“Boom!”

Within the Divine Organization, atop a ritual platform, the Old God suddenly exploded. His physical body shattered into dozens upon hundreds of pieces, his Primordial Spirit likewise crumbled, dissolving into a vast shower of light — and on this day, he died a wretched death.

This sudden event triggered a great wave of grief. All members wept bitterly. The Old God had actually died at this moment, unable to hold on any longer.

Someone noticed that on the very day the Old God had exploded apart, three individuals from the Big Dipper had passed through this place — an observation that gave rise to dark suspicions, stirring a massive upheaval.

These three were powerful figures hailing from three different Forbidden Zones. Some said they were the personal kin of Ancient Supremes, while others claimed they were divine mounts who had taken human form. Opinions varied wildly, but those who believed the former held the majority. The three were referred to as the Three Gods Beyond the World, for this time they had come together as one, advancing and retreating in concert.

“This is absolutely terrifying — the Old God of the Divine Organization actually just exploded outright. How could this be? Was it truly those three who struck from the shadows?”

Inside the Divine Organization, chaos reigned. Many were firmly convinced that this was most likely a murder — that someone had made a move against him in secret.

But others disagreed. The outsiders had no knowledge of the particulars of that battle from years past, yet the powerful figures within the organization all understood: the Old God had long been unable to hold on. Back then, he had only returned to settle his affairs, and surviving an additional seventy years was already the uttermost limit.

Amid the clamor and confusion, the Divine Organization descended into turmoil and nearly came to blows over the matter. In the end, the White-Haired Sword God acted with overwhelming dominance — a single sword stroke split the heavens, and order was restored.

Wave after wave of disturbance continued without cease. Everyone knew that the universe was bound to fall into disorder. The tranquility would be shattered, and the balance of power among the great forces was about to shift.

At the Old God’s funeral, the appearance of a young man drew the attention of many — it was none other than Ye Tong, the eldest disciple of the Holy Body, Ye Fan.

Over these years, he had not gone into seclusion. He had kept on fighting and struggling, striving to forge his own path, hoping to truly share the burden with Ye Fan and fight alongside him.

And in all these years, he had been extraordinarily brilliant. Thirty years prior, he had personally cut down an Ancient Imperial Prince with his own hands — a feat that shook the world for a time.

In terms of age, Ye Tong was only twenty or thirty years younger than Ye Fan. Although they were master and disciple in name, given the vast lifespans of cultivators, it was not unreasonable to regard them as belonging to the same generation. That someone of his tremendous talent had achieved such accomplishments was hardly surprising.

Now, in this sensitive period, his appearance naturally attracted much attention, for the entire universe was watching the movements of his master.

Ye Tong had come representing the Heavenly Court. He performed the proper ceremony with solemnity, presenting flowers and nodding to the White-Haired Sword God before departing shortly after.

Yet he had barely left and had not gone far when a powerful figure came rushing after him.

“Brother Ye, please wait — my master requests your presence.”

“And who is your master?”

“The Immortal Maiden Yunxia,” the figure answered.

Ye Tong gazed into the distance. A slender silhouette stood upon the river of stars, nodding at him with a faint smile. That smile could topple cities — she was incomparably beautiful and transcendent, holding a jade flute in her hands, its entire body gleaming with lustrous radiance.

He ascended into the sky and arrived at that stretch of the stellar river.

“Could she be from the Life Forbidden Zone? There’s a strange, inexplicable aura about her!” Ye Tong’s brow immediately twitched. At his current level of cultivation, his divine perception was extraordinarily fearsome — naturally, he could sense a great many things.

He felt that this might be a descendant of a Supreme, or perhaps a blood relative — someone who carried that particular divine temperament and spiritual energy, enough to make even him break out in goosebumps. This person was immensely powerful; if it truly came to a fight, she would absolutely be a formidable adversary.

Even at his current level of strength, Ye Tong felt that this woman was dangerous.

“I hold no ill intent. I merely wish to meet your master once — to ask him what his stance is toward the Forbidden Zones.” The woman was composed, stating her purpose directly.

“My master has gone into cultivation. No one knows where he is,” said Ye Tong.

“Is that so?” The woman looked at him. Her eyes shimmered with seven colors of radiance, then she gave a slight nod and said, “I understand.”

This woman was tremendously powerful, possessing a force that could pierce through a person’s very soul. Even Ye Tong — who had personally slain an Ancient Imperial Prince with his own hands — could not help but turn solemn, bracing himself in full readiness.

Nevertheless, she showed no sign of killing intent. With an easy smile, she drifted away.

