Twelve years had passed. Looking back now, things had changed while the world remained the same. The pine grove stood hushed and still, and only a solitary grave remained — the woman he had once known could never be seen again. The living and the dead were separated forever.

The wind stirred the white flowers that Ku Zhu and the others had brought, scattering them in disarray across the mound before drifting down. A thread of desolation, a few wisps of fragrance — this had been Qin Yao’s entire life.

Who is merely a passing traveler in whose life? Scattered petals, a cold stone tablet, a solitary and lonely grave — these things needed no answer, and nothing more needed to be said.

A light rain began to fall from the sky, sparse and scattered, soaking the white flowers, diluting their faint fragrance, and adding a touch of coldness to everything.

“The last time you came, you met with Elder Crimson Dragon and left. You didn’t stop even for a moment. Did it never once cross your mind that there was still an old acquaintance here — a woman with whom you once shared some connection?”

Jin Yan’s voice rose, as though she could no longer contain herself. She balled her hands into fists and stared at Ye Fan.

“Were you truly so rushed? Was there something earth-shaking and world-altering waiting for you? Were you going to mend the sky?! There was a woman here, lying in a cold coffin. Was she truly so insignificant? You had already forgotten her — even if you had stayed only for a single moment, it would have been something.” Jin Yan pointed at him, her body trembling with anger.

A pine grove. A grave. One person. The heavens and earth cold and empty, the rain falling. Ye Fan stood there for a long time. What could he say now?

Qin Yao had already faded like a fallen flower. Her life had come to its end — brilliant and radiant as fireworks, then returning at last to eternal darkness and silence.

Jin Yan, Ku Zhu, and the others had already departed. Only Ye Fan remained on the mountain, facing that newly made grave in the sound of softly falling rain.

The rain grew heavier, and finally came pouring down, soaking him from head to foot. The drops kept falling — on his face as well. His lips were moving, and his voice was hoarse, but it was swallowed by the wind and rain and could not be heard.

He had already attained the Heavenly Eye Insight. He could see through the mud and earth, through the grave itself, to the crystal coffin underground — the woman within it cold and still, unmoving.

Her beauty had faded, her appearance unchanged, lying quietly and sorrowfully in the coffin. She was close enough to reach — yet utterly beyond reach. As distant as the ends of the earth.

One step life, one step death — even separated only by a layer of soil, she was impossible to touch. A veil of underworld separated them, and she could never be drawn back.

Ye Fan sat before the grave, pressed his hand against the earth, and let the heavy rain pour down upon him. He spoke softly of some things, all through the night until dawn.

The next day, the rain had not stopped — only lessened. Mist and haze drifted through the pine grove. Ye Fan took one last look at the grave, then descended the mountain step by step, walking slowly, leaving footprint after footprint behind him.

At the foot of the mountain, Jin Yan, Ku Zhu, and the others stood waiting, watching through the rain and mist.

At last, Jin Yan could no longer hold back. She raised her voice and pointed at him, saying many things — as though releasing some long-suppressed frustration.

Some of her words were sharp, ugly, and cutting. But Ye Fan could not refute them. Some things she said were not necessarily untrue — they pierced straight into his heart.

“My friend, let compassion be shown where compassion can be shown. Did Ye Fan want things to turn out like this? Who would want to see an old acquaintance taken in death? Who would want to see the separation of the living and the dead? If it weren’t for something urgent, why would he not have stopped?” Li Tian said.

“Let it go.” Ye Fan stopped Li Tian, not allowing him to say any more. Step by step, he walked away, leaving that place that had left him desolate yet with no words to speak.

“That little girl really was something. How could she just die like this? What a pity.” The Black Emperor muttered.

The long road of cultivation — who could say how many cultivators had fallen along the way. In truth, at every critical stage great numbers of people failed to break through and perished. Those who attained any measure of achievement were all exceptional people.

This was always a merciless road. Once you set foot upon it, you would experience much that was brutal. What people heard were only the legends of those whose names shook all under heaven — who would pay attention to the fall of a minor cultivator?

The truth was that the road of cultivation was filled with tragedy after tragedy, scene after scene of heartbreak. Except for those heroes whose names resounded across a region, the joys and sorrows of everyone else — who would notice?

Yan Yixi gave Ye Fan a pat on the shoulder and said nothing. They left this place behind and traveled nine times ten thousand li.

“Where are we going? What are we doing?” Li Tian asked.

“I’m going to face my tribulation.” Ye Fan said.

“Where will you choose to do it?” The Black Emperor let out a dry laugh.

