A massive phoenix nest drifted through the cosmos, wreathed in swirling mist and radiating an overwhelming sense of oppression. A crisp yet imperious voice echoed from within.

“Have they found the First Divine General?”

“Reporting to the Heavenly Empress — not yet. We have been to his homeland, and there is not a single trace of him there. However, his tomb is empty.” Someone knelt below, making the report.

“Could it be that the Underworld dug up the body, or perhaps he has already dissolved into the Dao?” The woman’s voice carried a faint trace of weariness. Ever since her battle against the Wood-Chopping Elder, she had been recovering for many years, and even now her Dao-wound had yet to fully heal.

The person below reported carefully: “The Underworld has completely vanished from that region — they appear deeply wary of it. Furthermore, all of his descendants are alive and well. Our investigation revealed that an invisible hand once stood guard over that clan and had slaughtered a quasi-emperor.”

“In that case, there is a genuine possibility that he is still alive — that he has been slumbering until now.” The Undying Heavenly Empress fell into deep thought.

Within the phoenix nest, two other thrones were occupied — one by the Sun-Moon Divine General, the other by the Celestial Earth Divine General. Both had recovered considerably since twenty years ago, far surpassing where they had once stood, and the splendor of the primordial age was beginning to reassert itself.

“The First Divine General possessed the bearing of an Ancient Emperor. Had the Heavenly Emperor not achieved the Dao and come to dominate the rise and fall of the mortal realm — suppressing all ten thousand Daos beneath heaven and ruling over the myriad skies — he might well have taken that very step himself,” said the Sun-Moon Divine General.

In his view, even if every last one of them had perished, the First Divine General should never have faded into obscurity and passed away in silence. He understood that man deeply — how could he ever have been content with such an end? That person would surely have staked everything on one final gamble, taken that one decisive step — and whether he succeeded or failed, it would have shaken heaven and earth.

“Indeed. The First Divine General was far too powerful. There is also a legend that after he went into seclusion, he may have been undergoing a complete metamorphosis — a transformation beyond all comprehension — with the intent of challenging the Heavenly Emperor himself!” said the Celestial Earth Divine General.

All of them harbored the same suspicion — that the First Divine General might still be alive. A person like him, whose brilliance even the Undying Heavenly Emperor of that era had never been able to fully eclipse, could never have died an ordinary death.

He had been magnificent beyond measure — radiant, transcendent in bearing, making the very sun and moon look like fireflies by comparison. In that age, he was the foremost divine being beneath the Undying Heavenly Emperor!

When he retreated into seclusion, he had still possessed half his remaining lifespan — not yet in his twilight years. He had time, he had life essence, he had the ability to stake everything on one grand gamble.

The Undying Heavenly Empress let out a long, quiet sigh and said nothing.

The Celestial Earth Divine General seemed to sense something and immediately fell silent.

The Sun-Moon Divine General — wild and untamed, his hair a full head of silver despite his youthful appearance — also chose not to say anything further in that moment, electing to remain silent as well.

For they were all people of that era, and had heard certain whispers — rumors suggesting that the Heavenly Empress had once shared a history with the First Divine General, though later one had become the Heavenly Empress and the other had become the First Divine Being.

“I hope he is still alive,” said the Undying Heavenly Empress.

Then her tone shifted to one of grave severity. Her voice remained crisp and pleasant to the ear, yet it now carried a murderous edge that sent tremors through the entire imperial dynasty. Cracks split open across the fabric of the cosmic void as she spoke:

“The Heavenly Emperor’s offspring have been killed by the Holy Body Ye Fan and the people of the Sacred Emperor’s lineage acting together. Though he was not my own flesh and blood, he still would have called me mother — this debt cannot go unsettled. Whoever among you has the leisure, go and kill a few people.”

“The Underworld has been locked in a fierce confrontation with them. We will move at the appropriate moment, but we must steer clear of that little girl — we suspect she may be…”

“Handle it as you see fit. Even if it is her — so what? In the end, who knows which of us will stand as the one to overawe the heroes of all eternity. She may not necessarily rise to supremacy. The future will reveal all!” the Undying Heavenly Empress said coldly.

In the Heavenly Court, upon a divine island suspended in the air, Ye Tong and Xiao Song were engaged in a discourse on the Dao. Yang Xi and Hua Hua sat nearby listening, both of them utterly absorbed. Flowers of the Dao bloomed one after another in that place — thousands of brilliant radiances bursting open across the entire sky.

The onlookers marveled — these two extraordinary talents were truly defying the heavens. Though they walked different paths, the Great Dao in its highest simplicity leads all roads to the same destination, and at the uppermost tier, the resonance would ultimately converge to a single point.

“I need to find an opportunity to undergo my tribulation,” said Pang Bo. “Otherwise I’m doing a real disservice to the title of Uncle-Master.”

