The Central Region. Fire Demon Ridge.
Legend had it that this place once gave birth to a fire-tribe Holy Spirit — nearly comparable to an ancient emperor, standing supreme over the world and shaking the wilderness of antiquity.
Tragically, it was said to have been crushed to death by an ancient celestial emperor, its form and soul utterly annihilated, leaving not a trace of life.
Endless ages had passed, yet legends of it still remained. Various traces suggested it was the Ruthless Great Emperor who had struck it down.
In those days, the Heaven-Devouring Great Emperor had bathed all the world in blood. Later, though he had granted the human race incomparable and timeless contributions, those deeds were not celebrated — deliberately erased from history.
Those who came later could only heave long sighs, piecing together fragments of clues. The Great Emperor was gone; the past had turned to smoke.
Fire Demon Ridge stretched as far as the eye could see — nothing but barren mountains and scattered rocks, endless dead volcanoes, not a trace of life. Grey and monotonous. Even the sky was a dull, leaden grey.
Ye Fan and the Great Black Dog arrived at this place. Their divine senses spread out like an ocean, searching through the entire territory.
But Fire Demon Ridge was far too vast and boundless. Not a blade of grass grew on the barren mountains; one could not see to the end. This was a wasteland.
“Long ago, divine fire surged underground and gave rise to a fire spirit. It walked the path of the Dao but turned to the demonic, and was finally struck down.” The Great Black Dog said.
Having once seen the Ruthless One’s sinking coffin amid the primordial chaos at the Crow’s Nest, and now arriving at the site of another of his legendary victories, the Great Black Dog felt a surge of emotion.
Only after the Nine-Orifice Stone Person reached full completion could one become a Holy Spirit — an existence unrivaled in heaven and earth. And yet the Ruthless One had destroyed a fire-tribe Holy Spirit, while leaving no legacy in the world.
Ye Fan too felt a stir in his heart. Standing on these ancient ruins, silently gazing at the endless dead veins, he was moved by awe at the battle power of the ancient celestial emperors.
The divine fire underground seemed to have long since grown cold. Every volcano was dead and no longer erupting — yet faint, peculiar pulses still lingered, and not a single snowflake fell there.
“Where is Yiyi?” Ye Fan murmured, sweeping his gaze from one volcano to the next.
Despite all the legends surrounding this place, he had no heart to explore them. Saving someone was the most pressing matter — he feared Liu Yiyi might come to harm.
How many li deep they had traveled was impossible to say. In the distance, a towering mountain appeared — a vast expanse of white, with great snow flying and bitter cold raging.
Dead volcanoes were interspersed amid stretches of snow-veined mountains — one of the most peculiar sights in the Central Region — a place ordinary people were unwilling to enter.
For the land where a Holy Spirit had perished always gave people an eerie feeling. Nothing untoward had ever happened here, yet every person who came would experience a strange illusion — as though they had entered a vast ancient burial ground.
“So you’ve finally come…” A voice like that of a wandering ghost echoed through the mountains.
Ye Fan’s expression sharpened. Not far ahead, atop a dead volcanic crater, he saw a gate of light pulsing with uncanny power — connected to some unknown destination.
“Where is Yiyi?”
“She’s not dying yet.” No figure appeared — only a voice, cold and merciless, carrying a faint sneer. “She’ll watch you kneel on the ground with her own eyes. Please enter the holy gate.”
“You think we walk in just because you say so?” The Great Black Dog was indignant, baring its teeth. “Who knows where it leads?!”
“You still have a choice, if you want to save someone?” The hidden figure’s voice held a taunt.
“You are so full of yourself, you beast-pet of my human-pet!” The Black Emperor cursed back. “If we walk in there without our lives, how are we supposed to save anyone? Keep dreaming!”
The hidden figure was silent for a moment before answering: “This gate does not lead to a place of absolute death. It is only to verify that you have come alone.”
Ye Fan said nothing more. He had already seen through the situation — this person was merely following orders. He was not the true mastermind behind the killing trap.
Above the volcanic crater, the gate of light blazed brilliantly, like a golden mansion — as though endless treasure lay behind it.
