Crossing the void was extraordinarily dangerous — any accident could reduce a person to dust and ash in an instant.

Had Ye Fan not prepared in advance, this time would have been truly inescapable. He had concealed himself within the cauldron, and the moment the void collapsed, his heart seized with dread.

That annihilating force was like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, like ice and snow burying flowers in bloom — an unstoppable “great momentum” against all living things.

Space itself was being obliterated. The physical body could offer no resistance; it destroyed everything and shattered all vitality, as though it sought to push the world back to its primordial origin point.

The primal qi of all creation flowed through the cauldron, which held utterly motionless amid the raging annihilation. Like a vessel of life, it carried Ye Fan through and smashed apart a sheer cliff face before coming to rest.

When the dust finally settled and heaven and earth returned to clarity, Ye Fan emerged from within the cauldron. Before him lay a scene of utter devastation — an entire stretch of mountainous terrain had been reduced to scorched earth, all vitality extinguished, nothing left behind.

“Ruthless indeed. They didn’t hesitate to destroy the domain gate just to obliterate me in the void…”

Ye Fan tilted his head back and laughed several long peals. The dejection that had weighed on him for more than half a year swept away in an instant.

He had been hunted by the Ji Family until he had nowhere to turn — hiding in the fire domain, not daring to show his face. But now, with a single move, he had resolved every grievance he had accumulated.

Burning a great figure to death alive — even he could scarcely believe it. Reducing more than ten renowned cultivators to ash felt like something from a dream.

“Even if the Ji Family truly tracks me down and I cannot escape death, it was worth it.” At those words, Ye Fan grew calm and said quietly: “I won’t die. I must find a way to leave this region.”

He did not dare delay. Dissolving into a phantom trace, he vanished in an instant. The disturbance here was too great and would certainly draw the attention of others — leaving early was the wisest course.

Ye Fan felt that departing the Southern Region would be extremely difficult. For now, he had no means of crossing to the Northern Region, so he decided to do the opposite and travel toward the farthest south.

The Southern Region was itself boundless and vast, with countless nations. The territory where great powers like the Ji Family, the Grand Profound Sect, Yao Guang, and the Carefree Sect resided was merely one corner of it.

Traveling further south, it was said there were one or two more holy lands. Though they remained within the Southern Region, the distance was so immense that flying alone would take about half a year to reach them.

One could imagine just how vast the Southern Region was — to say nothing of the entire Eastern Desolation.

Without domain gates to relay messages, without the ability to cross the void, the various parts of the Southern Region could not communicate at all. Each area would be isolated from the others, making contact near impossible.

Before long, Ye Fan learned that he was already sixty thousand li away from the Carefree Sect’s gate. Crossing the void had taken only a brief moment, yet he had traveled such an extraordinary distance — it made his heart seize with alarm.

Yet what surprised him most was that he had arrived in the region where the Yao Guang Holy Land was located, perhaps only a thousand-some li away.

“Perhaps I can hide here and not need to go anywhere else,” Ye Fan mused.

The fall of Ji Changkong sent shockwaves through the entire region — ten directions were shaken!

In less than a year, three Supreme Elders of the Ji Family had fallen in battle. It struck like a raging typhoon upon an angry sea, like a wild storm and torrential rain.

This was not one of the dark ages spoken of in ancient histories — no great catastrophe of terror had descended — and yet great figures of the Ji Family kept perishing without cease. It was genuinely staggering.

The Peacock King and the Crow Daoist were one thing — tracing back over a thousand years, a single stomp of their feet could send the entire Southern Region into upheaval.

But what kind of person was Ye Fan — a mere youth — that he had accomplished something so world-shaking? Slaying a Supreme Elder of the Ji Family… it was simply inconceivable.

Throughout the region, every cultivator’s heart trembled. This was an event of supreme magnitude. The Ji Family’s wrath would surely burn to the ends of the world.

“Ji Changkong was burned to death alive, and it was done by a youth — one who has only cultivated to the Wheel Sea Secret Realm.”

“A Supreme Elder of the Ji Family was incinerated until neither body nor soul remained, and the one who did this is a young cultivator of fourteen or fifteen — yet he caused such a great figure to perish.”

