Four years was not a very long time, and yet it had been a period of surging winds and tumbling clouds—many things had happened.

Ye Fan moved through the sea region, encountering many demon clan members and human cultivators. From their mouths, he learned of much that had occurred.

In truth, these four years could be called a raging tempest, during which time an immortal legacy had been destroyed in the present era.

“The Solar Divine Sect—ever since the loss of its ancient scripture, it had been in a steady decline. This time, it has finally reached its end.”

“Truly the most powerful human cultivation divine dynasty of its age—and just like that, it is gone. It is said the Golden Crow clan’s shadow was visible in their destruction.”

Ye Fan was greatly startled. Hearing this news upon the open sea, he was left briefly dazed.

The Ancient Solar Sect—one of the oldest human clan-sects in existence, one of the founding grounds of cultivation—had grown ever weaker, and today its legacy was finally severed, utterly and completely destroyed.

It was impossible not to call this ironic. In the era when the Solar Sacred Emperor’s miraculous return and the repatriation of his remains had taken place, this “flickering-in-the-wind” ancient sect had come crashing down.

The first sacred ground that all people of old had revered had simply vanished into smoke. Word had it that the only one left of the Solar Sacred Emperor’s bloodline was a single child, whose whereabouts were unknown after the sect’s destruction.

“Is what you say true?” Ye Fan stepped forward to ask.

“Naturally it is true. What a pity about the Ancient Solar Sect—gone just like that. In the beginning, the primordial Sacred Emperor created all manner of wondrous arts and treasures and bestowed them upon the various clans of the human race. To think that even his own descendants could not be protected.”

“Sigh—a great emperor of the ages would be left speechless, with nothing to say. Silence would be his only answer.”

“A truly bitter and chilling thing. This was absolutely the work of the Golden Crow clan, yet not a single major human sect went to offer protection. How thoroughly people sweep only the snow from their own doorsteps.”

The Ancient Solar Sect had vanished into smoke. The Golden Crow clan’s shadow was behind it all, and they had orchestrated everything—this was virtually common knowledge.

“Why did the Golden Crow clan do this?” Ye Fan asked.

“Four years ago they suffered a great loss at the Valley of the Rising Sun. And from somewhere they received word that the Ancient Solar Scripture had not been lost after all. So they bloodily purged this already-declining ancient sect.”

At the battle of the Valley of the Rising Sun, the formation banners left behind by the Golden Crow clan’s great sage had all been severed—a blow that left the clan nearly frenzied with rage. Those banners were their foundation.

They had devised every means of building their strength and compensating for this loss. The primordial ancient scripture had naturally become one such means—for a clan born with fire-attribute physiques, it was a holy text.

“My guess is that the Golden Crow clan also wanted revenge. After all, it was the human race’s Sacred Emperor who had destroyed their sacred treasures—so they took out their vengeance on his descendants.”

“What a pity. A great emperor passed from the world, and his descendants came to this end.”

After hearing all of this, Ye Fan felt a surge of feeling—and considerable fury. Could the last drop of blood of the human race’s great emperor truly not be protected?

If they had brought this upon themselves through great evil, that would be one thing—but to be bullied to this extent, their ancient scripture seized, and possibly also targeted out of revenge: this was truly a cause for grief.

All of this also confirmed that nothing was eternal. No divine dynasty lasted forever. No legacy endured without end. Everything had a day it would reach its conclusion.

Even an ancient great emperor himself could not manage it—he had a day of passing in seated meditation. How much less could the things he left behind?

“What a pity about that child. It is not known whether he was able to escape. It is said he is the last remaining person of the Solar Ancient Sect—and possibly the last drop of the Sacred Emperor’s bloodline left in the world.”

“Word has it he went out to sea. He might even be somewhere in this stretch of ocean.”

After hearing these words, Ye Fan’s heart grew heavy. After inquiring further, he vanished from the surface of the sea.

“Look at that person—doesn’t he seem somehow familiar? I feel as though he resembles the person who stirred up such a great commotion four years ago.”

“You mean—is he the one four years ago who killed the Golden Crow ninth prince and slew the younger brother of the Eight Scenery Palace’s master? He really does look very similar.”

