On the ancient cauldron’s plain walls, a flash of golden light — the silhouette of a peerless Celestial Maiden materialized and was branded as a Dao pattern, becoming part of all creation.

Every heart quaked. The Cauldron of All Things’ Primordial Qi was too awe-inspiring. What manner of transformation was this, mysterious beyond fathoming — even imperial blood becoming part of the rune patterns.

Ash drifted down. Many people, stunned, could not recover their senses. A great ancient emperor’s daughter had fallen just like that. The ending was brutal — shocking and wrenching beyond words.

This star domain fell into utter silence. Many hearts crept with dread. This was no good omen. Ye Fan’s rise was unstoppable — far too dominant.

In the early Quasi-Emperor stage, imperial blood was absolutely impossible to surpass — it held an innate, incomparable advantage. And yet now, it was being mercilessly and effortlessly suppressed and slain.

After the silence, whispers rose in the dark universe. No one could keep their emotions level. All those who had come were powerful beings, yet every one of them was horrified, a cold sweat breaking out across their backs.

The Golden Celestial Maiden had perished, become another pile of bones on the Emperor’s path.

Shen Ming, the Celestial Maiden — two in a row. Would there be a third? Dimly, Ye Fan was becoming a slayer of supreme beings’ children, specializing in cutting down existences of that grade — a thought that made skin and bones shudder.

One was the child of a supreme sovereign, one was an imperial Celestial Maiden — yet they had come to this end. The Emperor’s path shows no mercy. It gave people cause for a long sigh.

The unassuming cauldron drifted in the sky above, letting fall strands of primordial qi like waterfalls, shrouding Ye Fan below. His expression could not be made out clearly — only a pair of radiant eyes, incomparably intimidating, with clearly visible beams of light.

At this moment, the Dragon Maiden felt a profound sense of helplessness rise within her. Three great warriors of imperial blood had come charging in, and in the blink of an eye, two were dead. It happened so suddenly — so fast.

Now only she remained. What could she do? Fight? Even holding a sacred imperial weapon was useless — Ye Fan held the Chaos Green Lotus in hand, which could defend against it.

It was truly a sky-defying Dao lotus. Three leaves upholding the heavens, dissolving all laws, nothing could break through. This sent not only her trembling, but every powerful being in the universe shaking.

To hold this Dao stalk was, in itself, to stand invincible from birth. Who could break through? This was not only her problem to face — it would be a nerve-wracking difficulty for every Quasi-Emperor to come in the future.

Who could fail to care? Who would dare fail to care?!

From this day onward, Ye Fan had become a formidable obstacle threatening many people — every champion must think: how to overcome it, how to face it.

Clearly, this would be a terrifying adversary that all must reckon with. It would become a “phenomenon” that must be specifically targeted and weighed in opposition.

This battle — Ye Fan’s rise — would be like a volcanic eruption, unstoppable. The star domains would tremble, and it would inevitably stir up a great wave.

A dragon cry rang out. The violet dragon soared into the sky, then dove back down. Extreme Dao divine might covered the world; the imperial Dao sacred weapon came alive, battle power rising to its ultimate zenith, killing downward in a sweeping assault.

The Dragon Maiden was truly unwilling. If she retreated just like this, what confidence would remain to her? All her pride would dissolve like a reflection in water; continuing to fight her way down the road would lose all meaning.

Whatever the case, she had to strike once more, attempt again to break through the Chaos Green Lotus. This was a sacred imperial weapon forged by her father — could it truly fall short of a lotus?

Clang!

The great dragon crossed the sky; its massive head struck down. An assault like this could absolutely shatter an entire sea of stars, reducing every celestial body to ash.

Bear in mind that this was a Quasi-Emperor driving it!

Ye Fan was fearless. The Cauldron of All Things’ Primordial Qi above his head, the green lotus in hand, he rose against the heavens to meet this great dragon — true dominant slaughter, mutual collision.

Slash!