“It is truly difficult to believe. Ji Changkong, who had roamed the Southern Region for many years, was burned to ash — bones shattered, soul obliterated — by a youth named Ye Fan, with a single flame.”

“This is simply fantasy. A great figure of the Ji Family was burned alive to cinders. A lifetime of mighty renown, returned to dust.”

…

Everyone was talking about it. The news had spread throughout the region, and every single person found it inconceivable — though shock, above all else, was the prevailing feeling.

The True Fire of the Five Elements could burn away all things. As long as one was within the Five Elements, nothing could resist it. Many cultivators felt their very courage go cold at the thought.

Ji Changkong had died beneath that five-colored flame. One could only call it fate — even a great figure could not resist such flames and was reduced to Five Element ash.

That Ye Fan possessed a special constitution was no longer a secret; news of it had spread together with this event, set to bring him endless trouble. It would not be just the Ji Family — even the holy lands would come seeking him.

Of course, that was not the worst of it. The most disastrous thing was the exposure of the primal qi source root of all creation — a priceless sacred treasure that every cultivator would covet.

At this point, he had only reached the Other Shore realm. He could not roam freely like the Peacock King, looking down upon the Southern Region. Possessing such a cauldron was, in truth, an enormous calamity.

Though he had burned a Supreme Elder of the Ji Family to death and shaken the Southern Region, once the world learned the details, they would understand that the power was not his own — it had been the True Fire of the Five Elements he relied upon.

Ye Fan carried a precious sacred treasure, but his cultivation level was not especially profound. Naturally, this stirred the covetous hearts of many, and no small number of people began making plans to find where he was hiding.

“Kill!”

This was the death order sent out from the Ji Family — mobilizing on such a scale against a minor cultivator was unprecedented in thousands of years.

Other forces wishing to seek out Ye Fan could only act covertly. No one dared to offend the Ji Family right now. In this critical moment, anyone who touched him was courting total annihilation.

The entire region churned with turbulence, waves crashing high.

Ye Fan did not travel south. Instead, he concealed himself in a mountain range more than a thousand li from the Yao Guang Holy Land.

He assumed the Ji Family would never come searching for him here — after all, this was practically the front door of the Yao Guang Holy Land. He was utterly mistaken.

The Ji Family’s depths were unfathomable. In matters of opening domain gates, inscribing Dao patterns, and crossing the void, they possessed a foundation far beyond ordinary imagination.

Using the shattered altar, the consumed source energy, the duration during which the void had been open, and many other factors, they actually managed to calculate how many tens of thousands of li Ye Fan had traversed.

That very same day, the void was opened, and a domain gate appeared above that scorched earth. More than a hundred cultivators stepped through — among them some twenty-odd elders and the rest young talents of the highest caliber.

Some were still as deep pools and mountain peaks, their presence dense and settled, unfathomably deep. Others were razor-sharp, like peerless blades, radiating a killing intent that could make one’s blood run cold.

Every single one of the hundred-odd cultivators was a powerhouse. Setting aside the renowned elders, even those young cultivators were figures of immense stature — nearly half of the ten strongest members of the Ji Family’s younger generation had come.

“This scorched earth must have been caused by the void’s collapse. That wretched creature has not died…” One elder issued an order, dispersing everyone to search. If any clues were found, they were to send a message immediately.

This was only the first group — more cultivators were still making their way here. Had the Crow Daoist not appeared to provoke the Ji Family, there would likely have been a great figure personally coming to exterminate Ye Fan.

The Ji Family was immensely powerful. They relayed messages in all ten directions and sealed off every area, seeking to trap Ye Fan within this region.

Ye Fan had not anticipated that in the deep of night that very same day, he would already discover Ji Family members flying above the mountain range.

“How did they track this region down?” He naturally did not know that the Ji Family had calculated everything from the shattered domain gate.

Ye Fan felt something was deeply wrong. He fled through the night, but to his shock, he found that the Ji Family had sealed off the region — a large number of cultivators were conducting a systematic search.

Two days later, his whereabouts were exposed and the Ji Family’s people found him.

“An ancient aristocratic family is truly unfathomable — they can even calculate where in the void a collapse occurred,” Ye Fan marveled inwardly.

