The Eastern Desolation — nearly half of all the sacred sons and daughters of its sacred grounds were here. In all likelihood, this group represented the next generation of great masters, embodying the future and the hopes of their respective sacred grounds.

If Ye Fan went berserk and killed everyone present, it would amount, if not to the complete obliteration of the Eastern Desolation’s younger generation, then something very close to it.

It would inevitably lead to the withering of outstanding talents — severing an entire generation, an immeasurable and catastrophic loss that made the flesh go cold at the mere thought.

“It’s you…” Yao Xi spoke with perfect composure, letting fall only those two words.

“That’s right. It’s me.” Ye Fan conjured the golden hand, lifting her chin with an expression of complete ease.

These words were unremarkable — anyone nearby would pay them no attention. But in truth, the two were exchanging sharp undercurrents, something perhaps only the Sacred Daughter of Yaochi beside them could fully understand.

Yao Xi had recognized Ye Fan as the little Daoist boy — the one she had entered the Primordial Forbidden Zone with, the one who had brought out the furnace — from the Departure Fire Divine Furnace itself.

It was precisely this that also made the composure and quiet menace of the Sacred Son of Yao Guang all the more apparent and unsettling. Earlier, he had been unruffled, and before Ye Fan threw him into the furnace, he had asked only a single question: “Do we have a grudge?”

In truth, whether in the guise of the little Daoist boy or as his true self, Ye Fan appeared to have no real enmity with the Sacred Son of Yao Guang. Ye Fan had only surmised that the ancient creature was the Sacred Son of Yao Guang in disguise — he could not be certain — and so he had said nothing, and simply thrown the Sacred Son of Yao Guang directly into the divine furnace.

Yao Xi gave a gentle struggle, her beautiful eyes flickering as she said, “Surely you don’t intend to throw me into that furnace as well?”

“What a pity — the black flames are no longer inside. Otherwise I could send all of you on your way together.” Ye Fan shook his head.

“You…” At that very moment, Yao Xi’s eyes went wide — for the great golden hand Ye Fan had conjured sent her flying with a sudden strike. She struck the Chaos Stone with a heavy crash.

“If you survive, I’ll return your inner garment to you.” Ye Fan said this with a mild smile — transmitted in secret, heard by her alone — for one purpose only: to stop her mouth.

“Clang!”

The lid of the Departure Fire Divine Furnace flew open. Ye Fan cast Yao Xi inside without a moment’s hesitation — swift and decisive.

“Ahhh…”

At that very moment, the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King burst out — covered in black char, nearly reduced to a cinder. The Sacred Son of Yao Guang followed right behind him, in a similar state, as though he too had tumbled through a coal mine.

“Bang!”

Ye Fan was utterly without mercy. A great hand seal struck through the void and came down on the Golden-Winged Xiaopeng King’s head, driving both of them back inside.

“Clang!”

The five-colored furnace lid flew back into place with a crash. Inside, the flames raged fiercely, burning the entire furnace a brilliant red. The Chaos Stone shot out streams of auspicious light, pouring divine power into the furnace.

“You…” The people of Yao Guang’s expression changed again and again.

“You desecrated the sacred daughter, then threw her into a furnace — truly ruthless!” Quite a few people from Yao Guang’s Sacred Ground trembled with rage.

“If someone intends to kill you, should you place them on a pedestal?” Ye Fan asked in return.

“When has our Yao Guang ever made things difficult for you? Do you know who they are?” someone said through gritted teeth.

“I owe you no explanation. Enemies are made to be killed — I don’t care about their status.” Ye Fan replied evenly.

More than a few people present felt a chill in their hearts. Even the august Sacred Daughter of Yao Guang had been thrown inside — she, who was regarded as a peerless beauty. The heirs of every sacred ground were in danger. It was plain enough: Ye Fan would show no restraint, and when he struck, he struck without mercy.

“What a waste — what a terrible waste. The Sacred Daughter of Yao Guang is about to be turned to ash. The world is losing one of its great beauties…” Liu Kou transmitted in lament, filled with deep regret.

Wu Zhongtian transmitted a sharp rebuke: “Good — that’s exactly right. If they’re a true enemy, it doesn’t matter who they are. Even if a true celestial descended from the heavens, if she is an enemy, she must be refined. This is how it should be — iron-blooded and without sentiment.”

Ye Fan did not reply. Instead he walked forward, making a circuit around the hall, and did not strike anyone else.

“You should leave quickly.” The Sacred Daughter of Yaochi transmitted via divine thought, saying, “Otherwise, you will truly be in danger.”

