Compared to the Southern Region with its warm spring blossoms, the Northern Region was far more desolate — not a blade of grass grew for millions upon millions of li, a barren wasteland with no end in sight.

“In the primordial age, this land was the most vitally abundant place in all the world — lush with vegetation, ancient medicines everywhere, the spiritual energy so dense it couldn’t dissolve. The ten thousand clans flourished mightily. What a pity that extreme flourishing must give way to decline — this is the rule all things obey.” The Sacred Imperial Prince sighed.

Ye Fan and he had arrived in the Northern Region and made straight for a forbidden territory where living beings dared not set foot — an ancient mountain range, vast and boundless.

In terms of terrain, this was a rising-dragon landscape. Dimly visible, range after range of mountains coiled like dragons, their ridgelines undulating with extraordinary momentum — towering and unbroken, corresponding to the sun, moon, and stars, as though breathing with a life of their own.

Before the primordial age, this place had hosted many waterfalls ten thousand zhang tall, cascading like the Milky Way from heaven, boundless and vast, as though wrought by divine miracle. But now everything had run dry. Not a single wild blade of grass remained; it was completely bare.

The Sacred Imperial Prince and Ye Fan penetrated more than a hundred thousand li inward before reaching the deepest part of this ancient mountain range. It had to be said that these Dao mountains were extraordinarily majestic — few places in the world could compare.

“Roar!”

Ahead came the deafening sound of water, brimming with life energy. Ancient trees stood in dense forest. Some supremely powerful figure of the primordial age had used heaven-defying means to forcibly restore everything here.

In only a few dozen years, the vegetation and ancient medicines looked as though they had flourished for ten thousand years, towering up to blot out the sky. Of course, many of the plants had also been forcibly transplanted here from elsewhere.

Directly ahead, nine great waterfalls descended from the heavens — a vast white expanse, water vapor churning like boiling steam, hanging from a mountain range tens of thousands of zhang tall.

“This…” Ye Fan could not help but let out a sigh of admiration. The terrain here was indeed magnificent and splendid. One could travel the whole world and find few places to rival it.

The ten-thousand-zhang waterfall hung before the ravine. The sound it produced was like a mountain collapsing and seas overturning — or like ten thousand horses galloping in unison. Its momentum was tremendous.

On the cliff face, tens of thousands of zhang high, rare medicinal plants had taken root — all near-extinct rare species, with thick stems and roots, their leaves translucent and jade-green.

“Here…”

Duan De and the others had arrived a step earlier and were already circling the enormous mountain mass to survey the terrain. The Black Emperor was busiest of all — sending out array flags in every direction to begin setting up the great Heaven-Deceiving Formation.

“Once this place is truly locked down, no matter what happens inside — even if tens of thousands of people simultaneously undergo heavenly tribulation — the outside world will have no knowledge of it. We can raid this base with complete confidence.”

In the surrounding wilderness, there were several specially arranged mountain formations, each at some distance from this location. Upon each main peak stood one primordial ancestor king standing guard.

These were the absolute pinnacle existences in the present world. Without achieving Sainthood, one was nothing but an ant in the eyes of such figures. Those here dared not disturb them.

Each person had received a jade piece distributed by the Black Emperor, carved with various talismanic scripts — capable of muddling the workings of fate and concealing their own aura. When Ye Fan had once been divined by the disciple of the Divine Calculator, he had used this very method to deceive them.

And now that Ye Fan had arrived, he further used his heaven-penetrating, earth-traversing Source arts to conceal everyone’s aura, having each person carry several pieces of source stone carved with the Dao traces he himself had comprehended.

It had to be said that this mountain terrain was very expansive. The position they currently occupied was nothing more than the mountain gate — the entire area was filled with towering, majestic peaks.

“Half a life exhausted to set this up — you had all better be careful, and make absolutely sure those array flags are positioned correctly.” The Black Emperor instructed.

On this day, the group moved into coordinated action. Every single one of them was a great expert who commanded authority in one region — setting formations was naturally no difficulty.

Among them, Ye Tong was the most excited. Having been a well-behaved child her whole life, she was now engaged in the act of raiding someone’s home — a wholly new experience.

“Boundless virtue of Heaven! Goodness gracious!” Duan De smiled cheerfully, ruddy-faced and bright, his hands clasped behind his back as he gazed into the depths beyond the mountain gate. It was his proposal that had brought everyone here to raid the place.

Half an hour later, the great black dog personally went to inspect, fearing any flaw in the layout — for this related to all their lives. If a primordial ancestor king were to block them inside, they would have bitten off more than they could chew.

After that, Ye Fan also went out to check. For the sake of caution, he personally arranged everything — laying down a Source Heaven Maze Formation, guarding against the unexpected, ensuring absolute perfection.

“All right, there should be no problems. Speaking in the absolute worst terms, even if we truly did disturb a primordial ancestor king, we could immediately leap into a dimension gate and escape. So there’s no need to worry.” The Black Emperor said.

