Beneath the sixteen-foot Bodhi tree, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water rotated, merging with Ye Fan’s body’s four extremities, chaotic mist billowing thick, opening up the heavens and splitting the earth as he pried open this ancient realm.
This was a terrifying process — this scene, so supreme and vast in its Dao, inspired awe. In a trance, one seemed to hear the sounds of all beings offering sacrifice and worship, or perhaps it was the gods themselves weeping.
Dao-waves shook the world, surging like a vast ocean, spreading in all directions. At a glance, the nine heavens and ten earths lay entirely within view — above the heavens, below the earth, only a single person reigned supreme.
Beneath the sixteen-foot Bodhi tree, a golden body vanished and reformed again and again, radiating undying splendor, all manner of visions rising behind it, ancient scriptures chanting from within his body, supreme, sacred, and divine.
Ye Fan was manifesting his own Dao, possessing a qi-swallowing-mountains-and-rivers air, an overlooking presence gazing down upon the boundless universe, making people unable to resist bowing their heads in worship.
“Taiji refers to the time before heaven and earth were divided, when the primordial qi was fused as one — this is the Grand Origin, the Grand Unity…”
The scripture was vast and grand, like a silver waterfall cascading down from the nine heavens, ancient characters blossoming one after another with divine radiance within Ye Fan’s body, imprinted there, his Wheel Sea scripture reaching completion, transcending beyond it.
Taiji as the source, expanding outward to his body’s four limbs, giving birth to the Four Extremities — thus it was said, Taiji gives birth to the Two Forms, the Two Forms give birth to the Four Images, seizing the creative power of heaven itself.
“The Dao endures forever, through endless ages, the universe progressing from the Formless to the Taiji, all the way to the transformation of the ten thousand things…”
Ye Fan’s sacred form was solemn and dignified, like a god or demon standing alone, his golden body undying, comprehending Dao and method beneath the sixteen-foot Bodhi tree, his thick black hair, his eyes like lightning, expanding his own Dao.
Golden talismans flickered across the surface of his body, one after another leaping into being, extending from the Wheel Sea outward to the Four Extremities — this was the process of the creation of all things.
“The Dao of heaven and earth creates the ten thousand things through the two qi of yin and yang…”
Before heaven and earth were divided, the primordial qi was fused as one — this was the Grand Beginning, a state of chaos.
Ye Fan was undergoing transformation, his undying golden body brilliant, golden blood-qi opening the heavens and splitting the earth, chaos surging all around him as he pried open a world with his own two hands and two feet.
This accorded with the Dao and with reason.
Golden talisman after golden talisman appeared, carved upon the surface of his body, radiant and brilliant, releasing undying immortal splendor, as though a heavenly god had descended, demanding the worship of all living beings.
During this process, wind and thunder roared, lightning flashed and thunder crashed, tearing through the sky, each bolt of lightning like a silver river across the heavens, terrifying to the utmost degree.
This left the Twelve Saints gasping in shock — Ye Fan was expounding the Dao, and this scene was so alarming, it seemed nothing like a Sage-King at all, but rather like a supreme being of high antiquity lecturing on scripture.
For within his body all manner of scriptures were emerging, resounding without cease, the great heaven and earth resonating and trembling along with them.
Refining a hundred scriptures within his furnace, nurturing the Dao and giving birth to meaning, all manner of scripture-talismans chanting in unison, tempering his own peerless Dao — the scene was astonishing.
Ye Fan pushed directly from the Wheel Sea to the Four Extremities, bypassing the Dao Palace entirely, yet this did not contradict his own Dao — it was an entirely natural process.
Among the sages of antiquity who specialized in a single sacred ground to become Great Sages, the Wheel Sea was not necessarily the first choice — some chanted the Dao Palace scripture, some sat cross-legged upon the Immortal Platform, and others practiced austerities across the world, cultivating the body’s Four Extremities.
Each person’s Dao differed, and so did their choices.
It was only in later generations that the path progressed from the Wheel Sea to the Dao Palace, and then to the Four Extremities, before entering the body’s Great Dragon, transforming through nine changes of the dragon to finally ascend to the Immortal Platform.
There was no telling which was stronger, the ancient methods or the paths of the present — the only difference lay in choice; what mattered was the strength of one’s original heart and self.
Ye Fan’s entire body glowed, using the Wheel Sea as his foundation, creating the Four Extremities, giving birth to an invincible Dao, placing particular emphasis on this sacred ground.
