After more than a decade apart, Black Emperor had grown as large as a small mountain, standing several dozen zhang tall, its entire body thick and powerful, terrifyingly mighty, its blood-qi surging, its jet-black fur gleaming like silk.
“Roarrr!”
It let out a mighty roar like rolling thunder, deafening to the ears. The moment it moved, a fierce wind erupted at once, sand and rocks flying.
Ye Fan had already dismounted, knowing this massive dog was up to no good, brazenly provoking Long Ma, not offering a warm welcome first but immediately wanting to pick a fight.
“What luck — today I get to have a mixed-blood dragon-horse for a snack!” the massive black dog jeered.
Long Ma was certainly no pushover either, extremely direct, leaping into the void, rearing up on its hind legs, raising its massive hoof high, aiming straight for the black dog’s face to stomp down.
“I’ll trample your face full of pockmarks!”
The two of them meeting was truly like a needle meeting a piece of hemp — neither was a decent sort, both wanting to strike first to gain the upper hand.
“Boom!”
Black Emperor opened its massive bloody maw wide. Now its body was like a black mountain, its enormous crimson tongue several zhang long, its teeth like door panels and broadswords, wanting to swallow Long Ma whole in one bite.
Zhang Qingyang felt dizzy — this dog was simply too terrifying, wanting to swallow a Dao-Severing demon king on sight, the sheer pressure making his heart tremble with fear.
Ye Fan paused. In just over a decade, Black Emperor’s cultivation had leapt forward tremendously — opening its mouth to manifest an entire universe, an ordinary Dao-Severing cultivator would have no escape, being drawn straight in.
Long Ma was quite direct about it. Seeing the massive bloody maw about to swallow it whole, without using any magic power at all, it simply gave a forceful kick with its hind legs, and billowing black gas surged out from behind it.
The massive black dog nearly vomited up its own gallbladder. Rearing up on its hind legs, carrying a gust of demonic wind, it was flung eight hundred zhang away, landing sprawled atop a mountain peak, veins bulging on its forehead.
Neither of these two fellows was any good — Long Ma had directly employed its “flatulence technique,” and with casual ease, a foul stench shattered Black Emperor’s world-swallowing might.
“Damn it!” The massive black dog stamped in fury, throwing a tantrum. It plunged headfirst from the mountain peak into a great lake below, frantically rinsing its mouth, nearly disgusted to death, never having expected to encounter such an extraordinary opponent, evenly matched with itself.
Even the Spirit Knight’s mouth twitched, struggling to hold back laughter, while Ye Fan laughed heartily without restraint.
Black Emperor was furious, transforming into a streak of dark radiance and charging over, shouting “flatterer” as it spat out a sheet of lightning from its mouth, attacking wildly as though gone mad. But Ye Fan noticed this damned dog’s eyes flashed with sharp light, clearly quite composed at heart, not nearly as reckless as it appeared.
“I’ll transform one breath into three emperors!” Black Emperor roared, having once heard Ye Fan speak of Yin Tiande’s affairs, and thus knowing of this marvelous technique.
Long Ma understood even more deeply, having personally witnessed Ye Fan perform it before, and so its heart skipped a beat, growing especially cautious.
“Rumble!”
At this very moment, dog shadows appeared everywhere — as many as tens of thousands of black dogs, submerging the heavens and earth entirely, all barking at once.
Long Ma was utterly stunned at that moment. Having jumped to conclusions first, it had been pondering this “one breath transforms into three purities” marvelous technique, never expecting this massive dog to have manifested tens of thousands of copies instead.
At this moment, all the massive dogs reared up on their hind legs, each one wearing a pair of large floral-patterned shorts, not launching an attack but instead all spitting saliva at it together, as lewd and vulgar as could possibly be.
Long Ma’s temper flared instantly — this was simply too much, this dog was turning its own methods back against it, deliberately trying to disgust it.
“Little colt, you’re still too green!” Tens of thousands of Black Emperors shouted together, and after finishing spitting saliva, charged forward to attack.
“Boom!”
Long Ma lost its composure, taking a solid punch from the massive black dog that left it with a black eye, sent flying backward. It realized it had fallen for a trick — there had been no “one breath transforms into three purities” nonsense at all; it had merely wandered into an illusion created by a formation and fallen for the ruse.