They had prepared thoroughly for this venture. Each person had an ancient formation platform in hand — whatever the time, whatever the place, they could ensure an immediate escape from the area in a split second. Caution is the ship that sails ten thousand years.

“Everyone, prepare to enter the mountain. Also have your sacred artifacts ready — if anything particularly big jumps out, put it down immediately.” The Black Emperor reminded everyone.

The Sacred Imperial Prince also stepped forward and urged them to be careful. After all, this was the Celestial Imperial Prince’s home base — a traveling palace left behind by his father. To call it a dragon’s pool or tiger’s lair would not be an overstatement.

The mountain gate was broad and open. The nine ten-thousand-zhang waterfalls formed a wondrous spectacle. After stepping inside, immortal energy drifted and swirled; immortal cranes danced through the air; countless magnificent sights met the eye on every side.

Green mountains rose one after another. Five-colored auspicious mist drifted about. Palace halls and towers hung suspended in the air, like a world straight out of myth and legend.

“Who are you people?!”

The mountain gate was naturally guarded. More than ten Ancient Tribe warriors charged out immediately, each of formidable cultivation — yet who could stop a pack like this once they came crashing in?

Li Tian let out a sinister cackle. With a loud bang, the lid of the Divine Maiden Cauldron was thrown open. It inhaled the essence of the sun and moon, drawing in spiritual energy from all four directions. Those ten-plus Ancient Tribe warriors struggled — and were all drawn inside.

“Why this commotion? What has happened?” From a distant peak ten thousand zhang high came a powerful surge of energy. Blood energy steamed upward there — some supremely powerful expert was in closed cultivation.

“They’ve actually reached Dao Severance — I had not expected the ones left behind to include such strong figures. Let me handle this.” Ye Fan stepped forward. The bones throughout his body crackled and popped, and in an instant he had transformed into a strikingly handsome young man — virtually indistinguishable from the Celestial Imperial Prince.

“Looking at that face makes me want to punch it.” Dongfang Ye said. The resemblance truly was uncanny — from form to spirit, they were extraordinarily alike.

Ye Fan smiled, then cast the Heaven-Altering, Earth-Transforming Art once more, changing the appearance of everyone present. All of them now looked like descendants of the Eight Divine General Legions, nearly identical to the group that had appeared at Bluesky City.

Even the great black dog became a massive qilin beast, while Long Ma transformed into a crimson flood dragon — each more ferocious-looking than the last, with an aura that bore down upon the senses.

Ye Fan’s Source arts were supernaturally refined. Whoever he applied them to, no flaw could be found. All of it was accomplished in an instant.

He took the lead, walking forward and descending to that mountain peak. The Dao Severance expert guarding this place immediately emerged from closed cultivation — and the moment he saw them, he froze in a daze.

“Son of God… you’ve returned so quickly.”

The Ancient Tribe warrior clearly didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Crash!”

The Sacred Imperial Prince personally struck, driving the Divine Maiden Cauldron. Flames of separation rose to the sky, drawing him inside — and reducing him to a pile of ash.

“There are very few people left in this place — it truly is empty. Let’s strip it clean.” Long Ma said, his demeanor fierce and thuggish.

They had entered smoothly; there were very few Ancient Tribe warriors along the way. They proceeded directly to the most important areas. It was indeed completely vacant.

“Heh heh — this poor Daoist has finally gotten in. This is even more satisfying than robbing a Saint’s grand burial tomb. I truly hope we can find a few celestial treasures.” Duan De rubbed his hands together, his smile a touch shameless.

At the center, several main peaks rose straight into the cloud layers — each like an immortal sword plunged upside-down into the earth, each bearing a heavenly palace atop it, grand and enormous, with streams of auspicious energy radiating in all directions.

“This is a blessed land. Let’s start with the first one.” The great black dog called out loudly and charged straight up.

This place had formation arrays, but breaking them was not particularly difficult for the Black Emperor. It combined the Wushi Killing Formation with various Dao inscriptions it had carved into more than a hundred jade pieces — using formations to break formations.

The group made it through without incident and entered the ancient palace — carved beams, painted columns, gold and jade in splendor. Treasures were everywhere; many of the decorative furnishings had been crafted from divine source stone.

“Split up and search!”

The group charged into the depths. Duan De and the Black Emperor were clearly seasoned experts in this kind of work, racing each other toward a particular direction — and in the blink of an eye, both had vanished from sight.

“Boom!”

Suddenly a powerful surge of energy rolled through. One of the palace halls exploded open. The wild man — Dongfang Ye — had been ambushed. His entire left arm had been blasted apart, dripping with blood, white bone jutting through ragged flesh.

“Careful — there’s a Dao Severance cultivator here!”

Ye Fan heard the call and arrived at the first moment. It was a three-eyed Ancient Tribe warrior — and even seeing him in the Celestial Imperial Prince’s guise, the warrior gave no quarter, attacking to kill on the spot.

