“Since there is hope for ascending to immortality, we must make another kind of preparation. I shall open the Ten Great Pure Lands. Wait quietly — if I seize the opportunity to become an immortal, I will guide you all across together.” Ye Fan said earnestly.
In this lifetime, one could not afford not to fight. A prophecy of ascending to immortality had appeared — it was destined that history would be made, and all those within the Life Forbidden Zones would inevitably come to wage war.
There was no need to deliberate at length. Before long, there would be an unimaginable and fierce great collision. Emperors would rise simultaneously to contend for the immortal path — the fighting might even shatter this entire universe.
“Father, you must be careful!” A young girl was filled with worry. Several hundred years had passed, and Xiao Zi had grown into a young woman — pure and transcendent in beauty, now carrying a trace of melancholy.
She resembled Ji Ziyue greatly — playful and adorable in ordinary times, brimming with youth and vitality, and greatly beloved by everyone in the Heavenly Court.
Ye Fan ruffled her hair and said, “Don’t worry.”
“You’ve made a mess of it,” Xiao Zi muttered, her head of jet-black hair flowing with a lustrous sheen.
A group of children had all grown up, each one a breathtaking genius — the students surpassing the masters. Many had exceeded their parents’ generations, making the Heavenly Court appear ever more prosperous and flourishing.
The only one who remained unchanged was Xiao Nannan. She was still so small — fair-skinned and rosy-cheeked, adorably chubby and innocent, brimming with childlike wonder. She remained the little one whom everyone wished to cherish and protect.
“Uncle, let us go with you to battle for the immortal path!” The boys from Li Heishui’s family, along with the children from Dongfang Ye’s family, were the most restless of all. They revealed expressions of eager anticipation — though in truth, they hardly wanted to fight for the immortal path; they clearly just wanted Ye Fan to take them on an adventure.
“All of you, behave yourselves,” Dongfang Ye said, rapping each of them on the head in turn.
The Heavenly Court was rich in talent and brimming with limitless potential. A group of children had grown into adults — relying on themselves alone, they could already hold up an entire expanse of sky. It was a flourishing sight, one that filled the heart with contentment.
After that, Ye Fan grew busy. He was opening the heavens — primordial chaos energy surged in torrents, and the Cauldron of All Things Mother Qi rose and fell, absorbing all the innate essence from within the Pure Lands he was carving open.
At his level of cultivation, opening up a divine realm was naturally no problem. Even embedding true stars within it was not particularly difficult, for those of his caliber could accomplish such things as a matter of course.
Ye Fan intended to open the Ten Great Pure Lands to serve as refuge for the heavenly soldiers and generals.
Throughout this process of opening the heavens, his disciples and the important figures of the Heavenly Court all watched on. These were not small worlds — these were true divine realms, worthy of observation and contemplation.
Ye Fan’s divine power surged like a tide, evolving life and death, carving open the primordial beginning, stabilizing heaven and earth, reforging the stars — the methods he displayed left all who witnessed them in awe.
When opening the heavens within chaos, one occasionally encountered strange materials — some of which were extraordinarily rare, the likes of which could not be found a second time in all the world. But apart from those of Great Emperor caliber, no one else could possibly open the heavens and carve the earth on such a scale.
Ye Fan intended to open ten layers of heaven — an undertaking so staggering it defied imagination.
Ding!
A light sound rang out. While opening the eighth layer of heaven, a streak of crimson light flashed and collided with the Cauldron of All Things Mother Qi — yet it did not shatter, and streams of flowing radiance flew out from it.
“A chaotic immortal treasure has been unearthed!” Hua Hua cried out, extremely excited.
He was not as quick as the Black Emperor, whose enormous black paw swept out and pressed down on Hua Hua’s bald head, then rushed ahead first, opening its mouth to bite. When it came to snatching treasures, no one could compare — save for Duan De.
“Senior Uncle Black Emperor, what are you doing?” A group of children all stared at it.
“I forgot — we’re all on the same side. The treasure isn’t going anywhere sitting in the meat pot. It was just a conditioned reflex,” the Black Emperor said sheepishly.
Xiao Zi, Yan Xiao, Dongfang Changsheng, and the rest of the children all stifled their laughter, while Li Tian, Li Heishui, Dongfang Ye, and the others remained quite calm — if the Big Black Dog hadn’t reacted that way, that would have been truly strange.
