A majestic mountain range stretched grandly into the heavens, soaring peaks piercing the clouds. To stand here was to feel as though one stood at the eternal summit of some immortal realm from ages past.

A tranquil lake rested atop one of the peaks, surrounded by lush pines and emerald cypresses, with great boulders arranged alongside it — all of it setting off the clear, still waters of the lake like a mirror from the immortal world.

This was the renowned Ascending Immortal Pool. Legend had it that Wanqing had once entered seclusion here for a time, some twenty or thirty thousand years ago, lending it a place of extraordinary esteem.

Since time immemorial, countless people had come to this place seeking fortune and opportunity, yet all had left empty-handed. Gradually, people stopped coming altogether.

Ye Fan stood with his hands clasped behind his back atop a smooth bluish-green stone shaped like a resting ox. Before him lay the mirror-bright Ascending Immortal Pool; behind him, pine winds swept in rolling waves, ancient cypresses deep and verdant.

In the lake, green lotuses swayed, each one shimmering with a bright emerald radiance. The petals were dark jade green — as though carved from gemstone — releasing wisps of delicate fragrance.

Is this where the Green Emperor left his secret? Ye Fan gazed into the clear water, and above his brow-bone a golden little figure the size of a fist emerged, sweeping its gaze across all ten directions.

In recent days, the Ancient Clan and the powerhouses of the Eternal Star Region had been locked in confrontation and covert warfare. Ye Fan had muddied the waters and fanned the flames while quietly tracing every clue he could find about the Green Emperor.

He had slipped into various powerful clans and great families, poring over countless ancient records and locating many ancient sites — piecing together from these clues the story of what the Green Emperor had once done.

“The Green Emperor grew stronger with every battle, leaving a legendary reputation across Eternal. In the end, his Demon Arts reached completion, placing him on par with the ancient gods themselves. To this day, the people of the Eternal realm still search for every trace of him.”

Splash.

Ye Fan entered the water. Within the Ascending Immortal Pool, his divine sense swept through every inch of space. He even channeled his golden little figure into lotus after lotus, carefully sensing for any sign.

But there was nothing. All of it came to nothing. The Green Emperor had seemingly done nothing here but enter seclusion — he had left nothing behind.

No, that cannot be right. On the journey to the Eternal Prime Star, I saw people still searching for the Green Emperor’s relics even now. There must be some imperial treasure trove left somewhere.

Ye Fan stood on the bank, listening to the rolling pine winds from the mountain peaks, watching a clear spring babble down the cliffside, hearing a golden eagle cry out across the sky above, watching clouds roll in and drift away on the horizon. He fell into a trance, his mind becoming clear and empty.

Over the years he had walked through life and death, charging through the wilds of vast mountain ranges, deciding battles against the greatest powerhouses of every clan, and cutting through the frigid reaches of the cosmos. Not a single moment of true stillness had found him.

How many years had it been since he had last experienced this kind of withdrawn serenity? In this moment, a trace of his killing edge fell away, replaced by a quality of quiet ease.

Ye Fan sat cross-legged on the resting-ox stone and withdrew an ancient scroll — the ancient book that Princess Yudie had once gifted him, which contained the profound truths of the Dao of Nature.

A fine rain descended. Mist wound around everything. Ye Fan turned the pages of the ancient scripture in silence, letting the rain fall upon the pines and the wind carry their sound, reading of birds and fish and insects within the text — the natural laws of the Dao. He did not leave for an entire day and night.

The following day, he closed the ancient scroll, rose, and said, “The Dao of Nature — nothing within it can be forced. Perhaps the Green Emperor did leave something behind, but it may not be suited for me.”

He felt something stir within him. The opportunity to become a Saint was drawing near. Here in this place he had been contemplating the profound truths of countless scriptures, and in the end he even replicated the Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor — as though a Demon God had descended into the world.

Then suddenly, after he launched the Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor, the wild expanse around him lit up. The Ascending Immortal Pool began to glow. The cliff walls blazed with radiance. Symbol after symbol appeared.

Ye Fan was astonished. The symbols gathered together, forming a small path built entirely from them that led toward a divine gate within the Ascending Immortal Pool.

A Small Void World!

His heart gave a jolt. This was a small world opened by the Green Emperor. Something truly had been left behind here. Of all the ruins he had searched, this was the only place that had yielded any result.

