The Heavenly Court held too many powerful figures — gathered together in one era. This many Great Emperors was simply staggering. It had never happened before, and was unlikely to happen again.

Ye Fan did not immediately lead everyone in a campaign into the immortal domain. Instead, he let them continue cultivating, to consolidate the fruit of the Dao they had attained in this lifetime. For after seven-hundred-some thousand years, he had at last found all the rare and precious materials needed to refine the Nine-Revolution Immortal Elixir — and had refined batch after batch. Even those who, like Ji Zi and the White-Robed Divine King, had consumed the immortality elixir before, still found this elixir effective.

With the fruit of the Dao fully consolidated, after several thousand years, every single person had reached a tremendous level of power — standing at the absolute pinnacle of the great Dao. Ye Fan had them consume the Nine-Revolution Immortal Elixir, and every one of them was restored to the most blood-filled and vigorous state of their youth.

A resounding crash echoed from the forbidden zone within the Heavenly Court. Ye Fan arrived, stepped into a vast burial ground, and said softly: “Companions who fought side by side with me — I have come to fulfill my promise. I once said that not only would I lead you to level the forbidden zones, suppress all upheaval, and open an era of supreme brilliance — I would also lead you onto the path of the campaign to immortality. That will be a battle painting even more vast and magnificent. I am here.”

“Boom!”

Ye Fan brought one foot down. With a great crashing sound, every grave mound split open. One after another, enormous masses of divine source surged upward — each one with a heavenly soldier or heavenly general sealed within.

They had long since aged, sinking into the very depths of twilight years — but they were all still alive, the divine source having cut them off from the flow of breath and time.

“Perhaps you are too old now to fight — but I will not forget the companions and brothers of those days. Even if I am slain in battle, I will carry you onto the immortal road, into the immortal domain.”

Ye Fan called out in a great voice. Before one grave mound after another, one mass of divine source after another shimmered with divine radiance — and everyone sealed within opened their eyes. Those eyes were clouded with age, brimming with tears. Every one of them trembled with excitement. There was no need to say another word. The Celestial Emperor had come to honor his promise.

A rousing battle anthem had already begun to sound. The campaign to the immortal road had started.

The great army swept forward in an unstoppable torrent. Several old friends and companions, still vigorous as dragons and fierce as tigers, came charging over — these were people Ye Fan had personally sealed away in past days.

Among them: Pang Bo, Zhang Wenchang, Zhang Ziling, Tu Fei, Li Heishui, Dongfang Ye, Li Tian, Yan Yixi, and more — along with Long Ma, Wang Shu, Lei Bo, Ji Chengdao, little Que’er, Xia Jiuyou, and others.

They commanded every division of the Heavenly Court. Among their ranks, Ji Haoyue, Li Ruoyu, and several others had also attained emperorship in the previous tribulation — joining together in the campaign onto the immortal road.

The people of the past had not perished — every one of them appeared again. And there were also other old companions who came rushing to join, such as Yao Guang Holy Master Weiwei, Huo Lin’er, Huo Qizi, and others.

The heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals of the present age all assembled — an endless army flooding the heavens, drowning the star fields. Ye Fan was going to lead everyone in the campaign to the immortal road.

“Master — everyone is here. Only Elder Ancestor Duan De is missing — is he still in the cycle of reincarnation?” the young Celestial Master, Zhang Qingyang, asked.

“No need to wait. We set out first.” Ye Fan said.

The entire cosmos trembled. People had not imagined they would witness a spectacle so magnificent and vast.

The heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals of the present age — without end, without boundary — followed the Celestial Emperor and a host of Great Emperors, preparing to ascend the celestial road. They blotted out the vast cosmos.

The battle anthem resounded through the cosmos. They ascended the celestial road, the great army blotting out the sky.

At the very heart of the army was an ancient bronze coffin. And within it was an endless expanse of divine source, sealing the old soldiers and old generals of days past — with everyone protecting them at the center.

“Open it!”

The Celestial Emperor made his move. At last, people witnessed his world-shaking abilities.

With only one fist, he shattered the cosmic barrier — piercing through and cutting a vast channel into a strange world.

“Is this… the immortal domain?” Everyone trembled.

