The murderous intent of the ancient terrifying ghost ships had reawakened. They had drifted through the terrifying cosmos for so many years, like a group of ghosts — silent and without sound — yet wherever they appeared, great slaughter followed.

Everyone had assumed that after ten thousand years, the calamity had become a thing of the past. Yet today’s events proved otherwise: the passage of time had not erased it. They were still as terrifyingly defiant of the heavens as ever.

The vast fleet loomed black and endless. The cold metallic luster was dim, yet this was the most terrifying graveyard in existence — and the fluctuation was spreading!

“Quickly — initiate the spatial jump!” Even the saints grew anxious. Some tore open the void and departed directly, while others constructed star gates, attempting to take their fleets away with them.

They were far enough away to have a buffer of time. Half the people managed to retreat, successfully avoiding calamity.

Only Ye Fan’s area could not succeed. Because one of the Void Grand Dao strands was aimed specifically at them — more precisely, it had arisen because of Ye Fan.

The Sun Inextinguishable Royal Clan was in a panic. Their five motherships and surrounding fleet were completely unable to perform a spatial jump, locked in place by a mysterious power — there was no escaping.

This was a great catastrophe!

Beyond the Sun Inextinguishable Royal Clan, half of the Wang-level lords’ mothership fleets were also blocked. Their star gate construction had failed. Before the Void Grand Dao, their own spatial laws were entirely inadequate.

“What kind of power is this? The Grand Dao laws of the ancient ghost ships are beyond matching. Are we all to be buried here?”

One by one their faces went white as snow. They wanted to flee using only their physical bodies — but discovered it was utterly impossible. All of them had been immobilized by the void force.

They could not forget the terrifying sight of the two saints just moments ago — as though invisible great hands had grabbed them and dragged them through the gate of death, their features contorting as they struggled, unable to break free.

“It’s coming for me!”

Ye Fan’s scalp went numb. No matter what techniques or divine abilities he employed, he could not shake free. This was the reverberating remnant power of ancient emperors, accumulated over a hundred thousand years and more.

He felt as though he could be reduced to ash and smoke at any moment. Before power like this, individuals were simply too small — even being on the verge of sainthood was not enough.

Ahead, all was silent as the great catastrophe unfolded. Two motherships and hundreds of escort warships fractured inch by inch, reduced to cosmic dust.

That fluctuation was almost upon this location!

“I do not want to die. Why would an ancient emperor extinguish me for no reason?” In this life-and-death crisis, Ye Fan truly felt the smallness of his own power.

To all living beings, an ancient emperor was akin to a divine being — no one’s strength could oppose them!

The situation was reaching a critical point. The fluctuation advanced rapidly — a third mothership and vast clusters of the surrounding fleet were pulverized. Holy artifacts were brittle and fragile in this moment, unable to withstand even the residual shockwave.

At the absolute peak of crisis, Ye Fan’s heart grew still. Perhaps death was at hand — but in this moment, panic was not an option. His body could not move, but his mind had to be clear.

“The destructive power belongs to the other two emperors. The Void Grand Dao is only spreading — it is not destroying living beings…”

Once calm settled over him, Ye Fan felt as though time had slowed to a standstill. In the space between the spark of a flint and the flash of lightning, he made a series of judgments, deploying his golden divine consciousness to invoke the principles he understood of the Great Void Technique.

“The Void Grand Dao is coming for me — and the only thing I can use to resonate with it is its own Dao…”

The golden divine consciousness resonated, merging with that supreme Grand Dao. He discovered his body could move once more, no longer bound. His judgment had been correct.

Clang!

Then Ye Fan opened his mouth and expelled an ancient mirror. Dao patterns interwove across it — ancient, grand, and dignified — engraved with the sun, moon, rivers of stars, cosmic chaos, elucidating the mysteries of the void.

This was a Wang-level weapon — one left behind in the Eternal Realm by Ji Haoyue, later obtained by the people of the Heavenly Court, and eventually fallen into his hands. He had never imagined it would now become his life-saving talisman.

The moment the mirror appeared, the bewildered Void Grand Dao seemed to gain awareness — as though a person had been revived — and moved to shelter him.

Pop!

The imitation void mirror shattered. The ten thousand inscribed patterns within transformed into streaks of light, flowing into the cosmos and being absorbed by that Grand Dao.

