A cool breeze blew past. The Fire Spirit Chasm lay desolate and cold — this place had already been razed flat, becoming a wasteland.

Yet the distant mountains were bustling with noise, a chaotic clamor. People sensed that an even greater storm might soon break out, perhaps within the coming days.

Ye Fan had used his black divine spear to sever the imprint of the Heavenly Emperor Son’s wisp of spirit — everything was now settled. How could the proud, world-dominating descendant of the Immortal Heavenly Emperor possibly swallow this humiliation?

This was comparable to the heavens collapsing and the earth splitting apart, the sun crashing into the ground. Clearly, a great storm was coming!

Ye Fan withdrew his spear and stood still. Many people watched him from afar, wanting to see through him, to understand his true nature.

For everyone felt his rise had been far too sudden — why had this person never appeared before, yet now soared to prominence in a single day?

Ye Fan’s expression remained calm as he swept his gaze across the crowd one by one. Wherever his eyes passed, everyone lowered their heads at once, no one daring to meet his gaze — there was some strange power within his eyes.

Most of the various ancient races chose silence, no one inciting further conflict, no one stepping forward. The black spear’s edge moments ago had been simply too intimidating; no one dared act rashly anymore.

People calmed down. The mountain wind blew past, and many felt a chill run through their bodies. Today, an unrivaled expert had appeared, making many realize their own insignificance — cultivation truly had no limit.

“Whoosh!”

In the sky, a clear radiance flashed as a domain gate opened, and a wickedly charming man walked out, laughing heartily.

“Good disciple, well done indeed. You really put that Ten Thousand Beginnings brat in his place. You should have gone even harder, beaten him until he cried for his mother and father.”

This man’s hair was jet black and disheveled, his eyes carrying a wicked, lecherous glint — clearly not a good person at first glance. If a young girl or child walked alongside him, people would surely feel uneasy.

“Master Li Tian,” Ye Tong laughed bashfully, no longer showing the dazzling brilliance of the great battle earlier, looking instead like an ordinary boy next door.

“That’s the lecherous thief who founded the Way of Human Desire. It’s said that just to peek at a certain divine maiden of the ancient races bathing, he hid in a hot spring for half a year without moving.”

“That’s right, this is the famous number one lecherous thief under heaven — plenty of people want to strip the flesh from his bones.”

After more than a decade apart, Li Tian’s demeanor remained unchanged, living life to the fullest, waving a folding fan in his hand. Though his conduct did not seem like that of a good man, one had to admit his bearing remained extraordinary.

“Alright, we should head back. That dog this time made a fortune in secret — it stole a stone tablet from Ten Thousand Beginnings with some scriptures inscribed on it,” Li Tian said.

“Uproar!”

The crowd erupted in shock, all astonished. So this dog had truly been audacious enough — there was nothing in this world it wouldn’t dare do, that scoundrel.

Many had heard that the ancient scriptures of Ten Thousand Beginnings came from nine stone tablets, containing profound mysteries of heaven and earth, the secrets of all creation’s origins — a treasure of the cultivation world.

While Ye Tong fought her great battle here, had that dog gone to raid Ten Thousand Beginnings Sacred Ground’s old lair? Many people made this connection at once, all stunned into silence.

Upon hearing this news, the Sacred Lord of Ten Thousand Beginnings first glared with wide eyes, then spat out a mouthful of fresh blood — this time the losses were severe, a truly humiliating disgrace.

“Surely not — did the formation Black Emperor was researching succeed, allowing him to breach the depths of Ten Thousand Beginnings and loot the place?” Ye Tong’s eyes flashed with a strange light.

Upon hearing these words, the crowd all felt an urge to spit blood themselves — this shameless dog they hated with gritted teeth had achieved yet another major breakthrough; in the future it would surely become an even greater menace to society.

Li Tian smiled wickedly. “No, that place is a Sacred Ground after all — it wouldn’t dare charge into the depths so recklessly. It merely blasted open a breach and happened to dig up a stone tablet from underground.”

“Oh, I thought it was one of Ten Thousand Beginnings’s nine stone tablets. So it wasn’t after all,” Tong Tong said, disappointed.

“Perhaps it’s a tenth stone tablet never before discovered by anyone — let’s hurry and go.” Li Tian beckoned them onward, then called out to Dongfang Ye, Yao Yuekong, and the others as well, inviting them to come drink a few cups together in celebration.

