“Master!”
Tears ran from Little Song’s eyes. He was at heart a gentle and timid “innocent soul,” and now, seeing Ye Fan drenched in blood and shaking violently, he could not hold back and began to sob.
Back then, he had been young and unknowing, still a little squirrel, when Ye Fan had taken him and set him upon an entirely different path. Now, watching his master’s head full of white hair, his vital energy spent, his life ready to end at any moment, his heart was cut as by a blade. He moved to support him, weeping steadily.
“Master, let us return to the Celestial Court and take the undying medicine.” Little Song was about to carry Ye Fan on his back and take him away.
Ye Fan shook his head and told him to put him down. He sat cross-legged without moving in the star field. His injuries were serious — but that was not the critical issue. The most terrifying thing was that his body was about to be spent entirely.
From every direction across the cosmos, boundless life essence came surging in. Countless star regions grew dark, for the light of many stars was being drawn in and channeled into the Celestial Emperor’s body.
Ye Fan regulated his breathing. A gentle, crystalline treasure-light overflowed from his body, drawing back all the scattered drops of Celestial Emperor blood, absorbing them back inside. Then he refined the vital energy of the several supreme beings into a few strands of essence, sublimating them into divine refined essence, to treat himself.
The wounded body healed. The vital energy was reined in. The Celestial Emperor’s body appeared to have recovered — but this was of little significance. The most terrifying thing was the decay of the physical form, and that could not be reversed.
Ye Fan’s Celestial Emperor body could no longer store much vital energy. After the starlight of the eight desolate reaches entered his body to a certain degree, it began to automatically overflow, no longer accumulating. His body was in decline, his vital energy dried up — like a rusted and rotting pot that could no longer hold much water. It all seeped away, revealing the signs of his twilight years and the imminent conclusion of this lifetime.
Even divine medicine would be of no use. For Ye Fan, this was the omen of approaching extinction. No person could save him. No precious medicine could restore his youth.
Under these circumstances, the possibility of making the ultimate leap forward and living out a third lifetime to rescue himself was also gone. He had exhausted his final reserves in that world-shaking battle — the divine embryo within his body had been ground away entirely.
Battling seven supreme beings had already pushed him to his absolute limit. Forcibly drawing up a breath of essence blood to return to peak condition had already caused severe damage within him. Then came the great battle with the supremely powerful Undying Celestial Sovereign, consuming all the longevity immortal essence he had accumulated over so many years.
“Master!” Little Song wept. Watching the master who had once dominated heaven and earth, who could find no equal across the heavens and the world, now aged like this — white hair, blood-stained, about to die in the passage of time — his heart was as though a knife were twisting within it.
This situation made one feel utterly powerless. If even a person’s soul fire was about to go out, how could they go on living? Ye Fan was holding on by a single breath — otherwise his primordial spirit would have fallen completely dark.
He smiled. The world was truly unpredictable. To think even he had come to this. Unmatched under heaven for fifty thousand years — and in the end, he had drawn the Undying Celestial Sovereign to launch an ambush against him.
It was obvious that the other had experienced such a twilight period as well and understood this state intimately — which was why, when moving against him, the targeting had been precise: the goal was to grind away the immortal essence within his body, denying him any opportunity.
For people such as them, even if the physical body were shattered, even if the primordial spirit were cracked, they would not die. What was most precious in these twilight years was the accumulated longevity essence — that was the foundation from which the next lifetime would be born.
Ye Fan had witnessed Manager Cheng, recalled the White-Robed Divine King, observed the Golden Crow Great Emperor, and investigated the little divine Silkworm — he had made close contact with those who had lived out a second lifetime and had long since unlocked the mystery of how, in one’s dying years, one could live out another lifetime.
One method can produce one lifetime. It cannot be repeated.
He had accumulated over many years, all for this day. Though he appeared to have a withered body and spent spirit, with his lifespan nearly exhausted and his foundations dried up, that was only on the surface. Hidden within was a tiny thread of longevity refined essence taking shape — like a divine embryo.
What a pity. Ye Fan had prepared for so long, only to have it disrupted in this manner. The Celestial Sovereign’s strike had been extraordinary and ferocious beyond measure — without fighting back with full strength, it simply could not be blocked.
In truth, Ye Fan could guess that the Celestial Sovereign’s attack had been primarily motivated by desire for his Celestial Emperor’s seal — and those longevity substances that he had accumulated, unknown to others.
“Don’t cry.” Ye Fan coughed a mouthful of blood and smiled gently at Little Song. He had lived for over fifty thousand years, had grown accustomed to seeing life and death cycle through the mortal world generation after generation. When it came to his own turn, there was nothing to it.
