Dozens of sky-reaching war lances came flying through the air — black in their shafts, thicker than great roof beams. Each one was more than ten zhang in length, sharp and bitterly cold.
Boom!
This could not even be called a thrust. It was more of a downward smash — spear tips of such girth coming from more than ten li away and embedding themselves all at once in the earth, causing the ground to collapse and shatter.
It was a sneak attack. While Ye Fan and Long Ma were in conversation with the Nine Heavens Kingdom, a volley of massive war lances had come raining down, their power immense.
Long Ma’s four hooves leaped and scrambled — he barely avoided being pinned to the ground. A great demon had set its sights on this location; it was a member of the Demon Kingdom.
Long Ma was furious. Ye Fan likewise turned to look in that direction, and saw a demon standing more than ten zhang tall in the ancient land, staring back at them with cold indifference.
Boom!
Spiritual artifacts flew, Dao instruments flashed — the great battle continued. Several powerful kingdoms were contending here for supremacy.
The great demon, having failed with its first strike, turned and left to search for other prey, continuing its slaughter.
Ye Fan raised his hand. Activating the Character Art of Soldier, he drew one of the massive war lances into his grasp. His entire body blazed with golden radiance as he cast it forward.
The lance was more than ten zhang long, yet in his hands it was light as straw. A streak of black light pierced heaven and earth, and in an instant it arrived at its target.
The great demon tried to dodge — but the lance seemed to have a life of its own. In a flash it was before the demon’s chest. His armor lit up as he howled toward the sky, bringing his shield crashing down in a blow.
“Crack!”
Blood blossomed. The lance pierced through the shield and drove through the great demon’s body, trailing a river of blood. With the demon’s massive corpse in tow, it flew outward for several li.
Finally, with a thunderous impact, it struck the earth — sending clouds of dust billowing upward. He was nailed to the ground, dead in a violent manner.
Ye Fan’s methods were brutal and direct — returning the attack in kind, meeting like with like. He carried out all of this with calm composure, then turned his gaze to survey the battlefield.
By now, battle cries were shaking the heavens — figures everywhere, and among them members of the Spirit Race, the Demon Kingdom, the Divine Kingdom, and the Nine Heavens Kingdom, with no shortage of powerful figures.
Many of the trial participants had arrived on the scene as well. Ye Fan caught sight of several familiar silhouettes among them, all fighting here. Evidently they had learned of the situation and recognized the importance of the Source of the Dao.
“Kill—!”
The battle was fierce. Spiritual artifacts flew in every direction, cold radiance blinding, sacred banners cracking in the wind, savage beasts roaring, powerful figures gathered like clouds.
This was a place of chaos. Blood erupted continuously, and were it not for the sealing formations suppressing the violence, this ancient land would have been devastated dozens if not hundreds of times over.
Shhhk shhhk shhhk…
A great rain of light came cascading down — flying swords, each no larger than a palm, perhaps dozens of them in total. They shaved an entire towering mountain range down to flat earth, and many people perished.
When the swords turned toward Ye Fan, his eyes blazed. The magnetism celestial light flew up with an electric crack — electromagnetic power weaving and surging, reducing the swarm of flying swords to iron filings.
Every corner of the battlefield held the threat of death. Many people fell, their bodies covering the ground, crimson blood staining the earth red.
The members of the Nine Heavens Kingdom no longer needed to persuade Ye Fan — they simply stood beside him, and in the brief interval since his arrival, more than a dozen attacks had already descended.
“Hmm?”
On the battlefield, Ye Fan spotted several members of the Tianhuang Thirteen Riders. A cold smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He took out a large bow, nocked a gleaming white bone arrow, and drew the bowstring of dragon tendon taut — it creaked with the strain.
A terrifying aura spread outward. Every powerful fighter in the surrounding battle fell back, astonishment on their faces as they looked in his direction.
This was a precious bow Ye Fan had crafted with his own hands. Its materials needed no introduction, and even the bone arrows were forged from the spinal quills of a sacred beast — fearsome in every respect.
Whoosh!
A streak of white light shot outward, piercing through the sky and releasing an ear-splitting screech as it crossed the battlefield — many people were startled, unable to resist looking back.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh members of the Tianhuang Thirteen Riders were all present on the battlefield. By the time they heard the sound, it was already too late. A powerful wave of force came sweeping in.
The seventh member was so frightened his soul nearly left his body. He used a movement technique to shift out of position — but there was no escaping it. More than ten spiritual artifacts flew out from within his body, interposing themselves in front of him.
Yet he still could not escape his fate. The snow-white bone arrow pierced through every artifact, shattering them, and then buried itself in his forehead. With a wet impact, his entire skull exploded.
