The Celestial Emperor’s Son had come out of seclusion. He would arrive at the head of the Eight Divine Generals, and that prospect was enough to shake everyone present. For so many years, who had dared to cross him? Now, if he so much as stamped his foot, the Eastern Desolation would tremble three times over.
“Word is that this divine scion is in an incandescent fury. He has sworn to destroy whoever did this and avenge his fallen followers. It is said he has already sharpened his heavenly blade and intends to personally behead the culprit, offering the head as a sacrifice to the dead.”
“When the Celestial Emperor’s Son rages, bodies pile up in the tens of thousands and rivers of blood run free. A great catastrophe is coming!”
People discussed it in animated voices. An ancient emperor’s son had come out of seclusion and was personally marching on the Southern Region — a world-shattering event that was certain to draw the gaze of all under heaven.
His might and prestige, at this moment, were without compare. He came with a great and imposing force, his momentum capable of stirring up boundless waves.
Not far away, Ye Fan gave a cold sneer. Would this divine scion truly show himself immediately? He doubted it. Past dealings had given him a sense of the man — he was skilled at rousing other powerful figures to action while rarely moving personally.
The floating island buzzed with noise and argument, everyone unable to help themselves from discussing it all. Among all those present, only Ji Zi remained entirely unmoved — tranquil as still water, with not even a flicker of reaction.
When the commotion finally subsided somewhat, people found themselves turning once more to look at Li Qingzhou. What he had just revealed was also deeply stirring, and someone finally ventured to ask.
“Has the Sovereign of Yao Guang truly not left this world? Wasn’t there a rumor years ago that she had set foot on the Star-Sky Ancient Road to undergo the most legendary trial in history?”
“My master has never left,” said Li Qingzhou with a smile. His teeth were white as snow, and a shimmer of rosy light played about his body — even his pores seemed to radiate a fine brilliance. His entire person seemed to glow.
People continued to arrive in succession, climbing up to the island and bringing with them a stream of new information — most of it filtering down from the Northern Region.
“Any of you have a guess at who that person is? Who would dare cut down ancient clan powerhouses on such a scale? He must have extraordinary backing.”
“Exactly. Even the Sovereign of Yao Guang has never done anything like this over all these years. Just who is he?”
Everyone speculated, but no one could arrive at an answer. This individual had struck down eighteen strongholds and nailed thirteen Dao-Severing experts in a single night — shaking the world to its foundations, yet leaving his identity entirely unknown.
“If a certain person hadn’t left, I believe he would have been capable of this — and bold enough to do it.” Someone spoke up, immediately drawing many eyes their way.
“You mean… the Holy Body, Ye Fan, from back then?”
“Yes. He’s about the only one who would have dared challenge the Celestial Emperor’s Son like this. But he left this world long ago.”
“It can’t be him. A Half-Saint reportedly witnessed that person in action at the Fire Spirit Ravine and examined his true form and fundamental origin with the Heavenly Eye — there was absolutely no trace of the golden qi-blood characteristic of the Holy Body.”
When Ye Fan’s name came up, heads shook all around. This powerhouse of overwhelming presence had departed long since, had become part of the past — too difficult to expect him to appear again.
An hour later, some of the unusual figures from the various sects of the Southern Region had also arrived. Powerful experts were everywhere; remarkable talents were abundant. It moved people to reflect: in every generation, new heroes arise, and each holds the stage for a time.
In the Southern Region, Yao Guang, the Ji Family, and the Carefree Sect — these were the topmost institutions. Sharp-eyed observers noticed that nearly all of them had young geniuses present — with the sole exception of the Grand Mystery Sect.
“What a pity. After that banished immortal Hua Yunfei, the Grand Mystery Sect never produced another dazzling talent. Today, not a single extraordinary figure from among them has appeared.”
After Yao Guang came Li Qingzhou — a figure who directly recalled the former Holy Son in terms of sheer ability. To see him was to understand why his name had spread. He was self-evidently a talent of the first order.
As for the Carefree Sect — it had produced the Marquis in Purple, who had risen to prominence overnight and gone undefeated against every challenger. People had already begun to compare the Marquis in Purple to the former Divine King, Ji Haoyue, in his younger years.