“Master, I don’t want you to die!” Little Song wiped away his tears and sat cross-legged facing him, beginning to refine his own foundation to extend his master’s life.
Ye Fan shook his head and stopped him. “That would be of no use.”
“Then what would be of use? Master, you must know — please tell me. I will go and find whatever you need to save your life.” Little Song asked with hopeful, searching eyes.
“Do not be sorrowful. Even if the heavens want to take me, it will not be so easy — because I am not yet willing to die.” Ye Fan summoned a breath of vital energy. His soul flame did not scatter.
Just as he had said: he would fight. Even if only a single breath remained, he would never yield. He would strive to live out another lifetime — because there were still things he needed to do. The oaths and promises of former years still rang in his ears. He needed to unfurl a vast and magnificent battle map of longevity.
“Crack!”
Yet Ye Fan was truly too old. His immortal essence spent, the immortal platform was cracked with fissures and could shatter at any moment. His physical body was also on the verge of burning away entirely to ash.
He stood at the very edge of extreme danger. Unable to live out another lifetime, he would directly undergo Dao dissolution and reach the endpoint of life.
One asks: who in all the world could have withstood the Undying Celestial Sovereign’s strike? How many across the ages could have faced him in direct combat? And now Ye Fan had done so — dragging a spent and decaying body through such a prolonged battle. It was a miracle.
For several consecutive days, Ye Fan sat cross-legged with eyes closed, neither returning to the Celestial Court nor stirring in the slightest, remaining unmoving in the star field.
The outside world had long since erupted in fervor. The Celestial Emperor felling seven ancient supreme rulers in a single day — this was the stuff of legend. Who could compare?
What astounded people most was that the Undying Celestial Sovereign, absent for ten thousand ages, had appeared once more and gone to war with the Celestial Emperor. This was a reenactment of the immortals’ war, enough to make the hair stand on end — and then to send every drop of battle blood rushing to a boil.
The battle concluded. The world was unsettled.
The feelings of every race were complicated. Especially for the powerful clans who revered the Undying Celestial Sovereign — they carried a sentiment that could not be spoken or explained.
Yet more people were invoking the Celestial Emperor’s name. To fight to this extent with an aged body — to sever the Cascading Immortal Waterfall and force the Celestial Sovereign into retreat — this was already the most glorious achievement in all of history. None could compare.
The Celestial Court had already mobilized. Endless heavenly soldiers and generals like dark clouds encircled this stretch of the star field, guarding the Celestial Emperor, waiting for his rebirth. Though the outside world spoke of the Celestial Emperor reaching the end of his years, with little life left, unable to live any longer — not a single heavenly soldier or general was willing to accept this, believing the Celestial Emperor would not leave the world.
Yet every one of them carried worry in their eyes. Hard as it was to accept the current state of things, the facts were before their eyes. The Celestial Emperor who had awed the nine heavens and ten lands and could find no equal — he was truly going to enter nirvana.
Little Song moved the Primordial Ancient Mine that had been exposed to the world during this battle — filled to the brim with primordial life stones, teeming with vital energy. Ye Fan entered it, using this heaven-defying land to recuperate.
For a full half month, Ye Fan’s state remained unchanged — held in that dying condition.
“Master was about to die, yet his will was resolute. He generated a thread of immortal essence through sheer force, preserving his current body. And this Primordial Ancient Mine does have some effect. I must find a way to help Master — to reverse fate.”
Little Song was crestfallen. After long deliberation, he took Ye Fan upon his back, tore through the void in an instant, and from that day forward vanished from the world. No one knew where they had gone.
Earth. Within the immortal mountains of Kunlun. Their figures appeared. Little Song carried Ye Fan to the immortal-achieving grounds — the place where the Green Copper Cauldron had been nurtured.
For ten full years, they cut themselves off from the world. The outside world spread the news: the Celestial Emperor had died, his incomparably brilliant and legendary life brought to a close.
“A pity. The Celestial Emperor left like this — it is regrettable. There was never the chance to see him battle the Celestial Sovereign in his prime.”
“The Undying Celestial Sovereign is truly terrifying. What method did he use to still be in the full strength of his years? Can it be that the other shore of the Cascading Immortal Waterfall holds longevity substances?”
“The Celestial Sovereign’s power is truly beyond heaven. A pity indeed for the Celestial Emperor!”
Kunlun. Immortal energy steamed upward. Flowing light overflowed. Mist and haze swirled, like a land of immortals.
