kings were nowhere to be seen, the rise of such a young powerhouse naturally shook all under heaven.
Now, across the great continents, there was no one who did not know the name Ye Fan. During this period, he had become the focal point of everyone’s discussion.
Yet this dazzling new rising talent — his past was a blank. No one could learn anything of his history. He seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
The Battle of the Origin Ruins shook all ten directions!
Ye Fan’s rise was too swift and too fierce. Every single person agreed: here was someone with the ambition to comprehend the Dao. The ancient Ziwei Star Domain would know no peace in the days to come.
A single Yin Tiande was already frightening enough. Fourteen years ago, he had slaughtered sect masters across the world until not one dared speak — advancing with iron blood, forging a terrifying legend.
And now a Ye Fan had appeared. The future would surely be a fierce contest between dragons and tigers. The Three Immortal Severances of the Dao would most likely be unable to stop him either. The path of Dao comprehension would be soaked in spurting blood — there was no avoiding it.
On the path of the great emperor, outstanding talents wither abundantly, and peerless heroes fall frequently. White bones are everywhere; blood accompanies mournful songs.
This is a path paved with blood and bones!
Without surviving the tribulation of slaughter, without growing accustomed to the sight of death, not knowing the depths of suffering and calamity, the end of the emperor’s path is impossible to see. It is a road that passes through a mountain of corpses.
The ancient great emperors — spoken of as though radiating brilliance ten thousand fathoms deep, revered by all living beings — had each fought their way through this same ordeal, baptized in the blood of countless kings, advancing atop their bones.
“I dare say Yin Tiande will certainly battle Ye Fan — and it will not be long from now!”
“Two heaven-bestowed kings in a single era — that is truly a kind of tragedy. Even without Yin Tiande’s death, one of the two would still have to fall.”
People were hotly debating. The whole world was talking about them, believing these two would strike the most brilliant sparks this age had to offer!
Everyone agreed: Ye Fan would find every possible means to break through the “Three Immortal Severances of the Dao” — that insurmountable barrier — in the shortest possible time.
Otherwise, how would he contend with Yin Tiande in the future? It was not merely a question of who could comprehend the Dao — it was a matter of life and death. The loser had no path to survival.
Just how formidable was Yin Tiande? Even Ye Fan could not help but ask himself the question. He had battled various divine sons and shaken the current age — yet still could not change what people thought.
Throughout this great land, everyone agreed that Yin Tiande was terrifying beyond the extreme — in the past, in the present, and in the future — and never had this view changed.
“Without question, he is the foremost among his peers. He has crushed even elder figures until they cannot breathe. Fourteen years ago, he had already placed one foot into the third heaven of the Immortal Platform.”
“His understanding of the Dao runs to extraordinary depths. Before reaching the height of a king, he had already spent seven days and seven nights debating the Dao with the Golden Crow King in an ancient cave.”
These were the most simple and direct pieces of information Li Tian and Yan Yixi provided — and they left Ye Fan deeply furrowed in thought. From every angle he considered, Yin Tiande looked like the protagonist of this land, destined to be this ancient star’s future seeker of Dao comprehension.
“I will speak a truth: right now he can only be avoided, not confronted head-on. Going up against him head-on would simply be going to one’s death.” Even the arrogant, untameable Li Tian said such words aloud.
He had witnessed Ye Fan’s current combat power with his own eyes, and still said this — which spoke volumes about how terrifying Yin Tiande truly was.
One must know: Li Tian and Yan Yixi were powerful figures on the same level as the Supreme Yin divine son and Lu Ya — among the most fearsome of the younger generation.
As for the present — Yin Tiande was riding a bull westward, advancing along an ancient road, violet energy surging eight thousand miles ahead of him. He had vanished into the west.
No one knew how formidable he would become after emulating the ancients and returning from such a journey. Perhaps this would be the most crucial voyage of Dao-transformation in his life.
“Ah — I’m male, not a woman! If you don’t believe me I’ll show you!”
An incomparably ear-splitting shriek rang out. The serpent-spirit boy from the Eight Scenes Palace wailed as though subjected to every manner of torment.
Li Tian’s face went black with rage. He strode over and delivered two solid kicks, cursing: “What in the blazes — does Li personally look that indiscriminate? Can I really not tell the difference between male and female?”
The serpent-spirit boy’s small face went white as snow with fright. He collapsed where he stood — but in the end, steeling himself, he bit down and assumed an expression of fearless resignation, as if to say: do what you will.
