Ye Fan fell silent for a long moment. Did an Ancient Heavenly Court truly exist? What lay before him was boundless in its grandeur.

It was an immense complex of structures — carved railings and jade facades, layer upon layer of towers and halls, with birds, fish, insects, wind, rain, and thunder and lightning etched onto every pavilion and terrace, alongside images of the ancient peoples of old. The main palace soared into the clouds, mist and haze slanting across it. Towering gateways stood in forests, stacked like mountains. Majestic and overwhelming — a work that could only have been done by supernatural hands.

All of this was formed from lightning, yet remarkably stable. It was a magnificent sight: above these ancient structures, thunder boomed and lightning blazed. The surrounding thunder sea was boundless, violently churning and stirring the nine heavens.

It was a miracle. On the distant perimeter, lightning and thunder of boundless reach flashed past, falling like great waterfalls — yet this cluster of structures remained constant throughout, unchanging.

Ye Fan stepped inside in a single stride, wanting to see what was truly here. Yet upon entering this place, he could no longer find a single human figure anywhere — it was as though he had arrived in a pure land where even the sound of thunder had vanished.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, a palace exploded, burying him beneath it. Ye Fan’s every pore opened and swallowed crackling bolts of lightning as he stepped out from within.

He continued advancing. Yet every palace hall he entered erupted in world-shaking lightning. All the ancient structures refused to permit his approach, clashing against him.

Suddenly, threads of auspicious light descended from the sky. The ancient structures gushed with endless sweet springs. Ten thousand rosy clouds flew through the sky. Crystalline flowers formed from lightning fell from the heavens in countless numbers.

Another manifestation of the Dao severance phenomenon!

He made no move to seize any of it. These were only wondrous spectacles — not real sweet springs or divine flowers. He had to be extremely vigilant. With each successive celestial palace he entered, lightning boomed and the ancient gateways collapsed, the blazing light growing ever more intense.

Ye Fan pressed forward, ultimately ascending toward the heavens and departing from this place — which seemed to be the Ancient Heavenly Court — without entering the deepest innermost palace. Instead, he moved into the space even higher above the thunder sea.

“Dong!”

A thunderclap loud enough to shatter the ears arrived. Great dragons in their thousands and tens of thousands descended, surging up one by one. Another manifestation of the Dao severance phenomenon appeared, burying him within it.

Ye Fan was astonished. He kept ascending. With a crash, he nearly had the breath crushed out of him as one colossal dragon mountain after another appeared.

Ninety-nine dragon mountains materialized in the sky, pressing down until he could barely breathe. All of them were formed from lightning. Fortunately, they did not explode — they only rose and stood here.

“This too is a Dao marking. These ninety-nine dragon mountains have visited many ancient stars. They have been recorded into the Dao principles of this expanse of sky and now manifest here — clearly something beyond the ordinary.”

He then furrowed his brow. Could the Heavenly Court truly have appeared on Earth? Was it because of this that it had been recorded within the Dao principles?

Ye Fan continued ascending. The wondrous spectacles he encountered grew ever more numerous, and the manifestations of the Dao severance became increasingly varied — nine in total from beginning to end. Yet in general they were insufficient to wound him. After having endured battle against nine young Emperors, he had already passed the critical test.

Finally, he arrived at the summit. Here, he bore an immense pressure. Above him, primordial chaos surged. Every bolt of lightning was intertwined with primordial chaos — capable of obliterating all things.

Ye Fan drew in a sharp breath. The deepest reaches of this heavenly tribulation were truly terrifying. Such lightning could absolutely wound him. Most likely it was prepared for a Saint.

He gazed at it for a long while in silence, then did something: he brought out the cauldron — his vessel for attaining the Dao — and hurled it into the chaotic lightning for tempering!

In this process, he used his mind as a blade, inscribing hundreds of ancient characters into the cauldron, pressing them into its walls, over and over — striking ten thousand times, casting ten thousand more.

These were the hundreds of ancient characters obtained from within the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin. Even after all this time, he still could not understand them. Though he had become a furnace capable of nurturing a hundred scriptures, he could not see through this briefest of all scriptures.

Now he etched them with his heart, smelting and casting them into the cauldron walls. The scripture refused to appear in the mortal world — it vanished again and again. Yet he did not give up, casting and smelting it ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times.

The chaotic lightning struck wildly. Had the primordial mother energy root not already become tribulation ash, nothing would have survived — even Ye Fan himself entering there would have been reduced to tattered flesh, unable to persist for long.

Ye Fan remained constant throughout. He forged the cauldron beneath this sea of chaotic lightning, crafting his own vessel for attaining the Dao. The hundreds of ancient characters were all refined into it; the cauldron drew ever closer to the Dao.

