An ancient scroll swept across the Northern Region, illuminating the earth with a radiance so spiritually alive it seemed to pierce through past, present, and future alike.

It appeared to have been cast from gold—resplendent from end to end, dazzling and magnificent.

Transforming into an eternal sacred light, it came from the Central Region and swept across the vast Northern Lands at a speed beyond human imagination. Each flash of brilliance covered tens of thousands of miles, cleaving through the mortal world.

This was a divine miracle. It spanned the Three Thousand Realms, pierced through the Nine Heavens, and radiated with immortal divinity—enduring alongside heaven and earth, its brilliance rivaling the sun and moon.

“This is the aura of an ancient Great Emperor!” Across the Northern Region’s vast lands, countless living beings trembled with awe, unable to stop themselves from falling to their knees in worship.

“A heaven-shaking miracle—a deity is manifesting!” Many people shook uncontrollably, prostrating themselves until their foreheads bled, kneeling without rising, their expressions filled with terror.

The immortal sacred light pierced through the Northern Region. Each of its trajectories was like a celestial chasm cutting through the sky—radiant beyond measure, as though it stretched across eighty thousand years of time.

The Divine Enshrinement Scroll, bearing the seal of the Wushi Great Emperor, seemed to transform into a massive golden hand, sweeping across the heavens and bringing the entire Northern Region to a standstill.

“This is terrifying. Does the human race truly still have a living Great Emperor?” Inside an ancient den, a group of primordial beings gazed up at the sky, their expressions filled with panic.

“The speed is incomparable—an incomparable divine aura. Has the world returned to the era of prehistoric myths?” In another ancient clan settlement, a group of powerful beings trembled in shock.

This golden divine scroll radiated layer upon layer of Dao light, pressing down upon the Nine Heavens. Its trajectory was breathtaking beyond measure, and it rained down endless auspicious omens upon the world—as though reversing the flow of time and returning to the primordial age.

The Divine Enshrinement Scroll moved like a beam of transcendent light, successively illuminating every inch of the Northern Region, as though someone had achieved transcendence and ascended to immortality. It was utterly astonishing.

Forbidden grounds such as the Shencan Ridge and the Primordial Lake were bathed in its light, and a supreme imperial might descended heavily upon them, causing these great clans—each of which had produced Ancient Emperors—to tremble with shock.

Whoosh!

The ancient scroll rustled as it swept past the Huo Lin Cave. It lingered there briefly, sending a vast and all-engulfing Primordial Chaos Qi cascading down like a tidal wave, sending shockwaves through every member of this ancient imperial clan. From its thirteen ancient caverns, torrents of magnificent divine light burst forth.

“What is this? Is a human Great Emperor truly manifesting?”

As the golden ancient scroll receded into the distance, the ancient imperial clan of Huo Lin Cave wore grave expressions, all of them gazing toward the distant sky.

“Wushi intended to refine the Immortal Suppression Scroll to seal immortals. Yet since there were no true immortals to be found in the world—only primordial beings who resembled deities—he renamed it the Divine Enshrinement Scroll. That is the immortal artifact in question.”

“It surged above our Huo Lin Cave. Was that a warning? This… he truly lives. It is difficult to settle one’s heart!”

Not long after, the Divine Enshrinement Scroll entered the Blood Phoenix Mountain Range’s seventeen peaks. Once again, millions of rays of Dao light cascaded down, inundating the mountains and valleys, sending the imperial clan below into a fit of trembling.

“Do not revive the ancient imperial weapons. Whatever you do, do not act rashly!” An aged Ancestral King stared at the sky, issuing commands in a grave, low voice.

The Divine Enshrinement Scroll departed without lingering long, vanishing into the boundless horizon.

On that very day, throughout the various regions of the North, the most powerful batch of primordial royal clans were seized by extreme dread and could find no peace. A golden ancient scroll had traversed the heavens and manifested above their clan territories.

Across the vast lands, countless human cultivators prostrated themselves in reverence, kneeling without rising, while the ancient clans were thrown into panic, their hearts filled with fear.

Inside the Jade Pool, within the grand hall, when the people learned of everything that had transpired outside, they were all turned to stone—and then, very quickly, the place erupted with a roar of voices.

The Celestial Imperial Prince felt as though he had taken a punch to the head. The nine divine rings at the back of his skull nearly collapsed. This was a resounding slap across the face, one that had left him thoroughly dazed.

The Wushi Great Emperor had been resurrected?

“Impossible!” He refused to believe it. At the time, he had indeed sensed something, detecting unusual stirrings upon the Dao Altar—someone had been ascending to transcendence. How could that person have reappeared in the world?

