The frozen plain stretched endlessly in all directions, bitterly cold and piercingly chill, a vast expanse of white.

The smile on Ye Fan’s face was brilliant — like a warm ray of sunlight amid the falling snow that blanketed the sky.

Yet to Jiang Yichen, it was utterly terrifying. He was gripped by fear deep in his heart, and despite being in the frozen, snow-covered world, sweat broke out across his entire body.

His opponent intended to eliminate him. In this desolate frozen plain, no one could save him — not even his remarkable standing would be of any use.

“Hum—”

The void shook violently. Jiang Yichen unleashed a Heavenly Net Umbrella, which opened like a canopy of sky and came crashing down toward Ye Fan.

Ye Fan was completely at ease, walking forward step by step as though he hadn’t even noticed the black magic umbrella, pressing steadily toward Jiang Yichen.

“Crack!”

At the very instant the black Heavenly Net Umbrella was about to descend upon him, Ye Fan finally swung his golden hand upward and struck the sky. The dense black clouds were scattered apart, and the magic umbrella was reduced to fragments.

Jiang Yichen’s expression changed. The Archaic Holy Body was actually this powerful — with a casual wave of his hand, sacred artifacts were reduced to ash. How could anyone possibly resist it?

In the past, a single simple command from him had nearly killed Ye Fan. Now the tables had turned, and his opponent was putting that same pressure on him — letting him experience the very same terrifying torment for himself.

Worse than being beaten into a pulp all at once — in this moment, he was enduring a form of extreme, agonizing fear.

“Clang—” “Clang—” “Clang—”

Ten thousand swords rang out in unison. Tens of thousands of sword auras lit up the entire frozen plain — dazzling and blinding, each one stretching dozens of meters long, each as thick as a water vat.

The blazing divine radiance nearly pierced through the void itself, surging toward Ye Fan and burying him within it.

But it was all useless. Ye Fan did not block at all. The Archaic Holy Body radiated golden light — in this white, snow-covered world, he blazed like a divine sun, magnificent and brilliant.

“Pop—” “Pop—” “Pop—”

Tens of thousands of sword auras shattered inch by inch right before Ye Fan, unable to approach within three feet of him.

His black hair swayed lightly, his gaze bright and clear, carrying an otherworldly quality. Enveloped in golden radiance, he walked through the world like a divine spirit taking mortal form.

“You—”

Witnessing this scene, Jiang Yichen became only more terrified. His enemy approached through the snow with complete composure, unstoppable — and that was a torment beyond words for him.

He shook out his hand and hurled a violet-gold gourd. Violet energy shot into the sky, dyeing the falling snow in all directions a deep purple. It rapidly expanded, vast as a great mountain, pressing down to suppress its target.

This violet-gold gourd was no ordinary object — it had been personally refined by his grandfather, and its power was matchless. Ye Fan had already seen through its nature, yet remained utterly composed. He stretched out one great golden hand and slapped upward.

“Boom—”

The violet-gold gourd was as vast as a mountain, its pressure causing the entire frozen plain to tremble — but Ye Fan caught it with a single hand and flicked his golden fingers, sending violet-gold light dancing.

Jiang Yichen let out a miserable cry. The divine sense he had left within the gourd was erased, and the treasure changed hands.

The violet-gold gourd shrank down to three inches tall and appeared in the palm of Ye Fan’s hand, crystalline and translucent, with violet light flowing across its surface.

“Three questions: first, does anyone in the Jiang Family intend to harm little Tingting? Second, can your grandfather hold his own against the Jiang Family’s Sacred Lord? Third, what exactly is the deep foundation that the Jiang Family has been suppressing with the Eternal Universe Furnace?”

Ye Fan flashed a mouthful of snow-white teeth and posed his three questions.

Jiang Yichen was drenched head to toe in sweat. He knew Ye Fan was doing this deliberately — making him experience this same terror of being threatened with death.

In only a few years, his opponent had grown completely. He was no longer that desperate young man who could be hunted to the brink of death with just a few riders dispatched against him.

Now the Archaic Holy Body had cultivated to the Fifth Tier of the Dao Palace. Standing in the wind and snow, wrapped in golden light, he was like an Immortal King descending upon the mortal world — more than enough to look down upon him!

