At the center of the Great Moon Slope, the terrain was open and level, the mist having thinned considerably.
The towering stone gate let out cracking sounds as it slowly moved, opening a crack from which an extraordinary wisp of thin smoke surged forth.
White mist, like immortal fog, drifted out hazily from the crack in the stone gate, ethereal and dynamic.
It was a bewildering scene — layer upon layer of glimmering dao markings surrounded it, the golden Tyrant Dragon egg on the stone altar radiated blinding brilliance, and the stone gate loomed there in unspeakable dread.
The wild fox faced the stone gate with its flowing white mist, making offerings before the stone altar. The stone wolf was equally restless, emitting low growls as it paced back and forth, standing guard to the side.
The burial ground of gods and ghosts.
Beyond the stone gate lay a forsaken land belonging to the age of mythology before the Primordial Age.
So much time had passed across such a vast span of ages. No one knew what kind of ancient vestiges it had become. Both the stone wolf and the wild fox were tense, waiting with anxiety-filled anticipation.
Beyond the towering stone gate, wisps of white immortal mist appeared yet brought no other change, leaving its condition utterly unreadable.
The stone wolf let out a low growl, its entire body erupting with a flood of surging blood energy. It stepped across the shimmering dao markings and approached the stone gate, extending a claw and pushing against it.
BOOM!
Like a mountain being moved, the stone gate slowly swung open further, creating a wide crack large enough for three horses to pass through side by side. But it was still far from fully open.
The wild fox drew close, exchanging a glance with the stone wolf. Both radiated ten thousand streams of sacred light, projecting an immense and powerful presence, and in a flash both disappeared through the gate.
“They went in — what do we do?” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon could not hold itself back and wanted to charge in as well.
So much time had passed across such a vast span of ages, and the ancient site of the mythological era had reappeared in the world. Any cultivator would want to go inside and see for themselves — if ancient artifacts had been left behind, they would be earth-shatteringly valuable.
“Wait a moment first. I believe they are merely scouting — they wouldn’t dare go too deep,” Ye Fan said.
Wuao—
Suddenly, the howl of a wolf and the screech of a fox tore through the air. Sacred radiance burst outward — something terrifying had happened inside. The two great sacred beasts were wailing as they fought desperately against something.
“Impossible — so many years have passed. The mythological age is long sealed away. Are there still living creatures inside?!” Long Ma’s eyes went wide with shock.
All of this was beyond all reason.
Never mind the wild fox — the stone wolf alone was an absolutely terrifying being, rarely meeting its equal among Saints. An ordinary Ancient Saint that encountered it could only perish, for it was a being born and nurtured by heaven and earth itself.
A moment later, the stone wolf burst out. It had nearly been cleaved in two at the waist, and a large chunk of its skull had been split away — its injuries were extremely severe. Though its body was made of stone, blood had formed within it, and sacred radiance radiated around it as blood poured freely — a harrowing sight.
Then the wild fox fled out, its body bearing dozens of lacerations, each one having cut through a vital part. Its sacred beast body was nearly torn into four or five pieces, its sacred blood flowing freely.
The two powerful ancient beasts were utterly exhausted, having expended vast quantities of vital blood. Their bodies spasmed and swayed as they stumbled out.
“Inextinguishable battle intent — this burial ground of the mythological age must contain something the master requires,” the stone wolf growled. Its entire body was suffused with steaming sacred blood as it healed its injuries.
BOOM!
Suddenly, heaven and earth roared. A crocodile dragon wreathed in hundreds of millions of streams of golden light descended like a golden mountain, shattering the void as it moved to cut off and kill the stone wolf.
Smack!
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon’s mountain-like golden claw screamed with pain and nearly broke off. It was a primordial rare species, and from birth until now it had almost never suffered such a heavy blow.
Yet now a mere stone wolf had nearly torn off one of its crocodile arms. This left it shocked. Sacred Spirits of the extraterritorial lineage were as rare as phoenix feathers — and indeed every single one of them proved to be an unparalleled master.
“Roaaar!”
The stone wolf bellowed, its might swallowing mountains and rivers. The sky itself shattered directly overhead, blood energy piercing the heavens, the firmament cracking inch by inch — beneath its powerful sacred might, there was virtually nothing that could withstand it.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was staggered. Its nine golden dragon tails swung into motion, transforming into nine supreme immortal swords that rang with a clear tone. Wreathed in chaos energy, they slashed downward.
