Every supreme being’s expression changed. They fixed their eyes on Xiao Nannan and immediately recognized the extraordinary nature within her — this was the Dao fruit of a supreme great emperor!
“Hmph!” One of them let out a cold snort and pressed forward.
The several great supreme beings had broken through to this realm, and no small number of celestial soldiers had fallen near them. Now all four were merciless — they raised their hands and reached forward.
They were establishing their dominance. Even seeing Xiao Nannan, even with Ye Fan blocking the way, they still struck.
“SPIT!”
Blood-light exploded. Lives cried out in agony.
Right in front of Ye Fan, several individuals savagely crushed over a hundred celestial soldiers to death with their bare hands. Their blood surged high, and the blood-stained fragments of white bone dissolved into ash — a sight too horrific to bear.
Ye Fan could not save those people — they were too close to the attackers, and he could only watch helplessly as their souls were shattered and scattered. The killing intent in his eyes surged, and his fists clenched.
Though the bulk of his forces had been sheltered within the cauldron, such a catastrophe had still unfolded. Over a hundred celestial soldiers had died horrifically, igniting a raging fire within his heart.
“You are all evil!” Xiao Nannan pointed her slender finger forward. Her large eyes blinked, yet they brimmed with anger and grief.
Those celestial soldiers were all her big brothers — she knew them well. Their deaths like this enraged the little one.
“Nannan does not need to fight.” Ye Fan gently patted her head, then sheltered her within the Immortality Cauldron as well. The little girl was powerful, yes — but facing this many ascended supreme beings could still place her in danger.
With a flash, Ye Fan took everyone and vanished, refusing to engage them in direct combat.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
The four great supreme beings howled and gave chase, bringing every ability they possessed to bear, locking onto a trace of Ye Fan’s mark, intent on cutting him down.
Thus they tore across vast stretches of the star sea, passing through countless star systems, causing immense destruction. At last, Ye Fan came to a stop. He turned to the Immortality Cauldron and said, “Go!”
He transmitted a set of coordinates through a divine thought, instructing the cauldron to seal everyone inside another Chaos Realm to lie low.
He himself then stopped and positioned himself as a barrier against the four great supreme beings, cutting off their path forward.
“Good that you’ve stopped. Come with us to the immortal path — otherwise we will now pursue that cauldron. There is no way for it to escape.”
“There is nothing more to be said. Kill them all. Force those people onto the immortal path with their blood — let him find his enlightenment through that!” The Ten-Thousand Dragon Emperor was the most merciless. His daughter had died at Ye Fan’s hands. Had it not been for his goal of becoming immortal, he would have struck long ago. Now that the opportunity had come, how could he let it pass?
“I will go with you to the immortal path!” Ye Fan spoke calmly.
He believed that as long as the Immortality Cauldron entered the Chaos Realm this time, it would leave no flaws behind — for it had already been fully reformed, and was no longer the divine child of the past.
What was needed now was only time. He could not let the four great supreme beings give chase any further.
Seeing the Dragon Emperor still intent on mass slaughter, the other three stopped him, refusing to let him act on emotion alone. They surrounded Ye Fan and pressed him toward the immortal path.
“Hmm — where has that Golden Crow gone? It would be ideal if we could catch them both.”
“It must have completed its tribulation and be hiding somewhere to recover from its wounds. It only branded part of its mark in this universe — that great emperor has a flaw, making it incomplete. Ha!”
The Immortal Gate, the Chaos Aperture, and the Wheel of Reincarnation had not yet sealed shut. The group forced their way back through and once again stood before the Celestial Gate. Several individuals sought to compel Ye Fan to enter. They wanted to see the outcome for themselves.
Suddenly, everyone was startled. Within the immortal gate, someone was present — in the midst of transformation, breaking through.
“There are two people!”
A monk — with benevolent eyes and a serene, dignified bearing. An elder — transcendent and otherworldly, emanating a sense of non-action, of the natural flow of the Dao.
Ye Fan was taken aback. He recognized both of them: one was Shakyamuni, the other was Laozi.
During the dark upheaval in years past, both of these figures had participated in the battle — though not in close combat, only casting techniques from a distance.
