Yin mist pervaded everywhere, bones carpeting the ground. Ahead, a squad of yin soldiers numbering a dozen or so wore heavy armor and carried long halberds and battle pikes, exuding a killing aura of grim solemnity.

They patrolled this place — cold and still, without a single trace of living fluctuation on their bodies, like a collection of cold, lifeless puppets.

“So many ghosts — have we arrived at the Underworld?” The little troublemaker exclaimed. From his initial pallor to his gradual adaptation, his small heart was steadily growing more resilient.

Ye Fan furrowed his brow. He might have come upon a colossal power that had existed since time immemorial — one that could be described as extreme terror, an absolute and dreadful legacy. This was a very serious matter.

Yin soldiers borrowing passage — campaigning toward distant destinations!

Such legends had existed throughout the ages, yet few knew the secrets within. This was clearly a mobilization of troops across star regions — what manner of terror was this? The mere thought of it made the scalp crawl.

He did not believe in legends of fierce ghosts. This was certainly a supreme organization!

Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye and carefully observed these yin soldiers. All of them were ancient corpses that had died no one knew how many tens of thousands of years ago. Some of the armor was unmistakably of the Primordial Age’s style.

“Uncle, are we really going to arrive at the Underworld?” The little troublemaker said softly, heart in turmoil.

Ye Fan paused, then said, “The Underworld… are there such legends in this stretch of starry space too?”

“Of course — the place where the dead go, also called the nether earth. Isn’t that what everyone says among common folk?” The little one blinked with wide, guileless eyes in innocent response.

Ye Fan was completely taken aback. Whether it was on Earth, in the Northern Dipper, or along this ancient road through the starry sky — such legends existed everywhere.

After setting out on the path of cultivation, he had always regarded such tales with contempt and derision. Cultivators themselves could soar to the heavens and burrow through the earth, shift mountains and fill seas — they were already what common mortals called immortals. What was there left to believe in regarding the Underworld and ghosts?

In this moment, Ye Fan realized he had overlooked an extremely serious fact. Countless ancient lands throughout the starry sky all carried legends of the Underworld — and he had selectively passed over them.

“The Underworld… Under the rule of the Heavenly Court, an organization such as this truly existed in the age of mythology — and it has not been completely annihilated. It has endured through all these immense ages, still governing the nether earth!”

Ye Fan felt a chill run through his entire body. In an instant, he thought of many questions. Through all these long years, he had overlooked a terrible matter — who said that everything of the Heavenly Court had completely turned to smoke?

Through the endless ages, the Ancient Heavenly Court had not simply survived with a small portion of its remnant clan. A considerable number of its followers must have passed its lineage down.

The Ancient Heavenly Court — this colossal, behemoth entity — had not truly become ashes. There were traces still to be followed. It was possible that there were still divine beings governing some ancient star regions!

The more Ye Fan thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. This was not a mere lingering existence. It was not simply a matter of a few scattered descendants. Perhaps there were domains of rule that had never declined at all.

“At the very least, the Underworld still exists. With so many yin soldiers borrowing passage — what an enormous power this represents. Capable of mobilizing armies across star regions — it can only be described as a supreme, world-consuming terror!”

Ye Fan had once sought guidance from many guides, who told him that the human race’s ancient starry road was a legacy of the age of mythology — existing already in the era of the Ancient Heavenly Court, later inherited by those who came after.

“The same road, walking it all the way to the end — one might encounter everything that was the Ancient Heavenly Court.”

Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye, carefully observing these yin soldiers. Through the armor, he saw their true appearances. The great majority were of the human race, though a few were of the demon race, the ancient races, and others.

“Under the Heavenly Court’s rule, the Underworld did not distinguish between races. This section of the ancient road at present belongs to the human race — ultimately, the separate roads of the divine race, human race, demon race, and others will converge into one, leading to the ultimate ancient destination.”

