Ye Fan’s fingers covered the Yuan Light Reincarnation Wheel, shooting forth ten thousand threads of brilliant radiance that shattered it inch by inch, dissolving it into segment after segment of principle chains that vanished into the void.
He pressed down with his foot, intending to grind that shattered, broken body into nothing and erase this powerful adversary completely — yet the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword held in his palm began to dissolve his own flesh, for he had sensed that something was wrong.
“Pfft!”
The several fragments on the ground dissolved entirely into a bloody mire, yet they were enveloped in brilliant light. Yuangu’s furious roar rang out from within — and he tunneled underground and fled.
The Yuan Light Reincarnation Wheel was a chain of order divine energy — its formation and dissolution without fixed form. Though it had been destroyed, Yuangu, having mastered this secret art, could continue to generate it within his own body, allowing him to escape this brush with death.
In the distance, the people of Primordial Lake all changed color. This was not without its price — there was no one in this world who could avoid death entirely. Each reincarnation meant consuming a portion of his foundation. How many times could he sustain it?
The Human Race’s Holy Body had proven stronger than anyone had imagined, forcing Yuangu to reincarnate twice — even the royal clansmen of Primordial Lake felt a creeping sense of unease.
“Clang!”
At the same time, the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword in Ye Fan’s hand blazed more fiercely than before. Blood flowed ceaselessly between his fingers and palm, his two hands fusing together, emitting thread after thread of pulsing Dao-pattern ripples — a terrifying sign of Dao Dissolution had begun to manifest.
What was happening? Everyone was stunned. The Human Race’s Holy Body, who had just held the upper hand, was now in danger, teetering on the edge of annihilation.
Dao Dissolution — a dreadful word that all powerful cultivators dreaded above all else. It was a fate every great cultivator would eventually face: becoming absorbed into the principles of heaven and earth, their own existence fading away.
The physical might of the Human Race’s Holy Body was plain for all to see — even contending against the direct bloodline of an Ancient Emperor without falling behind. Yet now, a tiny sword barely an inch in length was threatening to destroy him!
Everyone inhaled sharply. This was the secret of the Yuan Emperor’s forbidden art — it drew upon the power of Dao Dissolution, rendering all divine powers useless, no matter how great. Even the Ancient Great Emperors, at the moment of their final transcendence, had undergone Dao Dissolution — how much more so for someone at the second Celestial tier?
“Open for me!” Ye Fan roared, frantically driving the Soldier Character Secret Art, forcibly operating the Dao Sword in an attempt to hurl it from his grasp and cast it into the depths of the void’s abyss.
Yet the sword was near impossible to remove — it had nearly fused into his flesh and blood, becoming a part of his very body, inseparable from him.
The Dao Dissolution — continued on!
The terrifying power of heaven and earth’s principle surged relentlessly, causing Ye Fan’s hands to blur, on the verge of vanishing — and even his divine soul was nearly being pulled free.
“Bang!”
The Soldier Character Secret Art was supreme under heaven, the paramount secret art for mastering weapons — in the most critical moment, it drove the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword free, sending it plunging into a dark, gaping rift.
Ye Fan’s fingers lost their luster, as though a portion of his foundational essence had drained away and dissipated into the heavens and earth. He activated the “One Who Endures” Character Secret Art to heal himself, as various auspicious lights encircled his body.
The terrifying Dao Dissolution power — Ye Fan had spent his foundation to painstakingly restore his two hands. One more step forward would have been the abyss of annihilation. It had been far too dangerous.
“Dao Dissolution — so this is the true might of the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword!”
In the distance, all present went cold throughout their bodies. Even those watching from afar — the Nine Phoenix King, the master of the Divine Silkworm Ridge, and others — fell into a prolonged silence, their eyes deep and unfathomable as they privately contemplated what they had witnessed.
Since ancient times, all those who had ever witnessed the Yuan Emperor’s forbidden secret arts had perished almost to a soul — the reason being simple: this was an absolute kill strike. Touch it, and you would die.
People were astonished — that the Human Race’s Holy Body had been capable of forcibly severing that power filled them with awe. This was a terrifyingly powerful seed of strength, someone who could contend with the Yuan Emperor’s secret arts. His future achievements would know no bounds.
“Boom!”
In the distance, dark light coiled and Dao-song rang without cease. A demonic frame reappeared in the world — Yuangu’s complexion had gone somewhat pale. The two reincarnations had cost him no small price.
“I acknowledge it — I underestimated you,” he spoke in low, heavy tones. Yet his killing intent had grown denser still. His thick, dark hair billowed wildly, and at the very center of his brow, a Dao Sword shimmered with radiance.
“Zing!”
With a single sword-cry, the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword flew free once more, transforming into a brilliant rainbow that radiated eternal light, drawing upon the power of Dao Dissolution.
