Ye Fan’s first thought was of the Fierce One — who else could it be? The most breathtaking woman since ancient times, standing above past and present alike, who never lived for the sake of becoming an immortal.

He had once competed with Hua Yunfei for supremacy, and had faced the Supreme Dao Vessel more than once, deeply understanding its unfathomable profundity. It was the most gifted Fierce One who had created it, attaining the Dao and becoming an Emperor within a mortal body.

Even Little Pine had been listening with complete fascination — a stalk of the Undying Medicine had voluntarily offered itself and sought to follow her, yet that celestial maiden had paid it no mind. How truly extraordinary. It left all the other great figures, legendary throughout the ages, feeling utterly humiliated.

The Fierce One had lived a life of solitary pride, supreme above heaven and earth, with the divine lords of all realms bowing their heads before her, looking down upon all of past and future — and yet here she stood, tears streaking her face, grief etched in her heart.

Ye Fan stood there in a daze. Such a scene could only be witnessed by He Shouyu; who else in this world could ever see it? In the eyes of the world, she was simply an invincible woman, known as the Fierce One — it was unimaginable that she possessed such a vulnerable side.

She could slash through the stars, pluck away the sun and moon, cut down all beneath the heavens, and reign supreme in the world. She was the most inscrutable woman since ancient times — that single word, fierce, had shaken ten thousand ages.

He Shouyu had naturally never witnessed the other kind of dominance the Fierce One had displayed — the kind that shook and illuminated the ages. He only felt that the woman was breathtakingly beautiful, almost unreal, her face bearing tear stains, soft and pitiable — though her divine abilities were nothing short of heaven-defying.

“It is right here.” He Shouyu led them forward along the path until they reached a broken cliff face. Ye Fan was instantly rooted to the spot, and Little Pine sat down on the ground with a thud.

A ten-thousand-foot waterfall cascaded down, half-veiling the sheer cliff face. This was no ordinary water — it was the River of Chaos itself, pouring down from the cliff wall in an endless, boundless expanse.

He Shouyu revealed that this was the divine miracle left behind by that celestial maiden from all those years ago — more than two hundred thousand years ago, it had shaken the entirety of Kunlun, nearly splitting it apart.

In those days, the Fierce One, her heart shattered with sorrow, had stood here and let out one long, mournful cry toward the heavens. Of the nine moons in the sky above, eight had fallen; her dark hair had streamed loose, tears tracing her face, and heaven and earth had collapsed around her.

Ye Fan’s heart was deeply shaken. The ancient great emperors had been so overwhelmingly powerful — their slightest movements could pluck stars and seize the moon, annihilating the cosmos itself, stirring the souls of all who beheld them.

“I witnessed it with my own eyes — she raised her hand and cut down the stars above, then forged a stele from them right here.” He Shouyu said in a trembling voice.

On that cliff face hung a blood-soaked garment, still visible even now, preserved by Chaos, imperishable even after more than two hundred thousand years. It drifted against the cliff wall, and beside it stood a stele that radiated a resplendent glow.

Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye and gazed carefully. Faintly, he made out a line of characters on the blood-soaked garment — brief and hurried: “I am going to die… but what will become of my little sister?”

A tremor ran through Ye Fan’s heart. No wonder the Fierce One had come to this place, crying out her grief here — how could anyone remain calm upon seeing those words on the blood-soaked garment? Mighty beyond compare, unmatched in all the world, she had striven to rival the heavens themselves, yet even she could not resurrect a body that had died so many years ago.

That stele had been forged from a single star, gleaming with silver radiance, casting its light since ancient times until this very day. Upon it were carved the Dao traces of the Fierce One, swirling through the boundless Chaos, standing guard over everything here.

This was undoubtedly a priceless treasure. If someone were able to activate it, they could surely sweep across an entire star domain — yet no one could likely approach it by even a single step. To dare to disturb the stele erected by the Fierce One meant certain death.

“You see it, don’t you — that boundless Chaos waterfall pours out from the characters on the stele. More than two hundred thousand years have passed, and it has never run dry. This is one of the supreme divine miracles within Kunlun.” He Shouyu said.

For more than two hundred thousand years, any sufficiently powerful being who wished to temper a weapon would choose this place. So long as one could draw out even a single strand of Chaos Qi to serve as flame and forge a magical treasure within it, the weapon’s grade would advance by a full tier.

He Shouyu, out of kindness, revealed this place to them — they could reforge their weapons here, using Chaos as fire to temper them, and they would surely become precious arms.

Ye Fan’s cauldron naturally had no need of this. He would face his tribulation in due time. He took out the small ornaments on Little Pine’s person and conducted a round of ritual refinement — such as the small medicine basket it carried on its back, as well as the small bells cast from Grand Luo silver essence, and so on.