Beneath the Bodhi tree, before and behind Ye Fan, three thousand figures appeared, all of them himself — some like gods of the nine heavens, some like demon lords from primordial ages past, some like banished immortals of the immortal realm…
The sound of scripture-chanting was grand beyond measure!
The three thousand phantoms, some sitting cross-legged, some standing above the nine heavens, one after another, all chanting scripture, as if each were a sovereign of heaven and earth, or an ancient supreme being who had opened the heavens and split the earth.
This scene left onlookers trembling — three thousand versions of himself, each with a different sacred manifestation, their might overawing the nine heavens, striking terror into the ten earths — all the myriad realms of heaven feared them greatly.
“Dang…”
Beneath the sixteen-foot Bodhi tree, three thousand gods and demons chanted scripture, their sound transcending all else, finally converging into a single great torrent of the Dao, sweeping across past and present — a truly rare sight!
Whatever the grand bell’s toll, whatever the Buddhist chants, whatever the ancient gods’ recitations, whatever the banished immortals’ prayers, whatever the sacrifices of all living beings — all were suppressed and overwhelmed.
Ye Fan’s gaze was deep and profound, like an abyssal sea.
“The Dao endures forever, through endless ages, the universe progressing from the Formless to the Taiji, all the way to the transformation of the ten thousand things…”
Taiji gives birth to the Two Forms, the Two Forms give birth to the Four Images. The two qi of yin and yang nourished the Four Extremities, turning golden ancient talisman after golden ancient talisman, carved into Ye Fan’s bones and golden flesh and blood, mysterious and unfathomable.
The Four Images grew, holding up the heavens and splitting the earth — the body’s Four Extremities like four pillars supporting heaven, separating heaven from earth, nurturing ten thousand spirits and creating the myriad things between them.
At this moment, not only within the Life Spring, but even out in the vast black Sea of Bitterness beyond, countless cultivators heard this grand chanting of scripture.
However, people could only hear a very mysterious sound of the Dao, unable to grasp its meaning — in a daze, everyone stood stunned, as though heaven and earth themselves were trembling, pulsing in unison with it.
“This… someone is comprehending the Dao, creating scripture, comparable to an ancient sage of old — who could this be?”
“No, wait — the scripture is coming from Lingbao Tianzun’s Life Spring, guarded by the four slaying swords, no one can enter there. Could this be Lingbao Tianzun himself lecturing on scripture, transmitting the Dao to later generations across the ages?”
Many were left uncertain, listening attentively.
Within the Life Spring, the four dark-red slaying swords remained utterly tranquil, growing calmer still because of this scripture, their killing intent receding inward, making this place feel all the more sacred.
So-called yin and yang have many interpretations — heaven and earth, sun and moon, thunder and lightning, wind and rain, the four seasons, forenoon and afternoon, as well as male and female, hard and soft, motion and stillness, manifest and hidden — all things in existence can be divided into yin and yang.
And in this process, all manner of visions arose within the Wheel Sea, different forms of “yin and yang” extending toward the Four Extremities, and thus giving rise to numerous “Four Images.”
This was a “transformation of the Dao,” a process of sublimation, self-tempering, and perfection, making the body’s Four Extremities reach their utmost strength and vastness!
Greater Yang, Greater Yin, Lesser Yin, Lesser Yang — as these Four Images rotated in turn, Ye Fan’s palm held up the blue heavens, his feet trod upon the netherworld, like an ancient god who opened the heavens.
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter alternated — spring’s power nourished all things in silence, summer’s power blazed like fire, autumn’s power was filled with killing severity, winter’s power brought all things to ruin.
When the Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and Vermilion Bird appeared, this was yet another form of the Four Images — Ye Fan’s hands formed mystic seals, dragon and tiger contending for supremacy, the Black Tortoise splitting the seas, the Vermilion Bird spanning three thousand realms. This was an attack power beyond all comparison!
There were also the Four Images of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water — that was the opening of the heavens and the splitting of the earth, all manner of terrifying scenes impossible to describe in full.
By the final moment, everything flowed through his four limbs — Ye Fan’s golden meridians, bones and flesh, chest and back, five viscera and six organs, even down to the seven damages and eight benefits — every part of his body was glowing with light. The Four Extremities were nearing completion, expounding the ten thousand phenomena!
The Great Dao roared. His bones, meridians, and blood underwent transformation and sublimation, until finally he seemed to dissolve entirely — a single drop of his blood became a giant star, a single bone fragment became an entire star region, his meridians became a river of stars.
