This was a stone forest, set within a mountain range — uneven and jagged, stretching in all directions. This was merely the entrance. Ahead lay an expanse of great scope: stone peaks and giant boulders rising tall, occupying a vast stretch of land.

Barren ground was common throughout the Northern Domain — it accounted for more than ninety-five percent of its territory. By comparison, this particular place was relatively lush, with a fair amount of vegetation growing among the rocky peaks and stone forest.

Further in, past the stone forest entrance, a vast expanse of primordial old forest spread out — pine trees surging like waves, enclosing the rocky terrain into one distinctive zone after another.

And further still, a stone forest region of seemingly boundless extent was ringed by lush ancient mountain ranges, looking strangely out of place amid the dense and flourishing woodland.

This was a place most people dared not enter — a land of danger, held by one of the great ancient royal bloodlines since time immemorial. Ordinary path-severing cultivators gave it a wide berth, steering clear from a great distance.

For this tribe had a fearsome reputation. They were counted among the ten most ferocious ancient tribes. A single disagreement could turn lethal. Since ancient times, they had exterminated countless great clans.

“RRROARR—!”

A roar rang out. A massive tiger-leopard-like creature came bounding through the stone peaks — ten meters long, each leap carrying it several kilometers, its body agile and powerful, its breath heavy and oppressive, enough to strike fear into the heart.

It looked back, spotted Ye Fan and his companions, and the ferocity in its eyes blazed to full intensity. With one leap of eight kilometers from one stone peak, it landed on another and looked down at them from above.

“The Stone Tribe is truly something — even a creature kept loose at their mountain gate has reached the path-severing realm. Their foundations run deep indeed.” Ye Fan remarked with some surprise.

They had moved quickly. By the time news of what happened at the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars began to spread, they were already deep in the Northern Domain, seeking out the most radical of the ancient royal bloodlines. The reckoning was about to begin.

Gai Jiuyou intended to seek an accounting with the ancient tribes from the Northern Domain and draw his sword here — radiating an edge that would shake the world. Ye Fan and the old sage of the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars followed without the slightest hesitation.

“RRROARR—!”

The difference between this beast and an ordinary fierce creature was most striking in one feature: across its brow, where there should have been flesh and fur, there was instead a slab of stone — no blood, no hair, just that jutting expanse of rock, oddly conspicuous.

This was the Stone Tribe. According to legend, their ancestors were born from the union of a holy spirit and an ancient tribal bloodline — powerful beings who then married into other tribes over the generations and grew into a royal bloodline. Many of their descendants carry patches of stone across their bodies.

“Slash!”

The beast could not gauge the depth of the three figures before it. The stone slab across its brow shot out a divine radiance — an innate divine art passed down from its ancestors, capable of piercing through mountains.

“Smack!”

Ye Fan raised his hand and sent it flying. The beast let out a fierce and furious roar, and the commotion immediately drew out the ancient tribal members guarding the mountain entrance. A group of them came rushing in.

“Who dares intrude upon our Stone Tribe’s mountain gate?” This tribe had its peculiarities. Some of its members appeared in humanoid form; others resembled animals. Every last one of them bore large patches of stone across their bodies, emanating a dim and faint luminescence.

“It is I — the Ye Fan whom you have longed to find and have sent ancient sages to kill.” Ye Fan said.

Gai Jiuyou walked behind him. The old sage of the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars followed. Ye Fan stood in the very front — tall and powerfully built, his blood energy strong and masculine, his eyes carrying undisguised, full-bore killing intent.

“You… have some incredible nerve. All ten great royal bloodlines are hunting for you, wanting to grind you to mud — and yet here you walk straight to our door!”

News from the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars had not yet reached this place. They did not yet know that seven ancient sages had fallen — and one by one, their eyes glinted with cold light.

In ordinary times, who would dare come here to cause trouble? Everyone gave this place a wide berth. The Stone Tribe was counted among the ten most ferocious ancient tribes — their name had echoed through the ages, their fearsome reputation well established. Cross them, and the result was invariably a bloodbath of extermination.

“How convenient — word is you once slaughtered a sage. You come to my Stone Tribe today to establish your dominance? Then so be it — we will oblige you. Ha ha…” One of them laughed.

By now the entire world knew of Ye Fan’s fearsome and extraordinary power — none below the sage realm dared provoke him. But now that he had come seeking a fight on their doorstep, he was walking to his own death.

The Stone Tribe had a fearsome reputation, and it was well established. Of course ancient sages presided over them — otherwise, what right had they to call themselves a royal bloodline? No matter how powerful he was, he would not be able to make waves here.

