Before the celestial palace, clouds and auroras swelled and billowed, with five-colored vapors drifting everywhere. Ye Fan’s words rang out with the force of metal striking stone, piercing straight to the heart and shaking the ears.
“I will cut him down!”
These four words were like four heavenly swords pressed against every person’s heart, making each one jolt, their entire body shuddering.
The power of his confidence — that relentless, forward-pressing momentum — allowed everyone to feel an unwavering certainty. Nothing could stand before it. It was a strange and tremendous force.
“Arrogant boasting!”
Wang Chengkun had been thinking deeply. He sensed something was off — Ye Fan was far too forceful and self-assured. He spoke before Wang Teng had a chance to, pressing forward with a looming presence.
He was a supreme figure in his own right — his cultivation astounding, a name that rang out even among Holy Master-level figures, rarely matched in battle. He had experienced more great wars than he could count.
“Father, let me handle this. Today, the Sacred Physique’s blood will run dry, his body lying prostrate at my feet. On the great stage where the kings are rising, he will be the first name erased from the path to Great Emperor!” Wang Teng’s expression was cold and impassive as he drove the golden ancient war chariot forward.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time,” Ye Fan said.
“Little Ye…” Ji Ziyue grabbed his sleeve with both hands, her luminous eyes full of worry. His coming here had made her very happy, but she knew that courage alone was not enough. The Northern Emperor was truly too powerful — among the younger generation, he had no equal.
The golden ancient war chariot, engraved with the sun, moon, and stars, with birds, fish, and all manner of living creatures — encompassing the ten thousand spirits of creation, as if capable of subduing every realm — charged forward. Its radiance engulfed the heavens and earth. The Northern Emperor stood at its center, a true dragon and divine phoenix dancing above him, each illuminating the other.
Everyone was astonished. Wang Teng at this moment truly possessed an emperor’s bearing — that aura of “who else but me,” that supremely self-contained arrogance — it was deeply intimidating. Even many elders found it difficult to look at him directly.
“What’s there to be so proud about?” Just then, a discordant voice rang out. Pang Bo spoke: “It’s just a broken cart. Back in the day, I had one too — sure, it only had two wheels, but it was a Flying Pigeon brand!”
No one present could possibly know he was referring to a rattling, falling-apart bicycle where everything shook except the bell, but they understood clearly enough that this was no compliment.
Pang Bo launched into an explanation of the Flying Pigeon brand, and Li Heishui along with a whole group of people burst into laughter. The Wang Family members were instantly furious. Wang Chengkun revealed a look of contempt. “My son was born with a heaven-defying natural gift. You few frogs sitting at the bottom of a well — what are you crowing about?”
“Don’t provoke me — everyone knows — I’ve got a son named Wang Teng!”
“Dare to oppose me? I’ve got a son who steps onto the stage — surnamed Wang, given name Eight-Bastard Teng — with the bearing of a Great Emperor!”
Pang Bo, Li Heishui, and Jiang Huairen launched their ridicule in unison. Whatever else one might say, from this day forward, “I’ve got a son named Wang Teng” would be remembered across the world because of this moment.
The Northern Emperor drove his war chariot forward until he was close at hand. Golden light eclipsed the sun. Nine true dragons, nine divine phoenixes, nine white tigers, and nine black tortoises held the four directions, clouds and auroras everywhere. He stood at the center like the Emperor of Heaven himself.
At this moment, Wang Teng’s gaze was sharp as blades. His thick black hair streamed over his chest and back. His powerful frame radiated an almost crushing pressure that shook the soul. His eyes swept over everyone present.
“Sacred Physique — on what basis do you presume to battle me!” His voice was not raised, yet it penetrated every corner, audible to every person within a radius of several hundred li.
“What are you? Do I need to list my justification for cutting you down?!” Ye Fan called out, matching him blow for blow, stepping forward again and again — like an eternally enduring god of war, his entire body flowing with light, gleaming and unblemished, the heavens and earth trembling with every step he took.
Many who lacked the standing to enter the Ji Family had gathered outside its gates and heard these words. An uproar broke out at once. People knew that a battle between the Northern Emperor and the Sacred Physique was now unavoidable.