“Put that brain of yours to work. Think carefully, and find me a stronghold of Hell and the human world — I want to face the Heavenly Tribulation in a place like that.” Ye Fan said in earnest.

He had sealed a portion of his primordial spirit within Yan Yixi’s Divine Maiden Furnace rather than allowing it to be absorbed into his Immortal Platform, forcibly delaying the arrival of the tribulation.

“Let this Emperor think it through properly. It’s been an unfathomably long time — those places are obscure, out-of-the-way corners. Even back then I wasn’t very clear on them, and now I’ve nearly forgotten them entirely.” The Great Black Dog scratched its head, falling into deep contemplation.

They began to wander through the Northern Region — like a group of ghosts, or a group of death gods. Everyone knew that Ye Fan had bottled up a full body’s worth of fury and needed to find someone to kill.

Over the next few days, they tried their best to keep the conversation light, so that the atmosphere wouldn’t grow too heavy. Of course, they didn’t avoid the subject of Qin Yao’s death either.

“I’ve always been a man who wanders among a sea of flowers — what would it be like if I disappeared for twelve years? There’d probably be no shortage of women clapping with delight. Damn it!” Li Tian cursed.

“On that count, none of you can match this Emperor — you ought to learn from me. With great willpower, great wisdom, and great fearlessness, cut away everything, and bury them in the graves of your heart. You will never know trouble again.” Coming to this point, the Black Emperor nudged Ye Fan and said: “For you, this is just one more experience added to your life. The opportunity to cut the Dao at the third Immortal level may well come sooner than expected.”

“Cutting the Dao…” Ye Fan gazed into the distance and said: “Let’s go. We’ll talk more once we find Hell and the human world.”

“Tell me, boy, have you made up your mind about what Dao you want to cut?” The Black Emperor asked seriously.

Ye Fan thought for a moment and said: “It isn’t a matter of what I want to cut. Thinking it through carefully, perhaps cutting away my entire self would be the most fitting — there are too many attachments and too many chains.”

“…” The Black Emperor, Li Tian, and Yan Yixi all wore identically speechless expressions.

“You’re not serious, are you? Cut away yourself — what kind of joke is this? Who has ever done something like that throughout all of history? If you want to destroy yourself, you don’t have to go about it this way.” The Black Emperor scolded.

Ye Fan said: “Cutting the Dao is still a very distant thing. The greatest monsters throughout history who could rival young Great Emperors all eventually perished — my Dao seems equally difficult to cut. Let me get through the tribulation first and we’ll talk about the rest.”

Following its ancient memories, the Black Emperor searched many places and found no trace. Tens of thousands of years had come and gone, seas had turned to mulberry fields, and many old haunts had long since changed beyond recognition.

Moreover, it had never been particularly well-informed about these two assassin divine dynasties. It had no idea where their strongholds were — it had only heard vague rumors in the past.

On this day, they came to a stretch of wilderness outside Kaiyuan City in the Northern Region and immediately stopped. They then proceeded on foot into the mountains.

Li Heishui had mentioned that his grandfather, Li Heng, had died fighting in this place to save them — so they had decided to come pay their respects.

“That must be the stone cliff over there.”

A broken spear was lodged in the cliff face. The bloodstains had long since dried, spread in the shape of a human figure, dark reddish-brown in color — harrowing to behold. It was not hard to imagine the tragic scene that had unfolded here.

Li Heishui had once wept as he recounted it: his grandfather had been skewered alive against the mountain cliff by an old assassin of the Hell Divine Dynasty, pinned there with a long spear.

They could picture it clearly — a white-haired old man, fighting to save those who came after him, dying in a blaze of valor. Looking at that broken spear and those long-dried bloodstains, everyone clenched their teeth.

Half a month later, the Black Emperor brought them into the western part of the Northern Region. It recalled that certain things had happened here long ago, things connected to the Hell Divine Dynasty.

They entered an ancient mountain range. No sign of life — not a single blade of grass. They found nothing, and were on the verge of complete despair. Even a living fossil like the Great Black Dog could not find any trace — who else could possibly know?

“Found it!” Suddenly, the Black Emperor called out with excitement, pointing to a faint marking nearly worn away by time, identifying it as a hidden sign of Hell.

“They must be somewhere in this mountain range. Be careful — don’t let them discover us. Search slowly and methodically.” Having finally uncovered some kind of clue, they were naturally extremely cautious.

It took the better part of several days, hiding in the shadows and watching, before they saw a figure in black vanish into a cliff face — only then did they rush forward, lunging toward that spot.

