The three words “Gai Jiuyou” seemed to hold a strange and uncanny power. Many elders among the ancient clans felt a chill down their spines, genuinely terrified that some reckless junior might, in this very moment, go and provoke him — causing that unfathomably cultivated, ailing elder to open a path of slaughter. That would be a catastrophe of the highest order.
Gai Jiuyou had spoken only a few words, yet their power was immense. In the days that followed, even the most aggressive of the ten great royal tribes settled down considerably. At the very least, none of them dared openly declare again that they would leave the human race with bones piled like mountains and rivers of blood — they lowered their profile.
“Hmm. The terrifying aura of the Primordial Forbidden Desolate Land has grown many times over in intensity. At this rate, no one will be able to enter it at all.” Ye Fan arrived at the Southern Domain, observing this zone of life prohibition from afar.
He had come this time aboard a saint-level spacecraft — its surface shimmering with metallic light, named by him the Flying Immortal No. 12580. He had appointed the two prisoners — the violet-eyed girl and her elder brother — as deputy ship captains. However, they were not actually piloting the vessel. They were currently at the Village of Heaven, being thoroughly interrogated by the Black Emperor for core classified information.
This spacecraft had lost the sixteen-foot golden figure that had been enshrined within it — the deity of this sacred artifact — and its capabilities had deteriorated noticeably. Though it remained swift, it was far from what it had once been.
A spacecraft flickering with silver radiance descending outside a life prohibition zone was enough to astonish a great many people — they had no idea what to make of it. But Ye Fan’s appearance drew even more attention.
He had come here to set up an offering table. He did not pray himself, but had the young monk who had come along from Earth — Hua Hua — respectfully make offerings, while he himself acted in an inexplicably mysterious manner, muttering to himself without cease.
By now this place had long since become a sacred domain. After the battle within the Bronze Immortal Palace, human cultivators frequently came here to pay their respects. This was believed to be the cultivation ground of an ancient great emperor. “Desolation” was thought to be a human emperor existing in some wondrous state, and people hoped she would shelter the human race.
Ye Fan had his young disciple pay reverence here while he himself acted strangely, murmuring in a low voice: “Great Emperor of the human race, please awaken. The ancient clans have gone too far. The human race’s shame must be washed away by an ancient great emperor. Please return at the earliest opportunity!”
“In years past, when I first came to this world, I was graced by the great emperor’s care — given nine wondrous sacred fruits that transformed my constitution. And now you have given me the cauldron of all things’ mother qi. I have nothing worthy of repaying such gifts.”
“In between, I twice departed this world — both times through the Primordial Forbidden Desolate Land, with the aid of the great emperor’s five-colored sacrificial altar. I am deeply grateful.”
“I once beheld the Bronze Immortal Palace — that blood-soaked character for ‘immortal’ alone filled me with awe. It was a profound experience. It expounded the true meaning of the Great Dao.”
“I witnessed your several coffins — they grasped the mysteries of creation, their battle power shook all ages, your talent and brilliance surpassed all others who have ever lived…”
Ye Fan went on and on, his murmuring making those who heard it feel a creeping unease. It seemed as though he and the great emperor within the Primordial Forbidden Desolate Land shared some profound karmic bond — the more one heard him speak, the more unsettled one felt.
His two departures from this world were already common knowledge. Both times he had left through the five-colored sacrificial altar of the Primordial Forbidden Desolate Land, in full view of thousands — many had witnessed it with their own eyes.
Hearing him speak this way, no small number of human cultivators were filled with unease. Could this person truly have some connection to Desolation? Was he now praying, imploring the human emperor to emerge?
Outside the Primordial Forbidden Desolate Land, these past days there had been a steady stream of visitors, with many offering tables set up. Naturally some had seen him, and some had heard his words.
“What is he trying to do?”
“Is he trying to summon the human great emperor to suppress the ancient clans? That seems a bit far-fetched.”
“My feeling is that he’s up to no good — he’s making a deliberate show of mystery. Most likely he’s bluffing the ancient clans.”
Ye Fan patted the shaved head of the little monk Hua Hua — whom he had personally tonsured — and said, “Good disciple — use your innate spiritual sensitivity to reach out. Pay your respects with sincerity.”
“Yes, Master! I’m very devout and earnest. I’ll do my best to pull off a big one — summon the human great emperor and wipe out all those wretches from the ancient clans.” Hua Hua was only a few years old, yet he had the look of a clever and mischievous little spirit. His speech carried a roguish edge, severely “contaminated” by the Black Emperor and Long Ma.
