The God was dead, and Qingyu Tian too had perished, like a moth in raging flame, struggling to fly forward, only to be reduced to dust, scattering with the wind.

The transition between the two generations of gods, old and new, left the Great Sages from beyond the domain utterly silenced, forced into dormancy for a full twenty years — and now, the two strongest had fallen at the same time.

“This cursed land, yet called the Divine Domain — it is a tragedy, and a misfortune too. Glory in the eyes of the world, a prison for mortal men, accompanying me my whole life, burying me for an entire lifetime…” The old god turned to ash amid the Dao-flames, his words desolate, yet his expression calm, as though he had seen through everything in this world. His silhouette blurred and vanished within the flames.

Qingyu Tian, filled with regret, could not help but let out a final howl at the moment he turned to dust, his figure turning to ash, leaving behind only a voice, saying: “Years wasted, youth aged away, life’s blood exhausted — all for nothing but chance. Laughable, pitiable, lamentable — in the Divine Domain’s burial ground, I listen to my own requiem…”

The two strongest had both perished, without a shred of suspense remaining. In the sky, the massive stone coffin lay across the void, releasing streaks of Dao-patterns, turning into light, into mist, into chaos, causing the bloodline of the Divine Domain to fall from time to time.

“AHHH…”

Heaven and earth were a vast expanse of chaos, filled everywhere with howling and struggling sounds. Countless divine statues shattered, and dense clusters of figures surged upward, trying to break free of this land of destruction.

The Divine Elders, Hall Masters, Sacred Maidens, and other great powers were nearly in despair, desperately severing the faith-power within their own bodies — this was their shackle, the root cause leading them toward death.

The Divine Domain, ordinarily sacred and peaceful, with rare flowers blooming, jade grass carpeting the ground, spirit birds dancing in flight, and auspicious beasts appearing — was now a scene of gloom and despair, countless figures surging into the sky, their roars shaking the nine heavens, all fleeing for their lives.

BOOM!

Atop an ancient divine mountain, the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate’s Formation Chart shook, releasing undying divine might, resisting that massive stone coffin, holding it within the void hole, preventing it from falling.

At the same time, the Divine Domain’s most sacred ancient mountain, its crack-covered body, released an ocean-like sacred power — though it too was turning into flames, blazing fiercely, it was also holding back the massive coffin.

“Everyone, act together! Activate the array chart, push that ancient coffin back — don’t let it press down, or we’re all in danger!” a Divine Elder roared.

Everyone attacked together — several Hall Masters, Divine Elders, and Sacred Maidens joined forces to resist, the supreme divine artifact now their only hope of survival.

“BOOM!”

The sky cracked and the earth split — the ancient coffin trembled violently, falling back a distance into the void hole. The Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate’s ancient array chart revived on its own, blocking its path.

The Nine-Layered Coffin of the Mythic Age, nourished by the old god’s heart’s blood, had now opened eight layers — the final layer had also cracked open, releasing wisps of terrifying aura.

At this moment, the myriad realms of the heavens seemed to fall silent — the screams of the Divine Domain’s people also vanished, everyone feeling as though they had fallen into an ice cellar, all kneeling and prostrating themselves.

BOOM!

At this very moment, the final layer of the stone coffin was also lifted at one corner — the Void Emperor’s ancient coffin was nearly completely open, revealing a pressure that people could hardly bear.

The Ancient Emperor was about to appear in the mortal world, like a divine sea rising and falling, shaking the nine heavens and ten earths. Not just within the Divine Domain — even those outside were all trembling with fear.

At this moment, people had only one action left — to kneel and prostrate themselves in worship!

Including the Great Sages from beyond the domain, most of them could not bear it and knelt down, kowtowing — this was a fear from deep within ancient bones, trembling from the depths of the soul, a reverence for the Ancient Emperor.

BOOM!

The myriad realms shook, and a great Dao-sound resonated, as though it were the funeral of an ancient Sage-Emperor of old — all living beings mourning and praying for him, weeping and grieving, the whole world in sorrow.

Since ancient times, almost no one had ever seen a complete Emperor’s corpse, and now it was about to appear in the mortal world — everyone naturally anticipated it, while also feeling an indescribable great terror.

