The Holy Ape lineage possessed a fierce and unyielding temperament — they would never submit to anyone’s authority, not even a Great Emperor’s. However, at the time, the monkey truly had not known the origins of the Divine Bull King’s master.
It was easy enough to deduce: the old man exploring the starry cosmos must have been searching for an ancient site of immense importance, one deeply significant to him — after all, his previous life had been that of an Ancient Heavenly Venerable.
Ye Fan and the others reunited with the Holy Emperor and company, and naturally there was much to say. So many years had passed, and far too many things had happened. They found a splendid spot and gathered together, raising cups and trading toasts, carving up divine meats and delicacies of every kind.
The monkey watched as Ye Fan’s cauldron was set over an open flame to cook meat, brew broth, and prepare magnificent food — all of it wreathed in wisps of Chaos Qi, accompanied by the primordial maternal energy. He was completely speechless.
“Wasting a priceless treasure on something so trivial!”
“Brother Monkey, you’ve got it all wrong,” Pang Bo said with a great laugh, pouring in the life-spring fluid of an Ancient Heavenly Venerable to enrich the flavor. “This is enjoyment fit for a True Immortal. Look — Chaos-steamed meat, primordial broth — what kind of artistry is this? How many people in this world could ever feast like this?”
Over the fire, all manner of rare game and mountain delicacies roasted to a golden, glistening sheen, crackling and popping without stop, fat dripping down to sizzle and hiss against the flames below.
“Hmm — is that Flying Serpent meat?” The monkey was astonished, staring at the golden chunks of flesh in the cauldron, bubbling away in the life-spring divine liquid of the Ancient Heavenly Venerable, releasing an intoxicating aroma.
This time, all the Golden Serpents had been wiped out — but their flesh and blood had not been claimed. Fortunately, there was serpent meat left over from thirty years prior, supplemented by other fine delicacies, and everyone ate to their heart’s content.
“It seems Brother Monkey is a man after our own hearts — he appreciates fine dining as well.” Pang Bo laughed heartily.
“No. I’ve killed a number of Flying Serpents, but I’ve never eaten one.” The Holy Emperor’s son said this matter-of-factly.
“You’ve encountered them before?” Ye Fan looked up from his work and turned to ask.
“Indeed. I encountered an old one — a being of matchless brilliance in this world. Breaking through to the quasi-emperor realm wouldn’t have posed the slightest problem for it. Truly terrifying to an extreme degree.” The Holy Emperor’s son’s expression was grave.
“What?!” Everyone was stunned. Even Ji Ziyue, who had been mid-yawn and lazily stretching her slender waist, snapped to attention and leaned in with wide, curious eyes.
This was undoubtedly a matter of enormous consequence. A quasi-emperor was a true taboo — a being who had genuinely transcended the common bounds. Throughout the vast universe, Great Sages could be found here and there across countless domains, but a quasi-emperor was something one never encountered.
Aside from the one who sealed the Nine Underworlds in the Northern Dipper, throughout all their travels across the ancient starry road — crossing domain after domain — they had never once encountered such an existence.
The truth of it was that not even a hint of hope could be glimpsed. No one had ever managed to cross that threshold. Across the entire universe, quasi-emperors were almost impossible to find.
“It was an ancient Flying Serpent — it was on the verge of becoming a quasi-emperor, but I unknowingly ruined everything for it.” The Holy Emperor’s son revealed a staggering fact.
He had once visited an ancient star — a place of shattered cliffs and jagged precipices, shrouded in miasma, overgrown with gnarled ancient trees, crawling with serpents and insects. A deeply foreboding place.
The entire ancient star was extraordinary — serpent-kind were infinite there, with the Flying Serpent clan as the ruling power. It was on that star that the Holy Emperor’s son had discovered a mountain of bones — a towering mound of ape and monkey skulls — and in a fury, he had swept through their ranks with his Immortal Iron Staff, shattering the landscape for a hundred thousand miles.
“Of all the terrible timing — the elder of the Flying Serpent clan had been in the midst of breaking through, right on the verge of taking that crucial step, when my strike startled it awake. Its primordial spirit fell into demonic possession and shattered into pieces. It nearly died.”
Everyone who heard this was left utterly dumbfounded.
After the fact, the Holy Emperor’s son had learned the truth: this was the “Imperial Majesty” of the Flying Serpent clan, acclaimed as the Flying Serpent Great Emperor, whose achievements touched the very workings of creation — and who had been on the verge of breaking through to the quasi-emperor realm, on the precipice of success.
