For certain ancient clans, this day brought sudden upheaval — an assault without warning, the likes of which had not been seen in many years.

The Canghae Clan pressed northward, following the imprints burned into the Southern Demon’s sea of consciousness, locating one ancient clan settlement after another, sweeping through them in a relentless advance. Their dense fleet of warships broke through several clan sacred grounds.

“Far too weak — not worth a single blow.”

They struck for resources, seizing sacred medicines from the ancient clans’ herbal fields and precious divine minerals from their vaults, naturally provoking fierce resistance.

But these were only small clans — no match for them. Without a Progenitor King, they had no means of striking back, for they were entirely unable to contend with saint-grade mother ships and powerful war mechs.

The Canghae Clan was greatly invigorated. These clans were not strong and had no saints to preside over them — yet the contents of their vaults were richly stocked, which only deepened the Canghae Clan’s conviction that the Fire Qilin Cave ahead would contain world-shaking immortal treasures.

“Incredibly — a piece of Seven-Tribulation Earth Essence, buried in their hands! This is one of the divine auxiliary minerals for refining evolution fluid, and it can only be called a supreme-grade treasure!”

The Canghae Clan swept all before them, mother ships dominating the sky and advancing in a carpet sweep — until they reached the Blue Demon Abyss, where they met fierce resistance and had eight of their warships destroyed.

“What?! Such heavy losses — seven or eight half-saint figures have struck back. Deploy the ancient-saint war mechs and sweep this demon abyss flat!” The Canghae Clan’s lord ordered, his expression glacially cold.

Since entering the Northern Dipper Star Domain, this was the first time they had been stopped. Eight warships sunk meant several hundred deaths — a genuine blow to them.

Blinding light erupted as two ancient-saint war instruments descended from the sky. The mechs stood nine zhang tall — one bearing a battle spear wreathed in flowing crimson clouds, the other wielding a dragon saber as dark as demonic light. Both began their slaughter simultaneously.

Within the Blue Demon Abyss, anguished cries rang out in waves. Many ancient clan members were cut down, their vital energy surging skyward, turning the ground into a river of blood.

This was the Canghae Clan’s first true killing stroke. Though they had raided several ancient clan strongholds before, they had not massacred in this way — until now, when they bared their sharp fangs to avenge their fallen clansmen.

“You primitive savages who know nothing but brute techniques — daring to contend against a higher race from the vast star domain! Today we will beat you until you beg for mercy. Offer up every sacred artifact passed down since ancient times, or blood and bones will fill this abyss to the brim!” The Canghae Clan’s lord spoke in a frigid voice.

Crack!

A streak of blood-light shot upward. He entered the third ancient-saint war mech personally, took hold of a platinum holy sword, and severed the head of a half-saint with his own hand, blood spraying outward.

The Blue Demon Clan was no weakling — claiming the title of one of the Ten Great Ferocious Clans, with a saint presiding over the clan, their fearsome reputation had spread in all directions.

Yet two years prior, they had oppressed the human race, challenged the dignity of a saint, and even attempted to kill Ye Fan and destroy the Sage Bureau — and so they had provoked the Nine Serenities, which had struck down every last saint of that clan.

In that catastrophe, one Progenitor King of the clan had been away and escaped the calamity. Afterward, too afraid to return to the clan, that king had remained absent — and so, today, this ferocious clan had no saint-level combat power.

The secret map provided by the Southern Demon had been specifically targeted. Clans such as the Blue Demon Clan and the Enchantress Clan were ferocious clans bearing fierce hostility toward the current world, acting as a minor source of chaos and upheaval — and two years ago, the Nine Serenities had personally struck and eliminated their Progenitor Kings, leaving them now without saint-level combat power.

Two years ago, the Blue Demon Clan had been insufferably arrogant, eager to launch mass slaughter against the human race and others. Ever since the Nine Serenities annihilated their Progenitor King, they had fallen from their heights — and now they had been reduced to this sorry state, set upon and slaughtered.

Within the Blue Demon Abyss, anguished cries rose one after another without cease. Body after body fell, and the once-mighty ferocious clan that had been so powerful was now retreating step by step.

Seven ancient-saint war instruments entered the underground world, sweeping all before them. The body of each was stained with fresh blood and shattered bone as they reaped lives without mercy.

Boom!

Suddenly, one ancient-saint war mech blazed with blinding light. Cracks spread across its surface, and then it exploded.

“What happened?!”

The Canghae Clan’s lord was startled. He returned to the mother ship for safety, fearing an accident, and used the ship’s sensors to scan the full panorama and conduct an analysis — his expression turning to one of shock.

