Yao Guang had fractured. From the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron, ten thousand strands of immortal light fell in cascading streams, and from within it something like a divine embryo seemed on the verge of breaking free, drifting up and down without cease.
Many were greatly alarmed. During the process of the entire sacred ground ascending into the sky, this Emperor’s weapon erupted with immortal radiance, resonating with that rising tract of highland — and showed a clear tendency to plummet back down.
“What is happening? Activate it quickly!”
The disciples were deeply alarmed. The entire sacred ground, inscribed with ancient formation arrays within and surrounded by auspicious phenomena such as the immortal-ascending landform beyond — if an accident occurred, the losses would be incalculable.
“Move!”
A divine source appeared, flickering with a blinding light. Looking carefully, one could discover that an old man was sealed within — white-haired, sitting in meditation inside it.
This was an ancient figure of immeasurable power — one of the great foundational reserves of Yao Guang!
Whoosh!
The black Emperor’s cauldron drifted up and down, hundreds of millions of strands of rosy light radiating from it, ten millions of layers of Dao radiance — and within the cauldron, immortal energy began to boil, sending out rumbling chaos thunder. All at once it stabilized.
With an ancient saint activating the black gold cauldron, the difference was naturally complete — the situation was fully brought under control.
Upon the highland, enormous cracks several meters wide numbered in the thousands upon thousands. Each one extended for over ten li, splitting apart with cracking sounds, the immortal earth on the verge of collapse.
The black Emperor’s cauldron in the sky poured out an untold number of strands of immortal light that blazed ever more brilliantly — making all living beings tremble, compelling reverence — as it wrapped the entire sacred ground and carried it swiftly away into the distance.
Everyone in the Yao Guang Sacred Ground let out a long collective breath. Just now, some mysterious and unfathomable force from beneath the earth had resonated with the black immortal cauldron, nearly causing it to slip from their control and lose the cauldron.
The imminent collapse of this ancient great tomb sent the Southern Domain into boiling upheaval. Countless ancient sects sprang into action and headed this way.
Even Yao Guang itself, after alighting on a spiritually auspicious location that had been surveyed long in advance, immediately dispatched powerful experts to return and secure advantageous positions — they were unwilling to completely abandon this place.
This was a scene of great chaos. The Southern Domain was tumultuous, the Eastern Wastelands stirred, and cultivators from the Central Province, the Southern Mountains, and other regions all fixed their attention on this place and set out toward it. Even people from the ancient clans had come.
“Amitabha — fortunately this poor Daoist made preparations in advance, having excavated a secret passage formed by the intersection of Dao markings. Otherwise I would not have been able to seize the advantage.” Duan De put on his most mystical expression.
This highland, in the days that followed, sent out wave after wave of terrifying vibrations. The earth cracked apart incessantly, left in a terrible state.
The dragon-tracking geomancers from the Central Province had no sooner arrived than they were already furrowing their brows. They were another group of remarkable extraordinary individuals, separate from Ye Fan and Duan De — capable of reading mountains and rivers and surveying terrain and landforms.
“This place has seized the creative forces of heaven and earth — no wonder Yao Guang was able to flourish for over a hundred thousand years. Truly extraordinary. And yet… the heavenly mysteries do not reveal themselves. All is chaos — I can see nothing of what lies here.”
The dragon-tracking geomancers possessed exceptional abilities. They had sensed the strangeness at first glance — yet because both Duan De and Ye Fan had already made their moves and set up arrangements in this place, there was little the geomancers could discern.
Duan De, Black Emperor, Ye Tong, and Long Ma had all gone into hiding, for the people of the ancient clans had arrived, and they had no desire to cause further complications.
Ye Fan was naturally being very careful as well. Not long ago he had cut down the Celestial Son, triggering world-shaking waves — and even under the protection of the Victorious Fighting Buddha, there was no guarantee some desperate individual would not take a reckless risk.
As expected, once the ancient clans appeared, the atmosphere changed completely. Powerful half-saints opened their heavenly eyes and scanned in all directions — clearly, they were searching for someone.
“Surely a sage-level Ancestor King hasn’t come?” Ye Fan stood upon a bluestone, observing from within the crowd. His Source-Heaven Eye was unlike any other — capable of piercing through all illusions and deceptions.
This place was crowded with shadowy figures. The entire mountain area was packed with cultivators. Powerful figures from all under heaven had rushed here at the first news, all of them discussing ancient hidden secrets.
“Back then, Yao Guang’s ability to forge an Emperor’s weapon was absolutely not the result of fifty thousand years of ritual worship, nor was it the result of generation after generation of ancient sages inscribing it with their lives. According to the legend, there was a supreme existence who descended on that stormy, lightning-filled night and forged the Emperor’s cauldron!”