All around, silence fell. Everyone changed color. This was a forbidden power — transcending the self, using the order of heaven and earth to refine a person. Who could possibly resist?
Eternal Dao light, imperishable power — arriving in an instant. Ye Fan’s hands swept through the air, manifesting the many techniques of the world to resist the force of Dao Dissolution.
“Clang”… “Clang”…
From his palms and fingers, flashes of brilliance burst forth repeatedly, colliding with the Dao Sword — yet he was drenched in blood even so. No one could withstand a forbidden power such as this.
“No matter how you struggle, it is useless. The Yuan Emperor Dao Sword destroys all who cultivate the Dao — no living being can escape its blade,” Yuangu said with a cold laugh.
“Zing, zing, zing!”
The Yuan Emperor Dao Sword — in essence a chain of order divine energy — took visible form and resonated with a rattling clamor, as principle after principle sang in concert, pulverizing everything in the mortal world and destroying all traces of life.
“Pfft!”
Ye Fan contended with it, weaving back and forth in a struggle across more than a hundred exchanges — yet in the end he was struck. He was cleaved at the waist, his torso separated. The Yuan Emperor Dao Sword severed all resistance; there was simply no stopping it.
Yuangu pressed forward, swinging his fists in a devastating barrage, stirring up towering black mist with his battle power — awe-inspiring to the world. Qixia Plain and the surrounding wilderness crumbled and collapsed!
Ye Fan’s two severed halves retreated rapidly in unison, striving to reunite — yet the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword pursued relentlessly like a shadow, impossible to shake.
“Even were I the one possessing the blood of the Yuan Emperor, were I struck by it, I would still perish in regret — let alone you.”
Yuangu was utterly ruthless. From the center of his brow, thousands upon millions of threads of brilliant light radiated outward, reflecting in the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword — the order chains producing an ever more terrifying resonance.
“Clatter, clatter!”
The chains of order fell, splitting Ye Fan in two — the equivalent of being dismembered — blood streaming in torrents, a sight too grim to bear.
“Xiao Yezi!” In the distance, Ji Ziyue wept openly.
Li Heishui, Li Tian, Pang Bo, Dongfang Ye, and the others all changed color as well. Those chains of divine order were too fearsome, imbued with the principle of an Ancient Emperor of Taikoo — an irresistible aura radiating outward.
The Holy Son of Jade Pool, the Middle Emperor, the Holy Maiden of Jade Pool, and Yan Ruyu — all their faces were etched with shock. They all changed color.
People finally understood — this was what the forbidden secret art on the final page of the scriptural texts composed by an Ancient Emperor truly meant. Unrivaled in its killing power, once employed, it would slay any powerful adversary. There was simply no way to contend with it.
“Clatter, clatter!”
The Yuan Emperor Dao Sword — at times an inch-long divine sword, at times a chain of order divine energy — pruning away all opposition. Every living being feared Dao Dissolution.
Ye Fan activated the “One Who Endures” Character Secret Art to painstakingly restore his physical body, evading the Dao Sword, countering with the Soldier Character Secret Art, observing its trajectory in an attempt to discern the sequence of its Dao-patterns — hoping to absorb it and forge his own Dao Sword.
Yet he failed. He suffered grievous wounds. Back-to-back exchanges — nine brushes with death — this was the most harrowing battle he had faced since setting out upon his path. He had nearly undergone Dao Dissolution.
“Hold on!” From the rear, someone roared — it was Pang Bo’s voice.
Ye Fan calmed his mind and steadied his spirit. After his body had been split open nine times in succession, golden blood scattered in all directions — a sight to chill the soul. As powerful as a Holy Body’s physical shell was, it had grown somewhat weakened. The Yuan Emperor’s secret art was truly terrifying.
“A battle of life and death — a grueling moment…” he said inwardly to himself. Never before had anyone split him open nine times.
“Clang”… “Clang”…
In the end, driving the Soldier Character Secret Art, Ye Fan managed to trace some of the sword’s movement — feeling out some of the subtle changes in its pattern — and began to fight back.
“Astounding — that is the power of Dao Dissolution. To be split open nine consecutive times — even a fully-realized king would have long since become part of the laws of heaven and earth, unable to remain in the world. And yet he is still alive!”
People were terrified not only by the dreadfulness of the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword, but astonished by Ye Fan’s tenacious grip on life. He should have died nine times over — yet he had persisted through it all.
The Yuan Emperor Dao Sword was not a true weapon; Ye Fan could not fully control it with the Soldier Character Secret Art — yet he had observed enough of its pattern to now launch a fierce counterattack.
Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist!
He painstakingly used the “One Who Endures” Character Secret Art to cleanse himself of the Dao Dissolution force, restoring the split-open physical body. His expression went cold and detached as he pressed forward, his entire being wreathed in divine radiance, various sigils flickering across his fists.
