“Ahhhh!” The Dragon Girl let out a shriek.

A quasi-emperor — rare and precious beyond measure in both the past and the golden age of flourishing — was extraordinarily difficult to cultivate. Yet now one had died. This was the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest’s catastrophic loss!

Having just become a quasi-emperor, the old dragon died immediately. The time was too brief — for that race, an enormous and irreplaceable loss.

She drove the Ten Thousand Dragon Bell forward to kill the enemy, wishing to destroy her adversaries. Yet that stalk of green lotus was strange — it did not attack proactively, only passively defended, dissolving all the emperor-path laws.

Everyone’s expressions shifted strangely. This was far too peculiar — how could there be a weapon of this kind?

Ye Fan, holding the Chaos Green Lotus, charged directly at the Dragon Girl. Since things had already come to this, he would carry it through to the end — he wished to snuff out the hope of the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest’s resurgence.

The Human Demon had also drawn close, ready to act at any moment!

With a powerful quasi-emperor targeting her, even holding an emperor-path artifact would not suffice. After all, it was impossible to always have the weapon fully revived — no one’s divine power was limitless enough to wield it at all times.

Boom!

The Dragon Girl was decisive. Seeing the situation lost, she shook the Ten Thousand Dragon Bell, shattering through the void, and fled.

A dragon cry resounded through the nine heavens. A purple great dragon tens of thousands of li long carried the Dragon Girl atop its head as it vanished into the void, shattering all ancient sky, and disappeared.

As powerful as Ye Fan and as fierce as the Human Demon, both gave chase — and ultimately returned empty-handed. They could not keep pace with the emperor-path artifact; it vanished into the chaotic currents of space and time.

On the battlefield, absolute silence fell. Everyone was shaken beyond measure!

That had been a quasi-emperor — struck down just like that.

Before this, everyone had believed the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest was on the rise. For the birth of a quasi-emperor was enough to fill every race in the cosmos with dread — and with their imperial weapon in hand, who would dare to clash with them?

Yet this was a tremendous irony. The old dragon had barely succeeded in his tribulation before being beaten to death directly. This was likely history’s shortest-lived quasi-emperor.

Everyone stood dazed and stunned. The old dragon of the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest had set two records in a single day: the highest age ever at which one became a quasi-emperor, and the shortest time ever spent at that cultivation level.

This left people somewhere between wanting to laugh and feeling a deep sense of bleakness on his behalf. The path was indeed difficult to walk. Cultivation was without feeling — and the road of life even more so.

From the distance, the Human Demon old man came dragging an enormous purple dragon body — longer than a mountain range — hauling it toward this position, making mountain peaks rumble one after another.

Eventually, Dongfang Tai Yi used a technique to shrink the old dragon down to several zhang in length, then slung it over his shoulder. Purple-gold radiance flickered brilliantly across his back.

The quasi-emperor aura pervaded. Ordinary people had no possibility of approaching. Even the Black Emperor — aside from Ye Fan who was unaffected — found it taxing. Li Heishui and the others fared even worse.

For the old dragon had died violently. Right at the moment of death, the order divine chains within his body had dissolved chaotically, and the Great Dao fragments within his blood surged wildly outward — capable of injuring nearby cultivators.

This was what made quasi-emperors so fearsome: even in death, they inspired wariness.

The Human Demon old man acted, instantly erasing the killing energy and shattering some of the Great Dao fragments within the blood. Only then did Hua Hua, Ji Chengdao, and the others find relief.

“Haha! Old ancestor — so good to see you again!” Dongfang Ye laughed heartily, bare above the waist as well, going forward to greet him. The two of them were simply too similar in dress and bearing.

“Great Demon Elder above — we ride your glory and have something delicious to look forward to!” Hua Hua said with a grinning face.

The Black Pearl sailed away, carrying a quasi-emperor-level dragon body — a sight that truly shook no small number of people watching from concealment. No one dared act. All wore complex expressions.

Without question, what had transpired today was a tremendous shock. The warfare on this battlefield had escalated. One needed quasi-emperor-level power to roam freely in all directions now.

Otherwise, one simply could not measure up!

The arrival of the Human Demon, the appearance of Ye Fan — they had shattered the peace of this place. Although quasi-emperor-level combat power had appeared here long before, and the balance had been disrupted long ago, nothing had been as shocking as today. This was the first time someone had been killed among those who had reached that level.

Starlight dimmed. The red mist veiled the expanse of sky.

