Ye Fan was greatly startled. He had come upon Ji Ziyue — and though she was smiling sweetly, her face was ashen, with thin threads of blood at the corners of her pale lips. She stood at the edge of a fish pond, trembling faintly.

“How did you come to be here?”

She was exactly as she had always been — though gravely wounded, she could still manage a smile. The corners of her mouth curved, dimples barely visible.

“Were you also hunted by the Peacock King?” Ye Fan walked quickly toward her.

“To think I really found you…” She was still smiling faintly, but a thin thread of blood suddenly seeped from the corner of her mouth. Her face grew even paler. Those large eyes, usually so full of lively spirit, were now somewhat vacant. She swayed once — and collapsed into the fish pond.

The severity of Ji Ziyue’s injuries gave Ye Fan a shock. Her pulse was extremely faint, her heartbeat nearly stopped. Her five organs and six viscera were all cracked. That she had survived at all was nothing short of extraordinary fortune.

Ye Fan channeled his divine power, drying her soaked garments until they were dry, then in a few steps had vanished from the small village and arrived at a cliff face. He drew out the jade clean bottle, tilted it to her lips, and poured in a small amount of divine spring water, which immediately transformed into a stream of life energy that surged into her body.

The divine spring water, drawn from nine sacred mountains, possessed inconceivable and miraculous efficacy — nearly capable of restoring life itself and rebuilding bones from nothing. Immediately, Ji Ziyue’s injuries were stabilized.

Now she lay with her eyes tightly shut, her body shivering faintly, murmuring something in a half-conscious state. Ye Fan listened carefully, but could not make it out.

“Don’t kill my brother…” she cried out in alarm in her unconscious state.

Half an hour later, Ji Ziyue’s long lashes fluttered. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but could not manage it.

“Your injuries are severe. They have been stabilized for now, but you should not move carelessly,” Ye Fan said, supporting her and settling her back against a soft vine, seated on the cliff face.

“It was truly terrifying…” Ji Ziyue seemed to still have the lingering fear.

“Are you speaking of the Peacock King?” Ye Fan naturally thought of that demon clan great figure.

“It was him,” Ji Ziyue nodded and said: “Little brat — why did you slip away without a sound? I chased you for three thousand li and got nowhere.”

“If I hadn’t left, your brother would have dissected me and studied me thoroughly.”

Ji Ziyue gave a light laugh and said: “It’s not as terrible as you make it sound. Rest assured — as long as I’m there, you would be perfectly safe visiting our Ji Family. No one would dare make things difficult for you.”

Hearing this, Ye Fan felt a stirring in his heart. He could sense that Ji Ziyue was held in particularly high regard within the Ji Family.

“The Peacock King is truly too powerful…” Ji Ziyue’s expression clouded with worry. She was deeply concerned, and said: “I don’t know whether my Haoyue brother will be able to escape this calamity.”

“The Peacock King moved against you as well? How did you escape? It seems nearly impossible to survive.”

The Peacock King’s power was beyond imagination. The several senior figures protecting the Ji Family siblings had been completely unable to resist. Before him, they were no different from scarecrows — unable to withstand a single blow.

“He is truly terrifying — his divine power floods heaven and earth…” Even now, Ji Ziyue still harbored fear in her heart. They had attempted to open a domain gate and traverse the void, but the Peacock King had extended a single finger and the void itself shattered, sending everyone flying.

Right there, several people’s forms and souls were annihilated. Ji Ziyue only survived because she carried secret treasures on her person. Without those, there would have been no chance of survival.

At the critical moment, reinforcements dispatched by the Ji Family had located them. Otherwise, not a single person would have survived.

And even so, no one could stop the Peacock King. He swept all before him, none capable of obstructing his advance. A single great roar had instantly pulverized a number of people on the spot, reducing them to a mist of blood — his divine might truly shook the world.

“This is… simply incomprehensible!” Ye Fan was shaken to the core. Such powerful figures were truly terrifying — their power impossible to gauge.

