Those below were deeply on edge, fearing Ye Fan might make a reckless decision and cut down their sacred sons and daughters — that would set off an earth-shattering catastrophe.

However, they had clearly been overthinking it. The sacred sons and daughters, though uneasy, were hardly at the point of true terror — each one had means to protect themselves.

Ye Fan quickly furrowed his brow. He truly found it difficult to kill any of these people. The force field of the Chaos Stone was far too powerful; the vast majority of any divine power he exerted would be cancelled out.

He possessed the cauldron forged from primordial mother qi, but he could not possibly walk up to these people with the cauldron hovering above his head — if he did, the field’s cancellation would simultaneously release them from their restraints.

The force field formed by the Chaos Stone permeated every inch of space without exception. Any divine power he struck with was infinitely weakened. He could not even use his cauldron to suppress others — doing so would allow them to immediately gain freedom through the primordial mother qi.

Ye Fan walked through the void with measured steps. As he passed before Ji Haoyue, he stopped — sending the Ji Family’s people into a state of extreme tension, hearts leaping into their throats.

“You can’t kill me!” Ji Haoyue said plainly. A divine moon blazed and shielded his body.

“As you well know, my sacred body can restrain your divine manifestation. Even if I cannot kill you, I can still beat you half to death!”

“Then try.” The divine moon gleamed like rays of sharp light, merging with Ji Haoyue, his entire form flowing with a luminous light.

“Out of regard for Ziyue, I’ll settle accounts with you another time.” Ye Fan strode away with great steps, coming to stand before the Chaos Stone. The great golden hand cleaved down once more.

“Bang!”

The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King was sent flying more than one zhang before being frozen in place again by the powerful force field — completely immobilized once more.

“Very well. I am quite fond of this cauldron. You will keep it safe for me — I will come to collect it from you in the future.” The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King’s voice was ice-cold, his eyes blazing with savage killing intent.

“Bang.” “Bang.” “Bang.”…

Ye Fan did not reply. He struck again and again, sending the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King flying back and forth, but with measured force — careful not to accidentally drive him out of the force field entirely.

He did genuinely want to kill the future king of the Tianpeng Clan, but as he had anticipated, the chaos force field affected everything. More than half of his divine power was cancelled out, making it impossible to kill the opponent.

Ye Fan had lost count of how many punches he had thrown. His arms were growing somewhat sore, yet the effect of the chaos force field was simply too great — there was no way to kill the opponent.

“Ha ha ha…” The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King had blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, yet he was laughing wildly.

“Swish!”

Suddenly, a streak of golden light shot out from between Ye Fan’s brows, arriving in an instant to strike.

“Hum!”

The space trembled. Within the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King’s body, light flared. A small silver pagoda burst forth and lodged itself in the very center of his brow.

“Ding!”

A melodious sound rang out. The silver pagoda quivered but was not damaged — a flash of silver light, and it sank back into his brow.

At the same moment, the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King let out a great roar. His entire body blazed with light. A Tianpeng cast as though from liquid gold — vivid and lifelike — surged forth and lunged at Ye Fan.

A dragon’s roar shook the heavens. Hard on the heels of the divine peng came a terrifying true dragon, soaring and coiling through the air, tearing through the restraints, charging straight at Ye Fan.

The Supreme Tianpeng Dragon-Slaying Art!

The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King had been enduring all this time, not using this sacred technique to protect himself — and only now, at this moment, did he unleash it in a sudden strike, hoping to finish Ye Fan in one blow.

This divine art was unparalleled in the world, its power extraordinarily great. It could not be deployed until after one entered the Four Extremes Secret Realm. The last time he had faced Ye Fan, he had been unable to use it — something he had deeply regretted.

Now, a golden supreme Tianpeng and a blue-green true dragon — vast, massive bodies — charged forward, making many present tremble with fear.

“When even this can be unleashed within the chaos force field — just how terrifyingly strong is the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King’s combat power?”

“Truly shocking — beyond belief.”

…

Many stood slack-jawed, stunned beyond words.

“I’ve been keeping an eye out for this!” Ye Fan stepped with the mad elder’s footwork technique, flashing past the Tianpeng and the true dragon in an instant.

Formidable as the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King was, even he could not move freely within the chaos force field. The golden Tianpeng and the blue-green true dragon quickly faded.

“Hum!”

The void trembled. The peng and the dragon — vivid and lifelike, radiating a powerful divine martial force — materialized beside him, coiling to his left and right. One strike had failed to kill Ye Fan; he knew there would be no second chance.

