Kunzhou the Great Sage had a clan uncle by the name of Dique — a figure of world-shaking genius, looking down upon all past and present, surpassing even several ancient emperors of the same era in raw talent, and stirring the entire Primordial Age.

Dique — his natural gifts were a marvel to the world. Renowned since youth, he had once in a single night challenged the champions of twelve clans, a blood battle that shocked the world, making every clan tremble.

By great misfortune, that same era produced a Battle Victory Holy Ape — equally possessed of immortal bones and divine sinew, renowned above all for his battle strength. The two became the two most dazzling sacred stars.

Such talents — having even one was more than enough. Two sharing a single age was naturally a tragedy. From this arose many duels at the pinnacle of power, recorded in the history of the divine battles of the Primordial Age.

In the Primordial Age, when wind and clouds gathered and ten thousand clans emerged together, the competition in such a great age was at its most brutal. To prove the Dao and become an emperor — harder even than ascending to heaven. One had to defeat the genius warriors of the ten thousand clans with one’s own body alone.

The two swept through the Primordial Age. Ultimately, the inevitable came — they could only fight to the death. From the stage of severing the Dao, to becoming a saint, to the Saint King realm, to the Great Sage — who knows how many battles they fought in a lifetime. Each battle could be called a shaker of the heavens and mover of the gods.

One could say that in the eyes of the ten thousand clans of the Primordial Age, they were lifelong rivals.

The most legendary battle of all was the one in which the two became Saint Kings. Both were left on the verge of death, each suffering devastating injuries. Yet Dique struggled across the boundary of life and death — and after that battle, his life force surged suddenly, and he lived out a second life, his lifespan doubled.

This was nothing short of a sensation — it shook the Primordial Age and left the ten thousand clans in an uproar. Nearly all reached a consensus: Dique would surely emerge victorious and become yet another emperor of the Primordial Age.

Having not yet proved the Dao, and already stepping into a second life — such people were rare beyond rare, but not entirely without precedent. Dique and Jiang Taixu, the Divine King in White, were both in this category.

At the time, every clan believed that Dique would surely smile to the very end — for the Battle Victory Holy Ape had been gravely injured and had consumed vast quantities of his life’s original essence.

Yet in the final ultimate battle between the two in the Great Sage realm, everyone’s predictions were overturned. The ape’s father — peerless in bearing and radiant throughout the Primordial Age — though nine times on the verge of death, ultimately prevailed in the end, indisputably overpowering Dique and standing unrivaled under heaven.

After this, Dique spent the rest of his days in melancholy and regret. Not an inch of progress was made in his cultivation — he remained fixed at the threshold of the Great Sage, and no matter how the years flowed past, he never took even a single step forward.

A heaven-shaking figure of timeless talent — the halo around him rapidly dimmed, never able to emit another spark of brilliance. A bleak and silent end.

Yet the ape’s father, though not without setbacks, pressed forward in defiance all the way. He fought through the nine heavens and ten earths without a match, his brilliance illuminating the entire Primordial Age.

The ape’s father had paid a price as well. A lifetime of death-match duels against Dique — the injuries accumulated over the years had eventually become a hidden wound of the Great Dao.

At first, he had not paid it much attention. But when he charged at the extreme imperial realm for the final proving of the Dao, a great catastrophe struck. The hidden wound of the Great Dao flared up, and he nearly died.

The consequences were severe. His first attempt at proving the Dao ended in failure — it was practically a death sentence. No one believed he could succeed anymore, for a second attempt would be many times more difficult.

Yet the ape’s father was beyond comparison with ordinary people. He came to the brink of death mid-enlightenment and mid-proving — and with an immortal-grade elixir, the Peach of Immortality, he crossed the threshold of death. When he emerged, he was vigorous and full of life, and charged at the extreme imperial realm once more — succeeding in one stroke, without a single hair harmed. His battle strength had reached the realm of the heaven-defying!

Dique had lived out a second life — a natural endowment rarely seen through the ages, immortal roots that blazed through all the world, unparalleled in rarity. Yet in the end, he lost.

The Battle Victory Holy Emperor — nine deaths and one survival, having endured every tribulation imaginable — ultimately prevailed. Through his entire life he never knew defeat, his battle strength acclaimed the finest of all, revered as Holy Emperor. This was the highest of honors — a standing to be compared with the ancient Celestial Emperor!

“My father is perhaps the ancient emperor who lived the shortest life of all — but in terms of cultivation and attainment, he stands at the very front.” The ape said quietly.