This Flying Serpent Majesty had been seated atop the most sacred serpent mountain of the entire ancient star, spirit wandering in the void, primordial soul transforming, on the verge of becoming a divine serpent god — only to be struck by the monkey wielding an extreme-path weapon, suffering a fatal disturbance.
And what weapon did the monkey carry? None other than the Immortal Iron Staff of the Battle Saint Emperor — that which strikes the gods above the nine heavens and suppresses the demon lords below the nine underworlds, and shatters the will of all who dare resist.
“I truly didn’t mean it — I simply saw that this clan had slaughtered so many apes and monkeys, using their skulls to build a mountain peak. I couldn’t hold back my rage.” The monkey wore an expression of perfect innocence.
Everyone was at a loss for words. How extraordinarily defiant of heaven — to have successfully prevented the birth of a quasi-emperor. The monkey truly possessed formidable means; he could poke a hole through the very sky.
Though he spoke of it lightly, the danger at the time must have been absolutely immense. A quasi-emperor — and yet the creature had died in bitterness and resentment. Had it truly succeeded in its breakthrough, the consequences for all the ten thousand domains would have been profound.
“What terrible luck for the Flying Serpent clan.” Long Ma chuckled with a sly grin.
“This really is one thing repaying another. The Golden Serpent’s Young Lord and the others disturbed Ye Fan’s moment of enlightenment — and in turn, their own Imperial Majesty was disturbed at the most critical moment of its breakthrough by Brother Monkey, nearly losing its life.” Pang Bo clicked his tongue admiringly.
“You’re the ones who killed the Four Golden Serpent Brothers — those supreme beings?” The monkey was even more astonished.
“That’s right. The four serpents were exceptionally formidable. But after Ye Fan gained enlightenment in the Heavenly Emperor’s Fist, slaying them took no effort at all.” Long Ma said.
“They were the fourth-generation great-grandchildren of that Majesty,” said the Holy Emperor’s son.
Upon hearing this, everyone was immediately struck speechless. This feud had truly grown enormous — in a single encounter, their group had injured the Flying Serpent clan from eldest to youngest.
The Flying Serpent lineage had suffered the most wretched misfortune imaginable — this was the unanimous verdict. Having encountered the monkey, they had lost a quasi-emperor throne without cause or reason.
“Brother Monkey, we were just saying you’d caused another great catastrophe and poked a hole in the heavens — and now we understand you had foresight all along. If a quasi-emperor had come seeking revenge, none of us could have withstood it.”
“A being of such unparalleled brilliance — though this attempt failed, it may rise again. After all, it was not very old in years. We must be on guard against it in the future,” the monkey warned everyone.
Whatever could be said, the Holy Emperor’s son had inadvertently accomplished something tremendous, sparing them all from a catastrophe. The consequences otherwise would have been unthinkable.
After the fine wine and food, Ji Ziyue prepared tea — brewed from the leaves of Ye Fan’s enlightenment tea, using life-spring divine liquid as water. The fragrance drifted out clear and refreshing, and those who drank it felt their minds clear and spirits soar, entering a state of resonance with the Dao.
Nearly everyone entered a brief closed-door retreat, and it was half a month before they emerged one by one.
During this time, the outside world had been in an uproar.
Ye Fan had cut down enemies on all sides, sweeping through the entire battlefield. All had been wiped out — save for Nine-Eyed Jade Toad, Emperor Heaven, Xinlan, the Great Demon God, and Heaven Wolf. Every last one of the rest had been slain without exception.
Countless young supremes had once stirred wind and waves across a domain, raising a boundless sea of blood and carnage — and in the end, they had all fallen here, slaughtered to the last.
With a single battle, Ye Fan had shaken the entire world. Word of it spread from this star domain across the ancient road — his rise had become unstoppable, and the outside world was full of legends about him.
Beyond that, the Great Sages’ assault on the Divine Domain had once again ended in failure. Imperial weapons had clashed against one another, and it was said that four blurred killing swords had faintly manifested, joining with the formation diagram — a terrifying display of power.
“The Great Sages have besieged it for many years, and powerful beings from other ancient domains continue to arrive. In my view, the Divine Domain must ultimately fall — even with the supreme killing formation of the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable, it cannot hold,” Ji Haoyue said.
It was evident that as one side waxed while the other waned, imperial weapons from various domains would eventually emerge — and when that happened, it would no longer be merely a matter of besieging the gate or resisting the formation diagram. A decisive breakthrough was becoming ever more possible.
