This was a grove of snow maple trees — ancient trees stretching in unbroken formation, verdant and fragrant. White snow maple blossoms fell in sheet after sheet, pure white and crystalline, their fragrance washing over all, dancing like ice flowers in flight.
Amid the shade of the trees, ahead of the snow maple grove lay a cemetery. Tombstone after tombstone bore the marks of the years upon them, radiating a sense of time’s depth and weight.
An autumn wind blew through. The ancient trees swayed. Petals flew through the air in thick drifts, rustling down everywhere in white — carrying a desolate quality, carrying a chill, like the tears of heaven scattered to earth.
Ye Fan walked through the cemetery one step at a time, his gaze sweeping past several tombstones without a word. The autumn wind lifted his black hair, covering his eyes.
He stopped before several earth mounds. The stone tablets bore the familiar names of one person after another. Flower petals drifted onto the graves, adding another layer of chill.
No more and no less — exactly six graves, each inscribed with a name: Pang Bo, Wu Zhongtian, Liu Kou, Jiang Huairen, Li Heishui, and the last — Ji Ziyue’s grave, delicate and neat in its script.
Ye Fan lingered only briefly before departing, passing through the cemetery to arrive before a bamboo grove. Here stood several thatched cottages — his current dwelling.
The great battle in the Qinling range had passed two months ago. He lived in a remote corner, removed from the world, quietly cultivating here — no clamor of the mortal world, no entanglements of mundane affairs. Peaceful and serene and distant.
It was a pity, however, that a certain vitality was missing. He could not see the faces of old companions, could not hear their laughter — only falling flowers and silence kept him company.
Ye Fan stood in the bamboo grove, listening to leaves rustling to the earth, watching flowers gradually wither. He was like a passing traveler. The depths of his eyes were still and clear as water, untouched by the smoke and fire of the human world.
This was an unworldly quality. Day after day, Ye Fan passed his time this way — walking through mountains and wilderness, appearing at the sides of mountain springs, silently contemplating heaven, earth, and nature, merging with it all.
Geese flew south for winter, gradually receding into the distance, giving one a sense of not knowing where one’s home lay — of heaven and earth being vast and homeless.
“Another formation of geese flying south… old companions…”
Over these two months, he had not forced himself to cultivate — yet he had progressed quickly. Perhaps the time to face the heavenly tribulation was approaching.
“Without you all at my side, cultivating alone feels as though something is missing.” Ye Fan sighed softly.
Time passed quickly. Another month went by. Ye Fan still had not left. He sat in silence within his thatched cottage, keeping watch over a cliff face on the opposite side.
“BOOM!”
A full three months passed — and finally a tremendous sound rang out. A section of cliff cracked apart, and a magnificent figure flew out, nine divine lights penetrating the heavens.
The Nine Divine Soldiers surged and struck, cleaving through heaven and earth, like nine divine phoenixes dancing — sending this whole stretch of mountain terrain shaking, the mountains all trembling.
“Little Ye, I’ve come out of seclusion!” Pang Bo shouted. He had thick brows and large eyes, standing a head or two taller than ordinary people — robust and powerful, extraordinarily imposing.
Ye Fan laughed heartily and went to meet him: “Are all your injuries healed?”
“No problem at all — reborn and far stronger than before!” Pang Bo opened his mouth and inhaled. The Nine Divine Soldiers transformed into nine beams of light and entered his mouth. His thick black hair flew and then settled to the earth.
“BANG!”
On the other side, four ancient caves collapsed in succession. Rocks flew upward, piercing the clouds. A large swath of the bamboo grove was swept flat, dust rising in all directions.
Wu Zhongtian, Li Heishui, Liu Kou, and Jiang Huairen emerged from seclusion one after another, each of them vigorous and full of spirit, their injuries entirely healed — with a kind of transformation, a shedding of the old self.
The sixth cave dwelling shook lightly, then sent out beam after beam of celestial light. With a loud crack, it blasted open. Great boulders flew in all directions. A purple-robed young woman rushed out.
