There was no question: these dozen violet-robed women had been drawn here by the divine source.
The divine source Ye Fan had collected from the Myriad Dragon Nest was as large as a dinner plate. Set in the snow, it illuminated the entire ice plain in a brilliant, blinding radiance.
It floated suspended in the air without sinking — making even the sun above seem dim by comparison. Valued at a million jin of pure source, it turned the entire ice plain to gold.
“My dear immortal ladies, Tu has been waiting a long while,” Tu Fei said with incomparable flair, a bright smile on his face as he stepped forward to greet them.
Woof!
The Great Black Dog burst out from a snowdrift, cutting off their retreat.
Demonic energy surging to the heavens, Pang Bo appeared like a demon god from another direction — his face angular and sharp, his figure magnificent and towering, his hair cascading like a waterfall.
From the east, Ye Fan walked across the snow — the Divine Punishment Whip slung across his back, his features refined and elegant, radiating an air of transcendence, like a banished immortal descending to the mortal world.
The three of them together with the Great Black Dog surrounded the dozen violet-robed women in their midst. Ye Fan raised a hand and drew the divine source into his possession.
“That vicious dog!”
All dozen women changed color at once. The Great Black Dog had been indiscriminately biting people in all directions lately — every holy land disciple feared the very mention of it.
The Great Black Dog bared its teeth. “Call me Sacred Emperor!”
Clearly, this group of women also recognized Ye Fan from his portrait, and their jade faces turned cold as they readied themselves for battle.
“What do you intend?” one of the women demanded.
“We simply wish to stroll through the snow with you immortal ladies, enjoy the plum blossoms by moonlight,” Tu Fei said with a grin, summoning a replica of the ancient Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar and suspending it above his head.
“You…” The female disciples of the Violet Mansion holy land had always been proud and pure. In ordinary times, who would dare tease them? They all turned cold expressions toward him.
“Which of you is the holy maiden of the Violet Mansion?” Pang Bo stepped forward. Like a demon god reborn, his presence was overwhelming as he swept his gaze across each woman.
“Our holy maiden is not present.”
Ye Fan smiled and rose into the air with the Divine Punishment Whip across his back. “My dear immortal ladies — haven’t you all been pursuing me? Today I have come to your doorstep myself. Who wants to capture me?”
The dozen violet-robed women did not act rashly. They had heard plenty — Ye Fan was capable of withstanding cultivators at the first tier of the Four Extremes Secret Realm.
“Where did you obtain that divine source?” one of the women asked, trying to buy time.
“My dear immortal ladies, we can discuss it slowly — strolling beneath the flowers and moonlight while I tell you in detail,” Tu Fei laughed, pressing closer.
“Break out!” one woman called in a low voice, and the dozen holy land disciples split in different directions, trying to flee.
They had felt the pressure. Tu Fei had reached the Four Extremes Secret Realm; the Great Black Dog’s fierce reputation was well-known; Pang Bo’s demonic energy was overwhelming; and Ye Fan’s blood qi was vigorous and robust as a savage dragon, bearing down on them all.
Clang, clang, clang…
Several hundred great black banners plunged into the earth in all four directions, completely encircling the area — pitch black as ink, turning even the snow a different color.
The dozen women were trapped in the center, unable to break through. Ye Fan stepped forward; a flash of light at his fingertip, and the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sword appeared in his grip.
“My sacred physique has broken into the fifth tier of the Dao Palace — I haven’t had a chance to fight my fill yet. Today, all of you stand aside. I’ll subdue them myself.”
“What? The fifth tier of the Dao Palace with a sacred physique… isn’t that only cultivatable in a holy land?!” The women of the Violet Mansion all changed color.
“His sword…” One with a keen spiritual sense noticed the small sword in Ye Fan’s hand — forged from Dragon-Pattern Black Gold.
This material was the exclusive sacred substance of Great Emperors. Even without trying to attract attention, it would draw eyes regardless — imprinted with dragon patterns, gleaming with deep dark light, pure and flawless as jade, utterly extraordinary.
