The Above Heavens — once formidable, now swept away into nothing.

Ye Fan stood upon the ruins, hands clasped behind his back. His dark hair hung loose, his robes were spattered with the blood of supreme experts. In a single day, four supreme existences had fallen. It was a battle record so brilliant it was almost terrifying.

“Master, Taichu Ancient Mine still cannot be found.” Ye Tong returned to report.

Ye Fan nodded. Destroying the Above Heavens was enough for now. One forbidden zone in a day was sufficient. The last remaining source of trouble could be sought out and dealt with at leisure.

Nine great dragon veins stretched across the island — true dragon forms, like real dragons lifting their heads and crying out, poised to leap into the nine heavens, to charge into the immortal realm.

“Why does this so resemble it?” Ye Fan had stood atop the Above Heavens for a long while, gazing at it. Such terrain and topography was a rarity across all of history.

Most astonishing of all was the island behind them — an island shaped precisely like a great coffin, formed entirely by nature, connected to the nine dragon veins, as though it were about to ascend to immortality.

He had examined it carefully. This was the work of nature itself, not any human arrangement. Truly it was a marvel of heaven and earth, inspiring nothing but wonder.

“Perhaps this is the original form from which the coffin was conceived — perhaps in ancient times, someone modeled it on this very place and forged the coffin.” Dao Yi said.

The conclusion sounded absurd — yet no one laughed. For this place was a relic of the primordial chaos era, predating even the age of myth, more ancient than any civilization that had ever existed in this world.

At the heart of the coffin-shaped island was an ancient cave. Immortal energy rose from it in drifting wisps, curling upward, veiled in drifting rays of rosy light — mysterious and strange.

Ye Fan and the others searched through it. This place had weathered countless great tribulations across the ages, as though it had been a sacred burial ground for the Above Heavens — but the ancient cave had long since been emptied. Nothing had been left behind.

There was a quality to this place — an undying essence — that seemed to slow the flow of time itself. Or rather, there was a kind of life-giving energy here, one that could nourish living beings and prevent premature decay.

“No wonder it became the resting place of a forbidden zone. It truly is extraordinary soil.” Ye Fan murmured softly. Then something caught him off guard — on the ground, he found a set of markings. He measured and studied them carefully, then felt a chill run through him.

In size and shape, they corresponded almost exactly to the Ancient Bronze Coffin he had once seen and entered. Ye Fan stared for a long moment, his mind distant. Had that coffin once lain here? And then departed?

He immediately activated the secret technique from the Veda Scripture — tracing all things back to their origin, hoping to glimpse the truth — but it failed. Every cause and thread of heavenly secret had been ground away by the slumber of the many supreme experts who had resided here over the ages.

Everyone’s expressions changed. This place was genuinely strange. If one truly stilled oneself and reached out with awareness, there was a faint breath of immortal Dao law lingering here — something that slowed the aging of life.

“It cannot be fathomed, cannot be understood. The primordial chaos era truly inspires awe.” The Black Emperor murmured quietly.

In the end, they took the Above Heavens — the Heavengrave Island — and moved it back to the Heavenly Court, where it became yet another breathtaking courtyard garden. The Old Madman, the Human Demon, and the others retired within it.

The destruction of the Above Heavens shook the entire great cosmos. The name of Celestial Emperor Ye resounded throughout the mortal realm with thunderous majesty — blazing so brilliantly that no one dared stand against it any longer.

“Master, are you unharmed?”

When all had grown quiet, Xiao Song asked with concern.

“There’s a bit of Dao damage, but it won’t defeat me. Rest easy.” Ye Fan said. A thin thread of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with his hand — a vivid red against his palm.

“This…” Everyone looked over, worry deepening.

“Rest easy. If it were truly serious, would I have gone and stirred up all that trouble at the Above Heavens? It won’t affect anything.” Ye Fan smiled.

He then reminded everyone not to pursue power single-mindedly — not to be so unyielding and forceful that they left hidden afflictions behind, for sooner or later those would resurface.

Ye Fan sighed to himself. This Dao damage was a root injury he had carried from long ago — back when he was still at the Sage King realm, when he had coughed blood repeatedly and carried a sickly pallor. After breaking through to the Great Sage realm, it had seemed suppressed, and gave him no further trouble.

