The greenish-gold disc had a diameter of a hundred zhang — enormous beyond description — yet it moved at tremendous speed, flying with fluid agility, and moreover it could pierce through space itself.

The several Holy Masters had been mutually restraining one another, constantly lashing out at each other, and this had finally given the disc its opportunity: with a single surge it swept through the opening and disappeared into the Undying Mountain.

Many people cried out in alarm. Such a divine object was very likely a precious treasure of an ancient sage from antiquity. If it entered one of the Seven Forbidden Zones of Life, it would never be retrieved — for no one dared to enter.

“Crash!” “Crash!”…

The Holy Masters simultaneously thrust out their great hands toward the Undying Mountain, reaching in. Having been too preoccupied fighting each other just moments ago, they had let the divine object within their grasp slip away, and now it was too late for regret.

The greenish-gold disc’s speed was too great — impossible to capture. In an instant it had vanished into the depths of the black mountain range.

The Holy Masters dared not venture deep inside. They only extended their reach a few hundred meters inward before reluctantly withdrawing their hands. They were unwilling to risk their lives here — the terrifying legends of this place were simply too numerous.

Suddenly, the greenish-gold disc shuddered violently, as though a mysterious force had bound it fast. The jet-black mountains loomed hazy and indistinct, generating a bizarre power that warped the very fabric of space.

“Boom!”

The greenish-gold disc seemed to be restrained, unable to fly smoothly. With a thunderous crash it collided into the mountain range, sending clouds of dust billowing in all directions — it plummeted into the depths of the Undying Mountain range.

“What a pity — to miss it like this!”

The Holy Masters were deeply unwilling to accept it, yet there was nothing they could do. Not even if an ancient sage of old were to be reborn would one dare to enter the Undying Mountain carelessly.

Many people had followed here and witnessed this scene with their own eyes — all of them filled with profound regret. They hadn’t even determined what kind of divine object the greenish-gold disc truly was before they lost all trace of it.

At this moment, the blazing sun hung in the sky above, and the Undying Mountain was full of lush vitality — green and thriving. Black soil, black cliffs, looking ancient and mysterious.

“What sort of background does this object from beyond the heavens actually have?”

“Is there truly no way to retrieve it? What terrible things are within the Undying Mountain?”

“Unless an ancient Great Emperor were to be reborn, no one would dare to disturb this Forbidden Zone of Life. We should withdraw.”

People debated endlessly. In this terrifying Forbidden Zone of Life, not a single person could feel at ease — all of them wanted to leave as soon as possible.

The Holy Masters said nothing more. Their figures flashed, and they disappeared one after another. When many of the onlookers saw this, they grew even more unwilling to linger.

However, quite a few people did remain. It was their first time seeing the Undying Mountain and they were filled with curiosity, all carefully studying it. Some of the bolder ones even walked forward, excavating some of the black rock from the edge of the Forbidden Zone, intending to take pieces with them.

“Whoosh!”

A flash of light, and a tall silhouette appeared on a ridge not far away — a head of golden hair immediately striking and conspicuous. In his hand was a massive dark great wasteland halberd. His gaze was hawkish, wolf-like — fierce and untamed.

“The Golden-Winged Young Roc King!” Tu Fei said softly.

“We might as well finish him off right here. He’s always looking to make trouble for Ye Fan anyway — rather than wait for him to come to us, we should strike first,” Li Heishui muttered.

“Let it be. If we kill him, the Elder Roc King — whose remaining lifespan is nearly up — will certainly go berserk. Since he’s not currently provoking us, let’s not bother with him for now,” Ye Fan shook his head.

The Golden-Winged Young Roc King’s eyes were sharp as blades. He naturally spotted Ye Fan and, gripping his great wasteland halberd, his killing intent was palpable — he clearly very much wanted to come over and fight. But seeing all the people around Ye Fan, he ultimately let out a cold snort.

“Little bird, don’t think you’re so impressive — next time, watch out or I’ll roast you!” the Black Emperor called out provocatively.

“Clang, clang, clang…”

The Golden-Winged Young Roc King shot out tens of thousands of golden sword auras from his entire body — a hundred and eight thousand swords blazing and resplendent, making him look like a golden sun.

“That dog — I won’t lower myself to your level!” The Golden-Winged Young Roc King’s voice was cold, his gaze sword-like, full of primal wildness. He fixed his eyes on Ye Fan and said: “You’re about to die — I wonder if you can still fight. I very much want to personally shatter your bones. If you turn out to be some short-lived wretch, I’ll be very disappointed.”

