Beneath the radiant stars, only a sharp cry lingered — helpless and without recourse. Fan Xian’s face cycled between red and pale, and yet she could change nothing.

Fan Yun Tong wanted to give chase and unleash his killing fury — but he restrained that violent urge. If he dared move against the Celestial Wing Qi Clan in such a manner, Qi Yao Guang would absolutely level Heaven in retaliation.

Light poured down as Ye Fan and Qi Yao Guang arrived at the Celestial Wing Star. They traveled with extraordinary speed. All along the way, the Qi Clan’s ancient saint was in high spirits.

“Hey, boy — why aren’t you saying anything? You’ve taken every advantage there is to take. Gone and become a saint now, have you?” The old fellow was utterly improper.

“You’re the saint.” Ye Fan replied with irritation. When he thought back on what had just happened, his head ached.

“Ah, the blessings of youth — far better than my own younger days. Quite decisive of you, I must say.” Qi Yao Guang laughed heartily.

“You old rascal — have you no shame?” Ye Fan rubbed his temples. He had cultivated the Hundred Scripture Furnace technique and his mysterious arts linked him to the divine. Now, after nine revolutions, all aftereffects had vanished completely.

“Hey, young friend, don’t talk like that. She really is a rare immortal flower of the stellar domains — and now she’s been planted in a lump of cow dung like you. Tsk, tsk… truly something else.” The old wretch’s words were utterly without propriety.

Ye Fan truly wanted to stomp on him. He gave the old man a shove to the back of his head and couldn’t be bothered to say more, instead turning his thoughts to the road ahead.

Qi Yao Guang stood there speaking without a care in the world: “Hey, young man — don’t go about looking like you’ve swallowed a decade of grievances. Truth be told, it’s not really a matter of who took advantage of whom. After all, you are a living, breathing Indestructible Golden Body — worth every effort to pull in and befriend.”

A series of black veins appeared on Ye Fan’s forehead. At last he glanced sideways at him. “Since senior puts it that way, I think Miss Qi Meng is actually quite fine.”

Qi Yao Guang choked on the words, immediately shut his mouth, and issued a grave warning: don’t get any ideas, or he would chase Ye Fan to the ends of the world to kill him. He also dared not continue his teasing.

“I’m being serious, senior.” Now it was Ye Fan’s turn to goad him.

“Get out of my sight. Push me too far and I’ll wipe you off the face of existence here and now — Indestructible Golden Body or Sacred Physique, it makes no difference!” Qi Yao Guang said, his face dark.

The Qi Family’s estate lay within a stretch of ancient, primeval mountain ranges. Below was a city; above, divine islands floated suspended in the air, scattered like a field of stars — a breathtaking sight to behold.

This was Ye Fan’s first time entering as a guest. He received a grand welcome. With their Ancestral Saint himself accompanying him, naturally no one dared find fault.

He ascended into an ancient city suspended in the sky. Ye Fan felt within it a sense of ancient grandeur and majesty — this was the place where the former Supremely Exalted Immortal Physique had once entered closed-door cultivation, and it had since become a sacred site revered by all saints.

The stone-paved streets had been worn uneven by the passage of ages. Walking upon them, he could hear echoes that seemed to span a thousand years. Ye Fan’s mind became calm and clear — here, in this place, he found a rare stillness.

Qi Yao Guang was sly and cunning. He naturally wanted the Indestructible Golden Blood for himself — but he did not press the matter. Instead, he treated Ye Fan with great consideration, without forcing anything.

“Elder ancestor, he killed Qi Yun — and just like that, it’s being swept under the rug?” someone asked with indignation.

Qi Yao Guang sternly warned his own clan members to mend their relationship with Ye Fan, not to make an enemy of him — for he had already seen the young man’s potential. If he were to grow and mature, he might one day become unmatched in all the world!

To have such a person as a friend was worth far more than whatever petty schemes they might have entertained. Of course, the prerequisite was that Ye Fan survived — that he grew to that level.

There was one thing Qi Yao Guang had not anticipated: among his descendants was one who was, by nature, a complete gossip. Before half an hour had passed since their return to the Qi Clan’s immortal city, this person had added dramatic embellishments and spread the whole affair — about the Fan Clan losing their bride and gaining nothing — far and wide.

“What?! You’re saying Fan Xian and that ascetic cultivator, under the starlit sky…”

“Impossible — how could one of the rare divine beauties of our Eternal Stellar Domain be taken like that?! That damned ascetic cultivator — I’ll kill him!”

