Cool moonlight fell across the entire ancient star, which lay in perfect stillness without a single wisp of cloud. Ye Fan walked alone, carefully sensing this unfamiliar land.
After stepping out of the five-colored sacrificial altar, he arrived on an unknown ancient star. The surface was hard and dry, and the temperature bitterly cold — a land of harsh desolation.
No plants, no water. Stars scattered the sky. In the deep silence of night, the earth stretched wide and open with only wisps of mist curling around the mountain ranges.
“Is it really so difficult to find a truly living ancient star?”
Ye Fan had been traveling for more than half a year. The only place he had encountered living creatures was a world of white bones. On every other star system he had passed through, there had not even been a single bone — not a trace of anything connected to life.
This place was barren to the last blade of grass. The ground was as hard as stone slabs. He walked a thousand miles and noticed nothing — yet he did not hurry on.
“One ancient star after another, all strung together by an ancient road — what were the ancients exploring? Surely this was not arranged as a trial ground specifically for those who came after. Perhaps it is precisely because so many ordeals were discovered that later generations chose to make use of it.”
“Could it be that, at the very far end of this road, the ancient sages are still fighting?”
Ye Fan considered many things. The road those ancient forebears had blazed must have been filled with danger — perhaps the battles had never ceased, while the generations who came after were simply living in a protected zone those forebears had carved out.
Suddenly, his expression stilled. After walking several hundred miles, he saw in the cool moonlight a faint silhouette — gaunt and thin, also wandering on foot.
“Someone?” Ye Fan’s expression shifted. He had swept the distance with his divine sense a moment ago and detected nothing — yet now a life form had appeared without warning.
The figure was extremely far away, at the edge of the horizon — tall and slender, like a specter, walking at an unhurried, steady pace.
“What kind of person is this?” Ye Fan was on high alert. No matter how he looked at it, this should have been a dead star — the air was thin, and all of it was toxic. There was no grass, no life force of any kind.
For a creature in human form to appear at this moment was naturally stunning to him. He wanted to investigate. Perhaps there would be some unexpected discovery.
When Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye, he was struck with surprise — it was not a human being at all, but a creature covered entirely in red fur, walking forward at a slow and steady pace with its head bowed.
“A creature in human form, covered in red fur…” The moment Ye Fan saw it, a strange feeling rose in his heart. His first thought was of the Source Master’s later years. He shook his head forcefully.
“We’re deep in the star domain now — it should have nothing to do with the Source Master’s lineage.” He followed carefully behind at a distance, advancing forward.
Roar!
Suddenly, a howl erupted. The gaunt, human-shaped creature’s red fur stood completely on end. It tilted its head back toward the moon and let out a roar into the open sky.
The scene was deeply unsettling. The silence of the dead star was shattered in an instant — mountains shook and earth trembled, rocks rolling and tumbling down.
This was a Dao-Severing creature, powerfully strong, carrying fury in its heart. Only after a long time did it calm, and then it entered a mountain range.
At the far end of the mountain range, a large black cave opened downward, leading straight underground. Mist boiled from within, rising continuously — enough to intimidate anyone. An ordinary person reaching this point would surely not dare enter, and would turn back.
Yet Ye Fan did not stop. He wanted to find clues. Perhaps this creature had seen Ji Haoyue, Pang Bo, Ji Ziyue, the Western Bodhisattva — there was no telling.
The cave was extremely deep, plunging straight to the underground depths. Shortly after descending, Ye Fan felt waves of living creature energy. In that moment, he understood — this ancient star was not devoid of life; it was all underground, forming its own small world.
After descending several thousand zhang, magma appeared, surging and boiling. And there below, many human-shaped creatures were living underground — they could actually drink the magma, drawing energy from it.
Fire Spirit Apes. The name surfaced in his mind at once. They had long since become extinct in the Northern Dipper, and yet here they were, living deep underground, surviving on any source of fire.
This was a powerful quasi-human race — their entire bodies were indestructible as vajra, impervious to blades and spears. It was an extraordinarily terrifying clan, and in their dwelling places, certain rare and precious treasures were known to grow alongside them.