They acted as though no one else was present, chatting freely among themselves, sparking a wave of discussion among the crowd. Only the people of Ten Thousand Beginnings Sacred Ground had faces pale as ash — whether true or not, their reputation had already been utterly ruined.

“Hey, where’s that uncle?” Ye Tong turned around, only to find that Ye Fan had already vanished without a trace.

At this point, everyone else was also startled, only noticing a flash of a figure before Ye Fan simply vanished into thin air, no one knowing where he had gone — it had happened far too quickly.

Ye Fan had not immediately stepped forward to speak with his old friends; he did not yet wish to reveal his identity publicly, not knowing how many pairs of eyes might be watching him.

This was no longer Earth — he could not yet arrogantly consider himself invincible under heaven. This was the ancient Big Dipper Star Region; casually stepping out could summon an ancient king, bringing great calamity upon himself.

He had left this ancient star twice, and twice successfully returned — he estimated that a group of ancient patriarch kings had likely long wanted to capture him and interrogate him thoroughly.

He did not wish to provoke sage-level figures into dealing with him right after his return. The so-called “age when sages do not appear” was, in truth, perhaps not entirely accurate — if one truly emerged, who could do anything about it?

So many years had passed — the “Primordial Beginning Emperor’s decree” was probably no longer as effective as it once was; it would be better to rely on Gai Jiuyou, who had lived far longer and was more useful.

On the horizon, Ye Fan sat astride Long Ma, having already left the Fire Spirit Chasm far behind, traveling through a vast wilderness.

Long Ma grumbled, looking utterly exasperated, and said: “If it were up to me, I’d have shouted in front of everyone — ‘Grandpa’s back, all you grandsons come pay your respects!'”

Ye Fan gave him a direct slap and said, “You want to become the target of the entire world’s hatred? You don’t need to go that far — you might as well go challenge an ancient patriarch king directly, it’d be more efficient.”

“Ancient patriarch kings, what are they? I could stomp a whole row of them dead with one hoof!” Long Ma retorted stubbornly, refusing to back down.

Ye Fan said gravely, “This isn’t Earth. I’ve warned you before — the experts you consider top-tier aren’t even worth mentioning on this ancient star.”

“How have these old tortoises lived so long? When will it be my turn to rise up, trample across the Big Dipper, and make them eat dust,” Long Ma sighed.

While at Heaven Trace City, Ye Fan had heard an unverified rumor that left him uneasy.

Rumor had it that the Central Emperor and the Southern Demon had both disappeared, and Yao Guang the Sacred Son had not appeared publicly for several years either — some claimed they had been secretly killed by the ancient patriarch kings.

Before severing the Dao, no matter how heaven-defying a genius one was, they remained merely nominal until they passed through the Dao-Severing barrier — nothing counted for much before that.

But once one severed the Dao, everything changed completely — one gained the opportunity to achieve sagehood, and this made the ancient kings feel threatened, for such peerless talents, once their Dao was accomplished, could sweep across the entire world unopposed.

Now many people privately speculated that the peerless Central Emperor and the heaven-defying Southern Demon had vanished most likely because they had suffered a vicious sneak attack, killed by the ancient patriarch kings.

“Master, seeing this, aren’t you in great danger yourself? None of the ancient patriarch kings are exactly benevolent,” Zhang Qingyang said.

He and Long Yuxuan had originally both been thrilled — not long ago Ye Fan had swept through all directions, beating the ancient races until they couldn’t hold their heads up, setting their blood racing with excitement.

Yet now both of them wore worried expressions, concerned for Ye Fan’s situation, fearing that once the ancient patriarch kings learned the human race’s Sacred Body had returned, they might make a vicious move against him as well.

“No matter, I’m not afraid. Since I dared to return, I naturally have contingencies in place. I simply don’t wish to confront them the moment I arrive — after all, I’ve been gone fourteen years. Let me get a clear picture of things first before deciding,” Ye Fan said.

More than a decade had passed, time had shifted, even little Tong Tong had grown up — enough time for a great many things to have happened. He had no idea how this world had changed over these years.

“The Ji family siblings have also vanished without a trace…” Ye Fan trailed off in thought. Along the way, he had used a wisp of his avatar to inquire among people and had learned this piece of news.

