It was an amber-yellow beam of light that enveloped Ye Fan — wisps of haze and mist drifting and swirling — carrying him upward and into the interior of that enormous pale blue-gold circular disc.

Spatial Dao-traces!

Ye Fan realized this light was born of the laws of the void. Strand after strand of spatial law woven together had formed this strange radiance. The flying vessel radiated silver brilliance, devouring heaven and swallowing the earth.

As he drew close to the pale blue-gold disc, he became even more certain — this artifact was forged from composite divine materials, the kind used to refine sage weapons. Among them he could identify: Grand Luo Silver Essence, Azure Gold, White Jade Iron, and more.

Whoosh!

The laws of light were extraordinarily swift — Ye Fan was almost a manifestation of light itself. The disc gleamed with a cold metallic luster. Its underside opened, a luminous aperture appearing, swallowing him inside, and then the underside sealed shut once more.

It was an enormous gold-toned hall — or perhaps more fittingly described as a cage. It was vast and silent, as though he had come to exist within the cosmos itself.

Every wall was metal, carved with many kinds of symbols and runes, as well as images of flowers, birds, fish, insects, and all manner of flying and walking creatures, all shimmering with tiny points of light — like stars across the night sky. Along the curved ceiling above, countless intricate patterns were densely woven, profoundly arcane and complex.

Ye Fan froze. Was this truly a flying disc? No matter how he looked at it, it seemed more like a powerful spatial magical artifact that had drawn him inside — this was a small world within the artifact itself.

“These patterns are… Dao-traces!”

He furrowed his brow, realizing further that this was far from as simple as he had imagined. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to confine him like this — the interwoven laws within were like the interior of a sage weapon.

This differed somewhat from what he had expected. It was not necessarily a flying disc — it truly could be some sort of unusual magical artifact that had given birth to a divine spirit, and thus produced all these extraordinary phenomena.

Boom!

Ye Fan extended his palm. His golden fist blazed with scorching brilliance and struck against the metal wall. By now, his physical body alone was capable of shattering half-sage artifacts.

Yet reality defied his expectations. The golden wall rang and hummed, yet was not damaged. The countless patterns and graceful lines upon it swayed like silver serpents.

“It’s not a flying disc — it’s a sage weapon?!” Ye Fan was astonished.

Boom!

He activated his divine power once more. His golden body was clear and radiant as translucent jade, every pore breathing in and out brilliance, blooming with dazzling light. This punch from Ye Fan carried devastating force — shattering the void — yet struck the inner wall and still only produced a tremendous metallic resonance, without leaving the faintest scratch.

“What an extraordinarily powerful physical body — the most pure and formidable bloodline power I have seen. A supreme golden body has been found, and is a candidate for the strongest bloodline physique. This is a treasure of the highest order!”

A ripple of spiritual thought reached him — seeming to appraise him, suffused with excitement. At the same time, one section of the metal wall turned transparent. The vast pure-metal hall became mutually visible with the world outside.

Ye Fan discovered that this enormous metal disc was indeed forged from divine materials with Dao-traces inscribed upon it — that much was true. But he also could not entirely rule out that it was a flying disc. What he now saw before him left his heart restless and unsettled.

Beyond was an even more expansive space — one metal hall after another, each one crystalline and transparent, their exact material composition unknown, and within each one, all manner of living beings were imprisoned.

“Demon clan, humans, ancient clans, all kinds of other races…”

Ye Fan found that those held captive here were all extraordinarily powerful species. Even the fierce birds and savage beasts were rare and ancient exotic species — for instance, a golden-winged great roc with a body seemingly cast from gold, hundreds of zhang in length and blazingly brilliant, along with a three-legged Golden Crow with roaring flames wreathing its form.

“The spatial laws within this place are extraordinary — beings hundreds of zhang in length are all contained within small individual metal halls.”

Ye Fan was stunned. One could imagine — the enormous metal disc had consumed far less divine material than he might have assumed. Its entire form was simply interlaced throughout with the most extreme spatial Dao-traces.

And within, it had been partitioned into all these small halls — allowing it to contain powerful experts of every clan, without chaos or disorder.

“Those few path-severing cultivators are here too.” Ye Fan spotted several path-severing cultivators of the ancient clans, their spirits listless and their energy drained, streaks of blood running down their bodies — as though blood samples had been drawn from them.

This was a vast prison — over ten thousand small metal halls in total, every one crystalline and transparent. Nearly half of them held powerful members of various species.

He even spotted a stone person — though severely incomplete, at only the path-severing level, and not a true sacred spirit.