The news spread to every corner of the Southern Region in the shortest possible time. A tremendous wave was crashing. No one could say how many people were watching and anticipating this battle.
“Cut down Wang Teng! Cut down this false emperor — does he really think he’s an Ancient Emperor reincarnated? He’s nothing but a raving lunatic!” Pang Bo shouted without a trace of fear, working to build the momentum.
“Cut down the false emperor! Cut down the bastard teng of the Northern Plains Wang Family!” Li Heishui, Liu Kou, and others echoed the call, their voices shaking the vault of heaven, stirring the atmosphere into a frenzy.
“Everyone, please remain calm and restrained.” A Ji Family elder rose, not wanting anyone to fight within Ji Family grounds — after all, everyone was here as a guest.
“Ji-brother, this is not of our making — the Sacred Physique brought the provocation to our door. We have no choice but to kill him.” Wang Teng’s father, Wang Chengkun, spoke.
“What nonsense. You provoked first — how can you now shift the blame onto someone else? Is this how the Wang Family conducts itself?” Pang Bo cut to the truth bluntly.
The Wang Family members erupted in fury. As an ancient clan of primordial origin, no one had ever dared show them such disrespect. Repeated targeting, even from the Demon Emperor’s heir, would not be tolerated.
“What — you’re thinking of striking me down too?” Pang Bo gave a cold laugh.
“I’ll kill you first!” A Wang Family expert surged forward, making a request to the Ji Family elder for a grounds on which to settle the dispute.
“Since it has come to this, let them resolve it themselves — otherwise they should leave these grounds to fight elsewhere.” The Eight Ancestor of the Ji Family spoke. He would have been delighted to see the Wang Family dispose of Ye Fan.
Many distinguished guests also voiced their approval, calling for a battle to be permitted. They had come precisely to witness the Sacred Physique face the Northern Emperor. They had no desire to see the excitement die down — all of them wanted to see the clash of dragons and tigers.
The Ji Family’s Holy Master looked first toward the Scarlet Dragon Daoren, then the Mysterious Ancestor of the Wang Family and others. Seeing no objection from any of them, he nodded his assent and provided a grounds for the battle.
The area immediately erupted into noise, followed by a roaring clamor of voices. Before the cloud-draped celestial palace, a space was cleared in moments, and an invisible dueling arena materialized.
“I’ll kill him first!” A Wang Family powerful figure came forward and moved toward Pang Bo, intending to strike him down.
“Who do you think you’re killing?!” Ye Fan stepped out with a single stride and stood with the bronze coffin in hand, instantly blocking his path.
“Naturally, him!” This was a capable expert — though he had only recently entered the second tier of the Immortal Platform, his realm was plain for all to see. He moved as if walking into empty space, intending to eliminate Pang Bo first.
Hmm!
Ye Fan said nothing and made his move, blocking his path and channeling his full strength. Holding the bronze coffin and with the Script of Movement beneath his feet, he struck downward.
Wang Teng’s father and the others did not intervene, deliberately allowing this person to probe Ye Fan’s true strength — they too could not fully see the bottom of his capabilities.
“Demon-Subduing Formation!” The man bellowed, spitting out thirty-six bronze lamps from his mouth. One by one they floated like ghostly flames, flickering with a greenish-yellow light, enveloping Ye Fan within.
Each bronze lamp was a sacred sword. The flames they shot out were sword-qi, carrying wisps of primordial chaos mist — extraordinarily terrifying, with a destructive force that was superhumanly fearsome.
Everyone’s hearts lurched. This was a sect’s secret treasure, absolutely supremely powerful — far more formidable than an ordinary Holy Master-level weapon, for anything bearing primordial chaos energy was a rare treasure of exceptional quality.
Yet the terrible destructive force struck the bronze coffin and merely rang out with a clinking and clanking sound. Not the slightest effect was achieved. The carved inscriptions on the coffin flashed with a clear radiance, grinding away every last attack and reducing them to nothing.
Boom!
At the same moment, Ye Fan moved forward like a heavenly god in a single stride, shaking heaven and earth. The bronze coffin was immensely heavy, but after channeling the golden blood-qi flowing throughout his body, he was able to swing it into motion — and brought it crashing down with tremendous force.
Collapsing all of heaven!