It was an act of extraordinary savagery and brutality. Red blood and white matter splattered across the battlefield, leaving many onlookers stunned.
The fifth and sixth members of the Tianhuang Thirteen Riders turned pale. They had been standing right beside the seventh, and the red-and-white fluid now splattered on their bodies — it sent a wave of numbness through their scalps.
Because the fluid landing on their faces was still warm. This bloody and ferocious act carried an overpowering weight of intimidation.
“It’s him — Ye Fan!”
Of those who had walked the ancient road of the starry sky, this particular group had numbered four hundred and thirty-seven. In the end, several hundred and thirty-some had survived to reach this trial. Of those, eighty or ninety were now fighting on this battlefield for control of the sacred ground where the Source of the Dao had appeared. Many cried out in recognition, having identified him — and seeing the power of that single arrow, their hearts went cold.
A faint, cold smile lingered at the corner of Ye Fan’s mouth. He drew the bow again, the large bow nearly half his own height, the bowstring drawn taut as the full moon.
The second white bone arrow flew out, tearing heaven and earth asunder, arriving in a single instant. With a wet impact, the fifth member of the Tianhuang Thirteen Riders let out one great cry — and his entire body was blasted apart.
Another one fallen. Many on the battlefield felt their courage desert them. What kind of power was this? These two had been anything but weak — and yet they had been as helpless as children of three, without even the chance to fight back.
The sixth member of the Tianhuang Thirteen Riders was so terrified he screamed and bolted. Their leader, Gu Ling, was not present on this part of the battlefield — and so he fled in desperate haste, like a stray dog, every trace of color gone from his face, his legs barely supporting his terrified body.
“Were you not the ones who provoked me again and again, all intent on killing me? What need is there to run?” Ye Fan said coldly, and the third arrow flew — whoosh — piercing through the long sky.
“Ahh…”
The sixth member of the Tianhuang Thirteen Riders exploded. His resentful dying cry was annihilated together with his physical body and primordial spirit, vanishing from this heaven and earth forever.
This outcome drew the eyes of the entire battlefield. Everyone felt a wave of chill — this was truly a peerless powerhouse.
Almost in the next instant, some of the powerful figures from the Demon Kingdom, the Divine Kingdom, the Spirit Race, and other major forces each secretly made their move — sending spiritual artifacts flying toward this direction.
A golden sacred seal as large as a mountain peak. A blood-colored gourd that swallowed heaven and earth. A star-net vast enough to cover the sky — all came crashing down together.
Ye Fan was utterly calm, showing not a hint of fear. He stood his ground, drew the bow in rapid succession, and in a brief moment had loosed fifty-two arrows in total — fifty-two powerful fighters met their end.
Slash!
The Character Art of Soldier unfurled. Dozens of bone arrows all flew back to him — not a single one wasted. He fired again, and this display of power made the onlookers’ hair stand on end.
In just a brief span of time, over a hundred powerful figures had perished — and those who died were no ordinary people. Every one of them had been a sovereign of their own domain.
Among the fallen, more than twenty were trial participants who had been hiding in concealment, attempting a sneak attack — believing they could strike without being detected. Every last one of them had been found, and all were settled accounts.
God of slaughter!
All sides kept their respectful distance. No one dared provoke Ye Fan any further. All were terrified, convinced that he was the preeminent figure on this ancient land — supreme in his domain.
Not a single person dared to transgress against him, and this area had grown quite peaceful.
“Source of the Dao!”
Someone cried out. From a location deep below the ground, threads and wisps of light surged upward — carrying the most primordial aura of heaven and earth, spreading outward.
Many rushed toward it, hoping to capture this mysterious force — for it represented the recognition of heaven and earth.
Seeing this, Ye Fan told Long Ma to wait, then sank directly into the earth, giving chase. His art of divination was unrivaled across the cosmos; in an ancient land such as this, searching the depths of the earth for an immortal object — no one could match him.
Dragon energy billowed through the earth veins. Immortal radiance blazed. All manner of auspicious energy flowed — the signs were extraordinary.
Ye Fan encountered several individuals, all of them moving at extraordinary speed in pursuit of that streak of light — none of them could be shaken off.
“It is truly difficult to believe — more than twenty years ago, someone already obtained a Source of the Dao once. By all logic, it should never have appeared again in this lifetime — and yet here it is, born anew.” A demon sage cried out in excitement. This was a leader of the Demon Kingdom, his true self now present — demon energy boiling.
“I heard that traces of the Source of the Dao have appeared on several other battlefields as well. How can there be so many — something doesn’t add up!” An ancient sage of the Divine Kingdom emerged, his entire body resplendent, a look of doubt crossing his face.
