“Charge——!”

Battle cries filled every inch of heaven and earth. The fighting was horrifically savage. In the sky above, corpses lay thick and densely packed, raining down in a ceaseless stream.

The most brutal stretch of the battlefield on the ground was awash in blood; bones had piled into mountains. People had fought themselves to the edge of madness, fighting through a bath of blood.

With a powerful Holy Spirit holding court, leading the foreign-race armies from the depths of the starry sky in an unrelenting harvest of lives, only a sufficient offering of blood and spirit bones could open the ancient well within the Divine Ghost Burial Ground.

The human race rose naturally in fierce resistance, battling across this demonic earth. Flowers of blood burst open everywhere; divine implements were shattered piece by piece. This was a heaven and earth drenched in crimson.

Screams of agony, the cracking of weapons, the clash of arts and techniques—all of it rolled across in every direction through the flames of war, shaking the soul to its very core.

The fighting was most intense at Great Moon Slope. The human race had already learned that the Holy Spirit lineage intended to break open that terrifying seal, an act that might destroy the entire ancient star. Every last person was there to stop them.

In this moment, the original inhabitants of the wilderness—the various ancient beasts—had all taken the side of the human race as well, fearing the destruction of their own homeland.

Passed down through the ages was one warning: Great Moon Slope must not fall. The seal within the Divine Ghost Burial Ground must never be broken—if it were, the entire stellar domain might shatter and crumble.

None knew what lay at the bottom of the ancient well within the Divine Ghost Burial Ground. But the Tyrant Dragon Queen Tuolan and several of the world’s supreme Sacred Beast Kings understood deeply that the warnings of their ancestors must have had their reasons.

“Cut them all down—wipe out the human race here!” The Holy Spirit enthroned deep within Great Moon Slope let out a bellow.

This was an existence that swept all before it. Though it had not yet advanced to the higher tier of the Sacred Saint King realm, it lorded over the burial ground without rival—scarcely anyone could stand against it, capable even of slaying Sacred Beast Kings who had walked the Dao for many years.

“Roaaar——!”

It swung a single fist, swallowing rivers and mountains whole; a blood energy as vast as an ocean poured across everything, crushing a Sacred Beast King to pieces in midair. Royal sacred beast blood scattered like rain, and countless living beings screamed in agony.

Sacred King blood rivaled a supreme divine implement in its lethality. Where it fell upon the cultivators below, it pierced clean through them.

This was a disaster. What the Divine Ghost Burial Ground lacked most was the fresh blood of living beings—and this Holy Spirit’s eyes were pitiless and cold. Its strikes grew ever wider and more sweeping; it began using this very sacred blood without hesitation to accidentally wound its own allied foreign-race army, gathering sacrificial blood and souls.

Cries of agony rose one after another; the battle grew ever more savage.

“Kill!”

Still the same Holy Spirit—treating the field as though no one else existed, pouncing toward a divine lion, striking it with savage, relentless power.

“Careful, Lion King!”

Countless ancient beasts cried out and rushed forward to help.

Clearly, this old lion commanded extraordinary prestige—a celebrated powerhouse on this ancient star, commander of a great host of ancient beasts. At that moment, many converged together to aid him.

“Rooooaaaar——!”

A single lion’s roar—and the entire Great Moon Slope trembled. Distant mountains exploded apart. The old lion was a Sacred Beast King, engaging the Holy Spirit in blood-soaked combat, its blood energy towering to the heavens.

“Useless. Though our Holy Spirit Clan is few in number—countable on the fingers—every single one of us is a peerless master. No matter how many more of you come, it will avail you nothing!”

The Holy Spirit howled, its divine might towering over all creation. Though it had not yet reached the higher tier of Sacred Saint King, it could challenge Sacred Beast King veterans who had cultivated in seclusion for thousands of years.

“Splat, splat——!”

Blood sprayed as one after another of the ancient beasts that came to help were slapped into mincemeat; waves of blood surged skyward. It was a horrifying sight. Before its power, almost no one could stand.

Even divine implements proved useless, shattered one after another by a pair of stone fists. The sacred implement flames blazed fiercely, making the Holy Spirit look like a god descended from the heavens.

The Holy Spirit is unstoppable!

These beings rarely appeared in the world—but once they manifested, each was a peerless master. Those of the same realm were simply no match; one could only bleed and despair.

“Rooooaaaar——!”

