The immortal sword was ancient and unadorned, its entire body a deep crimson — as though it had been bathed in blood, leaving mottled stains behind — hovering in the air beside Ye Fan and the others.
This object was exceedingly difficult to put away. Unlike other Emperor Weapons that settled into calm stillness once subdued, this sword radiated a murderous energy that pierced the heavens. This was no fluctuation of divine power — it was an aura, an intrinsic quality of the blade itself.
It had been born this way. According to one obscure record, when the Slaughter Sword was forged, it cleaved through nine layers of heaven in succession, having committed too grievous a karmic offense of slaughter.
There were even those who claimed that the scenes of immortal massacre carved into the blade’s body were real — that on the very day the Slaughter Sword was completed, it aligned with the formation diagram and, under the presiding hand of the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable, directly struck into the immortal realm.
Naturally, the truth of the matter was long beyond verification — perhaps entirely fabricated.
At this moment, Ye Fan wanted to take the Slaughter Sword in hand, but found it extremely difficult. This immortal sword’s killing intent shot out for a hundred thousand li even while simply resting there.
“Only by slowly acclimating to it can one wield this sword — otherwise it will turn and injure its own bearer.” This was the unanimous conclusion of everyone present.
“Let me try.” Ji Ziyue spoke up. As a Primal Spirit Physique, she could harmonize with the source of all things, drawing upon every kind of primordial energy for her own use — killing intent included.
It did not take long. Her face went pale, but she truly managed to grasp the sword in her hand. Though it trembled faintly in her grip, she had genuinely done it.
“This is a good beginning.” Pang Bo nodded.
“Quickly let go — if this sword spontaneously reawakens, the one holding it will most likely be destroyed in both body and soul.” Ji Haoyue said, deeply uneasy about his younger sister, fearing she might come to harm.
The human-shaped ghost-face lantern floated in the air, swaying with jade-green light as scriptures resonated on their own, lending the scene an eerie atmosphere. Yet no matter what they did, they could not draw in the remaining two immortal swords — all had been intercepted and cut off.
“Retreat — leave this place. Otherwise the killing intent of this sword is too heavy, and they will track it here to our door!”
The group traversed the void and arrived in another stretch of dark celestial expanse, deliberating over how to deal with the sword. The Holy Prince said he had no need of it and presented it to Ye Fan’s party, for he already possessed a flawless Emperor Weapon. It was evident that no one could presently carry the sword outright, so it was ultimately decided to store it first within the Green Copper Cauldron.
The human-shaped ghost-face lantern would accompany it, nourishing it with Five Elements immortal energy. In time, everyone would slowly grow closer to it — perhaps after long enough, they might earn its recognition and wield it for themselves.
When they returned to this stretch of celestial expanse, the Emperor Weapons were clashing and the place had erupted into a seething cauldron of battle. The Myriad Dragons Bell, the Spirit-Refining Urn, and the Dao-Manifesting Immortal Robe collided in a titanic clash as the assembled saints fought over the remaining two immortal swords.
The most ancient sacred mountain crumbled to dust — a mountain whose standing in the Divine Realm resembled that of Mount Sumeru in Buddhism, its boundless accumulation of ages and all its gathered power of faith utterly exhausted.
In this battle, nearly everyone in the Divine Realm perished. In the end, only the second-ranked warrior under heaven — Yan Chongtian — departed alive, vanishing into the vast sea of stars. All others fell.
Boom!
The Emperor Weapons blasted the cosmos apart, their force even sweeping toward the Slaughter Formation Diagram suspended at the uppermost reaches of the celestial expanse, causing it to shudder violently and release a powerful wave of energy. The remaining two Slaughter Swords rang out with a clear metallic cry, soaring into the sky to merge with the formation diagram, tearing open the universe — and disappearing.
The assembled saints let out long howls of anguish and fury. In the end it had come to this — nothing had been obtained. They were consumed by unwillingness, each face ashen, hearts filled with stifled bitterness.
The Great Sage wearing the Dao-Manifesting Divine Robe was the first to tear open the void and vanish from this place. The remaining figures let out furious roars, and in the days that followed, they too scattered and departed.
The Farther Shore of Divinity had completely vanished. Nothing remained here but emptiness — only wounds and blood, burying countless living beings.
The universe is vast beyond measure. What people call the myriad heavens and domains are, for the most part, pure lands carved out by human effort, or middle-scale “celestial domains” — small worlds unto themselves.
Genuine life-bearing ancient stars are rare. Those that formed naturally are remarkable ancient grounds — and yet one such ground had been destroyed in this fashion, leaving people to sigh with regret.
