The road that generation after generation has walked in pursuit of immortality — that is the road to immortality…
Ye Fan felt cold from head to toe. Those words stirred so much within him, shaking him to the core. Was this the supreme Female Emperor’s definition and understanding of what it meant to seek immortality?
If that was what it meant — then where had Ji Ziyue gone? Where had Xiao Zi gone? What kind of place had they entered? Ye Fan clenched his fist tight, his whole body turning ice-cold.
He could not speak for a long while. He sat there motionless.
When one cares deeply, one’s thoughts run wild. Only after a long time did he grow still. He decided he might have been overthinking it — the Female Emperor had spoken only one sentence, and it did not necessarily carry that meaning.
Ye Fan tried to ask again. Unfortunately, the Female Emperor paid him no heed. She was like a statue of warm white jade — beautiful and luminous, not parting her lips again, sparing words as though they were gold.
Within the bronze immortal hall, silence fell. One could have heard a pin drop. Yet the outside world was in an uproar. The Eastern Wastelands shook. Across all corners of the universe, the noise was deafening. The meeting of the two great figures had set every side on edge.
“It is truly difficult to believe — that he has come to this, that he can enter the ancient abyss and speak with that person. That person is… the iron-willed Great Emperor!”
Those who had once shared an era with Ye Fan looked back now and felt as though it could not be real.
What did it mean to be a Great Emperor? Throughout the ages, too many legends had been told. Who could compare? In the hearts of the world, she stood unreachably high. And who was the iron-willed one? Unmatched in ten thousand ages, surpassing even the figures of the mythological era — pressing down upon all the gods.
Some people sighed.
Ye Fan had once stood at the same starting line as them. Now he was far ahead, beyond all others, soaring above the nine heavens — able to sit face to face with the iron-willed Great Emperor and hold conversation.
At this moment, the hearts of all those under heaven were complicated — especially those who had once competed with Ye Fan. Their eyes were filled with bewilderment.
To share an age with such a person was their fortune, for they had witnessed a legend. It was also their misfortune. The stars blazed bright — yet who could rival such brilliance? In the radiance of his light, all other rising stars were dimmed.
“Just what is the answer — are there immortals?” Deep within the ancient abyss, Ye Fan’s eyes shone with clarity. At last he struck at the most fundamental question.
“There are!”
To this question, light finally kindled once more in the Female Emperor’s eyes. Her crimson lips parted slightly, and she spoke only that single word — simple, direct, and to the point.
Ye Fan’s heart was struck by a violent tremor. Within his sea of consciousness, it was as though a flame had been lit — like an immortal lamp illuminating the road ahead, scattering all mist, making his gaze grow firm and resolute.
He rose and bowed deeply. That single word alone, to him, surpassed a hundred scrolls of ancient scripture!
The iron-willed Great Emperor had shattered the illusion and pointed out a path. There truly were immortals. That answer was like a lighthouse, its brilliant light reflecting across ten thousand ages — profound in meaning, far-reaching in significance, fortifying his heart and his Dao.
Were he to ask anyone else, it would be no more than speculation. Even if they affirmed it in words, it would be difficult to find it convincing.
Only when the iron-willed Great Emperor said so did it carry such weight and influence!
Ye Fan sat quietly in this place for a long while without speaking further. He turned it over in his mind carefully. He knew the Female Emperor was unwilling to say much — some things could only be understood on one’s own.
The bronze immortal hall lay in stillness. Yet the outside world had been thrown into great commotion. Word spread far and wide, and powerful figures from every corner of the universe were stirred into action. Zhang Bairen, Dao Yi, and others all arrived, taking up positions outside the Ancient Forbidden Land.
No one knew why they had come as they had. People had gathered here almost as if by some unspoken agreement. All felt instinctively that Ye Fan’s meeting with the legendary master of the forbidden zone — who was rumored to be the iron-willed Great Emperor — would surely have profound and far-reaching consequences.
In the end, the Emperor, Yin Tiande, Shencan Daoren, and almost every great master came. They all sensed that a major shift was at hand, and each wanted to understand what it was.
