The countless stars scattered across the sky like fireflies were rapidly going dark. From within that darkness, a massive black hand reached out, blotting out the entire expanse of stars — the constellations shattering and exploding one by one.

The sight was terrifying beyond measure. That black hand had emerged from some unknown place, covering the entire cosmos, making all living things seem so infinitely small before it — less than dust, less than nothing.

The spectacle shook everyone who witnessed it. A cultivator passing through the nearby area was so frightened that his very soul seemed to flee his body. What kind of power was this? It was utterly beyond comprehension.

An ancient Supreme Being has emerged into the world — and they’re making their move here!

That thought arose in everyone’s mind instantaneously. There could be no other explanation. Had the most powerful figures from ancient times truly returned once more?

“Pft!”

The Sages who had been passing through this region of stars struggled in vain. They had cultivated for thousands of years, standing at the very pinnacle, capable of ruling entire domains — yet before a Supreme Being, they were as fragile as ants.

These ancient Sages exploded outright. The black hand had not even touched them — they were obliterated in body and spirit by the pressure alone, dissolving into crimson mist.

Those watching from beyond this region went cold from head to toe. They trembled, retreating in panic, their entire bodies convulsing, gripped by absolute terror, fleeing toward the far distance.

Was this a god from the age when heaven and earth were first opened? A single hand that blotted out entire star rivers, destroying everything in its path — in the frozen void of the cosmos, nothing remained but that one black palm. What a horrifying sight this was!

This was living myth — a vision of world-annihilation from the most ancient era, soul-shaking in its enormity.

Before that great black hand, an immense mass of thunderous radiance blazed, equally overwhelming, drowning out vast stretches of the star field as it hurtled away at tremendous speed.

The black hand was terrifying to behold. Though it seemed to advance slowly as it descended, it was catching up to — and threatening to overtake — that bolt of lightning that moved at the ultimate speed the world could offer.

Ye Fan’s heart lurched violently. The figure within that lightning was, naturally, himself. He was enduring the most terrible tribulation of his life, simultaneously activating the technique of the Circulation Word to evade the black hand that chased him from behind.

His situation was catastrophic. Facing an overwhelming heavenly tribulation, he now had an ancient Supreme Being appearing and launching an assault against him — this was quite literally a death trap with no way out.

A Supreme Being has made their move. This day has come so quickly — and now it is truly here.

In the past, he had already become extraordinarily powerful, counted among the unrivaled masters of the world. Yet perhaps in the eyes of those Supreme Beings, he had still been no more than an ant — never worth a second glance.

So long as he had not achieved perfection, had not attained the Dao, he simply did not register in the minds of those few beings. Supreme Beings were invincible — and they were proud.

Today, had he finally caught the attention of certain people? Had they stirred from their slumber to strike him down while he was still on the path to perfection — denying him any chance at all?

Ye Fan pushed the Circulation Word technique to its absolute limit. Even the river of time halted for him as he moved at extreme velocity. Along the way, his brow center blazed with light as he called out to the Heaven-Swallowing Vessel, seeking to wage battle.

For the purpose of enduring his tribulation, he had not brought the vessel with him — he had hidden it in another domain entirely.

“BOOM!”

The black hand blanketed an infinite expanse of star rivers, shrouding all of heaven. In the blink of an eye it was about to engulf Ye Fan entirely beneath it, and countless stars had already been destroyed in its wake.

The terrifying sight of a hand that blotted out all of heaven — a cosmos that held nothing but one black palm — sent shockwaves through the entire world.

Ye Fan’s eyebrows drew into a fierce scowl. Time was running out. The situation had reached an absolute breaking point. Should he crack open the Myriad Qi Cauldron? Let the Immortal Bell’s laws detonate outward? That would be a devastating loss.

But if he didn’t — even calling upon the Heaven-Swallowing Demon Vessel might not arrive in time.

Death was this close. An ancient Supreme Being bearing down on him from above, and Ye Fan already in the midst of a deadly tribulation — now he faced this great catastrophe as well. He might truly fall here.

“It’s a Tyrant Body!”

Ye Fan detected a familiar resonance — identical to the bloodline of the ancient Hegemon King he had encountered before, one he could instinctively recognize. That ancient violet-blood thunder had already reached a boiling point, threatening to shatter him apart.

Clearly, a Perfect Tyrant Body had emerged. And they were unleashing their most powerful strike — unwilling to risk any unexpected outcome, they intended to destroy the Holy Body Ye Fan in a single blow.

