Gaze upon the mountains and they crumble, gaze upon the seas and they run dry; lock eyes for but a moment, and vast ages pass like turning tides.

Wisps of mist drifted and swirled. A slender figure stood within the haze, towering above the abyss, gazing down upon the Ancient Bronze Immortal Palace and the Primordial Immortal Earth below. She had condensed within herself an immortal power forged across countless ages.

Those as formidable as Gai Jiuyou, as breathtaking as the White-Robed Divine King — even they could only retreat, watching from a great distance, not daring to draw near.

The Ten Thousand Mountains fell utterly silent. The life force of all living things transformed into streams of crystal radiance, flowing toward her body, the undulations of life surrounding and enveloping her. She was one before whom even the Ancient Sages would bow in reverence.

When her eyes shifted, the cycle of reincarnation shattered, and even the most gifted of heaven’s chosen would be reduced to dry bones. She had not moved — merely appearing was enough to make one feel an irresistible urge to prostrate oneself. And those who felt this were all — Ancient Sages.

“Who is that?!” The ancient clans within the pit were naturally shaken, every one of them craning their gazes upward.

Above the abyss, the mist stirred. A pair of cold, indifferent eyes gazed downward, piercing through the void, causing every sage-level ancient king to feel wave after wave of suppression, their skin and bones turning icy cold.

Below, the hearts of several Ancient Sages suddenly surged with chilling dread. A cold current shot through their spines and they retreated involuntarily. The life energy within their bodies began to leak outward, their divine souls dimming — as though they had aged by several decades in an instant.

“What is happening?”

“Stop her — our life force is draining away, flowing toward her!”

Within the pit, the ancient clan’s gathered sages were shaken. Their vital energy overflowed from every pore, each one aglow with light, yet their core essence was diminishing rapidly — something that had never happened before.

“Attack! Push forward!”

Even if a Great Sage had arrived, they would not dare treat them this way. What manner of being was this? All ten thousand clans trembled before her, all four seas paid her reverence, none failed to submit.

Whoosh!

A jade-green arrow was loosed, no longer than a meter, yet the arc of light it carved was dazzling — like a comet illuminating the entire sky. Its ripples spread outward, and jagged, lightning-like fractures appeared throughout the void, the trajectory irregular and winding.

Pop!

That was a full-force strike from an Ancient Sage, yet it posed no threat to Huang whatsoever. The sage arrow halted ten zhang before her body, then shattered inch by inch, dissolving with a hiss into powder.

“What manner of being is this? Why has she fixed her gaze upon us? When did we ever make such a great enemy?” The entire assembly of sage-level ancient kings grew uneasy. She was too powerful — was this a quasi-emperor?

The expressions of Hun Tuo the Great Sage and the Golden King grew grave. One by one they were swept by waves of turmoil, a tide of crashing terror rising within their hearts. By instinct alone, they knew — this person was absolutely stronger than them.

“Move out!” said Qian Lun the Great Sage, issuing the order for one Ancient Sage to charge forward, bursting up out of the pit. The pressure underground was simply too great.

Boom!

The sage surged upward — but the moment he reached the mouth of the abyss, black mist rolled forward and swept over him. His entire body convulsed violently. His flesh and blood shriveled rapidly; he aged a full thousand years in an instant, losing a tremendous portion of his life force.

His face turned snow-white, his heart filled with terror, and he tumbled backward through the air. Losing a thousand years of vital essence was an unbearable weight. He seemed as though his very soul had been yanked out of him, and he plummeted downward.

“This is terrifying…” He crashed to the ground, his lips trembling, suffering far more than any life-or-death battle had ever made him suffer.

Above, the mist coiled and swirled. The slender silhouette grew ever more untouchable, as though she stood upon the ninth heaven itself. When her eyes swept across them, it inspired dread in the soul.

The mist surged and billowed, swallowing the entire pit like black clouds pressing down upon the earth, leaden and suffocating — even hearts as powerful as those of the Ancient Sages felt as though a great mountain had been placed upon their chests.

Whether in ages past or in the present, if one were asked who the true masters of this world were, the answer was without question the Ancient Sages.

Ancient Emperors and Great Emperors were born perhaps once every tens of millions of years; only the Ancient Sages appeared with any regularity, reigning over this world. And yet now they were being suppressed. Several Great Sages felt a chill of true terror.

“Is this one who is half a step from proving the Dao… or a human Great Emperor… who has been resurrected?” Even the Golden King’s voice had grown unsteady, a thread of fearful worry winding through it.