“Clang!”
His golden fist struck the Dao Sword, producing a deafening sound that rang to the bone. Flecks of blood fell — yet his fingers were not severed. A brilliant, resplendent flash.
“What — what manner of power is this? It has blocked the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword!”
Cries of disbelief rang out. Whether from the ancient clans of Taikoo or the human cultivators, every face was written with awe — that someone had actually blocked an Ancient Emperor’s forbidden art with a pair of fists.
The sound rang without cease — like bolt after bolt of golden lightning dancing in the air. Ye Fan’s pair of fists, wreathed in boundless sigils, swept all before them, smashing the void into ruin. Even the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword trembled.
“Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist!”
“Truly — that fist art, peerless under heaven, has appeared in the world once more!”
Some of the elder cultivators of the human race were overcome with emotion. They had recognized it — a secret art that had been lost for ages, one they had believed would never appear again.
It was said that the last person to have mastered the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist, upon ascending and departing this world, had left behind a final testament — carving it into the path that leads to immortality — then dissolved into ash the moment the last word was spoken.
“How did he come by it?” This was the question burning in the hearts of many elder cultivators. Ye Fan was still far from achieving immortality — how had he taken that step, treading the road to immortality?
On Qixia Plain, one figure wore the most extraordinary expression of all: the Saint of Tianxuan Stone Workshop. His lips trembled, quivering without cease, and he muttered to himself: “We never opened that road… All of my senior brothers and sisters, every last one, perished — yet you alone brought the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist out of it.”
“Clang”… “Clang”…
Ye Fan’s entire body was shrouded in Dao-patterns, a mysterious radiance flowing through him. With his bare fists he met the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword head on, producing sounds like the cosmos at its first opening — the sound of creation itself.
Six blurred, ancient worlds flowed between his palms and fingers — a force that bespoke the opening of heaven and earth billowing outward, dissolving the power of Dao Dissolution, intending to destroy that Dao Sword entirely.
Blood flowed from between Ye Fan’s fingers, wounds left by the Dao Sword — yet the power of Dao Dissolution could no longer erode him. In this moment his mind was a serene emptiness, immersed in an invincible fist-intent!
With me, none stand — supreme beneath heaven. Not even the Great Dao can suppress this. This is the true essence of this fist — to strike down the nine-layered heavens, to reopen the cycle of reincarnation, to reverse the Six Paths!
Using the Soldier Character Secret Art to trace the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword’s trajectory, Ye Fan now left it with nowhere to hide. He swung his golden fists, carrying six ancient worlds within them, and drove them downward in relentless succession.
“Bang”… “Bang”…
Heaven and earth trembled. The Dao Sword, taking the form of a divine chain, keened in lament, nearing the breaking point — unable to break free, no matter how it tried.
Everyone changed color. The Yuan Emperor’s forbidden art had met its match! Before their very eyes, it was being unraveled — this was another kind of contest between an Ancient Great Emperor and an Emperor of Taikoo.
“Boom!”
In the end, Ye Fan’s fist shattered that chain of order divine energy. Yuangu let out a great shout, blood seeping from the center of his brow — he nearly toppled to the ground.
Ye Fan pressed forward without hesitation. In this moment, his every drop of essence, energy, and spirit poured entirely into his pair of golden fists. The cultivation of an entire lifetime, an indomitable will — all had transformed into a pair of “Dao Fists.”
In this moment, he ascended into a wondrous and extraordinary state, as though he had merged with the Dao itself — breaking through nine layers of Yuangu’s defenses in succession, shattering his physical body entirely.
“Pfft!”
In a flash of light, Yuangu’s shattered remains consumed his foundation, reincarnating nearby through the Yuan Light Reincarnation Wheel — his complexion yet paler than before, the veins at his temples throbbing visibly.
Without a word, Ye Fan surged forward to kill him once more. His heart was serene and at peace, yet when he struck, his dominance was absolute. His pair of fists seemed on the verge of sending the nine heavens crashing down — the force of his blows sending mountain range after mountain range in the distance soaring into the air, shattering into fragments across the horizon.
Yuangu roared, his thick black hair billowing in wild disarray. The Yuan Emperor Dao Sword between his brows appeared once more, more blinding than ever — yet from within his Celestial Platform, a thread of dark blood seeped out.
“Clang!”
Another fearsome and devastating exchange. Ye Fan shattered the Yuan Emperor Dao Sword a second time, breaking the chains of order asunder — and with a single punch, slew Yuangu’s physical body.
In this moment, Ye Fan was like a reborn Heavenly Emperor — his hair streaming freely, carrying an air of supreme sovereignty that consumed mountains and rivers. His words rang like iron struck by a hammer: “I will let you resurrect as many times as you wish — each time you live, I will slay you again, until your indomitable will is utterly crushed!”