“An ancient supreme formation — boundlessly powerful!”

The one mercy was that this formation had crumbled and was incomplete. The ancient-saint war mech had wandered into the one intact section of the surviving array inscriptions and met its destruction there.

These were the runes of an ancient great saint. Regrettably, they had been broken by the Nine Serenities on that day — otherwise, those from the Eternal Prime Star would not necessarily have been able to gain any advantage here.

“Hmm. There is an ancient city beneath the underground world. Open their vaults for me!”

That day, the Blue Demon Clan suffered a catastrophic blow — bones piled high, the clan nearly exterminated, suffering devastating losses. A portion managed to cut a bloody path through and flee.

“Unbelievable — these indigenous people have amassed tremendous wealth. What is stored in their vaults is comparable to a divine sacred mine!”

The Canghae Clan was stunned. When the vault was opened, the dazzling radiance nearly blinded every eye — one and all stood frozen for a long while before the eruption of voices finally broke through.

“Press northward — all of this will belong to us!”

The Canghae Clan went into a frenzy. Four mother ships and hundreds of warships swept away all resistance, pressing relentlessly forward.

It must be said — they were exceedingly fortunate. The route they followed happened to pass through the former territories of the Ten Great Ferocious Clans. Ferocious as those clans were, some could not be counted among the royal clans. Most critically, two years ago the Nine Serenities had personally acted and eliminated their Progenitor Kings — and now they had no saint-level combat power.

The Canghae Clan swept through everything, advancing without pause — eventually splitting their forces, with four mother ships advancing in parallel to sweep through the Blood Moon Clan, the Purple Lightning Clan, the Azure Specter Clan, and others!

It was lamentable. What had once been ferocious clans were now set upon by a force of ancient-saint mechs and mother ships, crumbling in utter rout. Their sacred ancestral grounds were soaked in blood, bones piled into mountains.

It was almost a full circle — once they had lorded over all, but now, having lost their Progenitor Kings, they had become weak clans subjected to the bullying of others, slaughtered pitilessly.

The Canghae Clan grew ever more self-satisfied. The harvest had truly been too bountiful — the minerals stored in the vaults of the Ten Great Ferocious Clans were exceedingly rare, many of them fabled treasures.

“The ancestral artifacts of these indigenous people are extraordinarily rare. At this rate, there’s no need to mine at all — just opening their vaults is enough to yield astonishing riches!”

After defeating clan after clan, their confidence soared. They were convinced that indigenous combat power was low and posed no threat worth fearing.

What followed — it is hard to say whether to call it fortune or misfortune.

The four mother ships converged together. Rather than attacking the next ancient clan, they bypassed a truly formidable primordial royal clan — one with several Progenitor Kings presiding over it!

Instead, they tore open a battlefield directly, leaped through space, arrived at the mountain range where the Fire Qilin Cave was located, and charged headlong into the imperial clan’s domain!

This was a lofty, majestic ancient mountain range — ancient medicinal herbs grew everywhere. Between the sheer rock faces and towering peaks, immortal vines wound their way upward. Strange divine birds and auspicious beasts wandered the slopes, immortal energy drifting through the air as though it were a celestial realm.

Especially at the center — there, the peaks, though bare of vegetation and flowing with fire-light, resembled the grotto-heaven of a divine being: ten thousand streams of rosy clouds, a thousand threads of auspicious light.

Ancient caves were everywhere. Above all, at the very center, one immortal cave shone with divine radiance, transforming into firelight that illuminated the entire heavens in an air of mystery, as Dao inscriptions rippled outward in soft, wave-like currents.

“This is truly a sacred land!”

The Canghae Clan was astonished, with a premonition that peerless divine treasures lay buried here. Should they seize it, the harvest would likely be beyond imagining.

“Wait — something’s wrong. Do not act rashly!” From within one mother ship, the ancient saint of the Canghae Clan suddenly opened his eyes.

Since entering the Northern Region, he had sat in meditation without once stirring or speaking. But now he had been jolted awake.

For in this moment, he sensed a terrifying Dao resonance that made every hair on his body stand on end. When he opened his celestial eye and looked out, his face instantly turned white as snow.

“How can this be… that such an existence would be on this ancient star. A divine being was born here, and even now, that immortal’s aura lingers!”

Every trace of color drained from the Canghae Clan’s saint’s face — he was frightened to his very core. Any true expert who understood this place would react thus. This was something utterly beyond their ability to contend with, for the supreme Dao inscriptions flickered faintly in the air.

