An existence that had slain gods — in the ancient past, he had cut down two beings of divine race. Now he came forward step by step from the edge of the great earth, his body appearing as though it had merged with the void itself, one with the Dao.

He carried a dragon spear in one hand. He had not yet arrived — yet a bone-piercing killing intent had already rushed outward, making all living things tremble, as though they stood before a deity who had walked out from the age of antiquity.

The people were horrified. Was what the Pope had said the truth? The ancient families in particular went cold with dread. If he dared kill even gods — what exactly did the Vatican worship?

He drew closer, pressing in from the horizon. A person’s bearing alone sometimes says everything. He seemed to be one with the Dao — like an undying monument standing there in place.

Whether from the Church or the many legacies that had come to reinforce it, great numbers of people were awed into trembling, on the verge of falling to their knees.

This man appeared to be in his fifties. His gold hair was still fairly full, though already somewhat dimmed. His complexion was fair — like white jade — with sharp, clearly defined features as though carved by a blade.

Looking at him like this, one could not determine his actual age. Only by looking deep into his eyes could one catch a glimpse of something — both eyes like the ocean, profound and ancient with lived experience.

This was decidedly not a man of the present age. He had clearly lived through long, immeasurable years — just how many, no one could say. Not even the Vatican had more than a handful of people who knew.

The single greatest power across the entire expanse of the Western skies!

Ye Fan gazed steadily at him. This was indeed a formidable man. He had existed for a very long time — having clearly survived from antiquity, choosing not to leave this world.

This was a Dao-severer. His true strength was difficult to gauge — but he should be very powerful, more terrifying than the divine race he had cut down, possessing sufficient power to command awe.

After the ancient era, he was the only divine knight in all of Western soil!

A man so powerful that all who saw him could not help but tremble — his combat ability beyond compare. The powerhouses from various factions who beheld him offered genuine reverence.

“The first beneath the starry sky!”

“Heavenly might!”

“The mightiest beneath the entire starry sky!”

The crowd roared. All the great families that had come to reinforce the Vatican called out, their voices rising and falling like ocean waves — thunderous, deafening.

This was a display of tremendous presence. When a person merely stands there and already radiates an undefeated bearing — that alone says everything about how terrifying he is. It is capable of displaying the great might of heaven and earth!

The divine knight was one with the Dao — born close to the Dao. His figure was both real and illusory, blurred and unclear, evoking in people that Eastern sensation of the unity of heaven and man.

The Dao has no regional boundaries. The strong arrive at the same enlightenment. This man’s spiritual level was very high — his own cultivation having reached a realm of transcendence beyond the ordinary world.

Wooooo—

He suddenly launched his attack. His speed was pushed to the absolute extreme — in the blink of an eye, he had crossed from the other side of the great earth to Ye Fan’s side. The dragon spear in his hand thrust forward, releasing a dragon’s roar that shook nine heavens — and harmonizing with the resonance of the Dao.

Ye Fan’s left hand pressed two fingers together like a blade and swept horizontally across the dragon spear. Simultaneously, his right hand formed a fist — his golden divine fist crashed toward this man’s skull like a howling gale and rolling thunder.

CLANG!

The dragon spear shuddered, taking the full force of Ye Fan’s palm-blade, then rotated and deflected his golden fist. Ten thousand rays of splendor burst outward, releasing a sound like crashing waves and surging tides.

Ye Fan was astonished. He had never imagined he would encounter someone like this on Earth — someone who could engage him in close combat, whose physical body was stronger than anything he had expected.

Could this man truly be a descendant of the ancient Sacred Emperor? He was truly shocked. This person far surpassed other Dao-severers. In such close-range combat, that dragon spear could absolutely pierce through any other king.

The two of them transformed into lightning, exchanging blows between palm-blade and dragon spear — strike after strike ringing out in resounding, metallic clashes, enough to burst ears and split hearts.

BOOM!

A final great crash — and they separated. The mountains and rivers around them roared. Though engraved with ancient Dao markings, even they developed some small fractures from the impact. Every spectator watching went pale.

SWISH!

The Pope raised one hand, shifting fifty great mountains sideways. Fifty was the number representing the Dao of heaven and earth. These were sacred peaks of the ancient gods, inscribed with the laws of ancient sages, surrounding the battlefield to prevent the shockwaves from spreading to the outer world and destroying the great halls and other sacred grounds.

“The demon from the Central Plains has truly earned his reputation. This time we are in real trouble.” An elderly figure beside the Pope muttered to himself.

