“Xiao Nannan has been revived!”
Many people shouted together, overcome with excitement.
The little girl had slept in the central grand palace of the Celestial Court for many years — no breathing, no heartbeat, her body ice cold, terrifying everyone who saw her.
Every person had been extraordinarily worried. Had they not confirmed there was still a faint pulse of life deep within her body, people would have truly thought her dead. In those years, many had been frantic and frightened, trying every conceivable method — none of it worked.
Today, she had actually awakened — walked out of that most magnificent heavenly palace on her own, and arrived here. Naturally this left everyone dumbstruck, and then filled with extreme joy.
“Where is Xiao Nannan?” the little girl asked, clutching her cloth doll in one arm and rubbing her eyes with the other hand, bleary-eyed as she looked around.
Then she seemed to remember something. She bowed her head and whimpered softly: “Big brother is gone… wuu wuu…” The little girl had fully awakened now. Her face was covered in tears, growing more and more heartbroken. Then she burst into loud weeping.
“Don’t cry!” Everyone, both tender and adoring, called out almost in unison.
Within the Celestial Court, she was a true little princess — the small treasure cherished by everyone. No one could bear to see her shed tears.
“Big brother’s aura…” Xiao Nannan lifted her head in surprise, eyes wide open, snapping out of her daze. She felt something at once.
“He didn’t die. A calamity like him lives for ten thousand years — he’s back again.” The Black Sovereign laughed loudly.
Ye Fan strode over. He clearly remembered — it was Xiao Nannan’s tears that had fallen into his blood and shattered bones three hundred years ago, bringing him the hope of life.
And those tears had been unlike anything else — mixed with something blood-like, mixed with seven-colored immortal light. That had been something of the most original source, carrying a thriving life energy, giving him the possibility of coming back from the dead.
“Big brother!” Xiao Nannan threw down her cloth doll and came running quickly.
Ye Fan doted on her indulgently, scooping her up and placing her upon his shoulders.
Everyone was delighted, filled with joy. Ye Fan had returned, and Xiao Nannan had also been revived — truly the greatest piece of good news imaginable, bringing a smile of genuine happiness to every single face.
“And there’s me! This great personage has also come out of seclusion — it was I who found Xiao Nannan when she was lost back then.” The divine child made a fuss, reporting his own merits. He remained just as he always had been, sealed within a large brilliant and crystalline piece of immortal source, scurrying over with a skip in his step.
It was the little chubby boy from back then. Still not unsealed, still the same as ever — completely bare, fair and chubby.
The Black Sovereign sighed. “Back then, we truly owe it to this chubby boy. If not for him, Xiao Nannan would have been lost — she might never have been found.”
Three hundred years ago, Ye Fan had died in that great battle and been buried in the boundless cosmos. He, Ji Zi, Jiang Taixu, Gai Jiuyou, and others had never appeared again.
And Xiao Nannan — that other special individual who had directly split open the cosmos and rushed to the scene of that battle — had also gone missing, without anyone knowing where she had gone until the great battle of emperors had ended.
It was only one day, after someone had reshaped the Northern Dipper — merging its fractured ancient continents into one, forming a complete star, and using great power to bring the sun, moon, and stars to it, making it teem with life once more — that her aura had been detected there.
Back then, the Black Sovereign had originally given up hope. Unable to find Ye Fan’s remains, unable to learn Xiao Nannan’s fate, it had returned to the Northern Dipper, despondent, thinking to retire from the world.
Unexpectedly, the divine child it had brought along with it had detected the little girl’s aura in the wilderness of the Eastern Wastelands — and ultimately found Xiao Nannan, wandering lost among the ordinary people of the mortal world.
When the Black Sovereign found her, the little girl had said only one sorrowful sentence — big brother is gone — and then she had collapsed, losing all signs of life. Until today, she had not woken.
“Xiao Nannan! Xiao Nannan!” A young woman came running, waving her hand energetically, her face filled with surprise and excitement.
“Sister Xiaocao,” Xiao Nannan responded instinctively.
“Oh — Xiao Nannan, you still remember me! I thought you’d forgotten everything again.” It was the girl who had cared for Xiao Nannan during those years in the extreme north of the barren and frozen lands of the Purple Subtle Star Region.
Three hundred years ago, she had been sent into the Palace of Vast Cold by Yan Yixi and Li Tian. Over all these years she had long since made her name throughout the purple subtle region, becoming a peerless genius woman of her generation, her cultivation powerful beyond compare.
“Ha ha ha…” A great laugh rang out from the distance. Two figures flew in from the horizon and arrived at the Celestial Court — it was Yan Yixi and Li Tian. Now they had become the supreme powers of the Purple Subtle Star — no one could stand against them.