“Human Sacred Body, your life is truly charmed. You probably don’t know this yet — one of our tribe’s ancient sages went to Central Province to intercept and kill you. To think you never boarded the five-colored altar — otherwise, you would have been dead long since.”

The stone tribe commander guarding the mountain gate shook his head, marveling at his lucky life. A thread of cold settled over his face. “Pity that you’ve walked into death’s embrace on your own.”

Ye Fan laughed — then his laugh turned cold: “Your information is badly out of date. Do you still not know what earth-shattering event has taken place today? Seven ancient sages fell in Central Province in a single day!”

“Boasting — a man about to die, still trying to frighten us with words.” The commander shook his head.

But in the distance, a long cry rang out. A stone hawk swept across the sky, coming fast. It projected a wave of divine sense crackling with urgent alarm.

“Disaster! Our tribe’s ancient sage has fallen in Central Province — a great enemy is heading for the Northern Domain. They are coming for us!”

“Crack!”

Ye Fan extended a single finger. A beam of golden light struck out, and the stone hawk exploded — stone shards and blood scattering, the transmitted divine sense cut off.

“Go — report to the patriarch. The human Sacred Body has come to seek his own death.” The commander changed color. Though he himself was a half-sage, he dared not face Ye Fan.

Everyone in the present world knew: outside of the celestial phoenix among the Void Way, the dragon daughter of the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest, and a few others among the children of ancient emperors, no one below the sage realm could stand against him.

“There is no need to report anything. We will go in ourselves.” Ye Fan said. With a great shout, golden blood energy blazed to the heavens. He transformed into a streak of light and charged forward.

“Crack,” “crack”—

He began cutting down members of the Stone Tribe at their own mountain gate — one punch, one explosion — utterly unchecked. Not a single person could stop him for even one step.

“Have we truly entered an age of chaos? A mere path-severing cultivator dares to come here and stir up my Stone Tribe — does an ant really think it can bite an elephant to death?” A stern, authoritative voice resounded.

A haze of sacred light appeared in the air, slowly descending. It enveloped the figure within, making him appear like a divine being transcending this mortal world.

The Stone Tribe’s sage had appeared. He reached out toward Ye Fan with a grasping motion. “You are nothing but a lucky ant. Had things gone as planned, my tribe brother should have crushed you to death in Central Province long ago.”

“Is that so? What a show of might from your Stone Tribe — coming to my Manor of Extraordinary Scholars to kill people, and attempting to seize the five-colored altar left behind by a Great Emperor of antiquity. Today, we have come to demand an accounting.” The old master of the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars struck out with a palm, blocking him.

“A human ancient sage?!” The figure manifested his true body — a form of flesh and blood, with a head of thick yellow hair, radiating a heaven-spanning might, blood energy spilling out and making the cosmos groan and tremble.

“Report — just now, a stone hawk sent a transmission stating that the seven ancient sages who went to Central Province have all been wiped out. Unknown if true.” The commander guarding the mountain gate said.

“What?!” The Stone Tribe patriarch was stunned on the spot.

“Grave news — the sages shed their blood in Central Province, all of them fallen!” From the distance, a terrified cry rang out as someone came flying toward them.

The Stone Tribe was entirely stunned. This was an earth-shattering development. Their information had been somewhat delayed — and only now did they begin to feel that something had gone terribly wrong.

“You… who are you?” The Stone Tribe patriarch fixed his gaze on Gai Jiuyou. The longer he looked, the more his heart froze — every hair on his body was standing on end one by one.

“My name is Gai Jiuyou. I have come here to reason with you.” Gai Jiuyou stepped forward.

“What — the human race’s… Gai Jiuyou?!” The Stone Tribe patriarch’s courage collapsed. He was nearly shaking. He had never imagined that this being — one who inspired deep unease even among the ancient sage-level members of the ancient tribes — would come directly to their door. The surface of his body rapidly turned to stone, his entire form petrifying into a man of rock, his defensive power reaching an astonishing level.

“Terrible news — Gai Jiuyou has entered the Northern Domain! He is going to kill the ten great royal bloodlines to establish his dominance…” From the distance, several figures appeared, rushing toward them to bring word.

It was not that their information was too slow — it was that Ye Fan and his companions had moved too quickly. Though they had spent some time searching for the ancient tribal strongholds, they had still moved faster than the news.

“Supreme one of the human race — you cannot do this…” The Stone Tribe patriarch, who just moments ago had carried himself with imposing divine authority, radiating sacred light as he descended from the sky with serene composure, was now trembling.

