With a light deflection, Ye Fan caused the powerful Tenth Prince of the Golden Crow Clan to grimace in agony — his arm fractured bone by bone, hideously twisted out of shape — and sent him tumbling through the air.
Everyone who witnessed this scene felt a chill run through their hearts. To hear something is one thing; to see it is another. Every one of the Golden Crow Clan’s heirs was a ferocious and iron-blooded figure, whose hands had been stained with the lives of no fewer than one sect master each.
Yet faced with Ye Fan, the Golden Crow Tenth Prince was like a delicate, frail young girl of fifteen or sixteen encountering a savage brute who had walked out of a primeval forest — the degree to which he was overwhelmed and thrashed was beyond all description.
A casual deflection from Ye Fan, and someone at the Second Heaven of the Immortal Platform couldn’t even withstand it. Just how tremendously powerful was his strength? People’s eyes took on a strange quality.
“Ye Fan — you are that Ye Fan?!” The Golden Crow Tenth Prince’s eyes and brows both shot upward, his pupils blasting out two beams of light several zhang long, his expression near-frenzied as he screamed: “It’s you — it’s actually you! You who killed six of my brothers — and now you’ve come to the mainland, come right before my eyes!”
“Tenth Brother, come back!” The Golden Crow Clan’s First Prince bellowed. He was a man past fifty who resembled a Daoist of attainment — golden hair thick and lush, wearing a gossamer eight-trigram Daoist robe, eyes carrying the weathered depth of ages.
The Tenth Prince stepped back. Though his rage soared like storm clouds, he understood perfectly well how dangerous this person was. With all six of his brothers defeated outright, there was no path to survival in going up against him.
Yet the Golden Crow Clan had clearly come prepared to deal with Ye Fan. In the instant they withdrew, a rain of flowers fell from the sky — petal upon petal, crystalline and translucent, blazing into brilliant radiance, as if countless stars were burning — divine light blazing in torrential splendor.
“Flee! Run!”
In that split second, many powerful figures in the Primordial Ruins turned deathly pale and retreated at tremendous speed, as if evading a demon, every single one of their expressions at their absolute worst.
In the void, tens of thousands of flower petals swirled and danced, each one clear as diamond, their beauty so bewitching as to make one lose themselves. Mist and vapor rose and surged; divine radiance fell in a universal cascade, as if a great deity were on the verge of descending into the world.
“Ziwei Emperor Flowers!”
Ye Fan’s expression halted. He recognized this supreme-grade poison flower. Back in the Northern Dipper Star Domain, the Ziwei Sect’s inheritor, Zhao Fa, had once attempted to poison him to death with the very same.
According to accounts, a single wisp of these flowers was enough to poison a sect master to death — a supreme poison under heaven, with virtually no antidote.
“These are Ziwei Divine Emperor Flowers. A single ray of their radiance is enough to cause the Primordial Spirit to wither and die. No matter how great a hero you are, you will only fall — and even a peerless genius who survives will forever be barred from the path of the Dao!” Yan Yixi cried out, his warning carrying through loud and clear.
Ziwei Divine Emperor Flowers — one character more than what Zhao Fa had used, yet their power was incomparably greater by some unknown degree. A single ray of light striking you would cause your Primordial Spirit to wither and die — their terror was at the absolute extreme.
In this world, ordinarily no one would employ such flowers, for they were too viciously malignant — condemned by all under heaven, denounced by ten thousand men.
Ye Fan let out a cold snort. His opponent had resorted to every means at their disposal to deal with him, using even these evil spirit flowers that the world could not tolerate — and it was clear the depth of hatred they bore him had reached the absolute limit.
He stretched out a screen of light as a shield, but it was rapidly dissolving — each blooming flower released a ray of divine radiance, of breathtaking beauty that could corrode all divine power.
“Retreat quickly! The divine emperor flowers, one in every million blossoms, possess a terrifying and demonic force — when the petals fully bloom, they blaze with a transient glory that extinguishes all life.” Yan Yixi gave warning again.
A more blazing golden light erupted from within Ye Fan’s physical shell, transforming into a golden sacred domain expanding outward — emitting the resonant sound of the Great Dao — and there he stood at its center, like an undying deity.
This was the power of a domain!
The tens of thousands of divine emperor flowers continued to bloom, yet all their radiant glory was blocked — unable to advance a single inch — and then rapidly extinguished.
The so-called transient glory was a momentary ascension that could not persist in this world — presenting the most beautiful face it could, only to wilt a single breath later.
