The Pamir Plateau, known in ancient times as the Onion Range, was once a crucial passage along the Silk Road. Today, only its eastern slopes remain under Chinese jurisdiction, while the rest falls within other nations’ borders.

The events of recent days had stirred tremendous waves of unrest. Even the Dao Sect had prepared for a great war, fearing that the flames of the Western Crusades might spill into the Central Plains. Ye Fan was carving a path all the way to the West to retrieve the ancestral artifacts — there was no longer any pretense. The label of “demon emerging from the Central Plains” had been firmly pinned upon him.

Now, the most discussed topic throughout the Western cultivation world was this demon. Everyone was speculating about who would emerge to eliminate this great evil and let the glory of God shine over the Central Plains.

The Onion Range sat at an extreme altitude — a land where dragons coiled and gods slept, where countless dragon veins converged, bordering China’s west and forming a territory roiling with dragon energy.

This was the rooftop of the world. Mountains were everywhere. Even the lowest points exceeded four thousand meters, while the peaks reached over seventy-seven hundred.

Ye Fan soared into the high sky, gazing out for a thousand li in every direction. Dense cliffs and wild ridgelines stretched all around, and he could detect traces of ancient great battles etched into the complex terrain.

This was the convergence point of five major dragon veins — the Tianshan, Himalayas, Kunlun, Hindu Kush, and others — forming a unique configuration where the dragons intertwined and intersected, making it a gathering point for their heads.

“A very peculiar terrain. All the dragons turning back, climbing and coiling around each other — could something be buried here?”

Ye Fan locked his gaze onto the convergence point of several great dragon veins and descended with a few disciples. He found himself before a verdant valley, like a whirlpool where all the dragons spiraled inward.

“Dig it open for me. Some great ancient cultivator must have buried something here — today, let it see the light.”

Ever since his disciples had learned that their master was a Heavenly Source Master, they had mentally classified him alongside the founding ancestors of tomb raiders. Despite his several explanations, they still looked at him with strange eyes.

“Master, we’ve already crossed the national border. Won’t digging around here cause trouble — an international incident?”

The disciples were joking. After growing familiar with Ye Fan and understanding his temperament, they no longer held much fear of him.

In ancient times, this highland was called the Onion Range — its vegetation rich, some sections as lush and vibrant as the Nanling Mountains, full of life and greenery.

“Boom!”

Zhan Yifan struck first, cleaving downward with the Immortal Sword Technique Ye Fan had taught him. Dust and smoke billowed skyward. The dragon whirlpool valley fractured rapidly as it sank, and below appeared dragon bones formed from solidified rock.

“Indeed no ordinary place. It all comes down to your fortune now. You might just dig out dragon marrow — it not only extends one’s life force but contains fragments of the Great Dao. It is especially beneficial for those of you at the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm. When I was at that stage, I once received the aid of this very thing back in the Central Region.”

Ye Fan’s words of encouragement renewed everyone’s drive. They all set to work — even the delicate Yan Xiaoyu dug like a professional excavator, with remarkable efficiency.

This was indeed a sacred land. According to the records in the Heavenly Source Scripture, so long as a dragon vein had not withered, something extraordinary must be gestating and incubating within.

Had this been in the Northern Dipper Star Region, Ye Fan would never have dared dig here without at least two Saints present. But on this dried-up Earth, whatever lay within was certainly neither truly alive nor truly dead.

They dug a thousand zhang deep and struck hard bedrock covered in ancient formations — guardian arrays etched into the earth itself, immovable and impenetrable, resisting all their efforts to break through.

“Saint-level ancient array markings?” Ye Fan was taken aback. It seemed they had hit upon something truly extraordinary, if such an ancient array was guarding it.

Despite all their efforts, the disciples could not break the restriction. They nearly got injured and quickly retreated.

“This is truly an exceptional place!”

Ye Fan gazed out across the Onion Range, fixing his attention on this convergence point of coiling dragons. Even he found it difficult to loosen when he stepped forward — it was, after all, a Saint-level ancient grand formation.

“Everyone, stand back.”

Once a vast distance had been established, he produced two ancient, rough-hewn black arrows, nocked one onto the bowstring, and channeled every ounce of his strength to loose it.

That single arrow shook the heavens and moved the spirits. Even in the hands of the Guardian Daoren of Changbai Mountain, these arrows had demonstrated tremendous power — how much more so in Ye Fan’s hands. Their material was extraordinary, the internal arrays even more so. Even the weakest activation could transform them into god-slaying arrows.

The arrows’ classification was difficult to determine. Their power was immense, yet they consumed none of the vast reserves of divine power that a Saint’s weapon would — they were a type of secret treasure, designated in ancient times as the ultimate killing instruments of the gods.