His feelings toward these two divine figures were complicated. He had long wished to find them, with many questions he wanted answered. Yet now that he himself stood in the realm of supreme beings, he found that the need was no longer so pressing.
And the reverence and longing he had once felt had long since faded.
“You two certainly moved fast — hoping to seize this opportunity to break into the Immortal Domain. How optimistic of you!”
“BOOM!”
One of the four struck, attempting to eliminate them outright. Shakyamuni and Laozi coughed up great mouthfuls of blood, their bodies blazing with light as they were pinned there, capable only of passive defense.
“Mm, do not be hasty. Let us first observe — they have only just begun their transformation. Is this not precisely the result we hoped to see? We can stop them at the critical moment.” The White Tiger Daoren laughed coldly.
Both figures were suffering unimaginable catastrophe at the same time: their bones crumbled, their flesh disintegrated and reformed, their Dao foundations were being severed, while mysterious runes were being injected into them.
“Mm — the Dao-marks are being erased. Can it be that what is replacing them is an immortal Dao foundation?”
All four great supreme beings watched with astonishment. Even Ye Fan’s eyes gleamed with a strange light.
“Be careful not to accidentally let them truly become immortal. At that point, it would bring a great calamity down upon us all.”
“It won’t happen. Despite the mysterious runes being injected, I don’t sense them growing stronger.”
Before the Celestial Gate, everyone observed with intense focus, seeking to unravel the final secret of immortality.
“Mm, these two have quite remarkable origins — I almost overlooked it. Something about them feels familiar.”
“One of them is the revived corpse of a Heavenly Sovereign who then achieved the Dao in an unconventional manner. He is… the Moral Heavenly Sovereign of the mythological era!” When the Beast God spoke this name, every pair of eyes blazed.
Ye Fan fell silent upon hearing it. So it was as he had always suspected — Laozi had once been an ancient Heavenly Sovereign, abbreviated as the Dao Sovereign. The Classic of the Dao may well have been his legacy.
“As for this monk — his physical body belongs to a person of the current era, but his divine consciousness is peculiar, as though some kind of thought-force took on flesh and was reborn!” The Dragon Emperor frowned.
“He is half of Amitabha!” The White Tiger Daoren suddenly spoke, his gaze erupting with intensity as he fixed his eyes on Shakyamuni.
Everyone knew that the Buddhist sect’s divine abilities were unparalleled, with many secret techniques — especially in the use of thought-force, which had reached the pinnacle of perfection. There had long been a rumor that Amitabha had never truly died, that his divine thought lived on within the hearts of all living beings, and that one day it would reunite and reappear in the world.
“He has only gathered half of that, and has broken free from the past. He can be called the reincarnation of Amitabha — or perhaps a corrupted shell of him!”
“Where is the other half?”
The words the great supreme beings spoke were enough to shake the heavens, spoken only because they were powerful enough to know enough to make such deductions on the spot.
Ye Fan was rendered speechless. Only today, at last, did he fully understand the origins of these two legendary figures.
“The Immortal Realm has begun cutting away their great emperor marks!”
Both figures suffered unimaginable catastrophe: Laozi’s physical body was being whittled away, while Shakyamuni’s primordial spirit was on the verge of total dissolution. The sight made even the supreme beings’ skin crawl.
Yet new runes poured in to fill the void — extinguishing one fire only to light another — but no matter how one looked at it, there was something deeply unsettling about the process.
“Even Amitabha’s thought-force and the Dao Sovereign’s physical body are to be baptized — no emperor marks left behind!”
The group marveled, then thought of themselves. Would they not suffer a dual baptism — losing their entire cultivation, with only the Immortal Domain’s law-marks refilled in its place? It gave them no confidence at all.
“This transformation of theirs — let it end here. Do not actually let them become immortal.”
For around this time, people noticed that the two figures had grown increasingly radiant, as though they might ignite entirely. They were being thoroughly reforged and violently remade, and were releasing an aura of supreme power.
BOOM!
A disaster struck. Both were blasted out, covered in blood, nearly shattered to pieces.
Despite Ye Fan’s attempt to intervene and lend them his strength, he failed. He was forced back as well, and both figures suffered devastating wounds, nearly obliterated.
“CRACK!”
