If Sage King Jiang’s Battle Sage Technique did not emerge, who could possibly contend with him? The Yaoguang Holy Son was considered to have surpassed even Sage Lord Yaoguang’s own youth.

In the present-day Eastern Wilderness, the Ji Family and the Jiang Family each possessed a Divine Body, considered to be the strongest existences of the next three to four thousand years.

To live in the same era as a Divine Body was, for other cultivators, a kind of tragedy. No matter how heaven-gifted a talent one possessed, before a Sage King who had achieved Great Accomplishment, they would all pale in comparison.

However, at this moment, outside Kunyun City, many people found themselves in a strange state of mind. The Yaoguang Holy Son was likely an exception—among his generation, likely no one could overshadow his brilliance, not even a Sage King.

Five elder powerhouses lay dead at his feet. With a mere lift of his hand and step of his foot, he had killed five great masters in succession—what kind of magnificence was this? It was truly astonishing.

His entire being was like a furnace of the heavenly realm, standing beneath the vault of sky, capable of refining all things in the world. His life essence surged like a sea, like a tide, turbulent and majestic, suppressing half the sky, leaving many people utterly unable to bear it—their souls wounded, their spirits injured, their very essence harmed.

Any casual motion of his would send boundless sacred light soaring into the heavens; even the slightest raise of his hand would unleash blazing brilliance sweeping across all directions. He was like an immortal king looking down upon the mortal world, sacred light radiating naturally from him, filling the heavens and blotting out the sun!

“Little Brother Ye, you’re really riding high these days.” Li Heishui and the others spotted Ye Fan, but did not come over to greet him openly, instead transmitting their voices secretly.

“What do I have to be riding high about?” Ye Fan asked, puzzled.

“Don’t try to fool us, you fake old cow-nose. I’m starting to genuinely doubt whether you’re really that virtueless Daoist priest—somehow you feel even less like a good person than he does.” Li Heishui muttered.

“I am filled with warm-blooded righteousness, brimming with justice—how can you slander me so?”

Tu Fei called out, “I’m telling you, Little Ye, you really are shameless. Young as you are, your heart is even blacker than Li Heishui’s. If Yao Xi ever finds out it was you, I can hardly imagine what expression she’ll make—though honestly, I’m rather looking forward to it.”

Li Heishui protested, “How is my heart black? My heart is pure—don’t you dare drag me into this to defile myself.” Then he rubbed his hands together. “Really looking forward to it, though. Little Ye, you keep it up—keep flirting and exchanging meaningful glances with the Yaoguang Holy Maiden. I want to see her expression when she finally finds out everything, heh heh…”

“You two… you’re really something. This humble one, that bad? I merely happened to be present at the moment—it was completely unintentional.”

“Oh please, you did it on purpose. Say no more—the more you explain, the more hypocritical you sound, kid. It’s just that we brothers think highly of you.” Jiang Huairen also transmitted his voice. “Right in front of the Great Xia Prince, you even dared hold the little nun’s hand—now that’s promising, that takes guts. Nothing seems off-limits to you going forward. You truly are a genius in our line of work.”

“Now that you and the Yaoguang Holy Maiden have rekindled your old flame, we’re going to do everything we can to help matchmake.” Liu Kou said with a mischievous grin.

“What do you mean, rekindled old flame?”

“Obviously you two flirting with each other. But don’t get too enchanted by her beauty—you need to lie low, and at the right moment, deal them a blow. We’ll fully support you. Best wishes on your scandalous romance.”

…

Ye Fan made no attempt to avoid them, instead standing casually among the group. Naturally, none of this was spoken aloud on the surface—it was all transmitted secretly.

They appeared to know one another, though not in a way that suggested close friendship. At the same time, Ye Fan warmly greeted the people around him, entirely at ease as if he knew everyone.

“Don’t worry, they won’t trace anything back to us. Everything’s already been arranged. At most, our relationship will appear to outsiders as mere acquaintance…” Wu Zhongtian transmitted secretly.

