The lake water stirred and murmured. A man dressed in cyan robes stepped ashore one step at a time — extraordinarily heroic and magnificent. Deep within his eyes lay the scene of heaven and earth being split open at the dawn of creation, a universe being born from nothing — unfathomably profound.
A green copper piece, mottled with rust, hovered above his head and came ashore with him, approaching the gathering of people.
His every movement was so natural — no overwhelming pressure aura, no aura to make others tremble. He was like an eternal immortal body.
Yet every single person felt the urge to kneel and bow — as before a divine being, they wanted to prostrate themselves in reverence.
At last, one after another they knelt. This was not compelled. It was not brought about by any pressure aura. It came entirely from within — utterly sincere.
There was simply no way to describe what kind of atmosphere this was — sacred and serene, solemn and strangely surreal. Even the sect masters of every faction felt their hearts emptied and clear, as though worshipping a divine spirit, bowing their heads over and over.
“You…” On the ancient war chariot, the small figure whose body had been cut into three pieces could not reassemble. Wreathed in its hundred and eight divine rings, it trembled and said, “Who are you?”
The newcomer was too terrifying. Fear arose from the very depths of its being — merely a glance from the corner of his eye had caused its body to shatter. This manner of might was something it had never heard of, never seen.
It must be remembered: this being had cut down sect masters one after another, its Dharmic power without boundary. Yet before this heroic and magnificent man, it was less than even a worm — without a shred of resistance.
“Noisy.” Pang Bo spoke up, helping the Green Emperor rebuke this creature. In the face of the Demon Emperor, he felt a particular warmth and affinity — the Demon Emperor’s Nine Slashes within his body circulated with smooth ease.
“You dare address me as…” The foot-tall creature’s brows shot upward and two terrifying beams of light shot from its eyes.
“In the presence of the Green Emperor, you dare act so impudently?!” Pang Bo bellowed.
“You’re asking for death!” This foot-tall creature dared not show even the slightest resistance before the cyan-robed great emperor, yet toward cultivators like Pang Bo it was utterly contemptuous and was about to strike.
Its power was peerlessly fearsome. Slaying a sect master was like tearing apart a painting — no one could measure how overwhelmingly formidable it truly was.
“Boom!”
The Demon Emperor merely stepped forward — not making any attacking motion whatsoever — yet the foot-tall creature let out a scream. Its hundred and eight divine rings crumbled, and then its body transformed into light and was evaporated entirely without a trace.
What manner of might was this? The sect masters of every faction could not help but draw in a sharp, cold breath. Some people knelt upon the ground, not daring to move a muscle. A single casual movement — the aftershock of a mere step — had destroyed a supreme master of the age.
“The Green Emperor has returned to life!”
“The Demon Emperor of ten-thousand-age brilliance has been reborn!”
People cried out in astonishment, all of them unable to stop themselves from trembling. This news was of such staggering impact. In the blink of an eye across ten thousand years, a great emperor believed to have died — appeared again in the world of the living.
And moreover, he had emerged into the world right here, at the very place of his original birth, still accompanied by a green copper piece — this was the single greatest event to shake both heaven and earth, one before which no one could remain calm.
“How can this be? The Green Emperor’s lifespan was exhausted — he had long since passed into stillness. What exactly has happened?”
“Can an ancient great emperor who did not completely die truly return to the mortal world again?”
“An incomprehensible, peerless power — nothing in this world of mortals can resist it. This surpasses the scope of extreme Dao divine might!”
People debated in a clamor, their souls feeling the sensation of suffocation. A living great emperor had appeared — this overturned many of their fundamental assumptions about what was possible.
“A living… great emperor!”
The azure-colored small dragon barely a foot in length, the crimson-blooded divine phoenix slightly more than half a foot long, the small qilin that had been pulling the chariot, and the eight small figures who had been clearing the path — all of them charged forward.
Even if demon lords, divine monks, sage masters, and emperor masters stood before them, they would be ground to ash. These creatures possessed a power that was unstoppable and absolute.
Yet before the Green Emperor, they appeared as insignificant as dust. When still more than ten zhang from the cyan-robed, magnificent man, one after another they evaporated — each and every one gone without a trace.
Such a powerful group of creatures — ones that could have killed everyone present — and yet before the Green Emperor who had not even counterattacked, they were all reduced to smoke and ash, as though this were something from the realm of fantasy.
