Ye Fan had arrived — blazing with boundless light — and in full view of everyone, he had struck down the Stone Man. Divine blood erupted ten meters into the air, shaking every soul on the field.
His build was powerful and imposing, thick dark hair flowing to his waist, his piercing gaze sweeping the battlefield like lightning. In that instant, not a sound could be heard — nothing but the tremor of shock and the weight of a presence that crushed all resistance.
He had descended like a divine weapon fallen from the heavens, arriving without warning and striking with overwhelming force. And his target had been a full Sacred Spirit — annihilated in a matter of blows.
This person… he’s nearly invincible. The thought rose, unbidden, in the minds of many.
Only a few had noticed the Sacred Spirit’s failure of will, rather than any true gap in power — but even they were shaken, knowing now that the Human Sacred Body would be one of the greatest obstacles standing between any of them and the Emperor’s Path.
“Ye Fan…” Ji Ziyue said softly.
“Wait until I’ve driven away everyone who wants you dead,” Ye Fan said, glancing back at her with eyes that burned bright — and then turned to fix his gaze on every person before him.
“Arrogant! Who do you think you are — planning to kill all of us by yourself?!” someone immediately shouted, voice thick with outrage and resentment.
This was the shock and jealousy of those who recognized overwhelming strength — and the words were clearly an attempt to rally everyone present into turning on Ye Fan together.
“Was that you who said it?” Ye Fan’s eyes burned like twin torches, the golden light they cast leaping and flaring like living flames, blazing and awe-inspiring.
“Now that he’s here, none of you leave. Everyone — let us celebrate by cutting down the Human Sacred Body today!” The Golden Serpent Third Lord, seeing that the one who had shouted hadn’t immediately responded, stepped forward, cold and composed.
“That’s right — I said it. What of it?!” The speaker belonged to the Golden Serpent faction — and now, with the Third Lord standing in front of him and providing cover, his courage surged.
This was a fire leopard, crimson light blazing around his entire form, flames wrapping him at the center. His power was extraordinary — he could not have come this far and still stood here if it were otherwise. He had one of the supreme domain’s strongest bloodlines.
With the Golden Serpent Clan as his backing, and his own position relatively favorable, he was confident that Ye Fan couldn’t reach him directly — and that what was about to unfold would be a chaotic melee in which many would join together to bring the Human Sacred Body down.
“Rumble—!”
But it didn’t go as he expected. Dao patterns surfaced across heaven and earth, spreading through every inch of the ground beneath them. His feet sank as though into deep mud — he was bound where he stood. Then he began to descend, his entire body sealed by the surging divine demon energy as it dragged him down into the deepest part of the earth.
A flash of light — and he reappeared on the surface, standing face to face with Ye Fan.
The blood drained from his face in an instant. His entire body went cold. Of all the ways to find himself — standing this close, alone, to a killing force like this one? Even the Golden Serpent Great Lord would have to weigh his options carefully before striking — and here he was, practically touching the man.
“You said it,” Ye Fan replied, his tone flat and utterly calm. “Then I’ll send you off.” A palm came down — vast as a winnowing basket, golden symbols flickering across its surface, all manner of Dao patterns interlaced within it.
This was no palm strike. It was the will of heaven and earth itself — transformed into ancient runes, condensed into a golden handprint falling from above. Who could stand against it?
The fire leopard certainly couldn’t. He fought back with everything he had — but his arms were crushed under the pressure, blood misting outward. In desperation, he opened his mouth and let out a long howl, spitting out a silver spear barely the length of a chopstick. It was an ancient sacred weapon of great renown, aimed straight at the space between Ye Fan’s eyebrows.
“Bang!”
The silver spear detonated against Ye Fan’s brow — and in that split second, a tiny cauldron, barely an inch tall, flickered and vanished. Streams of primal energy flowed back, returning to the Immortal Platform.
“No—!”
Panic flooded the fire leopard. In that moment, he despised himself for speaking up — despised himself for standing out from the crowd. Here, of all places, he was going to die for nothing. The regret hit him like a physical blow.
But it was too late for regret. Ye Fan showed no mercy. He was displaying his absolute peak power — and even against an opponent of comparable strength, he would close the distance in three to five exchanges.
“Spit!”
The palm caught the fire leopard and drove him down. After his arms were shattered, his body began to crack from the head downward — then his true spirit — and the fractures continued all the way to his feet. The process was grotesque, advancing in slow, deliberate stages, like a slowed and terrible unraveling.
At the end, a defiant shriek echoed through the heavens and was swallowed by the air. Body and spirit both destroyed — nothing remained but a mass of crimson blood mist where he had stood.
A chill settled over every watching heart. The fire leopard had positioned himself far back, behind the Golden Serpent Third Lord — and he had still been killed, and killed like that.
Ye Fan stood alone against everyone, unhurried and unafraid, unleashing a killing force across this battlefield like a sovereign who ruled above all — looking down on every hero present.
Beneath his feet, the Source Heaven Formation shimmered and spread. By now, his Source Arts had reached its absolute apex — a realm of consummate mastery, recreating brilliance, elevated to a height that could almost be said to transcend the Source Heaven Scroll itself.
The Golden Serpent Third Lord’s face stung as though he had been slapped. Ye Fan had struck down someone he was supposed to protect, right in front of him, openly — and the insult was hard and loud.
“The Human Sacred Body lives up to his name,” the Golden Serpent Great Lord said, stepping forward one measured pace at a time, preparing to engage.
At the same moment, the others moved as well. This was no time for one-on-one — this was a supreme enemy of the highest order. Best to destroy him immediately and eliminate the threat at its root.
