Ye Fan kept his promise and reforged the Void Mirror, repairing its body. Over all these years, he had slain Supreme Beings, pacified life-restricted zones, and shattered numerous ancient emperor artifacts. Though most had been reduced to scrap metal, their divine essence lost, what remained had at least yielded some immortal materials.
He spent several years studying the Void Scripture and examining the remaining array patterns within the mirror as well as the deities still alive within it — and at last repaired it using immortal materials, allowing the Void Mirror to appear anew and be returned to the Ji Family.
This event shook the universe. Who could have imagined that yet another luminary from the great battle during the dark turmoil still had a remaining body, and might potentially be restored to life?
Thereafter, Ye Fan issued a command to cultivators throughout the entire universe: to search for the shattered fragments of the Eternal Universe Divine Cauldron, in hopes of saving back another of those luminaries. This was the first heavenly imperial decree he had ever issued.
For he had personally witnessed the Eternal Universe Cauldron shatter all those years ago, carrying the white-robed Jiang Taixu away into the distance — much as the half-broken mirror had vanished into the void. When he had seen that moment, a suspicion had stirred in him: perhaps two Great Emperors, fighting through the bodies of their descendants, had in their final moments found a way to preserve those children.
Now, having found Ji Zi’s remaining body and confirmed what had once been only a suspicion in his heart — how could he contain his eagerness? And so he made this grand mobilization, issuing his decree throughout the entire universe.
Of course, it was not compulsory. He promised that anyone who provided a genuinely valuable lead would receive a complete and intact Dao scripture in return. And if someone truly brought forward the shattered Eternal Universe Cauldron, Ye Fan made a solemn vow: so long as he still lived, he would protect that person’s clan and ensure their flourishing.
A vow made by the Heavenly Emperor — and one made with such gravity — naturally moved a great many hearts.
The Jiang Family, upon hearing the news, mobilized in full. The Divine King might have a chance at restoration — how could their hearts not tremble? They fanned out across every corner of the universe in their search.
With Jiang Yifei, Jiang Caixuan, and Jiang Tingting taking the lead, they swept through the universe, desperate to turn heaven and earth upside down and find the Divine King’s whereabouts.
Before long, someone came to the doors of the Heavenly Court bearing astonishing news — with knowledge of where the Eternal Universe Divine Cauldron was.
The Great Force Bull Demon Tribe was counted among the powerful races of the universe. Though they had never produced an Ancient Emperor, no one dared take them lightly.
After that earth-shaking battle in the past, a rain of blood had carried half a shattered divine cauldron and caused it to fall upon their ancient star. Even a destroyed emperor artifact was not something an ordinary star could withstand.
However, the ancient star their tribe inhabited was mysterious — it contained a heavenly aperture. Anyone who went down into it had never come back alive, and the Eternal Universe Cauldron had plunged straight in.
The tribe had then sent out all their powerhouses together to cover and seal that heavenly aperture.
Many years passed. With Ye Fan becoming the Heavenly Emperor and issuing such a forceful imperial decree, they finally hesitated. After deliberation, their chieftain personally made the journey to the Heavenly Court and disclosed the information.
When the Heavenly Emperor set out, who could obstruct him? Ye Fan brought the old Bull Demon and arrived upon that ancient star in an instant.
Then, with a single step, he stood before the heavenly aperture. He raised his hand and lifted the seal away. Below was a darkness so deep it was unfathomable.
“I see — no wonder it could conceal the energy signature.” Ye Fan let out a sigh.
The universe truly was vast and full of secrets. This was an abandoned life-restricted zone, containing ancient emperor-level array formations — and not merely one.
He descended into it and located the blood-stained ruined cauldron. He found that this place had once been a life-restricted zone from the Primordial Ancient era, though the several Supreme Beings within it had long since died of old age, completing their dissolution into the Dao.
Aside from a Great Emperor, anyone who entered here would die without question, unable to survive five layers of emperor-level array formations.
Ye Fan opened the Eternal Universe Cauldron with tense anticipation, and indeed found inside a half-ruined body — hair white as snow, face still young — belonging to none other than the Jiang Divine King who had once lived out a second life.
“Divine King…” Ye Fan’s voice trembled as he called out. The Divine King had been a great benefactor to him — without that person, there would be no Ye Fan as he was today.
The Divine King had once sighed over the world in song. In those years past, he had used his divine blood to wash a Dao diagram for Ye Fan, watching over his growth — and at the Yaochi Grand Assembly, his zither music had awed ten thousand races. He had been the very picture of unmatched grace.
And yet now, there was only an ice-cold ruined body, drenched in blood — a sight that made the heart tremble.
The white-robed Divine King had lived a life full of hardship: imprisoned for many years, then returning alive, only to watch his beloved die before his eyes. He had then departed alone into the vast wilderness, living out his second life in solitude — no joy, only sorrow — fighting against the ancient clans, quelling the dark turmoil, and at last reaching his end in battle. He had poured out his last drop of blood, with only a half-broken mirror as his final company.
