The mountain terrain was wide and open, not a single plant in sight. Only this one ancient grave stood here — a lifetime of brilliance, a lifetime of sorrow, coming to its solitary end in this place.

Ye Fan stood in silence, his heart filled with endless feeling. The path to Emperor was contested; the starry road was cruel. Even a Sacred Body had become a tragic chapter in another’s story, reduced to this desolate scene.

The ground held no growth — only dark red earth and rock. This place was silent and cold. On ordinary days, few people ever came here.

Ye Fan had already sensed the two people behind him but did not turn around. He stood there for a very long time. Those two pairs of hostile eyes never shifted — they kept watching this way.

Finally, after a long while, Ye Fan let out a quiet sigh. For this forebearer Sacred Body, who had spilled blood beyond the boundary and buried his bones in a foreign land, he felt a deep sorrow.

He scattered a handful of pure white flower petals, gave a bow of respect, and slowly turned to walk back the way he had come. This place had stirred too much in him — a reminder of how difficult and life-or-death the ancient starry road truly was, and a warning to himself to never grow careless.

Two figures stood in the distance. Although they had concealed their hostility, at Ye Fan’s level of cultivation, even the faintest ripple could be perceived — there was no hiding it from him.

But he paid them no mind. He had slain many enemies along this road; competing forces were everywhere. Gazes like theirs were nothing remarkable.

These two were clearly not weak — both had already entered the Sacred Realm. Instinctively sensing Ye Fan’s strength, they narrowed their eyes and watched in silence, saying nothing.

Suddenly, Ye Fan turned. His sharp perception had caught something. In the distance rose a magnificent mountain peak. On its sheer cliff face, a line of carved strokes was visible — iron hooks and silver strokes, vigorous and forceful.

Clang… clang…

The sound of sword song rang through the heavens. The instant Ye Fan’s gaze fell upon them, the cliff face itself rang out with a resounding clash of metal — as though divine swords were vibrating, each character blazing with light.

Iron hooks and silver strokes, vigorous and powerful. Every carved line radiated a treasure-like brilliance. Sword light streaked across ten thousand paths, slashing through the sky. An unparalleled sword aura soared above the clouds.

The characters trembled faintly, as though alive, emitting terrifying fluctuations — more intense than the awakening of a peerless master, more cutting than anything Ye Fan had felt before.

This was an undying martial will.

To think that someone had carved it here — even Ye Fan was shaken at the sight. It was only a single imprint, yet it was extraordinarily terrifying — left behind by a truly remarkable individual.

Since walking the ancient starry road, Ye Fan had never felt this way facing any enemy. Yet now his heart held genuine alarm. This person was too extraordinary — even through the stone wall, they transmitted a belief in their own invincibility.

“Is this a declaration of war to me?” Ye Fan murmured, staring at the few characters on the cliff face.

Rumble!

Suddenly, the heavens and earth roared. Those characters shook more and more violently. From the sky descended streams of auspicious radiance. From the earth bloomed sacred lotuses. Rays of light stretched in all directions like ten thousand threads. In that moment, dragons and phoenixes sang in harmony, white tigers roared skyward, black tortoises crossed the sea — all manner of world-shaking omens appeared together.

Just a single strand of martial will, and yet it triggered such phenomena — truly a rare sight in all of history. Those few ancient characters had stirred the Dao of all who had ever passed through, drawing forth a resonance of the Great Dao itself.

For throughout the ages, many powerful cultivators had come here to pay their respects, leaving behind indelible marks of their own Dao. Those marks now reawakened.

“Boom!”

Then the transformation struck. A peerless battle intent surged out from those few characters, shattering all the gathered phenomena. It was like a divine being awakening — absolutely powerful — and in an instant it crushed everything to nothing.

A moment ago there had been the resonance of the Great Dao, dragons and phoenixes harmonizing, divine radiance streaming in all directions — yet now every single one of those phenomena was severed by that invincible will and erased without a trace.

This was a conviction of supreme self — I alone am sovereign — a declaration that no one else could match. After I bloom, all other flowers wither. A will like this, looking down upon all the heavens and wilds, domineering to the absolute extreme.

