“And you think you’re in a position to make the two of us leave?!” Tu Fei eyed Xia Jiuyou askance, his expression decidedly unfriendly.

“Would you prefer I flick you away with a single finger?” Xia Jiuyou said coldly and dispassionately.

Tu Fei nearly choked on his own blood with rage. Being treated with such contempt by a boy of thirteen or fourteen gave him the urge to commit violence.

“Even that so-called powerhouse from Yao Guang was nothing much — can you even match him?” The white-robed boy smiled coldly, as arrogant as ever.

The entire room was completely speechless. Xia Jiuyou was truly insufferably conceited — he wasn’t afraid of offending anyone, and even Li Rui of Yao Guang had just been included in his contempt.

Tu Fei held in a breath for a long while before finally saying: “Your hair hasn’t even fully grown in yet — what are you strutting around about?!”

Pfft!

Everyone around burst out laughing. No one had expected Tu Fei to say something like that in full public view. Xia Jiuyou’s face went rigid, and then froze over completely.

Tu Fei was genuinely frustrated — he had the feeling that he might actually not be able to beat this boy. The other party was barely thirteen or fourteen, yet frighteningly powerful in a way that defied easy explanation — and it irked him terribly.

“Then let me find out just how powerful you really are!” the white-robed boy said coldly.

“Why would I lower myself to the level of a child? I’m not going to bully you.” Tu Fei said this with absolutely no shame — he genuinely was worried about getting roughed up.

“Then I’ll just have to bully you!” Xia Jiuyou rose to his feet.

Tu Fei waved a hand. “Fine — since you insist on a contest, let’s make it a battle of the mind. Otherwise, looking at you — skin so smooth, more beautiful than any little girl — it really would be a shame if you got hurt.”

“What do you mean by a ‘battle of the mind’?” The people around them stirred things up, hoping for chaos.

“A battle of divine sense, naturally.” Tu Fei answered offhandedly.

“That’s your idea of a ‘battle of the mind’? Divine sense combat is the most lethal kind of all — sounds like it’s a fight to the death.” The onlookers all went cold, thinking Tu Fei had lost his temper.

“Good — since you wish for your spirit to decay and perish, I’ll grant you that wish.” Xia Jiuyou settled calmly into his seat.

“It would be a bit too much for me to step in personally — let my brother take the stage instead.” Tu Fei clapped Ye Fan on the shoulder and pushed him forward.

“Absolutely shameless — sending your own brother to his death,” someone muttered under their breath.

“You may as well both come at once,” Xia Jiuyou sneered.

“Don’t get cocky, kid, just because your hair hasn’t grown in yet. You wouldn’t be a match for even one of us — much less two,” Tu Fei said brazenly.

Xia Jiuyou’s killing intent was laid bare. His eyes shot out two beams of divine light — blindingly bright, impossible to look at directly.

Crack!

A beam of light burst from the center of his brow — more brilliant than any rainbow — and came boring toward Tu Fei. The divine sense at this level was something alarming.

Clang!

From Ye Fan’s brow, a streak of violet radiance shot out — like a divine sword leaving its scabbard, ringing out with a clear, resonant tone — comparable to a violet heavenly blade.

He was deliberately concealing his golden divine sense. The world-overturning great technique recorded in the Source Heavenly Scripture had allowed him to alter even his bearing and spiritual aura.

Crack!

As the two engaged in a battle of divine sense, the tables and chairs around them were silently annihilated — reduced to powder, turned to drifting ash. This was a collision of fearsome power; a single misstep could cost one’s life — the divine soul obliterated, plunged into a state of irreversible ruin.

Violet radiance against rainbow radiance — a blaze of brilliance filled the air. Divine sense clashed like blades, more dangerous than physical combat, as both their foreheads blazed with light, crystalline and bright.

The onlookers, however, felt their hearts seizing in terror. Divine sense this powerful, if it swept through them, would kill most of them instantly.

Clang, clang, clang!

