The Azure Lotus took root in the cosmos, drawing upon the power of the void to strengthen itself. It was vaster than the tallest ancient tree, its roots and stems thick and powerful like coiling dragons, sinking into the starry sky.
It was expanding rapidly, propping open the cosmos as though opening heaven and earth anew. Chaos energy surged and roiled. As time went on, star after star came to orbit around it, becoming adornments upon its form.
This place was submerged in jade-blue light. A single azure lotus had propped open the cosmos, trailing down countless streams of vital essence, protecting this place. The Heavenly Blade was driven back and did not immediately attack.
Star gate after star gate had been constructed. The armies departed in batches, withdrawing swiftly. This heavenly blade was too terrifying — if they did not leave now, everyone might well die here.
Just as the Old Woodcutter had said, this heavenly blade was unlike other imperial weapons. It was so close to becoming divine as to approach immortality — surpassing all reason, possessing attack power without equal.
Hum!
The Heavenly Blade trembled. Its entire body gleamed snow-white, illuminating a splendor spanning ten thousand ages. It slashed down again — shaking heaven and earth.
Ye Fan let out a long cry. His thick dark hair stood on end. He offered up the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar to meet and resist it. With a resounding clash it crashed against the Heavenly Blade, both weapons shuddering violently.
The fierce exchange left the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar as ancient and unadorned as ever — no particular change appeared upon it.
The Undying Heavenly Blade, by contrast, grew even more resplendent. Its divine light surged explosively, shaking distant rivers of stars into total collapse. An entire star region exploded apart, transformed to cosmic dust.
This scene was like the end of the world — filling one with despair!
How could they resist — with what could they withstand it? This heavenly blade was too powerful, truly representing the will of the Heavenly Dao, unrivaled and beyond compare.
Ye Fan fell back. A thread of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth — caused by the divine power vibrations of the Undying Heavenly Blade. Even a physique as powerful as his had sustained wounds.
Whoosh!
A blinding flash passed. The Heavenly Blade shrank to a length of one zhang — appearing and disappearing like a ghost — evading the Heaven-Devouring Jar and charging toward the Azure Lotus, still determined to cut down all the assembled forces, still not letting anyone go.
Boom!
The Chaos Azure Lotus swayed, sending torrents of chaos energy crashing outward. The tremendous shockwave shook the human world with alarm — even saints and sages in the far reaches of the cosmic wilderness felt it in their hearts, shuddering with sudden sensation.
The Azure Emperor’s weapon had come alive, taking root here, blocking the path forward. The Undying Heavenly Blade’s strike had failed — it could not break through, held outside.
Every leaf was swaying. An expanse of jade-blue sky emerged in the cosmos. This azure lotus was filled with tremendous life energy — it was as though it had come alive, as though it had its own life, as if the Azure Emperor had been reborn.
This strange transformation startled everyone. Sure enough, this weapon too was no ordinary thing — it held secrets that outsiders could not comprehend.
Whatever the case, its defensive power was formidable. It protected this place for the time being, buying time for the assembled forces to retreat. Star gates flashed. The armies swiftly departed.
The Heavenly Blade drifted and hovered, suspended not far away, facing the people here in a standoff — searching for an opening, wanting to charge in and commence a great slaughter!
The Azure Lotus swayed. Ten thousand leaves shed clear radiance, like a great ancient tree. It actually began emitting the sound of pine winds — as though a great forest were swaying in the breeze.
Faint threads of blue-green light flew out from the leaves, extending toward the depths of the cosmos. Looking closely, they were reaching toward the direction where the Heavenly Emperor’s Battle-Summoning Drum had gone, carrying the stone egg away — searching for it.
“What a lotus — do you wish to devour the essence of the immortal egg?!” A cold, emotionless voice came from within the Undying Heavenly Blade, carrying a hint of anger.
Tension filled the atmosphere. The two sides faced each other in a standoff.
“Truly worthy of a weapon forged from five kinds of immortal metals — do you wish to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Venerable One?!” The Old God sighed, his heart heavy beyond measure. The enemy’s strength surpassed imagination.