“Alright, we’re off!” Tu Fei, Li Heishui and the others called out a farewell and flew off swiftly.

At this moment, the Yaoguang Holy Son strode forward, a ring of light appearing with each step, halos connecting beneath his feet, while behind his head hung a brilliant disc, illuminating all directions, making him appear god-like.

Wu Zhongtian did not leave immediately. He stood facing the Yaoguang Holy Son from a distance, saying nothing, and after gazing deeply at him for a long moment, finally soared into the sky and departed.

The Yaoguang Holy Son smiled brilliantly and nodded, then transformed into a streak of morning glow, leaving behind a trail of golden sunlight in the vast sky, heading toward Kunyun City.

“The Offensive Sage Technique among the Nine Secrets…” Ye Fan murmured to himself. Without lingering further, he flew toward the horizon before the crowd dispersed.

The Nine Secrets were supreme secret arts, each representing the pinnacle of its respective domain. Ye Fan had mastered two of them, and had already comprehended their boundless profundity.

He believed that in the near future, when he strode across the world, these two secret arts would surely be his greatest support!

Ye Fan was quite satisfied with this trip to Kunyun, having gained the opportunity to enter the Jade Pool. He now sped like the wind and lightning toward Qingxia Sect.

The reason he did not enter the Jade Pool immediately was that he wanted to ensure absolute certainty. The Heaven-Reversing Technique could fool the disciples of the sacred grounds, but might not necessarily escape the immortal eyes of the Jade Pool Holy Mother. Should he show any flaw, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Of course, he did not have much time to spare and needed to resolve this issue immediately—there was no time to delay, so to speak.

Qingxia remained as it had always been, green mountains and clear waters, eighteen peaks, clouds and mist drifting, springs hanging high, a beautiful and pleasant scene.

Ye Fan transformed back into his true form and returned to Qingxia Sect. Seeing the young Demon King return, the others present felt a complicated mix of emotions.

“Have Lihuo Sect, Luoxia Sect, Qixing Pavilion, and Xuanyue Cave not come to attack?”

“They have not attacked, but mysterious figures have frequently appeared, coveting our Qingxia.” the Qingxia elder answered.

Ye Fan sneered coldly. “You all withdraw from Qingxia for now. Return in twenty days—by then, I will have resolved everything.”

“This… leave Qingxia?!” The three elders found this difficult to accept.

“Leave. I’m afraid they’ve already seen through the truth of the matter and can no longer hold themselves back. Staying any longer, and I fear the sect really will be wiped out.” Ye Fan turned around. “This isn’t about abandoning Qingxia—it’s merely a temporary withdrawal, an act of patience.”

In truth, he could have called upon Wu Zhongtian, Tu Fei, and the others, and simply wiped out those four sects directly. But he did not wish to do so, unwilling to draw outside attention.

These few small bandits were prominent figures of the Northern Region—who knew how many eyes were watching them? If they were traced back through him, it would only cause trouble.

Having sent everyone away, Ye Fan too left Qingxia and went straight into seclusion.

Half a source stone, weighing sixteen or seven hundred jin, was enough to allow Ye Fan to break through to the first realm of the Dao Palace.

He found a secluded location several hundred li outside Qingxia, carving out a cave dwelling within a stone mountain.

For a full half month, Ye Fan remained in seclusion. Within his body, the heavenly sun—the Heart’s Divine Vault—grew ever more fiery red, shaped like an unopened lotus flower, giving birth to strand after strand of life essence, yet it had still not transformed into a divine spirit.

This struck him as deeply strange. Having already refined a thousand jin of source, how could there be no change at all?

However, in this process, he sensed his own growing strength. The heavenly sun within his body rose and set slowly, cycling endlessly, his innate essence burning fiercely.

Acquired essence nourished it, flowing in continuously, merging into this divine vault, growing ever more crimson and crystalline, as if it had truly become a genuine heavenly sun.

