The starry river was resplendent, divine radiance sparkling everywhere. Ye Fan stretched his body, embracing the divine moon, his arms pushing against ten thousand stars—every movement made the stars tremble, radiating a vast power.
In this star region, the ancient masses fell silent, no one speaking. No one had expected such an outcome—the once-invincible Hegemon had fallen into a dejected end, making people feel pity for him.
How powerful he had been, proclaiming supremacy deep in the ancient path, arriving with overwhelming force. Yet now he had nearly been crippled by someone, even having his mastered ancient technique seized from him. After one battle, his hereditary enemy had comprehended the ancient technique and grown even more confident, while he himself felt sorrow, rage, resentment, grief—all manner of negative emotions intertwined.
This was a merciless blow, letting the young Supreme of the Heavenly Hegemon Blood lineage taste bitterness for the first time. This bitter defeat once made him despair completely, wanting to end his own life.
Yet upon seeing Ye Fan’s confident bearing, a flame flickered in his heart, wanting to make himself stronger, to become the number one person in the universe, to wash away his humiliation.
The Divine Restriction—that true forbidden domain of the divine—many heaven-shaking prodigies renowned through the eternities had never in their lives set foot in it.
Having lost his undefeated halo, the Hegemon became a mere foil. At this moment, the gazes of the many powerhouses shifted away from him, falling upon Ye Fan.
Ye Fan acted as if no one else was present, evolving the immortal Dao’s ancient technique on his own, his whole being calm and peaceful, without a trace of hostility, having lost the desire to compete—there was only comprehension and understanding of the Dao.
He did not want to miss such a rare opportunity. At this moment, remaining within the Divine Restriction domain, whether his physical body or his primordial spirit, both were amplified tenfold, his own qualities comprehensively elevated, his form and spirit full and complete.
Within the divine domain, even comprehending the Dao could sink into a deeper realm—in a sense, this too was a tenfold effect, worthy of being called a divine miracle, allowing him to experience that mysterious sense of fulfillment even more than usual.
Without being an ancient Emperor, the Divine Restriction was difficult to remain in for long. How could Ye Fan possibly waste it? He stood alone in the starry sky, letting the various heroes watch, yet did not stop, deducing over and over again, bearing witness to his own Dao and path.
The starlight was pure and bright, the entire heaven and earth so tranquil and peaceful. Ye Fan condensed the nine ancient characters from the Great Yin Immortal Scripture, carving them in the void, each character vigorous and powerful, emanating wisps of energy that suppressed the eternal blue heavens.
This was the Human Emperor’s Dao, comprehended and understood by him, then returned to his inner heart, digested into the wheel-sea scripture he himself had created.
In the end, the tranquil starry sky violently shook, star after great star seeming as if about to crumble and fall, flickering with mysterious radiance, connecting with Ye Fan.
Ye Fan borrowed the power of the vast universe, writing the ancient Great Yin script, each character crystalline, as if an immortal had descended to the world, emitting the great Dao’s rhythmic sound, nourishing his own being, placing him in a wondrous state.
Within the Divine Restriction domain, standing at the highest point of the starry sky, he wielded the divine pattern, as if merging with the Dao, releasing his origin essence and spirit, his invincible conviction firm and unshakable.
At one moment it was the nine Great Yin characters, at another the Zhe Character Secret, at another the world-swallowing, supremely unrivaled Hegemon Fist—he immersed his own will within them all.
For a time, wind and thunder roared, golden battle energy surged—these were the various strange phenomena accompanying him as he stretched his body and attained the fruit of the Dao.
“Ahh…” The Hegemon let out a cry, transforming into a beam of purple light rushing off into the distance. In this place, every extra second he stayed felt like ten thousand blades cutting his body.
The human race’s Fiftieth City had become his place of humiliation. Originally he had wanted to continue the glory, to have his achievements reflect and shine alongside those of his predecessors, but in the end it had turned into a tragedy.
Qi Tian’s body did not move; he extended a large hand, instantly reaching across boundless distance as if able to cover the entire universe, grabbing the Hegemon back from deep within the star region.
On the other side, the human race ancient path’s Dao-protector, Great Sage Cang Lan, spoke: “What of one defeat? Without the valley, where would the high slope come from? Setting aside the Divine Restriction, you are not beneath any young Supreme. Your path, your Dao, needs to be broken through by yourself.”
