Within the Divine Spirit Valley, the Ancestral King’s blood flew in every direction. Agonized cries rang out everywhere. Whatever the blood touched was instantly evaporated dry.

This damaged physical shell carried a terrifying demonic nature — each drop of blood seemed to hold an immortal power, destroying and extinguishing everything in its path.

This was what it meant to be a sage — every inch of the body contained vast reserves of life essence. Even the most casual drop of blood or sliver of flesh could suppress and slay those at the level of a Sacred Lord. It was a frightening, boundless power.

Zhang Lin’s Source Heaven Dao arts stood peerless in the world. To dismantle the body of a sage — like cutting through stone — decisive and sharp, clean and precise.

It was a terrifying sight. Every ancient living being present was stunned into stillness. Even the Ancestral King’s skull had been smashed to pulp by the Human Clan Holy Body’s single fist — a sight both shocking and dreadful to all of them, beyond the reach of imagination.

Since the beginning of all ages, no one from the Human Clan had ever dared to come here in force — and yet they had done so, with such overwhelming momentum, cutting through like splitting bamboo. Even an Ancestral King had been struck down to pieces. The hearts of many ancient living beings turned cold with fear.

“Hiss!”

In the void, between the shattered fragments of flesh and bone, a brilliant radiance bloomed — and from within that ruin of broken body, a dazzling rainbow streaked outward.

“I knew you would try this.” Ye Fan gave a cold inward laugh. He had once engaged the Celestial Purple Capital in great battle and knew well that this clan possessed a peculiar ancient art.

Why had this clan named their dwelling the Divine Spirit Valley? There was a reason. What they chiefly cultivated was the divine spirit — the physical body was merely a waystation!

The Divine Spirit Valley — its ultimate goal was to refine the primordial spirit, to forge one’s own divine spirit. When the highest level was reached, the physical body would be cast aside entirely.

As a powerful Ancestral King, its cultivation had assuredly reached a terrifying height. The strength of its primordial spirit exceeded all imagination. It was entirely capable of discarding the physical shell.

Ye Fan had calculated all of this in advance — had known all of it from the very beginning. There was not a trace of fear within him as he charged forward.

“Ignorant Human Clan — even if you possess the most indestructible sacred shell, what does it matter when you stand before a divine spirit? To me, your body is nothing but a vessel of flesh, nothing but a waystation, nothing but a place to pause for a brief moment. And now I shall claim it for my own use.”

A blazing light manifested. A completely renewed Ancient Primordial Ancestral King took form in the void, rising from amid the broken flesh and charging forward. It appeared to have been cast entirely from light — impossible to look upon directly.

The entire heaven and earth resonated with a great rumbling. Every manner of Heavenly Dao marking manifested. What was called immortal, what was called eternal, what was called lasting ten thousand ages — all of it seemed on the verge of shattering.

In that moment, even Zhang Lin’s pupils blazed with a strange light. He furrowed his brows slightly — a brief lapse in attention, and there was a strong chance of suffering a severe loss.

This was the Divine Spirit Valley’s most powerful forbidden technique — like a divine spirit descending into the mortal world, treading upon the human realm. It was designed to strike down the primordial spirit and seize another’s physical body — a terrifying secret art that struck at the very root of an opponent’s foundation.

“Hum!”

Ye Fan spread his arms wide and stepped actively into its path — like flinging open a door to welcome an enemy inside. He offered no resistance whatsoever, simply allowing that immortal primordial spirit radiance to come flying in.

“What — he dares to be so arrogant? Is he courting his own death?!”

“So what if he has a sacred shell — to our clan’s Ancestral King, it is nothing but a waystation. He dares to open the door and meet the attack head-on?”

Many ancient living beings broke into cold laughter. They had suffered greatly earlier, and now at last it seemed the tide of battle was turning.

And yet the Ancient Primordial Ancestral King, being no ordinary being, saw this and sensed that something was wrong — it tried to pull back, to withdraw its attacking force.

But it was already too late. Ye Fan’s body was like a bottomless abyss — and most of all, the place of his Immortal Platform was unfathomably deep, transformed into a chasm without bottom, swallowing the Ancestral King’s primordial spirit whole.

“Ahh — No!”

It screamed in terror — as though confronted with the most dreadful thing imaginable. A sensation came over it as though it were facing an emperor of primordial times, its liver and gallbladder trembling on the verge of shattering.