Light rained down there, rosy clouds blazed in ten thousand beams — it was not the right moment, nor the right location. Yet the Celestial Emperor had simply smashed it open.

“This is the immortal road — not yet the immortal domain, because I need to go along the way to meet someone.” Some of the Great Emperors — like the Sacred Ape Prince, Dao Yi, and Zhang Bairen — saw that the end of the immortal road was broken, leading to another world.

Ye Fan invited the female emperor to enter and guard that break point, while he himself held the road open and invited everyone to step onto the journey ahead.

Wave upon wave, without end — the great army entered an unfamiliar world by treading upon the immortal road.

“Not at the right moment, not at the right location — only by first entering this world can we break through to the immortal realm.” The female emperor said softly.

Then she suddenly raised her eyes. With a thunderous crash, she struck out a palm — and clashed with someone in a single exchange.

A battle erupted the very moment they had just entered this world.

Yet no one feared for the Ruthless Great Emperor. In all the vast world, no one dared say they could kill her.

The great army swept forward in a torrent, all pouring into this strange world. Ye Fan no longer held the channel open and strode inside.

The one who had exchanged a palm with the female emperor coughed blood — yet would not submit, and struck again. Everyone was shaken. What manner of world was this — the moment they entered, they encountered someone who could stand against the truly flawless female emperor?

This was a genuine sovereign of the emperor’s path.

With a boom, that person was sent flying, coughing blood, body cracking apart — then exploding. In the distance, it reassembled its physical form, its expression stunned with disbelief, unable to accept this reality. It swiftly fled. The female emperor paid no attention and did not pursue.

An immortal within the mortal world — clearly this was not even a proper display of her true power.

This was a boundless world. Ye Fan and the female emperor stood side by side, jointly deducing its nature, and quickly came to understand it.

“This place is extraordinary — it contains a trace of true undying and immortal substance. And it is boundlessly vast, with powerful experts as numerous as clouds.”

Most importantly, they discovered a staggering truth: this was a world that had been artificially evolved — seeking to advance toward an immortal domain, attempting to patch and supplement that damaged world.

After more than two hundred thousand years of repeated deduction, Ye Fan and the Ruthless Great Emperor had more or less — through the intermediary of the immortality elixir — determined: the immortal domain had no more immortals. All had perished in the ancient immortal war.

In truth, the immortal domain of those ancient times — though its population was vast — had not had very many true immortals. Their numbers were limited, and fell short of a hundred. The rest had not reached that step.

Of course, that spoke of realm and battle power alone.

Where longevity was concerned, it was another matter entirely — for that world possessed substances that were undying and immortal-lasting, enabling even those who had not reached that realm through their own cultivation to live in perpetuity.

The immortal domain had suffered damage. No one became an immortal anymore. It was severed from the human realm — only occasionally producing a crack, though almost no one could seize that opportunity and slip through.

For the immortal domain’s damage had caused its laws to obstruct anyone who tried to enter, in a form of self-protection.

Otherwise — according to ancient accounts — in the age of the immortal ancients, anyone who had reached the second realm of immortality could ascend and enter the immortal realm, and a sage would be considered undying and indestructible for ten thousand tribulations in that world.

All rules had changed. That was why, today, even someone as powerful as a Great Emperor could not break in.

To enter the immortal domain, one could only become an immortal within the mortal world — and then pierce through the passage between the two realms to truly enter. And only an immortal could, in the years that followed, repair and evolve that world.

Therefore, Ye Fan had become an immortal within the mortal world — and the Ruthless Great Emperor had already stood in this realm for many years.

“Be cautious. This world has not only one Undying Celestial Emperor — there is another person as well, one who has kept the Beginningless Great Emperor unable to attend to anything else.” Ye Fan sent a sound transmission.

He directly seized the imprint of the heavenly heart of this realm and in an instant saw through many secrets.

“Roar!”

Suddenly, a tremendous roar arrived. An immortal phoenix spread its wings and struck at the sky — leading an endless army in a killing charge. This world was vast and boundless, and powerful experts filled it.

“Undying Celestial Emperor — your mother — give me your life!” The Black Emperor howled furiously. Now, it had truly become a sovereign of the emperor’s path.

