The middle-aged Daoist nun trembled. When she saw Ye Fan raise his finger, she nearly cried out. The other two convulsed even harder, breaking into a cold sweat. Even with Jun Wei Mountain Lord standing before them, they were still pale with dread — their experience in that hell was still vivid before their eyes, leaving them terrified in both body and soul.
“Fellow Daoist, you’ve already frightened them enough. These are pitiful people — why not let them go?” Jun Wei Mountain Lord said.
“You see how pitiable they are now, but did you see how vicious and merciless they were when they surrounded and hunted me not long ago, relentless in their determination to kill me? What Ye did was nothing more than self-defense and retaliation,” Ye Fan replied.
“We were wrong — Great Emperor Ye, please spare our lives!” One of the three men broke down completely, crying out loudly with tears and mucus streaming down his face, no longer bearing the slightest resemblance to a formidable cultivator.
“Great Emperor? He’s only just set foot in the Trial Grounds — do you truly think he can walk the path of an Emperor? What a joke!” someone beside Jun Wei Mountain Lord said with a cold laugh.
“Jun Wei Mountain Lord, save us!” Another one quickly appealed to him, as if grasping at the only straw that could save him.
“Fellow Daoist, what if I owe you a personal favor in exchange for pardoning them this once?” Jun Wei Mountain Lord said, watching Ye Fan intently.
He was tall and powerfully built, wearing a violet-gold crown upon his head and a Qilin battle robe on his body. A pair of violet pupils gleamed in his eyes. His hair fell like a waterfall. He was truly imposing — like a heavenly king descended into the mortal world.
With each opening and closing of his eyes, violet light flowed through them as wisps of Dao light emanated outward. He bore the aura of an ancient sovereign of an imperial bloodline — exceptionally extraordinary. His every gesture and movement aligned naturally with the profound principles of heaven and earth.
Even standing at ease, his bearing was stern and majestic, radiating an unquestionable authority that commanded awe.
This was undoubtedly a formidable cultivator — and an uncommonly powerful, terrifying one at that. There was a particular imperial Dao atmosphere about him that set him apart.
“No!” Ye Fan was resolute, his two-word refusal leaving no room for negotiation. The middle-aged Daoist nun had been so aggressive in rallying the heroes to besiege him — how could he simply let her go just like that?
Mercy too had its limits. It was not something to be extended to everyone. To spare a vicious and poisonous person was equivalent to stabbing yourself.
“You truly do not know your place. Jun Wei Mountain Lord kindly spoke on their behalf, yet you refuse to accept his goodwill — do you actually think yourself invincible under heaven?” The man who had spoken moments ago said coldly once more.
“I kill my own enemies — what concern is that of yours? You block my path and still expect my gratitude? What a tremendous joke!” Ye Fan paid him no further mind, turning his gaze directly to Jun Wei Mountain Lord.
“Sigh. Fellow Daoist need not bother with him. I have some past dealings with that female Daoist — which is why I cannot bear to watch her die,” Jun Wei Mountain Lord said, still set on saving her life.
“If that’s how it is, then I have far more dealings with her — she surrounded and hunted me. I cannot let this simply pass,” Ye Fan said.
Behind them, the middle-aged Daoist nun and the other two stood pale as sheets, without a drop of color in their faces. Their lives hung on a single word exchanged by the two men before them — every one of them was stretched to the absolute limit of tension.
“Fellow Daoist, you truly will not spare them?” Jun Wei Mountain Lord asked, his expression grave.
“There is nothing to discuss!” Ye Fan said solemnly.
“Jun Wei Mountain Lord has spoken to you in good faith, yet you refuse him again and again. You do not know what is good for you!” Another of the four men beside Jun Wei Mountain Lord spoke up, his words cold as ice.
“Are these your servants or your household staff? Please ask them to show some restraint,” Ye Fan said to Jun Wei Mountain Lord.
“These are fellow Daoist companions of mine — not my servants,” Jun Wei Mountain Lord replied, his expression showing a flicker of displeasure.
