The Celestial Gate opened, revealing a vast and magnificent world!
Was that the Immortal Domain? Mountains stretched endlessly, reaching up to the heavens themselves. Divine vines and immortal trees flourished there, ancient and weathered, as though they had grown for millions of years.
Yet why was there a layer of mist drifting across it, making it appear so distant?
People desperately wanted to see it clearly, but it was too hazy and indistinct, impossible to fully perceive.
“BOOM!”
Blazing light and rain surged forward, like divine blossoms bursting into bloom one after another, radiant and fierce, their brilliance illuminating all of eternity, spanning the entire history of living beings.
“Is this truly the Immortal Realm?”
In that instant, even the voices of the ancient supreme beings trembled. They had lain dormant for a million years — had they finally caught sight of the Immortal Realm? Joy and disbelief washed over them in equal measure, the moment feeling utterly unreal.
“Is this the Immortal Domain, the place we have dreamed of entering?” the Ten-Thousand Dragon Emperor said.
The supreme beings had all once been young. Like Ye Fan, their blood had once surged like a boundless sea. They had stood at the pinnacle of their era, revered by all living beings, filled with boundless ambition, looking down upon the nine heavens and ten earths.
They had possessed dreams, passion, and grand aspirations. But in the end, all of it had been worn away on the path to immortality. Too much had been sacrificed and relinquished for its sake.
Loved ones, friends, cherished companions — one by one, they had all drifted away and turned to dust, while the supreme beings themselves had done whatever it took to survive, enduring endless torment.
What had it all been for? Only for this single moment — to ascend to the Immortal Domain and truly become immortal!
Now that the moment had arrived and the dream had come true, why had their eyes grown blurry? Tears fell.
“My daughter!” The Ten-Thousand Dragon Emperor let out a heart-rending roar, gazing toward the Immortal Domain. Then he snapped his eyes onto Ye Fan, his killing intent surging like a flood.
For the sake of becoming immortal, he had forsaken everything — even sleeping through his Dragon Lady’s death, accumulating power in a state of complete unawareness. Now, looking back, the grief was without end.
“Ha ha ha…” The White Tiger Daoren laughed wildly, nearly mad, his head of snow-white hair disheveled like tangled weeds, until tears streamed from his eyes along with his laughter.
So many old brothers, so many companions — they had once fought shoulder to shoulder with him, giving no thought to their own lives. In the end, he had succeeded, but those who had been closest to him had long since become dry bones, lying on the road of the past.
He had ascended to the absolute pinnacle, yet there was no one left to share this splendid view with him.
“At this very moment, why does my heart feel so lost — even pained?” Another supreme being let out a long, desolate sigh.
He clearly stood at the most glorious summit, yet the people of former years were gone. He stood alone in solitude, without family, friendship, or love — only a handful of rivals remained.
“Is it truly only the journey that matters? In the instant the wish is fulfilled, only ten-thousand years of solitude remain. I cannot accept this — I yearned to share this triumph with all of you. Can time be turned back? I want to bring you here, to step into the Immortal Domain alongside me…”
“DONG!”
A sound like a muffled thunderclap jolted everyone awake. The Immortality Cauldron flew upward, attempting to crash its way into the Immortal Domain — but it was struck back hard. The entrance flickered with immortal Dao runes.
“Hmm, what happened?” Several people were greatly startled.
The Immortality Cauldron had become lodged at the Celestial Gate, unable to advance or retreat. It shook violently as rune after rune sought to brand themselves upon it, transforming all the original law-chains within the cauldron walls.
“Is this the trial of immortality? Stop it!” Several supreme beings shouted.
This was to become immortal — endless light and rain poured in, submerging entirely into the green bronze cauldron, making it appear ever more sacred. Many runes branded themselves onto the cauldron walls, seeking to transform and elevate it.
The several great supreme beings charged forward to prevent this. A cauldron taking up one of the immortality slots meant one less chance for them. At this moment, Ye Fan was no longer their primary enemy!
BOOM!
Blazing light came crashing down, all of it striking the cauldron. The combined force of several individuals sought to shatter it.
