Ye Fan left the seaside and appeared atop a massive mountain range soaring tens of thousands of meters high. The place was blanketed in white snow, bone-chillingly cold, and wreathed in icy fog that cut to the marrow.

Here, he carefully studied the mecha, and finally completely erased the Qi Family’s brand mark from it. As for the jade disk, he left it entirely behind on the shore — he had absolutely no intention of contacting Qi Kun.

“Hmm…”

He spotted an enormous mother warship slicing through the sky, flying deep into the great wilderness — its power and presence surging like a great tide.

“That’s the Cao Family’s insignia on it. Could they have come for me?” Ye Fan’s alertness was extremely high.

He thought carefully for a moment, then flew toward the seashore. When he was still several hundred li from where he had abandoned the jade disk, he stopped, opened his Heavenly Eye, and began to observe and wait carefully.

Ever since killing Cao Qing, every time someone mentioned the matter, people would marvel at the Cao Family’s might — which naturally had put Ye Fan on guard, and he had at some point investigated them thoroughly.

This was a great clan — truly formidable. Among the many powers that stood side by side as kings on the Eternal Main Star, they were a pivotal force, an overwhelmingly powerful giant. There was no other explanation for how Cao Qing could have allocated two kinds of supplementary divine materials as a gift to the Brahma Clan.

The seashore remained beautiful and undisturbed. Ye Fan waited for more than half a day without seeing anyone come. Yet he did not leave. Instead, he buried the jade disk inside a cliff face in an uninhabited region, laying down layer after layer of concealment, carving Heaven-Deceiving Array patterns into it — though deliberately leaving a faint trace of a flaw.

The jade disk could evade a mother ship’s scans, but it would emit a thread of qi fluctuation that allowed people to deduce his location through divination. Then he settled in to wait patiently.

The next day, a barely perceptible ripple reached him from the distance. Dozens of warships appeared — dark and heavy like lead clouds pressing down, oppressive and boundless. Many figures flew out and began deploying around the area.

“How cautious they really are — still five hundred li from the shore and they’ve already stopped,” Ye Fan murmured, a cold killing intent curling at the corner of his lips. They had undeniably come for him.

The group used a special method to conceal their figures, then advanced over two hundred li more, stopping three hundred li from the jade disk and beginning to lay down formations, burying numerous forbidden artifacts.

This was a great killing formation of the Dao. Once triggered, it would unleash a boundless surge of lethal energy capable of leveling everything within a three-hundred-li radius — complete and utter obliteration.

“Keep him alive. This young man has the Undying Golden Body — his golden blood is inside him and will be of great use!” One young man licked his lips, an expression of bloodlust crossing his face.

Ye Fan murmured from a distance: “Cao Family — how overbearing you really are. I kill one Cao Qing, and you send this whole swarm of powerful experts, willing to cross star domains just for me. You want to refine my golden blood, do you?”

“Hmm, this young man truly has some tricks. Even a mother ship’s scan can’t find him — we can only deduce there’s a jade disk’s aura here,” a middle-aged man muttered to himself.

Ye Fan watched with cold eyes from a dozen or so li behind them, hidden by a Heaven Court secret technique, quietly observing their preparations.

What role is the Qi Family playing in this? Are any of their people here giving guidance? he wondered internally, his gaze cooling.

A thousand li away, a massive mother warship had sunk beneath the ocean, closely monitoring every development in this area, ready to provide support — and devastating strikes — at any moment.

“Ha — just a wandering ascetic cultivator from beyond the domain. Does he actually think he’s one of those terrifying beings from ancient times who could command wind and rain, swallow the sun and moon whole? Unless ten-thousand-year-old Wan Qing is resurrected, no one gets to run wild in the Eternal Star Domain,” a young man from the Cao Family said coldly. Clearly of no low standing — he was Cao Qing’s cousin, by the name of Cao Feng.

“All right. Every last ancient killing and forbidden divine rune has been buried underground. Once activated, this place will be completely wiped flat. Mind the precision — if we ruin the golden blood, it was all for nothing,” a middle-aged man spoke up. This was Cao Qing’s clan uncle, by the name of Cao Delin.

“Rest easy. We’ll leave him a breath. Beat him until he’s crawling like a dog, begging on his knees.” Cao Feng chuckled.

“Killing him outright wastes the opportunity. His blood should be kept for proper use. Even his bones and flesh are treasures for artifact refinement — worth preserving,” a nearby young man named Cao Jin said, also of the direct bloodline.

The Cao Family had mobilized in force this time — there had to be a reckoning. Cao Qing had died and an important Ancient Saint Mecha had been lost. Such a grave debt could not go unanswered.

“Activate it!” The middle-aged man Cao Delin waved his hand.

Cao Family members all broke into cold, ruthless smiles, moving together to activate the divine runes buried underground. In an instant the entire area was transformed. In a flash — wind rose, clouds surged, and killing intent soared thirty thousand meters high!

Boom!

Black clouds pressed down, the killing aura blotting out the sun. Towering divine figures erupted one after another from the ground — all of them jet-black as ink — grinding forward. This was beyond capable of causing rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.