Ye Fan reached out a great golden hand, casting it to loom above the Golden Crow Tenth Prince’s head like a sky-vault pressing downward.
“What?! He didn’t retreat — he blocked the transient divine radiance?! The golden sacred light wasn’t corroded — what power is that?!”
“That is his Golden Sacred Domain!”
The crowd cried out in amazement — finally grasping how truly terrifying the young man surnamed Ye was. Fully worthy of being the person who had shot down and killed five Golden Crow princes in a single day, and slain three great geniuses including the Divine Son of Taiyin in swift succession.
“No — Tenth Brother!”
The other Golden Crow Clan members struck out, bringing forth various magical treasures to attack that great golden hand, trying to save the Golden Crow Clan’s youngest heir — yet it was all utterly futile.
That great golden hand was as though it could dissolve eternity itself. In the instant it reached downward, nothing could resist it; countless weapons shattered to pieces before it.
“Ah…”
The Golden Crow Tenth Prince screamed as he was seized in that great golden hand’s grip. He was no longer the iron-blooded golden crow who could slay a sect master — hair disheveled, he was spitting out great mouthfuls of blood.
He had manifested his true form — the body of a golden crow, strong as divine gold itself — attempting to fight his way to a path of survival, beating his wings toward the heavens, his cry ringing through the nine firmaments.
Yet he had barely begun to struggle before the great golden hand gripped him firmly — blood flowing from all over him, golden feathers dancing through the air — a sight that no one could bear to watch.
At that moment, he was nothing like a golden crow capable of soaring proudly through the open sky — instead he resembled a small chick on the verge of death, desperately flailing, unable to escape from the palm of Ye Fan’s hand.
“No — wait!”
“Let Tenth Brother go — everything can be negotiated!”
The Golden Crow Clan’s First Prince and the elder cried out, their hearts and guts gone cold, trying to stabilize their opponent, searching for some way to rescue him.
“No need for that. There is nothing to negotiate.” Ye Fan’s words were cold and without mercy. Without feeling, he closed his palm and ground down — and the Golden Crow Clan’s Tenth Prince was obliterated — body and soul both extinguished.
On all sides, the people were shaken. Ye Fan was even more ruthless than the Golden Crow Clan itself — allowing absolutely no room for negotiation, striking decisively to kill the Tenth Prince.
This was a sect master-level powerhouse, and yet Ye Fan had crushed him to death as if squeezing a small chick — the impact of this was shattering.
“Tenth Brother!”
The Golden Crow Clan’s Second Prince and the elder roared, their voices shaking the open sky, carrying out five hundred li and beyond — like rolling, crashing thunder reverberating in wave upon wave.
They were calling to Lu Ya — their roar laced with boundless murderous hatred — and with one last look at Ye Fan, they transformed into two golden streaks of light shooting into the heavens, attempting to flee.
“You think you can escape from before me?!”
Ye Fan produced a great bow, gripped it in his hand, stepped forward with his left foot into an archer’s stance, and with an expression cold as frost, drew the bowstring taut with his right hand — in an instant, the bow was bent to the full moon.
His jet-black hair fell like a cascade, his expression resolute and unyielding. His body and the great heavy bow seemed forged as one from the beginning. The primordial qi of heaven and earth surged in wildly, pouring into the bow and into his physical shell, blazing out ten thousand zhang of light — a surge of tremendous power rising in a single breath like a tidal wave, surging in a vast flood through all ten directions!
Ye Fan released the bowstring, cold and without mercy. A divine streak of light — as if it could shoot down the stars from the heavens — screamed forth, stretching out for several dozen li.
Pfft!
The Golden Crow Clan’s elder was torn apart, exploding to pieces in the sky — killed with a single arrow!
“That was a powerhouse standing on the eighth step of the Second Heaven of the Immortal Platform — and he was shot down just like that!”
“Feeling it in my own bones — every hair standing on end. This arrow was too terrifying!”
The spectators could not but be shaken. Their entire bodies broke out in gooseflesh; cold sweat rose on their backs. Long had they heard of Ye Fan’s power and his terrible ferocity — but to witness it today surpassed even what had been told.
Whoosh… Another divine streak of light shot through the heavens, piercing sky and earth, embedding itself in the back of the Golden Crow Clan’s Second Prince, who let out a shrill, piercing scream.
Pfft!
Another flower of blood blossomed. The Golden Crow Clan’s Second Prince became a mist of blood, erased entirely from this world!
