The Human Race Sacred Body chased the Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden in hot pursuit, unleashing every great technique in his arsenal, reducing the Primordial Divine Maiden before him to a state of total disarray — her crystalline hair disheveled, her divine skin and jade body very nearly entirely bare.
Ye Fan pressed forward in relentless chase. Having driven the battle to this state, naturally he intended to consolidate his gains — determined to capture and subdue the Golden Princess. The art of the Golden Divine Treasury had to be hunted down and taken.
The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden, from the day of her birth to now, had never experienced anything like this. Today, she was being hunted down, drenched in fragrant perspiration, beaten until she was very nearly stripped bare — every last silver tooth ground to dust.
“Sss!”
The three-thousand-six-hundredth killing strike arrived — this divine technique was cunning and bizarre. A sheet of golden ripples transformed into waves — appearing soft and gentle on the surface, yet in truth indestructible and all-penetrating.
“Pfft!”
The last remaining sliver of her golden silk divine garment shattered. Her flawless jade body was bared for the most part. In this instant, she truly lost all composure — the bastard behind her was absolutely doing this deliberately, tormenting her nerves.
In ages past, she had been as the pure, luminous moon, illuminating the Primordial Age — who could gaze up at her? Peerless in splendor, standing alone above the clouds — and now she had fallen to this.
The Golden Divine Maiden steeled herself and turned to fight once more. Yet she was ultimately no match, and her crystalline, snow-white jade body accumulated wound after wound. Her divine power was nearly exhausted — she had no choice but to retreat in defeat once again.
“Human Race Sacred Body — sooner or later I will flay the skin from your bones!” The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden pressed her crystalline, pearlescent teeth against her vibrant lips. For the eighth time, she invoked a mysterious ancient formation platform, intent on traversing the void and escaping.
Yet Ye Fan would not give her the chance. The Movement Secret was supreme beneath all the heavens — he followed like a shadow, his golden fist striking forth, wind and thunder surging, lightning interweaving — regardless of formation platform or weapon, all were reduced to fine powder.
The Golden Princess was hunted to the point where she had no path to heaven above and no gate to earth below. She was very nearly driven to madness — for there was truly not a single thread of clothing remaining on her body. She left a snow-white silhouette behind, fleeing ahead.
Every time, Ye Fan cut off her escape route and drove her back into this stretch of great wilderness — resolved to suppress her, to force her to surrender the invincible secret art of the Golden Divine Treasury.
In the distance, onlookers stood with eyes wide open and mouths agape. The Ancient Clan members in particular — some kept scratching their heads, certain they must be dreaming, scarcely able to believe this was real.
The Imperial Clan’s Heavenly Maiden had been hunted to utter defeat, fleeing very nearly in the nude. This was too much like a fantasy — many could not help but swallow hard.
A pity the onlookers could not see clearly. The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden had divine technique shielding her, obscuring the sightlines of those around her, and her speed was too swift — few could keep pace.
Even so, many who caught glimpses of a snow-white silhouette locked in battle before fleeing in a long retreat could not help but feel their mouths run dry.
“Where do you think you’re going? Hand over the divine technique and I will spare your life. Otherwise, I will send you to meet the Primordial Emperor!” Ye Fan bellowed.
The Golden Clan’s Princess felt her lungs ache with rage. Fighting in the nude — this was the stuff of legend. She had never even imagined such a day would come to pass.
“You wretched bastard — you will end up in my hands one day!” The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden trembled with fury, her body shaking with indignation. She had already deployed a sacred weapon, but her opponent had one as well — and she had nearly suffered an even greater loss from it.
Her body was as though cast from moonlight — white, luminous, and radiant. She used the divine principles of order to form a skirt, shielding the vital areas. Every trace of the golden silk divine garment had been reduced to ash.
Yet she knew it was entirely futile. For a man who possessed the Source Heavenly Eye, she was as good as bare — without a single secret. This was truly a maddening battle.
She desperately wished the Golden Mace were in her hand — one strike to reduce this bastard to ash. Never had she encountered anyone so detestable — forcing her to fight in the nude, utterly deprived of dignity.
“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Do not try to tempt me. I am unmoved by such things. Survival is simple — pass the Golden Divine Treasury to me, or I will bury you here.” Ye Fan assumed an expression of serene, dignified composure.