“Wasn’t he said to have fallen permanently into the eye of the Northern Sea along with the Valley of the Rising Sun? That is where ancient great emperors exiled those who had committed grave crimes. No one has ever escaped. Could he really have returned to the world of the living?”

“There is no mistake. Half a month ago, word spread of unusual activity in the sea eye—a bolt of golden lightning shot out of it. It is entirely possible that it was him!”

“Heavens—escaping from the prison of the ancient sages. This is too unbelievable. If it’s true, a great storm is about to break.”

The Northern Sea was truly vast—many times more immense than the boundless mainland. Ye Fan wanted to leave, and he did not know how many years of flight it would take.

Fortunately, he remembered the routes from four years earlier. When people had searched for the Valley of the Rising Sun, they had entered the ocean through domain gates. Along the way there were ancient islands with formation inscriptions and sacrificial altars, allowing continuous cross-dimensional crossing.

Half a month later, Ye Fan was still moving through the black ocean. Several times he crossed in the wrong direction using the formation inscriptions left on the ancient islands, but ultimately he was headed toward land.

During this time, he kept gathering information. The news he received was unconfirmed, but it indicated that the sole surviving bloodline of the Ancient Solar Sect was being sheltered by an aged servant and had fled into the ocean.

The Northern Sea had been restless in recent times. Many powerful figures had appeared, heading toward the sea eye to investigate the truth.

“The Golden Crow clan!” Out in the black ocean, a flash of divine light passed through Ye Fan’s eyes and vanished. He had spotted over a dozen Golden Crows flying above the sea surface.

He skimmed across the waves. The black sea was placid and vast—a sweep of ink-dark color. He looked up at the sky and called out: “You of the Golden Crow clan—what are you searching for?”

The moment was calm and the wind was still. His voice was like a thunderclap, carrying far across the boundless black ocean, setting towering waves crashing against the clouds.

“This person looks somehow familiar. Where have I seen him before?”

“He is—the person from four years ago! How is this possible? He escaped from the eye of the Northern Sea!”

“That’s right, it’s him—the one who cut down the ninth prince back then.”

In the sky, tens of thousands of golden divine feathers shot downward. These people all had cold light in their eyes. Several Golden Crows turned and fled, wanting to escape to report the news.

Ye Fan clasped his hands behind his back and stood alone upon the sea. He loosed a great roar—like heaven’s thunder exterminating the world, a rolling wave of sound surging across the sky for over a thousand li. The entire ocean was on the verge of being flipped over.

Spurt. Spurt.

In the sky, the Golden Crow clan’s dozen-plus powerful figures collapsed one after another beneath Ye Fan’s single shout, their physical bodies and souls both destroyed, not a single fragment of bone remaining.

He kept only one alive, probing that person’s sea of consciousness, and learned that the child of the Ancient Solar Sect had indeed gone out to sea, protected by an aged servant.

The Golden Crow clan had dispatched a great number of powerful figures. Six or seven of the nine princes had come, along with some elders who had personally emerged from their seclusion, all of them in pursuit.

A chill ran through Ye Fan’s heart. He could sense that something was off. This was nothing but a declining ancient sect’s young child—how could it have drawn out so many Golden Crow clan members? Something was definitely strange about this.

He owed the old man in cyan robes a debt of gratitude, had received the nine-character divine words of the Solar Sacred Emperor, and had refined the Fusang branch. Having learned all of this, how could he possibly stand by and do nothing?

Even setting all that aside—the last drop of blood of the human race’s Sacred Emperor should not simply be extinguished. For this child had done no evil, and his ancestor had bestowed immeasurable merit upon the human race.

Following the information he had obtained, Ye Fan set off in pursuit in one direction—at top speed. He feared arriving too late and being left with lasting regret.

Two days later, Ye Fan encountered more than a dozen powerful Golden Crow clan figures. Among them was one aged Golden Crow who was a genuinely terrifying great master—an elder-level figure.

“It’s him—it’s the person called Ye Fan from four years ago!” someone shouted.

The aged Golden Crow received the news and opened its mouth, spitting out a golden ancient mirror. Turning it over, it shone directly upon Ye Fan.

Boom!