“Hum!” With a great sound, the Black Emperor let out a long cry, flicked its paw to tear open the void, and hurled out a green jade tortoise — sending it plunging into the opposing army.

With a thunderous crash, endless death aura exploded outward. Casualties were massive — even sovereign-level experts very nearly fell victim. The Undying Celestial Emperor’s expression changed at once: that was death aura that he himself had left behind in former times.

He spread his immortal wings, sweeping them out in an instant to obliterate every trace of the death aura and disperse it completely.

This immortal phoenix transformed into a human form and descended. “Everyone — in this world, there is no grievance that cannot be resolved. Entering the immortal domain is not so easy a matter. At minimum, it requires three immortals of the mortal world striking together — and one must select the correct coordinates, otherwise you either fail to break in or cause further damage to the immortal domain. Would it not be better for us to join hands?”

No one had imagined the Undying Celestial Emperor would say such a thing. He stood there with a martial bearing, untouched by the years — looking like a man of around twenty, his presence beyond compare.

“I’m afraid not — we have enough people. And as for the correct location — I have it right here.” Ye Fan raised the Immortal Map of Rare Treasures — the ancient diagram obtained from the Dragon’s Nest of Ten Thousand Dragons in ages past, which had originally belonged to the Ruthless Great Emperor.

Later, he had gone to study it with the female emperor, and had finally understood what it was: a recording of the imprint of the human realm’s cosmos, within which was also concealed a void map of the immortal domain.

“Undying Celestial Emperor — hand over your life! You ambushed my grandfather back then, and afterward ambushed Brother Xiaosong — killing one Great Emperor after another. Kill him!”

The Little Holy Ape let out a great roar, hefted its immortal iron staff, and charged straight ahead.

“Kill!”

From behind the Undying Celestial Emperor, a great cry also went up. They were not short on sovereign-level experts. A number of individuals stood abreast and charged forward.

“Boom!”

From the distant far reaches, surging fluctuations billowed out — sweeping across the eight desolate wastes, making even sovereign-level experts tremble.

“The Great Emperor!” The Black Emperor could not hold back and called out in a great voice, tears streaming, completely out of its control.

It was a towering figure — heroic and imposing, with thick black hair and eyes gleaming with wisdom that could penetrate everything. With every movement of his hands and feet, ten thousand Daos of heaven and earth trembled and mourned for him. His demeanor was without peer in all the world.

“At the end of the immortal road, who stands at the peak? One glance at the Beginningless, and all Daos are void.”

How many tens of thousands of years had this saying circulated? And the people of this age were only now seeing him in person — and it was not one bit exaggerated. He was already an immortal within the mortal world. His achievements covered all of ancient and modern times.

Yet his enemy had also reached this realm — a native of this strange world, also an immortal within the mortal world.

Throughout all these years, the Beginningless Great Emperor had been jointly targeted by the Undying Celestial Emperor and this person. One could well imagine how extremely difficult it had been.

Now it was different. Ye Fan and the female emperor had arrived, and the balance between enemies and allies among those who were immortals within the mortal world was reversed. He had nothing to fear anymore — he could fully unleash himself.

The world-shaking great battle erupted. The Beginningless Great Emperor engaged the immortal within the mortal world in a duel. His palm fell — and the universe reversed, time flowed in reverse — filling all who witnessed it with awe.

He was supremely powerful without equal. Against such an expert, he moved forward with sweeping dominance, striking down in a display as overwhelming as the collapse of dead wood — shaking ancient times, present times, and all the future.

“‘One glance at the Beginningless, and all Daos are void’ — the ancients did not deceive me!” Many cried out in wonder.

“Destroy all of them!” The Undying Celestial Emperor raised the immortal blade, pointing it at Ye Fan and the endless great army behind him.

At his back was an endless host of powerful figures — and among them were no small number of sovereign-level experts. If they swept forward to kill, those who had attained emperorship would be fine, but the heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals would certainly be wiped out in their entirety.

“Form the formation!” Ye Fan commanded.

