The Xianyu Qi Clan’s pursuit of Ye Fan had drawn a crowd of followers, all of whom now stepped forward one by one. Ye Fan was not shaken by “the Divine,” nor did he concern himself with the Cao Family’s hateful glares. His gaze turned toward a different group entirely.
“Your ancestors walked the greatest trial road and ultimately settled here permanently?”
This was a stunning revelation. He had heard vague mention of it from an old sage at the Hall of Wondrous Scholars — that over these vast stretches of time, most who had set out on this path had met their end somewhere in the outer domains, while a small number had stopped partway through.
Now, he had encountered such a group. He could not help but be astonished, his gaze fixed on them, unblinking.
The others all showed strange expressions. This was the lineage of the Underworld King of the Eternal Main Star — a power of tremendous reach, with formidable elders standing guard, not to be provoked. They were an ancient family that could stand on equal footing with the Cao Family.
“Our ancestors’ dying wish was to find the road home and return to their homeland. Sadly, until their last breath, they were never able to fulfill that wish…” Those of the Underworld King’s lineage spoke, extending an olive branch as clearly as anyone could.
Ye Fan did not speak with them at length — he only gained an initial understanding of one secret: the Northern Dipper ancient star domain was something extraordinary, a place that even the great emperors of old had sought. Except perhaps through certain ancient transmission arrays like the Five-Colored Altar, the outside world had great difficulty finding or entering it.
“We have spent many years exploring without finding that road home. We cannot determine the coordinates.”
By their reckoning, entering that star domain perhaps required stumbling upon it by chance and could not be calculated or measured. It seemed to be shrouded in an extraordinarily mysterious mist.
Ye Fan was moved. He genuinely wanted to go with the Underworld King’s lineage for a time — he had many things he wanted to understand, about the road ahead, about tens of thousands of years past, about the Eternal Main Star. But in the end he dismissed the thought. He needed to be cautious.
So many years had passed. The Underworld King’s lineage had certainly long since been assimilated into this world. That much could be seen even from their reliance on motherships and warships.
Ye Fan looked back and caught sight once more of the ancient mirror in Fan Zhou’s hands. His heart sank — he would have to go regardless. This involved Ji Ziyue and Ji Haoyue, and even if it meant walking into a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair, he had no choice.
Of course, he was not overly fearful either. When cornered with no way out, he would fight with everything he had. There was still hope of survival.
He turned around and looked at “the Divine.” He conveyed in tactful terms that he was open to considering joining their ranks, but that for the moment he needed to go to the Fan Clan to settle some matters, and asked them to give him time.
Then, with courtesy, he thanked the Underworld King’s lineage, stating that once all was resolved, he would certainly pay them a visit.
All of this was nothing more than leveraging their influence. If these two organizations had designs on him, they would surely apply pressure on the heavens, making them think twice before taking rash action.
In truth, the Fan Clan had no desire to push things to an absolute extreme either. A living first-generation Indestructible Golden Body was of far greater value than a corpse.
Only the Cao Family’s eyes burned with fury — yet even they did not dare approach. With Ye Fan now the object of pursuit from every direction, any move against him in the outer domain would surely go badly for them.
The Qi Family explained and entreated at length, making every effort, yet still could not get Ye Fan to leave with them. At best, relations had been smoothed over somewhat — which left them with no small sense of disappointment.
But there was little to be done about it. Qi Yun had repaid kindness with treachery first, and the war faction had launched their pursuit afterward. It had been genuinely unreasonable and unkind.
A tense standoff and great battle drew to a close in this fashion. The smoke cleared. The tension lifted. Those gathered were all smiles and goodwill.
Ye Fan was to proceed to the heavens. Both “the Divine” and the Underworld King’s lineage had made their voices heard — not a threat, exactly, but a latent warning: if the Fan Clan dared to harm him, it would incite their wrath.
Even sage Fan Yuntong feared “the Divine” deeply. More than once, events had occurred in which saints were slaughtered, and every time it had been members of “the Divine” who had been responsible.
Ye Fan had been the target of a hunt. Now he had become, in the eyes of all, one of the most powerful physiques in existence — with every faction sparing no cost to bring him to their side. He had become the most sought-after prize. The magnitude of that reversal was something to behold.
The heavens were nothing more than a small world opened up by an ancient sage of the past — merged with a small planet, evolving into a pure land. It could not be counted as a true life-source star.
