“Just let him go,” the Old Woodcutter said. “His obsession runs too deep — if his heart’s wish goes unfulfilled, he will neither die nor disperse.” Even if this was no longer the true First Divine General, he still possessed terrifying combat power.
The four quarters fell utterly silent. No one spoke, no one uttered a single word. Whether friend or foe, every heart was tangled with complicated emotions.
The First Divine General, Ning Fei — so impossibly brilliant — had come to such an end. It made one’s heart ache with regret. Such a generation’s supreme genius had fallen in this manner.
There were those who pitied the Undying Heavenly Empress as well. The two of them had been separated by an entire lifetime. Clearly, something had once existed between her and Ning Fei — yet in the end, they had never been able to be together.
Above Ye Fan’s head, the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar rose and fell. His eyes gleamed like lightning. He was no man of stone or iron — the First Divine General’s unwavering devotion, his determination to protect the woman he had once cherished even in death, weighed heavily upon Ye Fan’s heart. Yet he had seen that fragment of the future: the Undying Heavenly Empress had, with her own hands, killed Ye Tong, Xiao Song, and Xiao Zi. And so, even at great cost to himself, he was unwilling to let the Heavenly Empress go — unwilling to let her walk into the days ahead.
Boom!
Heaven and earth shook. From the depths of the distant starry sky, a supreme aura arrived — one that swallowed the sun, moon, and rivers of stars, shaking the very souls of all who felt it.
For the first time, Ye Fan’s expression changed. He let out a soft sigh and stepped aside, no longer blocking Ning Fei’s path — letting him carry the Undying Heavenly Empress away.
For he had thought of something far more terrifying. The Ancient Heavenly Court’s First Divine General alongside Ning Fei — they had just gone to slay a supreme being. Had they succeeded? Or had they been utterly destroyed in battle, having accomplished nothing?
What if a supreme being from one of the Forbidden Zones emerged to bring destruction upon the world? That would be catastrophe beyond imagination.
Silver divine radiance soared into the heavens. Ning Fei leapt astride his horse and crossed the void, vanishing from this place — in the blink of an eye, disappearing into the deepest reaches of the cosmos.
Stars flickered and fell away in retreat. The Undying Heavenly Empress wept. She reached up to caress that face — still so full of valiant spirit — trembling, afraid that in a single blink she would never see it again.
Yet she also knew — this truly was a final parting. The silver-robed young man who had protected her through an entire lifetime could never be seen again. He had once been so impossibly radiant — spear across his horse, dominating all — no force in all nine heavens and ten earths could have confined him.
Now, all of it had become history.
In the deepest depths of that starry sky, once the Undying Heavenly Empress was safe, the heavenly steed stopped. Its entire body began to burn. The peerlessly gallant First Battle General began to blur as well. Silver radiance boiled and surged — he would cease to exist.
The Undying Heavenly Empress rushed forward, weeping aloud, clutching in her hand the silver hairpin — a small silver battle-lance — wanting to fuse herself together with the young man.
But this was clearly futile. The valiant silver-robed young man rapidly aged, then fell apart. Even the heavenly steed was the same — experiencing an entire lifetime in the shortest span of moments: from a being like a divine dragon descended from the heavens, to fur losing its luster, powerful legs going lame, collapsing into the cosmic dust.
“No!”
A heartrendingly shrill cry from the Undying Heavenly Empress rang out — filled with utter despair.
Within the silver firelight, a withered old man at the twilight of his years nodded to her — making his final farewell. In that last instant, his divine soul revived. Seeing that she had survived, he found release.
“Ah——” The Undying Heavenly Empress staggered forward, reaching to embrace that silhouette — but grasped only emptiness.
In a trance, within the last brilliant silver firelight, she saw a white-horse silver-robed young man smiling back at her — so transcendent, his snow-white teeth shining brilliantly.
The Undying Heavenly Empress felt as though struck by lightning. This was exactly the scene from when they first met, all those years ago — he had been so incomparably magnificent.
Boom!
The silver light erupted and shattered — nothing remained. That silhouette was extinguished, yet it was branded into her heart forever.
From across this vast stretch of cosmos came a single heartbroken, soul-tearing cry of grief.