With a vast, humming sound, a formation diagram flew upward. Ye Xian, the Divine Child, the young silkworm, Old Yellow Fang’s granddaughter of the Grand Supreme Immortal Physique, the Little Holy Ape, and Ye Yishui — each holding one killing sword — entered the eye of the formation, and in an instant it covered this entire world, blocking every enemy.

“Undying Celestial Emperor — today we fight to the death!” Ye Fan stepped forward.

An immortal within the mortal world dueling another immortal within the mortal world — one proclaimed Celestial Emperor, one proclaimed Celestial Emperor: two supreme beings of the ages, and one of them was destined to fall.

There was nothing more to say. Only a fight to the death. With a thunderous crash, Ye Fan’s fist swept forward. The Undying Celestial Emperor’s left palm slanted down in a cut — transforming into a five-colored phoenix wing, ringing out with a clash. The two collided in a violent exchange — like the opening of heaven and the splitting of earth.

The female emperor acted, stabilizing this place, preventing the shockwave from washing over and disrupting the formation.

“Kill!”

On Ye Fan’s side, the Sacred Ape Prince, Dao Yi, Zhang Bairen, Ye Tong, Xiaosong, and the rest all moved together. With the six-person formation at the forefront, they supported one another — sweeping through everything before them with devastating force.

On the opposing side, the sovereign-level experts also poured forth and arranged a killing formation — fierce and bloody exchange erupted.

Only the female emperor stood apart on the battlefield — grace and beauty defying all eras. The addition of one more immortal within the mortal world was the greatest deterrent of all — a blow to the enemy’s morale that was too immense to measure.

“Clang!”

The five-colored immortal blade swept down. Ye Fan’s immortal cauldron surged upward. The two collided — sparks blazing in the most brilliant flash — the cauldron unharmed. But the immortal blade gained a nick.

The Undying Celestial Emperor was shaken. The other side’s cauldron was far too extraordinary.

With a thunderous crash, the two pressed the confrontation to its absolute peak — a life-or-death battle between two immortals within the mortal world. Ye Fan combined the Nine Mysteries as one and launched a world-obliterating supreme divine technique.

Yet against all expectation — the Undying Celestial Emperor used this same move. He too had long since gathered all Nine Mysteries.

“Boom!”

Heaven and earth collapsed. This immortal continent was nearly destroyed — until the Ruthless Great Emperor stamped her foot, once more stabilizing it.

“Undying Phoenix Seal!” The Celestial Emperor howled, setting down the five-colored immortal blade and sending it on its own to engage the immortal cauldron. He transformed into an immortal phoenix himself, diving downward — a colossal divine seal forming before his body, seeking to press down and bury Ye Fan beneath it.

“Celestial Emperor Fist!” Ye Fan roared back. His hair flew in all directions like wild lightning. He charged upward in reverse — meeting it head on, shaking the very heavens — clashing directly against the Undying Phoenix Seal.

The river of time shattered. Ancient and present times went into reverse chaos. The temporal forces of both parties were ground away and annihilated — a great collapse occurred.

“Kill!”

And so they clashed together — both of them sending immortal blood flying.

“Father — I come to your aid!” From far away, an immortal phoenix let out a long cry, its divine power flooding the heavens — supremely peerless. It was extraordinarily powerful — approaching the very threshold of being an immortal within the mortal world.

“Brother Huahua, come take my place — I will go to meet that phoenix!” Ye Yishui called out.

Huahua — long since having attained the Dao as a Buddha — descended with solemn and majestic bearing into the formation, taking the killing sword. Compassion was written across every feature of his face — yet he showed not the slightest hesitation in his actions. The killing sword flashed across all directions, blood light stretching endlessly outward — with one cut, ten thousand troops and ten thousand horses fell.

Ye Yishui surged upward, doing battle with the adversary of this lifetime. Father and son together on the battlefield, fighting side by side.

“Boom!”

From the distance came a tremendous crash. The Beginningless Great Emperor’s duel with the immortal within the mortal world reached its conclusion. With a single palm strike, he suppressed his enemy — beating them until blood gushed from their mouth and every bone in their body shattered.

Just as in the old days — with only one hand, pressing down upon the divine self-body forged from the Undying Celestial Emperor’s faith and will — with only one hand, never allowing the opponent to raise their head.

“Clang!”