Ye Fan cradled the blood-soaked ruined body in his arms and returned to the Heavenly Court.
That day, another divine temple rose beside the Heavenly Court — magnificent and grand — and Ye Fan once again performed the apotheosis, enshrining a Taixu God!
“Divine King — come back…” he called out, his voice full of feeling.
He had cultivated the Dao to this point, his will harder than iron. Yet in recent days he had been stirred to his depths again and again. Gai Jiuyou, Ji Zi, the white-robed Divine King — they had all been great wounds in his heart, and now at last a glimmer of hope for some remedy had appeared.
Three magnificent divine temples stood in a row, shining day and night. The first thread of thought-power for each was offered personally by Ye Fan — nourished by the Heavenly Emperor’s light, radiance burst through the canopy of the heavens.
Ye Fan repaired the Eternal Universe Cauldron and personally delivered it into Jiang Yifei’s hands.
He then gave the Dao scripture to the Great Force Bull Demon Tribe as promised, vowing to watch over their prosperity — on the condition that the tribe commit no great wrongs.
Several hundred years passed. In addition to the three apotheosis altars, two other structures had taken shape beside them: a small temple and a thatched shed.
The small temple belonged to Hua Hua. Over these years, as Ye Fan had cultivated the Buddhist method of faith-power — a supreme divine ability — it had illuminated his own thinking greatly, and he had gone ahead and enshrined himself upon a divine altar to gain deeper insight through personal experience.
Buddhism had not declined; faith remained robust to this day. He was one of the foremost figures in the Buddhist world, long since awe-inspiring throughout the world, and could receive an enormous amount of faith-power.
Besides him, the thatched shed also occasionally flickered with luminous light. There was an altar within it, on which the Black Emperor sat — looking remarkably serene, like a venerable statue.
The Black Emperor had aged considerably. Its silk-like fur had turned entirely grey-white, and — most significantly — it was no longer robust and powerful as it once had been. Its body had actually shrunk, now about the size of an ordinary mutt.
It had also begun studying this path to immortality — though with little to show for it. If faith-power could be looted, it would have long since leaped up and gone to rob Hua Hua of his.
“Ow!”
Suddenly, that day, Hua Hua let out a cry. Blood seeped from the center of his brow; he fell backward off the divine altar, his entire body radiating Buddhist light.
This gave the Black Emperor a fright, and it also shocked the forces of the Heavenly Court. Hua Hua was now a quasi-emperor — his strength was at its peak. How could something like this happen to him?
Ye Fan, Monkey, and the others were all alerted immediately and came rushing over. This was before the South Heavenly Gate — who would dare come here to make a move against Hua Hua?
Hua Hua appeared as if he were dissolving into the Dao — his entire body was light, illuminating all ten directions, sacred beyond words — except that blood continued to flow unceasingly from the center of his brow.
Ye Fan helped him up, took a brief look, and immediately understood. He rose to his feet and said: “Even my disciple you dare touch?!”
He stood before the South Heavenly Gate. His right hand traced through the air — the void split open — then he reached forward with force, and the entire Ancient Amitabha Star trembled and groaned.
“The Heavenly Emperor!”
“The Heavenly Emperor is wrathful…”
Every living being on the Ancient Amitabha Star trembled, feeling the Great Emperor’s pressure aura — all of them shook and fell prostrate to the ground. However, this situation did not last long — the Heavenly Emperor’s hand reached in and seized a stone Buddha, then vanished from there as the great crack in the void closed.
This left people thunderstruck. Such was the power of the Heavenly Emperor — standing before the South Heavenly Gate, separated from this place by countless star systems, yet with one reach of his hand he had touched this very star.
On the stone Buddha, a golden-winged great roc spread its wings and beat against the heavens, struggling with all its might — yet it could not escape the palm of Ye Fan’s hand.
It was not a physical entity; it was formed from faith-power. Yet it was extraordinarily powerful, capable of looking down upon all the heavens — and it fought back with an indomitable spirit.
“What is your relationship with Amitabha Buddha?” Ye Fan asked.
“I am the guardian of the Buddha. I once lived in this world — I was Shakyamuni Buddha’s maternal uncle.” It intoned a Buddhist chant, its sound profoundly stunning — an ordinary quasi-emperor would be no match for it.
Everyone was greatly astonished. Pang Bo in particular had his eyebrows shoot upward. He was a person of Earth, and naturally his mind went to the legendary golden-winged great roc king of legend.
“Why did you use a secret technique to harm my disciple?” Ye Fan’s Pressure Aura was naturally imposing without anger — it made even this golden-winged great roc tremble, and it ceased its struggle, settling in his palm and answering: “I was searching for the Future Buddha.”
Ye Fan glanced at Hua Hua and immediately understood. He had suspected as much back on Mount Sumeru — Hua Hua was likely the Future Buddha of the Buddhist world.