People involuntarily fell back in retreat. This was simply like a deity of killing — who in the world could withstand such destructive power? It seemed that even if divine beings came, they too could be shot down.
Among the crowd, the snake demon attendant boy was so frightened he had gone the color of snow, backing away step by step, trying to quietly slip away and vanish.
The Eight Sceneries Palace’s master looked down on all the world’s rulers with supreme dominance — but the person before them was not counted among those he could overawe, for even the Second Elder of the Supreme Clarity Holy Land had been slaughtered by him. Seeing now this incomparable display of might, the attendant boy desperately wished he could put as much distance between himself and this place as possible.
“Where do you think you’re going, little treasure?” Li Tian appeared before him at precisely the right moment, his face wearing a roguish grin.
“You are… the world’s greatest lecher. I’m male — genuinely male — not a woman!” The snake demon attendant boy cried out in a shrill voice.
“Go to hell with that — what nonsense are you talking about? Do I look like a rabbit to you?” Li Tian’s face darkened.
“A little bit…” The snake demon attendant boy was so terrified he was stammering — unable to think clearly, not even aware of what he was blurting out.
Li Tian’s expression turned even darker. He delivered a single palm strike that knocked the boy unconscious, stuffed him into a hundred-treasures sack, and carried him off — entirely unnoticed.
“Your turn.” Ye Fan strode forward in great steps, moving to deal with the Golden Crow Clan’s foremost heir.
He was lean of face and tall of stature, golden hair hanging to his shoulders, his eyes holding the orbit of the sun and moon within them — a Daoist past fifty, his Daoist title being Wu Gu.
Among the ten sons of the Golden Crow line, Lu Ya stood first; Wu Gu came second. Now the true fire of the sun blazed and roared, and Wu Gu recited ancient scriptures — suffused with boundless killing intent — as he walked toward Ye Fan.
“Watch out for the Golden Crow Clan’s mutual destruction technique!” Yan Yixi called in warning.
Roar… Just at this moment, from the far end of the infinite sky, a great roar arrived — causing mountain ranges in the distance to crumble and collapse, eighteen peaks in succession!
A golden-haired man, incomparably imposing, eyes blazing with the terrifying light of a wild beast, came charging in with his Crow-Wing Gilt Trident held upside down — demonic energy flooding the heavens.
In that instant, the sky in all ten directions cracked apart. He was like an invincible demon god — golden hair wild and untamed, his roar crumbling mountains and rivers, crossing over to this place.
“Elder Brother, I’m here — no need to destroy yourself. Ye Fan — I’ve come to kill you!” Lu Ya appeared.
Hum!
He swung the Crow-Wing Gilt Trident around in a great arc — like a golden mountain range crashing down. In an instant, the earth cracked apart, mountains and rivers collapsed, and great rifts in the ground came racing in from eighty or ninety li away, spreading rapidly closer.
The terrifying spectacle stunned everyone. Masses of cultivators shot into the sky and fled for their lives in panic — nearly scared out of their very souls.
It was as if an ancient sage of the distant past had been resurrected!
Ye Fan’s body shook. A crack appeared at his brow, blossoming into a line of blood — but in the next instant, a fist-sized crystalline divine furnace appeared in the palm of his hand and steadied everything.
“Lu Ya, I have been waiting for you a long time. Even now that you’ve come, it will avail you nothing.”
Ye Fan spoke without warmth, his great golden hand pressing down upon Wu Gu — not even flinching before Lu Ya’s arrival bearing his sacred weapon, the foremost genius of the Golden Crow Clan.
“Ah…”
Wu Gu screamed. His golden hair flew in wild chaos; blood covered his entire body; he cracked and fractured inch by inch. Enveloped within the great golden hand, he seemed to be suffering ten thousand tons of heavenly tribulation.
From the far sky, Lu Ya erupted with blazing divine light that scattered the clouds in all four directions as he roared: “If you dare — I will kill your entire ten clans in retribution!”
“Why would I not dare? Today, even you shall die.” Ye Fan covered him with the descending great hand, without mercy — the simplicity of the great Dao, this one strike embodying his indomitable will, the very manifestation of the Dao itself!
Wu Gu crumbled inch by inch. Powerful as he was — standing on the eighth step of the Second Heaven of the Immortal Platform — he could not withstand Ye Fan’s full-force strike in the slightest. His blood stained the sky!
Every person present felt a chill seize their bodies. This scene was like a terrifying painting of a slaughter god cutting down all who defied him — extinguishing every soul that stood in opposition.