Hearing this, people sighed. The once-resplendent Hegemon had fallen to this point, needing someone to console him, to rouse his spirits, to rebuild his Dao-heart—truly pitiable compared to before.
Ye Fan was cut off from the outside world, paying it no attention, not caring whether the Hegemon left or not. He had sunk into a deep state of Dao-comprehension, having no time even to exchange courtesies with Daoist Qing Huang.
In the starry sky, discussions arose on all sides—this battle had concluded, and now only one person remained there comprehending the Dao, becoming the focus of everyone’s attention.
This battle established Ye Fan’s position on the ancient path. Rising formally in the human race’s Fiftieth City, it marked the arrival of yet another young Supreme on the Emperor’s Path!
Without a doubt, this would produce an extremely far-reaching influence. On that path ahead, anyone with aspirations toward the Emperor’s Path would begin to take notice of him, guarding strictly against him.
Rumble!
In the distance, the sound of hooves rang out loudly—another pair of combatants had rushed back, a Dragon Horse fleeing wildly, a Purple Qilin roaring in pursuit.
The crowd was stunned—this pair’s battle style was completely different from the one just concluded, full of shouting and chaos, without any semblance of proper form.
“Kill!” The Dragon Horse shouted loudly, yet was fleeing, unwilling to pause even for a moment, leaving people rather confused, unable to make heads or tails of it.
The Purple Qilin’s face was dark, chasing closely without letting up, saying: “Why are you shouting so loudly? Dare you fight?!”
The Dragon Horse wore a proud expression, saying: “What’s there not to dare? This one is destined to be supreme under heaven, bound to attain the Dao—how could I fear a mere brute beast like you?”
“Then let’s fight!” The Purple Qilin said coldly.
“Fine.” The Dragon Horse agreed, and just as before, shouting “kill” from its mouth, yet the speed of its flight only grew faster, becoming a blazing beam of divine light.
The Purple Qilin was furious, shouting angrily: “If you want to fight, why are you fleeing?”
The Dragon Horse said seriously: “This one is currently fighting you.”
“Nonsense.” The Purple Qilin was incensed.
“This is a speed contest. This one is currently overpowering you. Clearly you cannot match me—I have already defeated you.” The Dragon Horse declared righteously.
The Purple Qilin: “@#¥%…”
Not only was the Purple Blood Qilin fuming, angry enough to want to trample it to death, but the various heroes were also speechless—this Dragon Horse’s shamelessness was simply too much. Clearly its cultivation realm was inferior, not daring to fight, yet it still spoke seriously as if it had won, as if it had overpowered its enemy.
And, what was most unbearable was that it still wore a proud expression.
This was simply incomprehensible—it was filled with a powerful sense of superiority. No one knew where this confidence came from; forced to give a reason, it had fled its way into confidence.
“Do you still have even a shred of a strong one’s dignity? Fleeing without fighting—how shameless.” The Purple Qilin roared. Encountering such a top-tier opponent was truly infuriating.
“A strong one’s dignity—what is that thing?” The Dragon Horse stood upright on its two hind legs, fleeing while erect, mocking the Purple Qilin for being unable to catch up even on four legs.
The Purple Qilin said nothing more, trampling the heavens to pieces, chasing desperately, hating this shameless Dragon Horse to the bone, wanting to trample it to death with one hoof.
The Dragon Horse remained calm inside—it was a Sacred Beast, but its opponent was a Sacred Beast King, an insurmountable gap. It would never go head-to-head and seek its own death.
What strong one’s dignity—just as it itself had said, what was that thing?
“Hurry up and admit defeat—you’ve already lost. If you keep shamelessly refusing to give up, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.” The Dragon Horse issued a stern ultimatum, making the Great Sages watching the battle wipe sweat from their brows.
In the Purple Qilin’s eyes, this was the most shameless Sacred Beast it had ever seen—possessing such a noble bloodline, yet with no bottom line of character whatsoever.
“If you don’t know when to yield, I’ll kill you. I could fight ten of you at once without trouble.” The Dragon Horse threatened.
“Come and try it!” The Purple Qilin’s temper flared, encountering such a top-tier specimen truly gave it a toothache.
“Too bad you don’t have ten. How about instead, ten of me fight one of you.” The Dragon Horse said shamelessly, then shouted toward the distance: “Fellow Daoists, all together, let’s blow it up.”
