The deep night was quiet, and ten thousand sounds had stilled.

Above the cloud layer, the Hall of Undying stood majestic and soaring. Time had carved its marks across every surface — in some places it was nearly crumbling — yet it still hung suspended in the air without sinking.

Many meteorites — some as large as over ten meters, others no bigger than a palm — lay scattered silently around it, like a natural stone forest, arranged in an artful disorder.

Ye Fan stood atop a cloud, surveying the Hall of Undying from a distance.

The Black Emperor stood upon a magical vessel used as a means of travel — without it, he could not fly. This was the five-colored jade skiff Ye Fan had seized after slaying the Ji Family disciples. The Great Black Dog had re-refined it, and it now looked like a tortoise shell, dark and murky.

Arrayed upon the jade skiff was a great heap of materials: starstone, dark-ice jade, divine blood earth, and others — all obscure and rarely seen, not particularly precious, but each possessing some special property.

“Within this small world are two great beings comparable to the major sacred masters, along with several formidable old demons. If we create too large a disturbance and they sense it, we are as good as dead.” Ye Fan spoke calmly.

The Great Black Dog gnashed its teeth and said, “If I don’t obtain the demon emperor’s ancient scripture, you and I are not finished with each other. The risk I’m taking is far too great!”

Having reached this point, it was grave and solemn, not daring to be careless in the slightest. A single misstep would mean catastrophic death.

The Great Black Dog circled the Hall of Undying in a wide loop, reluctant to act, turning things over in its mind repeatedly, weighing and deliberating with great care.

Ye Fan did not rush it. Everything now depended on the dog. Without a sound plan, it was better to wait than to take risks — for this opportunity, once missed, would never come again.

“There must be not even a ripple of disturbance…” the Great Black Dog muttered to itself. It was utterly serious and focused, for this was a matter of life and death.

A full half an hour passed before the Great Black Dog finished its calculations, bit down hard, and said: “This Emperor will stake everything — that ancient scripture is something I must obtain!”

On the jade skiff, runic patterns were carved into each type of material — highly intricate, like ghost-scrawled symbols, abstruse and incomprehensible.

The Great Black Dog sent a piece of divine blood earth flying out in silence — without a sound, it settled into the meteorite forest and remained perfectly still.

It drove the jade skiff, flying rapidly around the Hall of Undying, sending all eighty-one pieces of divine blood earth in one by one, embedding them between the meteorites.

With that, the first material — divine blood earth — was exhausted, now densely distributed all around the Hall of Undying.

“No incident has occurred — so from here, there shouldn’t be any mishaps. My reasoning was correct.” The Great Black Dog let out a long breath.

“What are these pieces of divine blood earth for?”

“This place is a meteorite forest, representing the stars of the heavens, carved with immensely powerful runic patterns, forming a stellar domain force field. The divine blood earth can interfere with the field’s energy.” The Great Black Dog answered.

“That formidable?!” Ye Fan was greatly startled.

“This meteorite forest corresponds to the arrangement of the major stars of the heavens. Once triggered, it becomes a field of a thousand killing layers — even great beings who fall into it will suffer death or severe injury.” The Great Black Dog’s expression was grave.

Ye Fan drew a sharp breath of cold air. Now he finally understood why there were no guards here — because there was simply no need.

Next, the Great Black Dog sent out the dark-veined turtle shells, their carved runic patterns even more complex. There were fifty pieces in total — but it sealed only forty-nine, each placed with great deliberateness.

The final piece was left on the jade skiff. Only a single straight-line runic pattern had been carved onto it — which appeared rather peculiar.

“What do these dark-veined turtle shells do?” Ye Fan asked humbly.

“The dark-veined turtle shells are for overturning the small realm formed by this meteorite forest.”

“Why leave one piece out — and the runic pattern on this one looks different,” Ye Fan said, puzzled.

“If I explain it in full, there’s too much to cover. Of the fifty numbers upon which heaven and earth depend, only forty-nine are used. The one unused represents the generative breath of heaven — using emptiness to fill fullness. Hence, forty-nine are used.” The Great Black Dog answered casually, then turned to deducing the next step.

Ye Fan marveled inwardly. The study of runic patterns was truly vast and profound — encompassing far too much, containing the mysteries of heaven, and exceedingly difficult to master. For now, he was still unable to pursue it in depth.

The third material the Great Black Dog sent out was dark-ice jade — one hundred and eight pieces in total, inscribed with dense and fine runic patterns.

