Moonlight draped everything. The towering figure’s hair drifted in the air, his hollow eyes flickering in and out. Yet his face was concealed.

The yellowed large hand reached forward. The Great Black Dog’s entire coat of black fur stood on end, for Xiao Nannan was sitting right on its back.

Ye Fan, even knowing he could not win, swiftly stepped forward to block. He could not allow anything to happen to Nannan. With a clang of sword cry, the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold Sacred Spirit Sword was drawn and cleaved straight down.

Clang!

The earth-yellowed large hand did not dodge at all — it reached directly forward. The black sacred sword struck one of its fingers. Sparks flew in all directions, yet the finger was not cut in the slightest.

This was deeply chilling. The black sacred sword was indestructible — yet it could not cut through a single finger. It was truly impossible to imagine what kind of body-tempering that person had achieved, or what realm they had reached.

Hum!

Ye Fan swung his golden fist and drove it forward. His physical body was incomparably powerful, and he activated his strongest blood qi to pit his strength directly against the great hand.

Thud!

Like pounding a divine drum, a deep and muffled sound rang out between them. Ye Fan was pushed back. His arms went numb — even the sacred body’s flesh and blood could not block that great hand.

It reached forward slowly yet with great force. There was not a single degree of its trajectory that could be altered. This was the result that left Ye Fan’s heart cold — the sacred body’s physical form being suppressed by another person’s brute strength for the first time.

And the other was doing it so casually. Not even dealing with him at all — simply letting him swing his golden fist and land a heavy blow.

“Woof!”

The Great Black Dog grew anxious. It summoned the black Mysterious Jade Platform, intending to cross through the void and flee with all haste.

Whoosh!

With a flash of light, it and Xiao Nannan vanished. Yet that great hand merely pressed lightly into the void with ease, and with a thunderous boom, the void was instantly collapsed and compressed — both of them were shaken back out.

It was an extraordinarily terrifying scene. The earth-yellowed great hand reached into the crumbling void, covering them entirely. The fearsome chaos of spatial energy was completely stilled.

The endless void power could not harm them even a single fraction. The earth-yellowed great hand dragged both the Black Emperor and Xiao Nannan back out of the void.

“Woof!” The Great Black Dog barked wildly.

“Aiya…” Xiao Nannan was nearly frightened to tears.

Ye Fan desperately charged forward. His golden hand struck out again, wanting to rescue them — but it could not move that great hand at all!

In this moment, he felt the helpless sensation of a mayfly trying to shake a great tree. Filled with powerlessness, he knew this person was like an endless abyss — impossible to fathom.

Bang!

Ye Fan’s tiger’s mouth split open. He was sent flying back several hundred meters — not from an attack, but from the rebound force of his own strike upon the other’s great hand.

“What do you want?” Ye Fan asked urgently, afraid the figure might harm Xiao Nannan.

Li Heishui also struck out — yet fared even worse than Ye Fan, sent flying over a thousand meters. Teeth bared, he shook his arm repeatedly — nearly entirely numb.

The night breeze stirred, lifting the hair of the towering man to reveal a face of upright bearing — bronzed in color, straight-bridged nose, a squared mouth, sharp and defined features.

Apart from the hollow emptiness of his eyes, this was a truly imposing man, like an undying war god, inspiring awe in all who beheld him.

“You are…” Ye Fan’s eyes went wide with an expression of utter disbelief. This was actually the old madman.

How had he changed so completely? In the past, his white hair was wild and disheveled, his body gaunt and withered, aged to the point of frailty, his eyes clouded, his mind erratic and unhinged.

Now, he was utterly different — his frame powerful and vigorous, his hair black and thick — like two entirely different people. He looked as though he had obtained an ageless youth.

“What happened? Could this be from the transformation last time?” Ye Fan was astonished, then called out loudly, “Senior, do you still remember me? You once transmitted to me Tianxuan’s movement technique. What are you doing — please don’t harm Xiao Nannan.”

“He is the old madman who has not died through six thousand years?!” Li Heishui’s mouth hung open. His heart surged with great waves — an enormous shock.

A flash of light passed through the old madman’s hollow eyes. He glanced once at Ye Fan, then said nothing. He tossed the Great Black Dog aside and suspended Xiao Nannan in the void to observe her.

