A few wisps of black mist dissipated, revealing a massive pitch-black fissure seven or eight zhang wide and stretching over a hundred li, cutting straight through the imperial city — clearly a remnant of the great battle.

Ye Fan descended into the fissure, plunging several hundred zhang into the pitch-dark underground until he reached a vast subterranean cavern. Here, the aura he sensed grew even stronger.

His heart stirred uneasily. Could it be that he had found Xiao Nannan the very moment he arrived? He shook his head — yet that vigorous life energy could not be mistaken.

The underground cavern held pools of water, and stalactites grew in clusters, shaped like snails or towering bamboo shoots. Water dripped steadily, its sound carrying through the darkness and vast emptiness, making the place feel all the more still and serene.

Yan Yixi and Li Tian had followed him down, walking behind Ye Fan, both somewhat puzzled — they had not sensed anything particularly unusual.

“Here!”

In a small pool of water sat a translucent crystal stone, glittering brilliantly like a diamond, radiating gorgeous light. Beside it lay a shattered jade jar, and the crystal seemed to have rolled out from within.

Ye Fan picked up the gleaming, gem-like particle. It was incredibly clear and transparent, shimmering with seven colors, radiating a wave of life energy — and carrying Xiao Nannan’s aura.

“It isn’t that seven-colored little stone, but its shape looks like a crystallized teardrop.” He was genuinely astonished. Could even the little one’s teardrops solidify into such crystals?

Yan Yixi and Li Tian were both surprised. Even now, standing close, they had felt nothing — they truly could not understand how Ye Fan had been able to detect a clue from such a great distance.

Li Tian took it into his hand and said, “Touching it with my fingers, I can feel an extraordinary divine energy — it’s as though immortal energy is pouring into my body!”

Yan Yixi was equally astonished. Why was it that they could not sense it from a distance, and only through direct contact could they perceive anything? It made no sense to her.

“It must be because Xiao Nannan once gave me that seven-colored little stone back then, and I absorbed its seven-colored radiance,” Ye Fan said, offering this explanation.

At the same time, a faint smile of joy crossed his face. Others might find it difficult to track Xiao Nannan, but he could sense her this way — a considerable advantage.

Of course, relative to the vastness of the world, even this advantage felt helpless. The land was immense, truly enough to make one’s head ache — like searching for a needle in the ocean.

And this was truly a great problem. Over the next half-month, Ye Fan and the others crossed straits and appeared on several continents in succession, searching for any trace of Xiao Nannan.

Yet not a single clue could be found.

Decades had passed, and the many great powers of the Purple Subtlety Star Domain had all come up empty. It was unrealistic to think that they could find her the moment they arrived.

“What do we do?”

“The Hall of the Human King, the Longevity Monastery of the Dark Ridge, the Guanghan Palace, and other great powers have been searching for decades. Perhaps they’ve uncovered something — I should go and pay them a visit,” Ye Fan muttered to himself.

There was no other way but to gather the fruits of everyone else’s efforts. Perhaps that was the only way to pierce through the fog surrounding Xiao Nannan’s whereabouts.

“That makes sense. After all, they’ve been searching for decades — the valuable information they hold must far exceed what we have,” Yan Yixi nodded.

From that day onward, a mysterious figure appeared throughout the Shenzhou, Luzhou, and Hezhou regions, sneaking up and knocking out experts from various great sects — yet never taking lives. This was naturally Ye Fan, who secretly incapacitated dozens upon dozens of individuals, all elite members of their respective sects, searching through their memory seas for anything related to Xiao Nannan.

The more he looked, the uglier his expression became. These people regarded Xiao Nannan as an undying immortal medicine, and every single one of them intended to throw her into an alchemy cauldron and refine her into a furnace of immortal pills.

The one consolation was that, based on what he had learned so far, it appeared no one had yet succeeded.

“The time has come to move against the most crucial power of all — they are the ones behind all of this,” Li Tian said.

Decades ago, when the Purple Subtlety Divine Dynasty had been reduced to ash and ruin, the primary black hand behind it all was the great power that had descended from beyond the domain. Now, that power had taken the dynasty’s place and become the single strongest force upon this star. Over these many years, they had expanded rapidly, drawing in countless unaffiliated cultivators, and were subtly moving toward stabilizing the realm — displaying the ambition to swallow the entire ancient continent whole.