Her black hair danced lightly. Her purple robes flowed. Her figure was slender. Like a sprite, she emanated an inner divine elegance. Her long lashes trembled, her eyes brimming with spiritual vitality.
The gravely wounded Ji Ziyue had also emerged from seclusion. After three months of recuperation, her wounds were gone without trace. She was clear-minded and ethereal, her clever eyes and beautiful gaze lively and impish.
“I’ve come out of seclusion — I was so bored I nearly died. I’ve never liked going into seclusion to cultivate.”
All six emerged together, full of spirit. Compared to three months prior, in every respect they had risen to a higher level — spiritual power elevated, divine senses refined.
“I had tombstones erected for all of you. Go pay your own graves a visit.” Ye Fan said with a laugh.
“You really are bizarre!” Ji Ziyue wrinkled her nose. Her skin was crystalline and white as ivory, gleaming with radiance, her beautiful hair flowing, her large eyes dark as black gemstones.
“The wrecked remnant of a body, burned to ash — what’s the point of erecting a tombstone for that? Little Ye, you truly are tactless.” Li Heishui grumbled.
Three months ago, in that great battle, when the Supreme Dao Imperial Weapons revived — even Ye Fan’s body had nearly split apart, to say nothing of the others. In that moment, some of them had half their body turned to paste, some had a section of their torso shattered. They had walked the line between life and death.
Ji Ziyue in particular had suffered the heaviest wounds. Continuously borrowing the power of the great world had come at an enormous price. She had nearly drained her own primordial source, sustaining a wound of the Dao Path, and had very nearly died.
Their shattered bodies — whatever had fallen apart — had all been buried by Ye Fan in that cemetery. That was how those six tombstones came to be.
At their level of cultivation, a severed arm could regenerate on its own. A broken body could regrow. Permanent disability was impossible. From the time one reached the Four Extremes Secret Realm, this ability to regenerate had existed.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the skull and divine senses must not be destroyed by someone. If they were, even an immortal could do nothing — the Dao Path was destroyed along with life.
All of them had been injured by the Supreme Dao Imperial Weapons — equivalent to being struck down by the Grand Dao. Survival was extraordinarily difficult. Without special means, death was nearly certain.
Yet for Ye Fan, none of this was insurmountable. He carried upon him holy fruits picked from the ancient forbidden lands — originally prepared for Jiang Divine King, yet ultimately unused.
Now, using these undying holy fruits to heal the injuries of each person, there was naturally no danger to their lives. Moreover, all of them had undergone a transformation because of it — shedding the old self and being reborn, receiving an extraordinary stroke of fortune.
“Now that you’ve all come out of seclusion, I should find a place to face the tribulation.” Ye Fan said.
“Tremendous pressure — it seems I too should go eat coffin boards.” Pang Bo grumbled. He had once again shed his old self and been reborn, and was also due for a breakthrough.
“How is the outside world?” Li Heishui asked.
“I expect that after all the commotion, it has calmed down by now.” Ye Fan was untroubled — he had long since had some idea of this.
“Perhaps we should first go out and take a look.”
“Indeed — we’ve been out of the world for three months. We have no idea what’s happened outside.”
Two days later, the group left the mountains and arrived in an ancient city in the western region of the Central Prefecture. The moment they entered the city, they heard a great deal of news.
A full three months had passed, yet the storm from that battle had still not died down. It remained the topic on everyone’s lips — in teahouses and restaurants, cultivators everywhere were discussing it.
“Imperial Weapons in opposition” — those words appeared with the highest frequency, seizing everyone’s nerves. Every person who spoke of it showed a look of reverence.
“A full six Supreme Dao Imperial Weapons — capable of cutting down stars beyond the domain, capable of turning the Central Prefecture upside down, of sinking an entire great domain!”
“With so many Imperial Weapons, they still couldn’t keep the Holy Physique Ye Fan — he took the green copper pieces away.”
