The Soul Pool of the Gods had always been an elusive, legendary thing — said to be able to capture the fluctuations of a person’s soul and reveal them, true to life.

Ever since Ye Fan set foot on the ancient road of the stars, the first thing he did in every place he visited was gather ancient texts, learning of various tales both ancient and modern, because he’d discovered that the secrets of ascension to immortality could only occasionally be glimpsed in the most ancient obscure records.

It was precisely because of this that he’d once come across a description of the Soul Pool of the Gods — its waters were liquid soul, not reflecting the surrounding scenery, only manifesting the great soul essence itself.

Within the Soul Pool of the Gods, silver liquid flowed, like quicksilver; then came golden liquid, brilliant and radiant; and finally transparent liquid, constantly exchanging and circulating.

“Golden soul, silver spirit, plus a strange fused liquid — this is the composition of the Soul Pool of the Gods. It seems there’s no mistake.” Ye Fan said, carefully observing the changes within the pool.

The golden liquid, the silver liquid, the transparent viscous liquid didn’t appear at all times — they only occasionally surfaced, and if one wasn’t paying attention, they’d surely be missed.

The ancient pool was deep and profound, the silver waterfall crashing down from above, stirring up bursts of water mist that shrouded and veiled this place in a hazy blur.

“This shouldn’t be causing Brother Haoyue any harm, should it?” Pang Bo asked.

Ye Fan said, “Hard to say. This thing is far too mysterious — nowadays, likely no one knows how to properly use it. I’ve only heard it can recreate a person’s soul fluctuations, lifelike and vivid — someone once tried to use it to forge a second soul, but failed.”

Pang Bo sent out a strand of divine consciousness, approaching for a closer look, and discovered a massive force within the pool trying to drag his spiritual awareness in.

“Don’t get close. There’s a saying that this Soul Pool of the Gods was formed from the souls of countless ancient powerhouses, melted together into liquid form.”

“A soul turning into liquid — now that really is bizarre,” Long Ma and the others marveled.

This sort of thing could be approached, but only with a physical body — a pure, bodiless soul plunging straight in might be instantly dissolved, becoming part of the soul-liquid.

This also underscored, from another angle, just how important a physical body was — the body was the shell of the spirit, protecting the soul. Anyone who wished to reach the pinnacle of power needed a sturdy, imperishable vessel.

Ye Fan said, “All of this is a relic of the Everlasting-Life Calamity — there’s an ancient record suggesting the Soul Pool of the Gods was something powerhouses of the Mythic Era created while researching ascension to immortality and imperishability.”

Everyone sighed softly — the further one cultivated, the narrower the path seemed to grow. In the end, the greatest problem every peerless prodigy faced was the two words: eternal life. Nearly every Emperor and Heavenly Venerate had to expend tremendous effort in pursuit of ascension.

“This must be something Ji Haoyue and the others set up deliberately to mislead intruding enemies — seems like when chaos broke out outside, they sensed it.”

“Silence!”

They quickly stopped speaking, because someone was approaching, at astonishing speed — several beams of divine rainbow light tore through the void, striking straight at the figure by the Soul Pool of the Gods, intent on suppressing him in one blow.

If Ji Haoyue were truly here, there would indeed be trouble, because these newcomers were all young Supreme Beings, exceedingly powerful.

Three young lords of the Golden Serpent Clan, the Gold-Devouring Beast, and several others they’d never seen before — this was because the discovery of the Ancient Tree of Life in the Mythic Ancient Domain had shaken even more distant reaches of the starry void, and in the process of everyone searching for the Divine Bridge, more ancient star domains had gotten involved — which was precisely why so many powerhouses had gathered here.

Clearly, they wanted to capture Ji Haoyue, force information about the forbidden ground from him, believing he might have obtained the divine-demon fluid — everyone struck together, determined to succeed in one blow.

Amid a blaze of light, three golden snakes over a zhang long passed straight through that body, and the others struck too, hitting their target — yet it was as though they’d struck at emptiness itself.

“These despicable bastards are truly ruthless, trying to destroy Brother Haoyue’s physical body, wanting to leave only a trace of primordial spirit,” Pang Bo murmured.