“Thinking back on those days — what an extraordinary hero Hua Yunfei was. He crossed the world without peer, and in the end fell in his youth. He was a peerless talent not far behind Yao Guang herself!”
Someone spoke of him with feeling. In those years, when Hua Yunfei had begun cultivating a demonic technique and been surrounded by enemies from all sides, he had broken through their encirclement and then gone fifteen-some years without meeting any opponent capable of challenging him — leaving the whole world helpless against him.
Ye Fan too gave a soft sigh. That enemy had left a deep impression on him. Extraordinary and otherworldly. Gentle as a banished immortal. His qin music had been without rival under heaven — at its sound, ten thousand flowers bloomed at once and a hundred birds came to pay homage. Truly transcendent beyond all measure.
In the end, he had been like a struggling fish that leapt again and again, only for a great hand to reach out and return him to the stream each time. He could not escape his fate. He faded away in that same unchanging river.
Of all the opponents Ye Fan had ever cut down, this was among the very few he had found himself genuinely regretting — an adversary truly worthy of a sigh. Recalling how Hua Yunfei, in his final moments, had let his innermost heart show — expressing his wish simply to be a carefree child playing a qin, dissolving then into a rain of light — Ye Fan shook his head slowly.
“One can only say the Holy Body of those days was simply too powerful — enough that even a peerless genius like that banished immortal met his end in regret and bitterness. Though it must also be said he brought it upon himself by cultivating the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art. Heaven and earth do not forgive such things.”
People could not help but lament.
“Now, those astonishing talents are dead or departed. What remains is a struggle among the Marquis in Purple, Li Qingzhou, the Chaos Holy Son, Ye Tong, and figures of that caliber.”
“Quite right. The contest among that generation of world-shaking prodigies has carried over to their disciples. Even those who are no longer here — their legacies still demand a reckoning.”
Before long, talk had turned to the battle between Wanchu’s Mo Xue and Ye Tong. Everyone marveled at the power of Ye Fan’s disciple — he seemed a second coming of the Holy Body.
“Wanchu’s Mo Xue doesn’t possess a true Chaos Body — a constitution like that is said to be impossible to come into existence naturally. He simply has a rare innate affinity for Chaos Qi. But if one day a person with genuine Chaos blood were to appear, there would be nothing left to argue about. That individual would stand alone, supreme over the nine heavens and ten earths, and be the one to attain the Dao!”
“Even if such a constitution has never appeared in all of history, we can’t make assumptions like that — you’re making it sound impossibly dominant. Two hundred thousand years ago, the Ruthless Emperor began as nothing more than an ordinary mortal body. Did he not still cut down every king, stand alone in the ninth heaven, and hold even the divine beings from blocking his path?”
“That’s true enough.”
“That said, Ye Tong is genuinely extraordinary. Could he really do as he says — one day fight on behalf of his master, sweep down every single one of Ye Fan’s former enemies, and make the Holy Body’s name synonymous with absolute invincibility?”
“That’s not out of the question. To have such a disciple — the Holy Body should be gratified. A disciple who will sweep away every enemy of his master’s past for him. Isn’t that the ultimate demonstration of strength? More of an achievement than doing it yourself.”
The voices discussing this were kept low, but they were apparently still audible enough to make Li Qingzhou’s brow furrow slightly. Many outstanding figures had left this world, and humanity now looked to his master as its paramount figure. Yet here people were making this kind of comparison — testament enough to how enduring the Holy Body’s influence truly was.
“The First Princess of the Ji Family has arrived, alongside the Carefree Sect’s Li Youyou — they’ve come together.” Someone announced it, and many people instinctively rose to their feet as a sign of respect.
Ji Biyue and Li Youyou were terrifyingly formidable. Even during that glittering era when Yao Guang, Ji Haoyue, and Hua Yunfei had all shone together, neither of them had dimmed significantly. They had been among the most powerful figures of the Southern Region in that era.
Ji Biyue had a willowy figure and long hair that danced freely. Her lips were a vivid red — she was sensual and captivating — dressed in a robe of green-tinged rosy clouds. Her bare jade feet, white as snow, were immaculate and unsullied, just as they always had been.
She was escorted in amid a crowd of people fawning and pressing around her like stars around the moon. Cultivators all around offered her respectful greetings. She was the elder cousin of a generation’s Divine King, and was likely to take control of the Ji Family before long. Who would not show her deference?
