Heaven and earth collapsed. From the crown of this person’s head, golden blood energy surged skyward in a torrent, dominating all of heaven and earth!

This was a supremely terrifying aura. The golden blood energy scattered even the sea of lightning and shattered the very Chaos itself. This person was without equal across all of antiquity, standing there in sovereign contempt of the entire celestial vault.

One person, one Emperor — having just set foot in the realm of the saint — and yet displaying divine might of this magnitude. Within this realm and at this stage, it truly shook the ancient and illuminated the present.

“Why?” Ye Fan murmured to himself. The person before him was like him — undeniably a human-race sacred body. The implications of this were enormous, simply unimaginable.

Since time immemorial, it was said that a sacred body had never become an Emperor. And yet now, before his very eyes, stood a young supreme being. How could this be?

Had anyone else been present, their scalps would surely have crawled — this overturned everything they knew, shattered common sense, and was an event unprecedented in all of history from ancient times to the present.

Boom!

The person across from him attacked — supreme and domineering in his bearing, tall and powerfully built, his black hair flying in wild disarray, his eyes deep and profound, as though ten billion stars swam within his pupils, terrible beyond measure.

This was a peak confrontation between two transcendent eras — two sacred bodies in battle!

They met strength with strength and hardness with hardness, their golden blood energy shattering the lightning tribulation, cracking heaven and earth, sending the star region shuddering. Their courage and divine might were unstoppable.

Each of them carried an aura of supreme self-sovereignty. A single roar shook the rivers of stars. Powerful builds, billowing black hair, cold and ruthless eyes, surging golden blood energy — they were a match for all of heaven and earth!

Both of them swung the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist, pushing this secret technique to its absolute peak. In the midst of their battle, they were elevated further, drawing ever closer to the deepest true meaning of their respective Dao.

This was a peak battle between two human-race saints!

Roar…

Ye Fan threw one punch and pulverized a meteorite, his golden fist force surging across thirty thousand miles, striking with such force that the four directions of the cosmos shook violently, as though everything were on the verge of collapse.

The tall, heroic young supreme being across from him was unafraid. He too answered with the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist, shattering the void, his golden blood energy surging and crashing like floodwaters as he reduced the small asteroids ahead of him to dust.

This was a battle worthy of the word “supreme.” Every single strike surpassed anything ordinary people could imagine!

Every technique was a thousand variations in one, imbued with numerous forms of the Dao. The slightest miscalculation meant the utter annihilation of both body and soul. The intensity was beyond description.

The Six Paths Reincarnation Fist — this was an ultimate and invincible fist intent, one that required a forward-charging courage that knew no retreat, and the conviction within one’s heart that one stood supreme throughout the entire world. This was the foundation for standing utterly invincible under heaven.

They struck with sweeping grandeur, their fist force astounding all of ancient and modern times, their invincible convictions shattering the sun, moon, and stars. With every punch that landed, celestial bodies trembled in fear, the terror of it boundless.

Viewed from a distance, that golden blood energy had swallowed the star region whole, rendering even the lightning tribulation dim and inconsequential by comparison — reduced to a backdrop.

This was an astonishing and breathtaking duel for the ages — one worthy of being written into the cultivation history of human-race saintly battles.

When the battle reached its most intense and white-hot stage, Ye Fan showed a strange expression. His opponent was using only the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist, with no other true technique. How could this be?

As for himself, the reason he had not used any variations was that he wanted to determine superiority through the same secret technique alone — a battle of supremacy on the Emperor’s Path, where the strong advance and the weak retreat, and all those who harbor an invincible conviction will never avoid such a confrontation.

“The same as me — even the invincible fist intent is identical!”

Ye Fan sensed that something was wrong. At first he had assumed this was a sacred body achieving the Emperor’s path, but now his expression changed. In an instant, he switched his approach — using the Holy Warfare Sacred Art to manifest a great bell that moved the rivers of stars, sending bell waves spreading outward, shattering an asteroid field in the distance.

Boom!

Within the vast sea of lightning, from deep within the boundless Chaos, a figure of upright and powerful bearing descended, blocking the great bell. Above this figure’s head appeared a Heaven-Swallowing Demon Vessel, from which ten billion strands of brilliant light poured downward, its vast divine power stirring the cosmos.