If they continued developing at this rate, it would not even be remarkable if they unified the entire Purple Subtlety Star Domain.

Yet regarding their highest echelons, they had remained shrouded in mystery all these years, perpetually veiled in fog. Even powers as formidable as the Longevity Monastery of the Dark Ridge and the Hall of the Human King could not learn the full truth.

The moonlight was soft and gentle, all was still, and on the horizon there appeared a magnificent great city — Kun City, a place before which every cultivator in the world stopped in awe and deep reverence.

Decades ago, it was this very power that had moved to destroy the Purple Subtlety Divine Dynasty, bringing a great force whose lineage stretched through the ages to its end.

It was a behemoth. Who in the world today dared to provoke it? When it issued a command, none dared disobey. From the trajectory of its expansion, it truly seemed as though it harbored ambitions to seize control of the entire imperial star.

This filled the various great powers with deep dread and regret. They deeply regretted having allied with this power to destroy the Purple Subtlety Divine Dynasty. It was as though they had slain a tiger, only to invite in a dragon far more fearsome.

The moonlight cascaded like water, and the immense city rose with overwhelming grandeur, standing upon the earth like an ancient primordial beast lying dormant — savage yet restrained, yet its oppressive aura struck one in the face.

Ye Fan came alone, stepping through the moonlight, entering the magnificent great city and proceeding directly to its inner imperial palace — where he was stopped by a world-shaking great formation.

He did not attempt to force his way through. Instead, he observed in secret for a time, and could not help but be alarmed: within that formation, there was actually an emperor’s might — a quasi-emperor killing formation had been laid within.

At this moment, Ye Fan’s eyes instantly turned cold and sharp. He classified this divine dynasty among the most dangerous, recognizing it was no simple great power — its origins ran deep.

Sensing carefully, he could not be certain whether a quasi-emperor was actually present, but from the formation arrays here he had chewed out a thread of dark foreboding. No matter what, the ruler behind it all was terrifying.

Ye Fan had no desire to startle the snake by striking at the grass. He was unwilling to stir up conflict in this place.

He waited a long while. Eventually, a powerful expert emerged from the imperial palace. As for the guards he had noticed earlier, Ye Fan could not be bothered with them. This person was a half-saint — nothing compared to him, though still quite formidable in this mortal world.

Ye Fan transformed into a streak of divine light, swooped down, snatched the man, and left — doing so without the slightest effort, unnoticed by anyone.

Out in the wilderness, Ye Fan searched the man’s memory sea, examining the origins of this great sect.

A moment later, his heart shook. The origins truly ran immeasurably deep. Far away in the depths of the starry sky, there was a supreme ruler — cultivation depth unknown, background and origin unknown — who had issued a divine decree commanding his disciples to mobilize and unify the ancient Purple Subtlety Domain.

They intended to establish a Heavenly Court.

In the end, this was the intelligence Ye Fan obtained. How could his heart not be shaken? What a staggering ambition this was.

This was not merely establishing a sect on a single ancient star — it was being put into action, conquering domain by domain, building this colossal system, recreating the glory of the mythological age.

“Truly extraordinary!” Li Tian and Yan Yixi walked out from among the mountain ridges. Having reviewed this person’s memories from his immortal platform, neither could suppress their astonishment.

“To build a Heavenly Court capable of ruling over ten thousand domains — the person behind this must be a quasi-emperor at the very least, right? Who among the human race today could oppose them? Perhaps only that old man Gai could,” Li Tian said.

“And this was accomplished by a single disciple acting alone, who nearly brought an entire ancient star domain under control. The leader behind all of this must be frightening beyond measure — otherwise, how would they dare to act so boldly,” Yan Yixi sighed.

After erasing the relevant memories from the man’s mind, Ye Fan returned him to where he had been. He furrowed his brow slightly. Every method had been tried, and still nothing had been found.

“Perhaps the time has come to ask some old acquaintances for help,” Yan Yixi said.

“Are you speaking of that particular sect?” Li Tian asked.

“Indeed!” Ye Fan had naturally thought of this as well. Now, it was time to seek help from the Celestial Mechanism Sect.

Long ago, when they were departing, the founding patriarch of the Celestial Mechanism Sect had been on the verge of passing into stillness. Having glimpsed a corner of the future, he had sent forth two prophecies — both of which had proven fairly accurate.