“Yes — I understand now. There is a small world here, opened up by an ancient sage of the distant past. This is one of Hell’s most important secret strongholds!” The Black Emperor said.

Hell, apart from one supreme and ancient hall that served as its core foundation, also had the Eighteen Layers of Hell — eighteen main branches spreading outward from that root.

The Eighteen Layers of Hell were of utmost importance, all small worlds established in ancient times, independent from the greater world, nearly impossible to locate, profoundly mysterious — all of them critical strongholds.

“A small world opened by a sage. Their foundations run deep indeed. You all wait outside — I’m going in to face my tribulation!” Ye Fan said.

Thinking of Pang Bo, whose fate remained unknown to this day — of Liu Kou blown into a pulp of blood and flesh, of Dongfang Ye’s blood staining the Fallen Eagle Cliff, of Li Heishui’s grandfather nailed alive to a mountain face — scene after scene of blood-soaked memory, one atrocity after another. The blood of fury was boiling in his heart!

“From this day forward, Hell will have one fewer layer. This is the first debt I am collecting!” Ye Fan’s voice was ice-cold, resonating through the entire mountain range. He had found the entrance. Recovering his primordial spirit from the Divine Maiden Furnace, he stepped inside in a single stride.

At first, the Black Emperor, Li Tian, and Yan Yixi were somewhat uneasy and followed him in — only to immediately begin pouring black smoke from every pore, and hurriedly stumbled back out.

“There’s no justice in heaven! How can a Heavenly Tribulation be this colossal — and still have divine lightning shaped like people and ancient ruins of the Celestial Court?!” Li Tian had never in his life witnessed such a terrifying tribulation.

“We should pull back. It’s not safe out here either — this small world is going to collapse for certain. Anyone trapped inside will be finished!” The Black Emperor bared its teeth, smoke pouring from its mouth, every single hair on its body standing on end.

They pulled back decisively, retreating far enough before stopping. Everything unfolded exactly as anticipated: this small world had existed since ancient times, and tens of thousands of years had left it unstable. When the Heavenly Tribulation descended, it finally shattered.

“Ahhh…”

Screams rang out. The small world was split open, and its boundary with the greater world dissolved — everything became visible. Lightning transformed into an ocean. The lightning storm blazed into a scorching sea of violet light.

It was a scene of human catastrophe. As this collapsing small world tore open, horrors were laid bare for all to see — swathes of human silhouettes reduced to charred corpses, innumerable halls and towers turned to rubble.

This was a major assassin stronghold, filled with powerful figures. All of them were being forced to endure the tribulation against their will, unable to escape. They surged outward trying to break free, but the tribulation clouds remained perpetually overhead and bolts of heavenly thunder kept crashing down without respite — there was nowhere to run.

And above all, Ye Fan had transformed into a humanoid bolt of lightning, hunting down the powerful fighters across every corner. In the wake of his passing, all were reduced to tribulation ash.

“There’s a king-level expert!”

“There’s actually a powerful king-level expert here!”

The Black Emperor, Li Tian, and the others quickly noticed an overwhelming presence — an expert of world-shaking power. His heavenly punishment was boundless and endless, joining together into a vast ocean.

“It’s one of the assassin kings who tried to kill Ye Fan last time — I recognize the aura. His true body was here all along!”

“Ahhh…”

Screams rang out from every direction. People kept being reduced to tribulation ash — this place had become a genuine underworld, though this time around it was others who had come to collect their lives.

This battle had no suspense. When Ye Fan charged forward and locked onto the assassin king, an even more immense ocean of thunder and lightning descended, and the man was struck into tribulation ash.

One battle, and the place was swept clean — nothing remained but a vast expanse of rubble and figure after figure of human ash.

On this day, the Eastern Wastelands trembled. Hell had a secret stronghold torn apart by one man, and from this day forward, Hell would have one fewer layer!

Ye Fan declared that since the human world and Hell wanted to play, he would keep them company to the very end. Next, he would hunt down their Holy Sons and Holy Daughters.

At the same time, he issued a bounty to every person under heaven, offering lavish rewards — whether for providing intelligence on the assassin divine dynasties or for going out to kill them, astronomical sums would be paid.

“I’m rich in nothing but life essence stones — with the Source Heaven Mystic Arts, stones are no problem. Even if you have no other offerings, bringing me information is worth a reward.” Ye Fan declared in blunt terms that he intended to unleash a war sweeping the entire Eastern Wastelands, mobilizing every available force to wipe out the assassin organizations — forceful and direct.

“If anyone can provide the address of Hell’s ancient hall and the human world’s, and bring me the heads of their chief figures, I will give out one piece of Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold!”

