The path to immortality had opened!

Ye Fan stood there in a daze. Upon returning, he had heard news that left the world trembling in shock!

Throughout the cosmos, silver radiance scattered across the star-filled sky in a brilliant display. The great sages moved across the four corners of existence. The Northern Dipper had erupted into complete turmoil, and countless cultivators had gone mad with excitement.

“The greatest upheaval in ten thousand ages is about to begin — a new era is coming!”

Everyone’s hearts burned with fervor. This was the desire of every single person, something they had waited for across uncountable years. This was the greatest immortal opportunity in all of history, one that would give rise to all manner of transformations.

Where was the immortal path? After Ye Fan descended to the ground, he didn’t even need to search for information. Simply by observing the direction in which the countless cultivators were traveling, he made his judgment and determined the location.

It truly was connected to the ancient forbidden lands — just several hundred li away, in a desolate mountain range!

Figures filled the sky and the earth alike, as countless sages arrived at this place, only to quickly retreat and journey far beyond the region to report back to the founding ancestors of their respective clans.

Ye Fan arrived. Even from a distance, he sensed an immortal energy — a peculiar aura washing over him, filling his entire body with an indescribable sense of ease and comfort.

“Big brother, is it true that someone is about to become an immortal?” Xiao Nannan tilted her head up to ask, her large eyes — bright and pure, with clear contrast between black and white — full of innocent curiosity.

“Perhaps,” Ye Fan said softly. “The most terrifying upheaval is about to begin.”

This mountain range was no stranger to Ye Fan. Long ago, when he was still a minor cultivator, he had come here and gazed upon the ancient forbidden lands from afar. Now, the area was wreathed in clouds and mist, many times more mysterious than before — no longer visible to the naked eye.

Outside the restricted zone, ancient trees soared toward the heavens and great mountains stretched across the land. On ordinary days, apes would cry and tigers would roar, with various mysterious savage beasts prowling about, and divine birds spreading their wings to strike at the sky. Yet today, every wild creature had been replaced by people. Everywhere one looked were the powerful, everywhere were cultivators, all of them here solely to catch a glimpse of that immortal domain light.

Above one towering mountain peak, a terrifying great rift had appeared. Wisps of immortal energy leaked out from it at intervals, leaving all who witnessed it struck with awe!

That fissure blazed with an intense brilliance — like a stream of lava cutting through the night, like a bolt of lightning slashing across a storm-darkened sky. It was extraordinarily striking and blinding.

The Rift of the Immortal Domain!

This was a world-shaking fissure, stretching dozens of zhang in length, dazzling and awe-inspiring. The people gathered there speculated that the true immortal domain was about to be opened at last!

“Is it real? Who can verify it? Surely some great figure isn’t setting a trap — I recall that similar events have happened before, and two powerful sage-kings were ensnared by such schemes.”

“It’s real. It has already been verified. There is a different aura there. Just now, a ray of immortal light flew out and was obtained by someone, who on the spot broke through their bottleneck and stepped into a higher realm.”

Ye Fan had just arrived when he heard the crowd buzzing with discussion.

He held Xiao Nannan’s hand and stood atop a large reclining-ox boulder, gazing forward with furrowed brows. He saw it all clearly, and it appeared to be no fabrication.

“Another ray of immortal light has flown out!”

Just then, someone cried out in alarm. A beam of light surged from within the mysterious great rift — utterly extraordinary — transforming for a moment into a true dragon, then into a vermilion bird, all accompanied by waves of primordial chaos energy.

“Another ray of immortal light has appeared!”

The crowd erupted into a frenzied scramble, everyone surging forward at once. Immediately, a bloody conflict broke out as people fought viciously over it — extremely intense and brutal.

Ye Fan’s heart shook violently. That was the Northern Polar Immortal Light. He had seen such a thing before, in the ruins of the immortal path beneath the ice cave when he had gone searching for Tu Fei.

Seeing it appear here now left him momentarily stunned, while within his heart a towering surge of waves arose. The immortal path was truly opening — not a false rumor at all. It had actually come to pass.

