This bronze seal was extraordinary. Nine true dragons coiled upon it, vivid and lifelike, the green verdigris flaking away as the weapon’s spirit stirred of its own volition. Within it dwelled the power of divine serpents, carrying the force to shatter the cosmos.
In the distance, mountains and rivers roared, trembling in unison, many of them crumbling and collapsing. In numerous places, lava surged upward in inverse torrents against the sky—a scene of tremendous, awe-inspiring power.
“We can’t endure this head-on!”
The young prodigies all changed color. They understood the terror of this ancient artifact—many legends surrounded it—and they were deeply worried for Ye Fan, while at the same time filled with fury.
Not long before, Ye Fan had said he would take them westward together, to reclaim some of the Central Lands’ ancestral artifacts—words that had set their hearts pounding with excitement they could not quiet. And now, here they were, being ambushed halfway along the road.
Ye Fan’s bearing remained composed and unperturbed, entirely without fear. He spread his palm open and pressed slowly upward toward the sky—intending to meet it with his physical body alone!
“Bang!”
The revived Nine Dragon Sacred Bronze Seal radiated boundless light. The nine true dragons could almost be seen coiling upon it as it bore down upon that golden hand, emitting vast waves of Dao energy that thundered without cease.
This was a stunning scene to behold—as though ten thousand enormous waterfalls were cascading down at once, deafening to the ears. Strands of energy hung suspended in the high sky, swallowing Ye Fan’s mountain-like great hand within them.
The green sacred bronze seal, equal in height to a mountain, shook continuously as it sought to grind Ye Fan’s hand into flesh and pulp. Upon its surface, the nine bronze dragons seemed to have gained life. They coiled and twisted, separating from the seal itself, surging outward.
True Dragons Entrap a God!
This was one of the great legends surrounding the seal. The nine dragons could leave the seal’s body, manifesting true forms, to entangle and coil around powerful enemies and squeeze them to death.
This was the binding power of the Dao, its inner workings the laws of the great Dao itself.
Ye Fan’s expression did not change. His fingers closed inward, transforming into the Heaven-Overturning Seal—a powerful seal art he had mastered, turning his palm into a great golden seal that struck back against the nine true dragons.
Seal against seal!
Dazzling light pulsed and flashed. The nine dragons, unified in purpose, let out a resonant cry—surging and rumbling like a great ocean tide. Yet they could not withstand the Heaven-Overturning Seal. Two of the dragons were shattered on the spot, the rest letting out mournful cries before retreating back into the bronze seal.
From within the ancient slaughter formation came a light bark of command. The ancient artifact’s weapon spirit had awakened, and it struck on its own once more—evolving further—with sword radiance erupting skyward.
Each true dragon coiled upon the seal now opened its mouth simultaneously, spraying brilliant aurora-light that transformed into transcendent sword energy, slashing in all directions.
“This is terrifying!” Zhan Yifan was shaken. He was a sword cultivator—most sensitive to this kind of transcendent sword energy—and felt an inexplicable chill.
In the present age, such sword energy, once unleashed, could be called nearly invincible. Who could withstand it?
For this treasure needed no wielder. It could attack enemies on its own. In this age of withered spiritual energy, it was a world-shaking killing machine without equal.
It was too supremely powerful—a single sweep could cut down an entire field, reducing the world of cultivation to a river of blood and mountains of bones.
“Wasn’t this treasure said to have been lost long ago? How has it reappeared?” The Little Celestial Master Zhang Qingyang muttered in shock.
The Kunlun Twin Fish and Huang Tiannü also blanched. With a great killing weapon like this making its appearance, there was no one present—not any sect leader—who could have escaped death from it. No suspense whatsoever.
Ye Fan was unmoved. His eyes deepened. His hands moved rapidly, manifesting the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist directly!
From his mouth came a clear, ringing shout. He expelled a breath of energy like a rainbow piercing the sun—dozens of meters long—then drove a single fist skyward.
“Crack!”
That golden fist seemed to shake the heavens themselves, accompanied by a blinding sea of thunder. The nine heavens seemed about to come crashing down—absolute dominion over all heaven and earth!
In the sky above, the ancient artifact famed across the antiquity shattered apart on the spot. The nine dragon heads were severed, the bronze seal split with cracks—and then instantly pulverized.
A king’s artifact—destroyed with a single punch! Those who witnessed it stood slack-jawed, unable to believe it, utterly astounded.
