The Demon Emperor’s life left everyone deeply moved. Nearly a million years had passed before people finally came to know the tender, softer side hidden within the heart of this man who had transcended even the gods—he too had known heartache, he too had known regret.
Pang Bo said, “Ye Zi, once the golden blood within your body fades and turns into crimson blood, you’ll be able to live for at least ten thousand years. If you can advance even further, you might live even longer—by then, everything in this world will have withered away.”
Under normal circumstances, by the time Ye Fan grew old, none of the friends he’d once known would still remain in this world—all would have long since passed into stillness, becoming nothing more than dried bones.
Even the powerful had their limits; none could remain in this world forever. A Sage Body could live for ten thousand years, but by the time one reached old age, it would be difficult to find even a single contemporary left in the entire world.
Just imagining such a scene sent a chill through the heart—too lonely, utterly alone, with not a single old friend left to keep one company, even one’s enemies long since dead of old age.
“So don’t leave behind any regrets, lest you end up like the Demon Emperor—standing alone atop the peak in the end, unrivaled beneath the heavens, yet enduring an eternity of loneliness and desolation.” Pang Bo said.
Ye Fan felt a pang of melancholy—there had once been a woman gazing after him too, struggling to keep pace with his footsteps, though he hadn’t known it at the time. In the end, all that remained was heartbreak, a solitary grave, fallen petals scattered across the earth. That woman’s name was Qin Yao.
Many years had passed now. Someday, if he returned to the Big Dipper, he ought to visit that lonely grave in the Azure Flood Dragon King’s small world—decades had passed, and the grass there had likely grown tall by now.
“The dead are gone. Cherish what remains.” Strand after strand of golden radiance flowed from Ye Fan’s body, his entire form dazzling and brilliant, his vital energy vigorous, causing heaven and earth to rumble with thunder.
Boom!
Suddenly, that pool of crimson blood burst with blinding light, and all the Great Sages trembled, falling to their knees, unable to withstand this Emperor’s aura!
Within the light of the blood, a figure clad in white seemed to surface, coldly sweeping its gaze over everyone present—this was the Demon Emperor’s undying resolve, and it was precisely because of its presence that this place held such overwhelming phenomena.
Within the blood lingered a single unbroken thread of resolve, guarding the withered flower. Now, it seemed to stir back to life, wrapping around that bundle of withered blossoms, transforming into the most brilliant immortal light, surging toward the depths of the cosmos.
With a thunderous boom, heaven collapsed and earth caved in, the universe splitting apart as the Emperor’s blood, carrying its lingering resolve, enveloped the withered flower and sank into the darkness of the cosmos, vanishing forever, never to be seen again.
This place fell into a brief moment of stillness, and then true chaos erupted.
The mausoleum was disintegrating, and all the heroes scrambled to seize what remained. Dozens of ancient Medicine Kings tumbled down into the abyss below, each one worth an immeasurable fortune, enough to make even a Great Sage bow in pursuit.
Pang Bo pulled Ye Fan along, and the two of them plunged into the abyss as well, joining the scramble—these heaven-defying treasures could bring the dead back to life and add centuries to one’s lifespan.
“Boom!”
The Stone Man unleashed his full strength, clashing against the Bull Demon King, their combined force shattering this stretch of heaven and earth into pieces, sending the surrounding Sages flying, unable to press forward.
“What’s a stone statue like you jumping around for? Can you even eat Medicine Kings?” the Bull Demon King roared furiously, summoning his gleaming Vajra Ring, shattering heaven and earth as he clashed fiercely with the Stone Man.
Divine spirits could naturally absorb the undying essence of the Medicine Kings—the Bull Demon clan’s leader was purely mocking him, the two locked in fierce, irreconcilable combat.
At this point, the other Great Sages joined the fray as well, their armies springing into action, forming battle formations to seize the falling ancient Medicine Kings.
Ye Fan took a deep breath, transforming into a bolt of lightning, using the Movement Mystery Technique to break through every obstacle in his path—when it came to speed, few in this world could rival him now.
“Swoosh!”
The fragrance of medicine filled the air, brilliant light flashing as Ye Fan employed the Weapon Mystery Technique to seize two ancient medicinal herbs, then decisively retreated, breaking free of the chaos.
The opportunity would only come once—after all, there were eleven or twelve Great Sages present, along with yin gods lurking in the shadows watching intently. He couldn’t afford to be surrounded, or there would be serious trouble.
Just as Ye Fan retreated, he felt a cold gust of wind pass by where he’d stood—Qi Tian, the human race’s road guardian, flashed past, uncertain whether he was lunging toward Ye Fan or the medicinal herb ahead, their paths having overlapped.
