The Heavenly Village was flourishing, for Ye Fan had left behind too many precious things — having practically stripped himself bare. Setting aside the various divine materials, the Scripture of the Dao — Wheel Sea Chapter, and The Immortal Scripture of the Sun — Immortal Platform Volume alone represented a priceless treasure of immeasurable worth.

In the early morning, a group of the Heavenly Village’s children greeted the morning glow and trained earnestly, one and all full of vitality and life, embodying the hopes of the future.

Ye Fan departed. He did not bring Long Ma or the others — aside from the Divine Infant, the rest had already left their mark in the Purple Subtlety Star Domain.

Though this was not the first time he had crossed the celestial vault, faced with the vast boundlessness of the cosmos, he still couldn’t help but feel awe. Compared to a single star, a human being was no more than a speck of dust — and compared to the universe, even a star was no more than a speck of dust.

That minuscule beings, dust upon dust, could travel from one star domain to another — this truly qualified as a feat of staggering grandeur. It was precisely for this reason that there was a saying: life is the greatest miracle in all existence.

The cosmos was without boundary — like an immense black curtain, with stars scattered across it like diamonds, each one glittering and shining.

Emerging from the void of space between star domains, Ye Fan stood beneath the brilliant, shimmering star river and gazed at the great purple star ahead, feeling a surging and overwhelming pressure wash over him.

This was a star that had produced a Great Emperor. Only such a star could carry fluctuations this powerful.

It was said that any star that had given birth to a Great Emperor was near impossible to destroy, for it bore the fundamental Dao imprints they had left behind, guarded by the laws of their enlightenment.

Ye Tong’s eyes reddened at once, tears falling silently in wordless weeping. His parents, his little older sister, and so many kin — all had died. Everything traced back to the Golden Crow Clan’s massacre.

No immortal inheritance remained. No eternal Emperor or Sovereign endured. Though he was a descendant of the Solar Sacred Sovereign, too much had transpired — that clan had long since fallen into ruin, its formations ground away, its Imperial weapons gone, its immortal scriptures lost. It had walked to the very end of decline.

“Father, Mother, little older sister who took the sword for me — I’ve come back!” Ye Tong could hold back no longer. He wept aloud, tears flowing in streams.

Under the consoling words of Ye Fan, Yan Yixi, and Li Tian, he eventually composed himself.

The group pressed forward. As they drew close to this ancient place of life, the Divine Infant blinked his large eyes and said, “It feels a little familiar — there’s something in common with where I was born.”

At last they were near. Arriving in the sky above the great star, the vast land below and the sweeping oceans could already be seen from outside the domain, with law-light shimmering faintly through a veil of haze.

“We’re finally back! The two founding revival ancestors of the Way of Human Desire have returned to their homeland at last — tremble, all you beauties, as the greatest sovereign makes his grand arrival!” Li Tian called out in a great roar, his expression flushed with excitement.

Yan Yixi’s face also showed deep feeling. Having been away for over a hundred and forty years — most of which had been spent in the Northern Dipper — returning to his homeland, how could his heart remain calm?

So much time had passed that even Ye Fan had nearly forgotten: the Li Tian and Yan Yixi by his side were people of the Purple Subtlety Star Domain. They had not been born in the Northern Dipper — this was their birthplace.

“The feeling of longing for home growing stronger the closer one draws!” Li Tian said with a sigh, moved by the long years away and today’s return. He felt joy, yet a touch of wistfulness as well. But then his very next words shattered that mood entirely, as he murmured to himself: “I wonder whether all those beauties from my time have already married off. My heart is restless at the thought.”

“Most likely no one has missed you at all. Before we left, as far as the women were concerned, you were a rat crossing the street — everyone wanted to beat you.” Yan Yixi laughed.

They descended at great speed. Below was a sweeping, boundless landscape of mountains and rivers in their full grandeur.

The land stretched vast and endless. Towering peaks pierced the clouds. Great rivers leapt forward tens of thousands of li in a single surge. Countless sacred grounds and spirit-rich territories sent their divine energy soaring toward the heavens, where purple mist rose and billowed.