The young prodigies were so shaken they could not speak, their whole bodies covered in goosebumps. Just how powerful was this mysterious young master of theirs? This was a legendary artifact—its name known across the ancient world, capable of suppressing the leaders of all sects—and yet it had been destroyed just like this.
The Palace of Nine Heavens and Ten Thousand Blessings—the sect leaders who had yet to depart were stirred into action. Learning of the disturbance outside, they all charged out of the sacred grounds, and happened to step directly into this ancient slaughter formation, arriving just in time to witness this scene. They stood as still as clay sculptures and wooden idols.
“It…was shattered just like that,” Long Xiaoqu said in a daze, unable to stop himself from muttering aloud.
“If you like, Master will find you an even better bronze seal in the future,” Ye Fan said as he withdrew the Six Paths Fist, turning and speaking to him.
Everyone who heard this was dumbstruck in unison. He did not even care—facing a world-annihilating killing blow, utterly and completely at ease.
The several sect leaders crowded around. They had inexplicably been drawn into the ancient slaughter formation and had felt the severity of the situation. Ye Fan had only just made a tremendous display of power, and yet the moment he stepped off the mountain, someone had already laid an ambush—what monstrous audacity and brazenness was this?
“Which fellow Daoist has arrived? Why go to such lengths?” The Shangqing Sect leader demanded. This was Maoshan’s home ground—this was a profound act of disrespect.
“This has nothing to do with you. Step back immediately!” A cold voice rang out.
The ancient slaughter formation activated. Terrifying killing intent transformed into supreme, razor-sharp energy that slashed outward, piercing through the sky.
The assassination of Ye Fan would begin!
Mountains shifted, terrain transformed. Numerous ancient weapons came flying—like a rain of light. Though not divine objects, they were still terrifying in their number. Dense and packed, they filled the sky.
Thousands upon thousands of weapons erupted outward. The mountains and terrain merged as one, with dragon energy surging upward, infused into each of the ancient weapons—this was the power of the killing array.
When such complexity reached a sufficient degree, the mountains, rivers, vast seas, and open sky—even the sun, moon, and stars—could all be drawn upon, unleashing the might of nature itself and the laws of heaven.
The ancient formation united with the grand forces of heaven and earth, marshaling all manner of ancient weapons to bear down upon Ye Fan. The intention was to melt him alive into a mire of blood, to cut him down into dust—an assault of world-shaking ferocity.
Ye Fan’s expression shifted. This was a formation designed to confine a king. The one hidden within it had assessed him very highly—refusing to give him even a sliver of opportunity, determined to achieve an absolute kill!
With a flick of his arm, he produced dozens of great flags and planted them in the earth, anchoring all ten directions—sealing this area of the killing formation so that it could no longer function.
Array against array. These were the formation flags given to him long ago by the Black Emperor—rarely used until now, but today they had found their purpose.
A radius of several hundred meters was locked down. The ancient slaughter formation could no longer function—it could not touch them.
In truth, if Ye Fan had been alone, he would not have needed to use the formation flags at all. He had deployed them primarily to protect the sect leaders and the registered disciples from the hidden enemy’s potential targeting of them.
“This day next year will be the anniversary of your death. Let me send you off on your way!”
At this moment, a towering figure materialized atop a distant mountain—monstrous in form. Drawing a bow and nocking an arrow, the figure released it in a roar of wind and thunder that shot toward them!
It was a blazing divine rainbow—earth-shaking and earth-splitting. The moment it appeared, the heavens collapsed and the earth cracked open; half the distant mountain range was obliterated, radiating an unfathomable, boundless might.
It was fortunate that this was the self-contained world created by the ancient slaughter formation—had this occurred in the outside world, the damage would have been catastrophic and far-reaching!
“Pfft!”
The arrow’s speed was too great. In a moment of inattention, Ye Fan failed to avoid it. He raised his golden palm to intercept it, his overwhelming blood energy surging outward, accompanied by tremendous roaring!
Yet it far exceeded his expectations. The moment the furious arrow was released, the mountains and rivers lost their color and the sun and moon were dimmed—its power was immensely stronger than he had imagined, unbelievably so.
“Pfft!”
Golden blood splattered. The palm of Ye Fan’s right hand was pierced clean through. That strange divine arrow burst right through it, trailing a large spray of golden blood rain—a shocking sight to behold.
It was hard to imagine what kind of divine object this was that had actually shot through Ye Fan’s palm, leaving a bloody hole in it, and continued flying out.
Even the indomitable physique of the Human Race’s Holy Body had failed to stop it!
