The divine city stood towering and magnificent, like the dwelling of a deity. There was a legend that it had fallen from the immortal realm.
Ye Fan was about to depart on a long journey. He turned back and looked at the divine city, feeling its grandeur and the weight of its ancient history. It stretched a hundred li in every direction, vast and boundless, having endured since the immemorial age to the present day, imperishable.
“Take care!”
“Go on, then!”
Ye Fan bade farewell to Li Heishui and strode forward, gradually disappearing beyond the horizon.
Ahead, An Miaoyi was waiting for him — dressed in a pale white long skirt cinched with a jade belt, her slender waist fine and graceful, her figure tall and elegant, beautiful and enchanting.
She was like an immortal blossom standing gracefully upright, radiating fragrance. With the breeze blowing, her long skirt fluttered and her dark hair danced, as if she might ride the wind and take flight.
The two set out together and moved away from the divine city. Ancient trees and hanging vines grew fewer and fewer as they neared the edge of this warm and verdant region.
The tinkling of spirit springs grew sparse, the vegetation increasingly scattered, cold air drifted in, and green plants gradually disappeared.
“The season of snowfall has arrived,” An Miaoyi said softly.
Ahead lay a vast expanse of white — mountains and rivers all draped in silver, covered entirely in snow.
The divine city was a most extraordinary place, and the region surrounding it remained lively and vibrant with blooming spring flowers throughout the year.
Only after leaving the divine city did the true season reveal itself. Without noticing, winter had arrived — goose-feather snowflakes swirled through the air, and the north wind howled.
The Northern Domain stretched endlessly, bitterly cold. Frigid winds swept in with a mournful wail, sweeping up flurries of snowflakes.
“It seems that Brother Gufeng holds some grudge against me — you have been guarding against me all along,” An Miaoyi said. Her beauty needed no question — her exquisite face was without a single flaw.
“Fairy An thinks too much of it. How could I hold any grudge against you? Your beauty eclipses the Eastern Wastelands — I imagine few could resist your charm.” Ye Fan walked through the snow.
“Your words do not match your heart — Little Brother Gu is not being sincere.” An Miaoyi’s skin was translucent and luminous, whiter even than the snow, smooth and delicate as jade, moving through the snowy terrain like a fairy treading upon water.
Ye Fan was indeed inwardly vigilant. This woman of flawless appearance had chosen to leave the divine city at exactly this moment — the timing was far too convenient.
“Fairy An, where are you headed?”
“I have not yet decided. If Brother Gufeng does not find it bothersome, perhaps we could travel together for a while?” An Miaoyi’s eyes shimmered with gentle light.
“To travel with Fairy An would naturally be something I could not ask for more — however, I have some private matters to attend to this time.”
This woman was beautiful, no question — but her motives were not pure. On an ordinary day he might have savored the sweet coating, but now was not the time for flowers and moonlit nights. The various sacred grounds and the hundred schools of the Central Continent were preparing to assault the Purple Mountain, and he could not afford to delay.
An Miaoyi smiled lightly, a charming smile resting on her face, and said, “Very well — once we have left this region, we shall each go our own way.”
Along the road, she dropped subtle hints about the ghost-faced bronze vessel from the previous time, touching upon the matter of half an Extreme Path Sacred Weapon — which was undoubtedly very enticing.
As evening fell, Ye Fan stopped in the middle of the snowy terrain and suddenly turned around — but saw nothing.
Just a moment ago, he had distinctly felt the sensation of being watched. His heart tightened immediately. Could it be that An Miaoyi had joined forces with a powerful cultivator to make a move against him here?
“Miaoyi sensed it too — someone is following behind us.”
Ye Fan said nothing more and quickened his pace. No footprints were left in the snow — he moved like a faint, ethereal shadow.
The oasis where the divine city stood was enormously vast, spanning tens of thousands of li. There were many towns within it. That evening, they settled in a small town for the night.
Wind and snow beat against the window with a pattering sound. Ye Fan had not lain on his bed for very long before he detected something unusual and held the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword between his fingers, ready to strike.
A full shichen passed before he sensed a living creature enter his room — extremely light and agile, without making the slightest sound.