“That battle — blood stained the heavens. Countless half-step great masters died — even some Holy Master-level figures fell one after another…”
The battle in the Qinling range had been extraordinarily brutal. Many great figures had died. It was an enormous storm that had shaken the five great domains. Even now, people’s faces changed color when they spoke of it.
A world-shaking battle — with that many Imperial Weapons deployed — arguably something seen only once in ancient and modern history. In that single day, many great sects’ deep reserves had nearly been fully deployed, racing toward the western region of the Central Prefecture.
“Reportedly quite a few great masters died — many sects’ eyes have gone red!”
“Sigh, hardly needs saying. Who wasn’t killing with abandon that day? Too many people died. Bodies fell in sheets.”
“Even more people left no bones behind — vaporized by the Supreme Dao Imperial Weapons!”
The hearts of Ye Fan and his companions grew cold. After they had left, in order to compete for the immortal pool and the dreamlike divine essence within the ten-thousand-year dragon lair, the various great sects had fought yet another battle, with enormous casualties.
In the end, the immortal pool had vanished. The ten-thousand-year dragon lair had sunk into the depths of the earth — it was an ancestral root that could move, and it would not linger in any one place for too long.
“Too brutal — mountains of bones. Even sect leaders, apex great masters, have been killed!”
This was a great battle that many people could not forget. No one knew how many had died. Every great power that had been involved had suffered enormous pain — heavy losses of elite fighters.
One could say this was a human-made catastrophe the like of which had been rarely seen in tens of thousands of years. Sect leaders on every side had been wounded or killed outright — genuinely extraordinary.
“The Holy Physique is truly something — six Supreme Dao Imperial Weapons, and none of them kept him. He still managed to kill so many people, shaking all under heaven!”
“By now, who hasn’t heard? A Holy Physique with limitless potential — this battle spread his name to every sect, making even living fossils feel dread.”
“Everyone is predicting that once this young man grows, reaches the Holy Master level, there will be very few in the world who can hold him in check — he could look down upon all under heaven with contempt!”
After the Qinling battle, Ye Fan could not help but be famous. He had virtually seized the Nine Li Divine Dynasty’s Supreme Dao Imperial Weapon, nearly making it his own — slaughtering in all ten directions, making those who had personally experienced that battle still break into cold sweats thinking of it.
When the Nine Li Diagram shook, many powerful cultivators died bitterly — shattered in the sky, not even a bone left behind.
“He beat the Yin-Yang Sect leader until only half his body remained and he escaped. He tore off one arm each from the Wanchu Holy Master and the Zifu Holy Master…”
Ye Fan’s battle record had truly alarmed many people. Having reached the Eight Prohibitions realm, and having received the inheritance of a Source Heaven Master — once he matured, he could absolutely look down on all under heaven.
“A true monster from the Eastern Wilderness indeed — truly astonishing!”
That was all people could exclaim. In the chaos of battle, he had taken the heads of great masters, killing powerful enemies one after another. This battle established Ye Fan’s fearsome reputation — very few were left unaware of it.
After this battle, the Blind Old Man and the Red Dragon Daoist both put out word: whoever dared touch their descendants would have an Imperial Weapon brought to bear to wipe out all of their successors. Sufficiently domineering.
Wu Zhongtian, Pang Bo, and the others had vanished for three months, making many great powers uneasy. They genuinely feared the two living fossils might take Imperial Weapons and come slaughtering, opening a great killing.
“You walking out so openly and returning to the Grand Scholar’s Mansion — I expect there will be no problem. Many people may even breathe a sigh of relief.” Ye Fan said with a smile.
“I do need to return to the Grand Scholar’s Mansion.” Ji Ziyue said. The Ji Clan knew her whereabouts and had been secretly protecting her throughout these three months. Now someone had transmitted a message asking her to return.
“The Grand Scholar’s Mansion holds a supreme secret: my clan’s ancestor said there is a way to reach an ancient star beyond the domain — a rare opportunity of this age. That is the true reason all immortal lineages have sent their outstanding members to the Grand Scholar’s Mansion.” Ji Ziyue revealed this secret.