What an act.
The Golden Princess very much wanted to plant her jade foot on his face, curse him a hundred times, stamp him ten thousand times, and grind him into a pig-headed mess.
For Ye Fan’s mouth had curved ever so slightly at the corner, revealing what lay within his heart. In her eyes, this complete scoundrel was absolutely doing all of this deliberately.
“Ahh…! Sooner or later I will reduce your vile bones to splinters!” The Golden Princess trembled with fury — her ivory-smooth, crystalline jade body convulsing.
“BOOM!”
Yet Ye Fan’s assault was truly too ferocious. His killing techniques were unending — a single battle that shook ghosts and gods. A gust of force swept past, bringing up goosebumps across her jade body, every pore going cold.
Though he struck without mercy, his face carried a bright, unchanged smile — and in the Golden Princess’s eyes, this contemptible smirk was the most detestable thing of all.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Ancient Clan members went forward to try to rescue her — yet every last one of them was slain by Ye Fan, accomplishing absolutely nothing.
And still more people chose to watch coldly from the sidelines.
“This…”
Many were left speechless. The Human Race Sacred Body was truly without decency — hunting down an Ancient Emperor’s daughter until she fled with bare hindquarters. This was genuinely something so shameless it was nearly smoking.
The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden — how could she swallow such humiliation? This was a lifelong blood feud. By this point she no longer wanted to kill Ye Fan — she wanted to catch this wretch alive and torment him for the rest of his life.
“Killing you would not be enough to vent the rage in my heart!”
The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden was so furious her golden hair stood on end, her beautiful eyes wide open. Killing intent shot up to the ninth heaven, spreading across the great wilderness — making many involuntarily shudder.
“Then let me be the one to kill you!”
Ye Fan evolved the Combat Array Sacred Technique to its limits and unleashed a sequence of earth-shattering killing moves in succession. From his fingertips, the Eternal Cosmos Furnace flew out first — blazing light soaring ten thousand zhang, sending the Golden Princess flying horizontally.
Then, he swept both hands outward, evolving a Void Mirror — shooting out a beam of undying immortal light that slashed at the Imperial Clan’s Heavenly Maiden and left her spitting blood in great mouthfuls.
Next, he swept both hands in motion again, shifting once more — and a supremely, world-cuttingly sharp Imperial Primordial Sword shot forth. A dragon-shaped immortal sword, suppressing past, present, and future — nearly cleaving the Golden Princess in two.
The Imperial Clan’s Heavenly Maiden fell into a life-or-death crisis. Forced onto the defensive, her entire body laid bare — white light searing to the eyes — she trembled with rage to the point of near-fainting. This was a battle that made one spit blood. For the first time in her life, she felt regret. Why had she ever helped Li Wentian? Had she known it would come to this, she would never have provoked this wretched, despicable bastard.
Ye Fan fought with perfect ease. One by one, the weapons of the ancient Great Emperors were summoned into being, their power absolute, suppressing all that came before.
The Golden Princess scrambled in desperate response. She sensed that catastrophe was at hand — if this continued, she would certainly be captured alive. And once that happened, her fate would very likely be worse than death.
Ye Fan naturally would not show mercy. This great battle today also served as a form of awe-inspiring intimidation — declaring to all sides his resolve. Having fought a Golden Clan’s Ancient Emperor’s daughter to the point of near-naked retreat, what else was there he would not dare do?
The Golden Princess had brought her entourage to seek him out and had aided Li Wentian. This battle was Ye Fan’s counterattack and punishment — fighting her until every last stitch of her battle garments was gone, leaving her very nearly completely bare.
“BOOM!”
Finally, the Golden Divine Treasury appeared once more. All manner of golden weapons manifested — golden aurora and auspicious radiance blazing, cascading brilliance in every direction. This was a resplendent world.
The Imperial Clan’s Heavenly Maiden stood before this divine treasury and confronted Ye Fan. Through divine sense transmission, she was forced to compromise — defeat and death were trivial things, but if the battle truly reached its final end and she was left bare before an audience of countless cultivators, she would sooner die.