In an instant, all his wariness dissolved — it was the golden little creature!
Sneaky and cunning, it had successfully concealed every trace of its presence, making it very difficult to detect even with spiritual sense. Had the distance not been so close, Ye Fan might not have realized it was there.
“Not only is this little creature fast, but it also has such a means of concealing itself.” He was inwardly astonished.
At the same time, he found it quite amusing — this little thing had considerable patience, waiting this long before sneaking into the room.
He did not need to think hard to know why the golden little creature had come. It was certainly still fixated on the divine source and had tracked him all this way, intending to steal it back.
Suddenly, it froze in place. Its large eyes blinked as it looked at Ye Fan lying on the bed with suspicion, then turned and bolted.
Ye Fan was startled — this little creature was far too alert. He moved swiftly and reached out to grab it.
Whoosh!
A golden light flared, and the golden little creature burst through the window in an instant.
“Where do you think you’re going?” An Miaoyi laughed softly, waiting just outside. With a sweep of her jade hand, a curtain of light surged forward to envelop it.
The golden little creature twisted its body at an inconceivable speed, transforming into a thread of golden light that flashed and vanished, shooting up into the night sky.
“Little Darling, where are you?” The Great Xia Princess’s calling voice carried through the cold wind.
Ye Fan shot up into the sky and spotted the Great Xia Imperial Prince and his sister — both of them anxious. They had spent eighty thousand jin of source to obtain the divine silkworm, and in just a few days it had already escaped.
“Brother Gu, did it come to track you down?” The Great Xia Imperial Prince asked, for having followed it along the way, he strongly suspected the divine silkworm had come specifically for Ye Fan.
“I did encounter it — it fled in that direction. An Miaoyi went after it just now.” Ye Fan pointed the way.
“Indeed, that is its aura.” The siblings hurried off in haste.
Ye Fan rubbed his chin and smiled. This little creature was truly interesting — perhaps in the future he could simply lure it back on his own terms.
He did not linger. Taking advantage of this moment, he shook free of An Miaoyi and disappeared into the snow-covered night.
According to the speculations of the divine city’s inhabitants, for the sacred grounds to employ their Extreme Path weapons, they would need at least one more month of preparation, as accessing such foundational resources could not be done in one stroke.
Knowing his time was limited, Ye Fan wanted to seize every moment to break through his cultivation realm.
And so it was that he vanished completely for twenty straight days, with no one knowing his whereabouts — except for one golden little creature…
This was a boundless uninhabited wilderness. Heavy snow fell ceaselessly, turning the mountains and the land completely white.
This place was far from the oasis. In the span of decades, even a century, one might not see a single soul pass through — it was profoundly desolate.
Yet over the past twenty days or so, within a stretch of mountains locked in ice and snow, spiritual energy had been seeping out without cease. In the last several days in particular, divine light had been repeatedly shooting toward the heavens.
This snow-covered mountain range was the very place where Ye Fan had entered closed-door cultivation. He had sealed himself within the belly of the mountain, yet even so he could not prevent the torrential source energy from surging outward.
Divine source and uncommon source were piled together. Though the quantity did not appear great, the life essence contained within was so vast and overwhelming that there was simply no holding it back.
What Ye Fan did not know was that outside the formation seals he had laid down, a golden little creature had been throwing a fierce tantrum for these past many days, baring its teeth and puffing up with indignation — yet for all its efforts, it simply could not break through.
Several hundred banner poles, all personally refined by the Black Emperor in his time, bore upon them profound and abstruse dao patterns that the golden little creature could not breach.
As the final days drew near, the source energy within the mountain poured out like smoke signals, rolling outward in waves, nearly on the verge of becoming liquid.
The golden little creature finally quieted down and began gulping the energy down in enormous drafts, like a whale taking in the sea — the source energy surging outward was so dense and abundant that there was plenty for it to enjoy.
Within his closed-door cultivation, Ye Fan perceived that more than half of the source energy had dissipated, yet he had no means to stop it.
He discovered that the vast expenditure of source was not being fully absorbed — instead, it was functioning as a surging force to shatter certain shackles and restrictions.
