Ye Fan was the Heavenly Emperor — unrivaled in the present age, and across the entire span of history, few could be spoken of in the same breath as him. With a single shout like this, the Dao resonance of his voice shook all thirty-three layers of heaven.

His white hair spread loose behind him. He strode forward in pursuit — yet the other person was swift as well, and was not immediately caught. They rose into the sky and entered the sea of stars.

This was absolutely an Emperor-level figure. Short of that, it would have been impossible to possess such world-shaking divine abilities, with a cultivation that shook heaven and earth — extraordinary across all of history.

One fled, one pursued. The distance between them gradually closed. At last the old man turned back to the Northern Dipper, returning to the ruins outside the Spirit Void Cave Heaven, and stopped.

“Who, precisely, are you?” Ye Fan asked, his expression calm.

“Cough…” That withered figure coughed violently, then slowly turned around, let out a sigh, and sat down on a nearby recumbent tiger stone.

Ye Fan strode over and sat on a large bluestone nearby. At the level of power he had reached, even if the most powerful figures of all history were resurrected, he could face them with complete composure.

“The Green Emperor?” Ye Fan ventured.

“It is I.” The withered old man gave a nod. This was not the true body — it was the supreme primordial spirit, manifesting itself in the mortal world.

A simple exchange, utterly plain — yet if word of this were to spread, it would shake all of history. Contrary to what the world knew, the legendary Green Emperor still existed within the mortal world, had not fully perished!

“Fellow Daoist is truly formidable — looking down upon all ages. By your own efforts you subdued the upheaval, swept the forbidden zones clean, and your brilliant achievements shake ten thousand generations.” The withered old man said, coughing as he spoke.

“Those who came before paved the road. The masters of the forbidden zones had already been killed down to almost nothing before I ever came. My achievements amount to nothing — I merely followed the current of the age.” Ye Fan replied.

As for the Green Emperor’s reappearance — though he felt astonished, it was not entirely unexpected. After all, the sole practitioner to achieve the Dao in the hundred thousand years following the Primordial Era — dying in such a manner was far too strange. It ought to have defied fate.

In truth, from the perspective of lifespan alone, the Green Emperor should not have been extinguished.

“I dismembered myself. My primordial spirit entered the immortal artifact known as the Desolate Tower — and very nearly sent myself to my true end.” The Green Emperor sighed.

At this moment, his true appearance was revealed: a lean-faced old man, hair full of grey, a tall and slender frame, eyes deep and profound, their light suffused with the wisdom of one who has seen through the ways of the world.

Of all the immortal artifacts left in the mortal world, only two remained — the Immortal Bell, and the Desolate Tower. That the Green Emperor had obtained one and taken it as his dwelling was testament enough to his power.

“You made a special effort to appear and meet with me — do you have any guidance to offer?” Ye Fan asked calmly.

“Fellow Daoist has reached this point — as Heavenly Emperor, what guidance could I possibly offer? I merely hoped for this one meeting.” The Green Emperor smiled.

Ye Fan gave a wry inward acknowledgment. Naturally this was not the full truth — for when he had returned from beyond the outer regions in those earlier years, he had seen the Green Emperor’s silhouette here.

He could only surmise: now that the Heavenly Emperor had entered his twilight years, the Green Emperor had come for this one meeting — just as Ye Fan had once gone to visit the Golden Crow Great Emperor. Was this a similar kind of farewell?

“In truth, I came to express my gratitude, Fellow Daoist. Were it not for you, I might have faced real peril — perhaps sleeping unto death.” The Green Emperor sighed.

His words were not empty. His Emperor’s blood had once transformed into a green lotus, reborn within Ye Fan’s body, and afterward departed — and it was this that had awakened the Green Emperor.

“A small matter — there is no need to speak of it.” Ye Fan said.

They conversed in plain terms — yet if the outside world were to learn of it, it would have set off a storm beyond imagining. No one knew that a Green Emperor was still in the world, had come back to life.

