In the Divine Domain, Great Sages were hammering at the gates — about to unleash a sweeping battle on a grand scale, involving a great confrontation of ancient emperor-weapons!

While the Divine Demon Burial Ground belonged to the young supreme beings of the various ancient domains. Convinced they could not compete with the Great Sages and cultivators wielding ancient imperial weapons, they had all entered seclusion in this area — and now the storm had broken!

Ye Fan was in enlightenment. The heroes surrounded him for annihilation.

In that battle of former years, his performance had been too astonishing. Add to that the Bodhi tree now exposed — it was impossible not to drive people to madness.

Long Ma let out a long neigh. Its whole body shimmering with flowing light, it employed the supreme extremity of the Incantation Word-Secret and traversed the void-waves — transforming into a beam of light, at the extreme limits of speed — entangled in battle with one supreme being.

It was a special sacred creature, born from the essence of heaven and earth, naturally powerful. Having received the inheritance of an ancient ancestor and undergone dozens of years of crystallizing its Dao-power, it was now at its most formidable.

“Celestial Horse Tramples the Vermillion Bird!”

Long Ma roared. Dragon scales rose across its entire body. All four hooves came up and then came down — in the instant of impact, space exploded. This was the Heaven-Treading Step. The bird being trampled was no ordinary bird, but the Vermillion Bird.

The implications of this great art were astonishing — first, it demonstrated the extreme speed of the Long Ma lineage; second, it demonstrated their world-shaking offensive power — they would trample even the immortal realm’s Vermillion Bird down from the sky. How heaven-defying was that?

Long Ma’s enemy was very powerful — a violet divine deer, boundlessly strong and possessed of extraordinary speed. But at this moment the divine deer king was terrified. It could not evade those descending four hooves!

Moreover, there was a colossal fluctuation that caused its very soul to tremble — as though it faced the supreme divine beast of the celestial realm — and it had the urge to kneel and prostrate itself.

“Thud!”

Celestial Horse Tramples the Vermillion Bird. Long Ma’s four hooves came down. Sun and moon, mountains and rivers shook — as though a great world was being destroyed. In the instant of impact, blood splattered. The divine deer could not withstand it. The bones throughout its body shattered inch by inch, flesh and blood bursting outward.

“I rise supreme — who dares challenge me?!” Long Ma triumphed in one battle, struck a pose of a peerless master, reared up on its hind legs, and preened about.

After a brief moment of stillness, the area instantly erupted — battle cries shook the sky!

A crowd of beings all charged forward, none willing to submit. Ancient treasures and dharma weapons filled the sky, raining down toward Long Ma. If any struck home it would become a bloody paste of shattered bone.

Many powerful beings charged in succession. Pang Bo and Ji Haoyue were both compelled to intervene, helping it break free from the surrounding threat, blocking everyone’s advance — and still less could they allow anyone to approach the Bodhi tree and Ye Fan at the center.

But there were truly too many. Ye Fan’s enlightenment had created too great a disturbance, alarming everyone in the area, all roused and converging — nearly every young supreme being had come.

“Ji stands here — who dares battle me?!” Ji Haoyue bellowed. Behind him, an emerald sea surged boundlessly. The weapons that had just fallen into it were all dissolved by the seawater, reduced to scrap metal.

Above his head a bright full moon hung — pure and brilliant — sweeping forward, invincible, cleaving through the Saint-King dharma weapons of several among the crowd and shattering them in mid-air.

The Divine King stood alone before them, facing the host of heroes — an imposing stance of one man holding a pass against ten thousand!

“A mere divine physique that has yet to reach the pinnacle of Saint-King — daring to block the path like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating itself.” Just then, a cold, sneering voice rang out.

Many parted to make way, revealing the speaker — none other than the Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent. He stepped out from the crowd and stood to the side of the Great Lord of the Golden Serpent, his expression cold and indifferent, carrying a cruel and icy air.

As before, it presented itself in serpent form — making no attempt to assume a human shape. Over ten feet in length, roughly as thick as a large barrel, its entire body gleaming as though cast from gold, radiating a dangerous aura. Its eyes were gloomy and sinister — peering through the wall of people, fixing its gaze on Ye Fan behind them, filled with venomous hatred.

“And who might this be — ah, just a common serpent,” Long Ma said bluntly.

