The moment of triumph was near, yet Ye Fan had been reduced to his absolute weakest — not a shred of strength remained in him, his body swaying on the verge of collapse. Crossing the tribulation meant consuming one’s very life, filling the void with the body’s own fundamental essence.

What made it worse was that his great tribulation had been incomparably terrifying, defying all worldly reason. Anyone else would have long since been reduced to ash.

Nine days and nine nights of torment had left his wounds carved deep — even his Primordial Spirit had nearly crumbled to cinders — yet at last, the final moment arrived.

Boom!

Without warning, a supreme aura surged forth — an ancient sovereign’s power crashing down like an ocean, sudden and fierce, sharp and staggering, brimming with countless killing intents.

In this final moment, the existences within the Forbidden Zones of Life made their move, intending to strangle him in his last hour, to prevent his true and complete return.

The dawn lay just ahead, yet darkness had swallowed the earth, threatening to devour every last ray of light. This was a great Dao divine law — one that severed the gods, seized the soul, and annihilated its target without form.

The heavenly tribulation had been on the verge of dissipating; everything had been approaching its end. The appearance of this killing intent was, without question, catastrophic.

Dragging his exhausted, wounded body, Ye Fan shifted laterally across half a sky full of stars, narrowly evading the fatal blow. The space where he had stood was annihilated — black holes bloomed in clusters, and then chaos detonated.

Hum!

From the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star, a great hand slammed down, transforming into a Heaven-Overturning Seal, black as ink, blotting out the sky above Ye Fan’s head.

It was too swift. He could not dodge it. Exerting every last ounce of his strength to meet it head-on, a tremendous spurt of blood burst from his mouth with a thud, and his body was sent flying sideways — nearly shattered into pieces.

His already-wounded body suffered grievous new injuries. His Primordial Spirit teetered on the brink of shattering, unable to hold together. Ye Fan could no longer continue this great battle.

Most terrifying of all, it was not merely one sovereign who had acted. From the direction of the Northern Dipper, two colossal beams of light swept across, their sound deafening enough to shatter eardrums. Stars became specks of dust, rendered infinitesimally small beneath the waves of the Dao.

Ye Fan’s expression changed dramatically. He immediately shot sideways, fleeing at extreme speed. Yet the outcome was horrifying — radiance flooded this space, surpassing even the heavenly tribulation in power, leaving him nowhere to take shelter.

Thud!

Ye Fan was torn apart. His body had already been in ruins after enduring the tribulation, and now, struck apart, it became fragments of pale bone and blood.

From the sky, three great hands reached downward, seeking to seize his sacred blood and refine it into precious pills. The three hands clashed with one another in a flurry of strikes, treating him as a prize to be fought over.

The sutras rang out. Ye Fan reassembled his true body, his expression darkening to the extreme. He burst out from between the three great hands, once again barely escaping dissolution.

On the verge of full completion, yet someone treated him this way — refusing him any path to life, seeking his end at his most vulnerable. The situation was critically dire. Without pausing, Ye Fan tore open the universe and surged toward the distant horizon.

But the heavenly tribulation had not yet fully extinguished. Though its power had greatly diminished, it still stirred vast cosmic lifeforms across a wide expanse. Ye Fan could not conceal his aura — the three great hands behind him pressed down once more.

Boom!

Brutal. Ye Fan was shattered yet again. After nine days and nine nights of grueling endurance, he had truly exhausted his Life Essence and spirit — too drained, utterly incapable of resistance.

Even if another person were placed in his position, they could not have done better. That he could still reassemble his flesh and blood, and flee with a remnant life, was already a miracle.

Hum!

Another great hand joined the assault — a second individual from the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star had moved. With a single vertical strike that split the present era, it covered Ye Fan from above. Sacred blood sprayed outward as he was struck to the very edge of complete soul obliteration.

In the end, he had lost count of how many times this had happened. Were it not for his exceptional vital potential, ten deaths would not have been enough to contain him.