Ye Fan’s expression changed. Had he been caught inside that great formation without the Movement Rune technique, he would very likely have met his end here, beaten to a bloody mist.

“You really are quite vicious. Since that’s how it is — I won’t hold back either.”

He transformed into a phantom, appearing out of thin air beside one of the Cao Family’s key figures. With a swipe of his finger, he sliced the man’s head clean off. Blood jetted over two meters high. He then turned and shattered the man’s Immortal Platform with a backhand strike.

He moved on to the next target — simple and direct, unleashing the Heaven Court’s life-taking arts. Invisible, traceless — reaping lives.

Pfft. Pfft…

In almost a single instant, eight people were dead — all of them with their heads flying off, sudden violent deaths. The crowd had not even caught a glimpse of the killer, as though a malevolent ghost lurked in the shadows, stealing souls.

“Fall back!” Cao Delin bellowed.

“Ha — you came here for me and laid down a great formation. You want to leave now?” Ye Fan flashed before Cao Delin in an instant, striking out mercilessly. This was a Half-Saint — there was no way he would submit without a fight, and he resisted fiercely.

Yet behind Ye Fan, five-colored divine light flashed. It swept Cao Delin off his feet in an instant. Then five swords — azure, yellow, crimson, black, and white — rose into the air, each wreathed in chaos energy, slashing forward together.

Pfft!

Even one as powerful as a Half-Saint was no match for this. He was beheaded on the spot, blood spraying in all directions. His body and spirit were annihilated together.

“It’s him — the ascetic cultivator with the golden blood. He’s the one who killed Cao Qing and seized the Brahma Clan’s seed of divine secret power!” Cao Jin shouted, fleeing for his life.

No one had anticipated how swiftly things would turn. The one they had meant to trap and kill had appeared behind them instead — as though he had never been in the formation at all.

“That old bastard Qi Yun set us up. This ascetic cultivator must have received word in advance and turned things around on us!” Cao Feng bellowed from his position — all his earlier arrogance and swagger entirely gone.

A cold light flashed in Ye Fan’s eyes. Sure enough, the Qi Family had been involved. He covered several li in a single step, caught up to Cao Feng, seized him by the throat, and with a sharp crack wrenched off his head — ending his life.

Pfft!

At the same moment, a flash of crimson light — Ye Fan shot out a single finger from a li away, punching straight through Cao Jin’s brow. Petals of blood bloomed in the air as the corpse plummeted down through the sky.

In the distance, warships roared to life. Having detected the disturbance here, they all surged forward, firing enormous beams of light that tore through the heavens — divine energy shattering the sky.

Ye Fan took on the form of a demonic wraith, cold light glimmering in his eyes, moving at terrifying speed. Behind him, a golden world spread open — the Golden Divine Treasury manifested, and from within it, all manner of divine weapons and sacred blades flew out, dazzling and brilliant, utterly overwhelming.

Numerous Cao Family members were pierced through before they could board their warships, their corpses strewn across the ground in pools of blood.

“Ahh…” Screams rang out one after another.

Ye Fan moved like a god of death. Wherever he passed, blood rained and carnage followed — a tide of endless slaughter. As the divine technique of the Golden Divine Treasury was unleashed, it was as if a source of destruction had been unsealed, scything down all that stood before it.

Many people screamed in terror. Quite a few, in trying to flee him, were driven straight into the towering killing formation ahead — stepping into the very death trap they had laid for others. Screams rose without end.

Boom!

Ye Fan met a warship head-on — taking on a three-hundred-meter long metal hull with his bare flesh. With his bare hands, he tore it apart, sending the color draining from many Cao Family members’ faces.

“The Undying Golden Body has reached this level of terror?!”

“Run!”

It was a complete rout. The Cao Family had been caught completely off guard, suffering a devastating blow with severe losses.

Ye Fan pressed the attack. A sweep of five-colored divine light struck a four-hundred-meter warship, sending it crashing into the killing formation ahead — obliterated in an instant.

Boom!

The Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist erupted outward — mountains and rivers lost their color, sun and moon went dark. Bare-handed, he shattered four warships, his golden fists blasting through the cold metal hulls one by one — detonating them.

The Cao Family was stunned. Many of the young members went pale one by one. This was like something out of mythology for them. Was this still a human being?

More than a dozen warships were sunk.

Hum!

Suddenly, a violent surge of energy rippled through the air. A thousand li away, the mother warship that had been lurking beneath the ocean shot straight up, firing a beam of crimson light at Ye Fan that streaked across over a thousand li.

This was an earth-shattering strike. Had it landed squarely, even an Ancient Saint would have had their physical body blown apart.

Ye Fan shifted his position, blinking over a dozen li sideways in an instant, and looked upon that colossus. It gleamed with a blue-green radiance across its entire hull — several thousand meters long — like a steel city of iron, timeless and indestructible.

In nearly an instant, it had closed to within eight hundred li — impossibly fast, bearing down on Ye Fan.

At the same moment, four Ancient Saint Mechas launched from it, charging at Ye Fan. One wielded a blood-red dragon lance, another drew a purple sacred great bow, yet another pulled a golden giant axe from its back — all of them attacking together.

