Long Ma revealed a faint coldness in its expression, and its hooves nearly shot upward on the spot — but at the critical moment it restrained itself, fixing the newcomers with an icy gaze.
Four men stood tall with impressive bearing and strode in with commanding strides, each carrying an aura of imposing authority. And five women, each with a fine and lovely face, their hair lustrous as silk, came floating in like a few immortal butterflies, their eyes bright and flowing, their beauty remarkable.
“What are you still standing around for? Are you not going to leave?” A woman standing toward the back frowned, her beautiful eyes fixed upon the nine ancient jade pieces sitting on the stone table, a gleam of covetous light flashing within them.
“Get out now!” One of the men waved his hand with evident impatience. He was not one of the central figures, yet the airs he put on were considerable. His eyes blazed brilliantly as he looked at the seed inside the wooden box, and his expression immediately shifted to one of shock.
“Whoever these thieves are, where do they come from?!” Long Ma’s face darkened.
“This is our trial ground. You have intruded upon our region without cause and now seek to steal our treasures — and yet you claim to be in the right?” Several of the newcomers regarded them with cold hostility.
“What nonsense — this is my cave dwelling. You want to play the bandit, but at least have some shame about it!” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was furious with rage.
It was no gentle creature. Not long ago it had devoured more than a dozen powerful human cultivators — how could it possibly tolerate someone coming to act like a tyrant on its own territory?
This was a group of men and women with an uncommon and distinguished air about them, each bearing an exceptional presence. The most outstanding by far were the lead man and woman — their strength transcending the mortal realm and entering the sacred, streams of sacred radiance emanating from them.
The lead man spoke: “This region was indeed allocated to us — that is no lie. Now, we have no wish to resort to unnecessary conflict. Please leave at once.”
As he said these words, he looked only at Ye Fan, paying no attention to Long Ma or the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon — clearly recognizing that this was the principal person here.
“I have never heard of any such thing.” Ye Fan said coldly.
The lead man was imposing and vigorous — black hair cascading like a waterfall, his muscular frame a rich bronzed color, his eyes sharp and penetrating. Divine halos wreathed his body. One look and it was clear he was a rare and powerful figure, his sacred radiance misty and profound.
“Are you unfamiliar with this region? Are you a newly arrived trial participant?” He frowned slightly, his eyes sweeping over Ye Fan before shifting to Long Ma — and then his heart jolted, as though something had just come to mind.
The lead woman had features like a painting — crimson lips and gleaming teeth. She parted her scarlet lips and said, “This ancient star is extremely vast, with many pure and sacred lands well-suited for cultivation. Long before now — more than a decade ago — a number of renowned regions were divided and allocated. This area falls within the domain we have claimed for our cultivation.”
“Nonsense. This is my cave dwelling — since when did it become your cultivation domain? The audacity.” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon fumed with ferocious intent.
“What’s the point of wasting words on them.” Off to the side, one man was already growing very impatient. His eyes fixed on the seed inside the wooden box, and a gleam of naked greed crossed his face.
The other two women also stared at the ancient jade pieces without letting up, eager to claim them for themselves immediately.
“We are all of the human race — we have no desire to strike without mercy. If bloodshed can be avoided, all the better. But if you do not leave, do not blame us for being discourteous.” Another person said gravely.
“I’ve said all I need to say. You have three breaths. Vanish from this cave at once — or face the consequences.” One man’s tone was icy.
Ye Fan’s expression remained cold and indifferent, showing not the slightest reaction. He kept his head lowered, examining the seed, paying no attention whatsoever to what was being said.
Long Ma, for its part, felt a surge of flame blazing up within it and declared: “Every last one of you — do you think you’re Saint Kings?! All of you, get out of my sight. Anyone who doesn’t, I will kill without mercy!”
It was supremely domineering, and with that declaration it resolved to act — simultaneously driving a hoof into the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon and saying, “When the time comes, kill hard!”