The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, Golden Lion, Heavenly Scorpion, and other Sacred Ones—twelve in total—hearing this, swarmed over in an instant. Rather than engage in close combat, they brought out various forbidden weapons, divine light bursting forth, magic treasures exploding, carrying out long-range bombardment.
“Tsk!”
Daoist Qing Huang gave a soft shout, truly unable to bear watching any longer. His Dao-voice rang like thunder, shaking the group of brawlers back, separating both sides.
Qi Tian and Cang Lan both had the corners of their mouths twitch slightly—if Daoist Qing Huang had not intervened, even they would have felt the urge to act.
Daoist Qing Huang stepped forward, issuing a stern warning, making them cease hostilities.
Even a Great Sage could not bear to watch—one could imagine how dreadful this battle was. The various Sages were all speechless. Not long ago, the battle between Ye Fan and the Hegemon had been so tragically brutal; none had expected that a duel between two beast Supremes would be this “unbearable to watch.”
“Boom!”
A thunderous sound came from within the universe. Ye Fan withdrew from his deep state of Dao-comprehension, his fist splitting heaven and earth, battle energy surging through his entire body, startling the crowd.
With this, the battle between the Sacred Body and the Hegemon Body came to a complete close in the human race’s Fiftieth City. The various heroes spread the news along the ancient path, carrying it to distant places.
This day, the star path shook violently. All directions heard the name of the Sacred Body, who had defeated the young Supreme of the Heavenly Hegemon Blood lineage—Ye Fan’s name shook the ancient path!
This was a storm, regarded by people as the arrival of a divine tiger, stirring up endless turbulent clouds, filled with variables, powerfully threatening the few prodigies at the very forefront.
In a sense, the pattern of power on the human race’s ancient path would change from this point on—another young Supreme had risen, dominating all directions, adding one more contender for the highest Emperor’s throne.
In the human race’s Fiftieth City, Ye Fan met with the Southern Demon siblings. There was so much to say that the conversation lasted several hours.
The Southern Demon’s bearing remained as before, his body a bronze color, his eyes deep, like a dormant true dragon that had transformed into human form, wandering among mortals, unfathomably deep.
Qi Huoshui was graceful and captivating, her black hair hanging loose, her skin snow-white and delicate, her eyes clear, with less mischief and more spiritual grace, her red lips and pearly teeth crystalline and gleaming—a peerless beauty, a single smile capable of enchanting a city.
Her beauty was beyond doubt. In the past, she had once had some entanglement with Ye Fan; after decades apart, meeting again, all the past events dissolved into a single smile.
“I saw the Middle Emperor, I saw Sacred Son Yao Guang, I saw Jue Youqing, and I also saw the Ji family siblings crossing the star regions in pursuit of a divine ancient coffin.”
The Southern Demon informed him, recounting the old acquaintances from the Burial Emperor Star that he had encountered.
“Hey, you just finished a great battle with the Hegemon—what are you thinking about, zoning out like that?” Qi Huoshui teased, her slender, jade-white hand waving in front of Ye Fan’s eyes.
“I was just lost in thought for a moment. So many old friends, parted for so many years—will I still be able to see them on the ancient path?” Ye Fan said with some emotion.
“Some people, you may never see again.” The Southern Demon shook his head, and even Qi Huoshui, hearing this, put away her playful smile.
“What happened?”
“Jue Youqing may have died in battle,” the Southern Demon sighed. This was the Western Desert powerhouse who had once been as famous as him, revered as the Western Bodhisattva.
Ye Fan was stunned, still remembering how this woman had once ventured with him and the old blind man into the Central Prefecture Immortal Mansion world—she had been dressed in white as pure as snow, transcending the mortal world.
“Who killed her?”
“A young monk named Golden Cicada, his magical power supremely powerful, ranking among the young Supremes—terrifying to the extreme.” The Southern Demon said solemnly.
Ye Fan’s heart skipped a beat—how could it be this particular name? This should have been a fictional existence, one that should not exist.
The Southern Demon’s next words made his heart skip again.
“It’s rumored that his master is Shakyamuni. Golden Cicada is not very old in age, but his cultivation has already reached the pinnacle. Jue Youqing was indeed defeated at his hands—though there’s another version saying Jue Youqing did not die, but willingly chose to follow him away.”