Deep within the ancient tomb, the bell waves were vast, reverberating across mountains and rivers, causing sun and moon alike to tremble. This heaven and earth seemed on the verge of collapse!
Boom!
The cauldron above Ye Fan’s head shook violently. The primordial energy of all things descended in fine wisps — ancient ancestors, birds and flowers and fish and insects, and divine beings all simultaneously appearing on the cauldron walls, archaic and grand.
Now, the Cauldron of the Primordial Energy of All Things had become an unrivaled sacred weapon — both offense and defense in one, with divine spirits nurtured within it, constantly reciting the ancient scriptures found inside the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin. Profound beyond measure — matchlessly powerful.
With this cauldron deployed, the bell waves were blocked, unable to surge in.
Deep within the ten-thousand-zhang ancient tomb, chains of order laws swept away all obstacles, capable of destroying the ten thousand things of heaven and earth, emanating an aura of absolute power that made one feel nearly compelled to prostrate oneself in worship.
Ye Fan held young Yang Xi’s hand, standing immovable as a mountain upon the ancient tomb, resisting the terrifying fluctuations from below. Above his head, the cauldron rose and fell, thousands upon tens of thousands of wisps of primordial energy permeating the air, saintly might spreading in all directions.
Within the cauldron’s mouth, there was a vast expanse of primordial chaos, slowly revolving, immeasurably deep and enigmatic. Occasionally, one could glimpse sun, moon, and star rivers appearing within the primordial energy, as if heaven and earth were being created.
Deep underground, the man’s thick black hair spread outward. The Tyrant Bell above his head rang resoundingly. He rose into the air as though about to leap out of the great tomb, releasing an even more mighty surge of power.
Clang—
The great bell rang in a long, drawn-out tone. All living things shuddered in terror. Every fierce bird and savage beast throughout the mountains and wilderness bowed down trembling to the ground, quivering and shaking, as though before a divine being.
Boom!
The golden light in Ye Fan’s eyes blazed bright, as though seeking to see through past, present, and future. The golden blood within him thundered. His entire body became crystalline as fine jade, releasing the most powerful saintly force he currently commanded.
He stood unmoving — neither attacking nor retreating. The vertical eye on his brow blazed brilliantly. A ray of immortal radiance pierced through the ten-thousand-zhang great tomb, looking directly into the deepest depths below.
That was not a person, nor was it a true Tyrant Bell — everything was woven together from chains of order laws. But it was absolutely powerful, enough to make even ordinary saints tremble.
“Is this the person who once possessed the Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Blood?” Ye Fan murmured, putting his heart and mind into sensing and comprehending, seeking to see through all the chains of order laws. This was his purpose in coming here.
In this place, he endured a terrifying suppression — exactly as the legends described. Aside from the Tyrant Physique, all others were treated as alien kinds, making it impossible to gain anything.
That man’s mass of black hair swirled wildly, his gaze like cold lightning — like a divine demon, carrying a bearing of absolute supremacy over all nine heavens and ten lands, radiating an invincible aura that suppressed ten thousand ages!
A pity that it was ultimately only a brand — not the manifestation of his true form. Unable to burst out of the great tomb, he merely stood in the void within the mountain’s belly. Even so, the terror of it was overwhelming beyond measure.
Even ten-plus years after the death of the one in whom the Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Blood had flowed, the remaining brand was still so domineeringly transcendent — all the powerful beings of the world could not help but marvel. One could only imagine the supreme might of his true form in his day.
Throughout the ages, countless people had come to pay their respects here. None had failed to be deeply shaken. The supreme power of his former true self in his prime was unimaginable.
Ye Fan’s eyes grew ever more profound, sun, moon, and star rivers rising and falling within them, primordial chaos revolving — under the immense suppression of the Great Dao, he comprehended and gazed into the fundamental source.
At his level, not only did he need battle after life-or-death battle — sometimes he also needed to “settle” in stillness. Traveling through mountains and rivers, appearing and disappearing in the mortal world, and all manner of sensations could also bring him tremendous gains.
The Tyrant Physique — the age-old sworn enemy. Ye Fan was being suppressed by its Dao laws, which stirred the golden blood within him to boil. Silently enduring all of this here was also a form of cultivation.