“Strictly speaking, the ideal material would be dark-yellow stone, for simulating the small realm and concealing the meteorite forest — but that substance is far too rare, and very difficult to find.”

“What do we do then — can the dark-ice jade serve as a substitute?” Ye Fan didn’t want any missteps.

“Fortunately, you carry a cauldron cast from the primordial ten-thousand-things mother energy. Once we go in, take it out and hold it above your head — it’s sufficient to suppress everything.” The Great Black Dog said.

“You had this planned from the start, didn’t you?” Ye Fan asked.

“If you didn’t have the primordial root of the ten-thousand-things mother energy, this Emperor would never agree to break through the runic formations of this place. The dark-yellow stone is the primary material for breaking the meteorite forest.”

Though the Great Black Dog was ordinarily devious and shameless, at this critical juncture it was entirely grave and meticulous, without a trace of carelessness — for this was a matter of their lives.

Half an hour later, of the twenty-eight types of materials, twenty-seven had been deployed. Only the starstone remained untouched.

At this point, the Black Emperor began sending source stones carved with runic patterns into the meteorite forest.

On the jade skiff, half a cubic foot of source stones were stacked — over sixteen hundred jin of them, gleaming crystalline. Given the time constraints, Ye Fan had only managed to gather twenty-eight types of materials in the demon city. The remainder would need to be supplemented with source.

To rescue Pang Bo, he was willing to offer up all his source. But the Great Black Dog retained some small measure of conscience, saying half a cubic foot would suffice.

Even so, this was a staggering expenditure — over sixteen hundred jin of source stones, vanished into the meteorite forest in the blink of an eye.

Finally, the Black Emperor sent out three hundred and sixty-five pieces of starstone, distributed evenly throughout the meteorite forest.

“Done at last. I have used the Technique of Stealing Heaven and Swapping Earth to temporarily replace the meteorites with starstone.” The Great Black Dog breathed a long sigh of relief.

“Are you certain you’ve neutralized the stellar domain force field that the meteorite forest representing the stars of the heavens had created?” Ye Fan’s heart stirred with waves, for the moment of seeing Pang Bo was drawing near.

“It can’t be called neutralized — just temporarily paralyzed the stellar domain force field.”

“Can we go in now?” Ye Fan’s heart could not be calm.

“Yes — bring out your cauldron.” The Black Emperor issued a solemn reminder.

The small cauldron — an inch tall — flew out and rapidly enlarged to a meter in height, hovering above Ye Fan’s head. Strands of ten-thousand-things mother energy descended, thread by thread, as dark-yellow light swirled.

“The great emperor of antiquity’s exclusive sacred object — rarely seen across a thousand lifetimes — and it fell into your hands of all people…” The Great Black Dog was deeply aggrieved, wishing it could throw itself upon it.

“And what does that tell you? In the future, I am destined to become a great emperor.”

“Throughout the ages, how many great emperors have there been? They represent the highest realm of the human race, and you…” The Great Black Dog curled its lip.

The Hall of Undying stood above the cloud layer. The surrounding meteorite forest was utterly quiet.

Ye Fan, the ancient cauldron hovering above his head with wisps of dark-yellow energy diffusing outward, stepped forward across the clouds. The Great Black Dog drove the jade skiff and followed behind, gradually drawing close to the Hall of Undying.

All around was perfectly quiet. The meteorite forest showed not a single trace of killing intent. Moving forward, all remained peaceful.

“You really did break through it…”

“But of course!” The Great Black Dog struck a proud and lofty pose.

They advanced half a li, arriving before the Hall of Undying. From there they spoke no more, communicating only through divine sense transmissions.

“Are you certain the soul-seizing entity inside is at death’s door?”

“Certain!” Ye Fan confirmed.

“Very well. This Emperor will use the meteorite forest to temporarily seal off this area — so that if things get loud inside the Hall of Undying in a moment, word doesn’t reach the outside.” The Black Emperor repositioned the divine blood earth, dark-ice jade, and starstone, rearranging them anew.

At the same time, Ye Fan began his own preparations, taking out the stone garments he had worn when exploring the Purple Mountain and putting them on.

These were the stone skins of a divine source — capable of sealing off all aura, including divine sense and others. According to the Great Black Dog’s deductions, defeating the entity inside would involve a great battle of divine sense — and these were the ideal protective garments for that.