But atop one mountain peak, things were lively and full of heat — the grand undertaking of roasting dragon was underway. This time Ye Fan presided. The dragon meat was golden and glistening, fat dripping into the Dao fire with sizzling sounds.

This was the Human Demon old man’s Dao fire. Yet his thoughts were not fixed on the golden dragon meat this day — for once, he was not particularly moved by it. For he was tempering his bone staff, causing it to evolve.

Today’s gains for Dongfang Tai Yi the old man had been enormous. The bone staff had smashed apart that quasi-emperor artifact divine bell and absorbed all of its essence.

And now the Human Demon was drawing out the entire skeleton of the dragon, which flowed with a luminous and precious radiance, stretching ten thousand zhang in length.

Of course, this was the result after he had refined and condensed it — otherwise it would have been far more enormous and magnificent.

He drove his Dao fire to perform the ritual consecration. Ye Fan used it to roast the meat. And the man himself forged his weapon — slowly integrating the entire massive dragon skeleton into that bone staff less than a meter in length.

The instant the fusion was complete, wild winds howled, sand and stones flew, and the area was struck by crashing waves — the place nearly exploded.

Fortunately Ye Fan had planted the Chaos Green Lotus nearby in advance, which swayed and released white mist that steadied heaven and earth. Otherwise, the Black Emperor, Dongfang Ye, Li Heishui, Li Tian, and the others would not have known where they would have been swept off to.

The Human Demon’s weapon had risen a level — terrifying beyond measure — yet its exterior appeared even more crystalline and translucent now. Various birds and beasts were patterned upon it — the critical factor that had allowed this quasi-emperor artifact to grow to this point.

“Hahaha! Satisfying! A quasi-emperor just like that defeated and killed — truly a new era is opening, a brand new age has arrived!” Dongfang Ye laughed loudly.

“Or one could say the most cruel and bloody age has arrived. In the future, those of slightly weaker cultivation will have no good days to look forward to.” The Black Emperor hugged a wine jar and took a great gulp.

These were all facts. This battlefield had long since had quasi-emperor-level power present, and the imperial children were all approaching this level — some had even already entered it. The future great battles would be terrifying.

“What a pity — let that woman escape.” Li Tian was full of regret.

“The next time she appears, that woman will certainly be a quasi-emperor. When she comes bearing the Ten Thousand Dragon Bell, she will surely be an enormous catastrophe,” Pang Bo said.

Everyone nodded. Now, their relationship with the Ten Thousand Dragon’s Nest was absolutely one of irreconcilable enmity. The next time they met, it would necessarily be a fierce and bloody battle, blood spraying the heavens.

“If she appears, we’ll find a way to hunt her down,” the Human Demon old man said, tearing off a large chunk of golden glistening dragon meat and stuffing it in his mouth, eating heartily without a trace of concern.

People sighed. The old man truly cared about none of it.

Yet he also had the capital for that attitude. Even if they were the children of ancient emperors — true, their bloodline power was astonishing — yet among those who could reach the quasi-emperor level, who was easily dealt with? All were incomparable natural talents, sovereigns among the exceptional.

As one’s cultivation climbed higher, the inherited power of bloodline would grow progressively weaker as a factor — for those at this level were all equally outstanding, and using one’s status as an imperial child to overawe others simply did not work.

In a certain sense, those who were not born of great emperor bloodlines might have even longer roads ahead. They had fought and clawed their way upward step by step, forged through every manner of hardship before achieving their “indestructible form.”

Of course, at the very beginning of the journey, the aura of the imperial children would still be terrifying beyond measure!

“Ohhh heavens, I’m burning up — I’m dying of heat!” In the middle of the night, Hua Hua let out a wail, muttering ghost-Buddhist incantations, bouncing and scrambling about, howling ceaselessly across the Black Pearl.

Having eaten too much quasi-emperor meat, he blazed with light all over, feverishly hot. The killing energy within the meat, along with everything harmful to the body, had been refined away by the Human Demon — yet even so he was in this state. One could only imagine how domineering and potently nourishing the dragon meat truly was.

On another side, Dongfang Ye and Pang Bo were both groaning. Two great barrels sat there, blood boiling within, the two of them buried inside and tempering their bodies — an inhumanly brutal form of cultivation.

Ye Fan and the Human Demon stood guard nearby, watching carefully. They feared the two might encounter mishap — for what was inside was the blood of a quasi-emperor, drawn from the old dragon’s body.