Naturally, Ye Fan would not stand by and do nothing. Setting aside all else, his connection with the divine child alone meant he could not simply watch. He unleashed forbidden secret techniques and struck out against the great supreme beings.
The area immediately descended into chaos. An all-out battle erupted. Divine techniques flew freely, laws wove densely together, strand after strand intertwining into a brilliant web of light.
“Am I truly destined to become a vessel? I do not wish to enter this way — help me break free!” Suddenly, a divine thought transmitted from within the Immortality Cauldron, reaching directly into the sea of Ye Fan’s mind.
At this critical moment, the will within the green bronze cauldron was filled with unwillingness and defiance. It sought to transcend — it did not wish to remain merely a weapon.
BOOM!
The green bronze cauldron was struck back by the several supreme beings and could no longer hold its position.
“ROAR…”
A white tiger leaped forward, entering through the Celestial Gate to take the cauldron’s place — but the same thing happened. It became lodged there, the immortal Dao runes flickering as they burrowed into its body.
“Ah…”
It was an agonizing torment. The tiger’s original Dao was being erased, its laws replaced by the order of another realm. But how could a great emperor’s Dao be extinguished so easily? A fierce resistance erupted.
The White Tiger Daoren’s flesh and blood burst open across his entire body as runes flickered. He nearly exploded on the spot — this was a painful and terrifying transformation, as though being shattered and then reassembled.
Endless light and rain poured out, sinking into the White Tiger’s body, and also flooding into Ye Fan and the other supreme beings’ flesh and blood, pure and sacred beyond measure.
A realization came to Ye Fan — just as he had contemplated when first establishing his Dao: once one leaped beyond the original universe, nothing would remain as it was. Could the laws and Dao of the past still hold? The answer was now made clear — everything would be erased!
This was a terrifying tribulation, and no one knew whether the transformation could be completed successfully.
“RUMBLE!”
The Beast God, the supreme being of Blood Phoenix Mountain, and the Ten-Thousand Dragon Emperor all attacked together, unwilling to let the White Tiger achieve immortality. They unleashed the most devastating assault possible.
“SPIT!”
The enormous white tiger exploded, blood covering his entire body. He then came crashing back, reforming his physical form in the distance, filled with hatred and fury.
Being interrupted like this enraged him, yet he was powerless to change the fact. Transformation required time, but no one was willing to give him that opportunity.
Thus it went: the Ten-Thousand Dragon Emperor, and the supreme being from Blood Phoenix Mountain who had since transformed into the golden-winged trident, both attempted to pass through the Celestial Gate one after another — and all were beaten back by the others.
To enter and undergo transformation required time, and there was no way around it. No one was willing to let another become immortal first. All of them were stuck at the Celestial Gate.
Only Ye Fan made no attempt, staying close to the Immortality Cauldron, hoping to find another way through. He was unwilling to become immortal alone — he had too many attachments in this world.
These supreme beings, however, had long since abandoned everything. They had only one goal left in their lives: to enter the Immortal Domain themselves!
“My guess is that this trial will bring unpredictable changes. After all, our emperor-path marks are to be erased. If something goes wrong, an entire lifetime of cultivation would come to nothing.” The Beast God frowned.
“Mm. I suggest we first let one person enter, observe what changes occur to them, and then stop them at the critical moment.” The White Tiger Daoren spoke, his gaze fixed on Ye Fan.
The others immediately understood his meaning. They wanted to use Ye Fan as a test subject. To be safe, they had no choice but to do so. Ye Fan was a powerful figure of this level — he was bound to be a threat. Using him as a sacrifice to the Celestial Gate was perhaps the best course. All four closed in on him.
“Do you think you can keep me here just because you want to?” Ye Fan laughed coldly. With the Immortality Cauldron in hand, he stepped a hundred million zhang in a single stride, putting great distance between them.
Then he stepped again — and without looking back, he simply walked away, moving to break free of the immortal path and return to the original great universe, leaving everything here behind.
The others froze, then exchanged glances with one another.
“Chase him. Letting him go is nothing but trouble. And I truly believe we must use a cultivator of the emperor-path to experiment — otherwise my heart will not be at ease.”