This was — Ye Fan was startled. Was this the Ruthless One arriving? But almost immediately he realized he was wrong — this was a young supreme being, executing the Holy Warfare Sacred Art and meeting him head-on, as an equal.

A second person had appeared, to do battle with him. The first person had temporarily retreated to the side and no longer made a move.

Boom!

Ye Fan’s eyes turned cold and sharp, golden lightning piercing through the star sea. He unleashed the Holy Warfare Sacred Art, and before his brow materialized a mirror of the ancient void, which fired out a beam of immortal light brilliant enough to illuminate all of eternity, dazzling beyond compare.

Crack! The void collapsed. The sea of lightning retreated and parted. This strike stood above all antiquity and looked down on all ages — a power beyond comparison. For a saint to perform at this level was nothing short of breathtaking.

Clang!

The person across from him was unhurried. From behind him rose a sword of the Imperial Dao — a sword of immortal quality — which transformed into a great dragon and soared skyward, cutting through the ancient past, the present, and all future ages.

This was the Great Emperor Sword manifested through the Holy Warfare Sacred Art — incomparably sharp, its offensive power without equal in the world, slicing through eternity!

Ye Fan drew in a sharp breath. The mastery of the Holy Warfare Sacred Art that this young supreme being across from him possessed was at a divine, consummate level — equal to his own, if not surpassing it.

He fought to the point of madness, battling this person ferociously, exchanging blow after heavy blow, refusing to change his secret technique. He gave full expression to the Holy Warfare Sacred Art, and together in this supreme peak, they were each elevated to a higher level.

Rumble!

When the duel of life and death reached its absolute extreme, the person across from him — just as Ye Fan had done — erupted with golden blood energy from his entire body, reaching as far as the eye could see, penetrating the sun and moon, peerless throughout all the world.

A sacred body — yet another sacred body! Ye Fan drew in a sharp breath. He stopped and the person across from him also stepped back a few paces, as he carefully studied both of them.

A sacred body achieving the Dao and becoming an Emperor — how could there be two? Or perhaps these were not young Emperors at all?

In this instant, Ye Fan sensed something. His expression gave a sudden jolt, and without a word, he activated the Word-Technique of the Soldier. Almost instantly, a third person descended from the depths of the sky.

Boom!

Ye Fan drove the Word-Technique of the Soldier to its absolute limit and pressed forward in an assault. The third person moved to intercept him, blocking his path — and the result was the same ultimate secret technique.

Moreover, this person had taken the Word-Technique of the Soldier to a state of flawless mastery, pushed to the absolute pinnacle. He treated Ye Fan’s entire being as a weapon to be controlled, seeking to dominate his true body.

The battle grew fierce and deadly, both of them fighting with reckless abandon. Ye Fan gained enormously from it — in a duel against an opponent of equal strength, using the exact same divine arts, he gained profound insight. At last, this person too erupted with golden blood energy.

“Who am I fighting against…”

Divine light burst from Ye Fan’s eyes like blazing beams. Without a moment’s hesitation, he unleashed another secret technique and engaged the fourth young sacred body that appeared.

This was a grueling battle — one duel after another, fight upon fight. Ye Fan brought out every single secret technique he possessed, and with each one, another sacred body appeared.

Lightning blazed across the star region, battle energy rumbled and thundered, and the sound of killing shook the nine heavens above and surged down into the nine depths below, its light illuminating the cosmos.

Ye Fan fought bathed in blood, yet the gains he was making were immense. Every secret technique he possessed had a sacred body there to demonstrate it, pushing it to the very edge of its limit. The benefit to him was enormous — too great to be measured.

It was as though dozens of versions of himself, each having studied a single secret technique, were then competing against him to verify and prove it, elevating each technique’s true meaning to an even deeper level.

“Am I fighting against myself?!” Ye Fan raised his gaze to the sky. No one knew how much time had passed. Every technique and Dao art he possessed had been brought out and used.

All around him, powerful bodies stood tall and heroic, each one standing in a different direction, encircling him at the center.

