The final move was unleashed!

The lone column of smoke rises straight in the vast desert; the long river flows round as the sun sets — a stone figure erupted from the earth, howling across mountains, rivers, and the river of stars, and the cosmos collapsed.

This was the scene of the Stone Emperor’s birth. In that moment, the heavens trembled for him, the cosmos shuddered for him, and the instant he came into the world, his prestige suppressed all of the primordial wilderness across ten thousand ages.

He had received the blessing of the heavens above — his divine law was unrivalled, born carrying the will of heaven and earth. Every secret art, every forbidden divine ability was self-perfected to great completion from the moment of birth. His magical power knew no bounds.

And in this moment, he unleashed the ultimate divine technique — its name simply: Heavens Above — recreating the scene of his emergence into the world.

He was conceived by heaven and earth, a child of the heavens above. His ultimate divine ability was immeasurable: it moved mountains and reversed seas; all things were reborn only to wither again; ten thousand Daos of the cosmos rang out in unison.

Rumble!

The river of stars surged in a great flood. Endless great stars came crashing down like the sky collapsing, surging like a tidal wave. Laws and chains of divine order were woven together, connecting past, present, and future — as though the heavens above had been roused to fury.

A colossal stone figure rose up behind the Stone Emperor, then merged into him as one. Gripping the Halberd of Heaven-Painting — gleaming with the metallic lustre of polished gold — he brought it straight down in a cleaving strike.

The final blow!

The cosmos lost its colour; ten thousand ages collapsed. Whether on the Immortal-Ascending Star or in every other star domain throughout existence, all the powerful beings were aghast. This attack was too ferocious and overwhelming — how could it be withstood?

Ye Fan naturally unleashed every technique he possessed as well. His phenomenon, secret arts, and everything else converged into one. That space around him became a golden ocean; the Immortal King and the Heaven Emperor descended upon the world and merged with him as one, driving the assault forward.

In the end, nothing could be seen. An incandescent radiance spread in all directions, boundless and without end. Stars, suns, rivers of stars — they exploded one after another. The wilderness at the edge of the cosmos was annihilated.

Endless light became the only thing that existed.

Let there be light — this was creation itself!

Chaos erupted. The great cosmos trembled. Within the vast ocean of light, two silhouettes gradually materialised. The Halberd of Heaven-Painting was drenched in blood, having nearly cleaved Ye Fan diagonally in two, embedded deep within his body.

Holy blood soaked the star-filled sky. Ye Fan swayed, on the verge of collapsing into a pool of blood. His holy blood flowed like a river, dyeing this place crimson.

The Stone Emperor stood firm — majestic and extraordinary, facing Ye Fan. His dense, wild mane of hair flew in all directions, like a divine god.

And yet, in this moment, the eyes of the supreme master within the stone had dimmed. One hand gripped the halberd, holding it buried within Ye Fan; but his other hand — bloodied and slick — strained to grasp one of Ye Fan’s palms.

Two supreme beings stood facing each other.

Ye Fan had sustained catastrophic injuries, yet one of his hands had ruthlessly pierced into the Stone Emperor’s glabella, plunging deep into his mind. Blood trickled down from there — a sight that was deeply shocking.

His palm was shining. It was immeasurable divine power, burning.

The Stone Emperor’s Immortal Platform shattered. The cracking sounds were endless. The fruit of his Dao accumulated over a lifetime was dissipating. His eyes grew dim — yet he was helpless, powerless. His life was finally coming to an end.

“Ahhh!”

With one final great roar, the Stone Emperor’s dimming eyes flew wide open in fury. He spat a mouthful of Innate Essence from his mouth, which transformed into a surging white wave of energy crashing toward Ye Fan.

At the same time, the great halberd in his hand shook violently — he intended to cleave the already gravely wounded Ye Fan apart with sheer brute force. The cold light tore through the great cosmic sea!

“Open!”

Ye Fan let out a great roar. The resonance of the Dao spread in an endless flood, shattering the Innate Essence. His right hand thrust forward with all its might — pff — and the Stone Emperor’s skull exploded, a flower of blood shooting up three thousand feet.

And at the same time, his body blazed with precious light, scriptures ringing without end. His other hand transformed into the Heaven Emperor’s Fist and drove downward with full force.

Crack!

Ye Fan activated his ultimate power, shattering the Halberd of Heaven-Painting into piece after piece of black-gold fragments, which drifted through the cosmos stained with his blood.

Pff!

The Stone Emperor exploded entirely, becoming a blood mist, transforming into the most terrifying imperial blood rain the world had ever seen, surging toward the eight desolate reaches of the cosmos.

This battle, though it had lasted only a brief few exchanges, was extraordinarily fierce. Ye Fan had sustained extremely severe injuries — for among Great Emperors, who could truly overpower whom by so wide a margin? Once they fought with their lives on the line, they were unmatched under the heavens.