Word had it that to break open the killing formation, at least three or four imperial weapons would be required — for that formation diagram was the supreme manifestation of the “Combination” character secret art and the Heavenly Venerable’s killing array, containing the lifelong comprehension of the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable. It was an incomparable masterwork woven from runes, magical formations, and Dao-traces — a supreme imperial weapon in and of itself. Add to that four killing swords, and who under heaven could break it?!
“Something tremendous has occurred — the Great Sage of the Radiant Clan has appeared and brought the clan’s Divine Refinement Cauldron, vowing to breach the Divine Domain.”
The shock of this news engulfed the Immortal Shore of the Divine, drowning out even the storm that Ye Fan had caused.
With the Ten-Thousand Dragon Bell, the Divine Refinement Cauldron, and the Void Emperor’s Coffin — three imperial weapons now gathered — the odds of the assault on the Divine Domain had soared dramatically. Perhaps success was truly within reach.
“BOOM!”
And then, on this very day, a sudden uprising erupted beyond the outer domain. Outside the heavens floated five great continents, shaped remarkably like the five internal organs of a human body, corresponding to the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. From them poured forth tremendous life essence, surging like an ocean, sweeping across the ancient life star that was the Immortal Shore of the Divine.
“What is happening?”
The life essence crashed like a tide, releasing strand upon strand of Great Emperor-level energy, suppressing the vault of heaven until it crumbled and shattered. The entire ancient star trembled.
“For beings like us, this kind of five-element life essence is truly rare and precious,” Ye Fan said. “It could be used to forge our Dao Palace secret realm and cleanse the physical body — an absolutely heaven-defying stroke of fortune.”
“I have no need of it — I once refined an entire Five Element Immortal Mountain.” The monkey showed no interest in the five great continents beyond the outer domain whatsoever. Instead, his gaze drifted toward the Divine Domain, as if he wanted to go take a look.
“Brother Monkey, be careful. On this ancient star, there is more than one imperial weapon — all held in the hands of Great Sages. Don’t let yourself be singled out,” Ye Fan warned.
The monkey nodded. They agreed he would wait for their return so they could plan together and contend for the Ancient Tree of Life.
Ye Fan and the others rushed toward the outer domain to collect the five-element life essence. But only two days later, they sensed something was wrong — the five-element life essence was too violent and savage. The five great continents were shaking, pressing down upon the ancient star.
Strand after strand of Great Emperor energy radiated outward, and the green bronze cauldron was compressed until it glowed, slipping beyond Ye Fan’s control, threatening to burst out from within his body.
There was a legend on the Immortal Shore that every ten thousand years, the five great continents beyond the outer domain would erupt once. But this time was extraordinary — it seemed as though someone was deliberately accelerating the change.
“We must find Brother Monkey. Someone is moving to attack the Divine Domain — they’ve even stirred up the five-element life essence. This ancient star may be destroyed!” Ye Fan said.
They had realized it a step too late. When the five-element life essence came pouring down like a sky-blotting flood, every imperial weapon in the area began to glow, surging with wave upon wave of killing intent — compelled by the pressure of the Great Emperor energy.
“These five great continents — they may well be the transformed five viscera of the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable. The suppressive force is overwhelming — even my green cauldron is glowing!” Ye Fan was shaken.
This was a true emperor’s corpse — though it had long since transformed into a continent, no longer taking the form of flesh and blood, yet its divine might had not diminished in the least.
“Look — the Ten-Thousand Dragon Bell, the Divine Refinement Cauldron, the Battle Immortal Iron Staff — all blazing with radiance, converging together!” Pang Bo’s expression changed as he stood in the star domain, looking down below.
“The monkey hasn’t run into trouble, has he?” Long Ma said.
“No — he’s joined forces with those people. They’re moving to attack the Divine Domain.” Ye Fan’s expression was grave.
“These Great Sages seized upon the ten-thousand-year upheaval of the Five Element Continents and used it to stir the five-element life essence — willing to destroy this entire star — while simultaneously compelling all imperial weapons to reveal themselves, thereby forcing everyone to cooperate in a joint assault on the Divine Domain.” Ji Ziyue laid out the core truth with perfect clarity.
The Great Sages were none of them simple figures. They feared that at the moment of victory, someone might use an imperial weapon from the shadows to seize the fruits of their labor. So they had first taken this step to force all their rivals out into the open.
“Precisely. Brother Monkey has been forced into participating. Today, the Divine Domain is going to be shattered!” Ye Fan nodded with a grave expression.
Were they to remain on the ancient star, the green bronze cauldron would inevitably blaze with ten thousand zhang of light, giving away their position — and they would be forcibly dragged into the fray. Anyone who refused would become an enemy, and there would be a great confrontation between imperial weapons.