That night, Ye Fan sat cross-legged on the summit of Zhuofeng, and a powerful divine sense surged out from the golden lake between his brows, roaming ceaselessly across the mountain in search of something. Regrettably, he found nothing unusual about Zhuofeng at all. If the entire main peak was truly a scripture, he could not make heads or tails of it — it all felt deeply obscure and strange.

As the night deepened, the Peak of Stars ahead became more brilliant than ever. Endless starlight rained down — pure and crystalline white, like auspicious snow drifting, or white jade slowly sinking from the heavens — and one could feel the weight of an immense stellar power in the air.

“Hissss!”

Ye Fan drew a sharp, quiet breath. The lineage manifesting itself this way was truly extraordinary. With this much stellar power gathered together, bathing in such radiance day after day — the effect on physical cultivation would surely be beyond imagining.

It kindled something like envy in him. This style of cultivation had its own distinct and remarkable qualities. No wonder the Taixuan Sect had stood firm for ten thousand years without falling. Its one hundred and eight main peaks were genuinely without equal.

Ye Fan set those thoughts aside and turned to his cultivation of the Dao Scripture. He never wasted a single moment — always refining and advancing his own power, without fail.

Gradually, his mind settled into stillness. The Dao Scripture was the supreme cultivation method for the Wheel-Sea realm — the most powerful one in the Eastern Wilderness, at the very least, without an ancient scripture to surpass it.

It was not until midnight that he finally rose, concluding his cultivation session. He murmured to himself, “Once I’ve fully refined the Wheel-Sea realm, I’ll need to start preparing a cultivation method for the Dao Palace realm. I wonder when I’ll ever be able to reach the Sacred Ground of Yao Guang.”

He had long since let go of any hope for the Void Scripture. Beyond that, it was said that the ancient scripture held by the Sacred Ground of Yao Guang was the most powerful cultivation method in existence for the Dao Palace realm. That was what he wanted more than anything.

With his heart at ease, Ye Fan drifted into sleep. The moonlight fell softly across him where he lay on his side against a flat stone, enveloped in a thin veil of mist. He looked translucent and otherworldly — as if he belonged to a world beyond the mortal one.

There was one advantage to joining Zhuofeng: its sole remaining member, Li Ruoyu, had neither the time nor the energy to investigate Ye Fan’s past. Had he joined any other main peak, his identity and background would likely have been examined as thoroughly as water being poured through clear glass.

The next day, Ye Fan began exploring every corner of Zhuofeng. He searched the entire mountain — and found not a single spirit herb, not a single spiritual root. It was no different from a desolate stretch of wilderness.

Flutter, flutter!

Several ominous crows cawed harshly and took flight from a withered dead tree, their raucous cries only deepening the sense of desolation in the already quiet surroundings.

He truly could not imagine that a place this bleak was a main peak of the Taixuan Sect — the vessel of a powerful lineage.

At noon, he returned to the mountain summit. The dilapidated hall sat before him, its courtyard overgrown with wild mugwort half a person’s height, a wild hare darting out from the undergrowth with a start. The sight left him momentarily without words.

Thwack!

He picked up a stone and hurled it. The hare dropped at once. He built a fire, and before long, the scent of meat drifted through the air — the rabbit crisping to a golden-brown glaze, fat sizzling into the flames with soft hissing sounds.

“Zhuofeng,” Ye Fan muttered to himself. “Dead vines, withered trees, crows perched in the branches, crumbling ancient halls, wild hares darting about… truly…”

In the distance, through the broken walls of the ruined hall, the old man Li Ruoyu glanced at him once and then paid him no further attention, closing his eyes. He sat motionless, as still and quiet as deadwood.

Just then, a mocking voice cut through the air: “Of the one hundred and eight main peaks, each one represents one of the Taixuan Sect’s one hundred and eight powerful lineages. The summit of a main peak is the most sacred of places — a site of lineage and inheritance. And yet now, smoke from a crude fire rises here, and the stench of mundane flesh drifts through the air. Surely that’s something only Zhuofeng could manage.”

