Imperial Heaven — a name that made many people tremble. Traversing the ancient paths through the stars with unstoppable might, he was virtually without equal in all the world.
More than twenty years had passed, yet no one had forgotten him. He left countless cultivators breathless — a presence like a god, one who had already begun to embody the air of a Great Emperor in his prime.
“It is him… Imperial Heaven, who devours ten thousand li in a single breath.” Even Grand Commander Yu Han was momentarily stunned. He had caught a glimpse of that figure over twenty years ago, and even now, the memory made his heart lurch.
“Imperial Heaven — a presence like a forbidden name. He and Immortal Maiden Qingshi were part of the same group of trial takers, but later separated to seek their own paths of enlightenment.”
Several of the major figures within the Second Sacred City furrowed their brows. Over all these years, word had filtered back from the ancient paths through the stars with unsettling regularity. The terror of that Imperial Heaven had long since reached ear-splitting heights.
Tuoba Yu of the Human King Ancient Star and Yu Xian of the Feathered Transformation Ancient Land both let a brilliant flash of electric light pass through their eyes. It was clear they had heard of him through certain channels, and their hearts stirred faintly with ripples of emotion.
Yan Chifeng — great-grandson of the former Grand Commander of the Second Sacred City of the Human Race — his face remained expressionless. That name was anything but unfamiliar to him. He had once personally witnessed this man’s peerless bearing, and the sight had never left him. It was precisely because of that encounter with Imperial Heaven that he had not yet set out on the ancient path himself.
A divine halo seemed to encircle Imperial Heaven at all times — supreme and unrivaled beneath the stars, brilliant and dazzling, illuminating the entire ancient stellar path. Even without seeing him in person, the mere mention of his name demanded that one treat the subject with the utmost gravity.
“Imperial Heaven is a supreme talent of his generation,” Immortal Maiden Qingshi said warmly, her voice soft and pleasant to the ear. “Brother Ye is likewise an outstanding hero of your era. Befriending him would not diminish your standing in the slightest.”
Ye Fan understood. The Exiled Immortal was trying to draw him in. The Imperial Heaven she spoke of was clearly a formidable young supreme — her earlier words had been nothing more than polite understatement.
Was she trying to recruit a lieutenant for Imperial Heaven? Ye Fan remained perfectly composed. That person must be extraordinarily powerful — even the Exiled Immortal was working on his behalf, seeking to gather capable individuals to his side.
A melody from a flute drifted out — unhurried and gentle, like a spring of sweet water welling up through the desert, or a mirage of jade towers and immortal palaces appearing on a vast open plain. The sound seeped into one’s bones and spirit, filling the heart with longing.
Immortal Maiden Qingshi pressed her ruby lips to the jade flute. Musical notes rippled outward, resonating throughout the Jade-Wave Immortal Grove. A sky full of flower-rain scattered and fell, petals gleaming and translucent, their fragrance drifting in waves, turning the entire place into something dreamlike and ethereal.
Within the grove, certain ancient trees that had long since withered and lost all signs of life now suddenly sprouted new shoots and pushed out fresh green leaves, coming alive again as the music swept past them.
Many mountain rocks began to shimmer and glow softly, as though they had come alive. Flowers and grasses seemed to gain a spiritual awareness, swaying and dancing. Clouds gathered and dispersed. Ten thousand birds came to pay their respects.
Streams of sweet spring water surged up from the ground. Golden lotus blossoms appeared in the sky above. Such divine music had stirred the very phenomena of heaven and earth itself — and brought a profound sense of peace to each and every person present.
This melody was of immense benefit to one’s cultivation. It could leave one’s Immortal Platform clear and still, making it easy to enter a state of enlightenment. Even for Immortal Maiden Qingshi herself, it must be something she could only rarely perform.
A hundred birds called out softly. Petals cascaded down in a shimmer of flowing light. Only after a long while did the people gradually come back to their senses.
In the end, Ye Fan did not exchange the Source of the Dao. He hinted obliquely that if several ancient scriptures were offered together along with the Divine Light Platform, he might be willing to agree.
That was something the Exiled Immortal could not accept. The Divine Light Platform was of vital importance — without it, she would be like an immortal who had lost both wings, unable to travel freely between the ancient cities.
“Watch yourself — try not to actually wipe out the entire Thirteen Riders of Tianhuang,” the little handmaiden Ling’er muttered.
“Is the Great Demon God really that fearsome?” Ye Fan asked.
“Of course. Though the Ancient Wasteland is still quite young, he has carved his way through rivers of blood and slain countless outstanding talents. He is comparable to the most supreme demonic lord of any age, and even the Imperial Heaven Young Master holds him in wariness.”
