Stars and moon were soft, silver radiance drifting down like a gentle tide, filling heaven and earth with a pure, pristine glow.
The Divine City was veiled in haze, serene and tranquil in appearance, as though a thin layer of mist were curling through it.
Yet the truth of the situation was anything but peaceful. Invisible killing intent permeated the air, coming from all four directions — like towering waves crashing upon the shore, like boulders collapsing from the sky.
Ye Fan had struggled with everything he had to break through, finally succeeding in advancing into the Four Extremes Secret Realm, with no further obstacles in his way. He had become the first Holy Body in over a hundred thousand years to break the curse.
Everyone’s heart surged with turbulence. This was without question a monumental event — one that made all the great powers wary, pressing down upon them with a weight they could not ignore. No one was willing to see him rise.
Suddenly, the night sky was torn open. Someone crossed the void and appeared beside Ye Fan and the Divine King — like some savage beast from before the Ancient Era emerging into the world, with killing intent rolling off them like a tide. This person was a supreme expert who had manifested two Dharma bodies, each holding a heavy weapon that interwove the Dao and its principles, and came surging forward to kill.
“Hmm!”
The void shuddered as though a cloth had been ripped to shreds. This person’s battle power was immeasurable, their blood energy like a dragon, shaking people to the bone, making them feel as though they had plunged into the deepest abyss of hell.
Everyone was horrified. The newcomer was utterly audacious — striking at both Ye Fan and the Divine King simultaneously, decisively and without mercy.
The Divine King in White, though he could be called a peerless powerful being, had exhausted all his divine blood, and had played out the Divine Prelude with his own life force. He was now completely spent — a lamp running out of oil.
The newcomer was nothing if not vicious and cunning, having chosen this precise moment to strike with lethal finality. Otherwise, who in ordinary circumstances would dare confront the Divine King head-on? This was pure exploitation of the Divine King’s declining power and imminent end.
“How dare you?!” The people of the Jiang Family cried out, rushing forward swiftly.
The Peerless Divine King’s eyes held no light, yet his bearing was undiminished. His snow-white sleeve rose in the wind. He was one with the natural order, heaven and man in harmony — like a divine being walking in the mortal world. He formed a seal that shook the void.
“Bang!”
The sky collapsed in an instant. This world seemed to crumble, as though nothing could resist or stand against it — like the strike of a divine being, sweeping away all obstacles with absolute ease.
“Boom!”
A power like an ocean surged and churned, suffocating all who felt it. Everyone was horrified. Those in the distance — no one knew how many — were shaken senseless by the shockwave, toppling backward and crashing to the ground.
The crowd was trembling in terror. The Divine King in White in the sky seemed like a divine sovereign — forming a seal that shook, making the stars and moon lose their color, making heaven and earth collapse.
“Spit!”
That supreme expert was reduced to flying ash in an instant. Both Dharma bodies were annihilated. The weapons that interwove the Dao and its principles became dust. Nothing remained.
“This is…”
Every single person felt a chill spread from the crown of their head down to the soles of their feet. The Divine King in White was nearly spent — and yet he still commanded such divine might. This was enough to make everyone break out in cold sweat. Every one of the great powers was left deeply shaken.
“Even the Divine King Tree has withered — his life is nearing its end. How can he still have such power?”
“He has exhausted his divine blood and played the Divine Prelude — his life should have been depleted by now.”
“Worthy of the name ‘Peerless Divine King.’ Through his own singular effort he defied Heaven and severed the Holy Body’s karmic ties — and even on the verge of entering parinirvana, he still commands such power. Truly, he is not to be desecrated.”
The cultivators present were shaken. The people of the Jiang Family felt even deeper grief, rushing forward quickly.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, the sky dimmed in an instant. A great black hand reached out and covered the night sky, blocking all moonlight and starlight.
Like a dark cloud, it blotted out the sky and obscured the earth. It was so vast and oppressive it suffocated, and the terrifying fluctuations it sent forth caused many people to lose consciousness and collapse on the spot.
Yet another supreme expert had made their move — even more fearsome than the one before. They aimed to annihilate both the Divine King in White and Ye Fan. An immense, surging killing intent swept through the air; the earth itself cracked and split in every direction.