“An existence comparable to the great figures of ancient times — how mighty their divine power truly is, there is no way to truly describe it…”

Those reinforcements had only managed to buy a brief moment before being beaten to pieces. But that moment had given Ji Haoyue and Ji Ziyue the time to flee far away.

Hearing all of this, Ye Fan became even more certain that Ji Ziyue occupied a position of no small importance. Even in those dire circumstances, the Ji Family’s powerful figures had fought to the death to create a chance of escape for her, unwilling to abandon her.

“The Peacock King merged with heaven and earth, and roared until the mountains and rivers shook. His voice was like crashing waves upon a shore — an entire mountain peak was shattered by the sound alone!”

Ye Fan felt his heart lurch in his chest. Such might was beyond all imagining.

“My brother’s Sacred Physique possesses a wondrous and tremendous innate power — but it was completely suppressed. Before the Peacock King, he was less than an ordinary mortal.”

An existence comparable to the great figures of ancient times — his incomparable and supreme might defied all comprehension.

Just how strong was Ji Haoyue — Ye Fan had witnessed it firsthand. He had slain great demon beasts as one plucks grass or picks flowers, sweeping through and cutting down all in his path. Yet powerful as he was, before the Peacock King, he was utterly negligible.

“To merge with heaven and earth, to command all things — it was as though he could pluck stars from the sky…” Ji Ziyue, even now, was somewhat tense. Her delicate fists were tightly clenched.

“How did you escape?” Ye Fan asked.

“My brother and I split up and fled in different directions, and he went after my brother…” Ji Ziyue harbored a deep worry. An existence of that caliber was wholly impossible to resist. Even if Ji Haoyue possessed the Sacred Physique and had cultivated three Secret Realms, in a true confrontation, there would be no suspense whatsoever.

“No bad news has arrived yet. Your brother is unlikely to die so easily,” Ye Fan said. Then his expression shifted to one of puzzlement. “But how is it that you didn’t return to the Ji Family — and ended up here instead?”

“The Peacock King paid no attention to me, but others were pursuing me to kill me…” This entire journey, Ji Ziyue had been relentlessly hunted down, sustaining grave injuries.

In her haste, she had used the domain gate of a small sect to traverse the void and arrived in this territory. She did not know how to carve Dao patterns herself, and had no way to determine her destination.

“What a coincidence…” Ye Fan murmured.

“It wasn’t a coincidence,” Ji Ziyue shot him a sideways glance, saying: “I placed a mark on you. Once I appeared in this region, I gradually tracked it to here.”

“What? You tampered with me?”

“I meant no harm. What were you nervous about? That day, I saw how strangely you were behaving — I knew you were going to leave, and so I made preparations and left a mark. But you ran so quickly I couldn’t catch up, and when the distance grew too great, I couldn’t sense it.”

Ye Fan examined himself carefully, but found nothing unusual. “What exactly did you do?”

“Look for it yourself…” Ji Ziyue gave a light laugh. But very quickly her expression clouded again, and she said: “Haoyue Brother… I fear he truly cannot escape this calamity.”

Suddenly, Ye Fan’s expression froze. Not far away, in the sky above, a gateway appeared, and several cultivators came bursting through.

“Oh — those are the people hunting me!” Ji Ziyue exclaimed softly. “They opened a domain gate and traversed the void to follow me here.”

Crack!

A terrifying bolt of lightning struck downward. Those people were decisive — the moment they spotted their target, they immediately deployed their divine abilities and launched a killing strike downward.

Ye Fan supported Ji Ziyue and moved aside. The silver lightning immediately punched through the cliff face, sending shattered rocks flying in all directions.

Boom!

High in the sky, an ancient and unadorned pagoda rapidly enlarged, pressing downward to suppress them.

Ye Fan’s expression changed immediately. People who used pagodas, bells, or cauldrons as weapons were almost never ordinary cultivators — the vast majority of such people were extraordinarily powerful.