He, Hun Tuo the Great Sage, and Qian Lun the Great Sage had all lived through the era when the Battle Saint Emperor held dominion. They had witnessed with their own eyes the majesty of an Ancient Emperor — and they understood clearly just how terrifying it was. Undefeated across all ages, none could stand against such a being.

Yet the figure before them radiated no imperial aura. So why did her presence inspire the same soul-deep shock? It was as though a Great Emperor slumbered and lay coiled within her body.

“She is strange — what cultivation realm has she actually reached?” Doubt stirred within the hearts of the ancient clan kings.

“Let’s go — we move up and discuss from there.” Even Hun Tuo the Great Sage could no longer maintain his composure.

Ring, ring, ring!

A string of violet bells chimed. Qian Lun the Great Sage ascended, his body cloaked in violet energy. His powerful frame was shielded by an extreme-path ancient imperial weapon — the Ten Thousand Dragons Bell, each ring crystalline as violet agate, linked together to form a true dragon that shook the heavens, its demonic resonance deafening.

“Move up!” The Golden King’s eyes also sharpened. He drew forth his clan’s ancient imperial weapon, placing it before him to shield everyone within.

The Ancient Sage who had loosed the jade-green arrow before now drew his bow in rapid succession, sending dozens upon dozens of arrows flying. Though not weapons of legendary sage-craft, they were nonetheless the arrows of a sage, of extraordinary might — carving open a path forward, cleaving apart the black mist.

Yet it was utterly futile. The black mist devoured all. Every arrow’s vital energy was stripped away, each one dissolving with a pop, like bursting bubbles, then crumbling into ash.

Huang stood above them all. Her eyes held within them a thousand and ten thousand years. Possessing the power to strip away the life force of all living things, she finally moved — reaching out one hand and grasping forward.

It was a hand white as jade. Though wreathed in black mist, its crystalline radiance could still be seen. No distance was too great; it mattered nothing that the Ancient Sage attempted to flee — in an instant, he was seized.

“Ahhh…”

A cry of anguish rang out. The Ancient Sage struggled violently, yet could not break free. His jet-black hair rapidly turned snow-white. His once-luminous skin withered swiftly, filling with wrinkles, aging in the span of a single breath.

“This is… the power of time! Stop her quickly!” An Ancient Sage cried out in alarm, drawing his weapon and launching an attack.

Yet it was already far too late. Between those jade-white fingers, the Ancient Sage’s life energy ran dry, the flame of his divine soul was extinguished, and his entire body became drifting ash.

“What is she? She does not seem like a living being at all. Is she the embodiment of time itself, or the herald of death?”

There was not a single person present whose hair did not stand on end — especially the two Ancient Sages who had attacked, both of them deeply uneasy. They circulated their cultivation to try to recall the pagoda and the Heavenly Net Umbrella they had sent flying outward.

Slap!

A jade hand fell — simple and direct. The thirty-three-story ancient pagoda was reduced to dust, and the hundred-zhang-tall Heavenly Net Umbrella was turned to ash. Nothing remained of either sage weapon.

“Ahhh…”

At the same moment, two Ancient Sages cried out — for those crystalline jade fingers came sweeping down toward them. The trajectory was graceful, the motion light, yet utterly lethal.

“Great Sages, save us!”

The two Ancient Sages cried out, calling to the Golden King and Qian Lun for rescue, while simultaneously unleashing their own divine arts, striking with everything they had. Countless Dao-traces merged into a single net of radiant light.

Pop!

Huang’s power surpassed all mortal imagination. The Dao-traces shattered. The divine light was swallowed by the black mist. That jade hand covered them — no miraculous arts, only flowing haze.

The two men’s blood and vital energy ran dry. White hair scattered loose. Their teeth fell. Their bodies withered and shriveled, until only white bones remained — and then, shortly after, even those became bone dust that scattered across the floor of the pit.

“Could a quasi-emperor truly accomplish this?” At a distance, the White-Robed Divine King asked Gai Jiuyou, his eyes flickering with astonishing light as he watched it all unfold.

“One could… but…” Gai Jiuyou’s spirit, energy, and mind surged to their absolute peak, sweeping away all trace of his former sickly pallor. Like an unsheathed divine sword, his gaze blazed with brilliance as he stared fixedly at Huang.

Within the pit, the assembled Ancient Sages’ scalps all went numb. They were the rulers of this world — and yet now they had encountered a being that exceeded all understanding, one that posed a severe and existential threat to their lives.

“The Ancient Emperor awakens — suppress her!”

The Golden King let out a sharp shout, roaring aloud. The golden mace in his hand transformed into a blaze of divine radiance and swept forward, striking at Huang above the abyss.

Clang!

