As a Saint of Slaughter, Qi Luo walked the path of proving the Dao through killing. In his daily movements he employed the Heavenly Court’s secret arts to come and go without a trace — and particularly after Ye Fan had passed him the Locomotion Word Secret, he had become even more supernaturally skilled. Counting all the ancient lineages of the ten thousand races, very few could intercept him and wound him. After all, this was an ancient saint who also commanded the Locomotion Word Secret — able to traverse the heavens and the earth at will.
Yet now he had been wounded to this extent, nearly perishing, sending a chill through everyone’s hearts.
Hell and the World Between Worlds — these two ancient assassin divine dynasties had proven impossible to exterminate to this day. Shrouded in mystery, they had been known in ancient times as assassins capable of striking throughout all under heaven, making even saints drink from the cup of bitter defeat.
Their ancient halls were constructed from the skulls of kings born of various extraordinary constitutions, with the divine hides of saints laid across the floors — the most terrifying places in existence.
Over the years, the Slaughter Saint Qi Luo had been keeping watch over them, and the two divine dynasties had detected the Heavenly Court, knowing that a Slaughter Saint had emerged within it, and had continuously targeted this side.
“This is the fourth time I have been seriously wounded. Fortunately, my path of retreat was not cut off.” Qi Luo said.
In the primordial age, it had been these two divine dynasties that had destroyed the Heavenly Court — one could say they were hereditary enemies, locked in a struggle to the death with no possibility of reconciliation.
“Sooner or later, we will deal with them.” Ye Fan said in a low, resolute voice.
In years past, the two divine dynasties had made multiple attempts on Ye Fan’s life, bringing him to the brink of death on several occasions. He had later killed Hell’s Divine Maiden and the World Between World’s Divine Son, then departed on the Ancient Starry Road — only then had the matter temporarily concluded.
Without question, the Heavenly Court and the two divine dynasties stood in opposition, and sooner or later one side would fall. There was no other resolution.
“Set them aside for now. Wait some time — when the Heavenly Court produces several powerhouses capable of doing battle with saints, we will settle accounts with them.” The Slaughter Saint Qi Luo said. He swallowed some medicinal agents and circulated his profound arts; the mangled half of his body slowly began to regenerate flesh and blood.
However, the process was slow, for the wounds contained terrible killing intent — he had been wounded by a terrifying Saint of the Killing Dao.
The World Between Worlds and Hell had possessed two terrifying Slaughter Saints even before the heavenly laws had changed — neither human nor ghost, their lifespans nearly exhausted yet refusing to die. Having lived until now, they would be even more fearsome than before.
Qi Luo had moved out and destroyed two small worlds of the enemy, bringing back divine mineral materials that gleamed with brilliant radiance — rare and precious, resolving the great problem.
Ye Fan said: “Though the senior sustained wounds on this journey, it has given us a wake-up call. Some things must be obtained by any means necessary — great factions with long legacies and deep foundations should have certain materials in their possession!”
Currently, a considerable number of divine mineral materials had been collected, but the most critical supplementary ingredients were still lacking. If those could be obtained, extraction could begin immediately.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating it — as long as they grew stronger, it would bring them opportunities to break through to a higher level.
The Slaughter Saint Qi Luo took a broad view of things, untroubled by temporary gains and losses. Having been seriously wounded multiple times over these years, his mind remained tranquil and composed.
“Once we break through, we will be able to contend with ancient saints in combat. At that point, we will launch a counterattack against the World Between Worlds and Hell — pay them back in their own coin and obliterate their lineages!”
Ye Fan, the Holy Prince, Ji Zi, and the others all possessed this potential. Once they advanced, even if they could not achieve Sainthood, they would possess that terrifying combat power.
In the days that followed, they moved with intense urgency, doing everything in their power to seek out rare heavenly treasures to prepare for refining the evolution fluid.
And throughout this process, the ancient clans of Huo Lin Cave, Blood Phoenix Mountain, and others were also purchasing materials, doing everything possible to mine divine mineral materials.
Ji Zi and the Holy Prince were the main forces, traveling respectively among the human and ancient races, communicating with the most powerful sacred grounds and ancient royal lineages to purchase divine materials from their treasure vaults.
These great factions — ancient and long-established, with foundations of extraordinary depth — possessed reserves that were no ordinary matter. Heaven’s Village exchanged various treasures with them and acquired several mineral materials that were difficult to encounter even once in a generation.