The Divine King Ji Haoyue possessed a great dignity and would not deign to trade words with anyone. But Long Ma had always been one who would not be made to suffer — not even verbally — and would retaliate at once.

“Your second brother and your third brother tasted rather good, by the way.”

This single line from Long Ma nearly caused the Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent to explode with rage. Its eyes split wide, suffused with bloodlust, hating to the extreme. Even the Great Lord of the Golden Serpent — who never wore his emotions on his face — darkened his expression, terrifyingly.

“What are you staring at? Do you know that after we finished the snake broth, here comes more fresh meat delivered?” Long Ma sneered. It must be said that its mouth was truly vile and vicious — enough to make anyone’s blood boil, impossible to swallow the insult.

“I will kill you!” The Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent bellowed.

“Who’s afraid of who? One hoof from me could stamp ten of you flat — time to stew another pot of snake broth!” Long Ma retorted tit for tat, both copper-bell eyes blazing with fierce light.

The Great Lord of the Golden Serpent wore a cold expression. A single glance at his younger sibling immediately stopped the latter in his tracks. Then he said icily: “Kill.”

At his level — just one step from becoming a Great Sage, his skill and understanding approaching the workings of creation itself — he seemed reluctant to lower himself and act personally, or perhaps he harbored wariness toward the as-yet-absent Green Copper Cauldron.

Behind them, powerful beings were numerous — many had their eyes on the Bodhi tree, all wishing to take it for themselves. Now that this commander-like figure had given the order, everyone responded at once.

Battle cries shook the sky. A blood-battle was about to begin. The heroes rose together, charging toward the Bodhi tree and Ye Fan.

“Who dares overstep half a step across that line?!” Ji Haoyue bellowed.

The situation was critical — deeply anxiety-inducing. Ye Fan’s enlightenment was at a critical moment. If interrupted, the consequences would be unthinkable: thirty years of painstaking effort might go up in smoke.

Ji Haoyue stood squarely in the center, surveying everyone. The Heavenly Evolution Divine Art activated, capturing every thread of battle-opportunity, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the situation — then he struck decisively.

With a thunderous boom, three thousand divine beings and demons manifested behind him — screaming, as though to crack the nine layers of heaven!

It was an expanse of shadow like demonic mountains — dim and indistinct, standing side by side — their oppressive might bearing down on people. Three thousand runes all flashed at once, as though tearing through time and space from the mythological age.

Thud. Thud. The sounds rang out in succession. Three successive human silhouettes were struck by those three thousand divine beings and demons. Their bodies shattered, blood pouring as they fell from the heights, then with a splash tumbled into the Divine King’s phenomenon — the Rising Moon over the Sea.

They shattered inch by inch. Three young supreme beings who had dominated their domains were utterly destroyed — their bodies and souls dissolved, transformed into streams of primal essence that were swallowed by the emerald sea. Dead without a trace.

The Divine King Ji Haoyue stood majestic and imposing, murderous intent blazing. Standing alone at the front, using his own strength to block everyone — this brought a chaotic moment to sudden stillness.

“What are you all waiting for?! Break through and pull out that precious tree — there is only one divine physique blocking the way, what does that amount to?!” someone shouted, naturally unwilling to let it go.

The Bodhi tree stood before them. This was an Immortality Medicine comparable to the Life Ancient Tree of the Divine Domain. So many Great Sages had fought to the death over such a thing. And yet here was a tree of equal standing — and it appeared to have no master, with no Great Sage to guard it and no formation diagram of the Life Venerable’s killing arrays. The current possessor was in enlightenment — unmoving between life and death, to be treated as negligible — while a great fortune awaited people to contest and seize. The present owners’ level made confronting them far easier than facing an extreme ancient imperial weapon — the difference could be measured in multiples of ten thousand. How could they miss it? Opportunities once lost never return!

Those with bold courage called out to some hesitant cultivators, advancing to rush forward and kill Ji Haoyue, Long Ma, and the others — to break through this barrier, pluck the Bodhi tree, and slay Ji Ziyue and everyone else.

“Do you truly think us easy prey? Every manner of monster and demon has come. Let Pang Bo teach you all that passing this barrier will certainly exact a price of blood!” He stood towering between heaven and earth, demonic energy rolling off him in waves. Behind him, swords rang throughout the sky — nine immortal swords appeared, cutting across the vault of heaven.

“Kill him!” The heroes advanced, wanting to push through in one rush.