A bloody battle broke out, and the immortal light was seized by a mysterious powerful figure who then vanished into the boundless heavens above, entering seclusion to comprehend and study it. This was an extraordinary stroke of fortune beyond measure.

Why had no one entered yet? That was Ye Fan’s question. Since a rift had already cracked open, why hadn’t the crowd forced their way through?

Quite a few others shared his confusion, having just arrived as well. When they asked around, someone immediately let out a cold laugh.

“The great emperors of antiquity all failed. Do you think we can force our way in? Even with this rift having appeared, the power of the mortal world is insufficient to pry it open further.”

These words were barely finished before someone could no longer hold back. A sacred weapon was produced and unleashed forward, striking out in an attempt to tear the rift wider and rush into the immortal domain.

Boom!

This was like adding oil to fire. From within the blazing great rift, a terrifying surge of light erupted — vast and overwhelming, sweeping through the six directions and eight wastelands.

“Ahh—!”

The one who had acted out let out a miserable scream. Their sacred weapon shattered inch by inch, and they themselves were turned into a rain of blood, reduced to ash and smoke within the blazing light, becoming nothing more than dust and decay.

“Hmph. A mere sage, attempting to force entry. In the past two days, four great sages have already perished — every single one without the slightest suspense, reduced to tribulation ash within the rift.”

The bloody facts lay plainly before everyone’s eyes. The crowd felt their scalps prickle. What others said could perhaps be doubted — but witnessing it with their own eyes, experiencing it firsthand, made it undeniably real, and all the more terrifying.

The immortal path was merciless!

And this was only the beginning. A single rift had appeared, yet it had already triggered a blood tribulation. This was clearly not the end — the calamity of bloodshed had only just begun.

Indeed, it was exactly so. Ye Fan remained at this place for half a day and observed that various newcomers, refusing to believe the danger, tried testing it with all manner of methods — every single one met with utter defeat. Gleaming white bone fragments spattered with threads of blood scattered in all directions. This place was an endless field of tragedy and sorrow.

The crowd drew sharp breaths. In just over half a day, setting aside those sages who had died, yet another great sage had fallen. The ruler-of-heaven measuring rod in their hands had snapped into eight pieces, and the great sage themselves had been struck by the backlash of the immortal light, becoming tribulation ash.

What manner of place was this? Why was the immortal domain so terrifyingly powerful that even great sages were as fragile as scarecrows before it? Any who dared rush forward would inevitably be burned until their blood ran dry, leaving not even bones behind.

Ye Fan’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper as he watched. This place was far beyond what any mortal power could breach. Even deploying the supreme path-ending imperial weapons would not guarantee success — it could easily bring great catastrophe upon oneself.

“What movements have the great life-restricted zones made?” he asked those around him. That was the crux of the matter. The supreme existences within those forbidden lands, for the sake of becoming immortal, for the sake of survival, had paid catastrophic prices. No one was more desperate than they were.

If those beings did not make their move, this place would have no meaning whatsoever!

“All seven great life-restricted zones have pillars of light shooting up to tear through the heavens. The Ancient Primordial Ore Mine and the Undying Mountain in particular have emitted terrifying mist that has billowed all the way to here,” someone said in a trembling voice, as though they had just witnessed the most horrifying sight imaginable.

Ye Fan turned and left, without lingering even one minute longer. He carried the green copper cauldron on his person, and such a thing would most likely attract the attention of those ancient supreme existences.

He moved far from that mountain range and stood alone atop a solitary peak, quietly contemplating, carefully deliberating.

The opening of the immortal path had come far too suddenly. Though it was only a rift for now — not yet a true immortal gate — it still felt unreal.

There had been no buildup. No omens. It had simply cracked open in a single night and appeared in this world!

“It’s coming again — a wave of immortal mist sweeping in from the distance!” someone cried out in terror from afar.