This astonishing and extraordinary momentum gave everyone a momentary illusion — as if an eternal deity had descended into the world to vanquish demons and evil, his entire body blazing with ten thousand zhang of golden light, swallowing all beneath heaven.
The bronze coffin broke through all methods and shattered all spirits. Once it moved, nothing could withstand it. The rust-covered inscriptions upon it flowed with a mysterious, clear radiance that nullified everything in its path.
Before them, every bronze lamp shattered. Beneath this single blow, they became fragments of bronze debris — their inscribed patterns erased, their flames extinguished, ceasing to exist.
The Wang Family expert coughed up a surge of his original essence-qi, driving over a dozen secret techniques with his great spiritual power. Like a vast and boundless azure sky pressing down, it collided against the ancient coffin.
Yet what was harrowing to behold was this: whether divine weapons or secret techniques born from original essence-qi — all of it was like paper, broken through again and again!
Splat!
A spray of blood erupted. Ye Fan wielded the Ancient Bronze Coffin in a swinging blow and beat a great expert alive into a pulp of flesh!
At first, dead silence fell over the scene. Then it erupted into a seething uproar. A Wang Family great expert had been killed — so completely and cleanly that it left them with nowhere to put their faces.
Moreover, people realized: the Sacred Physique could genuinely battle the Northern Emperor. This would certainly be a world-shaking confrontation — it would not be one-sided. A stunning spectacle was in the making.
Wang Chengkun’s expression darkened deeply. He transmitted: “Did you all notice just now — that bronze coffin’s inscribed patterns are strange. They seal the void itself. Once locked on, there is no avoiding it even if you try to dodge!”
They had discovered a terrifying truth: the most conservative estimate placed this weapon as a king-grade divine armament — one in which the power of divine laws had preliminarily taken shape.
“Wang Teng — how long will you hide?” Ye Fan called out in challenge, standing propped against the coffin. The scene was bizarre and deeply intimidating. By now, not a single person was not shaken. The leaders of every major power harbored deep wariness — the Sacred Physique had grown too quickly, to a point that could no longer be stopped.
Ji Ziyue’s eyes gleamed — bright pupils, flawless teeth — a captivating smile spreading across her face, sweeping away all her anxiety. She was genuinely happy, like a lively little fairy in purple.
The Southern Demon’s expression turned grave. Twin beams of strange brilliance shot from his eyes, fixed unwaveringly on the small bronze coffin. He had recognized that it and the great coffin of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land shared the same origin.
His sister, Qi Huoshui — whose beauty was the finest under heaven, capable of captivating all who saw her, with her graceful and lovely figure — had her eyes shimmering with extraordinary brilliance as she also stared forward, deeply intrigued.
On the other side, Zi Tian Du, the young lord of the Spirit God Valley, furrowed his brows, gazing at the bronze coffin as if sinking into a memory from distant ages past. His elder sister — strikingly beautiful and brilliantly radiant, purple hair cascading over her shoulders, her figure slender and tall, her pair of violet eyes brimming with divine mist — also showed a shift in her expression.
In the distance, the monkey stood holding a great staff, his fiery golden eyes alert, having settled himself into a chair, heart at ease.
Additionally, the Holy Maiden of Yaochi was unexpectedly present as well, her bright eyes flickering with five-colored radiance as she followed the battle closely.
…
Many from the younger generation had come, and the elder figures likewise paid great attention — the Scarlet Dragon, the Bat King, the Immortal Crane King, the Great Bandits, and more, along with no small number of sect masters. All were shaken.
The golden war chariot thundered. The Northern Emperor’s killing intent was fully exposed. His black hair streaming wildly, he came to the center of the arena, facing Ye Fan directly. From this point on, the battle was inevitable.
“I will cut you down beneath my chariot, sacrificing you to the heroic spirits of my Wang clan, erasing your name from this world. On the great stage where the kings are rising, you will be the first to fall on the path to Great Emperor — nothing but a heap of dry bones!” The Northern Emperor was furious. Ye Fan had repeatedly inflicted damage on the Wang Family, filling him with killing intent cold as a frozen midwinter.
Ye Fan said nothing. He turned back to Ji Ziyue. “I’ll cut him down for you now.”
“Arrogance. He is pushing himself toward the abyss of death — he will not survive today.”
