“Half a year still remains before the gate to the stellar void can be opened…” Ye Fan furrowed his brow. So many years had passed — he did not know how Ji Ziyue, the Southern Demon, Pang Bo, and the others fared, or whether any of them had fallen.

The strong do not necessarily survive; the weak do not necessarily perish. The old sage had said this ancient path was very long — if one found it too perilous, one could choose to stop. Reaching the end was not mandatory.

Ye Fan had returned to the Eastern Wastelands. The entire journey back, he had been examining a corner of a blood-stained battle garment, yet he had noticed nothing particularly unusual about it. There was not a single word upon it — only scattered spots of blood, blooming like plum blossoms.

Ji Haoyue had sent it back by some special means. Even the people of the Hall of Extraordinary Figures had been stunned at the time, unable to fathom what kind of teleportation array platform he had discovered that could transmit the blood-soaked garment while the person himself had not returned.

Ji Shen Wang — the Divine King of the Ji Family — had sent back the blood-stained battle garment. No one knew what message he had intended to convey. It was precisely because of this that Ji Ziyue had set foot upon the stellar path and journeyed beyond the outer realm.

“The divine fortune-teller of the Central Province had already deduced many years ago that the Path to Immortality would open — that this world would become a terrifying place, where any who did not become a saint would be no better than ants. The departures of the Central Emperor, the Western Bodhisattva, Yao Guang, and the others were not without reason — they were avoiding the coming catastrophe.”

Ye Fan murmured to himself. These were words the old sage of the Hall of Extraordinary Figures had spoken to him before he left — touching upon certain hidden secrets that outsiders were not privy to.

The divine fortune-teller had passed away long ago — more precisely, he had been struck to death by heavenly lightning. He had transgressed a forbidden boundary, revealing heavenly secrets that ought never to have been divined, things related to the ancient Great Emperors and to the achieving of immortality.

This ancient path through the stellar void was not a road exclusive to the life-source star of the Northern Dipper — there were likely waypoints ahead. This was information the Hall of Extraordinary Figures had learned through mysterious channels.

“Could it be that Rong Chengshi walked ahead with his ginseng fruit tree, and that Lao Zi riding his green ox also entered this ancient path… the ancient star called the Immortal-Ascending Star, or perhaps even farther beyond… with divine blood spilling in all directions — the battlegrounds of the earliest primordial peoples?” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

He had returned to the Eastern Wastelands and stood upon a mountain peak that pierced the very heavens. So many years had passed — he had grown from the very lowest rung among cultivators, and could now stand as a dominant force, surveying all eight wildernesses from on high.

And yet — it was still not enough!

“Who was buried in the Immortal Mausoleum? Is there an Emperor within the Divine Ruins? When will I be able to descend into the depths of the Primordial Ancient Abyss to see for myself? When will I be able to enter the Immortal Mountain to dig for immortal medicines? When will I be able to enter the Primordial Ancient Mine to understand it completely?”

The Eastern Wastelands had seven great Forbidden Zones of Life. Since time immemorial, no one had ever truly fathomed them. Ye Fan yearned for power — hoping that one day he could truly rise and stand without fear before the Forbidden Zones, and explore them to the very bottom.

“So many years have passed — where is Xiao Nannan? Why has she disappeared without a trace? The poor little one — how can I find her?”

This was a deep wound in Ye Fan’s heart. Xiao Nannan — with her large, pure and flawless eyes and her pitiful, forlorn air — had vanished without explanation and never reappeared.

“I will mobilize every resource at my disposal. I must find her, no matter the cost.” This was Ye Fan’s solemn wish — otherwise he felt he had failed the little girl.

At this moment he stood in the Yan territory. Sadly, the great city there had been destroyed in a single strike from the Celestial Son, and existed no more.

It was here that he had once encountered Xiao Nannan — he still remembered what she looked like. Her small clothes had been ragged and torn, her little shoes so worn that her toes poked through them. Her large eyes were pure and flawless, yet she had kept her head lowered and told him she was very hungry — a pitiable sight.

Had it not been for Xiao Nannan’s seven-colored little stones, Ye Fan would have perished long ago in the Primordial Forbidden Zone. His ability to heal the wounds dealt to his Dao — he owed that entirely to her.

“Where are you…” As Ye Fan thought of her — so small and alone, having endured the bitterest hardships of the world — his heart was gripped by a piercing ache.

All these years, the Black Emperor had searched for her with nearly frenzied determination, yet found nothing. No one knew where she was; not a single piece of news had come.