The Black Emperor, whose skin was thicker than any wall, heard this and remained utterly unconcerned. “What’s the rush? Haven’t you looked at Sect Master Zhang Wenchang? That man is the picture of composure — he won’t even think about severing the Dao and attaining kinghood for another five hundred years. His foundation is rock-solid and beyond reproach.”

Zhang Wenchang, though the target of this gentle mockery, was not a man to be trifled with. He smiled serenely and extended an invitation to the gathered members of the Heavenly Court: “Tonight, I’ll treat everyone to dog meat hotpot.”

“Wonderful — we’ll definitely be there!” the group responded enthusiastically.

“Woof!”

On the divine island, Xiao Song suddenly stirred with a flicker of his divine sense, his brows drawing together in a slight frown. He turned to look at Gu Xin’ao.

That peerless overlord — who in his time had been capable of battling the Cyan Emperor as an equal — let his white hair scatter freely as his eyes blazed like twin torches, gazing into the far distance, as though something had touched his instincts.

“Senior Gu still has his instincts intact — and no wonder, for he is a supreme master who once traded blows with the Cyan Emperor. He has sensed that a being of the utmost strength is gazing upon the Heavenly Court from afar,” said Xiao Song.

Ye Tong nodded. “Indeed. A fearsome figure has arrived.”

“Someone still dares to covet the Heavenly Court? Let’s go out and cut them down!” said Yang Xi. He was a battle-hungry fanatic — the bloodline of the Holy Body had reawakened within him, and his every bone radiated unyielding pride. He had never feared a challenge.

The Black Emperor and the others came flying over. With a wave of his paw, he signaled for them to bring Gu Xin’ao along. Then the void split open in utter silence — unlocked by the formation array of the chessboard — and in an instant they were transported to the distant battlefield.

Boom!

That day, a great battle erupted at the outer perimeter of the Heavenly Court. The mysterious powerful being sent by the Underworld was absolutely terrifying — yet in the end they were slaughtered until their physical body exploded into pieces, hunted down with no way to escape by Ye Fan’s several great disciples.

At the same moment, Gu Xin’ao made his move — though not against the Underworld’s people. Instead, he pressed a single palm against the void, collapsing an entire stretch of the stellar river into ruin.

“What?! The Celestial Earth Divine General has been injured — that white-haired battle slave of the Heavenly Court is actually this formidable?” In the phoenix nest, the Sun-Moon Divine General was stunned.

“I let my guard down. If he had his divine consciousness, he would be no weaker than any of us at our absolute peak from years past. He is truly fearsome!” The Celestial Earth Divine General coughed up several great mouthfuls of blood. Even managing to make it back alive had been no small feat.

Naturally, there are no walls through which wind does not blow. The Underworld’s act of vengeance and the phoenix nest’s strike against the Heavenly Court had both met with terrifying reprisals, and the matter sent the starry expanse into an uproar once more.

The cosmos grew ever more tense. The Underworld, the Divine Organization, the Dao Palace, and the Imperial Dynasty stood as four equal pillars — and now a Heavenly Court on the verge of rising to power had been added to their number. Five great forces cast their shadows across the cosmic starfields, and the situation was rife with far too many unknown variables.

This was a peculiar era — stifling enough to make one feel as though the air itself had been wrung out of the world. It felt as though a violent storm was coming, and the present moment was merely the brief stillness that precedes wind and rain.

Once it broke loose, it would inevitably bring torrents of blood, with thunder shattering the cosmos. People had already foreseen a great and terrifying upheaval — one that might leave even the cosmos itself broken and ruined.

Everyone was waiting for the darkness that comes before the dawn, waiting for that raging storm. Some of the great powers had already begun to migrate, fleeing far away to remote and desolate wastelands on the fringes of existence.

In an age of chaos, survival was the foremost priority.

What was the use of speaking of grand ambitions and dominion, or of longing for eternal life? If one were cut down amid the turmoil, all of it would become nothing more than a joke.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it was nearly enough to make one faint. The great battle was drawing near, and naturally, those who commanded the most attention were the supreme masters of the age. There was no need to even speak of the Underworld — it was said to harbor ancient supreme beings lying in slumber. The Divine Organization, a remnant faction of the Ancient Heavenly Court, most assuredly had its own supreme masters holding the fort. How else could it stand in opposition to the Underworld?

As for the Undying Heavenly Empress, the Wood-Chopping Elder, and those of their ilk — they were beings without peer across entire generations. If it truly came to a full-scale bloodbath, who could stand against them?

When all was reckoned, the Heavenly Court was by far the weakest of the lot at present. It had no one who stood utterly undefeated beneath the heavens. Ye Fan’s full achievement was a matter one could look forward to — once he reached that step, sweeping through the world would be no problem at all. But did he still have the time?