“Ahh……”

One of them screamed. He’d sent out his spiritual awareness to scan in all directions, and in a moment of carelessness, his soul was wrenched out, tumbling from his skull, falling straight into the Soul Pool of the Gods.

It was a horrifying sight — this man had once claimed supremacy on a certain ancient road, unmatched across that entire ancient domain among his generation, yet now he was reduced to such a pitiful state, his primordial spirit plunging into the pool, transformed into liquid, melted into it.

It was like a bronze furnace — roaring flames turning cold metal into molten liquid, destroying its original form entirely.

“What’s going on?” The Gold-Devouring Beast and the others gasped, involuntarily stepping back, while one among them, not understanding what had happened, mistakenly believed some hidden enemy was watching and scheming against them. He sent out his strongest strand of spiritual consciousness to search — and likewise let out a shocked cry as his primordial spirit was wrenched out.

In an instant, his primordial spirit dissolved, becoming soul-liquid, forever erased from the world just as the first man had been — spirit annihilated on the spot!

“Don’t send out spiritual consciousness — this pool water is dangerous, it’s called the Soul Pool of the Gods, created by those seeking immortality for eternal life — no ordinary power can withstand it,” the Eldest Young Lord of the Golden Serpent Clan shouted.

The Golden Serpent lineage were descendants of the ancient god Teng She, deeply versed in various old tales and secrets. Having observed the ancient pool, he was the first to reach the correct judgment.

Everyone retreated, faces filled with shock.

“This Soul Pool of the Gods really is something — extremely useful, a perfect spot for luring in and burying powerful enemies,” Pang Bo murmured. Long Ma agreed wholeheartedly — in so short a time, two young powerhouses who’d claimed supremacy within their own domains had already perished here.

Ye Fan warned, “This thing is difficult to remove and is considered ill-omened, because legend has it that anyone who’s ever tried to take the Soul Pool of the Gods away has ultimately ended up melted into it themselves — none have met a good end.”

The Soul Pool of the Gods, the Reincarnation Lake, and the Ascension Waterfall were equally renowned, all recorded in ancient texts, all considered things not to be trifled with, all connected to eternal life, all man-made creations.

Ye Fan, Old Madman, Li Heishui, Little Nannan, and Black Emperor had once seen the Reincarnation Lake together when they stormed the Holy Cliff — at the time, everyone had wanted to observe it, but Old Madman had shouted them off.

Now, seeing the Soul Pool of the Gods again, Ye Fan’s heart couldn’t stay calm — he rather hoped to part the mists of the Mythic Era and see what methods those great ancients had once used to pursue immortality.

The Third Young Lord of the Golden Serpent Clan sneered coldly, saying, “Whoever did this has quite the skill — just by carving a soul fluctuation into this place, we’ve already lost two top experts. Whoever it is, don’t let me find out!”

“Once found, he shall have his spirit destroyed,” the Gold-Devouring creature added.

“This place isn’t bad — we could set up a little something here, perhaps using it to wipe out the Human Race’s Holy Body and the others, maybe even bring down old undying bastards like Grey Flood Dragon and Golden Toad,” the Fourth Young Lord of the Golden Serpent Clan said sinisterly.

The young Supreme Beings were formidable, but with the Great Sages having also descended, they had to choose to steer clear of them, not daring to gather together, lest they be wiped out.

Especially since the three young lords of the Golden Serpent Clan held old grudges — mortal enmity, in fact — with Grey Flood Dragon and Golden Toad, so they had to be all the more careful.

“There’s a void imprint here, left for someone special — everyone, help me, let’s force it out into the open!” the Eldest Young Lord of the Golden Serpent Clan said.

The young Supreme Beings present were all taken aback upon hearing this, then their expressions shifted, each striking out, together grasping at the void. With a boom, light blazed brilliantly, and an imprint surfaced.

“Old friend of the Northern Dipper, halt — do not send out your spiritual awareness!” Just one line, warning of the danger here.

The Eldest Young Lord of the Golden Serpent Clan sneered cruelly, saying, “The Northern Dipper again — this must be an old friend of the Human Race’s Holy Body. I will surely destroy him!”

He personally arranged the scene, taking Ji Haoyue’s place before the Soul Pool, performing the boxing routine, leaving behind a lifelike figure, then erasing that warning message.