But when he broke through the suppression of the ten thousand Daos and became Celestial Emperor, that small flaw became the seed of catastrophe. It erupted and collapsed all at once, giving rise to the wounds he bore now.

Were it anyone else, body and spirit would have been annihilated long ago.

These were wounds of a Celestial Emperor — tied to the suppression of the ten thousand Daos and the phantom of the immortal — and no one knew what terrible ordeals he had faced breaking through that tribulation, clawing his way to victory.

Still, the Dao damage was being kept in check. There were signs of improvement. And that alone spoke to his extraordinary mastery of the creative forces of heaven and earth.

The Immortal Mountain, the Divine Ruins, the Above Heavens — forbidden zones such as these had become the courtyards of the Heavenly Court. Such a thing could awe the ages — who could compare? In just a few battles, there was no one left in the world who could contend with him.

A hundred years swept by. Ye Fan was now over two thousand nine hundred years old. And some within the Heavenly Court had truly aged — weariness beginning to show itself.

Time was ruthless, unswayed by any will. It would cut down all things. Even the greatest life would one day reach its end.

“Grandfather Human Demon, Grandfather Old Madman — they are… not far from the end.” On this day, Yang Xi came to the cliffside of the Immortal Mountain, his heart heavy, and reported to Ye Fan.

Ye Fan let out a soft sigh. “If there is truly no other way, I will seal them.”

“But they don’t agree. They refuse to take immortality medicine. They wish to end naturally — especially Grandfather Human Demon, who was sealed away since the primordial age. He has long since grown weary of it all.” Yang Xi said.

Ye Fan rose and stood in silence for a long moment. He looked toward the horizon, a wave of sorrow washing through him. The path of long life was so difficult to walk — time did not wait — and still he had made no decisive breakthrough, yet one by one, those around him were passing on.

More than ten years later, the Human Demon and the Old Madman reached the end of their lives, one after the other. They fell into a smiling slumber within the ancient cave of the Above Heavens.

The autumn wind swept through. Yellow leaves scattered and fell. That autumn felt especially cold — enough to chill the very heart.

A fine rain fell. Grief filled every corner of the Heavenly Court. People missed the two elders deeply. That deep autumn was saturated with sorrow.

“Even the greatest legacy must one day come to its close. Even the most glorious era must one day reach its end. Who in this world can escape death? Though you be the rarest genius of your age, though you be of unmatched brilliance — in the end, it is nothing but a mound of yellow earth.”

That year, that autumn, left wounds in the heart that would not easily fade.

Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, over a thousand years passed. Ye Fan was four thousand years old. The summit of his life had arrived. In this moment, his Dao wounds were invisible, his blood and vitality surged like an ocean, and with a single thought, he could shatter the nine heavens. There was none in all the world, above or below, who could match him.

The name of Celestial Emperor shook the cosmos. There were no adversaries left.

The Heavenly Court marched toward the pinnacle of glory. Not a single force in the current era dared challenge it — and looking back across the vast sweep of all ages, few opponents could even be found.

Now, it nearly recreated the brilliance of the Emperor Lord era at the end of the age of myth.

The Divine Organization merged into the Heavenly Court. The White-Haired Ancestor God led his people and came to submit — all because of the Divine Child’s existence, which led them to acknowledge the Heavenly Court’s legitimacy.

The Divine Child was sealed into the Immortal Source once more by Ye Fan, with the hope that he would shine in some future age — not this one. Now, Ye Fan’s divine power was supreme and absolute. He could refine any source liquid with ease, and this divine treasure was not something he lacked.

“I, the Great Emperor Yufeng, will one day return!” The little chubby boy had given himself a name — the meaning unmistakable. He intended to stand at the very peak of the cosmos.

The Dao Palace organization had also ceased to exist. The Old Woodcutter, the Yellow-Toothed Elder, and the Curly-Bearded Man — all three leaders — had passed away one after another. Before their deaths, they entrusted all their followers to Ye Fan.

The Yellow-Toothed Elder’s little granddaughter had been sealed into the Divine Source. She was a breathtaking little girl — people had long assumed she was a boy, and great hopes had been placed in her. Otherwise, that cranky old man would never have said she was meant to oppose the Chaos Body, to contend with the one hatched from beneath the Heavenly Blade.