The Great Black Dog was preparing as well, inserting over a hundred small banners onto the jade skiff — all carefully crafted by it, made specifically as protective gear for a battle of divine sense.

The cauldron above Ye Fan’s head drifted up and down, releasing a heaven-devouring force. It drew the Great Black Dog and the jade skiff inside, and then Ye Fan himself entered the cauldron as well.

“The two of us have sufficiently powerful divine senses — suppressing a wandering ghost who has seized a body and is nearing its end should be more than enough. My only worry is that your estimate may be wrong.” The Great Black Dog transmitted within the cauldron.

“Several years ago he was already on his last legs — otherwise why would he borrow the Azure Flood Dragon King’s Hall of Undying? It was precisely to slow the consumption of his lifespan.” Ye Fan replied.

“Then let’s go in!” The Great Black Dog steeled itself.

The great cauldron advanced without a sound. The Hall of Undying was absolutely still, its great doors tightly shut.

“Something feels off.” Ye Fan sensed an abnormality.

This magnificent ancient hall didn’t look as though it had been built stone by stone — it looked as though it had been carved. Indeed, it appeared to be a stone mountain that had been hollowed and sculpted. It was not constructed by ordinary means.

The hall had stone tiles on top, all connected in one piece — invisible unless one looked closely. This was a single unified whole, not built brick by brick!

“Is this truly a stone mountain carved into shape?” Ye Fan was filled with astonishment, feeling there was no need to go to such lengths.

Whoosh!

After a brief pause, he drove the cauldron forward. A wisp of dark-yellow energy gave a gentle vibration, and the stone doors of the hall were silently pushed open.

This structure that had never fallen — existing for so long — made one feel the weight of history’s vast passage.

“Pang Bo — I’ve come to save you!” Ye Fan said inwardly.

The Hall of Undying was an immensely grand ancient structure. Inside it was vast — and pitch-black.

“No one is in the main hall.” The Great Black Dog transmitted.

“The ancient hall has multiple chambers — he should be in the ones further back.” Ye Fan’s heart was far from calm.

“Wait — don’t rush ahead. The main hall has runic patterns carved within it — remarkable ones.” The Great Black Dog transmitted.

This ancient hall was said to slow the loss of a cultivator’s lifespan — called the Hall of Undying — and this was intimately connected to the runic patterns carved within.

The Black Emperor studied for a long time, yet could not determine where the runic patterns were carved — unable to glean any insight.

But just at this moment, Ye Fan made a new discovery, his heart stirring with shock.

“This is a source mountain!”

The entire ancient hall had been carved from a stone mountain. From the outside it appeared to be ordinary greenish stone — but upon entering, he was greatly taken aback. This was source ore.

This must be an ancient hall carved from a vein of source-bearing stone mountain. If the hall were broken apart, source stones might well be unearthed from within.

“No — that’s not right.” Just then, after careful observation, Ye Fan’s astonishment deepened further.

This ancient hall was far from simple — or rather, this source vein was far from simple. It had gestated something most unusual!

“Young one, what have you discovered?” The Great Black Dog asked.

“Don’t disturb me — let me look carefully.” Ye Fan swept his gaze across the main hall, observing with great attention.

For now, it was impossible to judge by the terrain, since the source-bearing stone mountain had already been carved into a palace. He could only make inferences based on the nature of the source material.

“A very unpleasant feeling — this place…” Ye Fan’s heart shook.

“What is it?”

“This should be a place of great ill omen — so how could it be called the Hall of Undying?” Ye Fan felt a chill run down his spine, a sense of dread rising within him.

“What did you see?” The Black Emperor asked.

“I can’t be certain yet — let’s enter the second chamber and have a look.” Ye Fan drove the cauldron onward, entering the second vast empty hall.

After careful examination, his heart shook — confirming what he had suspected.

“This is a place of profound ill fortune!” Ye Fan cursed inwardly. This was a death-dealing place — how could it possibly slow the flow of lifespan?

“Young one, what does this place mean?”

“Have you heard of places like the Fire Dragon Tomb or the Dragon Blood Pool — ill-omened places that harbor divine source?”

The Black Emperor shuddered and said: “I’ve heard of them, naturally.”

Ye Fan said gravely: “This place is called the Tomb of the Yellow Springs. It is ranked alongside those ill-omened places. This is an ancient hall carved from a source mountain — and the Tomb of the Yellow Springs lies within the hall!”