The silver disc of the full moon hung high above. Luminous moonlight drenched the earth. Within the great mountains of the Qin range, the clash among the powerful creatures had ceased — combat had halted.

A small silver waterfall cascaded in the distance. In the moonlit night it gleamed with extraordinary beauty. Its sound, distant and faint, gave the surroundings a quality of deep stillness.

The Night Sky Wolf, over thirty zhang in length, its body shimmering with cyan feathers — indistinguishable from a great azure roc save for its savage wolf head baring rows of sharp white fangs — alighted on a mountain cliff.

The silver giant ape, a hundred zhang tall like a mountain unto itself, breathed in and out the essence of heaven and earth, each breath surging like the tide. Silver fur blazed across its body.

The battered bronze chariot drifted up into midair, hovering motionless, wrapped in moonlight, a faint mist rising around it.

In the distance, a slow, low hiss approached. A great spider of brilliant, mottled colors drew near — four or five zhang in height, its body as though carved from five-colored jade, translucent and gleaming.

One did not need to think twice to know this was a variant Insect King. A single bite from it would kill even a Sacred Lord on the spot — instantly and without exception.

From another direction, a gaunt old monk came walking on the moonlight. He was entirely golden in color, as though cast from gold itself — clearly someone who had cultivated the Arhat’s Golden Body to the highest level. He wore a tattered, nearly disintegrated kasaya. The old monk showed not a trace of life, his Golden Body of a Buddha fully manifested, its golden light flickering — in truth, he had passed away long ago. What moved now was only his ancient corpse.

Yet he had already gained awareness and become a Corpse Cultivator. A being of this kind clearly could not endure for long — sooner or later, heaven’s judgment would descend to destroy him.

Ye Fan clicked his tongue, hiding far away, using his Origin Celestial Arts to conceal his aura and merge with the surrounding mountains. He watched silently, utterly baffled. Why had these five mighty beings converged in one place?

He could sense clearly that all of these creatures were extraordinarily powerful — stronger than even the most supreme of Sacred Lords, their Dao cultivation deep beyond measure. They had been hidden in the Qin Mountains, cultivating for who knew how many years.

“The extraordinary marrow belongs to me.” The silver giant ape sent forth a powerful wave of spiritual resonance. Each time its eyes opened and shut, two silver rays shot straight into the sky. It was difficult to imagine how vigorous its life essence must be.

A long hiss rang out. The five-colored great spider — like a jade-carved marvel — sent its soul rippling outward, breathing in and out radiant light that connected with the moonlight above, firmly insisting that the rare marrow was rightfully its.

On the other side, the old monk with his Buddha’s body of six zhang — frail as bone and skin — sat on a cliff’s edge, full of formidable strength. From his mouth came a stream of white light as he intoned a passage of ancient scripture.

A massive Buddha took form out of nothing behind him — golden divine light stretching ten thousand zhang — as if to deliver all living beings. The sound of chanting filled heaven and earth.

Though the old monk was long dead, he still possessed profound Buddhist powers, and remarkably pure ones at that — enough to inspire deep wariness in the other four mighty beings.

“Enough quarreling. The precious marrow was born for me.” From within the battered bronze chariot, the small purple figure — barely a foot tall — spoke. Its spiritual resonance was of staggering power: in the distance, the waterfall briefly ceased its flow, freezing in midair.

Its divine will rose and fell like a vast sea, suppressing all other emanations, nearly forcing even the old monk’s chanting to falter.

Among the five great beings, this one and the old monk were the most powerful. Even the figure driving the chariot was the corpse of an emperor. Its purple body was utterly translucent, profoundly terrifying.

“What manner of creature is this?” Ye Fan was most intrigued by it. He had initially assumed dream-realm divine marrow had appeared in the world — but now he realized that was not the case.

“Stone Jade, you still have five hundred years of life. Your time is far from come. Why compete against us?” The Night Sky Wolf growled, every cyan feather on its body bristling.

Ye Fan was stunned. The small purple figure barely a foot tall was a piece of purple jade that had come to life — a rare and peerless treasure of the world, a wondrous material that Ancient Saints had used to forge inherited sacred weapons of legendary caliber.