“You little serpent-spirit — what kind of expression is that? Look at me like that again and I’ll slap you dead!” Li Tian said with a black face.
They were on a small barren hill with no vegetation — only rocks, bare and exposed. The area was desolate and remote. Ye Fan and the others were interrogating the serpent-spirit boy, seeking everything there was to know about the Eight Scenes Palace.
Half an hour later, they left the barren hill region. They severed a portion of the serpent-spirit boy’s primordial spirit and left him a path of survival.
The Eight Scenes Palace was indeed no easy thing to enter. One had to accord with the celestial timing — otherwise an ancient formation guarded it, making entry possible but exit impossible.
Furthermore, one first needed to enter the Taiqing Sacred Realm, which already seemed like an impossibly difficult barrier. After Yin Tiande departed, he had sealed it. Based on the serpent-spirit’s memories, it absolutely could not be forced open.
“With the divine maiden furnace in hand, the Taiqing Sacred Realm should be openable — however, it requires a night of the full moon before it can be done. What a nuisance. We have to wait for the right celestial moment as well.” After discussion among the group, they decided to make their move in a few days.
The divine maiden furnace had a notorious reputation. The master-and-disciple pair of the Path of Human Desire wished to leave this ancient star and seek new development elsewhere — and they decided to take with them all the various ritual implements left behind in the sect’s ancient caves. In the days that followed, shocking news appeared: the Golden Crow King had emerged from seclusion and traveled directly to the Eastern Divine Continent, searching for traces of Ye Fan.
Sovereign over all under heaven!
That was the immediate reaction of everyone who received the news. A fully accomplished king — after years in seclusion, he had finally walked the world once more.
Several days earlier, his projection from beyond the Celestial Domain had been nothing like his true self, and yet from tens of millions of miles away he could strike out, dominating all with his might.
That hazy form had lagged far behind his true body — the distance between them was as great as that between clouds and mud. Now the Golden Crow King’s true body had appeared. Who under heaven could be his match?
He had come to kill Ye Fan — to seek an accounting for ten crown princes. No one knew how many years it had been since a fully accomplished king had last appeared. The whole world was shocked.
“Alas — if things go smoothly, we’ll be leaving this ancient star. It truly is difficult to let go.” Li Tian, whose face always carried a roguish air, showed a touch of feeling.
This was the ancient mountain where the Path of Human Desire had resided. He and Yan Yixi had already cleared out everything from several caves, leaving nothing behind.
“Uncle, if you want to cry, just cry,” said little Tong Tong, cradling a snow-white little rabbit.
“Damn it — don’t look at your rabbit while you’re talking to me.” Li Tian said irritably.
Little Tong Tong felt wronged. Clutching the snow-white rabbit, she ran far away and refused to pay him any further attention.
“What is there to be reluctant about for you?” Ye Fan said with a smile.
“Despite bearing the glorious reputation of the world’s foremost scoundrel, I — damn it all — am still a pure-hearted young man who has never broken the abstinence! Never once!” Li Tian cursed bitterly.
“Pfft!”
Ye Fan spat out a mouthful of tea. Without divine radiance to protect his body, Li Tian would absolutely have been showered in it.
“Could you be any more shameless?”
“I just knew none of you would believe me. Alas — I’ve watched the ninth most beautiful woman of the human race bathe, seen the eighth most beautiful soak in a spiritual spring, and had the fortune to witness the fifth most beautiful undress in her own boudoir — and yet I never actually did anything. I was chased across continent after continent with everyone nipping at my heels, and I — I’ve been wronged!”
Li Tian recounted his grievances, and then made a solemn oath: “Never mind — Northern Dipper Star Domain, here I come! Ancient beauties, divine maidens of ten thousand clans — I’m on my way! I vow not to disappoint you!”
Yan Yixi, robed in white, moved like a scroll of a painting come to life — jade bones and divine bearing. His air was entirely opposite to his junior apprentice-brother’s roguishness, two completely contrasting temperaments.
“Junior brother, what should we do with this jade talisman?” After finishing packing the ancient caves, a jade talisman caught his attention. He held it reverently in his palm.
“Heavenly Secrets Talisman!” Li Tian was greatly startled: “Where did you find it?”
“In the ash of the incense burner before the Ancestral Master’s altar.”
“Those old blasted tortoises — to have a talisman this important and just leave it lying around like that! Is this not a trap for their successors?” Li Tian roundly cursed the generations of ancestral masters.