“It really is immortal material!”
When the Black Emperor retrieved that treasure from within the chaos, everyone was taken aback.
“Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold!”
Everyone’s eyes burned with eagerness. It was actually Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold — a material that the great emperors of antiquity had used to forge weapons. No one had imagined that in the process of opening the heavens, they would obtain such a large piece of it.
“Wait, something’s not right. This isn’t a block of innate essence — it’s been refined by someone. Look — this is a segment of a war halberd, and it has ancient Dao markings on it. How many ages ago was this left behind?” The Black Emperor was stunned.
Everyone crowded around, and even Ye Fan was taken aback. The chaos contained only primordially existing things — outside the great universe. How could there be a fragment of a weapon here?
“These are the remnant traces of Imperial Dao laws,” Ye Fan said after examining it. This section of war halberd had been left behind in endless ages past, and within it, Dao markings that had yet to be extinguished still lingered.
“How is this possible? Could it be that a Supreme Being fought their way to this place, damaged their weapon, and it ultimately sank and was buried within the chaos?”
“Impossible,” the Black Emperor shook its head. It had been watching Ye Fan open the heavens throughout — the chaos here was like an ocean, with no passages, and no battles had ever taken place here.
One could say this was a primordial stretch of land — no one could ever have come here before. It had always been this desolate and untouched.
“Then what’s going on? Uncle Ye Fan, hurry up and keep opening the heavens — let’s see if there are any more immortal treasures here!” One of the children called out excitedly.
Ye Fan’s brow furrowed slightly. He ran his hand along the broken section of halberd and sensed within it an overwhelming force of accumulated ages. These Imperial Dao laws were ancient to a staggering degree, belonging to no emperor found in any legend.
He continued opening the heavens and carving out more Pure Lands. No further Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold was found — but he did unearth a fragment of a broken stele, less than half of it intact. Upon its surface were carved a few characters, but not a single one could be recognized.
“Script that surpasses the Age of Mythology — no one can decipher it!” This was the consensus. Even when specialists were brought to examine it, they could only shake their heads.
“The script matches that of the stele found in the Underworld — from the same era,” Ye Fan said with a quiet sigh.
After speaking those words, his heart trembled violently. This was obliterated history — was this a cycle of reincarnation? Ages had been buried in succession — were these the remnants of that burial?
In this moment, Ye Fan’s mind and spirit were greatly shaken. The so-called cycle of reincarnation was even vaster than he had imagined — it had swallowed entire universes and returned them to chaos.
And later generations had opened the universe anew, giving rise to different civilizations and different developments. Was this truly how it was? When he considered this possibility, a chill ran through his entire body.
As for the so-called ages of succession — who knew how many times the very cosmos had been overturned.
Immortal!
In the end, Ye Fan’s thoughts settled on that single word. Only through eternal life, only by breaking through permanence, could one come to know all things. Otherwise, one would forever be a flower blooming within this universe — blossoming, and then fading.
Even Great Emperors were merely the most resplendent of flowers.
“Even the universe has an end. When heaven and earth change once more, what would remain? The only answer is to transcend it entirely,” Ye Fan murmured quietly. This unexpected discovery had stirred something deep within him.
“Uncle Ye Fan, hurry and open a few more layers of heaven — who knows, you might dig up a whole pile of treasures!” Dongfang Changsheng said with a laugh.
“What do children know — stop talking nonsense,” Dongfang Ye said, giving him a smack.
Even for a Great Emperor, opening the heavens on such a vast scale for an extended period was enormously taxing — because these were not small worlds, but true and boundless Pure Lands. Once sealed within, survival through endless ages would be no problem at all.
In the end, the section of Phoenix Blood war halberd was given by Ye Fan to Shan Huang. That venerable near-Great Emperor had made tremendous strides in power over these years, becoming one of the Heavenly Court’s high-level combat forces and one of its guardians. This gain filled the aged Shan Huang with joy and excitement beyond measure.
“Would you like me and our daughter to go with you?” At the moment of parting, Ji Ziyue asked, her face softening with tenderness. Cultivated to its later stages, the terrifying nature of the Primordial Spirit Physique was fully apparent.