The outside world erupted in uproar!

People from all walks of life stirred into motion, desperate to verify the news. The interstellar network was thrown into chaos. Many were outraged and could not accept it.

When Qi Yao Guang found out, he was so furious he nearly slapped his gossip great-grandson into oblivion. His face was covered in dark spiritual markings. Was this not inviting trouble?

“I don’t believe it. He’s just an ascetic cultivator from outside the domain. How could he possibly be worthy of our stellar domain’s immortal pearl? This is certainly a rumor.”

“If it’s true, I swear I will… kill that Indestructible Golden Body!”

Fan Xian’s popularity within this stellar domain was immense. Now that such an event had occurred, the younger generation was thrown into turmoil. A great storm was stirred up. Many were itching to act.

As for Heaven — many within it were beside themselves with rage. This time, they truly had lost their bride and gained nothing whatsoever.

Ye Fan spent several days at the Qi Family’s estate. He refused to give even a single drop of golden blood. He was even wary of losing a single hair from his head, guarding against Qi Yao Guang as though guarding against a thief.

“It’s not that I’m stingy. If you used my genes to produce another Golden Body just like me — my exact duplicate — what would that make of me?”

Qi Yao Guang beat his chest in solemn promise: “You can rest easy. I only want a little Indestructible Golden Blood for my own cultivation. I would never dream of such a thing. Besides, a replica of that kind wouldn’t be worth much — it could never possess your original divine nature.”

Ye Fan watched him — and refused to believe a word of it. He stood firm and gave nothing. During those days he remained utterly pure and immaculate, not allowing a single thread to fall loose, for fear the old man would find some gap to exploit.

In the end, he offered a portion of divine liquid he had collected from the Immortal Ascension Pool as a token of thanks — and this, unexpectedly, sent the old saint into a state of shock. The liquid contained traces of a divine mineral ore.

“Boy, do you really have so little faith that my Qi Clan could refine the fourth-stage evolution fluid?”

Ye Fan insisted on departing. Qi Yao Guang had no grounds to stop him. Though he knew the value of an Indestructible Golden Body was immense, after careful thought he concluded that befriending him was the wiser choice.

Ye Fan needed the fourth-stage evolution fluid — but after learning more of the specifics, he could only lament: this substance was far too extraordinary. The Qi Clan was capable of refining the third stage without issue; going further was nearly impossible.

The one divine primary material required simply could not be gathered. According to records, some four thousand years ago a single remaining piece of it had been auctioned off — but it had long since been fully expended.

In the vast heavens, to seek it out on one’s own was like fishing for a needle in the ocean — possible to encounter, but impossible to find deliberately.

At present, the divine mineral ore in the possession of Heaven and the Qi Clan alike had mostly been accumulated over many years, or obtained through exchanges at great cost. To seek it out on short notice was far too difficult.

All these days, Qi Yao Guang had been guarding against him like a wolf, refusing to let him anywhere near Qi Meng — which made Ye Fan roll his eyes more than once.

Before departing, Ye Fan expressed a wish to examine the Supremely Exalted Immortal Mirror. This legendary treasure was astonishing — it had somehow picked him out from an ocean of people. That alone made it worth wariness.

Qi Yao Guang brought out the treasure. It was an ancient mirror — spanning eons measured in tens of thousands of years. Antiquity radiated from it, along with wisps of immortal energy that hinted at its profound mystery.

“You can rest at ease. There is only this one mirror on the Eternal Main Star. Beyond it, no one can see through your disguised body.” Qi Yao Guang said with a smile.

The mirror was remarkable. Once its light fell upon you and enveloped you within it, no disguise or concealment — however elaborate — could escape detection.

The Celestial Wing Star was small and not particularly large. Because of this, the mirror’s light could spread across its surface and illuminate every corner. Were it used on the Eternal Main Star, it would not be nearly so effective.

The Qi Clan was a half-sovereign of the Celestial Wing Star. They could act without excessive concern, illuminating every city on it without issue. Leave this place, however, and things would not be so simple.

Ye Fan rubbed his chin and set his mind at ease. The mirror could not divine fate or deduce heavenly secrets — its mirror-light was simply mysterious in nature. Last time he had been exposed because the beam struck him directly. In a territory vast enough, or if he moved ahead of time to avoid it, the mirror would have no effect.