“Is that the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword that appeared in the sacred city?!”
“Ha ha…” Ye Fan laughed loudly, gave the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword a gentle shake, and it expanded in the wind, instantly growing to ten zhang in length.
The Sacred Spirit Sword born from the nine-aperture spirit person had already cultivated laws and order, with endless transformations within it. Now, it no longer carried a trace of its former delicate size — it had grown to be immense and matchless.
Long and broad and solid, magnificent and imposing, Ye Fan held it in one hand and pointed it obliquely toward the southern sky.
“Little Ye, that’s a bit unsportsmanlike — how could so many immortal ladies keep only you company?” Tu Fei said with a wry smile.
“Don’t cut them all down with one sword, this Emperor still wants a servant!” the Great Black Dog hollered.
The dozen holy land disciples wore sour expressions, faces cold as frost, glaring sharply at Tu Fei and the Great Black Dog.
“How did the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword end up in your hands?” the dozen women all asked, puzzled.
“Because I cut it out myself!” Ye Fan held the ten-zhang great sword, his divine might imposing — somewhat at odds with his still youthful features.
“What — you are Gu Feng? The source arts prodigy from the sacred city?!”
“You broke into the fifth tier of the Dao Palace on your own?”
In that moment, the expressions on the dozen violet-robed women’s faces were a sight to behold — shifting and changing, revealing utter disbelief.
“The fifth tier of the Dao Palace is nothing. When I break into the Four Extremes Secret Realm, that’s how I’ll face your holy sons and holy maidens — I very much look forward to seeing their expressions when they try to hunt me then,” Ye Fan said with complete composure.
“Indeed — let’s see what faces they make!” Tu Fei also laughed.
The inner disciples of the Violet Mansion felt a sinking feeling in their hearts. They knew that Ye Fan, having exposed his secrets like this, absolutely had no intention of letting them leave.
“Break through!”
The dozen women each summoned their sacred artifacts, combining their attacks against Ye Fan, trying to break out.
Ye Fan said nothing more and swung the great sword directly.
Clang!
One sword sweep cleared a thousand troops. The three women at the forefront — their sacred artifacts shattered in an instant.
At the same moment, Ye Fan extended his left hand. A void hand seal pressed down, a golden great hand obscuring heaven and earth, crushing downward with force.
The three women resisted, but under the divine might of the Desolate Holy Physique, though they were cultivators at the fifth tier, they were utterly unable to hold.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
All three coughed blood, caught by Ye Fan in one grab and thrown to the ground. At the same cultivation level, he was absolute suppression — unparalleled in battle, unshakable.
“Charge!”
“Attack!”
The other women, seeing this, exerted themselves to the utmost, unleashing their strongest divine arts. Colors of all kinds burst and scattered like dreams.
In response, Ye Fan swung the great sword — and struck just once!
Clang!
Heaven and earth shook. The Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword swept across the ice plain like a world-shocking bolt of lightning. Every woman cried out, struck hard by the invisible sword qi.
Their sacred artifacts and weapons all turned to ash. Had Ye Fan not held himself back, all dozen would have had their forms and souls annihilated.
Ye Fan sheathed the sword and struck no more. Even the strongest among them had barely reached the fifth tier of the Dao Palace — nominally the same level as him, but the gap in battle power was far too great. He shook his head and said to the Black Emperor: “Over to you.”
“Why hand it to that thing — I’m enough,” Tu Fei said with a smile, stepping forward. “My dear immortal ladies, allow me to help you up.”
Woof!
“Damn it, you wretched dog, why did you bite me?!” Tu Fei raged.
“Dare compete with this Emperor for a servant?”
The dozen women trembled with fury, but could not resist — they had lost the ability to fight.
The dozen female disciples of the Violet Mansion were captured. All their faces had gone pale, while a big dog kept shrieking about taking them as servants.
“You wretched dog — are you trying to push these people over the edge again?” Tu Fei said irritably.
Woof. “Those with weak psychological fortitude are naturally to be weeded out.”
“The way you act, no one wouldn’t break.”
Woof. “What do you mean by that?”