The Ancient Emperor had lived in an era too distant to ever meet in person — this might be the only moment people could ever witness him.

BOOM!

The Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate’s array chart revived, wiping away a great portion of the blood on the stone coffin — that was the old god’s heart’s blood, preventing it from taking effect, keeping the ancient coffin from opening.

Seeing this scene, everyone felt a wave of disappointment — just as they were about to see the Ancient Emperor, they were blocked again, about to miss this one and only chance.

CRACK!

Yet, the sound of the stone coffin shifting rang out, as though the world itself were shattering — the final layer of the Nine-Layered Coffin of the Mythic Age’s lid opened, moving with unwavering resolve.

With a rumble, chaotic mist billowed forth, that place mysterious and unfathomable. The ancient coffin had opened more than halfway, but could move no further — the old god’s heart’s blood had only seeped in a little, not enough to fully open it.

“So close!” someone sighed softly.

“Silence. Once the Ancient Emperor’s coffin is opened, no one can predict what will happen — it’s best it not be opened at all!”

The Great Sages from beyond the domain, such as the Bull Demon King and the Stone Man Saint Spirit, who knew something of this, all wore grave expressions, many of them kneeling in the void.

“BOOM!”

Suddenly, within that ancient coffin, the chaotic mist boiled, and in an instant a blurred figure appeared, as if sitting up, or perhaps like a beam of light flashing across the hearts of all the assembled heroes.

Then, with a clang, the ninth layer of the coffin lid pressed back down, closing completely, not a single crack left.

“What did I just see — it looked like someone sitting up. Was it real or false? How could he still move?!”

“No, that was just a beam of light, flashing and gone — it wasn’t a corpse moving, though it did carry an unfathomably vast pressure!”

……

Everyone was horrified, hair standing on end. The tremor of the Ancient Emperor’s coffin was no less than the opening of heaven and earth — chaos and mist swirled, all directions shook violently, and the stars of the heavens trembled.

Unfortunately, it had closed, giving future generations no chance to observe further — what exactly lay within, whether there was truly a corpse or not, could not be said for certain.

“Did you… did you all see that?” Ye Fan felt his own voice trembling, looking toward Pang Bo, Long Ma, the Golden Lion, and the others, his face full of shock and disbelief.

Everyone else was doubtful — the sudden shock had happened too fast; they had only seen a blurred flash of light, and based on their guess, there probably was no one left in the coffin — the Emperor had likely turned into Dao long ago.

Yet, seeing Ye Fan’s expression now, they were all taken aback, as though their own eyes had missed something.

“I saw a person — could he be the Void Emperor? He looked exactly like someone I once knew!” Ye Fan said in a low voice.

“Who?” Pang Bo showed a puzzled expression, and Long Ma leaned in close, tense and full of anticipation.

“An ordinary figure, very plain — not handsome, nor could he be called heroic or imposing — just an unremarkable face belonging to the mortal world,” Ye Fan said.

An image immediately surfaced in Long Ma’s mind, but it did not dare confirm it, asking urgently: “Who?”

“Ji Zi!” Ye Fan himself could hardly believe it — that figure was identical to Ji Zi, the same face, the same plain and unremarkable look, gone in a flash.

Even father and son couldn’t resemble each other this closely, could they? This left a stirring in Ye Fan’s heart — it was truly too alike, or rather, there was no difference at all, even the temperament identical.

He had never heard Ji Zi mention that his appearance matched his father’s. Whenever they asked about the Void Emperor’s life, Ji Zi would always fall silent and shake his head, never saying much.

Yet just now, Ye Fan had seen the blurred figure formed from the chaotic mist within the ancient coffin, and it was identical to Ji Zi — this left him utterly shaken.

The old god’s heart’s blood dripped onto the Nine-Layered Coffin of the Mythic Age had been completely exhausted, swept away entirely by the array chart left by the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate. The sound of the ancient coffin clanging rang out, and the nine layers of the coffin closed one after another, concealing the truth.

BOOM!

The massive hole in the void blurred, and that ancient coffin drifted away, falling back toward the place where the Divine Demon Liquid was produced, not descending into the Divine Domain.

