It was an extraordinarily massive cosmic mothership — like a meteor passing overhead, dark and hulking, pressing down on the spirit with a suffocating weight.

Its entire hull was jet black. Upon it was a single character — “God” — written in the divine script of the Primordial Age, radiating a peculiar and immense power.

The God had arrived. The atmosphere within the ship grew tense. The Holy Light Mercenary Corps dared not provoke them. Everyone yielded and moved aside, watching it pass overhead.

The Tanmu Star Region was vast and boundless. Ships were visible here and there throughout it, but none carried the kind of intimidating presence that the God’s ship did.

“This organization is unfathomably strange. It is said they can penetrate the outermost reaches of the ancient cosmos, and their footprints have been found in many places. Do not provoke them under any circumstances,” said Huo Bai, the old mercenary.

“The God organization is far too powerful. There are cultivators who say they are not originally from the Eternal Prime Star — they simply established a base within our realm,” another mercenary said.

Dao Yi did not speak. He only watched, tracing the God’s mothership until it vanished in the distance, a contemplative expression crossing his face.

Whoosh!

A brilliant streak of light flashed past. In the distance, a warship was struck and shattered — blooming like a firework before dissolving into cosmic dust.

Dozens of cosmic ships came charging through, attacking a fleet ahead of them. The ships there detonated one after another in a cascade of light beams crisscrossing through the void.

“Go — now!”

The Holy Light Mercenary Corps’ mothership opened a star gate and performed a spatial jump with all its warships in tow, departing immediately, unwilling to be dragged into this battle.

“That is the Cao Family’s people, pursuing the Flame Mercenary Corps.”

In the void of the cosmos, when enemies met, a battle was all but inevitable. With so many great factions entering this place, conflict was unavoidable. Old grudges and new grievances stacked on top of each other, and the result was all-out fighting.

The Tanmu Star Region was expansive. The Holy Light Mercenary Corps conducted a methodical search, covering the entire eastern zone — yet they found nothing.

“Ah, the Xutuo Clan’s ancestors once descended upon that ancient star, but in the sixty thousand years since, it has never been seen again. Coming here now most likely means a wasted trip. Otherwise, why would they have handed over the divine hide scroll in the first place?” The old mercenary sighed.

Days passed. They scanned with life-sensing equipment but found nothing. If there were an ancient life site in this star region, it would have registered a response long before now.

In the meantime, they had seen only ship after ship arriving — all of them here for the same reason: the Life Tree.

“Fortune does not simply fall from the sky. I suspect no one will find that ancient site. It may have been swallowed up long ago by the river of history.” Many had grown disheartened.

Boom!

A violent explosion — a mothership ahead had been sunk. Many powerful individuals aboard were killed on the spot as two opposing factions clashed and launched devastating attacks on each other.

The Holy Light Mercenary Corps performed another spatial jump, changing course, unwilling to be drawn into this conflict. The Tanmu Star Region was dangerous at this time.

“This is not looking good. The longer this drags on, the more likely we are to come under attack ourselves. It is all very strange — why has that ancient star simply disappeared? Is the Xutuo Clan lying?” said the old mercenary.

Ye Fan offered his own observations, joining the discussion with the opinion that the ancient star might have been destroyed. What else would explain why it could not be found? The cosmos was boundless — a sufficiently powerful being could strike down a star — and over such a long span of time, anything was possible.

“There is another possibility. The Xutuo Clan’s ancestors may have stumbled into a divine realm opened by an ancient god, and afterward the entrance was sealed. They could never find their way back in,” Dao Yi offered, speaking up. He was good-natured and sunny, quick to smile, someone who put others at ease.

“A divine realm opened by an ancient god… containing an entire ancient star,” said another mercenary, awestruck. What kind of terrifying divine power would that require?

In the lightless cosmos without beginning or end, the many great factions spread throughout the Tanmu Star Region, occasionally crossing paths.

Everyone was searching with all their strength. This had ceased to be a matter of one clan’s prosperity — it was something that could bring an entire star region to glory.