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was the most powerful of all unusual beasts, with peerless natural gifts and true dragon blood coursing through its veins. Today it had been outpressed by a vicious horse — and had been suppressing a belly full of rage. Now it had others coming to bully it on its own ground. It had long since run out of patience.
It was a ferocious beast with absolutely nothing holding it back — no restraints of any kind, nothing to observe or defer to — and so it attacked directly and launched its assault.
Several golden dragon tails swung through the air with the sound of wind and thunder. Golden divine light blazed forth. They shot out like one mountain range after another, dazzlingly brilliant, the thunder deafening.
The Crocodile Dragon came out swinging with its most lethal technique — all nine tails striking together, pressing down from above. The formation arrays within the cave began to dissolve, and the heavens above fractured and crumbled.
The newcomers scattered and dodged. One among them was a fraction too slow — an arm burst with a muffled crack, caught by a golden crocodile tail, and dissolved into a mist of blood.
“You vile creature — you are nothing but a beast, yet you dare to harm a person! Surround them! Not one is to escape!” The wounded one roared in fury.
The others cried out in fury as well. This was a group of trial participants of considerable ability — one by one they flung out array banners, sealing off the great lake and pressing forward to slaughter.
Only the lead man and woman frowned, a faint unease settling in their hearts. For they were watching Ye Fan — and Long Ma — and they were recalling the rumors that had been spreading for nearly a year.
“The Burial Emperor Star… the Holy Body!”
“Can it truly be him?”
The two exchanged a glance and drew a sharp breath. A horse bearing crimson scales, and a legendary peerless physique of the human race…
If this was truly that combination, this was a hard bone indeed — most likely they had kicked an iron plate. The lead pair’s expressions froze, and both began to feel a twinge of regret.
There was no time for further thought. Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon charged through the array banners and came surging forward, engaging them in full battle.
This was a group of no small ability — and what was particularly fearsome was that they were skilled in the art of formations. Throughout the battle they deployed one layer of array banners after another, encircling and hunting Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon.
The battle was fierce and intense. Several Saint-level formation arrays took shape in succession. Sword qi streaked across the sky in every direction, shaking the heavens and moving the earth!
These people were aggressive and overbearing, and they indeed possessed extraordinary ability. Their individual combat power might not have been the strongest, but the formation array they had deployed was intricate and profoundly wondrous.
“BOOM!”
A terrifying shockwave erupted, crashing forward like a tidal wave — and in an instant, the great lake spanning several thousand li in all directions was evaporated entirely. The whole expanse of heaven and earth became a blazing inferno of silver flame.
That shining silver disc had at first resembled a bright moon before transforming into a blazing sun, spreading out a wave of devastating and annihilating force.
“A supreme forbidden weapon!” Long Ma cried out. Its scales all over its body bristled, drawing cold air inward. The shockwave from this thing was overwhelming — if it struck the body directly, even if one survived, it would mean losing an entire layer of skin.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon turned and fled. It was a ferocious beast with nothing to hold it back and no code of honor to observe — it had no intention of becoming roasted crocodile meat.
Neither of these two great Sacred Beasts had anticipated that the other side wielded a supreme forbidden weapon of such devastating power. The magnitude of those fluctuations could likely injure powerful figures far beyond their own level.
To forge a forbidden weapon of this kind must have required an incalculable expenditure of rare and precious heavenly materials beyond imagination. For it to be detonated and destroyed in this moment meant even ancient sages would feel a creeping dread.
The lead pair had combined their strength to bring this out. In the course of battle they had confirmed that this was indeed the person and horse from the Burial Emperor Star — and their scalps went cold. They had no desire to be entangled further, and so they sought a swift and clean escape.
The other seven were somewhat bewildered. They felt there was no need to show their hand this quickly — and it was precisely at this moment that they received a transmitted message asking them to retreat.
These people were at a loss. Even if the formidable power of these two beasts had exceeded expectations, they were not entirely without the strength to fight. Why flee before the battle had even been decided?
“BOOM!”
A heaven-shattering and earth-cracking sound rang out.
