The world was vast and empty. Not a single familiar face remained — not friends, not family, and not even an enemy. All of the same generation had reached their end, all gone.

The world had fallen silent.

In the deep of night, Ye Fan lay gazing up at the starry sky the entire night without moving once. The heroes of this world had all withered away. There was not a single person of his generation left to find.

With a soft sigh, he rose at dawn and departed the Heavenly Court — and for many years did not return.

The Heavenly Court was powerful, its reach extending to every corner of the universe. Even with the grand era’s close and the passing of its great heroes, it remained the number one great sect in the universe, with nothing else to compare.

Ye Fan took the form of an ordinary mortal and walked alone through the mortal world — from one place to another, wandering for many years. Yet even amid the sea of humanity, there was a profound sense of loneliness.

No dear friends remained. Even enemies had all perished. This was a terrible kind of silence.

He was the Heavenly Emperor — his vital energy like a vast sea, powerful to the extreme. The years could not leave their mark upon his body. Yet he was so desolate, traveling in solitude, never wishing to stop.

The mortal world in all its forms, life in its hundred aspects — he walked onward, traversing the entire world. His heart remained unchanged. He was always silent.

At twelve thousand years of age, Ye Fan’s first white hair appeared. Looking back, even amid the vast sea of humanity, he felt this world had grown even more silent.

Though he stood within a crowd of people, he could not feel this era’s mortal energy. Instead it was as though he heard a call from another world — a sound that seemed to belong to a previous age. He was out of step with this era; he did not belong here.

What did it matter, being invincible above and below the heavens?

In this mortal world, he knew no one. So many people — yet all so distant. Even if he walked to the ends of the world, an eternal loneliness would accompany him.

The Fire Mulberry Star was filled with unease. All the people of that clan fell into a panic, for the Golden Crow Great Emperor’s vital energy had begun to fail — and the news spread across the mortal world.

Ye Fan raised his head. He took a single step, and was already upon that great star. Raging fire leapt and danced, fire mulberry trees stretched as far as the eye could see, and above hung a grand and magnificent heavenly palace, glowing with brilliant fire.

The Heavenly Emperor had come to visit the Golden Crow Great Emperor — a fact that startled everyone on the star and all the other powerful clans who had gathered there, filling them then with a kind of fear in the face of his majesty and unrivaled power.

Ye Fan had never been particularly close with the Golden Crow Great Emperor, yet now he felt an overpowering wish that he could live a little longer.

In this withered era, even a former enemy could seem close. To encounter even one person of the same era was so very rare.

“Heavenly Emperor, I have truly grown old. You are still so young — it is truly awe-inspiring.” The aged Golden Crow sighed.

Ye Fan said nothing, only looked at him.

“Ah — life is nearly spent, and only now do I understand how wonderful it is to be alive. You must cherish it, Heavenly Emperor.” The old Golden Crow’s golden hair was mostly white by now. He sat in a fire-crystal chair and said: “I finally understand why the Primordial Emperor chose to transform into a forbidden zone. Even I feel the impulse.”

“If you do that, I will level you at the first opportunity.” Ye Fan said.

The Golden Crow Great Emperor smiled bitterly. “Sharing this era with you — could I possibly do that? Though… I think you should begin making preparations. Even without transforming into a forbidden zone, you should seal yourself while your vital energy is still sufficient — or find some way to slow the consumption of your life force.”

“You very much hope I’ll seal myself away, don’t you?” Ye Fan’s gaze was sharp as lightning, as if capable of piercing through the innermost heart of a Great Emperor.

The Golden Crow Great Emperor was immediately embarrassed and said no more.

Ye Fan kept his gaze on him for a long time. For the first time in two thousand years, a smile crossed his face. “I see you can live another two thousand years yet.”

“Heavenly Emperor, you flatter me far too much. I feel I will pass into nirvana within five hundred years.” The Golden Crow Great Emperor sighed.

“Is that so? Five hundred years from now I will come visit you again. If you are still alive, I will help you be at peace.” Ye Fan said with a slight smile.

“Forget it. Life and death have their appointed times. If I can endure a while longer and share an era with the Heavenly Emperor, that too is an honor.” The old Golden Crow said.

After visiting the old Golden Crow and exchanging a few words, Ye Fan felt his desolation ease somewhat. He let out a long breath and ended his solitary journey and cultivation in the mortal world.

“The years…”

Ye Fan looked at that first strand of white hair, set his profound art in motion, and his vital energy surged and rolled within him — heaven and earth trembled, and throughout the nine heavens and ten earths the sound of thunder was heard!

His body radiated light. His entire form was crystalline and luminous. At last, that white hair turned from white back to jet black. His power and the fullness of his lifespan were absolutely without equal in all of history.