“Boom!”

A tremendous sound rang out. Mountains five to six thousand meters high in all directions collapsed. A violent earthquake erupted, smoke and dust surging to the heavens as the earth split open.

“Master, I have to say — that’s quite the spectacle. Seismologists are going to have a headache over this. An earthquake this big will make international news.”

The disciples clicked their tongues, urging him to take it easy.

Even after loosing that arrow, Ye Fan had not completely destroyed the ancient formation. He retrieved the black arrow and began shooting continuously — no one could count how many times — until at last the underground grand formation was completely blown open.

He rubbed the two black arrows between his fingers, growing fonder of them with each pass. Truly their power was absolute, yet the arrow shafts bore not a single scratch. So many shots fired — enough, most likely, to kill even a Great Accomplishment Sage King several times over.

Now that they had cracked a Saint-level formation, these arrows proved themselves all the more extraordinary and precious. Truly worthy instruments capable of slaying demon saints.

“Roar…!”

Suddenly, a tremendous roar erupted from underground. Distant mountains and rivers shattered. The earth fractured rapidly, and soil and stone transformed into waves crashing skyward for three thousand meters.

Divine might!

The sight was utterly stunning. Fortunately, Ye Fan had been fully prepared, drawing all his disciples into the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron. Otherwise, that howl alone would have been enough to shake several of these young geniuses into bloody pulp, leaving nothing behind.

This was a Saint-level roar — earth-shattering, world-shaking. Even from thousands of zhang away, his body swayed violently, sent flying by the massive sound wave.

Ye Fan moved quickly, drawing the cauldron into the space between his brows and rapidly retreating. If the disciples remained inside the cauldron while he stayed near, the force would shatter even the cauldron itself — their cultivation was too weak to withstand it.

He met it with his physical body alone. Without the Myriad Things Mother Qi protecting him, he bore immense pressure. A Saint-level roar, at minimum, would collapse mountain ranges and hundreds of peaks; the most terrifying recorded account stated that in ancient times, a Great Sage had roared and shattered the moon itself.

The underground roar continued without pause. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of Ye Fan’s mouth, filling him with shock — there was a living Saint on Earth!

A sheet of fiery crimson blood energy erupted skyward, reaching several thousand zhang high. A stone embryo appeared, its aura surging to the heavens with power so overwhelming that a thousand mountains and ten thousand valleys trembled.

“I actually dug up a big one!” Ye Fan muttered to himself, feeling a headache coming on — it was a Sacred Spirit Embryo.

“Hmm, wait — something is off.” Suddenly, his mind stirred. The stone embryo was strange, formed from a stream of blood energy rather than a true physical form. More precisely, it resembled a surge of deep resentment.

In the sky, sunlight rained down. The figure rapidly grew translucent, a wisp of blue smoke curling from it before it dissolved entirely — like a fleeting illusion.

Ye Fan had once heard that those who harbored immense resentment, when buried underground for tens of thousands of years without decay, might find release the moment they saw daylight — dissolving into dust in an instant.

“An ancient stone embryo filled with deep-rooted resentment, buried underground?”

According to the ancient records, the resentment energy had now dissipated, meaning this place should be safe. He released his disciples, and together they descended into the underground world.

Deep within the earth’s belly, a vast open space formed the convergence point of several great dragon veins. Blocks of divine source glittered in scattered clusters. Xiao Song’s large eyes gleamed as he transformed into a violet light to go harvest them.

At the deepest point of the dragon’s lair lay a peculiar place. A vermilion-red great coffin sat pressing down upon a strange stone. Inside the coffin sat an elder — crimson-haired, crimson-bearded, formidably imposing.

“The remains of a Saint!” Ye Fan was astonished. He had not expected to encounter a Saint this quickly.

Beneath the vermilion great coffin, the strange stone itself was remarkable — nearly transparent, with the silhouette of a human figure visible within, a life form gestating inside.

“A Stone Embryo Sacred Spirit!”

Ye Fan had long recognized this place as extraordinary in its configuration. A Sacred Spirit had indeed been gestating here — but why had an ancient Saint’s coffin been placed here to press down upon it?

“Master, there are words here.”

Ye Fan read carefully and was taken aback. When this elder Saint had chosen his burial ground, he had by chance discovered the unripened stone embryo and attempted to seize its body — and failed.

“No wonder there was such tremendous resentment. A stone embryo that could have become an invincible existence was obstructed. Though it fought back and wounded the Saint, its own primordial spirit perished in the process.”

“Puff!”

