The Corpse Sovereign was dead. The Sky-Devouring Beast was dead as well. Both had fallen in battle before the Bodhi tree. And countless other cultivators lay fallen, their corpses at Ye Fan’s feet. This outcome left everyone feeling as though they had plunged into an icy abyss.

The entire battlefield was as silent as a graveyard. All who still lived were now in despair. How were they to fight? They were simply no match. And what was worse — there was no fleeing, either.

Everyone could see Ye Fan’s invincible state — standing within the Forbidden Domain, he truly had no opponent in this place!

“How has this happened so quickly? Rising to this domain so early — who in the future will be able to contest with him?” People were in despair.

“Could it be that he will truly become a great emperor one day?” someone said, trembling.

Looking across all of history, the people who had entered this domain very rarely spilled their blood or perished — most of them left their names inscribed in the historical records, accomplishing earth-shaking, heaven-moving feats.

The finest among them inevitably became emperors!

Everyone shuddered all at once. A Holy Body becoming a great emperor — it would be the greatest event in all history, something that had never come before. The harder the path, the more exalted and sacred the fruit of the Dao must inevitably be. How powerful would such a person become?

“Not necessarily. Even granting all of this, history shows that half of such figures were still blocked outside that final threshold, and in the end did not become masters of the entire cosmos,” some tried to steady themselves. What they truly felt inside was another matter.

The ancient great emperors represented breathtaking brilliance. They meant invincibility. Even speaking their titles made people tremble.

Even tens of thousands of years after their passing, undying legends of them still existed in the world. Especially their glorious feats before becoming emperors — they were truly defiant of heaven, sweeping through their entire generation, devastating all in their path like a dry rot leveling dead wood! Why? Precisely because they stood within the Forbidden Domain.

Later generations might master their emperor scriptures, possess the ultimate techniques of the Forbidden Chapter — but those were ultimately not their own Dao. They could not achieve perfect, flawless harmony with their own being, always falling somewhat short of the creator — unable to contend with a Forbidden figure.

The Divine Race’s celestial maiden Xinlan had gone pale. Though she stood at the edge of the battlefield and had not acted, she too felt something like suffocation pressing in. She had once given orders with arrogant ease, imperiously demanding that Ye Fan join the Divine Race — looking back on that now, it seemed rather laughable.

The Nine-Eyed Jade Toad, the Great Demon God, the Heavenly Wolf, Di Tian — all were silent, standing in the distance. Some had nearly made their move. Now they did not know what to feel.

“Standing in the Forbidden Domain — though fearsome, capable of sweeping through all domains without a match — more than half of such people still ultimately fail. They cannot cross that final threshold.”

And moreover, throughout all of history, no Holy Body had ever successfully cultivated to the end of the path. This was the greatest solace in many people’s hearts. No one hoped to see Ye Fan reach that domain. Even the mere thought of it sent chills through them.

Further away, the Golden Snake Great Lord had taken human form. His head full of golden hair stood erect. The corners of his eyes had been strained so hard they had split, leaking thin threads of blood. Earlier, he had thrown caution to the wind, nearly becoming one with the array diagram, fully intent on killing his way to the Bodhi tree.

And yet now he hesitated, choosing to stay away from the battlefield — though it was difficult to do, because his opponent was Ji Haoyue.

Ji Haoyue’s mouth was streaked with a great deal of blood, yet his fighting spirit only burned fiercer. He brought his full strength to bear, driving the ancient mirror to awaken, engaging the Golden Snake Great Lord.

Their clash had drawn away from the Bodhi tree area into a forbidden zone where others dared not approach. Going near meant being instantly torn to shreds — the two weapons were simply too powerful, radiating faint threads of near-emperor might that no one could contend with.

But Ji Haoyue’s cultivation level was a full realm lower, and his body bore grievous wounds. The situation was not favorable. With the Golden Snake Great Lord risking everything without regard for the cost, Ji Haoyue was falling back.

And at this moment, the Golden Snake Great Lord had seen the might of the Emperor Fist in all its manifestations. He could not stop himself from throwing his head back and crying out in anguish. He was seething with hatred — the enemy’s momentum was too overwhelming. Even if he fought his way over there, could he kill the Human Race’s Holy Body? He might very well die himself!

Heaven and earth trembled. Chaos grew murky and indistinct. A hazy figure came walking forward — a powerful physique, dense black hair, two sharp gazes piercing through the mist, fixed on the Golden Snake Great Lord.

Ye Fan had arrived. Above his head, the Cauldron of All Things Mother Qi hovered. From the cauldron’s mouth, endless cascades of primordial chaos and mother energy poured out like waterfalls, enveloping him within. He advanced step by step!