Ye Fan noticed that when Ji Biyue’s gaze swept across Ji Zi, a brief but distinct change crossed her exquisite face — a momentary faltering. Only someone with senses as acute as his would have caught it. No other cultivator present could possibly have perceived it.
Li Youyou was cool and indifferent. People offered her respectful greetings as well, which she acknowledged with a wave of her hand before settling herself beside her martial nephew, the Marquis in Purple, without another word.
“It is said the path to immortality is about to open in our time. We’re all gathered here today — why not discuss what kind of path this might be? Ancient lore suggests it may open in our Southern Region.”
Ji Biyue’s face wore a smile, but her eyes held a cutting edge beneath it. She was someone of powerful ambition by temperament, and wherever she found herself, she instinctively sought to hold the dominant position.
Her words immediately sparked a lively debate. Someone was said to have once read from a surviving copy of an extremely rare ancient text, which claimed the path to immortality might open in the Southern Region.
“What is it about the Southern Region that makes it special? Can none of you guess?” Li Qingzhou said with a smile.
Many people couldn’t help but look startled. He could actually hazard a guess at where the path to immortality would open?
“I take it your master has arrived at some sort of deduction,” said Ji Biyue, a faint smile on her lips.
“Yes. My master thought carefully on the matter and concluded: if the path to immortality exists without a fixed physical form, no one could ever determine its location. But if it does have a physical manifestation, and if it is in the Southern Region — then it is most likely somewhere beneath the Ancient Abyss Forbidden Zone,” Li Qingzhou replied.
Gasp!
At these words, the island erupted. That Yao Guang had arrived at this conclusion was enough to shake the world — the sheer enormity of it stunned everyone.
“My master emphasized that this is one possible scenario, not a certainty. The true workings of heaven are beyond anyone’s full sight,” Li Qingzhou added.
“The Sovereign of Yao Guang is being modest. Who is she? She reigns supreme over the Eastern Desolation. For her to make such a pronouncement, she must have sensed something,” everyone chimed in, their reverence for the Sovereign of Yao Guang plain to see.
The Ancient Forbidden Zone — what kind of place was that? A place one entered and never left. The ancient creature within had likely reached a level comparable to the great emperors of old. Who in the future would be capable of forcing their way in? Perhaps that being had taken up residence there precisely to wait for the moment the path to immortality opened!
And with that thought, people felt their heads beginning to swim as a cascade of ideas multiplied within them. The Eastern Desolation had seven great life-forbidden zones — just what complex secrets did each of the other six conceal?
“The Wind Clan’s divine maiden is here! She is a princess of the Wind Clan and was the foremost figure of the Central Region in the previous generation!” someone exclaimed. Swaths of people rose to their feet to welcome this woman.
Feng Huang had clearly achieved Dao-Severing. A powerful aura clung to her, held within her body — yet the sheer weight of it involuntarily stirred a sense of awe in those nearby.
In truth, she was breathtaking to behold. She wore a five-colored mask, and five streams of iridescent light coiled around her body, taking the form of an immortal phoenix that wrapped itself about her — crystalline and radiant, sacred and serene. Though her true face was concealed, she was said to put the moon to shame and make flowers blush. As she drifted closer now — graceful, each step as if a lotus bloomed beneath her foot — that bearing alone put every woman present in the shade.
“Is that you, little sister Feng Huang? It’s been so many years. You’re as graceful as ever,” Ji Biyue said with a smile.
“Elder sister Biyue grows more formidable with each passing year. Now that Divine King Haoyue has departed, you are about to become the head of the Ji Family, are you not?” Feng Huang replied with a mild smile, five-colored luminescence flowing gently around her — breathtaking and elegant.
No one dared say a word. Everyone held their breath, sensing that the two women were circling each other, there being something between them that had never been entirely resolved.
“I’m hardly in a position to compare with little sister. As the Sovereign of the Wind Clan, revered throughout the Central Region — your only regret, I suppose, is that engagement from years ago. Little sister’s judgment is truly exceptional — to have passed on the human Holy Body just like that.” Ji Biyue smiled.
The entire island fell silent at once. No one spoke. Everyone seemed to shrink into themselves for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
“You…” Feng Huang’s pale, slender hand clenched into a fist. It was clear this had struck a genuine nerve.