Ancient Wasteland. Ancient Emperor. Ye Fan turned the two words over silently in his mind. The two names sounded nearly alike — and names often foretold something. This was a young supreme, yet he was called the Great Demon God.
The small gathering came to an end. People rose and departed one after another. Ye Fan walked off through the light of the setting sun. He cast an unhurried glance toward the distant elderly men before continuing on his way without a second thought.
“His spiritual perception is remarkably formidable,” one of the old men murmured. “That single gaze of his carried a profound, weighted quality — he must have detected our true forms. He is a sharp and formidable blade. As the Imperial Heaven Young Master walks the path to becoming Emperor, he will need outstanding heroes who reign supreme in their own domains to stand as his arms and wings. If this person were to sincerely pledge his loyalty, there would be a place for him in the future.”
“The fear is that he is too wild and untamed — that he believes he can carve out a path of his own. Perhaps we should let him understand his proper place and standing sooner rather than later.”
The several elderly men kept their eyes fixed on Ye Fan’s retreating figure, speaking in low, hushed voices.
“He carries more than one ancient scripture on him — and then there is the Source of the Dao as well. I wonder whether he will manage to survive the next few days.” The Second Leader of the Celestial Emperor’s Thirteen Riders had cold, piercing eyes.
“Heh!” Yan Chifeng, his hair bound in a golden crown, his expression cold and indifferent, sat astride a large, powerful beast — cutting a somewhat harsh and ruthless figure. He uttered just that single syllable.
The crowd dispersed and left the Jade-Wave Immortal Grove. All of them were convinced that the coming days would almost certainly bring great turbulence. The cultivator named Ye Fan had been pushed to the very tip of the storm.
Several of the major figures within the city each harbored their own private thoughts. None of them traveled together or exchanged words. They scattered in different directions, their expressions giving nothing away.
Ku Toutuo, Mu Guanghan, Ouye Mo, and the others were equally impassive, having said almost nothing throughout the gathering. Each of them had remarkable origins, and among this current group of trial takers, they were the strongest few — true seeds among powerhouses.
“Has Immortal Maiden Qingshi truly given up just like that? She is impossible to read. Will she actually leave?” an older soldier murmured quietly.
Grand Commander Yu Han kept his face expressionless as he rode atop an ancient beast, patrolling through the city. “All of this is difficult to say,” he replied. “Though I expect the trial taker named Ye Fan will find himself in some trouble over the next few days.”
“Hey, hey, hey — slow down,” a young woman’s voice called out from behind Ye Fan.
Yu Xian came lightly toward him, treading over the dust, her snowy robes flowing around her. Her features were sweet and lovely, her beauty enough to topple a city.
“What do you make of that Exiled Immortal?” she said. “Is she trying to flaunt her strength at us? And she harbors ulterior motives toward you. What if we joined forces — brought in Mu Guanghan, Ku Toutuo, Ouye Mo, and the others — and we all took her down together? What do you say?”
She was as fresh and radiant as a flower tree draped in snow, as lively as a woodland spirit, sweet-faced and lovely — and yet the words that came out of her mouth were truly startling, making her sound like a thoroughly disreputable sort.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she said. “Am I wrong? She is listed among the most terrifying individuals on the ancient stellar paths. Taking her out now would be a rare opportunity.”
Yu Xian blinked her large eyes and swung a delicate fist in a somewhat menacing manner.
“Can you even beat her?” Ye Fan said. “Even her little handmaiden has achieved sainthood. Even the Escort Envoy treats her with the utmost courtesy and went to personally receive her.”
“Please — she is just an old woman who has been cultivating a bit longer than the rest of us,” Yu Xian said. The moment those words left her mouth, she became noticeably less sure of herself, casting furtive glances in every direction to make sure no one else had heard.
“Her age is actually not that great,” Ye Fan said, considering. “I have to admit, her cultivation surpasses the level of a Saint and approaches that of a divine being. She has few rivals on this ancient path.”
“Who can predict what things will look like twenty years from now?” Yu Xian said, then once again issued her “ferocious” invitation — urging Ye Fan to strike together with her and take down the Exiled Immortal.
Ye Fan naturally had no intention of dismissing these words as the petulant venting of a simple-hearted young woman. He had already learned from the Exiled Immortal’s little handmaiden that Yu Xian, Ku Toutuo, Mu Guanghan, Tuoba Yu, and others were connected to certain supreme powerhouses who lay ahead on the path — and it seemed clear that Yu Xian’s faction was in an adversarial relationship with Imperial Heaven.
Ye Fan rode Long Ma back alone to his lodgings. Before long, a visitor arrived — an elderly man, one of the several old men he had seen at the exit of the Jade-Wave Immortal Grove.