A young man in a water-blue robe descended from a streak of divine rainbow, his chin held high, one brow drawn into a frown as he looked toward the fire.

“Oh? Tempted? Want some?” Ye Fan said it in two short bursts, light and teasing, a faint smirk resting on his face.

The young man in blue had not expected that a disciple who had just entered the sect would dare to speak back to him like this. His expression darkened at once. “How bold of you! To desecrate the summit of a main peak in this manner — are you not aware you have committed an offense?”

“And who exactly are you? Where did you crawl out from? Making no sense at all.” Ye Fan paid him no real attention, casually tending to the roasting rabbit meat.

“You cannot understand what I’m saying to you?” The young man in blue stepped closer and loomed over Ye Fan. “How can an ordinary fire be lit on a main peak, letting the stench of mundane flesh contaminate—”

Ye Fan was perfectly at ease, turning the rabbit meat over the fire with unhurried hands, his mouth sharper than ever. “Fragrant rabbit meat — if that counts as a mundane stench, then what does that make that delicate skin of yours? A sack of rotten flesh?”

The young man in blue had originally only intended a careless jab — nothing more. He had not expected Ye Fan to give not an inch of ground, batting his words right back at him without pause. His temper surged, and he snapped, “This is a sacred ground of an immortal sect! Who gave you the right to desecrate it?!”

“There’s no immortal maiden here, no divine goddess. What exactly am I desecrating?” Ye Fan lifted the golden-roasted rabbit from the fire, tore off a hind leg, and began eating, no longer sparing the man so much as a glance.

“You — this audacity is beyond measure! Causing a scene on the main peak, you dishonor the Taixuan Sect itself! This is an unforgivable transgression!” The young man in blue turned cold and stormy, bearing down, already preparing to strike.

“Don’t pile that kind of language on me. ‘Beyond measure,’ ‘dishonor the Taixuan Sect’ — what does any of that have to do with what I’m doing?” Ye Fan cast him a sideways glance. “And don’t bother trying to throw your senior disciple authority around in front of me.”

“I’m going to subdue you and drag you to the Heavenly Punishment Cliff!” The young man in blue gave a cold laugh and reached out a hand, intending to seize Ye Fan.

“Hold on.” Ye Fan stopped him with a look, studying him flatly. “Where did you even come from? Elder Li of Zhuofeng is right here, and not a word from him. What authority do you have here, on Zhuofeng? Who are you to be pointing fingers?”

“As a disciple of the Taixuan Sect, it is my duty to protect the sacred grounds of the immortal sect!”

The young man in blue spread his five fingers wide, intending to grab Ye Fan by the throat and haul him up off the ground.

Ye Fan called toward the ruined hall in the distance. “Elder Li Ruoyu — Zhuofeng’s lineage belongs to our own line. Can disciples of other main peaks have any authority over us here?”

“With the exception of the Sect Master and the supreme elders, other main peaks have no jurisdiction over us. We govern our own affairs entirely.” Li Ruoyu’s voice drifted out in reply.

“So it would seem that this individual has trespassed into Zhuofeng’s sacred grounds without permission — and has committed an unpardonable offense.” Ye Fan sidestepped in a flash, evading the throat-grab aimed at him, snatched a flat slab of stone from the ground, and — quick as lightning — drove it hard into the blue-robed young man’s face.

Crack!

The stone slab struck him full across the face. Blood poured from his nose and mouth. He staggered and swayed — once, twice, three times — the pain so intense that tears and snot streamed freely down his face, and he nearly collapsed.

“Trespassing in Zhuofeng’s sacred grounds — a recklessly brazen act, a dishonor to the Taixuan Sect — a grave and unforgivable crime, deserving of execution!” Ye Fan turned the man’s own words around on him. His right arm swung in a wide arc, and the stone slab came crashing down across the young man in blue’s face again and again, leaving him thoroughly dazed, blood spraying from his nose and spittle flying from his mouth.

Smack! Smack!…

The young man in blue was beaten into unconsciousness by Ye Fan, his face twisted and slack as he convulsed on the ground.