The old Lion King let out a great roar, watching so many of his subordinates fall. His body, as though cast from gold, blazed with dazzling brilliance. He threw himself into a blood battle with the Holy Spirit, striking skyward in fury.

This was a true lion’s roar—heaven and earth split, and the foreign-race armies pouring in from the depths of the starry sky fell in swaths, cut down like crops at harvest time, one wave after another.

The foreign-race army crumbled by the hundreds in the lion’s roar, dissolving into bloody mist.

Yet the Holy Spirit showed no anger. It needed blood to water the Divine Ghost Burial Ground—whether the source was an allied fighter or not, it made no difference.

In its eyes, streaks of savage and ferocious divine light gleamed. It grew ever more indomitable, killing in all four directions.

The golden old lion deployed every last technique and displayed the full extent of his accumulated power—yet still he could not suppress this Holy Spirit. His own divine blood dripped freely; he could not prevail against the Holy Spirit.

He had truly given everything. But the legend of the Holy Spirit’s invincibility was too difficult to break.

“You are so powerful—as a sacrifice, you alone will count for a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand!” The stone figure bellowed, its blood energy piercing sun and moon. With overwhelming and supreme ferocity it charged forward—letting the techniques land on its body without care—and seized the golden old lion.

The old Lion King was a sovereign of this ancient star, but in this moment he was clearly outmatched.

“Splat!”

Blood erupted. The lion king’s claw—famed even among Sacred Beast Kings as an immortal’s claw—was shattered to fragments by the stone figure’s palm.

“ROAR!”

A great roar rang out. The stone figure Mopu’s divine might shook the world. It seized the golden old lion’s body and tore it apart with bare hands in the vault of heaven, blood spraying in all directions, raining down into the Divine Ghost Burial Ground.

One could see clearly—sheet after sheet of blood rain flew toward that ancient well, causing wisps of thin smoke to rise from within it: mysterious and uncanny.

“The Old Lion King is dead!”

“Fight them to the death—avenge the Golden Lion King!”

Many ancient beasts cried out, their eyes gone red. The golden old lion had been sovereign of his domain, ruling the wilderness for many years with immense authority, commanding a host of loyal subjects.

“Ahhhh——!”

The battle grew even more savage. The foreign-race army met the most frenzied counterattack and slaughter, with many falling and bones piling into mountains.

The stone Holy Spirit Mopu laughed with a thread of cruelty and continued its mass killing, charging against all manner of powerhouses, unstoppable and invincible.

“Young Master, do not get too carried away with the killing—watch out for a sneak attack from a human race powerhouse!” At that moment, a six-armed, three-headed being stepped forward to advise.

“Relax, I know my limits. These humans are too weak—they cannot threaten me. This time, we will absolutely obtain that legendary ancient artifact. So long as I master the techniques recorded within it, the imperfection I carry from being born prematurely can be resolved.” The stone figure Mopu said this in a cold and hollow tone.

“This one is a big fish,” Long Ma murmured in the shadows. “Being revered as Young Master—he must be an existence held in the highest regard.”

Long Ma and the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon were both deeply shaken. The stone figure’s combat power was simply too terrifying—virtually invincible. Even Sacred Saint Kings of higher cultivation could not compete with it.

Ye Fan was soaked head to toe in blood. He had been cutting his way from the outer edges of Great Moon Slope all the way into its depths, having slain countless foreign-race powerhouses, his eyes sharp and frigid as ice.

“Holy Spirits rarely bear offspring. This one is almost certainly a highly prized junior in the eyes of the Holy Spirit sovereign!” Ye Fan said, his gaze growing colder still. This stone figure acted without restraint or scruple—supremely fierce and dominant, leaving hundreds and thousands of corpses beneath its feet, all of them powerful experts!

“Rooooaaaar——!”

Suddenly the stone figure Mopu let out a howl like a wounded beast, its eyes colder than a viper’s. It spun around abruptly. “You have spilled the blood of my Holy Spirit lineage,” it said. “You are one cursed by my clan—you must die!”

Just as with the stone figure they had encountered earlier: the moment it drew close, it sensed that Ye Fan had slain a Holy Spirit, and it woke at once into open hostility.

Ye Fan was furious. Ever since killing that stone wolf, concealing himself before any Holy Spirit had become nearly impossible—they detected him in an instant.

“Don’t act rashly—you are not its match. This stone figure is invincible even among Sacred Saint Kings.” Long Ma stepped in to block him.