Gu Xin’ao had, after all, already passed from the world long ago. A single physical body could not possibly contend with someone on the verge of achieving the Dao.

The other four colossi each had their own matchless supreme masters. If it truly came to open conflict, who would give him the time? They would strike like thunder and move to exterminate him without hesitation.

With the great battle imminent, the one thing that would draw every eye was, without a doubt, the decisive clash between the greatest masters of the age!

Where was Ye Fan? Could he still achieve his full accomplishment in time? The great forces throughout the cosmos were all speculating, all watching. This was an age of mythology — and it was destined to see battles that would shatter the very vault of heaven.

In the depths of the cosmos, Ye Fan let out a long, sweeping cry. He cultivated as he traveled, traversing the stellar domains of the myriad heavens — observing the sun, the moon, the mountains, and the rivers — seeking enlightenment in the laws of heaven and earth and all of nature, and fathoming the primordial secrets of all creation. He read through the ancient scriptures of the emperors, taking the spirit of the Void Emperor and the reverie of the Sovereign Emperor as his companions. One great silhouette after another seemed to step forth from the sacred texts to do battle against him.

Along this journey, though his gains were immense and his power had surged dramatically, reaching for the edge of the Imperial Dao in a single bound was far easier said than done. It was harder than conjuring a clear sky from nothing!

Before him lay a divine sea — its origin unknown — drifting through the cosmos. It shimmered throughout in gold, vast and boundless, as the sun, moon, and stars fell ceaselessly into its waters.

Such a wondrous sight was truly a rarity. Ye Fan was moved. This divine sea pulsed with a powerful surge of force, and he lingered at its shore, treating it as the ideal place to enter seclusion.

I want to grow stronger. I want to become even stronger!

Though he had been journeying and seeking enlightenment in his own Dao, he was nonetheless aware of what was unfolding in the outside world. He understood that the Heavenly Court needed a peerless supreme master to emerge!

Setting aside rescuing An Miaoyi for the moment — even solely for the sake of preserving the Heavenly Court, he had to break through. In this great upheaval that was reshaping heaven and earth, no one could know what terrifying events might come to pass.

My Dao. My law. My path.

Ye Fan sat cross-legged before the golden divine sea, driven nearly to a state of obsession. Time would not wait for him — he needed to grow powerful immediately. An Miaoyi had fallen into the Underworld, and heaven alone knew what might be happening to her there.

He asked for nothing else — only to rescue her.

The Heavenly Court held so many of his loved ones and friends. They, too, needed him to be powerful. Otherwise, those four colossi could come bearing down at any moment, and if a supreme being among them truly emerged, even Xiao Nannan would not be able to hold them back.

Yet the more anxious he became, the more Ye Fan felt the breakthrough slipping beyond his reach. He sat cross-legged in that place for three days, and within that time his hair turned completely white. His silver-white hair hung loose around him — as though he had aged ten thousand years in an instant.

Why can I not break through? Why can I not take this one great step forward?!

Ye Fan opened his mouth and spat out a great mouthful of fresh blood. He had been too desperate for quick results. His state of mind had fallen into disorder; a heart demon had taken hold of him, and he had injured himself in the process.

I must calm myself. My original heart must not be lost — the Dao will awaken me.

Ye Fan steadied his state of mind. The many ancient scriptures within him resonated in harmony; his several great sacred realms lit up, bringing clarity and emptiness to his heart. He severed all attachments, and from a single thought, the Dao was born.

Then he ceased to move at all. His entire body fell into a state of desolate stillness. He sank into a profound contemplation, fusing with the void around him, becoming a part of nothingness itself.

Time flowed onward. It was impossible to say how many years had passed. Then, one day, his spirit gave a sudden tremor and he opened his eyes, sensing a strange, inexplicable presence.

Why is this world so desolate?

The golden divine sea had dried up. The stars and constellations had all been extinguished. The cosmos lay in ruin — it had been beaten into a broken wasteland. What had happened here? What had come to pass?

Ye Fan was seized with shock!

How long have I been sitting here? Why do I feel as though I have lost so many years?

Ye Fan trembled. He could feel the immensity of his power following its extreme, exhaustive ascent — the blood within him surged like a torrent of rampaging great dragons. He dared to do battle against the ancient supreme beings of antiquity!

And yet — why had the environment of the cosmos changed so drastically?

He spread open his hand and saw wrinkles upon it. His skin was no longer smooth and luminous; it lacked radiance and luster.

Ye Fan rose to his full height. With a single stroke through the void, a precious mirror appeared — and it reflected back his true face. White hair cascaded to his shoulders, and the passage of time had carved one furrow after another into his features. He was no longer young. He had grown old.

Within him surged a force as vast as an ocean, holding within it all the boundless sky of ten thousand ages, capable of doing battle against supreme beings — his law and Dao were enough to blot out the heavens. And yet — how many years had truly passed? How could this have happened?!