The Overlord was sent flying, blood gushing from his mouth, his body nearly torn to pieces, purple blood raining through the air, shocking all the heroes present.
Those were two pairs of golden fists, two dragon-shaped arcs sweeping across the void — like two god-and-demon figures striking simultaneously, beating the Overlord to the point of nearly shattering.
What kind of combat power was this? The crowd fell utterly silent — this scene was too shocking. A chill ran through everyone’s hearts; had it been themselves up there, they would surely have been struck into a mist of blood instantly.
How mighty was the Overlord? On the ancient path, who did not know his name? Yet he could not withstand this overwhelming suppression, nearly dying on the spot — this was a form of absolute intimidation!
Facing him on equal footing, Ye Fan struck cleanly and decisively, launching a thunderous strike the moment they engaged, beating the Overlord to near-crippling ruin, his bones cracked in multiple places, both overlord fists unable to even clench properly.
“Aah—” The Overlord growled low like a wounded beast, purple blood flowing backward, converging toward his wounds. The Zhe Character Secret activated on its own, repairing his injuries, bones creaking and crackling as they were recast.
“Relying on secret techniques, is it? Don’t think I can’t deal with that!” His eyes, where pupil and white had blurred into a single expanse of purple, gleamed with a cold, terrifying light.
The Overlord’s fighting spirit did not diminish — instead, his morale soared even higher. He glared coldly at Ye Fan, a powerful conviction rising within his heart, his hair flying wildly, his gaze growing colder and even more frightening.
His overwhelming battle-qi surged violently, shaking the very starry sky. The ten great sovereigns of the ten directions could not help but retreat, never having expected the Overlord to remain so unbending, still full of fighting spirit despite repeated devastating blows.
“I am invincible!” the Overlord roared. Purple qi shrouded him entirely, his hair standing on end, his brows lifting as he released a dazzling divine light, the entire starry sky shaking violently.
Facing him head-on, he feared no one — even in his earlier battle against Ye Fan, he had not fallen behind at first. Though he had later suffered a great loss, his confidence remained undiminished.
“Boom!”
The Overlord’s fist swept through the void, shattering the starlight of the cosmos. Two purple rivers seemed to connect ancient and present, their might shocking the world — this was the Overlord’s true strength.
Ye Fan wore a cold smile, both of his bodies moving at once — one rising to block, the other striking down mercilessly to suppress!
With a rumbling boom, the Overlord was sent flying again. Had he faced only a single Ye Fan, he could naturally have held his own — his strength on today’s human ancient path was undoubtedly formidable, rightly hailed as a young supreme of his generation, a reputation well-earned.
But against two Ye Fans, facing him on equal footing became a struggle — both his arms mangled, his body nearly crippled, sent flying tens of thousands of feet away.
Ye Fan had no desire to waste time. Whether across realms or on equal footing, the outcome had already been made clear. He pressed forward swiftly, raising his golden fists to strike down!
Boom!
The Overlord’s gaze suddenly blazed like torches, his essence blood burning throughout his body. In the span of an instant, he shifted position, dodging the certain-death strike of the two golden bodies.
His figure flickered through the starry sky like a war-immortal descending upon the world, at the pinnacle of strength and hardness. All at once, nine phantom deities manifested, each identical to himself, simultaneously assaulting Ye Fan at the center.
The crowd gasped in shock, their hearts pounding, eyes wide as they watched the battlefield.
Which of the sages present had not cultivated the Heavenly Eye? Yet none of them could see clearly, could not penetrate through — the Overlord’s speed was too fast, moving like a phantom, all nine phantom deities attacking Ye Fan at once.
Every single figure seemed to possess world-shocking combat power, wreaking havoc across heaven and earth, shattering the vast sky, making the boundless cosmos tremble. Purple qi rolled endlessly, spreading out immeasurably.
“This is bad!” the Guide Envoy Zhao Gongyi cried out in alarm. This was an ancient method — once phantom deities became indistinguishable from the real, even with the Heavenly Eye, it would be hard to discern the truth in a short time. Once trapped by them, danger would follow.
Ten overlord bodies moved as one, their combat power world-shaking, impossible to tell which was the true one. Whoever was trapped among them would be helplessly beaten — a single mistake could mean being slain.
