This was a lifelong regret, truly difficult to accept. A generation’s Demon Emperor, carrying this regret, faded into obscurity, seeing off in the desolate wind the weapon that had accompanied him through a lifetime of campaigns, burying it in yellow earth.
And he himself did not have long to live either. His twilight years had arrived; his primordial spirit had been carved with mark after mark by the passage of time, and his body naturally couldn’t endure much longer, unless the two were separated.
But if that were the case, what meaning would remain in an empty husk of flesh?
The Demon Emperor fell, the Measuring-Heaven Ruler broken into five pieces, leaving behind a great regret—this man, peerless in beauty tens of hundreds of thousands of years ago, faded away in obscurity. What a pity—Xue Yueqing, such a magnificent supreme being.
The curtain of light turned to rain, and that footprint on the Demon-God Platform vanished. With that, the vast, overwhelming pressure dissipated, leaving only the broken Demon Emperor’s Ruler.
The five Imperial Weapon fragments had recorded everything of that battle, but unfortunately the divine spirit within had nearly been obliterated—what remained now was little more than a residual, shattered imprint.
The Great Sages rose to their feet; the assembled heroes no longer kowtowed, all staring at the damaged Demon Emperor’s Ruler. Forged from Feathered Blue-Gold, it bore extensive feather-like markings across its surface, as if resembling a flying immortal.
The Underworld’s powerhouse, the Primary God who had come bearing the bronze tripod, and several other Great Sages all struck out almost simultaneously, each extending a hand forward to grab—all wanting to seize the Imperial Weapon fragments.
Everyone had restrained their killing intent, releasing an aura of peace instead—even the Black-Robed Divine Demon from the Underworld, whose pitch-black, hair-covered hand rarely radiated a trace of sacred glow.
In the distance, people watched with envy—only beings of this caliber could contend for Imperial Weapon fragments; everyone else needn’t even consider it. In an age without Emperors, the Great Sages stood at the very peak of existence.
Six or seven great hands descended simultaneously, on the verge of grasping several weapon fragments—but at that very moment, an overwhelming wave of killing intent swept through, sweeping across the Demon-God Platform, impossible to block!
The crowd was shaken—how many living beings must have been slaughtered to create such an aura? Everyone seemed to witness mountains of corpses and seas of blood, blood flooding the heavens, bones piled like mountains.
Who was this?
At this critical moment, someone dared to unleash such ferocity, wielding the most terrifying killing intent, activating the Imperial Weapon fragments against several Great Sages.
“BOOM!”
Six or seven Great Sages turned and fled at once, their bodies transforming into streaks of afterimages, leaving only residual light behind, tearing through the sky, retreating toward the far horizon.
They were furious—this was clearly a scheme against them, meant to wipe them all out in one net, killing them all.
The terrifying Emperor’s might appeared. The broken Demon Emperor’s Ruler was activated, releasing green rosy-light, its feathered, immortal-ascending patterns imprinted across heaven and earth. The five fragments rushed toward five different directions, sweeping to kill the crowd.
“Puh!”
The Stone Man Sage Spirit fared the worst. He carried the Immortal-Tear Green Gold Ruler on his body, which refused to submit within him, releasing a trace of divine might—and as a result, he was instantly targeted.
A beam of divine radiance flashed past, piercing through half of the Stone Man’s body. Divine blood sprayed everywhere, scattering across the void, devastating the mountains and rivers below beyond recognition.
The Stone Man cried out, taking action himself to sever part of his own body at the shoulder, preventing himself from undergoing Dao-dissolution passively, then plummeted rapidly downward, exerting all his strength to repair his stone body as quickly as possible.
He was among the strongest of the Great Sages, yet never before had he been reduced to such an embarrassing state. Being struck by repeated grave wounds filled him with towering rage, yet he had no choice but to endure it.
“Hiss!”
The Ox Demon King was struck as well. Aside from losing an avatar, one of his arms was also mangled, Great Sage blood spilling forth, his expression turning ugly to the extreme.
The Black-Robed Divine Demon from the Underworld roared with fury, searching for the culprit. He had nearly been nailed to death by a weapon fragment, narrowly escaping calamity by substituting a divine corpse he had refined for many years.