Such a thing was nearly impossible to encounter. Even in the most ancient of times, Saints could barely find it — and so the weapons they left behind could only endure for five to ten thousand years before being destroyed by the passage of time.

“This is a divine object — one that would move even an Ancient Saint — yet it has gained awareness and taken human form!”

Ye Fan’s eyes burned with excitement. That small purple figure, barely a foot tall, was worth more than even dragon marrow. Bring it out to auction and it would certainly shock every great divine dynasty into a frenzy.

Yet now it had cultivated to a formidable level, its power no weaker than even the most supreme of emperors. Trying to suppress it would be pure suicide.

“It still has five hundred years of life. If it cannot break through, its divine consciousness will scatter, and it will return to being a priceless gemstone coveted by Saints.”

It was foreseeable: five hundred years from now, when he came back for it, there would be no resistance at all. As long as he remembered this region, he would be able to find it — an effortless windfall waiting to be collected.

“Let all contend on equal terms.” The silver giant ape spoke. With a single slap of its palm, it reduced an entire mountain to rubble.

The other creatures each gave a low growl. The light in their eyes flickered and pulsed — and then all of them fell utterly still, as though turned to stone.

Ye Fan was puzzled. He had studied Origin Celestial Arts and examined the terrain again and again — he had not spotted any rare divine marrow. How had these powerful creatures determined its location? What had they found that he could not see?

At midnight, a dragon’s cry suddenly rang out across heaven and earth. In the bright moonlit night, its sound carried with extraordinary clarity, reverberating through the mountains. The peaks all trembled.

In the distance, the mountain from which the silver waterfall hung — dragon energy surged and billowed, a stream of jade-blue light shot forth, pulling starlight and moonlight toward it, linking them together in a brilliant arc like a soaring great dragon.

“I understand now. The ancestral root of the Qin Mountains is alive — it moves. Today the dragon-child within the earth is surging upward. These five great beings must have witnessed this kind of thing before.”

The several powerful creatures charged forward simultaneously, arriving before the main peak in an instant. Each stretched out a massive claw and struck downward.

“Boom!”

The towering mountain cracked open, toppling to the earth. Had they not been carefully controlling their force, everything would have been obliterated — the mountain would have become ash.

At the base of the mountain was a dragon cave. Azure light erupted into the sky, like a mist of smoke and clouds spreading outward. Dragon energy spilled forth, filling the air with fragrance.

“As I thought — a mobile dragon vein. Today it has burst out from the earth’s depths to draw upon the power of stars and moon!” Ye Fan murmured to himself.

“Bang — bang…”

The five great beings traded blows. Within a radius of tens of li, every mountain range dissolved like paper, crumbling to dust beneath their power — not a single peak remained standing.

Ye Fan shuddered. These creatures were even more terrifying than he had imagined. That place had become a sea of divine light, drowning everything within it.

He activated his Origin Celestial Eye and peered through the five types of divine light into the dragon cave below. Green light flashed. Beside it, a jade-green stone basin had formed, holding within it six drops of divine liquid — green as agate, their fragrance drifting across the air.

Every drop was as large as a lychee fruit, without a single impurity. Their green color was mesmerizing, and from each one came a sound like ocean waves crashing — the entire sky above had turned a shimmering emerald.

“Superior grade dragon marrow — even higher quality than the purple dragon marrow I encountered before!”

The fragrance was overwhelming, penetrating down to the very marrow of one’s bones. The young dragon within had already fled long ago, leaving behind only these few drops of jade-green precious marrow — casting the entire sky in a deep, glittering green.

“What a treasure — these six drops of divine liquid are worth as much as thirty-six drops of what I found before!”

Ye Fan’s heart surged. His eyes blazed with divine light. The five great beings were locked in fierce combat. Whenever one of them reached out to seize the jade basin, the others attacked immediately.

They kept each other in check — none could draw close. They fought and struggled around the jade-green rare marrow, battling on relentlessly — yet every one of them was careful to hold back. Not one dared strike at the jade basin itself.

Ye Fan did not hesitate further. He activated the Origin Arts to merge with the surrounding earth veins, concealed his aura, and submerged beneath the ground. Using the Walking Word Technique, he surged at extraordinary speed toward the dragon cave.