The person and dog nearly came to blows again.
Ye Fan walked forward. “Keep them. Whatever you do, don’t frighten them to the point of collapse — they will go mine ore in the future.”
“Isn’t that a bit extravagant?” Tu Fei clicked his tongue.
Ye Fan said, “In the future, I plan to lock down dragon veins and search for rare treasures within divine source. I will certainly need some manpower — I intend to borrow people from the holy lands to help.”
“Having the holy lands form a mining brigade?!” Pang Bo burst out laughing.
“Best to capture a few more holy sons and holy maidens as well — assembling a supremely elite lineup. Keep in mind that those people are the future holy masters and holy matriarchs.”
They chatted among themselves without regard for their audience. The dozen beautiful women stood there ashen-faced, half their hearts gone cold.
In the end, the dozen women were sealed within a precious artifact. They were to become high-grade “female miners” — Tu Fei repeatedly called it a supreme waste of beauty.
Not long after, they returned to the great snow mountain where the Ice and Snow Palace stood. No incidents had occurred — the primordial creature had not chased them out.
“The Myriad Dragon Nest holds a vast amount of divine source and is an earth-shaking divine treasury. If it could be seized in the future, it would be equivalent to an established holy land with deep reserves — absolute dominance over the world.”
“If you want to found a sect and establish a lineage, seize the Myriad Dragon Nest and there’s no need for any accumulated foundation at all — you could look down on all beneath heaven.”
“Easier said than done. The Myriad Dragon Nest has primordial kings inside — existences that sweep through heaven and earth above and below.”
“When my sacred physique reaches full completion, I will definitely walk inside and have a meeting with these so-called primordial kings. If nothing else, that divine medicine must be dug out and cultivated by my side.”
Having returned to this place, the conversation inevitably turned to the Myriad Dragon Nest.
That very day, the dragon qi receded inward. The Myriad Dragon Nirvana concluded, and the lands below were sealed once more.
After waiting on the ice plain for three days, Pang Bo’s expression stirred. “He’s here — the reserve holy son of Yao Guang has come down the mountain.”
Li Rui could indeed be called a genius. Though not the equal of the Yao Guang holy son — who was unmatched among his generation — he was absolutely brilliant and dazzling, a peak expert among his peers.
Yet ever since he had made his appearance in the world, he had suffered setback after setback. First, he had been overpowered by the peerless talent Xia Jiuyou, barely escaping disgrace. More recently, he had been hunted by Pang Bo and nearly died.
It was not that he was insufficiently powerful — he would not have been named a reserve holy son otherwise. It was simply that the enemies he encountered were too invincible, suppressing him utterly.
He had rested in the Ice and Snow Palace for several days to recover, and now came down the mountain in a dejected mood, intending to return to his sect and go back into seclusion.
But he had flown out barely a thousand li when he sensed something wrong. Someone was following him — and seemingly without any attempt to conceal it, coming straight for him with brazen pursuit.
He stopped sharply and looked back. When he saw Pang Bo — black hair flying in all directions, soaring through the air like a demon god — his expression immediately changed.
Li Rui turned and fled at once. But ahead, someone was already blocking his path: Ye Fan stood there with the Divine Punishment Whip across his back, while Tu Fei held the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar, smiling coldly.
Moreover, a great black dog was frolicking wildly through the sky, scattering three hundred sixty-five star stones that sealed off the void.
“You…” Li Rui’s expression darkened. Pang Bo alone was enough to kill him — and there were such powerful allies besides. His heart sank completely.
Ye Fan smiled coldly. “You holy land people enjoy combining forces to hunt me — today I want to try turning the tables.”
“Desolate ancient waste physique — do you dare fight me alone?!” Li Rui tried to provoke a duel, wanting to capture Ye Fan and use him to break out.
“Screw your waste!” Tu Fei said dismissively.
“When you sent powerful experts to hunt me down, you didn’t talk about fighting alone — now you suddenly remember?” Ye Fan raised the Divine Punishment Whip and stepped forward. Tu Fei carried the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar and advanced with him.
