The Reincarnation Imprint, an ancient method from the Mythic Era used to prove immortality, had been studied and pondered by the great Supremes of tens of thousands of years ago over an extremely long period.
According to legend, it was only in that era that someone had tested the method with their own body, tasted the bitter fruit of failure, and afterward there was never any follow-up.
But in this present world, this was not Ye Fan’s first encounter with it. He, along with the Human Demon and the Black Emperor, had unexpectedly discovered Duan De’s secret within the Sun Star — there were fully four Reincarnation Imprints on his body!
The person was no longer the person of the past; the soul had long since changed. In a sense, this was an entirely new life form — what meaning was left in that?
Ye Fan had once asked himself: to preserve part of one’s life traits, even the soul itself would be replaced — was it truly worth it? The answer was, he would never accept this under any circumstances. He would absolutely not walk that path.
At this moment, hearing “Reincarnation Imprint” again, he was stunned!
“You and I are separated by a long span of years. That we could meet at all is only because half a Reincarnation Imprint was carved within my body. In truth, I have long been a corpse.”
The Fourth Generation Origin Heavenly Master’s eyes were dim and gray, as if recounting a matter that had nothing to do with him.
“I obtained the Primordial Life Stone, gained Immortal Origin, cut out an unformed Sacred Spirit, dug up the Yin Underworld — I trespassed into too many forbidden domains. Misfortune was long since destined.” Wu Yi’s eyes were vacant.
In this world, there were domains that even those as powerful as the Peak Great Saints could not touch — to move recklessly there meant death. Only the ancient Great Emperors feared nothing and could suppress everything.
“The curse descends, there is no choice. Our later years will all be spent in a stupor, and in the end we take that final step. This is a fate difficult to break — something ominous will come looking for us.”
Once one set foot in certain domains in this world, there was no escaping; one would sink deeper and deeper, losing the way back.
“I passed my time in a daze. Amid the blur, I heard of the Reincarnation Imprint. Everything I’ve said is only speculation — what is the truth?!” Wu Yi howled in anguish, shaking his head forcefully, the light in his eyes growing ever dimmer.
Ye Fan sighed — how tragic this was, not even knowing what he himself had done, such a long span of years leaving behind only a blank void.
The Origin Heavenly Master’s later years had been miserable. Having witnessed so many ominous things, vanishing from the world meant becoming a Red-Haired Being, from then on living in a stupor, having lost his wits.
Ye Fan had many things he wanted to say, but for a moment he did not know where to begin. What Wu Yi knew was not much — all of it heard while his spiritual sense was blurred, mostly mere speculation.
Wu Yi fell into a dazed state, as if struggling to think, and after some unknown time suddenly said: “The Emperor’s Burial Star — suited for burying the ancient Great Emperors.”
“Patriarch, why do you say this?” Ye Fan startled awake.
“I seem to have vaguely heard such a phrase — I don’t know who said it.” His time spent in a stupor had been too long; he didn’t even know why he had escorted the Yin Soldiers through this territory, as if another consciousness had been dwelling within his body.
Ye Fan started — the dwelling consciousness was this life’s Wu Yi, an entirely new soul body, no longer the same person as that past life.
Escorting the Yin Soldiers through, and the battle just now — that was another soul body!
Ye Fan shuddered violently — he had nearly overlooked it. Since Wu Yi had only formed half a Reincarnation Imprint, though his past life had died, the old memories had not yet been completely erased.
“The Path to Immortality Ascension — the road walked in pursuit of the ancient method of becoming immortal.” Wu Yi suddenly spoke this line as well.
“Also heard in the blur?” Ye Fan pressed urgently.
“Yes.” The Fourth Generation Patriarch nodded, his pupils growing ever dimmer, turning lead-gray, without a trace of light.
Ye Fan’s heart pounded violently — he felt that some of his past assumptions might have been wrong! Just who had spoken these words, and what kind of existence had Wu Yi encountered in the Underworld?
He truly wanted to understand it thoroughly.
“It is… two paths.” Wu Yi’s spirit was in a trance, nearly delirious, as he said: “One leads toward the Immortal Realm, whose existence is uncertain. One is the path pursuing the ancient method of ascension.”
Ye Fan’s heart trembled — what had he heard today? The Fourth Generation Patriarch’s words, “suited for burying the ancient Great Emperors” — did that relate to the Path to Immortality Ascension?
“Send me on my way.” Wu Yi sighed softly. The real him had already died; to fall now while still lucid was, to him, the greatest release.
“BOOM!”
Suddenly, a ferocious aura erupted. Wu Yi’s pupils abruptly turned blood-red, instantly becoming savage and terrifying, the red hair all over his body standing on end without wind, exceptionally violent.
He struck in an instant — the sky filled with Dao patterns, the Origin Heaven Script reappearing, slashing and killing toward Ye Fan.
Without doubt, the soul body within Wu Yi had changed — “this life” had awakened, suppressing the fragments of the past spiritual sense. He had transformed into the Underworld’s Soul-Summoning Envoy.
Ye Fan showed no mercy, decisively striking back, for he had been on guard all along — facing an existence capable of killing a Sage King, one moment of carelessness would mean bloodshed here.
“HUM!”
Ye Fan unfurled his visions — the Immortal King Descending upon the Nine Heavens, the Chaos Green Lotus Seed, the Magnificent Rivers and Mountains, the Yin-Yang Life-Death Diagram, all surfaced together, merging as one, as if opening heaven and earth anew, recreating a world.
In this moment, he held nothing back, simultaneously manifesting the Battle Sage Method — in his left hand the Void Mirror, in his right hand raised the Beginningless Bell, releasing a terrifying divine might, the mirror’s light and the bell’s waves moving together, suppressing Wu Yi.