Now that the Yao Guang Sacred Ground had fractured and the entire sect had relocated, people had naturally lost whatever restraint they once had, freely sharing certain hidden secrets here.
Dragon-patterned black gold was extraordinarily rare in all the world — especially in an amount as large as this, making it truly exceptional. That the Yao Guang Sacred Ground had been able to obtain it could only be said to reflect a tremendous stroke of fortune!
For even some ancient Great Emperors had been unable to forge Emperor’s weapons — for lack of material. Immortal materials of this caliber were all but impossible to find across the ages.
They had worshipped it like a divine object, forging this black gold into the shape of a cauldron and placing it upon the central immortal peak. Every disciple who entered the gate was required to pray before it daily with sincere reverence.
That was a glorious great era. Though Yao Guang had produced no Emperor, sages and worthies appeared in an unbroken succession, with peerlessly brilliant figures arising generation after generation. Over more than fifty thousand years of unbroken continuity, innumerable sage impressions had been inscribed upon the cauldron.
There had even been two Grand Sages who offered up their very lives and souls — at the moment of their final passing, they drove the cultivation of an entire lifetime into the cauldron, interweaving it into markings.
People said that in the end, they had moved the heavens themselves. And so on that mysterious rainy night, with billions of strands of immortal light and ten thousand layers of chaos thunder engulfing the cauldron and elevating it to the ultimate pinnacle, it was transformed into an Emperor’s weapon.
“Could it be that the forging of the Emperor’s weapon back then was connected to this strange terrain?” People stared at the massive earthen mound, their thoughts running on and on without end.
“It looks like a great tomb!” Finally, a dragon-tracking geomancer from the Central Province let out this startled cry.
Instantly, the place exploded completely. Everyone was shaken, every face changed color.
“Could it be that on that mysterious rainy night, there were truly other circumstances at play — that a supreme Emperor-level figure had made Yao Guang Sacred Ground what it is, and that all the lightning and thunder was in fact the Great Emperor forging the cauldron?”
Even the ancient clans could not remain calm — all of them circled this place and kept staring. The earthen mound was collapsing and fracturing, growing more mysterious and unfathomable by the moment, with wisps of Dao light weaving out from within.
An intensely powerful aura rolled in like a tidal wave covering heaven and earth. Golden light blazed brilliantly. Six primordial ancient ferocious beasts — each one already at the Dao Severance level — pulled an ancient war chariot forward, forcing all present to step aside and retreat.
This war chariot radiated blazing golden light from within, like a treasure vault that had met daylight — and from it wafted a hint of ancient imperial aura.
“These are people from the Golden Imperial Clan!” someone whispered.
One of the ancient imperial clans — they had once dominated the Primordial Age, their fame renowned across the entire ancient star. The clan wielded a golden mace, capable of striking immortals above and all living beings below — terrifyingly powerful.
Not long ago, the Golden King had wielded that Emperor’s weapon in battle against the Victorious Fighting Buddha — only to be outmatched, suffering a crushing defeat, and paying with his divine marrow to ransom his life.
“A woman, of all things!”
People were stunned. As the six ancient beasts drew near, a woman stepped out from the chariot and stood upon the war chariot, gazing down upon all under heaven with sovereign disdain.
She stood tall and slender, with a head of golden hair flowing like the light of the sun god — dazzling and radiant. Even her eyes were golden, points of golden light emanating from them with an intimidating brilliance.
Yet her skin was as white as jade and flawlessly smooth, her entire person transcendent and otherworldly, with an outstanding bearing and demeanor — like a daughter of the sun god, her beauty and grace unparalleled in all the world.
“She is from the Golden lineage — an ancient imperial daughter. To think she has emerged into the world!”
“The biological daughter of an ancient Emperor — one of the most powerful bloodlines in the current age. To think she has come here. No wonder she travels with six Dao Severance-level ancient beasts pulling her chariot.”
The people of the ancient clans discussed it among themselves; the cultivators of the human race were all deeply startled. It was just as expected — all the great imperial clans had Imperial Son-level figures who had been sealed away and survived to the present era, waiting for the Path to Immortality to open.
The Golden Clan’s heavenly maiden had arrived. As a princess of exceptional power, she had two male companions alongside her chariot, who had journeyed with her to this place.
One of the men was dressed in celestial blue treasure robes, his sleeves rippling in the breeze, his frame tall and well-built, his bearing remarkable — possessing phoenix eyes, he was a young man of extraordinarily distinguished temperament.
The other one, many people recognized — it was none other than Wang Xu, who not long ago in the Divine City had first been suppressed by Huang Xudao, then had his bones shattered by the Sacred Prince, and finally had his lungs stomped to pieces by Long Ma. He came from beyond the outer realm, his expression dark and sullen.
