The Nine-Revolutions Divine Talisman was less than an inch in length — forged from divine gold, brilliant and dazzling, indestructible and imperishable. It spun and whirled, attempting to fly free from Ye Fan’s palm.

“Want to leave? Stay right where you are!” Ye Fan closed his fingers around it, gripping it tightly in his fist, refining it with all his might. The Chaos Ancient Emperor Talisman blazed with light that surged to the heavens, impossible to look at directly.

This divine radiance was blinding beyond measure. It shone through the gaps between his fingers and dyed the entire land of ascending immortals gold — a sea of light, brimming with surging divine power.

High above, a holy sword came slicing down. True dragon and divine phoenix flanked it on either side, the blade stretching several hundred zhang, pressing the earth into a violent trembling. Had this not been immortal soil, endless mountain ranges would have been reduced to dust.

The power of that one sword strike was immense beyond reckoning — like a strike hewn by the Celestial Emperor himself, severing time and space. The killing intent pierced to the very depths of one’s divine soul. The sword had not yet arrived, yet the murderous will was already there.

Splat!

Not far away, some people had been standing too close. Unable to withstand that wave of pressure, they vomited great mouthfuls of blood. The sheer sword intent had nearly obliterated their forms and spirits — and this was merely the ripple effect of the sword passing through the air.

The crowd was left pale with shock, for among those who spat blood were two half-step Great Ability experts. That one stunning sword stroke made even many sect masters’ hearts tremble — it was simply too terrifying.

Beside Ye Fan, eighty-one dragon pillars surged skyward like pillars holding up the heavens, each one as thick as a mountain range. Dragon cries rang out, deafening, like a primordial sage roaring forth from the vast untamed wilderness — enough to make many people tremble inwardly. This was the power of the Qinling great dragon.

“How can this be!”

Many could not comprehend it. This level of force could undoubtedly shake a Holy Master — yet how could a cultivator at the Core-Dragon Secret Realm display such overwhelmingly powerful attacking strength?

The eighty-one true dragons were massive and fearsome. They coiled around the Celestial Emperor’s holy sword and cried out in unison — clear and resonant, splitting metal and shattering stone. The ancestral root deep in the earth came alive, and boundless power gushed forth.

“They’ve stopped the Celestial Emperor’s sword!”

People discovered this astonishing fact with wide eyes. One by one the eighty-one true dragons were cut down, dispersing one after another — yet they succeeded in slowing the golden holy sword.

In the blink of an eye, eighty of the great dragons were slaughtered clean. Only one remained to intercept the golden holy sword, though it too had grown dim and faint.

Whoosh!

The Celestial Emperor’s holy sword sank downward, falling — yet it did not slash toward Ye Fan. Instead it blazed with even more brilliant radiance, generating a curtain of golden light that enveloped Wang Chong’s shattered remains.

By now, Ye Fan had finally suppressed the Chaos Ancient Emperor Talisman in his palm, compressing it into a smooth, lustrous, crystal-like treasure flowing with golden luminance. Then, spending every last ounce of his strength, he mobilized the underground dragon energy to surround and block the holy sword — and did everything he could to grind away that shattered body and obliterate it.

The earth vein pulsed. A crimson-gold divine dragon burst from the depths — crimson energy boiling up, the celestial dragon’s tail sweeping in great arcs, its scales blazing like red dawn clouds, vivid and lifelike, indistinguishable from a living creature.

Every spectator was astonished — none more so than the several dragon-vein geomancers and Ou Yang Ye’s group, whose hearts were seized with shock. This was power borrowed by summoning the Qinling great dragon — an ability of terrifying skill.

Though all of them were extraordinary individuals, they had only recently entered this place and could not possibly have traced the dragon vein’s path underground in that short a time. What Ye Fan had done was entirely beyond them.

The crimson-gold true dragon moved as if it had life, coiling through the heavens above, cutting off the path of the Celestial Emperor’s holy sword. It radiated the force of a true dragon — and when it shook, ten thousand things shattered.

Regrettably, no one could witness the sight of ten thousand mountains collapsing, for this was immortal soil — eternally indestructible. Otherwise, the spectacle would have been enough to terrify the very soul.

Boom!

The golden holy sword shuddered. The crimson-gold true dragon wore away a portion of its radiance, and the shattered flesh within it nearly tumbled free.

The Northern Emperor was divided on multiple fronts. At this moment his battle with the Central Emperor had reached a white-hot intensity. Though he had launched the Celestial Emperor’s sword strike, he had done so only by projecting his divine will into it — he could not sustain it for long.

“If my younger brother dies, I will begin a great slaughter. I will cut down every person at your side, one by one. It does not matter to me what their backgrounds are.”

