The great mothership drifted through the pitch-black cosmos. Fan Xian’s face had gone snow-white. She bit her silver teeth, her expression unbearably grim. The ancient-saint-level five-element mechanized armors had been destroyed — five powerful combatants, annihilated to the last.

“How could this happen…” She possessed a transcendent beauty, and as she watched the five soul-traces disappear from the crystal panel, her heart churned with resentment and grief.

He was nothing more than a Dao Severing cultivator — however exceptional his bloodline, it should still have been far removed from an ancient saint. Yet he had displayed such terrifying combat power, inflicting such severe consequences. It was impossible to accept.

“The five secret-power seeds must be recovered. They were excavated from the ruins of an ancient divine civilization. Who knows — they may prove useful in the future.” An elder spoke.

From those ruins they had obtained great gains: ancient alchemy techniques, a fragmentary array formation for sealing the heavens. These five-element seeds had initially seemed unremarkable, nothing particularly dazzling. It was only in recent years, when they began emanating five-colored divine radiance, that their true brilliance had gradually emerged after being installed within the ancient-saint mechanized armors.

“The losses this time are far too severe…”

The people aboard the mothership all wore dark, heavy expressions. The weight of such a crushing price was suffocating — these were elite and mysterious ancient-saint mechanized armors. Losing even one would be enough to cripple a typical great clan.

Though Heaven’s plunderers possessed considerable reserves, they could not sustain losses of this magnitude. This was a calamity — enough to make one want to spit blood.

“The price was too great!” Fan Xian’s snow-white, crystalline face was a mix of fury and shock, tinged with something like regret. All of this had come from trying to deal with Ye Fan, and yet the outcome was this — disastrous losses with nothing to show for it.

To be precise: they had gained absolutely nothing, while suffering devastating losses.

Amid the cold and starry void, Ye Fan stood still in quiet contemplation. Metallic fragments drifted around him, and five seed-like points of radiance still flowed, slowly beginning to dim.

“Five-colored divine radiance!”

This was the most fundamental essence within the five mechanized armors — one glance was enough to know these were extraordinarily rare.

The radiance was fading, growing darker by the moment. The aura of the ancient divine civilization weakened, on the verge of dissolving into nothingness.

Ye Fan activated his Military Seal and drew those five streams of divine radiance toward himself, letting them coil around his fingertips as he bent his head to examine them carefully.

Each seed was crystalline and translucent, its surface inscribed with the runes of the ancient divine civilization — radiant with a subtle, mysterious power, pulsing faintly, spreading outward like ripples on water.

“They won’t last. It won’t be long before they exhaust themselves.”

With a subtle stirring of his heart, Ye Fan’s Primordial Spirit flew forth — the golden little figure opened its mouth and drew in a deep breath, absorbing all five seeds within. Its entire body immediately shimmered with the treasured radiance of the Five Elements.

Ancient symbols flashed one after another across the surface of the golden figure. Ye Fan experienced a sudden inspiration and quickly resonated with them, capturing every stream of vital energy and imprinting it on his heart.

The five secret-power seeds grew dimmer within the golden figure, dissolving rapidly — unable to endure for long. But as streams of order-chains wove together, at the very last instant before dissolution, the most fundamental essence was revealed.

“Capture it — it must be inscribed!”

The golden figure blazed with intense light, locking every ancient symbol firmly in memory and arranging them within his heart-sea, contemplating them with full concentration.

These were the Five Elements — the most terrifying forces in all of heaven and earth. To master them was to govern all things under heaven, standing above all the wise and mighty.

“This is a divine art of the Eternal Kingdom’s ancient divine civilization, preserved in the form of secret-power seeds — and now it is mine.” Ye Fan was overjoyed.

Every living world, every stellar domain, and even the entire universe could be interpreted through the Five Elements. This was a supreme power without equal.

The Five Elements as root, constructing worlds, becoming the river of cosmic stars — this was the foundation of the Dao.

How could Ye Fan not be overjoyed to obtain such a seed of divine technique? He pondered without cease, pushing and refining it again and again in his mind, wishing he could immediately achieve complete mastery.