“Master, where are we headed?” Long Yuxuan asked. This world astonished him — it was simply too vast, its mountains and rivers magnificent and boundless, the wilderness seemingly endless.

“To the Heavenly Court, to see old friends from the past,” Ye Fan said, smiling. His heart was stirred with excitement — after so many years, being able to return and reunite with them left even someone of his level of cultivation unable to remain calm, his heart surging with emotion.

“I want to explore this world for a while,” the Spirit Knight spoke up.

Ye Fan paused, glancing at him, and said, “Since I’ve already brought you to this world, I naturally already consider you a friend. Come with me to the Heavenly Court — no need to stand on ceremony.”

The Spirit Knight fell silent for a moment, then said, “Alright.”

This person Ye Fan was determined to keep by his side — in that environment on Earth, he had still managed to sever the Dao through sheer force, and reaching sagehood here in the Big Dipper would surely not be a problem in the future.

Moreover, it was very likely this would not take too long, for the Spirit Knight had been suppressed for who knew how many years on this ancient star, and could very well experience an “explosive breakthrough.”

On this day, news of the battle at the Fire Spirit Chasm spread across the world, shocking all parties, causing the world to tremble.

The Sacred Body’s disciple had emerged, fighting the Chaos Body in battle and winning, leaving even the older generation of figures stunned, feeling inferior by comparison, the news spreading across the world.

Ye Fan had been gone for over a decade now, and everything about him was once again brought to mind. People exclaimed in shock one after another — Ye Tong had inherited his mantle, practically a second Ye Fan, surely destined to carry on her master’s legacy and fight the world in the future!

At the same time, news of the mysterious expert wielding a black long spear, picking off Dao-Severing cultivators one after another, also spread across the five regions, causing even greater shock — one could say the entire world was stunned.

“Right in front of everyone, he pierced the Heavenly Emperor Son’s spirit imprint clean through, nailing it in midair!”

“Truly astonishing news — someone has dared to challenge the ancient imperial bloodline!”

That this mysterious expert would battle the Heavenly Emperor Son was the shared consensus among the people — cultivators across the entire world were eagerly anticipating this, everyone predicting a shocking, decisive confrontation was coming.

This was like a great tempest sweeping across the entire world; almost everyone was speculating about who this powerful figure truly was, sparking an enormous uproar.

From this day forward, the mysterious powerful figure became the focal point of discussion — almost everyone was talking about it, with new speculations arising daily, all manner of theories circulating.

“This must be an imperial prince who cannot bear to see the ancient races dominate alone, wanting to use war to end war, to intimidate the myriad races!”

Once this speculation emerged, the entire world was greatly shaken, with many half-believing it, feeling it made a great deal of sense.

“Did you all sense it that day? Though his blood-qi remained unreleased, dormant within his body, it still felt like a vast ocean, inspiring terror — I suspect he might be another Sacred Body!”

This speculation caused even greater uproar across the entire world.

“The path to immortality is about to open — perhaps the entire Big Dipper Star Region will know no peace, perhaps those from beyond the domain have gradually begun arriving!”

This speculation caused even greater shock, for Hun Tuo the Great Sage had said as early as ten years prior that one day powerful figures from beyond the domain might descend.

“Master, the moment you made your move, you stirred the entire world into turmoil, sparking endless speculation among the people, yet not a single person has guessed the truth.” Zhang Qingyang said.

“Sooner or later they’ll know I’ve returned,” Ye Fan said, gazing toward the distant sky.

On this day, they opened a Void Gate, passing through a dark and lengthy path, arriving directly at the Village of Heaven.

“Ahh, I’m going to die, I really can’t take it anymore!” The moment they entered the Village of Heaven, Long Yuxuan and Zhang Qingyang exchanged glances — such a shrill, miserable scream sent chills straight up their spines.

Ye Fan smiled — this voice was far too familiar. It was the Silver Blood Twin Emperors being “trained,” this being their miserable screaming.

“Woof, still not good enough! How do you plan to help me wipe out the Heavenly Emperor Son looking like that?” On the horizon stood a massive black dog, large as a small mountain, roaring like an overlord demon king.

Suddenly, this massive black dog turned around, fixing its gaze intently on Ye Fan and his companions, its bell-sized copper eyes nearly bulging out.

Beneath Ye Fan, Long Ma stomped the ground forcefully with its hoof, white smoke billowing from its nostrils, staring intently at what lay ahead as well.