Wang Teng’s voice was cold and indifferent, carrying from far away. Dragon and phoenix cried in harmony, circling and soaring above his head — sacred and powerful. He bathed in boundless divine radiance, like an ancient emperor reborn.

Every heart in the crowd went cold. What the Northern Emperor said, he would do. For someone of his immense power — comparable to the various Holy Masters — to swear such an oath was a terrifying thing.

Even a Divine Dynasty’s sovereign lord would feel caution when threatened in such a way. Otherwise, one’s own descendants and future generations might be cut down wholesale.

Ye Fan did not stop. He said: “Then I shall cut you down first.”

The crimson dragon swept its tail and leapt into the void, spanning the sky like a divine vein, coiling and slashing forward. The Celestial Emperor’s holy sword swayed and teetered.

Rumble, rumble!

Not far off, a golden ancient war chariot came charging over, crushing through the void and obliterating time’s resistance, arriving in an instant, flowing with the breath of the primordial cosmos.

Boom!

The golden war chariot broke through all that blocked it. A golden aperture opened in the sky, and without a sound it swallowed the Celestial Emperor’s holy sword and vanished, disappearing without a trace.

“The Chaos Ancient Emperor’s war chariot?!” A group of people turned to stone, their bodies going cold. Every heart pounded with dread, a chill rising up from the depths of their souls.

“No — how could the Chaos Ancient Emperor’s war chariot be this weak? If it truly appeared, it would be enough to kill everyone present on the spot!”

“And yet… this golden chariot looks so terribly similar!”

The people had already recognized the Nine-Revolutions Divine Talisman, and now upon seeing this golden ancient war chariot, the association came naturally. Every scalp crawled.

“Wang Teng’s fortune is too terrifying — has he really obtained everything from the Chaos Ancient Emperor?!”

Every person present was shaken to the core. Throughout human history, any figure who possessed such extraordinary fortune had without fail become the protagonist of an age, dominating and ruling an era.

At this moment, Wang Teng had not yet left the battlefield — he and the Central Emperor were still locked in fierce combat. Both were the most supreme of their generation, rare through all the ages. Even the Great Emperors of the human race in their youth had been no more than this.

They could not divert their attention. The battle was intense, gripping the minds of all the Holy Masters. The most supreme figures of the elder generation were watching with taut nerves.

And at that very moment, Ye Fan was walking forward, step by step, undaunted by anyone — truly intending to move against Wang Teng, intent on cutting him down here and now.

Every gaze turned toward him. The Ji Family Holy Master, the Great Xia Sovereign Lord, the Western Desert Divine Monk, the Southern Ridge Demon Master — all revealed expressions of shock.

The Holy Maiden of Jade Lake, Yao Guang the Holy Son, Yan Ruyu, the ancient Hua prince, the Moon Spirit Princess — the second most beautiful woman in the Central Continent — every member of the younger generation froze.

Ahead stood Wang Teng — a man of Celestial Emperor bearing, locked in an evenly-matched battle against the Central Emperor that gave even the leaders of all factions pause. And now a Holy Body at the Eighth Dragon Transformation was coming to challenge him without a trace of fear?

Everyone still remembered: when Wang Teng had threatened to kill his companions, Ye Fan had said he would cut down the Northern Emperor first — and now he was actually stepping forward.

This entire region was steeped in the ancient great dragon’s power. Ye Fan had studied every inch of the land for a full month and could draw upon the dragon force for his own use — enough to contest even the most supreme Holy Masters.

“Fellow cultivator, this is a contest between myself and Wang Teng. Please do not intervene.” The Central Emperor spoke. Black hair spread loose over his shoulders, and each punch and stance was balanced and upright — carrying the bearing of an ancient holy sovereign.

“Understood.” Ye Fan uttered only that single word, then halted where he stood. He would go no further, waiting quietly for the outcome of this battle.

Wang Teng’s expression remained unmoved. He cast a glance in this direction and said: “I will stain my Emperor’s sword with holy blood.”

“You haven’t become an emperor yet!” Wu Zhongtian and the others sneered coldly.

“If my younger brother comes to any harm, every one of you will be wiped out — not a single person will survive.” Wang Teng was utterly devoid of warmth.

“Such grand words — does that include me as well?” A voice rang out, resonant and powerful, like a golden bell tolling.

Thud!

A pitch-black great staff pierced through the heavens and came crashing down — majestic and mighty, the laws of heaven and earth resonating with it. Every sect master’s heart was sent lurching.

The pitch-black great staff was as heavy as billions upon billions of units of weight. Even the immortal soil was crushed into fractures beneath it. Had this been anywhere else, endless mountain ranges would have been ground to powder.

Clang!