“Do not — under any circumstances — attack!”

But by the time he awoke and cried out, it was already too late. The warships ahead had already acted — they had long since surged toward the Fire Qilin Immortal Cave.

“Who dares invade my Fire Qilin Cave?!” A roar rang out from within the mountain range as dozens of figures shot into the sky, blocking the path forward.

Hiss!

Four ancient-saint war mechs struck simultaneously. Their blood-red battle spears and dark dragon sabers, still wet with blood, sliced through the dozens of experts ahead.

“Audacious!” The guardians of the Fire Qilin Cave’s mountain gate were stunned. Since ancient times to the present day, not a single soul had ever dared to affront their dignity — this was the first time anyone had come to challenge them at their very door.

At the mountain gate, more than fifty figures shot into the sky in succession, three of them half-saints. Even with cultivation at that formidable level, their sole duty here was to guard the gate.

Inside one ancient-saint war instrument, a powerful figure from the Canghae Clan smirked with a vicious grin. They had grown accustomed to this kind of battle. He charged straight forward.

A streak of blood-light flashed — one half-saint of the Fire Qilin Cave was cut down on the spot, dying without recourse. They could not be stopped.

“Kill!”

The other three ancient-saint war instruments unleashed their power as well. Armed with holy swords, blood-spears, and the like, they struck with the mighty authority of the Dao, charging through in a single sweep — slaughtering the other two half-saints and all fifty-some individuals.

“Have you eaten the courage of a divine being? Are you tired of living?!” A majestic, furious roar rang out in the distance, reverberating from within an ancient cave as hundreds of people came flooding out.

Among them, one elder transformed into a streak of firelight and came rushing forward with overwhelming force, sending all four war mechs flying — then physically tore one of them apart with bare hands, seized the person inside, and clutched them in his grip.

Crack!

Blood sprayed outward. He crushed the powerful Canghae warrior to pieces with his hand.

“Retreat — quickly!”

The Canghae Clan’s saint shouted, his expression drawn and ugly.

“This is bad — one of the half-saint prisoners has said that this ancient star does not merely have ancient saints. It also has great saints. And there may even be a living quasi-emperor!”

From within a mother ship, someone reported this to the Canghae Clan’s lord.

“What?! Set sail immediately — engage the spatial jump! Get us out of here!” In this moment, feeling the aura surging from within the Fire Qilin Cave, they knew disaster was upon them. A peerless existence was awakening.

Boom!

But it was too late for everything. Throughout this primordial mountain range, Dao inscriptions flickered everywhere, dense as stars, blanketing the entire sky — it was impossible to construct a star gate.

Especially at the center, each of those ancient caves erupted with rosy clouds and auspicious light, as though some colossal presence were being resurrected. And within the central Fire Qilin Immortal Cave, the mystery was most profound of all.

In mere moments, more than a thousand figures surged from every ancient cave — each of them consumed with righteous fury. Even in the most terrifying years of the Primordial Age, not a single soul had ever dared to come affront them in this manner.

Today, someone had carried out mass slaughter before their very mountain gate. This was an absolute humiliation.

“Insects — all of you, DIE!” The first Progenitor King to emerge roared with fury, unleashing peerless divine arts. He sent the remaining three ancient-saint war mechs flying in pieces, seized three people with bare hands, and crushed them to death — reducing them to fragments of bone and smears of blood.

The Canghae Clan was completely blindsided. How had they suddenly encountered someone this powerful?

“Break through — get out of here!” A high-ranking figure bellowed.

The Fire Qilin Cave harbored a thick aura of ancient deities, and a peerless divine formation had sealed the void — there was no way to execute a spatial jump. Every warship could only fly upward toward the high heavens.

“Ignorant insects who do not know death — not a single one shall escape!” The old Progenitor King thrust out one massive hand that blotted out the sky, spreading across the high heavens. Warships burst apart in waves — like swatting flies — utterly terrifying.

“Fall back — I’ll hold him!” The Canghae Clan’s saint took action. Encased within an ancient and mysterious war mech, his power instantly surged to the level of a saint-king — enough to crush a planet.

Boom!

He became a streak of lightning charging forward, intercepting the Progenitor King of the Fire Qilin Cave and striking him with a single punch — heavily wounding him, forcing him to cough up great mouthfuls of blood.

The Progenitor King of the Fire Qilin Cave was shaken. He had not expected this cold metal war-body to house a saint-king. He retreated quickly, yet in doing so slapped apart dozens of warships with a single palm — though how many Canghae Clan cultivators perished in the process, none could say.