Ye Fan spoke not a word. He sat cross-legged where he was, rapidly tending his wounds, while simultaneously moving both hands to draw back all that blood-light of the Stone Emperor’s that was rushing outward, letting it wash over him.

This was the imperial blood essence — among the most powerful immortal treasures in all the world — and he used it to heal himself.

The transformation of the immortality road was imminent, and he had no time to recuperate in peace. He had to recover at the earliest possible moment. Having cultivated to this level, the forbidden secret arts he commanded reached to the heavens — he naturally knew how to dissolve wounds of the Great Dao.

Even a supreme being, though aged and weakened, left behind blood essence of no small significance. Ye Fan bathed in the radiance of that blood, his entire body blazing with light, healing at a rapid pace.

Boom!

Suddenly, from the direction of the Immortal-Ascending Star, a mysterious force pulled toward him, seeking to seize the blood essence — intending to claim a share of this precious bounty. He snapped his eyes open. The cauldron above his head flew forth, driving down in suppression, severing that drawing force.

Then the cauldron’s mouth churned with chaos energy, and with a sudden inversion, it swallowed all the blood essence whole — refining it in nearly an instant into three blood elixirs.

Ye Fan consumed one. The scriptures of heaven and earth rang without pause, and he was as though submerged in a flood of blood. Crimson mists filled the sky; all manner of divine talismans surfaced; his bearing was solemn and magnificent.

At last, he rose to his feet — fully restored, eyes blazing like twin bolts of cold lightning.

He collected the black-gold halberd fragments, then strode away from the wilderness at the edge of the cosmos, making his way back toward the Northern Dipper star domain.

During that final move just now, the cosmos had trembled in every corner. Nearly every cultivator went pale with dread, sensing the arrival of the Grand Dao, the breath of the heavens above annihilating the world — yet not knowing what the final outcome had been.

Now Ye Fan reappeared, and the conclusion of the great battle was plain to see: he had slaughtered the Stone Emperor.

“The Holy Physique has slain another supreme being!”

“The era of the Stone Emperor has drawn to a close. Unimaginable — that the supreme emperor within the stone should end his life this way, struck down and killed by another’s hand!”

…

The entire world was shaken. The Northern Dipper star domain in particular — the people there were stunned beyond measure. The peerless Stone Emperor of a generation had been exterminated just like that.

The prestige and combat power of the Holy Physique left people awestruck and shaking — everyone felt their blood surge hot within their veins. What a towering achievement this was: he had slain the person who had wrought the most harm during the Dark Upheaval.

“The Stone Emperor has been slaughtered!”

This cry rang out across the Northern Dipper. Even the great land of the Eastern Desolation trembled. The people of the world erupted in jubilation.

Ye Fan arrived at the Undying Mountain to collect the spoils of his victory, preventing anyone from seizing the fruits of his hard-won triumph — for from this day forth, the entire Undying Mountain would become a land without a master.

Within it was a divine spring, and a Dao-Comprehension Tea Immortal Tree — divine treasures without equal in this world, and the undying medicine that Ye Fan had long desired above all else.

“Hmm?”

He attempted to take them away, but found something peculiar — the Undying Mountain refused to enter any magical implement. It was remarkably steadfast.

“No entry into the cycle of reincarnation; the undying is the foundation.” A great stone stele floated upward.

Ye Fan suddenly recalled that the Undying Mountain’s origins were mysterious. Like Mount Kunlun and Mount Sumeru, it was a divine mountain sourced from the universe’s own foundation — altogether different from ordinary mountains, one of the most extraordinary places in existence.

“What a fine treasure — no wonder only this place can sustain the Dao-Comprehension Tree. It was born from this very source.”

Ye Fan let out a great roar and seized the entire Undying Mountain with a single hand, wrenching it free of the great land of the Eastern Desolation amid a thunderous rumble. It peeled away from the earth and shot upward into the high heavens.

“How heavy!”

He was genuinely astonished. Only he could move it like this — even any random quasi-emperor would not necessarily have been able to lift it. This expanse of black mountain peaks was heavier than many a river of stars.

The world was shaken. One of the Seven Great Life Forbidden Zones was removed from their number once more — and it was Ye Fan’s doing again. Truly a peerless divine being: slaying supreme lords, causing all beneath heaven to tremble.

“From this day forth, there is no more Stone Emperor in this world, and no more Life Forbidden Zone of the Undying Mountain. This… is the making of history. It shall be recorded forever in the annals of divine warfare!”

All under heaven was stunned, and the discussion was endless.

Ye Fan had no time to spare for any of it. Holding the Undying Mountain aloft with a single hand, he vanished into the cosmos in a few flickering movements, entering the chaos sea, where he sealed this primordial divine earth away.

Half an hour later, he appeared once more in the mortal realm.

“Hmm — the transformation of the immortality road has arrived. Someone intends to become an immortal?” Ye Fan was startled.

From the direction of the Immortal-Ascending Star, a rain of light cascaded down, endless and unceasing, flooding the entire area, submerging it — transforming it into the most sacred place in all of existence.