This was a wave of Solar Fire Essence—drawing in the vital energy of all ten directions, directing the blazing sun in the sky to focus its power upon the ancient mirror, transforming into divine light and shining upon Ye Fan.

“You people really cannot forget about me!” Ye Fan stepped up into the heavens in one stride, facing this beam of divine light without the slightest fear. He threw out a single punch.

Crack!

The golden ancient mirror shattered into over a dozen pieces and fell from the high sky. The Golden Crow elder was ferociously ruthless. His body quaked, and he transformed into a golden sun, flying directly toward Ye Fan in a collision charge.

Ye Fan stood immovable—utterly unafraid of the Solar Sacred Power. Meeting the fire essence head-on, he struck at the critical moment. Thud—with his bare hands, he tore that golden sun apart.

“Ahh…” A scream rang out. This powerful Golden Crow had been ripped open. An elder-level figure had thus been cut down by Ye Fan.

Not long after, Ye Fan left this stretch of ocean. This time he had determined precisely where the Solar Sacred Emperor’s last drop of bloodline had fled—and was racing swiftly in that direction.

It is fortunate that a loyal aged servant has been offering protection. Otherwise, the last bloodline of the human race’s Sacred Emperor would already have been lost.

Four days later, Ye Fan finally found the child in a stretch of black ocean—along with the aged servant, who was drenched in blood and on the verge of death.

Also present were over a hundred Golden Crow clan powerful figures, including several princes and elders!

The child was utterly haggard and frail. A Golden Crow clan powerhouse had nearly shattered his young body two years prior, and for those two years he had barely escaped dying of illness.

His clothes were tattered and ragged. His little face was dirty and grimy. Yet his pair of eyes was very clear. Furthermore, within his body something like a blazing sun seemed to glow—making his thin, weakened body radiate light.

Ye Fan now understood why the Golden Crow clan was so determined to hunt down and kill this child. After suffering such devastating injuries, even a great master would have died—yet this child had survived.

The child’s physical constitution was extraordinary—like a reincarnation of a golden sun. Every inch of his flesh and blood radiated divine light, closely resembling various ancient accounts of the Solar Sacred Emperor from the primordial age!

The Golden Crow clan was afraid. If this child were to recover and truly carried the Ancient Solar Scripture on his person, then even if he did not become a second Sacred Emperor, he would certainly attain boundless Dao-merit!

Furthermore, the Golden Crow clan believed the Ancient Solar Scripture had appeared in the world, and this child was deeply connected to it—it was something they desperately wanted. To eliminate the root and gain the scripture in one stroke: they were willing to deploy a great number of powerful figures to do it.

Beside the child, the aged servant was already at his last breath. Every bone in his body had been shattered. He leaned against a reef with barely any strength left, blood froth pouring from his mouth. His pair of old eyes grew more and more clouded.

The child wept bitterly, clutching the aged servant with all his might, calling out in a childlike voice: “Jiang Bo, don’t leave me—Tong Tong has no family left, only you.”

Cough… The aged servant coughed blood, gazing upon the frail child with deep fondness. His old eyes grew ever dimmer and ever more clouded. “You are the descendant of the Sacred Emperor—the last bloodline. I am truly unwilling… unwilling to fail in protecting you…”

As he spoke, blood froth continued to pour from his mouth. He could barely form words anymore—his speech had grown unclear.

“Jiang Bo, please don’t die—we depend only on each other to survive…” The child wept with heartbreak, clutching the aged servant’s arm—broken in several places—and shaking it hard.

“I am too useless—I cannot even protect the last drop of the Sacred Emperor’s bloodline…” The aged servant embraced the small child with his ruined body, looked up to the sky in bitter lament. The light faded from his eyes. His life had reached its end. Turbid old tears rolled down the folds of his aged face.

“Hand over the Ancient Solar Scripture.” The eighth prince of the Golden Crow clan stepped forward—powerfully built, standing like a golden divine fiend.

“Go to hell!” Ye Fan erupted in rage, descending from the sky, driving a single punch downward.

“Ahh…” The eighth prince of the Golden Crow clan let out a scream. His body was torn apart in four or five pieces, the fragments flying toward the rest of his clan.