The cosmos shattered. The Demon Emperor’s seal reassembled, and above it and the ten thousand Daos, the tribulation lightning had finally ceased — a stillness as absolute as death.

Suddenly, the Heavenly Heart Seal and the ten thousand Daos cracked apart. A body plummeted down from that unreachable expanse beyond the heavens — drenched in blood, already broken beyond recognition.

“Ye Fan!”

A group of people cried out in alarm and rushed over. Blood dotted the ground everywhere. Ye Fan’s body was covered in wounds, and the Cauldron of Myriad Maternal Qi was shattered as well, drifting beside him.

“Master!”

Xiao Song caught Ye Fan and supported his dying body. The severity of the injuries made all of them furrow their brows — these were unmistakably Dao wounds.

Looking closely, his body was etched with Dao markings — the traces of suffering the backlash of ten thousand Daos — and even more terrifying were several palm imprints and fist-sized holes punched clean through his body, front to back, streaming with blood.

“The injuries are too severe!”

Everyone’s hearts sank. They could guess at Dao wounds, but what could explain the finger imprints and fist holes riddling his body? Whoever had struck him was astonishing.

“Was it truly those immortality elixirs?”

The thought sent chills down their spines. The most beautiful and overlooked things are always the most dangerous — what did it mean that such things had manifested within the heavenly tribulation?

Just a moment ago, Ye Fan had stood atop the ten thousand Daos, pressing the Heavenly Heart Seal beneath his feet. None of them had witnessed the actual tribulation scene — they could only hear the thunderous roar — but they could piece together some clues.

“Master, you have to hold on!” Xiao Song’s eyes brimmed with tears. He hefted Ye Fan onto his back, tore open the fabric of the cosmos, and charged toward the Heavenly Court.

The others followed, their moods heavy, keeping careful watch on all sides. They knew Ye Fan’s situation was dire, and they guarded him with utmost caution.

How had it come to this? What had happened during that great tribulation atop the ten thousand Daos? How could Ye Fan have been wounded so grievously? Everyone’s hearts were unsettled, terrified that something might go wrong.

“Ye Fan had already exhausted himself fighting the ten thousand Daos for our sake. In the end, he dragged his broken body through his own unprecedented imperial tribulation — that is why this accident occurred.” Dao Yi gave a soft sigh.

Everyone fell silent, unease and guilt weighing on them all. Ye Fan had risked life and limb fighting the ten thousand Daos on their behalf. Had he not done so, how could he have been so utterly spent — how could he have been so devastatingly wounded in his own great tribulation?

Those palm imprints, those fist holes — all of it was Dao damage, the hardest wounds of all to heal. Many who suffered such injuries were simply destined to be crippled.

Dao wounds — even the mention of them made people’s faces change. Everyone still remembered that Ye Fan had once suffered such an injury when he was still a young cultivator, grievously wounded and near death, forced to venture into an ancient forbidden land to harvest medicine just to cling to his life.

Ye Fan’s body was in ruins. He had bled a trail all the way back to the Heavenly Court, carried on Xiao Song’s back into the Immortal Mountain. The moment word spread, it shook the entire cosmos.

“What — it ended like this?”

Across all corners of the cosmos, the powerful and mighty stared in disbelief, exchanging stupefied looks. The invincible Sacred Body, Ye Fan — so defiant of heaven — had come to this. He himself might perish.

“Such a pity!”

Many sighed. It was an ending that left people heartbroken. He should have forged a miracle, ascended to the dazzling pinnacle — yet in the end, he had fallen in the most desolate fashion.

Everyone knew how catastrophic it was to suffer Dao wounds during an imperial tribulation — nearly impossible to treat. This meant Ye Fan was most likely crippled, or even on the verge of death.

“He was far too arrogant. Not only did he attempt to become Emperor — he wanted to bring his disciples and friends along into that realm with him. No one throughout all of history has ever been so reckless.”

“Indeed. If not for that, how could it have come to this? Even ascending to Emperor on his own would have been an unprecedented feat in history — forging his Dao under the suppression of a current Great Emperor. How breathtaking would that have been? Yet he was unsatisfied. He had to do it this way!”

The cosmos erupted into an uproar, chaos spreading in every direction.

People had already foreseen a great storm coming. If the Sacred Body Ye Fan were to collapse because of this — or even die — the brilliant Heavenly Court might lose its luster.

This era was not short on remarkable individuals. Taichu, the Huang Xu Dao, Yin Tiande — one towering figure after another, each blazing across the sky like a comet. If they all moved against the Heavenly Court at once, could it withstand them without Ye Fan?