“There are dangers ahead — divine beings dwell there, and I dare not venture in, for fear of being captured.” He Shouyu warned. He had almost never gone into the area ahead and did not know what the immortal-nurturing ground had given rise to.

Ye Fan nodded, bid He Shouyu farewell, then continued onward with Little Pine.

“In those days, the Feathered Transformation Divine Dynasty escorted the hope of becoming an immortal to this place for restoration. It seems the Fierce One’s older brother was among them — he most likely perished here.”

“Roaaarrr—!”

A rumbling sound like muffled thunder rang out. A three-headed lion, its entire body blazing with golden light, churned up a towering storm of wind and clouds. It opened its mouth and inhaled, and every trace of life essence within dozens of li was devoured and drawn clean into its maw.

“There truly are some formidable exotic beasts here. Only the immortal vein of Kunlun could nourish such fearsome creatures.” Ye Fan remarked.

The world’s vital essence had long since grown barren, but Kunlun was the exception — for the life essence of the entire ancient star converged there, and so it naturally gave rise to auspicious beasts and divine creatures.

This golden lion was extraordinarily powerful, having reached the strength of a Cult Master level, and appeared to be one of Kunlun’s apex existences. A single roar from it stirred the wind and clouds into motion, and the surrounding mountain ranges trembled.

The golden lion’s eyes blazed like torches, gleaming with fierce light. The moment it spotted Ye Fan and his companions, it opened its great mouth and inhaled with force, attempting to draw them into its maw as well.

Ye Fan released his overwhelming aura outward, and the golden lion immediately shuddered on the spot. An expression of utter disbelief crossed its face — and then it turned and fled, bounding away into the wild mountain ridges.

Half an hour later, Ye Fan crossed over the wild ridge and entered an open expanse. Ahead stood only a few large mountains, all of them lofty and majestic, standing apart rather than connected, the terrain strikingly unusual.

“Hmm, could there be some divine beast here? The aura of this place is far from ordinary — it seems as though a very powerful existence is present.” A thought stirred in Ye Fan’s heart.

Little Pine let out a howling cry, slung its small medicine basket on its back, and scrambled up to the peak of one of the high summits, where it dug out a radiant, brilliantly glowing treasure herb — utterly delighted with itself.

These past few days it had reaped a tremendous harvest, gathering many ancient medicines. It had already obtained three minor Medicine Kings, each with a medicinal age of fifty or sixty thousand years, all of which it had respectfully offered to Ye Fan, bouncing along in cheerful contentment.

A great roar rang out, its vibrations so violent that Little Pine was nearly knocked off its feet. The golden lion was standing guard here, staring at Ye Fan with a mixture of alarm and terror.

And then, an old flood dragon came flying over — its entire body wreathed in fire, as though it had just burst from a volcano, sending wave after wave of searing heat surging outward in all directions, scorching a vast swath of land to ruin.

“Two Cult Master-level exotic beasts guarding the mountain gate — there truly is a powerful existence here. Could it be that it has already severed the Dao?”

Ye Fan released his powerful aura, and the old flood dragon and the golden lion were instantly seized with terror. They stumbled backward continuously, their entire bodies trembling.

Ahead, towering into the clouds, a great mountain was covered at its base with fire pines that had taken root within the crevices of the rock. These were a variant species of plant — shaped like ancient pines, but drawn to flame, growing most abundantly in volcanic terrain, and utterly extraordinary.

At the base of the mountain was a fire cave, belching forth billowing clouds of smoke and raging blazes. A howling roar rang out, and the surrounding mountain ranges shook; enormous boulders tumbled down the great peaks with a thunderous rumbling.

Both the golden lion and the old flood dragon wore expressions of dread, prostrating themselves flat on the ground — clearly cowed by that divine might. This was their master, and it appeared to be rebuking them for their failure.

“A king who has severed the Dao!”

A flash of divine light sparked in Ye Fan’s eyes. He had known that the immortal vein of Kunlun was extraordinary, but he had never expected to truly encounter a supremely powerful existence. Yet he felt no fear whatsoever — he craved a worthy opponent.

“Boom!”

Billowing fire clouds surged skyward, crimson blazes soaring into the heavens as though ten thousand dragons were leaping up in a magnificent display. A long, piercing cry rang out, like the roar of a dragon and the howl of a tiger shaking the mountain terrain, and a streak of blazing red light shot upward — a divine and magnificent exotic beast came charging forward.

It was too fast — so fast that neither the golden lion nor the flood dragon had time to react before they were sent flying. Even Ye Fan was caught off guard.

It came treading upon fire clouds, its speed like that of wind chasing lightning. At this level of cultivation, it had reached the absolute pinnacle of velocity — apart from Ye Fan’s Word of Motion secret technique, almost nothing could compare with it.