This was the hallmark of an Origin Celestial Master. Moving through the earth’s veins — so long as no living creatures blocked the path — was like entering an unguarded realm. The speed was beyond imagination: one rode upon dragon energy to travel.

Ye Fan suppressed every trace of his presence, emerged from beneath the dragon cave, and then — with a sudden powerful leap — stretched out a golden hand and drew all six drops of divine liquid into his grasp.

“Roarr!”

The five great beings erupted in fury. It had never occurred to any of them that someone would dare steal from right under the noses of several great powerhouses — daring to snatch the extraordinary marrow before them all. Every one of them unleashed a torrent of overwhelming divine power, striking downward.

Ye Fan moved at extreme speed, flying through the earth veins like a ray of light. If he were caught now, he would surely die without even a burial ground — not one among these five great beings was someone to be trifled with.

A blood-curdling long howl rang out in the distance. The Stone Jade — a priceless treasure coveted by even Ancient Saints — gave chase at extreme speed. The small purple figure barely a foot tall blazed with resplendent light, its howling cry collapsing endless underground veins.

“Boom!”

It opened its mouth and expelled a ray of primordial purple jade divine light — the purest innate life essence it had been born with, the most terrifying thing it possessed. With it, it shattered eighty-one earth veins in succession, exploding outward for tens of li, nearly closing the distance on Ye Fan.

“It’s this insane?!”

Ye Fan’s expression changed. He drove the Walking Word Technique to its absolute limit, transforming himself into a beam of floating light, using the Origin Arts to clear a path through the earth veins.

“Bang!”

A wisp of primordial purple energy erupted within the earth veins — like the opening of creation — collapsing dozens of mountains on the surface above, to say nothing of the world below.

“Spit!”

Ye Fan coughed up a mouthful of golden blood. Even with his formidable body, the blow had wounded him. His entire frame shuddered, his blood and vital energy churning. Had it been anyone else, they would already have been reduced to ash — body and soul utterly destroyed.

Fortunately, after taking that hit, the wisp of primordial purple energy did not pursue further. Some distance had been opened between them. Had it caught up any closer, his life would have been forfeit. The opponent was far too powerful.

“Watch out — trouble!”

The old monk had also given chase. Before him floated an enormous Buddha, ten times faster than the monk himself, closing the distance at terrifying speed.

“Hum!”

The golden-bodied Buddha stretched out a great hand — a Buddha palm seal — that struck downward. The earth veins crumbled one after another, swept away like dead wood, the surface rising and falling like a raging sea, every mountain destroyed. Nothing could withstand it.

The palm struck — not a direct hit. It merely grazed Ye Fan — yet it sent him flying through the air, blood pouring from his mouth in great quantities, all five organs injured, his bones nearly shattered.

His heart seized with terror. This Buddha was incomprehensibly powerful. Even a great master who had taken that graze head-on would have had their physical body obliterated entirely.

“What terrifying cultivation did this old monk possess in life?!”

Ye Fan dared not linger. This was the first time since beginning his journey that he had felt the true threat of death. The two great beings at his back were too powerful — there was no way to resist them.

Suddenly, purple light blazed violently. That wisp of primordial purple energy was surging back toward him. Stone Jade did not possess such speed, but the primordial innate purple energy it expelled moved with extraordinary velocity.

“Spit!”

Ye Fan was only grazed by the tail end of the purple energy — not struck directly — yet still he coughed up blood without end. His left shoulder fractured.

His heart quaked. No wonder Ancient Saints desired this divine material for forging their weapons. The primordial purple energy it contained was simply too devastating. Even a Sacred Lord who encountered it would have been battered to pieces long ago.

“Amitabha!”

The Buddhist incantation rang out. The golden-bodied Buddha caught up once more — moving ten times faster than the old monk — and once again struck the Buddha palm seal downward.

“Bang!”

Ye Fan was sent flying by the golden light. Cracks ran along his spine. Other bones fractured as well. This was laws and force fused together — manifesting the shadow of Amitabha Buddha — one of the most powerful demon-subduing sacred arts in all of Buddhism.

Stealing food from the tiger’s mouth had cost Ye Fan dearly. These two great beings were more powerful than he could have imagined. His entire body felt as though it was about to split apart. He gritted his teeth and pushed his speed to the limit.