Coming here again was entirely different from the last time. Ye Fan was now an honored guest, rather than a retainer who was expected to exert himself for the clan. He was treated with great respect throughout.
Of course, many people held their noses to greet him, harboring an inner hatred they could not express. Last time he had caused havoc here, killing on a grand scale, and many among the clan’s younger generation were deeply dissatisfied.
But the present day was altogether different from the past. Even Fan Zhou treated him with courtesy rather than condescension. Even Fan Xian — beauty without equal in this era — had to put on a smiling face to welcome him. As for what lay in her heart, that was another matter.
“That young man destroyed several of our ancient sage war machines, and stole away the Five-Colored Power Seeds of our divine being, and now we have to treat him as an honored guest. This is outrageous!”
Someone was furious and wanted to step forward — but they were immediately suppressed by a hidden guardian, ordered not to make trouble.
Without question, this left many people feeling wronged and suffocated. They wanted to swarm over and teach Ye Fan a lesson, yet could not, and could only glare in impotent rage.
“What? Even Miss Fan Xian might be married off to him? This can’t be real — I must be hallucinating!”
“I want to kill that young man. What has he done to deserve this? To be joined in marriage to our clan’s celestial jade pearl?”
When this piece of news reached them, many young men could no longer sit still. The heavens’ raiders were not all surnamed Fan — Fan Xian was, in their eyes, the goddess of their dreams.
“Suppress them.”
That was all Fan Zhou said in response to this unrest. Right now, the clan was trying to win Ye Fan over. There was no way he could allow some impulsive young men to ruin the whole affair.
Ye Fan had come here with nothing much to say — only to inquire about the secret of the ancient mirror: who had left it behind, and what words had been left with it.
“Eight years ago, a breathtakingly gifted ascetic cultivator came to our star domain. He engaged in combat in the cosmos against an unknown creature, and was gravely wounded…”
Ye Fan’s eyes gleamed with intensity. From Fan Zhou’s account, he determined this had undoubtedly been Ji Haoyue. When he saw a portrait of the man, he became even more certain.
“Regrettably, that extraordinary cultivator did not stay long. By the time I arrived, he had already vanished…”
Ji Haoyue had brought a type of divine mineral from space and left a small portion behind, exchanging it with the clan for an ancient sage’s war machine. He had been extremely wary. The plan had been for him to stay and join the heavens — yet in an instant he was gone.
Fan Zhou was somewhat embarrassed and did not go into detail. But it was plain to see that Ji Haoyue had been wise to guard against them.
“What words did he leave behind?” Ye Fan asked.
“All of it is engraved on this ancient mirror.” Fan Zhou, as a gesture of goodwill, passed the replica of the Void Mirror across. On the back of the mirror’s body, several lines of small script were engraved — genuinely in Ji Haoyue’s handwriting.
“I sustained grave injuries on the road ahead and retreated here to recuperate.”
“The Eternal Main Star is not to be missed — mysterious and vast. The evolution fluid can accelerate advancement. It is worth staying for a period.”
“Beware the members of ‘the Divine’ — their reach extends far beyond this star domain.”
“There are hunters on the heavenly road, who specifically target the most powerful trial-takers. Extremely dangerous.”
…
Nine pieces of precious information in all. They shook Ye Fan to the core. The clues Ji Haoyue had left were of tremendous importance to those who came after him. Ye Fan read through them carefully and fell into a long silence.
Eight years had now passed. What had become of Ji Haoyue by now? He should have been advancing rapidly here, his cultivation level soaring. Otherwise he would not have recommended that later arrivals stop here to extract the evolution fluid.
Yet even so, Ji Haoyue had sustained grave injuries on the road ahead and been forced to flee back to recuperate. One could only imagine how perilous it was.
“Where did you obtain this ancient mirror?”
“It was at a ruin. According to legend, it was once a place where Wanchuan bathed, known as the Evergreen Pool.” Fan Zhou said, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
The mirror had not been given to them by Ji Haoyue — the clan had found it while searching for the gifted cultivator’s whereabouts. This was somewhat at odds with what Fan Zhou had said earlier.
To help Ye Fan believe him, Fan Zhou summoned those who had participated in the search and let Ye Fan examine their memory seas, where he saw the full process by which the mirror had been obtained.