“That planet ahead looks strange — let us land,” said the Holy Light Mercenary Corps’ mothership, which had detected a small planet. Warships were dispatched to land on it and conduct a thorough investigation.

It was not a small planet. Not a single blade of grass grew on it. Everywhere were impact craters, and the whole place had an impression of utter desolation.

The mothership’s scanners discovered a massive pit on its surface — one of extraordinary depth, appearing almost like a black hole — which drew their attention.

Ye Fan’s group was among those assigned to land and investigate closely.

“Strange — this pit doesn’t look like it was caused by a meteor strike. It looks more like it was deliberately made,” said the old mercenary Huo Bai, his experience showing in the speed of that judgment.

If this proved to be true, it was undoubtedly an important clue. At the very minimum it showed that powerhouses had once passed through this star region, and that living beings had once been present here.

The hatch opened. Ye Fan, Huo Bai, Dao Yi, and several others stepped out one after another and walked around the rim of the pit, each of them showing an expression of surprise.

“Could this have been punched out by someone’s fist?”

The crater’s diameter stretched several hundred li — immense — but it was not fist-shaped. It was more like something sharp had driven into it.

“Could it be that someone stabbed it through with a sword?” Huo Bai the old mercenary frowned.

“I think it was someone’s finger that drove into it — the shape of the deepest point resembles a fingertip. It looks like a single finger broke through!” Dao Yi offered his interpretation.

The group felt a chill. Whoever had done this was at minimum a Saint — but what had happened here? Had someone tried to split this star open?

“Could this be a divine-nature mineral deposit? Did an Ancient Saint descend here, intending to excavate this star?” someone said, eyes blazing with interest, finding this scenario entirely plausible.

In the Eternal Prime Star, every year vast numbers of exploration ships ventured into the star sky to search for divine ore deposits. Who knew how many stars had been destroyed in the process?

“That is not it,” Dao Yi shook his head. He flew up into mid-air, his golden hair shining brilliantly. He raised one hand and gestured toward the crater’s location, while the other hand pointed toward the distant star sky.

Huo Bai’s expression changed. The others did not understand.

Ye Fan nodded. He had already seen through the truth of it as well. Whoever had produced this single finger strike was terrifyingly powerful — without question a figure of supreme, once-in-an-era caliber. That finger had come from deep in the star sky.

To be precise, this was merely the aftershock of that finger — not aimed at this location deliberately. It was a supreme powerhouse whose finger had gone astray during battle, unintentionally causing this.

When Dao Yi finished his explanation, everyone except Ye Fan and the old mercenary had gone pale as snow. What kind of being could possibly have done this?

The discovery was reported up the chain. The high-level leadership of the Holy Light Mercenary Corps was stunned. Tracing the path of the finger’s light, they discovered a great expanse of meteorite clusters — this must have been where an enormous star was pierced straight through by that single finger and shattered.

Everyone was shaken. In ancient times, a supreme figure had battled here, and the aftermath of a single finger had caused such terrifying destruction — enough to make each and every person’s courage fail them.

It could now be confirmed that living beings had once existed in the Tanmu Star Region, and that ancient star might have been destroyed in the process — perhaps it was now nothing more than this meteorite belt.

A black cosmic mothership came sailing in, blotting out the sky, towering over every other ship like a tyrant dinosaur over lesser creatures.

Many great factions yielded and made way before it, afraid to provoke it. This was the organization known as the God.

“What did you find?” A hoarse voice came from within that black divine ship.

The Holy Light Mercenary Corps dared not offend the God and reported truthfully. A period of silence fell within the black mothership, and then two figures flew out and conducted a thorough investigation.

The black giant ship stayed there, drawing the attention of the other great factions. Several ships gathered in the vicinity, watching from a distance.

In the end, a prominent member of the God organization appeared — wearing a mask with the character for “God” carved into it — standing in the void. He produced a gleaming white mirror and activated a great power of law. In an instant, it illuminated the entire star region.

