The Eternal Star was half-ruined. The number of dead was beyond counting. Saints’ remains and bones had been trampled to dust upon their own doorsteps — this was the grim conclusion of ten years of bitter war.

Once a thriving sovereign star, it had now become a land of smoldering ruin and devastation. Though the ancient clans had also left behind no small number of bodies here, for ten thousand miles there was not a soul in sight.

The white-haired powerhouse’s single sword stroke, brilliant as cold light, severed the heavens and swept away ten supremely ancient clans. He did not linger. Carrying his black sword on his back, he departed, leaving behind only a legend.

The ancient clans’ losses were considerable — yet their gains were enormous as well. They had broken through numerous sacred grounds and brought back large quantities of precious evolution fluid sealed since antiquity.

Though it seemed like a triumphant return laden with spoils, the hardships along the way were known to none but themselves. They entered an era of explosive growth. Their bloodline heritage, evolution fluid, and all that came with these things forged a period of dazzling brilliance.

In the ancient star domain of the Northern Dipper, ten thousand clans rose up in chorus. The virtuous and wise descended. One radiant hero after another arose, each opening a new chapter of legend.

Ye Fan had gone far away — but his disciple Ye Tong burst onto the scene like a comet streaking across the sky, illuminating the land, ensuring that his legend would never be extinguished.

For every battle Ye Tong won, people recalled the Human Sacred Body of days gone by — Ye Tong was that person’s disciple, the continuation of that person’s glory.

Fallen leaves drifted. Vegetation encountered autumn. Stars shifted and time moved on. Even the most brilliant halo would one day fade, forgotten in the river of time.

The Northern Dipper entered a Warring States era. The virtuous and wise poured in without cease. Their disciples arrived. A dazzling new golden age of prosperity had begun.

At this rate, Ye Fan, too, would gradually be forgotten. One brilliant sacred star after another was born — they came from the Heaven-Piercing Ancient Star beyond the domain, from Fire Mulberry, from the Curved Handle Ancient Star, and from many other ancient places beyond.

Time is merciless in this way. The rise of Saints and the birth of legends can drain the luster from all that came before.

In the cold void of the universe — dark and boundless — a solitary traveler savored loneliness in the silent stillness. One person, one horse. They broke through star domain after star domain, dangerous at every turn, yet Ye Fan’s will was unshakable.

Long Ma, too, had grown silent. No longer as hot-headed as before, he had developed a steady composure — the restless impatience of the past was gone.

Ten years of campaigns — advance or perish; to advance was to bathe in blood. They had fought their way to this point. Even Ye Fan had suffered accidents along the road, and Long Ma had come within a breath of death on several occasions, even having his primordial spirit seized away by an enemy once.

“When will it end?” Long Ma murmured, carrying Ye Fan as they moved across yet another dead star. He scanned the surroundings warily, for they had been ambushed badly before.

Once, the moment they stepped out of a stargate, they were caught off guard and attacked by an Ant Saint King in an ambush. They had barely escaped with their lives, requiring a long recovery.

Ye Fan said nothing. He, too, did not know when the ancient road would end. Ten years of exhaustion. Ten years of harvest. His Dao-heart was unmoved. His mind was iron. He had long since adapted to all of this.

“Another grave.”

Long Ma carried Ye Fan across the ancient star. They came to a small mound of earth before which a stone stele stood alone. Carved upon it, in powerful and vigorous strokes, were several lines of text.

“Tomb of Divine King Jiang Yue.” Only these words — a record of the end of one generation’s hero. The road of the supreme trial was littered with bones; many had fallen along the way.

This grave and its stele must have dated from tens of thousands of years ago. They were on the verge of collapse, for the last traces of the seal’s power had dissipated.

“Was such sacrifice worth it? What are we pursuing?” Long Ma breathed out a gout of flame, lifting his head toward the sky.

In this place, they encountered no danger. The ancient planet was home to the skeletal remains of strange and mighty beasts — as large as mountains, long since extinct.

In the blink of an eye, another two months passed. They killed a group of soul-bodies, terrifying as ghosts. Their primordial spirits suffered tremendous torment. They broke through from a dead star that felt like hell itself — and finally, a turning point appeared.