In the end, Ye Fan released a piece of world-shaking news — he put an ancient Great Emperor’s exclusive immortal material on display, stunning the Northern Region and spreading with lightning speed across all under heaven.

“One piece of Phoenix Gold — yes, a genuine piece of Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold, without a single impurity. Nine phoenixes circle it, auspicious energy erupting, shooting straight into the heavens.”

On that day, Kaiyuan City of the Northern Region erupted. Everyone went mad. This piece of world-shaking news spread to every corner in the first instant, flying into every major power.

“A genuine piece of Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold — an invaluable and priceless material. Even Great Emperors of ages past dreamed of possessing it. It’s made of the same material as the Jiang Family’s Constant Universe Furnace!”

On this day, all five regions boiled over. Who could count how many cultivators felt their blood run hot? Phoenix blood stirred the heart — such immortal material set countless minds aflame.

A piece the size of a fist — if forged with skill, it could absolutely take the shape of a Dao weapon. If a Great Emperor were alive in the world today, they would certainly take notice.

Ye Fan didn’t care. He had nothing left to fear at this point. The world already knew he had the Myriad Source Mother Qi Cauldron — one more piece of covetable immortal material was just more of the same.

“Do you dare take the kill? If anyone can provide the address of the two ancient divine dynasties’ halls and bring me the heads of their top figures, I also have a seed of divine unicorn medicine as a reward!”

When Ye Fan released this news, and personally withdrew a purple unicorn that had been preserved within a source stone, a new storm swept through the Eastern Wastelands.

“Madness — absolute madness. So many immortal treasures! This will drive every person under heaven to attack the assassin divine dynasties.”

People truly had gone mad. With so many rewards on offer, no one could remain calm. Kill a single ordinary disciple and receive a hundred thousand jin of source stones — the temptation was simply too great.

Ye Fan announced the news and disappeared in the first instant, vanishing without a trace. He had no wish to serve as a living target for the divine dynasties.

“Mobilize every person under heaven to target the two ancient divine dynasties and destroy them together!”

“In a few more years, Ye Fan may truly become a Source Heaven Master. Those source stones are clearly no problem for him — he intends to use all of humanity to wear down two ancient organizations.”

Everyone understood his intent, yet everyone was moved regardless. The rewards were too generous — nearly every single person wanted to find some kind of lead.

The waves this time proved even larger than anyone had anticipated. Even the Ancient Tribes got involved, and many strange and powerful beings went into motion.

“Find the ancient halls of Hell and the human world, kill one of their chief figures, and receive a piece of Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold? I’ll give it a try.”

No one had expected it — an Ancient Emperor’s son spoke these words, showing extreme interest in Ye Fan’s bounty, the first among the Ancient Tribes to step forward.

Phoenix Xu Dao — he came from Bloodbird Phoenix Mountain, an exceptionally low-profile and profoundly mysterious ancient prince who had seldom set foot in the mortal world. Few people had ever seen his true face.

In the past, the Heaven Prince had personally gone to invite him out of seclusion to kill the Monkey, but he had refused — saying that in this life he existed only for the Dao. Unexpectedly, it was at this moment that he had finally emerged.

Before long, though, people came to understand why he had shown such interest in the piece of Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold — his tribe cultivated the immortal power of the phoenix, and Phoenix Gold could serve as a catalyst for attaining the Dao.

The involvement of a large number of powerful figures from the Ancient Tribes exceeded Ye Fan’s expectations and put considerable pressure on the many others who had also set their sights on the bounty. These were formidable competitors.

Not long after, yet another piece of news arrived: a second ancient prince had declared his intention to act. He was interested not only in the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold immortal material, but also deeply desired the divine unicorn medicine.

Huo Qizi had entered the world. He came from the Fire Unicorn Cave, and had long been circling outside the Primordial Ancient Mine — no one in the world knew what he was after.

This time, he not only moved personally, but also rallied powerful members of his clan. He was absolutely determined to obtain the unicorn seed, believing — according to rumor — that it was the divine medicine belonging to his ancestors, which had fled during a great calamity long ago.

The people of Fire Unicorn Cave were extremely eager and anxious, employing every means at their disposal to contact Ye Fan, willing to exchange supreme divine objects to purchase it back immediately.

“How fitting.” Ye Fan laughed at the time. He hadn’t expected that the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold and the divine unicorn medicine would stir up two ancient royal tribes alike.

“Worth being wary of — if the people of Fire Unicorn Cave become desperate and come straight for you, that would be trouble.” The Black Emperor said with concern.