Ye Fan’s divine sense took shape as a three-inch violet figure holding a battle spear — like a violet war god — advancing step by step, pressing forward in the kill.

Xia Jiuyou’s divine sense manifested as a seven-colored figure bearing a divine bell — ethereal and otherworldly — swinging the iridescent bell, sending wave after wave of colored streamers rippling outward like rings on water.

Divine sense given form as figures, fighting it out in the void — the exchange was fierce. Many of the onlookers couldn’t help trembling; this was combat at the most fundamental, primordial level.

Clang!

The violet figure grew more ferocious with every exchange. Like a divine being, it thrust its battle spear through the air — then swung sideways in a sweeping blow.

The seven-colored figure was light and nimble, bearing the divine bell with an otherworldly ease — but it wasn’t nimble enough to dodge. It turned its back, raising the divine bell as a shield against the spear.

Dong!

A sound rang out in the realm of divine sense. Many felt their divine souls sting — struck by the shockwaves of that clash.

Flash!

The two figures separated. Violet light and rainbow light scattered and flew — and the two dove back in, fighting again.

“Stop.” At that moment, one of the gray-robed old men behind Xia Jiuyou suddenly spoke. From the center of his brow, a beam of murky gray light swept out toward Ye Fan’s divine sense.

When that aura manifested, many in the tavern changed color. They felt as if doomsday had come — this divine sense was immensely powerful, deep and boundless as a vast ocean.

Flash!

A flare of light — and the violet figure plunged back into Ye Fan’s brow, where it glowed, crystalline as jade.

“What do you mean by that?” Ye Fan said, his voice low and firm.

In that instant, he had felt as if he’d been locked in place by a savage beast. This old man was very dangerous — his divine sense was formidable, and likely not weaker than his own.

“My young master is in the midst of cultivating a divine art, and cannot unleash his divine sense recklessly — so I stopped the contest.” The gray-robed old man replied.

“Indeed — my divine art is not yet complete. It is a hindrance.” Xia Jiuyou spoke up. His large eyes, like black gemstones, blinked, fixed on Ye Fan. “You’ve surprised me a little. Your divine sense is unexpectedly this powerful. How many tenths of your strength were you using? If it was six-tenths or more, you’d be no match for me.”

Ye Fan smiled and said nothing by way of explanation — but his heart gave a jolt. This boy was truly a monster. Young as he was, if his divine sense were fully unleashed, it was probably comparable to Yao Xi. It was hard to imagine who had shaped him like this. Could it really be that he’d been personally taught by some old Sacred Lord of the previous generation?

After this exchange, the white-robed boy Xia Jiuyou’s expression softened somewhat — he no longer made any proclamations about driving the others away.

Many eyes turned to Ye Fan. He had actually fought Xia Jiuyou to a standstill — causing that insufferably conceited white-robed boy to change his mind about dismissing everyone — and the tavern’s occupants were all greatly surprised.

The young girl Daoist from Dao Yi Sacred Ground, Xiang Yifei from Dayin Sacred Ground, and Ji Biyue from the Ji Family all showed expressions of astonishment and couldn’t help looking Ye Fan over with new eyes.

“Boundless Heavenly Venerable!”

An old Daoist appeared and walked up the stairs. He appeared to be only fifty or sixty, with a lean, stringy body — yet full of vitality. He had a small goatee, and his two eyes shone like golden orbs.

At a glance, this person was no ordinary individual. Though his body was gaunt, his spirit, energy, and divine sense were all at their peak — he was a very powerful cultivator, impossible to see through.

“Daoist, you’ve finally shown yourself — do you have any definite news yet?” Ji Biyue smiled and asked.

“A man of the Dao does not speak falsely. This poor Daoist will have his location confirmed very shortly.” The old Daoist said this with great sincerity.

Ye Fan and Tu Fei’s hearts gave a simultaneous jolt, and they exchanged a glance. This is the one who wants to set someone up?

“This stubble-snout is a real talent — also wants to set up a Sacred Ground, looks more genuine than the real thing, and thought of it before us,” Tu Fei muttered through gritted teeth.