Ye Fan was left speechless, and could only rub the child’s little bald head and say with weighty earnestness, “Spend less time with that black dog going forward. Actually, perhaps I should send you to study under Wei Yi, the old saint, instead.”
“That black dog is really no good at all! I’ve been wanting to get away from it for ages. When Master brought back that mysterious ore pool liquid, it kept competing with us for a soak, crowding in and refusing to leave. I have nothing but contempt for it a hundred times over.” Hua Hua said.
The more Ye Fan looked at him, the more something felt off. This was clearly a very soft, delicate-looking child — long lashes, big eyes darting around with clever life, like a porcelain doll. How had he come to sound like this? Spending his days mixed up with the Black Dog and Duan De — it was no wonder he was turning out like this.
“Actually, the worst one is my senior martial brother Ye Tong,” Hua Hua went on, aggrieved. “He’s always scaring me for no reason. When he’s the one doing something wrong, it always ends up being blamed on me.”
Ye Fan’s forehead creased with exasperation. “The hell — all my disciples have been led astray. Thank goodness I didn’t bring Xiao Song along, or there’s no telling what he’d have turned into.”
“Master, Master — I am pure and innocent! None of those rotten things are things I did. I wasn’t secretly selling the Dao-Comprehension Tea — Duan De forced me to make the trade. And I didn’t sneak a drink of Kill-Saint Qi Luo’s divine wine either — I just happened to walk past, and the smell of the wine hit me and I fell drunk into the wine jar. And also…” The little bald Hua Hua’s eyes were clear black and white, and he spoke with complete seriousness.
“Nonsense — it’s all been investigated already. Everything was you!” Ye Fan gave him a light knock on the head. “Get back to careful sensing. Pay attention and call out with your heart.”
“Yes, Master! Your orders will be obeyed!” Hua Hua straightened his small back and began chanting sutras — murmuring devotedly, looking every inch the little divine swindler.
Ye Fan was truly not a good master. Whether it was Ye Tong, Xiao Song, or the current Hua Hua — none of them had ever received his devoted instruction, and he had spent long stretches as an entirely hands-off guardian.
This approach did, admittedly, maximize their natural gifts to the fullest extent, preventing them from being limited by Ye Fan’s own accomplishments and influence — but it also, without question, tended to produce untamed horses that galloped however they liked, beyond all restraint. Heaven only knew what they would amount to in the future.
Recently, while staying in the Village of Heaven, Ye Fan had learned by accident from Kill-Saint Qi Luo that this little one was born with a natural psychic ability — at distances incredibly far removed, he could engage in direct mind-to-mind communication with others. This was a mysterious innate divine ability, a hidden treasure of the human body, opened naturally from birth.
This also helped Ye Fan understand why this child had experienced the Buddhist phenomenon of “Consciousness Repository” — receiving the supreme inheritance of the Buddhist tradition. His mental and spiritual power was on a level beyond human — to a degree that defied comprehension.
He had come here partly to confirm whether Desolation truly was a human great emperor, and partly to use this as a grand display of force — to frighten and intimidate the ancient clans, to leave them second-guessing and afraid.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a terrifying aura surged up from within the Primordial Desolate Depths below. Black mist rose in a billowing flood, blotting out the noon sun, and the entire life prohibition zone shuddered.
Everyone’s expression turned to one of astonishment. All eyes turned toward Ye Fan and Hua Hua — the master and disciple — in a daze. Had they truly triggered something?
“He departed this world twice through this very place. To say he has no connection to Desolation would defy all belief. Otherwise, who else could manage it? Who else would dare enter?”
“It genuinely looks as though it was these two — master and disciple — praying that caused this commotion. Terrifying!”
The crowd was unnerved. All of them took several steps back, distancing themselves from that area. Though they were all of the same human race, there was something about these two that inspired a kind of fear — no one knew what changes they might be about to set in motion.
“Master, I can sense it. There is a powerful divine mental force down in that abyss — it is frightening. Beyond anyone I have ever sensed. Compared to Kill-Saint Grandfather, it is more terrifying by a number of times beyond counting.” Hua Hua said.
Ye Fan’s expression grew difficult to read. He did not know whether pressing on would take things beyond his control. If a genuine catastrophe materialized, even if divine beings came, there would be no saving them.
“Slowly tell her everything I taught you.” In the end, this was the decision he made.
“Ancient great emperor on high — Hua Hua presents his greetings. The human race faces great calamity…” A child’s tender voice carried through the mind and reached down toward the jet-black abyss, a sincere and devout prayer.
