The newcomer stood two heads taller than an ordinary person, his bearing powerful and imposing. He had a pair of silver eyes — cold and cruel, intimidating to behold.
He came flying in across the room, one foot extended, driving it toward Ye Fan’s skull. His momentum was overwhelming, causing many people to change color and step back involuntarily.
“Xuanmo, what do you think you’re doing?” The bald man shouted. Though he and Ye Fan had clashed before, they had since reconciled, and he was not about to stand by and watch.
“When I, Xuanmo, do something, is it your place to question me? Get out of my way!” Xuanmo’s lips curled with savagery. Even as his foot drove down toward Ye Fan’s skull, he shot out one large hand toward the bald man’s face.
He was domineering to an extreme — tall and powerful, utterly self-assured, regarding no one with any deference whatsoever, dispensing life and death as he saw fit.
“You…” The bald man’s face changed color. He knew well how fearsome the silver-eyed man was and was far from his match. The gale-force wind struck him full in the face, as though blades were cutting across his entire face.
In that instant, he nearly went flying.
The tall man with silver-white pupils wore a savage grin as he leapt in the air, attacking two people at once.
Ye Fan was indifferent. Watching that massive foot bearing down on him, he shot out his right hand with a crack — faster than lightning — and seized that foot, holding it frozen in mid-air.
Xuanmo’s extended hand had nearly reached the bald man’s face, but was forcibly stopped. His entire body was yanked back. A look of agony flickered across his face.
His right foot felt as though someone were carving out the marrow with an iron blade — agonizing beyond description. He could not take another step forward, and his entire cultivation was suppressed along with it.
“You outsider brat, you…” His face twisted with rage, and a roar erupted from him. The entire building shook and trembled violently.
Ye Fan’s expression did not change. He grabbed Xuanmo’s right foot and swung hard, slamming him with full force into the ground. Through a cloud of dust and debris, a massive figure was driven straight into the floor.
The diamond-hard stone floor, originally tougher than refined iron, cracked and shattered across a vast area. At the center, a human-shaped crater appeared as Ye Fan drove him directly underground.
“Ahh…” Furious roars, domineering energy, and savage power all came surging up from below at once.
Ye Fan stood at the edge of the human-shaped pit, looking down, his expression cold — not a trace of emotion on his face.
Xuanmo gathered his strength and shook with full force. The diamond-hard floor broke apart, and he prepared to charge back up — but just as his head emerged, a large foot was waiting for him.
Boom!
Ye Fan stamped down, his foot landing squarely on Xuanmo’s face, leaving the clear imprint of a boot sole on it. His mouth and nose were sealed shut, cutting off his shout.
Xuanmo was incensed. A single large foot just like a dark cloud was covering his face — blood spurted from his nose, teeth were knocked loose, and he couldn’t even scream. It was all forced back down by that foot.
He had meant to drive his foot down onto Ye Fan’s crown and shatter him into the ground. Now the roles were reversed — Ye Fan’s foot was planted squarely on his face.
Xuanmo was furious enough to burst. His mouth and nose sealed shut, his face in excruciating pain, tears and snot flowing freely, he was stamped back down into the human-shaped pit by Ye Fan’s single foot.
Everyone watching was struck dumb. In normal times Xuanmo was overbearing and tyrannical, notoriously so throughout the Heaven Pure Land — among the younger generation, almost no one dared to cross him. And now he had been seized in an instant and had a big foot applied to his face with relentless force — this was truly a shocking development. The onlookers all stared in stunned disbelief.
“This is Xuanmo, who achieved Dao Severance just one month ago. For someone to suppress him like this, the other person must at least be standing on the second small step of Dao Severance, surely?”
Someone murmured softly. A trace of awe toward Ye Fan arose in their heart. The people present had not previously taken him seriously at all — now they were all frightened.
“You brat…” Xuanmo called out, climbing up from the pit, his expression vicious, murder and cold menace written all over his face as he prepared to charge forward.
Ye Fan still did not say a word. He stood at the edge of the pit, simply raised one foot — and aimed it at nothing else, just Xuanmo’s face.
Xuanmo’s face was covered in bloody marks. His forehead looked as though a massive seal had been stamped on it. He fell backward headfirst once more, the rest of his words forced back down his throat.
This became a self-perpetuating cycle. Every time the silver-eyed man poked his head up, Ye Fan would stamp down directly on it, making his face bloom like a battered flower and sending him tumbling back into the human-shaped pit — with never any opportunity to climb out.