Three beams of jade light shot from the lotus’s three leaves. The sky-opening immortal light of the universe’s first moments gave birth to all creation, dissolving laws invisibly, carrying an indescribable resonance.

The imperial Dao laws blanketed everything, rippling outward like water — yet they were swiftly blocked in return, quickly dissolved, leaving behind only wisps of chaotic mist and haze, strangely beautiful.

“Dragon Cry Shakes the Nine Heavens!”

The imperial daughter cried out. The violet true dragon coiled, like a coiled serpent around a mountain, stacked together in the sky, every segment of its body emitting violet light, then pulsing at great speed, bringing the universe into resonance.

Cry after cry of dragon song rang out. Everyone in the distant sky was dazed — their very souls felt on the verge of shattering. They were so far away, nearly spanning star systems, and it was still this terrifying.

Everyone decisively retreated!

“This is the Ancient Emperor’s song — it is as though a sovereign’s true body has awakened, roaring across the universe in this age, the violet dragon’s might dominating all under heaven.”

One ancient emperor had sung out — no one could withstand it. And that violet true dragon coiled, its body shuddering in rhythm, its form and its Dao sound moving together. This was a supreme assault.

This was no longer the Dragon Maiden wielding the imperial Dao sacred weapon — the weapon had come alive and was attacking on its own, for it too felt rage. Since antiquity until now: without attaining the Dao, who has ever challenged imperial might?

That person sought to overturn everything — then let him be destroyed!

The Ten-Thousand-Dragon Bell moved of its own accord. Even the Dragon Maiden who held it had her heart trembling, her body swaying, adrift within the sea of violet light. She had already let go — she could no longer control this weapon.

That it had reached this stage surpassed her expectations.

This was the dignity of an imperial Dao sacred weapon, not to be challenged. As it moved to fight to the death, the dragon cries and the massive dragon body bore down — and Ye Fan did indeed receive a fearsome impact.

The Chaos Green Lotus trembled, the entire stalk bent, even its three leaves shaking and swaying, seeming on the verge of falling off. Jade light flooded the sky, making this place like a sea at full boil.

“Be destroyed!” the Dragon Maiden laughed coldly. Her entire body radiated violet light. She opened her mouth and spat a mouthful of blood-qi — a violet glow, brilliant and dazzling. It sprayed onto the dragon body transformed from the Ten-Thousand-Dragon Bell, amplifying its aura further still.

For this blood was extraordinary — the very essence of an imperial bloodline, refined from within her, carrying the breath of her father. Applied to a sacred weapon of the extreme Dao, it naturally caused the weapon to quake violently.

As though the person who had once refined it had returned, standing at its side, accompanying it in battle, rekindling those brilliant days of sweeping all heroes from every heaven.

Violet qi pierced the universe, seeming on the verge of drilling through this cage, striking into an immortal domain. Nothing in this place could be seen any longer — only imperial Dao dragon qi and violet light surging.

The green lotus suffered immense pressure; it rang and clashed, let out a resonant boom, and its three leaves erupted with fury. One symbol after another appeared, flowing from the leaves and scattering across the high heavens.

This was like a scripture — written in symbols incomprehensible to ordinary people, inscribed upon every inch of space, fixing this expanse of the universe, offsetting the Ten-Thousand-Dragon Bell’s pressure. Jade light charged toward that great dragon.

Brilliant collision, violent impact. This place became a disaster zone more terrifying than a sea of lightning. No one knew what was happening — only, dimly, the sound of scripture recitation could be heard.

In the end, two silhouettes appeared and vanished. One stood atop the violet dragon’s great head, solemn and magnificent like an immortal monument, looking down upon all living beings.

The other, a heroic physique, stood atop a great green lotus, proud and lordly without peer, his grace supreme, looking down upon all the ages and all the heavens.

Everyone was stunned. In a trance, they seemed to see a great ancient emperor standing in opposition to a great emperor — between them, infinite star systems were being annihilated, and endless Dao patterns were shattering.

What was this? Every person was seized with shock!