“Time to go back.”

Ye Fan took a single step — stars spun, the cosmos shifted — and in an instant he appeared before the Heavenly Court. Outside, the three divine temples still rose with auspicious vapors and surging faith energy, enduring and undimmed.

The only difference from before was that the three great temples had been rebuilt from divine source, drawing in the power of faith while keeping the essence sealed undissipated. This had been Ye Fan’s doing in an earlier time.

Within the three ancient temples, each held a seated figure. They were the three divine gods canonized by the Heavenly Emperor. Two of them already had vital energy coiling about them, accompanied by the sound of thunder.

Yet Ye Fan could only sigh. Sealed within divine source, reconstituting the true spirit — after so many years, there was only this little result. It was truly too difficult.

In the days to come the effect would grow even more faint. A new grand era had come, and the deeds of the three great heroes would gradually fade from the world’s memory. When they were no longer remembered, the faith would no longer flourish.

To address this, only founding three new great sects might ensure the temples’ immortality.

Without a sound, Ye Fan returned to a courtyard within the Heavenly Court — the Undying Mountain. He had been away for many years, yet every generation within the Heavenly Court knew he must still be alive, for he was the Heavenly Emperor.

Decades later, the sound of weeping jolted Ye Fan from his deep seclusion. He moved swiftly from the cliff of the Undying Mountain and arrived in the Flat Peach Garden.

Beneath the ancient tree, a small girl was rubbing her large eyes and weeping softly, having just woken from a deep sleep.

She was as adorable as a porcelain doll, crystalline teardrops hanging on her face — it was Xiao Nannan. In these past thousands of years, for some unknown reason, she had grown extraordinarily fond of sleep, sometimes sleeping for one or two thousand years at a stretch. Ye Fan had once investigated and found that the Ruthless Great Emperor, deep beneath the ancient desolate abyss, seemed to be undergoing some strange transformation — which was affecting the little girl.

“Big Brother, Nannan had a dream. I dreamed that all the other big brothers and sisters were gone, and only the two of us were left. I felt so alone, so sad.”

Ye Fan’s heart gave a quiet ache. The dream was real — the world had fallen silent, and truly only the two of them remained. He reached out with fond indulgence and patted Xiao Nannan’s head. “Don’t think about it too much.”

The little girl’s large eyes brimmed with tears. Timid and hesitant, she gripped the hem of Ye Fan’s robe and said: “Big Brother, I’m so scared. I’m afraid that one day you’ll leave me too.”

Ye Fan paused, then said: “That will not happen.”

“Mm, Big Brother must remember — don’t leave Nannan.” The little girl was very well-behaved. She wiped her tears clean and looked up at him with pitiful, beseeching eyes.

Ye Fan gave a nod and made her his promise.

The little girl had only been awake for a few months, but the entire time she had been a tiny shadow at Ye Fan’s side, following him everywhere, afraid he would disappear, clinging to him with total dependence.

During this time, Ye Fan took her wandering everywhere, bringing the little girl much joy and happiness. He was both wistful and moved with a bittersweet ache — in the end, there was still one person left in this world who could live alongside him, together.

A few months later, Xiao Nannan fell into sleep again. Ye Fan looked at her for a long time and felt that this time her sleep would last even longer.

Ye Fan sat cross-legged on the cliff of the Undying Mountain and refined various weapons and formation banners, scattering them across the Heavenly Court. This instantly sent tremors through all the heavenly soldiers and generals, and then erupted into roaring cheers like thunder.

“The Heavenly Emperor!”

By now, the Former Revered Emperor’s heavenly soldier tablets, heavenly general tablets, and others had been found and become secret treasures of the Heavenly Court. And beyond this, Ye Fan had personally refined certain magical artifacts — any single one sufficient to shake the world!

Even with so many of the founders now gone, the Heavenly Court’s magnificent inheritance could endure for many years to come.

In truth, as long as the Heavenly Emperor still lived, even if the Heavenly Court was reduced to a handful of remnant soldiers, it could still be called supremely glorious and powerful — unrivaled in the world.

Ye Fan set out once more on a distant journey. He was using his great power to divine, searching for a certain person. Though he did not believe in the next life, the vow of those earlier years still rang in his ears — he had promised to find her.

“The next life — believe and it exists, disbelieve and it does not. Time flows on. Eventually, in this world, two similar flowers will appear. After hundreds and thousands of years of glances back, one flower withers, one flower blooms.”

Yet after so many years, he simply could not find her. More than ten thousand years had passed, and she remained nowhere to be found.

“I have a feeling that I will see someone like that. Is it that the time has not yet come?” For Ye Fan as Heavenly Emperor, his instincts and intuition were the most terrifying thing about him.