“Uncle, what are you doing?” Xiao Nannan asked timidly, involuntarily stepping back.

In this moment, the old madman’s expression became deeply grave. From within his hollow eyes, two beams of divine light shot out — brilliant as two golden lanterns.

The divine radiance shone down upon Xiao Nannan, and in an instant the entire stretch of void twisted — as though it were on the verge of collapse.

“Big brother, I’m scared…” The little girl’s voice carried the edge of tears.

“Nannan, don’t be afraid — he won’t harm you…” After recognizing the old madman, Ye Fan let out a quiet breath of relief, feeling the other would not act with deadly force.

The old madman’s expression became ever more grave. His two thick, dark sword-like brows drew upward, and from the point between his brows, another beam of divine light emerged and fell upon the little girl.

The Great Black Dog was so frightened it dared not breathe — utterly silenced. It sensed an incomparable and terrifying pressure, and it glanced between Xiao Nannan and the old madman in anxious worry.

Whoosh!

With a flash of light, both the old madman and Xiao Nannan vanished high into the sky — and disappeared.

“Ah — where did they go?!” Li Heishui was alarmed.

“They must have entered Tianxuan’s divine soil!” Ye Fan said in a deep voice.

“This is terrible. That old madman’s power is terrifyingly beyond measure — I couldn’t see his depth at all. He wouldn’t be trying to seize Xiao Nannan’s Dao fruit, would he?!” The Black Emperor was consumed with anxiety.

Ding dong…

Celestial music rang down from the sky. A patch of pure land blazed with light — ten thousand auspicious rays, a hundred million divine streams cascading down — magnificently radiant within.

Green grass like carpet, immortal blossoms fragrant and pure, one spirit spring after another bubbling forth endlessly, flower petals drifting from on high in all directions — like a dreamland and fantastical realm.

Yet on the ground throughout this pure land, vermilion red great coffins were arranged everywhere — an eerie and peculiar sight.

This was Tianxuan’s divine soil — the one final secret place no one had ever discovered. Within it quite possibly lay Tianxuan’s ancient scriptures and supreme inheritance.

“Ahhh…”

A thunderous roar from the old madman shook ten thousand li of rivers and mountains. Beyond the countless great peaks’ beasts, even the primordial ancient beasts dwelling in the neighboring great wilderness trembled.

A beam of divine light shot straight into the sky, piercing through the vault of heaven — seemingly about to pierce into the boundless starry expanse. He stood like a remote ancient deity.

His ancient cyan robes snapped and rippled in the air. He stood with head raised and chin lifted, wild hair flying, his eyes releasing cold lightning — his entire bearing absolutely terrifying, utterly unlike his usual appearance.

At the same time, Xiao Nannan closed her eyes. Her two small hands began to continuously form seals — profound and mysterious, complex beyond comprehension.

“What is happening?” Ye Fan’s heart lurched.

“He found it… what is to be done now?” The Great Black Dog could not remain still. It leapt and darted about in deep unease. It glanced at Xiao Nannan, then stared at the old madman — anxious and worried.

Whoosh!

The old madman’s eyes swept over. Like two bolts of lightning, they nearly caused Ye Fan and the others’ flesh to crack apart. All were shaken to the extreme.

The old madman began to walk circles around Xiao Nannan. His eyes grew ever more brilliant — as though trying to see through her entirely. Above all, from between his brows a divine figure appeared — seated in the void like a deity of profound and solemn bearing, gazing fixedly at the little girl.

“This is no longer the remote ancient era. Heaven and earth have long since changed. How can a figure so terrifyingly beyond all measure still be born into the world?!” The Great Black Dog was more and more alarmed.

The divine figure before the old madman’s brow was like one who had opened heaven and earth — swallowing chaos, gazing at Xiao Nannan, causing the divine soil to continuously expand.

Xiao Nannan continued to form seal after seal. The seven-colored little stone between her brows grew ever more brilliant, yet it did not detach — instead it fused into a seven-colored point of light, radiating a mysterious aura.

Boom!

With a thunderous sound, the divine soil sealed shut — its interior could no longer be seen.

Divine Physician Wang too was stirred from his rest. He came rushing over. Hearing what had occurred, he drew a sharp breath. “Stand back — move further away.”