Now that Ye Fan had returned, he once again mobilized every channel at his disposal. To that end he even put up a reward of divine-grade phoenix blood crimson gold — once a tip was confirmed to have value, the bounty would be paid without fail.

“The Path to Immortality — when will it open?”

Ye Fan stood outside the Primordial Forbidden Zone and surveyed the nine sacred mountains once more. Now that his Heaven’s Eye had reached full maturity, he could even clearly perceive the nine Undying Medicines and the nine pools of divine springs.

The nine spirit roots were divisions of a single perfect Nine-Wonder Divine Medicine. Sooner or later they would reunite as one. The ancient imperial clan of Shencan Ridge had long been waiting — that divine medicine belonged to them.

“What lies beneath the Primordial Ancient Abyss? Is there truly a path leading to the immortal domain? Or is it something else — or perhaps, as ancient speculation held, is there an immortal sleeping within?”

Ye Fan’s thoughts wandered without end, and he contemplated many possibilities.

“Did Li Xiaoman plunge in and turn to ash… or did she become a wasteland slave…”

On that day — the final battle — Li Xiaoman had resolutely and without hesitation leapt into the abyss. In the last moment when she turned to look at him, her expression had been so complex — tears like crystals streaming down her face, as if she were smiling brightly and yet as if she were in boundless grief. Even now, the memory still stirred something within him.

He let out a long sigh and shook his head, unable to make sense of his own feelings.

“What is the origin of the supreme existence below? Here, where the Nine-Wonder Divine Medicine has sent forth nine immortal roots, could it be that this Forbidden Zone is the transformed remains of an ancient emperor from the Divine Silkworm clan?”

After the ancient clans had awakened, someone had once put forward this theory — the Divine Silkworm undergoes nine transformations, each transformation a new life. To become emperor of the Shencan clan requires the ultimate tenth transformation, and this place might be the transformed remnant shell of an ancient emperor of the Shencan clan.

Nine undying lives — the tenth life defies the heavens!

And yet the human race preferred to believe that there might be an immortal here — completely at odds with the ancient clans’ theory. The elders had passed down a legend: there might be a Great Emperor who had achieved immortality within!

“Hmm?”

Ye Fan’s heart stirred. He sensed two gazes and turned to look. On a cliff not far away, a young man in blue robes was also gazing out over the Primordial Ancient Abyss.

This was a powerfully built man, at the Dao Severance level, possessing the blood aura of a half-saint. Though his divine power was held in check, facing him still gave one a sense of confronting an eternal immortal furnace.

Within his body, it seemed as though a tremendous force capable of shattering the heavens lay coiled — and if released, it would pose a threat even to Imperial Son-level figures, far surpassing any ordinary half-saint.

Ye Fan’s heart stirred. When had such a figure emerged? He had never seen him before. This was a powerfully strong human cultivator — only half a step away from becoming a saint.

The blue-robed young man appeared youthful in countenance. He gave Ye Fan a nod, then turned and continued circling the Primordial Forbidden Zone in observation.

At the same time, Ye Fan noticed a thatched hut on the far bank of the Primordial Forbidden Zone, set upon a mountain peak. A blurred silhouette stood within it.

Ye Fan’s body suddenly went cold, his heart shaken. Even across this vast stretch of forbidden zone, those two gazes were so terrifyingly powerful — what kind of cultivation did that represent?

A saint! And one of unfathomable depth — a sage he had never encountered before.

“Could it be that yet another outer-realm sage has arrived, descending upon the Eastern Wastelands, having deduced the location where the path to immortality will open — and intending to take up permanent residence here?” Ye Fan felt a tightening in his chest.

Not long after, the young blue-robed man departed, flying around the Forbidden Zone toward the far bank, appearing before the thatched hut and paying his respects to the blurred silhouette within.

“It truly could be a sage — from beyond the outer realm. With the Path to Immortality opening, will chaos begin from this very place?”

Ye Fan watched from afar. He did not dare approach. With the Primordial Forbidden Zone between them he could come and go freely, but if that barrier were removed, facing a saint of unknown origins would give him serious misgivings.

“Oh? More people have come.”

A spatial gate opened and three silhouettes stepped out — an old man whose body was covered in Dao markings, with two young men following behind him. One of them was none other than Wang Xu, his expression dark and sullen.

They also chose a mountain summit, where they constructed a thatched hut and set up watch upon the peak, gazing out toward the Primordial Ancient Abyss.