Ye Fan was astonished. The ancient mirror was not particularly powerful — he himself could have shattered it — yet it had acted as a catalyst, awakening the Void Grand Dao that had slumbered for a hundred thousand years and more.

Boom!

At the center of the ghost fleet, the divine nine-layered coffin emanated wisps of radiance — immortal light — weaving into a vast network of patterns.

The dark void gradually transformed toward radiance. Everything before the coffin became visible. The other two mysterious fluctuations were suppressed, and the destructive power began to recede.

An ancient and primordial emperor-level fluctuation surged forth in dominance, entangled with the others, each grinding against the other, mutually erasing, complex and inscrutable — appearing extraordinarily sinister.

“Why is this happening?”

Ye Fan had almost never been as shaken as he was today. Was it not said that emperors were difficult to encounter — that they could not wage war in the same age? Yet now three sets of imperial markings were visible before him.

The Void Grand Dao stood alone against two, in a silent confrontation. The cosmic starfield shook, and the vast rivers of stars threatened to fall.

“Chi!”

Three beams of light surged from within the ancient coffin and entered above the vast starry expanse, transforming into eternity, becoming the Heavenly Dao, merging with the origin of the world.

They twisted, entangled, and intertwined — as though divine beings were locked in a fight to the death!

“This is… the continuation of a battle from a hundred thousand years past — the final conclusion of a war between ancient emperors!” Ye Fan’s voice was trembling.

It was truly beyond imagination that such a thing could occur — in the depths of the cosmos, within the boundless sea of stars, he had witnessed the remnant shockwaves of the Void Emperor’s power.

Who were those other two?

Ye Fan understood. This was not a true emperor confrontation, for all the principals had long since passed away — the time was far too ancient. This was only the continuation and the culmination of their Dao, the final reckoning of their war.

These were the most extraordinary figures across ten thousand ages, buried among the stars. Merely their remnant shockwaves had driven four great sages to bitter, regretful deaths and caused the fall of dozens of ancient sages, forming the terrifying ghost ships.

This was the secret of the ghost ships — wrought by three supreme existences. And even now, their remnant shockwaves had not yet extinguished.

“It is them… it must be them!”

Ye Fan felt a chill through his entire body. He had perceived the identity of the other two — they must have come from the Undying Mountain!

In ages past, first came the Holy Body of Great Perfection, then the Void Emperor — wielding the divine might of two lifetimes to suppress the dark chaos and quell the great catastrophe of the Undying Mountain.

All the world knew: the Holy Body of Great Perfection grew old and feeble in his later years and fell at Sacred Cliff, struck down by another.

The Void Emperor succeeded him, withstanding everything. In the end, he too slowly aged. When the time came to set down his burden and withdraw, he was also in his twilight years — he returned to his clan and before long interred himself within the boundless chaotic void of space.

“That era was so terribly difficult. The Undying Mountain had more than one supreme existence. The Void Emperor had once slain one — and later had entered alone, with the resolve to perish alongside them, to wage war against them to the end!”

It could be said that those were the most grueling years humanity had ever endured. A single human emperor waged war against and maneuvered around multiple supreme existences, and to truly quell the upheaval was extraordinarily difficult — while the other forbidden zones of life were also stirring.

It was hard to imagine what difficulties the Void Emperor of that era had truly faced.

Later generations had pieced together a few fragments from vanished ancient literature, reconstructing some of the facts of that time. During the era of the Void Emperor, all seven great forbidden zones of life had been active!

This was a secret not recorded in any historical text — a deduction assembled by later generations from countless scattered fragments of legend. That was a dark and terrible age, and among all the ancient emperors, the Void Emperor may have suffered most — for the difficulties he faced were too many.

What kind of pressure had he borne alone? It was beyond imagination, for he may have faced upheavals from more than one forbidden zone simultaneously.

No one could ever know how he had managed to quell all the chaos — nor did anyone know what price he had paid.

All of this — very few in the current world could know. Ye Fan himself had only heard certain fragments of legend, and later sought confirmation from Ji Zi. Seeing Ji Zi’s silent nod of acknowledgment was what had convinced him.

There were also legends in the world saying that the Great Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty might be the Void Emperor’s second incarnation. Ye Fan had asked Ji Zi about this as well — Ji Zi had only shaken his head in silent sorrow.