Ye Fan was naturally active as well. He was now practically a Source Heavenly Master — traversing mountains and rivers, he could determine at a glance whether divine materials were contained within. During this period he personally excavated a number of rare spiritual objects that were seldom seen in the world. It must be said that the Northern Dipper Star Domain harbored an extraordinary abundance of vitality and wondrous objects.
In the Eternal Main Star, the great factions had to travel countless light years away to extract evolution fluids, venturing into numerous star domains, barely managing to gather what was needed.
The Northern Dipper’s life source land had never had anyone temper evolution fluids, and thus the required mineral materials had been preserved — allowing them to be on the verge of success.
“What?! A Water Marrow Mother Stone was robbed?!” The Black Emperor erupted in fury upon hearing the news.
Heaven’s Village was thrown into an uproar, everyone furious. They had paid a tremendous price — this Water Marrow Mother Stone had been exchanged for Great Luo Silver Essence — and someone had intercepted and seized it along the way. It was truly infuriating.
To extract the evolution fluid, quite a few special divine supplementary materials were needed, four of which were absolutely indispensable: Earth Dragon Essence, Fire Divine Stone, Wind Bone Wood, and Water Marrow Mother Stone.
These four were exceedingly difficult to substitute with other materials. The Holy Prince had visited a great ancient royal lineage and, preparing to exchange Heaven’s Village’s reserves of Great Luo Silver Essence for the Water Marrow Mother Stone, had obtained the other party’s reluctant agreement.
The Holy Prince had then immediately departed for the next destination. When Heaven’s Village’s people went to make the exchange, the Water Marrow Mother Stone was intercepted and seized along the way.
“It was people from Huo Lin Cave. The ancient great lineages have also learned about the evolution fluid from the prisoners, and they are all moving now. They too went to that royal lineage to make an exchange and arrived a step too late — so they acted against us.”
Upon learning the full situation, the Holy Prince was furious and prepared to act. At this moment, Dongfang Ye, Li Tian, and the others had just returned from outside and, upon hearing the news, immediately agreed — they would make the other party pay. A group of them charged out to give pursuit.
Shortly after, Ye Fan and Ji Zi also disappeared.
It must be said, the Holy Prince had a fiery temper. Even if Huo Lin Cave was an ancient royal lineage, having dared to provoke them in such a manner still made him jump with rage.
The Holy Prince struck decisively, intercepting all of Huo Lin Cave’s people who were outside purchasing mineral materials and seizing every single one of their materials — meeting force with force.
“Holy Prince, you have gone too far. To treat our Huo Lin Cave this way — are you not afraid of the severe consequences?” Huo Lin Cave’s people grew panicked and were on the verge of resorting to weapons.
“Return my Water Marrow Mother Stone, or do not blame me for unleashing a massacre.”
“The Water Marrow Mother Stone? There must be some misunderstanding in all this.” A half-saint from Huo Lin Cave was taken aback and went to inquire among his own people.
However, the final battle could not be avoided. There may have been some misunderstanding, but when the ancient prince — Huo Qizi — received word, he personally declared that he would not return it under any circumstances, for the Holy Prince had also seized some of their mineral materials.
Li Heishui was immediately enraged. The materials they had seized afterward simply could not compare to the Water Marrow Mother Stone — that was an indispensable divine material, absolutely critical.
“Tell them — they wounded so many of our people, and I say it stays. It stays.” Huo Qizi made this decision from within Huo Lin Cave.
As the ancient royal lineages prepared to strike back against the Eternal Main Star, a small-scale battle and chaos erupted over the matter of the evolution fluid!
The evolution fluid was destined to ignite a major upheaval!
The Holy Prince was naturally furious, feeling that Huo Qizi had gone too far. He began intercepting and ambushing Huo Lin Cave’s people on the road, plundering their divine mineral materials on a large scale.
“Holy Prince, since you consider the Water Marrow Mother Stone so precious, would it be acceptable if we offered a high price to purchase it?” Even one of Huo Lin Cave’s saints was alarmed by the escalation.
Although Huo Lin Cave was an ancient royal lineage, they were still reluctant to provoke the Fighting Saint Ape lineage — after all, that old monkey was still alive, and his terror was beyond measure.
However, Huo Qizi and the Holy Prince had a knot between them that went back to the battle of those days. When the Heavenly Prince was slain, Huo Qizi and others who had lent aid to the Eight Division Divine Generals’ side harbored a sense of defeat that had never left them.