Was this a battle crossing the ages — a great ancient emperor dueling a near-ancient great emperor? It was enough to turn the hair white. Facing each other from across the void, a war crossing over a million years.

Hum!

Violet light like water, jade light like a cascade — between them, scripture blazed and every kind of symbol erupted. Peak confrontation, waves surging, the universe shattered!

In a blaze of breathtaking radiance, once again nothing could be seen there. After a long while, two silhouettes flew swiftly toward each other — and then together disappeared.

“What a pity — those are fragments of the ancient emperor’s and the great emperor’s branded imprint. Far too little remains; it cannot sustain a battle of this kind, and was rapidly consumed.”

Someone sighed softly, deeply regretful.

But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. If a true long-distance duel of great emperors could be conducted, those ancient supreme beings would have had no regrets left. Once lost, what remains in the passage of time is only a remnant trace — it cannot sustain a complete battle, only a few exchanges at most.

Flashes of radiance flickered. In that place, only the Ten-Thousand-Dragon Bell and the Chaos Green Lotus remained, standing where they had been. The silhouettes that had stood upon them had both vanished, never to be seen again.

After the violet true dragon faded, the Dragon Maiden’s face was chalk-white. After the green lotus faded, Ye Fan’s expression stirred with deep feeling. Their experiences could not have been more different: they had truly witnessed two phantom silhouettes facing each other. The sensation was subtle, as though reversing the flow of years, catching a glimpse of two great emperors!

“Father…” the Dragon Maiden’s voice trembled. Two trails of tears slid down her snow-white jade face. After ten thousand ages of separation, to have suddenly glimpsed a back-facing silhouette now — her very heart trembled.

In this moment, she was not a female Quasi-Emperor who could destroy stars, kill decisively, and slaughter celestial soldiers and generals without hesitation. She was only a somewhat fragile woman, yearning for antiquity, hoping to see the Dragon Emperor again, rushing toward her father.

Ye Fan quieted himself. He slowly raised the green lotus, pointing it toward the distance, his face full of indifference as he walked toward the Dragon Maiden. That state of mind he could understand — but the position of enemies could not be changed. Enemies, in the end, could only ever be enemies.

The terrifying fierce battle resumed. Both the Ten-Thousand-Dragon Bell and the green lotus had somewhat dimmed in luster. The phantom confrontation of the emperors had drained too much power from both — it would not be recovered in a short time.

Boom!

Ye Fan swept the green lotus upward. The laws were shaken apart; a few segments of the true dragon’s symbols were temporarily cleared away — no Dao fluctuation there. His fist blazed with light as he hammered it upward with force.

A heaven-and-earth-shaking boom rang out, startling all four quarters of the universe!

Everyone was stunned. What was he doing? That sound was so piercing — like a divine being hammering iron. The four poles of the universe were all shaking; the mortal world was violently convulsing.

“Heaven — he’s meeting an imperial Dao sacred weapon bare-handed. This—!”

Like a myth made real!

He was not yet fully complete; the blood within his body had not yet fully turned red. And yet he dared do this — pitting his flesh against an imperial Dao sacred weapon, attempting to prove himself higher. An unimaginable act.

In all four directions of the sky, everyone was open-mouthed. Every person who had been watching this battlefield fell into a brief silence, hearts and souls shaking. Was he about to defy heaven itself?

What kind of shock was this? That was an imperial Dao sacred weapon!

It was an object that simply could not be challenged — the supreme sacred treasure that suppressed this realm. Yet today, someone was attempting to break a myth sealed for so many tens of thousands of years and challenge this authority.

In the past, someone had done this — but their cultivation had surely been higher than his.

“And he’s not yet fully complete — how can he do this?!”

Voices of astonishment carried tones of disbelief. In the sky, one pair of eyes after another fixed on that place. Many fell silent, unable to say a word.

Clang!

The green lotus in Ye Fan’s left hand swept out; his right hand drove the Heavenly Emperor Fist again, bare-handedly meeting the imperial Dao sacred weapon. Blazing radiance erupted, illuminating the universe, carving out an undying brilliance.