The great battle had drawn to a close, yet the ripples it sent forth continued to spread. A life star known as Eternal had become the focal point of countless discussions, as the ancient clans, unwilling to accept their losses, seethed with resentment over the unprovoked assault that had claimed so many of their own lives and left them desperate for retribution.

The several mightiest royal clans of the primordial age, along with the lofty immortal powerhouses such as Huo Lin’er’s cave and the Crimson Phoenix Mountain, had captured a number of prisoners, subjected them to harsh interrogation, and extracted a wealth of information.

The kingdom where gods had once been born had launched an assault on the Beidou Star Region in search of divine minerals to refine the evolutionary fluid — and when this news broke, it sent shockwaves rippling across the land!

The clamorous Northern Wilderness, with its uproar among the ancient clans, seized the gaze of every soul across the world. Heated debate erupted over the exploration of life stars beyond their domain and the imminent massive counterattack that was being planned against Eternal.

In this war, some of the ancient clans’ ancestral kings had perished, their ancestral grounds had been broken through and stripped bare, and certain clans had been razed to the ground entirely — how could they possibly resign themselves to such an outcome?

The primordial royal clans burned with rage and thirsted for vengeance.

The entire world knew of it, and all were speaking of it — the main star of Eternal had become the most fiercely discussed topic of the age!

“Insignificant ants! How dare specks of firefly light compete with the brilliance of the full moon! You slaughter our clansmen, destroy our ancestral grounds — this is an irreconcilable enmity!”

An ancestral king of the primordial age roared, the sound shaking the entire Northern Wilderness. People speculated that it was someone infinitely close to the realm of Great Sage venting his fury.

Ye Fan laughed wryly. The main star of Eternal regarded the locals here as a primitive, uncivilized race, while the primordial kings of the Beidou Star Region dismissed those same locals as insignificant ants. Truly, there was little to choose between them.

Outside, the world seethed with turmoil, and the great waves of unrest refused to calm!

“Ahhh, how thrilling!” The little bald-headed Hua Hua from the Village of Celestial Beings shouted with excitement, stumbling down the boarding ramp of a mothership, swaying and tottering as though drunk.

The Black Emperor stuck out its great tongue, its heart still racing with lingering dread as it staggered out in a lurching run, cursing aloud: “We only went out for a trial voyage, and we ended up hunted like rats crossing the street, chased by everyone we met! Damn it all, I nearly perished out there!”

The Village of Celestial Beings had seized three holy-grade motherships — a fortune beyond reckoning — and naturally the Great Black Dog, Yan Yixi, Li Heishui, and the others had been eager to take them for a test run, getting a feel for the vessels’ capabilities over the course of several spatial jumps.

However, the ancient clans outside had completely lost their minds with fury. The moment they caught sight of the group, tens of thousands of soldiers surged skyward like an army of celestial warriors descending from the heavens, with over a dozen Ancient Sages joining the pursuit.

The Black Emperor and the others had fled in an utterly wretched state. Fortunately, they had already mastered control of the motherships and executed a spatial jump at the very first opportunity — otherwise, they would have been flayed alive on the spot.

The Holy Prince had no interest in the warships. He had fixed his gaze on an Ancient Sage mech, tinkering with it for a long while before finally learning from a prisoner how to operate it. His eyes shone with brilliant light as he climbed inside, eager to pit himself against Qi Luo in a duel.

The Village of Celestial Beings was alive with commotion, with everyone bustling about in a flurry of activity. Even Duan De, upon hearing the news, had come trotting over in high spirits — wherever there was treasure, he was sure to appear.

A group of prisoners sat with drooping heads, their faces etched in misery. Now that they had fallen into this lot’s hands, more than a few of them felt the urge to simply die and be done with it.

So these were the “weak, primitive natives” that the so-called divine beings had spoken of? What a joke!

Could they not see it? Even the little bald-headed child in split-bottomed trousers was a cunning, sharp-eyed little spirit, those big black-and-white eyes of his blinking away as he pressured a Dao-cleaving cultivator into a confession!

What sort of people were these? Each one was monstrously powerful. That savage wielding the great club was arm-wrestling with a half-sage from their clan — and doing it with just two fingers. Damn it, the sheer arrogance was beyond reckoning!

And that dog — with its great square head, enormous ears, and eyes like copper bells, the size of a small mountain — was actually sitting behind the controls of a holy-grade mothership, conducting itself with all the manner of a person. What kind of place was this, where even a dog could be so fearsome and bizarre?

Most absurd of all was that monkey, who had come within a hair of completely dismantling an Ancient Sage war machine. What sort of body could possibly be that powerful? A monkey — just a monkey — could tear apart a sacred artifact with its bare hands?