A great pile of uncommon source, enough to rival a million jin of pure source, had all been refined — yet he still had not ascended to the fifth level of the Dao Palace.
Everything was unfolding exactly as he had anticipated — the amount required exceeded the million jin of pure source he had estimated.
In the end, he steeled himself and began refining the head-sized piece of divine source. Divine light instantly overflowed in all directions, its brilliance shooting toward the heavens.
The power of the divine source was unstoppable, crashing against his body, cleansing his physical form, until his entire being became radiant and crystalline, appearing like a divine being.
Within the Dao Palace, the five great divine viscera trembled in unison. The celestial music of the Grand Dao resonated — whether it was the perishing self or the Dao-self, it could not be said — but it chanted forth profound sutras, stirring the Master of Fate, rendering this life’s self eternal.
A small cauldron rose and sank within the Dao Palace, drifting among the five great divine repositories. Since entering the Dao Palace realm, the All-Things Mother Qi Cauldron had already ascended from the Wheel Sea into the Dao Palace.
Outside, the golden little creature was savoring every moment. The divine source energy surged outward and engulfed it completely, leaving it bathed in resplendent rays of light.
The vast source energy washed over Ye Fan’s body — there was no possibility of absorbing all of it. The overwhelming majority poured outward, an extravagance of almost incomprehensible proportions.
The sound of sutra chanting within the Dao Palace reverberated throughout the mountain range, leaving the divine silkworm outside bewildered and puzzled. Fortunately, no one happened to pass through this place — otherwise, they would have been utterly stunned.
The sutra chanting continued for three more days. Boundless source energy submerged the mountain peak, melting the accumulated snow, coaxing shoots of grass and trees to sprout, filling the surroundings with vibrant life.
This succession of changes left the golden little creature gaping in wide-eyed astonishment, and it redoubled its efforts to absorb the divine source energy.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a tremendous explosion erupted. On the twenty-fourth day, divine light shot toward the heavens and sent even the golden little creature hurtling away, tumbling to the ground in a disheveled heap, face covered in dust.
When the divine source’s vital energy was fully spent, all fell quiet, and a warm and harmonious atmosphere settled over the place — as though a divine being had descended into the mortal world.
Within the belly of the mountain, Ye Fan opened his eyes. His physical form was crystalline and luminous, resembling a sovereign of the immortal realm. He slowly rose to his feet, and the moment he clenched his fist, he felt as though he could grasp the entire heavens and earth within his palm!
This was a self-confidence born of supreme strength. He had broken through into the fifth level of the Dao Palace — without the support of any sacred ground, entirely through his own power, and he had reached this point all the same.
Ye Fan’s heart and mind were tranquil and peaceful, filled with a serene harmony. He did not unleash his divine power, for there was no need whatsoever. How powerful he was at this very moment — he knew it clearly.
At this moment, he possessed boundless self-confidence!
His physical body had at last attained a trace of the power that the ancient sacred body should have possessed from the beginning — supremely unyielding.
The instant Ye Fan emerged from his seclusion, he smiled. He had sensed the golden little creature outside, still sulking in indignation.
“Truly unexpected — it could actually find its way here.”
It had to be said that the golden little creature was extraordinarily alert. In an instant it sensed something, transformed into a streak of golden light, and fled at once, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
“Faster even than the Golden-Winged Little Peng King!”
Ye Fan did not give chase. He rubbed his chin and revealed a faint smile. At this rate, the eighty thousand jin of source the Great Xia Imperial Dynasty had spent was likely going to amount to nothing.
He stood upon the mountain peak, took out a jade void platform, and prepared to traverse the void.
This object had been refined by the Black Emperor and could be carried on one’s person. As long as source material was provided, it could ferry one a certain distance in a given direction.
And so, Ye Fan consumed a great deal of source and used over a dozen jade void platforms before finally arriving in the region where the Jiang Family dwelled.
“I wonder if I will have the chance to see little Tingting and Elder Jiang.”
The Jiang Family was some two hundred thousand-plus li from the divine city — yet in relation to the boundless Northern Domain, that was actually quite a short distance.
This region contained many kingdoms, large and small. Ye Fan inquired of locals and learned that the Jiang Family resided within a sacred and pure land.