The Northern Region was in violent upheaval — chaos spreading everywhere. Battle upon battle broke out without cease, blood rising into the sky, killing energy blotting out the sun, a darkness of grief and misery blanketing the land.
Ancient clans were being attacked on a massive scale — an unprecedented occurrence in many long years. The ancestral grounds of many primordial royal clans had become battlefields.
Cosmic vessels appeared and disappeared. Beams of every color pierced through clouds and sunlight. Blood sprayed, bones piled into mountains, and grueling battles erupted in location after location — not a single front, but many.
The Blue Demon Clan, the Blood Moon Clan, the Azure Specter Clan, the Cloud Mist Royal Clan, the Silver Moon Royal Clan, and others fell one after another, shaking the Eastern Desolation and sending shockwaves through all beneath the heavens — a great catastrophe that shook the world.
Of course, the lord-fleet of the Eternal Prime Star suffered equally devastating losses. The Swallow Cloud Clan, the Canghae Clan, the Never-Setting-Sun Royal Clan, the Miluo Clan, and others were wiped out in succession — paying an equally heavy price.
“What manner of force is this — daring to attack the primordial royal clans? It is as though they erupted from the outer void without warning!”
“A civilization from beyond the domain. They possess a different kind of sacred artifacts and an astounding combat power that must not be underestimated!”
Several exceedingly powerful primordial royal clans were taken by surprise, left scrambling, with bodies left strewn across their grounds — many great clans’ ancestral territories soaked in blood.
This battle shook all beneath the heavens!
The equilibrium that had stood tranquil for many years was shattered on this one day — so suddenly that many could not adapt, could not accept it.
Battlefield after battlefield appeared simultaneously, in one different location after another, clearly showing that this group of people who had appeared so abruptly had very specific objectives.
“They’re mad — to go after the ancient clans. These powerful individuals are staggeringly bold. Their backing must be immense!”
“Even several primordial royal clans have suffered greatly. This is a battle of annihilation on both sides — neither will rest until one is destroyed.”
All beneath the heavens fixed their gaze on the Eastern Desolation as everyone argued and debated. This was a world-shaking great war that had nearly shattered the balance among the clans — smoke and fire spreading in every direction, tension and the stench of war hanging thick, every great clan on guard.
Many fronts had been opened simultaneously. The Twelve Great Clans from the Eternal Prime Star were far from ordinary — their mother ships and ancient-saint war instruments working in concert, killing until sun and moon lost their light and heaven and earth changed color.
Ye Fan and the others altered their course and did not immediately rush to the Undying Mountain, for they were also watching the other fronts — and at the first possible moment, word came that the Heaven sect’s Brahma Clan was about to meet its end, and they gave chase.
Initially, the Brahma Clan had been going splendidly — eliminating clan after clan! But when they encountered the Great Power Bull-Demon Clan, they met with devastating losses. This was a royal clan whose fearsome name had echoed throughout the Primordial Age. Several Progenitor Kings leapt out in an instant, delivering a crushing defeat to the Brahma Clan, sending them fleeing in utter rout.
Nearly all the high-ranking figures of that clan were slain in battle. Their ancient-saint mechs were blown apart. Their bodies were torn to shreds inch by inch by an old bull-demon king, flesh and blood flying in all directions.
It was a grueling, brutal battle. The Brahma Clan was on the verge of total annihilation. Even Fan Yuntong, that ancient saint, driving a saint-king war mech, was chased by an old bull-king with no road to the sky and no path into the earth.
“This is terrifying… gods of hell, can someone tell me why the indigenous people here are so powerful?!”
The few survivors of the Brahma Clan were shaking head to foot, fleeing for their lives — clearly, this outcome was beyond their belief.
At the start, the battle had gone extraordinarily smoothly. They had swept through several clans and seized large quantities of rare resources. Yet the moment they entered the territory of this Bull-Demon Clan, they swallowed a bitter pill of painful, crushing defeat.
These creatures — barrel-bodied, over a zhang in height — each covered in a hide of coarse hair several cun thick, heads crowned with a pair of great horns, possessed of brute strength from birth — had shattered warship after warship with their bare hands.
Looking at this herd of wild bulls snorting white steam from their nostrils and howling with a force that shook heaven and earth, the powerful figures of the Brahma Clan felt so much regret they could have turned green. It was a complete nightmare — there was no fighting this.
“Who said this ancient star was weak?! These indigenous people are all descendants of demon gods! Damn the Lanto Clan — the information they gave us was garbage. They sent us here to our deaths!”