“I… have found him.” The Golden-Winged Great Roc King looked at Ye Fan with a reverence in its gaze and said: “Heavenly Emperor, please allow our Buddha to take his rightful place.”
Ye Fan said nothing. After a moment, he roused Hua Hua and let him make his own choice.
On Mount Sumeru, there were the relics of the Buddha — but that was not the ultimate divine object for his resurrection. There was also the Nirvana Dao Fruit, which resided on the Ancient Amitabha Star.
It had rested in nirvana for hundreds of thousands of years, awaiting rebirth!
It had been extracting the true original spiritual will of the ancient Buddha from the hearts of all living beings, accumulating it bit by bit, condensing it all within a stone Buddha.
In the past, the Nirvana Dao Fruit had been divided into three parts: the primary will had entered the sea of consciousness of Shakyamuni Buddha; a portion of the secondary will had transformed and entered the body of the old monk from the Western Desert — and had later followed Ye Fan across the other shore, entering Hua Hua’s subconscious. Another portion had always remained within the stone Buddha on the Ancient Amitabha Star.
“I am always and only myself — no one else!” Hua Hua cried out upon waking. He chose the same path as Shakyamuni Buddha — to not become Amitabha Buddha, but only himself.
“Very well — the path is beneath your own feet, and it is your own choice.” The Golden-Winged Great Roc began to burn, transforming into a fire of faith, melting the stone Buddha — and from the molten stone, droplets of brilliant light rose and flew, sinking into Hua Hua’s body.
Yet at that instant, Hua Hua’s heart trembled. The Buddha had shown great compassion and not forced him — and he could not harden himself against that. He chose to merge.
“Amitabha — only today do I truly understand: I am I.” When the rain of light settled, Hua Hua’s bearing was dignified and serene, his mouth intoning the name of the Buddha.
Everyone was startled. Had Amitabha Buddha truly been revived? The methods of the Buddhist world were terrifying!
“Master.” Hua Hua bowed deeply to Ye Fan.
“Are you still Hua Hua?” the Black Emperor asked.
“Amitabha Buddha entered nirvana long ago in the past. I am of course still Hua Hua — only now my sea of consciousness holds a few more scriptures and insights.” Hua Hua answered honestly. He had been unable to bear refusing the residual spiritual consciousness, and had accepted it — yet remained entirely himself, gaining fulfillment without losing his identity.
“Good is rewarded with good, is it? The Buddhist law of cause and effect applied to itself.” the Black Emperor muttered — and then without ceremony raised a paw and slapped it down onto Hua Hua’s bare head, ringing like metal struck, sending sparks flying.
The Golden-Winged Great Roc had not disappeared. It transformed into a demon-subduing staff — a weapon formed from faith-power — and settled in Hua Hua’s hand.
“From now on, you and Zhang Qingyang guard these three divine temples.” Ye Fan said. There was no one more suited for it than them — Hua Hua should gain enormously on the path of faith, and the Celestial Master Zhang Qingyang was also deeply versed in this Dao.
Hua Hua immediately wore a long-suffering expression.
Time flowed on. That year, Ye Fan turned six thousand five hundred years old — and his blood energy, astonishingly, had continued to grow stronger over all this time, still on an upward trajectory.
This was truly a source of shock to everyone!
Boom!
The sound of tribulation lightning came from the Heavenly Court, loud and imposing. Pang Bo broke into a smile: “Wenchang has finally taken that step.”
Everyone wore a peculiar expression. Zhang Wenchang was absolutely a singular specimen within the Heavenly Court. Given that he had Ye Fan and Pang Bo as close friends, the contrast was simply too stark.
His cultivation had progressed at an extraordinarily slow pace — for thousands of years he had been surpassed again and again by generation after generation of younger people. Yet he had always been making progress, steady and unhurried, and had slowly caught up in the end.
Every single time, he would only break through when his lifespan was nearly exhausted, entering a higher realm to extend his life — always making everyone’s heart skip a beat.
This time was no different. He looked to have almost died of old age: six thousand five hundred-odd years old, and only now breaking through from the Saint-King realm into a higher tier. Not just within the Heavenly Court — even looking across all of antiquity, there were few who would dare do things this way.
Others always broke through when their blood was hot and their vitality surging. Only he waited until he was so old his teeth were nearly falling out before making his move — causing everyone to worry tremendously, always afraid he might die prematurely.
And yet Ye Fan had a high opinion of him, saying that Zhang Wenchang was not the type to die young, and his lifespan would not be shorter than that of a supreme powerhouse.
“Wenchang has broken through again. Following his usual custom, he’ll want to go back to his homeland and take a look. Ye Fan, won’t you go back as well?” Pang Bo asked.
“I’ll go back.” Ye Fan said.
“Excellent — this time we’ll all go back together!” Pang Bo was elated.