In the sky above, that pagoda was only five levels tall, yet it was as heavy as a mountain, pressing down until one could not breathe, radiating an aura that made the heart shudder.

Ye Fan pulled Ji Ziyue with him and quickly left the cliff face, rushing into the distance. These people were too powerful — to stand and fight would surely result in serious disadvantage.

The footwork technique the mad elder had passed on to Ye Fan was a supreme secret art of incomparable power and speed. In a short time, they were already ten li away.

He did not stop, but continued to flee until they were a hundred li away. Only then did he let out a long breath and say: “Those few people are not ordinary…”

“All extremely powerful. That’s why I was running from them,” Ji Ziyue replied, her small canine teeth gleaming as she ground them gently.

“They don’t look like demon clan people,” Ye Fan said with a puzzled expression.

Ji Ziyue bit her red lip and said: “Someone is using this opportunity to eliminate me and Haoyue Brother.”

“Could it be Ji Biyue again?”

“No. The trouble this stirs up is far worse than anything she would cause. Someone is certainly unwilling to see a Sacred Physique grow to full power in our clan. Even if Haoyue Brother manages to escape the Peacock King’s pursuit, he will still face grave danger. There will almost certainly be human clan cultivators moving in secret, intending to kill him in the chaos and pin it on the demon clan.”

Though Ji Ziyue was still young, she thought carefully and far ahead, having anticipated some of the things that might come to pass.

“They should be keeping their focus on Ji Haoyue. Why would they move against you as well? Unless you are also of the Sacred Physique?”

“How could I possibly be of the Sacred Physique…” Ji Ziyue said nothing more, briefly lost in thought. Then she cast a sidelong glance at Ye Fan with a teasing look: “Little rascal, you certainly have a great many secrets on you. What is that green bronze fragment of yours really about? How can your physical body withstand a Sacred Physique’s attacks? How did you come to learn the mad elder’s footwork? Why were you so eager to escape Tai Xuan?”

This clever little girl had sharp eyes and a sharp mind — she was clearly deflecting while turning the tables to probe into Ye Fan’s secrets.

Suddenly, a streak of golden light tore across the sky, splitting apart into dozens of powerful arcs of electricity that danced like golden serpents.

“It’s a lightning bird,” Ji Ziyue furrowed her brow, then suddenly called out: “Careful — that’s a Phoenix-Crest Lightning Bird! A tremendously powerful species of extraordinary bird. We need to avoid it — don’t stray into its territory.”

The lightning bird that had swept past in the distance was golden all over, as though cast from pure gold, its electrical arcs blazing with intensity. Atop its head there was a slight ridge that resembled a phoenix crest, making it look extraordinarily remarkable.

This was a powerful species of extraordinary bird, incomparable to ordinary lightning birds. Its offensive power was frightfully extreme — the overwhelming majority of cultivators who encountered one would give it a very wide berth.

“Fortunately it didn’t notice us,” Ji Ziyue quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ahead there is almost certainly a Phoenix-Crest Lightning Bird’s nest. Perhaps we can use it to obstruct the people hunting you.”

“Right — good thinking,” Ji Ziyue’s large eyes immediately curved into crescents.

The two traveled onward. Sure enough, deep within the mountain range they discovered a bird’s nest built in an ancient towering tree. Four brilliantly golden eggs, each as large as a human head, lay within it, wreathed in trails of golden electrical arcs.

“This species of extraordinary bird is extremely rare and capable of continuous evolution — truly precious and difficult to come by. I would dearly love to carry away one of those eggs, hatch it, and raise it as a pet,” Ji Ziyue said with some regret.

She did not dare attempt it. Instead, she and Ye Fan left plenty of deliberate traces throughout the mountain, then soared upward and away into the sky.

Not long after, those several powerful cultivators did indeed trace their way deep into the mountain range. Finding a great many “clues,” they began combing carefully through this area, convinced that Ji Ziyue was hiding somewhere nearby.