The ancient saint Fan Yuntong led a small group of direct clansmen in a desperate flight. Every mother ship had been sunk, countless warships reduced to scrap metal — spatial jumps were impossible.
Behind them, three old bulls as large as mountain ranges were in full pursuit, eyes the size of basins glaring in fury. One roar from them shattered mountains and reversed waterfalls. They had chased after them for millions of li without relenting.
“Too… too… too — this is too damn terrifying!” The few remaining direct clansmen of the Brahma Clan could no longer speak coherently, cowed by the divine might of the Great Power Bull-Demon Clan.
Whoosh!
The Slaughter Saint acted. He directly shattered the small world that Fan Yuntong had manifested, sending the high-ranking figures inside tumbling out.
Flash!
Five-colored divine light blazed. Ye Fan charged through in a single sweep, seizing the lords who had scrambled free from the clan and capturing them alive.
“It’s you, kid — you’ve come to this ancient star as well?!” Someone cried out, recognizing him.
“Ha — this lord is a native of this very land. It is only fitting to fulfill the duties of a host,” Ye Fan said with a cold smile.
“Ahh…” The Brahma Clan people cried out in fury, eyes going red. They knew now that the expedition had suffered such enormous losses because everything had unfolded under Ye Fan’s scheming and watchful eye.
“You’re tired of living!” The Sacred Imperial Son, his golden fur blazing like cast metal, pulsing with surging combat power, was alone enough to slaughter every last half-saint in that clan.
The Black Emperor counseled: “Stop killing them. Take them alive. This Emperor has much to investigate — star gates, the dissection of mother ships. Prisoners of this caliber will all be of great use.”
The Sacred Imperial Son was bravely unstoppable, his black iron great staff sweeping through all enemies, sending every one of them spitting blood and crashing to the ground.
The three old bull-kings chased to this very spot — caught sight of the Sacred Imperial Son, and were briefly taken aback. Then they broke into an honest, good-natured grin and continued their chase after the lone escapee Fan Yuntong.
Evidently, Fan Yuntong did not have long left. The three old kings of the Bull-Demon Clan had him firmly locked in their sights — his defeat and death were only a matter of time.
Ye Fan and the others successfully secured the evolution fluid and rushed toward the next front.
The Northern Region was in complete chaos. The fires of war spread far and wide, drawing many ancient clans in unwillingly to battle the cosmic mother ships.
Many fronts raged simultaneously. It must be said that several of the Twelve Great Royal Clans from the Eternal Prime Star were truly extraordinarily powerful — among them the Zhao Clan, which had swept through all opposition without meeting a single worthy enemy.
For the Zhao Clan had a saint-king presiding over them, encased within a blazing and terrifying war mech. They had swept through all before them and already killed two saint-kings.
Moreover, they sensed that something was wrong. Having seized vast quantities of resources and laid waste to several primordial royal clans’ ancestral grounds, they were preparing to execute a spatial jump and escape this place.
That battle had turned rivers to rivers of blood, bones beyond counting falling densely and thickly, covering the Northern Region in a shroud of death — a scene of absolute horror.
“What manner of force is this that has descended? Some primordial royal clans have actually been wiped out!”
All beneath the heavens gazed toward the Northern Region, every pair of eyes focused there.
“I have heard that even the Fire Qilin Cave came under attack — an event unprecedented since the dawn of time. And a saint was killed there — the clan is now livid, ready to strike back!”
The Fire Qilin Cave’s people were indeed in full fury. They came out on the offensive, hunting down cosmic vessels, imperial weapons in hand.
“The Fire Cloud Clan… are you tired of living? Of all the enemies to attack, why did you go charging at Blood Phoenix Mountain?!” Ye Fan cursed in exasperation. This meant that clan was about to be completely annihilated — nothing would be gained from them now.
Before this moment, the Fire Cloud Clan had suffered severe losses after encountering a powerful primordial royal clan with a saint-king presiding over it — barely escaping the calamity at great cost.
Enraged beyond all reason, they threw caution to the wind and unleashed a forbidden power — sweeping aside mountains and rivers, charging forward — and in complete ignorance, reduced the outer mountain ranges of Blood Phoenix Mountain to ashes.
Moreover, they reduced several hundred patrolling experts to blood-mist — every one of them killed.
Blood Phoenix Mountain harbored a primordial imperial clan. How could they swallow such humiliation? Never in all of history had anyone dared to provoke them. They struck with the force of thunder, reducing that clan to ashes of destruction — leaving nothing behind.