“I’m not done with you!” Long Ma snorted white through its nostrils, standing at a distance, forcefully pawing at the ground with its hoof, viciously swishing its tail.
Ye Fan was speechless — these two were truly an extraordinary pair, six of one and half a dozen of the other, neither being any kind of good, decent sort. Whenever they met, they were bound to spark some “brilliant fireworks.”
Sure enough, after a brief adjustment, they gathered together again, one raising a hoof, the other extending its claws, viciously grappling with each other.
They seemed to have been natural enemies from birth, as though harboring some grudge from a past life — the moment they met, they immediately started fighting.
“Stop it!” Ye Fan called out to halt them, forcefully intervening, using his black long spear to separate the two.
In the distance, howling cries rang out as well, many figures flying over, thinking some great enemy had invaded — many experts of the Village of Heaven rushed over.
This fight naturally could not continue. Black Emperor leaped toward Ye Fan, its body like a small mountain yet moving with incredible agility, its large eyes wide like lanterns.
Long Yuxuan, being of demon race lineage, felt this most keenly, his very bones trembling. This massive black dog was undoubtedly a demon sovereign, the blood within its body producing a sound like rolling thunder, utterly terrifying.
Black Emperor’s eyes blazed like torches, radiating light outward, filled with both excitement and a terrifying wildness, its claws several zhang long reaching out as it approached.
“You dead dog, is this how you welcome me?” Ye Fan said, also somewhat excited, a smile on his face as he extended a golden hand to meet it.
“Kid, you’re still alive! Roarrr!” The now-mighty Black Emperor, its body enormous, the sound of blood surging through its veins rumbling like thunder.
The greeting between the two of them was quite unique — a heavy blow that sent boulders tumbling, the ground splitting open, plants and trees snapping, the mountains shaking and the earth trembling.
“Coming back is coming back — no need to bring your own wild game though. This horse-meat is tough to stew properly,” Black Emperor said casually.
Not far away, Long Ma’s eyes bulged with fury again, raising its hoof to resume the fight, but it no longer had the chance — many figures had already landed at the scene, surrounding them.
“Ye Fan!”
The crowd was nearly petrified, all frozen in shock, never having imagined they would see him again, unable to believe this scene before them.
“Master, is it really you?” Tong Tong shouted.
“Ye Fan… how are you back?” Cries of astonishment rang out one after another, and then this mountainous area erupted into an uproar, a group rushing forward.
Yan Yixi, Li Tian, Dongfang Ye and the others were all here, their eyes filled with excitement, their gazes radiant, laughing heartily as they crowded close to pummel him.
“Easy there, everyone. This body of mine may be sturdy, but it can’t withstand a group beating like this,” Ye Fan said, also laughing heartily.
More than a decade had passed, and being able to see this group again felt truly wonderful. Everyone patted his shoulders, pounded his chest, filled with laughter, everyone deeply moved.
“You dead dog, what have you been eating all these years to grow this big? Trying to crush me to death?” Ye Fan said.
The massive black dog had grown several hundred times larger than before. After a bout of loud barking laughter, it shamelessly asked him for a gift, saying: “You crossed the entire universe and came back — shouldn’t you at least give me a nice big present?”
“Master, was that mysterious figure wielding the black war-spear you?” Ye Tong suddenly said, her eyes filled with excitement.
Dongfang Ye also came to his senses, his disheveled hair truly making him look like a wild man, laughing heartily. “I was wondering earlier — could a second Sacred Body have emerged? So it was Brother Ye all along!” He had lived in the primeval ancient forest for years, his instincts sharp.
“Today calls for a great feast. Go find all our old friends, let’s have a good, hearty drink,” Li Tian laughed.
Ye Fan’s sudden appearance left everyone barely able to believe it — this was an unexpected joy, one they had never imagined would happen, this reunion.
“Brother Ye, you’ve been gone so many years, we truly missed you dearly,” Yao Yuekong said. Her body surged with purple qi, her previous congenital deficiency long since fully healed, and now she served as the Heavenly Demon Palace’s master, her might dominating the Eastern Wastes.
“Let’s head inside,” Yan Yixi said with a smile. After all these years, he had grown even more refined and elegant, dressed in flowing white robes, dashing and unrestrained.
As Ye Fan walked, he introduced the Spirit Knight, Long Ma, and Zhang Qingyang to everyone, and during this process, many more people came out to greet them.