Bang — bang—
Each of the nine golden tails was the size of a mountain ridge, each one supremely sharp. Yet in the collision with the wolf claws, they nearly broke apart — blood flowing freely.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon roared in pain and retreated step by step, unable to block this stone creature. The gap between them was too great.
“A being born and nurtured by heaven and earth is truly terrifying — help me quickly!”
It was not that the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon was not strong enough — in truth it was among the most supreme of sacred beasts. The problem was that this stone wolf from the depths of the universe was simply too overwhelmingly dominant, its divine valor unmatched.
The stone wolf’s cultivation realm was somewhat higher than the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon’s, giving it absolute and invincible initiative. Moreover, even if the two were at the same level, the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon’s body carried only a thin trace of dragon blood — the outcome would still have been difficult to predict.
This was the terror of Sacred Spirits.
These beings were born from stone — ancient and extremely rare. But whenever one appeared, it was invariably an unparalleled master.
“Pfft!”
On the other side, Long Ma had ambushed the wild fox and immediately drawn first blood — a hoof kick that shattered several of the wild fox’s ribs, followed by a storm of relentless attacks.
Yet Long Ma was unable to win the fight quickly. The wild fox had cultivated for an extraordinary number of years, a cunning ancient beast with the potential to become a Beastly Saint King. Despite its injuries, it fought on with desperate ferocity, deploying all manner of strange techniques one after another.
Ye Fan moved. A single step, and heaven and earth swayed as he charged toward the stone wolf.
The extraterritorial stone wolf was immediately taken aback. It had nearly killed the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, yet the moment this figure appeared, a single punch sent cracks through its stone claw.
What race was this humanoid creature? It could hardly believe this was a human. After all, even the most nobly-blooded demon races considered themselves inferior to Sacred Spirits in terms of physical constitution.
BOOM!
The second punch from that towering figure across from it arrived. Light blazed in ten thousand streams, the entire heaven and earth pulsing with its every footstep, roaring in resonance with its fists.
That thick black hair, those cold and piercing eyes — the stone wolf’s heart lurched. Steeling itself, it fought back, unleashing all manner of laws in a bid to deliver a killing blow.
Crack!
Yet in the confrontation that followed, it found this person was terrifyingly powerful. Its stone claws cracked beneath those domineering fists, its entire body drenched in blood, nearly disintegrating.
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, witnessing this, felt a deep reverence for Ye Fan rise within it. Without another word, it turned and went to assist Long Ma — the two great sacred beasts jointly ambushing the wild fox that had cultivated for several thousand years.
“Who are you?” the stone wolf asked with cold menace.
“Tell me your purpose. When will you attack the human race’s Tenth City?” Ye Fan did not answer, asking instead with cool indifference.
The stone wolf’s expression shifted. It unleashed various ancient techniques, activated laws, and a divine moon materialized, enveloping it within — its battle power surging several times over in an instant.
The Howl of the Celestial Wolf to the Moon — standing within the divine moon, radiant and brilliant, blood energy shattering the sky, overwhelmingly dominant.
Yet it had the misfortune of meeting Ye Fan. A great hand reached down, becoming a cage suffused with chaos energy and flickering with magnetic immortal light — crackling with a mysterious power.
Ye Fan seized it in his grasp, shattering its protective divine moon with raw force, simultaneously moving to refine its physical body.
“Auuu!”
The stone wolf cried out, expelling a stream of immortal light — the most fundamental life essence of its being — to shake off the great hand and escape.
“Bang!”
Yet waiting for it was a devastating strike. It still could not escape. Ye Fan pursued it like a god or demon, launching a fist that shattered wind and thunder and split the sky.
The stone wolf roared, fighting back without ceasing. After dozens upon hundreds of collisions, it was beaten to pieces, drenched in blood, its primordial spirit attempting to flee. But a great hand descended, blanketing the sky above it.
“You won’t get anything from me!” It howled, and in a blaze of brilliant light, its primordial spirit burned to ash. It had ended its own life.
Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon also concluded their battle, subduing the wild fox that had cultivated the Dao for thousands of years. Unlike the stone wolf, this sacred beast was not so unyielding — it did not self-detonate immediately, and some useful information was extracted from it.
Unfortunately, it had not come from the extraterritorial stellar void and did not know when the Sacred Spirit would attack. It only knew that this burial ground of the mythological age might contain something the Sacred Spirit lineage needed.