“Damn it, trying to bury us — kill them first!” Long Ma said viciously.

Ye Fan stopped him — none of these people were pushovers, none were easy prey; if a great battle broke out, it would surely shake the heavens, and might draw the attention of several Great Sages — at that point, they’d truly be in danger.

In truth, they had no real chance to strike anyway — the Eldest Young Lord of the Golden Serpent Clan summoned the Teng She Formation Chart and vanished, taking everyone with him.

“Should we set up something too, to trick bastards like Qi Tian and Grey Flood Dragon?” Qing Luan asked.

Ye Fan shook his head, saying, “No need — let these few show off. Whatever mess results will land squarely on their own heads.”

They possessed a heaven-deceiving formation pattern, allowing them to hide within the mountains without worry of revealing their presence — even a passing Great Sage would find it hard to detect them. After a brief pause, they continued on their way.

BOOM!

They’d only traveled a few hundred li out when a thunderous crash sounded from behind — mountains collapsing, a Great Sage roaring, shattering the landscape.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo exchanged glances — someone really had fallen for it, and so quickly too, beyond their expectations. They quickly retraced their steps, standing atop a towering peak to look out — it was Grey Flood Dragon, who’d nearly perished. His primordial spirit had been wrenched out; at the critical moment, he’d severed a quarter of his own primordial spirit with a single slash, narrowly escaping disaster.

“Teng She, your entire lineage deserves extinction — don’t think I don’t know where your ancient star domain lies!” Grey Flood Dragon roared furiously.

“Heh, I hope this old Grey Flood Dragon grows even more formidable someday and descends upon the Teng She ancient star domain,” Long Ma said gloatingly.

Grey Flood Dragon fell silent on the spot for a long while, and in the end, he too left behind a figure, taking the Eldest Young Lord of the Golden Serpent Clan’s place, drawing others’ attention.

“This has become a vicious cycle — whoever gets tricked wants to trick someone else in turn. Who knows how many more will fall because of this,” Pang Bo said.

They pressed deeper into this ancient ground, encountering all manner of void formation patterns. For others, without an ancestral weapon or the like, the slightest carelessness could mean getting lost — but for Ye Fan and his companions, it was no longer difficult.

Along the way, they discovered numerous clues, traces left by people comprehending the Dao, and even several cave dwellings where people had once lived.

“There’s the scent of divine-demon fluid here!” Ye Fan and the others were startled — a new discovery.

Before a sheer cliff face was a massive stone basin, carved out by hand, large enough to bathe in comfortably. Inside remained a few crystalline droplets — none other than divine-demon fluid.

Besides this, there were also strands of hair and cracked old skin scattered about — this discovery left them gasping. Someone had undergone a transformation here, shedding their mortal coil.

This was absolutely an extraordinary, defiant stroke of fortune!

Legend held that only the Elixir of Immortality possessed such an effect — just as Ye Fan and Pang Bo had once, back in the day, plucked a divine medicinal fruit from a desolate ancient forbidden ground, reshaping their very bones and reversing the aging process.

“This divine-demon fluid really is defiant beyond measure……” they all couldn’t help but marvel.

Ye Fan channeled his Source Technique, patterns surfacing on the ground, light-lines flowing over the hair and shed skin. He sensed a familiar aura, confirming this person’s identity.

“Ji Haoyue — it’s really him. He actually obtained such a defiant stroke of fortune, using divine-demon fluid to temper his soul-bones, reshaping his very being.”

Ye Fan sighed softly — indeed, everyone had their own different fortunes. The Eastern Wilderness Divine Body, chasing after the Void Emperor’s ancient coffin, had been brought here, and had gained a great blessing from it.

“Quick, look, there’s more over here!” Long Ma was practically green with envy — for twenty years he’d been so close to divine-demon fluid, yet never able to obtain it, and now, someone within the forbidden ground had used it to refine their soul-body, leaving him utterly envious.

This stone basin was even larger, over two zhang long, with a few remaining droplets, but more notably, golden divine feathers — like clusters of golden flame, blazing away.

Without question, a divine bird had once undergone nirvana here, evolving into an even more powerful form, shedding its former divine feathers along with old skin.

“Not far now — they should be nearby,” Pang Bo said.