Perhaps her cultivation level was not overwhelmingly unmatched, but if she walked alongside a supreme powerhouse, she could amplify the might of that person’s law fluctuations and grant them a boost. Moreover, she could absorb the primal source energy of heaven and earth, accelerating a supreme powerhouse’s recovery — making her, in essence, one who was close to immortal, and naturally sheltered by the heavens.
The Primordial Spirit Physique, if it failed to develop, was nothing — but once fully realized, the existence it produced was one close to an immortal. This was the conclusion the Black Emperor had privately deduced together with Ye Fan.
This constitution was far too rare. Throughout history, only two or three individuals had ever possessed it — all of whom had died young, none ever reaching fruition.
Now Ji Ziyue carried this gifted bloodline, and Xiao Zi had inherited it as well. As such, both mother and daughter hoped to travel alongside Ye Fan and lend him their strength.
“No need — wait here for my return!” Ye Fan shook his head resolutely, unwilling to let his wife and daughter follow him into danger.
After arranging the affairs of the Heavenly Court, he set off, heading directly for the Immortal Ascension Star.
The great star was home to numerous savage beasts and wild birds that swept across the sky. Ancient and primordial forests blanketed the land, great mountains stood in majestic splendor, and waterfalls hung like silver rivers cascading down from the nine heavens.
It was a magnificent world.
Yet recently, it had grown restless. All powerful beings were uneasy, all exotic beasts and fierce birds were roaring and howling, and the abnormalities at the central region grew ever more terrifying. Roars could now be heard directly — ancient steles stood in dense arrays, and demonic energy and immortal mist rose together in swirling columns.
Most crucially, Supreme Beings had manifested and come to observe, making preparations for the great battle that would soon unfold.
Ye Fan arrived — without any concealment whatsoever — and shook the sea of stars. The ten thousand living beings on the Immortal Ascension Star were even more profoundly stirred. The Holy Body who had attained the Dao through an unconventional path had descended, and his presence was more terrifying than the Supreme Beings of antiquity.
For his blood aura was vigorous and abundant, and through actual combat, he had slain a Celestial Sovereign who had undergone sublimation — his might and divine power were beyond all doubt.
“These are all Sealing Steles,” Ye Fan sighed quietly. The seals had now loosened, and these steles had risen from the deep earth, appearing in the world of mortals.
Clearly, the seals below could not hold for much longer. They could no longer suppress this forbidden domain, and all its secrets would soon emerge.
The inscriptions were unrecognizable — only isolated characters could be vaguely made out. Ye Fan studied them: it was the character for “Emperor” — representing the ultimate pinnacle of the Dao, unchanged across all ages — and it was these that were functioning, suppressing this place.
These were not the nine essential Emperor-characters from the Scripture of the Dao, nor were they the essential Emperor-characters from the Primal Yin Mother Sutra or the Primal Yang Immortal Sutra. Those characters merely represented a particular path of sealing — resonating with the Great Dao, rumbling in echo, indestructible through ten thousand ages.
Ye Fan gazed at them at length, then did not move to intervene. He entered the cosmic void and sat cross-legged in empty space, gazing down at the great star below, standing guard over it.
Thus time flowed swiftly. A full forty-nine years passed without him stirring — he did nothing but contemplate the Dao and gaze upon the Immortal Ascension Star.
During that period, Supreme Being incarnations came and went. Several of the great Life Forbidden Zones made their moves — all having sent supreme presences to observe and investigate. Everyone was waiting.
The storm was building on the horizon, and all knew it. The seals upon this place were on the verge of total collapse, and the secrets hidden in the earth’s heart were about to emerge.
Yet not a single person moved to break the seals in advance. The emperors showed remarkable patience and restraint — all waiting, waiting for the arrival of this heaven-defying great age, waiting for the immortal path to open.
It was not only Ye Fan who sensed this. The Imperial Dao Supreme Beings within the great Life Forbidden Zones — how could those who had reached such heights be ordinary? Through secret arts and forbidden techniques, they too had glimpsed a blurry vision of a future yet to come, guessing at parts of the staggering conclusion.
Clatter, clatter!
The sound of iron chains rang out across the heavens — as though an immortal or a demon was about to emerge, seeming to cross the boundary from that immortal realm and push open tightly locked doors.