The Battle Victory Holy Emperor lived only a little over ten thousand years — by the measure of other ancient emperors, this could be called “dying young.” It was partly because he had consumed the immortal elixir — the Peach of Immortality — too early, and partly because he was simply too powerful: in the mortal world, he cultivated in the manner of a battle immortal, his enlightenment and practice too fierce and violent, consuming his life’s original essence at a devastating rate.

The Battle Victory Holy Emperor had defied heaven in his pursuit — and ultimately fallen just short. He could not transform into a battle immortal. His passing into nirvana had an enormous impact, causing the entire world to change ahead of time. The Northern Region lost all signs of life — barren land stretching without limit, not a blade of grass growing.

Naturally, even without the Battle Victory Holy Emperor transforming into a battle immortal, the Great Dao’s rules would inevitably have changed — it would simply have happened many years later.

“The great river flows east, its waves washing heroes away — the ancient emperors contended for supremacy, all returning to dust in the end.” Kunzhou said with a sigh.

“Dique is dead… I still find it somewhat hard to believe.” The Battle Victory Victorious Buddha furrowed his brow.

This was a figure who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Battle Victory Holy Emperor — his lifelong rival, whose brilliance illuminated the Primordial Age, who looked down upon all with contempt, who lived a defiant second life and created a miracle, who had come just a step away from becoming the supreme. One could say that had he not shared an age with the ape’s father, he would surely have proved the Dao. His battle strength surpassed the ancient worthy-of-emperor contemporaries.

“Even the Battle Victory Holy Emperor passed into nirvana — how much less my clan uncle. That he departed this world is within the natural order of things.” Kunzhou said.

“He lived out a second life — longer even than your own lifespan…” The Battle Victory Saint King said.

The crowd, too, showed expressions of puzzlement. Dique’s natural gifts were extraordinary beyond measure — he had lived a second life in defiance of fate, his life’s original essence vast and surging, capable of enduring across very long ages.

“He truly has long since been buried in the dust.” Kunzhou said with regret.

“Back then — it was you who prompted him to act, wasn’t it? Otherwise, he had already renounced the world. How would he have brought such chaos upon heaven and earth?” The Battle Victory Saint King’s golden eyes were sharp as blades.

“That is correct — it was I who prompted him to act…” Kunzhou did not deny it.

The crowd was startled — and then it all made sense. Thinking back on that period, certain mists began to clear.

The Battle Victory Holy Emperor’s rise was unstoppable. Dique — the peerless genius who could stand equal to him — had departed from the stage in obscurity. The two lifelong rivals would never cross paths again.

Having proved the Dao as Holy Emperor, the ape’s father had the magnanimity of the ages — he never sought to settle the grudges of former days. Though unrivaled under heaven, he had never pressed down upon or suppressed Dique’s clan.

“Your imperial elder brother swallowed mountains and rivers — naturally he would not trouble my clan uncle. And my uncle himself had no desire for vengeance.” Kunzhou said with equanimity, and then disclosed why Dique had acted, saying: “I only told him that unless he broke past the constraints of his own principles, unless he stepped out of the unchanging world he had built for himself — no matter how peerless his natural gifts, he would never prove the Dao.”

“And that was enough for him to act?” The Battle Victory Victorious Buddha asked calmly.

“That is correct. To break past the shackles of one’s own life — one must do what one ordinarily would not or could not bring oneself to do. His natural gifts were no less than the Holy Emperor’s by a single hair. Better than I, he understood the truth of this!” Kunzhou said.

“I knew it. With his nature and character, how could he have done something so against his own convictions? You must have spent considerable effort to persuade him.” The old ape said.

His assessment of Dique was extremely high — after all, that was a figure who could stand equal to the Battle Victory Holy Emperor. His only regret in life was that he had narrowly lost to the ape’s elder brother, and that alone.

These were the secret histories of the Primordial Age. Left unspoken, the world would never know them. Even those who had attained the extreme imperial realm had their own helplessness — and upon learning of these things, the crowd could only let out a quiet sigh.

Dique had acted. Even after his defeat to the Battle Victory Holy Emperor — when his cultivation had not advanced a single inch for his entire remaining life — he was still a fearsome Great Sage. Yet in his battle against the ape’s father, as mighty as the Holy Emperor’s own younger brother, even that had ended in being gravely wounded, near death, his cry of grief shaking heaven and earth — and he had departed alone for the Western Desert.

“My clan uncle fought with you to a draw and returned — and afterward grew ever more melancholy and despondent, and before long was gone.” The crowd was seized with dread. The Battle Victory Saint King’s battle in those years had truly fought Dique to his end — an absolutely earth-shaking event in the Primordial Age, entirely worthy of being recorded in the history of the divine battles, and with a very weighty stroke at that.

“Two brothers of one clan — both capable of contending with Dique — truly… heaven-defying!” Every ancient clan was overcome with wonder and awe.