For the first time, Ye Fan’s expression truly changed. This was beyond comparison — a dangerously formidable individual, even more fearsome than he had imagined. Truly a supreme and unparalleled rival.

And this was only a single strand of martial will.

On the cliff face, there were only four characters: I Alone Am Supreme.

Those four characters blazed with radiance, sweeping across the heavens above and the earth below. Like a divine demon awakening, they carried a momentum that devoured mountains and rivers.

This communicated a belief — one that was only activated when Ye Fan’s sacred blood surged. A declaration of war had been laid down here. Those four characters embodied a single will.

The two people in the distance were shaken and electrified. They exchanged a glance and turned to leave. They knew that the one they had been waiting for had arrived. It was time to head down the road and deliver the message.

“You’re just going to leave without saying anything?” Ye Fan stood before the cliff face and, without turning around, calmly asked.

The two were nearly at the horizon, yet their hearts jolted violently. They felt an incomparable, crushing pressure bearing down on them.

“We were ordered to wait here for several decades — because the one deep in the starry void believed that in this generation, the Sacred Body who caused the burial star of an Emperor would come. He asked us to wait until we had results, then go and tell him.”

One of them stopped. Though his heart surged with turbulence and unease, he still called out the words clearly.

Ye Fan’s expression was cold and detached. A hundred thousand years had passed. He had appeared. And now his nemesis had arrived on the ancient starry road as well. This battle was absolutely unavoidable — it would shatter the heavens when it came.

In truth, over these years, he had heard so much about it. Even during the periods when the ancient road was severed, old escort guides of the human race had spoken of it. Many people were eagerly anticipating this world-defining battle.

“I, too, want to fight him. We will meet in the depths of the starry void.” Ye Fan said plainly.

“No — he will come back. He had us keep watch here, and the moment he learned that the human race’s Sacred Body had arrived at this place, we were to send word immediately. When the time comes, he will return.” The other person spoke up, heart tense with worry, afraid Ye Fan would fly into a rage and strike them down.

A hundred thousand years ago, the human race’s Sacred Body was ambushed and slain here, never reaching the deepest reaches of the starry void. And now the other party was doing the same — preparing to return and start a similar battle?

Ye Fan’s expression was cold, showing neither joy nor anger. A powerful battle intent rose from within him, shaking the entire ancient land.

Clang, clang…

On the vast cliff standing ten thousand zhang tall, the four enormous characters blazed with blinding light — clanging and resonant, the words I Alone Am Supreme nearly manifesting the will of a divine being.

“Boom!”

Ye Fan’s entire body erupted in golden light. Like a divine furnace of heaven and earth — eternal, undying, with divine flames flooding the sky — it engulfed this entire land. His peerless battle intent soared straight toward the ninth heaven.

His eyes blazed with immortal light, radiating a razor-sharp edge. The four characters on the cliff were shattered — and then a tremendous tremor sounded, and the heavens and earth shuddered.

At the edge of the horizon, those two Sacred Realm beings, even from as far away as they stood, trembled violently. Their bodies swayed, and they staggered backward repeatedly.

It was over in an instant. Quickly, the heavens and earth fell still once more, and everything returned to clarity. Ye Fan stood there without moving. Yet the characters on the cliff had changed.

Four new characters replaced the old ones: With Me, None Are Invincible.

Four characters — vast and imposing, pressing down on all who read them until they could barely breathe.

This was Ye Fan’s reply. Also four characters, supplanting the declaration of war. This was his will.

At the edge of the land, the two figures kept retreating, both their hearts pounding violently. A supreme battle was coming — one that made even them impatient with anticipation, eager to witness it.

Both of them clasped their fists toward Ye Fan, then turned and left without hesitation. In this place, not a single moment more did they wish to remain.

“Heaven-Dominating Tyrant Blood… the time to meet has finally come.” Ye Fan murmured quietly.

At the horizon, those two figures had nearly vanished — yet upon hearing those four words, their bodies still jolted. This was an appellation carrying terrifying, demonic force — the name of a supremely invincible constitution without equal in its generation.

One who carried the Heaven-Dominating Tyrant Blood flowing within them — on their mother star, they were the uncrowned Emperor, said to be able to fight across the entire cosmos without a single defeat.

