Heaven’s Village was a tranquil small world, carved out by the sages of antiquity. Its peaks were elegant, fed by many spirit springs and silver waterfalls, with extraordinary valley walls and ancient pines rooted deep into the rock — the scenery magnificent and grand.

At this moment, a cauldron rose and sank within the mist, wreathed in haze that enveloped it at the center, emitting a heart-soothing medicinal fragrance.

The refinement of the most powerful evolution fluid had officially begun. Ye Fan and his companions had delayed not even a moment — the instant the divine materials were assembled, they began immediately.

The Heavenly Fate Divine Rock, the Heart of the Dead Realm, the Primordial Destiny Stone, the immortality medicine fluid, the divine blood, and other primary materials were added one by one, followed by dozens upon dozens of supplementary ingredients, each one of priceless value, now merging within a single furnace.

When choosing the refinement furnace, the group had engaged in considerable discussion. Initially they had considered using the Divine Maiden Furnace, but this was later overruled.

Although it was the precious furnace of an ancient great sage and had been cast with the assistance of the Eternal Universe Great Emperor, it was not suited to pill refinement — fierce and domineering in character with insufficient gentle harmony, with far too heavy a fire nature within, making it too offensive in character.

In the end, the group unanimously decided to use Ye Fan’s cauldron. For extracting the evolution fluid, it was perfectly suited — ideal in every way.

For the primordial energy of ten thousand things was in and of itself a supremely divine immortal energy from the era of heaven’s opening. In tempering precious fluid, it would perhaps play a decisive, catalyzing role.

Moreover, the Divine Maiden Furnace was not chosen also because it was not a dedicated medicine furnace — its killing energy far too heavy, having cut down countless masters over the years and never once been cleansed and refined.

Ye Fan’s cauldron was entirely different. As the primordial energy of ten thousand things, it had never once been touched by the dust and turbidity of the mortal world — from birth, it was sealed against death energy, transcendent above the world.

Whether used as a weapon or as a medicine cauldron, this cauldron ranked supreme under all of heaven. One could well imagine that when the formidable ancient emperor had originally chosen it, every consideration had been taken fully into account.

The spirit springs murmured on, ancient pines stood tall, the silver moon hung high above, and Heaven’s Village fell into complete silence.

The great cauldron rose and sank. Many could not sleep, all of them watching with fixed eyes — knowing it would require many months, yet still unable to contain their excitement, for within it was carried their hope.

The primordial energy of ten thousand things circulated, stirring the sun, moon, and stars above. Streams of starlight rained down and at last formed a blanket of white radiance, all flowing into the cauldron.

That place was wreathed in cloud and auspicious mist — the cauldron enveloped in immortal energy, nurturing endless vitality. Various traces of the Dao flickered in and out of sight, mysterious and unfathomable.

The extraction of the most powerful evolution fluid proceeded smoothly. At every moment, someone was on watch — not a single error could be permitted. The people of Heaven’s Village took this with the utmost seriousness.

For this purpose, the Slaughter Saint sat cross-legged beneath an ancient tree, letting fallen leaves drift down upon him, ancient vines swaying around him, while he remained utterly still — as though turned to stone.

The most powerful evolution fluid was of enormous consequence, capable perhaps of allowing the Heavenly Court to soar to new heights and determining the future of this lineage. He personally maintained this closed-state vigil, unwilling to move even a fraction for months at a time.

As for the others, they were the same. Every day they took turns standing watch, and the Great Black Dog in particular was the most eager of all — practically drooling, not leaving for even a moment.

The captives of the Twelve Royal Clans were each and every one astounded. They had not imagined that this group could assemble the divine materials and refine a fourth-stage evolution fluid — it was nothing short of a miracle.

In their Eternal Realm, even the most powerful factions required decades or even a century of preparation to open a furnace. They would search through star domain after star domain before they might or might not be able to gather the needed divine mineral materials. Nothing like what was happening here — where these people talked of refining and immediately could begin.

Several important captives from the Eternal realm were permitted to observe the primordial energy of ten thousand things medicine furnace and wait in attendance, for their input might be needed at critical moments. Of course, Ye Fan’s group did not fully trust them. People were specifically assigned to observe their soul seas and correct any flaws in the refinement process.