Ye Fan nodded: “That is indeed a problem. But if used well, this could become an immortal sword of execution. It might truly be possible to destroy Hell and the human world.”

The divine unicorn medicine seed — he would never give it away no matter what. For a Great Emperor, every single one possessed a plant of their own, and ten billion gold would not buy it.

They naturally did not show themselves, but they made their response: the conditions remained the same. If the unicorn medicine was desired, one must first find the ancient halls of the two assassin divine dynasties and kill one of their chief figures.

It was one thing for Phoenix Xu Dao to act alone, but Huo Qizi had brought out the clansmen behind him — this was extraordinarily dangerous. If they truly moved, even the assassin divine dynasties would be seized with dread.

“Wonderful! It’s a double-edged sword, yes, but if wielded well — wiping out Hell and the human world is no longer just a fantasy!” Li Heishui clenched his fist when he heard the news.

From that day forward, the Eastern Wastelands were no longer calm. All four directions bristled with soldiers, and the search for Hell and the human world set many people into motion.

Ye Fan transported a mountain of source stones into Kaiyuan City — all exotic variant source stones, interspersed with many divine sources the size of a rice bowl, their radiance illuminating all ten directions. The entire city glowed bright as day through the night.

In so short a time, he had produced a heap of precious source stones like this, and it stunned everyone who saw it — treasures without measure, their brilliance blinding the eye.

Many people felt deep regret: if only, in the days when Ye Fan had been very weak, they had drawn him into their sect rather than crying for his blood, they could by now have been shaken by his source arts alone.

A Source Heaven Master was a figure that inspired both wonder and awe — this was the unanimous feeling among all.

The whole world coveted those source stones, but not a single person dared to act on it. Ye Fan made things perfectly clear by depositing the source mountain directly inside the Tianxuan Old Stone Workshop.

Everyone already knew — the caretaker of that establishment was a human sage. Anyone who dared go there to rob and pillage would simply be seeking death.

At the same time, people were struck with profound shock and amazement: how had Ye Fan come to have a relationship with this sage, and one apparently so familiar? The revelation immediately cooled the intentions of those who had entertained wayward thoughts.

Of course, this time Ye Fan acted entirely through sheer shamelessness. He fully manifested the imprint of the Old Madman fighting all the kings in the Ziwei Stellar Region, and then proceeded to deposit the source stones while calling the man “Senior” every other breath.

He had no attachment to these source stones. Even if this human sage was displeased and threw them all out, it didn’t matter — at the very least, the effect of using a powerful banner as a tiger skin had been achieved.

With a sage involved, even Fire Unicorn Cave and the others would have to think twice. The sages were currently dormant and not showing themselves in the world — but that didn’t mean they could be provoked.

Ye Fan vanished from Kaiyuan City once more. In just half a month, the effects were already visible: more than twenty disciples and two old assassin kings of the two divine dynasties had been killed.

It was almost laughable — several incidents involved them coming out to carry out assassination missions, only to be spotted, causing people to swarm in pursuit and turn the tables on the hunters.

The Eastern Wastelands could not settle back into quiet. Kaiyuan City had a mountain of source stones waiting for people to collect, and there was still a piece of Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold and a seed of immortal medicine that never died — the storm had been ignited.

In these recent days, there was bloodshed every day. Hell and the human world’s missions kept failing, kept getting disrupted. Daring to show their faces meant being hunted by a crowd — truly a miserable state of affairs.

“Your father is rich in nothing but source stones — with the Source Heaven Mystic Arts, sources are no problem. Take a handful of treasured sources and pelt them to death!” The Black Emperor howled, gorging on divine sources all day, its great mouth stretched back to its ears — it hadn’t closed all these days.

Ye Fan thought he was well concealed and that outsiders would find him difficult to locate. But unexpectedly, on this day he was tracked down — by someone entirely unexpected: the Old Knife-Handle.

Long ago, he and the Yin Underworld Eye Li Desheng, the Old Knife-Handle, the Yao Guang Holy Son, the Jade Pool Saintess, and others had entered the Primordial Forbidden Zone, where a series of bizarre events had unfolded.

They had parted ways afterward, and he had never seen the Old Knife-Handle again — yet today the man appeared suddenly, arriving with an air of mystery.

“My grandfather wishes to see you.” He was already quite advanced in age, and these were the inexplicable first words out of his mouth.

“Why?” Ye Fan asked, puzzled.

“He comes from the Celestial Court.” The mysterious and powerful Old Knife-Handle silenced Ye Fan and everyone with him in a single sentence.