The old Daoist was wooden and dull; he didn’t say much, answering only what was asked of him, one question at a time, giving the impression of someone simple and honest — utterly unlike any image of a crafty schemer.

Ye Fan also nodded and transmitted secretly: “If he tricks the Sacred Grounds before we do, there’s nothing we can do. We only have this one chance.”

Tu Fei couldn’t contain himself. “You look at this stubble-snout — face of an honest man, and yet, damn, I really want to slap him twice.”

“Boundless Heavenly Venerable — this poor Daoist truly does not know where he is at this moment. The time has not yet come, and even if you offered me Source right now, this poor Daoist would not accept it.” The old Daoist wore an expression of the utmost sincerity.

“I really want to slap him — this man is a master of deception. Look how honest he seems. Someone offered him Source to find out information and he turned it down flat,” Tu Fei fumed.

“He’s gearing up for a big score — he wouldn’t even glance at that little bit of Source,” Ye Fan said, and couldn’t help but be impressed. This old Daoist was truly a talent: obviously here to fleece everyone, yet maintaining the air of a simple, guileless man — refusing Source when offered, holding himself to a very clear standard.

Half an hour later, the tavern’s occupants had all dispersed. Only Ye Fan remained — and Tu Fei said: “Quick, follow him — let’s see what kind of tricks that stubble-snout is up to.”

“No point in following him. If he dared come here, he definitely has a backup plan.” Ye Fan shook his head, turned, walked to the chair the old Daoist had been sitting in, swept his robe sleeve — and collected it.

“What do you want with an old chair? Think you can track down that stubble-snout with it?” Tu Fei didn’t understand.

“We can’t — but that dog certainly can.” Ye Fan smiled.

Tu Fei clapped his hands, laughing slyly: “A dog’s nose is the sharpest. That dead dog is definitely up to the task.”

They walked through the city for a long while and gathered quite a lot of intelligence. The Ji Family had three Supreme Elders present, and Yao Guang also had peerless experts who had arrived; beyond those, respected senior figures from Wanchu Sacred Ground had also appeared.

And that was merely what they’d heard about. As for the other major powers and independent cultivators, no one could be sure how many had turned up.

The young girl Daoist from Dao Yi Sacred Ground had appeared; Xiang Yifei from Dayin Sacred Ground was present as well; a disciple from Purple Prefecture Sacred Ground had also revealed themselves — though whether those Sacred Grounds’ Supreme Elders had come too was impossible to determine.

“The Myriad Things Mother Qi has stirred everyone’s hearts. A pack of old immortals has arrived — this is going to be trouble,” Tu Fei said.

Ye Fan’s brow furrowed as well. He had hoped to make his move while the great Sacred Lords were preoccupied with the ancient scroll — yet still so many people had come.

The old Daoist who also wanted to set up the Sacred Grounds was doing exactly what Ye Fan had planned, and that too was giving him a headache.

“Should we move before this stubble-snout does?” Tu Fei asked.

Ye Fan thought for a while. “We can’t move anymore. I suspect that even some individual Sacred Lords may have come — the risk is too great.”

“So we just watch that crafty stubble-snout run his con?” Tu Fei seethed.

Ye Fan rubbed his chin, and a smile crept onto his face. “It’s precisely because he came that things have become wonderfully interesting. Let him do everything. We’ll figure out how to take the Source at the right moment — all we need to do is keep our eyes on him.”

Tu Fei understood all at once, and burst out laughing, nodding repeatedly. “Let him do all the hard work, and we pocket the Source. But we have to keep a close eye on his every move — only then can we strike at exactly the right moment.”

Ye Fan nodded. “For now, we can only rely on that dog’s nose.”

“This time, we also need to think of a reliable way to rob that Xia Jiuyou,” Tu Fei said, unable to let it go.

An hour later, Ye Fan and Tu Fei returned to the depths of the towering peaks. An autumn breeze rustled past; yellow leaves drifted in the air. The mountains were desolate.

