A divine fiend stood towering, manifested between heaven and earth — as though it could press against the celestial court above and stamp upon the underworld below. A single glance in any direction and all of the nine heavens and ten earths trembled.
Its overwhelming aura suffocated all witnesses. A head full of black hair fell like cascading rivers of ink. Its eyes were deep and profound — and with one mouthful, it had swallowed the half-Saint, leaving heaven and earth silent and still.
“Ahhh—!”
The half-Saint bellowed from within the belly of this divine fiend phenomenon, struggling to break free. Shocked, furious, and afraid — his very liver and gallbladder had gone cold. He opened his mouth and expelled an iron halberd, slashing with all his might.
At the same moment, he unleashed his own domain, and the half-Saint’s radiance erupted upward, attempting to tear open this death trap and claw his way back out.
But reality was cruel. His phenomenon and domain were suppressed completely — not the slightest bit of use. When the human race’s Sacred Physique phenomenon appeared, virtually no other phenomenon could match it; all would be nullified.
Only the iron halberd still crossed back and forth, attempting to pierce through the divine fiend’s belly. But what awaited it was an enormous grinding disc — rolling toward it and crushing it into powder.
Within the divine fiend’s belly — in the position corresponding to the Wheel Sea — the bitter sea and the wheel of life merged together, transforming into a world-grinding disc. It crushed the iron halberd into nothing inch by inch.
The half-Saint cried out. Every hair on his body stood on end. In that moment, he felt a special primal force permeate him — and through this divine fiend phenomenon, he understood who Ye Fan was. But he could not cry it aloud. Even his divine consciousness had been suppressed. The world-grinding disc fell — and he, filled with unwillingness, resentment, and terror, became nothing but flesh and blood reduced to pulp. His primordial spirit was extinguished, scattering completely.
A faint sound — and the divine fiend that had towered between heaven and earth also exploded, vanishing without a trace. This place fell into absolute silence. Where the divine fiend had disappeared, a vast cloud of blood mist drifted — the only thing left behind.
One half-Saint had died just like that — swallowed in a single bite, meeting his end in an untimely fashion.
“Who among you dares take even one more step!” Ye Fan’s true body thundered.
These words resounded through the sky, like a peal of thunder that made eardrums ache and set many people’s bodies swaying — nearly knocking them to the ground where they stood.
Several half-Saints who had agreed to disrupt the battlefield and reinforce the Crown Prince of Heaven wore expressions of extreme grimness — and simultaneously felt waves of cold fear rising from the depths of their hearts. One of their companions had just died before their eyes.
In this moment, they were trapped between advance and retreat. They had already made their decision, and those around them were watching — yet a vivid tragedy unfolding before them made every one of them break into a cold sweat.
One more step forward could mean death! But to remain frozen in place — it was humiliating and suffocating.
The others did not dare breathe, feeling that the mysterious human cultivator was too dominant. He had roared and held several half-Saints in place, projecting a presence of supreme dominion over all.
“Those who cross the line will die!” Ye Fan’s true body bellowed again. He was in the thick of the battle with no hand to spare — all he could do was pour everything into this one domineering strike, using it as deterrence.
In the end, several half-Saints stood pale-faced and still. Not one of them took a step. All of them were petrified in place. None dared act recklessly again — for them, surviving mattered most of all.
A wind rose through the wasteland. People felt a chill pass through their bodies. No one spoke. Silence fell, complete — everyone had been shaken still.
Especially those several Ancient Clan members who had just moments ago whispered that Ye Fan could not be allowed to live — they felt their blood turn to ice. Clearly, a pair of eyes had swept across them, like blades scraped across bone.
In the arena, the battle continued. The Crown Prince of Heaven watched all of this unfold, and his Dao-heart grew even more unstable. He was struck by the Holy Prince’s iron staff, which sent his divine golden crown shattering to pieces and his immortal hairpin crumbling to dust. Black hair cascaded loose in an instant.
Burning fury and dread surged through him together. He swung the Immortal Blade of Heaven, its light slashing the sky, fighting back with desperate ferocity.
On the other side, Huo Qizi’s expression had grown far colder. He fixed his gaze on Ye Fan’s true body and Dao-body and elevated his battle power another level, blocking his path and giving him no further opportunity to strike outward.
Ye Fan no longer attempted to break through. Given the current situation, all he needed to do was hold these three off for another half an hour. The Holy Prince was certain to prevail — the Crown Prince of Heaven’s Dao-heart was unstable, and his defeat was only a matter of time.
The Holy Prince’s iron staff rang with a deep hum. Every descent of the staff sent black cracks radiating outward in all directions, and collisions with the Immortal Blade of Heaven sent brilliant sparks cascading.
Many watched this battle with keen anticipation, hearts racing with excitement. Even in the glorious age of antiquity, people had never witnessed a clash between emperors. The battle between their mightiest descendants was undeniably a kind of comparison.
Spit!
The Crown Prince of Heaven’s spirit was wavering. He took another strike from the staff — blood went flying. His body lurched. For the first time, fear took root in him. He dreaded defeat. Never before had he been pushed to such desperate straits. His heart had no foundation beneath it.