“You are bold! Do you think yourself omnipotent? Before Jun Wei Mountain Lord, you may be nothing at all!” One of them barked a reprimand, stepping forward with a swaggering, aggressive air.
Ye Fan’s face darkened. “If you bark at me like a dog again, I will kill you.”
These words fell, and the air at the scene instantly turned frigid — the tension became absolute. All four beside Jun Wei Mountain Lord changed color at once, ready to lash back furiously.
“Jun Wei Mountain Lord, he possesses a speed that transcends that of saints. I suspect he commands one of the forbidden secret techniques spoken of in ancient legend — one that could eventually evolve into the fastest speed in the universe. That alone might be of great use to you!” The middle-aged Daoist nun cried out, a flash of vicious cunning crossing her eyes as she fixed her gaze toward Ye Fan.
“Even a pitiable person can be hateful in their own way. Jun Wei Mountain Lord, do you see it now? Even now she is trying to use your hand to eliminate me,” Ye Fan said coolly.
As he spoke, he left a shadow in place and broke through Jun Wei Mountain Lord’s defense, moving to strike down the middle-aged Daoist nun and the other two.
Behind him, the four who had arrived with Jun Wei Mountain Lord gave a cold laugh and struck together, offering up a palace-hall artifact that swept the middle-aged Daoist nun and her two companions inside it.
The crystalline palace-hall shrank until it was the size of a fist, landing in one man’s palm — translucent and gleaming, flowing with sacred radiance, ten thousand auspicious vapors emanating from it.
“We have already given you more than enough face. You do not know your limits — do not bring ruin upon yourself!” One of them gave a solemn warning.
“Is this your decision?” Ye Fan asked Jun Wei Mountain Lord coldly.
“I do want to save them,” Jun Wei Mountain Lord said — only a few words, but enough to make his position clear. A killing pressure radiated from him.
“Then I have no choice but to go on a full-scale slaughter. Whoever stands in my way — regardless of who they are — will be killed!” Ye Fan said in a low, measured voice.
“Insolent! Who do you think you are, speaking to Jun Wei Mountain Lord like this?! If you do not give us a proper explanation right now, we will seize and kill you on the spot!” someone shouted.
“Do not compare us to those who come from small worlds or dried-out heavenly domains — we carry the true inheritance of the ancient star domains. We will not tolerate this kind of recklessness and discourtesy!”
Ye Fan listened and his expression turned ice-cold. This was clearly a premeditated provocation — a deliberate search for an excuse to strike. Otherwise, why would they be this aggressive and relentless?
“I said — if you bark at me like dogs again, all of you will be killed,” Ye Fan said without inflection.
Several cold snorts sounded. The four men’s expressions darkened. They split apart and took up four positions, arranging themselves into the Four Symbols Ancient Saint Formation — seeking to suppress him.
“Since fellow Daoist won’t stand down, then I’m afraid I must give offense. I merely wish to save a life — why must you be so cold-blooded?” At this, Jun Wei Mountain Lord spoke, carrying a thread of frigidity in his tone.
Ye Fan knew full well that these people could not have just entered the Trial Grounds. Since they had made no move to save Blue Maple or Red Willow, their effort to intercede on behalf of the middle-aged Daoist nun was nothing but a pretense — not genuine intent.
“Hypocrites,” Ye Fan said, the corner of his mouth lifting in a cold smile.
“A person who does not know how to weigh their options — we spoke to you in good faith and you refused. Must we beat you into submission? You leave us no choice.” One of them scolded.
“Crack!”
In that instant, Ye Fan moved — with explosive speed, he transformed into a bolt of golden lightning and shot toward one of them — specifically targeting the man from moments ago.
“Crack!”
Another slap — clean and full-force. The force behind Ye Fan’s palm was enough to reduce entire mountain ranges to flying ash.
Yet this man was only sent flying, bloodied, his jaw shattered — he had not been annihilated in body and soul.
“Roar…!”
That man erupted in fury. Back in the Thirty-Sixth Zone, Ye Fan had already shattered half his face — and now it was happening again, leaving him in pathetic disarray.
