“Ahh…!” Liu Ye screamed.

The spearhead protruded a full foot out from the other side — cold and piercingly sharp — transfixing him through the chest. He writhed in agony, blood spurting and spattering, thick and warm against the skin.

Ye Fan’s black hair was in disarray. With one hand he held the spear, angled upward at the sky, pinning Liu Ye in midair. Blood flowed down the cold metal shaft — brilliant crimson, a sight that shocked the eye.

The icy spearhead was engraved with a blood groove — deep and long — from which blood gushed in a torrent, carrying the smell of iron, staining the long metal shaft a vivid red.

The one who had stood so loftily not long ago — the self-proclaimed Enforcer — was now transfixed by Ye Fan’s spear, hoisted in midair, drenched in blood, casting a deathly silence over the entire Yan Manor.

“You will regret this!” The former Grand Commander Yan Yu said — though held in the Reception Envoy’s grip, he could still speak. His face carried a trace of venomous malice.

Liu Ye was the nephew of an Enforcer, a figure of no ordinary standing, with a background that inspired deep wariness. Yet Ye Fan had driven a spear clean through him — blood spilled on the spot.

“I never regret anything I do.” Ye Fan’s words were absolute.

With a resounding clang, he slammed the metal spear into the ground. Liu Ye let out a wretched shriek as he was nailed against a large flat stone — blood spurting in all directions, his body trembling.

Ye Fan drew a white bone arrow, drew the great bow, and said to Long Ma: “End his life.”

At this moment, Long Ma was in pursuit of Yan Chifeng. Having now attained sainthood, his combat power had surged dramatically — he was trampling Yan Yu’s great-great-grandson underfoot, making him howl like a ghost and wail like a wolf, bones shattering by the hundreds throughout his body.

Hiss!

The white bone arrow was loosed, splitting heaven and earth, like a comet colliding with the depths of the stellar sea — earthshaking, the entire expanse of sky trembling.

“No!” The former Grand Commander Yan Yu screamed, his guts and gallbladder shattering at the sight. Yan Chifeng was his only great-great-grandson — now being used as a live target before his eyes. He wanted to stop it, but his body would not obey.

“Ahh…!” A piercing shriek rang out. Yan Chifeng’s features contorted in agony as the arrow struck between his brows — a blossom of blood exploded, and then his entire skull blew apart, followed by his entire body disintegrating into nothing. Body and soul both annihilated. This time there was no substitute puppet to die in his place.

Yan Yu nearly fainted from the pain, cursing and hurling insults, murderous light blazing from his eyes — yet he was suppressed by the Reception Envoy and could not move a muscle to stop any of it.

“You’re being too merciful — why are you harvesting lives from this seat’s hands? Heaven cherishes life — wouldn’t dying like that be too easy for him?” Long Ma grumbled in dissatisfaction.

“You are monsters!” Yan Yu spat blood in his rage.

“The true monsters exist in the hearts of people like you.” Ye Fan rebuked him. He had always been merciless toward people of this kind.

Whoosh!

The entire Yan Manor and the surrounding streets boiled with noise — a great clamor erupting. The events of this day were destined to shake the second human holy city and spread throughout the Ancient Stellar Path.

Today Ye Fan had first slaughtered the Grand Commander Yu Han, then stormed the former Grand Commander’s manor, killing the Enforcer’s nephew and others — a heaven-shaking, earth-rending act, a tremendous and surging tide!

The remaining two outsiders went pale, silently retreating, trying to escape — but how could anyone let them go?

Yu Xian, Rui Wei, and a number of other cultivators who had entered with them made their move simultaneously, cutting off their retreat routes, intent on capturing them alive.

“Kill them.” The Reception Envoy spoke — brief and forceful.

Ye Fan reflected: interrogating them alive would certainly ensnare bigger fish. Yet he did not wish to make things difficult for the Reception Envoy. He drew the bow again — two bone arrows loosed in quick succession, their sounds sharp and clear. The two outsider powerhouses were shot dead on the spot, reduced to blood mist and shattered bone.

“Deep in the Ancient Stellar Path, your every step will be impeded! The true sovereign who has attained the Dao will send you on your way!” one of the outsiders cursed as he died.