The prisoners’ faces had gone ashen. Inwardly, they were crying out that this place had to be the birthplace of devils — how else could mere children, dogs, and monkeys, creatures of such low station, be so terrifyingly capable?

These people wanted to weep. Watching this crowd of overwhelmingly powerful natives busy themselves with chaotic antics, they felt the urge to simply die, deeply regretting that they had ever embarked on this distant campaign.

“What manner of monsters are these? In the end, we are the ones who became the prey — did we not come here to march to our own deaths?”

The prisoners’ faces had all turned a sickly green. Their hearts churned with dread and despair. They wanted to cry, but no tears would come. They were consumed with regret — and now, cowed into submission, they had no choice but to yield up everything they knew.

For if they refused — had they not heard what the great black dog had said? Every last one of them would be thrown into a vat of boiling oil, deep-fried and served as a drinking snack. Not a single one of them would be spared.

In the distance, mist and rosy clouds drifted lazily. Amid a scene of small bridges, flowing water, oddly shaped stones, and lush, thriving trees, Ye Fan sat with several of the village’s elders, drinking tea and savoring this rare moment of tranquility.

Little Que’er fluttered her wide eyes as she poured tea for them all, then stood quietly to one side, listening attentively to their conversation.

Ye Fan recounted for Qi Luo and the others the journey of the trial ordeal, describing the many wonders of the Eternal Star Region, and dwelling at length on the marvels of the supreme bloodline evolutionary fluid.

The Sage of Slaughter listened thoughtfully for a long while, then nodded, expressing his support for the Black Emperor’s efforts to decode the motherships and unravel the secrets of the star gates, saying that if they could reach that star region, they might be able to obtain more of the evolutionary fluid.

In the course of their conversation, Ye Fan also asked the elders about everything that had transpired over the past two years. He had never for a single moment stopped keeping track of the matter of the path to immortality, for it bore upon far too much.

Over these two years, the path to immortality had yet to open. Yet the figures of holy beings from beyond their domain had been appearing with increasing frequency.

“Some deeply formidable individuals have arrived — ones whom even the ancient clans dare not easily provoke.” The Sage of Slaughter said.

For instance, not long ago, two ancient golden crows had come flying in from beyond the heavens. Their magical power had been vast beyond measure, and the dazzling firelight they trailed across the central continent had been like two suns descending upon the earth.

According to the accounts, these two ancient demon sages had come merely as advance scouts, with more of their clanspeople to follow — hailing from a life ancient star called Huo Sang.

“What? Huo Sang!”

Ye Fan’s expression shifted visibly. The cosmos was vast beyond imagining, and of the life-source worlds currently known, only a handful existed — and Huo Sang was unquestionably among the most powerful of them all.

When he had returned to Earth, he had learned certain truths: in the remote ancient age, the holy beings of three ancient stars — Huo Sang, Tong Tian, and Gou Chen — had once journeyed there in search of the map to immortality.

And Huo Sang was a star of unrivaled power. The legend on Earth of the great archer Yi shooting down the suns was connected to them.

In that remote ancient age, ten holy-grade ancient golden crows had turned heaven and earth upside down, bringing catastrophe upon ancient China. Then the unparalleled champion Yi had appeared out of nowhere, forged nine arrows, drew his bow again and again, and slew nine of the great golden crows.

In the end, the ancient golden crow of the Huo Sang star — a being of such power that he could look down with contempt upon all nine heavens and ten earths — had traversed the star regions to arrive on Earth. He was a quasi-emperor, and he ultimately caused Yi’s fall.

These accounts and legends had left a deep impression on Ye Fan, and hearing of them now, how could his heart not be stirred?

Yi, that great hero of the remote ancient age, had perished long ago — yet his legend lived on without end.

Ye Fan brought out the two black arrows he had carried with him from Earth, running his fingers gently over them, hoping that the day would never come when he would need to use them. For if that day arrived, it would inevitably mean a slaughter of absolute proportions — and Huo Sang was truly terrifying.

Over these two years, the Beidou Star Region had remained largely calm, with no great battles erupting. Yet beneath the surface, undercurrents surged. Even the natural energy patterns of the Dao had undergone changes, growing ever more mysterious and impossible to predict or divine.

During this time, aside from Huo Sang, the other holy beings from beyond their domain had kept themselves shrouded in mystery. To this day, no one knew where they had come from, and they rarely had any dealings with the “natives.”

“The Beidou Star Region is on the verge of chaos — heaven only knows what the future holds.” The Sage of Slaughter said with a quiet sigh.