“My thanks for your kind warning.” Ye Fan smiled. Then, after a moment’s thought, he transmitted a secret message: “In the future, I may visit Yaochi with the phoenix blood crimson gold.”

He swept his gaze over the heirs of Dayang, Wanchu, Dao Yi, and Zifu, and did not act against them — for he had no quarrel with these people.

This caused those below to let out a long breath of relief — they had feared Ye Fan might simply, without a word, throw everyone in the hall into the divine furnace.

“Flash!”

An instant later, Ye Fan came to stand before Ji Haoyue. A great golden hand materialized, intending to strike him into the divine furnace as well — to be refined alongside the others. The Ji Family was instantly seized with extreme tension.

But in the end, Ye Fan stayed his hand. He thought of Ji Ziyue — of how she had built a cenotaph in his honor.

“Very well — I’ll leave you, this divine body, for when I enter the Four Extremes Secret Realm. We will meet again then.”

Ye Fan returned to the Chaos Stone, sat down atop it cross-legged, and began launching the Fire-Catalyzing Art at the divine furnace, channeling divine power — determined to refine the three great prodigies within.

In this place, the force field scattered by the Chaos Stone cancelled out divine power. There was truly no possibility of killing them through direct combat techniques. It seemed only this strange furnace could refine them.

The Chaos Stone continued to send out streams of auspicious radiance into the furnace, making it hotter and hotter — blazing red, without end. The sun engraved upon it vanished, entering the furnace interior as well.

This was destined to be a long process. Ye Fan remained highly vigilant, ready at any moment to offer up the Profound Jade Platform and traverse the void.

He was playing a waiting game — hoping to remain as long as possible to thoroughly refine the three great powerhouses. During this time, he took out the beast-hide ancient scroll and studied it carefully.

As he did, his heart gave a jolt. Within the ancient scroll lay a piece of brocade silk, upon which were written some ancient characters and a topographical map.

The Nine Secrets!

There were truly Nine Secrets here. He had assumed this great tomb likely had no connection to that ancient family — but he had guessed wrong. This was the tomb of one of that ancient family’s distant ancestors.

On the brocade silk, there were no Nine Secrets cultivation methods — only a map and several annotations.

This distant ancestor of the ancient family had looked very far into the future. He wrote frankly that no dynasty endures forever, nor does any family — in the long river of history, even some sacred grounds and ancient families of the wilderness would fade to nothing, to say nothing of an ordinary family.

He had not wished for one of the Nine Secrets to one day be lost forever because of the decline of his family, and had therefore left behind this brocade silk.

He had originally obtained this secret method in a mysterious land, and the brocade noted the location — it was left for the destined to find, along the very path he himself had once walked.

“A far-sighted man — the same spirit as the Sacred King Jiang Tai Xu…” Ye Fan betrayed nothing on his face. He put the brocade silk away. None of the others knew such a secret had been hidden within the scroll.

Only then did he formally examine the ancient scroll. It bore many characters and, moreover, a clear topographical map.

After a brief glance, Ye Fan’s expression changed completely — for he recognized the topographical map drawn upon it: nine dragon veins encircling a single mountain!

This was a map of Purple Mountain — the demon mountain suppressed by the great emperor Wushi — and such a map had actually been passed down to the outside world.

“Black Emperor…” Ye Fan communicated via divine thought.

The great black dog, hiding inside the cauldron, had no idea what immense divine power it had expended trying to draw the Chaos Stone into the cauldron — it was nearly foaming at the mouth with exhaustion, having failed to move it a single inch.

“I’ve finally figured it out — whenever I’m with you, I, the Emperor, always work for nothing and suffer for nothing!”

“Stop your complaints. Look at this map quickly.” Ye Fan drew the ancient scroll into the cauldron and had it examine the map.

“Damn it all. Someone really has managed to get their hands on even a fraction of the great emperor’s traces and has pinpointed the location of the emperor mountain…”

By this point, Ye Fan needed no further guessing. This imperial palace, transformed by someone into the Light Divine Hall, was without question the bed-chamber of the great emperor Wushi. The Chaos Stone was the great emperor Wushi’s bed from those ancient years.

After the great black dog finished its cursing, it suddenly fell silent for a very long time and said no more.

“Black Emperor — what’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’ve been struck by some curse from within the tomb?”

“Brat — do you want to harm someone?” the Black Emperor asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Ye Fan asked.

“Anyone you find displeasing — give this map to them.” the Black Emperor replied calmly.

“What do you mean by that? If you do so, wouldn’t the Nine Dragon-guarded Purple Mountain become known to all? It would no longer be peaceful — people would come to excavate it!” Ye Fan understood clearly: the great black dog was certainly deeply connected to Purple Mountain.