This was a secret art of the ancient divine civilization — naturally vast and profound. It swiftly drew him into a state of enlightenment, his mind fully immersed, his entire body radiating five-colored divine light.

All five secret-power seeds had dissipated, and every symbol had faded from the surface of the golden figure. All had returned to nothingness. Yet Ye Fan had preserved that perfect, foundational imprint.

The secret power had been the residual divine energy left behind by the ancient divine civilization, and now it had finally been extinguished. But the most precious imprint had been inherited. So long as Ye Fan’s power was sufficient, he could one day condense divine energy on his own.

“What was most precious was not the ancient-saint-level five-element mechanized armors themselves, but the five secret-power seeds harbored within — what a magnificent and unexpected windfall!” Ye Fan couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Though the pale blue mechanized armor had been destroyed and none of the five-element divine armors had been claimed intact, his mood had never been better. He felt completely at ease.

The mechanized armor was ultimately an external object — like a captured ancient-saint weapon, useful but not the foundation of his cultivation. This five-colored divine radiance was entirely different: it could refine his Dao attainment and multiply his combat power.

Once he stepped up another minor stage, he would have no need of mechanized armor at all — he could intercept with bare hands and tear ancient-saint war instruments apart!

“I must break through. If I can take just one more step, where in this entire stellar domain could I not go?”

Ye Fan did not leave this place. He was certain that Fan Xian and the others must be searching for him throughout the Immortal Feather Star Sea. Rather than venture out and invite danger, it was better to seal himself in here and cultivate in contemplation.

This location had been covered with his Heaven-Deceiving Array runes — nothing could see through it. Even the high-tier stellar divine eyes aboard various motherships could not scan through it. He was safely hidden.

Time flowed like water. For half a month, five-colored divine light flickered across Ye Fan’s body at irregular intervals, sweeping the surrounding metallic fragments back and forth as he put them to use in trials and practice.

Clang, clang, clang…

Another half month passed. Sword cries rang out one after another, and five treasure swords rose behind his back, arrayed in a line, shrouded in primordial energy. The spectacle was magnificent beyond words, and the star sea all around trembled with it.

Ye Fan had studied the divine art of the ancient divine civilization, and at last had achieved a measure of insight. He reopened the five-colored divine radiance and condensed the secret power, and a single sweep of it shattered everything in its path.

He explored through his own intuition, and now through repeated experimentation, the results were startling — the expression of extraordinary combat power.

The moment the five divine radiances appeared, capable of both offense and defense, balanced in both aspects, Ye Fan found this five-element divine power to be superbly responsive when directed against enemies, sweeping all things away — precise as the movement of his own arms, with breathtaking effect.

Ye Fan still did not emerge from seclusion. He studied carefully and consolidated his Dao attainment, seeking to advance further. It was only after another full month had passed that he finally exhaled a long breath and rose to his feet.

“This is as far as I can go for now. From here, I will need to ponder slowly — experience must come from real combat.”

He was already very satisfied. He had unexpectedly obtained a divine technique — a supreme and consummate secret art no less than the final chapter of an ancient imperial scripture. A peerless masterwork.

Ye Fan one by one collected the array symbols he had carved into the dried trunks of the ancient tea trees with which he had achieved enlightenment. He unsealed the Heaven-Deceiving Array and returned to the outside world, drifting through the cosmos — preparing to advance on the Eternal Main Star.

“If a third-stage evolution fluid exists, then surely a fourth-stage exists as well. If I could obtain it, perhaps I could compress a century of time and step directly into a higher realm!” He murmured softly to himself.

In this stellar domain, evolution fluid was a priceless treasure. Every great power sought it intensely, striving to refine it by every means — a truly heaven-defying shortcut.

Different stellar domains, different paths — this was what distinguished each great and brilliant civilization. Each had its own surpassing strengths.

Yet Ye Fan knew that obtaining a fourth-stage evolution fluid would be extraordinarily difficult — nearly illusory. Even in the Immortal Feather Star Sea, the third stage had not appeared in many long years.

The fourth stage — that was something close to legend. According to records, someone in the Immortal Feather Star Sea had successfully extracted it five thousand years ago. That was a very, very long time.