“I don’t recognize any of them. Which means two outer-realm sages have now descended — capable of crossing stellar domains, having come in pursuit of immortality. Their cultivation is absolutely staggering beyond belief!”

Ye Fan had no desire to provoke any of them. He kept well away, circling to the other side of the Forbidden Zone and maintaining a safe distance. He was confident that even a saint could not instantly cross through this Forbidden Zone.

Suddenly, a strange and eerie aura appeared. Ye Fan’s heart tightened, and a chill ran up his spine.

He wheeled around abruptly and peered deep into the Forbidden Zone. Above the Primordial Ancient Abyss, several silhouettes had appeared — each one dressed in extremely ancient garments.

Wasteland slaves!

At the same moment, the occupants of both thatched huts stepped forward, their eyes shooting out terrifying light. They plunged into the Primordial Forbidden Zone, intent on getting a closer look.

Without sound or warning, an even more chilling aura emerged. The grand Dao of heaven and earth fell into chaos; the laws and order of the world threatened to collapse entirely, casting the very space-time around the Forbidden Zone into a murky dimness.

A blurred silhouette appeared — bound in chains, wreathed in black mist — standing at the mouth of the abyss. Even with the Heaven’s Eye it could not be seen through, and even a saint was powerless before it.

Was it he, or she — was this the Wasteland being? Ye Fan’s heart was shaken. He had not expected to encounter it again.

This was absolutely an existence without equal in all the world! In years past, the Victorious Fighting Buddha had come bearing three Emperor’s weapons and could only withdraw in the end — it had taken an ancient Great Emperor’s divine decree to halt this being in the final moments.

Both thatched huts, both outer-realm sages — neither could help but take an involuntary step back. Within that black mist, a pair of eyes, cold and merciless, swept over them as though looking at objects devoid of life.

“Chaos is rising in the Southern Domain — the Path to Immortality truly may be right here…” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

At the same time, his body tensed again. Within the Primordial Ancient Abyss, that supreme existence — its pair of eyes piercing through the black mist — was gazing directly at him, as though it could see through his very body and penetrate to the essential nature of all things.

In that instant, the damaged green cauldron within him trembled several times, as though it had sensed some inexplicable pressure.

Ye Fan’s heart was thoroughly shaken. He couldn’t help but step back. This existence — whose very gender was unknown — had absolutely perceived the Myriad Source Cauldron!

On the far bank, the outer-realm ancient sages before the two thatched huts also cast their gazes toward him — for they had sensed that the eyes of the “Wasteland being” seemed to be focused on Ye Fan, and were all somewhat bewildered.

Whoosh!

The next moment, Ye Fan directly opened a spatial gate, stepped inside, and departed without looking back. He could not linger in this place any longer!

“A great upheaval is coming — perhaps a calamity the likes of which has never been seen before!” he said inwardly. The outer-realm sages had barely descended before choosing this location — the situation had become very serious.

Space-time twisted, and Ye Fan reappeared tens of thousands of li away. He had not left the Southern Domain — he wanted to go take a look near the Yao Guang Sacred Ground, and make one trip there.

Half a day later, he arrived alone, emerging before a magnificent stretch of immortal earth.

“Hiss!”

The moment he arrived he showed a look of astonishment, drawing in a deep breath involuntarily. It was exactly as Duan De had described — the terrain was far too unusual.

Looking from a distance, the ground ahead suddenly rose dramatically, as though an enormous earthen mound stood upright upon the land.

The mound was large. Had he not been a Source-Heaven Master with keen sensitivity to terrain and landform patterns, he would never have noticed this subtle rise and fall in the landscape.

For upon the mound itself grew beautiful mountain peaks and ravines, along with cascading waterfalls and flowing springs — a self-contained landscape of scenery.

To an outsider, this would appear to be simply an area of higher elevation — a kind of plateau. Only someone like Duan De, a tomb raider, and Ye Fan, a dragon vein tracker, would see through to the hidden strangeness within.

“Could this truly be a great tomb, concealing some mysterious and profound secret?” He was deeply amazed within his heart.

A great tomb upon which beautiful mountain peaks and thousand-zhang silver waterfalls had grown — with qilin beasts roaming about, golden ravens soaring through the sky, and auspicious grasses blanketing the earth. The more such things were present, the more unsettling it became.

“Hmm — I wonder if this place has any connection to the Primordial Forbidden Zone?” Ye Fan shook his head, feeling he was perhaps being overly sensitive.