Jiang Yichen’s expression changed. He said not a single word. He knew that if his opponent wanted to kill him, no response would let him escape death.

Ye Fan advanced toward him step by step, as though having merged with heaven and earth — carrying a natural yet terrifying rhythm.

Each step he took, the earth shuddered. The pressure bore down on Jiang Yichen until he could barely breathe, and at last he opened his mouth and vomited a great mouthful of fresh blood.

In that moment, he finally collapsed from exhaustion, his entire body went limp, and he crumpled to the ground.

“Ha ha ha—” Ye Fan burst into laughter.

Jiang Yichen’s face was a deathly shade of iron-gray. He felt humiliated — a feeling worse than death. The young man he had held in contempt just years ago now held his life and death in his hands.

“Flash—”

Light flickered. Ye Fan used Jiang Yichen’s own violet-gold gourd to seal him inside, suppressing him completely within it.

He had no desire to make a complete break with the Jiang Family. This person’s grandfather was a figure of great consequence — a match for the Sacred Lord — and it was not the right time to push things to an absolute extreme.

He feared those great figures might use special means to trace things back, so he would spare his life for now and let everything develop according to circumstances.

Ye Fan retrieved the cauldron; inside was still the exotic beast with the five-colored jade horn upon its head that could sense the presence of sacred treasures.

This kind of exotic beast was nearly extinct and extremely rare. He did not kill it — it would be of great use in the future — so in the end, he sealed it inside the violet-gold gourd as well.

The middle-aged cultivators at the Four Extremes Secret Realm and those young cultivators at the Dao Palace Secret Realm had left nothing behind — neither sacred artifacts nor exotic beasts; all had been wiped from existence.

Having dealt with everything, Ye Fan summoned the Mysterious Jade Terrace and directly crossed through the void to depart. This was not a place to linger.

The Northern Region was boundless — ten thousand miles of frozen earth, a million miles of drifting snow. Crossing through the void without pause, Ye Fan returned to the Hao Province, the very place where Old Zhang the Fifth and the others had rebuilt their stone stronghold.

The land was blanketed in silver and white, and this place was no different — covered in white snow, the breath from one’s mouth freezing to ice crystals almost immediately.

“Ha ha ha — Little Leaf, you’re finally back! I heard about what you did in the Sacred City — what an earth-shaking gamble!” Tu Fei appeared immediately.

He had been in the stone stronghold, having received word from Li Heishui in the Sacred City. Knowing that Ye Fan had left over a month ago, he had been waiting all this time.

“Ha ha ha—” Ye Fan also burst into laughter, feeling a deep warmth and familiarity.

“Come on, come on — no more talking. Today we don’t go home until we’re drunk.” Tu Fei grinned.

“Where has the Black Emperor gone?” Ye Fan asked. It was largely thanks to Tu Fei impersonating him and pillaging all over the place alongside the Black Emperor that he had been able to place his bold bet in the Sacred City without worry.

“That dead dog has been gone for days, ransacking source mines everywhere. I don’t know how many people it’s bitten — the female disciples of every Sacred Ground turn pale with dread at the mention of that dog.”

“That creature…” Ye Fan didn’t even know what to say.

“Come on, while that dead dog hasn’t gotten back yet, let’s go eat black dog meat hotpot. Cold weather like this — dog meat is the most fragrant thing there is. Have a few cups of aged wine on top of it — it’s practically an immortal’s life.”

The room was steaming warm, the furnace fire burning brightly, and before long the enticing aroma of roasting meat wafted out. Ye Fan, Tu Fei, and Old Zhang the Fifth sat cross-legged on the heated brick bed, clinking their cups repeatedly and eating until they were sweating all over.

Not long after, Wang Shu and Er Lengzi arrived as well and joined in — aged wine and dog meat, and the atmosphere could not have been livelier.

They kept raising their cups, talking about all that had happened in these recent days. Ye Fan held nothing back, and the others exclaimed in astonishment again and again as they listened.

“When is Young Brother Ye going to take us to the Sacred City to see it for ourselves?” Wang Shu and Er Lengzi were deeply envious.

Tu Fei said, “The Sacred City is like spring year-round — compared to the bitter cold out here, it’s incomparably better. I want to spend the winter there too.”