One was the Heavenly Emperor; one was the first among all practitioners in the hundred thousand years following the Primordial Era. Two legendary Great Emperors in dialogue — if anyone had witnessed it, they would have been stunned. It would have been even more extraordinary than the most glorious divine wars in the historical records.

This was a conversation between the supreme powerhouses of an era. Their words were few, yet they touched upon forbidden subjects: the Great Dao, immortality, and more.

The Green Emperor expounded on his Dao: now perhaps only the Desolate Tower and the Immortal Bell could contain his primordial spirit. This already far surpassed the approach taken by the father of Huang Xu’s Dao, who had fused himself with the Golden-Winged Gilded Halberd. Within the Desolate Tower, the Green Emperor had suppressed the divinities there and carved out a small divine realm, wishing to evolve it toward an immortal realm — seeking to create within the mortal world a place where one might live forever.

It had to be said: the Green Emperor was strikingly brilliant across all of history — truly extraordinarily powerful. He sought to evolve an immortal realm through his own power alone — the immortal realm that the Primordial Emperor had so desperately longed for.

Without depending on others, without borrowing the strength of the myriad heavens — he sought to create and forge a true immortal realm by himself alone. Astonishing. Heaven-defying.

The two conversed on the Great Dao, laid out in detail the laws of immortality — finding in each other a kindred spirit, their plain words containing supreme and profound principles.

“That is still only a failed world. Within the Desolate Tower, my life drains away slowly — but it drains nonetheless, day by day. When the day comes that I reappear in the mortal world, it means this road has proven impassable. That will be the moment of my final struggle.”

The Green Emperor finished speaking and rose, bidding farewell to Ye Fan. With a meaningful look, he said: “Take care, Fellow Daoist.”

Ye Fan gave a nod, then turned and left, returning to the Heavenly Court, where he sat in stillness for a thousand years and more. And in this process, he grew older still, his vital energy draining by the day.

Yet the enemy he awaited had never appeared — nor had the similar flower he sought shown any sign. Just like this, Ye Fan aged day by day, his vital energy eroding. By twenty-three thousand years of age, he had truly reached the twilight of a hero — like the sun about to sink beneath the horizon.

He waited for some ill omen to strike. He sat in stillness within the Heavenly Court, awaiting that enemy. Yet after that momentary appearance of golden fur on his body’s surface, he had sat cross-legged there and nothing had changed.

His hair lay white upon his shoulders. The world was vast and empty, not a single old friend to be seen. Ye Fan showed every sign of exhaustion. His face bore the full weight of the years’ passage. He stood alone within the familiar heavenly palace — yet the seats of old friends from the past were empty, empty as his heart, hollow and desolate.

“Report, Heavenly Emperor!”

Outside the heavenly palace, a Great Sage conveyed his message with utmost reverence. He was a descendant — through many generations — of Li Heishui, and his cultivation was extraordinary, now one of the great pillars of the Heavenly Court.

In this withered grand era, with the laws of the Dao in suppression, Quasi-Emperors were nowhere to be seen, and Great Sages were already the most formidable combat power.

For ten thousand years, no one had come to make reports to Ye Fan — for he had long since given instructions: unless there was a matter of life and death, no one was to disturb him here. This section of the heavenly palace had long since gathered dust, with cobwebs beginning to form.

“Speak.” Ye Fan replied.

Hearing a response from within the heavenly palace, Li Tianming was overjoyed, trembling even with excitement. It had been over ten thousand years since a disciple last made a report — and the Heavenly Emperor had already reached twenty-three thousand years of age, yet was still in the world. This was a miracle and a wonder.

For outside, rumor had long been spreading that the Heavenly Emperor had passed into nirvana at twenty thousand years of age — that he was no longer in the world.

“Heavenly Emperor — the reason for disturbing you is that there is a letter addressed to you.”

Ye Fan raised a hand. In a flash of rosy light, a letter appeared in his grasp. Opening it, his expression shifted — it was a letter sent by Duan De.

“Little one — so your life is truly long. Still haven’t passed into nirvana yet?”

That was the opening line — leaving Ye Fan with an odd expression.