Pang Bo stopped them both, saying, “Stand back. This is the first opponent of any real weight I’ve encountered. From start to finish — I’ll handle him myself.”
Li Rui was outraged. He was a candidate holy son of the esteemed Yao Guang holy land — to be looked down upon so utterly.
“Attack!”
Li Rui unleashed the Primal Holy Radiance Arts. The ice plain trembled, and holy radiance flooded heaven and earth. His blood qi surged skyward — like a great forge burning fiercely. The Primal Holy Radiance Arts could purify heaven and earth, incinerate the celestial vault. Its might was unmatched, irresistible — and its defensive power was staggering; very few divine arts could match it.
“Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor — Form Obliteration!” Pang Bo roared. Hands clasped behind his back, he stood in place. His black hair flew wildly, and two beams of silver light shot from his eyes. Everywhere they passed, the void collapsed, and great swaths of holy radiance were slashed apart.
Puff!
Two silver beams pierced through the void and through Li Rui’s body. He cried out and fell back spitting blood, while simultaneously a small golden pagoda shot out from his mouth.
The small golden pagoda rapidly expanded, growing to the size of a mountain, pressing down toward Pang Bo.
Pang Bo remained perfectly calm, hands still clasped behind his back. His eyes glowed like two silver true dragons piercing heaven and earth, striking the ancient pagoda.
Crack!
This great sacred weapon was punctured in an instant. It was impossible to imagine what kind of terrifying power those two beams of eye-light contained.
“What kind of divine art is this? It’s too frightening!” Tu Fei clicked his tongue.
“A divine art handed down through the ancient scriptures of a demon emperor’s lineage — naturally terrifying,” the Great Black Dog said, its eyes burning with intense desire.
“Divine Radiance Glazed Realm!” Li Rui roared. His great sacred weapon had been destroyed, and he unleashed his own manifestation.
It was a small world filled with divine radiance, and he stood within it, surrounded by ten thousand streams of divine light — like a divine being from the celestial realm descending to the mortal world.
“Immortal spiritual radiance, Netherworld radiance, Primal Desolate radiance, Glazed radiance…” Li Rui called out name after name of different radiances, and finally bellowed: “Divine Radiance Eternal!”
Radiance covered the sky — thousands upon tens of thousands of streams, like ten thousand dragons surging from a nest, charging and killing forward.
Faced with this terrifying manifestation, Pang Bo remained completely unmoved. His long hair flew wildly, and he roared: “Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor — Stripping!”
A brilliant expanse of silver light erupted, appearing within the Divine Radiance Glazed Realm, passing through ten thousand streams of divine radiance, and ripping Li Rui clean out!
“This… is too savage!” Tu Fei was thunderstruck.
This was the Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor. Both Ye Fan and the Great Black Dog had experienced it firsthand and knew its terror deeply.
Li Rui was completely terrified. The opponent’s divine art was too powerful — it had actually separated him from his manifestation, stripping him out. The technique defied the heavens.
He let out a cry and turned to flee. Face and dignity be damned — nothing mattered more than his life. He tried to force his way through the array formed by the star stones.
“Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor — Form Obliteration!” Pang Bo roared coldly. His eyes burned like torches, dragon-shaped silver light shot out, piercing heaven and earth, reaching Li Rui.
“Ah…” He screamed. Every sacred artifact he summoned couldn’t stop it. Even the Primal Holy Radiance Arts was pierced through.
Two more bloody holes appeared in his body. He was critically wounded and could no longer flee. Li Rui gritted his teeth. The divine radiance at his brow flared brilliantly as he tried to unleash a final supreme radiance art — burning his own body to bring his opponent down with him.
Pang Bo gave him no opportunity. Like a majestic demon god, he roared: “Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor — Spirit Wound!”
Li Rui cried out. Blood seeped from his brow. He toppled backward from the sky, crashing down onto the ice plain.
“Brother Pang Bo, you are truly powerful, savage, and terrifying!” Tu Fei said three such things in a row.