The Beginningless Bell — long since become an immortal artifact — rang out, shaking the enemy until blood sprayed from their mouth, their body shattering inch by inch. Even their primordial spirit was silenced — and then they exploded.

The Beginningless Great Emperor had slain an immortal within the mortal world.

The Undying Celestial Emperor’s eyes turned red. Through all these years, he had never truly struck down this adversary — and yet he had lived to see this day, waiting until reinforcements arrived.

“Boom!”

Ye Fan’s hair flew wild. His eyes burst with cold lightning. He evolved his own Dao and his own techniques — fighting for supremacy against the Undying Celestial Emperor in a battle to the death. No one approached. All watched.

“Clang!”

Suddenly, the undying heavenly blade broke away from the immortal cauldron — reversing itself to hack down at the back of Ye Fan’s head in a sneak attack.

Ye Fan did not even turn his head. He simply swung his fist outward, his entire body blazing with light — nearly burning. With a clang, he shattered the five-colored heavenly blade.

The Beginningless Great Emperor walked forward, the blood of an immortal of the mortal world staining his body. The female emperor stood in white, radiant beyond the world — cutting off the path ahead. The outcome had already been determined.

Yet Ye Fan did not invite them to move. With a long, resonant cry, he unleashed the full extent of the Celestial Emperor’s techniques — his entire being transforming into a blaze of immortal light that swept through everything before him.

“Pfft!”

The final blow. One of the Undying Celestial Emperor’s phoenix immortal wings was torn away. Immortal rain scattered through the air.

“Father!” His son cried out.

“Boom!”

Ye Fan struck without mercy, his eyes blazing with cold lightning, cleaving the Celestial Emperor apart — and defeating this great enemy.

“Ha ha ha ha…” The Celestial Emperor, his primordial spirit torn apart, let out a miserable laugh. “When I was a child, I stumbled into a void crack that appears once in ten thousand ages, fell from the immortal domain into the mortal world, and spent my whole life trying to return. At last I became an immortal within the mortal world — and yet even in that world today, there are no such experts left. To think that I would fall here on the road.”

Everyone who heard this was shaken.

“This is a fate of your own making.” Ye Fan took one step down, shattering heaven and earth, smashing the Undying Celestial Emperor to pieces. Then the immortal cauldron swept down, drawing every shattered fragment of his body, along with the fragments of his primordial spirit, all within — then gave a gentle shudder. Only drifting ash fell — and upon the cauldron wall there appeared one imprint: that of the Celestial Emperor.

At the same moment, Ye Yishui struck down that small immortal phoenix.

This battle had no further question of outcome. Ye Fan’s forces swept forward with devastating power, washing over every enemy.

Heaven and earth grew still. Blood dyed the great earth red. At last, the clash of resounding battle swords fell silent, and people let out great cheers of celebration.

Ye Fan, the female emperor, and the Beginningless — three immortals of the mortal world — came together, and were ready to open the gates of the immortal domain.

Suddenly, an inexplicable aura appeared — devouring all things. This heaven and earth began slowly transforming into a cauldron, seeking to smelt everyone within it.

“It is him — truly, he did not die.” The Beginningless Great Emperor said softly — yet the wisdom in his eyes was unchanged, his expression unperturbed.

“Sovereign Emperor — you are still alive!” Ye Fan called out in a great voice.

This cry shook heaven and earth. Everyone was thrown into an uproar.

Long ago, Ye Fan had brought the fragments of the Sovereign Emperor’s cauldron to the ancient forbidden zone, and together with the Ruthless Great Emperor had studied them — arriving at one astounding conclusion: the Sovereign Emperor’s Dao had not yet dissipated.

“It is I — gazing down over ten thousand ages, smelting all within one great furnace. This world has become my cauldron. I will bring all of you along to become immortals together.” A stern and majestic voice rang out. He sought to smelt away the Dao-fruit of everyone present — absorbing and consuming it all.

The Sovereign Emperor had reappeared — a person dead for ten thousand ages — and had been gazing down over this vast world the entire time, lying in wait within the shadows.

“The Divine Sealing Scroll — come forth!”

