The great war was drawing to a close when a message spread across the starry sky, sending shockwaves through the ten directions and drawing the gaze of all!
It arrived so suddenly that everyone was left stunned. The flames of war had been spreading, reaching a fever pitch, and yet such a message had emerged — truly out of nowhere.
“The news is absolutely accurate, not a shred of falsehood. The war that has lasted twenty-one years is finally reaching its end…”
In this great upheaval, who could say how many had lost their lives? It could only be called a catastrophe. The news of the ceasefire swept across the starry expanse.
“Many things occurred in the depths of the universe, far beyond what ordinary cultivators could imagine. All parties have compromised — they had no choice but to lay down their arms!”
Secrets spread rapidly. Some said an ancient beast had appeared, one that swallowed the heavens and absorbed the earth, destroying countless star regions ahead, and that even Great Sages could not stand against it.
Others said an unparalleled Holy Spirit Sovereign who had not participated in the war arrived, obtained the Heaven-Mending Arts, and after secret negotiations with the human race, reached some form of consensus — and thus the order to withdraw was given.
Still others said the path to immortality had opened, and countless Great Sages had abandoned everything to race toward the Burial Emperor Star, unwilling to miss an immortal opportunity seen only once in ten thousand ages.
Some cultivators said someone was on the verge of attaining the Dao, and would undergo their Great Emperor Tribulation in this star region. Should they fail, it could drag down countless powerful beings to their deaths.
There were also those who said that on the ancient human road there was an Emperor’s tomb. When peerless geniuses such as the Great Demon God and Emperor Tian went to explore it, the tomb cracked open, and an ancient coffin flew out, causing an enormous wave of turmoil.
The secrets were many, making it difficult to separate truth from fiction.
“I have learned one definitive piece of news: nine true dragons are pulling an ancient coffin, traversing the dark universe, with Great Sages from several clans pursuing them.” Someone spoke with absolute certainty, his tone extremely confident.
A cultivator immediately refuted this, saying: “The Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin appeared on this road one hundred thousand years ago. How could it possibly appear again? Could this be some kind of cycle reborn?”
There was one thing people were certain of: something unimaginable had occurred in the starry sky. Otherwise, the various clans would never have ceased their fighting.
Half a month later, the picture became somewhat clearer. One or two of the rumors might have been true — the ceasefire turned out to be the result of many factors converging together.
Clearly, these were all events with far-reaching implications, and people had great difficulty determining which were real. Only one thing was certain: the various clans were in negotiations, and the fires of war were truly about to be extinguished.
“Trouble — an evil god has turned against the truce, attacking during peace negotiations on an ancient star, causing a blood battle. A Great Sage has died because of this!”
The dawn of peace had appeared and spread everywhere, yet it was immediately shrouded in shadow again. Ill tidings arrived from the starry sky: the catastrophe might not be stopped after all.
In an instant, all the people of the star region felt as though they had fallen into an ice cellar, and tensions rose again. The powerful figures among them showed looks of worry — the situation had reversed once more!
A full half month passed in a long and anxious wait. A shadow hovered over people’s hearts, and only at the very last moment did the darkness finally begin to dissipate.
“A compromise has been reached! The guardians of this star region have gathered and finally reached a consensus — the ceasefire is imminent!”
The star region erupted. Countless people cheered. All the clans felt as though a ten-thousand-pound stone had been lifted from their chests.
The great war was drawing to a close. The conflict that had lasted twenty-one years was finally reaching its end.
Everyone was exhausted. The Holy Spirit Clan, the Light Clan, the Human Race — none of them could be called victors. All had paid a price in blood. Too much had been ravaged and ruined. At long last, the curtain was about to fall.
Some main clans, such as the Primal Demon Clan and the Giant Turtle Spirit Clan, had long been unable to endure the bloodshed. In this war, living beings had suffered terribly, casualties were devastating, and those clans had been brought to the brink of extinction.
“The end of the war is the result of many factors converging, but there is one primary reason it ultimately succeeded: a human cultivator named Gai Jiuyou arrived and forcefully brought the fighting to a halt!”
Who was this person? All the clans were shocked and bewildered — a single person had changed the entire landscape.
In recent times, people had been very anxious. The war had gone on far too long, and they yearned for peace. No one had expected that such a mysterious figure would arrive, wielding this kind of influence.
“He is… a Quasi-Emperor — a supreme being who once had the potential to attain the Dao. In the final moments, it was his forceful intervention that brought the fighting to an end!”