Whoosh!

Ye Fan fell back again, swiftly slipping into his own pale-blue Ancient Saint Mecha. Then he vanished into the void, deploying a Heaven Court secret technique to launch a sneak assault.

Crack!

Five-colored divine light flashed. Behind him, five chaos-wreathed swords rose into the air and nearly bisected a purple mecha at the waist — heavily damaging it in an instant.

“This powerful — even more terrifying than we imagined!” Inside the mecha, a woman and an elderly man looked at each other in horror, rapidly activating a forbidden formation, calling the mechas back at the first opportunity.

The four powerful Ancient Saint war machines came quickly and retreated just as quickly, drawn back through a divine gate — but Ye Fan gave no quarter. He pursued and attacked relentlessly.

He used the five-colored divine light to restrain them and the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist to strike, snapping off the thigh of one golden mecha, the arm of one crimson mecha, and the great bow of one purple mecha — tearing them all clean away.

“A single person in combat — none below the level of an Ancient Saint could oppose him. Perhaps only a handful of those freaks on the main star could match him!”

Those aboard the Cao Family’s mother ship were stunned, staring wide-eyed one by one, cold chills running up their spines.

Whoosh!

Ye Fan vanished again — piloting Qi Meng’s Ancient Saint Mecha and executing a Heaven Court secret technique, merging into the void. Combined with the Heaven-Deceiving Array runes masking his aura, even the mother ship’s scans could not locate him.

“Damn it all — he’s escaped. We came in full force and suffered terrible losses. This is unbearable,” someone raged, fists clenched tight.

Boom!

Yet, to their astonishment, Ye Fan had not fled at all. He suddenly appeared directly before the mother ship, swept five-colored divine light across it, and severed a section of the hull — weighing tens of tons.

Clang!

A horrifying sound rang out as Ye Fan swung the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist, obliterating all resistance, ripping away another massive chunk of the hull — trying to force his way inside.

“This… this isn’t human. Quickly — activate the energy shielding!” Everyone was aghast.

This was a god of slaughter — a malevolent spirit that had broken free of hell’s shackles, invincible and unmatched, daring to attack even the mother ship itself.

Boom!

The energy shield activated, encasing the entire mother ship in its protection. Now even Ancient Saint-level attacks would struggle to pierce it.

Ye Fan had no choice but to fall back, standing alone in the distant sky, coldly facing them in a standoff.

Inside the ship, a young man was nearly driven to madness. He was named Cao Tian, and he roared at the top of his lungs: “Damn it — he almost destroyed one of the Dao rune propulsion systems on our mother ship! This is a sacred weapon, and it’s been shattered! The hull is in critical condition. We need to return to the main star immediately. If another hostile power spots us in this state, we’ll be in grave danger!”

Beside him, a seductively beautiful woman wore an ugly expression — it quite disrupted her looks. She was named Cao Lin — Cao Qing’s elder sister. She had come to exact justice and had not imagined that the expedition would end in such crushing defeat.

“We underestimated him far too much. This is an extremely dangerous and terrifying ascetic cultivator. We must never make light of him again,” an elder sighed.

“Retreat!” Cao Lin gave the order, unable to conceal her unwillingness.

That day, Celestial Feather Star erupted in an uproar. When the news spread, everyone was shaken to the core. A single person with a single mecha had repelled the Cao Family’s mother warship fleet. What kind of extraordinary feat was that?

“Unbelievable — is this real? This ascetic cultivator called Ye Fan can’t be that powerful, can he?”

“An inconceivable battle. Could he actually match those freaks on the main star? Is this the rise of another legend?”

Celestial Feather Star was in a state of震 — every faction was alarmed.

After the battle, Ye Fan’s expression was cold and composed. While the outside world boiled with excitement, he set himself in motion once more.

He gathered information from many sources, gaining a thorough understanding of the Qi Family, and came to learn what sort of person Qi Yun was — it had been Qi Yun who had provided assistance to the Cao Family, putting him within a hair’s breadth of falling into the killing formation.

Ye Fan responded in kind. He began seeking out Qi Yun’s youngest son, who lived outside the clan’s territory. Eventually he found him in an ancient city deep within the wilderness — dragged him out of a pleasure house — and with his supreme divine power beat him half to death.

“Go tell your old man I have no fear of him. If he provokes me again, I won’t mind going to settle accounts with him in person,” Ye Fan warned, using the son as his messenger.

Bang!

On a Qi Family divine island, Qi Yun shattered his teacup to pieces. He looked at his gravely wounded beloved youngest son, shot to his feet, and ground out through clenched teeth: “This is Celestial Feather Star. Even a dragon has to curl up here for me!”

Suddenly, from the distance came Qi Kun’s voice, sternly ordering him not to act rashly: “Younger brother — stop causing me trouble!”

Qi Yun’s expression went iron-gray. He said nothing — and only after Qi Kun had gone did he snarl through his teeth: “So what if you have the Undying Golden Body? Does that make you comparable to Wan Qing?!”