“Shameless wretch — I’m hitting you right in the face on purpose!” Long Ma called out from the side.
But Ye Fan frowned. Though he had shattered the man’s jaw, a surge of his golden battle energy had been neutralized and absorbed into the man’s body.
What sort of mysterious technique was this, capable of dissolving all attacking force? It was genuinely strange.
“Clang!”
The four moved as one, each radiating light, as though a sheet of magnetic lightning danced among them — every person became shrouded in gray mist, their forms hidden within.
In that moment, the four seemed to fuse into one. They could share life force, and the injured man instantly began to recover, his blood staunching.
At the same time, Ye Fan’s golden battle energy materialized on the four of them — condensing into four streams, forming four sword blades that flew back out and came slicing toward him.
“Clang clang…!”
A piercing sound rang out. Ye Fan moved to counter swiftly, his heart lurching — he was facing his own energy, returning to him through a reaction from their bodies.
“The Four Symbols Ancient Saint Formation!”
Ye Fan’s eyes sharpened. This was a peculiar formation — not drawn upon the earth, but using the four men themselves as its banners. A living formation, formed from their bodies. Mysterious and beyond calculation.
These four were far from ordinary. Coming together now to arrange this formation, they had channeled an ancient killing energy that had stolen the creative force of heaven and earth — boundlessly fearsome.
Ye Fan battled against them, deploying his full repertoire of brilliant techniques, golden blood energy surging to the sky — yet the formation absorbed all of it, only to reproduce it and direct it back against him.
From Taiji came the Two Polarities, from Two Polarities came the Four Symbols, from Four Symbols came the Eight Trigrams — they had evolved the Four Symbols Formation diagram, calling wind and rain, arranging a miniature world of divine demons.
Ye Fan’s expression grew grave. Beyond fighting four powerful opponents, he also had to contend with this formation — there was no room to take it lightly.
Using people as formation banners was very different from an ordinary formation, and far more difficult to break. With a hundred-million-jin shackle weighing on his body, Ye Fan deployed the Movement Script to charge and impact, gradually wearing down the supreme formation diagram’s influence.
At last, he slowly extricated himself from the predicament of battling his own force.
“Strike!”
Ye Fan roared. Above his head, an ancient mirror floated, projecting immortal divine radiance. He channeled the Battle Saint Technique to evolve the Void Mirror, seeking to use the divine light within the mirror to shoot down one of the four.
Pfft!
It was an absolutely razor-sharp strike — one of the men was pierced through, drenched in blood. Yet a gray-white mist appeared on his body, and the four — bound by a shared fate — immediately pooled their power to restore him.
“To think you are this powerful — yet no matter how great your divine abilities, you will die here! Sacred spirit, revive — let the formation diagram manifest!” the four shouted together.
Above each of their heads, a blurry corner of a Dao diagram appeared. Then the divine radiance blazed brilliantly as real, tangible forms surged out from the crowns of their heads.
The formation diagram!
It was not woven from light. These were four real, physical corners of a formation diagram, assembling themselves in the void into a half-moon shape, sweeping down to cut at Ye Fan.
This forced him to change his expression. The Black Emperor had once said — once an ancient saint formation diagram gave birth to a physical form, its power would be dozens of times more terrifying than before!
No wonder these four carried such confidence and arrogance — they commanded an ancient formation diagram, not something as simple as a mere grand formation.
Clang!
Behind Ye Fan, five-colored divine light burst upward. Five precious swords spun into rotation, all of them slashing toward this treasure diagram, filling the air with ear-splitting sounds.
The four were greatly shocked, their bodies shaking repeatedly. The ancient diagram was broken apart once more, dividing back into its four corners to return above each of their heads.
“Channel your life essence — use the formation diagram to kill him!” One of them sprayed a mouthful of life essence from his mouth, causing that one corner of the diagram to seem to come alive — breathing on its own, inhaling and exhaling the refined energy of heaven and earth.
The other three did the same. The ancient formation diagram merged back into one and slashed down at Ye Fan, grinding down all worldly laws, capable of erasing every trace of the Great Dao.
“Boom!”