Beyond that, he also saw several species he could not identify at all — seemingly not native to this ancient star. Their skin was wholly dark green, and they bore no humanoid form. They seemed to control lightning by nature, unleashing it against the hall walls, trying desperately to break out.

Evidently, the vast empty hall where Ye Fan found himself was not yet a true prison cell — it was merely the entry point through which cultivators were captured and taken aboard. A strange sound reached his ears. A fire phoenix appeared not far away, its body blazing with brilliant glory, blood-red as the crimson dawn. It materialized there suddenly and without warning.

This could not be a true phoenix — only a descendant carrying its bloodline, though one of extremely high purity. Otherwise it could not have appeared so uncannily similar. Five-colored auspicious light shimmered around it. It seemed cast from phoenix-blood crimson gold, and it charged at him with killing intent.

Crash!

Every beat of its wings sliced through the void. Every inch of its flesh and blood was overwhelmingly powerful. The blood flowing within its body produced sounds like thunderclaps and lightning strikes — testament to the extraordinary might of its physical form.

Slice!

The true phoenix spread its wings in name alone — phoenix-blood crimson golden brilliance blazing and blinding, cleaving through the void. It struck directly for Ye Fan’s skull, while at the same time both phoenix talons swept upward toward the crown of his head.

“A path-severing phoenix-blood exotic beast!”

Ye Fan was startled. The metal disc held so many powerful ancient divine species captive — this was practically a treasury. Just one released at random was this formidable.

Against an ordinary person, being attacked by this phoenix descendant would result in certain death. Its physical power alone was invincible, its bloodline formidable — the sweep of its wings split the void itself.

But who was Ye Fan? He was the noble and mighty Holy Body of the human race. In terms of physical body alone, among those at the path-severing level, who dared contend with him? To clash head-on could only end in defeat and destruction.

Thud!

As Ye Fan stretched out his body, the motion appeared slow — yet this was merely an illusion. His fist shot out like a golden bolt of lightning and crashed into the body of this path-severing phoenix bird.

The sound of shattering bone rang out, accompanied by a broad spray of mist-like blood rain that scattered across the golden hall. The exotic phoenix bird tumbled backward with a single somersault, crimson-gold tail feathers drifting down.

Ye Fan’s brow furrowed. The phoenix bird’s physical body was formidably strong beyond measure — if it had been any other path-severing cultivator, they would by now have been reduced to a pool of blood and flesh, not even a bone fragment left behind.

“Worthy indeed of being a supreme treasure-grade species. The prize of this hunt is truly exceptional. Its blood is of priceless value — it is well worth having!” A sound of clapping reached him, seemingly in admiration.

Between the ten thousand-plus metal halls ran a passage of jade stone, glimmering with splendid radiance. Walking along it came a man and a woman, both with violet hair — lustrous and smooth, each possessing extraordinarily beautiful features, resembling humans in appearance.

“I told you — there was no need to test him. This prey is absolutely perfect. You simply would not believe me, and nearly wasted one of the most formidable exotic phoenix birds.” The man spoke. He was exceptionally handsome, wearing a silver-white war garment blazing with radiance, interlaced throughout with powerful Dao-traces.

The woman’s violet hair reached her waist. Her skin was as white as white jade. Her pupils shimmered with violet light — beautiful as a spirit being. She too wore a garment of divine material with metallic radiance flowing across it, and said with a smile: “I would never have expected such a great discovery to come just before our departure.”

Ye Fan gazed at them coldly through the now-transparent metal wall, completely indifferent. Without question, these two regarded him as prey — as though they were facing a wild beast from a world entirely unlike their own.

Beneath the feet of the two, Dao-traces flickered and all manner of symbols appeared. Ye Fan and the enormous metal hall he occupied trembled, radiant with five-colored light as strand after strand of divine markings wove densely together.

Flash!

He was transported to another sealed metal chamber — far removed from the hall of cells he had just seen. This place resembled a laboratory. Through the crystalline transparent prison walls, the outside was visible, lined with all manner of instruments and devices.

Ye Fan’s expression shifted with surprise. This place had Dao-traces woven densely throughout it, and yet also possessed present-era scientific technology — it was genuinely unusual, as though two entirely different civilizations had merged into one.

And yet he was not greatly astonished — for he himself had come from a technologically advanced civilization on the other shore of the starry sky, though by comparison that civilization was relatively underdeveloped and rudimentary.

“I can tell from your eyes — you are surprised. Find it strange, do you?” The violet-haired man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a trace of mocking amusement at the corners of his mouth, as though scrutinizing his own slave. He looked Ye Fan up and down and said: “The vastness of the cosmos exceeds anything you native inhabitants can imagine. Although it is almost entirely composed of dead stars, with only a small number of ancient life-bearing stars, it is nonetheless sufficient to give rise to different civilizations.”