Ye Fan passed through the divine gate. Inside it was tiny — a space no greater than a hundred zhang in diameter, utterly plain and spare. A stone table stood in the center, two stone stools beside it — nothing else.

He approached and discovered a few lines of writing on the stone table. After reading them, he could not decide whether to laugh or cry. There had indeed been a handwritten journal here — written by the Green Emperor himself — but someone had already taken it.

“Old Pang was here. Took the Green Emperor’s handwritten journal. Together with the evolution fluid from the ancient cave before, I shall surely be unrivaled beneath the heavens.”

Several of Pang Bo’s lines were exceedingly solemn. He mentioned the God — warning those who came after that the God hunted and killed those who walked the path of the strongest trial, and had thereby obtained many heaven-defying secret arts.

Ye Fan’s brow furrowed. Ji Haoyue had also left a note once, saying that the God had been hunting those who traveled the ancient path since time immemorial, gathering many lost secret arts in the process.

It should be known that only those of unparalleled talent could walk the strongest trial’s ancient path.

Pang Bo carries tremendous fortune. The Green Emperor’s relics have been taken by him. As for this Eternal Prime Star, there is no longer much reason for me to linger.

Ye Fan had paused in this star region for two reasons — first, the evolution fluid, and second, to seek relics left behind by a great emperor of antiquity. That was what had drawn him most powerfully here.

The Green Emperor’s things were gone. As for the Emperor Wushi’s relics — there was no point even thinking about those. He had gone deep into Purple Mountain and still could not obtain that scripture. It seemed it had been left specifically for those who carried the Innate Holy Body Dao Embryo. Others would find little to gain from it.

If I could obtain the Shenqu mineral material and refine it into the fifth-stage evolution fluid for my old friends of the Heavenly Court, I would be ready to set out. He needed only one more immortal material to add to the source fluid before the refinement could succeed.

The Ancient Clan and the people of Eternal were locked in confrontation and war — his goal there had been accomplished. Once he resolved certain remaining matters, he would be ready to depart.

His journey to the Ascending Immortal Pool had planted in Ye Fan the seed of an idea to leave.

These past days, the Primordial Royal Clans had suffered repeated losses and been forced to retreat deeper within the star region. They were waiting for reinforcements — hoping a Great Saint would arrive wielding an Extreme Dao Ancient Imperial Weapon to sweep this place clean.

For this ancient star was far too important. The evolution fluid was of enormous significance — it could allow their descendants to advance their cultivation rapidly and grow strong in a shorter time. The path to immortality was said to be opening soon, and every clan hoped to strengthen themselves, for that would be a guarantee of survival.

For now, very little evolution fluid circulated in the open, but the great immortal heritages had sealed away certain high-grade treasure fluids from ancient times — some of which were useful even to Saints and could help them break through.

Furthermore, they had discovered another great weapon of the Eternal Prime Star — a method to refine the divine bloodline power of “holy beasts” and reshape a person’s physical body, rapidly increasing an entire clan’s strength.

Though it carried some side effects, used with skill it could defy the heavens!

The campaign to capture holy beasts continued. The people of Eternal, full of their sense of superiority and emboldened by several celebrated successes, had inspired many more warriors.

Even some Saints had taken the field — because certain people genuinely wanted to become “Holy Knights!”

Figures like Luanfeng and Miluo harbored quiet unease. Through repeated clashes they had learned that the Ancient Clan possessed imperial weapons they had not yet brought with them.

The search for the Indestructible Golden Body continued. Every great heritage had posted astronomical bounties — higher prices than those offered for holy beasts — staggering people who heard of them.

At the same time, the outer-realm Sages and Venerables had arrived. Though several had been destroyed by the God on that dead star, others had pressed on, descending into this domain, making the situation even more chaotic.

“How enviable — the Sun Never Sets Royal Clan are formidable indeed. They extracted the blood essence of two holy beasts and restored part of their ancestors’ divine might, reaping enormous benefits!”

“Astonishing — the clan has produced a Sun Never Sets Heavenly King. Rumor has it he obtained ancestral Dao fragments contained within the blood of those two holy beasts.”

This caused quite a stir. The Sun Never Sets Royal Clan had reaped a tremendous harvest — cracking the secret of the divine-nature genes — allowing a veteran powerhouse to make further strides.