“Phoenix Soaring Through Nine Heavens!” Pang Bo roared.

Nine immortal swords — each a different color, each flickering with a different radiance — burst forth with light so brilliant it dimmed the sun, moon, and stars, like nine brilliant tail-feathers slicing open heaven and earth.

“Thud!”

Blood flew and splattered. Within the resplendent radiance of the nine immortal swords, several silhouettes in succession were cut to pieces. Some had their heads fly upward; some had their upper bodies separated from their lower; some were cleaved vertically in two — accompanied by gushing torrents of blood.

Those nine immortal swords were linked to Pang Bo’s body like nine blazing brilliant tail-feathers — dazzling and magnificent. With a crash, his whole person was like a divine phoenix reborn from nirvana, soaring skyward!

This was a supreme art of slaughter — terrifyingly peerless. Killing several people on the spot, it instantly intimidated the remaining powerful beings, bringing them to a halt.

No one was unafraid of death — it was only a matter of degree. At this moment, knowing death was certain, who would still charge forward? No one wished to be the first.

Pang Bo breathed in great gasps. This secret art consumed enormously — it had nearly drained him hollow. This one strike was more exhausting and more terrifying than ten thousand and more rounds of combat.

What had been a fierce battle, he had condensed into a single blow — one strike to determine victory or defeat, win or lose. If he had not held them back just now, the situation would have reversed: he would have been the one cut to pieces in a single clash!

Pang Bo had risked everything. Blood was visibly trickling from his mouth and nose, yet he stood ramrod straight. One strike had annihilated several enemies. His chest heaved violently as he took out a piece of coffin-board and began gnawing on it with a crunch-crunch sound.

The scene was somewhat bizarre. Everyone was stunned and shaken.

BOOM!

Suddenly, the Great Lord of the Golden Serpent moved. Like a peerless demon sovereign emerging from the world — in the very instant of its first step, heaven crumbled and earth split. It moved to strike down Long Ma, Ji Haoyue, and the others. It was not far from a Great Sage — towering in its dominance at the peak of the ninth layer of Saint-King heaven — with an overwhelming and intimidating great aura!

The four wilds shook. Several other powerful vital-force auras were stirred under pressure, simultaneously shooting to the sky. They also stepped forward, clearly competing for the great fortune — no one willing to cede it to another, all wanting to take it entirely for themselves.

With a hum, the Great Lord of the Golden Serpent opened its mouth and let out a soft screech, spitting out a formation diagram — a complete and intact Soaring Serpent Diagram. This was aimed not only at Ji Haoyue and the others, but also to intimidate all the other heroes.

Everyone’s expression changed. The power of this formation diagram was plain for all to see — most likely it was a quasi-imperial weapon. Even if it had perhaps been sealed, it still filled everyone with dread.

Ji Haoyue advanced. The light from the crown of his head blazed greatly, penetrating straight through the cloud layers and piercing the vault of heaven. An ancient mirror flew out — engraved with the mottled marks of ages past, emanating the vicissitudes of ten thousand ages.

A breath of Great Emperor vital-force flashed and vanished!

“What?!” Everyone was shocked. Could this be an emperor weapon? The heroes retreated continuously.

Regrettably, this mirror possessed only one almost imperceptible thread of emperor-aura, which rapidly retracted and never appeared again. But that overwhelming and majestic pressure had already stunned everyone.

“This is not a forbidden weapon branded with the Emperor’s might. It is a replica of the Void Mirror, forged and refined by an imperial heir’s ancient ancestor in former days,” Ji Ziyue transmitted a voice, explaining to Pang Bo and Long Ma.

“Kill!”

Ji Haoyue drove the Void Mirror replica and engaged in great battle with the Great Lord of the Golden Serpent. At this point it was no longer principally a contest between two people, but a confrontation between the precious mirror and the Soaring Serpent Diagram.

“What are you all waiting for?! Look at what defenses they still have — kill!” others shouted.

A melee erupted. Blood-flowers splashed. The most brutal battle this place had ever seen broke out. Even Ji Ziyue and the Little One were stained with blood, fighting desperately.

BOOM!

Ji Ziyue’s robes billowed as she drew upon the primal essence of the Divine Demon Ridge, replenishing the divine power of those on her side, keeping them all at their absolute peak.