“Master, where are you? What has become of you? The great Forbidden Zones truly care a great deal about your current state — they regard you and the Chaos Body as those most likely to achieve the Dao,” Ye Tong murmured to himself.

All these years, they had been deeply worried. Ye Fan had appeared twice, and neither time had brought any heartening news. Though they had not witnessed it themselves, the world was buzzing with talk that he had grown old.

The people of the Heavenly Court had not gone searching for him. Ye Fan had once given a firm instruction: no one was to walk his path.

Barely after Ye Tong had departed, the Three Gods Beyond the World arrived — hailing from three different Life Forbidden Zones, they walked together and appeared in the very stretch of starry sky where Ye Tong had stood.

“I wish to meet the Holy Body, or someone connected to him. Who among you can make that happen?” The three spoke calmly from outside the Divine Organization, addressing everyone present with their inquiry.

The hearts of those gathered turned cold. These were not friendly visitors. Powerful cultivators from the Forbidden Zones had appeared, and they had clearly come for Ye Fan of the Heavenly Court. It was possible this would ignite an upheaval.

After that day, many across the universe came to know: exceptionally powerful figures from the Undying Mountain, the Immortal Mausoleum, and the Sea of Reincarnation had emerged — and their focus on Ye Fan surpassed even their attention to the Chaos Body.

The forces of the Heavenly Court were scattered throughout the universe. No one stepped forward, nor did anyone wish to provoke trouble at this critical juncture. There were still thirty years remaining — there would be a resolution in time. There was no need to clash now.

Even Ye Tong had not stirred things up. He understood all too well how terrifying the Forbidden Zones were. This was not yet the hour for great war. It seemed that what the Forbidden Zones wished to understand for now was Ye Fan’s stance.

And yet, there are some things that simply cannot be avoided, no matter how one tries. There will always be those who come looking for you.

In a stretch of starry sky, a beam of golden light was hurtling forward at tremendous speed, pushing the Movement Secret to its absolute limit, leaving behind a trail of scattered drops of golden blood — fleeing in full retreat.

Yang Xi had suffered grievous wounds. Crimson blood and golden ichor splattered and scattered through the stellar river as he fled. Had he not pushed the Movement Secret and the Self-Advancement Secret to their absolute pinnacle — maintaining extreme speed while protecting his Primordial Spirit from shattering — he would have been in truly mortal danger.

Behind him, a massive ferocious beast radiated a sky-engulfing aura of violence. Its entire body flickered with dark light, its scales armor-like and jagged, vicious as a wolf or jackal — it was none other than the Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast from the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star.

“Hum!”

From its back, a long spine like a battle spear flew upward, transforming into a beam of dark light that shattered the fabric of space and shot toward Yang Xi’s back.

It was a blow just like this that had wounded Yang Xi not long ago. He was several tiers of heaven below this ferocious beast in realm, and the fact that he had survived at all was no small feat.

Yang Xi dodged rapidly, continuously tearing through the heavens to evade the black spines — yet he had to admit that this ferocious beast was monstrously powerful, suppressing him purely through its superior realm, trailing him like a shadow.

It had deployed a secret treasure to lock onto Yang Xi. Each time he managed to shake it off, the beast could locate him again before long.

“Just tell me where Ye Fan is, and I’ll spare your life,” the ferocious beast said coldly from behind.

“You’re nothing but a mount. Stop throwing your weight around. If you’ve got the guts, come catch me — otherwise, stop all the hot air!” Yang Xi shot back.

Like Ye Tong, he had spent these years tempering himself in the outside world, never fully retreating into seclusion — because people of their caliber required formidable adversaries to sharpen themselves against.

Two days later, Yang Xi, his body soaked in blood and nearly beaten to a pulp, finally shook off his pursuer and made it back to one of the Heavenly Court’s hidden sanctuaries. There were no celestial soldiers here — only a few close friends.

“What the hell happened to you? Who did this?” The Black Emperor immediately exploded in fury, jumping straight to its feet.

“The Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast from the Hegemon Body Star System — it’s the mount of a fully accomplished Hegemon Body!” Yang Xi said.

“Go get people. Summon Ye Tong, the Holy Imperial Prince, the Humanoid Demon, and the Mountain Phoenix back here — we’ll go kill it together!” The Black Emperor was furious on the spot. Before Ye Fan had departed, he had entrusted it with the protection of everyone, handing everything over and believing that it, old and cunning with age, having once followed the Beginningless Great Emperor, would have ways to manage. And today, Yang Xi had nearly died out there — how could it not be enraged?

Before long, news arrived that the Holy Imperial Prince had also been ambushed, though he was unharmed and had returned safely to the Heavenly Court.