The starry sky was in an uproar. It was an enormous storm, sweeping through the star regions and spreading to all the clans, shaking the hearts of every powerful figure. There were always legends of Emperors, but who had ever truly seen one? Had a genuine Quasi-Emperor actually appeared today?
Twenty-one years had passed. This war had been far more brutal than anyone had imagined. Without an outside force, treasures like the Heaven-Mending Arts and the Stone Decrees might have kept the war going for hundreds of years.
A man named Gai Jiuyou had arrived, and changed everything.
Everything about him spread rapidly — every cultivator paid close attention.
“He is a living Quasi-Emperor, one who is truly unrivaled beneath this starry sky. All the clans are afraid of him, fearing annihilation.”
“That’s not quite right — he fell from his peak many years ago. His vitality has dried up. His body is old and weakened, and his former glory cannot be sustained.”
When Gai Jiuyou descended, bearing two weapons of an ancient Great Emperor — two of them — it truly caused an enormous sensation! It struck terror into all the great powerful clans. Whether Holy Spirits or evil gods, all fell silent.
One man standing alone beneath the starry sky — who could rival him? One Emperor’s weapon for offense, one Emperor’s weapon for defense. He stood supreme in the world. When his decree went out, none under heaven dared to disobey!
Three years had passed since Ye Fan advanced to the eighth heaven of the Saint realm. In those years, he was like a war god of an entire region, galloping freely, fighting on all fronts.
Battle after bloody battle, life-and-death trial after trial — every ordeal had tempered him, consolidating his realm, solidifying his Dao foundation. His heart for attaining the Dao had become as firm as bedrock, unshakeable!
The dark blood divine ring formed from bathing in the blood of saints, and the golden curse unleashed by the Holy Spirit Clan, had merged together behind him, transforming into a brilliant ring of light that embodied majesty and might.
Like a flicker of immortal flame dancing, the gold and the blood-light fused together into something extraordinarily resplendent. This was the presence of one who had slaughtered champions, passed through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and stood supreme in a region. Wherever he passed, the powerful submitted, and foreign races trembled!
Over these three years, a number of followers had gathered at Ye Fan’s side. Including Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, there were twelve in total — every one of them had reached the Saint realm. This was a formidable force not to be underestimated.
Half of them were ancient beasts, subdued by Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon. They had gone from initial defiance to now swearing to follow until death. Several others were members of foreign races with little sense of racial allegiance, who revered the strong — awed by Ye Fan’s peerless martial might, they had ultimately joined his path.
Now, in this segment of the ancient road, few dared to challenge them. The human race’s Sacred Body, commanding twelve Saint-realm warriors, was unstoppable!
They had built a fearsome reputation. Even Saint Kings were unwilling to provoke them, for this was a group of extraordinary Saints — every single one of incomparable power, far surpassing the ordinary Ancient Saints.
“The Sacred Body from the Burial Emperor Star has rarely made a move in the last two years. His twelve Saints alone are enough to sweep through an entire region — a band of supreme powerhouses, shaking the world in their wake. Who would dare cross blades with them?”
Now that the starry sky had fallen silent and the war had ceased, Ye Fan furrowed his brow and restrained his twelve Saints, keeping them considerably more low-key.
This was because the Great Sage Cang Yan had freed up his hands. No longer pursuing the Heaven-Mending Arts, and with the flames of war now extinguished, he had begun searching for their trail, intent on capturing them and venting his rage.
“Truly bold and audacious — to have plundered the Sun Star cave dwelling of Great Sage Cang Yan, a figure of the Holy Spirit Clan just one step away from the Quasi-Emperor realm. One could hardly find greater nerve.”
People could only marvel in such terms. Ye Fan had roamed this star region for twenty-one years — what was there he would not dare to do? The seasoned veterans and geniuses who had fallen at his hands were beyond count.
This was a fearsome reputation forged through battle!
Although Great Sage Cang Yan was furious, he could not find their trail. Over all these years, Ye Fan and his twelve Saints had remained unharmed, living very well.
“It is time for us to set out as well, heading into the deepest reaches of the universe.” The ancient road through the starry sky, interrupted for twenty-one years, had been reconnected. Ye Fan decided to depart and begin a new journey. He had lingered far too long in this star region of the Human Race’s Tenth City.
After so many years of bloody war, Ye Fan had earned the right to receive a divine light platform as his reward. Unfortunately, the star regions had been ravaged and many of the ancient human cities lay in ruins. Such precious treasures were not available in the short term — he would have to wait to receive one in the future.
After twenty-one years of war, no one could say with certainty where the Heaven-Mending Arts had fallen.