He wanted to leave this region as quickly as possible. If he were to disturb the colossal entity that was the Yao Guang Holy Land, his situation would become even more perilous.

Had it not been for his supreme movement technique, he would have been left with no means of survival the moment he was discovered. Even so, he could not shake off his pursuers.

Five days later, after a circuitous retreat, he entered a vast grassland, more than ten thousand li away from the Yao Guang Holy Land.

The Ji Family’s people seemed to have locked onto him and pursued relentlessly — he could not lose them.

On the sixth day, he finally came face to face with younger members of the Ji Family in direct confrontation. After a bloody battle, he crashed through with the cauldron and escaped.

On the eighth day, deep in the great grassland, a tall man blocked his path. The man appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with hair as black as ink, eyes sharp as blades, bronze-hued skin, a powerful physique, and an aura that was dense and settled.

“Who are you?” That someone dared to come alone to hunt him meant this person was extraordinary. Ye Fan did not dare underestimate him.

“Ji Haiyue!” The tall man’s voice rang out powerful and resonant, like the toll of a great bell.

“Never heard of you.”

“That is your own ignorance.” From behind, more than ten people emerged in succession from the dense grasslands.

“Among the younger generation of our Ji Family, three have cultivated to the Third Secret Realm. Fifth Brother Haiyue is one of them.”

Ye Fan’s heart went cold. Even among the renowned elders, most had only cultivated through three secret realms. Young people with such cultivation were extraordinary figures without peer, rare as could be across the entire Southern Region.

As far as he knew, there were only about ten or more such people in this entire region. The Ji Family claimed three; the Yao Guang Holy Land likely had about three as well; then there were Hua Yunfei, Li Youyou, and a few others.

“Your True Fire of the Five Elements is spent. You have nothing left to rely upon. Let me see how you escape now!” Ji Haiyue was tall and powerfully built, his gaze piercing like lightning as he stood blocking the way.

Ye Fan’s lips curved in the slightest smile. He launched himself skyward in a direct ascent — he would not clash head-on with his opponent. He hadn’t been surrounded yet, so there was no need to fight.

But the moment he shot into the air, Ye Fan felt a grey pall closing around him. An indeterminate force imprisoned and confined him, forcing him back down to the ground.

He knew things had gone wrong. This place had been prepared in advance — Dao patterns had been inscribed, concentrating the great momentum of the earth’s veins to lock him in place.

Ji Haiyue laughed coldly. “Save your energy. The moment you stepped into this area, your fate was already sealed.”

As he spoke, he stepped forward once — though he did not continue to press in. The precedent set by the Supreme Elder was enough to make everyone wary.

From within Ji Haiyue’s body, a great banner surged forth, rising into the high air — black as ink, wreathed in mist, possessed of something almost demonic, as though it sought to draw in the minds of all who looked upon it.

A laugh as beautiful as heavenly music drifted into Ye Fan’s ears. Someone transmitted a voice through hidden means: “Does Little Brother Ye need my assistance?”

Ye Fan immediately furrowed his brow. That was the Yao Guang Holy Maiden’s voice — somehow he had managed to draw in this colossal entity, the Yao Guang Holy Land, after all.

“If you want to help, first take out this Ji Haiyue!” Ye Fan replied.

“You say that so lightly. He ranks just below Ji Haoyue and Ji Biyue. Before Ji Ziyue grows into her full strength, he is the undisputed third-ranked expert among the Ji Family’s younger generation.” The Yao Guang Holy Maiden’s voice was sweet, its origin unknown. “If I kill him, I will forge an enormous karmic bond of enmity with the Ji Family. However, I have another way to take you away. You’ve wanted to go to the Northern Region, haven’t you? I have that intention as well — we could travel together.”

“Good — nothing would please me more,” Ye Fan answered.

In his current predicament, having someone willing to help was something he naturally could not afford to refuse. Though he knew the Yao Guang Holy Maiden was not someone to be trifled with, right now he had to get through this moment first.

The Yao Guang Holy Maiden’s laugh rang like a silver bell, making one feel as though a spring breeze were brushing past. Her words were soft and sweet: “I need some time to prepare — hold off Ji Haiyue yourself for a moment…”