Ye Fan let out a long howl and gave chase without letting up. With the Xing character secret technique in his possession, his speed was extraordinary — in the blink of an eye he was right behind them, launching fierce strikes.

“Boom!”

The battle continued. Hua Yunfei once again vomited fresh blood, and Li Xiaoman’s Lotus Battle Garment was smashed apart, stained with blood as it fell and crumbled to dust.

Ye Fan’s expression remained cold and unmoved; he said nothing more, simply continuing the relentless pursuit. Along the way, he had no idea how many great mountains he had crossed — all the way through the latter half of the night, the fierce battle continued.

The bright moon was pristine and clear. Beneath Qinling, ancient tombs lay in great numbers. In the latter half of the night, it was not uncommon to see old corpses crawl out of ancient graves and breathe in and out the quintessence of moonlight.

Across ten thousand miles, the great chase unfolded. Waves of divine power erupted again and again, peaks collapsing frequently as the three of them fought on the move, leaving behind a trail of destroyed mountains without end.

Hua Yunfei’s hair was a disheveled mess. His injuries were severe, his bones fractured in multiple places across his body. Li Xiaoman was in the same state — all five of her organs torn, her entire body drenched crimson with blood.

On the other side, Ye Fan was not faring much better. He, too, had suffered extremely serious wounds. This great battle had cost him a tremendous price.

Hua Yunfei had already used up three Mysterious Jade Platforms to traverse the void, yet Ye Fan also had array platforms on him and refused to give up the chase, following along each time — there was no shaking him.

At this point, Hua Yunfei finally showed the faintest crack in his composure. If this continued to drag on, his life-source would run dry, and his life would in all probability draw to a close.

Other than the Nine Secrets, Ye Fan possessed none of the other great emperor-level secret arts, for those were all recorded in the forbidden sections of various ancient scriptures, and obtaining them was impossible.

However, he did possess several of the most powerful fundamental heart cultivation methods. In this very moment, the Dao Scripture, the Western Emperor Scripture, the Eternal Universe Scripture, and the Supreme Emperor Scripture were all operating simultaneously, every great secret realm lit up with brilliance.

The Wheel Sea, the Dao Palace, the Four Extremities, and the Dragon Transformation — Ye Fan’s four great secret realms all resonated with scripture chanting sounds, as though four ancient emperors had awakened. The heavens, the earth, and the star universe were thrown into massive upheaval.

“Boom!”

For reasons unknown, all his various phenomena suddenly merged into one. Though indistinct and impossible to discern clearly, a terrifying power erupted from within.

Even Ye Fan himself could not withstand it and was nearly shattered from within. Were it not for the Golden Tai Chi Circle protecting him, he might have become the first person in history to be annihilated by his own phenomena.

Ye Fan transformed into a golden rainbow and charged forth — this was an absolutely prime opportunity. He drove the attack at Hua Yunfei, and no matter how that powerful enemy resisted, it was impossible to block.

“Pfft!”

Hua Yunfei spewed a great gush of blood, nearly shattered by the mysterious phenomenon. Ye Fan then launched a series of killing strikes in succession, carrying the mysterious phenomenon forward as he advanced, each step measured — seven steps in all.

“Boom!”

Half of Hua Yunfei’s body exploded, reduced to a paste of flesh. Fragments of bone scattered through the air in a bloody scene. He let out a great cry and was sent stumbling backward hundreds of meters.

Ye Fan attacked the nearby Li Xiaoman, but at that moment, the phenomenon dissipated. He channeled the Tai Chi Circle and manifested the Innate Great Dao, tearing open a corner of her three hundred and sixty-five golden vortices.

“Boom, boom…”

Ye Fan threw heavy blow after heavy blow at Li Xiaoman, finally breaking through her defenses with eighty-one consecutive strikes, scattering the last of her golden vortices.

The Golden Tai Chi Circle pressed in close. Ye Fan struck with a palm — mountains shook and the earth split. Li Xiaoman fought back with all her might, but in the end she let out a miserable cry, the lower half of her body severed by the blow.

“Pfft!”

She went tumbling backward through the air, mid-torso shattered, falling from the sky as Ye Fan’s palm cleaved through her, dealing her wounds beyond imagining. The golden light in her eyes blazed with intensity.

In this moment, the situation had shifted drastically. The tide of battle had changed enormously — Ye Fan now held absolute supremacy.

“Boom!”

Having seized the initiative, Ye Fan disregarded his own injuries and continued to throw heavy blow after heavy blow — each one like a towering tsunami, every mountain trembling.

“Boom!”

Hua Yunfei was sent flying like a scarecrow once more. Having lost half his body, his combat power was a shadow of what it had been, and he dared not continue using the Phoenix Tribulation Rebirth Technique.