After the two reformed, they collapsed and shattered again — multiple times. The world seemed to refuse them. The Immortal Domain laws that had been poured into them were useless in this realm.
“What is happening? They seem to have suffered grievous wounds because of this!” The great supreme beings were inwardly alarmed, their awe of the Celestial Gate deepening further.
Hiss!
Shakyamuni and Laozi chose to join hands — palm against palm. One’s divine thought had been overturned, the other’s physical body had been critically wounded. Only by joining forces in this manner could they put forth the power of a single person combined.
Though they had suffered this catastrophe, they remained utterly composed — speaking not a single word, without complaint.
“Something is wrong here. Why does becoming immortal feel somehow terrifying? Could it be that once one crosses over, they are forever incompatible with the original world?”
The Beast Emperor’s eyes turned glacially cold. He sensed something was off.
“Holy Body of the Human Race — it is your turn. Go become immortal!” The White Tiger Daoren pointed his finger, pressing Ye Fan to enter. He wanted to continue observing — for the changes in Shakyamuni and Laozi had been too strange, too unnerving.
“Are you not afraid that I will accidentally succeed in becoming immortal outright, then destroy this gate from within and shatter all of your hopes?” Ye Fan said, the corner of his lips curling with a hint of mockery.
“Sigh!” Upon hearing these words, the golden-winged trident let out a quiet sigh. Without responding, he gazed through the boundless void, trying to see through to the great forbidden zones of the Northern Dipper.
“They still have not come. Can it be that they still do not believe? Mm — we seek to use the Holy Body as a test subject, yet they regard us as test subjects as well?” The Beast Emperor frowned.
“There is no more time to worry about that. Without trying, how will we know? We have no time left.” The Dragon Emperor barked, pressing Ye Fan to enter.
Ye Fan naturally refused to yield. A great battle broke out. Laozi and Shakyamuni also joined the fray, and the location instantly boiled over!
Blood bloomed. Countless immortal lights danced.
“BOOM!”
The Immortality Cauldron came crashing in — it had returned!
“Father, we are here to help you!” Even Xiao Zi had come.
Not just her — Ji Ziyue was there as well. Both possessed special constitutions, and with the aid of the Immortality Cauldron, they reached Ye Fan’s side, merging into his phenomenon. They immediately drew upon all the light, rain, and life essence in the surrounding heavens and earth, replenishing whatever Ye Fan needed.
Their bloodlines were far too extraordinary. One was the Primal Spirit Body, the other the Primal Spirit Holy Body. The primordial source of all things was connected to them, forming a bridge, channeling the mother-source for Ye Fan.
With this, and the Immortality Cauldron now in hand, Ye Fan was actually on the verge of reversing the tide — close to breaking free from his predicament.
Blood splattered. The battle grew supremely fierce.
Xiao Zi and her mother sheltered inside the Immortality Cauldron, while the cauldron itself hovered within Ye Fan’s phenomenon, drawing upon the primordial essence of all things, releasing fragments of immortal Dao law, guarding and aiding Ye Fan.
The situation was turning in their favor. Laozi and Shakyamuni were also fighting.
But then another shock struck. Two surging, primal beast auras spread across the sky, and two more supreme beings emerged, joining the Beast God and the others to seal off Ye Fan, pressing him toward the immortal path.
“You two — go in!” Ye Fan suddenly made this decision, directing Ji Ziyue and his daughter to enter the Celestial Gate.
“Ye Fan…” Ji Ziyue called to him softly. She knew that when Ye Fan came here alone, the odds were stacked heavily against him. She wished to face life and death alongside him, and their daughter refused to leave. Had the moment for this finally come?
“There will be no danger. The two of you, go!” Ye Fan’s tone was resolute. He upended the cauldron and pushed both of them through the Celestial Gate.
“What — how can this be?” Almost simultaneously, everyone was struck dumb.
The mother and daughter passed through with nearly no resistance at all, their bodies immediately flickering with runes as they stepped beyond the gate and into the Immortal Domain!
“What? Why? Can it be simply because they never achieved emperor-hood, and have no emperor-path foundation to be severed?!” The White Tiger Daoren went berserk.
“Impossible! They never became emperors, and yet they face no restriction — have they achieved immortality? This is unacceptable!” The Beast Emperor bellowed.