In the end, when he had nearly exhausted his spirit and could go no further, he finally stopped. Whether the hundreds of ancient characters remained or had disappeared, he did not concern himself with that. What mattered was that in the tempering process, this cauldron had the highest immortal principles as its fire — sufficient for the smelting!

The cauldron only needed to advance in tandem with him. It would gradually transform — impossible to achieve in a single step. So long as it advanced together with him, that was enough. It was his vessel for attaining the Dao.

Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye. Two beams of light blazing like torches pierced into the sea of chaotic lightning, and a look of astonishment crossed his face. “What lies above this chaotic thunder sea?”

It was a great pity — even the Heavenly Eye could not see through it. He could only dimly sense a faint aura of something capable of crushing ten thousand ages of heavens, causing one to tremble and feel reverence — something inviolable and sacred.

Thread after thread of chaotic lightning descended, each one like a vast ocean, stretching endlessly. Forcing his way through would be too difficult, and he did not risk it.

At that moment, all of it began to fade. The divine punishment was exhausted. The thunder and lightning receded. The blazing sea of electricity extinguished — as though it had never appeared at all.

As though waking from a dream within a dream, Ye Fan stood alone in the universe. All the lightning and radiance was gone, real yet illusory — leaving in the mind a sense of something not quite real.

The vast universe, the boundless starry sky — the true sight was cold and dark. Desolate silence, an eternal stillness of death.

After all the wondrous visions faded, everything returned to its former state. Not a sound, not a whisper. It had always been thus, since the beginning. Only one bare-bodied man stood alone.

“I succeeded. I have made it through, just like this.” Ye Fan murmured, astonished that young Emperors had appeared, that he had fought to the very edge of death, and somehow endured.

The Dao severance was successful. He felt no excitement, no trembling. His heart was still and at peace, and he stood in this universe for a long, long time.

At last, Ye Fan let out a clear cry to the sky. When he opened his mouth, a waterfall of celestial rivers poured forth. The aura of his entire body was like a blade — a sonorous clash, sending ten thousand li of soldiers surging, rending heaven with ten thousand swords.

“Flash!”

A clear brilliance flickered, and all of it disappeared again. His expression was serene and tranquil. He stretched his body, facing the vast starry sky, his eyes blazing with clarity. He breathed in with force, and in all ten directions, everything stirred.

Tens of thousands of threads of starlight flowed down, traveling along the star domains, descending from the depths of the universe to gather at his body — transforming into a silver sea that buried him within.

Ye Fan’s entire body radiated treasure light. The pores across his skin all opened, receiving the baptism of starlight, replenishing the vital essence consumed in the tribulation.

His flesh and embryonic bones now also seemed to have transformed into endless ancient stars — flickering and shifting — connected by rivers of the galaxy. The five great secret realms were like five great treasuries.

The stars were inexhaustible; the galactic rivers without measure. Time passed, unmeasured, until at last this place fell still. Everything became dark and cold. Ye Fan’s body no longer radiated light. His Dao severance had been perfected.

Through the Dao severance he had advanced three levels within the Immortal Ascension — crossing three minor realm boundaries in a single pass. He stood on the third step of the Sovereign Realm. It could not be called anything other than a miracle.

Thinking carefully, it was indeed as it should be. Deep reserves, long accumulated, now burst forth. His power had long since reached this level — otherwise, how could he have executed the Pope, how could he have defeated the Divine Knights? He simply had not yet sought verification from heaven and earth.

Now, in a single breakthrough, severing the Dao with his own body, verifying himself — he naturally revealed the fruit of his Dao and his true power, creating an extraordinary occurrence rarely seen since ancient times.

It was not that no one had ever achieved it before — but it was vanishingly rare. Those throughout all history who had crossed three boundaries in a single severance could be counted on one’s fingers. It was simply too world-shaking.

Ye Fan stood for a long while more before he finally laughed aloud toward the sky. He took out his clothing and put it on. Then in a single step, he vanished from this place, heading toward the ancient star ahead.

On this day, the Heavenly Court structures across all of Earth blazed with magnificent light — a spectacle that could only be called a divine miracle. It left many people slack-jawed, their faith greatly strengthened.

For the Heavenly Court, this was a time of great flourishing. New initiates surged in great numbers in a single day, including influential figures of considerable standing.

Moreover, many practitioners from the cultivation world came forth, seeking out the young celestial master Zhang Yang and requesting to join, willing to become members of the Heavenly Court.

For those with great spiritual perception had made a deduction: the Master of the Heavenly Court, Ye Fan, had severed the Dao, drawing down thunder and lightning to temper his body — an unprecedented flourishing unseen since the exhaustion of heaven and earth.