Rumbling sounds echoed within Ye Fan’s body. He saw the boundless ocean, saw the sun rise and set, saw vitality, saw vigor, boundless life force gestating within him, endless Dao power circulating.

“BOOM!”

Like the sun at its zenith!

The Heart’s Divine Vault rose and settled in the void of his bodily world, like the blazing sun at high noon, reaching its peak, boundless aura spreading outward.

Ye Fan understood clearly that he had broken through the first level of the Dao Palace, crossing this threshold. But his transformation was entirely different from others—no divine spirit had taken form from it; that wheel of heavenly sun remained suspended there as before.

The Heart’s Divine Vault had reached its zenith, entering a state of completion!

Though no divine spirit had appeared, Ye Fan felt no sense of loss. In truth, he did not wish for another version of himself to appear within his body—this suited him perfectly.

He did not understand why no divine spirit had taken form, but he could clearly feel his own strength—a sensation as if a single stomp of his foot could shatter mountains and rivers.

“This is the feeling I need. I don’t need some so-called divine spirit. The Heart’s Divine Vault should simply be like this—transformed into a heavenly sun, for my own use!”

Strand after strand of flame burst from within his body—his innate essence, wrapped in acquired essence-fire, burning ferociously. Ye Fan seemed to undergo a rebirth through fire, his clothes entirely burned away, his flesh gleaming crystalline, filled with mysterious power.

It was a long while before the essence-fire finally faded, sinking back into his body.

Within his bodily world, mist swirled hazily. He walked toward the next divine vault, as if ascending a stairway to heaven, and after successfully crossing that step, it was as if he had crossed the divide between mortal and immortal.

The strength of the second realm of the Dao Palace was many times more powerful than the first—indeed, there was an insurmountable chasm between them.

The heavenly sun shone overhead, forever suspended above his head, illuminating the path ahead.

Soon, Ye Fan sensed an incomparably sharp aura—he had found the Lung’s Divine Vault, corresponding to Metal among the Five Elements!

The Lung’s Divine Vault connected to the spiritual pathway, covering the internal organs, positioned highest, known as the Canopy, called the chief of the five viscera. The purest essence of heaven and earth, inhaled and exhaled with the heavenly source—it took this vault as its master, truly the most important among the five great divine vaults.

He sensed boundless vitality!

This divine vault transported essence and spirit, distributing it throughout the entire body, reaching outward to the skin and hair, warming and nourishing the five viscera, six bowels, four limbs, hundred bones, and skin and pores—its function was greater than one could imagine!

Several hundred jin of source stone remained before Ye Fan. He sat cross-legged, unmoving, continuously refining it, an endless stream of source qi absorbed into his body, flowing into the Canopy Divine Vault.

All qi belongs to the lungs!

One inhale, one exhale, connected to the qi of heaven!

This was the fundamental principle recorded in all manner of ancient sutras. Upon successfully entering this realm, Ye Fan felt every pore of his body open wide, as if connected to heaven and earth itself, the speed at which he could draw upon heavenly and earthly essence multiplying many times over.

“This… truly is a realm, a world unto itself!”

Ye Fan could not help but marvel. Given this transformation, his cultivation speed would surely increase dramatically—drawing upon vast heavenly and earthly essence, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap.

On the eighteenth day, Ye Fan’s body surged with vigorous essence, strand after strand of dragon qi coiling around his body, bursting forth from within, resembling the Great Xia Prince’s Imperial Dao Dragon Qi.

“BANG!”

Ye Fan’s body flashed with radiant light, breaking through the stone wall, bursting out of the cave dwelling, stepping into the high sky in a single stride, two sharp beams of light shooting from his eyes.

His strength had increased dramatically. The Heaven-Reversing Technique, though unable to alter mountains and rivers, had perfected the transformation of his own physical form to the point of completion.