On this day, Ye Fan departed. The Qi Clan constructed a star gate beyond the domain on his behalf, leading directly to the Eternal Nation, sparing him the trouble of charting his own path and crossing the void on his own.

“Watch yourself out there. The Cao Clan has sworn an oath — they will take your divine blood and cut down your life-soul. These past days, our Qi Clan has been under enormous pressure on your behalf.” Qi Yao Guang said.

He remained composed, seeing Ye Fan on his way — and silently, without a sound, plucked a severed strand of hair from him.

Ye Fan sensed it immediately. At this close range, he was absolutely no weaker than a saint. He deliberately needled the old fellow: “Senior — when are you going to play matchmaker for me and little sister Qi Meng?”

“Get out!” Qi Yao Guang’s face twitched, as though he were about to strike.

Ye Fan flicked his finger. The strand of hair turned to ash. Then, without looking back, he plunged into the star gate — and vanished from sight.

Within the spatial tunnel, all was darkness. How long passed was impossible to say. Ye Fan burst through the other side. Before him loomed an immense star, and a divine aura that inspired profound reverence rolled outward in every direction like a tide.

It was boundlessly vast — how many times larger than the Celestial Wing Star, no one could say. It was as though a living true deity lay dormant upon it, slumbering deep within this ancient star, making those who faced it tremble in their hearts.

This was the Eternal Main Star!

In terms of sheer grandeur, it was absolutely comparable to the life ancient stars of the Northern Dipper. How many eons it had existed — no one could say. It truly seemed as though the legends were real: that divine beings had been born upon it.

Ye Fan was cautious and careful. He cloaked himself with formations that deceived the heavens, then merged into the void using the Heavenly Court’s secret techniques. Only then did he fly toward the great star. He did not wish to be detected the moment he approached.

In the end, he descended successfully, setting foot upon the great star — and at once felt a wild, primal, boundless energy wash over him.

The earth shook. A herd of ancient beasts, each as large as a small hill, came stampeding out from a jungle ahead, crushing countless enormous trees beneath them.

This was a world that had given birth to divine beings. It had no visible edge. Great mountain ranges towered to the sky. Long rivers roared and surged. The mountains and rivers were vast and without limit. Many species of creature here had never been heard of or seen anywhere else.

Ye Fan crossed what must have been several million li before finally breaking free of the wilderness. He made careful inquiries, slowly pieced together information, and came to a genuine appreciation of just how overwhelming the power of the great forces here truly was.

Yuan City was an ancient metropolis that had endured since primordial times. Its structures were a blend of the ancient and the modern — complex and unusual in equal measure.

There were no towering skyscrapers here. Otherwise, every ancient palace and hall would have been swallowed by modern construction. As it stood, the city had a more classically ancient feel.

Ancient fortresses, crystal towers, garden estates, modern villa districts — all coexisted side by side in a way that was pleasing to the eye. This was one of the ten great renowned cities of the Eternal Main Star: a place where all the great powers maintained a presence, a chaotic, fish-and-dragon mixing pot of an ancient saint city.

Ye Fan was left speechless. He saw a towering billboard — and on it was Fan Xian. She had starred in a production called Divine Being, which was set to premiere. Ye Fan stood staring at it, jaw agape.

“Something like Earth’s film industry?”

He was truly at a loss for words. No wonder Cao Qing had chased all the way from the Eternal Main Star to Heaven. It seemed the effect of beautiful celebrity women was not limited to the other side of the cosmos — it was the same everywhere.

Ye Fan walked through streets that preserved the atmosphere of ancient times, assailed by alternating waves of modernity and antiquity, drifting forward without particular purpose. Along the way, he saw the footprint left by a primordial great saint upon a piece of cyan stone. He saw an ancient fortress ruin where the descendants of divine beings had once dwelled. He saw a modern theater.

Suddenly, a fierce and bloody energy struck him from ahead. It was as though ten thousand troops and horses were galloping forward — a killing aura so intense it made his heart clench.

Ye Fan glanced toward the source. It was a colosseum, enormous in area. Every massive stone block was carved with Dao inscriptions, bearing the wear of time itself.

A great crowd had paused to look. A large advertisement had just been posted: three days hence, a spectacular clash of champions would take place here — a great collision of supreme physiques.

Ye Fan was rooted to the spot. On the advertisement, he spotted one of the combatants who would participate. Though it showed only a profile, he was nearly certain — it was someone he knew!