Back on the battlefield, Ye Fan and the others gazed into the depths of the cosmos. They sensed no supreme being emerging into the world. Though their hearts were not entirely at ease, they settled somewhat.
And at this moment, the outcome of the battlefield was completely decided. There would be no more suspense.
“Kill!”
The Old Gods roared. They and the lineage of the Undying Heavenly Emperor were mortal enemies — there had never been any possibility of reconciliation. They were born in opposition. They had waited for ages beyond counting, and now everything had to reach its conclusion.
Even though the greatest enemy still lived within the Life Forbidden Zone — immovable, unshakeable — at least now a long-standing debt of cause and effect could be settled.
To say nothing of Pang Bo, Dongfang Ye, Ye Tong, and the others — even the Old Yellow-Toothed Man and the Old Woodcutter joined the fighting. On a battlefield, there is no mercy — only life and death.
It was a massacre. Blood dyed the sky red. Sun and moon lost their light. No one could count how many died. This place became an absolute slaughterhouse.
The descendants of the Eight Divisions were slaughtered to the last. The powerful clans who had followed the Heavenly Emperor’s bloodline suffered incalculable losses. Even the starry sky was turned to crimson — a sight too grim to behold.
In the end, the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, along with the people of the Dao Palace and the Divine Organization, could truly kill no more. Ye Fan and the Old Woodcutter had long since stayed their hands — only then did it end.
Every single leader was executed. The survivors submitted and were suppressed. This place had become a demon earth stained with blood. Thousands of years hence it would become a terrifying burial ground — a place that would make all who spoke of it go pale.
This battlefield was preserved. It was written into the historical records. Countless tens of thousands of years later, descendants would still come to pay their respects, to mourn, and to remember.
In the depths of the starry sky, the Undying Heavenly Empress knelt upon the ground, sobbing in a low murmur.
“You are gone. I have missed you again by an entire lifetime. What meaning is there left? Whichever Forbidden Zone it was — I will avenge you!”
She did not know whether Ning Fei had succeeded in slaying the supreme being, but he had indeed died in battle. Her eyes filled with madness — she would have her revenge, regardless of the cost.
“Old ghost of the Underworld Emperor — the Heavenly Emperor’s blood you wanted is gone. I want revenge!” The Undying Heavenly Empress was frenzied, laughing wildly, as though she had gone mad.
The space between her brows began to bleed ceaselessly — first a vivid red like a blood diamond, then other colors appeared, and finally five colors condensed together, dazzling and magnificent. Before her skull they formed an immortal phoenix, spreading its wings to strike at heaven.
This was the Undying Heavenly Emperor’s blood — possessing the properties of the undying immortal medicine. The killing intent and dao laws within it had long since been refined away; she had smelted it into her body to extend her life by an entire age.
Yet now she was performing a reversal — drawing the phoenix blood forth once again, condensing it into form before her brows, erupting with resplendent radiance.
Then, she summoned that Dao Platform once more, letting it float before her body, and poured all five colors of divine blood upon it.
The ancient Dao Platform absorbed every drop of blood like a sponge — then began to glow. Five-colored divine radiance shot into the heavens, tearing the cosmos asunder.
Upon that platform, a hazy silhouette appeared — terrifying and vast, shaking this stretch of cosmos, possessing a power as boundless as the sea.
“The Heavenly Emperor refuses to appear — so I summon you. You, battle-entity forged from laws and order — fight for the Eight Divisions and take vengeance!”The Undying Heavenly Empress declared.
No outsider could have imagined that within the Undying Heavenly Emperor’s Enlightenment Platform, there existed supreme chains of order of this kind — so spiritually aware as to have constructed a hazy silhouette.
“The Heavenly Empress knows little of me. I no longer possess the power to fight. I was originally formed from the power of faith — I am not the deity of this Dao Platform. That thought-body of mine was long since ignored and suppressed. Now only this remnant god of laws remains, and it cannot endure much longer,” the hazy silhouette said.
Even the Undying Heavenly Empress was stunned upon hearing this, her mind racing through countless thoughts at once.
The Undying Heavenly Emperor had reigned supreme over all under heaven — his divine power boundless, unmatched throughout the world, receiving the worship of all races across the cosmos. Endless faith converged upon him, forging him an immortal divine body.