It had stolen the Tyrant Dragon egg, cooperated with the stone wolf, and laid down dao markings here — jointly working to enter the burial ground of gods and ghosts in search of ancient heaven-defying artifacts.
In the end, the wild fox was swallowed by the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, becoming blood food and nourishment for its cultivation.
“The Sacred Spirit lineage is truly terrifying. That was merely a wolf with a flawed body, and it was already heavily injured — yet it nearly made me perish in resentment,” the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon said with a deep sigh.
It had cultivated for many years and rarely met its equal among the same rank. It bore a great reputation among sacred beasts — yet today it had nearly been torn apart by the stone wolf, leaving it with a profound sense of defeat.
Ye Fan said, “You must understand — that was a Sacred Spirit, reputed to be the most terrifying class of being in existence, nurtured by heaven and earth itself. It would not be surprising for anyone to lose against it. Moreover, its cultivation realm was higher than yours.”
“That wild fox had the potential to become a Beastly Saint King, with a cultivation realm a cut above ours — and yet you and I still killed it. That is the true expression of your latent potential,” Long Ma added.
Ye Fan had them follow behind while he advanced with the Myriad Source Mother Qi Cauldron hovering above his head, his spirit on full alert. He walked through the wide crack in the stone gate and entered.
White mist drifted gently, like immortal soil, with no killing intent to be felt and no terrifying creatures in sight.
Beyond the stone gate, within the burial ground of gods and ghosts, white mist curled in the air. It all appeared serene.
First, they encountered a massive boulder bearing a sword scar — left behind from before the Primordial Age. Through endless ages that had eroded divine mountains and evaporated vast seas, it still endured.
It was here that the stone wolf and wild fox had been wounded — having touched that sword scar, they were nearly cleaved to death on the spot. Bear in mind these were two powerful sacred beasts, and yet they had been utterly powerless here.
This was a terrifying sword scar left by a supreme master. Time had stripped away everything — the sword energy and immortal power no longer existed — leaving only an inextinguishable battle intent.
Long Ma and the others had gleaned the terror of the sword scar from the wild fox’s divine sense. Otherwise, had they charged in recklessly, they too would likely have been ground to pieces by that supreme sword intent.
Ye Fan stood here in silent contemplation for an hour, sensing a domineering, sharp, and invincible killing intent — like a divine phoenix descending from above with a single strike.
A moment later, he pressed forward without delay. This was not his Dao path — it was not suited for human cultivation.
Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, however, stood here for a full day and night, comprehending that inextinguishable sword intent. Their bodies and minds trembled, as though listening to the demon clan’s Great Emperor expounding the supreme scripture.
Ye Fan walked through the burial ground of gods and ghosts, dispersing the white mist with each step, advancing steadily. Before long, his spirit was shaken — what he saw before him was a shocking and harrowing sight.
On the ground lay one corpse after another, drenched in blood, as though the battle had just ended moments ago. In just a few li of ground, he had already come across the remains of over a dozen Ancient Saints.
Some belonged to the demon race, some to the human race, and there were incomplete stone Sacred Spirit remains as well.
When Ye Fan walked past, the crimson bloodstains and the corpses radiating sacred might all crumbled to flying ash, dissolving to dust with each step.
This was a forsaken land from before the Primordial Age.
So many years had passed — measured in hundreds of thousands — and nothing could withstand such an erosion of time. Not even bones reputed to be imperishable could endure it.
Ye Fan broke through the mist and advanced over ten li, when he caught sight of a massive black river surging forward. It was vast and broad, yet utterly silent, rushing from the depths of the burial ground of gods and ghosts.
“The River Styx!”
Ye Fan was startled. This was the water of the netherworld — said to originate from the underworld itself, rarely seen in the mortal world — and here it had become a great river.
He approached the bank, sensing the chilling cold emanating from the black river water in waves. If he were not a Sacred Physique, the spectral vapors of the netherworld water would directly corrode flesh and blood.
A moment later, Ye Fan’s spirit shook. Corpses drifted down the River Styx intermittently — long since rotten, yet still retaining a humanoid form, still far from being reduced to ashes.
“These corpses drifting down are all Saints. So many ages have passed since before the Primordial Age, and they still exist in the world. What manner of place lies at the headwaters of the River Styx?” Ye Fan followed the river upstream.