Eighty thousand years ago, he had still been within his divine egg. Yet even then, he had possessed a faint thread of perception. That aura had shaken the heavens and earth, and had been not far from him. How could there be any mistake?

Inside the grand hall, everyone was debating. This time, the human race’s momentum had surged greatly, and every clan found the taste of it bitter. If a Great Emperor truly still lived, the combined forces of all their clans together would be of no use.

“Unless we pray inside the Primordial Ancient Mine. But that place is no longer what it was in the primordial age. No one can enter it any longer. A great change of unknown nature has occurred there. Does it still belong to the various clans?”

The clans were in an uproar, all of them arguing and debating. Such an earthshaking event had unprecedented impact.

At this moment, if anyone could be called the most disheartened and tragic, it was without question the Celestial Imperial Prince. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles nearly snapped.

Not long ago, he had gone to the Divine Spirit Valley to spread word that Wushi had died long ago and could not possibly appear in this world. But before even a few days had passed, Zhang Lin had appeared out of nowhere, claimed to act under the Wushi Great Emperor’s sacred decree, and crushed every member of that clan.

Now, he had told the world once again that the Wushi Great Emperor had long since ascended to dust—and immediately the Divine Enshrinement Scroll had come flying out to suppress the Northern Region.

This truly was a slap to the face—and not just one slap, but a series of rapid, resounding strikes, one after another without pause. How could he bear it? He felt as though his lungs were about to burst.

The Celestial Imperial Prince had never felt as stifled as he did today. He wanted nothing more than to tilt his head back and roar at the sky. Truly, these were two consecutive calamities.

Without question, the blow to his prestige was enormous. Even if his father was a deity—the Immortal Celestial Emperor—it could not withstand this degree of squandering.

Moreover, not long ago he had been bested by the monkey. With that comparison laid out so plainly before everyone, it was obvious that the Sacred Imperial Prince had come out ahead, and the smoldering resentment within him burned hotter.

“Ha ha ha…” From a distance, Duan De broke into unrestrained laughter—the height of indecency—staring at the Celestial Imperial Prince without a shred of propriety.

“This Celestial Imperial Prince is actually quite sharp. Every time, he strikes at the critical point. If not for Zhang Lin stunning the world, and the Divine Enshrinement Scroll appearing at precisely the right moment, he truly would have torn open a gaping hole in the sky.” Li Heishui sighed.

The people nearby all nodded. Even Ye Fan had to admit it—one could only blame the Celestial Imperial Prince for being hopelessly unlucky. Twice he had made declarations that carried immense destructive power, yet each time some inexplicable calamity befell him.

No one understood better than Ye Fan and Duan De that the Wushi Great Emperor was absolutely no longer in this world—they had witnessed the traces of his transcendence with their own eyes.

What remained unclear was why the Divine Enshrinement Scroll had come loose on its own, entering the Northern Region swift as lightning to overawe the great ancient clans. For the moment, it was impossible to say.

After all, every step upon the Sacred Cliff was fraught with deadly danger—each step a killing formation—and the killing arrays were personally laid down by the Wushi Great Emperor. As for pulling down the Divine Enshrinement Scroll, that was even more difficult. It was an immortal artifact refined by an ancient Great Emperor—one capable of enshrining gods.

“Could it be that the Daoren who was suppressed within the Sacred Cliff has broken free?” A chill ran through Ye Fan’s heart, but he shook his head. It probably wasn’t him. Otherwise, that person wouldn’t be helping the human race overawe the Northern Region.

The blood of the Sacred Physique stained the stone cliffs. Even after more than a hundred thousand years, many of the stone pits were still pools of blood that had not dried—an awe-inspiring and boundless sight.

That had been a critical step in Ye Fan’s plan to overawe his enemies. In his plans, when all else had failed, he had intended one day to lead people to retrieve the scroll and use imperial weapons to extinguish the last strand of that Daoren’s primordial spirit. But he had never anticipated that the divine scroll would fly out on its own.

On that day, every clan in the Northern Region fell into a hush, truly frightened into silence. The Divine Enshrinement Scroll had descended upon them and swept across the Northern Region’s long sky, surging with the imperial might of an ancient Great Emperor. Who would not be afraid?

“There must be a deception at work!” The Celestial Imperial Prince gritted his teeth, muttering under his breath.

But who would listen to him now? By his side, only Yuangu stood with him through thick and thin. Everyone else had gone off to discuss countermeasures.

Across the Northern Region, every human cultivator was filled with elation, the atmosphere boiling over. There was no news more stirring than this.

In the eyes of the primordial clans, the human race was nothing but meat on a chopping block—a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered. But within that flock, a divine lion had been resurrected. This was a heaven-defying transformation.