Over the years, both sides had harbored this unresolved tension — a desire to settle it in battle, without involving their respective imperial lineages’ full might, simply a contest between ancient princes to determine who was stronger and who was weaker.
However, this was not something that the Fighting Saint Buddha and the old figures of Huo Lin Cave wished to see. So things had remained relatively peaceful, with both princes long wishing to clash.
Now that Huo Qizi had made such a decision, he had naturally enraged the Holy Prince. It was evidently meant to escalate into a true showdown — a decisive battle at last.
However, Huo Qizi had underestimated the Holy Prince’s fury. He was not willing to wait for a decisive duel — he moved directly, cleanly and efficiently, launching a massive offensive.
Yes — at this moment, the Holy Prince was challenging a saint to battle!
“Tell Huo Qizi to come himself. Otherwise, do not stand in my way. What is a saint to me? I fear no one!” The Holy Prince roared.
The saint before him considered himself superior by virtue of his royal lineage and was being somewhat dismissive, though still attempting to speak in conciliatory terms while not entirely without veiled threats.
“Holy Prince, harmony is of the utmost importance in all things. The Fighting Saint Buddha is advanced in years — perhaps it will not be much longer before he enters final seated meditation. I believe he too hopes that you and our clan can coexist peacefully.”
Huo Yunsheng was an ancient saint of considerable cultivation, hailing from Huo Lin Cave. As a member of the royal lineage, though the ancient imperial bloodline had grown thin by his generation, it still lent him a distinguished status.
“If you truly wished to coexist peacefully, why rob my Water Marrow Mother Stone? Do you see that my uncle is advanced in years and think the Fighting Saint Ape lineage has no capable people to speak up?!” The Holy Prince was fierce and direct — the other’s words carried barbs that made it impossible to hold back from battle.
“Those were the prince’s own words — I never said anything like that. A step back opens the sea and the sky. Is it not merely a Water Marrow Mother Stone? I believe the prince would not wish to cause a great conflict over this. The Buddha’s age is truly considerable — he certainly hopes for peace between our two great imperial lineages. And perhaps in a few years, the Saint Ape lineage will have only you remaining. Ah, I am a person who likes to speak plainly — I hope the prince takes no offense.”
The battle was of course unavoidable. The Holy Prince was not reckless about it, either — he had come prepared, entering a true ancient saint battle armor to do battle with Huo Yunsheng.
“Prince, possessing such an ancient saint war tool — no wonder you feel so confident. However, for a truly genuine saint, this still falls somewhat short. At present, all under heaven know that the Fighting Saint Buddha must not be provoked — naturally I would not dare incur his wrath. I can only take the prince into custody and send him to Mount Sumeru to resolve the matter.” Huo Yunsheng said.
“Are you not simply trying to find an excuse to break my Dao heart? Come and try!” The Holy Prince said with a cold laugh.
Li Heishui, Dongfang Ye, and the others watched the battle but felt no anxiety, their expressions calm — for when they had left Heaven’s Village, the Holy Prince had been angry, but he was not reckless. He had already given advance notice to Ye Fan and Ji Zi.
Huo Yunsheng’s eyes grew cold and revealed a strange expression, for the Holy Prince within the ancient saint battle armor was unstoppably valiant, greatly startling him and making it temporarily impossible to subdue the Holy Prince.
He had originally intended to heavily defeat the Holy Prince. Though he dared not make it too obvious, he could still ensure the Holy Prince tasted the bitterness of defeat and have his Dao heart affected. Yet he had not anticipated such a difficult opponent.
Boom!
Suddenly, two powerful surges of energy appeared on the battlefield, charging forward together and slashing at Huo Yunsheng.
Ye Fan and Ji Zi appeared, both having entered ancient saint battle armors. One had five-colored divine light flowing behind him; the other treated the void as though it did not exist, moving in for an immediate killing strike.
Three great combatants had all entered ancient saint war tools, their power skyrocketing — all reaching the saint level.
Even though Huo Yunsheng carried the thin blood of an ancient emperor, he could not withstand their combined assault. He roared in fury again and again until, in a short span of time, the Holy Prince’s single punch obliterated half of his body.
A flash of blood — Ji Zi appeared inexplicably, ignoring distance and space, severing his head.
Thud!
The five-colored divine light flowed behind Ye Fan, shrouded in hazy primordial chaos. Five precious swords descended together, shredding his flesh to pieces and reducing it to a blood mist.