These two lineages had been at war since the age of myth, battling down through the ages to the present day. Their enmity ran too deep to ever dissolve. The Tyrant Body had come to kill Ye Fan, to deny him his perfection — no reason was needed, no justification required.

An ancient Supreme Being had made their move, and with their most devastating strike at that — not some casual attack. The consequences would be catastrophic. No one in this generation could withstand it — no one, unless Ye Fan achieved perfection, or attained the Dao.

“Tyrant Body — you dare touch someone I have chosen? Be careful I don’t wipe out every last one of your bloodline!”

A cold, detached voice rang out. Another great hand descended with a resounding boom, crashing directly into the black hand.

The owner of that voice was a young man. His eyes were clear and bright. Across his back he carried a black hardwood bow; in his right hand he held a stone staff. His gaze swept across the eight desolate reaches of the world with sovereign arrogance, and he stood unshaken beneath the star-filled sky.

He had just blocked the Perfect Tyrant Body’s peerless assault with his left hand alone.

The black hand faded away, and in its place a tall, imposing silhouette appeared — violet hair flowing in wild waves, his bearing intimidating and majestic, his blood and vital energy actually considerably more vigorous than when he had last appeared in the world.

He was silent. His gaze fixed upon the young man, and for a long time, he said nothing.

In the distance, seas of thunder stretched endlessly, swallowing entire star domains. The sound of explosions rang without pause as stars were shattered one after another.

Ye Fan had begun enduring his tribulation — there was no controlling it now. Having survived this great ordeal, now that the young man had appeared, he knew he could focus on confronting his own heavenly tribulation in peace.

“So you are Chuan Ying — the First Divine General of the Ancient Celestial Court. Your reputation is well earned.”

The Perfect Tyrant Body spoke at last. His voice was deep and resonant, carrying a terrifying penetrating force — capable of splitting stars apart through sound alone.

Chuan Ying. A living legend — one who had left even the Sovereign Emperor awestruck, who had been personally sealed away by that Emperor’s own hands, preserved for a future moment of Dao attainment. Yet his conviction had run too deep, and he had emerged into the world ahead of that appointed time.

“Ah, so it’s not your true body — only an incarnation you’ve sent here. Not nearly enough for me to kill.”

Chuan Ying broke into a smile — radiant and brilliant.

An incarnation using secret arts might match the power of a true body for a short time, but given any extended duration, it would inevitably be destroyed.

“Do you believe he can attain the Dao?”

After a moment’s silence, the Perfect Tyrant Body asked coldly. His vital energy was vigorous and powerful, his violet hair streaming like a river of stars, beams of light shooting from his eyes.

“Ha — the person I have chosen needs no reason. You dare lay a finger on him, and I will kill you. That is all.”

Chuan Ying laughed with wild abandon. He was, in outward appearance, merely a young man — yet there was something particularly untamed in his carefree manner, something sovereign in his arrogance.

In this age, who else would dare speak to an ancient Supreme Being with such disrespect, confronting them from this position of absolute superiority, looking down upon ancient masters of the imperial path?

“From the time I was born until now, many people have spoken to me that way. Every one of them is dead.”

The Perfect Tyrant Body said this without any particular emotion.

“BOOM!”

Without another word, the young man swung his stone staff and charged forward to deliver his killing blow. The staff carved through the sky like a great grey dragon pressing down upon the cosmos — its might standing alone in all the world.

In ten directions, the heavens collapsed. Stars exploded one by one. The sun and moon, the constellations — all turned to fireworks and smoke.

The Perfect Tyrant Body responded with raw, domineering ferocity — his Hegemon Fist meeting the assault head-on, sending the cosmos rumbling and roaring with each impact.

A battle between Supreme Beings had erupted!

Both were beings of supreme power — masters among masters — and naturally this battle carried immense consequences. It shook the great cosmos itself, and every domain trembled in response.

Hum!

A violet light hammer, streaming through the distant sky like a bolt of violet silk, came crashing toward Chuan Ying — a supreme-grade weapon, launched from the Tyrant Body’s ancestral star to deliver its killing blow.

“CLANG!”

The First Divine General of the Ancient Celestial Court met it with his stone staff in a sweeping horizontal strike. The collision unleashed blinding radiance of extraordinary intensity — and from that moment, not a single star remained in this entire domain. Every last one had been ground to powder.

Even Ye Fan in his separate domain was affected — struck by the shockwave, his tribulation sea erupted into even more violent turmoil.

The battle continued — but for now, it no longer concerned Ye Fan directly. He settled his mind and focused on withstanding his tribulation, pushing through the barrier before him.