“Watch out for that old fellow—we’ll deal with him later, once we’re closer to Great Sage realm!” Pang Bo said. He had also seized an ancient medicinal herb using the Demon Emperor’s Nine Slashes, and the two of them decisively withdrew from the great tomb.
They stood in the starry expanse, looking down over the scene below—the Great Sages fighting fiercely, the Demon Emperor’s tomb splitting apart, completely disintegrating into ruins.
At the same time, this ancient domain known as the Star Ruins saw over a dozen continents disintegrate one after another, crumbling into cosmic dust—these had all been false tombs, now collapsing alongside the true burial chamber.
Faintly, over a dozen dragon-shaped essences could be seen soaring skyward, sinking into the true ancient mausoleum, as if nine dragons were undergoing rebirth through fire, merging together into a single pearl, radiating boundless, magnificent light.
This was an overwhelmingly powerful vital force, beyond compare, as if an ancient Emperor had been reborn, before transforming into a streak of light and following in the wake of the Demon Emperor’s lingering resolve, sinking into the depths of the cosmos, vanishing in the very same direction.
“An ancient Emperor, indeed…” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
This star region was thrown into great upheaval, the armies led by the Great Sages locked in chaotic battle, fighting over the Medicine Kings—dozens of them, seemingly the stuff of fantasy, unimaginable, capable of saving the lives of many Great Sages on the verge of passing into stillness.
Unfortunately, when the dragon cave had burst open, many of the Medicine Kings had been destroyed, dissolving into pure essence and scattering into the void. In the end, only a dozen or so Medicine Kings survived, seized by the various Sages.
“Time to go.” Ye Fan said to Pang Bo. This place was not one to linger in—several yin gods still lurked in the shadows, ready to strike back at any moment.
Qing Huang Daoren’s lifespan was running short, as Ye Fan had long known, yet there was nothing to be done about it. Back at the human race’s Fiftieth City, Ye Fan had once offered him medicinal elixirs and the like. Yet he had been told that the old man had managed to live to over eight thousand years of age precisely because he had once absorbed a similar undying divine essence—and now, everything else had become useless.
“Awoo…” A long howl rang out, heaven splitting and earth cracking, followed by flashes of lightning and rolling thunder as Long Ma, in the midst of weathering its own tribulation, charged wildly forward.
This time, Long Ma had gained the most, absorbing the essence of the ancient Dragon Horse ancestor, strengthening itself considerably, obtaining an almost unimaginable Dao fruit. Weathering the tribulation itself was secondary now—far more important was how greatly its origin had been strengthened.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo remained in place, secretly protecting Long Ma from the shadows, sending word to it to charge toward the depths of the cosmos, far away from this chaotic battlefield.
Finally, everything came to an end. The two men and the horse traversed the celestial domain, leaving this place behind, entering the center of this star region—Ruin City.
Without pausing, Ye Fan gathered the twelve Sages under his command and immediately set off, leaving this place of conflict behind, embarking once more upon the ancient starry road.
Their group traveled together, an extraordinarily magnificent and powerful company—Ye Fan and Pang Bo, the young sovereigns of the human race’s Ancient Road; Long Ma, the Golden Lion, the Scorpion, the Nine-Tailed Crocodile Dragon, and the rest, none of them ordinary in the slightest.
From this point on, they no longer traveled the Ancient Road of Heroes, instead advancing onto the Primordial Golden Road—those extremely dangerous, now-abandoned stretches of the ancient roads, seeking to temper themselves further.
Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye six years had gone by. They vanished from the human race’s Ancient Road, occasionally spotted only by local guides who happened to catch sight of them.
This was an ancient life-bearing star, a secluded realm along the Golden Road. The entire planet’s spiritual energy was thin and sparse, and when Ye Fan’s group descended upon it, they all felt somewhat uncomfortable.
They had passed through many life-bearing ancient lands before, but a true life-bearing star was rare indeed. This one’s conditions were harsh—though the vegetation remained fairly lush, it was almost entirely unsuitable for cultivation.
This place was suppressed heavily by the Great Dao, far more severely than the Big Dipper, its spiritual energy pitifully thin, unable to support cultivators in comprehending Dao methods here—a fallen, forgotten ancient land.
Indeed, this proved true. As Ye Fan walked across this life-bearing ancient land, he encountered many native inhabitants, yet never once did he come across a single cultivator.