“That makes sense. If our emperor-path foundations were erased yet we still failed to become immortal, that would be the most laughable and tragic ending imaginable.”
The immortal path trembled with a great quake as everyone surged out in pursuit of Ye Fan — an intense and frenzied chase. Divine light illuminated the sea of stars.
Within the mortal world, all onlookers were stunned and left speechless. What had happened? The supreme beings had clearly charged into the immortal path — why had they now come pouring back out in violent pursuit?
Could it be… that another dark upheaval had occurred?
The moment that possibility crossed their minds, every face turned pale, drained of all color. If that were the case, this truly would be an extinction-level war.
A brutal slaughter unfolded. Imperial blood painted the star-filled sky.
“Ye Fan, do you think you can escape? The universe is vast, yet there is no place for you to hide. Join us on the immortal path sooner rather than later!” The Beast God bellowed.
The world watched in confusion. Why say such things? Becoming immortal was a wondrous thing — why would the Holy Body Ye Fan retreat? And yet several ancient supreme beings were now chasing him down with killing intent. There had to be a great secret behind this.
“Kill!”
The group pursued, killing as they went. Ye Fan activated the Circulation Word Technique and tore through the star river with every step. In an instant, he was nearly gone — even the ancient supreme beings could not match him in speed.
“You think you can leave?!” The White Tiger Daoren sat cross-legged and began to deduce.
The Ten-Thousand Dragon Emperor’s eyes were cold and merciless. He said: “He can escape — he is difficult to capture. But he still has loved ones and friends. Seize them one by one and kill them off. Let’s see whether he turns back.”
The words were so cruel they could freeze the universe solid. They were not merely speaking idly — they sat cross-legged together and began deducing in concert, rune after rune flying upward, illuminating the cosmos, radiant and awe-inspiring.
“Hmm?”
Ye Fan was alarmed. The combined efforts of four supreme beings cast a shadow across his heart. He flew at maximum speed toward a particular region.
“I sense that he has left marks within this fragment of the universe — he has established some Chaos Realms, though they are well concealed.”
“I have found one. Let us work together to pinpoint it — we can find it!”
Ye Fan stood beneath the starry sky, watching closely, preparing for a desperate fight.
“BOOM!”
Suddenly, a Chaos World exploded. Flesh and blood flew everywhere as the dead and wounded were beyond count. Several great supreme beings descended like demon kings, shattering through that space.
The Black Emperor, Dongfang Ye, Xiao Zi, and the others came tumbling out, all deeply shaken and frightened. Then they trembled, overwhelmed by the supreme beings’ blood energy pressing down upon the sky.
“You’re courting death!”
Ye Fan roared, having sensed the disturbance. He arrived at the scene in an instant and placed himself in front of everyone.
“Big brother!” Xiao Nannan called out from behind.
No one had anticipated this — supreme beings descending upon this location. A catastrophe of the highest order had arrived.
“It is my fault,” said the Immortality Cauldron, filled with self-reproach. It knew that when it was reforming itself, the divine child had been summoned away. When breaking through this Chaos World, a flaw had been left behind — and that was how the supreme beings had now tracked them here.
“Why have you stopped running?” The White Tiger Daoren laughed coldly.
“You killed my daughter, slaughtered my clan — now the day has come for you as well. I will settle all accounts with you and annihilate your ten clans!” The Ten-Thousand Dragon Emperor’s voice was glacially cold as he casually crushed several celestial soldiers nearby into bloody pulp.
With his level of power, a single gesture could destroy an entire star domain. He did this deliberately — to demonstrate his might with wanton cruelty.
“I do not harm those who do not harm me. Every person I have ever killed had just cause to die. But you — all of you act for selfish desire alone, trampling over all living beings for the sake of becoming immortal. I say that in this age, none of you will succeed. Every last one of you will see your dream shatter before the Celestial Gate, forever barred from crossing it!” Ye Fan shouted defiantly, standing his ground. The Immortality Cauldron and the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron both moved rapidly, drawing people in and sheltering all his old companions.
“Big brother, I will fight alongside you!” Xiao Nannan stepped forward. Though her young face was still full of childlike innocence, the look in her eyes was utterly resolute.