Ye Fan said no more. He thought it over carefully. The road to heaven was indeed treacherous. What lay ahead was difficult to know.
“Brother Ye, might you consider the heavens…” Fan Zhou said with tactful suggestion, hoping he would join their ranks, and hinting that Fan Xian could be given to him in marriage.
In this star domain, Fan Xian was without question one of the most beautiful women alive — standing alongside Qi Meng as equals, celestial jades of the rarest kind, unparalleled beauties.
Ye Fan declined. He had no mind for such things at the moment. His only thought was how to obtain the most powerful evolution fluid, advance his cultivation as quickly as possible, and then press forward on the road ahead.
He understood clearly — on this most powerful trial road of ancient times, saint-level combat power would very likely be required. Otherwise, to charge forward blindly would be to die in vain.
“He can marry into this clan or not — it has nothing to do with me. Don’t drag me into it.” Fan Xian, catching wind that she might be “sacrificed,” went immediately to find a clan elder and declared she would never submit.
“Thank goodness. Miss Fan Xian is resisting to the death. How could she possibly marry that scoundrel?” Many young men let out a long breath of relief.
“Miss Fan Xian has high standards and dreams of her own. No matter how powerful this person is, so what? He is not worthy of her admiration.”
In these recent days, the Fan Clan had tried every means to win Ye Fan over, making lavish promises — declaring they were searching for divine minerals and might, in the future, be able to refine a fourth-stage evolution fluid, which they would then present to him.
However, Ye Fan understood — the last time a third-stage evolution fluid had been refined, it had nearly depleted the clan’s accumulated reserves. Very little remained. To refine a fourth-stage liquid of legend, several thousand years would likely be needed.
Never mind the Fan Clan — even across the Eternal Main Star, few great powers could claim with confidence that they were capable of refining it.
Ye Fan wished to leave. The Fan Clan sought to delay. But outside, both “the Divine” and the Underworld King’s lineage had already issued warnings, pledging their protection of Ye Fan.
“I think he’s unwilling to listen to reason. Let’s just kill him, take the essence of the Indestructible Golden Body, and send his corpse to the Cao Family. We can share responsibility together!”
“Exactly. The Cao Family has been putting tremendous pressure on us these past few days. If this continues, big problems will arise.”
The radicals clamored, wanting to strike against Ye Fan.
“Impossible. Compared to the pressure from ‘the Divine,’ the Cao Family’s pressure amounts to nothing. That mysterious organization — their reach is very, very long. They are extraordinarily terrifying!” Fan Zhou shook his head.
“We can allow him to leave — but before he does, we must obtain what we want!” One elder narrowed his eyes, and two cold gleams shone from within.
Some were puzzled. Without taking his life, how would they obtain his golden blood? How could they merge it into the Fan Clan’s bloodline?
The elder explained — they could find some women of the Fan Clan, and have them bear offspring who carried the Indestructible Golden Body. If those children grew to maturity, their value would be incalculable!
“Exactly. Those would be second-generation Indestructible Golden Bodies. Even just a few of them would be enough to sweep through this entire star domain. In the end, the golden blood would be merged into our Fan Clan — all of it serving our clan’s benefit!” Another elder nodded.
In the end, the Fan Clan showed their true colors. They deployed an ancient sage to put Ye Fan under soft arrest, intending to obtain his indestructible divine heritage.
Ye Fan ground his teeth. The Fan Clan was truly ruthless — all manner of drugs and compounds had been poured into his living quarters in such quantities they nearly flooded the place, stimulating his primordial instincts and base desires, trying to make him comply.
A number of beautiful women appeared — each tall and shapely, alluring and captivating. Their intention was obvious: to have him sire offspring.
Ye Fan’s face went dark. He circulated his profound techniques, neutralizing every type of drug effect entirely. The compounds had little power over him.
“You had better cooperate. Don’t force us to extract your blood and genetic material — if it comes to that, we can compel the process by force, and you’ll have no recourse.” Someone warned him.
“Take all these mediocre women away. If you want to bear my descendants, bring Fan Xian from your clan. That would be a different story entirely.” Ye Fan said with cold mockery.
Before a large screen, Fan Xian had been observing how matters were unfolding. She trembled with rage and leapt to her feet. “Insufferable arrogance! Let’s go and forcibly extract his golden divine blood!”