Hua Yunfei — a name rich with poetic imagery — in the end became a rain of light that scattered on the wind. The last crystalline tear slid from his dissolving face and fell into the earth, raising a small plume of dust. His life was spent and gone.

White flowers flew — each petal threaded with lines of blood, crystalline and gleaming, their fragrance soft and pure. A young man, transcendent and otherworldly, of remarkable bearing, like a fallen immortal, departed from the dust in this way, his life extinguished.

At the mouth of the ancient cave, only an immortal qin remained. The quiet qin melody seemed still to linger — that heartbreaking music trailing off in a long resonance, like song and like weeping, mournful and desolate.

“Zheng!”

The qin strings snapped — several strings breaking inch by inch — and then the ancient qin itself cracked, crumbling into a shower of ash from the tribulation. This qin had been at Hua Yunfei’s side since he was a child. Now it ended with him.

The ancient qin had spirit. It dissolved into light-rain, into dust — perishing together with its master, vanishing from the world at the same moment.

Ye Fan was silent. A pitiable life. A future without choices. This was Hua Yunfei’s fate. He stood utterly still for a long while, never moving.

To live in this world, every person carries their own pain — whether they are wicked or good. Unable to choose, able only to press forward — perhaps toward heaven, perhaps toward the abyss — separated by no more than a single step.

In the distance, the great battle had resumed. Everyone was fighting fiercely, competing with all their might for control of the ancient temple — every hall potentially concealing a divine treasury, every stone carving a priceless relic.

The profound insights of the ancient sages and the mysterious and abstruse sacred scriptures — all of these could give rise to a supreme great sect. No one was indifferent, especially the great established traditions.

Hua Yunfei’s death drew a sigh from many hearts — a rare genius had fallen, a terrifying inheritor destroyed. But this was no reason to lose focus. The fighting grew even more brutal than before — blood spraying everywhere, bones piling up in heaps on every side.

People had forgotten about the shadow-spirits entirely, giving no thought to them, as they rushed forward one after another — all of them hoping to obtain the most core immortal treasures of the Feathered Transformation Divine Dynasty, to restore the glory of the greatest power from more than two hundred and thirty thousand years ago.

“Hua Yunfei—!”

In the distance, Li Xiaoman’s eyes dimmed for a moment, her attacks growing momentarily hesitant — but soon two golden lights flickered in her pupils, as though two divine beings were seated deep within her eyes.

She was locked in battle with Ji Ziyue — the two women displaying technique after technique, enough to make even some ancient fossils tremble with dread. Their methods were supreme and their strength astonishing — they were truly two heaven-favored daughters.

When Li Xiaoman saw Ye Fan raise his head and stride purposefully in her direction, she turned and left at once. All over her body a mass of golden vortices appeared — like one pair of divine wings after another, spinning up dozens upon hundreds of golden vortices — and she fled into the depths of the hall, vanishing.

“Ow—!”

The Great Black Dog let out a wretched howl and came tumbling back, head over heels. It had just charged into the most magnificent central heavenly palace and been caught in the crossfire — a half-saint was engaged in a life-or-death battle within, and the black dog had been caught up in it, nearly having its bones and tendons shattered.

The most magnificent central hall was packed with top-tier experts. The most powerful factions had converged here, their Emperor’s weapons brought to bear in a standoff. The powerful figures of the ancient clans refused to yield a single step — convinced that the jade cauldron was within.

Here, battle cries shook the heavens. It was a scene of chaotic melee — every faction’s warriors had fought until their eyes were red, many nearly crazed, hair flying wild, minds not entirely clear. They had fought themselves into madness.

The Black Emperor was infuriated and was about to spit out a killing formation to go and do some slaughtering himself — but Ye Fan stopped him. That place could not be touched right now. Emperor’s weapons and ancient sovereign-emperor weapons were in a standoff — apt to erupt at any moment. If they unleashed a corner of a great Emperor’s incomplete killing formation, they might well become the spark that destroyed everything.

“Spit!”

A blood-soaked arm dropped to the ground at everyone’s feet. Qi Luo appeared, his body soaked crimson from head to foot — drenched in someone else’s blood.

On his own body there was only a single wound — extending from his brow all the way to his chest, having nearly been split in two. The wound was not deep, barely reaching bone. One could say it had been an extremely narrow escape!

The group felt a collective chill. To push someone who was on the very verge of ascending to the realm of a Slaughter Saint — a veteran killer of great renown — to this point, how powerful must that person have been?

“I’m fine. Though I only took one of his arms, he is very nearly spent. For at least ten years he will not be able to appear in the world. Whether he survives is his own fortune.” Qi Luo said.

That had been a half-saint — terrifyingly powerful, his secret arts unnerving. He had been Hua Yunfei’s ultimate guardian — an invisible black hand in the shadows. Only someone like Qi Luo, a half-saint who sought to prove his Dao through slaughter, could have wounded him.

“We’re all accounted for. Let’s try our hand over there now — while all the sects are still drawn to the central ancient palace, we might as well move. Leave it much longer and even the five-colored sacrificial altar might turn into a sea of battle. That place is important too.” The Old Blind One spoke.

“That’s right — the five-colored sacrificial altar is of immense importance. It will be fiercely contested. Get going while you can.” The Monkey also chimed in.

“What a pity — I didn’t get to fight Yao Guang’s Holy Son to a conclusion. I had hoped to settle things with him before leaving.” Ye Fan said with genuine regret.

“Worry not. With me here, even if he were truly a great Emperor’s son rather than merely one who has inherited a great Emperor’s legacy — what of it?” The Monkey spoke with serene self-confidence, golden fur gleaming with light all over his body.

Ye Fan nodded. In this age, the Monkey was not inferior to any among his generation. The heights he would one day reach were unimaginable — and most importantly, the Fighting Buddha was still alive, holding court on Mount Sumeru. Who would dare harm a single hair on his head?

“Yao Guang’s Holy Son is very shrewd. For the next several decades, he won’t dare stir up trouble. Otherwise, he will come to understand the consequences.” Half-Saint Qi Luo spoke. He would one day become a Slaughter Saint — a threat far greater than any ordinary saint. If he truly turned vicious, he could strike fear into the entire world.

“There’s no need for concern — my family holds the Void Mirror. It is more than sufficient to counter the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Cauldron.” Ji Ziyue also added. In a certain sense, a family from which a great Emperor had emerged truly stood far above other sacred grounds.

Duan De spoke with casual indifference: “What do you think the Heaven-Devouring Demon Vessel is — a decoration? After all this, go set up a stronghold for me in Heavenly Village and call it the ‘Emperor’s Burial Mound’ — that sounds imposing enough. From there we can drop by Yao Guang Sacred Ground whenever we’re bored. I have a feeling we’d probably dig up something rare and priceless from the place. Every time I pass through the Southern Region, Yao Guang feels to me like a giant burial mound — like a sect built on top of a tomb.”

The moment he spoke, everyone burst out laughing. This person was something else entirely — impossible to deal with. He spent his days plotting against other people’s ancestral graves. No one had any recourse against him, and everyone feared him.

“With this emperor here, who has the gall — when we get back, I’ll carve out a hundred and eighty killing formations and just wipe Yao Guang out entirely!” The Black Emperor boasted shamelessly.

“Let’s move. We set off.” Ye Fan reached out and gave a tug to the very quiet Pang Bo.

The group moved through the ancestral temple, heading toward its deepest recesses in the distance — where there were no ancient buildings, no trees, no signs of life — only a great mist shrouding everything in an eerie, mysterious stillness.