At last, the heavenly punishment dissipated. The final bolt of lightning, reluctant to fade, transformed into ripples and darkened away. Heaven and earth returned to stillness. Ye Fan traversed the cosmos, concealing his aura, fleeing the hunt.

He had completed his tribulation — fully attained. He needed to find a place to recover, requiring boundless Life Essence to fortify himself and reach the corresponding state of great completion.

But would the sovereigns grant him this time? Their very purpose was to destroy him now, to reduce both his body and soul to nothing.

This was a great flight for survival. Ye Fan rushed to the desolate frontier of the cosmos, moving through dead and silent regions devoid of all life, shifting locations endlessly — yet he could not shake them. His blood flowed ever more.

Boom!

From the direction of the Northern Dipper, within the Forbidden Zones of Life — unknown who they were — multiple great hands flew forth together, even more terrifying than before!

Simultaneously, from the direction of the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star, two great hands likewise manifested in truth, cleaving downward to cover him. They struck together. Should Ye Fan be hit again, his death would be certain.

No one could endure the simultaneous assault of several sovereigns!

“This is the moment!”

Ye Fan let out a great roar. Both hands swept through the air. The Wushi Technique blazed with astonishing radiance. Above his head, the Cauldron of All Things Primordial shone with light, a torrent of brilliance surging within it.

It swept forward like a vast ocean, engulfing every one of the great hands. And in that very instant, a bell toll rang out — shaking the universe — and this place ignited.

That was the law imprint of the Immortal Bell, the order divine chain of an immortal weapon — and at this moment it detonated, like a great annihilation, destroying the cosmic frontier, as chaos energy drowned out eternity.

Blood sprayed. Heaven and earth imprints shattered. The great hands became visible as stark white bone, then melted, and finally exploded. Every one of the avatars suffered severe injuries.

The supreme immortal weapon’s sudden destruction dealt devastating losses to sovereigns who had not been prepared for it.

Seizing this rare opportunity, Ye Fan pressed his hands together in a seal. With his left hand he inscribed the character for “time,” and with his right he traced the character for “space.” Heaven and earth cracked apart, and a spacetime passage pierced through.

He plunged into it, fleeing toward the distant horizon. Chaos energy expanded. Heaven shattered, earth cracked. Fragments of the Immortal Bell’s law disintegrated into the void, erasing every trace he had left behind.

Beneath a cold and clear night sky, all was silent. Ye Fan sat in meditation, slowly breathing in and out. He made no sweeping absorption of heaven and earth’s essence — doing so would dim this entire star region, inevitably attracting detection.

He was slowly refining his Life Essence to strengthen himself, beginning from the most fundamental level. His injuries this time were far too severe — he had nearly been reduced to nothingness in body and soul. Even the Word Secrets he possessed could barely endure it.

Having crossed the heavenly tribulation and then been hunted once more, he had nearly been beaten into ruin, yet he had struggled through.

Stars of all heavens, the boundless river of stars — every single one shot a beam of light into his pores. Though he was suppressing it, he was nonetheless a physique of great completion; no matter what, he had to absorb a massive amount of Life Essence, and even this slight absorption had produced such a spectacle.

Every single cell in Ye Fan’s body was a bottomless abyss, longing to drain the entire river of stars.

But he restrained himself. At last he departed from this place and moved on to the next, unwilling to cause too great a disturbance that might draw powerful enemies to him.

He sat in meditation once more, slowly entering stillness, nurturing his Primordial Spirit, smoothing over the cracks that had formed upon it. An unknown stretch of time passed. Then suddenly a thunderous sound reached him. Ye Fan’s skull cracked in four places — his Primordial Spirit was nearly scattered apart.

Just ahead, a sovereign had manifested a Dao body, striking with supreme divine laws, seeking to sever his Primordial Spirit.

They had found him again in the end!

In the instant his Primordial Spirit became unstable, his physical body was also pierced through — blood and flesh flew outward, scattering into the distance. He reassembled and fled once more.

Ye Fan swore an oath: he would level certain Forbidden Zones of Life, obliterate the ancestral cavern of the Hegemon Body lineage. Today he had been hunted without mercy, and these people had struck without restraint.