And most critically — there was still a current Great Emperor. Would he continue to remain silent? Would he truly not move to reclaim the glory that was rightfully his?

With the invincible Ye Fan gravely wounded and in crisis, the ripple effects would be immeasurable. Perhaps even the balance of power across the entire cosmos was about to shift dramatically.

In the days that followed, the eyes of the entire cosmos fixed upon the Heavenly Court, waiting for the outcome.

Some laughed uproariously. Some were indifferent. Some worried. Some said nothing. The reactions were varied — yet regardless of their stance, no one openly displayed it.

Everyone simply waited.

There were other voices as well — voices filled with grief and fury. The losses from this tribulation had been devastating. Every soul with the qualifications to attempt it, every one bold enough to charge against the heavens, had been an extraordinary figure — yet in the end, they had toiled for nothing, with many nearly killed by the backlash.

In truth, when the ten thousand Daos returned at the last moment and came crashing down to destroy, some had indeed perished — their bodies obliterated, their primordial spirits reduced to ash.

Under ordinary circumstances, this would have been a catastrophic event that set the cosmos into a frenzy. Yet now, it did not generate the uproar one might have expected — because everything was overshadowed by the news of Ye Fan’s Dao wounds.

The attention of the entire cosmos was fixed on the Heavenly Court. No one paid much heed to what others had gained or lost within the heavenly tribulation.

For these past days, a pall of gloom had settled over the Heavenly Court. Everyone was subdued. The silence was heavy. All knew that Ye Fan’s Dao wounds were severe — that even his Dao foundation might be half-destroyed.

Every important figure and high-ranking expert had gathered within the Immortal Mountain, racking their minds for a solution, searching desperately for a way to heal Ye Fan — yet in the end, no one had any answer.

The wounds were simply too severe. During this time, Ye Fan had awakened only once — he opened his mouth, then fell unconscious again.

His ruined body was still drenched in blood. The palm imprints and fist holes had not healed at all. Holy blood continued to seep from them without cease, impossible to stem. And his primordial spirit had grown so dim it was nearly extinguished.

“How has it come to this?!” Yang Xi clutched his hair in agony, consumed by remorse. Had he known, he would never have allowed his master to sacrifice so much for them.

“Master, you must get better!” Ye Tong clenched her fists.

“Brother, please, nothing can happen to you!” Jiang Tingting’s eyes were filled with tears, helpless, overcome with sorrow.

The Monkey, Dao Yi, and the others paced back and forth, all trying desperately to find a way — they had to save Ye Fan, or they would carry the regret for the rest of their lives.

The qilin immortality medicine, the Bodhi tree, the ancient peach tree — all had been made ready long ago, to let Ye Fan use these immortal medicines to sustain his life. But the one time he had awakened, he had shaken his head and refused.

Everyone understood: those medicines were useless against Dao wounds sustained during an imperial tribulation.

“Perhaps only one thing can save him now.” The Human Demon said.

“What is it?” everyone asked at once.

“The Nine-Cycle Immortal Elixir!” the Human Demon answered.

Everyone was stunned. It was a legendary thing — how could it be seen in this age? Refining it would be almost impossibly difficult.

“Indeed — perhaps only the Nine-Cycle Immortal Elixir can heal Ye Fan’s wounds.” The Old Madman nodded.

“I have an incomplete ancient recipe,” Dao Yi said. His homeland — the Eternal Star Domain — held the formula for the Nine-Cycle Immortal Elixir.

“We have the primary ingredient — a single immortality medicine should suffice. But the supplementary materials are extraordinarily difficult to gather. The quantities needed are immense. Even a Great Emperor spending half a lifetime accumulating resources might not be able to collect them all.” The Monkey said.

“Let us split up and scour every corner of the cosmos for the divine materials. We will gather them all!”

“Agreed — let us move immediately. Xiao Song, you stay behind and keep watch over your master.”

Once the decision was made, everyone moved with urgency. They were all supreme existences — nearly peerless within this cosmos — and could traverse the eight wastelands in an instant.

With such a group acting in concert, there were few things they could not accomplish. That day, the cosmos trembled. The Heavenly Court’s elite poured out in every direction, searching across the land for rare and precious materials.

Yet the divine materials required were extraordinarily rare, not seen across ten thousand ages. Even with their power, there was no way to gather everything within just a few days — especially since some of the required items had not appeared in countless generations.