The pitiful Wang Shu and Er Lengzi, their clothes tattered and worn, known as the Silver Blood Twin Emperors, endured Black Emperor’s hellish training day after day. Seeing Ye Fan, they were especially excited, nearly moved to tears.
The Village of Heaven had rolling hills, with many small mountains but few tall peaks, yet all carried a rich spiritual energy, quite suitable for seclusion and cultivation.
“Divine Child…” In the distance, a young girl came running, graceful and slender, her figure willowy, her snow-white long dress swaying, arriving like a fairy gliding upon waves.
This was a girl of sixteen or seventeen, bright-eyed with pearly white teeth, skin like snow, hair like a cascade of black silk, extremely beautiful, lively and energetic, arriving gracefully like a lark in flight.
“This is… Little Sparrow?” Ye Fan asked, surprised.
Her delicate face flushed red, and she nodded firmly, saying, “It’s me.”
Ye Fan felt a wave of emotion wash over him — fourteen years had passed, and that little one who once toddled unsteadily, sucking on a pacifier, with big bright eyes and an adorably clumsy manner, had now grown up.
Beside them, Long Yuxuan looked embarrassed. In the past, he had also been called Long Xiaoque — a certain honored title of the Dragon Sparrow clan. Ye Fan had told him there was another Little Sparrow here too, so he had reverted to his original name.
As they approached the Village of Heaven, beneath an old locust tree, an old fellow waited with others, a faint smile on his face, one of his eye sockets utterly hollow, deep as a cosmic black hole.
“A Sage!” The Spirit Knight’s expression shifted. Even Long Ma gave a start, becoming much more subdued.
Ye Fan had already anticipated this outcome — that the old assassin chief Qi Luo would surely achieve sagehood — yet actually seeing it in person still brought a special kind of feeling, settling his heart completely at ease.
All these years, no matter how complicated and dangerous this world had become, with such a Sage of Slaughter presiding here, it seemed his old friends would surely not have fared too badly.
“Today calls for a great drunken feast. Quickly, go invite everyone, let’s drink to our hearts’ content.”
“Right, Li Heishui and Wu Zhongtian are studying the Dao under this Sage, the number one bandit of the Northern Region — let’s notify them right away.”
“Who knows where the Sacred Imperial Son is in seclusion — let’s invite him too, quickly.”
Everyone laughed and chatted joyfully, asking Ye Fan about his experiences over the years, how he had managed to return, and also shared their own circumstances during this time.
Li Tian said: “Duan De, that bastard, is the easiest to find. These years he’s been in cahoots with Black Emperor. Just have Black Emperor go out and holler that there’s a big business deal to be made, and he’ll come scurrying over eagerly.”
“Woof, we may be close friends, but if you keep slandering me like this, this Emperor will get mad!” the massive black dog bared its teeth. By now its body had shrunk down, roughly matching Long Ma’s size.
Li Heishui was the first to arrive, his expression exhilarated. Upon seeing Ye Fan, he laughed heartily, his eyes even growing somewhat moist, unable to forget the years the two of them had spent gambling on origin-stones in the Divine City, as well as the life-and-death battles they had fought together afterward, sweeping across the world.
Not long after, the Monkey appeared, with a thunder-god mouth and golden fiery eyes, his entire body covered in golden fur gleaming brilliantly, blood-qi surging within him — without a doubt, his combat power was astonishing!
“Brother Monkey, why do you have hidden injuries in your body?” Ye Fan asked.
“It’s nothing, a minor matter. I’ll deal with them eventually. Today you’ve returned — this is truly wonderful news, we must drink ourselves into oblivion,” the Monkey said, waving his hand dismissively.
“How can that be a minor matter? All these years, that Heavenly Emperor Son, Huang Xu Dao, Huo Qizi, and that whole crowd have been far too domineering. Now that Ye Fan is back, he can join forces with the Sacred Imperial Son and sweep them all away!”
Everyone seemed quite excited, and somewhat angry as well, all clenching their fists tight.
“That’s right, always being suppressed by them — I’ve been holding in this anger for over a decade now. Originally I thought we’d have to wait another ten years until little Tong Tong grew up before we could vent this grievance. But now that Ye Fan’s back, what is there to fear!”
“Right, when the time comes, we’ll all attack together — kill them dead!” The crowd grew impassioned, clearly having held in their frustration for a long time.