“You brought this upon yourself!”

The Canghae Clan’s saint unleashed his full power, wielding the combat strength of a saint-king and sending out beams of divine light that flooded heaven and earth, utterly shattering that Progenitor King — reducing him to a burst of blood-light.

“What?! They’ve killed one of our clan’s ancient saints!”

The Fire Qilin Cave was stunned. All of this had happened too fast — there had been no time to intervene. Every pair of eyes turned red.

They were the masters of this land, the most powerful clan in existence. Never in all of history had anyone dared to come and affront their dignity in such a manner — and now one of their Progenitor Kings had been killed in blood. It was as absurd as something from a fairy tale.

“Do not let a single one escape!”

From within the ancient caves came an ancient, furious bellow — as though it echoed across primordial time — and the sound alone caused many warships to explode directly in the sky.

A figure came charging in a killing rush, crashing directly into the saint-king war instrument and causing it to crack and shudder. This figure was a wizened old man, his entire body wreathed in flowing qilin firelight, clutching a terrifying weapon in hand.

Boom!

Another figure charged skyward — equally terrifying. A single palm came crashing down, directly shattering one entire mother ship, reducing it to smithereens.

The Fire Qilin Cave had been enraged — its supreme experts now unleashed. A venerable primordial imperial clan, attacked at its very doorstep — what an utter absurdity!

Now that a Progenitor King had died, the clan’s fury had reached its absolute extreme. Only by killing every last enemy — drying them of every drop of blood — could their humiliation and rage be washed away.

“Ahhhh…”

A piercing wail rang out. The Canghae Clan’s saint did not hold on for long before the furiously battling old Progenitor King shattered the ancient armor entirely, proceeding to practically massacre him.

His body crumbled inch by inch. His living soul was ripped free — denied even the mercy of a clean death, he would suffer endless torment.

One mother ship fought desperately to break free, straining to shoot upward into the sky — but a single beam of immortal light from within the Fire Qilin Cave shot out with a piercing cry and reduced it to flying ash.

Far off at the edge of the distant sky, Ye Fan and the others were chilled to the bone. Why was the Fire Qilin Cave in such fury — so enraged that it had even drawn out an extreme-path imperial weapon to deal with them? Was that not using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?

“We came a step too late. The Canghae Clan was bound to be completely wiped out. Of all the enemies to provoke, why charge straight into the Fire Qilin Cave? Is that not just courting death?” The Sacred Imperial Son sighed.

“One hopes they don’t discover the secret of the evolution fluid. Otherwise, they’ll come competing with us for targets — and that would be a truly troublesome rival,” Ye Fan said.

They had gained a great harvest. With the Slaughter Saint Qi Luo presiding over them, they had just successfully seized evolution fluid from one of the lords — which was precisely why they had been delayed and had watched with their own eyes as the Canghae Clan walked to its doom.

“Move quickly — to the next location. May the heavens protect the Miluo Clan — they must absolutely not go and attack the Blood Phoenix Mountain!”

By this point, Ye Fan had begun praying for those from the Eternal Prime Star. Not out of any concern for their lives — rather, out of grief for the evolution fluid and the mother ships.

The Miluo Clan was not particularly lucky. On the way to the Blood Phoenix Mountain, they encountered a great ancient royal clan midway through and broke into fierce all-out battle, suffering heavy casualties.

Facing a formidable, undying royal clan with Progenitor Kings presiding over it, they could not gain the slightest advantage — ancient-saint mechs were destroyed in droves.

Of course, even this primordial royal clan paid a severe price — nearly razed to the ground, two Progenitor Kings lost their lives.

Ye Fan and the others arrived at just the right time, seizing the most important mother ship and successfully claiming the evolution fluid before vanishing into the distant sky.

“Word has come in — two great clans have gathered outside the Undying Mountain. We should hurry — let’s hope we arrive in time.”

At that moment, the area outside the Undying Mountain was peculiarly tense. The Cao Family and the people of the Primordial Demon Sea were locked in a standoff, neither willing to back down — each determined to be the first to enter the mountain.

Even though several of the cosmic vessels they had sent in had inexplicably crashed within the black mountain range, neither side would retreat — for they had witnessed with their own eyes the immortal herb of undying life, the Black Tortoise known as the Ten-Thousand-Year Herb, moving about within these mountains.

Little did they know that deep within the Undying Mountain, a headless rider had appeared — standing within the central mountain domain, mounted upon an ancient beast like a resurrected divine being!