“Calculating the time — it’s been fully over a hundred thousand years. Perhaps the time for Purple Mountain to emerge into the world has come.” The great black dog said it woodenly, seeming somewhat lost and forlorn.

“What are you saying? Are you not afraid the various sacred grounds will destroy Purple Mountain?” Ye Fan asked.

“Unless there is still a living great emperor in this world, no one can obtain anything from Purple Mountain.” The great black dog replied with absolute certainty, then seemed to come back to its senses: “Give this map to anyone you find displeasing.”

Ye Fan’s heart grew cold. He immediately thought of much — Purple Mountain was very likely on the verge of a tremendous upheaval!

“Are you certain the sacred grounds cannot obtain the Wushi Scripture?” What Ye Fan cared about most within Purple Mountain was that scripture carved in stone.

“Unless there is a living great emperor, or someone obtains the complete jade pendant — no one can open the ancient scripture.” The Black Emperor replied with certainty.

This great black dog knew far too much. But Ye Fan could hardly press it further. He began to think it through carefully.

“These sacred grounds have nothing better to do anyway — I may as well give them something to redirect their attention.” He made up his mind and a cold smile curled at his lips. He wanted to send the ancient scroll out — but he needed a suitable excuse.

“Why hasn’t the despicable Daoist appeared yet?” Ye Fan had been on guard against him all along. But now he genuinely hoped the man would show himself — to give him a hot potato that burned whoever held it.

“Boom!”

Suddenly, a thunderous crash rang through the Light Divine Hall. A tremendous aura of transcendence swept across the hall, shaking even the Chaos Stone.

The ancient pagoda in the hall shattered in an instant. Yan Ruyu — unparalleled in grace — stood alone in the center of the hall. With a transcendent weapon she had reduced the ancient pagoda to dust. Her opponent was obliterated entirely. She broke free of the pagoda.

At the same moment, many disciples of the sacred grounds fell back rapidly. Those at the forefront were all at the fourth level of the Dao Palace — clearly, they had been surrounding the ancient pagoda with a particular purpose in mind, which needed no speculation.

Not every sacred ground possessed a transcendent weapon. There were only a handful of such weapons in all the Eastern Desolation. If Yan Ruyu had perished here, for some present that prize would have surpassed every other opportunity.

Regrettably, all the sacred sons had been frozen in mid-air long ago — something none of them had anticipated.

“Dao Master Duan — what do you mean by this?” Yan Ruyu stood tall and graceful in the center of the hall, her gaze fixed on a particular stretch of empty space.

A chubby figure materialized — Duan De, grinning with sheepish embarrassment. “I feared the Princess might come to harm, so I stayed nearby to protect her.”

That fat piece of work! Ye Fan’s heart jolted. So this fellow had been here all along, concealing himself deeply. His ambition ran sky-high — he had actually set his sights on the transcendent weapon.

Yan Ruyu’s expression remained serene, her flawless jade face showing nothing whatsoever. She said nothing further. Light blazed in her palm, and the transcendent immortal might grew even more fearsome.

Duan De retreated quickly: “Princess, please do not misunderstand. How many guts would I need to dare steal from you? The Peacock King, the Azure Dragon King, and the Old Peng King are all outside. I would have to be out of my mind.”

At these words, everyone’s face changed. It was not just that the great senior elders of the sacred grounds had arrived — even the three great Demon Kings had appeared simultaneously.

“Duan De… I’m telling you, my grandfather Wu Dao is here too!” Wu Zhongtian said through gritted teeth.

Duan De heard this and immediately shrank his neck. He had once dug up this man’s ancestral tomb — if he was cornered here, the consequences would be unthinkable.

“Black Emperor — fetch it!” Ye Fan transmitted in secret. He retrieved the ancient scroll from the cauldron and held it in his hand.

At that very moment, what left everyone astonished took place. Duan De, a battered bowl hovering above his head, darted toward the Chaos Stone like a specter — the force field could not stop him at all!

“Flash!”

Duan De swept through in an instant, moving at an inconceivable speed. In one motion he snatched the ancient scroll from Ye Fan’s hand — appearing and disappearing without a trace.

He burst out laughing, his mouth splitting nearly to his ears. But he was not satisfied. One great fat hand reached out toward the cauldron hovering above Ye Fan’s head.

“Woof!” “Woof!” “Woof!”…

Barking resounded through the hall.

“Ahhh!” “Ahhh!” “Ahhh!”…

Duan De yelped, shaking his right arm frantically. In that single instant he had been bitten seventeen or eighteen times — from the fingertips all the way up to the forearm.

“Boundless… what in the heavens’ name… whose dog is this?!”