Wang Teng raised his Celestial Emperor’s sword to meet it, slashing down onto the black staff. Sparks flew in all directions like a shower of meteors — forcing even the Great Ability experts to scramble out of the way.

No one could fathom how terrifying that strike had been. Black light surged and flowed, nearly pressing the heavens and earth into collapse — something that would undoubtedly give even the most supreme Holy Masters a terrible headache.

The golden holy sword and the pitch-black great staff clashed. Wang Teng felt a tremendous force — the webbing between his fingers went numb. He knew that a world-class adversary had arrived. His Martial Dao Heavenly Eye opened, and golden light shot toward the Dipper Stars — so intense that many could not look at it directly.

But from the other side, two blinding beams of golden light came shooting back. A pair of golden eyes blazed like two divine suns, flames burning within them.

Who was this — everyone was stunned and bewildered. To dare insert oneself into a battle between the Central Emperor and the Northern Emperor — one would have to have extraordinary gall!

Boom!

Another earth-shaking strike. The pitch-black great iron staff nearly drove the entire expanse of immortal soil into the ground. The force was too terrifying — every Great Ability expert present changed color.

Finally, Wang Teng, the Central Emperor, and the mysterious figure separated, coming to a brief standstill.

Into the scene had arrived a golden-furred holy ape — eyes of fire and gold, holding a black great iron staff in hand, its upper end prodding the sky, its lower end braced against the earth.

The Monkey had arrived. Li Heishui and the others let out a long breath of relief. This was someone even the most supreme Holy Masters had no answer to — a being of crushingly fierce power.

Boom!

Nearby, the two primordial ancient creatures had finally broken through the source-sky vein patterns. Roaring, they charged forward to kill, lunging toward Ye Fan, still unaware of everything that had just transpired.

“Damned brat — I’m going to kill you!”

“I’ll flay your skin and pull out your soul for our master!”

The Monkey saw these two ancient creatures charging over and was immediately furious. Before Ye Fan could even act, a foot covered in long golden fur was raised high and stamped down with force.

His divine manifestation was even more terrifying. His great, shaggy foot ground the two immensely powerful ancient creatures into the earth like crushing two insects.

“Have you no shame? You’ve disgraced your entire species by taking on a master — isn’t that just pathetic?” The Monkey did not take their lives, for that would not be satisfying enough. Instead, he subjected them to a savage, relentless stomping.

He was like a heaven-swallowing divine ape — as tall as a mountain. Those two powerful primordial creatures were ground into persimmon-cake flatness, lying there in a heap, trembling all over, half scared to death.

“You are… the Holy Primate Prince?”

“The Holy Primate Prince… have mercy!”

The Monkey — he was the sole offspring of the primordial Battle Saint Primate. Their kind was exceedingly rare, but any member of another ancient race who laid eyes on him would recognize him instantly.

The two ancient creatures reacted like mice before a cat. Setting aside the gap in combat power, the terrifyingly strict hierarchy of their species — and the dreadful pressure that came with it — was enough to leave them trembling and limp.

“Disgraceful things — get over here!” The Monkey’s temper was fierce. He returned to normal human size and barked at the two ancient creatures.

All present looked at one another — this Monkey was too domineering. Perhaps only he would dare, right before the Northern Emperor’s eyes, to berate and trample his servants in this way.

“Holy Primate Prince, have mercy — we had our difficulties.” The two ancient creatures shook like sieves, rolling and crawling to come forward.

“Since you were willing to serve someone as slaves, don’t blame me for cleaning house on behalf of your sovereign. First, come here and bow your heads to my brother in apology.” The Monkey pointed at Ye Fan.

The two primordial creatures were a hundred and twenty percent unwilling — yet beneath the Monkey’s divine might, they had no choice but to steel themselves and kneel there in contrition.

Everyone was shaken. The Battle-Saint Ape and Ye Fan were on such intimate terms — this was not good news for many, and it made many eyelids twitch.

Who was the Monkey? The Holy Primate Prince of the primordial age!

Many ancient creatures would never forget that old Battle Saint Primate who had swept across the heavens and earth, invincible above and below — the one who had dared to contend against the very heavens itself. Even toward his son, they felt a reverence and dread that rose from the bottom of their hearts.

Those present had already come to know something of the hidden circumstances — after all, the Eastern Desolate ancient clans had emerged into the world. Seeing this scene, every heart went cold.

Ye Fan himself had already dared to move against the Northern Emperor — just moments ago he had pressed forward to challenge him. And now the formidably aggressive Monkey had arrived as well. Every person revealed an expression of shock.

“That damned monkey!”

“How does the Holy Body have this kind of relationship with the Monkey!”

Many people could not hold back their curses under their breath.