He possessed overwhelming offensive power — the Heavenly Emperor Fist shattering all obstacles, ten thousand living things retreating before him, no one able to resist his edge. And now he also had this weapon for defense — attack and defense combined, unmatched in his generation.

And moreover — the offensive side of this cauldron had yet to be shown!

“Aaaah…!” The Golden Snake Great Lord threw his head back and cried out to the heavens. Great hatred welled in his heart. That it had come to this today — his brothers dead in battle, and now he himself was in peril.

Although he held an ancestral artifact in hand, he knew full well that Ye Fan must also have powerful hidden cards. Otherwise, on that day long ago, his second brother would not have perished without apparent cause.

“Kill!”

He roared out, driving the Soaring Snake Array Diagram. Ji Haoyue was sent spitting up a great mouthful of blood, his body blasted and sent flying — but even so, he could not break free.

Because at this level of combat, the person was not what mattered most. The ancient artifacts were the root of everything. Whether that precious mirror or his Soaring Snake Diagram — both were supreme and mighty, the ancestral treasures of a clan.

“Boom!”

This expanse of sky was pulverized. The precious mirror flowed with brilliant light, cascading many silken threads downward. A hazy bundle of light wrapped Ji Haoyue and sent him flying tens of thousands of zhang away. His whole body was drenched in blood, and many of his bones were broken.

The Golden Snake Great Lord was no better. His chest had caved in; his heart had nearly been crushed by the mirror light. He spat up a mouthful of blood, and broken bone fragments inside him nearly came loose entirely.

“Let me!”

Ye Fan arrived up close, stepped in front of Ji Haoyue, and went forward alone to face the Soaring Snake Clan’s young supreme powerhouse. Ji Haoyue coughed up a mouthful of blood, stepped back from the battlefield, and held the mirror to watch the fight.

“Human Race’s Holy Body — you killed three of my younger brothers. That debt is higher than heaven and deeper than the sea. A hundred deaths would not repay it!” The Golden Snake Great Lord said through gritted teeth.

The debt was too great. He would have loved to flay the person before him alive, but he knew that was impossible to realize. And yet now, trapped here by two powerful opponents, there was truly nothing left but a desperate battle.

“Then go and be reunited with your brothers,” Ye Fan replied calmly.

He had no desire to say more. His bearing was magnificent, his bones unyielding — embodiment of justice… none of that was necessary. The reality was simply this: the other party had bullied and pushed too far, had proactively provoked and attempted to kill him first, and had all ended up cut down by him.

The Golden Snake Great Lord’s eyes went cold and dark. The array diagram above his head swirled and surged, transforming into a mass of undying immortal light that flew at Ye Fan. He demanded: “Let me see — what ancestral artifact is it that you carry?!”

There was no fleeing now — only a desperate, all-out battle. He spared nothing, doing everything in his power to awaken the Soaring Snake Diagram and crash it toward Ye Fan’s skull — reverberating with a great rumbling.

“Boom! Rumble!”

The cauldron hovering above Ye Fan let out a resonant roar. The mother energy cascading down from it grew denser still, covering heaven and earth, rendering him invincible to all methods. And moreover, at this moment, a green light appeared inside the cauldron’s mouth — crystalline and translucent, like jade — blocking the immense pressure from above.

“What is that?!” The Golden Snake Great Lord opened his divine eye and used all his power to observe. He wanted to understand clearly — for all these years, Ye Fan’s secret artifact had been a source of confusion and bewilderment.

Within the expanse of jade-green light, the Soaring Snake Array Diagram let out a cry of anguish, and then was sent rushing directly upward, vanishing straight into the clouds — and in an instant it was gone.

This sight stunned not only the Golden Snake Great Lord, but the Nine-Eyed Jade Toad, Di Tian, Xinlan, the Great Demon God, the Heavenly Wolf, and others as well. What on earth was this object? Its power was too overwhelmingly extreme.

Ye Fan’s divine might radiated in all directions. He advanced with great strides, his body indistinct within swirling mist. The cauldron above his head rose and sank, and from within its mouth, green light surged billowing, unable to calm for a long time.

The Golden Snake Great Lord was in despair. Even the Soaring Snake Array Diagram had been frightened into fleeing, disappearing into the depths of the cosmos. How could this battle continue?

Yet Ye Fan did not bring the cauldron to bear. His true body attacked in person — he intended to kill his enemy using his own most powerful secret art. In a moment, the green light subsided, and this place returned to stillness.

“You wish to fight my true body? Very well — it’s what I’ve been hoping for!” The Golden Snake Great Lord saw a glimmer of hope. His expression went cold and dark. Every bone in his body cracked and popped as he deployed his divine techniques and charged forward.

“Bang!”