He stared at those chains of order laws for a long while. In the end, the terrifying man and the Tyrant Bell above his head were, in his eyes, completely reduced to their lawful essence — seeing directly to the fundamental nature.
“Powerful and terrifying.” He exhaled a light sigh. When everything in heaven and earth at last grew still, the brand remained, still in human form — but it could no longer be used by him to oppose and temper himself.
Ye Fan deployed his source arts — epoch-shaking and era-illuminating — to probe everything below. The result was emptiness: after the Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Physique had passed on in meditation, his supreme physical body had completely dissolved into the Dao, leaving not a single fragment of bone behind.
The reason this great tomb was as it was stemmed entirely from the result of the dissolution of the one in whom the Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Blood had flowed, with strands of Dao imprints from the archaic era remaining behind.
This was the Holy Physique’s age-old sworn enemy — peerlessly powerful, beyond any doubt. Otherwise, that battle of long ago would not have been so brutal!
Ye Fan put away the cauldron and led young Yang Xi walking across the great tomb. He discovered several streams formed from liquefied spiritual energy, flowing and gurgling along the mountain’s surface.
On the mountain’s body was a medicinal field that had been manually cleared and cultivated, watered by spirit fluid, with ancient medicines growing in abundance within it — their fragrance filling the air, radiant light shooting in all directions, every single stalk brilliant and crystalline.
In ordinary times, the grey ape watched over it — but at this moment, it was nowhere to be found.
Medicinal King!
Ye Fan was astonished. Deep within the medicinal field, on a patch of five-colored soil, two Medicinal Kings grew side by side. One resembled a vermillion bird spreading its wings, its entire body a vivid red like red agate — a rare ancient herb called Vermillion Bird Grass.
The other was covered in purple radiance, a spirit vine over three meters long. Legend said it grew but one inch every thousand years, its purple leaves drifting like mist, wisps of vapor rising in spirals. Its main vine resembled a vigorous purple serpentine dragon.
Ye Fan had traveled the Ancient Star Road for a long time and had seen many heavenly treasures and divine objects. Yet this was the first time he had ever encountered a Medicinal King capable of extending life-span — for on this road, too many people had need of them, making them nearly impossible to find.
Carefully digging them up one by one and sealing them within jade vials, Ye Fan explained to young Yang Xi the knowledge of various ancient medicines as he worked.
The Vermillion Bird Grass burned like a flame, shooting a sheet of crimson radiance through the jade walls. The spirit vine billowed with purple energy, like swirling clouds of purple flame — turning the entire jade vial a luminous shade of purple.
The path to immortality was about to open. There would be great battles of life and death ahead, and perhaps even dark chaos would break out. Medicinal Kings were certain to be precious medicines for saving lives and extending lifespans — their value beyond measure!
Ye Fan led Yang Xi down the mountain and left the great tomb, having truly felt the shifts in the Dao rules here. From this visit, he had gained considerably.
“Is the Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Blood truly an invincible bloodline?” Xiao Nannan revealed a trace of worry. Even though he had left the great tomb, he could not help but look back. That great mausoleum had given him far too much to be shaken by.
Ye Fan ruffled his head. “When the heart knows no enemy, there is nothing to fear.”
Yang Xi firmly believed that the Holy Physique ancestor was invincible — yet in this place, he had experienced a moment of wavering. The man woven from chains of order laws had placed enormous pressure upon his young heart and mind.
In this instant, he became resolute. His gaze grew clear, his young face written all over with confidence, radiating an astonishing radiance. He swung his small fist vigorously and declared: “We are invincible!”
A seed was planted in his heart, his conviction unshakeable. The two figures — one tall, one small — walked toward the end of the earth, passing through layer upon layer of primordial ancient lands.
Ye Fan’s eyes were deep and profound. Though his will was firm and his belief in invincibility unwavering, after today’s sight of the ten-thousand-zhang great tomb, a deep and abiding wariness had taken root within him.
Over ten years ago, the Holy Physique who had set out from the Big Dipper upon the Ancient Road had quelled chaos and was acclaimed as invincible — and yet had still perished at the Fifty-Third Human Pass. That alone spoke to the terrifying nature of the Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Blood.