Only a few ancient secrets had been passed down, saying that the Void Emperor had faced the most hardship of all, and that in quelling the upheaval he had paid an unimaginable price. From birth, he had fought all the way to old age — until his body grew old and his vitality dried up.

One person against multiple forbidden zones — and in the end the chaos was stilled. What price had he paid? From Ji Zi’s mouth, Ye Fan had learned one truth: even possessing the Immortality Medicine, the Void Emperor had lived only a single lifetime!

No need to think further — that was a tragic song in its own right.

Of all the emperors, he had fought the most battles. Of all the emperors, he had faced the most enemies. Of all the emperors, he had paid the greatest price!

The human golden age that followed owed its foundations to him. While he lived, he drove the enemies to the cold and the shadows — such that those enemies dared not fight to the bitter end against the human emperors who came after.

“In the Void Emperor’s twilight years, his body old and his vitality exhausted, on the verge of passing into eternal rest, he interred himself within the boundless chaotic void — unknown to the world. His battle had not yet concluded. He fought two supreme existences all the way into the starry heavens… until the end.” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

By this point, everyone could move again. With the Void Grand Dao emerging, the other two destructive forces were suppressed, and the crowd was as though released by imperial amnesty — retreating at full speed.

The emperor war from a hundred thousand years past had drawn to its close. At this final moment, even the remnant shockwaves released their ultimate radiance, and the outcome was decided.

Clang!

The divine nine-layered coffin from the mythological era — its final layer cracked open!

Ye Fan opened his Heaven’s Eye from an incredibly distant location, pouring every ounce of his cultivation into the effort, determined to see the truth.

An ancient emperor’s aura expanded outward. Even across an infinite distance, every mothership trembled, and all living beings knelt down.

In this moment, the green bronze finally glowed — it was only when facing the most terrifying aura in the world that it awakened, stabilizing Ye Fan’s body. In this expanse of stars, he alone did not kneel.

The ancient coffin interred in the nine heavens opened. A mighty physique fell from within, one hand holding a shattered weapon — forged from Eternal Blue-Gold, stained with imperial blood.

Bang!

The Eternal Blue-Gold had already shattered into dozens of fragments a hundred thousand years ago. Now the imperial weapon transformed into streaks of flowing light, flying off in all directions, vanishing into the cosmos.

This was the supreme Dao weapon of an enemy the Void Emperor had once destroyed in that ancient age!

At the same moment, yet another towering physique fell from within the ancient coffin. The aura of an ancient emperor suffused the air, shaking all of heaven and earth.

“Void — you fought your entire life. Even in death you brought us down with you. Though I hate you for it… I respect you as well…” This was the dying remnant thought of a mighty silhouette from a hundred thousand years past.

“You anticipated our coming and feigned death within the coffin. Though old and your vitality spent, you still managed to set this trap and take us with you. We are unwilling… yet have no recourse.” This was the remnant thought emanated by the other fallen physique.

They had perished a hundred thousand years before. Their bodies should have dissolved then. But the remnant shockwaves and dying thoughts of that ancient time had not dispersed — preserved until now. At this moment, they fractured inch by inch, transforming into two beams of eternal immortal radiance, merging into the cosmos.

Boom!

The vast fleet was disintegrating. The ghost ships would exist no more!

Only the ancient coffin remained — solitary and alone, drifting without purpose, shattering its iron chains, floating toward the dark depths of the cosmos, setting off alone.

“Quickly — activate the transport formation arrays, seize the ghost ships’ divine treasures!” Many Wang-level lords cried out.

But Ye Fan did not move. He stood quietly, watching the ancient coffin drift away into the distance. A sadness touched him — sadness for the Void Emperor.

Fighting for an entire lifetime — a desolate twilight — and in the end: alone, with a single coffin, drifting away in solitude, entering the cold and dark depths of the cosmos. That was how it ended.

He thought of what the Black Emperor had once said, and something stirred within his heart.

“A true human emperor is invincible!”

“All the true human emperors are dead…”

From the moment of his birth, the Void Emperor had fought until the day he grew old — and even as he was on the verge of his final rest, frail in his old age, he had stood alone in a corner of the cosmos no one knew of, to face two supreme existences one last time.

He had possessed the Immortality Medicine — and still lived only one lifetime.

Ye Fan murmured: “The true… human emperors… are all dead.”

That ancient and weathered coffin drifted further away — solitary and alone — entering the darkness, until it could no longer be seen.