“I knew it — you would appear alive!” Yan Yixi came straight up and threw a punch at Ye Fan, his eyes holding both joy and hot tears.
Then, the two martial brothers scooped up Xiao Nannan and looked at her again and again, sighing softly, and said: “Longevity — nothing beyond this. Who in this world can compare?”
“Me!” The divine child, unwilling to be outdone, called out indignantly from within the immortal source.
“You little gourd-head — do you dare to come out and face the erosion of time?” Li Tian reached over and hauled him out, and through the immortal source dealt him a spanking on the rear, infuriating the little chubby boy into wailing loudly, seething with indignation.
“Speaking of it — this little gourd-head is truly very mysterious. What on earth is his background? Old Dongfang, can you tell?” Li Heishui asked.
The Human Demon Dongfang Taiyi looked and looked, then shook his head: “Never eaten it before. Don’t know.” He said this while leaning in, his nostrils flaring, reaching to grab the little chubby boy.
After all these years, the old Human Demon seemed to have recaptured his youth — his body covered in bulging bronze muscle, the hair on his head thick and dark and abundant once more, looking extremely fierce and powerful.
The little chubby boy’s hairs stood on end. He backed away again and again. Who was this? Did this person identify things based on whether they could be eaten? He watched the old Human Demon warily and shrieked: “Don’t come over here!”
Everyone laughed. They spread out under the open sky, gathering around campfires, and began a banquet full of laughter and joy.
“Duan De — Master Duan, where do you think you’re going?!”
In the distance, a furtive figure had just arrived — yet upon spotting the Holy Maiden of the Jade Lake, it immediately smeared oil on the bottom of its feet and bolted, preparing to make a clean escape.
Unfortunately, someone had seen it and called out.
“May heaven bestow boundless blessings upon us — this poor Daoist has calculated by pinching his fingers that auspicious rays of jade green radiance are surging in the east. This is a great omen of good fortune — a supreme burial mound of the age must be emerging in this world, and I wish to go and do battle with it!” Duan De said, entirely earnest and serious.
Everyone stood there blankly. What did a burial mound emerging have to do with good fortune? “Going to do battle with it” — spoken plainly, was that not just grave-robbing? And he had said it with such an air of dignity and solemnity.
“Duan De — did you steal someone’s dragon loach? Daring to harass my younger sisters in the Jade Lake — I won’t stand for that,” Li Tian said.
“Utter nonsense — every craft has its master, and I, Duan De, am a man of principle — would I, a poor Daoist, do such a thing? Believe me, or believe the Black Sovereign? My character is guaranteed!” The unscrupulous Daoist darted a glance toward the great black dog.
“Woof — what do you mean by that? Stop misleading the broad masses of the Celestial Court’s people. The eyes of the people are sharp!” The Black Sovereign, guilty conscience and furious at once, protested.
“You two are exactly alike — six of one, half a dozen of the other!” That was the unanimous verdict of everyone present.
Duan De ignored the Black Sovereign and crept sneakily close to Ye Fan, lowering his voice: “That battle from back then isn’t finished yet. Let’s set a time and go to the Undying Mountain, the Sea of Reincarnation, and the Immortal Mausoleum — launch a counter-killing assault on them. We must have our revenge. Let us carry out the most glorious battle!”
Ye Fan was astonished. When had this fat rascal become so bold? “Do you dare?” he asked.
“What would I not dare?!” Duan De waved a chubby hand with vehement passion: “This life is destined to see a glorious battle against the Forbidden Zones of Life. Who dares to come? Who will stand shoulder to shoulder with me and fight?!”
Everyone was startled. They all turned to look at him, infected by his words. To battle the Forbidden Zones of Life — to level those forbidden grounds that had endured since ancient times — what a grand undertaking! Just thinking about it was enough to make the blood boil.
“Senior Uncle Duan, that’s the spirit! When the time comes, we will certainly follow!”
“Right — we’ll destroy every last one of them! We must go and level those places! We hope someone achieves the Dao, and we will fight at their side, charging into the great Forbidden Zones of Life!”
Many people cheered loudly in agreement.
Duan De was very satisfied. He offered a grand concluding speech: “Excellent — your understanding and support moves me greatly. There will certainly be a glorious battle in days to come. Let us together—” he paused dramatically—”dig up every one of their ancestral graves!”
Every single person fell silent. The words stopped dead.
Damn!
The crowd inwardly cursed. This was the glorious battle? Digging up graves could be called…
“Their graves I am absolutely going to dig up — no one had better stop me. This poor Daoist will march ever forward, strike up the mightiest battle hymn, and carry out the ultimate battle in the great graves of the forbidden zones — transcending myself!” Duan De had not yet finished speaking before eggplants, rotten cucumbers, and rotten eggs came flying in from all directions, pelting his fat face.