Someone charged to kill her — but they were met by a tide of essence-energy like mountains and seas. It was an essence-energy catastrophe, more severe than the sky collapsing. It pressed that person down, crushing them inch by inch, reducing them to bloody paste and bone-dust.

The Little One cried out “chirp chirp,” appearing soft and innocent — yet its brilliant divine feathers swept out golden radiance like ten thousand arrows loosed at once, sending several young supreme beings reeling with heavy injuries.

The crowd charged and fought madly, assaulting in a frenzy. These were no ordinary Saint-Kings — all were supreme existences with ambitions for the Emperor’s path. Powerful as Pang Bo and Long Ma were, they were both injured in an instant, blood running down them — for there were simply too many enemies.

“Heh heh…” The Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent laughed sinisterly, leading several people around the battling crowd and heading straight for close proximity to the Bodhi tree.

It wanted not only to seize this precious tree, but to personally strangle this genius — to make Ye Fan die in anguish, falling here.

“Whatever heaven-gifted supreme being you are — only the living are truly supreme. Sacred Physique of the human race — whatever immense abilities, whatever peerless physique you possess — what does it matter? Having heaven-reaching abilities is useless. You have no more chances. This is your fate. I will send you on your way!” The Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent laughed coldly and sinisterly, its voice skin-crawling. Filled with venom and hatred, it strode forward in great steps, about to make a vicious move — snuffing out Ye Fan’s life.

A hundred feet away, it opened its mouth and spat out a Soaring Serpent thorn — pitch-black and soul-shaking, flashing with cold light. At first it was as thin as a fine hair, but in an instant it grew to over ten feet in length — like a black evil spear — shooting toward the space between Ye Fan’s brows.

This was an assassination strike. The Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent attacked by stealth — speaking nothing of honor — wanting by any means necessary to eliminate Ye Fan, giving him no chance to complete his attainment, leaving him to die with everlasting regret.

“Roar…”

Suddenly, a roar rang out — shaking every person on that entire battlefield until their blood and vital energy surged in turmoil, their bodies swaying and staggering back.

The golden vital-force aura that had earlier surged from the crown of Ye Fan’s head — the illusory body it had formed, like a divine being or demon — broke free from among tens of thousands of runes and dove downward. Its divine power covered all the ages.

This was not his true body. The illusory form had no original spirit — it had been continuously refining an invincible fist-meaning all along. But at this moment it had given birth to the most powerful martial-Dao will. Manifesting the Heavenly Emperor’s Fist, looking down upon ten thousand domains — golden light surging boundlessly — it treated the Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent as simply another divine-demon rune and struck down upon it, using it as a whetstone to temper the fist-meaning.

The enormous roar shook the people below until several of them coughed up great mouthfuls of blood. Two of them had their immortal platforms directly shatter, after which their bodies exploded — bellowed to death on the spot.

Everyone was aghast. The whole crowd froze!

What a powerful martial-Dao will — what kind of Dao and technique was Ye Fan manifesting? To have reached such a level — it shook every person’s heart to the core.

“You…” The Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent went pale with shock. The assassination it had been so certain would succeed had met with an unexpected complication.

Originally, just one person approaching would have been enough to disrupt Ye Fan’s enlightenment — sending him into inescapable calamity. No one could have imagined that at this critical moment such an invincible martial-Dao will would appear!

The Soaring Serpent thorn shattered outright. Brilliant light scattered across the sky. What remained was only a single golden fist, smashing down with full force. No matter how the Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent evaded, it was of no use — there was no blocking it either. Dharma weapons shattered one after another — dozens of them — and ancient treasures all turned to ash.

“Elder brother, save me!” The Fourth Lord of the Golden Serpent screamed. Its entire body shook with trembling. For the first time it felt such terror — it regretted ever antagonizing such a dreadful person, nearly collapsing right there.

Alas — it was all too late. This was an invincible martial-Dao will. Directly, with one punch, it was blasted apart — exploding with a thunderous boom, shattered bone and flesh flying in all directions. Body and spirit annihilated together.

“How can this be?!” Many lost their voices in shock, chilled to the bone. This was merely a fist-intent. Ye Fan’s true body had not even moved — still seated cross-legged beneath the Bodhi tree — and yet it had so effortlessly killed a Soaring Serpent, leaving everyone’s hair standing on end.

“We absolutely cannot let him complete his enlightenment — destroy him now!” Many roared, all striking out at once.