It had felt this sensation only once before in its entire life — in the final years of the Ancient Primordial age, when it had gone to pay court to the aged Battle-Sage Emperor. In the presence of that supreme heavenly might, it had been unable to help but sink into reverence, kneeling and prostrate, daring not to move a single muscle.

Now, as it plunged into this abyss, the same sensation overtook it. It screamed in terror, and finally understood what had happened. It had surely charged straight into an ancient emperor’s weapon.

Or perhaps, to put it more precisely — it had entered the extreme Dao imperial weapon of the Human Clan’s great emperor. This was a moth flying into a flame — it had sought out its own destruction.

It was clear that the Human Clan Holy Body had dug the pit and waited — waiting for it to deploy this ancient art to seize his physical body, luring it into the killing jar. This was an absolute killing stroke.

“Ahh…”

One final, anguished cry rang out. The space between Ye Fan’s brows flickered with a dark light — and then it returned to complete stillness. Not a single ripple escaped.

Every soul was stunned. The gathered forces of the Divine Spirit Valley felt their courage and their very guts crumbling apart. This was the foundational art upon which they had built their entire sect — their transcendent divine technique — and it had been rendered utterly void.

An Ancient Primordial Ancestral King — without a sound, without so much as a ripple — had instead been swallowed by another, reduced to a wisp of smoke and dust, no longer in existence. Not even a single splash in the water.

The Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar — the weapon of an ancient great emperor. Never mind an Ancient Primordial Ancestral King — even the sun, moon, and stars could be swallowed within it. To charge inside of one’s own initiative was, naturally, a road that led only to death.

“Roar…”

Nearby, the other, even more powerful Ancient Primordial Ancestral King let out a savage howl. Rolling demonic energy surged upward in great billows, blotting out the stars and moon above.

It stepped forward, collapsing the divine void beneath each stride, charging in rapidly. Its entire body blazed with light, demonic energy towering to the sky. Within its eyes, mountains and rivers crumbled, the sun and moon sank and fell — radiating an incomprehensible dread.

These were the traces of the great Dao. With peerless divine power, it slashed toward Ye Fan’s primordial spirit — intending to split apart his Immortal Platform.

“Ding!”

Zhang Lin made his move. With a light flick of his finger, an untold number of Source Heaven markings manifested in every direction and quarter. The entire Divine Spirit Valley became a single sacrificial altar — divine light blazing like a flame.

This was meant to burn all living things within the valley alive as a living sacrifice!

At the same time, Zhang Lin used this supreme forbidden source formation to hold back the ancient king — then moved with unhurried composure to strike.

The ancient king’s eyes shifted and flowed, filled with the weight of ten thousand ages. It unleashed the power of the cycle of rebirth and declared: “Calamity Dao, Revolving Cycle of Rebirth!”

This touched upon “calamity” and the “Dao” — two forces alternating in cycle, forming a revolving circuit of rebirth. It erased the constraints of space, severed the cause and effect of time, and carried immeasurable divine might.

Faced with this divine law, the Fifth-Generation Source Heaven Master displayed a cultivation that looked down with contempt upon all the world. Source markings covered his entire being, merging with heaven and earth. His feet trod upon the endless earth; his hands upheld the ten-thousand-ages sky.

His entire form radiated light — like an eternal divine being. In every direction and quarter, the essence of heaven and the energy of earth all came pouring in. The marks of the great Dao became rivers of the divine, woven and interlaced through the void.

Ten thousand mountains stirred in unison. Boundless earth veins came alive. The vault of heaven resounded with the Dao’s rumble. A dark and mysterious radiance descended. All of it answered to the Source Heaven Master alone — with his every gesture and movement, he represented the will of this entire heaven and earth.

“Boom!”

He reached out lightly and pressed forward — as though shattering this world itself — and with a single press, forced the ancient king downward. It coughed up great mouthfuls of blood. The bones throughout its body exploded and cracked.

The beginning of the Dao, the farthest reaches of the Source — source arts too were a form of the Dao. Cultivated to their very limit, heaven and man became one. To command the Heavenly Dao, to wield it as one pleased — nothing was beyond reach.

This Ancestral King was gaunt and withered — and yet it was immensely powerful. Still it coughed up torrents of blood, having sustained a wound at the level of the great Dao itself. Within its eyes, ten thousand things rose and sank — and then all scenes shattered at once. It became even more terrifying than before.