No one had anticipated it — the figure above the abyss met the blow directly with her bare hand. Her jade-white fingers flicked against the golden mace, releasing a clear and melodious immortal chime.

“What?! She’s blocking an extreme-path ancient imperial weapon with her bare hands?!”

A thunderous boom erupted. The pit exploded outward, primordial chaos churning. The ancient clan Great Sage who wielded the golden mace was sent flying backward, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, his face filled with terror.

Across the long ages, across the vast river of time throughout all antiquity — how many had dared block an extreme-path ancient imperial weapon with bare hands? They recalled that in the Primordial Era, the Battle Saint Emperor had done so.

By that reckoning… was this truly a human Great Emperor? Every Ancient Sage present was gripped by dread. A sage transcends the realm of mortal beings; an emperor transcends the realm of sages. The gulf between them is immeasurable and cannot be compared.

“She is not a human Great Emperor!” Hun Tuo the Great Sage spoke.

Someone etched array formations into the void, attempting to open a spatial gateway and flee far away — this place had truly become unbearable. If one could block an ancient imperial weapon with bare hands, how could anyone possibly fight?

But the mist rolled and roiled, descending from above, locking down the entire area. The void could not be opened; there was no way to traverse it.

“This… is disastrous. We must break through and escape!”

The Ten Thousand Dragons Bell rose into the air, transforming into a violet immortal dragon, swaying its head and undulating its tail. The ancient emperor of ten thousand dragons seemed to be reborn, and the assembled Ancient Sages nearly crumpled to the ground — this was an extreme-path aura of absolute suppression.

Smack!

Yet what happened next shook everyone to their core. Huang above simply struck out with a single palm. The ancient imperial weapon formed from those strings of violet-gold divine bells was sent flying on the spot — crashing into the sky and disappearing into the primordial chaos.

Qian Lun the Great Sage let out a cry, coughing up fresh blood, his life force rapidly draining. He stumbled backward in rapid retreat, then used his heart as an anchor to summon his imperial weapon back — the Ten Thousand Dragons Bell finally came flying back to him.

“What the — this is enough to give any Ancient Sage a heart attack! Who in the heavens is she?! Blocking ancient imperial weapons with bare hands?!”

“Several divine chains forged of sacred gold have been snapped — her power has grown even greater, as though she has broken through some kind of seal!”

High in the distant sky, Ye Fan, the Black Emperor, Duan De, and the others watched. Seeing this outcome, all of them wore expressions of utter disbelief.

“Huang has arrived. This group of Ancient Sages will be stripped to the bone even if they survive — the ancient clans are sure to suffer devastating losses from this!” said Duan De.

Huang struck again — and this time she descended directly into the abyss, her true body entering within. This sent the assembled Ancient Sages into a state of absolute panic, like a nest of wasps thrown into chaos.

As she drew near, life force drained away violently. No one could withstand it. Fortunately, the golden mace and the Ten Thousand Dragons Bell had been reawakened, their ancient imperial aura growing denser by the moment, sheltering everyone within a protective radiance of divine light.

“Fall back quickly — give her a clear path! She is heading for the Ancient Bronze Immortal Palace!” cried Hun Tuo the Great Sage.

But how could their speed match hers? The Ancient Sages still could not discern whether she was male or female, nor what her true face looked like — yet they felt she was of matchless, supreme grace.

Her slender silhouette was indistinct, her hair streaming in the wind. When that pair of eyes swept over them, every Ancient Sage’s entire body broke out in gooseflesh, a layer of tiny bumps rising across their skin — like a great dragon fixing its gaze upon a mongrel.

Two Ancient Sages were engulfed by the black mist, struggling desperately — yet their life force drained away and they were ultimately reduced to white bones. The others fought back with everything they had, particularly as the golden mace and the Ten Thousand Dragons Bell came striking in once more.

Clang!

This time the golden mace went horizontal — sent flying by Huang’s single palm, vanishing to the outer reaches, disappearing into the chaos.

Crash!

The Ten Thousand Dragons Bell blazed with violet light that blotted out the sun, auspicious energy rising in great plumes — but after ringing just a few times, it too was sent flying, struck out toward the outer-realm battlefield.

“Run!”

The three Great Sages turned and fled. Not a single fighting spirit remained in them. How could anyone fight such a being? There was no outcome but defeat — unless the Battle Saint Emperor himself were to be reborn.

“Ahhh…”

Blood splattered. A single jade palm descended, and two Ancient Sages were shattered apart. Crimson blood and pale white bone fragments flew — yet in the very next instant, their vital energy was entirely extinguished, and they crumbled into tribulation ash.