“Crack!”

Ye Fan slapped him down with one palm, immediately sending him spitting blood and crashing to the ground.

“Who are you people — how dare you impersonate the Son of God?” The warrior’s third vertical eye opened wide with fury. He could find no flaw in their disguise, but his instincts told him these were not the real people.

“Crack!”

Dongfang Ye drew upon the Barbarian Ancient Mysterious Art to grow a new arm, then swung his wolf-fang great club and smashed it down. The man could not withstand a sacred artifact — with a burst, he was reduced to a mist of blood.

This was merely an interlude. The others were all progressing smoothly. Long Ma charged through the ancient palace complex, iron hooves crashing through palace halls, rocks smashing through clouds, ancient towers collapsing, wreaking complete havoc.

“How is it there’s not even a single sacred artifact to be found?” He exhaled white clouds of breath, desperately hoping to find a sacred weapon.

Suddenly, the Sacred Imperial Prince let out a startled cry — he had made an astonishing discovery. Everyone came rushing over.

“This stone chess board is no ordinary thing!” Duan De immediately made this judgment upon arriving.

The stone chess board was rough and unpolished, without any luster. Upon it were dozens of horizontal and vertical lines, marked with the traces of antiquity. At first glance it appeared crude and plain, with nothing remarkable about it.

Yet on careful examination, the chess board radiated a killing spirit as though it were an ancient battlefield — emanating a heaven-shocking murderous presence, as though the great wars of the primordial age had been recreated in the mortal world.

“There’s something unusual here. Capture an Ancient Tribe person and ask.” Yan Yixi acted, reaching into the ancient well to pull out an Ancient Tribe servant who had been hiding inside, then searched through their sea of consciousness to get a clear picture.

“So that’s it — the Celestial Imperial Prince occasionally comes here to play out chess sequences, and sometimes sits for an entire day and night.”

“I see.” The Sacred Imperial Prince nodded, deep in thought. “It is said the Undying Celestial Emperor was skilled in divination and fond of chess. This is most likely a stone chess board he left behind.”

Everyone was greatly astonished. If that were truly the case, this chess board was of inestimable value — there might well be Dao traces contained within it.

“Without a doubt this is a divine treasure — otherwise the Celestial Imperial Prince would not come here regularly to study chess sequences.” Duan De said, then enthusiastically engaged the Sacred Imperial Prince in conversation, hoping to trade for it.

Several of them tried in turn — projecting their divine sense into the rough stone board. Instantly they felt as though they were surrounded by infinite deadly tribulations, as though they had been transported to the primordial age to live through one great battle after another.

“Truly a magnificent treasure. The Undying Celestial Emperor has transformed the genuine primordial killing tribulations into imprints and carved them into the stone board. Even a Saint would find it worth contemplating and comprehending!”

“This treasure is of immeasurable value — it absolutely must be kept safe and studied carefully upon return.” The Sacred Imperial Prince put it away with great care.

Not long after, they swept the great palace entirely clean. No other exceptional items remained. They withdrew and moved on to the next location.

The second main peak was extraordinarily tall, and its palace even more magnificent — as grand as the central heavenly palace of an ancient celestial court in myth, its oppressive power commanding awe. Standing here, one felt as though looking down upon all of heaven. Various auspicious signs appeared, with thousands upon thousands of strands of immortal energy falling like waterfalls.

The Black Emperor broke open the formation arrays, and the group successfully reached the main peak. After all, this was used as a living quarters — there were no particularly terrifying large-scale formations.

This place was dense with ancient medicines, clearly having never withered over countless ages — rooted at the approach to the celestial palace’s main hall, suffused with sacred energy, the fragrance intoxicating the senses. The medicinal plants’ leaves shimmered in pale jade-green, burning crimson, glowing violet, and every other hue — each distinct from the others.

“That’s…”

When they stepped into this celestial palace, every one of them turned to stone.

A rich immortal energy rushed to meet them. Waves of Dao movement undulated like an endless starfield, staggering the mind and sending it reeling. It felt like standing before an ancient cosmos.

Even Ye Fan, the Sacred Imperial Prince, Duan De, the Black Emperor — people who had seen great wonders — were seized by a rush of excitement, their mouths going dry.

“Gulp!”

Clearly audible — many among them were swallowing hard. The sight before their eyes had simply astounded them.

“Damn it — only the Undying Celestial Emperor could do something like this. He truly didn’t hold back. A supreme celestial object!”

“Too astonishing — even a group of Saints would bow and beg upon beholding this. I never imagined this legendary object had survived to the present age!”

“Heavenly fortune and destiny — it still lives in the divine spring. I never imagined we would encounter such tremendous fortune. The Celestial Imperial Prince would cough up blood if he knew we were here.”

Even Ye Fan’s eyes went wide. This raid had produced enormous gains. This single celestial object alone would have made the entire venture worthwhile — they would be smiling even in their dreams.