From within the sea of consciousness of a wraith-like Saint, they retrieved the knowledge that ahead, in the depths of the cosmos, there were living beings — and they were human, not another stretch of dead desolation.

There was no better news than this. The tedious journey was at last coming to an end. Both man and horse felt a sudden surge of excitement.

“I have had enough! Are we blazing through the heavenly road or trudging through the depths of hell?! An entire star of soul-bodies — an entire star of bone spirits… this is suffering no human should endure.” Long Ma was covered in wounds.

By this point it had long become routine. Ten years of bloody battle — even Ye Fan had once had half his body cleaved away, and Long Ma’s primordial spirit had once been seized by an enemy.

“Without having achieved sainthood, death can come at any moment on this road. I wonder how the others are faring.” Ye Fan murmured quietly.

The great and small moons of the Ji Family, the Southern Demon siblings, the Central Emperor, Pang Bo — all of them had set out on this road. Yet it had been a very long time since he had come across even a faint trace they had left behind.

“Onward!”

Ye Fan gazed into the depths of the cosmos. The road back had long since vanished. No matter how many dangers lay ahead — even if it were the underworld itself — he would break through it all.

One person and one horse pressed forward through the desolate cosmos. After more than ten days, crossing several times by means of small five-colored altars, they finally found a peculiar path.

“We’ve broken through! We’ve finally reached our destination!” Long Ma reared up on his hind legs. His neigh rang out like a thunderclap. His divine sense blazed, his energy roiled, sending the meteorites all around him into a rumbling chorus.

Hoof-beats across star domains for ten years, cutting a bloody path, they had arrived at a stretch of starry sky. Here, there were no more dead stars — and a stone stele stood pointing toward what lay ahead.

Long Ma left a trail of flame behind him, carrying Ye Fan in a great leap through the heavens. Every step shook the cosmos. They ran for two full days straight, and along the way they spotted dozens of ancient stone steles pointing forward.

In the course of this journey, they gradually began to encounter other people, and felt a sense of vitality — the deathly stillness was no more.

“Aoooo…”

The roar of wild beasts rang out — emanating through divine sense, accompanied by surging, boiling blood energy. It was like a horde of primordial savage beasts charging forward, setting the starry sky itself trembling.

Ye Fan was startled. He saw people — humans — converging from different directions onto this very path. Many of them rode beasts the size of small mountains.

Some resembled Qilin-dragons. Others were devouring-serpent beasts with towering horns, their scales dense as armor, reeking of murderous energy — every one of them bore the hallmark of having passed through life-and-death ordeals.

Ye Fan and Long Ma slowed their pace, observing carefully. After another half a day, they continued to encounter such people. Among them were beautiful, otherworldly women riding phoenix-birds, graceful and ethereal.

“Are all of these people here to tread the ancient road of the supreme trial in the starry sky? Where do they come from?” Ye Fan pondered. There were so many of them — along this stretch of road alone he had already counted over a hundred.

How could they all arrive at this very moment? Could some special event be drawing them together?

Even Long Ma was shocked. Were there truly that many ancient life-bearing stars in the starry sky? That seemed impossible — they had broken through countless star domains and hadn’t seen a single one!

“Get out of the way!”

From behind, iron hooves shook the starry sky. A fierce voice carried toward them. Thirteen riders advanced in a row, each one clad in sacred garments that flickered with cold metallic radiance of different hues — like a tide of iron crashing forward.

Their mounts were all rare breeds of primordial origin, every one extraordinary among its kind: among them were ancient Pixiu beasts — powerful, majestic, proud as masters of the heavens. There was also a nine-headed divine python, its scales shimmering in many colors, a descendant of the ancient Serpent Emperor. And there was an Azure Dragon commanding wind and rain.

It was like a host of heavenly generals. Roaring across the cosmos, outrunning the stars and catching the moon, they seemed capable of anything — blood energy that covered the heavens, terrifying beyond measure.