“The Source of the Dao possesses an undying divine nature. This time it has divided into several streams rather than existing as a single unified whole — something truly rare throughout all of history.” A member of the Spirit Race spoke.
Ahead, there was a source of light roughly the size of a human head, racing through the earth at great speed, with several sages giving chase from behind.
Ye Fan was also in pursuit. He possessed not only unparalleled divination arts, but also the Character Art of Movement — and in nearly an instant he had closed the distance. Yet the Source of the Dao had a divine nature of its own; sensing someone following close behind, it accelerated dramatically and vanished into deeper strata in a heartbeat.
The several ancient sages were greatly startled and pressed their pursuit, even launching fierce assaults in its direction.
Above, the onlookers’ hearts lurched. The sealed ancient land convulsed in earthquake after earthquake, as if it would crumble to pieces — tremendous waves of power rolling outward.
Boom!
The earth suddenly split open. Ye Fan, the demon sage, the spirit sage, and the rest burst out from the ground. The onlookers were even more astonished — for among those eight or nine individuals who had become sages countless years ago, patriarch-level figures all, there was a young silhouette locked in chaotic battle.
“So powerful — to fight and contend for supremacy amid so many ancient sages, and still move with commanding ease through it all. Who could destroy him?” Some marveled aloud.
Especially those trial participants who had walked the ancient road of the starry sky — they felt a wave of despondency. With such a figure in existence, they could only serve as supporting roles. Even now, perhaps only those such as the Feathered Immortal, the Bitter Monk, Mu Guanghan, Ou Ye Mo, and their like could contend with him for supremacy.
Boom!
Ye Fan sent a single punch crashing into the demon sage who had struck against him, sending him flying — half his body reduced to a mangled ruin of flesh and blood, tumbling into the mountain ranges.
The crowd erupted. An ancient sage had been sent flying in this manner — wretched and devastated in the worst way, his primordial spirit dimming, approaching the point where the lamp’s oil would run out.
Whoosh!
The Source of the Dao — its radiance gentle and soft — sank once more into the earth, this time apparently disappearing forever. Even the several ancient sages could no longer sense it.
“It appeared in a flash and then vanished — does that mean not one person here has been granted recognition, and it disdains to remain?”
Many cried out in alarm, their anxiety boundless. The eight or nine ancient sages were even more despairing — the opportunity had slipped past, and there would be no second chance.
A figure flashed — Ye Fan sank into the earth. His divination arts were unmatched, spreading out in all ten directions, in pursuit of the Source of the Dao.
It was a hard-fought chase. It had to be said — the divine nature of the Source of the Dao was astonishing. Even Ye Fan, who possessed the Character Art of Movement and unparalleled divination arts, nearly lost track of it entirely. A full two hours passed before he surged back into the sky, deploying a wondrous technique to lock the Source of the Dao within the heavenly vault.
“He… has captured the Source of the Dao!”
“Heavens — we have witnessed a miracle. Something vanishingly rare throughout history. And yet in this lifetime… barely more than twenty years apart, a second person has obtained the Source of the Dao!”
The battlefield erupted. Even Long Ma was galloping about, neighing in excitement.
In Ye Fan’s palm, he held captive a mass of light the size of a human head — unboundedly serene and sacred, all manner of Grand Dao symbols surfacing upon it, mysterious and unfathomable.
Many onlookers’ mouths went dry. Some were already preparing to rush forward and seize it.
Yet at this very moment, something astonishing occurred. The Source of the Dao emitted a hazy will, spreading outward.
“You run contrary to the Dao. You defy heaven and earth. You cannot attain the Dao and become an emperor.”
These brief words of will made many eyes go wide as they surged forward to watch — no one had anticipated this.
“Crack!”
The Source of the Dao shattered, scattering in all directions — seeking to return to the formless expanse of heaven and earth.
“This person can never attain the Dao. Heaven and earth refuse to recognize him — ha ha ha…” Someone could not restrain a burst of laughter.
And those trial participants who had walked the ancient road of the starry sky — now more than a hundred and fifty of them gathered here — all showed expressions of surprise at the sight, and many let out a quiet breath of relief.
Heaven and earth had rejected this supremely powerful figure who had pressured so many powerful beings that they could barely breathe.
Hum!
From between Ye Fan’s brows, a cauldron flew out. The primal chaos mother energy descended in cascading streams, carrying the might to swallow the nine heavens and ten earths — shaking the hearts of all present.
“I need no recognition from you. You are nothing more than a tool for me to make use of!” Ye Fan’s voice was cold and indifferent. He deployed the Immortal-Sealing Six Bonds, seized the Source of the Dao, and swallowed it back into the cauldron.