How much time passed was impossible to say. At last, the cosmos grew still — for Ye Fan’s great tribulation had ended. The sea of thunder vanished. He breathed in and absorbed the vital energy of heaven and earth, replenishing himself.

Not far away, the young man had already been sitting in meditation, and when he saw that it was over, he smiled faintly and said: “Not bad.”

“My deepest thanks, Senior.”

Ye Fan bowed in gratitude.

“I merely couldn’t stand to watch.”

The First Divine General of the Ancient Celestial Court said this simply, then added: “The Tyrant Body’s Ancestral Star is not to be taken lightly. There is certainly more than one Perfect Tyrant Body there. From what I have come to understand in recent years, there are Supreme Beings still living who once hunted and slaughtered Holy Bodies on the ancient path — sealed within ancestral caves.”

When Ye Fan heard these words, his eyes instantly blazed with fierce light. It was exactly as he had anticipated all those years ago. This lineage was terrifying — they had formed a forbidden zone, with Supreme Beings persisting within.

And yet — this was also what he had hoped for back then. If those people from the old days had all died, departing with the glory of having killed a Holy Body, fading away into oblivion… perhaps that would have been a greater regret.

“Knowing they have not died — I am at ease.”

Ye Fan said this quietly.

“Ha ha ha — good! That is the spirit!”

The First Divine General of the Ancient Celestial Court roared with laughter. Then he shook his head slowly and sighed: “Attaining the Dao is destined to be a solitary path — savoring the loneliness and bitterness of a single person amidst the final brilliance.”

The First Divine General departed as swiftly as he had come. Ye Fan’s cultivation surged dramatically — his strength reaching the Seventh Heaven of the Quasi-Emperor realm. The threshold of perfection was close now, and he felt with even greater clarity the breath of Dao attainment drawing near.

In this cosmos, had he not encountered an ancient Supreme Being, he truly could have swept through all opposition.

At the same time, he began to think deeply. In the past, he had been an ant in the eyes of the Supreme Beings — beneath notice. But as he drew closer to perfection, some of them might be stirred awake, unable to remain still.

Just as this time — the Perfect Tyrant Body had acted in precisely this way, wanting to destroy him with a single palm strike, to cut him down before he could complete his path to the Dao.

Perhaps every person who had ever attained the Dao had gone through something like this. The rise of a Great Emperor threatened the safety of certain Supreme Beings — and they would seek ways to prevent it.

The more Ye Fan thought on this, the colder he felt throughout his entire being. Not for himself — but for his friends, for his family.

He thought of the Demon Emperor Xue Yueqing — who had left and never returned for five centuries, refusing to go back to his homeland, waiting until the girl whose soul-bone he carried had long since returned to the earth, leaving behind a lifetime of regret.

There was far more concealed within that story than met the eye. It seemed he had feared drawing the calamity of Dao attainment back to his homeland — and so he had refused to attain the Dao, refused to ever return.

Ye Fan gazed out across the cosmos. He needed to prepare early. As his cultivation grew ever deeper, those great dragons would be drawn one by one to look his way — they would begin paying attention to this ant.

To prevent him from transforming into a true dragon — to cut him down while he was still among the mortal dust — that, perhaps, was the terrible catastrophe he would face from this day forward.

“Attaining the Dao is destined to be a solitary path — savoring the loneliness and bitterness of a single person amidst the final brilliance.”

The words of the Ancient Celestial Court’s First Divine General clearly carried deeper meaning. Was he hinting at the bleakness of this road? To attain the Dao, it was not enough merely for oneself to be extraordinary — to break through that final threshold — one also had to face the terrifying suppression of other ancient Supreme Beings, with disaster falling upon those closest to you.

A chill rose in Ye Fan’s heart. If he alone attained the Dao, but all his family and friends died in consequence — then what was the point of attaining it at all? And yet there was no turning back now. The Perfect Tyrant Body had already moved, and other Supreme Beings would begin to pay attention to him as well.

No one had ever crossed into Emperor-hood in a single leap. The final three tribulations — the Eighth, the Ninth, and the Emperor’s Tribulation — each was more terrifying than the last. Each required staking one’s very life in the struggle to survive.

Perhaps he would face three “Supreme Being Catastrophes.” Each would be worse than the one before — especially the first two, the most grueling of all. Some would not permit him to achieve perfection.

Ye Fan sat cross-legged in the cosmos, beginning to deliberate. He had to find a way to stop all of this. His goal was to stand sovereign over all things and ask the heavens for eternal life — not to watch everyone around him fall.