The Primary God from the Divine Organization’s expression also turned ugly—a fist-sized hole had appeared in his bronze tripod. He too had encountered a dangerous attack.
“It’s the Great Demon God—only he possesses such killing intent! He once destroyed an entire life-bearing ancient star, killing countless living beings!” someone cried out.
If that were truly the case, the Great Demon God was too terrifying—daring to strike secretly at Great Sages, truly audacious beyond measure. This could no longer be described merely as “snatching food from a tiger’s mouth.”
This was defying heaven itself!
Even if he was extremely powerful, a young supreme being of the Human Clan’s ancient road, unrivaled across the starry roads, he still shouldn’t have been able to challenge peak Great Sages. To make a move at this moment required tremendous audacity.
The various clans’ armies numbered in the dozens to hundreds of divisions, each division boundless in number. That aura of corpse-mountains and blood-seas had vanished, impossible to locate for the moment.
Moreover, at this time, the various clans descended into chaos. The Great Sages’ shouts alone were no longer effective; everyone began fleeing for their own lives, naturally stirring up a slaughter-calamity.
“Puh,” “Puh”…
This was a plain drenched in blood. Every tremor of the Imperial Weapon fragments brought a rain of blood, densely-packed powerhouses falling one after another, unable to withstand this Emperor’s might.
“Maybe it’s not the Great Demon God—maybe it’s the Human King making his move, triggering the Imperial Weapon fragments!” someone shouted.
The scene had already descended into chaos. For most people, who was responsible no longer mattered—everyone scrambled to flee, wanting to escape this blood-soaked demonic land; even being a step too slow might mean death.
Only those few Great Sages from before remained furious, hating whoever was hiding in the shadows harboring malicious intent, daring to strike at them like this—truly unable to swallow this humiliation.
Their spiritual senses were sharp, yet they hadn’t been able to pinpoint the culprit in the first instant, only knowing he was a younger generation figure—if there was no mistake, he must be one of the young supreme beings on the Human Clan’s ancient road.
“Where is the Great Demon God? This old ox will tear you apart alive!” the Ox Demon King roared, his enormous eyes bulging wide, like two great stars condensed there.
“Human King, let’s see whether you can truly claim kingship among men!” the Stone Man Sage Spirit’s voice rang out coldly as well, filled with icy cruelty.
Naturally, these two weren’t truly certain who the culprit was in that instant—but since someone had said it was the Great Demon God or the Human King, they simply decided to treat it as if it were both of them. After all, they were young supremes of the Human Clan anyway—better to eliminate one more now than let them become a future threat.
“Amitabha, good, good.” The old monk from the ancient Amitabha Star Region chanted the Buddha’s name, his yellow brows lowering slightly as he blocked the two powerhouses, saying, “Right and wrong cannot yet be determined—please, both of you, do not act rashly.”
The Ox Demon King shouted, “Bald donkey, easy for you to say! Some snot-nosed brat who hasn’t even grown full body hair dares to climb onto our necks, and you still want to shelter him?”
“Monk, mind your own business. This is absolutely the doing of you Human Clan’s young ones—far too audacious!” an evil god said, his expression also darkening, “Might as well kill them all clean.”
“On our Human Clan’s ancient road, you dare to act with such disrespect.” The Human Clan’s Dao Guardians stepped forward, blocking them.
“Ah…”
Screams rang out one after another. The five Imperial Weapon fragments continued flying about, causing tremendous slaughter, blood splattering everywhere, an unbearable sight.
Even the Great Sages couldn’t withstand it, not daring to linger, hiding within the crowd, retreating while observing—this scene was simply too terrifying.
The only thing that brought people some clarity was that, moments later, the five Imperial Weapons seemed to regain a trace of consciousness, some ancient thought from eternity ago returning, and the slaughter gradually ceased.
The true divine spirit within the Demon Emperor’s Ruler had been obliterated; what remained was merely residual thought. After so many years of nourishment and regrowth, it had long since mutated—no longer the original Imperial Weapon it once was.
“We respectfully welcome the Immortal Ruler home.”
The Black-Robed man from the Underworld let out a shrill cry, chanting a true scripture—it turned out to be a passage of ancient Demon-script, releasing a strange fluctuation that awakened old memories within the Imperial Weapon.