One thing they were grateful for: the vast stockpile of divine objects accumulated from refining the evolution fluid over the years could now be put to use. But even so, it was far from enough.

More than half a month passed in a flash. Anxiety gripped the Heavenly Court. Every celestial soldier and divine general had been dispatched. Bounties were issued across the entire cosmos — anyone willing to provide a needed divine material would receive an ancient scripture or a supreme secret technique in return.

Everyone was moved. The cosmos trembled. Many people began to stir. Everyone knew the Heavenly Court was not short on immortal scriptures — perhaps this was an opportunity.

Sure enough, when one person offered up a piece of Primordial Divine Stone and received half a Dao scripture in return, cultivators across the cosmos were astonished. The Heavenly Court had not been making empty promises — they were truly willing to pay.

From that day onward, a great tide swept across the cosmos. Many people set out to search, for regardless of anything else, this was a chance to cultivate ties with the Heavenly Court — and with an ancient scripture to be gained, they were eager to seize it.

“The Feathering Source Soil has appeared — the most difficult of all the divine materials to find!”

The shocking news arrived. If this item were obtained, the Nine-Cycle Immortal Elixir would be within reach of completion — for it was one of the rarest divine objects in existence, not seen in tens of thousands of years.

Yet bad news quickly followed. The item had been seized. The person who first discovered it had been torn apart. The location reeked of blood, strewn with severed limbs and dismembered bodies. No one knew how many had died.

It was targeted. Someone was trying to prevent Ye Fan’s recovery — deliberately sabotaging the process.

The Feathering Source Soil was an indispensable ingredient. Whoever had come was a peerless expert. They had successfully seized it and vanished without a trace.

“Even if I have to turn this entire heaven and earth upside down, I will find them!” the Monkey roared.

The Heavenly Court’s supreme experts poured out in force, searching frantically. The Black Emperor, Gu Lin, Gu Fei, Hua Hua, and the others set up a great formation, preparing to divine the heavens and calculate who had done this.

The cosmos shook. People sensed that a great storm was coming.

Who was it? Many were suspected — peerless experts who bore grudges against Ye Fan and would want to prevent his recovery.

“Is it Yin Tiande?”

“What if it’s… the Demon Emperor? Would that make things even more complicated and terrifying?”

The cosmos was thrown into chaos. Everyone speculated. At this critical moment, seizing the divine material that could save Ye Fan’s life was a declaration of deepest enmity. If the culprit were found, a raging tempest of a battle would follow.

The Human Demon, the Old Madman, Ye Tong, and the others were all brimming with killing intent. Their fury was immense. And every division of the Heavenly Court had mobilized, sweeping through the cosmos, intent on dragging the perpetrator out into the open.

“Hmph — just a little trick. Sacred Body, you’re finished!”

A shadow appeared within the Immortal Mountain — silent and formless — and surged toward its deepest reaches. Then, with sudden explosive force, it struck toward the mountain peak where Ye Fan lay sleeping.

A supreme aura — a massive black hand that blotted out the entire peak — descended with peerless, heaven-shaking terror. It sought to smash Ye Fan into pulp and utterly obliterate him.

On the mountain peak, Xiao Song raged, meeting the black hand with his most powerful technique.

Yet without a sound, another figure appeared on the peak — powerful enough to make one’s very bones tremble — and drove a fist straight toward the space between Ye Fan’s brows, wild and domineering beyond compare.

“Master!” Xiao Song roared. He reached out with his other hand to intercept, but found it impossibly difficult — he had been drawn into a strange forbidden domain. He knew immediately that things had gone terribly wrong — his master was in mortal peril.

“No rush.” Yet at that very moment, Ye Fan sat up. Blood stained his body from head to toe, but he wore a slight smile as he looked at Xiao Song — utterly composed and calm.

Then, he thrust out a palm, meeting the incoming fist just before it reached the space between his brows. A spray of blood mist erupted. The assailant was stunned and stumbled backward, his fist severed at the wrist.

“You…” The supreme expert’s heart lurched.

On the stone bed, Ye Fan rose to his full height — composed and unhurried in a way that was deeply unsettling.

“If I were not injured, how would you have dared come? And if you had not come, how would I have found Taichu and the Above Heavens? I have said it before — within my lifetime, I will sweep every one of you away!”

“Sacred Body, you conniving, treacherous—!” That a supreme expert would curse so coarsely told everything about the depth of his fury.

“Even crossing a tribulation, you calculated it all like this. Your heart is too black…” The other figure was equally incensed, unable to even finish his words.