Ye Fan’s fist moved, reaching to all eight directions. A surge of golden vital energy rushed forward. The Golden Snake Great Lord’s body shuddered violently. He retreated step after step, his entire body streaked with wounds, blood flowing down.

This battle record of the Golden Snake Great Lord’s was already something to be proud of — withstanding Ye Fan who stood within the Forbidden Domain head-on, his physical body unbroken. How incredibly powerful was that? How many could contend with Ye Fan’s physical form?

But now, it seemed rather pitiful.

The two fought, an intense and fierce battle. The Golden Snake Great Lord had taken human form, his head full of golden hair flying wildly, like flames burning. His expression was savage, his killing intent boiling.

This battle went on for more than ninety exchanges — surpassing all who had come before — with something of the feel of two dragons and tigers contending. But everyone could see that the Golden Snake Great Lord was failing. His whole body was drenched in blood, his bones fractured in four directions. The terrible grievous wounds he had sustained were beyond imagining.

It might not show yet, but his physical body had surely been ruined. The bones, meridians, and sinews inside could collapse at any moment!

“Aaaah…!”

The Golden Snake Great Lord roared in fury. His body finally could endure no more and began to crack apart — but at this moment, the bone between his brows blazed with bright radiance. A golden serpent the length of a palm flew out, releasing undying divine power, and shot toward Ye Fan’s immortal platform.

Soaring Snake Into Divinity!

This technique was bewitching and strange — a transformation of the primordial spirit, a shedding and rebirth of the soul, realizing an ascension that strengthened one’s own spiritual consciousness!

That palm-length golden serpent held a small golden bell in its mouth, arriving in an instant — in the blink of an eye it was right before him.

It was like a death knell tolling. The bell waves spread out, shattering all things. Incomparably terrifying, it pressed forward to the Cauldron of All Things Mother Qi — and in the end, it could not pierce through.

A thread of cold indifference appeared at the corner of Ye Fan’s mouth. He withdrew the cauldron into his immortal platform and allowed the small serpent to come straight at him. The light from his forehead blazed brightly. A small golden figure the size of a fist stepped forward — without holding the cauldron, without carrying a weapon. It used only a fist!

The small golden figure was Ye Fan’s primordial spirit, and it still wielded the Heavenly Emperor Fist — dazzlingly brilliant, shaking the divine-demonic burial grounds, making every person’s primordial spirit unstable, on the verge of shattering.

“Clang…”

The death knell tolled — for whom it was unknown. Ye Fan was unharmed. The golden serpent crumbled inch by inch. And then the small golden bell suddenly exploded.

A soft sound rang out. The Golden Snake Great Lord’s physical body also collapsed at last. His blood sprayed outward in all directions. He became a cloud of blood mist — both body and soul annihilated.

The Soaring Snake bloodline had produced four young supreme powerhouses who had walked the ancient road, killing in all directions, obliterating many clans, sweeping forward unstoppably, their hands soaked in blood — and in the end they had all died in battle. Every one of them had been killed by Ye Fan alone.

Silence fell in all four directions. Who could resist?

From this day forward, with a Human Race’s Holy Body present — who in the world would dare call themselves supreme? At the very least, this domain of the starry sky no longer had anyone who would.

The deathbed prophecy of the Azure Phoenix Daoist had come true. Many of the powerful figures, the greatest talents of many clans — more than half had fallen. And all of them had died at the hands of a single person, their blood dyeing the far shore red.

These people had dominated an ancient road, calling themselves the strongest, the young supreme figures of their domains. But when they reached the broader starry sky, only desolation was left to them.

The truth is, it has always been this way throughout history. This tragedy has repeated itself in every great age. Every era of glory is built upon the bones of the most outstanding individuals. The age shines brilliant and magnificent — but when you look back, it was a sea of blood and a mountain of bones.

“The curtain has fallen…” Di Tian and the others turned and left. They had stood at the edge of the battlefield, making no move — yet they too might face reckoning.

Ye Fan swung his fists, striking out in all four directions. Golden beams of light one after another shattered the sky, destroying all things — killing all remaining enemies.

The Heavenly Wolf with white hair was nearly struck through the back, white bone gleaming, blood spraying. The Nine-Eyed Jade Toad went flying, drenched in blood. Di Tian, the Great Demon God, and Xinlan also had their bodies shaken violently. In the end, only these five were able to leave.

All the rest were blown apart by his fists in the heavens and the earth, turned to blood mist. This was a great massacre. Ye Fan had slaughtered the outstanding talents of every clan until not one was left.

Only one is supreme! Every mountain and valley roared in resonance.

There was no need for further words. Ye Fan’s performance said everything. He had killed until no one in the world dared call themselves supreme.

At the very least — none of the Emperor’s Road contenders in this domain of the starry sky would dare step forward anymore!