In the first few days, no one strayed an inch from their post. After half a month passed, everyone had at last settled into a normal state of mind and began attending to their own affairs.

Extracting the fourth-stage evolution fluid was no simple matter — it was extraordinarily intricate. Even using the ancient divinities’ pill refinement method, the fastest possible timeline was four months.

In the outside world, things had grown even more unsettled during these days. Many incidents of bloodshed had occurred as various clans competed for divine mineral materials — this was no longer any secret, and the matter of the evolution fluid had become known to all.

However, not a single faction could refine it on their own — no one could come close to gathering the most critical primary materials.

“Distant expedition — march to the Eternal Main Star! They have ready-made evolution fluid there, and those great families, over so many years of extraction, must have accumulated vast stockpiles of materials in their treasure vaults.”

War and conquest — this had become a shared consensus, crystallizing into a storm!

Every ancient royal lineage wished to launch a distant expedition, to seize the Eternal Main Star: for vengeance, for the most powerful bloodline evolution fluid, it was worth charging into the starry sky.

The people of Heaven’s Village had settled into complete calm. Li Heishui, Li Tian, the Great Black Dog, and others had grown entirely composed, going out from time to time to seek rare objects — more than enough, gathered at leisure, treating the search lightly.

Ye Fan had been away for two years — not overly long. Once the medicine refinement in Heaven’s Village had entered its proper rhythm and everything had stabilized, he began to seek out certain old acquaintances.

Unfortunately, Gai Jiuyou, the Jiang Divine King, and the rest were like dragons that revealed their heads but never their tails — there was simply no finding them, nor any news of them.

Afterward, he went to the sacred land of the Demon Clan to visit the Scarlet Dragon Daoist and the Peacock King. He also secretly visited the Jiang Family to see little Tingting, who was extremely excited to see him. He paid a visit to the Jade Pool as well to see friends there and observe that Nine-Aperture Divine Fetus.

His footsteps also left traces in the Western Desert, Southern Ridge, Central Province, and Northern Plains. He did not see An Miaoyi at the Buddhist Kingdom, however — she had sealed herself within a nine-layer stone pagoda, in closed-door cultivation for two years.

Southern Region, the Profound Clumsiness Peak of the Supreme Profound. Wild grass grew thick among collapsed walls and ruins — the scenery unchanged.

Zhang Wenchang’s cultivation had truly progressed at an exceptionally slow pace. After so many years, he was still in the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, had not yet ascended to the Immortal Platform — which left Ye Fan utterly at a loss for words.

However, upon careful observation, Ye Fan discovered that Zhang Wenchang’s Dao foundation was extremely solid — even excessively so, built up painstakingly, one layer at a time.

Just as Ye Fan himself had been that strict with little Song, Li Ruoyu refused to let Zhang Wenchang break through lightly. Every single step was taken in complete steadiness.

Meeting again, Zhang Wenchang carried a new composure. Even when speaking of wife and children, father and mother, he could face it with equanimity. His temples had been touched by frost, and a sense of having weathered many hardships had entered his eyes.

“If the opportunity came to return, would you make the journey?” Ye Fan said.

Heaven’s Village now had two mother ships capable of spatial leaping. Knowing Earth’s coordinates within the starry sky, returning would naturally be possible.

However, if they were to go back, absolute secrecy would be required — no one could be allowed to follow, for he had no desire to become a sinner. Should the flames of war be drawn to that place, the consequences would be disastrous.

Moreover, he was not entirely at ease with the mother ship — he worried the vessel might have a connection to the Eternal Main Star that could not be severed. If they were able to detect its position, that could spell catastrophe.

“Returning would change nothing. The children have grown. My wife has built a new home. If I appeared before them, it would only deepen the grief. Rather than that…” Zhang Wenchang trailed off into silence.

He had changed a great deal — no longer as he had once been, dwelling only on the past, unable to free himself. Many of the things he carried in his heart seemed now to have been released.

“Someday, I will go back. Only to glimpse them from afar — just one glance. I… will not appear. I will not let them see me.” Zhang Wenchang’s voice grew quieter and quieter as he spoke, until at last tears traced silently down his face.

In the end, Zhang Wenchang produced an ancient scripture. Within it was recorded an abundance of things — flowers, birds, fish, insects, ancient medicine cultivation… a vast and varied array, nurturing the temperament and honing the sense of self.