This time Ye Fan unleashed the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist directly — fierce, domineering, unmatched in bravery under heaven. His golden blood energy surged like a tsunami, great golden waves rolling skyward, scattering the clouds, as though to punch the heavens down!
A cracking sound rang out — piercing and jarring. The terrifying formation diagram was sent flying once more, dissolving back into its four corners. All four powerful cultivators coughed up blood, staggering backward, their faces an iron gray.
Each of them held one corner of the formation diagram and examined it closely. Fine cracks had appeared on the surface — a truly alarming development.
How powerful was his attack? He had actually fractured the supreme formation diagram. A few more strikes like that, and it might be destroyed entirely.
Ye Fan felt neither joy nor anxiety. His mind was calm. He believed that these four working together were no weaker than Jun Wei Mountain Lord — their earlier performance had been a façade.
“Primordial Magnetic Forbidden Technique — strike!”
One man cried out. The gray mist on their bodies returned — this was a peculiar force. Terrifying beams of demonic light shot through heaven and earth, seeking to grind Ye Fan to nothing.
Ye Fan swung his fists in fierce counter-attack, the clash ringing out loud enough to shake the ears. He collided with every beam of primordial magnetic divine light — a single breath of overflowing energy was enough to obliterate an entire mountain range. The power was boundless.
This was absolutely a forbidden secret technique. The divine power was colossal. All four deploying it together, united as one, was enough to move even those of an Imperial Son’s level.
Ye Fan’s heart stirred — this was a supremely wondrous technique. To see it held in the hands of these four was genuinely astonishing. The force of primordial magnetism existed outside the Five Elements; in combat it was elusive and unpredictable, impossible to guard against.
Zing, zing…!
A fearsome resonance rang out. Ye Fan was as if locked in battle against a million heavenly swords, his entire body enveloped by primordial magnetic immortal light — light capable of grinding down all Great Dao attacks.
The Four Symbols Formation appeared again. Each corner of the formation diagram merged with its respective master, fusing together to protect their physical bodies.
They let themselves go completely and each transformed into a beam of primordial magnetic immortal light — like four human-shaped bolts of lightning — charging and clashing in every direction, able to contend with Ye Fan head-on!
This far exceeded what the world could have imagined. Their power was beyond what ordinary people could comprehend — this was the profound application of supreme divine techniques that gave them an overwhelming advantage.
Of course, every time Ye Fan swung the Six Paths Reincarnation Fist, it gave them no end of grief as well. Several times the immortal light dimmed, forcing their true bodies to materialize as they coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
“Jun Wei Mountain Lord, aid us — he is too powerful!” One of them finally could not hold on. He had taken several significant injuries; his form had almost disintegrated.
“Boom!”
Ye Fan swung his fist, calling up wind and thunder, causing the mountains and rivers to lose their color and the sun and moon to lose their light. He punched clean through one of the men — bones shattered throughout his entire body, and half of him exploded into ruin.
Then the other three, in the form of human-shaped primordial magnetic immortal light, swept through in a single pass, instantly restoring the injured man’s body. Their fates were bound as one.
“Truly a powerful secret technique,” Ye Fan murmured.
Dong!
The five-colored divine light merged into one. Behind Ye Fan, five precious swords fused into a single Dao sword and sliced down upon the four-corner formation diagram that had come together once more.
“Pfft” — “Pfft”…!
All four coughed up blood and went flying. The formation diagram separated once more. Every one of them was pale-faced, their expressions filled with disbelief.
How could one person be this powerful? Fighting alone against all of them — their supreme formation diagram and their forbidden secret techniques couldn’t hold him back!
“Boom!”
Jun Wei Mountain Lord struck. He opened with a surge of towering divine might, one great hand covering the heavens — this was his famous “World Within the Palm,” seeking to absorb Ye Fan into the palm.
Yet what awaited him was a golden foot. Ye Fan stamped down with tremendous force, nearly shattering the great hand and sending it shaking back. He broke the technique by sheer power — one step carried him out of the World Within the Palm, and he stood face to face with Jun Wei Mountain Lord.