Those two paused, then vanished swiftly.

Along this road, Ye Fan had heard people speak of those four words more than once. The reverence for this constitution — for the invincible Tyrant Body — had reached an extreme.

Heaven-Dominating Tyrant Blood — just those few words alone carried a terrifying power. Upon hearing them, the golden blood within Ye Fan surged and stirred, rising turbulently and uncontrollably.

The time to face it had finally come. For many people, this was a constitution of despair — too powerful, its very name summing up everything.

Ye Fan stood there for a moment longer, gazing at that solitary grave. He let out a quiet sigh from his heart. A lifetime of brilliance, a lifetime of sorrow — it filled him with pain and regret.

Once an invincible hero of the age — now lying alone, bones buried in a foreign land. How could one not be moved?

Step by step, each stride covering several dozen to over a hundred li, he left this desolate ancient land and made his way toward the inhabited parts of this ancient star — for the escort guide had told him that wandering this place might yield some unusual discoveries.

Mountains and rivers receded behind him. Great peaks grew distant. Stars shifted in their courses. Ye Fan walked out of the barren, lifeless Desolate land and arrived in a place where signs of life could be felt.

He could not help but frown. The Great Dao’s suppression here was severe. Spiritual energy had dried up almost completely. Cultivation was simply not suited to this place. Powerful cultivators were few and far between, and cities appeared only sparsely across the landscape.

“The Great Dao is merciless here — even more so than on Earth!” Ye Fan made this startling discovery.

Vast stretches of land were unsuitable for cultivation. No spiritual energy existed. The Great Dao had abandoned these regions entirely. Vast emptiness and desolation covered most of the star. Though all the inhabitants knew of cultivation, the vast majority were ordinary mortals.

Ye Fan traveled the entire ancient star and found that only one region was barely suitable for practice. Yet aside from a few auras that seemed deliberately concealed, the strongest cultivators openly present had only reached the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm.

On the ancient starry road, a cultivation level like that was truly too weak.

One could not help but lament the injustice of heaven. Some life-bearing stars had flourished from ancient times to the present without ever declining — Sacred Realm cultivators unbroken in succession, at the peak of prosperity.

And then there were ancient stars like this one — fallen into such decline, the disparity extraordinarily cruel. Compared side by side, heaven truly seemed to favor some over others.

Up ahead was a city — not particularly grand, but covering a decent expanse of land. It sat within the one region of this star capable of supporting cultivation.

Ye Fan stood outside the city walls, quietly sensing. The golden blood within him stirred with a faint restlessness that would not settle. He immediately made his way inside.

The streets were old and weathered. The buildings were ancient and worn. The city could not be called prosperous by any measure — just an ordinary ancient town, nothing remarkable about it at first glance.

Ye Fan turned into a narrow street of modest width and walked toward a cluster of run-down buildings. Every alley here was somewhat dirty and cluttered — clearly no place where nobility would reside.

A stray dog rummaged through garbage. A group of children ran back and forth, playing and laughing.

In the distance, one child was running away — appearing to be around six or seven years old, wearing tattered, ragged clothing, filthy from head to toe. His small face bore lines of black grime and purple bruising — cuts, bruises, sweat, and dirt all mixed together.

“Get him! Cut him off — don’t let him escape!”

A group of older children gave chase, each one fierce and aggressive, with others lying in wait up ahead.

Yet this child was extraordinarily strong. He shoved aside several children of eleven or twelve years and dashed through nimbly, sprinting into the depths of the dirty, narrow alley.

“Little wretch, you can’t run — your ancestors were supposedly invincible under the heavens, yet look how pathetic your family is now, not even able to cultivate.”

“Let’s see if you dare talk back now. If you don’t back down today, we’ll beat you to death, you little stray.”

A group of children blocked the alley, closing in on the small wretch.

The small wretch was filthy all over and looked pitifully shabby — yet his two large eyes were bright and clear, refusing to yield. Cornered, he still fought back defiantly.

“Hiding dormant golden blood — a descendant of the Sacred Body, an ancestral reversion!” Following his instincts, Ye Fan had traced his way here. Now he was stunned, his eyes shooting out two terrifying bolts of divine lightning.