A massive ancient coffin stretched across the frozen cosmos, entombing the void, emanating wisps of terrifying vital energy as fearsome waves of the Dao radiated outward from it.
From beginning to end, no one had managed to open the ninth layer of the coffin. The Divine Realm was destroyed, and the coffin had long since torn through the universe and hurtled toward distant reaches — the Emperor’s corpse had never appeared in the world.
Neither Ji Ziyue nor her elder brother had been able to behold it. The coffin had begun a new journey, its destination unknown, never ceasing, plunging into the deepest depths of the dark universe.
Ye Fan and the others lingered here for the better part of a month, gathering Five Elements immortal energy. These five continents were extraordinarily formidable — suspected to be manifestations of the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable’s five internal organs, their shapes bearing a remarkable resemblance, immense and boundless.
Only when every person could absorb no more Five Elements essence, and all their treasured vessels were filled to capacity, did they depart and continue on their way.
“From the Bitter Sea to the Farther Shore — I have the feeling we’ve been traveling through the body of an Ancient Heavenly Venerable, advancing from below upward, step by step.” Pang Bo mused.
“Whose body could possibly be so vast? Besides, boundless star domains lie in between.” Some among the Ten Saints shook their heads.
“A true human body wouldn’t be that immense, naturally — what I mean is, after the Ancient Heavenly Venerable passed into stillness, extraordinary changes occurred. He merged into the fabric of the cosmos itself. Certain parts of him appear boundlessly vast, while others should still be relatively normal in scale.” Pang Bo continued.
“We could keep advancing in this direction. If the conjecture is correct, perhaps we might behold a colossal skull.” Long Ma’s eyes shone with excitement.
“Let’s go take a look.” The Holy Prince said, hoisting his immortal iron staff — he loved nothing more than a challenge.
In the end, they brought out the Divine Light Platform and pressed steadily toward a single set of coordinates, traversing countless star domains, until they truly arrived at an ancient ground.
“There is a vital energy ahead!”
After a lengthy journey, crossing the cosmos again and again, they had made a discovery — they appeared to have arrived at an ancient domain containing life-bearing stars, which exceeded all their expectations.
“It feels familiar. I think I’ve been here before.” Ye Fan started, a sense of déjà vu coming over him as they entered this star domain — a feeling that grew stronger and clearer with every passing moment.
Star after star fell away behind them. The familiar aura drew nearer and nearer, and at last Ye Fan understood where they were. He truly had been here before.
Still at a great distance, a colossal human head loomed ahead — more precisely, it was a star, of unfathomable scale, having transformed into an ancient celestial body, rotating in place.
“We have been here!” Long Ma and the others were also deeply startled, their expressions strange and bewildered. Of all places, they had never expected it to be this one.
“What place is this?” Ji Ziyue asked.
“Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star.” Ye Fan explained.
“Wang Ziwen is here?” Pang Bo was astonished. He had heard Ye Fan mention this before, and now felt a surge of excitement — to think they would encounter an old friend here.
The Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star carried many legends. According to records, it was one of the training grounds of the Venerable Emperor — the entire ancient star was in truth the skull of a supreme being. Now, that appeared to be confirmed.
Though it was genuinely a skull, it could not possibly have been severed by someone else’s hand — for this had been the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable. Who in existence could possess such terrifying power?
“This is staggering — legends, records, truth and fiction intertwined. Only by exploring to this point oneself can one begin to understand.”
Ye Fan felt a wave of overwhelming thoughts. He remembered that deep within the core of this ancient star — within the immortal platform of the supreme being’s skull — there remained undying immortal flame: the divine light of a Primordial Spirit!
Could the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable still be alive? That’s impossible!
The Ancient Heavenly Venerable was too mysterious. Even the vast corpse left behind was enough to astonish and confound — truly unfathomable beyond all measure.
“Come, let us go meet an old friend and have a proper drink with Wang Ziwen.” Pang Bo laughed heartily.
The Holy Prince hoisted his iron staff and circled the ancient star in endless fascination, deeply intrigued by the sight of so colossal a skull transformed into a celestial body — he wanted to split it open and see for himself.
“Compared to the Wheel Sea, a skull growing to this size isn’t really so extraordinary.” Ji Haoyue remarked, quite composed.
“Since we’re here — and our strength has all greatly advanced, with Emperor Weapons now in hand — perhaps we can go deep into the core layers and get to the bottom of things at last.” Ye Fan still had the mysterious golden crow egg firmly in mind.
He had not forgotten that powerful fire crow — perched there for two thousand years, almost never appearing at the surface, remaining in the core, guarding a golden divine egg.
It should be noted that this ancient domain contained three Great Sages. The fire crow was one of them, and whatever it guarded with such devotion was surely no ordinary thing.