“Could it be that the phoenix-eyed man is his senior brother?”
“I heard that the Golden Clan once invited that outer-realm ancient sage to visit as a guest. By now the two sides have built close ties.”
Wang Xu’s humiliating defeat in the Divine City not long ago had left him utterly disgraced. Now that he had appeared again, people paid him little attention — most eyes were fixed upon the Golden Clan’s heavenly maiden and the phoenix-eyed young man.
The Golden Clan’s princess shot two dazzling beams of light from her golden pupils, extending dozens of li in length, sweeping across the vast sky and passing over the bodies of everyone present.
Many people cried out in alarm. These beams left no one with anywhere to hide — regardless of whether one had changed their appearance or concealed their true essence, they would be revealed. These two golden light beams functioned like a demon-revealing mirror.
“She is searching for someone. This is an innate divine ability of the Golden lineage, comparable to an ancient imperial secret art. They are born with golden pupils capable of seeing through all illusions — no one can conceal their true identity before them!”
“Not good!” From a distance, the great black dog leapt up. He had been disguised as a black cat, and was now instantly revealed.
Ye Tong was also caught in the sweep — his entire body blazing with brilliant light in an instant, the truth of his Solar Ancient Emperor bloodline laid bare, every inch of his muscle glowing.
Fortunately, Long Ma was far away from this place. Had he been exposed, as a mount that only an ancient Great Emperor could possess, it would certainly have caused a tremendous uproar, with people chasing after him from all sides to seize him.
“It’s them!” Wang Xu gnashed his teeth.
“Oh — so that is the disciple of the human race’s Sacred Physique. Truly remarkable.” The phoenix-eyed young man showed surprise, stretching out a hand as white as jade and pressing forward, intending to seal Ye Tong.
Beside him, the Golden Clan’s princess retracted the beams of light from her golden pupils, returning to normal — her expression cold and haughty, with only her golden hair flying, like divine fire burning.
Everyone understood. Wang Xu was seeking to regain face — utterly disgraced in his previous defeat, and now with his senior brother stepping forward to demand an accounting.
The phoenix-eyed young man’s snow-white, crystalline fingers transformed into an enormous palm imprint that came flying over quickly, the void tearing apart like paper on a window frame, rent with ease.
“Woof!”
Black Emperor knew the severity of the situation and moved to block the strike for Ye Tong, not daring to let him face it head-on — for this was the technique of a half-saint, and an exceptionally powerful one at that.
Bang!
Black Emperor’s great claw deflected the pale white palm. His large copper-bell eyes were opened wide in round rage, glaring furiously.
“Let me deal with it.” The Golden Clan’s princess spoke. Her eyes blazed once more, golden beams shooting out to slash at Black Emperor. With the ancient imperial bloodline striking, heaven and earth resonated — their blood was by nature recognized and accepted by the grand Dao.
“Dammit — let’s leave here first!” Black Emperor said in a low voice. He had no desire for a prolonged battle here in front of so many eyes, with so many ancient clan members present. A prolonged fight would put him at a serious disadvantage.
Moreover — most importantly — he feared that Ye Tong would be hurt. This child had not yet severed the Dao and had not fully grown. How could he possibly face a half-saint?
“None of you are getting away!” Wang Xu called out.
The phoenix-eyed young man pressed forward to suppress, striking again, slapping toward Ye Tong to capture him.
“Don’t let a single one escape.” The Golden Princess spoke. On all sides, powerful figures from the ancient clans appeared, surrounding Black Emperor.
“If this Emperor wants to leave, who among you can stop me?” Black Emperor brought out a chessboard formation platform, took Ye Tong inside with him, and made to depart.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” The phoenix-eyed young man gave a cold grunt, absolutely determined to keep Ye Tong here and bring him to account.
A flash of brilliance appeared in his hand — a powerful secret weapon that in an instant tore through the void and slashed into the spatial gate. Black Emperor tried to block it but was a fraction too slow, and part of the residual impact could not be fully sealed off.
Spit!
Ye Tong coughed up blood, his face going snow-white. Fortunately his constitution was transcendent and near-sacred — something rarely seen in all the world — otherwise he would most likely have been in mortal peril.
“You dare injure my disciple!”
Ye Fan gave a cold grunt, shattering the true void in the distant sky, crossing through space in an instant and descending from above.
Bang!
He brought his foot down directly upon the Golden Ancient War Chariot, enveloping the Golden Princess, the phoenix-eyed young man, Wang Xu, and the others beneath his foot.
Spit!
Wang Xu was the weakest of all. He coughed up a great mouthful of blood on the spot.