The Dragon-Slaying Art transformed into the Dragon-Slaying Map, shielding his body — pressed against the surface of his skin — so that it would not be cancelled out by the chaos force field.

Ye Fan attacked wildly. Even if he could not kill the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King, he was determined to pummel him soundly — kicking with his foot, striking with the golden great hand seal.

“Heh heh… why bother? You can’t kill me.” The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King smiled coldly, a thread of blood at the corner of his mouth. “Be careful not to damage my cauldron.”

Ye Fan paid him no mind. He brought out the Departure Fire Divine Furnace, drew the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King inside, and launched the Fire-Catalyzing Art from a distance, beginning to refine him.

“I may not be able to reduce you to nothing, but I’ll at least burn off a layer of your skin!” He could not use the cauldron here, so he had only this furnace with which to torment his opponent for a while.

“Brat, that paltry temperature of yours is nowhere near enough. Trying to dissolve the Great King? You’re far off. It’s actually rather pleasant in here — quite comfortable. Put more effort into it.” The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King’s wild and untamed voice boomed from within, utterly insufferable.

“Hum!”

The Chaos Stone gave a faint tremor. Streams of auspicious radiance shot forth and entered the fire furnace, filling it with brilliant luminescence that blazed like a burning sun.

On the Departure Fire Divine Furnace, the few indistinct divine birds instantly vanished, sinking into the body of the furnace — pushing it to the extreme peak of its heat.

“This is…” Ye Fan was astonished. The Departure Fire Divine Furnace could actually draw on the power of the Chaos Stone for its own use!

Behind him, the others all wore expressions of surprise. The future divine king of the Jiang Family in particular gave a visible start, two beams of divine light bursting from their eyes as though in extreme shock.

At first, the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King had continued to taunt — but very soon he fell silent, then began to emit low growling sounds.

This left everyone deeply shaken. What kind of furnace was this, capable of even refining the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King? And it could draw on the power of the Chaos Stone? This was simply beyond comprehension.

“Dong.” “Clang.” “Rang.”…

The Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King struggled violently, beginning to move within the chaos force field. One could only imagine the desperate crisis he was facing — clearly fighting with all his might to break free.

Ye Fan then opened the furnace lid and tipped the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King out, wanting to see what state he was in.

What followed made everyone’s face change completely. The mighty future king of the Tianpeng Clan had been burned jet black all over — as though he had fallen into a coal pit.

“You little wretch…” But his eyes remained sharp, two beams of electric light fixed on Ye Fan.

“Very good. I may not be able to reduce you to ash today, but I’ll at least burn every feather off your body!” Ye Fan backhanded him back in and shut the furnace lid, setting the Departure Fire Divine Furnace directly atop the Chaos Stone.

“This…” Everyone felt a chill settle over their hearts. Given enough time, the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King would inevitably be refined to death.

It was only at this moment that a genuine trace of fear touched the hearts of many sacred sons and daughters. To be killed by a cultivator of the Dao Palace Secret Realm — that would be a death too utterly unworthy.

The instant Ye Fan turned around, almost every sacred son and daughter moved in unison: radiance blazed between their brows as they shifted their most powerful weapons to that location, shielding their seas of consciousness.

Ye Fan swept his gaze over them all. This made many among them rather tense. Being killed was not necessarily certain — but to be publicly burned to black charcoal was a humiliation too great to bear.

The female cultivators in particular — each one superbly beautiful, their looks peerless under heaven — felt it even more keenly. To be subjected to such treatment by another would be worse than death itself.

The heir of the Dao Yi Sacred Ground was a very young female Daoist priestess. She carried the resonance of the Great Dao and stood there in stillness — no wisps of mist coiled around her, no light radiated from her, yet she seemed utterly ethereal, her true face impossible to discern.

Earlier, she had purified thousands of shadow soldiers and spirit horses simply by chanting the four syllables “Boundless Heavenly Venerable.” Her supreme wondrous sound had left all present in awe.

Now she let fall her celestial voice — like pearls dropping onto jade — utterly beautiful as she said, “Benefactor Ye Fan, it would be best if you departed at once. Otherwise, I fear great danger may be upon you.”

Beside her, the Sacred Daughter of Yaochi spoke through a veil of soft haze, her melodious voice equally lovely, saying, “The great senior elders of every sect have come here. You should leave early.”

Among those present, if anyone could be said to remain perfectly unruffled, it was Wu Zhongtian, Li Heishui, Jiang Huairen, and their like. They maintained an air of easy composure, utterly unconcerned.