Ye Fan bypassed this squad of yin soldiers and moved forward. In a vast open expanse, he discovered a colossal city — built upon bones into an undying fortress.

Swath after swath of black mist coiled around it. The yin soldiers were not numerous, moving in and out of this ancient city at ease, carrying out their patrols.

“What connection does all of this have to the Source Heavenly Masters, and how did their paths become intertwined?” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

This was nearly a miniature nether world — without a single living creature, only these grim, death-saturated ancient corpses. One could not understand why they were able to walk about like this, forming themselves into rows of battle soldiers.

It was truly difficult to imagine that on such an inconspicuous meteorite star, there could be such a colossal ancient city — deeply unsettling, burying within itself endless secrets.

“Uncle, what are you planning to do — are you really going to make a great commotion through the Underworld?” Yang Xi’s eyes shifted from their earlier unease to composure, and now to excitement. This transformation had been swift indeed.

“Hmm. We really do need to go in and look.” Ye Fan nodded. He needed to see everything about this clearly. Far too many secrets were concealed within.

With a single step spanning several hundred li, he circled this meteorite star — not particularly large — and surveyed the whole of it. Everywhere was yin mist, bones visible at every turn — exactly like a nether world.

The yin soldiers were not numerous, all gathered in this ancient city, as though guarding something. This was an important stronghold of the Underworld.

Bang!

Ye Fan executed the Military Techniques, and a yin soldier in the wilderness was sent flying. In an instant it was seized and restrained. The ancient corpse in heavy armor opened its mouth and was about to unleash a fierce howl. He raised his golden palm and pressed down directly — the yin soldier could not move at all.

He pointed a finger toward the yin soldier, reading its immortal platform’s memories. Yet with a crack, the frontal bone crumbled. It had long since rotted away, with no past memories — only a single demonic thought echoing through its sea of consciousness: “Guard this city.”

How powerful was Ye Fan now? Despite the yin soldier’s fierce resistance, it was useless. Once the layer of armor was stripped away, fractures appeared across the entire body, which then crumbled into dust. The armor followed suit, dissolving away in the wind.

“By what means have they been summoned up from underground and returned to the battlefield?” Ye Fan could not work this out no matter how he thought.

He struck out continuously, capturing over ten yin soldiers in succession. Nearly all of them experienced the same phenomenon — the entire body became sand and dust, as though undergoing hundreds of thousands to millions of years in a single instant.

There was one exception: one yin soldier blazed with a dark radiance across its entire body, then rapidly shrank and transformed into an ink-jade figurine the size of a thumb, falling to the ground with a ring, its entire body flickering with strange light.

Ye Fan picked it up and examined it again and again. The same thing had happened in the Primordial Purgatory — Duan De had captured a yin soldier which had ultimately transformed into a dark black figurine.

Many years later, Duan De had puzzled out a rough explanation, saying it was a yin talisman — created by some supreme existence as a yin soldier, used to summon true ancient corpses as servants.

Outside the stronghold, there was little of value to be found. Ye Fan concealed himself and made his way to the city wall, executing the movement technique’s characters and crossing straight through. Though there were formation patterns to resist him, they could not hold him.

Within the city, all was dead silence without a single trace of living fluctuation. Only sparse yin soldiers walked the ancient streets — nothing anomalous anywhere.

Suddenly, the entire ancient city’s yin energy surged violently and erupted in agitation. All manner of cold, grim auras converged toward his location.

This was a city of the dead, and Ye Fan was a living being — detected by the powerful and strange ancient formation patterns, which had stirred all of the city’s yin soldiers to come killing toward him.

“Who… has intruded into my Underworld?” A hoarse voice rang out — deep and menacing. In an instant it arrived, trailing a great flood of yin mist.

This was a commander among the yin soldiers — clad in black armor, a pair of cold, dim eyes exposed like ghostly flames dancing, radiating an astonishing Saint-level might. Behind him, a dense black mass of several hundred yin soldiers followed, each carrying weapons, encircling Ye Fan on all sides.