The Divine King in White’s eyes held no light, yet his body stood ramrod straight. His right hand pulled at the Great Dao, tracing an arc of arcane, inscrutable principles — the visible manifestation of the Dao itself. He struck toward the sky.
“Hmm!”
The vault of heaven collapsed. The black hand was shattered into four or five pieces, then in an instant was reduced to ash. The clear starry sky reappeared, and moonlight flowed down like water, as though nothing had ever happened.
The crowd was profoundly shaken. The Peerless Divine King, even on the verge of death, was not to be desecrated. Two supreme experts had fallen in succession, and all had been cowed into stillness.
At this moment, one could have heard a pin drop. Not a single soul dared make the slightest move. The Divine King in White stood wielding the weight of ten thousand mountains. His white robes billowed. The aura of the divine lingered upon him. No one dared provoke him any longer. Every single person’s heart was pounding with dread.
“Divine King…”
The people of the Jiang Family rushed to his side, surrounding the Divine King in White, every one of them filled with unbearable sorrow. The curtain was falling on the Divine King’s life, and the thought of it lodged in their hearts like a stone.
“Boom!”
At just that moment, a clap of thunder broke the peace of heaven and earth. The small golden living being had endured three rounds of heavenly tribulation. After a brief silence, the fourth wave of tribulation descended.
It was already scorched black all over. The injuries to its golden body were severe. It never stopped wiping at its tears, wailing loudly and pitifully. It looked helplessly toward everyone around it, only its two big eyes — still relatively clear and bright — brimming with tears, a pitiable sight.
“This wretched Shencan — it dragged Ye Fan into its mess, and now it’s gone through three rounds of heavenly tribulation itself.” Tu Fei sighed.
“In the ancient eras of the past, Shencan underwent nine transformations to become peerless under heaven. It must face at least five rounds of heavenly tribulation — I wonder whether it will manage to get through.”
“Boom!”
The tribulation descended — and it was five-colored lightning. The Five Elements Divine Thunder came one bolt after another, striking the small golden living being until its entire body was in tatters. It cried piteously.
“Use every innate divine technique you possess to resist. In the ancient era, your kin certainly left down a legacy in your life imprint.” Ye Fan sent it a voice transmission.
This small golden living being was something he had cut free from the divine spring, and he could not bear to see it perish. Moreover, this creature had been “lent” to the Great Xia Dynasty, with a prior agreement that once Shencan underwent another transformation, it would be returned to him.
At this moment, the thunder blazed to the heavens, the five colors shooting into the sky, drawing everyone’s attention.
After hearing Ye Fan’s voice transmission, the small golden living being fled in a frantic, chaotic rush through the blazing lightning while simultaneously unleashing one technique after another.
It spread out one small claw, and five-colored divine light shot toward the heavens, snatching all the surrounding lightning down upon itself — its skin splitting and flesh bursting open, its bones cracking, letting out sharp cries of pain.
“This wretched Shencan — it’s panicking and using its divine techniques recklessly.” Li Heishui shook his head.
Shencan was indeed in a blind panic, using its divine techniques in a chaotic frenzy. It had drawn the heavenly tribulation down upon itself, leaving everyone slack-jawed — wanting to laugh but unable to, because it was simply too pitiful.
Shencan’s entire body was breaking open. It seemed on the verge of dying. The little nun in white wiped her tears, calling out to it softly over and over, urging it to hold on.
“You must resist the tribulation — not bring more disaster upon yourself by using your divine techniques recklessly!” Ye Fan sent it another voice transmission.
Shencan wept in aggrieved misery. It moved in an erratic pattern through the void, and after the Five Elements Divine Thunder descended, more than half the lightning abruptly vanished, reappearing somewhere in the distance for no apparent reason.
“Boom!”
Thunder shook the heavens. From that distant location came a chorus of anguished screams. Many people were struck black, vomiting blood, and some were killed outright.
“This wretched Shencan — it redirected the disaster onto others. What kind of strange divine techniques does it even know?” Tu Fei gaped.
Even more people were cursing outright. Shencan had used something like a cosmic deflection technique, shifting the misfortune onto a great many others, infuriating them nearly to the point of vomiting blood.