“When the Holy Physique reaches great completion, will the blood within truly shed all its golden color and transform back into vivid crimson?” Yang Xi tilted his small face and asked.
“That’s right.” Ye Fan answered with certainty.
“Has anyone truly ever reached such a realm?” The bright eyes of Xiao Nannan were filled with hope.
“Yes.” Ye Fan nodded. The great completion Holy Physiques spoken of among ordinary people were not necessarily all those whose holy blood had become flawlessly crimson — that title was merely an invincible honorific — but there had certainly been Holy Physiques whose blood had become completely vivid crimson.
“You must have heard of their glorious feats back in the Big Dipper, haven’t you?!” Xiao Nannan’s eyes shone even brighter, filled with a brilliant glow.
How could Ye Fan fail to see the little one’s longing — the desire to know everything about them? Those long lashes fluttered, those big eyes blinking rapidly, looking quite urgent.
“I once witnessed a divine spirit imprint — in life, the blood must have been flawlessly crimson. What it suppressed was no ordinary chaos. It fought desperately through the Undying Mountain and battled the existences of the Primordial Ancient Mines…” Ye Fan was patient, and narrated slowly.
Yang Xi listened, utterly entranced. Upon hearing that this invincible Holy Physique had perished for the one he loved, and that the friends with whom he had fought side by side had one by one grown old and died with the passage of time, the boy’s heart filled with grief — tears misted over his little eyes.
He wiped at them and said: “Ten thousand years later, the world would be silent and empty. So pitiful — in the end, only he remained. He chose to leave, to die in the far reaches of the outer realm, to pass on in meditation in a foreign land. His heart still carried longing, wanting to see the one he loved and his companions — and so he transformed into a divine spirit imprint…”
Ahead lay a panorama of magnificent mountains and rivers — silver waterfalls cascading a thousand zhang straight down, immortal mist drifting in wisps. Great towers and palace gates sat upon different mountain peaks, as though one had stepped into a heavenly realm.
The Cang Clan’s location was not far from that great tomb. They did not dare venture deep within, but the powerful members of the clan often went to cultivate on the mountain’s surface. This was their flourishing sacred land.
At the mountain gate, a terrifying aura surged to the heavens. A saintly great formation had already been activated, with an unrivaled killing intent seeping out, Dao imprints densely distributed, forming a killing ground that was extraordinarily difficult to break through.
The grey ape had fled back and reported everything. The Holy Physique, absent for a hundred thousand years, had come — arriving at the Fifty-Third Human Pass and appearing upon the great tomb of the Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Physique. This naturally sent shockwaves through them.
In truth, they had received word several years earlier, knowing that a Holy Physique had appeared on the Ancient Star Road — originating from the Burial Emperor Star, their clan’s sworn enemy.
But they felt no fear. For in this generation, from their ancestral lands and another ancient star domain’s mother star, a person with genuine Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Blood had emerged.
That person had come here once before, staying for a full year. They had personally felt how powerful he was, and were firmly convinced that he would absolutely be the invincible one of this generation!
“The Sovereign Heavenly Tyrant Blood has been invincible throughout all ages. In this generation, the Holy Physique is destined to be cut down, forging yet another era of brilliance!”
A group of people appeared at the mountain gate, standing side by side atop a great peak, looking outward, sizing up the two figures — one tall, one small.
“What does he mean by this — actually bringing along a child? Could it be that two great completion Holy Physiques might appear in the future?”
These people were somewhat startled, their voices filled with coldness.
“How rare indeed — separated by a hundred thousand years, and yet another true Holy Physique has emerged once more. You come to our clan’s sacred land — what exactly is your intention?” A middle-aged man asked in an icy tone. Facing their sworn enemy, there was both a fierce hostility and tension within him — as well as a certain arrogance.
“Nothing in particular. Just looking around.” Ye Fan said calmly, and led Xiao Nannan in a circuit around the area to take a look.
“I advise you to leave soon!” A young man spoke in a brusque tone, his eyes brimming with killing intent, cold light flickering in his gaze.
“Don’t be nervous. I have no intention of making a move — truly just wanting to look around. As long as no one forces my hand, that is all.” Ye Fan was very composed.