“Good — let us get to the bottom of it.” The Holy Prince’s spirits lifted the moment he heard this.
First, they descended upon the ancient star and went directly to Wang Ziwen’s residence. After so many years, he was doing quite well — his father-in-law had become a Great Sage, and his own cultivation had been advancing rapidly.
“Pang Bo!”
Though Wang Ziwen was overjoyed to see Ye Fan, it could not quite be called astonishment — after all, they had already met before. But he had never imagined encountering Pang Bo here — it had been over a hundred and thirty years since they last met.
“Uncle!”
Wang Chen and Wang Xi, the brother and sister pair, offered toasts at the banquet, leaving Pang Bo momentarily dumbfounded — and then deeply moved. In that moment he felt a great surge of generosity and presented them each with a lavish gift.
With three rounds of wine and five courses of food, Ye Fan asked about the situation deep in the planet’s core. Wang Ziwen shook his head and told them that the fire crow had departed.
“That Fire Crow Great Sage truly has extraordinary powers — it actually managed to take away the very last pool of immortal platform fire liquid, which had seemed immovable, and vanished along with that mysterious egg.” These were the words of Wang Ziwen’s father-in-law as he relayed what had occurred.
Ye Fan and the others were startled. The mysterious golden egg was gone — taken where, they could not say. Evidently the Crow Great Sage had been extremely cautious, sensing something approaching, and had departed from this star domain entirely.
They brought their Emperor Weapons deep into the core layers and arrived to find it cold and desolate — not a trace of immortal fire liquid or anything else remained.
“Are you certain that was a golden crow egg, and not the Primordial Spirit of the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable undergoing nirvana rebirth?” Pang Bo said.
“This… the Ancient Heavenly Venerable could not have survived so long.” Ye Fan shook his head.
“Hmm — was the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable even of the human race? Could he have originated from the Golden Crow Clan?” The Holy Prince’s question was stranger still, leaving others momentarily at a loss for words.
In the end, they lingered in this star domain for several days. Ye Fan primarily used the time to pass through his tribulation, consolidating his Dao fruits and deepening his comprehension of the Heavenly Emperor Fist.
Without question, Ye Fan advanced directly to the pinnacle of the ninth level of the Holy King realm. His strength had long since reached this point — he simply had not received heaven and earth’s acknowledgment. The tribulation was merely a formality that had been delayed until now. Prolonged delay was no solution; passing through the tribulation would allow his Dao fruits to crystallize more fully.
At last, Ye Fan and the others took their leave. Wang Ziwen also wished to follow — he wanted to travel the ancient human race path in reverse and return to Earth for a visit, for now they had the coordinates in hand.
“Father, let us go with you.” Both children wished to follow.
“The starry expanse is dangerous. Wait until your strength has grown further.” Wang Ziwen said. For so many years he had been tormented, always longing to return to his homeland, always waking from dreams with tears on his face.
“Wait a little longer. The star roads are about to grow turbulent — it’s not the right time for you to set out.” The Great Sage spoke, and Wang Ziwen’s father-in-law held him and his two children back, warning them that now was not the time to journey forth.
And so they parted. Ye Fan and Pang Bo raised their hands in silent farewell. They too wanted to return — but for now, they still had to press forward.
“Here we part. I must cross several ancient paths to continue forward, so I will no longer travel the same road as you.” When they arrived at a holy city along the human race’s ancient path, the Holy Prince took his leave.
The Monkey wished to temper himself through the most brutal of battles. Now that there were people like Ye Fan on the human race’s ancient path, that was sufficient — he would cross domains and venture into other legendary ancient star grounds.
“After a time — once I’ve swept aside my enemies and stood at the end of a path — I’ll return to the Northern Dipper for a look. What about you?” The Holy Prince asked before departing.
“I’ll go back too.” Ye Fan made a pact with him: one day they would return together to the Northern Dipper ancient star domain, to bear witness to the path of immortality.
“After this parting, who knows how many years will pass before we meet again. Safe travels, Holy Prince.” Ji Ziyue raised her hand in farewell, and everyone gathered to see him off.
“And now — where do we go?” Pang Bo said.
“To the human race’s final pass. Let us see it for what it truly is.” Ye Fan answered. Now no one could block his path. He had slain every young supreme challenger who had dared to contend with him — the Golden Serpent Lord, Sanggu, the Heaven-Swallowing Beast, the Earth Corpse, and others had all fallen, having long since shaken the entirety of the human race’s ancient path.
“Good — let us see what the human race’s final pass truly looks like. We shall ascend to the absolute pinnacle.” Everyone’s spirits soared with towering ambition as they set out on the road.