After quite some time, he came around — and at that moment Li Ruoyu walked over and asked him, “What brings you here?”

The young man in blue came fully to his senses, and all at once the memory of what had just happened crashed back over him. He nearly went out of his mind with fury. He had been beaten unconscious. His face twisted with rage; he could not endure this, and lunged to launch himself at Ye Fan.

Li Ruoyu’s expression went stern in an instant. “Enough!”

“Greetings, Elder Li.” The young man in blue flinched as though doused with cold water, forced his fury down, swallowed his impulse, and bowed his head in greeting. “The inter-peak competition among all the main peaks will begin in three months. I came to deliver this notification.” With that, he presented a written letter.

“Understood. You may go.” Li Ruoyu gave a nod.

The young man in blue fixed his eyes on Ye Fan. Cold light glittered in them. Then he turned and left.

“Next time, don’t go shouting at the tops of your lungs in other main peaks,” Ye Fan called after him. “Don’t mistake yourself for a supreme elder.”

“You—” The young man in blue was livid, seething with resentment — but he did not dare to act in front of Elder Li Ruoyu. He launched himself skyward and flew back toward Xingfeng.

“Great perfection appears lacking. Great fullness appears empty. Great skill appears clumsy…” Ye Fan murmured, turning those twelve characters over carefully in his mind, and then began roaming about Zhuofeng again.

Half a quarter-hour later, several figures descended and blocked Ye Fan’s path on the mountain slope. The young man in blue was plainly among them.

“What do you people want? What gives you the right to wander freely in and out of Zhuofeng’s sacred grounds?” Ye Fan swept his gaze across the group. He had already figured out they were people from Xingfeng.

“You have no manners at all — when you see a senior disciple, you show respect. Get over here and bow.” One of them gave a cold laugh.

“And who exactly are you? Why should I bow to any of you?” Ye Fan strolled casually toward the group until he stood right before them.

Apart from the young man in blue, whose face had gone the color of iron, the others were all laughing openly.

“Zhuofeng finally has a disciple. He looks interesting — at least life won’t be boring now.”

“As your seniors, allow us to show you some proper manners. When you see us in the future, you bow at the waist, you keep a respectful expression on your face. Do you understand?”

One of the young men in the group reached toward Ye Fan’s head to push it down and force him to bow, while another kicked toward his shins, intending to bring him to his knees.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ye Fan sidestepped them. “This is a main peak — it represents a lineage. Disciples from other main peaks have no business wandering in and out freely.”

“Ha ha ha…” Everyone broke out laughing.

“Does entering Zhuofeng require someone’s permission?”

“This place is no different from a bare mountain. Come and go as you please.”

Two more of them reached toward Ye Fan’s head again; another two aimed kicks at his legs — all of them determined to bring him to his knees.

“Would you actually dare to do this at any other main peak?” Ye Fan stepped back a few paces. “This is going too far!”

“What an innocent little creature — let your senior brothers show you how to read a situation!”

“That’s precisely what I wanted to say to you.” With a heavy thud, Ye Fan snatched the wrist of the hand reaching toward his head. Crack — he gave it a sharp twist, and the sound of bone fracturing rang out.

At the same moment, his right leg swept outward in a wide arc, sending the two who had been kicking toward his shins crashing heavily to the ground.

The young man in blue and another figure changed color, leaping skyward, trying to take to the air and flee.

Boom!

A boulder weighing a thousand catties — faster than a lightning bolt — shot upward and slammed directly into them.

“Ahhhh—”

Cries of agony rang out as both of them were knocked down by the boulder, grievously injured, bones shattered in multiple places across their bodies.

Ye Fan laid all five of them out in a row on the ground and walked over, planting his foot on the face of the young man in blue. “You’ve really got nerve,” he said.

Thud!

As if punting a ball, he delivered a heavy kick that sent the young man flying through the air, leaving him wedged in the old vines hanging from a distant tree.