“That is the Mirror of the Past!” Huo Bai the old mercenary exclaimed in a low voice, explaining that this mirror could play back events that had occurred previously — a treasure that even Saints could not obtain.

The mirror’s surface was smooth, translucent and white. Hazy scenes began to appear within it, gradually growing clearer.

Ye Fan was astonished. He had seen a similar mirror before — Duan De possessed one, and treated it as a priceless treasure. It was said to be ground from the brow-bone a Great Saint left behind upon dissolving into the Dao. After dissolving into the Dao, true bones were occasionally left behind, and the brow-bone — the location of the Immortal Platform — represented the light of wisdom and was the rarest of all. Ground into a mirror and refined into a supreme treasure, it could trace events of days gone by.

“Heavens!”

Cries of shock went up. Everyone, from the Holy Light Mercenary Corps to all the other factions, stood frozen — as if they had seen a ghost.

Within the translucent bone mirror, the scene gradually sharpened. A finger descended — vast and boundless — and in a single strike shattered an entire star, its aftershock continuing to drive outward into the distance.

Many suspected the shattered massive star was the ancient life star of former times. But as the scenes continued, they quickly overturned that idea.

From amid the ruins of the shattered massive star, a tall and imposing figure burst upward. The shattered star became a meteorite belt. The figure who had burst up then moved with great speed, sending a palm strike into the distance — clearly this had been a battle.

The scene cut off there. What came next was not visible.

“The combatants were too powerful — even the Mirror of the Past cannot reproduce that battle!”

The scene flashed one more time, revealing a final, stunning image — and then the Mirror of the Past went dark entirely.

“What — what kind of existence is this?!”

Everyone was shaken. The final image was too incomprehensible. A colossal hand, enormous beyond imagining, covered over a massive ancient star full of life — and then grasped it and carried it away into the deepest reaches of the cosmos.

“This is… too unbelievable!”

People stood gaping, words failing them. The Xutuo Clan had not lied. There truly had been a life source site here once. The reason it had vanished was that a great hand had simply taken it away.

“Follow it! That great hand disappeared in the direction of that star region ahead — it is no longer within the Tanmu Star Region.”

“Is it wise to pursue this? What if we encounter a supreme powerhouse of that age?”

“So many years have passed. What kind of unparalleled figure could still remain? Even if that great hand once belonged to a divine being, they have surely dissolved into the Dao long since.”

The crowd was stirred to excitement. Thinking of the Life Tree, the light in everyone’s eyes blazed with heat.

The black ancient ship crossed the void. The God organization was the first to charge out, racing toward that unknown star region to begin their exploration.

Blazing light, annihilating power, ten million Daos — all unleashed without restraint. This was the kind of battle that could destroy an entire star region!

Within the Eternal Star Region, a world-shattering great battle was in progress. The Great Saint of the Huolin Cave had descended, wielding the Extreme Dao Ancient Imperial Weapon, standing supreme over the heavens.

Within this star region, countless Ancestor Kings had arrived, intent on killing their way through this life-bearing ancient star and seizing everything.

From the Eternal Prime Star, many powerhouses had also ascended into the high sky, every one of them piloting armored mechs as they charged out beyond the domain and threw themselves into this great battle.

It was a battle drenched in blood — a crazed slaughter — the scale breathtaking, the outer reaches of the star sky shattered, Saints among both sides falling as blood spilled.

“Act,” Huo Qizi said. He appeared in the frigid cosmos, his dense blue hair hanging loose, standing beside an elderly figure.

A wave of divine power surged like an ocean — heaving, boundless, and then the fluctuations grew more and more terrifying, setting even the stars themselves trembling, sweeping through this star region.

The Great Saint of the Huolin Cave wielded the terrifying ancient imperial weapon — and now that weapon was awakening. The Extreme Dao Immortal Might was about to be unleashed!

At the same instant, from the Eternal Prime Star, an equally powerful wave of energy emanated — like a dormant battle immortal stirring from slumber — divine radiance shooting into the sky, reaching all the way beyond the domain, meeting the imperial might head-on!