The Saint’s remains suddenly dissolved into a pool of foul blood. They quickly stepped aside. Truly a wretched end — a mighty Saint dying with so little dignity.

“Is the stone embryo truly dead?” Several of the young geniuses felt deeply unsettled. A Sacred Spirit was synonymous with invincibility — even a single breath remaining would be enough to annihilate an entire region.

“There’s no need to worry. When the dragon vein ran dry, it had not yet matured. After battling that old Saint, its primordial spirit was destroyed.”

Ye Fan saw clearly: the Sacred Spirit had fallen just short of completion, becoming a stillborn — withered within its stone. He personally extracted it, and indeed, it was a Nine-Aperture Sacred Embryo.

A flash of radiance from between his brows — a small golden figure stepped out and sank into the body of the Nine-Aperture Sacred Spirit. The stone figure instantly stood upright.

A surge of powerful presence immediately overflowed. The several disciples collapsed to their knees on the spot, unable to withstand this aura, trembling head to foot.

“What a pity. It had been so close to forming flesh and blood — destroyed halfway, its blood energy dried up. It is no longer the supreme stone embryo it once would have been.” Ye Fan sighed softly.

Not only had the old Saint died wretchedly, but this Sacred Spirit Embryo had nearly become an ordinary stone. Other than its sufficient hardness and indestructibility, nothing of divine power reserves remained — the stone blood had run dry.

“As an avatar, though — it would be excellent.”

“Congratulations, Master! You have comprehended a new form of your divine body, and now obtained such a Sacred Spirit Stone Embryo — this will be like adding wings to a tiger. There will be nothing more to worry about on this western journey.” The several disciples were overjoyed.

“Indeed, Master — it is time to head to the Western sacred grounds of Jerusalem and the Vatican. And while we’re at it, perhaps we can also dig up something useful at Mount Olympus and places like it.”

Having witnessed such a tremendous haul here, and without yet having even confronted the Western Dao lineages, the disciples were already eyeing the sacred mountains of the West. They couldn’t help it — having a master like this, they had come to feel that no divine object nurtured by the mountains and rivers of the world could escape him. They had been thoroughly influenced.

After that, they continued their journey. Along the way, they surveyed every mountain and river configuration and made several moves — and truly reaped great rewards, excavating dragon marrow in several countries.

In this age of desolation, such things were extraordinarily rare and precious. Of immense benefit for those at the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, this marrow could elevate cultivation, and so it was distributed equally among the several disciples.

Along the way, several parties from the West came to intercept and kill them. Every one of them was slaughtered without contest by Ye Fan.

And so, traveling with stops along the way, they arrived at Jerusalem roughly a month later — stirring tremendous upheaval throughout the West, becoming the topic on everyone’s lips each day.

“Master, the Central Plains Dao Sect has sent us word that there is an ancient Holy Knight in the Western lands who has survived since the Dark Age, sitting and waiting in Jerusalem for our arrival.”

“Furthermore, once the Pope issued his call to arms, powerful figures from every ancient family responded. They have assembled an undefeatable Crusade, also awaiting the demon from the East.”

“I have also heard that there are true divine clansmen descending — not merely humans who have succeeded in cultivation, but something far simpler and more ancient.” Long Yuxuan murmured softly.

“Hmm — are there still living primordial clans?” Ye Fan mused.

They arrived at Jerusalem, but did not enter the city. Instead, they circled it once and vanished into thin air.

The Jerusalem of cultivators lay within an ancient grand formation — invisible to ordinary mortals. It was a true City of Saints.

“This is utterly unbelievable — such a magnificent ancient city!” The several disciples were awestruck.

On the horizon, a great city loomed as if cast from black gold, emanating a cold, metallic luster — its entire form radiating faint traces of sacred radiance, solemn and holy.

They felt as though they had returned to the primordial ancient world. Outside the city, ancient trees towered to the sky, apes cried and tigers roared — so wildly different from the mundane world, the contrast was overwhelming.

This was a divine city that had existed since ancient times. Everyone entering and exiting its gates was a cultivator — not a single mortal among them. Many rode ancient beasts, scales gleaming, exuding an oppressive presence.

“Why do I feel like I’ve stepped into a mythological world? That flawlessly beautiful green-haired woman — she looks like… an elf?”

“Was that one just now a divine clansman? Three heads and six arms, a divine wheel glowing behind its head, a halo shrouding its body — truly mysterious.”

Clearly, this was a world of cultivators. Revered as a holy city since antiquity, the fact that such an ancient and vast city still stood in this era was nothing short of a miracle.

“This could be trouble. If this city has existed since ancient times, there may well be elder remnants still alive within.” Ye Fan muttered.