Even in his duels against the young Immortal Emperor of Heaven, he had never been afraid — because he had known his father’s Dao traces would not truly slay him. He could fight to his limit freely, without the weight of now.
The Holy Prince was a different matter entirely. Through all these years, he had wandered the edge of life and death, grown strong through countless battles, fought the Crown Prince of Heaven’s guardians for so many years — and in all of that, he had accumulated experience beyond measure. His eyes blazed like living torches of light, and his power grew more imposing still.
He attacked with vast sweeping movements, pressing forward step by step, leaving the Crown Prince of Heaven increasingly uneasy — barely escaping disaster time and again, coughing blood repeatedly under the black iron staff’s might.
The truth was, the Crown Prince of Heaven’s physique was genuinely unrivaled throughout the ages. His mastered divine arts were likewise world-shaking. His raw strength was impeccable in every respect — otherwise, he could not have inflicted serious injuries on the Holy Prince.
But in this moment, he lacked a certain spirit — the true spirit of pressing forward without surrender, fearless of death, willing to perish together with his enemy. That resolve, he did not have.
The battle had reached this point, yet the Holy Prince was covered in wounds as well — possibly even more severe ones. He had no immortal treasures and no enlightenment tea or anything like it. He had reached this point entirely through his own power.
Even though he had an uncle — that uncle had never paid him the slightest attention. He had been left to fend for himself, left to carve his path through the world alone. That uncle sat on Mount Sumeru and never emerged — as though he had forgotten him entirely.
Yet his fighting spirit was harder than iron. He had fought until the Crown Prince of Heaven’s soul went cold, until his Dao-heart fell utterly out of balance. In this moment, the Crown Prince of Heaven began to give ground step by step — surviving each exchange only by a hair.
“Ape — do not push me. If I must, I will cripple half of my cultivation and use the heavenly treasures to destroy your very soul and bones. Those things you do not have — you cannot match them!”
The Holy Prince moved with growing ease and steadiness. His eyes brimmed with confidence. Step by step he pressed forward — almost to the point of overwhelming him completely — and said: “Aside from what your father left you — what do you yourself possess? Today, I will slay you!”
Clang!
The iron staff came sweeping down, crashing against the Crown Prince of Heaven’s shoulder. Flesh and blood went flying. His body lurched. His bones rang continuously, cracking under the strain — nearly snapping in two.
“Ahhh—!” The Crown Prince of Heaven let out a cry, hair disheveled, deploying one wondrous technique after another in a frenzy as he fought the Holy Prince like a man gone mad.
On the other side, Ye Fan was increasingly taxed. Huang Xudao and Huo Lin’er intensified their assault — for the three of them had been summoned, and each had received extraordinary rewards for it. There was no way they could stand by and watch the Crown Prince of Heaven fall.
Ye Fan felt extreme danger. First, the bloodline power within the three was growing stronger. Second, they might be carrying some kind of great killing weapon on their persons.
He had once had a degree of acquaintance with Huo Lin’er — but that was surely worth nothing now. In front of true core interests, what did past familiarity amount to?
“Since we came south, we cannot sit back and watch the Crown Prince of Heaven fall. If you dare block us further, you will die for nothing!” Huo Qizi said, his expression cold and without feeling.
At this point, if he did not give his all, the Crown Prince of Heaven might die. And then it would be too late for anything.
“Get past me first — then we can talk,” Ye Fan said in a cold voice.
“I have no desire for pointless fighting. I will simply kill you and be done with it,” Huo Qizi said coldly. A terrifying aura seeped out from within his body and shot directly toward Ye Fan.
“The might of an Emperor’s Weapon!” Ye Fan’s expression changed. He had long feared something like this — and now his fear had come true.
He had always harbored a deep unease: if these figures came south carrying Ancient Emperor’s weapons, it would be a catastrophe beyond measure. This was why he had always been so wary.
Boom!
Ye Fan evolved the “Soldier” character technique, stirring the immortal cauldron within his body. He had been unable to actively wield it even when he had held two pieces of the green bronze — and now he still could not deploy it offensively. But he could use it for defense.
Sensing that thread of Emperor’s might shooting toward him, a layer of radiance saturated his body’s surface, blocking the killing force and preventing it from penetrating.
“What?” Huo Qizi’s expression changed for the first time. This meant his opponent must possess an Emperor’s Weapon of his own — otherwise, how could he withstand this aura?
Hum!
Huo Qizi’s body shuddered. A brilliant cascade of rosy light burst forth, all of it directed at Ye Fan — like an ancient emperor descending upon all under heaven, reappearing in the mortal world.
In the sky, an enormous blue qilin appeared, emanating ten thousand feet of radiance. Its divine might was vast, its aura swallowing mountains and rivers.
Ye Fan’s eyes turned ice-cold. The thing he had feared most had finally come to pass — the Ancient Emperor’s Sons had come south carrying power far beyond what most people imagined.
If Huang Xudao had also come bearing an Ancient Emperor’s immortal weapon, it would be even more difficult than before.
But since the battle had already reached this point — with the Holy Prince on the verge of gaining the upper hand and about to kill the Crown Prince of Heaven — no matter what, he could not retreat. He had to hold these three back.