When the Fire Qilin Cave and Blood Phoenix Mountain both acted, ten million streams of chaotic light shot skyward from the Northern Region. The fury of two great imperial clans — the sky itself seemed pierced through!
The entire Northern Region boiled over like water in a cauldron, thrown into absolute chaos!
Ancient clans were said to number in the tens of thousands — an exaggeration, yet their numbers were many. Those from the Eternal Prime Star had stirred up merely several dozen clans. Now, every great royal clan in the Northern Region had received word and mobilized together — this was nothing short of a catastrophe.
The remaining mother ships and warships were instantly mired in the quagmire of ten thousand clans. Ancient clan armies appeared in every direction, sending the faces of the twelve clans from the other domain draining white — completely frozen in disbelief.
“What the — the intelligence was completely wrong. Wildly, absurdly wrong. Have we come to hell itself? Why are demon-god descendants everywhere we look?!”
“How the hell are we supposed to fight this?! Damn Lanto Clan! The Demon God deserves ten thousand deaths! We’ve entered a realm of devils!”
“Even if every royal clan from the Eternal Prime Star descended together, they might not be able to conquer this place. I curse these demons all!”
Aboard the cosmic vessels, the powerful figures from the Eternal Prime Star were now ashen-faced, every one of them dumbfounded. The expedition force was in continuous rout, vessels exploding in succession — the death count long past any possibility of calculation.
The Zhao Clan had a saint-king presiding over them and had originally been harvesting great gains. But they hesitated just one moment too long, determined to seize one more royal clan’s ancestral ground — and regretted it bitterly.
For the two great primordial imperial clans had acted. A single beam of undying immortal light streaked forth, and their saint-king was reduced directly to ash.
“The Fire Qilin Cave and Blood Phoenix Mountain are competing with us for spoils — act quickly! The two clans outside the Undying Mountain must not be cleaned up by them before we get there!”
Ye Fan and the others traversed the void, charging toward the Undying Mountain. At this point, they dared not use the mother ship — for the countless primordial clans were all furious now, and they would all attack together the moment they spotted one of these warships.
The area outside the Undying Mountain was eerily tense. The Cao Family and the Mo Family of the Primordial Demon Sea were both tight-lipped with fury. Dozens of warships had entered the mountains and vanished without a trace — exploding inexplicably inside. Even a mother ship that had gone inside was now trapped, unable to move even an inch. It looked as though it would take decades, perhaps a century, of calculation to find any way out.
“Damn it all — who told us this ancient star had nothing remarkable about it? Why do I feel as though we’ve fallen into a den of demons?!” The Cao Family’s lord roared in fury.
“Can someone tell me what in the world is happening? One of our clan’s ancient-saint ships fell inside — why can’t it even send out a signal?!” The Mo Family of the Primordial Demon Sea was equally incensed.
That mother ship held one of the Mo Family’s high-ranking figures — a deeply favored descendant of their Progenitor Saint — and the thought of that person lost inside was unbearable.
“Fire — blast this place open! We’ve been known to destroy entire planets. Are we supposed to be afraid of a mere stretch of black mountain?!” The Mo Family’s lord issued the command.
Several mother ships rose into the air and unleashed a torrent of blazing light upon the Undying Mountain. This energy would have been enough to reduce small planets to ash — here, it was deployed purely to break through the Dao inscriptions of this place.
Massive beams of light capable of destroying all things between heaven and earth were focused upon the Undying Mountain — their divine power was staggering.
What left both the Mo Family and the Cao Family utterly stunned was that Dao traces emerged from within the Undying Mountain, dissolving every single attack into nothingness — as though nothing had struck at all.
At the same moment, at the center of that vast black mountain range, a headless rider appeared — and with a thrust of an iron spear, drove it forward.
Boom!
It was a heaven-shattering, earth-collapsing catastrophe. Swathes of the fleet were turned to flying ash in a simultaneous explosion of cascading fire. Several mother ships burst apart one after another — like paper before a storm, utterly unable to resist!
Both clans had saint-kings on the scene, who struck together — yet every one of them let out a terrible scream as their bodies burst apart in succession, reduced to blood-mist.
Both clans suffered devastating losses. In an instant, nearly eighty percent of their forces had been annihilated!
When Ye Fan and the others arrived, they witnessed this scene from a great distance — and every one of them went cold, as though plunged into an icy abyss.
“Of all the enemies to provoke, they attacked a life forbidden zone. Could this… actually trigger a dark upheaval?” Ye Fan felt a chill run through his body.
Within the Undying Mountain, the headless rider slowly turned his body — facing precisely this direction. Though he had no head, it was as though two icy gazes shot forth from him!