Little Song activated this place with his great power, causing ten thousand dragon-head peaks to once more release dragon saliva, channeling it toward the immortal-achieving pool. Immortal light flowed in all directions, shrouded in misty haze.
Throughout these ten years, Ye Fan sat cross-legged within the immortal-achieving pool without moving. The dragon saliva converged upon him, nourishing his body, maintaining the absence of further deterioration — temporarily preserving his state.
To truly survive, he would need to rely on himself. Nothing from the outside world could help, for this time his goal was to walk the path of living out another lifetime. Divine medicines and the like could no longer prolong his existence.
Over ten years, Little Song exhausted every method at his disposal. He also extracted the small section of the Cascading Immortal Waterfall from within Ye Fan’s cauldron and studied deeply this substance left behind upon the path of longevity. In the end, he found no life-saving method — but his own cultivation invisibly deepened.
Three more years passed. Little Song brought little Nannan to Kunlun. The little girl had slept for three thousand years and had just awakened. Seeing Ye Fan in this state, she immediately broke into sorrowful tears.
“Big Brother… wake up…”
Ye Fan opened his eyes with great effort. “Nannan, don’t cry. Big Brother will be all right.”
The little girl’s tears fell and fell. Little Song channeled all of them into the immortal-achieving pool — but still there was no effect. For Ye Fan had already reached the realm of the Celestial Emperor, and there was almost nothing left in this world that could defy heaven and change his fate.
“Big Brother… eat Nannan… you will surely be able to live.” The little girl said such words, weeping without stop.
What appeared to be a child of only two or three years of age was pleading with the Celestial Emperor — his hair white as snow, standing on the very doorstep of life’s end — to consume her. It seemed strange to look at, yet it caused everyone present to feel a great and crushing grief.
Even Ye Fan’s nose stung faintly, a ripple stirring in his heart. He helped wipe away her tears. “Nannan, be good — don’t think such thoughts. Big Brother doesn’t want to die. Even the heavens can’t take me.”
“Nannan doesn’t want Big Brother to die…” The little girl’s eyes were misty with tears, looking heartbreakingly pitiful.
“Do not worry. I will certainly live.” Ye Fan answered.
In truth, the fierce figure of the ancient abyss, the Cruel Great Emperor, had undergone a mysterious transformation that was severely affecting the little girl. She had not stayed long in that place before once more falling into slumber, sinking into a deep sleep.
“Little Song, take her away. No one is to approach. I need ten quiet years!” Ye Fan’s eyes suddenly became resolute as he gave this instruction.
“Master…” Little Song’s heart trembled.
“Have no worry. I have come to a near-complete understanding. The immortal essence within my body is only a thread, but it is enough. I can undergo nirvana and take that step.” Ye Fan said.
He sensed that faint thread of immortal essence, and these ten and more years spent hovering at the edge of death had given him even deeper insight. Living out a new life, undergoing nirvanic rebirth — it was precisely in this kind of “ruin” that it had to be built.
Little Song departed, taking Nannan with him.
From that day forward, Ye Fan drifted continually between life and death. He thought of the White-Robed Divine King’s desperate straits in those days past. He recalled the little Silkworm’s symptom of always forgetting the past. He pondered again on what he had gained when he personally explored Manager Cheng and the Golden Crow Great Emperor.
Time slipped by. The immortal-achieving pool, which resembled a placenta in shape, maintained Ye Fan in this strange state of neither living nor dying, buying for him the most precious of time.
Ten years had not yet passed. Only seven years later, this place was swallowed by a tide of vital energy that pierced through the sky, shaking every living being across the cosmos in every realm.
At that moment, the outside world was spreading the news: the Celestial Emperor had entered nirvana. He was no more in the world. Yet on this day, everyone was shaken. Ten thousand paths were wailing, submitting in full. And the powerful figures across the cosmos, no matter how far separated, trembled — unable to stop themselves from pressing their heads to the ground in reverence.
Everyone gazed in the same direction — however vast the distance, spanning countless star systems — and they all saw the fragments of time bursting outward. They witnessed a sight that shook ten thousand ages.
Boundless vital energy rose like a tide. The Celestial Emperor reappeared, slowly rising. Within the surging ocean of vital energy and powerful surging life force, he underwent nirvanic rebirth, rising anew!
This was a young Celestial Emperor — only around twenty years of age. His black hair fell like a waterfall, draped naturally across a radiant and luminous body. He stood tall in the vast expanse of the heavens, gazing down upon all living things!
He had lived out his third lifetime — powerful enough to make every heart tremble.