Li Xiaoman fared no better. Ye Fan drove a punch into her and she could not withstand it — her three hundred and sixty-five golden vortices dimmed, unable to block him.

Had it not been for their king-level divine weapons offering protection, neither of them would have survived this ordeal. Even so, they were struck repeatedly and sent crashing through mountain peaks multiple times, tumbling into the dust.

Ye Fan deployed every technique he had. A great golden foot descended from the sky and very nearly stomped the two of them flat, reducing several mountain peaks to level ground.

The two of them, battered and covered in dust, rolled out from beneath it. Hua Yunfei finally found another opportunity and produced the Mysterious Jade Platform. “Go!” he cried.

They crossed through the void and vanished from that mountain range. Ye Fan’s expression was cold and merciless. He gave chase without hesitation, likewise using the Mysterious Jade Platform to follow.

Another tranquil mountain range, the bright moon hanging high — pristine and peaceful. Another great chase and battle was about to unfold, and yet something seemed wrong.

Suddenly, a bizarre aura surfaced. Ye Fan shuddered violently, shot upward into the sky, and cast a sharp look behind him.

At the same moment, both Hua Yunfei and Li Xiaoman changed color and fell back as well, having sensed the dangerous aura.

In the distance, an ancient mountain cracked apart. A purple little figure no more than a foot tall drove a bronze chariot charging out. From another direction, an old monk whose skin clung tight to his bones — as though cast from solid gold — came flying over.

Ye Fan turned and fled at once. He had encountered these two terrifying beings before. Last time, he had stolen the dragon marrow from them and been chased down by them in a pursuit that had nearly turned fatal.

Hua Yunfei and Li Xiaoman also fled far away. They seemed to recognize these two fearsome beings. Their Primordial Treasure Vases rose and fell, and carried them as they began to cut through the air without leaving a trace.

“Boom!”

The old monk let out a great roar, summoning the shadow-form of Amitabha Buddha to pursue Ye Fan at extreme speed.

On the other side, the purple little figure drove the bronze chariot to chase after Hua Yunfei and Li Xiaoman — swift as lightning, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

It had to be said that this golden-bodied old monk was terrifyingly powerful. The shadow-form of Amitabha Buddha he had summoned crushed all before it; nothing could obstruct it.

Ye Fan had no idea how many mountain ranges he crossed, using the Xing character technique to race tens of thousands of miles, before he finally managed to shake the terrifying old monk.

He found an ancient cave and quietly healed his injuries. The Nirvana Scripture ran ceaselessly. Golden blood-energy submerged his entire body, filling the whole cavern with a sacred and peaceful glow.

This time, he had been severely wounded — someone else would have had absolutely no chance of survival. But his physique was formidable, and he recovered gradually. No great catastrophe had befallen him.

With the dawn of daylight, Ye Fan opened his eyes. The terrible wounds had healed by seventy or eighty percent. He rose to his full height and walked out of the ancient cave step by step.

In the early morning, a thin mist drifted among the mountain ridges. When the morning glow spilled down upon it, the mist transformed into shimmering colored fog that wove together with the green grasses and ancient trees — a scene of peaceful tranquility.

On the ancient vines, amid the green leaves, droplets of dew trembled and rolled, glittering with seven colors in the radiance of the morning glow — like pearls in motion.

In this serene morning, Ye Fan stood within the mountain terrain, brow lightly furrowed. Having fought through an entire great battle without managing to keep either Hua Yunfei or Li Xiaoman behind — it left him with a sense of regret.

“Ten years from now, how many people in this world will be able to check them?”

These were unquestionably enemies unlike any he had faced before. He felt they could be spoken of in the same breath as Zhong Huang and Wang Teng — for on this trajectory, those fierce individuals would once more appear in the world, formidable beyond all precedent.

“But no matter how powerful they become, they will still be constrained by the Eight Restrictions. As long as my own realm keeps pace, I can suppress them by force alone.”

Ye Fan muttered to himself. He felt a powerful self-confidence, yet also a deep sense of pressure. The descendants of the Fierce Man Emperors were bound to him by profound karma — and their speed of cultivation was far too rapid, forcing him to keep up.

“Only by continuously breaking through will it do. The Great Completion of the Indestructible Body can contend with great emperors. Within the same realm, I will absolutely fear no one.”

Ye Fan was certain: even if those two consumed the life-sources of many kings and walked the path of the ancient great emperors, as long as his realm kept pace and he did not fall behind, he could suppress them.

At present, he and Hua Yunfei were separated by three minor sub-realms. He had to close that gap and could not allow it to widen further — otherwise, the future would be extremely dangerous.