He used the body’s Four Extremities to open the heavens and split the earth; outside, chaos surged, while within his body it was as if an entire universe existed, containing the stars of every heaven, the myriad things of every realm — a scene beyond all reckoning.
Man and heaven and earth participate in one another; man and the sun and moon correspond to each other. The rise and fall of a single body connects to heaven and earth, resonates with all things.
Ye Fan, through the Four Extremities sacred ground, split heaven and cleaved earth, opening an ancient realm, as if he meant to give birth to another universe entirely, corresponding to the great heaven and earth, enveloped in chaos, his entire body glowing with light.
A cauldron floated and sank within the chaos, sensing his Dao — this was the Cauldron of the Mother Qi of All Things, undergoing sublimation and refinement together with him.
In the distance, the Twelve Saints were all shaken — Ye Fan’s scripture was far too terrifying; was this truly a domineering, invincible Dao, an entire universe being manifested and born into existence?
“The Four Extremities hold up heaven and earth, possessing the power to open the heavens — is this truly his Dao? It’s simply too powerful!” Pang Bo murmured to himself.
Beneath the Bodhi tree, a golden body radiant and dazzling, Ye Fan free of joy or sorrow, forging his own Dao, his crystalline bones and golden flesh and blood manifesting the stars of every heaven, a terror beyond all bounds.
In a trance, one seemed to hear the roars of gods and demons, the worship of all living beings across the nine heavens and ten earths!
But then, in that very instant, a shocking turn of events occurred — Ye Fan’s eyes suddenly snapped open, two beams of light blazing forth, tearing open the universe and the heavens, terrifying beyond compare.
He stretched out his four limbs, shattering the stars of every heaven, smashing giant star after giant star to pieces, causing every realm to collapse entirely — the whole human-body universe crumbled into ruin.
This was a terrifying catastrophe, a true calamity for his human-body universe, as if the world itself had reached its end — brilliant clusters of stars exploded one after another, magnificent galaxies annihilated in great swaths, the great universe shattering apart.
And Ye Fan’s bones, blood, and meridians shattered as well, every drop of blood piercing through the void, splitting open the universe, as though the master of all creation were walking toward self-destruction.
“Ye Zi, what are you doing?!” Pang Bo cried out.
The Twelve Saints shuddered, their expressions all changing, crying out warnings, trying to shock Ye Fan’s primordial spirit awake — this looked like self-destruction; they feared he had lost himself to inner demons.
Ye Fan paid them no mind, continuing to shake the Four Extremities, breaking himself apart inch by inch, which also meant his human-body universe was collapsing completely — the myriad realms of heaven ceasing to exist.
“Wake up!” Pang Bo, Long Ma, and the Twelve Saints called out together, trying to bring him back to his senses.
“I’m fine.” Ye Fan uttered only these three words, his crystalline-white bones and golden flesh and blood pulsing, resounding with a great roar, beginning to reassemble, growing even more powerful.
“What’s happening to him?” They didn’t understand, all deeply worried.
There are many great Daos in this world; each person’s path differs — this was Ye Fan’s choice. The great universe endures eternally, but he had no wish to imitate it.
Among all living beings in this world, those who reach the utmost pinnacle mostly choose the human form — this fact alone spoke to something significant.
In this world, no one could say what would endure forever — if heaven and earth themselves eventually reached their end, and a new universe took their place, would this same order still apply?
In this world, Ye Fan did not believe in the next life, did not dwell on the past — he honored only his own present, undefeated existence in this lifetime. Thus he refused to imitate the great universe, choosing instead to refine only a single body — this was truly himself.
Thus, he shattered the giant stars, broke apart his human-body universe, allowing his bones, meridians, and blood to be reborn, shedding all that splendor, returning to simplicity and truth — for one person, one body was enough.
All the fragments of stars, the rosy clouds of order, the divine chains of natural law — all of it fused into his “single body,” smelted together in one furnace, forged into the mightiest version of himself.
This was his Scripture of the Four Extremities — beginning with the rotation of the Four Images, through the sublimation of opening heaven and splitting earth, and finally returning to simplicity and truth, achieving nothing more, and nothing less, than a single “human body.”
Above the Bodhi tree, ten thousand leaves rustled, the scripture chanting on for a thousand years, no one knowing for whom it was recited. All the heavens converged in the Dao, a hundred scriptures manifesting together, singing in harmony, illuminating the cycle of rebirth. Beneath the Bodhi tree, only Ye Fan himself remained, boundless divine light streaming endlessly, ten thousand paths of the Dao carving across the firmament, leaving behind nothing but a single true body.