How could ordinary people endure this?

Even these two could not — they had been reduced to paste and rebuilt multiple times. And this was even after the Human Demon and Ye Fan had refined away nine-tenths of the killing energy and Great Dao fragments contained within the blood.

Quasi-emperor blood was terrifyingly formidable. Even with only one-tenth of its lethal nature remaining, a Great Sage could not bear it at all — the Human Demon and Ye Fan had to be physically present to guard and protect.

Though the suffering was immense, the harvest was equally extraordinary. Their bodies shattered and reformed multiple times, accepting the dragon blood’s baptism. Their flesh and blood gradually became crystalline and resilient — swords and blades would struggle to wound them.

They were the first batch. Everyone else watched with wide expectant eyes — for those two had been used as test subjects. Seeing the effects, the whole group was fired with excitement. The path of cultivation had no end — one must find every possible means to strengthen oneself.

The Black Emperor, Li Tian, Yan Yixi, Ji Chengdao, Li Heishui, and the others all wanted to go through this as well.

Three days later, the group finally achieved a breakthrough — their physical bodies tempered to a terrifyingly formidable level. Ordinary Dao weapons would find it difficult to injure them.

Even Li Heishui, who had the poorest natural gifts among them, was taken by the Human Demon old man and consecrated as though he were a precious artifact — crying like a ghost and howling like a wolf for a full two days before he was released.

Boom!

Five days later, Ye Fan and the others were ambushed. A quasi-emperor’s might erupted — a powerful quasi-emperor moved to suppress and kill them. The Black Pearl blazed with light, blocking the assault.

If not for the Immortal Tear Green Gold and the Phoenix Blood Red Gold that had been blended into the vessel, this ship would have been blown apart!

One could only imagine the assailant’s ferocity. They had wished to detonate the warship and the blood hammer, burning both quasi-emperor artifacts alive, sacrificing the entire group in the process!

“Ye Fan — on this Heavenly Sovereign’s Battlefield, only one of us can survive. The death game begins!” An indifferent voice echoed through the sky. The person had already gone.

“Shen Ming… it’s Shen Ming from the Life Forbidden Zone — the Celestial Mausoleum!” Li Heishui was startled.

In the old days, when Ye Fan and Ji Ziyue held their wedding, Shen Ming had come to cause havoc — enormously powerful. At that time, Ye Fan, the Holy Prince, and Ji Zi had all stepped forward, nearly coming to blows with Shen Ming and An Pu.

After all these years, they had finally encountered each other again. Now that they had met once more, a battle would begin.

By now, people had come to confirm that the sovereigns within the Celestial Mausoleum had not all emerged — there was more than just one Eternal Heavenly Sovereign, for that one had no offspring.

Shen Ming came from the Celestial Mausoleum — the direct child of a figure walking the emperor’s path.

The Human Demon looked up toward the void and murmured: “I have never eaten the flesh and blood of an emperor’s person. I wonder if their children truly take after them.”

His single sentence dissolved what had been a tense atmosphere. Even Hua Hua and the Black Emperor were sucking in air through their teeth. This old man had a thoroughly distinctive personality — his thoughts were unlike others’, yet somehow very direct, cutting right to the essence — carrying a certain flavor of the Great Dao’s profound simplicity.

Shen Ming had already gone. This was a declaration of war — they would meet on the battlefield in the days ahead and begin deciding who would live and who would die.

“And there’s me!” A bolt of lightning flew over and struck toward the Black Pearl — only to be extinguished by a single point of Ye Fan’s finger.

This was a divine sense message sent by the Thunder God. When the day he became a quasi-emperor arrived, that would be the day the battle to the death began.

Boom!

On that same day, from deep within the distant great earth, someone else was undergoing tribulation. Word came: Huang Xudao had broken through the tribulation and become a quasi-emperor, shaking the ancient battlefield.

“A storm of war, the days of bloodshed have arrived!” Dongfang Ye’s eyes blazed with intense light. As this place grew ever more tense and the number of quasi-emperors increased, the long heavens would inevitably be broken.

“Young one — do you wish to know how the Beginningless Great Emperor faced such times?” the Black Emperor asked.

“How did he do it? How is my master supposed to face this?” Hua Hua asked.

“What else could he do — two words only: sweep through everything! The Beginningless Great Emperor cut a path straight across the battlefield, truly and in every sense of the word — the entire world his enemy!”

As the Black Emperor said this, it had already excited itself first.