“Nine Phantom Transformation!” Deep within the starry sky, an elder recognized this secret technique and could not help but gasp — clearly even the Path Guardians had not known the Overlord possessed such an ancient art.
“Boom!”
In that razor-thin instant, Ye Fan activated the Xing Character Mantra. Beneath his feet, seal-marks appeared one after another, tearing open a rift as fast as lightning, breaking free of the battlefield.
The Overlord pursued relentlessly, surging with overwhelming divine might from behind, like a demon lord, his killing intent blazing. Some of the phantom deities wielded the phoenix-blood war-spear, dancing and slashing, tearing apart the cosmos; others swung the overlord fists, unstoppable and unrelenting.
“There are some secret techniques I have never before displayed — I was saving them as a surprise for my decisive battles against the Demon God, the Human King, the Heavenly Emperor, and others. I never imagined I would be forced to this point by you.” He spoke coldly, his thick black hair dancing wildly.
The crowd’s hearts tightened — the Overlord was truly heaven-defying, not having revealed all his trump cards, still possessing unrivaled arts and divine techniques.
Swish!
Ye Fan’s true body and his Dao body separated, each charging toward a different direction, manifesting Dao methods in two separate positions — undoubtedly a clever move to break through the nine phantom deities.
The Overlord possessed only one true body; the other nine were phantom deities. If they strayed too far from the true body, the phantoms would grow sluggish, making it easier to expose the fakes.
Ye Fan opened his Origin Heaven Eye, his heart trembling — this eye could pierce through falsehood, and he recognized the true body. Yet he also discovered that five of the phantom deities possessed genuine combat power.
The Origin Heaven Eye was special — capable of piercing through illusion!
Other Heavenly Eyes each had their own merits — for instance, the Martial Dao Heavenly Eye could slow down an opponent’s movements many times over when observing their techniques, allowing one to clearly discern the changes within.
“The young supreme of the Vast Heaven Overlord Blood lineage is no ordinary figure — condensing five phantom deities, each with formidable combat power. Truly, this was prepared against the Demon God, the Human King, and the others.” a Path Guardian remarked, standing in the starry sky.
However, these phantom deities had one clear weakness — their combat power did not match the true body, unable to compare with Ye Fan’s Dao body. If identified, they risked being annihilated.
Still, this was enough — at the very least, it temporarily resolved the Overlord’s crisis, blocking Ye Fan’s Dao body for him.
Having identified the true body, Ye Fan charged straight toward it, his Dao body moving simultaneously to slay the phantom deities — the fierce battle erupted once more.
The Overlord’s heart lurched; he had never expected Ye Fan’s Heavenly Eye to be so extraordinary, instantly distinguishing true from false, placing him once again in a passive position.
Ye Fan’s Dao body was ferociously mighty, instantly slaying three of the phantom deities on the spot. Though they could continue to be replenished to block the enemy, they were all formed from his essence, spirit, and qi — draining his very origin.
The Overlord let out a long howl, blood-qi surging, purple mist rolling as his true body and nine phantom deities unleashed their power simultaneously, shaking the cosmos. Beneath his feet, lotus blossoms of blue bloomed one after another, chaotic qi spreading, his speed reaching its very limit, too fast for the eye to follow.
For he had discovered that the reason Ye Fan’s Dao body swept through everything unopposed, slaying his phantom deities one after another, was simply because it was too fast — the true body could not rescue them in time, and the phantoms could not dodge either.
This was a peculiar footwork technique — within a limited space, not inferior to the Xing Character Mantra, extraordinarily fast. The ten overlord bodies left afterimages trailing behind, their combat power indeed raised by a great margin.
“This is the Chaos Lotus Step, said to rival the footwork of a Lesser Supreme — within a small cosmos, its speed can reach the absolute limit!”
Someone recognized this footwork technique — its very name revealed its extraordinary nature. Within a limited range, it could stand unrivaled under heaven, truly astonishing. It was ranked alongside the “Divine Light Escape,” suited for close combat, though not for crossing great distances.
Only the Xing Character Secret could surpass it and be crowned supreme in this world.
The Xing Character Mantra, regardless of distance long or short, maintained the same speed, always reaching its absolute peak. At this moment, beneath Ye Fan’s feet, it was displayed to the fullest, so fast that no one could react in time.