“Now I can enter the Jade Pool Sacred Ground…” Ye Fan donned a Daoist robe and strode through the void, his wide sleeves billowing, employing the old madman’s footwork technique, and in nearly an instant returned to Qingxia.

The green mountains remained as before, but sadly, many halls and pavilions had already collapsed, various herbs had all been uprooted, and even some stone walls had been dug out and removed, simply because certain cultivation methods had been carved upon them.

Beyond this, Ye Fan also saw several corpses—all disciples of Qingxia. They had not fled, and had all died an unnatural death.

Even the main peak of Qingxia had been sheared off, hauled away by someone.

Ye Fan knew that the main peak of Qingxia had carved upon it the insights of generations of past sect leaders—a treasure precious to all Four Sects.

“How thorough indeed…” Ye Fan buried the corpses of the several Qingxia disciples, then turned coldly, standing before the waterfall, letting the mist and spray drift over him.

“Who are you, Daoist, that you dare come here to investigate?” Li Youran, heir of Xuanyue Cave, emerged, waving a folding fan.

On the other side, Du Chengkun, the chief disciple of Lihuo Sect’s leader, also stepped forward. Beyond this, people from Qixing Pavilion and Luoxia Sect emerged as well.

Ye Fan had already sensed them, but had simply not pointed it out. The heirs of all four sects had once been slapped by his hand.

“Lihuo Sect, Luoxia Sect, Qixing Pavilion, Xuanyue Cave—if you want to be let off, it won’t be easy…” He shook his head.

“Such arrogance!” Li Youran sneered coldly.

Du Chengkun, too, was quite self-assured. “You’re a Daoist as well—no doubt cut from the same cloth as that fat Daoist priest. You won’t be leaving here today!”

They were full of confidence, having already grasped the true situation, and with the Supreme Elder of Xuanyue Cave seated behind them on the highest peak.

Beyond this, on another green mountain, a long-secluded powerhouse of Lihuo Sect stood beneath a great waterfall, letting the water crash down upon him, parting before it reached his body, not a single drop touching him.

“Are you all waiting here to kill me?” Ye Fan swept his gaze over those present, a cold sneer at the corner of his mouth. “It seems I truly do have some connection to Emperor Wushi. If not for you all, I might never have found his dwelling place…”

“What are you talking about? Who is Emperor Wushi?” The old man beneath the waterfall suddenly opened his eyes.

“You’re all native to the Northern Region—have you never heard the legend of Emperor Wushi?” Ye Fan asked. He genuinely wanted to learn something from these people’s words, though he held out little hope.

“Are you stalling for time?” Du Chengkun mocked. “How could there possibly be such a person in the Northern Region? Claiming the title of Emperor—what audacity, fabricating such nonsense!”

“I’m speaking with your elder here. Hold your tongue.” Ye Fan glanced at him.

“You, a mere young Daoist, still wet behind the ears, dare speak to me this way?” Du Chengkun, as chief disciple of Lihuo Sect’s leader, was proud and arrogant by nature, and felt great anger at being looked down upon by a Daoist priest of only a dozen-some years.

“Facing death, and still playing dumb…” Li Youran waved his fan and stepped forward.

Ye Fan snorted coldly, swept his sleeve, and with a single strike sent both men flying, not even sparing them a glance, looking instead directly at the old man beneath the waterfall, and at the Supreme Elder of Xuanyue Cave seated on the mountain peak.

“Here in the Northern Region, the Jiang Family once produced a great emperor, and the Jade Pool once produced an Empress Mother, but that was already an ancient matter from time immemorial—at the very least, ten-some, even twenty-some ten-thousand years have passed since then.” The old man of Lihuo Sect frowned.

“Emperor Wushi… was there truly such a person?” The Supreme Elder of Xuanyue Cave, eyes still closed, remained seated on a slab of green stone on the mountain peak.

Ye Fan smiled faintly. “Since none of you know, then never mind—I shall go observe for myself!”