A supreme being of the human race had arrived. With a single raised hand, he could wipe out this entire tribe — erase them cleanly and completely from the face of the world.

This was the difference in strength.

He was an ancient sage — he could look down upon all beneath the heavens, he could pluck the moon from the sky, he could refine stars beyond the domain, he was near-omnipotent, viewing all living things as ants.

Yet before this sickly old man, he had not a shred of will to fight. His courage had shattered. His body was shaking.

It was not that he was contemptibly inadequate — it was that Gai Jiuyou was emanating his divine might. Strand after strand of energy radiated out and locked onto him, sending the Stone Tribe patriarch reeling with a terror that originated in his very soul.

“No — AHHH—!” He let out a great cry. Within the domain Gai Jiuyou had released, his stone-covered body began to crack apart rapidly — and then, with a thunderous boom, it exploded. Blood poured down like rain.

All around, perfect silence. Every member of the Stone Tribe was pale and terrified, afraid beyond any measure, every one of them shaking. Their patriarch — who could ascend to the nine heavens and descend into the deepest underworld, who had dominated the world for five thousand years, who was famous even among patriarchs, and who should have been a supreme, untouchable existence for all beneath him — had just been destroyed by Gai Jiuyou without so much as a raised hand. A single released domain, and the Stone Tribe patriarch — renowned for his unmatched defensive power — had been reduced to fragments. Killed, utterly and completely.

Ye Fan and the old sage of the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars were themselves shaken. A level like this — it left even ancient sages able only to look up in awe from afar. This was a supreme being who could stand alongside the greatest heroes of all history.

Gai Jiuyou walked forward. He made no further moves — and yet the Stone Tribe’s powerhouses all fell back, and within a few steps had simply collapsed to the ground outright, as if in the presence of a true god.

From the far sky, a faint tremor arrived — an ancient sage had opened a domain gate and was trying to cross the void and flee.

“RUMBLE!”

Gai Jiuyou extended one hand in a strike. That place was obliterated. An ancient sage cried out, dissolving into blood and dust and ash — body and soul both destroyed without a trace.

The Stone Tribe fell into panic. That tribe had three ancient sages in total — and now all three were gone. This was tantamount to the arrival of an extinction-level catastrophe.

“Since this old one has acted, not one of those who has bullied and humiliated my human race will be allowed to walk away.” The aged words held no shift in emotion — utterly calm and flat. Yet they left all four directions in silence.

The Stone Tribe trembled. Every last member knelt and prostrated themselves, pressed down by an overwhelming presence, unable to move a single limb. The one who had come could wipe out their entire tribe dozens, hundreds of times over.

However, Gai Jiuyou did not move against them. This time, his targets were the ancient sages specifically. He had no wish to slaughter the innocent indiscriminately.

“I’ve found something extraordinary!” The old master of the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars looked like a cunning old fox whose eyebrows themselves were smiling with joy. In his hands were four broken stone fragments, each about the size of a palm, ancient and mysterious, with interlocking vein-like patterns burned into their surfaces.

“Fragments of the Holy Spirit Divine Garment?!” Gai Jiuyou was surprised, and nodded.

Ye Fan was astonished. These were indeed extraordinary finds. A holy spirit was a supreme existence who dared to challenge even Great Emperors of antiquity. The Stone Tribe, as descendants of a holy spirit’s union with an ancient bloodline, possessing such a peerless rare treasure was perfectly plausible. This was a supreme defensive artifact.

Gai Jiuyou did not touch any of it. The old master of the Manor of Extraordinary Scholars and Ye Fan swept through the Stone Tribe, conducting a thorough search for spoils of war. They came away with a considerable haul of precious materials.

“Let us go. Next destination.” Gai Jiuyou spoke. His aged body was not impressive in stature — but his spine was straight as a rod, and he stepped forward through the domain gate.

Eight thousand years ago, he had been matchless and magnificent, a figure of towering grandeur. Now his body had long since left its youth behind — his blood energy dried out, his very eyes clouded over. A hero of the age had grown entirely old. Ye Fan felt a tremor pass through his chest. He sensed the melancholy of a great hero in the twilight of his life.

One hour later — every sage of the Cyan Ghost Tribe was annihilated.

Two hours later — every ancient sage of the Purple Lightning Tribe was struck down and killed.

Three hours later — every patriarch of the Divine Wheel Tribe was executed. Not one escaped.

……

The Eastern Wastelands was shaken. The ancient tribes trembled with fear. They could barely stand. The entire world boiled over. The supreme of the human race had made his move — he had drawn his sword against the ancient tribes — and the edge of that peerless blade illuminated the entirety of the land.