Yet even so, the small golden living being could endure no more. It dropped from high in the sky, its entire body split open and raw, looking like a small charred stump. It twitched twice and went still.
“Is it dead?”
“It just redirected the disaster onto others, and then got struck to death itself?”
The crowd was astonished. Only the little nun in white wept openly, calling out again and again for Little Obedient to come back.
Many of the older generation reached out with their divine senses and all shook their heads, for they could feel not the slightest trace of aura from Shencan’s body. Truly, there was no longer any sign of life within it.
The lightning in the sky froze in place, flickering uncertainly — neither dissipating nor falling further.
After an indeterminate amount of time had passed, everyone was startled to discover that the small golden living being had quietly opened one eye, peeking craftily up at the sky.
“Oh come on — Shencan is faking its death!”
“This is the legendary Heaven-Deceiving Divine Technique — it can sever oneself from the Great Dao, swapping Heaven for Earth in secret. And it’s using it to fake its own death… What a pity — this little creature has no self-control at all.”
“Boom!”
Before anyone could finish speaking, the final bolt of lightning from the fourth round of heavenly tribulation came crashing down. Shencan fled in a blur, but in the end it could not outrun the lightning.
It was struck until it was nearly reduced to rubble. Blood splattered in every direction. Every bone in its body shattered. It barely managed not to become a lump of mangled flesh. After wailing pitifully a few times, it dropped into the dust.
“Is it truly dead this time?” Everyone was uncertain.
The fifth wave of heavenly tribulation descended — and it came with startling speed. Many of the older generation were alarmed. There were only four bolts of lightning in total, but this was among the most terrifying of all tribulations.
Earth, fire, wind, and water swirled together in manifestation — as though enacting the creation of the world, the opening of the heavens and cleaving of the earth — crashing swiftly downward. Many knew that, barring some extraordinary development, Shencan was done for.
“Hiss!”
Suddenly, a divine radiance shot toward the sky, illuminating the night, as a layer of crystalline cocoon emerged from around Shencan’s body, its brilliance shining upon the stars — gorgeous and magnificent beyond words.
Everyone was astonished. Shencan’s third transformation had begun. It was still young, its thoughts pure and simple — but the legacy left within its life imprint had activated on its own, shielding it.
Shencan spun its cocoon. Like a seven-colored gemstone, it shimmered unceasingly, its radiance illuminating the sky for ten thousand li, resisting those four terrifying thunderbolts — the thunder of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.
The thunder was deafening as four world-shaking divine bolts of lightning crashed down in succession. The seven-colored silkworm cocoon shattered, dissolving into boundless divine light that enveloped Shencan’s body.
“Boom!”
In a world-shaking blast, the final wave of tribulation dissipated. The small golden living being’s bones snapped and popped, flesh and blood was reborn — yet the form that emerged was no longer that of something resembling a true dragon. In its place, a small golden qilin materialized on the spot. It stirred and awakened.
It swallowed in one gulp the seven-colored divine light that had been swirling around its body, its entire form blazing with extraordinary radiance. Yet its expression was one of complete bewilderment. It stared at everyone around it, dazed and blank, at a complete loss — it had no idea what was going on.
Shencan underwent nine transformations. Each transformation was an entirely new beginning — the past was completely forgotten, memory wiped clean like a blank slate. Now that it had completed its third transformation, it had bid farewell to everything that had come before.
“Little Obedient…” The little nun in white called softly, her face filled with joy.
Yet Shencan showed no reaction at all. It had become a small golden qilin — no bigger than a palm, round and pudgy, wobbling as it walked, utterly endearing. It gazed at everyone around it with a face full of innocent bewilderment, its big eyes completely clear.
“This is truly heaven-defying — the Shencan in its third transformation resembles a small golden qilin!”
“There are no true dragons in this world, no divine phoenixes, no qilin — could it be that all these sacred creature forms were born from the transformations of Shencan?”
The crowd’s eyes blazed with fervent light as they stared fixedly at Shencan. The way they looked at it was completely different from the way they looked at Ye Fan. Both had endured heavenly tribulation, both were equally heaven-defying — yet they received entirely different treatment. Every immortal lineage here wished to eliminate Ye Fan and crush him, while every one of them wished to subdue and capture Shencan.