“Finally, one with divine sense fluctuations.” Ye Fan murmured to himself, delighted rather than alarmed.

In a moment, he was greatly startled. This yin soldier commander’s immortal platform was black — nothing like the pristine purity of a cultivator’s. Within it, yin energy was layered ten thousand deep, like a ghost den.

“What is this place, what are all of you, why do you guard here?” Ye Fan asked.

“On the road of the Underworld… a checkpoint. Why have you… intruded?” His voice was hoarse, and his speech was not very clear. His divine sense was very scattered.

“Where is the Underworld?” Ye Fan asked again.

“Unknown. You… must join us.” He suddenly let out a long howl. The entire stronghold shuddered. From the distance came an endless swarming density, with yin soldiers everywhere charging toward this place.

At the same moment, another long howl rang out. A second yin soldier commander appeared, transforming into a streak of black demonic light as he arrived, encircling Ye Fan in a pincer attack.

This was a battle that could not be avoided. The yin soldier commanders’ thoughts were simple — to transform Ye Fan into one of their own kind, to make him a corpse, to send him into the Underworld.

“Ghosts walking at night, hordes of corpses running amok — uncle, quickly storm the Underworld and reincarnate! If we succeed we’ll be gods!” The little troublemaker cried out excitedly.

What nonsensical rambling. Ye Fan paid no attention and began to fight. The Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist was unleashed, golden blood and energy surging. Many yin soldiers transformed into wisps of black smoke, with a small number becoming ink-jade figurines, falling to the ground.

Powerful as Ye Fan now was, he could completely reign supreme over one domain. Even within a checkpoint of the Underworld, he remained undaunted — capable of dominating an entire region.

Thud! Thud!…

Strike after strike rang out. The force of Ye Fan’s fists could absolutely shatter mountains and all things without effort — yin soldiers in great swathes were reduced to flying ash.

Ye Fan brought one great golden hand crashing down like a heavenly emperor descending to earth. The two great commanders could not move in the slightest — both were suppressed. No matter how they howled and struggled, it was useless.

Ye Fan searched through their black immortal platforms. Within, all was utter chaos. They possessed only simple consciousness, commanded to guard this place, with no other thought. This was an important nether earth location needed for yin soldiers in transit.

“Uncle, you’re truly too powerful — you’ve defeated the Underworld! Have we become gods?” Yang Xi called out.

Ye Fan felt his head ache. He sensed that something ominous lay ahead. He had come into contact with a world-shaking great secret from past and present: the Heavenly Court had been destroyed, yet the rule of the nether earth had not collapsed. Through all these immense ages it had continued mobilizing troops — exactly what realm were they campaigning against?

“Can I enter the Underworld of the age of mythology from this place?” He said softly to himself, pressing the two commanders forward, searching through the ancient city.

Suddenly, Ye Fan’s heart grew stern. His entire body blazed with light, golden blood boiling. Dense red hairs grew outward from the surface of his body, every inch of him aching, his heart uneasy.

At the center of the ancient city, Source Heavenly veins crisscrossed in all directions, radiating a blinding light — all of them had been fully activated.

Strands of blood-water flowed along those formation veins, making this place look sinister and vile, suffused with a strange and powerful ripple of arcane power.

At the very center of those blood-red formation veins, there was a towering figure — body completely covered in red fur, back turned to him, like a demon.

“Be extinguished!”

Ye Fan gave a great shout. A golden blood mist arose, cutting off the ominous aura outside his body. The blood-red fur across his entire body was incinerated clean away, and his flesh expelled wisps of yin energy strand by strand.

“Are you which generation’s Source Heavenly Founding Master — or a being of the starry sky?”

“No beginning known, no end known. At the end of the cycle, all will conclude.” This towering figure covered entirely in red fur wheeled around abruptly, revealing eyes that were crimson red.