He took several more blows. At last, after half a quarter-hour, he managed to break free from the golden-bodied Amitabha and the wisp of primordial purple energy, fleeing several thousand li before finally stopping.

“I’ve actually crossed paths with the Jade King of primordial purple — the thing even Ancient Saints would covet. Terrifying. I’m coming for you in the future!”

“Damn it, the old dead monk actually summoned the shadow of Amitabha himself. What was that monk’s identity when he was alive?!”

Ye Fan cursed bitterly. His Sacred Body had nearly been shattered to pieces. He didn’t know how many bones were broken. This was the most severe damage he had ever sustained in all his battles since setting out.

At this moment, he had lost nearly half his life force. Had it not been for the extraordinary sturdiness of his flesh, he would have become a puddle of wreckage long ago.

Such a level of destructive force was enough to reduce the physical bodies of a dozen or more Sacred Lords to dust. Only he could have endured it.

Such was the price of stealing food from the tiger’s mouth. Ye Fan had nearly been killed by two of the great beings. He immediately swallowed several mouthfuls of divine spring water, then activated the Nirvana Scripture that An Miaoyi had taught him.

Boundless golden blood and vital energy blazed and surged. His bones cracked and snapped — and for a full two hours, until he finally opened his eyes, the bones had knit themselves together and all fractures had vanished.

Within the small cauldron of mutton-fat jade, six drops of dragon marrow rolled and gleamed — each one the size of a dragon eye, giving off surging waves of sound like the sea, casting half the sky in a shimmering, brilliant green.

“This precious marrow is extraordinary. A single drop is worth six of the ones I found before. This is superior-grade rare marrow, difficult to come by. The injuries were worth it — I can now advance to the fifth transformation of Dragon Transformation!”

Ye Fan was filled with joy. Though he had nearly lost his life and almost been destroyed by those two great beings, the gains were immense. These few drops of rare and precious marrow were worth a fortune beyond measure.

Before long, he returned to the Eastern Branch of the Qin Sect. He quietly recuperated for a few days until his body had recovered to its peak state — then set out again.

This time he entered seclusion. He had to keep breaking through. Seeing Li Xiaoman’s cultivation as she trained had filled him with a sense of pressure. Hua Yunfei would undoubtedly be even more terrifying.

In recent months he had been comprehending the Dao, and now with dragon marrow to assist, everything had proceeded far more smoothly. The fragments of Dao principles contained within the six drops of dragon marrow were indeed six or seven times more numerous than before.

Half a month later, Ye Fan emerged from seclusion, then set out, traveling a full hundred thousand li before stopping. He observed his surroundings carefully for two days and, seeing nothing amiss, finally began his tribulation crossing.

The heavenly tribulation was vast, but it posed no difficulty for Ye Fan. He tempered the Ten Thousand Mothers’ Essence Cauldron, baptized the small golden figure formed from his divine sense sea, hammered and refined his physical body — and after several hours, he successfully advanced to the fifth transformation of Dragon Transformation.

“Such tremendous power — another great step forward!”

Ye Fan’s body was wreathed in divine light, his every inch of flesh and blood gleaming with translucent, jewel-like brilliance, harboring within it a boundless and terrifying divine force.

He flew deeper into the Qin Mountains, surveying the terrain of the mountains and rivers. He was convinced that somewhere in this place, there had to be dream-realm divine marrow comparable to the undying medicine.

Two days later, Ye Fan heard thunder. The sound was tremendous, shaking the mountains all around him, carrying from far away.

“No storm clouds, the sky perfectly clear — this means… someone is crossing a tribulation!”

His heart jumped. In this present age, very few people were capable of crossing tribulations. He rushed forward quickly, and with a faint sense of anticipation stirring within him.

A vast lake appeared among the mountains. Standing before an ancient stone stele at its edge, Ye Fan read three characters carved into it: Immortal Transformation Pool.

“The birthplace of the Green Emperor?!”

The Immortal Transformation Pool was a legend. Many claimed it existed — yet it was far from certain. He did not know whether what he had found was the true pool.

“Who is crossing a tribulation within the Immortal Transformation Pool?!”