The moment Ye Fan stepped inside, his body shuddered. Crimson Dragon Daoren, the Peacock King, the Crow Daoist, and several of Yaochi’s Grand Elders all materialized at once.
“Whoosh!”
Nearly in the same instant, all of them appeared in the void — they could no longer remain concealed, sealed within Ye Fan’s body.
“The Ten Thousand Net Gate!” Crimson Dragon Daoren was startled. This was a gate of life — once one entered, almost nothing could remain hidden, except for the self-sealing of a world-shaking master.
The hidden figure seemed greatly surprised, not having expected Ye Fan to have summoned such a formidable lineup. If it truly came to a fight, a living fossil alone jumping out would be catastrophe.
“Only you may come. Since you refuse to come alone, we will send that worthless woman on her way!” The hidden figure’s voice was ruthless and merciless.
Ye Fan fell silent for a moment. He had not anticipated the opposing party possessing something like the Ten Thousand Net Gate. He moved forward. “I’ll go alone.”
“Worthless creature that can’t stand the light!” The Black Emperor cursed.
“I’ve changed my mind — let the dog come too.” The hidden figure turned vicious.
“Damn it, this Emperor does not want to go!” The Great Black Dog leaped high.
“Come, we’ll go in together.” Ye Fan said.
The Great Black Dog sulked — it truly had no wish to go. Without Crimson Dragon Daoren’s level of power, it felt that going would most likely get them both killed.
“Don’t do this — don’t go!” The Peacock King moved to stop them. Anyone could see this was meant to take Ye Fan’s life — going in was no different from throwing himself to his death.
Several of Yaochi’s Grand Elders also moved to stop him, believing this was tantamount to suicide. They were opposed to him going alone.
Ye Fan shook his head, quietly reassured them, said nothing more, and strode forward with great steps.
“The wind blows cold over the Yi River — the hero departs, never to return.” The Great Black Dog howled like a slaughtered pig, its voice impossibly grating, as Ye Fan grabbed it by the tail, dragged it beside him, and hauled it through the nearby domain gate. “I genuinely do not want to go!” it wailed.
Before them was a vast snowy mountain range. The wind howled and great snowflakes flew thickly. Ye Fan and the Great Black Dog stood atop a peak, surveying in all directions. Not far away was a single dead volcano.
“Whoooo…”
The gale roared like thunder, and the sound of pine trees rushed through the air. Among the white vastness of mountain ranges stood only one type of tree — ice pines!
Every single one required more than a dozen people linking hands to encircle. They stood bone-white, gnarled as coiling dragons, reaching upward into the sky.
Heavy leaden clouds pressed close to the peaks, about to fall. An invisible killing intent pervaded the air. In all four directions, unrivaled powerful figures were concealed, locking this place down tight.
“Trouble!” The Great Black Dog’s expression changed immediately.
In that instant, it carved dozens of formation runes — and every one of them was worn away into the void, impossible to preserve.
“It’s over — the Infinite Beginning Great Emperor’s killing formation is useless here!”
The Great Black Dog stared hard at the single dead volcano, and fear appeared in its eyes. Its voice trembled: “This is the land where a Holy Spirit perished. Unless an ancient Great Emperor were reborn, no one can lay down formation runes in this place.”
Ye Fan felt a chill. The opposing party truly knew him through and through — the Great Black Dog’s mastery of formation runes was without equal, and yet here it had no ground to stand on.
“You truly dared to come — you who know not that death is near!” One man laughed long, stepping through the void, approaching step by step, stopping atop a distant peak.
Ye Fan stood in the wind and snow, motionless, watching him quietly. He activated his divine eyes and pierced through the man’s disguise — it was Xiang Yifei, the Sacred Son of Dayan.
“You’ve come to throw your life away — what a pity. Being a hero in this world is no easy thing. Many people end up getting cut down to nothing!” Another man laughed loud, with a contemptuous air, appearing on another peak.
Cold light flashed in Ye Fan’s eyes. It was Li Donglai, the Sacred Son of Dao Yi — there was no hiding from the Source Celestial Divine Eye.
“Ha ha… sending a Holy Body to its end — what a joy of life. I greatly want to taste the flavor of holy blood!” A third man came treading on snowflakes, stopping in midair, his eyes wild — full of cruelty and blood-thirst.