And what unsettled him most was the question of what existence Li Xiaoman had borrowed power from. He had thought on it through the entire night, searching through everything in his mind, and had found not a single lead.

“Where exactly did things go wrong…” Whenever Ye Fan thought of those golden vortices, he felt a nameless discomfort that he could not quite put into words.

That divine power had not been cultivated from within herself — it originated from outside, much like wielding a king-level divine weapon or an imperial weapon. It was completely unconstrained by the Eight Restrictions.

Yet from this battle, Ye Fan had also gained immensely. He had found his own “Dao” — and this was of utmost importance.

The ancient great emperors never walked the roads laid by those who came before them. In the end, each opened their own Dao, and only by doing so could they transcend. The ancient scriptures of old served merely as reference.

Time passed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, a year and a half slipped quietly by. Ye Fan had presented rare and precious treasures, successfully gaining entry into the Qinmen’s main peak long since, and had been searching continuously for the Nine Secrets — yet still had found no trace.

It had to be said that entering the main peak was quite dangerous. In the past year, several people had already perished there, the cause of death unknown, yielding no results.

Ye Fan was certain in his own mind that this was mostly Hua Yunfei’s doing. Knowing he had come for the Nine Secrets, and unable to determine which person he was, Hua Yunfei was eliminating them one by one.

The Qinmen’s sect master had been alarmed and dispatched the powerful Bi Luo King, along with several other great experts, to search for the culprit.

By now, Ye Fan had learned that Hua Yunfei had entered the Qinmen’s main peak several years ago, but had departed a year and a half prior. Li Xiaoman had likewise disappeared around the same time, never returning.

During the great battle in the Qinling Mountains, Ye Fan had not seen either of them employ the Nine Secrets, but he could not be certain they had not obtained them.

Over the course of a year and a half, Ye Fan’s strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. Feeling the pressure and compelled to cultivate bitterly, he had now reached the Eighth Transformation of Dragon Transformation — his progress truly astonishing.

During this period, he also had to resist another deadly threat — the Salvation Scripture. With his own eyes, he had seen two of the people who had entered the main peak with him become devout Qinmen disciples.

Had his divine consciousness not been extraordinarily powerful, he too would likely have been in danger. Even so, it was only because he had largely avoided listening to the Supreme Sect Master expound on the Dao that he had remained unharmed.

“These are a pack of old monsters. With more than ten of them chanting scriptures every single day, even a Bodhisattva would be converted given enough time.”

Ye Fan furrowed his brow. Without listening to the Dao, there was no way to come into contact with the Nine Secrets — this put him in an impossible predicament. Through his observations, he had confirmed that the Sickly Elder had indeed not ascended to the main peak, fearing he would be converted.

Moreover, the scholar of the Eastern Lineage seemed to have noticed the Moon Spirit Princess and was constantly finding reasons to go up to the main peak, yet had not joined himself.

This struck Ye Fan as quite remarkable. Among those who had entered the main peak alongside him, there was only one young woman. While her appearance was passable, she was not remotely close to the second most beautiful woman in Central Province.

She could only be described as ordinary in appearance. To call her a peerless beauty who outshone all others would be completely absurd — the gap was far too great.

“Most likely she carries a secret treasure on her, one that can deceive even my divine eyes…” Ye Fan muttered.

Thereafter, he began paying closer attention to that young woman, and discovered that she frequently visited a barren, completely bald stone mountain, sitting there for half a day at a time.

This stone mountain stood opposite the main peak and was not terribly far away. Not a blade of grass grew on it, not a vine crept across it — clean and dry, with nothing on it at all.

One moonlit night, Ye Fan ascended that stone mountain. The moonlight was like thin mist. He sat in quiet contemplation, yet after half a night of sitting, he gained nothing — not the slightest hint of anything unusual.

He shook his head, rose, and flew back toward the main peak. This time, he returned from the rear of the mountain, since the stone mountain lay in that direction.

The moonlight flowed like water, pure and gentle. On the rear mountain’s stone cliff were a few carvings — all of them weapons: cauldrons, bells, pagodas, spears, swords, and the like.

He had seen them before and assumed they had been carved by some disciple with time to spare, for they were exceedingly crude and lacking in aesthetic appeal, likely carved within the past several decades.

But then, just at that moment, moonlight spilled down like white mist, and these weapon carvings looked somewhat different. An ancient and weathered aura, faint but unmistakable, seeped out from them.

“These are…” Ye Fan was greatly startled.

These etchings had existed for an immensely long stretch of years — and yet before now, they had been able to deceive even his divine eyes. It was truly incomprehensible.

The more he stared, the more profound and mysterious they appeared. Those crude and clumsy marks now resembled divine phoenixes in flight, as though on the verge of breaking free from the heavens.