“Yes — they are all me. None of them is a sacred body that became an Emperor!” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

In that moment, he contemplated what the Heavenly Tribulation truly was — whether heaven and earth truly possessed a will, and why such a thing had come to pass.

The Dao was born before heaven and earth. The universe and star sea had recorded the imprints of all manner of extraordinary individuals throughout all of antiquity. He had appeared here, and within the Heavenly Tribulation he faced, he had seen himself — this was not beyond comprehension.

“Taking form in accordance with my own thoughts and convictions…” Ye Fan saw through to a part of the truth.

Within his heart was an invincible conviction — supreme and absolute, never wavering. The Heavenly Tribulation of this star region had recorded the strongest will it had ever known, and thus it had manifested him — himself.

To do battle with different versions of himself, to evolve every secret technique — the profundity of this was impossible to express in words. It allowed him to more clearly understand his own shortcomings and strengths.

At last, every sacred body dissolved and vanished. No trace of the Dao remained, as each one disappeared like ashes swallowed by the void.

Dong!

Ye Fan ascended to the heavens, step by step advancing into the depths of the sea of lightning — until at last he encountered a terrible adversary once more: the youth-era forms of the ancient Emperors appeared.

One, two, three… neither fewer nor more — exactly nine figures, all of them extraordinarily real. Apart from their faces, their dense and luxuriant hair and their towering and powerful bodies were all so vivid and true that one could reach out and touch them. Each one stood in a different position.

This ordeal had arrived at last. There was no avoiding it. Ye Fan was not afraid — on the contrary, his blood surged hot, an overwhelming urge rising within him to throw back his head and cry out his challenge.

To fight the youth of an ancient Emperor in the same realm — in the cultivation of his lifetime, there was nothing left to regret!

“To think that so many Emperors had come here before…”

The battle erupted. More perilous even than the Three Immortal Severings of the Dao — heaven cracked and earth split, ghosts wailed and divine beings howled, and all the lightning tribulation was shattered.

Ye Fan had experienced all of this before, and facing it again now, he brought incomparably rich experience. He unleashed both his Past Self and his Dao Self simultaneously, engaging them in turns.

Even so, he was repeatedly brought to the very edge of death and just barely survived. The moment a divine prohibition was activated, the person across from him immediately reached the same divine prohibition level and struck back — causing the sun, moon, and rivers of stars to change color, unmatched beneath the heavens.

Invincible techniques, terrifying Dao arts — these continued to emerge in an unceasing stream. This was an ancient star region where many Emperors had once come. Heaven and earth had recorded their Dao imprints.

The Ruthless Great Emperor, Amitabha Buddha, the Holy Warfare Sage Emperor, the Feather-Transformation Great Emperor — all had appeared here before…

In this battle, Ye Fan’s physical body was shattered, his primordial spirit split four ways, and he walked nine deaths before surviving. Facing the combined onslaught of many Emperors in turn, the heavens were trying to obliterate him.

Since the dawn of time, no one had ever fought so many Emperors. Not even the Supreme One or the Undying Celestial Emperor could have done so — this exceeded the limits of any individual.

Every Emperor had been invincible. Never had two Emperors been seen to meet in their prime, and it was impossible for any one person to suppress all others — for the one who was suppressed could never become an Emperor.

In this battle, Ye Fan walked the edge of death again and again. It was impossible for one person to dominate nine Emperors. Simply surviving was victory.

The first wave of Emperors and Ancient Sovereigns vanished. A second wave appeared. Evidently, this star region had once been extraordinarily glorious, having drawn many Emperors and Ancient Sovereigns here to pay their respects — and leaving behind indelible Dao imprints.

At the end, Ye Fan stood alone in the star sea, drenched in blood, his body shattered to dust an uncountable number of times, his divine prohibitions triggered repeatedly — and yet this was all he could manage: to end the battle stained in blood.

“Every Emperor is truly invincible…” When the battle had long been over, Ye Fan spoke these words softly. The more he came to understand the Emperors, the more deeply this feeling settled into him.

“And I too am invincible.” He said this quietly, his tone plain and even. After this battle, his will and conviction were stronger than ever — unshakeable.

To survive the combined siege of nine young invincible Emperors — this was a miracle!