It was a magnificent world — vast and yet not lacking in beauty, majestic and yet still carrying an air of immortal grace. It stirred the heart and soul.

“I, Li Tian the Great Emperor, have returned!”

“The Way of Human Desire’s inheritance shall never perish — it will shine with glory in this age!”

When they landed, spiritual energy surged like a tide, especially in this particular region, which was especially peculiar. Ye Fan felt a vague familiarity about it, and realized — by remarkable coincidence — that they had come down right outside the mountain gate of the Mysterious Metropolis Cave of the Eight Scenery Palace.

“This place again…”

He couldn’t help but murmur softly. In those distant days, when he had descended from the sky and landed here, it had been outside this very mountain gate — and that chance encounter had set him at odds with Yin Tiande’s lineage.

“The Primordial Purity Sacred Realm Eight Scenery Palace — now that is a fine location!” Even Yan Yixi, that refined inheritor of the Way of Human Desire, had his eyes light up.

“Yin Tiande ran off onto the Ancient Road of the Stars — there’s no chance to settle things with him. I wonder if he left anything behind.” Li Tian was also itching for a fight.

Unfortunately, they were disappointed. The place was deserted — the so-called Eight Scenery Palace had been taken away, roots and all. Nothing remained.

“Yin Tiande — a man who possessed divine prohibitions even back then, and dared to snatch the divine spirit ancient scripture from the hands of a Flawless King the moment he severed his Dao — he will without doubt be a peerless enemy in the future.” Yan Yixi said.

“Master, grief has moved me and my emotions are surging intensely — I feel the Saint King tribulation coming on right now.” Ye Tong said.

Great sorrow and great joy, with a heart surging in violent turmoil — Ye Tong could not suppress the waves within him. He could hold back no longer. His Saint King tribulation was upon him.

“Let it flow naturally — do not suppress it. I will guard the Dao for you.” Ye Fan nodded, deeply gratified.

Boom!

Ye Tong underwent his tribulation, calling forth all manner of extraordinary phenomena — heaven and earth cracked apart, and a vast sea of lightning roared.

Ye Fan quickly acted, laying down Wushi the Great Emperor’s Heaven-Deceiving Formation patterns to protect the surrounding land — for he truly feared being sunken or destroyed by the thunder and lightning.

Everything went smoothly. The process was lengthy, but Ye Tong walked out from the flashing lightning and rolling thunder — a supreme Saint King now, with bolts of electricity coiling and trailing over his body.

At the same time, from within the Sun Star, a blazing current of brilliant light shot out and merged with him, baptizing his flesh and nourishing his primordial spirit.

The extraordinary phenomena appeared one after another in succession, shaking the entire Purple Subtlety Star Domain. Many powerful figures set out, heading toward this region — yet by the time they arrived, Ye Fan and the others had already dismantled the formations and were long gone.

The mountains and rivers stretched vast, the terrain immense. This star was divided into several great continents — the Reed Continent, the Divine Continent, the Congratulatory Continent, and others — separated by sweeping oceans.

In such an expansive territory, searching for a single person was like dredging a needle from the bottom of the sea. It was no easy task, and the difficulties were immense.

“Master, I want to go pay my respects at my mother’s grave and the others’ — I’ll step away for a short while.” Ye Tong said, his voice trembling.

The Golden Crow Clan had slaughtered his entire family. The place where his family had once lived was by now a wasteland, without a single blade of grass — nothing but dry bones. He wanted to build them a burial mound.

Ye Fan let out a sigh and said, “Go. But if a truly powerful enemy appears, do not try to hold your ground — come and find your master immediately.”

Ye Tong nodded, showing he understood, and departed in tears.

“Who is my mother?” the Divine Infant muttered, rubbing his bright, glistening eyes, lost in thought for a moment.

“Think hard — I want to know too, just what kind of monster could give birth to a disaster seed like you.” Li Tian teased him.