“Di Tian, you say? If he dares block my path, I will take his life — blow him apart into a rain of blood!” Ye Fan said with cold indifference.

The two outsiders died filled with resentment and fury — reduced to flying ash, their soul imprints ground down and obliterated completely.

“This one is truly a match for the Great Demon God Gu Huang — decisive and domineering.” The Immortal-Banished Maiden’s little handmaiden Ling’er muttered.

“Today — grievances are settled, debts are repaid, and not one person gets away!” Long Ma declared, his hooves pounding the sky, blocking the path of the second leader of the Thirteen Riders of Heaven’s Desolation, Ye Wuhun.

Ye Wuhun had wanted to strike him down, but Long Ma had now attained sainthood, and his combat power had grown at a terrifying rate. One hoof nearly split him apart.

Ye Wuhun was also a sage, and even his mount — a grey dragon — was a sacred beast, testifying to the depth of his cultivation. Yet he had met this monstrous creature Long Ma, and was being suppressed instead. Taking four hoof strikes in succession, the armor all over his body blew apart, his chest bones fracturing.

“Ahh…!” The second leader of the Thirteen Riders of Heaven’s Desolation howled with rage — it was a humiliation. Not long ago he had been in open confrontation with Ye Fan himself, engaging in great battle. Yet now he was being suppressed by Ye Fan’s mount. It was abundantly clear the two were no longer on the same level — he had fallen far behind. He was completely dominated with no ability to fight back, and was gravely wounded shortly after.

Pfft!

Long Ma wheeled around and thundered across the sky, blood splashing as he stamped the skull of the grey dragon sacred beast beneath Ye Wuhun to a pulp — crimson everywhere, dying a violent death.

“I’ll fight you to the end!” Ye Wuhun roared. He had schemed against Ye Fan many times, inciting Yan Chifeng to act, joining forces with Guan Cheng to target Ye Fan and Long Ma together — and yet in the end it had come to this, being suppressed by a mere mount. In the face of absolute power, everything seemed so laughable.

“Behold this seat’s self-created Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon. If you can dodge it, this seat shall spare your life — if not, off you go!” Long Ma struck a pose befitting a peerless grandmaster.

Boom, boom…

Thunderous hoof strikes rang out like celestial war drums being beaten. Long Ma charged across the heavens; each step that landed was like a sacred weapon detonating — stamping the cosmos to powder, collapsing heaven and earth.

Pfft, pfft…

The second leader of the Thirteen Riders of Heaven’s Desolation shuddered violently with each impact, retreating step by step, despair filling his heart — smothered by indignation. He had once been able to contest Ye Fan himself, and yet now he could not even defeat Ye Fan’s mount.

“Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon!” Long Ma charged through the air with great fanfare, proclaiming those four words with theatrical flair.

Then — the sounds of impact rang out without end. The second leader of the Thirteen Riders of Heaven’s Desolation had massive hoofprints across his four limbs, torso, and skull — each shattering in turn, dissolving into a rain of blood.

“The Great Demon God Gu Huang will be waiting for you on the road ahead, slaying all without a rival on the Ancient Stellar Path — he will avenge us!” Ye Wuhun fell with a cry full of unwillingness.

The crowd shuddered. The name of the Great Demon God sent tremors across the Ancient Stellar Path — he was said to be slaughtering his way forward with a ferocity that blotted out the sun and moon, a terror that stripped heaven and earth of color, a source of headaches even for figures like the Immortal-Banished Maiden and Di Tian.

In this single day’s battle, Ye Fan had made enemies of both Di Tian and the Great Demon God at once. The road ahead would certainly be arduous — filled with the most powerful and the most ferocious battles.

Boom!

Ye Fan raised his cauldron. Primordial energy cascaded down, crushing the Yan Manor to ruin. Stretch after stretch of ancient buildings turned to flying ash — even with ancient formations in place, the cauldron’s might could not be stopped.

From this day forward, the Yan Family was leveled to the ground. Not one of the key figures escaped — every one of them was struck down.