“Ancient great emperors are simply too terrifying — there is simply no way to fathom their level of cultivation!” People could only marvel thus.
Not far away, red mist flickered. The third-generation Source Heavenly Master and more than ten red-furred creatures trembled, wanting to flee. The Demon Emperor’s divine might had chilled them to the bone.
But they had barely made a few steps before one red-furred creature after another collapsed, blocked by a sacred force field.
The Green Emperor advanced step by step, his gaze undisturbed as still water. A stream of green radiance overflowed from him. Everywhere he passed, sounds rang out in tranquil harmony — the more than ten red-furred creatures were purified. Their bodies emitted green smoke as the blood-colored fur was entirely incinerated away.
“Ah…”
Cries of agony spread one after another. More than ten physical bodies were reduced to ash. One after another, streaks of blood-red radiance burst from within those human bodies, attempting to take flight and escape.
“Slash!”
The sacred aura emanating from the Green Emperor swept through like ten thousand divine blades, cutting off all streaks of blood-red radiance. They were reduced to ashes — vanishing completely without a trace.
“Green Emperor…” The third-generation Source Heavenly Master spoke for the first time. His words were not particularly clear — like a wild beast growling in a low tone. In his eyes blood-red light flickered, particularly fierce and ferocious.
The Green Emperor said not a single word. He only slowly raised a hand and extended one finger, sending a ray of eternal light shooting out, pressing toward the red-furred humanoid creature.
“Demon Emperor, you will pay for this…” A human-shaped streak of red light burst from the source heavenly master’s crown.
Yet all of this was futile. The Green Emperor’s one finger represented eternity — omnipotent, invincible against all. A green-colored finger seal descended, and that human-shaped blood-red radiance was reduced to ash in an instant.
Yet another terrifying creature was destroyed — one that had slaughtered sect masters like chopping vegetables. Beneath the Green Emperor’s single finger, it did not amount to even dust, unable to muster even a thread of resistance.
“Pop!”
All the red fur on the third-generation Source Heavenly Master’s corpse fell away, revealing an ancient and withered body of flesh — not the slightest trace of life’s fluctuation remaining within it. His life had come to an end seventy thousand years ago.
Ye Fan’s heart trembled. The final years of the source heavenly master had been far too terrible. Even now, having witnessed this scene, he still could not explain what had actually happened.
He stepped forward, wishing to bury the founding master’s body. But no small number of people let out cold snorts, and wave after wave of killing intent spread toward him.
“The immortal elixir belongs to all of us!” an old man said in a low, firm voice.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, the corpse of the third-generation Source Heavenly Master shattered into pieces. A divine pill the size of a fist shot skyward — more dazzling than the sun itself, blazing and resplendent. Yang energy within it was extraordinarily dense.
This was the immortal elixir that should not die. It had been nurtured and born within the body of a source heavenly master, nourished by the great ancient Qinling dragon, and had achieved within the deepest yin a single point of true yang — becoming a precious elixir.
The Peacock King and the Crimson Dragon Daoist jointly wielded the Chaotic Green Lotus. The Supreme Emperor of Great Xia had the Supreme Emperor’s Sword hovering above his head. Both were wary — the Demon Emperor had been reborn. None dared make bold or liberal use of an extreme Dao emperor’s weapon, for fear of drawing wrath and resentment.
They only gave a light tremor — and the immortal elixir that should not die immediately cracked apart, breaking into several dozen pieces that scattered and flew in all directions, like several dozen streaks of flowing radiance shooting outward.
The Demon Emperor did not even glance in this direction. He paced forward in measured steps, facing the ancient dragon cave, his eyes filled with the cycling of countless billions of stars in an unending flow.
All manner of powerful figures struck out at once, deploying the treasures with which they had cultivated with their very lives, seizing the legendary immortal elixir — not one powerful figure was able to remain calm.
The sky was filled with flowing radiance and brilliance, a fragrance seeping through heart and mind drifting down, making the entire Transformation Immortal Pool feel as though it were a dream — radiance raining down like mist, many people directly falling drunk into unconsciousness where they stood.