In a mountain valley, grasses and trees had withered, and fallen leaves covered the ground. The great black dog lay sprawled out, panting heavily from exhaustion — it had finished carving all the Dao markings, enough to traverse the void.

“It’s just a few markings. Was all this drama really necessary?” Tu Fei sneered.

“What would you know!” The great black dog didn’t even spare him a glance.

These two had been at odds from the very first time they’d come to blows — ever since their first man-and-dog battle, they’d quarreled every time they met.

“Just what kind of Dao markings did you carve?” Ye Fan asked, somewhat astonished.

The great black dog replied with proud dignity: “This Emperor has carved a set of linked chain Dao markings — impossible to be locked in the void, impossible to be chased into the void by anyone powerful enough.”

“How far can it traverse?” Ye Fan asked.

“I tested it just now — sixty thousand li.”

“This dead dog is definitely making things up. In the time it’s been gone, it came back from sixty thousand li away?” Tu Fei’s jaw dropped, disbelieving.

Ye Fan’s forehead was immediately covered in lines of exasperation. “I left you a huge pile of Source — and you burned through all of it?!”

“Do you understand what a linked chain Dao marking is? There are more than ten relay points along the way — naturally I had to traverse the void over and over again to set them up,” the great black dog said with perfect self-righteousness.

Both Ye Fan and Tu Fei wanted to beat it. This dead dog had squandered an entire heap of Source — at least half of which had probably gone into its stomach.

“This dead dog is completely useless!” Tu Fei cursed.

“Woof!” The great black dog lunged at him.

“Cut it out,” Ye Fan stopped it. “Did you lay down some sealing formations along the way? This time we might run into some extremely formidable figures.”

“Rest assured — even if a truly powerful opponent is in pursuit, this Emperor will make sure they take a severe loss,” the great black dog said, gnashing its teeth. “Being around you has brought this Emperor nothing but misfortune again and again. This time I put everything I had into carving those Dao markings. Even the Lord of Heaven himself couldn’t catch me.”

“This dead dog is talking itself up so big — do you think it could possibly lure Xia Jiuyou in and trap him? Skin him alive?” Tu Fei said, not letting it go.

“More or less,” Ye Fan said with a nod. Then, turning to the great black dog: “Now go find someone for me.” He swept his robe sleeve wide — and a wooden chair appeared in the valley.

“What do you mean?” The great black dog was confused.

“We need to borrow your dog nose to track someone down,” Tu Fei said.

“Woof!” The great black dog launched itself forward. The man-and-dog battle erupted.

“I @#¥… dead dog, I was telling the truth!” Tu Fei howled.

“Stop — we’ve decided not to set up the Sacred Grounds ourselves. We need to find someone,” Ye Fan called out urgently.

“You said what?” The great black dog was even more agitated. “You made this Emperor work so hard carving all those Dao markings, and now there’s nothing to do with them?!”

“Those markings will absolutely be used — they’re our lifeline when it’s time to escape,” Ye Fan explained hurriedly. Otherwise, this dead dog was going to rebel.

The great black dog’s expression gradually eased. “Another stubble-snout, then. That whole bunch of scruffy ones is rotten to the core. Of course, you’re pretty rotten too — sitting back to reap what others sow. But this Emperor likes it. Heh heh…”

“Don’t laugh like that — it’s so pathetic.”

The great black dog let out a dry, grinding chuckle. Its bald tail stood straight up. It sniffed at the chair, then frowned. “An extraordinarily pure aura of divine force.”

The Black Emperor transformed into a cat and set off with Ye Fan and Tu Fei back to Mountain Rock City, beginning the trail from that tavern.

The tracking went smoothly all the way — until they reached a sheer cliff deep in the mountains, where the great black dog stopped, puzzled. “It’s gone.”

“Is he hiding here?” Tu Fei asked.

“No — the person seems to have shattered right here,” the great black dog said, looking baffled.