With a clang, a broken piece of the Immortal Ruler flew into that bronze coffin, striking it with a loud boom—though it wasn’t truly an attack.
That was a passage of Demon Clan divine script, left behind by the Demon Emperor himself. No one had expected the Underworld’s man to actually possess such a passage, awakening a favorable response from the Immortal Ruler.
However, a wave of blood swept in, covering the sky, killing intent surging to the heavens, instantly crashing into the coffin.
“Crack!”
Without a doubt, this was a disaster—the bronze coffin was pierced through by the restless Immortal Ruler, cracking all over, a great hole appearing.
“Who?” the Black-Robed man from the Underworld’s voice turned icy cold, glaring at the Primary God carrying the tripod.
This place descended into total chaos. The Demon Emperor’s Ruler fragments were no longer as violent as before, and the various Great Sages began employing every method they had, trying to calm them down and draw them close.
Without anyone noticing, one fragment of the Immortal Ruler had simply vanished—no one knew where it had gone. The various Great Sages’ expressions all turned unpleasant in the extreme.
In secret, Ye Fan’s brow furrowed as well—could it be the Great Demon God, or had the Human King succeeded? One thing was certain: whoever had first struck secretly at the Great Sages was indeed one of the young supreme beings of the younger generation.
Ye Fan silently recited a passage of scripture, originating from the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin—only a wisp of life essence seeped out, without any spiritual thought or sound accompanying it. Moreover, he circulated his Weapon Character Mantra, the supreme secret technique that governed all things in heaven and earth as weapons, summoning one fragment of the Immortal Ruler.
This wasn’t confinement, but a form of communication—the Weapon Character Secret communicating with a fragment of the Immortal Ruler, instantly weakening its restlessness to the extreme.
The scripture within the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin had little effect here; instead, it was the Azure Emperor’s Nine Slashes and the Heart Sutra that proved truly effective—these were part of the essential teachings Ye Fan had obtained while communicating with Pang Bo.
Under the dual effect of the Demon Emperor’s Heart Sutra and the Weapon Character Secret, divine radiance flashed, and that fragment of the Immortal Ruler vanished, appearing within his body.
The second fragment of the Demon Emperor’s Ruler disappeared out of thin air—no one noticed—sinking into Ye Fan’s Wheel-Sea, where a three-leafed Blue Lotus trembled once, instantly causing this Imperial Weapon fragment to settle completely.
Ye Fan’s heart skipped a beat, and he fell silent for a good while.
Almost in the blink of an eye, as Ye Fan came back to his senses, the third fragment of the Immortal Ruler had vanished, no trace remaining, no one knowing whose hands it had fallen into.
Everyone knew it was simply impossible to force the Immortal Ruler into submission through overwhelming power—otherwise one would surely end up reduced to ash by the Demon Emperor’s Ruler.
People believed that whoever had succeeded either possessed a secret technique left behind by the Demon Emperor himself, or had some tremendous connection to the Demon Clan, awakening the Ruler’s old memories and gaining its recognition.
The various Great Sages all wore cold, indifferent expressions, giving away no hint of joy or sorrow. No one knew which of them had gained something; all remained silent, calling out to the two remaining Imperial Weapons.
Ye Fan focused his mind, silently reciting the ancient Azure Emperor scripture, combining it with the Weapon Character Secret to draw upon another fragment of the Immortal Ruler—this time encountering tremendous resistance, because another mysterious figure was also communicating with the Demon Emperor’s Ruler.
“Whoosh!”
A flash of green rosy-light, immortal radiance tearing through the void—the fourth fragment of the Immortal Ruler vanished. The final result was that it sank into Ye Fan’s Wheel-Sea, successfully obtained by him.
Of the total five Imperial Weapon fragments, two of the Immortal Ruler pieces had now fallen into his hands. This left even Ye Fan deeply astonished—with no fewer than eleven or twelve Great Sages present, he had actually managed to collect two segments of the Demon Emperor’s Ruler, truly beyond expectation.
Shua!
Within his Wheel-Sea, that Blue Lotus swayed gently, and both fragments of the Immortal Ruler settled down, faint clear radiance flowing quietly, appearing very peaceful.