“Fall back now—this is not the moment to clash with it head-on!” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon too cried out in urgency. The evidence from the battlefield was plain for all to see—even venerable Sacred Beast Kings of elder generations had met bitter defeat and shed their blood against this stone figure!

“Wugu is guarding the outer perimeter, yet you’ve managed to slip through—I’ll cut you down myself!” The stone figure Mopu transformed into a flash of divine light and came charging, its divine might surging like a flood.

The Wugu it spoke of was the stone figure Ye Fan had encountered not long before—equally awe-inspiring in battle, nearly invincible within the Saint realm.

“Run!” Long Ma shouted in urgent alarm.

“Avoid its edge!” The Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon called out too, its voice full of anxiety. It recognized Ye Fan’s innate gifts as supremely rare—someone who would one day be capable of challenging a Holy Spirit—but that day had not yet come.

Ye Fan stood unmoved, as firm as bedrock. He did not retreat. His gaze was ice-cold as he watched the stone figure Mopu come charging toward him. His body blazed with golden blood energy surging through him—and then he swung his right fist, shattering heaven and earth!

From within his body, a vast and boundless death energy poured out along his fist—like the Milky Way in all its nine-fold glory cascading downward all at once!

Of course, this particular Milky Way had been dyed ink-black: pitch-dark and terrifying, a force of endless death, enough to plunge anyone into despair.

“Roaaar——!” The stone figure Mopu cried out. This annihilating force was simply too immense; it sent a chill of true fear through him—it might well defile his immortal Holy Spirit body.

There was no retreating and no evading. The endless death force surged outward. Within Ye Fan’s wheel-sea, the black yin-fish grew noticeably clearer—more than half of the dark energy had been expelled in that single strike.

In that instant heaven and earth lost their color, sun and moon their light. The death-fist force, vast as a sea of stars, was savagely overwhelming in its power—shattering the withered and dragging the rotten along with it as it crashed head-on against the stone spirit king.

“Ahhhh——!”

Screams rang out without pause. The foreign-race army suffered catastrophic losses—those touched by that ocean of black force were consumed; many turned to mere drifting ash, leaving not even blood mist behind, unfit even to serve as sacrifice.

The Stone Spirit King Mopu let out a great cry, then grunt after stifled grunt of pain as he was driven back several miles, his entire body turned jet-black, corroded by the death force—sustaining serious wounds.

This was beyond imagination. Not to speak of the Saint realm—even a powerhouse of the Sacred King realm would have found it difficult to wound him. Yet here, a human race cultivator had nearly struck clean through him!

Holy Spirit—the very name was a synonym for invincibility. And now he had come within a hair’s breadth of falling. Mopu was consumed by a mixture of shock and furious rage.

“Rooooaaaar——!” He howled like a wild beast, his blood energy surging like a sea, expelling all the black energy from his body—but the bloody cavity in his chest proved far harder to heal.

His fury was absolute. He lunged toward Ye Fan to deliver a killing blow. But in that very moment, an elderly man of the human race appeared. With a single strike he split heaven and earth asunder and drove the stone figure back.

The Reception Envoy of the Tenth City of the Human Race appeared, blocking the invincible Stone Spirit King and engaging him in battle—seizing the upper hand.

“Wugu, you blundering fool—where are you?! You let in the murderer who has slain powerhouses of my clan—get over here immediately and cut him down!” The Holy Spirit Mopu raged, transmitting his voice furiously toward the outer perimeter.

A resounding cry rang out—the earlier stone figure appeared once more and came cutting toward this position to kill. But a large group of human race powerhouses too came surging forward to meet it, with an elder Saint engaging that Holy Spirit head-on.

In that moment, Ye Fan too began his mass slaughter. Just like the invincible Holy Spirit that had preceded him, he charged through the foreign-race army and none could stop him.

“Don’t leave blood mist—strike them all to ash. We cannot let them use the remains as sacrifice!”

Ye Fan was dominant and overwhelming. One fist, one kill—dozens and then hundreds of foreign-race powerhouses were blasted apart in the sky in rapid succession. Bone fragments flew in every direction, blood sprayed freely—and in the end, all of it was set blazing.

He cut a path of blood, toppling all who stood before him, fighting his way into the deepest reaches of Great Moon Slope and to the very heart of the Divine Ghost Burial Ground.

He broke through like a bamboo stalk splitting apart—how many powerhouses he had cut down along the way, none could say. He had truly carved his path through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Yet at the moment his eyes found the ancient well, his entire body went ice-cold.