Instead, before some stone cliffs and ancient walls, he found carved inscriptions expounding cultivation methods—all ancient carvings dating back tens of thousands of years. Without these remnants, one might have doubted whether this ancient star had ever known cultivators at all.
“Search carefully—perhaps we can find some lost ancient techniques!” Long Ma perked up with excitement, gathering the Golden Lion, the Scorpion, and the others, determined to search the entire planet thoroughly.
They split up to search across this planet. Pang Bo shot straight into the clouds, disappearing into the azure heights, before crossing over to hover above the ocean.
Long Ma, the Golden Lion, the nine Crocodile Dragons, and the others charged into the great mountains and rivers, exploring ancient caves and dwellings, hoping to find remnants of ancient legacies.
The ancient star wasn’t large, a relatively small planet. Ye Fan quietly sensed the Great Dao’s presence here—this place didn’t feel like a star that had ever produced an Emperor, lacking that particular trace of Dao imprint.
Of course, no one could truly be certain—ancient Emperors were far too mysterious, each one unfathomably deep, and who could truly say where their true homelands had been?
Ye Fan walked across the fields outside the villages, observing the lives of the native inhabitants—simple and unadorned, working at dawn and resting at dusk, peaceful and tranquil.
He stopped in one place, taking in the peaceful scene—a cowherd boy playing his flute in the grasslands, a few women washing clothes by the riverbank, a few old farmers swinging their hoes in the fields.
At the edge of the village, an old man was chopping firewood, using no particular force, his axe not especially sharp—yet he split thick tree trunks into neat, even logs one after another.
At first Ye Fan paid it no mind, but soon he sensed a certain rhythm to it. The old man swung his axe at a steady, unhurried pace, never once wavering from beginning to end—there was a distinct cadence to it.
Ye Fan’s attention was caught, and the longer he watched, the more his heart raced with astonishment—this clearly carried a trace of Dao essence, as if the axe itself were carving out the very path of the Dao!
Behind the old man stood a small mountain of firewood, all of it split by his own hand. Given his advanced age, his vitality weakened and thin, how could this possibly be?
Ye Fan watched closely—the old man’s vital energy truly was weak, yet as he swung the axe, his pace remained steady, unhurried, carrying a terrifying rhythm. The longer Ye Fan watched, the more his own heart seemed to beat in resonance, pulsing along with the rhythm.
He was struck with astonishment—this was a star fundamentally incapable of supporting cultivation, its ancient legacies and methods long since lost to time. Yet how could this old man possess such a thing?
“Old sir, what ‘Dao’ is this you practice?” Ye Fan stepped forward, asking with genuine respect.
“What Dao? Young man, are you asking me for directions? There was no road here before—it became a path simply because enough people walked it. Just keep walking forward, that’s all there is to it.” The old man spoke unhurriedly, continuing to swing his axe, log after log falling in perfect order, the rhythm never wavering.
A strange light flickered in Ye Fan’s eyes as he watched him swing the axe in silence, choosing not to disturb him further. But just then, a commotion echoed from somewhere in the distance.
“Ye Zi, come quick!” It was Pang Bo’s voice, calling out.
“We caught a big one, it’s incredible, get over here fast!” Long Ma shouted excitedly, clearly thrilled beyond words.
Ye Fan’s heart tightened. He activated the Movement Mystery Technique, rushing swiftly toward the sound. Not far off, by the edge of a field, he found Pang Bo, Long Ma, and the Golden Lion gathered together.
“We captured a god on the verge of passing into stillness!” Long Ma shouted, clearly afraid no one would hear the news.
“What nonsense are you talking about?!” Ye Fan scolded.
“It’s true, this really is a rare deity, seldom seen even in ancient times!” Pang Bo said, equally excited, his eyes shining with a remarkable light.
The Golden Lion, the Scorpion, and the others carried forth a stone coffin together. Inside lay an old man whose entire body glowed with light, his hair pure white, radiating an aura of utmost divinity and sanctity. Even on the verge of passing into stillness, an undying divine halo shimmered brilliantly behind his head.
“Is this really… a god?!” Ye Fan looked at them, astonished and uncertain, unable to help but ask.
“Absolutely certain!” Long Ma, the Black Bear Sage, the Scorpion, and the others all confirmed with total conviction.
Ye Fan was left utterly speechless, taking a long moment before finally managing to say, “A god… how… how did you all catch him?”
“We dug him out from an ancient cave dwelling—we truly didn’t expect to capture a living god!” Long Ma’s face was flushed with excitement, prompting Ye Fan to activate the Word Mystery Technique, restoring the god’s origin energy to keep him from suddenly dying.