He trod the entire starry sky, and when he came again to the Ancient Road of Stars — for the first time in thousands of years — a look of surprise appeared on his face. He had seen someone — a person from the same era.

“Guan Cheng!”

By the city gate stood an old man, profoundly aged, his body hunched and utterly wasted.

“My respects, Heavenly Emperor.”

Ye Fan showed a look of astonishment. More than twelve thousand years had passed, and all the geniuses and heroes of the same era had died. Yet this person had survived.

“I had an affliction hidden within me — at six thousand and some years of age I should have died — yet for reasons unknown, I lived out a second life.” Guan Cheng coughed. Now he had again reached old age.

His cultivation realm had never advanced beyond what it had been, yet he had lived far longer than anyone else. His remaining days were few. He had returned to this place to revisit old ground, wishing to walk the ancient road one more time.

Ye Fan clasped his hand and carefully examined him, then gave a quiet sigh. It was as Guan Cheng said — he had lived out a second life, and now was truly approaching his end.

Within the Heavenly Court, there was also someone who had lived out a second life: the small silkworm that had once followed the Silkworm Princess, who had undergone nine consecutive transformations and opened a new life — far more powerful than Guan Cheng. It too had been sealed by Ye Fan along with the small holy ape and the divine child.

The White Robe Divine King, the Golden Crow Great Emperor, the small silkworm, Guan Cheng — more than one person had lived out a second life. This moved Ye Fan deeply.

Several hundred years later, Guan Cheng died — passed away peacefully in the starry sky.

When Ye Fan was over fourteen thousand years of age, he came to the Fire Mulberry Star. This time there was no need for the Golden Crow clan to spread the news outward — everyone knew: the Demon Emperor was about to pass into nirvana. For he had lost control of the Great Dao, which spread out and pervaded the heavens and earth, overawing the mortal world.

“You’ve come.” The Golden Crow Great Emperor was very calm.

“To see you off on your final journey.” Ye Fan said.

“Ah!” The old Golden Crow let out a long sigh. To have shared an era with the Heavenly Emperor — that was the greatest sorrow of this practitioner’s life.

“Do you have anything you wish to say?” Ye Fan asked for his final words.

“Do you really want to hear it?” The Golden Crow Great Emperor had been formidable his entire life, and repressed his whole life. Now, with a kind of self-mockery, he spoke.

“I do.” Ye Fan said.

“Very well then.” The Golden Crow Great Emperor gave a nod. Then suddenly his eyes blazed with brilliance, a pressure emanating from them, as though he had become an entirely different person. He said: “Go to hell, Heavenly Emperor. I’ll finally never have to see you again!”

Ye Fan was dumbstruck. These were his last words?

The Golden Crow Great Emperor died with swift decisiveness — the moment he finished speaking, he passed, ending his life, leaving Ye Fan standing there in stunned astonishment for a long while before he finally rubbed his chin.

The universe shook greatly. A Great Emperor had died — the nine heavens and ten earths trembled!

The years flowed on. Ye Fan was now eighteen thousand years of age — finally entering his twilight years. To live one life this long was extraordinary, rarely seen since ancient times.

His hair had turned white, yet his vital energy had not been consumed too severely — it was still astonishing. But on this day a strange thing occurred: a layer of golden fur appeared on the surface of his body.

“An ill omen?” Ye Fan let out a great laugh — yet his gaze turned cold and piercing as he looked into the starry sky.

A flash of light — and all the golden fur on his surface blazed away and vanished.

Another thousand years passed. Ye Fan was now nineteen thousand years old. No change had occurred. Without performing any acts of self-severance, without employing any method of prolonging life, he had at last begun to age.

Yet his will and resolve had never changed. He still sought to pierce through the mystery of immortality.

Stillness gave way to the desire to move. This year he began his wanderings again, walking for a thousand years and more, treading across the entire starry sky. He was now over twenty thousand years of age.

Suddenly lifting his head, on this day he found he had already arrived in the Northern Dipper, standing outside the Spirit Void Cave Heaven, amid a stretch of ruins.

He stood still for a long time. Then Ye Fan suddenly turned back. As the Heavenly Emperor, with the world fallen into silence — this was the first time in nearly ten thousand years he had experienced such a strange sensation.

In the instant he turned around, he glimpsed a receding figure walking away into the darkness — a withered, emaciated form, flickering and wavering in the pitch-black night like something not of this world.

For a figure like this to give the Heavenly Emperor himself such a feeling — one could only imagine how terrifying it must be.

“Stop!” Ye Fan called out sharply. That back — he had once caught a brief glimpse of it, thousands upon thousands of years ago.

“Cough…” From far away, that retreating figure let out an aged, violent cough — as though it might cough out its very heart.