Then Ye Fan walked over to the other two, stepped on their hands, and said, “You were trying to teach me a lesson — make me lower my head, bow to you with proper reverence. Why don’t you demonstrate for me how that’s done.”

Boom!

Ye Fan lifted his foot and sent both of them flying with a kick. They crashed into the ancient trees behind them.

“You two were going to make me kneel?” Ye Fan approached the last two. He kicked out twice, and both of them shot into the air — then crashed back down heavily onto the ground.

“Remember: Zhuofeng is a main peak. It represents a powerful lineage. Anyone who comes here in the future must announce themselves first and enter through the mountain gate on foot.” Ye Fan declared this with the righteous gravity of someone serving justice. At that moment, Li Ruoyu appeared without a sound and had already taken up a position not far away.

“Well said. From this day forward, no one may trespass in Zhuofeng without leave.” The old man said these words with a lightness that belied their weight, and then disappeared silently into the trees.

Word that Zhuofeng was rebuilding its mountain gate spread quickly. Among the disciples of Xingfeng in particular, indignation ran high — and when they learned that several of their fellow disciples had returned with serious injuries, many of them could barely restrain themselves.

After returning to the summit, Li Ruoyu said nothing. He simply handed Ye Fan an ancient bow and nine arrow shafts, and then gave him a booklet, its pages yellowed with age.

“Elder Li, the Xingfeng people have come to demand justice!” That evening, Ye Fan saw a full several dozen Xingfeng disciples flying overhead, converging on Zhuofeng.

“Did I not give you the bow and the arrow shafts just now…” Li Ruoyu sat cross-legged in the crumbling hall, eyes closed, and said nothing more than that single sentence.

A shock went through Ye Fan’s chest. He felt with sudden certainty that this old man, who looked so frail on the surface, was nothing like he appeared. Ye Fan bellowed up at the sky, “You have pushed too far! This is the sacred grounds of a main peak’s lineage — and you dare to fly freely over it? Would you dare do this over any thriving main peak?!”

From the sky above, the furious shouts of Xingfeng disciples rained down.

Ye Fan had no patience for it. He bent the bow and nocked an arrow — and at once the ancient bow shuddered, releasing a terrifying wave of energy. From somewhere in the distance, one of the old crows let out a sharp caw and transformed into a beam of dark light, plunging straight into the arrow shaft in Ye Fan’s hands.

The result left Ye Fan staring open-mouthed. The arrow shaft felt as though it had been transformed in an instant into a blazing sun — carrying within it a power of inconceivable, crushing dominance.

In the sky above, the Xingfeng disciples were stunned. Someone cried out in alarm, “This is bad — fall back!”

Ye Fan did not dare to actually loose the arrow. He had the distinct feeling that if he did, it might punch a hole through the heavens themselves. Whatever the old man had given him — this ancient bow and these arrow shafts — was something almost impossibly mysterious, carrying a force that defied imagination.

What struck him most of all, however, was that all nine of the inauspicious crows on Zhuofeng had transformed into beams of dark light and merged into the nine arrow shafts at his side. At this moment, with just one dark-black shaft nocked to the bowstring, the sky above had already begun to tremble lightly.

“This must be a priceless treasure!” Ye Fan felt a surge of certainty that choosing to remain on Zhuofeng had been entirely the right decision. So many secrets were buried in this place.

Ye Fan held the ancient bow, facing the sky — and wherever he aimed, whoever stood in the path of his aim let out a scream and fled for their lives.

From far in the distance, several figures rushed over with tremendous speed. Elders from Xingfeng had arrived, and someone called out loudly, “Elder Brother Li, please hold your hand!”

“Give them a scare, and let that be enough,” Li Ruoyu’s voice carried over at that precise moment.

The Xingfeng disciples in the sky scattered in every direction, all of them frightened to a pallor, many completely white-faced.

“That’s the legendary ancient bow — wasn’t it said to have disappeared along with Zhuofeng’s lost lineage? How has it suddenly appeared?”

“Those nine old crows — we’ve seen them often enough, but to think they were this terrifying. They can each merge with one of the nine arrow shafts individually. What on earth are they?!”