Ye Fan had not gone for a killing blow — he was simply repaying the man in kind, striking nowhere but the head and keeping him from getting back up.
For a young man who had secured a place among the top eight in the Heaven Pure Land, to be treated this way was naturally a tremendous humiliation. The silver pupils filled with blood, turning into crimson eyes.
“Xuanmo achieved Dao Severance and ranks among the top eight, yet he can do nothing at all. This person named Ye Fan is truly formidable — Xuanmo is completely helpless against him.”
Many people murmured among themselves. Those who had been drunk had sobered up entirely. Recalling their own earlier brazenness, they broke out in cold sweats — so this person was truly this terrifying.
“Brother Ye, that’s enough.” The bald man moved closer and spoke quietly, reminding Ye Fan that the young powerful fighters in the Heaven Pure Land all had some sort of background.
Cao Qing, who had already departed, needed no mention — he was supremely powerful, and wherever he went he was surrounded by admirers, always at the center of attention. Xuanmo too had a large retinue of followers.
By this point, the silver-eyed man had long since lost every last ounce of strength and now lay flat on his back in the human-shaped pit. His facial bones were shattered beyond recognition, and especially his forehead, which had been cracked into over thirty pieces — his skin was twitching from the pain.
Ye Fan finally spoke. Standing at the edge of the pit, looking down, he said: “I am not someone who likes to stir up trouble, but that does not mean I fear it. You and I had no old grievance and no new quarrel, yet you came at me immediately with insults, trying to stomp down on my skull. Unless you come up here and apologize in a way that satisfies me, don’t even think about leaving today.”
Everyone’s expression shifted strangely. This person was truly not to be provoked — he had kicked a man into a stupor, the poor fellow lying at the bottom of the pit in a daze without even knowing which way was up anymore, and still it was not over.
“Xuanmo, apologize quickly.” The bald man called out.
The silver-eyed man had recovered somewhat. The ferocity gradually returned to his eyes. Then suddenly, with a furious roar: “Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? That outsider brat — this is not over between us!”
Then he struggled to his feet, shot out one hand, and slapped it at the bald man’s face — imperious and contemptuous, putting no one in his eyes.
Ye Fan stepped forward, brought his palm down directly — golden blood energy flowing like a massive millstone — and struck him to the ground. Every bone in his body shattered into seven or eight hundred pieces.
“Ahh…” Xuanmo screamed. This time his eyes went completely unfocused, his mind in chaos. He wept and wailed at once.
In the end, someone helped him up. Slurring his words incoherently, he offered Ye Fan a dazed apology and a bow before the matter was finally put to rest.
Afterward, many people heard of his roaring — it was the height of humiliation, an utter loss of face. He had been stamped into idiocy for more than an hour, becoming a complete laughingstock.
Boom!
In the distance, spiritual energy condensed into billions of streams of rosy light rising into the sky from a sacred mountain. Everyone was shaken. The Grand Saint’s ancient furnace had been activated — the refinement of the ultimate evolution fluid had begun, and a tremendous opportunity awaited certain individuals.
For the past half month, countless people had been eagerly watching and waiting, hoping for the sacred fluid to be completed — longing for one day to achieve a major breakthrough, to awaken their most powerful bloodlines.
Ye Fan waited with a calm heart. During this period, no one came to trouble him again. Stamping Xuanmo into the ground had been sufficient — it left everyone else wary and unwilling to invite trouble.
The Medicinal Refining Mountain, situated several dozen li outside the Dao City, radiated brilliance every day as various life essences flowed throughout it, causing the ancient trees, grasses, and vegetation covering its slopes to flourish several dozen times more than usual.
Every day, the ancient furnace on the sacred mountain would roar, wreathed in billions of threads of immortal light — refining the evolution fluid using ancient methods, which could accelerate the process many times over.
According to legend, this was originally the wondrous method by which ancient divine beings refined immortal elixirs. It had been obtained by several super-powerful factions within the Eternal Realm and proved to have remarkable benefits when applied to extracting evolution fluid.
Boom!
Two months later, a thunderous quake erupted from the Medicinal Refining Mountain. The sacred furnace rose and fell, shooting forth a light more dazzling than the sun. The furnace lid was blasted open a crack.
In just that brief instant, the entire mountain was enveloped in immortal energy — a hazy expanse. A faint fragrance wafted out, curling upward, impossible to contain even by the protective screen of light.
“It’s done! This quickly — it truly is a miracle!”