Now, the path to immortality had set all ten directions of the world in motion. Every soul in existence was watching, and the ancient powerful beings from the great star regions had all arrived. It was entirely possible that this would become the most terrifying battlefield the cosmos had ever known.

The more he came to understand, the more a sense of urgency pressed down upon him. Ye Fan found himself gripped by anxiety, a vague and unsettling premonition rising in his heart.

Divine beings from beyond, ancient sages of countless heavens, and powerful cultivators from every realm were converging upon this place — it would surely be a gathering the likes of which had not been seen since time immemorial. And it might also be the onset of a catastrophic storm!

“There is not much time. Setting aside the other life forbidden zones entirely, the emergence of the supreme being within the Undying Mountain alone is something the human race cannot withstand.” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

One must keep in mind that there were seven great life forbidden zones in total. Even without knowing how the different races and factions would align, one could easily imagine that what was coming would be a disaster without precedent in all of history.

Ye Fan’s expression hardened with resolve. He said: “Cultivation, advancing one’s battle power — that is the most pressing matter at hand. Everything else is empty. Only by breaking through into higher realms and refining the depths of one’s Dao will we have any foothold in what is to come!”

The supreme constitution and the bloodline evolutionary fluid were, without a doubt, the divine remedy capable of shortening the time needed to achieve sainthood!

In this last battle, they had seized a total of five portions of the evolutionary fluid. Furthermore, from several key prisoners, they had learned how to refine this precious fluid — though many of the divine minerals required were simply nowhere to be found in the Beidou.

“Five portions of the evolutionary fluid, all of them approaching the fourth stage but not yet reaching it — we cannot squander them carelessly.”

Ye Fan, the Black Emperor, Duan De, the Holy Prince, Dongfang Ye, the Sage of Slaughter, and the others gathered in a circle and bent their minds seriously to the task of studying the ancient divine beings’ alchemical secrets, examining the evolutionary fluid, and engaging in earnest discussion.

“The rock of heavenly destiny that I seized outside the Undying Mountain two years ago — it should still be on hand. That is a divine primary ingredient with many further uses!” Ye Fan said.

The dull, gray rock was brought out. The evolutionary fluid from before had been entirely consumed, having catalyzed the astonishing transformations in the pure and unpolished constitutions of Ye Tong, Hua Hua, Xiao Que’er, and the others.

“I also have a piece of the Netherworld Heart. But even so, that gives us only two divine primary ingredients — we are still short two to extract the fourth-stage evolutionary fluid.” Ye Fan produced a black stone object. Dead energy coiled around it, yet within its depths lurked a nameless vitality and a vast, formidable power.

“The primordial ancient mine harbors one type of supreme divine primary ingredient — but there is a supreme being lying dormant in slumber within, and there is no way to retrieve it.”

Through the words of their prisoners, they had all come to know the immense value of the primordial life stone. Even a fragment no larger than a fingernail was enough to send the inhabitants of the main star of Eternal into a frenzy.

“If we can obtain a primordial life stone, even if we do not manage to gather all four divine primary minerals, we can likely use what we have to nurture these five portions of evolutionary fluid up to the fourth stage — after all, ten thousand years ago, they were once eighth-stage precious fluid!”

By now, they all understood: this evolutionary fluid was of immense significance. It might very well enable those present to achieve sainthood, potentially cutting hundreds of years off their cultivation time!

“I will make a trip to Mount Sumeru and consult my uncle — see if he can help locate a primordial life stone.” The Holy Prince said.

“Dong—”

A deep, resonant bell toll rang out from Mount Sumeru, spreading across the vast Western Desert, its sound reverberating loud enough to shake the very heavens. The Victorious Fighting Buddha was about to descend the mountain.

“The younger brother of the Victorious Fighting Sage Emperor is about to emerge once more!”

“What? The Victorious Fighting Buddha of Mount Sumeru is coming to the Eastern Desolation!?”

Those in the Eastern Desolation with ways of learning such news reacted in different ways — yet there was one thing they all shared: a sense of startled awe.

In ages past, the Victorious Fighting Buddha had struck with his own hand and slain the Kunzhou Great Sage, single-handedly holding off several of the great primordial royal clans. To this day, the memory of it sent chills through people’s bones!

The Holy Prince returned, bringing with him a piece of astonishing news. His golden fur gleamed brilliantly from head to tail as he said: “My uncle intends to enter the primordial ancient mine and demand a piece of the primordial life stone.”

“What? That — is it really true?” Li Heishui, Li Tian, and the others all stared in utter disbelief.

The Black Emperor’s jaw nearly hit the ground. It gaped, struck speechless for a long moment.

“Is there any chance your uncle would take me along?” Only Duan De could be so thick-skinned, shamelessly putting his question forward with a smile on his face.