This was an ancient scripture. It was the Rain Butterfly Princess of Central Province who had gifted it to Ye Fan — it contained the methods of the Natural Great Dao, and he had passed it to Li Ruoyu.

In those days, Li Ruoyu had said that when Ye Fan was on the verge of charging for the position of a saint, he could come here to retrieve it.

Li Ruoyu had long since begun wandering the world. Before departing, he had told Zhang Wenchang: should Ye Fan return from the starry sky, this scripture was to be returned to him.

Ye Fan departed, walking across the great land, observing the rivers and mountains, the sun and moon, venturing into the deep mountains and vast marshes, seeking out dragon caverns. A great battle lay ahead, and the Northern Dipper Star Domain would be the main battleground — everything he did was for the sake of that one word: immortality.

“The road to immortality…”

Ye Fan began to plan for the long term. He would inevitably become a Source Heavenly Master — only a single line separated him from it. These mountains and rivers would one day all become weapons in his hands. He studied them carefully now.

He met with many old friends. Having been away for only two years, there was nothing particularly pressing to recall. Yet deep within his heart there was an inexplicable unease. His thoughts turned to a certain small child, and without realizing it he had made his way to the Yan Kingdom — it was here, in those days, that he had first encountered little Xiao Nannan. But now the city lay in ruins, the people long gone, with nothing but desolation as far as the eye could see. So many years had passed, and she seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth entirely — never to be found.

The Black Emperor had practically turned the earth upside down, yet still could not find any trace of her.

Ye Fan had offered rewards of Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold and Immortal Tear Green Gold — precious immortal materials — and still no one had been able to provide any useful leads, aside from a few opportunists attempting deception.

“Expedition to the Eternal realm!”

The ancient royal lineages had at last taken action. The first wave of the expeditionary force had fully assembled — a coalition army of multiple clans, for the number of mother ships was limited.

The ancient clans had not charged forward all at once in a sweeping assault. This first group was exploratory in nature. Though they loudly proclaimed the people of the Eternal Main Star to be insignificant insects, they had not dared to be careless.

After all, in the last great battle, the Eternal Main Star had slain some of the ancient clans’ ancestor kings, and had even caused certain tribes to be completely wiped out. This left them with a wary hesitation.

“Is the great chaos truly beginning? Are the two great civilizational systems finally about to collide?” Ye Fan watched with his own eyes as the ancient clan coalition force disappeared into the distance.

The ancient clans were fierce, their powerhouses as numerous as a forest. But this first exploratory wave, were they to stir up storms on the other side — they would not necessarily come out ahead. After all, in the eternal age of antiquity, the Eternal realm had produced divine beings.

“It’s done — the first-stage evolution fluid has been refined!” Heaven’s Village erupted in a wave of cheering voices.

The primordial-energy-of-ten-thousand-things cauldron was wreathed in swirling immortal mist, erupting with auspicious radiance in many hues. The precious fluid gleamed crystal-clear, splashing high, tugging at every person’s nerves.

“Collect the initial fluid — continue extracting the second-stage evolution fluid!”

From this day forward, Li Heishui, Li Tian, Yan Yixi, and the others entered closed-door cultivation, using the first-stage evolution fluid to press toward higher realms.

As for the Holy Prince and Ji Zi, at minimum the second-stage evolution fluid or above would be effective for them — their bloodlines and strength spoke for themselves. For now, they could only wait.

Ye Tong had reached the critical moment of Dao-severing and was not permitted to use this precious fluid. He was a person of boundless future potential — this kind of critical juncture required enlightenment of the Dao, not the assistance of external forces. He needed to break through on his own.

Another month passed. The second-stage evolution fluid was successfully completed. Ji Zi and the Holy Prince entered closed-door cultivation, just as Ye Fan had done in the past — beginning their breakthrough!

The third month: the primordial-energy-of-ten-thousand-things cauldron rose and sank among the mountains, ten billion strands of aurora light present, all manner of phenomena manifesting — Azure Dragon, Immortal Phoenix, Ascending Immortal, Ancient God appearing simultaneously. The Dao resounded like thunder, brilliance shining ten thousand zhang. A higher-stage evolution fluid had been successfully refined.