Everyone present knew the history. The Wind Clan’s illustrious jewel had once made that decision — and when Ye Fan subsequently rose to prominence, many had privately mocked Feng Huang for it behind her back.
Ji Biyue bringing up old wounds was plainly unkind. It was a deliberate move to make Feng Huang feel ill at ease — bordering on outright ridicule in front of everyone, stripping her of face.
Feng Huang spoke calmly: “Elder sister need not concern herself on my behalf. Perhaps it would be better to focus on the Ji Family’s own affairs. I have heard that since Divine King Haoyue and little sister Ziyue set foot on the Star-Sky Road, the Ji Family’s prestige has declined considerably. In the Northern Region’s mining grounds, even direct-line disciples were slapped by ancient clansmen — truly a blow to the Void Emperor’s honor, considering those siblings carry the Emperor’s very blood. Elder sister, once you take your place at the head of the family, things are bound to be quite different from the days of the Divine King.”
Everyone was taken aback. They hadn’t known this — and yet Feng Huang was apparently fully informed, bringing it out into the open here to strike at Ji Biyue.
The Wind Clan divine maiden continued, unhurried: “And in the end, I understand it was that mysterious powerhouse wielding the dark-gold spear who killed all the ancient clansmen involved, and preserved what little remained of elder sister’s Ji Family’s dignity.”
“What is little sister implying? That this person was the Holy Body, Ye Fan?” Ji Biyue smiled. No matter what was said, seizing on that one point was enough to make Feng Huang flush with humiliation.
Sure enough, Feng Huang’s eyes flared with a sharpness that could cut. The very last thing she ever wanted mentioned was this chapter of her past. Her voice turned cold: “The Eight Divine Generals’ descendants are already moving south. Elder sister, if you are truly a descendant of the Void Emperor, it would be better to think about how to recover your family’s lost face. The Void Emperor stood supreme over the four seas, revered by all under heaven, his authority felt across the nine heavens and ten earths! His direct-line descendants, carrying his supreme Emperor’s blood — even containing fragments of his memories — and yet to be slapped in the face like that. For a great human Emperor, it is the deepest of shames.”
Ye Fan noticed that Ji Zi’s brow furrowed. Then, without a word, he rose and quietly departed the island.
He was not tall, nor particularly striking in any way — utterly unremarkable. And yet Ye Fan found himself filled with doubt and focused attention. To him, this person was genuinely strange.
Ji Zi was a man of very few words. Standing in a crowd, he would be entirely invisible — plain, ordinary, completely unremarkable. His departure stirred no particular reaction, because no one present had thought much of him to begin with, and none considered him especially notable.
More cultivators arrived, bringing fresh news. “I have heard that the Celestial Emperor’s Son’s advance forces have been entering the Southern Region one by one. The first wave of the Eight Divine Generals’ descendants is now at Cloud Peak City, a hundred thousand li away. They’re coming with full force.”
Cloud Peak City was one of the ten great cities of the Southern Region, standing alongside Qingxia City, and had been a place of strategic importance since ancient times.
But then, at precisely that moment, something terrifying happened. The sky itself seemed to crack. The earth seemed to billow with Chaos Qi. The void seemed to be stained with blood. The fluctuation that followed felt as if it had exceeded the bounds of anything human power could produce!
Not long after, a piece of news made its way onto the divine island above Lakelight in Qingxia City. Several people grew visibly agitated, their chests heaving rapidly, their speech stumbling.
“Everyone — extraordinary news! Something has just happened!”
“The Celestial Emperor’s Son’s entire first wave of forces has been wiped out. Not a single person survived. A strange fluctuation rose from Cloud Peak City. The void began to pulse. The physical bodies of the Eight Divine Generals’ descendants dissolved into blood mist — only their severed heads were left behind, hanging suspended in the air.”
“Impossible! There were Dao-Severing experts among them, and a large number of powerful fighters — they died just like that?!”
“It happened very suddenly. No one could figure out what occurred. It was as if the void itself had come alive and cut down every ancient clan expert!”
Everyone was dumbstruck. Someone had clearly decided to make a statement to the Celestial Emperor’s Son — his first wave of forces had barely entered the Southern Region before being wiped to the last man. What unrestrained power. What absolute dominance. This slap had rung out with staggering force.