Suddenly, everyone felt the atmosphere shift — a bone-cutting killing intent came rushing in.

“What kind of meat are you eating?” The Big Black Dog had returned, no one knew when.

“Donkey meat!” Tu Fei said without batting an eye.

“It really is donkey meat — with some sliced mutton,” Er Lengzi softly explained from the side.

The Big Black Dog’s face darkened. It bared its teeth in a snarl and fixed everyone with a murderous glare.

“I’ll go get some firewood — the fire’s burning low.” Old Zhang the Fifth was the first to try and make his escape.

“I’ll go slice some more mutton,” Wang Shu also tried to bolt.

“It really is donkey meat — try it if you don’t believe me,” Tu Fei’s resolve was also wavering.

“Woof!”

The Big Black Dog leapt up onto the heated bed. The room erupted into chaos, barking and cursing ringing out together. It took a full half-hour before order was restored, and this time they swapped in real donkey meat and specifically roasted four yellow-horned antelopes just for the Big Black Dog, which finally managed to appease it.

“This Emperor ran back and forth through wind and rain for your sake, laboring bitterly through hardships beyond measure. Was it easy for me? You people have no conscience whatsoever!”

Tu Fei heard it go on like this and immediately curled his lip. “Dead dog — you’ve got some nerve. On the surface you were covering for Ye Fan, but in reality you were pillaging source mines for yourself. You’re basically a common bandit — and on top of that you went around proclaiming you were collecting human pets. Every time it was me who cleaned up your mess.”

“Woof!”

Man and dog were once again on the verge of coming to blows.

“How many human pets did you actually collect?” Ye Fan asked the Big Black Dog.

“Snatched seven or eight from a few Sacred Grounds. Those people were too fragile — they all broke down in the end. Their psychological fortitude is truly too poor.” The Big Black Dog shook its head with disdain.

“I…” Ye Fan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This dead dog was simply too outrageous — even the most thick-skinned person would break down after being captured as a pet by a big black dog.

“This dead dog pulled off a whole heap of disgraceful stunts…” Tu Fei stood to the side and helpfully elaborated with the details.

“Woof!”

In the end, Ye Fan produced a divine ore the size of a fist and tossed it to the Big Black Dog. Its eyes immediately went straight, and it almost drooled.

Of the divine ore that had sealed the golden little spirit, three pieces remained — each as large as a fist. One piece had gone to little Tingting, and the second went to the Big Black Dog.

Then Ye Fan gave the last piece to Tu Fei. Divine ore was extraordinarily rare in the world, with all manner of wondrous uses, and every Sacred Ground coveted it without exception.

“Woof!”

The Big Black Dog was insatiably greedy — having pocketed its own piece, it immediately started trying to snatch Tu Fei’s.

“Dead dog — you dare bite me—”

Man and dog went to war again. They nearly overturned the table on the heated bed along with the entire roof. Only after great effort did Ye Fan manage to pull them apart, though he took two bites in the process as well.

“I’ve acquired a spirit beast,” Ye Fan said, releasing Jiang Yichen’s mount.

“This Emperor wants it!” The Big Black Dog lunged at it immediately, drooling.

“Can you even ride it?” Ye Fan had meant to give it to Tu Fei, but the dog got excited at the sight of it.

“A treasure-sensing beast isn’t for riding — it’s for finding treasures.”

“This is the mount of an important Jiang Family disciple. It can’t be seen in the open,” Ye Fan warned.

“Then I’ll keep it for the time being. No human pet for now — I’ll settle for an animal pet instead.”

Ye Fan had figured it out by now — don’t bring out anything valuable in front of this greedy Big Black Dog. It would absolutely try to snatch it.

Afterward, Tu Fei mentioned something: recently, a mysterious young powerhouse had risen to prominence and was hunting down disciples of the Sacred Grounds, drawing the intense attention of every holy son.

“This Emperor knows who it is. I ran into them two days ago,” the Big Black Dog spoke up.

“You ran into them — who is it?” Ye Fan was startled.

“Someone just like you — an underhanded rogue. Didn’t show their real face, just sneaks up and clubs people from behind. Lucky This Emperor’s nose is sharp — I still remember their scent.”

“Dead dog — out with it!”

“Bring out another piece of divine ore, and This Emperor will tell you.”