Li Tian and Yan Yixi each carried a Celestial Mechanism command token. According to their ancestral covenant, the Celestial Mechanism Valley was obligated to divine for them four times — two of which remained unused.

The old patriarch of the Celestial Mechanism Sect had once said they could return in twenty years.

After Ye Fan and the others had departed, they were separated from this place by hundreds of millions of li, and without knowing the way back, they had never thought they would return. They had never intended to seek out this lineage again.

Who could have known that after more than a hundred years, they would once again have need of it? The world had a way of defying expectations.

The Profound Abyss lay in the western part of the Central Region — a massive deep valley that saw neither sky nor sunlight through the year, perpetually dim and dark. The ancient hidden Dao sect, the Celestial Mechanism Sect, had shut its mountain gates here and withdrawn from the world; the sight of its members was rare in the outside world.

All of this was because their ability to deduce celestial mechanisms had drawn the curse of Heaven, leaving them with no choice but to shun the mortal world.

Heaven begrudged this sect. Though it possessed divine arts that astonished the world, it could never truly flourish. Throughout the generations, it had only ever numbered a few members — an ancient hidden Dao sect that kept itself apart from the world.

When Ye Fan and the others descended underground, they were stunned. The Celestial Mechanism Sect had been razed to the ground — rubble everywhere, destroyed utterly and completely.

It was like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads, chilling them to the bone. Coming here had been the most effective shortcut; they had hoped to catch a glimpse of some clue about Xiao Nannan, but they had never expected this path to be cut off so directly.

“Who destroyed this?” Li Tian demanded through gritted teeth.

“It was that divine dynasty that descended from beyond the domain,” Yan Yixi said. In this place, they had discovered terrifying bore holes left by war lances — similar to those at the Purple Subtlety imperial city.

Clearly, the great power that sought to establish the ancient Heavenly Court and possessed incomparable strength had also tried to exploit the Celestial Mechanism Sect’s prophecies — yet had ultimately destroyed this place.

Ye Fan felt a deep melancholy as he departed. He could tell that finding Xiao Nannan was truly going to take a very long time.

Yet things often turn out contrary to one’s expectations. While they were searching in the eastern Shenzhou region, half a month later they came across a young Daoist boy, who took the initiative to approach and greet them with a bow.

“Little Daoist boy, who are you?”

“This humble Daoist comes from the Celestial Mechanism Sect, to deliver two pages of talisman paper to the three of you,” the young Daoist boy said.

“The Celestial Mechanism Sect survived that calamity?” Li Tian was astonished, and equally struck by another realization — this lineage was truly something extraordinary, to have been able to find them.

“We evaded the catastrophe of annihilation that day. We have been living in seclusion among the low hills ahead. Another patriarch is about to enter stillness — only one day remains. He happened to learn that several of you had arrived here, and wished to settle his final affairs in the mortal world,” the young Daoist boy said, a thread of sorrow crossing his face.

In the distance, a middle-aged Daoist approached, his dark beard flowing, carrying the air of an immortal. Looking carefully, there was something familiar about him — this was the young Daoist boy from over a hundred years ago, now grown into the inheritor of the sect.

“Another patriarch is about to enter stillness to fulfill his final wish. Our sect will thereafter withdraw completely from the world, until the greatest upheaval in ten thousand ages has passed,” the middle-aged Daoist said, his face carrying a grief-laden sorrow.

In the past, he had witnessed one patriarch perish under Heaven’s envy; now, another faced the same fate — this was the misfortune their lineage could not escape.

“Please accept our condolences.”

Ye Fan and the others did not know how to offer comfort. They bowed quietly and offered some divine fluid from an ancient celestial lord.

“Whatever you seek — the patriarch dares not divine for it. One touch and it would ignite, and not only he, but the ten-thousand-year legacy of the Celestial Mechanism Sect itself would be reduced to ashes entirely. Only a faint sense remains: if you travel northwest, you shall find what you seek. It lies within the mortal world,” the middle-aged Daoist said sorrowfully.

In the end, both parties exchanged bows and parted ways. From this day forward, for tens of thousands of years, the Celestial Mechanism Sect would exist no more in the world.

In the cold and bitter northwest, a small solitary figure trudged forward alone, her little clothes long since worn to rags…