Ye Fan gazed through to the man’s true form and felt another chill: this was Jin Chixiao of the golden family of the Northern Plains!
In the night of bloodshed not long past, the Infinite Beginning Great Emperor’s killing formation had ground through the assembled heroes. These three had been among those who had come to kill Ye Fan — but their true bodies had never entered the formation, and so they escaped.
From another direction came another cold laugh. A fourth figure appeared, with beautiful eyes sharp as blades — nearly cutting into one’s very heart.
“The Wanchu Sacred Woman…”
Ye Fan saw through the fourth person’s true form: a woman, willowy and upright, with waist-length hair. Though beautiful and otherworldly, her face was saturated with venom. This was Zhao Yanran, the Wanchu Sacred Woman.
His heart sank. None of these people were ordinary — and they had come together. The power they could wield would be terrifying, backed by four great sacred grounds!
“You couldn’t wait to come throw your life away. I don’t know what you’d like us to do to torment you.” A fifth man laughed long from a distant mountain, making no move to approach.
“Exterminating a Holy Body is not a small achievement. Hang his head in the divine city of the Northern Region, feed it to the wild eagles — it would certainly cause a tremendous stir.” A sixth man laughed coldly, also invisible in his true form.
Ye Fan’s expression grew incomparably grave. Things were very bad today. With this many Sacred Sons appearing together, they plainly had no intention of leaving him even a sliver of a chance.
In that same instant, he sensed a seventh figure, an eighth… all the way to a thirteenth.
All were young, full of vitality. Though none had shown themselves, there was no concealing it — this was the unique pulse of life that belonged to the young. Each one was formidably powerful.
A full thirteen Sacred Son-level powerhouses had come against him — comparable to the night thirteen Sacred Masters surrounded and attacked the Peerless Divine King!
“You really think that much of me…” Ye Fan stood on the snowy peak, surveying all directions. His black hair flew loose and wild, and from his eyes shot two beams of cold lightning.
“You still came in the end — as I expected. No surprises. Kneel before us now.” Xiang Yifei, the Sacred Son of Dayan, smiled with glacial cruelty.
“What are you all?” Ye Fan asked.
“You’ll die without ever knowing!” Li Donglai, Sacred Son of Dao Yi, smiled without mercy. His snow-white teeth gleamed with a cold light.
Ye Fan would not reveal that he had the divine eye to see through their true forms. At this moment he felt endless killing intent bearing down on him — an immense and crushing pressure.
“Someone is borrowing your strength — trying to use your hands to eliminate me. Did the mastermind not come himself?” Ye Fan swept his gaze into the distance.
“All who want to kill you are here…” From somewhere in the distance, a peak cloaked in snow, came an incomparably venomous voice.
Two beams of divine light burst from Ye Fan’s eyes and shot outward, fixing hard on that place. The voice was identical to that in the recording!
“Ye Fan — I have so longed to see you kneeling at my feet, crying out and begging for mercy!” It was impossible to imagine such depth of hatred. This person seethed like a vengeful ghost, with a low, seething roar — the tone was venomous beyond words.
“What are thirteen Sacred Son-level powerhouses? Send thirteen more — I could still cut them all down!” Ye Fan stood tall and unbowed, with the air of one who commanded the world and acknowledged no equal.
“Is he losing his mind? He wants to kill thirteen of us? Ha ha ha…” Jin Chixiao laughed wildly, blood-light flashing in his eyes — full of cruelty.
“He doesn’t know what death is!” Many others sneered coldly.
Silently and soundlessly, figures emerged from one snow peak after another. Some carried an aura like ancient divine mountains — impossibly lofty — while others were like deep abysses — unfathomably profound.
Beside Xiang Yifei, the Wanchu Sacred Woman, Jin Chixiao, and Li Donglai — each had two or three elders flanking them. One did not need to guess: they were all Grand Elder-level figures.
“If you walk away from this alive today, it will truly be a miracle!” The venomous voice rang out once more.
“A miracle? Today I will cut you all down — and prove my Dao through that act of becoming divine!” Ye Fan’s words rang clear and forceful, his gaze unyielding. He had the bearing of one who could swallow mountains and rivers, looking down upon all. “You are all going to die.”