The foot of the mountain was packed with people. Everyone was in breathless anticipation, their excitement at its peak, eyes fixed unwaveringly on the summit.
Clang!
Regrettably, after that single thunderous quake, the furnace lid sealed shut again — closed without a single gap. The wisps of immortal energy vanished.
People felt a wave of disappointment, though none of them left. Everyone knew the time was drawing near — the ultimate evolution fluid was almost complete.
Over the next month, the sacred mountain was completely swallowed by a great mist — swallowing radiance and exhaling splendor, as wondrous phenomenon after wondrous phenomenon appeared.
Within the immortal clouds, a sacred furnace rose and fell. It was inscribed with flowers, birds, fish, and insects alongside flying creatures and walking beasts. Dragon vein flames from deep underground were drawn up and fed into the base of the furnace. Strange and wondrous Dao markings flickered ceaselessly across the bronze furnace’s surface.
Toward the end, several true dragons burst through the bronze walls and flew out, and several qilin likewise broke free of their bonds, circling the furnace and spewing heavenly flames to forge the ancient Saint’s furnace together. Immortal mist drifted and swirled.
“It is almost complete — perhaps within the next few days the furnace will be opened!”
From this day onward, the foot of the Medicinal Refining Mountain was a sea of people. Everyone looked up in expectation, waiting in stillness for the furnace to be opened — the sacred fluid was about to enter the world.
A clear, piercing cry rang out — several crimson divine birds appeared, dancing in flight around the sacred furnace and breathing forth streams of crimson flames to forge it further.
Ahoo…
Within five days, three white tigers leapt out through the bronze furnace walls and circled the body of the furnace with great roars, spurting streams of true white tiger flames from their mouths, causing the ancient furnace to grow ever more crystalline and translucent.
One could even see the Fated Rock of Heaven and the Primordial Life Stone transforming within — melting together. From within the cracks in the rocks, a liquid slowly began to form and flow outward in a gentle trickle.
“It truly is about to be complete! All the auspicious signs of heaven and earth have appeared — true dragons, phoenixes, white tigers, qilin — all manner of sacred beasts have manifested. The heaven-granted sacred fluid is about to complete its refinement.”
Not only the young people — even some of the composed and powerful elders could not sit still anymore. They came to the scene in person, waiting with profound excitement.
Boom!
Finally, a human-shaped radiance emerged through the bronze furnace walls. A silver-white figure — carrying the aura of primordial origin, containing the divine light of fate, breathing in and out, jointly refining the ancient furnace.
Everyone opened their eyes wide and stared without blinking at that point. The entire Grand Saint’s furnace was like a nine-colored crystal, vibrant and vivid, almost transparent, emanating ten thousand rays of colorful light and countless threads of divine radiance — the scene within fully visible.
The Fated Rock of Heaven, the Dried Vine Core of the Fallen Star, the Primordial Life Stone, and various other primary materials had melted together. Within the gaps between them, mysterious liquid welled up steadily and flowed outward.
Clang!
Half a month later, a clear and lingering metallic resonance rang out. The bronze furnace lid flew off. The true dragons, phoenixes, white tigers, qilin, and the silver-white figure all sank together back into the furnace and disappeared.
At the same moment, immortal energy flowed outward like water — pouring out steadily, fragrance spreading in all directions. The Medicinal Refining Mountain erupted with excitement.
The ancient furnace on the mountain seemed to have a life of its own, absorbing and releasing the essence of heaven and earth as though breathing — the ultimate evolution sacred fluid dwelling within trembled with life.
“It’s done — the ultimate evolution fluid is complete!”
“Ha ha — I can finally break through my bottleneck! With its baptism, my bloodline will awaken and my constitution will reach an unprecedented level of power!”
People were shouting, each one excited beyond expression.
“Worthy of the ancient method used by divine beings of old to refine immortal elixirs — in so short a time, and with such fragrance spreading everywhere, the potency of this fluid has been strengthened enormously.”
Fanzhou arrived. Like a heavenly wolf, his eyes shimmered with an otherworldly light, sweeping over every person with a look of implicit warning.
Fanxian was also present. Her soft and fair figure was slender and graceful, standing tall and elegant, her gaze flowing with life — her heart brimming with anticipation.
Cao Qing stood not far away. His silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, and even the cold indifference of his face showed ripples of feeling. He was surrounded by a retinue of powerful members of his own family.
Ye Fan’s heart was not calm either. He waited with anticipation — if he obtained the ultimate evolution fluid, to what level could it push him? Could he ascend to Sainthood?