Who was Dique? He should by rights have proved the Dao and become an emperor — and very likely a transcendent one at that. He had simply been born at the wrong time.

“Unimaginable — the younger brother of the Battle Victory Holy Emperor was no lesser than his elder brother… Were it not for them sharing a single age, it might have been a clan of two emperors!”

Whether of the human race or the ancient clans — all who learned these secret histories were overcome with surging emotion, unable to master themselves, their blood running hot, unable to settle down.

The line of the Battle Victory Holy Apes numbered only a handful. Yet they had become a great imperial clan of the Primordial Age — and there was nothing remotely coincidental about that. There were profound reasons behind it.

Their lineage — as a rule — could achieve the rank of Saint King. Their battle strength was beyond all comparison. The Battle Victory Holy Emperor, at five or six thousand years of age, still had his aged father alive — and it was because of this that a younger brother had been born.

The “Grand Holy Emperor” of those days was a legendary figure who had left behind many tales. In this context, the fire of Ye Fan’s curiosity burned fiercely within him — he could not help but ask the ape about it. The result was that the ape hem-hawed and muttered, unwilling to say much of anything.

“With Dique gone — do you dare fight me alone?” The Battle Victory Saint King said. His entire spirit surged rapidly upward, the golden fur over his whole body blazing brilliantly.

All the powerful figures from every clan fell back. Many of them directly activated their teleportation platforms and fled from this place — they did not dare remain here any longer. When a Great Sage struck, even the Central Region might be struck down and sunk entirely, disappearing from existence.

Kunzhou’s gray hair spread loose, his lead-gray eyes blazing with intensity. With calm equanimity he spoke: “My clan uncle narrowly lost to your elder brother. And I will completely reclaim that, once and for all — today I will suppress you and wash away all the shame. Our clan is destined to surpass your line of the Battle Victory clan!”

The Battle Victory Saint King blazed with light across his entire body, his aura surging into sudden ferocity. “My Battle Victory clan — we fear no challenge!”

“Ape — today your life is at its end!” Kunzhou said coldly.

“In the latter Primordial Age, you and others together slaughtered in every direction, arrogantly establishing your own order and rules, throwing heaven into disorder and moving the earth — today, all of it will be settled!” The Battle Victory Saint King pointed to the sky and said: “A battle beyond the domain! “

“Good — I’ll send you on your way!” Kunzhou vanished in a flash, his vast and overwhelming aura instantly retracted.

The Battle Victory Saint King also released a blazing streak of light and disappeared from Zheixian City — heading for the saint’s battlefield beyond the heavens.

After so many years, the ancient battlefield beyond the domain would at last welcome another visitor. New holy blood would be spilled.

“What are we to do? We cannot go and watch the battle — there is no way to get close. Touch it and you die!” Many people felt a deep sense of regret.

“Quickly — activate the formation platform’s eye of the law and watch this battle!” An ancient clan powerhouse said.

Those with high attainment in Dao patterns could lay out a supreme-grade eye of the law, projecting the situation beyond the domain back to this place, allowing the battle’s progress to be displayed clearly.

Several Ancestral Kings quickly went to work with their arrangements, and in the blink of an eye a great formation platform appeared, ready to project the battlefield beyond the heavens.

Beyond the domain — all was stillness. Shattered weapons. Enormous bone fragments. Drifting in outer space, emanating an ancient and desolate air.

This place was unchanged through the ages — cold, stark, and barren. Aside from the marks of holy battles, there was nothing.

At this moment, a very small metal warship emitted a single resonant vibration and transformed into a streak of eternal immortal light, shooting off into the depths of the cosmos.

“This battle has nothing to do with me. I come only in pursuit of the immortal’s path.” A divine impression pulsed and then receded into the distance.

Had Ye Fan, Li Tian, or Yan Yixi been present, they would surely have recognized it — the very same mysterious miniature metal warship they had once encountered.

And the mark that had been placed upon Ye Fan in those early years — it had been the work of the mysterious figure within this ship, foreseen by the ancient Buddha of the Western Desert as he dissolved into the Dao, who had helped Ye Fan cut it away.

Kunzhou and the Battle Victory Saint King arrived at this battlefield, facing one another with cold indifference. This would be a supreme battle of the ages. Both turned their gaze for a moment toward the depths of the cosmos — but said nothing of it.

“Ape — today there is another fellow-traveler who also wishes to seek your instruction.” Kunzhou said. Immortal energy surrounded his body, immortal light shook the cosmos, and the aura of an extreme imperial weapon appeared.

“Contemptible!” In the Central Region, outside Zheixian City, the Holy Imperial Prince instantly clenched his fist tight, consumed with boundless dread.