Ye Fan rushed toward it at once. In this very lifetime, there was truly going to be a resolution.

Supreme beings had turned against one another. At this moment, the immortality road was beset by heaven-collapsing, earth-shattering battle — ghosts wailed and gods howled. The immortal ascension quotas were limited, and they were fighting over the mere two or three available places.

“Is it because of the Immortal Ascending Cauldron? That it was overcome this quickly?” Ye Fan was considerably taken aback.

He descended upon the sealed ground and stepped onto that golden road. The endless rain of light cascaded down, suffusing him with a gentle warmth — a sensation like a feather transformation into an immortal soaring upward.

Yes — the moment he stepped into this place, every pore on his body opened wide, expelling the turbid energy of this universe, drawing in the unique vital breath of the immortality road. His entire being grew light and unencumbered, as though he might float away at any moment.

A shattered immortal pass stood before him — already smashed to pieces.

He walked straight through. Corpses lay strewn everywhere — all divine demons and immortal spirits, manifested from laws, yet so real as to be indistinguishable.

Further ahead was a chaos aperture, then beyond it a samsara gate, and beyond that, the immortal domain, visible yet indistinct, hovering half-hidden. The supreme beings had slaughtered their way inside with red-lit eyes.

Ye Fan let out a soft sigh. He had to enter — for the chaos aperture and the rest were on the verge of closing again. If he did not act now, the opportunity would be lost forever.

Boom!

He struck with full power, sweeping away every obstacle, carving this path through until it was unobstructed.

Ye Fan stepped forward. This marked his entry into the war for immortal ascension. The hazy immortal domain world was only a projection; the supreme beings had pierced through the barrier and carved a path, battling and advancing through the immortal light road.

This naturally made Ye Fan’s heart tremble — he was truly seeing hope.

One person had already died — cut down with vicious brutality. Now only five supreme combatants remained: the Ancient Venerable of the Immortal Mausoleum, the Ten Thousand Dragon Emperor, the White Tiger Daoist, the Beast God, and the Phoenix Wing Gilt Trident.

The Immortal Ascending Cauldron was at the vanguard, breaking through the walls of the immortal domain, advancing ceaselessly, pressing ever closer to the immortal domain world.

Ye Fan’s arrival naturally provoked the enmity of every person present. Immediately, several rays of immortal light and laws came flying toward him, slashing at him from close range.

A fierce great battle erupted. This place became a chaotic melee. All six figures threw caution to the wind, racing toward the very front — for the immortal ascension quotas might truly be only two or three, and those at the rear had no hope.

Boom!

Suddenly, from outside the immortality road, a tremendous wave of energy arrived — the tribulation lightning, in the depths of a distant river of stars, yet its power had reached all the way here.

“A quasi-emperor eightfold tribulation — and moreover, a chaos great tribulation of tremendous scale. This is a transformation toward the great dragon. Quite a well-chosen moment.” On the immortality road, a supreme being let out a cold, faint sigh.

Crack!

Another great tribulation arrived, shaking the vast river of stars violently. Countless star domains were annihilated.

“Another person — even more fearsome. This could be called a young dragon’s tribulation. It is the tribulation of a quasi-emperor’s ninth heaven — the Yin-Yang Supremacy Tribulation!”

The White Tiger Daoist’s eyes flashed and flickered. Outside, great upheavals were occurring. Two people were crossing tribulations in succession, making use of their absence to break through.

“These are not people of this present age — they are people who have endured in hiding from some past era, choosing to cross their tribulations now?”

Rumble, rumble…

Thunder roiled throughout heaven and earth without cease, and there were in fact continuous tribulations being crossed — people chose this very moment to do so. Most were at the quasi-emperor seventh or eighth heaven, with a few undergoing the immense ninefold heavenly tribulation.

This was soul-stirring. Nothing like it had ever occurred before. In the span of a single moment, so many peerless geniuses were crossing tribulations simultaneously.

“I can sense Dao Yi, the Holy Emperor’s Son, Huang Xu Dao, and other familiar energies — and many more mysterious unknown persons!” Ye Fan’s heart shuddered violently.

These were only what they could sense. With the cosmos being so vast, there were always some people who could not be perceived at all — only faint ripples of fluctuation spreading outward, with no way of knowing just how many peerless, heaven-defying geniuses were seizing this opportunity to cross their tribulations.

Most terrifying of all: not a single one of these was an ordinary quasi-emperor tribulation — every last one was an extraordinary divine punishment, the sort that shocked ten thousand ages.

“This generation of young ones can really endure — they chose quite a good moment!” the Beast God said softly, sighing.

Boom!

Suddenly, the most violent sound of all interrupted every word spoken on the immortality road. Ye Fan and all the other supreme beings alike trembled.

A Great Emperor tribulation!

Someone was going to ascend to the throne of Great Emperor at this very moment, undergoing an immeasurable divine tribulation. Immortal light blanketed the heavens, startling even the ancient venerables on the immortality road into profound shock.