Inside the Jade Pool, with the human race now standing firm before the ten thousand clans, Ye Fan and the others let out a long breath, stepped out of the ancient hall, and strolled along the banks of the beautiful mountains and clear lake.

They encountered many familiar faces, exchanging greetings with nods. Now, even the various Holy Masters held Ye Fan in wariness when they met him, not daring to be presumptuous.

“Isn’t that the Holy Son Yao Guang?” Li Heishui remarked.

After years apart, the Holy Son Yao Guang carried about him a quality of having returned to the most natural state—stripped of the blazing sacred radiance from before, leaving only a sense of authenticity. He seemed like a flesh-and-blood ordinary person, blended seamlessly into the heaven and earth.

Without many words exchanged, both parties merely nodded to one another across a small lake before going their separate ways, each continuing on their own path.

“This fellow is no simple character,” Duan De remarked.

Without needing to be told, everyone present knew that Yao Guang was extraordinary. To this day, no one had ever truly measured the depth of his strength. The main reason was that he kept an extremely low profile—never had the world heard of him participating in any awe-inspiring battle.

Not long after, Ye Fan encountered the elderly Golden-Winged Great Peng King. He appeared even more aged than before—somewhat diminished in his former fierce aura, with more of the weariness and desolation of one who has lived through many hardships.

Ye Fan stepped forward to pay his respects. He genuinely admired this old Peng King. The man had roamed the world with an upright and forthright character. In those early days, he had not shielded his kin without reason—if he had, Ye Fan might not have survived to this day.

“Has the Young Peng King come yet?”

“He died two years ago.” The old Peng King watched the falling leaves drift to the ground—desolate and forlorn. His murky eyes had grown yet dimmer.

“The Young Peng King is no longer in this world…” Ye Fan stood dazed. Life truly was unpredictable. Such a powerfully-spirited genius and demon prodigy had actually fallen.

In those years, the Golden-Winged Young Peng King had driven him to the brink of death on several occasions—once his most powerful enemy. It was under the Young Peng King’s Demon Slaughter Sacred Art that the Golden Taiji Circle had made its most critical breakthrough.

Compared to those who relied on schemes and plots, the Golden-Winged Young Peng King had been upright and direct—he had always chosen open, honorable decisive battles, never resorting to ambushes or scheming against Ye Fan.

Such a formidable Young Peng King—acclaimed as one of the Eastern Desolation’s greatest talents—had died just like that. One could truly call it a life cut short.

“He was too proud and unyielding. To pass the nine celestial gates set by our Heavenly Peng Clan’s Great Sage, he attempted to force his way through. In the end, he failed.”

The old Peng King let out a long, deep sigh, his loneliness immeasurable. To lose in old age the most beloved blood relative and successor he had treasured—this was truly a weight too great to bear.

Ye Fan did not know how to offer comfort. The path of cultivation was just this arduous and cruel. Time showed no mercy. The heaven-blessed Young Peng King had fallen just like that—enough to make anyone lament.

As the date of the ten thousand clans’ grand assembly drew near, primordial Ancestral Kings finally began to appear. The Jade Pool shook; divine bells rang out in long tones; and everyone went out to receive them.

Many speculated that if not for the appearance of the Divine Enshrinement Scroll, the ancient sage-level Ancestral Kings most likely would never have attended—for the human race truly had no one who could anchor the occasion, no figure capable of moving those of such stature.

“Where is the Sacred Imperial Prince? Do you think that because the Victorious Battle Buddha stands behind you, you may desecrate divine beings? Daring to insult the Immortal Celestial Emperor demands death as recompense!”

No one had anticipated it—the first batch of primordial Ancestral Kings to arrive immediately came to demand an accounting, seeking to kill the monkey. Their stance was overwhelming in its forcefulness.

She was a breathtakingly beautiful woman—skin white as snow, so delicate it seemed one breath might break it, her figure graceful and alluring, her beauty matchless in all the world. Yet she was incomparably terrifying.

After entering the Jade Pool, she went straight for Ye Fan and the monkey, her lips curling in a cold smile. “I don’t care whether you are the human race’s Sacred Physique or the Sacred Imperial Prince of the Battle-Victorious lineage. Daring to insult the Immortal Celestial Emperor means paying the price in blood.”

“Do you think you know where you are? What is so remarkable about an Ancestral King? They can be suppressed and killed all the same!” The sacred shell Ye Fan had taken control of stepped forward, blocking her path.

In the distance, the Celestial Imperial Prince smiled coldly, standing alongside a number of ancient clan beings without uttering a single word.

The monkey was direct. He gripped his jet-black iron staff and said, “Wait until I reach the Sage realm, and I will reduce every last one of you to ash.”