As Hua Hua activated his psychic power, a silver-white vortex appeared above his head — like a door to reincarnation had opened. And across the skin of his scalp, markings and patterns appeared, spreading outward.
Ye Fan was astonished. The human body was truly mysterious — every inch of flesh and blood harbored a treasury within, with countless sacred gateways waiting to be opened. Even those who cultivated all the way to sainthood might not manage to unlock many of them.
Yet some people were born with exceptional innate gifts — possessing all manner of special divine abilities from birth, present before any cultivation had taken place, granted by heaven from the moment of their arrival. These were the heaven-bestowed treasures.
“Several figures have emerged…” From the distance came a burst of astonished cries. Cultivators who had opened their Heavenly Eye described to the crowd what they saw.
Deep within the Primordial Forbidden Desolate Land, atop the nine sacred mountains, black mist surged and rolled upward from the depths of the abyss. Several figures stood within the black mist — they were the Desolation Slaves.
BOOM!
All at once, a particular, extraordinary aura swept through — as though a breach had opened in heaven and earth, and the divine power of the nine skies above was pouring in through it, making one feel an irresistible urge to kneel.
The young child Hua Hua’s face went white, his lips trembling. “Master — this human great emperor is too powerful. No — she should be a divine being. The psychic power I can sense is like a complete physical body, rather than the power of her own true mind.”
Ye Fan’s expression grew grave. He opened his Heavenly Eye and gazed into the distance, toward the nine sacred mountains, carefully observing everything there.
Desolation — it was truly her. She had appeared above the abyss. Through the black mist, she was looking toward this place. The young child Hua Hua had genuinely summoned her out!
It was world-shattering. All beneath heaven shook.
“Great Emperor of the human race, please receive my prayers. As time has flowed like a river, from the age of primordial desolation to this day, the human race has…” Hua Hua murmured devotedly, conveying in earnest the words that Ye Fan and the others had taught him in the Village of Heaven, recounting the circumstances of the human race across all these years.
Desolation had appeared. Everyone was stunned. The cultivators fell back. They stared at Ye Fan and the young child Hua Hua with wide, unblinking eyes — speechless. She had truly been summoned by these two?
“The Human Race’s Sacred Body is outside the Primordial Forbidden Desolate Land, summoning Desolation. It is said the abyss is the cultivation ground of the human great emperor. Is he trying to invite her to emerge from seclusion?”
The ancient clans had received word. Some were filled with alarm and deep unease. Others laughed in cold contempt and prepared to cross the void and intercept Ye Fan, striking him down.
“Ancient great emperor — please act…” The young child Hua Hua prayed.
Ye Fan frowned. A pendant in his hand began to glow — indicating that ancient saints were nearby. He had no choice but to withdraw.
He had once given Wei Yi, the old saint, some Dao-Comprehension Tea. In return, the elder had given him this object — a magical artifact forged by the ancient founding master of the Tianxuan Holy Land, mysterious in its workings. At great distances it could sense the aura of saints — even those in transit through the void. Based on the different colors of its flickering light, one could judge how close they were.
Ye Fan had just moved to take Hua Hua and withdraw, when suddenly the ancient saints in the distance were struck with horror. They caught sight of Desolation truly appearing above the abyss — and immediately turned and fled!
“Desolation — summoned by him. The Human Race’s Sacred Body truly has some unknown connection to her!”
This news spread rapidly through the ancient clans. It was as though a hornet’s nest had been kicked open — the various tribes of the Northern Domain erupted in noise, wave after wave of alarm spreading through them.
The ancient clans who had received word and rushed over — the moment they appeared and caught sight of that terrifying figure within the life prohibition zone — each and every one was so frightened that they fled in the very first instant.
Not one among the ancient clans had expected that Ye Fan would truly summon Desolation!
It shattered stone and split the sky. All beneath heaven trembled.
“Master — this is… a divine being. When I close my eyes, I can see a human-shaped radiance. Compared to her, the light of our own selves is like a speck of dust.” The little bald Hua Hua was frightened. His small face had gone white as snow, his bald head shining like a lamp.
Ye Fan fixed his gaze ahead, looking into the distance.
At this very moment — above the Primordial Desolate Abyss, the tall and slender figure half-concealed within the black mist suddenly spoke. She said one word:
“Immortal…“
Desolation had spoken!
Ye Fan was shaken to his core. He was certain he had not misheard. This was a woman’s voice — as beautiful as the music of heaven — yet it carried with it an unsurpassed and absolute dignity.