Four thousand years old. Ye Fan stood at the absolute pinnacle of the human Dao — beyond defeat!

Yet his heart held one great regret. For all these years he had striven without cease, seeking to grasp the law of long life — endlessly exploring, endlessly searching — but how could it be so easy?

Things being what they were, he himself would have to take that first step, and then turn back and guide the others. One elderly figure after another had passed on, and his heart ached with it.

“Boom!”

On this day, a tremor emanated from the depths of an unknown star domain. Others might not have perceived it — but Ye Fan’s eyes snapped open in an instant.

In the next breath, Ye Fan descended beyond the Northern Dipper, watching as an ancient patch of primordial immortal earth broke apart. Great tribulations raged within it unceasingly, thunder and lightning flooding the sky, shattering even that ancient immortal soil — and from within it, radiant immortal light burst forth.

The lightning was fierce — but that was not the key. For Ye Fan, it was nothing remarkable. What was astonishing was the immortal energy seeping from within. It was extraordinarily rare.

Then, he knew who this person was. A ripple passed through his otherwise tranquil heart, and a look of joy broke across his face. He stepped forward without hesitation.

“Ow — that hurts! Blasted heavenly tribulation, are you never going to stop?!”

“It’s killing me — you ruthless heavens, be gentler, I still want to live for a few more years — finally broke free after all this time, just barely surviving a quasi-imperial tribulation, and now you’re going to strike me dead?!”

“Damn it, you’ve really got a nerve. Little lord here is furious — if you don’t stop, I’ll… I’ll… truly be done for.” Clearly the speaker was running out of steam.

Ye Fan smiled. This person was exactly as he had always been — that great mouth of his unchanged. Even in the middle of crossing a tribulation, he could chatter away endlessly. True to form for a great lama.

“Please, heavens, be gentle — come on then, kill me softly — please, no more violence.” A figure whose skin had been split open and whose body was drenched in blood and arcs of lightning leapt and scrambled about, howling continuously.

The person was Tu Fei — gone for nearly four thousand years, only now reappearing. Back in the northern polar lands, Ye Fan had found him once — but after that parting, he had never been seen again.

It was as though Tu Fei had vanished from the world entirely, leaving no trace. Even with all of Ye Fan’s calculations and deductions, he had come up empty — unable to locate him. And now, of all times, he had reappeared while crossing a quasi-imperial tribulation.

“Woof — is that… the brat this Emperor misplaced?” The Big Black Dog had come as well, looking a little guilty.

Ye Fan’s departure from the Heavenly Court had startled everyone, since he had not left the Immortal Mountain in over a thousand years — so they had all followed him here.

“Tu Fei—!” Li Heishui cried out in excitement, eyes brimming with hot tears. Of the little band of young outlaws from those days, only two or three remained.

Pang Bo laughed heartily — moved, and full of feeling: “After three thousand years apart, we still have the chance to share a drink together. This feeling of reunion — it’s wonderful.”

“I’ve missed you all so much — you’re still alive — aooooo—!” Tu Fei howled, wolf-like, having been pent up and suppressed for untold years.

“Careful — you’re still in the tribulation!” Ye Fan called out.

With such a group gathered here, Tu Fei naturally encountered no difficulties. He crossed safely, stepping into the realm of a quasi-emperor.

He rushed over at once, embracing everyone, tears streaming down his face — yet laughing all the while, crying and laughing at once.

“Hey — you finished the tribulation with no clothes on, and I’m a man too — let go!” Long Ma bellowed.

Everyone burst out laughing.

When Tu Fei threw his arms around the Big Black Dog, his eyes went wide with fury immediately — grinding his teeth, ready to take a bite out of someone.

“This Emperor has pressing matters — you all talk, I’ll be going first.” The Big Black Dog wilted visibly, trying to slink away — for once completely lacking in its usual arrogance.

“Stay where you are!” Tu Fei grabbed its tail and refused to let go.

“Men should not touch each other — release me!” The Black Emperor’s great copper-bell eyes rolled rapidly, and at last he forced out a single sentence of breathtaking eloquence: that men should not have physical contact.

Everyone roared with laughter.

Tu Fei’s reunion with the group was filled with boundless joy. He began to recount everything that had happened in these years.