Ye Fan stumbled backward. Channeling his entire cultivation, he elevated his physical body and senses to their utmost limit—treating this as a life-or-death battle, no longer daring to take anything lightly.
The ancient sages had departed—but that did not mean danger was absent. Sacred weapons might have been left behind!
Though the Earth had entered an age of withered spiritual energy, terrifying weapons still existed. If he was careless, he truly might suffer a terrible loss.
“Terrible—this is that legendary ancient artifact. A single one of these is capable of slaying across ten realms!” All the sect leaders changed color.
They shouted warnings aloud, urging Ye Fan to dodge and on no account to endure it head-on. Yet the thing tracked him like a shadow, utterly impossible to shake, pursuing Ye Fan relentlessly without pause.
“This arrow was forged from the leftover materials when the Great Archer Yi forged his nine sacred arrows. Someone from a later generation used those remnants to cast two arrows. They destroy heaven and annihilate the earth—no one can withstand their edge!” Daoist Riqi warned in shock.
It was fortunate it was not an arrow fired by the ancient great sage himself—had it been, it might well have pierced through the sun, moon, and stars. A single arrow would have been sufficient to shatter an ancient planet!
“Pfft!”
Another soft sound rang out. Ye Fan’s body swayed. Clashing against the arrow with his palm and fingers, his entire body shook violently—his tiger’s mouth split open, blood pouring freely.
“It’s useless. Unless the enemy is dead, this arrow will not stop. You may as well die now!” From the distant mountain, that figure said coldly and with chilling menace.
The coldness in Ye Fan’s eyes deepened. This was the first time he had been wounded since returning to Earth. His feet activated the Glyph of Traverse, and he charged through the ancient slaughter formation, pressing rapidly forward.
In the entire expanse of this domain, it could be said there was no one who could match his speed. He transformed into a streak of golden sacred light, splitting through the earth, appearing atop that mountain.
The instant Ye Fan reached the summit, he struck decisively and without mercy—his golden palm and fingers sweeping to engulf everything before him. The entire mountain began to collapse. Yet the figure reacted with extreme speed, employing a rare body technique to shift sideways.
Leap of the Carp, Transformation into a True Dragon!
This was an ancient secret art. In a single fleeting instant it allowed extreme transcendence—elevating agility to an absolute pinnacle, unleashing every last drop of potential in a single moment.
He shifted sideways by several li—yet what caused him terror was that Ye Fan’s Glyph of Traverse maintained the exact same extreme speed throughout, far exceeding even his moment of maximum transcendence. He could not shake him.
A golden great hand reached out, pressing forward against him. Below them, countless towering mountains were collapsing—great peaks that had stood like mountains of sand came crashing down to dust!
This was a terrifying sight. Mountains collapsed on contact, seas dried up at approach, and the heavens cracked at a touch—nothing could stop that great hand.
Behind them, the sect leaders and the young prodigies stared with unblinking eyes, unable to form a single word. Ye Fan’s heaven-and-earth-piercing technique left them thunderstruck—comparable to an ancient war god!
Furthermore, the enemy himself gave them a tremendous shock—he was a grandmaster, standing at the Immortal Platform realm, one of the extraordinary beings of this age.
This man let out another long howl and drove himself to the extreme limit of transcendence—his body nearly blazing, radiating dazzling light—unleashing the Leap of the Carp, Transformation into a True Dragon once more!
He was burning through his life force potential, trying to escape this lethal crisis. His body shifted sideways by several more li in a single instant. Yet to his horror, this time it made no difference whatsoever. The golden great hand moved with a light tremor—it did not land directly on his body, yet even the shockwave from that motion came crashing into him.
“Boom!”
Within the ancient formation’s self-contained world, swaths of mountain ranges collapsed—peaks, ancient trees, boulders—all ground to powder. Though he had managed to evade rapidly, the powerful shockwave struck him regardless. The top of his skull was immediately sent flying, blown nearly three meters into the air.
“You…” His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief, unable to accept this outcome.
Blood poured down from the top of his head, mixed with brain matter, obscuring his vision. His skull cap landed at his feet with a thud.
It was a horrifying sight!
He was a cultivator at the Immortal Platform realm—it was impossible for him to die instantly from this. He let out a terrified howl.
Ye Fan approached like a divine demon, his expression cold. “The divine bow treasure of the Great Archer Yi is difficult to destroy. Then I’ll deal with you first.”
At this moment, he had come to know the identity and background of this figure.