This was explosive news. Everyone knew what it meant. To sever the Dao and become a Sovereign in such an environment was infinitely harder than in the ancient age — he was absolutely without equal in this present age!

Such a figure throughout all history could truly be found only in the rarest of cases. If he could enter the starry sky and set foot upon other ancient life-bearing stars, his future would know no limits — he would surely attain sainthood.

“Could he be… an heir of an Emperor? Only someone like that could have reached this point.”

Those on Earth with great spiritual perception were uneasy. A person like this, once he became a Saint, would be without equal beneath an entire expanse of the starry sky — utterly without a rival in the world.

“Master!”

When they saw Ye Fan return safely, his several disciples were deeply moved. No one understood better than they what this meant.

The human tribe’s Sacred Physique had severed the Dao in the age when heaven and earth were exhausted of their power. He would be able to sweep through this star domain. The Heavenly Court would rise above every other sect and faith — and perhaps truly create a myth.

Little Song blinked his big eyes, then with a whoosh leapt forward, pulling at the hem of Ye Fan’s clothing. All his earlier pitiful expression had vanished. Utterly carefree, he was grinning foolishly, rolling about on Ye Fan’s body.

Ye Fan smiled. He bestowed generous gifts upon all his disciples, scattering many sacred medicines about. Then he brought out some of the Crocodile Ancestor’s flesh, instructing them to eat little but refine it carefully, taking care not to injure their own bodies.

He gathered all the pure mind-power concentrated upon the small mountain and placed it back into the cauldron. By now it was a true weapon of a sovereign — worthy of being called a supreme sovereign weapon — both because of its extraordinary material and because of the exceptional Dao markings inscribed upon it.

The cauldron trembled lightly, and sounds of ancient scripture emanated from it — as though someone were reciting scripture, speaking of the great Dao of heaven and earth — profoundly mysterious.

Ye Fan sat cross-legged upon a bluestone. The cauldron hovered above his head, sending down ten thousand threads of mother energy. His silhouette was blurred, inspiring awe — as though one stood facing the great Dao itself.

His several disciples noticed with astonishment that they needed no teaching from Ye Fan at all. Simply facing this cauldron, they found their body and mind becoming clear and empty, drawing close to the Dao, more easily able to contemplate its mysteries.

Little Song was full of energy and, unlike the other disciples who looked on in reverence, kept jumping back and forth. With a smacking sound, he accidentally tumbled into the cauldron — and was floated back up by the primordial mother energy, immediately deeply embarrassed.

The small mountain was not high — only a few thatched huts and a plot of medicinal herbs, with little spiritual energy. Yet today it was exceptionally lively. With Ye Fan’s Dao severance complete, many sect masters came to offer congratulations, all of them finding it hard to believe such a miracle had occurred.

“To sever the Dao in the age of exhausted heaven and earth… this is like a myth…” Such was all people could do — marvel in stunned wonder.

Ye Fan had jade tables set out and entertained guests from all sides upon this small mountain, serving them spirit fruits and bringing out the sacred flesh of the Crocodile Clan. Many people were struck silent for a long while.

“This elderly one has heard of the divine crocodile of the outer domain. According to what an old Buddhist monk once said, the Shakyamuni Buddha suppressed it in his time. Yet who could have foreseen it becoming a dish on the table today…”

Everyone trembled nearly uncontrollably, some not daring to partake. But there were also those who refused to believe the warnings — not heeding Ye Fan’s instructions, they ate more than half a liang. The result was that divine radiance overflowed from their entire bodies, nearly causing them to explode, and they had to be suppressed by Ye Fan.

Now that Ye Fan’s Dao was accomplished, there was little on Earth that could hold his attention. To attain the Dao and achieve immortality — that was his sole goal.

He rose to his feet, raised his wine cup, and earnestly addressed the masters of the various Central Plains Daoist sects, inquiring about the Heavenly Court of myth and legend, as well as ancient secrets such as the divine war and other mysteries from the primordial age.

“Within our Pure Yang sect there is a divine stone,” the Pure Yang sect master said. “It is said to be a foundation stone that fell from the Ancient Heavenly Court. If Brother Ye is interested, I shall have it brought here.”

Others also spoke up, offering important clues. Now that Ye Fan’s Dao was accomplished and he stood supreme over all under heaven, no one was unwilling to forge good karmic ties with him. All shared everything they knew.

“Within our Kunlun there is half an ancient gatehouse,” the Snow Dust sect master said. “It is said to be a structure that fell from the Ancient Heavenly Court into the mortal world.”

“Excellent!” Ye Fan nodded. Every kind of legend, every hidden secret, every ancient jade text — all would become clues. He intended to find the Ancient Heavenly Court and unearth it.