“I’ve only cultivated the first three forms of the Nine Slashes of the Demon Emperor — these are my strongest divine arts. If he had held on, I would have had nothing left.”
“Stop being modest. Who can hold against these three forms? Used repeatedly, they’re enough to sweep through anyone at the same level,” Tu Fei marveled.
They descended to the ground. The Great Black Dog was the first to run over, extending its great paw to prod Li Rui, looking exceedingly enthusiastic. “A servant…”
Hearing those two words, Li Rui was so incensed he coughed up another mouthful of blood and fell unconscious.
“What do we do with him?” Tu Fei asked.
“Keep him sealed. He’ll go mine ore in the future as well,” Ye Fan said, subduing him.
“The mining brigade lineup keeps getting more distinguished,” Tu Fei said, at a loss for words.
“He’s the servant this Emperor has his eye on!” the Great Black Dog protested loudly.
Four days later, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Tu Fei, and the Great Black Dog had everything arranged on the ice plain, and finally the holy maiden of the Violet Mansion arrived.
Ye Fan stood alone on the ice plain — the Cauldron of All Things’ Maternal Qi floating above his head, the Divine Punishment Whip across his back — while the others concealed themselves.
The holy maiden of the Violet Mansion was not very old, only around twenty years, her violet robes billowing as she stood amid the ice and snow like a violet immortal blossom.
Her figure was slender, her waist fine and delicate, her hair flowing lightly, enveloped in violet qi. Her peerless features were hazy, and at the center of her brow, radiance bloomed, piercing through the violet mist, releasing violet luminance — the mark of the Dao.
She stood silently in the wind and snow, gazing at Ye Fan with calm eyes, as though merged with heaven and earth, blended into the Dao and nature.
Ye Fan was inwardly startled — this woman was too powerful; her depths were impossible to gauge at a glance.
“Immortal lady of the Violet Mansion — I have not yet had the honor of learning your name.”
“Zixia,” the holy maiden of the Violet Mansion said evenly, her voice without ripple or wave. “You haven’t entered the Four Extremes Secret Realm, yet you act without fear — you must have made arrangements here for quite some time. Let your companions come out.”
Ye Fan was surprised. Zixia was truly extraordinary — she had seen through everything in an instant. Even with all their preparations, she would likely be somewhat difficult to deal with.
“In truth, I have no desire to be your enemy. But the holy lands have all sent disciples to pursue me — that makes it difficult for me to face you calmly.”
“So you’ve joined forces with powerful allies to ambush and kill me here?” Zixia remained composed and at ease.
Ye Fan smiled. “I wouldn’t call it an ambush or a killing. If Fairy Zixia is willing to travel with me for a time as a guest, I believe we could coexist peacefully.”
“You wish to hold me under house arrest. Then come,” Zixia said. Her voice carried a magnetic quality, still without a ripple — yet very pleasant to hear.
All around, the star stones rose. Their radiance burst in all directions, as though night had descended — one star after another gleaming, turning the ice plain into a dreamlike scene.
Pang Bo, Tu Fei, and the Great Black Dog entered the field and came forward to face Fairy Zixia.
Pang Bo had not revealed his true appearance, shrouded in black mist, his entire person enshrouded in darkness.
“Fairy Zixia’s reputation is well deserved. She is always merged with the realm of the Dao — I am ashamed of my inadequacy by comparison,” Tu Fei sighed with admiration.
Fairy Zixia was in a wondrous state — always merged with heaven and earth, as though she could command the Great Dao. Her peerless bearing was connected to the Dao itself.
Swoosh!
A painting scroll surged out from her body and unfurled, making her appear even more ethereal, closer to the Great Dao.
“The Mountains and Rivers Map!”
Tu Fei’s pupils contracted sharply and he backed up several steps, raising the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Jar in front of him. He warned Ye Fan and the others: “Be very careful — this painting has already woven together laws and order. It is a great sacred weapon of the Violet Mansion!”
Within the scroll, great peaks stood majestic and immortal rivers surged — grand yet beautiful, complementing Fairy Zixia perfectly. The landscape was like a painting; the woman like a poem.