The group reluctantly retreated to a distance. But nothing ill transpired after that. Deep into the night, the void’s divine soil reappeared. Xiao Nannan came out, dazed and looking left and right in confusion.

The little one had not been harmed. The only change was that the seven-colored small stone had been tempered into her brow — no longer detaching. It gave her an added quality of pure spiritual luminance.

The old madman emerged from the void. His eyes had once again gone hollow, without any expression. He gave a broad sweep of his sleeve, and the entire divine soil vanished without a trace.

The Great Black Dog received the little girl and looked her over repeatedly in astonishment. “He helped you heal the hidden injuries inside you…”

The Black Emperor turned to look at the towering figure in the void, and murmured to itself, “Truly great magnanimity — he did not seize her Dao fruit, but instead lent her aid.”

Ye Fan transmitted in secret: “Senior, I am deeply grateful for the grace of the art you once passed to me, and now for this act of assistance. I have no way to repay you — but I have learned of a place that may hold the complete ‘Movement’ Secret…”

Over these past few days, he had consulted Divine Physician Wang and indirectly learned that one of the Nine Secrets held by an ancient family in the Northern Region’s Li Province was very possibly the Movement Secret.

And the ancient scroll left behind by that family pointed toward the Sacred Cliff — suggesting he was very likely to obtain the Movement Secret there.

However, the Sacred Cliff was no benign place. It was layered with Great Emperor formation patterns, and even the Crimson Dragon Daoren had been trapped within for fifteen hundred years. The Great Black Dog itself had been fretting about it for days.

Now that he had encountered the old madman — this was absolutely a great reinforcement. He wished to invite the old madman to travel with them, to go together to the Sacred Cliff to seek the Nine Secrets, and at the same time to repay his debt of gratitude.

Sure enough, two flashes of brilliance lit up within the old madman’s hollow eyes — yet quickly disappeared again. He gave no expression of any kind.

“The Movement Secret is at the Sacred Cliff!” Ye Fan transmitted his voice, conveying the exact location. If the other was not willing to go, there was nothing to be done — he could not compel him.

Soundlessly, the old madman disappeared. Not a trace of him remained.

“That was Tianxuan’s divine soil — with its secrets that have never been transmitted to outsiders. We actually got to see it, but what a pity we couldn’t obtain anything from it.” Li Heishui was filled with intense regret.

“Nannan, how do you feel?” Ye Fan asked.

“Nannan is fine. I just feel like I can remember a lot more things now,” the little one answered sweetly, rubbing the seven-colored glowing point between her brows as she spoke.

Whoosh!

A flash of brilliant light — and the old madman appeared again. Wild hair covered his face. He fell in behind Ye Fan and the others, and it was clear: he was coming with them!

“We’ve dug out a figure like this to travel with us — we could walk sideways through the Eastern Wastelands!” Li Heishui’s heart lurched violently. He nearly leapt into the air. Though he had transmitted his voice in secret, the old madman seemed to hear him all the same — and swept his gaze over him.

The group left the Tianxuan ruins, bid farewell to Divine Physician Wang, and set their sights on the Sacred Cliff. It was a strange assembly indeed.

One great dog carrying a perfectly carved jade-like little girl. One tall, powerfully built middle-aged man with wild hair concealing his face. One dark-skinned fierce man. One harmless-looking slender young man… Walking together, they made quite a peculiar sight.

Ye Fan told the Great Black Dog not to lay down formation runes to cross directly through the void to the Sacred Cliff. He said he wanted to walk there along the way.

“Ye Black, you really are Ye Black…” Li Heishui muttered. He quickly understood Ye Fan’s thinking. With an invincible powerhouse at their side, crossing directly through the void would be doing the old madman a disservice.

The Great Black Dog too had a belly full of cunning schemes. Presently it intended to fully exploit the situation — to borrow the tiger’s might, as it were.

“Ancient assassin divine dynasty — Mortal World! You claim to kill gods if gods block you and kill Buddhas if Buddhas block you — if you have the nerve, come on!”

“Those sacred grounds and supreme great sects that want to test us — charge right over!”

“I truly hope all those blind fools come crashing into us at once!”

The Great Black Dog muttered its bravado in secret, its mood exuberant to the extreme. The moment they had barely left the great wilderness, it was already looking to pick fights everywhere — desperately wishing for a few sacred grounds to show up and stir trouble.