Yet in truth, despite how unreliable Duan De and the Black Sovereign might be — they were also genuinely extraordinary in their abilities, and had seen through many secrets that ordinary people could never obtain.
“The Void Mirror may have fallen into one of the Forbidden Zones of Life. The shattered Eternal Cosmic Furnace is the same — which means the remains of Ji Zi and the Divine King Jiang may have been buried in those places.”
This was the secret Duan De had revealed.
The Black Sovereign’s expression grew grave. It nodded: “That may well be true. Someone witnessed fragments of shattered imperial weapons falling into the Northern Dipper — yet searching every inch of the land yielded nothing. They could only have fallen into those forbidden zones.”
The blood within Ye Fan’s body thundered, surging and boiling. He clenched his fist tightly. Within his dim eyes, an astonishing brilliance emerged. “I will recover,” he said. “Sooner or later, I will fight my way into the Forbidden Zones of Life.”
“And there’s me!” The Holy Emperor’s Son said, his golden eyes shooting divine lightning.
Time flows swiftly — in the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.
From the One True Road, all manner of world-shaking news has been transmitted out. One genius overlord after another falls. One after another, new ones rise. It is a road stained with blood — an Imperial Road.
“The Central Emperor has shaken the world — blazing with the most brilliant radiance of this era. In a single night they slew the powerful warriors of twenty races, showing every sign of a latecomer surpassing those who came before!”
In the past, their name was known only in the Northern Dipper. Over all these years, within the depths of the starry cosmos, they had not been especially renowned — but having recently entered the One True Road, they fought until all races trembled.
The Central Emperor had erupted. Gai Jiuyou — who had lived in the same era as them — had blazed with the most brilliant radiance in this age, inscribing themselves into the ancient records through that manner of death in battle. At last, that had ignited the power sleeping in the Central Emperor’s very bones and blood.
On the One True Road, the first several imperial gates were flowing with blood — the fighting had reached white-hot intensity. Only those geniuses who survived could truly be called geniuses. Far too many prodigious heavenly talents had been cut down — enough to make people tremble.
This was a golden age of prosperity — and also a brutal era. Numerous outstanding heroes bore what could truly be called transcendent gift, yet in the end they were extinguished before those even stronger, dying in pools of blood on the battlefield.
“The Undying Heavenly Queen is still alive — someone has spotted that legendary phoenix nest said to have been dyed red by immortal blood!”
On this day, yet another astonishing piece of news arrived. A Great Sage traveling through the cosmos had spotted a massive ancient phoenix nest — constructed from phoenix divine wood, shaped like a great bird’s nest, yet radiating overwhelming pressure. Faintly, at uncertain intervals, a powerful pulse of life energy emanated from within.
According to legend, this was the divine nest constructed by the Undying Heavenly Emperor for his consort, soaked in the blood of an immortal — recorded only in history books, never seen by any living person.
Unexpectedly, it had appeared in this era. One Great Sage had ventured deep inside to investigate — only managing to let out one cry of terror before falling completely silent.
His two disciples were left pale with terror and fled in panic, carrying the news out with them.
“Fight to the end of endurance!”
The forces of the Celestial Court had been engaged in external warfare — over the course of ten years they had fought the people of the Divine Court in more than one hundred clashes of all sizes. As long as the one nearing the achievement of Dao was not involved, the Celestial Court feared nothing.
As for the master of the Divine Court — three hundred years before, they had been on the verge of achieving the Dao. Three hundred years and more later, that was still the case. They had still not taken that step.
Three hundred years ago, an ancient supreme being had bathed the cosmos in blood. Gai Jiuyou, Jiang Taixu, Ji Zi, Ye Fan, and a host of heroes from various races had all stepped forward — yet the master of the Divine Court had been nowhere to be found.
More than three hundred years had passed. Whether that great battle had shaken their resolve in the Dao, or whether there was some other cause — their cultivation had consistently made no further progress.
It was also due to pressure from the opinions of all races that the master of the Divine Court had not emerged — they had not personally moved against the Celestial Court. Especially since Ye Fan had returned alive, it had become even more inconvenient for them to act. To truly dare to fight — to kill Ye Fan — might earn them an eternal reputation of infamy.
It was precisely because of this that despite the Divine Court suppressing the Celestial Court both openly and in the shadows, it could never truly crush them, and could not halt the speed of their expansion.
Over the past ten years, Long Ma the proclaimed king, the Great Roc King, and others had each commanded the forces of their respective regions, fighting the Divine Court ceaselessly — their names shaking their star domains!