“You bird-man really have gotten insufferably arrogant. Weren’t you beaten once before? Have you still not learned your lesson?” the Black Emperor dug at old wounds.

“Last time I tied my own hands. This time I’ve undergone the Heavenly Roc’s nth transformation. What does the Sacred Physique amount to? I will slaughter you — and pave the road to my Great Emperor’s path with your bones!” The Golden-Winged Young Roc King was, as ever, supremely arrogant, and there was something almost demonic in his entire bearing.

Their exchange instantly drew considerable attention from the crowd. At this point, no one wanted to provoke the end-times Sacred Physique — he had so little time left, there was nothing he wouldn’t dare to do. Yet the Golden-Winged Young Roc King dared to provoke him nonetheless.

“So he’s entered the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm — no wonder he’s this brash,” Tu Fei said in surprise. The Golden-Winged Young Roc King had finally broken through, shattering his constraints.

Someone like him had always been spoken of in the same breath as the Holy Son Yao Guang — considered one of the strongest among the younger generation. Now that he had entered the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, one could only imagine what level of terrifying combat power he had achieved.

“Fine. If you want to fight me, name the time — I’ll oblige,” Ye Fan replied. To break into the Four Extremes Secret Realm required epiphanies, required unceasing battle — only then would an opportunity for a breakthrough arise.

“Whoosh!”

A flash of light, and more than a dozen figures appeared on a distant ridge — it was Feng Huang and a group of young people. They too had heard the news and rushed here.

Ye Fan had long had a premonition that entering the Central Region would mean encountering members of the Wind Clan. He hadn’t expected to come face to face with Feng Huang quite this quickly.

When they saw Ye Fan, they too were momentarily startled. Several of them revealed unusual expressions. Among them someone whispered: “He’s actually come here — does he really intend to enter the Undying Mountain seeking an opportunity to extend his life?”

Someone muttered: “Anyone who wants to enter the Undying Mountain is purely looking for death. No one has ever come out alive. He’s on the verge of falling — he can’t defy the heavens. He can only wait for death.”

“He still owes our Wind Clan three million jin of source stones — it seems there’s no way he’ll be able to repay it. What rotten luck,” several young people said with great displeasure.

“What a waste of our Wind Clan’s source stones — throwing them into water at least produces a sound. As it stands, they’ve simply been squandered on him for nothing.”

…

Ye Fan smiled. “Three million jin of source stones is indeed no small sum. But rest assured — I will repay it.”

Those people were startled. They hadn’t expected Ye Fan’s hearing to be so acute — even from such a great distance, he had caught every single word without missing one.

Feng Huang was graceful as an immortal, standing with elegant poise, enveloped in five-colored luminous clouds, wearing a phoenix mask on her face. She swept a cool glance at Ye Fan and said indifferently: “Our clan’s Holy Master has already made clear — there is no need for you to repay those source stones.”

“If I don’t repay them, I’m afraid people will keep bringing up my debt forever. That said, I truly am deeply grateful to the Wind Clan’s Holy Master,” Ye Fan said.

Feng Huang paid no further attention to him, turning to greet the Golden-Winged Young Roc King with a smile: “Congratulations, Brother Roc, on your latest breakthrough.”

The Golden-Winged Young Roc King laughed loudly. “I am going to battle the Sacred Physique. Wind Princess, you’re welcome to come watch.”

“Gladly!” Feng Huang nodded.

“Roar…”

Suddenly a great roar echoed out. In an instant, a mountain range crumbled. The Dragon Horse — enormous as a small mountain — appeared once more. Its eyes, each as large as a millstone, blazed with ferocious light as it locked its gaze upon everyone present.

Not long ago it had fought the Holy Masters, barely losing any ground. Now it had stunned every single person present.

“Run!”

The crowd cried out and scrambled to flee. This was a wild beast king — of the same caliber as the Peacock King and others — an existence that had climbed to the absolute pinnacle. Very few could withstand it.

Possessing a dragon’s head, a horse’s body, and qilin feet, its enormous frame swept across the sky. A single stamp of its hoof immediately turned a great stretch of people to bloody mist — dead forever.

“Roar…”

More strange beasts emerged from within the mountains, surging forward like a flood, cutting off everyone’s retreat. There were giant birds covered in scales, ants each more than a dozen meters long, lions as large as small mountains…

“It’s over — spatial transit is impossible here!” someone cried out in terror.