A long while passed. The group made their way before a towering ancient tree.

“A nest… bad!” One of them cried out in alarm. “This appears to be a Phoenix-Crest Lightning Bird’s nest. This species of extraordinary bird must never be provoked. If it suspects we intend to steal its eggs, it will pursue us without end.”

Within the massive nest lay four eggs, their shells seemingly cast from gold — resplendent and dazzling.

“Go quickly — this formidable extraordinary bird bears the deepest grudges. If we’re cornered here, the consequences will be unimaginable!”

But they had been moving through this area for so long that the Phoenix-Crest Lightning Bird, having gone out, was already returning. It let out a soul-shaking cry, leaving a long golden trail blazing across the sky, and dove downward.

Ye Fan and Ji Ziyue watched from a distant mountain. In the depths of that mountain range, lightning erupted skyward. They did not linger but moved quickly further away.

The following day, Ye Fan, among a stretch of beautiful peaks and hills, encountered a young man of about sixteen or seventeen. His frame was somewhat slight, giving him a somewhat delicate appearance. His features were refined and clear, his eyes bright and pure as a lake’s still surface, his dark hair soft and fine, each strand seemingly weightless.

This young man was like a clear spring in the depths of a mountain — evoking a fresh and natural feeling, as though he carried the essence of the wild about him.

In a mountain range seldom trodden by human feet, encountering such a young man was naturally something of a surprise. Ye Fan smiled and asked: “Little brother — could you tell me what territory this is?”

The young man stood quietly ahead, his soft dark hair drifting gently. His eyes were clear and crystalline as he answered: “The Dwelling Clouds Mountain Range, within the borders of the Jin Kingdom.”

“Little brother, your bearing is refined and natural, and you carry a lively, natural spirit — you must certainly be a cultivator?” Ye Fan asked with a smile.

“Yes,” the young man gave a small nod.

Behind him, Ji Ziyue’s face had turned snow-white, her voice trembling: “Little brat… come back here quickly!”

Ye Fan turned to look. Her face was covered in terror, her large eyes filled with dread. He immediately felt something was very wrong and drifted lightly backward.

“What’s wrong? Who is he?”

“He is… the Peacock King!” Ji Ziyue’s voice trembled. Gone in an instant was her usual liveliness and brightness. Only shock and fear remained.

“What?!” Ye Fan was greatly startled. This young man before him — was the Peacock King? This was truly abrupt and astonishing.

“Peacock King, you are a great figure standing at the absolute pinnacle, looking down upon all the world. Do not kill the innocent — let him go. He has nothing to do with any of this,” Ji Ziyue stepped forward and pleaded for Ye Fan to be released.

The demon clan’s great figure — the Peacock King — had swept through the Southern Region eight hundred years ago with none capable of standing against him. Even the Yao Guang Sacred Master of that era had been unable to overcome him. Very few people knew how many ages he had truly lived through.

According to the estimates of the outside world, after he had taken human form, the most conservative guess was that he was over two thousand years old. Compared against the other shore of the starry sky, that would be the era of the Qin and Han dynasties.

Yet the young man before them looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, his eyes clear as water, bearing no trace of the weight of ages — making it genuinely difficult to connect him to the Peacock King.

Ji Ziyue had spoken of his incomparable and supreme might — of merging with heaven and earth, of a roar that shook mountains and rivers, whose sound was like crashing waves upon a shore, that had shattered an entire mountain peak with its sound alone.

In Ye Fan’s imagination, the Peacock King must be tall and imposing, his presence wild and supremely overbearing. Yet he could never have anticipated this — someone so refined and clear, like a clear spring in the depths of a mountain, like a snow lotus on an icy peak, like a pure breeze from a land of tranquility.

Thinking back to how he had just been speaking to the Peacock King as an equal, even having thought of going over to clap him on the shoulder — Ye Fan immediately felt his scalp go numb. This was an existence whose divine power flooded heaven and earth, whose might was comparable to the great figures of ancient times.