That being forged from thought-power had been equally terrifying — nearly rivaling the Undying Heavenly Emperor himself, for whatever the Heavenly Emperor knew, that thought-body knew as well. The two were, in essence, one person.
“Your divine body was suppressed by Wushi — you are his remnant god…” The Undying Heavenly Empress drew a sharp, cold breath.
“The Heavenly Emperor’s supreme will departed and granted me new life. Yet I have failed him — I was defeated. I have brought shame upon the Heavenly Emperor,” the Remnant God said.
He had been defeated. Though his will was not as powerful as the Heavenly Emperor’s, his divine body had been hardly weaker — yet he had still been suppressed.
“The Heavenly Emperor’s achievements shook the ancient past and illuminated the present. On the path toward immortality, he seized so much fortune in defiance of heaven — his strength was among the foremost in all of history. But Wushi is simply too heaven-defying, capable of defying even immortality. In a true all-out clash, the two of them would most likely be evenly matched,” the Remnant God said.
The Undying Heavenly Empress fell silent. She now understood — the Undying Heavenly Emperor’s absence from the world was not a resolution ending in mutual destruction; he was locked in a standoff with Wushi, and for this entire age, he could never break free.
The Heavenly Empress was rapidly aging. In a single instant her beautiful hair turned white, and countless wrinkles climbed across her once-exquisite face. She hugged that small silver battle-lance to her chest, smiled with desolate sorrow, and said: “Summoning you forth is useless anyway.”
“Not necessarily. If it truly must come to a fight, I still have one method.”
The aging accelerated. The Undying Heavenly Empress had no time left. Having forced out the phoenix blood, she had aged thousands of years in a single moment. She opened her mouth and spoke: “My life nears its end. Please carry my bones and bury me in the place where the First Divine General fell in battle. Since you still have a method, then go and level that Forbidden Zone.”
“This violates proper order!” the silhouette said.
“I am the one who summoned you forth — I only ask this one thing of you. Moreover, Ning Fei may have already slain the supreme being within that place. You need only carry my bones and bury them there!” The Undying Heavenly Empress said with quiet desolation. She had no time left. Grave wounds compounded by wounds to her heart, and her lifespan had been stripped away — white hair over a still-red face, her life moving toward its end.
“Very well — I will do my best!” the silhouette upon the Phoenix Platform said, and then began chanting an ancient incantation. One after another, runic symbols flickered, then transformed into Great Dao laws and surged forth toward the eight wildernesses of the cosmos.
He was summoning a supreme treasure — the most terrifying great killing weapon from time immemorial!
At the edge of the cosmos, primordial chaos energy surged violently. A heavenly blade gleamed white as lightning, cleaving through the chaos. All manner of primordial essences from before the heavens were opened came surging forth, disappearing into the stone egg beneath that heavenly blade.
If the Old Woodcutter had been present, he would surely have been shocked beyond measure — for many tens of thousands of years prior, he had witnessed this exact scene!
He had sealed himself away into this age precisely because he wanted to witness a certain outcome. Yet in the one or two hundred years since his revival, he had gained nothing.
If Ye Fan had been present, he too would certainly have recognized it — this heavenly blade was identical to the counterfeit that had been obtained after slaying the Heavenly Emperor’s son in those years. This was the true Undying Heavenly Blade!
This blade’s killing intent was overwhelming, its aura boundless and vast. At first glance it appeared to be a single whole, of an ancient, unadorned hue — yet upon closer inspection, one would discover it was divided into five colors, forged from five types of divine metals melted together in perfect fusion, becoming one unified whole!
There is a saying in the world: when various divine metals are smelted together in a single furnace and refined into a perfect imperial weapon, there exists a possibility of it transforming into an immortal weapon — and its attack power would be unrivaled throughout the world.
After all these years, the stone egg beneath the heavenly blade still had not emerged into the world. No change had occurred. It was absorbing starlight, drawing in chaos energy.
At this moment, the Remnant God’s incantation from the Phoenix Platform was sensed by the Undying Heavenly Blade — summoning it, calling it forth to fight!
“Sweep away the Forbidden Zone… impossible!”