“Who’s there?”
The moment Ye Fan entered, a thunderous shout rang out — a wave of divine sense like a tide sweeping over him.
Half-sage!
This ancient cave held a half-sage-level existence. Ye Fan had already dimly sensed this upon entering, and having it confirmed now put him even more at ease.
“Humans — more humans. Despicable!” The Fire Spirit Ape who had been strolling on the surface above shouted out, clearly someone of authority and leadership.
“I am merely passing through this ancient star. I have no desire to make enemies of you — I only wish to ask you a few questions,” Ye Fan said.
“I don’t trust humans. You stole the Fire Spirit Stone of our clan and made our survival far more difficult. Humans are despicable — we will never have dealings with your kind again.”
A group of Fire Spirit Apes lunged forward, one after another snarling ferociously, their red fur bristling on end, ready to kill him where he stood.
Ye Fan frowned. He had been caught up in someone else’s wrongdoing — paying for what another had done. He had no choice but to explain himself.
“It wasn’t you — but you are of the same race, and killing you is the only way to satisfy the hatred in my heart!” The powerful old ape bellowed.
A fight was utterly unavoidable — but unfortunately for them, they had come up against Ye Fan. Even a group of indestructible Fire Spirit Apes was not enough to pose a real threat: one after another, they were sent flying, coughing up fresh blood, their bodies split with fractures.
Ye Fan entered their ancient cave and carefully searched it. Opening one stone jar after another, he was hit with a wave of wine vapor so potent it nearly knocked him off his feet.
“Divine wine!”
Without any ceremony, he drank a full jar with relish. His entire body ignited as though on fire, with life essence overflowing in every direction — of immense benefit to cultivation.
“You monkeys — eyes red with fury, rushing to fight me to the death, and now you’re all flat on the ground? How did that happen?” Ye Fan filled his magical vessel with the apes’ divine wine. This was genuinely a fine brew.
The group of Fire Spirit Apes’ eyes went red. They believed another plunderer had come, and their fury reached its peak. One by one they shrieked and howled, glaring at him with resentment.
Ye Fan laughed. He took several dozen jars of divine wine, then tossed down a large pile of divine essence stones, their life energy overflowing in abundance, illuminating the entire ancient cave.
“I know this wine is extraordinary and must be of great use for your cultivation. I won’t take it for nothing — I’ll trade fairly.”
The group of Fire Spirit Apes were greatly surprised, looking at each other in bewilderment. The shrieking stopped.
“I want to know — have you seen these people?” He produced portraits of Ji Ziyue, Pang Bo, and the others, hoping to confirm whether they were ahead on the path.
“We have. Each of them passed through several years apart.”
Upon receiving this confirmation, Ye Fan let out a long breath of relief. He said: “You have been here for so many years — have your ancestors also encountered any particularly special individuals?”
“A few have left deep impressions. One was called Wushi. Another was called Wan Qing. Now that I think of it… there was also someone much like you — once battle began, golden qi and blood surged like a flood!”
The Fire Spirit Apes called to mind some legends from their ancestors. Living in such isolation, encounters with outsiders were rare, and so the memory of these individuals remained vivid.
Ye Fan’s heart stirred. The most powerful figures in the Northern Dipper’s history had indeed passed this way. Wushi needed no explanation — known to all under heaven. And “Wan Qing” surely referred to “Ten Thousand Ancient Azure Sky, a single lotus” — meaning the Azure Emperor.
“This time, the disaster that befell us — having our most precious treasure stolen, the Fire Spirit Stone taken away — was connected to that Wan Qing.”
The old ape who had reached the half-sage realm, seeing that Ye Fan had given them so many divine essence stones of such great benefit to the cultivation of the younger generation, calmed down and spoke of certain matters plainly.
“What? It was connected to the Azure Emperor — what happened?” Ye Fan’s spirit shook. He sensed that there was most likely a great secret here.