The Beginningless Great Emperor called out. Within heaven and earth, a divine diagram reappeared and reassembled — for through the long ages, it had already imprinted the pattern of this world’s every wave and vibration. It would interfere with the formation of the Sovereign Emperor’s World Cauldron.

The Divine Sealing Scroll had not truly been destroyed on the immortal road after all — it now reappeared.

“It is useless. I have already smelted the entire human realm into it. That cosmos is to be destroyed — become my cauldron — to draw you all into the great furnace.” The stern voice was utterly cold.

“Your savagery knows no bounds — not only do you seek to turn this place into your cauldron, you wish to destroy the human realm as well.” Everyone’s hearts seized.

“You celebrate too soon.” Ye Fan gave a cold laugh.

“Boom!”

With a great sound, another world trembled.

“My dear disciple — have you forgotten your master?” Another voice rang out. The barrier between the human realm and this world was pierced through. Duan De’s voice came through.

The nine seals of the Nine Daos Reincarnation had all been gathered — smelted and forged into one body. He had truly become an immortal within the mortal world. He too had arrived.

Within that place were the Ancient Tower and the Immortal Bell, which had stabilized the human realm’s cosmos. Even the Sovereign Emperor, towering though his power might be, could not smelt it all away in a short time.

The Immortal Bell and the Ancient Tower had naturally been left behind by Ye Fan and the Ruthless Great Emperor — entrusted to Duan De.

The Sovereign Emperor — in the human realm, he had secretly carved an untold number of runes across the ages. Within this world too, he had made immeasurable preparations, expecting that one day he would smelt both realms into a cauldron and obtain a supreme, peerless immortal artifact.

Yet he had fallen just short of success. The Beginningless Great Emperor had already seen through it long before — recording every wave and trace of this world within the Divine Sealing Scroll, able to interfere with the formation of the World Cauldron.

And in the human realm, Ye Fan and the Ruthless Great Emperor had already cleared away most of his preparations. Now with Duan De reappearing, the Sovereign Emperor’s heart went cold.

In those years, he had been attacked by multiple parties working together and had not truly died — instead collapsing on purpose, to achieve a staggering deed. His so-called “gathering the entire teaching to ascend to immortality, all emperors crossing together” had all been nothing more than a means to perfect himself — yet a clue had slipped out, and it had been perceived that he intended to kill everyone, leading to a counterattack against him.

“Nothing more needs to be said. Kill!”

Ye Fan, the female emperor, and the Beginningless struck simultaneously — launching together the most ferocious attack, driving it toward the heavens.

This battle was fierce — but there would be no surprises. In the end, the World Cauldron was broken open. The Sovereign Emperor — an immortal within the mortal world — was found. His blood sprayed across the starry sky, and he was directly slain.

“Ah — was he truly my disciple?” Duan De shook his head. Thinking of the relationship between teacher and friend, there was nothing more he could say.

Four immortals of the mortal world joined hands, opened the immortal domain, and the great army swept forward.

Immortal light danced. Light rained like a downpour from the heavens. That vast and tremendous gateway left many people trembling with awe. These surging and boundless fluctuations naturally alarmed everyone within the immortal domain.

Among the crowd, Kou Xiaoxiao held the Immortal Exquisite in her hands, tears streaming down her face. That supreme treasure emitted a soft, keening sound, as she whispered: “The mortal bond is severed — on the immortal road, we shall meet again.”

Ye Yishui lifted onto his back the divine source within which his mother was sealed, and strode forward.

Xiao Nannan reappeared, sitting on Ye Fan’s shoulder with a bright and happy smile. The female emperor and Ye Fan stood side by side.

In the distance, among the people of the immortal domain who had been stirred to action, a young woman in purple robes had already been streaming with silent tears — yet she was also breaking into a happy smile, charging forward swiftly.

“I just knew it was you — it had to be you!” She wept and smiled at once, tears catching on her cheeks like rain on pear blossoms.

“Father!” And from behind, another young woman came charging forward.

“There is much for us to do — the immortal domain must be repaired.” The Beginningless Great Emperor said softly.

Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin, slowly approaching.

“True immortals — there can only be a few now. No more will emerge in great numbers.” Duan De sighed softly. He had seen through the most fundamental secret at the heart of the immortal domain.

[The End]