The Wang Family members voiced their objections one after another, rebuking Ye Fan and cheering for the Northern Emperor.
“Sacred Physique — your life has reached its end. What gives you the right to be spoken of in the same breath as my clan’s emperor-son? You are nothing more than a stepping stone!”
“The so-called Sacred Physique, once fully matured, will be peerless — but that comes with conditions. In an age without a Great Emperor that may be so, but to be born in the same era as someone from our clan who carries the bearing of an Ancient Emperor’s reincarnation will be his tragedy!”
Ye Fan and the Northern Emperor made their move. In the time it takes a spark to fly from a flint, the two of them exchanged a single technique, and no one was able to follow it clearly — yet a sound like an ancient sacrificial ceremony rang out, reverberating across ten thousand realms.
Boom!
Endless void collapsed. A total breakdown. An unknowable number of black abysses appeared, stretching toward eternally unknown places. Sounds like mountain avalanches and crashing ocean waves erupted, with starlight flickering — this was the boundless cosmos itself!
This was the Northern Emperor’s single strike. He was like an ancient emperor incarnate, his eyes filled with infinite annihilation, his back resting against the eternal starfield, a field of brilliant splendor.
True dragons, divine phoenixes, white tigers, and black tortoises all appeared, each one filling the entire starfield, their reality tangible and terrifying beyond all measure — endless divine light swallowing everything.
Every sect master present was horrified. A single blow of that magnitude was something even they would struggle to withstand. The Northern Emperor had grown so powerful that he filled everyone with dread.
Ye Fan activated the Script of Movement, crossing through eternal void and emerging in another expanse of sky and earth, unharmed — holding the bronze coffin as he stood.
Wang Chengkun was supremely self-assured. “All struggling is futile. Beneath my son’s world-shaking combat power, the Sacred Physique counts for nothing — his blood will stain the sacred earth, his body prostrate at Teng’s feet. He will be erased from this world, becoming nothing but a heap of dry bones on my son’s path to becoming emperor.”
His words had not yet finished when an even more breathtaking battle began. Wang Teng, wielding the Celestial Emperor Sword, drove the golden ancient war chariot, using both ancient weapons to suppress Ye Fan.
At the same time, both of his eyes blazed with divine light. The Martial Heavenly Eye opened — unstoppable, indestructible — beginning to annihilate Ye Fan’s physical form.
This strike shook the heavens and split the earth. The space between the two of them was nearly drowned in an ocean of divine power — the arena was close to boiling!
Clang!
Ye Fan swung the bronze coffin and clashed with both the golden ancient war chariot and the Celestial Emperor Sword, producing a sound that resounded across the four seas. Many present cried out, blood pouring from their ears as they stumbled back.
The floating divine island overhead was punched through in an instant. Wang Teng and the golden ancient war chariot were sent crashing down, dust and smoke surging skyward.
Furthermore, the Martial Heavenly Eye had also failed to achieve its purpose. Within Ye Fan’s forehead, a golden little figure stood atop a cauldron radiating the primal qi of ten thousand things, cradling a small black gourd, and blew outward with great force.
From deep within the black gourd, a blazing divine light burst forth and flew out — like the very first ray of divine light that split open heaven and earth, severing all things throughout creation.
To outside observers, a vertical slit appeared between Ye Fan’s brows — a divine radiance that shattered the light of the Martial Heavenly Eye and shot forward.
Slice!
This strand of sky-splitting divine light pierced clean through Wang Teng’s left forearm in a single instant. Raging flames erupted, the terrifying temperature sending chills through all who witnessed it.
Splat!
Wang Teng moved with absolute decisiveness. He raised the Celestial Emperor Sword and brought it sweeping down — blood flashed — severing his own left forearm, a spray of blood shooting out far into the distance.
“Teng!” Wang Chengkun cried out. Just moments ago, he had been boasting that once his son stepped onto the stage, the Sacred Physique would not even qualify as a stepping stone and would certainly be cut down. Yet unexpectedly, the Northern Emperor had first lost an arm.
On the other side, Ye Fan stood suspended in the air. The bronze coffin floated and sank around him, the surrounding void flickering with unstable light and shadow, his entire person appearing as though standing within an ancient, primordial universe.