Most striking of all was the figure seated upon a silver-white ancient wolf at the center. He was bare-chested, his gaze fierce as an eagle and alert as a wolf, sovereign and self-possessed. His eyes were sharper than divine lanterns.

His mount, though an aged wolf rather than a supernatural beast, had attained sainthood — a true sacred beast in every sense of the word.

“Get out of the way!”

The thirteen riders surged forward — fast as lightning, fierce as a tidal wave. Their blood energy struck the far shore. The entire area trembled in their wake, and each and every one of them was wild and untameable, their tone enough to kindle fury.

Long Ma halted and stepped aside, readying himself for a great battle. Ye Fan watched with cold indifference, seated astride, unmoved as a mountain.

The starry sky cracked beneath their hooves. The thirteen iron riders charged past without slowing — they vanished into the distance like a hurricane, leaving a surge of wild energy in their wake.

Long Ma was furious. It felt like throwing a punch into cotton — he had already been bracing for a fight, but the thirteen riders hadn’t even paused, charging straight past without giving him the satisfaction.

Ye Fan was also surprised. He had no fear of anything. Since this was the supreme trial of the ancient road, it was natural that there would be clashes among the powerful — he had long since prepared his mind for that. Yet the chance for a fight had come and gone.

Just then, a scholarly figure in a feathered fan and headdress scarf came striding from behind. Dao inscriptions rose beneath his feet. Each step covered several hundred zhang. He shook his head as he passed, carrying a trace of disdain, and said: “Since ancient times, the path of emperors has been littered with bones. With me here and none equal to me, no one on this road will yield to another.”

After him, a golden-winged Roc flew past, bearing a middle-aged woman on its back. She glanced over with cold eyes and said: “If your heart holds fear, and you yield the road to others, what is the point of coming here? You may as well turn and go back.”

“Woof!” Long Ma was so furious he let out a dog’s bark — clearly having been heavily influenced by the Black Emperor over the years. Now, in his rage, it burst out of him.

He knew he had done something embarrassing. He had originally been readying himself for a fight, yet he had ended up appearing to be a coward on this road — he hadn’t known there was so much significance attached to such things.

“Brother Dao, this road demands fearlessness from the strong. The competition is brutal. Everyone is an opponent. Those who use their aura and bearing to intimidate others before a single blow has been exchanged are not few. Do not take it to heart.” A slight and thin young man offered this well-meaning guidance, then hurried off.

“Does this seat fear them?! I’ve clawed my way through hell — do you think I’m afraid?! We’ll meet on the road!” Long Ma had swallowed a bellyful of anger. Being shouted at to get out of the way was infuriating enough — and now to be mocked by the people who came after was nearly enough to make him howl.

Ye Fan said nothing. His gaze was clear and unclouded. He wasted no more time. Long Ma let out a sharp neigh, transformed into a bolt of blood-red lightning, and shot into the depths of the starry sky.

The stone steles were gone. The signposts had vanished. People grew more numerous ahead. Every one of them carried their own aura and pressure. A single glance was enough to confirm that every single person was a supreme figure among their kind — not one of them was ordinary.

“That is…” Long Ma’s enormous eyes sharpened with intense light. His anger faded. He stared ahead, slightly dazed.

Ye Fan was also startled. He had not expected to see such a sight.

There in the cosmos ahead stood a magnificent, towering city — majestic and resplendent in every direction. The sounds of dragons singing and phoenixes crying drifted out. It stretched across the expanse beneath the stars and moon, enduring and imperishable through ten thousand ages.

Everyone had stopped here. No one moved forward. They gazed into the distance at this ancient city, which radiated a vast and sweeping grandeur. Immortal power flowed through it and around it.

“An ancient city beneath the starry sky…” Many people wore expressions of astonishment.

It was immense, and it was mysterious. It did not sit upon any planet — it hung directly suspended in the void of the cosmos, bathed in the light of the stars, a sight of overwhelming visual impact.

Its grounds stretched impossibly wide. Its walls rose like mountain ridges, extending without end. Its gate towers were towering and grand, and a pair of massive, heavy city gates stood closed — as if they could hold back ten thousand armies and all the Saints of antiquity!