“What nonsense are you talking about…”

Suddenly, the great black dog’s expression shifted. “I understand now. That wasn’t a real person.”

“What, some kind of spirit manifestation?” Ye Fan asked.

“It is a divine deity born within a powerful cultivator’s Dao Palace. It cultivates an ancient technique from more than a hundred thousand years ago. He must have feared being followed — so he dissolved here, dispersed into heaven and earth, and then re-formed his body dozens of li away,” the great black dog concluded.

“That formidable?” Both Ye Fan and Tu Fei were taken aback.

“Indeed. It truly is that secret technique — I can sense the aura of it. This is no simple figure,” the great black dog said.

“We must see who he is,” Ye Fan said firmly.

And so they wandered, searching dozens of li in every direction — above ground and below — until at last they found another trace. The Black Emperor’s nose was truly without peer under heaven: catch one faint hint of a scent, and it could confirm the trail, following it all the way through.

This was the pure aura of divine force left behind by a divine deity within someone’s Dao Palace. They were confident that they would soon come face to face with the real one.

After tracking more than three thousand li, they gradually closed in on their target, entering a region of towering peaks and steep ranges.

“Hell — this Emperor is smelling a familiar scent,” the Black Emperor said.

“A familiar scent?”

“In addition to the pure divine force aura, there’s also the personal scent of that person’s main body — this is someone we know,” the Black Emperor replied.

“What — it’s someone we know?!” Both Ye Fan and Tu Fei were astonished.

“Don’t get any closer. This person is extraordinarily dangerous. We can only watch from a distance,” the great black dog said in a low, grave voice.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Ye Fan, Tu Fei, and the Black Emperor chose a concealed spot and gazed out toward a mountain peak in the distance.

“He looks exactly like you!” Tu Fei said, somewhat startled.

Ye Fan’s brow furrowed. On that distant peak, another “him” was hunched over, carving something into the rock.

“This is that stubble-snout I bit in the great emperor’s burial chamber — it’s absolutely his scent,” the Black Emperor announced the answer.

“That fat bastard!” Ye Fan had never in his wildest imagination expected it — it was Duan De!

“What — it’s Crooked Path Daoist! This bastard — wasn’t he chased off in the direction of the Central Prefecture by Elder Wu Dao? When did he get back? He really must have nine lives,” Tu Fei was equally stunned.

“That damned fatty…” Ye Fan said through gritted teeth. This fellow truly lived up to the name “Crooked Path Daoist” — he would dare set up anyone, and now he’d actually set his sights on a Sacred Ground.

Tu Fei also cursed: “That bastard has finally fallen into our hands. We are absolutely going to make him come crashing down in ruin. That scoundrel truly has more nerve than sense!”

Ye Fan also had the urge to spit blood. This Crooked Path Daoist really knew how to stir things up — to come up with a scheme this underhanded, carving something into the rock. Grinding his teeth, he said: “Impersonating me to swindle people — and to think he actually came up with that!”

Tu Fei said: “This bastard is cutting off our path and trying to use your face as a prop. I’ve never seen a Daoist this crooked.”

“What is he carving? Could he also be laying down Dao markings?” Ye Fan wondered.

The great black dog gave a definitive answer: “Yes — looks like he’s carving Dao markings, and they’re no ordinary Dao markings at that. But he’s not proficient enough — he’s doing it slowly.”

Ye Fan rubbed his chin. “I want to stomp that fatty flat. When he leaves, Black Emperor, go over and make a few modifications — so that when he tries to traverse the void, he’ll be stuck staring helplessly.”

“People could die from that,” the Black Emperor said — though even as it said so, it let out a sly, improper chuckle.

“When the Sacred Ground people surround him here, we’ll see how he gets out,” Tu Fei said, laughing slyly.

Just then, five divine deity figures burst from inside Duan De’s body to help him carve the Dao markings. One of them was the same one — that lean, stringy, dull-looking figure with the honest face.

“Now I finally understand why I wanted to slap that wooden Daoist — turns out it was that dead fatty’s divine deity…”