A monkey covered in shimmering golden fur, with blazing golden eyes and the beak of a thunderbird, proclaiming itself to be Sun Wukong, with a group of great demons trailing behind — the scene was utterly astonishing.

Ye Fan remained stunned for a long while. How had this come about? It was far too subversive. Could it be that the Central Plains truly had a Sun Wukong who had once journeyed west to retrieve the scriptures?

He opened his heavenly eye and quietly observed the monkey. Its innate bone structure was extraordinary, its physical constitution remarkably unusual — a constitution of this kind was rarely seen. Were it not born in an age of declining spiritual energy, it would one day achieve great things.

At present, it was at the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm — in the current age, it could be called a supreme expert. In an era where great cultivators of divine powers had not emerged, none could suppress it, and it was without equal in the world.

“Greetings, Brother Ye.” The monkey stepped forward. The group of great demons, all bearing expressions of reverence and awe, bowed together in salute.

Ye Fan returned the courtesy, his heart full of questions. How had he encountered Sun Wukong in this place, and why did it look so strikingly similar to the one at the other end of the starry sky? What was going on?

The Ten Thousand Demons Valley was truly magnificent. The surrounding cliff walls soared into the clouds — grand and towering — and the enormous valley they enclosed was large enough to hold several super-massive cities.

No sooner had they entered the valley than several waterfalls came into view, each a thousand meters long, cascading down from the upper cliff walls in a vast and brilliant white torrent. Caught in the sunlight, they diffused into shimmering rainbow mist.

The valley ran very deep, its climate ever-green across all four seasons. The path was lined with wondrous scenery — stone forests, clear lakes, like entering a small world unto itself.

Within the valley there were orchards one after another, boughs laden with golden-yellow and bright-red fruits, their fragrance filling the air. And there were medicinal fields planted with Huang Jing, Polygonum multiflorum, ginseng, and other herbs in abundance — utterly otherworldly.

The monkey perceived that Ye Fan was paying close attention to its name and seemed surprised. Along the way, it smiled and explained that it had read the mortal-world tale Journey to the West and found it interesting, so it had simply given itself that name.

Ye Fan was left speechless — so that was the story. When he thought it through, that was indeed how it should be. By any measure, this monkey did not look like an old demon — its years of cultivation had surely not exceeded three hundred.

Nearby, a great demon said that the third valley master possessed extraordinary natural gifts and heaven-reaching magical power, yet had been cultivating for only two hundred and thirty-some years — that was quite rare in the present age.

Ye Fan nodded. In this era, reaching the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm after a mere two-hundred-some years of cultivation was truly a mark of exceptional gifts — related to its remarkable innate bone structure.

Sichuan was rich in apes and monkeys, and among ten million monkeys, one might achieve spiritual awareness — with an achievement like this, cultivating the Dao on the sacred ground of the Ten Thousand Demons Valley, that was in keeping with the natural order.

After some conversation, Ye Fan learned that this monkey called itself a descendant of the Battle Saint Ape lineage and claimed to have inherited the Battle Saint Ape’s Dao tradition, which was why it had come to look as it did.

According to ancient records, any monkey that achieved great success would spontaneously evolve toward the Battle Saint Ape, ultimately taking on the form of a thunderbird beak and blazing golden eyes.

Ye Fan mulled this over privately. Could it be that the ancient Battle Saint Ape clan of remote antiquity had once come to Earth, leaving behind some descendants? Only later, the power of that bloodline had receded — while this monkey had undergone something of an atavistic reversion?

He did not say it aloud — if he did, given this one’s monkey temperament, it might well turn on him in an instant. The group proceeded to the depths of the Ten Thousand Demons Valley, the terrain growing more and more magnificent.

Inside the great valley, an infinite variety of phenomena swirled. Auspicious energy steamed upward, demonic energy shot into the sky — blending together, stirring up winds and clouds in all directions. This was truly a sacred ground for cultivation.

The third valley master was a remarkable ape spirit. Its blazing eyes could pierce through illusions, its divine gaze as sharp as lightning. When Ye Fan was still a dozen or so kilometers from the valley, the monkey had been standing atop a cliff wall, caught sight of him, and been unable to see through his cultivation. Deeply shaken, it had come personally to receive him.