“Don’t bother searching. This Daoist buried himself long ago. My primordial spirit was fully spent and I passed away — that was exactly eight thousand years ago. I set this letter in advance with a formation array timed to deliver it to the world in the future.”

Ye Fan was moved. Though Duan De had buried himself long ago, if what the letter said was true, then he had not truly died until around fifteen thousand years of age.

“The Underworld Emperor truly is extraordinary — his means defy the heavens!”

Clearly Duan De had been extraordinarily powerful. His final achievements were no less than a Great Emperor’s. He was accumulating the supreme sovereign’s reincarnation imprints — he already had four within him. Who could say how many more times his mortal form would be reborn.

“Don’t look for me. I know you far surpass the Source Heavenly Masters, and I’ve long since guarded against you. Don’t think about robbing my tomb.” Reading this, Ye Fan’s mouth twitched.

“Nothing else — just feeling a little lonely after death, and wanting to find you for a chat about life, to keep in touch.” Ye Fan couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. This… was truly his shameless style.

“Don’t thank me. Friends are friends, but I’m a man of principles. When I reappear in the world in the next life, I will certainly go and rob your tomb. Who told you to be the Heavenly Emperor? I imagine I’ll be quite interested in your tomb when that time comes — just thinking about it fills me with excitement. Hundreds of thousands of years from now, when I reappear, I’ll be digging up the Heavenly Emperor’s tomb — ha, who since ancient times has managed that? Besides this Daoist, who else? Looking down upon the mortal world, I alone stand supreme!”

Reading this, Ye Fan could only curse him aloud: “You bastard!”

“One word of advice: hide your gravestone well. Otherwise, when the time comes, the only way for us to catch up will be as living man and ghost.” That was Duan De’s closing line.

Afterward, the universe was calm and still. Ye Fan shut himself away on the cliff of the Undying Mountain, sitting in seclusion for several thousand years at a stretch, during which time he only saw Xiao Nannan and met with no one else.

He endured all the way to twenty-six thousand years of age. His form was withered and gaunt, all vital energy spent — he had truly reached the end of his life. This first life was drawing to its close.

“Where is that similar flower? Has she been missed this entire life?”

Ye Fan never left the Heavenly Court, yet the Heavenly Court had been searching all the while, seeking that flower — yet had never caught sight of it.

“Are you afraid? I have grown old already, my vital energy spent and failing — and still you dare not show yourself. Where is the so-called ill omen?!”

He waited without cease — yet there was not a single sign of movement.

And during this time, the outside world was spreading word that the Heavenly Emperor had passed into nirvana. The supreme powerhouse of a generation had left the mortal world.

“You are cautious indeed!”

At twenty-six thousand years of age, Ye Fan could endure no longer. A flash of rosy light blazed in his palm — and a purple qilin appeared. This was the fruit he had harvested from the Undying Immortal Medicine.

Ye Fan opened his mouth and swallowed it whole — and then, with a thunderous boom, his vital energy shot through the sky, and simultaneously spread out in all directions, submerging the entire Undying Mountain, shaking the entire vast universe.

In those early years, Ye Fan had consumed the fruit of nine wondrous medicines — yet they had not come from the complete original body, and added together they amounted to only a portion of an unblemished Undying Medicine. Thus consuming this one now still had its effect.

Twenty-six thousand years. The Heavenly Emperor was reborn. There was no need for anyone to spread the news — everyone could feel the surging waves of his Great Dao, shaking the cosmos, every Dao in all the world bowing in submission, all of them wailing.

“It is too astonishing — the path of the Heavenly Emperor has only just begun!”

The world was shaken. Everyone was stunned. Ye Fan’s first life had ended — he had lived twenty-six thousand years. To call this without parallel in all of history would not be far off.

Now he was reborn. How staggering an event was this? How many more years would he live? No one could say.

Ye Fan let out a long sigh. He had endured to this very day, waiting for that ill omen to strike, hoping to clear all obstacles in his first life — yet the one he had been waiting for had never come.