They even transmitted whispered messages, offering Ye Fan suggestions.

“Brother Ye Fan — just go big. Throw them all in the furnace and refine them to ash. After that, there won’t be a single person in all the Eastern Desolation who can challenge us.”

“Exactly — I’ve long found all of them eyesores. Reduce them all to ash in one go and let the sacred grounds weep.”

Ye Fan said nothing. He walked up to the Sacred Son of Yao Guang and swung a palm the size of a millstone, striking with crushing force.

But the Sacred Son of Yao Guang was impervious to all techniques. The Sacred Light Technique unfurled, a layer of golden mist spreading across the surface of his body — his defensive power arguably the greatest of anyone his generation in the world.

“Do we have a grudge?” the Sacred Son of Yao Guang asked, still being struck and shaking repeatedly, yet his voice remained perfectly even.

Ye Fan said nothing. He knew this person was extraordinarily dangerous, utterly determined to possess his cauldron, having tracked his movements to Yunduan Mountain Range and other locations on multiple occasions.

He even strongly suspected that the one who had disguised themselves as an ancient creature to steal the phoenix blood crimson gold — the one he had assumed was the Old Blade — was actually the Sacred Son of Yao Guang.

Every time this thought arose, he felt the Sacred Son of Yao Guang was terrifyingly dangerous — ruthless and unscrupulous in pursuit of his goals, willing to kill even his own people to achieve them.

What made it especially chilling was that the man could remain so completely composed even now. That depth of mind was not ordinary in the slightest. This was, without question, a great enemy to come.

Ye Fan said nothing more. He simply opened the furnace and threw the Sacred Son of Yao Guang inside — clang, the lid shut behind him — clean and decisive.

“You…”

Below, the people of Yao Guang were aghast. They had never imagined Ye Fan would be so direct — casting their sacred son straight into a divine furnace with every apparent intention of refining him to ash.

“You’ve already offended the Ji Family — do you intend to make an enemy of our Yao Guang as well?!” the people below shouted furiously.

“Every time the Ji Family hunted me down, Yao Guang’s people were always mixed in with them. You made an enemy of me long ago!” Ye Fan replied coldly.

“Dong.” “Clang.” “Crash.”…

From within the Departure Fire Divine Furnace came the sounds of the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King’s continued low growling, now joined by muffled groans from the Sacred Son of Yao Guang — both clearly enduring an unimaginable degree of heat.

In the Light Divine Hall, some people rushed toward the exit, hoping to bring the great senior elders of the various sects and have them come to kill Ye Fan. But the moment they passed out of the hall doors, they were enveloped by hundreds of great banners and lost within, completely unable to break through.

These were the Dao-pattern sealing formations Ye Fan had deliberately laid when he entered — the same ones he had used in the Undying Palace, which had once been capable of trapping even the fleshly body of a great demon.

Everyone fell into a panic but had no recourse whatsoever. There was simply no way out. This place was completely sealed off from the rest of the world.

“I wish to know — where did you obtain this fire furnace?” The future divine king of the Jiang Family suddenly transmitted a message via divine thought, voice neither male nor female in tone — deeply mysterious.

“Is it connected to the Sun Divine Furnace of your Jiang Family?” Ye Fan turned sharply and looked toward the Jiang Family’s divine body, covered head to toe in divine iron plate armor.

“It is far removed from the Sun Divine Furnace I have seen, yet it carries a similar aura.” The Jiang Family divine king answered through divine thought.

Ye Fan did not linger. He walked directly to stand before Yao Xi — and at that, her expression changed at once. The enmity between them ran too deep.

Yao Xi’s figure was graceful and slender, her beauty unrivaled, her face capable of toppling kingdoms and cities — she possessed both the bewitching allure of a demoness and the lofty purity of a sacred daughter, making her extraordinarily captivating.

Yet at this moment, she found it impossible to remain calm. Her situation was very bad.

“What a pity that such a beauty should be born to this fate…” Ye Fan conjured a great golden hand and cupped her chin — an act that bordered on teasing.

“Ye Fan, you…” Below, the people of Yao Guang’s Sacred Ground nearly erupted. The sacred daughter represented sanctity and could not be desecrated — yet Ye Fan was doing exactly this in full view of everyone.

Everyone else also grew tense. Ye Fan was outrageously bold. He clearly was not aiming only at these few — all the heirs of the various sacred grounds were in danger. He might well desecrate each and every one of them.