Ye Fan was about to deploy the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar then and there — but Zhang Lin stopped him. He warned in a low voice: “We must make it appear that we came acting on Wushi’s imperial decree to suppress and destroy the Divine Spirit Valley — to strike awe into the ten thousand clans. Do not rashly deploy the Demon-Swallowing Jar. Otherwise, afterward it will be difficult to fully erase the aura of that fierce great emperor.”

“Kill!”

At this point, not another word was needed. Only with one’s life could a battle song be composed. Only one option remained: to fight to the last.

Ye Fan, the broken ancient bell hovering above his head, the black war spear gripped in his hand, rampaged through the Divine Spirit Valley — sweeping in all directions as though walking through a land with no one in it.

“Splat!”

One sweep of the iron spear cleared a great swathe. Dark light flickered. Six or seven blood-stained heads flew upward — each face etched with defiance and terror — while headless bodies toppled into pools of blood.

“Splat!”

Ye Fan swept through all four directions. The iron spear struck out like harvesting grass. One ancient living being after another was cut in half at the waist. Blood dyed the ground red. Corpses paved the road ahead.

Wherever he passed, resistance was scarcely possible. Great sweeping attacks, standing alone against all ten directions — blood flowing in streams, forming rivers underfoot, bones carpeting the ground on all sides.

And those death gods were themselves utterly terrifying — primarily because their physical shells were far too indestructible, not inferior in the least to sacred shells.

Because they had once been the subordinates of the Undying Heavenly Emperor — a host of divine generals. Even after the passage of countless ages, they remained without equal.

Weapons, ancient treasures, secret arts — all rained down upon them. Not a single scratch appeared. A frightening, boundless force!

They were like a tide of iron, impossible to hold back. Each single one of them was a match for a thousand-strong army — sweeping aside every obstacle in their path.

From the beginning of all ages until now, the Ancient Primordial Royal Clans had always stood supreme — looking down upon all the world, gazing upon the earth from on high. When had they ever been struck and slaughtered like this?

And yet now, the sun and moon were blotted out, ghosts wept and spirits howled. The Divine Spirit Valley was rapidly becoming a ghost valley. Corpses lay everywhere. A sea of blood and a rain of gore stretched without end.

For the first time, the Human Clan had stepped into this place — had marched in as conquerors. This was a world-shaking turn of events!

On the other side, Zhang Lin let out a long, frenzied howl, his indomitable spirit undimmed. The battle blazed and churned within him. He pressed the Ancient Primordial Ancestral King to the brink — and was on the verge of slaying it.

This Ancestral King unleashed its most powerful strike. Its forty-nine pairs of divine wings beat in unison, the Dao’s voice of the heavens rang out without ceasing, and behind it appeared an immortal divine being.

Blinding light erupted upward. One divine halo after another appeared, ringing it in circles. Its divine wings beat as one — and that divine being behind it moved in perfect unison — charging forward together to strike and kill.

They had traversed the primordial wilds of the universe — condensed the mysteries of heaven and earth!

The birth of creation, the beginning of the Dao, the law of the divine — all came bearing down.

Vein-Locking, Firmament-Sealing!

Zhang Lin, faced with this Ancient Primordial Ancestral King’s peerless divine art, still called upon the ancient technique within the Source Heaven Scripture.

One after another, streams of divine light poured from between his fingers — like silk, like threads — transforming into strands of gentle radiance. Penetrating everywhere, piercing through the void, they wound and coiled forward.

This was the art of binding the mountains and rivers along their dragon veins — which could also fetter the sun, moon, and star rivers, reshape heaven and change earth. Now it had become a law of divine slaughter.

The Ancient Primordial Ancestral King’s divine wings were bound. The divine being that had manifested behind it was locked and imprisoned — as though trapped in a living hell, pinned in place and unable to move.

“Ahh…” A wretched cry pierced the night sky.

Its body was being torn apart — as though divine chains had wound around it, cinching tight around every part of its body, cracking it apart.

Zhang Lin was like one who had merged with the Dao itself. He turned his hand and pressed it downward. Divine light without end, the great Dao rumbling and roaring, descending in a thunderous cascade — dreadful and boundless.

“Splat!”

This Ancestral King was ground apart by one celestial Dao-chain after another. Its primordial spirit flew free — it intended to seize another’s body — but the rumbling Dao’s voice ground it to powder.

“Crash!”

But in that same instant, the Source Heaven Master also suffered severe wounds. He was very nearly torn in half — a tremendously ancient Ancestral King, ancient and decrepit beyond recognition, had appeared and ripped away more than half of his body.