The Gold-Devouring Beast let out a cold, grim laugh. It had come out ahead in the chaos. When Ye Fan had destroyed the Stone Man, the fragments had flown in all directions — and the Gold-Devouring Beast had snapped up the blood mist sent flying toward it. Inside it, it found a small piece of Immortal-Tear Green Gold.
This had been a treasure the Sacred Spirit had nurtured within itself — not yet fully awakened as a weapon, not yet threaded through with Dao patterns. Had it become one, the Sacred Spirit’s power would have been far more terrifying.
Long ago, when Ye Fan and the Sacred Spirit had faced each other in the True Phoenix Tower of the Golden Seven Cities, he had noticed that one of its eyes seemed to be green gold. Over the years, the Sacred Spirit had drawn it into its Immortal Platform and nurtured it as a weapon.
When Ye Fan’s fist had just now destroyed the Sacred Spirit in a single strike, he had been briefly careless — and allowed the fragment to fly off, where the Gold-Devouring Beast swallowed it.
“Heh — kill!” the Gold-Devouring Beast sneered, advancing with the others.
“You dared swallow something touched by my divine power?” Ye Fan’s voice dropped cold and sharp. He had caught the Gold-Devouring Beast’s movement — and now the Military Word Secret Art activated, divine power boiling through his entire body.
“Clang!”
The Gold-Devouring Beast shuddered violently, trembling head to toe. A fragment of green gold the size of a dragon’s eye shot out from its chest — and like a spear tip, it tore right through the creature.
What followed was a relentless ringing of sword-like resonance. That tiny green gold shard moved like the sword of the heavenly Dao, striking in all directions, nearly carving the Gold-Devouring Beast into eight pieces.
It had to be said — this ancient beast was terrifying in its own right. Its unique physiology allowed it to smelt damage into itself on the fly, its shattered portions re-forging instantly, restored to wholeness in moments.
And at this moment, the others joined in. The Golden Serpent Great Lord pressed forward. Sangu, descendant of the ancient divine demons, advanced one step at a time — each footfall pressing into the void itself, leaving Dao patterns etched in the air, causing the heavens to tremble.
Six or seven more followed behind Sangu — every one of them formidable beyond measure, allies he had forged along the way.
“Human Sacred Body — your Source Arts change nothing. You’re finished!” someone shouted.
They couldn’t believe that with this many fighters combined, they still couldn’t kill Ye Fan and Pang Bo and the others. The Twelve Sages, with the exception of Long Ma, didn’t have the cultivation level to matter — those didn’t concern them.
“Ye Fan — your end has come!” the Golden Serpent Third Lord screamed. “I will take your head and lay it before my brother’s grave as an offering!”
But what happened next was not what any of them had imagined. Some stepped back — and did not advance.
The Nine-Eyed Jade Toad and the Ancient Golden Roc stood apart, expressions blank and remote, and moved to the side. They spoke to Ji Ziyue. “We repay our debts and settle our scores clearly. We will face the Human Sacred Body another day — and fight for supremacy then.”
The two of them left, withdrawing from the field.
On the other side, the white-haired Celestial Wolf’s expression shifted through several changes — and then he too turned and walked away. He would not stand alongside the Golden Serpent Clan under any circumstances. If it came to that, he would rather fight beside Ye Fan himself.
That was clearly not happening. Ji Ziyue had set a trap, and he had walked into it. He swallowed his feelings and chose to withdraw — watching in cold silence from a distance.
Three of the fighters from Ji Ziyue’s side crossed over, choosing to join the opposing faction and strike at Ye Fan and the others.
“Today I open a feast of slaughter,” the Golden Serpent Third Lord said with a chilling smile, baring a row of razor-sharp white teeth. “And I am going to taste the blood of the Human Sacred Body.”
More than ten figures closed in, intent on hunting Ye Fan — each one unleashing the full scope of their extraordinary power.
“Is that so?” Long Ma let out a sharp whistle, and from the crown of his head a stream of pure energy surged — instantly manifesting a second form of himself. “This sovereign fears nothing less than fighting when outnumbered!”
“Pang-lord will oblige!” Pang Bo called out, and he too performed the One Breath into Three Purities secret art, his Dao body manifesting — identical to his true self in every way: towering, powerful, like a heavenly king descended into the mortal world.
Swish!
Above Ye Fan’s head, the same occurred. Pure energy gathered, and a Dao body took shape, blazing with golden blood energy that looked down on all under heaven.
In an instant, three additional supreme powerhouses stood on the field — six forms total, side by side, pressing down on everyone with a suffocating force. All who were present could feel it: these Dao bodies were identical in power to their true selves.
At nearly the same moment, Ji Ziyue revealed her true strength with a brilliant smile — her pearlescent fangs gleaming as she stepped forward. And from above, Xiao Budian, the Lightning Phoenix Bird, streaked down in a blaze of electricity, sending another wave of shock through the crowd.
When both revealed what they were truly capable of, the four directions of heaven trembled. They were genuine supreme powerhouses — among the strongest of all young Supremes.
The balance of power shifted in an instant. Though Ye Fan’s side was still outnumbered, the sheer terror they radiated was absolute — and Ye Fan’s Source Heaven Formation was already spreading outward, reaching toward the opposing forces.
“This isn’t good!” someone on the opposing side cried out.
“Strike!” Ye Fan roared, and led the charge.
The tables had reversed entirely. No encirclement of the hunters had formed — instead, the smaller force had burst forward like a tiger freed from a cage, tyrannical and boundless, sweeping everything before them.
“You want to taste my sacred blood?” Ye Fan’s true body drove straight toward the Golden Serpent Third Lord. “Let’s see if you live long enough to try!”