This was a Long Ma — a Dragon Horse. It trod through blazing flames, its entire body a blazing crimson, proud as a god. With one hoof strike, it sent the old flood dragon and the golden lion flying, clearly deeply displeased with them, radiating an air of supreme disdain for all beneath the heavens.

It let out a long, resounding cry — not the whinny of a horse, but something indistinguishable from a dragon’s roar, so deafening it scattered the clouds overhead. It came charging straight at Ye Fan, treading upon the vault of heaven, its hooves — each larger than a sea bowl — driving down toward Ye Fan’s chest.

This was no horse at all. Whenever it leaped, it was like a dragon, its aura utterly terrifying. Since severing the Dao, Ye Fan had never once encountered a living being that dared to show him such contempt.

This was a truly worthy embodiment of the Dragon Horse trampling the human race’s Holy Body — it had shattered the very sky itself. No wonder the golden lion and the old flood dragon had been so terrified.

Ye Fan did not dodge. He raised a finger and pressed it against the Dragon Horse’s hoof. The Dragon Horse let out an immediate, fierce neigh, its entire body shuddering violently, an expression of utter incredulity crossing its face — then it sprang up and away, crashing forward.

“Boom, boom, boom—!”

The Dragon Horse trod through the clouds and galloped away for dozens of li — because it was moving so fast, the dozens of mountain ranges ahead were all shattered and brought crashing down under its hooves. Only after some time did the sound reach them.

The spectacle was terrifying. The divine might of this horse defied imagination — it chased the wind and lightning, its hooves making the heavens collapse and the earth crack. There was scarcely anyone in the world who could suppress it.

Even Ye Fan was genuinely stunned. Though he had held back considerably, delivering only a single tap of one finger and nowhere near his full strength, it was still more than an ordinary Dao-severing figure could withstand. Had it been another king-level expert, they would certainly have been reduced to a bloody pulp.

Yet this Dragon Horse had not perished — and moreover, it had not even been injured. It had leapt clear over the attack with spectacular ease. Without question, this was a rare and extraordinary dragon lineage specimen.

He couldn’t help but study it carefully. The horse was entirely crimson, its form like that of a dragon’s body, with blazing flames surging beneath its four hooves. Its body was covered with dragon scales like phoenix-blood red gold, gleaming with resplendent brilliance. At the same time, it bore a mane of fiery red long hair, sleeker and glossier than silk, without a single strand of a different color.

Ancient texts recorded: “The Dragon Horse is the essence of heaven and earth. Its form is that of a horse’s body with dragon scales — thus it is called the Dragon Horse. Eight and a half feet in height…”

The more Ye Fan looked, the more astonished he became. This matched the ancient records perfectly. This was no creature of flesh born of ordinary conception — it had been birthed from the essence of heaven and earth itself, not of common stock.

This was a type of exotic beast, with only a handful of examples ever recorded throughout history, representing a supreme omen of good fortune. The Book of Documents, Duke of Zhou, Account of the River Chart recorded: “In the time of Fu Xi’s reign over the realm, a Dragon Horse bore the River Chart and emerged from the Yellow River.”

“No wonder it survived my single tap without dying — it is actually a Dragon Horse!” Ye Fan murmured to himself. In the world today, there were few among those who had severed the Dao who could endure a single strike from him. This was not arrogance, but the simple truth — he had reversed the severing of the great Dao and emerged triumphant, his strength having reached a fearsome and terrifying height.

The Dragon Horse let out another roar, its dragon cry shaking the nine heavens. Its entire body blazing crimson, it trod through fire and cloud and came charging toward him once more.

This time, Ye Fan spread open a single palm, all five fingers extended, pressing down toward the Dragon Horse. And the Dragon Horse, proud to the very end, leapt high into the air, soaring dozens of feet upward, then stamped back down toward his golden palm and fingers in counterattack.

“Slam!”

The Dragon Horse’s body shuddered, its four hooves shattering the sky as it shot toward the distance. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of its mouth — but it was still not dead. Its blood and vitality were vigorous and robust; these were only minor injuries.

This time, Ye Fan was truly moved. Throughout the whole of heaven and earth, there were probably few among the Dao-severing kings who could suppress this horse. His palm strike was absolutely capable of crushing a great mountain and destroying rivers and terrain — yet this Dragon Horse had withstood it.

“This must be the divine being that He Shouyu spoke of.”

Ye Fan stepped up into the high air, reached forward again with his hand and pressed down, putting real force into it this time. The Dragon Horse, knowing the danger, leapt into the air, shattered a stretch of mountain peaks, and stood in the ninth heaven staring down at him.

Such a dragon foal, born of heaven and earth, had only been obtained by the legendary sacred emperors of high antiquity. A thought stirred in Ye Fan’s heart — if he could subdue it as a mount, on the day he returned to the Northern Dipper, this creature could absolutely trample through ten thousand enemies as it charged.