The Northern Dipper was once again swept up in tumult!
“Why does the Great Emperor not enter the immortal realm?” This was another question Ye Fan asked — carrying a sense of probing, tinged with a faint nervousness that had not visited him since he had become the foremost expert of this age.
The Female Emperor’s expression remained tranquil. Her peerless immortal features showed not a single ripple. Her eyes, clear as water, turned to Ye Fan — for the first time she looked at him with such care, as though she wished to see through him entirely, to understand him to the depths.
Ye Fan suddenly felt at ease. He let everything go and held her gaze. A profound quiet filled the bronze hall.
After an indeterminate stretch of time, within those clear, water-like eyes, Ye Fan saw some images — and his heart trembled. It was as though a great stone had been hurled into the lake of his mind.
A little girl. Her small clothing was patched, ragged and worn. Her face was dirty and smudged. Only her large eyes shone like black gemstones, moving one’s heart to pity.
She had no parents — only a young boy to depend on. Despite their poverty, they were happy. Every day there was laughter on their faces.
A ghost-faced mask was their only toy. There were no lavish jewels or ornaments. To amuse the little girl, the boy had fashioned a ring for her from a bronze chip — crude and rough, but the little girl treasured it like a precious relic.
Later, the boy was discovered to be an extraordinary talent. He was taken away by force, and in the end was brought to the Five-Color Sacrificial Altar.
The little girl wept bitterly. She ran until the soles of her tattered shoes fell away, pleading desperately. Among that group, someone finally relented and allowed her to come and say her farewell.
Before the Five-Color Sacrificial Altar… a final parting.
As he departed, the boy took the ghost-faced mask. He left behind the ring. The little girl was left alone, weeping with grief, collapsing to the ground, her small hands covered in blood.
Then, a Great Emperor rose with overwhelming force, shaking ten thousand ages!
She had no talent — she could not cultivate. Yet she defied the heavens and earth, became the Heavenly Emperor, her brilliance pressing down upon all ages, and became a legend.
Ye Fan sighed, looking at the Female Emperor before him.
In his heart, another figure surfaced — overlapping with hers.
Ragged little clothes. Small shoes with holes at the toes. Scolded, she would lower her head and shrink back timidly. Large eyes brimming with tears, she would leave alone in grievance, her small back so pitiable and lonely…
“Xiao Nannan!”
Ye Fan called out, unable to stop himself.
In that moment, the Female Emperor’s gaze was no longer clear — it grew deep, flowing with nine-colored immortal light that pierced through Ye Fan’s body, including his sea of consciousness.
Ye Fan made no move to resist. He had always felt he had taken too much from her — the Nine Wonders divine fruit, the primordial energy of all things, the Immortal Treasures Diagram… If she wished to act, he would let her do as she wished.
That call of his brought no response from the Female Emperor. She remained as still as water, without any reaction.
The nine-colored immortal light circulated, then at last receded, leaving no trace. Ye Fan stared at her in a daze, not knowing what she had done. At this moment, the Female Emperor’s eyes were as deep as the starry sky — impossible to see through.
In this moment, Ye Fan could be certain: Xiao Nannan was also the Female Emperor. Was she what the ancient supreme being had called a Dao Fruit? He was more inclined to believe she was the Female Emperor’s carefree, contented childhood — poor in circumstance, yet free of worry and care.
She had always been immersed in the mortal world, going through its trials.
Even heroes, even the most magnificent talents of their generation, might fail to become Great Emperors because of their obsessions — let alone ascend to immortality.
Yet the iron-willed Great Emperor had defied the world by virtue of her obsession alone, and achieved the supreme Heavenly Emperor’s body — her brilliance illuminating ten thousand ages, matchless before all.
Within the bronze immortal hall, there was not a sound. The Female Emperor had become like a jade carving once more — still as a lake, not a single ripple, motionless. Her eyes were like the sea, or like an abyss.
Whatever Ye Fan asked next, she did not part her lips again.