“Ahhh…!” Yan Yu cried out. A sage-king himself, yet he could only watch helplessly as all of this unfolded, powerless to stop any of it — his heart utterly crushed.

“I ask the Reception Envoy to carry out the law — execute this villain.” Ye Fan said.

The Reception Envoy gave a soft sigh. Such upheaval in the second human holy city — he bore responsibility for it indeed. Facing the assembled heroes, he could only enforce the law strictly, and execute those who had broken the rules.

“No…!” Yan Yu screamed, struggling in terror — but the great hand in the sky pressed down upon him, and his body cracked apart piece by piece.

“Senior, let me do it — having walked this path, let all ill repute fall upon me!” Ye Fan leapt skyward, bringing one foot down, stamping upon the crown of Yan Yu’s skull.

Pfft!

Like a firework blooming, Yan Yu’s immortal platform shattered, his primordial spirit ignited, and was reduced to tribulation ash.

Ye Fan descended to the ground, eyes cold as a demon lord, his thick hair hanging loose.

What a pity — Yan Yu had stepped into the sage-king realm. Had he fully consolidated it, his achievements could have been limitless, his path ahead radiant with glory. Yet in the end he died here.

Finally, all eyes turned to Ye Fan. The dark long spear had pinned Liu Ye to the ground — drenched in blood — but Liu Ye had not yet died.

“Stop — let me go, and from now on everything can be negotiated. There will be great benefits for you deep in the Ancient Stellar Path.” He cried out in terrified desperation.

Ye Fan activated the Soldier Scripture. The Daluo Silver Essence battle armor blazed and rang, separating itself from Liu Ye’s body and reassembling itself nearby.

This was a powerful sage-king battle garment, forged from divine materials, belonging to a powerful Enforcer of the Ancient Stellar Path — now claimed by Ye Fan.

Revealed at last was a young man in a moon-white form-fitting garment, his complexion pale. He was handsome of feature, but carried a certain effeminate quality — his eyes like the dark star of Taiyin, a thread of cold yin energy wreathing about him.

“Let me go — the entire Ancient Stellar Path will be open to you!” He continued to raise the stakes.

Ye Fan yanked out the long spear, then with a sharp tug seized Liu Ye by the collar, pulled him close, and — without a single word — delivered a thunderous slap across the face.

Crack!

It was a strike so savage that even onlookers felt their own cheeks sting — teeth mixed with blood and spittle went flying, half his face practically beaten to pieces.

Of course, all of this was Ye Fan exercising restraint — otherwise, one strike would have smashed his skull entirely.

“You… you dared to hit me…”

Liu Ye was dazed by the slap. From the time he was born, who had ever dared lay a finger on him? And yet now he was being humiliated like this.

Crack!

Ye Fan’s backhand came down, destroying the other side of his face as well — every tooth knocked clean out, flying through the air mixed with blood.

Then Ye Fan drove a kick into him. Liu Ye went flying like a ball, slamming into the distance.

Long Ma broke into a gallop and charged over him. Shrill screams rang out as Liu Ye was trampled until every bone was broken and every tendon snapped — those vast hooves came down upon him, and he was reduced to a mass of mangled flesh.

“No…!” He wailed pitifully, looking to the Reception Envoy for help, hoping he would intervene.

The Reception Envoy opened his mouth as though to speak, but Ye Fan cut him off first: “All of this was done by me alone. Let me play the villain to the very end.”

Pfft!

Liu Ye’s skull burst apart. He died in humiliation — all his prior malice, cruelty, arrogance, and domineering… all of it useless in the end. Stamped to death.

On this day, the second holy city of the human race was shaken to its foundations. The news soon spread throughout the ancient path, triggering a tremendous uproar!

“The Sacred Physique has come!”

“The Sacred Physique of the Burial Emperor Star has come!”

The Sacred Physique of the human race had reappeared — silent for a hundred thousand years — re-emerging upon the Ancient Stellar Path. Slaughtering the city’s Grand Commander, cutting down the Enforcer’s nephew, making a powerful entrance — transforming into a storm.

This news swept across the world like a flood, surging toward the front reaches of the Ancient Stellar Path — setting off a great earthquake!