And what he was worried about was not only this weapon, but also the Undying Heavenly Emperor himself. If that one still lived in this world, how could they resist? Without the revival of the Venerable One, who in the world could stand against him in battle?
The entire world fell quiet. The Heavenly Blade was searching for an opening to attack — wanting to destroy everyone at minimal cost, unwilling to truly engage in a bloody struggle with the Azure Emperor’s weapon.
Ye Fan was gathering his battle power. The blood within his body surged and rumbled. The divine restriction state had not yet faded, and in this moment he once again activated the “All” Word Secret — his body roaring and thundering within.
Like a sea, his blood qi boiled. His entire body was enveloped in rosy light. Even the top of his skull steamed with waves of blood mist. Sacred light outside his body blazed fiercely like flames, and he became a blazing, divine-like existence.
The Old Woodcutter stood firm upon the Azure Emperor’s Lotus, maintaining the defensive line. The Old God blew the secret weapon — the Imperial War Horn — interfering with the Heavenly Blade. Though this was not a true sovereign-path weapon, it possessed strange and wondrous divine power.
Ye Fan took the offensive. The bones of his forehead radiated flickering rosy light.
Within the divine restriction domain, his body on its own had shattered taboos, raising his strength by a great deal. After activating the All Word Secret, his power surged tenfold further. The space between his brows blazed brilliantly — like a divine lamp illuminating ten thousand ages.
A golden little figure stepped out from his forehead bones, settled cross-legged in the starry sky, then moved both hands — sending threads of immortal light flying out and disappearing into the Heaven-Devouring Jar.
Ye Fan was using his primordial spirit to move the Demon Jar — reaching out with his heart to sense it, urging it to revive. He firmly believed this jar’s power was without equal.
A bronze finger ring appeared in the hands of the golden little figure before his brows, radiating resplendent immortal light. He murmured softly: “Not for the sake of immortality…”
The other half of the phrase he did not speak aloud — it was: “Only to wait for you to return in this mortal world.”
These words were like a magic incantation. The Demon Jar suspended above his head trembled — releasing a tremendous surge of life energy, and then the heavens shuddered.
In the golden little figure’s hands, that finger ring shone with a faint, gentle luster. It was made of common bronze. The reason it could radiate so brilliantly was entirely due to being nourished by divine power — a thousand ten-thousandfold streams of brilliant light.
As the finger ring flew up and approached the Demon Jar, the imperial weapon shuddered violently. The ghost-face seal upon it seemed to have teardrops rolling down — lifelike and vivid, shocking to behold.
This finger ring had been given to Ye Fan by Ji Ziyue before their departure — for him to use as a lifesaving tool — for this object had a profound connection to the Heaven-Devouring Jar.
Long ago, when the Bronze Immortal Hall had an immortal corpse explode apart, this was what the Ji Family had obtained from that event — the sole weapon contained within the flesh and blood, a divine object treasured greatly by the Ferocious Man Great Emperor in life.
Ding!
When the finger ring dropped into the jar and produced a crisp, clear vibration, the Heaven-Devouring Jar revived completely — swallowing the sun, moon, and rivers of stars. All the starry sea brilliance from the depths of the cosmos converged together, disappearing into the jar.
Hum!
The Undying Heavenly Blade blazed with fierce radiance. It had sensed what was coming — striking first, transforming into a blaze of scorching light that slashed straight down, wanting to destroy the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar.
Blade radiance soared into the heavens, severing the cosmos, blocking all starlight. It became the sole presence — falling straight down, transforming into a boundless divine waterfall.
The Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar shuddered — like a person about to revive — shaking the ten thousand ancient heavens. Powerful figures across every part of the cosmos experienced a peculiar sensation all at once.
It erupted with a sky-flooding battle aura. This sharpness was absolutely no weaker than the blade’s edge — Great Dao symbols by the tens of thousands struck toward the high heavens.
Boom!
A tremendous sound. The two imperial weapons collided in a great clash — this time more intense than any before, sweeping this place in an opening-of-heaven aura, turning it into a vast boiling ocean.
Ye Fan stepped back, standing upon the great azure lotus. By now he did not need to direct it at all — the Heaven-Devouring Jar had emerged in a state surpassing all reason, truly revived, engaging the Undying Heavenly Blade in combat.