“The Immortal Feather, the Primordial Demon, and the Divine Earth are three of the smaller star seas, surrounding the Eternal Star on all sides. Surely that central realm must hold divine fluid that would make one’s heart race!” Ye Fan allowed himself to hope.

Journeys through the stellar domain were monotonous. Ye Fan decided to go first to the Immortal Feather Star, and from there borrow passage to the Eternal Main Star.

Heaven’s Pure Land was not a true life-sustaining star — it was merely a base of operations for the plunderers of the Immortal Feather Star Sea. The Immortal Feather Star itself was the origin-point of this smaller stellar domain.

Boom!

Suddenly, an enormous beam of light shot toward him from ahead — a supremely powerful form of thermal weaponry, used during cosmic travel to instantly destroy vast fields of asteroids and clear a passage. Now, someone had turned it on Ye Fan. It was overwhelmingly terrifying — if it struck, he would almost certainly be gravely endangered.

Whoosh!

Ye Fan shifted horizontally by several dozen miles, evading the beam. A great warship emerged from the pitch-black depths of the cosmos, launching a fierce and unrelenting attack on him.

“Heaven’s people are truly relentless — they have this much patience, and still haven’t retreated…” Ye Fan was surprised, then furrowed his brow slightly.

He activated his Movement Seal technique, shifting in unpredictable patterns through the darkness, pressing forward — hoping to board this great warship.

“It really is him — cease the attack immediately and execute a spatial jump! Return to the mothership!” The ship’s commander gave the order.

This was a massive warship capable of long-distance spatial jumps, deployed specifically to hunt Ye Fan. For two full months, the Brahma clan had poured enormous manpower and resources into the search — they had been maddened with rage.

Multiple ancient-saint-level mechanized armors had been lost. Even Heaven’s Pure Land could not absorb such a blow. They had suffered severe damage to their foundations, the immortal sacred blood had not been obtained, and their losses had been catastrophic for nothing — they had reached for too much and ended up with less than nothing.

“What… he’s appeared — I will go personally to meet him!” Fan Zhou, the great leader of Heaven, declared.

“I’m going as well!” Fan Xian tightened her fist, a trace of cold fury crossing her beautiful face.

Within the span of a quarter hour, the great mothership leaped through a star gate and appeared in this star sea in an instant, rapidly giving chase toward the coordinates where Ye Fan had last been detected.

“He cannot escape — search for him!” Fan Xian’s expression was cold and impassive. That grave demeanor lent her a particular striking beauty as she stood in the command center, eyes fixed on the display, teeth clenched.

“Trouble — there’s been a development at Heaven’s Pure Land! The Qi Family of the Immortal Feather Star has launched a surprise attack on our Pure Land!” Suddenly, the urgent sound of an alarm rang out, and the entire mothership erupted into chaos.

“Damn them — we had barely left before they attacked! This was planned a long time ago.” One of the elder Brahma clan members aboard roared in fury.

“Terrible — they’ve looted part of the evolution fluid!”

The moment this news arrived, Fan Zhou, Fan Xian, and the others all changed color. They immediately issued orders to send reinforcements at full speed — they could not allow the thieves to escape.

“Among them is Qi Meng. She was held prisoner by us for a period of time and knows our Pure Land well. Later, their Ancestral Saint came in person, and under pressure we released her. It seems she led the way this time.”

On a certain asteroid, Ye Fan rose and watched them recede into the distance. He thought for a moment, then set out his chess-board array platform and crossed the stellar domain, intending to follow and see.

He very much wanted to fish in troubled waters — at present, lacking an ancient-saint mechanized armor made traveling in this realm most inconvenient.

Boom!

Fires of war blazed across the heavens. Fierce light burned, and the star-space outside Heaven’s Pure Land was engulfed in battle — countless warships exchanging fire, ancient-saint mechanized armors clashing. Motherships were engaged as well, with hundreds of millions of Dao runes and beams of light flooding the area, terrifying beyond measure, drowning out everything.

“What an opportunity. Ha!” Ye Fan concealed his own aura with the Heaven-Deceiving Array runes, then activated a technique of the Heavenly Court — merging himself into the void, shadow-less and form-less — and glided toward one of the great warships, preparing to board.