“The people backing you have already made stern pronouncements. I no longer need to worry about you.” Ye Fan said with a smile. He needed to find a place to face the tribulation and had to leave temporarily.
“Before long, I’ll come to the Grand Scholar’s Mansion to drink with you all.” Ye Fan waved his hand and walked toward the distance.
By now, everyone believed that Ye Fan would have to keep a very low profile for a long time — not daring to appear. Otherwise, those two pieces of green copper alone would drive the great powers of the Central Prefecture into a frenzy.
Yet no one could have anticipated that even while the outside world was still in an uproar, a stunning piece of news arrived.
Ye Fan had faced his tribulation — and the location he had chosen was right in front of the Yin-Yang Sect’s gates. Extraordinarily audacious, he had blocked the mountain entrance and triggered the heavenly tribulation, which struck for most of a full day.
In the end, everything outside the Yin-Yang Sect’s inner sanctum had been leveled — scorched earth, not a blade of grass left. Had that sect not possessed a heaven-defying formation of ancient emperor inscription patterns, the whole site would absolutely have been razed to flat ground, with nothing remaining.
When this news broke, the Central Prefecture shook. Everyone was stunned. The Holy Physique was too brazen — daring to face his tribulation right at the entrance of a supreme great sect, demolishing everything in the process. His audacity was unparalleled.
“The Yin-Yang Sect has truly suffered the worst luck of eight generations of ancestors. Someone blocked them inside a divine territory it took them tens of thousands of years to construct — what a humiliation!”
“You don’t understand — that heavenly tribulation was too terrifying. If not for the fact that four types of Great Emperor formation patterns are extant in this world, capable of defying heaven, the Yin-Yang Sect would probably have been leveled.”
“The Holy Physique is making a forceful declaration of war — telling those who harbor ill intentions toward him that when pushed to the brink, there is nothing he won’t do.”
The Qinling great battle had barely passed, and already this had happened. Leaders of every sect were alarmed. Many fell silent. The rise of the Holy Physique was most likely already unstoppable!
In ancient times, a fully realized Holy Physique could compete with the Great Emperors of old. Now a person who had broken the curse had appeared in the world. If he were to fully grow, he would most likely recreate the unrivaled glory of antiquity.
“In so little time, he is already a cultivator of the ninth transformation of the Dragon Transformation — about to step into the Immortal Platform Secret Realm!”
When people learned of this, they were even more alarmed. Many were restless day and night. Ye Fan’s speed of growth was simply too fast.
“This is what a true monster looks like — unmatched in source arts, formidable in combat power, advancing at a breakneck pace. In the future, who could hold him in check?”
“Why hasn’t Wang Teng acted yet? Will the immortal lineages snuff the Holy Physique out in his cradle?”
Many were watching, many were quietly waiting.
Ye Fan faced his tribulation outside the Yin-Yang Sect — his spirit refreshed and vigorous. After reducing the outer regions to scorched earth, he departed decisively without lingering.
For the sect possessed a sacred weapon passed down through generations — once wielded by an ancient saint, unrivaled under heaven. Not to be provoked.
The entire Yin-Yang Sect — top to bottom — was nearly bursting with rage, yet could say nothing. Since the founding of the sect, not a single person had ever dared to be this audacious at the mountain entrance.
In an ancient town, Ye Fan sat inside a small tavern, pouring his own wine and drinking alone, quietly listening to people’s discussions, a faint smile on his face.
“Audacious — truly audacious. They say the Yin-Yang Sect’s people have nearly gone mad. They’re searching the whole world for the Holy Physique.”
“Hmm. The Northern Emperor has declared: wherever Ye Fan appears, he will kill him!”
“Last time, Wang Teng suffered a terrible setback from the Holy Physique in the Qinling range. He was nearly suppressed to death by the Nine Li Diagram. What a loss of face.”
“The Holy Physique truly dares do anything!”