In the end, Ye Fan rose to his full height and bowed to her. Aside from his closest kin, perhaps only the Female Emperor in all this world could receive such a bow. When he walked out of this hall, he would stand above all the heavens.
When he reached the door of the bronze hall, Ye Fan stopped again and said: “The Great Emperor’s life gives one cause to lament. Living on through age after age like this — what is it ultimately for?”
“To wait for you to return.”
Beyond all his expectations, just as he was about to leave, the Female Emperor spoke once more and said these words.
Ye Fan’s body jolted violently. He stood rooted to the spot. He remembered the blurred images he had just seen — the young boy in them had been identical to him, their features uncannily alike.
He stood there for a long while. His mind grew quiet. He understood. What the iron-willed Great Emperor awaited was not him — there was only one person that “you” could refer to. It was that young boy.
Yet as a figure of the Great Emperor level, after thinking on it for a moment, he saw through to the truth: saying the iron-willed one was waiting for him was not wrong either. She was waiting for the moment when his glory reached its zenith — to see whether it could reflect the same flower of the soul in bloom.
What a powerful obsession this was.
After deeper reflection, Ye Fan’s heart stirred again. The Female Emperor’s gaze was too profound. What she wished to wait for, what she wished to see — it also touched upon the ultimate secret of endless life.
Not for immortal longevity. Only to wait for you to return to this mortal world.
Ye Fan turned and strode away. He leaped up out of the ancient abyss, then walked out of the forbidden zone. Many people were waiting there.
Everyone had sensed that a great shift was about to occur. Yet when Ye Fan emerged — though they felt something different about him — no particular event came to pass.
All were left in stunned bewilderment.
Ye Fan had gone through this experience and emerged with a different bearing. His gaze was resolute as it had never been before, as though it could pierce through all ages past and future.
“Brother Ye, what have you gained?” Huo Lin’er had also come. After all these years apart, her bearing surpassed what it once was — her figure tall and graceful, strikingly beautiful and enchanting.
“Immortality.” Ye Fan spoke only that single word, concealing nothing.
Yet those who heard it were left puzzled and exchanging bewildered glances. Everyone had gathered here sensing something, yet they had not expected the answer to be just that one word.
Many did not understand. But Ye Fan offered not a single word of explanation.
Outside the Ancient Forbidden Land, Xiao Song stood with Xiao Nannan. The little girl’s large eyes — pure and unblemished — were filled with joy. Seeing him return safely, she waved to him with a light smile.
Ye Fan walked over, lifted her up, and set her on his shoulders. Then, side by side with Xiao Song, he strode away with wide steps.
The truly powerful figures watched in silence and said nothing more.
In the distance, some minor cultivators showed expressions of astonishment. Was there anyone in this world who could ride upon a Great Emperor’s shoulders? Perhaps only the loved ones at his side.
“Did your master gain anything?” Once they were beyond the domain, Xiao Song asked.
Ye Fan sighed, his eyes dimming for a moment. He had gained tremendously — a divine lamp had been lit on the path ahead, filling him with a resolve and confidence he had never known before. Yet this road was too arduous, and it would take time. Could those who were already growing old afford to wait?
“The Old Madman’s time should not be much longer. I believe within a few hundred years he will sit in meditation and pass on,” Xiao Song said quietly.
“If I act forcefully on their behalf, will they rage at me?” Ye Fan murmured softly.
After that day, Ye Fan sat in meditation within the Undying Mountain, his mind free of all distractions, thinking only of longevity and imperishability. The Emperor’s path was the final destination, and all supreme beings throughout the ages had walked to this point.
The road had reached its end. Ahead, there was no further path.
“If there is no road, then we forge one ourselves and extend it forward.”
Ye Fan knew this would be enormously difficult. Throughout the ages, so many brilliant figures had attempted this — the Heavenly Sovereigns of the mythological era, the Emperors of the most ancient times, the Great Emperors of the desolate ancient age — and seemingly all had failed. He was strong, but could he truly surpass all who had come before him?
Yet without doing this, what else was there? The road to immortality — that near-illusory path — would not open again for a million years. In this age, apart from relying on himself, what other recourse remained?