She was the Ancient Emperor’s daughter — hailed as the most gifted divine maiden of a generation, renowned throughout the Primordial Age. She could not afford to lose that face. In this moment, her tall, graceful jade body gleamed with light. Biting her silver teeth, she negotiated — a peerless bearing, her face covered in frost.
Ye Fan calculated the time. The reinforcements were likely almost here. For if the Imperial Clan’s Heavenly Maiden had been unable to gain the upper hand and no one could come to her rescue, someone had very likely gone to summon the Ancestral King.
In the short term, it was impossible for him to exterminate an Ancient Emperor’s daughter. A Primordial Emperor’s descendant, fighting with no regard for anything, could at the very least hold out for a stretch of time.
He had fought this Ancient Emperor’s daughter to the point of leaving not a thread of clothing on her body — perhaps this had been the only possible means of quickly forcing her to yield. Now the effect had been achieved. The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden was grinding her silver teeth to dust.
Ye Fan dared not tarry. He demanded the Golden Divine Treasury secret art, traced the Dao patterns, and evolved out of them an identical expanse of divine treasury — spreading open a golden world of great Dao weapons.
Golden ancient bell, Dao sword, sacred pagoda, heaven blade… divine brilliance blazing to the eyes, rising and sinking in the air. A scene of brilliant splendor.
In truth, Ye Fan had also wanted to negotiate for a sacred weapon — yet the Golden Princess was furious, threatening mutually assured destruction. She threw him only a half-saint-level ancient artifact.
“Princess — to be honest, my admiration for you is as the flowing waters of a great river. Why not form an alliance?”
“With pleasure!” The Golden Princess ground her teeth, her golden beautiful eyes flickering with divine radiance, her slender fists trembling slightly — forcing herself not to charge over.
“You and I have truly hit it off at first meeting. We will certainly cooperate in the future. This time was too rushed — next time, I invite the Princess to share some Dao-enlightenment tea.” Ye Fan prepared to withdraw.
For the Black Emperor had transmitted a message from the distance, reminding him it was time to go — the sage-level Ancient King had very likely nearly arrived.
“One more thing — the Princess has been generous enough with me. Here is a divine silk jade garment in return — a small token, not worth much.” Ye Fan placed a precious garment in the void and decisively retreated.
The Golden Princess watched until his silhouette disappeared. With fury, she nearly shattered heaven and earth — and with one palm, she struck that divine silk jade garment of negligible value into dust.
“Human Race Sacred Body — I swear I will not kill you. But pray you never fall into my hands — ahh…!”
Not long after Ye Fan and his companions had disappeared, a gate in the void opened wide. A sage-level Ancient King appeared — divine might sweeping across ten thousand mountains, cold pupils like lightning, scanning the eight desolations.
“Are you unharmed, Princess?”
“I’m fine!”
The Golden Princess traversed the void directly and departed. She did not wish to remain in this place a single moment longer. Sacred earth, great mound — all of it cast aside completely.
The eyes of the Primordial Ancestral King flashed briefly. He fixed his gaze upon the great mound as though he intended to act — yet suddenly his heart gave a sharp jolt. He immediately tore open the void and left this place.
“You say — the Human Race Sacred Body has truly returned? He fought the Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden to near-nakedness and she fled in utter defeat?”
“It was truly him — revealed once more to the world!”
“The Golden Clan’s Heavenly Maiden must want to devour him alive — hahaha…!”
When this battle was reported to the wider world, onlookers were left dumbfounded. It became a great wave that swept across all lands, and Ye Fan became the burning focus of discussion everywhere beneath the heavens.
“Thud!”
With a tremendous crash, several days later the site of Yao Guang’s former ground split open. A vast and bottomless abyss appeared, from which faint strands of immortal qi began to overflow — aurora blazing across the sky.
Yet every person who came to this place was filled with dread. Not a single one dared draw near — as though facing one of the ancient Great Emperors. Even those as powerful as the Path-Severing realm trembled, unable to control the urge to prostrate themselves.
Ye Fan stood far in the distance and did not approach. His heart stirred in waves, feeling as though something was calling out to him — something that was connected to him.
“I don’t know how many saints have arrived. This place looks as though it could collapse the sky — this is absolutely the aura of an ancient Great Emperor!” The Black Emperor declared this with absolute certainty.