Because he feared losing the chance, not wanting to delay anything, he wanted to subdue Wu Yi at the very first moment, wanting to decide victory in one earth-shaking strike.
Even at the risk of disrespecting his Patriarch, Ye Fan had to suppress Wu Yi first. Since “this life” had already been awakened, he had to press him thoroughly — this soul body surely knew more.
The Origin Heaven patterns on the ground had been mostly destroyed, the Fourth Generation Patriarch having lost a great support, his combat strength clearly weakened, but the Falling Star remained, and there were still no few ancient formations.
Moreover, he himself possessed a great method capable of directly overturning heaven and earth — few could match him, and even improvised, it remained terrifying!
BOOM!
This was a world-shocking great confrontation. This Falling Star, though guarded by countless formation arrays, shattered into pieces in this very moment, transforming into cosmic dust.
In the distance, one falling star after another came flying, becoming a rain of stars, illuminating an undying light, as if in an instant piercing through past, present, and future.
Ye Fan fought his Patriarch to the death — this battle was arduous, exceedingly fierce. When it all finally settled, the golden bloodstains on his body had grown considerably more numerous.
“At the end of reincarnation, all will come to a close. The Underworld is the destination of all spirits. I come to guide you — Soul Summon!” Wu Yi’s pupils were blood-red, howling, shouting toward Ye Fan — this was like a curse.
Ye Fan’s flesh burned with pain, the red hair growing once more, but on his skin were all golden bloodstains, the blood-colored hair hissing and crackling, ceaselessly turning to ash.
“Patriarch, stop struggling. You are not my match.” Ye Fan stepped forward, a great golden hand reaching down, thousands upon thousands of strands of Dao pattern surfacing there.
“No!” Wu Yi cried out, his eyes blood-red and terrifying, refusing to submit, his body actually swelling violently, the red hair growing several meters long, dancing like countless tentacles.
Ye Fan silently cried out — not good — golden light blazed between his fingers, ancient talismans surfacing one after another, the nine mysterious ancient characters from the Dao Classic manifesting, carving open a small chaotic world here to enact the suppression.
However, the soul body within the red-haired creature was extremely resolute — strands of Dao marks emerged from within outward, and he self-detonated.
Streams of blood splattered, red hair flying, bone fragments scattering everywhere, blood pooling — this place became like a slaughterhouse of carnage.
“Patriarch!” Ye Fan cried out.
He rushed forward, the incantation word “Zhe” turning, his whole body glowing, all manner of life essence surging forward overwhelmingly, reassembling the shattered body.
But the reassembled form was very incomplete, and moreover, the light he emitted had a strong corrosive effect on this body, causing the blood-form to melt away like ice and snow.
Ye Fan retreated, a wave of powerlessness washing over him, his heart darkening — was this the fate of the Origin Heavenly Masters? Each one so tragic, unable to meet a good end.
On the reassembled remains, the blood color faded from those pupils, dim and without light — his past life awakening, Wu Yi raised his head with great difficulty and said, “This is my best destination.”
He actually smiled, brilliantly so, the red hair on his face receding, revealing his true countenance — the years had left behind too many marks, but one could still faintly glimpse the heroic bearing of his youth.
“Patriarch…” Ye Fan could change nothing, could only silently see him off in sorrow.
“I have waited too long for this day.” Wu Yi seemed released, yet Ye Fan clearly saw a trace of sorrow in those dim, gray pupils.
The Fourth Generation Patriarch’s body split open, streams of light rain flying out from between his brows — that was his scattered and decaying spiritual sense.
Ye Fan, bitter with sorrow, silently saw him off.
Some of the light rain scattered down, glimmering like fallen petals, revealing scene after scene — that was the course of Wu Yi’s entire life.
That was clearly a young man of jade-like elegant bearing, utterly different from the monster covered head to toe in red hair — impossible to associate the two.
Back then, he had been spirited and full of vigor, commanding the world with a pointed finger, renowned across the realm — how dazzling he had been, his bearing peerless, revered as a wonder of his age.
“Such a peerless talent of his generation, and it ended just like this.” Ye Fan could only sigh.
Amid the scenes in the light rain, he also saw some of Wu Yi’s regrets — in his later years he had traveled the entire world, digging open countless mountain dragon veins, all just to pick a “Divine Life Flower” to save a woman whose spiritual sense had gone dark and silent, but in the end it had failed.
The light rain scattered to its end, and Wu Yi’s life came to a close there.
Ye Fan silently rose, cut off a piece of meteorite, and carved it into a stone coffin, burying within it all the blood and bones along with some of the cosmic dust.
He performed the Heaven-and-Earth-Overturning Method, borrowing the power of sun, moon, and starry river, illuminating this stone coffin, and cast it adrift into the universe.
“Living in a stupor, having lost your freedom — then be buried in the cosmos. Not knowing your starting point, not knowing your end, journeying forever onward, forever free.”
Ye Fan cast his method, sending the stone coffin on its distant journey, watching him vanish into the dark depths of the universe.
The Fourth Generation Patriarch’s story came to a close just like this…
Some unknown time later, Ye Fan left that place, soaring into the sky like a brilliant star streaking across the void.
“The Emperor’s Burial Star, suited for burying the ancient Great Emperors — what connection does it have to the Path to Immortality Ascension?”
Ye Fan’s thoughts churned endlessly. He thought of Purple Mountain, said to have seized the ultimate creation of heaven and earth, where the Undying Heavenly Sovereign had once been buried, and later the Beginningless Great Emperor had taken residence there.
Then, he thought of the Chaos Dragon Nest, said to be unprecedented since ancient times, the nesting ground of a True Dragon, where an ancient Sovereign had once secluded himself in cultivation, and finally became the burial ground of the Ruthless Great Emperor.