“Is this talisman something extraordinary?” Ye Fan asked.
“Of course — this is a sacred talisman of the Gates of Heavenly Secrets. It is only bestowed when a great debt of gratitude has been owed. Bearing it, one can request that this reclusive ancient dao-sect divine either auspicious or inauspicious fate, or anything one wishes to know.” Li Tian was greatly excited, and added: “Furthermore, it grants four opportunities in total.”
The Gates of Heavenly Secrets possessed uncanny, divinely inscrutable abilities. They could calculate the workings of fate, deduce patterns of creation, and deliver various prophecies with remarkable accuracy.
Yet precisely because they could peer into Heaven’s secrets, they suffered Heaven’s jealousy. As a consequence, though possessing world-shaking divine arts, they struggled to flourish greatly. Throughout the generations, they had never had more than a few disciples. They were a reclusive ancient dao-sect, withdrawn from the world.
“We’re about to leave — we must make the most of these four opportunities. Let me think about what to ask the Heavenly Secrets Elder to divine.” Li Tian deliberated at length. “Ask whether Yi Qingwu and I have any affinity — no, no need. She’s already been taken by someone else.”
“What nonsense are you talking about!” Ye Fan truly wanted to kick him twice. This wretch truly deserved to be a pure-hearted young man forever. His words were too offensive.
“I meant — on the night of the full moon, the world’s foremost beauty will in any case be joining us to attack the Eight Scenes Palace. No need to divine what becomes of her.” Li Tian clarified.
“We’re about to leave. Every opportunity this Heavenly Secrets Talisman offers must be used precisely where it matters most.” Yan Yixi said.
“That’s right — we’re all leaving soon. Every beauty is no different from a skeleton at that point. And yet I truly cannot accept it.” Li Tian let out a long sigh.
“Think carefully — is there anything else you’d like divined?” Ye Fan said.
The few of them thought it over together. In the end, they came up with quite a few things — the great emperor’s divine treasury, immortality medicines, and so on — but all of them felt somewhat unrealistic.
“Never mind. Let us simply ask how the road ahead looks.”
“There’s also one more thing: the half-page of the ancient scripture at the upper-ancient long-life Taoist abbey on the Underworld Ridge, and the half-page of the ancient scripture at the Human King Palace — what secret do they hold?”
It was said that if the two were combined, they would form a single complete, flawless page of a divine being’s ancient scripture. This had stirred up a great furor and commotion for several years, with talk of the two sects jointly studying it together — yet it had never come to pass.
The Abyss — located in the western part of the Divine Continent — was where the reclusive ancient dao-sect, the Gates of Heavenly Secrets, had sealed their mountain gates and withdrawn from the world. Their figures were seldom seen in the mortal realm.
In the past two thousand years in particular, they had become even more low-key: no prophecies, no divinations of Heaven’s secrets. People had nearly come to believe that their lineage had been severed.
“First ask how the road ahead looks, then ask about the divine being’s ancient scripture. I am filled with curiosity about it…”
Li Tian, Yan Yixi, and Ye Fan made their way to the Abyss — a deep valley that descended into the earth, where sunlight could barely reach.
“Even with Heaven’s jealousy to endure, there’s no need to retreat to a place like this, is there?” Li Tian clicked his tongue.
They had only just approached the Abyss when someone blocked their way. A young Taoist boy came running, presenting a lacquered box, saying: “The Heavenly Secrets Elder knows why you have come. Everything is within the lacquered box.”
“He knows why we have come?” Even Ye Fan was greatly startled.
The young Taoist boy’s face showed sorrow: “Ancestral Master will attain sitting-transformation within three days. In the final days of every generation’s Heavenly Secrets Elder, they become nearly spiritually omniscient — able to see distant futures and naturally foresee such things.”
“What — the Heavenly Secrets Elder is about to achieve sitting-transformation?!” The group was shaken. They offered a deep, respectful bow toward the Abyss.
Within the lacquered box were two yellowed sheets of paper, both folded. The first bore the two characters “Beyond the Domain.” When unfolded, its interior also contained only two characters: “Permissible to Go.”
“What — he truly knew we intended to leave this ancient star!” The three of them were left no choice but to be astonished. This reclusive ancient dao-sect truly possessed uncanny, divinely inscrutable arts.
The second yellowed sheet bore the four characters of the divine being’s ancient scripture. They felt a surge of excitement. Li Tian’s hands trembled slightly as he unfolded this sheet.