“Rise!”

Ye Fan let out a great roar. The Green Emperor’s weapon came flying — he had long since concealed it within this star region. Expending his last reserves of strength, he revived it and swept it toward those behind him.

This was a flight-and-battle combined. Before long, the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar was also revived by Ye Fan, used to resist those in pursuit.

The great flight began. Ye Fan cast everything aside — given time, he could strengthen himself, and before long he would reign supreme over all under heaven. For now, all he needed was to survive.

Yet even that was agonizingly difficult. He had crossed two tribulations in succession, surpassing what the ancient sovereigns had anticipated — they had missed their best opportunity to kill him. And now might be their only remaining chance. How could they give up?

Give him more time, and none under heaven would be able to restrain him.

Half a day later, Ye Fan was found again. While seated in meditation, he was shattered by a Hegemon Body strike. Fury surged like boiling fire in his heart. He traversed the depths of the cosmic sea, swallowing his rage, temporarily retreating from their edge.

What left him with regret was that this time the Heaven-Devouring Jar had not truly revived in the same way it once had against the Undying Heaven Blade — transforming into a Female Emperor.

And so his situation remained dire, a passive and desperate flight.

It was not until two days later that things finally took a turn for the better. He entered the fallen grounds of Numinous Treasure Celestial Venerable, plunging into the bitter sea within, and then bursting into the divine spring liquid of the life-spring there.

This was a frenzied replenishment. Though such things were of little practical value to a sovereign — unable to extend one’s lifespan — to Ye Fan they were priceless beyond measure.

His flesh, riddled with blood and fractures, was nourished and restored. His injuries improved greatly. This brought him opportunity — it gave him a buffer of time!

And time, to him, was life itself. In the following day, he traversed the cosmic sea, fleeing without cease. Though the price was paid in blood, he also devoured endless starlight and primal chaos essence, strengthening himself.

A sovereign sensed it — the tide had turned. Without stepping out of the Immortal Origin, without emerging into the world, killing Ye Fan had become all but impossible.

On the fourth day, Ye Fan disappeared entirely from the sovereigns’ sight, shaking off all pursuit. From time to time his presence flickered at various locations as he madly absorbed all manner of essence. The boundless cosmos, vast rivers of stars — they dimmed in patches.

At last, he plunged directly into the Chaos Sea to breathe and cultivate.

The outcome was now decided. After four days of recovery, he had regained the strength to protect himself and feared no battle — though, of course, avoidance was still preferable. He would wait for full recovery.

Those within the Forbidden Zones of Life sighed. They knew they could no longer stop him. At the very least, Ye Fan could escape — he could live.

No one had anticipated it: Ye Fan spent a full month repairing his wounded body and re-consecrating the incomplete cauldron. Both his body and his weapon ultimately reached the most radiant pinnacle, the highest peak of his life.

During this period, the universe had long since been stirred into tremendous upheaval. Ye Fan’s Sacred Physique reaching great completion swept through all under heaven like a hurricane, shocking every corner of existence.

Most notably, his killing of a fully-completed Hegemon Body had already been made known — the entire world trembled. He was truly without equal beneath the heavens!

Another half a month passed. Ye Fan opened his eyes. He rose from his seated meditation in the void, and a small cauldron fell into his palm — ancient and natural, radiating the might of an emperor.

“Has this day finally come?”

Ye Fan’s gaze turned ice-cold. He stepped forward through the cosmos, no longer concealing his whereabouts, no longer suppressing his aura. He could now look down upon all under heaven with contempt, fearing no Forbidden Zone of Life.

“Ye Fan… He has reached great completion — he has survived!” In the Celestial Court, someone wept tears of joy, which then gave rise to a world-shaking chorus of cheers.

“We’ve finally waited for this day — Sacred Physique at great completion. He can challenge a Great Emperor now!”

“What will my master do?” Yang Xi asked, too excited to contain herself.

“Naturally — march to war against the Forbidden Zones of Life and sweep them all away!” Hua Hua declared proudly.