The visitor was amiable in his manner. He sat in the main hall sipping tea, regarding Ye Fan with an expression of evident appreciation and admiration, before gently and indirectly conveying his wish to exchange a supreme treasure for the Source of the Dao.
Unfortunately, Ye Fan was utterly unmoved. Though he chatted and laughed pleasantly throughout, he was completely unswayed. He simply shared tea and idle conversation with the old man, his words drifting without direction — touching on flying ships, then on flowers and the moon and romantic scenery, then on the ancient stellar paths, and even on the figure of Immortal Maiden Qingshi — until the old man was half-tempted to overturn the table in frustration and storm out.
“Deep within the ancient stellar paths, the Imperial Heaven Young Master and several powerful individuals have discovered a vast mausoleum that may be the tomb of a Great Emperor — colossal in scale and staggeringly magnificent. If you are interested, you are welcome to come help excavate it in the future.”
The old man offered one more enticing prospect — and it was nothing short of earth-shattering.
A true ancient Great Emperor’s tomb did exist in the Northern Dipper, of course, but no one had yet managed to break open a single one. The best anyone had accomplished was excavating a side grave, and even that had only been possible because an ancient Emperor had deliberately left it behind for later generations.
Deep within the ancient stellar paths, if there existed a true Great Emperor’s tomb, then without question it would be drenched in blood and violence, drawing trial participants from infinite stellar domains. Perhaps it could genuinely be excavated.
Afterward, the old man produced a jade weapon — a hilt shaped like a tiger, the ancient and unadorned blade less than a foot in length, forged from primordial celestial jade. It was a sacred artifact and, even more so, something that carried the weight of status and identity.
“The Imperial Heaven Young Master has fought and conquered across decades of brutal warfare. In all that time, he has sent out exactly five such sacred artifacts. Whoever holds one of them will receive divine battle intelligence and access to various necessities along the way.”
The old man spoke in deliberately vague terms, but that was already sufficient. This object was a token of recognition — a probe to determine whether Ye Fan might be recruited as a capable arm to serve at the Imperial Heaven Young Master’s side.
Ye Fan glanced at him, and it was plain to see: the old man was carrying both a sacred artifact in the shape of a true dragon and a Dao weapon shaped like an immortal phoenix. Yet in the end, the old man chose to present the white tiger-shaped sword artifact.
Though the old man had been discreet — producing the items from within his own body — Ye Fan’s Source Heaven Eye was extraordinarily piercing, and had seen through everything long ago. Evidently, in the old man’s estimation, Ye Fan was worth recruiting — but he was not considered the highest-grade “blade” in their collection.
“My friend, I have no interest in any of this,” Ye Fan said. “I absolutely detest fighting and killing. I rarely take lives — my hands are nearly untainted by blood. What I love most in life is romance and the pleasures of flowers and moonlit nights. May I ask — does Immortal Maiden Qingshi have someone she fancies? Could you perhaps sound things out on my behalf, senior? If you could act as a go-between, I would be endlessly grateful.”
Upon hearing this, the old man nearly knocked the table over and stormed out in a rage. In the end, he rose to his feet with a black expression and took his leave.
“How did it go?” the moment he returned to a garden courtyard, the others stood up to ask.
“He said he rarely takes lives. Ha! From what I know, he has cut his way through rivers of blood — the number of powerful experts he has slain is beyond counting.”
“It seems he has no intention of handing over the Source of the Dao. Without applying some pressure, he will never understand — he cannot see that he is nothing more than a supporting player in this world.”
“What infuriates me most is that he was completely insolent and disrespectful toward the Exiled Immortal — babbling on to me about romance and moonlit scenery.”
“That scoundrel truly has outrageous nerve. If the Imperial Heaven Young Master were to find out, he would certainly raise a hand to suppress him and make him understand his place — force him to see reality for what it is.”
The old man was fuming when he returned, and the more he spoke of it with the others, the more displeased they all grew. Knowing that Ye Fan had made sport of them and provoked them left every one of them in a foul mood.
High in the sky, Grand Commander Yu Han rode atop his ancient beast, patrolling the city. He observed the old man’s departure with a pensive expression and said, “These few men’s true forms are not of the human race. They possess great strength, and were most likely sent back here by Imperial Heaven — scheming to take the Source of the Dao.”
An old soldier narrowed his eyes and said, “Grand Commander, the Primordial Dao Ground is about to open. We could tear a small opening and let these few members of the foreign races enter. If they intend to take the Source of the Dao… we could wait for the final moment to strike them down. With the Source of the Dao secured, it would also count as a great merit — a service rendered in the protection of the Dao Ground.”