Another night of bright moonlight. In the barbarian tribe’s settlement, golden blood qi suffused the air, rumbling like thunder without cease. Half a month had passed, and each day Ye Fan used his own holy blood to baptize Li Heishui — an act that left many gaping in disbelief.

This had long since ceased to be a matter of simple healing. It was purely an act of advancing someone else’s cultivation. Ye Fan spared no cost, washing Li Heishui’s body in golden blood, exchanging a fresh baptism of holy blood every single day.

The Divine Dragon Immortality Elixir harmonized with the Great Dao. The holy blood refined the body. Over these more than ten days, Li Heishui suffered and flourished in equal measure — experiencing a complete rebirth, casting off one husk of flesh and regenerating an entirely new body.

In the end, all signs of weariness were swept away. His spirit was sharp and bright, radiant treasured light flowing through his frame, the sound of Dao-resonance ringing with every movement of his hands and feet.

In those early days, when Ye Fan had first entered the Northern Domain’s Sacred City to gamble on spirit stones, it had been entirely through Li Heishui’s help that he had slowly accumulated enough to eventually break the curse.

For this reason alone, Ye Fan spared no expense whatsoever — going so far as to imprint many of his own spiritual insights and realizations into Li Heishui’s body through the holy blood, allowing those insights to reverberate in harmony with the Great Dao. The benefit Li Heishui received was immense.

Over these past decade or more, Li Heishui had grown up hunted and pursued, enduring hardships beyond the imagination of ordinary people. This moment was, in essence, a transformation through the Dao and a rebirth through flames — in a single bound, he had risen to the level of a sect master-class figure.

Before the bonfire, Ye Fan, Li Heishui, Li Tian, the Ji sibling pair, Dongfang Man, and others each had a cask of aged wine before them, drinking freely and loudly, the gathering full of life and warmth.

Every so often, a group of old barbarian men would come stomping over, bristling brows and glaring eyes, each one more ferocious than the last, challenging the young people to drinking contests that left the younger generation struggling to keep up.

Ye Fan held nothing back. He recounted the course of his crossing into the Purple Subtlety Ancient Star Domain, leaving everyone stunned with awe and longing, struck speechless for a long while.

Afterward, Li Heishui spoke of his own experiences during these years — brushes with death too numerous to count, and it was truly no small feat to have endured until now.

The Purple Heavens were fearsome indeed, but both Pang Bo and Dongfang Ye had been capable of fighting them to a standstill. The root of the problem was that they had been encircled and hunted, brought down in ambushes.

As for the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty — there had been no guarding against them. Even speaking of it made Li Heishui’s eyes redden, unable to hold back his tears. His grandfather Li Heng had sacrificed himself to save them all, only to be nailed alive to a stone cliff by an aged assassin’s spear, his blood drained dry, his body left to shrivel in the wind.

“I swear on my life I will cleave those bastards apart one day, and grind the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty into dog filth beneath my feet!” He bit down until his own lips bled.

The dead could not be brought back. Ye Fan offered what words of comfort he could and drank a full bowl of wine with him, then said: “What say we establish a great sect of our own?”

“You want to found a sect and start a lineage — what would you call it?” an old barbarian man nearby called out.

“Heavenly Court,” Ye Fan said, releasing those two words.

“A great name — with grand ambition. Hmm, but it does sound familiar. Is this not…” Another elder of the tribe exchanged a strange look with the others.

“That is exactly right — the Heavenly Court of ancient times. To end killing through killing, and let it rise again in this world.” Ye Fan spoke with quiet composure.

The Heavenly Court carried a particular significance: first, it shared its name with the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty; second, it referred to the celestial court of the gods in mythological legend. There were even accounts that the Azure Emperor in his later years had intended to establish a Heavenly Court of his own.

“The day the Heavenly Court is reassembled, count me in — we shall reign over all under heaven and destroy every last one of our enemies!” Li Heishui called out in response.

They went on to speak of the great enemies they had faced in recent years. Yuangu was truly terrifying — the moment he struck, no one could stand against him. Had it not been for the Red Dragon Daoist appearing on the scene, everyone would have been annihilated.

Yuangu had set his sights on the Demon Emperor’s Nine Slashes, determined to claim it for himself, but he had ultimately failed. He had been driven back by the Red Dragon Daoist, who had been refining through the third immortal severance for several years.

“So the Red Dragon Daoist has finally entered the ranks of sovereigns…” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

Nearby, one of the barbarian tribe’s living fossil elders let out a sigh and said: “Were it not for the constraints of this world, how could there be so few sovereigns in existence, and sages fewer still?”