Ye Fan and his party of thirteen set out. Great Sage Cang Yan wanted to pursue and kill them, but in the end could not bring himself to act.
Gai Jiuyou stood firm in the starry sky, issuing a stern warning to all the clans: anyone who dared to set foot on the human race’s ancient road and violate the human race’s uncontested territory would be killed without mercy!
This was no hollow “solemn protest.” He had taken concrete action, using iron-blooded methods to annihilate a foreign clan — not small, not large — and after that, no one dared to trespass on human territory.
Though Gai Jiuyou’s vitality had withered and his blood had run dry, merely revealing a trace of his Quasi-Emperor pressure while bearing two Emperor’s weapons was still enough to strike terror into all the great clans and leave them unwilling to act rashly.
Some powerful clans were unwilling to back down and were determined to obtain the Heaven-Mending Arts at any cost. Moreover, at the final moment, the Light Clan had even brought out the Smelting Divine Urn — an extreme-path ancient weapon — and dug in for a half-month standoff. But in the end, they too retreated.
They feared being wiped out. A Quasi-Emperor cannot be defied. Even if one has fallen from their former divine heights, they can still fight to the death and take several of the great main clans down with them.
Ye Fan and his group passed through more than a dozen ancient sites, finding everything in ruins. The human sacred cities on this stretch of the ancient road had all been shattered — broken walls and rubble, bricks and stones drifting through the cosmos. They had not yet been hastily rebuilt. Only the five-colored altars had already been restored.
Their entire journey was unobstructed. Many ancient trial grounds had been forced to close, and they continued forward all the way until they stopped at the Human Race’s Thirtieth Pass.
This place was even more devastated. An entire ancient life star had been shattered — the earth and rock split apart, a scene of utter desolation.
A Ferrying Guide appeared and received them with great ceremony. The reputation of the Sacred Body from the Burial Emperor Star had long since spread here in recent years — this was a “seed” that many old figures had been anticipating.
“There was originally an ancient life star here, of great importance — it had the ancient ancestor of the Holy Spirit buried within from the age of myth. This time, when the Demon Well collapsed, it was destroyed along with it.”
There had been seven ancient wells in total, distributed across seven domains, causing each of the major clans to lose approximately one Great Sage. Although the human race had no powerhouse of that level fall, two life stars had been shattered — an equally devastating loss.
This place was of great importance. For those undergoing trials, it was an ancient site where serious meditation and enlightenment were essential — different from an ordinary trial ground.
“Now that this star no longer exists, will you choose to continue forward, or cross over to another ancient star?” the Ferrying Guide inquired.
The Ferrying Guides, law enforcers, and guardians on this road had conferred and made amends by opening a branch path that could lead to an ancient life star even superior to this one, leaving the choice to the trial-takers themselves.
“We’ll take the branch path to the ancient star, comprehend the Dao there, and then return.” Ye Fan made this decision.
They ascended the five-colored altar and entered a space-time passage. Divine light flickered, and ultimately they vanished from the altar. Ahead lay a thriving and flourishing ancient land.
Time became disordered, the void alternating between light and dark. At times this passage overflowed with primordial chaos energy; at times it became transparent crystalline walls. Ye Fan and his group witnessed all manner of strange and wondrous cosmic spectacles.
“The Nine-Layered Coffin of the mythological age, buried high above the Nine Heavens!” Long Ma suddenly cried out.
Ye Fan glanced back and caught a fleeting glimpse of a massive coffin — one that looked like one he had seen before, belonging to… the Void Emperor! But the crystalline wall dimmed, and everything vanished quickly.
“These are all remnant scenes of the past — perhaps shadows left from a hundred thousand years ago, perhaps brief reflections of its passage through this path decades ago. No one can grasp its true trajectory.” One of the twelve Saints spoke.
No one knew how much time had passed. Then streams of light poured in from all directions, flooding the passage. Ahead gradually brightened — it was sunlight. They had arrived at an ancient land.
BOOM!
The ocean surged, vast and boundless, enormously magnificent. They landed on the shore, the crashing waves deafening to the ears.
“Oh! What grand airs!”
Nine azure luan birds pulled a divine chariot, soaring in from the depths of the great sea, crossing the vast sky, rolling and thundering past. From within the carriage came a long, clear voice: “I offer my heartfelt thanks for the generous hospitality of the South Sea Dragon King. I shall take my leave here.”
Ye Fan’s expression froze, and a look of utter disbelief spread across his face. He had seen the person inside the divine chariot — it was actually someone he knew from the past!