“Indeed. Even the single greatest power beneath the entire starry sky failed to immediately suppress him — especially in body-to-body collision, not only failing to take the upper hand but actually falling somewhat short. That is genuinely alarming.”

“The sinner who bathed in divine blood — his physical body should be invincible beneath heaven. How could anyone be found to stand equally against him?”

A group of elders were troubled, feeling cold all over their bodies. For the very first time, they were witnessing someone who could hold their own against the mightiest beneath the starry sky using only their physical body.

Outsiders did not know — but a small number of the Vatican’s greatest figures were well aware of the divine knight’s origins, which were extraordinarily legendary. Though he had killed divine race beings and cut down ancient demons who came to invade, the merit and the transgression were considered to have balanced each other out.

Legend held that long before the present era — even before antiquity — the Vatican was a pure land of divinity, the most renowned blessed realm in the West, where a vial of ancient divine blood had been preserved.

Generations of predecessors had spent ages refining it — removing everything within it that could harm the human body — then incorporating endless spiritual medicines, blending them into the divine blood, and smelting it over and over through untold ages until it became the most sacred and hallowed of medicines. It was left for those who came after.

The divine knight, from childhood, had possessed exceptional talent — a genius who looked down upon the world. He was cultivated as a son of god, his natural gifts acclaimed as the greatest in the Western lands across tens of thousands of years. But he was far too unruly, constantly making mischief within the holy halls. On one occasion, he carelessly knocked over the Holy Grail just as its seal was being opened.

In that incident, he committed a tremendous transgression — yet he bathed in divine blood and absorbed the full power of the sacred medicine into his body, reaching the pinnacle and attaining an indestructible form.

The Vatican was thrown into shock. All the great figures were startled and furious — but could do absolutely nothing. The divine blood was lost — it had gone to perfect this unruly genius.

From that point forward, he was branded a sinner. He could only practice in hardship each day, forever in the darkness, denied glory — only silently guarding the Vatican.

An ancient predecessor from that age had placed a mark upon him, judging him as a sinner. Thus he could not receive the power of faith. From antiquity to this day, he had always relied on himself alone, breaking through step by step to reach this level.

Therefore — though he was only a Dao-severer, far from being a fully accomplished king — he was still extraordinarily terrifying. Incredibly powerful for the final age of the Dharma, having achieved it through the strength of his own body. Silently cultivating since ancient times until today, as the vital energy of heaven and earth slowly dried up, he arduously severed the Dao — the only person to survive his heavenly tribulation in those hundreds of years when heaven and earth began to go completely dead in their energy. From that point, his cultivation had not advanced greatly — yet his Dao foundations were incomparably solid, and his understanding of the Dao was unfathomable to ordinary people. He was powerful to the extreme.

“Sinner who bathed in divine blood — the mightiest divine knight of the Vatican — the strongest in the western starry sky — pierce your enemies with that dragon spear in your hand. Wash away your sin with their blood.”

The Pope spoke softly.

The divine knight’s expression was very still and silent — no joy, no sorrow, no anger readable from his face. He carried his spear in one hand and stood at a distance. His first assault had been nothing more than a probe — the strength of his opponent had exceeded his expectations.

“The Dao has wounded my body. My life has little left to it — let this be my final battle before I pass on.”

Finally, he spoke. To have lived from antiquity until now, cultivating without relying on the power of faith, attaining such profound Dao foundations — that was truly no easy thing. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Yet time was merciless. Even having reached this point, the end of the road was close. Heaven and earth had dried up. Severing the Dao had wounded his own body. Even granting him the power of faith now could not extend his life.

HUM!

The void shivered. His dragon spear pierced through heaven and earth — the sky split open, storm and clouds surged wildly — as he descended upon Ye Fan like a celestial deity, thrusting toward Ye Fan’s chest.

This dragon spear was remarkable. One did not know from what era it came, nor who had forged it. It possessed no world-destroying power of a holy weapon, yet it had a kind of undying divine nature — no one had ever been able to shatter it.

The dragon spear had originally been dull and without sheen. But driven by the divine knight, it seemed as though it had been given life — transforming into a heaven-piercing divine spear, its sharpness fully revealed, penetrating the heavenly vault.

Even Ye Fan’s expression shifted. A person like this — a divine knight like this — having lived all the way until now — was truly an anomaly, surpassing the powerful beings of divine race. He was a genuine, formidable rival. Ye Fan’s left hand formed a seal, his right hand a fist, and he engaged this man in great battle. After returning to this side of the starry sky, this was the first time he had been this serious and this solemn.

“Heavenly Gang Divine Dance — he actually cultivated to that legendary level!” Many of the Vatican’s elders exclaimed in astonishment, their voices trembling involuntarily.