“Fortunately, the world has begun to change again in these past years. A great and flourishing age will come,” another elder said.

Ye Fan planned to journey east to search those battlefields — he needed to see for himself, living or dead, and determine the fate of the old friends he had once known.

“No need to search for Liu Kou — I watched him get struck by someone until body and spirit were both obliterated, flesh and blood flying apart.” Saying this, Li Heishui’s fists clenched tight, the knuckles turning pale.

Apart from Wang Teng and Hua Yunfei, there was also a group of mysterious powerful figures whose identities remained unknown even now. They had once entered the Profound Dark Clumsy Peak to kill Zhang Wenchang, and had ambushed Liu Yiyi when she came out of the Jade Pool — though neither attempt had succeeded, both had demonstrated shocking levels of strength.

It was these very people who had driven Wu Zhongtian and Jiang Huairen to the point of having nowhere to flee, and it was among them that one had obliterated Liu Kou with a single punch, reducing him to crushed bones and shredded flesh.

“Old acquaintances from the Eastern Desolation…” Ye Fan breathed those few words. Without question, this was aimed at him — and in the end, the enmity had been vented upon everyone he knew.

“I wonder how Brother Monkey is faring. Were it not for him acting on our behalf time and again, we would not have survived to today.”

The mention of the Battle Saint Ape left the group somewhat uneasy. There had been no news of him for a long while. The Heavenly Prince had sent out a group of ancient living creatures, clearly targeted at the monkey.

Ye Fan said: “Seek out the old friends, face off against the Ancient Emperor’s bloodline, kill that group of mysterious figures, destroy the divine sons of the Ancient Assassin Divine Dynasty — all of this will play out in the Eastern Desolation as the battlefield. As for Wang Teng, Hua Yunfei, Li Xiaoman, and the others — they will all move in response to my actions.”

Over this past half month, many people across the land had sensed an unusual tension in the air, with primordial ancient creatures appearing in various regions from time to time.

At last, word arrived from the Northern Domain: an ancient primordial ancestral sovereign had awakened. Where they slumbered, extraordinary phenomena had appeared in the heavens and earth, shaking the world to its foundations.

Oppression.

Pressure.

A suffocating weight.

These were the shared sensations of the many powerful figures of the human race. What did an ancient primordial ancestral sovereign mean? They were ancient sage-level powerhouses. Once they emerged into the world, they would sweep away all before them — there was no one who could resist.

In these turbulent times, the human race was caught between generations, with almost all of its sages having withered away. What was left to stand against such beings?

One could only hope the two sides would refrain from encroaching on one another — for if war broke out, the outcome would be entirely one-sided. The weight of that pressure was unknown to how many human sect masters, who found their hair turned white overnight.

On this day, the Sacred Spirit Valley of the Northern Domain blazed with ten thousand rays of light. An ancient primordial creature sent out a resonant transmission, shaking the mountains and rivers like a roar of nine-heaven thunder.

“To avoid implicating the innocent, let the human race’s Holy Body come and kneel in repentance on its own!”

When these merciless words spread outward, the world was shaken to its core. This was a direct move against Ye Fan — he had slain the Sacred Spirit Valley’s young master, Purple Heavens, and this ancient royal clan had issued exactly this kind of response.

“Whoever dares to shelter the Holy Body — regardless of who they are, regardless of what power they belong to — will be uprooted and annihilated without exception.”

The Sacred Spirit Valley spoke with dominance and finality. These were the words they had sent out. As one of the most powerful ancient royal clans of primordial times, they had issued this declaration with the bearing of lords who lorded over all under heaven.

This was an immense Pressure Aura aimed squarely at the Southern Range barbarian tribe — such was the nature of the ancient royal clan, the Sacred Spirit Valley, that dared to look down upon every lineage under heaven and acknowledge no equal.

They had made their stance plain: the Holy Body must die. He must come and kneel to death outside the Sacred Spirit Valley. Whoever blocked them, whoever sheltered him, could await the extinction of their clan.

All under heaven fell silent. Every soul weighed the future and found it fraught with difficulty. A dark and great upheaval was in all likelihood truly coming.

“To hell with the Sacred Spirit Valley! Little Ye Fan, say nothing more — go into hiding now. When the Holy Body is fully accomplished, go and overturn them directly and kill them all!” Li Heishui raged.

“This day has come rather quickly…” Ye Fan murmured to himself. He did indeed feel the tremendous pressure bearing down — an age of chaos unlike any before was arriving.