“Bully me now while you can — just wait until I suppress you for ten thousand years later!” The little chubby one’s mouth never conceded defeat.

“Fair enough. While you’re still small, I’ll get in a few extra smacks on the backside — to leave a fond memory for the great figure you’ll become.” Li Tian proceeded to give his little backside a rapid series of pats, without any real force.

“Whoever smacks my backside, I’m writing it down in my ledger!” the little chubby one wailed and howled furiously, genuinely worried that one day, when he was ruling over all under heaven, someone might bring up such an embarrassing matter.

“How are we supposed to go about this?” Ye Fan sighed lightly.

In the end, with no other option, he drew a likeness of Xiao Nannan and prepared to offer a great reward, mobilizing every available force to search for leads — including the very top-tier great powers, asking them to lend their assistance.

However, the outcome took them completely by surprise.

Inside a grand and imposing city, the moment he produced the first portrait and opened his mouth to speak, someone recognized her — and with such utter matter-of-factness.

“You recognize her?” Ye Fan looked at the person with suspicious eyes.

“Of course!” said a man who appeared rough and rugged, his cultivation only at the Dao Palace secret realm level — impossibly low compared to a Saint, enough to cast doubt on everything he said.

“Are you certain?” Yan Yixi followed up.

“Who in all under heaven doesn’t know?” The big bearded man looked down at them with contempt, wearing the expression one might give to country bumpkins.

Li Tian was immediately deflated. A glorious return to his homeland — and instead of being received with the reverence of all the powerful figures bowing before him, he was looked down upon by a bearded man whose cultivation level was “pitifully low.”

The bearded man adopted the air of lecturing a junior and said to Li Tian: “Kid, just broke into the cultivation world, have you? Otherwise how could you not know even this?”

Li Tian was even more frustrated, on the verge of vomiting blood with rage. “I became a Saint King eighteen years ago!”

“Nonsense! If you’re a Saint King, then I’m a quasi-Emperor — a Saint King’s great-grandmaster!” The bearded man’s face was full of disdain.

“I…” Li Tian was struck speechless and utterly deflated. He really couldn’t bring himself to take action against a “mortal,” and it would be beneath his dignity to display his Saint’s might before this man. He was truly exasperated.

The Divine Infant, hidden away by Ye Fan’s art of concealment, was so tickled he wanted to pound the ground, grinning without pause — which promptly earned him another round of smacks on the backside from Li Tian.

Li Tian was even more deflated now — mocked by a true little brat on top of everything else.

“Tell me then — why does the whole world know about this?” Li Tian fumed.

Ye Fan also showed surprise. In truth, both he and Li Tian already felt deeply unsettled, sensing that something had happened — and that what the bearded man was saying was most likely not false.

“A divine infant descended from the heavens — who does not know, who has not heard? These hundred-odd years, every cultivator without exception has seen her portrait.” The bearded man admonished Li Tian, then added: “Young people these days are truly impetuous — getting worse and worse. No respect for elders and teachers. When you see an elder like me, you don’t even show proper reverence.”

“My thanks, distinguished senior of the Dao Palace realm — I could not possibly aspire to your heights. Being instructed by you for even one day would kill me with sheer frustration!” With a thunderous expression, Li Tian instead grabbed hold of another cultivator nearby and sought answers seriously, asking about Xiao Nannan’s background.

Yet the bearded man was tremendously enthusiastic, repeatedly cutting in from the side, announcing all manner of extraordinary things about the divine infant.

“Her tears can resurrect the dead and restore white bones — comparable to an undying medicine!”

“A single strand of her hair, obtained by someone who ground it into fine powder and swallowed it, cured a wound to the Grand Dao on the spot!”

…

“Where is the Purple Subtlety Divine Dynasty’s imperial palace?” Ye Fan had no desire to hear more of Xiao Nannan’s remarkable qualities — he simply wanted to find her as quickly as possible.

“Right — stop talking about other things. We’re going to the Purple Subtlety Divine Dynasty.” Li Tian also called out loudly.