However, some turned their noses up at it. Reshaping one’s body through holy beast blood, fusing divine-nature ancestral Dao fragments — this would make the road ahead increasingly narrow.

Yet for an old Saint whose cultivation had been stagnant for years with no further advancement in sight, this was precisely their first choice.

“Astounding news — the Xutuo Clan has posted a major bounty. Whoever brings them two holy beasts will receive an ancient scroll written on divine hide.”

The news spread like wildfire, shaking all corners of the Eternal Prime Star.

“What kind of ancient scroll could be worth two holy beasts? Isn’t that a bit extreme?” people asked, probing for answers.

“An ancient star map — passed down from the Xutuo Clan’s ancestors, recording secrets of the ancient gods.”

“Impossible. If it’s that kind of treasure map, why would the Xutuo Clan offer it as a bounty? They would have explored it themselves long ago.”

This ignited a wave of commotion, sending the Eternal Prime Star into a rolling uproar.

“The Xutuo Clan has guarded that treasure map for years and found nothing. Now that their clan is in decline, they have decided to offer it as a reward in exchange for a chance to rise again.”

The Sun Never Sets Royal Clan gaining a new Heavenly King spurred every great immortal heritage to action — every clan wanted to follow suit.

The Xutuo Clan had once been among the strongest in Eternal, but they had gradually declined. Now, apart from one elderly ancestral Saint, they had no one to carry on the line. They hoped to use holy beast blood to reshape the physique of their younger generation members and raise their cultivation levels.

This was an ancient scroll written on divine hide, recording an ancient star region. Some eighty thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Xutuo Clan had traveled there and witnessed a legendary ancient Life Tree with their own eyes.

Naturally they had wanted to seize it, but the native inhabitants of that place were vastly too powerful. The Xutuo Clan’s powerhouses were nearly wiped out entirely, with only one person escaping alive.

In the years that followed, they returned to that star region several times, and each time came back battered and broken, their losses devastating.

“A Life Tree — that is one of the legendary undying immortal medicines. And it… truly exists?”

The Eternal realm erupted naturally. Everyone longed to obtain it.

It was said that a Life Tree had once appeared on their ancient star for a time, but hundreds of thousands of years ago it had been seized by a peerless powerhouse who came from beyond the domain.

“The Life Tree is an immortal medicine belonging to the gods themselves — a treasure beyond all price. A single tender branch could revive the dead and restore flesh to bare bone!”

“To refine the ninth-stage perfect evolution fluid, one must apparently possess an immortal medicine. The Life Tree would certainly qualify — it is among the rarest things in existence!”

A tide surged across the Eternal Prime Star, and no faction could remain calm. Yet people were somewhat skeptical that the Xutuo Clan would be so generous as to share this map.

Powerhouses from every quarter sought confirmation, and even supreme figures like Luanfeng and Miluo paid personal visits to make their own inquiries.

The Xutuo Clan could only speak truthfully. From sixty thousand years ago onward, that ancient star region had simply vanished, leaving the clan baffled for generations. They had never given up searching, but in the end could only heave a long sigh.

“What?! The Life Tree — and that entire star region — is gone? How is that possible? Who could possess such power as to conceal an endless expanse of the star sky? Can someone truly cover the heavens?”

Many were dumbfounded. Quite a few felt the ancient scroll was not worth pursuing for this reason alone.

But true experts — figures like Luanfeng and Miluo — paid far closer attention. They visited the Xutuo Clan, listened carefully to every detail, and pored over the handwritten journals left behind by the clan’s ancestors.

“Among those powerful native inhabitants was an existence comparable to a Great Saint — a whole clan of them, guarding the Life Tree with reverence, worshipping the ancient gods. It was an ancient race!”

In the end, the Canghai Clan, the Huoyun Clan, the Cao Family, the Sun Never Sets Royal Clan, the Zhao Family, the Lanto Clan, the Brahma Clan, and more all came. Every one of them paid the utmost attention.

The Life Tree — worth keeping an eye on. With so many great clans going to explore, who knows what they might find? Ye Fan was moved as well. He wanted to leave enough of a foundation behind for his old friends of the Heavenly Court. If a fifth-stage or higher evolution fluid could be obtained, the Life Tree might be the key. If it could be found, that would surely make it possible.