The divine knight’s power was something even they could not measure. Now they saw a single dragon spear crack open the air and split heaven and earth — and at the tip of the spear, a divine being appeared, dancing together with those blazing spear-rays!

Ye Fan’s left hand deflected the dragon spear while his right fist attacked that divine figure — the great battle unceasing. Their striking power was devastating. The mundane mountains below were reduced to powder and ash from the very first exchange alone — one could only imagine the scale of their destructive force.

As for the fifty sacred peaks engraved with the Dao markings of ancient sages — they were all now roaring, every one of them lighting up, releasing the sound of ancient sages reciting sutras.

These were the voices of ancient sages — their Dao markings sensing the power of the two combatants, reflecting one another in brilliance, manifesting all manner of extraordinary phenomena. In the sky above, a war god statue stood, the shadow of a light god appeared, a thunder god’s lightning bolt descended — all connected as one into something that could not be described in words. This was nothing short of a miracle.

BANG!

Ye Fan battled this divine knight — who had reached such a level through his own efforts alone in the final age — and both of them were fighting completely wild. Their vital energy soared to the heavens. From the crown of each man’s head, a column of blood surged up, shooting through the sky in a terrifying display.

A single movement could shatter mountains and rivers. Given the power both of them displayed now, if they were fighting in the mundane world, nothing would remain intact. A single great shout from either of them could collapse all mountains and rivers.

Roooaaar—

With a single long roar, the two of them carved their way out from between the fifty sacred peaks, the astonishing power of their presence erupting outward — almost breaking through the ancient great formation that separated the Vatican from the outer world!

Pfft!

Many people vomited great mouthfuls of blood. Many more who had not fled far enough simply shattered on the spot, reduced to a mist of blood. No fewer than several hundred died just like that, through no fault of their own.

This was a scene of horror. A single long roar was already more than the great experts of the present age could endure — reducing them to bloody pulp. What hope did they have of ever contending with these two?

The Pope’s expression changed. He quickly unleashed great power, moving another fifty sacred peaks — once again the number representing the Dao of heaven and earth — to seal the battlefield and prevent the complete destruction of this place. Even so it was somewhat too late — at minimum, dozens of magnificent divine halls collapsed, and a vast stretch of mountains and rivers was reduced to ash. One strike of the dragon spear turned it all into a dead zone, into the dust of catastrophe!

And Ye Fan’s single punch submerged dozens of great lakes and an entire stretch of mountains and ancestral ridges, reduced to a barren wasteland — completely erased from the earth.

The two battled together, transforming into twin bolts of lightning. Every single blow was devastating and all-consuming, able to swallow mountains and rivers. This was a clash of supreme powerhouses — like a battle between gods.

Every spectator was dazzled to the point of frenzy. Such fighting had not occurred in thousands of years — a sight witnessed by this world only once. For all who watched, this was a confrontation between divine beings — because these two men had both slain divine race. They were the most powerful beings now existing between heaven and earth. This surpassed the divine — it was a battle above gods!

On this earth, having encountered an opponent actually worth fighting, Ye Fan did not use the black arrow. He had gained enormously in recent times and also wished to test himself — so he contended purely through his true Dao cultivation.

BOOM!

Suddenly, dark clouds pressed down from the sky, heavy and oppressive. A snow-white crystalline great hand reached toward Ye Fan — vast and terrifying as a great sea. The Pope, who had been looking down like a celestial deity from the sacred mountain, finally moved.

At the same moment, two powerful Forbidden Curse Scrolls unfurled and descended upon Ye Fan. Two withered, gaunt elders on the sacred mountain had deployed the Forbidden Curses — equivalent to the attack of a Half-Saint.

At this very moment, the divine knight performed an action that no one had anticipated. Dragon spear in one hand, he struck it upward — toward the sky!

BANG!

He pierced and shattered the vault of heaven in a single blow. The dragon spear drove straight upward, meeting that snow-white crystalline great hand — blocking the Pope from above.

“A man near his end, seeking only one final battle, free of regret and true to his own conscience!”

The divine knight’s backbone was unyielding iron. This was what he declared, refusing to acknowledge any debt to the Pope, pointing his dragon spear toward the heavens to hold back his great hand.

BOOM!

On the other side, Ye Fan struck with full force. He pushed the soldier technique to its absolute limit, standing upon a point of absolute supremacy, reversing both scrolls and sending them back — obliterating the two deeply cultivated sacred mages in a blast that leveled a vast stretch of mountains and plains to flat earth!