The small golden qilin, round and endearing, was still not quite accustomed to its new body. It made its way to the little nun in white’s side, its big eyes clear and bright, staring at her for a long moment. Then it breathed out a stream of seven-colored mist that entered the nun’s body. And then it turned and bolted away.
“Little Obedient, where are you going? Come back!” The little nun called out anxiously.
Shencan ran to Ye Fan’s side. It seemed thoroughly confused, as though trying hard to recall something — yet nothing came to it. Hesitantly, it edged a little closer, then tugged at the hem of his trousers. It tilted its head back with an expression of complete innocence as it looked up at him, as though searching for an answer.
“You are the one I brought into this world. There is nothing to be afraid of. Stay by my side from now on.” Ye Fan crouched down, extending his hand with a fistful of divine spring beans toward it.
“Swish!”
A flash of light — Shencan had swept all of them into its grasp, then swallowed them in one gulp. A deeply satisfied expression spread across its face as it patted its round, plump little belly.
“It just got lured away like that?!”
“That’s Shencan — and it’s going to grow alongside a Holy Body. What on earth will happen in the future?”
“A Holy Body and a Shencan, both of whom are peerless existences in the later stages of their growth — if they grow up together…”
Not a single person was not shaken. Everyone privately cursed their luck — Ye Fan had just talked Shencan into his hands so easily. And clearly the small golden qilin had taken a liking to him. Though its past memories were gone, its instincts remained.
Ye Fan reached out, intending to pick up this round little creature and set it on his shoulder. But at just that moment, Shencan suddenly became extraordinarily alert. With a swish, it leaped backward, angrily shaking its small golden fist at him — then turned and bolted, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Its speed was simply too fast. There was not a single person present who could have stopped it. Everyone watched helplessly as it disappeared into the distant sky.
Tonight, the curtain had finally fallen on all that had transpired. Though the Divine King was not long for this world, his tiger’s might still lingered. Not a single soul dared step forward.
That the Holy Body had broken its curse was now a foregone conclusion — unchangeable and irreversible. Those who wished to eliminate him would have plenty of opportunities in the future.
“Divine King, you once said that if Ye Fan broke into the Four Extremes Secret Realm, the younger generation could challenge him to a fight to the death, and you would not interfere. Does that still hold?”
No one had anticipated that, even at a moment like this, someone was already moving to act against the Holy Body.
The Divine King in White nodded. His voice was calm and even: “If you wish to fight, then fight.” He said little more than that — yet it unleashed a great wave of shock. Every eye turned toward him, especially among the younger generation.
“I challenge him to a fight!” Right then and there, more than ten young figures stepped forward, each crying out their intent.
It was obvious that powerful forces stood behind them. Some had not come of their own volition — they were here merely to test the waters.
Of course, there were also many who genuinely wanted a battle. They brimmed with killing intent, striding forward. Perhaps now was the best opportunity to strike down the Holy Body — after all, he had only just broken through.
Ye Fan’s expression was calm. He stepped through the void, facing the many young powerful cultivators ahead of him without the slightest trace of fear. He swept his gaze over everyone and said: “If you wish to fight me, come forward!”
At this moment, even though he had only just broken into the Four Extremes Secret Realm, he was brimming with a powerful self-confidence. He had no fear of challenges. He too was eager to test the combat strength of the top young figures of this generation.
“Boom!”
This world erupted in an instant. Countless young cultivators fixed their gazes upon him — including the various Holy Sons, Holy Maidens, and several young cultivators from the Central Continent.
In nearly the same instant, even more people stepped forward, closing in on him slowly.
Among them, the Little Peng King of the Golden Wings attracted the most attention — standing tall with a commanding presence, golden hair streaming wildly, his gaze as sharp and cutting as a blade, holding a great black desolate halberd, like a demon sovereign.
“I said it before — I would use you to make elixirs. Now that you’ve broken your curse and the Holy Body has begun to form, that’s even better!” Xia Jiuyou remained as arrogant and imperious as ever. Even with Ye Fan having advanced into the Four Extremes Secret Realm, his attitude did not change in the slightest. He too stepped forward, closing in.