Ye Fan was direct. He stated his purpose — inquiring into the mystery of the true and false Pang Bo, with something of an air of calling someone to account — for he had already determined that the Ten Thousand Demons Valley was behind it.

Within the valley there was a city — extraordinarily ancient, built in the era of remote antiquity. It was not especially grand in scale, yet it possessed an awesome and breathtaking force! The walls were black — all built from dark crystalline stone — not especially large in area, yet it overawed the spirit and mind, for it had been built by an ancient demon sage with their own hands, bearing the marks of a sage.

The group entered the ancient city and came to a manor house. They asked Ye Fan to be seated, and then the third valley master personally explained: they had indeed taken action in that time, but had harmed no one.

When the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin descended upon the summit of Mount Tai and then quickly set sail again, it had shaken all under heaven. Every sect was alarmed and responded at the first possible moment.

The Ten Thousand Demons Valley, as the sacred ground of the demon race under heaven, would naturally not fall behind. That very day, they had investigated the background of everyone involved and moved with the greatest swiftness — for all three valley masters had personally deployed.

It was the third valley master who had personally uncovered Pang Bo’s lineage. Upon discovering that the clan carried a faint trace of ancient demon god blood, he was immediately intrigued, thinking the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin might share some connection with them, and so he arranged for a demon spirit to transform into Pang Bo’s likeness and return to gain a deep understanding of that clan.

Regrettably, after more than a decade of thorough investigation, they had found little of note — they could not even determine what species the clan had been in remote antiquity. Eventually, that demon spirit had undergone its tribulation and been struck dead by lightning.

From that point on, they ceased their investigation, deeming it no longer necessary. Many great clans of remote antiquity had faded into obscurity over the ages, returning to the ordinary.

“We have done no wrong by the Pang Family. On the contrary, that demon spirit spent more than a decade fulfilling filial duties on behalf of the missing person — we had no intent to harm anyone,” the third valley master said.

Ye Fan fell silent. He recalled the memories he had glimpsed within Pang Bo’s father’s mind — the time the demon spirit had spoken of their ancient demon origins while drunk and been given a resounding slap by Pang Bo’s father. It had not retaliated. Though it occasionally acted strangely, it had never been disrespectful.

Ye Fan could only nod. He had no grounds to call anyone to account. In a certain sense, he could breathe a sigh of relief — for the real Pang Bo was still in the Northern Dipper, still alive.

All of this he had long since anticipated. This trip to the Ten Thousand Demons Valley had been merely to confirm what he already knew. And so it proved.

Having made sense of things and understood cause and effect, Ye Fan could only let out a quiet sigh. He stood within this ancient city, gazing up at the sky in a silent reverie — so many old friends were at the other end of the starry sky. The affairs of Earth were settled. Yet he could not return. Ascending to immortality and attaining the Dao was the one and only choice left to him.

The third valley master warmly invited him to take up a long stay in the Ten Thousand Demons Valley and explore cultivation together. Ye Fan was unable to refuse, and in no rush to depart — he also wished to see for himself the peculiarities of this demon race sacred ground.

The first valley master was a crane that had achieved spiritual awareness and taken human form. He was now six hundred years old and had reportedly obtained a portion of an ancient sword immortal’s Dao tradition from the Shu Mountains. His strength was extraordinarily great — he had already reached the peak of the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm.

Among the known sect masters, this old crane’s power was arguably second to none. Unless a great cultivator of divine powers emerged from seclusion, there was no one who could suppress him.

Having obtained the sword tradition of the Shu Mountains, he remained in closed-door seclusion year-round, never emerging unless something threatened the very survival of the Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

The second valley master was a divine cat that had achieved spiritual awareness, bearing the bloodline of an ancient demon god. It was frequently traveling the world in search of ancient immortal relics and rarely concerned itself with valley affairs. It was said that the first-generation valley master of that era was its ancestor and the founder of the Ten Thousand Demons Valley, who had departed during the Warring States period and left behind the Three Lives Meritorious Dao tradition, which the second valley master had inherited.

Ye Fan stayed for two months, exhaling the old and inhaling the new, returning to simplicity and truth. In this place he sensed the traces left behind by an existence of the highest order who had dissolved their Dao here.