Within the Divine Domain, everyone let out a great sigh of relief, as though pardoned from death — even the strongest, the Divine Elders, Hall Masters, and others, were all utterly spent, having come so close to death.

The coffin of the Ancient Emperor was truly the Divine Domain’s bane, capable of erasing everything here. Fortunately, the supreme divine chart had revived on its own, blocking this great catastrophe.

Everyone knew that from this day forward, the Divine Domain would never be the same — great changes were coming. The faith-power had, for the first time, exposed such a fatal flaw. Those powerful figures of the Divine Domain who enjoyed mortal incense and held a divine throne would surely no longer dare refine faith-power into their bodies.

At this very moment, a Great Sage from beyond the domain took action — silently and without a trace, infiltrating the Divine Domain alone, waiting until he was close to the divine mountain where the Tree of Life grew before making his move.

He reached out a massive hand, intending to uproot the entire divine tree — the timing could not have been better chosen: the two generations of gods, old and new, had both just died, the Divine Domain was in chaos, the Divine Elders and Hall Masters had each just escaped danger, and the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate’s array chart had not yet been suspended over this place.

However, a world-shattering sound rang out — the firmament cracked open, and the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate’s array chart swept down a beam of killing light, its aura overwhelming, as if an entire ancient star-domain had been shattered!

A massive wave of energy surged forth, turning into a sheet of calamity-light, instantly annihilating that massive hand, reducing it to a mist of blood.

This Great Sage let out a howl — yet he was one who knew when to let go, turning and fleeing at once, unwilling to linger further. However, he had underestimated the Divine Domain’s preparations — array patterns surfaced across this mountain, light-trails filling the sky, turning this place into a killing field.

Most critically, the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate’s array chart swept down four terrifying beams of light, astonishing everyone — this closely resembled the four Killing Swords within the Ancient Heavenly Venerate’s Life Spring, capable of cutting through anything.

Was this borrowed power, or a summons? It was as if the four Killing Swords had truly appeared, striking down at once — this Great Sage did not even have time to let out a scream.

“PUFF!”

He turned into a mist of blood, his snow-white bones exploding outward, then shattering inch by inch — his entire body and primordial spirit turned to ash, ceasing to exist.

“MOOO…”

A bovine roar shook the star river — the Bull Demon King, both shocked and furious. He and that Great Sage had acted almost simultaneously, only half a step behind, and had been preempted, triggering the ultimate divine chart, putting him in an extremely passive position.

However, his true body had not gone over — he directly summoned his gleaming Diamond Ring, turning it into a divine halo, intending to encircle and capture the Tree of Life, imprisoning it in his grasp.

Seeing a Great Sage fall, he felt a chill from head to toe, quickly withdrawing his Diamond Ring — but it was too late for everything.

The Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerate’s divine chart flashed once more, releasing another beam of light, striking squarely upon the Diamond Ring — this top-tier Great Sage-artifact exploded on the spot, turning into silver fragments.

The Bull Demon King’s heart bled — this was the treasure forged by smelting together all the top divine materials from his clan’s treasury, and now it was destroyed just like that.

This was a truly bone-chilling display of might — all the Great Sages felt their hearts turn cold. Once the Ancient Emperor’s weapon revived, a single strike would be enough to kill them, body and soul.

“BOOM!”

Elsewhere, a young Supreme also made his move — the Golden Serpent Lord was chasing down a young commander of the Divine Army, intending to capture him alive, to learn the Divine Domain’s secrets, hoping to fully infiltrate it.

The descendants of the ancient divine demons — Sanggu, the Bronze Ant King, the Divine Clan Celestial Maiden, the Earth Corpse, the Great Demon God, and others — happened to encounter the Divine Domain’s Sacred Maiden, surrounding and pursuing her, wanting to bring her under their control.

“Kill!”

Battle cries shook the heavens. Some Great Sages also secretly made their move, not to launch an all-out assault, but to seize important figures, hoping to learn the Divine Domain’s various secrets through them.

This was a great calamity — the Great Sages and young Supremes who had descended from beyond the domain, after twenty years of dormancy, finally made their move.