After the Desolate Era, the heavens and earth had undergone a great transformation. The Azure Emperor was the only one to have proven the Dao, called by the demon race “the one emperor of ten thousand ages” — precisely because he had walked this path of the greatest trial in history.
For these reasons, Ye Fan could not help but pay close attention. He had not expected the Fire Spirit Ape clan to know something of it.
“It is said that Wan Qing once passed through the star domain of that group of robbers and dwelled there for a long while, leaving behind many traces. In recent years, they seem to have discovered some important clue from the place where Wan Qing once went into seclusion, and have gone utterly frantic in their pursuit of something.”
The Fire Spirit Ape clan had simply suffered an undeserved calamity — those people had not come for the Fire Spirit Stone at all. But having discovered it, they naturally took it.
Ye Fan’s heart was stirred. What had the Azure Emperor left behind? Surely not the secret of his proving of the Dao — yet that thought set his heart surging like a boundless tide.
In the end, after learning all the information he needed, he bid farewell to the clan and set out once more on the ancient road through the stars.
“Let a truly living ancient star appear. I desperately yearn for one — and ideally, let it be in that group of people’s star domain.” Ye Fan prayed inwardly. He was thoroughly weary of the monotony of traveling from one dead star to the next.
Time passed swiftly. Another year had gone by in the blink of an eye. Along this road, Ye Fan had encountered several crises, each one narrowly overcome.
In this most recent year, he had not come upon a single truly living ancient star — but he had encountered more than a dozen solitary creatures of formidable strength, a few of which were truly fearsome.
“Another ancient star — and still no living creatures?” Ye Fan felt helpless. He longed for green vegetation, and hoped to see other races.
But he was disappointed once again. This was a small asteroid — bare and barren, with nothing at all.
“Something is off — what is watching me?”
Ye Fan stood suspended in the vault of sky, and with a sudden jerk of his head, he opened his Heavenly Eye sharply. He caught sight of a small aerial craft passing overhead.
“Hmm?”
His expression changed. He activated the walking character technique, his body transforming into a bolt of lightning as he gave chase, rapidly closing in on the metallic flying object in a single breath.
“This is…”
Ye Fan was genuinely astounded. This was an ancient flying craft orbiting the small star — performing a circular motion around it.
“Looking at the marks on it, it must be tens of thousands of years old at the least — yet it still hasn’t fallen, still circling endlessly…”
His spirit trembled. This was a product of a technological civilization, only long since abandoned over tens of thousands of years. When he slowly disassembled it, electrical sparks flickered continuously.
“A highly advanced technological civilization once flourished here.” Ye Fan murmured to himself, and a hesitation rose within him: should he continue forward along the ancient stellar road, or should he search this region laterally for a time?
In the end, Ye Fan stopped. He decided to search this star domain and see whether any astonishing discoveries could be made.
Drawing on the array platforms the Black Emperor had prepared for him, he traversed toward several neighboring planets — naturally not all at once, but in many stages, continuously switching between the chessboard array platforms.
He descended upon four dried-up small asteroids in succession, and discovered some ruins — apparently temporary landing bases for spacecraft, though they too had been abandoned.
When he descended upon the fifth small star, Ye Fan felt a jolt in his heart. He saw a massive elevated platform upon which two spacecraft sat.
There was a base here. Though it had been abandoned for untold ages, one could see that someone had recently made use of it again — with strong life fluctuations present.
“Someone is here!” Ye Fan moved swiftly and silently, keeping to the underground, concealing his aura and presence as thoroughly as possible with Dao markings.
“Have you made any discoveries? We’ve been at it all this time and found nothing at all. What exactly did that Wan Qing leave behind? Tens of thousands of years have passed and the higher-ups are still this fixated, hunting down every place he walked.”
Ye Fan perceived their meaning through his divine sense. His heart was far from calm — “Wan Qing” was the Azure Emperor, and these people were tracing his footsteps from long ago.
“We found nothing connected to Wan Qing either — but we made another great discovery. We obtained a Fire Spirit Stone — a rare divine mineral used in refining the supreme body evolution liquid.”