Xiao Song was happiest of all — playing with a group of little demons until it nearly went wild, dashing across the mountains and valleys without end. But the little creature’s self-discipline was still quite strong: every night it would draw upon the small stone Buddha to absorb the light of the moon, cultivating diligently and earnestly.

Now that he had come to the land of Shu, Ye Fan naturally wanted to investigate the matter of the ancient immortal Red Pine Master. Ever since he had seen those seven flying swords in that fire-burial immortal site, he had come to believe that the Shu Mountain sword immortals might have sprung from his lineage.

The third valley master smiled and told Ye Fan that Red Pine Master was not a man of Shu — he should have been from Zhejiang — but he had come to the Shu Mountains to transmit the Dao and left behind his tradition there.

Ye Fan understood then. In the ancient texts, when Red Pine Master was mentioned, places such as Mount Jinhua and Mount Tiantai were cited — and those names existed both in Zhejiang and in Sichuan and Shu.

Within the Dao tradition the first valley master had received, there were some vague records, faintly suggesting that the ancient immortal Red Pine Master may have been the one to transmit the sword cultivation lineage.

He was the most renowned cultivator of remote antiquity. Before the Divine Farmer had achieved the Dao, he had transmitted part of his arts to him. And before the Yellow Emperor had succeeded in the Dao, he had also sought counsel from him.

A figure of such renown, who had shaken all under heaven in the age of remote antiquity, having left behind a sword immortal tradition was not at all surprising — it was entirely to be expected.

“Do you know why Red Pine Master came from Zhejiang to enter seclusion and cultivate the Dao in the Shu Mountains?” the third valley master asked with a smile.

“Could there be some hidden reason?” Ye Fan asked, surprised.

“Naturally, there are some hidden secrets.” The third valley master nodded and recounted some ancient tales from remote antiquity.

Throughout his life, Red Pine Master had been in pursuit of something. Until the moment he entered his final sitting and disappeared from the world, that something had never left his thoughts — a persistent attachment dwelling in his heart.

“Everyone calls Red Pine Master an ancient immortal, but the ancestors of several of the demon gods knew: he could not possibly have been an immortal — rather, he was seeking the true method of ascending to immortality.” The third valley master said.

When cultivation had reached such a level, what could still attract him? Only becoming an immortal! He traveled west into Sichuan and Shu and devoted his entire life to a single purpose — ascending and transcending.

“Did he find what he sought?” Ye Fan asked.

“He obtained a fragment of immortal bone on Mount Tiantai in Zhejiang, which held the mysteries of ascending to immortality. Following its guidance, he traced his way to the land of Shu. It is said the immortal bone bore a partial map pointing here. Yet he spent half his life in the land of Shu and never found the ultimate hidden place — he fell short at the final moment and could not become an immortal.”

At these words, Ye Fan’s heart stirred greatly. This was connected to the immortality opportunity map! Could the ultimate destination be somewhere in the Shu Mountains? But so many years had passed — could any traces still remain?

The Ten Thousand Demons Valley was situated in the land of Sichuan and Shu, and naturally knew many secrets of remote antiquity. The valley masters of every generation had pursued these investigations and had even traced the footsteps Red Pine Master had left behind.

“Through generations of searching, the valley masters came to believe that Red Pine Master was truly in pursuit of genuine immortality and was very close to reaching it. In particular, a certain old valley master of five hundred years ago made a stunning discovery — yet regrettably, he could not manage to reveal the secret before he died inexplicably.” The third valley master sighed.

The Ten Thousand Demons Valley had expended enormous manpower and resources in the investigation, and in the process inadvertently made a breakthrough discovery within the ancient hanging coffins. From the hanging coffins of the land of Shu all the way to the ancient coffins of Mount Wuyi, they had opened who knew how many.

They had recovered several pieces of ancient jade script from the oldest hanging coffins, and from within these, they had made a breakthrough discovery — faintly pointing toward an earth immortal, who harbored a great and world-shaking secret!

Ancient texts recorded this in multiple places. The Ten Thousand Demons Valley had also carefully reasoned through it and come to believe that there truly might be a real earth immortal — not a human elevated to divine status through mythology.

“The dwelling of earth immortals — half up the cliffs hang thousands of coffins.”

“Said to be the burial place of an immortal’s bones.”

They had discovered that what Red Pine Master was searching for might have been that very earth immortal.