The violet-eyed woman’s hair gleamed with a vibrant vitality. She radiated a kind of spirited and lively energy. Her entire body shimmered with crystalline radiance as she observed Ye Fan for a long time — seemingly very satisfied — and said: “Extracting the blood of this prey will likely allow for the creation of the most powerful battle physique. It may compare with the few other specimens of divine blood we have in the Eternal Kingdom, and may even rival the ancient divine blood sealed and preserved within the Immortal Vault.”

They were both communicating through spiritual ripples — otherwise Ye Fan would not have been able to understand them. Clearly, they were a civilization from beyond the realm, possessing a unique language.

“Who are you? Where do you come from? How many life-bearing ancient stars exist in the cosmos? Why have you come here, and what is your purpose?” Ye Fan displayed not even the faintest awareness of being a captive — instead firing one question after another, putting it to them.

“Just who is the captive, exactly?” The violet-haired man smiled with cool indifference. The silver war garment on his body flowed with divine splendor. He then stamped forcefully on a section of the array formations underfoot. Within this densely patterned metal chamber, lightning and electricity wove in a great criss-cross — no less than a heavenly tribulation — born from a killing formation’s activation!

Yet what astonished him was that Ye Fan did not budge in the slightest. The electric arcs washed over his body, and every pore opened wide to receive them, tempering his body with lightning. Golden ripples spread across his flesh — like a golden war god.

“Extraordinary!” The man had no choice but to nod. He had originally wanted to make Ye Fan suffer a little — yet he had not anticipated that the lightning arcs would be useless.

“Hmm — the blood flowing within his body. Could it truly rival the blood of the ancient divine beings? Conduct an immediate blood sample analysis!” The violet-eyed woman’s eyes burned with intensity, flashing with extraordinary light. Clearly, the fervent desire in those beautiful eyes was merely the eagerness of one who had found an exceptional prey — nothing more.

A group of people entered, moving into the laboratory and activating various technological instruments. They conversed from time to time, discussing something — unfortunately their language was incomprehensible to Ye Fan. When these people looked at him, it was as though they were faced with the rarest prehistoric species, their gazes blazing with heat.

Ye Fan could see it clearly — these people were indeed from another civilized world. They had mastered the laws of Dao-traces, and had integrated them with a technological civilization, forming an extraordinarily formidable system of power.

“Be careful with this one. The greatest prize of this hunt is him — a most perfect specimen. When extracting his blood and fragments of divine law, take the utmost care. You must not leave him in a severely debilitated state.”

The violet-haired man gave these instructions in a grave and serious tone.

“Indeed — I intend to keep this prey and raise him. He will be housed in the Grade Celestial Immortal Garden, to compete with the divine pets of several of the princesses and the royal uncles.” The violet-eyed woman said this with a bright and spirited expression.

Ye Fan gazed at them with cold indifference and quiet composure, watching them. These people had truly come to regard him as a lower species — as nothing more than a wild beast.

A massive screen flickered to life. Many light sources within the flying disc activated simultaneously, all directed toward Ye Fan. Within the metal chamber, various Dao-traces awakened, weaving out strand after strand of silver serpents, about to attach themselves to his body — running calculations and analysis through that enormous screen.

Boom!

Abruptly, Ye Fan sensed danger. Ten thousand silver serpents transformed into physical form, stabbing toward his flesh, intending to draw blood. At this moment he could no longer remain calm.

This metal chamber was incomparably sturdy — comparable to a sage weapon, forged and refined from divine materials. Not wanting to waste any time, and fearing that an accident might occur, he reached directly into himself and retrieved the green bronze cauldron.

At present, he had no way to activate this immortal cauldron — but he could hold it in his hand and wield it directly as a blunt weapon.

Clang!

How immense was Ye Fan’s strength? Gripping the green cauldron and swinging his arm, he struck a heavy blow against the metal wall. In just a single strike, a green flash of light passed — and the entire sealed metal wall split apart in four directions, shattered to pieces.

“Quickly — stop him!” These people were immediately shaken to their core. Nothing like this had ever happened before. They had previously assessed this prey and concluded it was impossible for him to shake the flying sage weapon — and yet now something this terrifying had occurred.

“If you want to keep me as a pet — I think it is far more fitting for you to be mine. Furthermore, this vessel now belongs to me!” After breaking free, Ye Fan charged straight at the leading pair — the man and the woman.