Both of these were weapons that could not be gauged by logic or principle — unfathomable.
In this moment, the cosmos cracked open. This was a battle between two revived weapons. Now, at last, those protected by the Chaos Azure Lotus let out a long breath — the Heavenly Blade had finally been stopped.
The Ferocious Man Great Emperor’s talent and brilliance were without equal in all of history — truly the most extraordinarily gifted woman since ancient times. Indeed these were not empty words. Having cultivated to a level that defied heaven with a constitution inferior even to that of a common mortal, she now revealed a corner of her legend in this moment.
The Heavenly Blade cut like a rainbow, slashing continuously, weaving back and forth across the heavens, lightning erupting and blazing. The raining light that fell down was terrifying beyond measure — every single stroke capable of destroying an entire galaxy.
Yet there was nothing left to destroy here. The stars had mostly already become dust.
Hum!
The Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar trembled. Its lid flew up, emanating auspicious colors, primordial spirit fluctuations spreading outward. The jar body was like a bottomless abyss, devouring the vital essence of the eight wildernesses.
Finally, a beam of immortal light flew out from the mouth of the jar, transforming into chains that coiled toward the Undying Heavenly Blade — seeking to draw it into the jar, to completely suppress and refine it.
Everyone’s heart pounded madly. The Heaven-Devouring Jar was too dominant — it was directly attempting to swallow the Heavenly Blade. What incomparable, unmatched dominance!
Clang! Clang!…
The Heavenly Blade shuddered, hacking apart the immortal light one beam after another, evading this swallowing force, then rushing sideways like a ribbon of white silk — slashing at the jar body. Blade radiance flickered and gleamed, cold energy freezing the cosmos.
Killing intent spread. Even some stars in the far reaches of the cosmic sea grew dim — shattered by the impact, vital essence scattered and gone.
The blade radiance the Heavenly Blade unleashed was like rivers of stars, vast and terrifying — rolling and stirring the cosmos. Darkness was torn asunder. The frigid cosmos shattered.
The Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar rang with a clear and resonant sound, throwing off sparks in streams. It was indestructible and undying — in the midst of collision and slashing, it sustained no damage, withstanding the Heavenly Blade’s power.
Everyone was deeply tense. After all, the Heavenly Blade was forged from five kinds of immortal metals — smelted into one, reputed to be capable of reaching the heavens and becoming an immortal weapon. People feared the Heaven-Devouring Jar would be cleaved apart.
The Heavenly Blade grew faster and faster, transforming into a streak of blazing lightning — dancing around the Heaven-Devouring Jar. Any time it captured an appropriate opportunity it would slash down swiftly, its killing intent flooding the heavens.
Every person’s heart leapt into their throat — yet Ye Fan relaxed, because the golden little figure cross-legged before his brows had sensed an almost imperceptible sigh.
That sound was faint and ephemeral, like heaven-music — seemingly traveling from that realm beyond the immortal world.
The Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar was undergoing a sublimation — an even further transformation!
As the Heavenly Blade grew fiercer and fiercer — its edge sharp and keen, its blade energy like the sea — it was truly approaching invincibility beneath the heavens, surpassing all reason, as if an ancient great emperor were striking out, growing ever more dominant.
Yet at this time, the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar was very tranquil — and gradually growing hazy, until its form was almost imperceptible, the shape of the jar no longer visible.
“That is… oh heaven!”
After a moment, many people cried out in shock. Every face revealed an expression of absolute disbelief — astonished to the point of no return.
Even Ye Fan’s blood surged and pulsed. His face was full of shock — he could not speak.
The solid jar body grew hazier and hazier, slowly vanishing — finally transforming into a faint, ghostly silhouette of a woman. She gradually grew distinct, standing beneath the stars of ten thousand ages, looking down upon the mortal world.
“The Ferocious Man Great Emperor!”
“The most talented woman since ancient times!”
Everyone was crying out. They could scarcely believe any of this.
There exists a legend in the world: the Heaven-Devouring Jar was forged from the body of the Ferocious Man Great Emperor’s first life. When worshipped by later generations to a sufficient condition, she would once again reign supreme over the mortal world.