The more this was so, the more profoundly people sensed the third-generation Source Heavenly Master’s greatness. This supremely yang divine elixir, cultivated through seventy thousand years and refined through countless cycles, had stolen the creative forces of heaven and earth — with the ancient dragon cave of ten thousand ages as its furnace, and had been smelted from within.
Yet such a powerful existence could not withstand a single finger from the Green Emperor. Spirit soul reduced to ash, only a physical body and a precious elixir remained.
Ye Fan was closest of all. He deployed the Myriad Things Primordial Qi Cauldron — like a heaven-swallowing treasure vase — and took in three small, crystalline, agate-like elixir fragments, each the size of a thumbnail.
Other sect master-level figures also struck out in turn, contending for fragments with their life-bonded treasures — each gaining something. The most successful collected four divine elixir fragments, every one of them excited beyond measure.
For living fossil-level figures, this was the supreme medicine for extending their lifespan — a treasure impossible to obtain for billions in gold. One could say this was their very life.
“Clang!”
Someone attacked Ye Fan. An Eight Trigrams Mirror radiated a dazzling ray of light toward him, attempting to lock down the Myriad Things Primordial Qi Cauldron and seize it away.
“Clang—” “Clang—”…
Like ten thousand swords crying in unison, Ye Fan drew upon the power of the immortal pool and seared eighty-one source heavenly talismanic patterns into the void. A true dragon flew forth and sent the Eight Trigrams Mirror crashing away.
“Slash!”
An even more alarming divine light came shooting in. The Yin-Yang Sect’s people had made their move. An ancient scripture flowing with the breath of life and death shot out a ray of death-light, slicing toward Ye Fan.
These people intended not only to seize the fragments of the immortal elixir — they also wanted to take the Myriad Things Primordial Qi Cauldron. Thus they struck with lethal resolve, entirely decisive.
Ye Fan let out a cold snort, deploying his source arts to their full extent. The Transformation Immortal Pool erupted in clouds and rosy mist — streams of immortal radiance rose one after another, transforming into surging Dharmic power for him to wield, attacking his enemies.
This was a brutal contest. Ye Fan successfully recovered the Myriad Things Primordial Qi Cauldron and the elixir fragments — they were not taken. At the same time, a sheet of immortal radiance he drove pierced into the brow of a great master, sending that person screaming aloud and toppling backward.
“Spit!”
At a distance, things were equally fierce — two sect masters died an unnatural death, and several great masters had their forms and souls annihilated. For the sake of seizing elixir fragments, people threw their lives to the wind without a second thought.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, a surging, sky-covering divine radiance burst from within the ancient dragon cave. Every person who had been fighting stopped. Many people collapsed softly to the ground.
An ancient dragon chariot came rumbling out of the dragon cave with a mighty roar. Atop it stood an existence whose entire being blazed with divine radiance — of the same height as an ordinary person, yet causing everyone to tremble.
If the Green Emperor had not been standing before the Transformation Immortal Pool, it was believed most people would already have collapsed to the ground. It was he who withstood that force — the power of one who beneath heaven and above earth stands supreme and alone.
The dragon chariot was ancient. The person atop it wore the crown of a great emperor and the ancient imperial holy garments — approaching like a divine being stepping forth from the primordial great earth.
The divine jade spirit creatures’ “great emperor” — had appeared!
“Yet another living… great emperor?!”
Many people felt on the verge of going mad. Ancient great emperors were like divine beings — existing only in legend, impossible to witness in later ages. How had yet another one appeared now?
People could hardly believe it. From ancient times to now, a single era had never produced two great emperors. Why was this happening? It defied all common sense entirely.
“Divine spirits are extinguished like the sands of the Ganges River — I am the undying emperor of Central Province.” Atop the ancient dragon chariot — carved all over with sword and blade scars, inscribed with the marks left by primordial great battles.
“A single lotus across the ancient blue heavens.” The Green Emperor spoke plainly, the green copper piece quietly hovering above his head.
Impossible! The Transformation Immortal Pool must possess a terrifying magical power that had caused everyone to experience an illusion. It was impossible for two great emperors to coexist beneath heaven and above earth. This was the thought in every sect master’s mind.
Yet everything was so real. Through every manner of probing and testing, the aura of two unrivaled existences could be sensed!
“Ancient great emperors — how have two appeared?” Even those living fossils were filled with bewilderment.
“I see now — I understand.” The ailing elder murmured to himself.