That same day, Ye Fan issued his own declaration with force from the Southern Range. The Sacred Spirit Valley — what were they? Trash.

Just two words of assessment, and the world shook. Everyone realized that the human race’s Holy Body had made up his mind to challenge the ancient royal clans head-on.

Yet people could not understand why he was acting with such boldness, as though he feared absolutely nothing.

Ye Fan’s words were crude, and he continued to fire away: “You lost one of your own disciples and already you’re being this protective — and still you only dare to bully those younger than you. Wait until the human race’s great emperors return, and you will all be nothing but trash!”

Who could say how many cultivators were left with lingering dread. Had the human race’s Holy Body gone mad? He really would say anything. Formidable as he was, he had still not grown to the point of standing unrivaled under heaven. He had not yet fully accomplished — so what did he have to back him up?

The Sacred Spirit Valley erupted in fury, declaring that unless the human race’s great emperors returned from the dead, no one could save Ye Fan — and that if he did not come and kneel to his death on his own, they would slaughter everyone connected to him.

“If one day I attain sagehood, I vow to annihilate the Sacred Spirit Valley completely — killing every last one. I make this oath here and now.” The human race’s Holy Body issued another forceful declaration that left the world’s people without words.

Had he gone mad? What did he have to challenge them with right now? Could he survive this disaster? Why did he dare to speak like this? These were the questions on every soul’s lips across the entire world.

“There is nothing to fear from our human race — for we have a great emperor who will return!” On this day, Ye Fan released a piece of news that shook the heavens and split the earth.

What? Every soul under heaven was struck dumb. Even the ancient royal clan, the Sacred Spirit Valley, was seized by a thread of doubt.

A fully-accomplished Holy Body was indeed terrifying. Throughout every dark upheaval of history, they had set the world in order, quelled disaster and chaos, protected heaven and earth, and guarded the human race. But the Ye Fan of today was still far from that — he had not yet ascended to that realm.

Why had he dared to kill Purple Heavens? Why had he humiliated the Sacred Spirit Valley? Why did he openly proclaim his intention to execute Yuangu of the Ancient Emperor’s bloodline? Why did he repeatedly challenge the ancient royal clans — behavior so utterly contrary to reason?

“You may wonder why I crossed through the star domain and departed, and why I was able to return after twelve years — it is because our human race has a great sage who proved the Dao beyond the domain. He is called the Mad Emperor, and it was he who transmitted me back here.”

This earth-shattering announcement set the world boiling. No one knew whether it was true or false, and the debate erupted in every corner.

The Sacred Spirit Valley is trash. You think to reign supreme over all under heaven? You are still far too lacking. Dare to run rampant across this world — the day the Mad Emperor returns is the day of your total annihilation! These were Ye Fan’s brazen words, and they left many people utterly speechless.

To denounce the Sacred Spirit Valley royal clan in such terms, to challenge them without the slightest scruple — there was no difference between this and madness.

And yet, on that very same day, Ye Fan displayed a series of branded images to the world above Vermilion Bird City as proof of his words, and every person who witnessed them was struck dumb.

The old madman, fighting an entire shipful of ancestral sovereigns alone!

Every single punch shattered one sage, and with casual ease he detonated a Thousand-Armed Divine Demon at the great sage level!

The human race did not know whether this was real or fabricated, but when some among them copied down these branded images and transmitted them to the Northern Domain, the ancient clans were shaken to their core!

“It is them — those peerless masters of the former age. Among them are three great sages…”

Several years prior, they had sensed through the Ancient Primordial Divine Platform the aura of that warship sailing through the cosmos, but eventually lost contact with it. No one had anticipated seeing these images now.

“So many ancestral sovereigns — were they truly all killed by a single human? Even without having proved the Dao, he must at least be a quasi-emperor!”

The ancient clans were shaken, every last one of them struck dumb.

What they did not know was the state of those ancestral sovereigns at the time — their life essence had long since been exhausted, leaving them without any fighting strength to speak of. All they saw were the images of the old madman shattering an ancestral sovereign with every single punch.

The impact was devastating, sending chills through the bodies of many primordial creatures.

“Sacred Spirit Valley — you are trash!” At that moment, Ye Fan’s voice rang out once more across the Southern Range.

“Little Ye Fan, it’s satisfying to hear you curse them — but can you really hold them in check?” Li Heishui was elated. To denounce the Sacred Spirit Valley so freely gave him a sense of release beyond measure.

“No — it is far from enough. We need a true great emperor to manifest. I must go to the Eastern Desolation!” Ye Fan said.