The people quickly understood why the lead pair had made the choice they did. Each and every one of them felt their heart run cold, and without so much as a backward glance, they all fled in full flight.
The man inside the cave had made his move — and his strength was far beyond what any of them had imagined!
Above his head hovered a cauldron, from which ten thousand things mother qi cascaded downward — and wreathing it were streams of star rivers, shrouded in primordial chaos, impervious to all laws and techniques!
He came crashing straight forward just like that, breaking through one formation array after another with unstoppable force — and collided head-on with the supreme forbidden weapon, driving a fist straight through it.
The scene was breathtaking. The silver disc blazed with radiant light, its killing intent of world-ending magnitude filling the heavens — yet it was held in check by that cauldron, unable to break through.
And then that golden fist came crashing into the silver disc with overwhelming force. A crisp, clean cracking sound rang out clearly — and he had shattered the forbidden weapon with his bare fist.
BOOM — heaven and earth split open. The forbidden weapon broke into four pieces and five fragments, silver flames boiling and surging to engulf the ten directions!
Amid the brilliant radiance, golden blood and qi surged forth. And from that man’s abdomen, a Great Ultimate diagram came flying out, spinning rapidly, grinding away and annihilating every form of destructive light.
“Golden blood and qi, a crimson-scaled horse, the Ten Thousand Things Mother Qi Cauldron — he… he is from the Burial Emperor Star. He is… the legendary Holy Body!”
“The Holy Body unseen in ten thousand years has come — how did we manage to run into him?!”
“The Holy Body of the Burial Emperor Star… has arrived!”
These people were horror-struck. Now they finally knew they had kicked an iron plate. Not one of them dared to linger — all fled in every direction.
Ye Fan’s peerless strike had shattered their will to fight!
Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon gave chase without relenting, pursuing and slaughtering as they went. Yet these people produced no fighting spirit whatsoever, fleeing at maximum speed.
These nine powerful figures were the outstanding elite of this region — at the very least, within a range of several tens of thousands of li, very few trial participants would dare to provoke them. Yet today they had suffered one defeat after another.
In the end, Ye Fan personally blocked the path of the lead man and woman, while Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon struck the others down with grievous wounds, cutting off all routes of escape.
In particular, two among them who had spoken insolently were devoured by the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon along the way.
Not one of the nine managed to escape. Each and every one of them was ashen-faced, all the confidence they had carried not long ago now completely gone — every single one shaking.
Ye Fan searched the memories of one of them and confirmed that cultivators had indeed divided up territory and allocated regions — but this particular area absolutely had not been made into a cultivation domain belonging to powerful figures as they had claimed.
“The men will do themselves in. The women will stay behind to warm beds and serve as maidservants.” Long Ma said with deliberate ferocity and an air of towering menace.
For the first time, the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon looked upon Long Ma with an expression of sincere reverence, nodding again and again. It was a ferocious beast — it was not afraid of anything, and had nothing holding it back.
The seven who remained alive immediately went pale as a sheet. One woman among them fared the worst of all — between her grave injuries and the shock of it, she fainted dead away on the spot.
Ye Fan let out a soft sigh, and turned away with Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon. The Emperor’s path was brutal, strewn with bones at every step. He had no choice but to fight his way forward from beginning to end — and in the future, perhaps tens of thousands of bodies would lie at his feet. But for now, while he could still exercise restraint, he had no desire to create even more killing and calamity.
“The Holy Body of the Burial Emperor Star has arrived!”
This piece of news spread like a hurricane, sweeping rapidly through mountains and rivers across the land. The great lake became forbidden ground, and every person in this region retreated and withdrew — no one dared disturb Ye Fan any longer.
“The Burial Emperor Star’s… Holy Body… this is going to get interesting. Some people are no longer bored — they’ll definitely come knocking.”
“Be more careful. All kinds of news is flying around right now. It’s said there are Holy Spirits who will lead a thousand armies and ten thousand horses here to attack this star domain — reinforcing our power right now is what matters most!”