Had it not been so, the Overlord would never have been forced to unleash the Chaos Azure Lotus Step, each footfall leaving behind a lotus imprint, chaotic qi surging, appearing eerie yet powerful.
The two clashed fiercely, the Overlord’s phantom deities being slain one after another, his expression changing — if this continued, he would surely suffer a great loss.
“I ask again — will you buy your life, handing over the nine ancient characters of the Lunar Immortal Scripture along with the Zhe Character Secret?” Ye Fan asked coldly.
“You’re dreaming!” the Overlord replied coldly.
“Kill!” Ye Fan’s true body and Dao body each took a side, trapping the Overlord and his nine phantom deities between them, unleashing yet another secret technique, beginning the suppression and slaughter.
Golden qi surged and boiled. Behind both Ye Fans appeared a golden divine repository, within which immortal swords hummed, bells tolled softly, ancient pagodas rose and sank, treasure mirrors gleamed…
This was a golden world, filled entirely with golden Dao artifacts, which now flew out together, unleashing indiscriminate attacks.
Moreover, this was symmetrical — the other side mirrored it exactly. Ye Fan’s Dao body and true body simultaneously opened their golden divine repositories, like opposing forces of yin and yang, trapping the Overlord and his phantom deities between them, unleashing an all-out slaughter.
“Aah—”
The Overlord screamed in agony as all nine phantom deities were instantly suppressed and slain, shattered into purple blood mist beneath the endless golden Dao artifacts, unable to resist.
This secret technique was best suited for group battles — a terrifying ancient method for dealing with multiple avatars at once, holding the advantage whether facing a single opponent or a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals — indiscriminate in its attack.
With both golden divine repositories opened together, they pressed down upon the Overlord, beating him until blood sprayed and bones shattered, fragments of white bone flying in all directions — a gruesome sight.
By this point, neither of the two young supremes held anything back, both exerting themselves to the fullest, fighting until blood rained and bones broke.
The Overlord suffered a great loss. He knew that in secret arts, he held no advantage — the Sacred Body from the Star of the Buried Emperor had studied all manner of ancient techniques, no fewer than his own, if not more.
“Roar—”
He let out a long howl, manifesting his divine form, unleashing his origin, tearing through the cosmos, charging at Ye Fan’s Dao method world.
In this instant, the Overlord transformed into a chaos roc, spreading its wings to soar the heavens — this was his divine form, unbreakable, charging toward Ye Fan.
A few drops of golden blood splattered, and a crack appeared on Ye Fan’s forehead — he nearly cracked under the roc’s shock. His body transformed into a dragon-shaped arc, manifesting into a golden circle.
Boom!
The Overlord was sent flying, covered in blood, having gained not the slightest advantage — but his body changed again, transforming from the roc into a great bell, tolling softly.
This was no ordinary transformation — this was a change of divine form, an innate divine ability of the Overlord’s body. Cultivated to the extreme, it would manifest nine great divine forms, all embodiments of the Immortal Dao!
“Dong—”
The great bell tolled softly, pressing down to suppress.
In this instant, Ye Fan suddenly withdrew his golden blood-qi, and the Taiji Immortal Chart vanished in an instant — within this world, only he himself remained.
Secret techniques, ancient methods, and countless other means of attack flashed through his mind one by one, yet he used none of them. In this moment, he felt a serenity born of comprehending the Dao, a realization amid this life-and-death crisis.
In the end, he delivered only a single, plain strike — a gentle upward brush of his hand — and with a rumbling boom, sent the Overlord flying, his body split into two halves, purple blood filling the sky.
“What — a single effortless strike, and it carries such power?!” Even the Path Guardian was moved at this moment.
“All methods in this world are but forms, but means to an end. What is truly powerful is the self.” Ye Fan silently comprehended this. At this moment, he had reached the Divine Prohibition, dwelling in a state of ethereal emptiness.
A realization stirred within his heart — a different kind of understanding. Truly great emperors, for the most part, would remain long within the Divine Prohibition realm; once there, all becomes empty, and in the world there remains but one invincible being.
“Seeking technique, seeking method, seeking Dao — none compare to seeking the self.” Ye Fan murmured to himself, his heart at peace.