“It’s the power of the Undying Mountain — it has sealed the power of space!” Even masters of array runes felt their courage collapse.

The Undying Mountain was an exceedingly unique place, forming its own self-contained world. Its influence spread to the surrounding regions, making it impossible to open domain gates entirely.

These strange beasts fanned out in a sweeping encirclement, intent on slaughter. The only escape from death was to retreat into the Undying Mountain — there was absolutely no other way out. Any further hesitation and total annihilation was certain.

“Break through!” Ye Fan shouted. These strange beasts had gone berserk — their eyes bloodshot, terrifying. They clearly intended to exterminate everyone. He gripped the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword and charged forward first, trading blows with the strange beasts, trying to find a way out.

Not a single wild beast could be easily cut down. These were all descendants of pre-Primordial Age wild beast kings, and their bloodline inheritance had endowed them with power of the highest extreme.

“Clang, clang, clang…”

Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and the others faced immense resistance. Together they managed to kill only five strange beasts, and even that had nearly left them injured.

“Roar…”

The wild beasts erupted in violence. Among them were no shortage of those at the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm level and even higher-ranked beast kings — surging forward like a tide. The group was desperately hard-pressed.

On the other side, the Golden-Winged Young Roc King and Feng Huang and their companions had joined forces, yet they too were bearing enormous pressure, resisting with all their strength.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the majority of cultivators in the area had been killed. Unable to resist, only a dozen or so remaining forces continued to struggle.

“Clang!”

Ye Fan faced off against a large red ant — more than a dozen meters long, gleaming and translucent like something carved from red agate, yet savage beyond imagination, possessing unimaginable brute force.

It was only at the first transformation of the Dragon Transformation realm, yet its overwhelming power was not far below Ye Fan’s. This was the manifestation of innate clan gifts — inheritor of the ancient wild king’s bloodline, its divine strength staggering.

“Terrible — that wild beast king has fixed its eyes on us!” Pang Bo cried in alarm.

The enormous Dragon Horse, clearly the king among the strange beasts, was hovering in the sky, its gaze locked dead upon them — because they had killed the most beasts.

“This is bad, we’ve got real trouble now — curiosity kills the dog!” the Black Emperor muttered. “Of all things, we absolutely shouldn’t have followed down here to investigate.”

“Boom!”

The Dragon Horse was like a mountain — it cracked the void with its legs and dove downward. Its enormous body was like a cloud, casting a great shadow on the ground beneath it, pressing down on everyone until they could barely breathe.

As it charged forward, it also swept a glance at the Golden-Winged Young Roc King and Feng Huang, and raised one hoof — with a crash it stomped outward, and that entire stretch of sky and earth shattered at once.

The Wind Clan’s young people suffered heavy casualties. The Golden-Winged Young Roc King and Feng Huang were extremely fast and dodged swiftly, yet they were still caught by the shockwave. Even just the edge of that tempest struck them, causing both to vomit large mouthfuls of blood as they plunged downward into the tide of beasts, swallowed up within it.

Ye Fan and his companions drew sharp breaths. This was what a wild beast king was — completely beyond resistance. A single casual strike could destroy heaven and raze the earth. Unless a Holy Master came, no one could oppose it.

“Retreat — get back now!” Li Heishui screamed.

Even retreating into the Undying Mountain was preferable to facing this beast king — opposing it meant no chance of survival whatsoever.

Ye Fan scooped up Xiao Nannan and fell back as fast as he could fly. Pang Bo, Li Heishui, Tu Fei, and the Great Black Dog all made the same decisive choice — charging toward the Undying Mountain.

“Boom!”

Divine flames blazed all around the Dragon Horse as it touched down. At the moment of landing, its hooves — many times larger than a house — instantly shattered the earth, and the great fissures that burst open were each several meters wide.

It pursued like a tornado. Every cultivator it encountered along the way fell before it — a single cry from it was enough to shake all of them to a pulp of flesh and blood. Not one person could stop it for even half a step.

Ye Fan and his companions gritted their teeth and charged straight into the Undying Mountain. To remain was certain death — there was not the slightest chance of survival.

The other cultivators, seeing this, also retreated into the Undying Mountain. The strange beasts were cutting off all avenues of escape like a surging flood — there was absolutely no way to flee. To hesitate a moment longer would mean total annihilation.

“We’ve entered the Undying Mountain — this…” Tu Fei’s face had gone pale.