Ye Fan’s head snapped up. To the north, a mysterious expanse of mist — moving at the speed of light — came sweeping in from that direction. It was boundless and immense, like an ocean hanging suspended in midair, filling the entire heaven and earth, and cascading down upon the immortal domain rift.

A vast expanse of white, stretching from north to south, cutting across heaven and earth — like a true Silver River fallen from the sky. It was far too terrifying and immeasurable, enough to make even great sages tremble.

It came from the direction of the Divine Ruins. The white expanse of mist exerted a Pressure Aura over the six directions and eight wastelands, sweeping through the boundless heavens, causing hearts to shake without end.

This was not a physical figure — only a form of energy, a powerful divine consciousness awakening, reaching out toward this place to probe the nature and reality of this rift.

These were the supreme existences of the most ancient times — each one with magical powers that surpassed all of history. Their mere awakening alone produced such vast and awe-inspiring momentum. It left people utterly shaken.

The mist lingered here for a long while. Not a single person in the crowd dared breathe too loudly. They had experienced this before — similar phenomena had come from the Ancient Primordial Ore Mine and elsewhere. Reverence and stillness were the wisest choices.

“Listening to my own funeral song… Upon this final road, hope has at last appeared…”

Only those words were left behind. Then everything fell into silence.

A quarter of an hour later, the boundless primordial mist receded like a tide, and the oppressive atmosphere dissolved at once, causing people to involuntarily release long, slow breaths.

“It’s real. The immortal path has appeared. The immortal domain will be fully opened!”

At last, the crowd was certain. The rift was genuine — no trap. Who could deceive the existences within the restricted zones? Anyone who attempted it would be tired of living!

On this day, all under heaven erupted into uproar. The entire world was shaken. Not a single person was not trembling. This was the dream of cultivators stretching back ten thousand ages — and in this lifetime, it would at last be fulfilled.

How many heroes had fought their way along the immortal road, only to leave their bones buried in foreign lands? Even sovereign emperors of a generation had failed to attain immortality. After their deaths, the heavenly courts collapsed and the divine order across all domains fell into chaos. Yet now, such a heaven-granted opportunity had appeared.

According to legend, in this lifetime, the gate of the immortal domain would open wide, and someone would at last truly achieve immortality.

This was not the deduction of a single person. The sovereigns of the most ancient era and the great emperors of the human race had all performed their calculations and divinations — together arriving at the conclusion that it would be in this lifetime, and that this lifetime would produce a great upheaval without precedent in all of history!

“Big brother, are you going to become an immortal too? Will you leave Nannan behind?” On the mountain peak, Xiao Nannan tilted her head up and looked at him with wide, anxious eyes, clearly nervous.

Ye Fan smiled. He crouched down and lightly pinched her soft little cheek. “When I become an immortal,” he said, “I’ll take you with me into the immortal domain.”

The little one immediately burst into a bright, happy smile. A single word from him was enough to satisfy her completely.

Ye Fan thought carefully for a long while. This had truly come too suddenly — even now, his heart had not settled. How could there have been not even a single prelude? A crack had simply appeared out of nowhere.

“When are we going to become immortals?” Xiao Nannan asked with innocent simplicity, completely natural, without the slightest hesitation.

Ye Fan felt his head ache a little. This was truly too difficult. Even now, the supreme existences within the seven great life-restricted zones had made no move and were not acting. Clearly, the timing was still unknown.

They had waited for ten thousand ages. Emperor-level existences would not act rashly — they were certainly waiting in stillness for the most precise moment to arrive, intending to break through into the immortal domain in a single instant at the critical juncture.

At this time, no one was making a reckless move. Yet it seemed that the earth-shattering strike that would end all waiting was not far off.

“The most terrifying event in all of history is about to happen…”

Ye Fan murmured to himself. Never before had the world witnessed battle at this scale — yet now, everything was about to change. When that day arrived, all rules would be broken.

The age of myth was about to return. On the immortal path, heroes and their fates of victory and defeat would be written!

Who would attain immortality — it would all rise to the surface within a great tribulation that swept through the entire universe…