“Dead dog, you’re far too greedy.” Ye Fan made a grab for it.

“Fifth Tier of the Dao Palace!” Tu Fei, despite having mentally prepared himself, was still visibly shocked to see it in person. “It feels like a savage dragon has awakened — the blood and vital energy is so vigorous it makes your heart seize up.”

“Fine, I’ll tell you — it’s that man-fiend: Pang Bo.”

“What? Pang Bo — he’s come out?!” Ye Fan was overcome with a mix of shock and joy.

From the moment they had come to this world, the two of them had been together for less than a year before separating. And now, after so much time, they were finally about to be reunited.

“Where is he?” Ye Fan asked urgently.

At this point, the Big Black Dog was staring at his great golden hand and drooling. “Once a Holy Body enters the Four Extremes Secret Realm, their blood is practically a sacred elixir. In the future…”

“Dead dog — you even dare set your sights on me?!” Ye Fan smacked it and said, “Tell me quickly — where is Pang Bo?”

“I ran into him two days ago. He was hunting down one of Yao Guang’s candidate holy sons,” the Big Black Dog said.

Tu Fei exclaimed admiringly, “A powerhouse like that — we should definitely get to know him well.”

Ye Fan’s heart stirred with deep emotion. Pang Bo had finally cultivated to prominence and stepped out into the world. He believed they would meet again very soon. He knew Pang Bo had acted on his behalf.

“Old Fifth, this time I’d like to cut open some of the stone instruments to find valuable things…” Ye Fan said to Old Zhang the Fifth. He hoped to find something worthwhile in the sacred cache left behind by the Source Celestial Master.

He was deeply respectful toward the old man. That he had been able to walk this far today was entirely thanks to the Source Celestial Scripture of the old man’s family — without it, his cultivation would have had almost no room to advance.

He hadn’t given Old Zhang the Fifth divine ore, because the old man had no use for it, but he had given a great deal of exotic-variety ore — enough for everyone in the stone stronghold to live in plenty for many generations.

“Go ahead and cut. I’m curious too about what might be inside.” Old Zhang the Fifth nodded.

“Still cutting? Better not cut out another poisonous fruit.” The Big Black Dog interjected.

“You dead dog — you have some nerve bringing that up. Do you know what that was? You bit off and ate tens of millions of catties’ worth of ore, and that was a Human Prime Fruit.”

“Woof—” The Big Black Dog leapt to its feet at once, its expression overcome with shock, utterly dumbfounded.

“You wasteful wretch!” Tu Fei, upon learning this, immediately launched into a scolding.

The Big Black Dog stared in disbelief and said, “You mean to say — that fruit that poisoned me half to death, made me foam at the mouth, and had me convulsing for half a month — that was the Human Prime Fruit, the kind that can extend the lifespan even for someone at the Sacred Lord level?”

“That very fruit,” Ye Fan confirmed.

Hearing the affirmative answer, the Big Black Dog said nothing more, immediately turned and ran, sprinting wildly through the ice and snow toward the pile of stone instruments.

“After it! Damn it — this unscrupulous dog! It’s trying to grab things again!”

The veins on Ye Fan’s forehead bulged as he took off in quick pursuit, with Tu Fei and the others following close behind.

“Woof — a person ought to be decent. There are so many sacred caches here — you should at least split half with me,” the Big Black Dog barked.

“That whole pile is yours,” Ye Fan pointed to a small mountain’s worth of stone.

“This Emperor only wants this pile of stone instruments — nothing else.” The Big Black Dog stood with its bald tail raised straight up, eyes burning with desire, staring fixedly at those stone grinders and millstones.

“Go cool off somewhere else.”

“What a shameless person!”

“You’re the shameless one, you dead dog.” Ye Fan shoved it aside.

A heap of stone instruments — looking perfectly ordinary, without anything special about them whatsoever. It was hard to imagine these were things left behind by a Source Celestial Master.

“Hopefully I can cut out something that stands apart from the rest.” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

He did not rush into action. He had recently cultivated the Source Celestial Divine Perception, and he felt that now he ought to be able to observe something others could not.

“This is the sacred cache of a Source Celestial Master — it must be far more precious than even the sky-high priced exotic stones in the stone squares of every Sacred Ground!” His heart was filled with anticipation.