Li Heishui’s face had turned green too. This was one of the Seven Forbidden Zones of Life — in all history, those who entered never came out. To enter was to step through the gates of the underworld.

More people were forced in behind them, crying out in alarm one after another. This black mountain range possessed a mysterious power that made one’s heart quiver with dread — every hair on the body standing on end.

“Aah…”

Suddenly many people cried out. Strange carvings appeared beneath their feet, a flash of light, and they vanished — with no indication of where they had gone.

“Heavens — what is happening?!” Many people’s hearts and guts turned cold with terror.

“Roar…”

The Dragon Horse pressed forward, exhaling a terrifying blast of light that swept like ten thousand armies. In its passing wake, everything was reduced to powder — all manner of vegetation and black rock became flying ash.

Eighty percent of the people present were obliterated in body and soul without even time to make a sound. Ye Fan and his companions had no choice but to frantically fall back. At that moment, a flash of light appeared beneath Pang Bo’s feet — he let out a cry of alarm, and took Ye Fan and the others with him as they all vanished from the spot together.

When they appeared again, they found themselves among the mountain ranges deep within the Undying Mountain. All around them were black mountains, lush with green growth, with lakes dotting the mountain landscape.

“We’re in trouble — we’ve gone deep into the Undying Mountain. Unless a Great Emperor comes to rescue us, there’s truly no way to walk back out,” the Black Emperor cried out.

“What do we do?” By now, none of them had any idea. They had actually entered the Undying Mountain — this was a certain death situation.

“Whatever you do, don’t move carelessly. The Undying Mountain is unique — within it are array runes personally carved by ancient Great Emperors during the primordial great wars. A single wrong step could transport you into some other mysterious and dreadful region within the Undying Mountain range.”

The Black Emperor warned them, but even as the words left its mouth, it accidentally stepped on an ancient inscription. A flash of light, and all of them disappeared together once more.

When they next appeared, they found themselves atop a short black mountain. Though not tall, it radiated an incomprehensible solemnity and grandeur, its aura majestic and imposing.

Here, every black mountain body was a king among mountains, an emperor among ranges — inspiring awe, almost compelling one to kneel in reverence.

In every direction, black mountain bodies surrounded them. Standing atop this short mountain, one could not see very far in any direction — dense green growth all around, yet very quiet.

“We’re in real trouble — we’ve penetrated deeper in. This is no longer the outer perimeter. We’ve made it at least a quarter of the way to the interior!”

“Splash!”

Below the solemn short mountain, within the mountain landscape, there was a lake — great splashes of water erupted from within as something unknown stirred beneath the surface.

“Creatures that have grown up within the Undying Mountain…” Everyone drew sharp breaths, their hearts seizing with dread.

“Whoosh!”

Dozens of figures flashed into existence — cultivators who, like them, had been forced into the Undying Mountain against their will. They appeared beside that lake, and immediately all of them cried out in alarm.

A mysterious force pulled at them, holding them fast so they could not struggle. One by one they sank into the lake water. Not even a ripple followed — only a dozen streams of blood surged upward, dyeing the lake’s surface red.

“Among them were cultivators at the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, and they were wiped out so effortlessly!” Pang Bo was shaken, his expression twisted to its worst.

“Over there — an ancient tree, glowing…” Xiao Nannan said innocently, pointing toward the depths of the Undying Mountain range.

It was extremely far away — almost reaching the central region of the Undying Mountain. Even with his divine eyes Ye Fan could not see it clearly, yet the little girl had spotted an ancient tree.

“It must be the ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree — or otherwise, an Undying Divine Medicine!” the Black Emperor said.

“Nannan, what do you see?” Ye Fan asked softly.

“Nannan sees an ancient tree, covered in leaves of all different colors and shapes — golden ones, crimson ones, pure white ones… all flowing with radiance, the trunk as strong and gnarled as a dragon. I think I see someone sitting cross-legged beneath the tree — but when I rub my eyes, he’s gone.”

Xiao Nannan’s large eyes blinked rapidly as she described it with great seriousness.

“That must be the ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree — but how could there be a person there?!” The Black Emperor was alarmed to the core.

“What is inside the Undying Mountain?” Ye Fan asked.

“The ancient Enlightenment Tea Tree is not at the very center of the Undying Mountain. As for what lies at the true center — I don’t know. But there is certainly Undying Divine Medicine within!” the Black Emperor said.