The Divine Spirit Valley’s final Ancestral King revealed itself. It had remained in slumber all this time, and only now stirred awake — erupting upward from within the veins of the earth, carrying with it an age-inverting power.

It had no hair. Its skin was deeply furrowed with wrinkles. Clearly, its lifespan was nearly depleted — it had reached the point of a lamp burning low in still air. And yet it was overwhelmingly powerful — terrifying to the very extremes.

This was the presiding ancestor of the Divine Spirit Valley in this present age!

Zhang Lin was covered in blood. Even the blood-red fur across his body had been stained crimson. And yet he remained composed — he did not rejoin the severed half of his body. He stood quietly, facing what lay before him.

“Zhang Lin…” From the mountain cliff, Yang Yi’s face was streaked with tears. The Source Heaven Master — his heroic bearing no longer what it once was — remained iron-boned and unyielding, as he had always been.

“Ancestral Master!” Ye Fan stepped forward, about to make his move.

Zhang Lin stopped him. “The eighty-one great banners can annihilate heaven and earth — but only once. When to use them, decide for yourself. However, now that they have been brought out, they will soon crumble. They cannot last for long.”

Having said those words, he faced his opponent with unhurried composure — looking straight ahead at the most ancient of the Ancestral Kings.

This night was almost over. The silver moon had tilted toward the west. What time remained was precious and few.

Zhang Lin looked at this sky. Looked at this earth. Said nothing at all. Then he turned and gazed into the distance at the mountain cliff — where a beautiful silhouette stood.

Dawn was nearly upon them. What little time remained was dwindling. He was about to disappear.

“Zhang Lin!” Yang Yi wept openly. Throwing all caution aside, she came charging over and threw herself into Zhang Lin’s arms, letting the blood stain her white garments crimson. She held on with all her might, unwilling to let go — fearing he might vanish in an instant.

“Promise me — you will go on living, and live well.” Zhang Lin gently patted her on the back, and slowly wiped clean the tears from her face.

And it was in that very moment that the most powerful Ancestral King of the Divine Spirit Valley finally made its move. The great Dao bore down upon the heavens, destroying all things in its path!

“Ten thousand autumns and ten thousand ages — a single dream severs the Dao!” And in that same instant, Zhang Lin roared out — and his body transformed into an immortal radiance.

There was no sound. There was no tremor. It was boundless and vast — tranquil beyond all measure. This divine law cut down through the entire Divine Spirit Valley. That Ancestral King bore the brunt first — quickly evaporated dry.

Then, the other living beings throughout the valley crumbled one after another, dissolving within that immortal Dao-light.

“All that needed to be done has been done. The Source Heaven Master’s lineage has erased the Divine Spirit Valley, suppressed the Northern Domain, and restored peace to the Human Clan.”

Zhang Lin’s words rang out — firm and clear as the ring of steel.

At last, he reached out his hand and gently wiped away Yang Yi’s final tear.

“Zhang Lin!” Yang Yi pulled him tight with all her strength, fearing to lose him.

A sliver of dawn broke — cleaving across the vast sky.

Zhang Lin’s entire form was suffused with a layer of golden radiance. Every strand of the red fur across his body receded and vanished — gone without a trace — revealing his true face. Tall and stalwart, his bearing magnificent and imposing.

He smiled — a brilliant, radiant smile — just as he had in the days of his youth. That same confidence, that same transcendent and exceptional bearing. Yang Yi, Sacred Lady of the Jade Pool, was struck still in an instant. Her innermost depths tore apart. Tears fell like rain. She reached out, trying with all her strength to hold on.

Yet everything turned to nothing. That towering, upright young figure dissolved to sand between her fingers — becoming fragments of light, slowly flowing down, gradually fading away.

“No — Zhang Lin… Come back!” Yang Yi wept openly, tears streaming down. She reached for the last remaining trace of light — but however she tried, she could not hold it.

The scattered fragments of light continued to flow down — draining away through the gaps between her fingers. That magnificent figure grew indistinct, and then disappeared.

The Fifth-Generation Source Heaven Master — possessing transcendent and peerless bearing — departed from this world, and left behind an impression that could never be forgotten.

He had carved a radiant and righteous world from out of the darkness, and restored peace to the Human Clan. In the end, he dissolved into the Dao within the morning glow — becoming an eternal rainbow of light.

The Fifth-Generation Source Heaven Master had fulfilled his mission, done what needed to be done, and in so doing, departed — leaving behind boundless sorrow.

This morning glow, this dawn — would remember forever what he had accomplished, and all that he had done…