“It was probably the Three Gods Beyond the World. They didn’t show themselves. I only exchanged a single blow with my immortal iron staff before I came back.”

“Damn it! Call the roll — everyone moves out. We’ll deal with the Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast first. Since we’re already in opposition, conflict was inevitable sooner or later. Kill it now!”

No one would have expected the Heavenly Court to react so explosively. In the years since Ye Fan’s disappearance, they had dispersed and kept the lowest of profiles — and now they had erupted all at once.

“If we’re going to kill, we kill thoroughly. Everyone assembles. And go inform the First Divine General — have him keep watch over the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star. We’ve never been afraid of trouble.”

In just half a month, the Humanoid Demon, Ye Tong, Little Song, the Black Emperor, Pang Bo, the Mountain Phoenix, the Holy Imperial Prince, and others — all quasi-emperor-level combatants — had fully mobilized. In keeping with the Black Emperor’s notoriously protective nature, it even wanted to summon the Victorious Fighting Buddha and Gu Tianshu into the fold, for it had already learned from Ye Fan that both were on Amitabha Ancient Star.

This was the single largest deployment of quasi-emperors in seventy years. They cast a net across the entire universe, secretly hunting down the conspicuous Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast — and when the moment was right, they struck decisively.

That battle was utterly savage. No one had imagined that the members of the Heavenly Court, silent for seventy years, could be this terrifying once they made their move. These were no ordinary powerful figures — this was a mob of quasi-emperors on the rampage.

“Old beast! Did you think that because you’re at a higher realm, you could do whatever you pleased? You’re nothing but a mount, and you dare go on a killing spree? Today, we cut you down!”

“Boom!”

The front legs of the Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast were directly blasted apart by the assembled group, exploding into a vast cloud of blood mist that drifted away.

This was an ancient beast, one that had accompanied a Supreme in battle across the universe — what kind of great spectacle had it not witnessed? And yet, today, it felt genuine dread. A mob of quasi-emperors had gone berserk, charging straight at it, and from the very first exchange, it had taken a severe beating.

True, its realm was higher — but it couldn’t stand up to the fearsome weapons in their hands. The moment they moved in, they swung shattered emperor-grade weapons straight at it, beating it until it had no spirit left to fight back.

“Who dares fight me one-on-one?” the Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast roared.

“Fight you one-on-one? Are you kidding? Drop yourself down to our level first, and we’ll take turns beating you until you go insane — but right now, we’re ganging up on you, and that’s just how it is!” the Black Emperor raged.

“Old creature — that’ll teach you to bully my big nephew! Today, this old phoenix is going to beat you until you beg for mercy!” The Mountain Phoenix revealed its true form, feathers standing on end all over its body, and in the next instant, every single one shot outward.

In that moment, it had practically transformed into a plucked mountain chicken — bizarre and terrifying all at once. Some hundred thousand phoenix feathers were nearly all embedded in the body of the Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast.

“Easy there, nephew — don’t wreck my new plumage!” the old mountain chicken called out the moment it saw Yang Xi grab the immortal iron staff that the Holy Imperial Prince had given him and start hammering the Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast.

Yang Xi fought with mounting excitement and exhilaration, thoroughly crippling the mount of the fully accomplished Hegemon Body.

The outcome of that battle was never in doubt. The Heaven-Slaughter Ferocious Beast was slain. At the end, the Humanoid Demon and the Holy Imperial Prince — who had yet to make their move — stepped forward, dismembered it, and turned it into a delicious pot of stew.

When word of this spread, it shook the universe.

The Heavenly Court’s power was too formidable to provoke — even in dissolution, they were untouchable.

The Three Gods Beyond the World fell silent upon hearing it and no longer made any conspicuous attempts to seek out Ye Fan or those connected to him.

Of course, after that battle, the members of the Heavenly Court also disappeared entirely, never appearing again.

The Hegemon Body Ancestral Star erupted in fury, its roars reverberating outward. But on that same day, a white-haired youth appeared, sitting cross-legged in the air above that star, a fearsome great bow resting across his knees.

“I have thirty years left to live. If you refuse to accept that, then break out of your Immortal Spring and come out to fight — let’s see who’s fiercer!” he said with a cold laugh.

“Once the Holy Body undergoes his tribulation, you two will both be annihilated!” someone said with cold indifference.

“Is that so? I’ll wait. I’ve still got thirty years — that’s patience I can afford!” Chuan Ying stood facing the Hegemon Body Ancestral Star, then turned and glanced in the direction of the Underworld.

Ten years, twenty years… time flew swiftly past. In the blink of an eye, the hundredth year had arrived.