Even to this day, in an era where the saints lay in deep seclusion, who would dare act so recklessly — descending with a single massive silver foot, attempting to stomp Ye Fan to death outright?

This person’s dharma body towered up to the heavens. From the knees upward it disappeared into the cloud layer; the true body was invisible. The single giant silver foot was as majestic as a mountain range. As it pressed down, the wind howled and air currents surged, the sound like a crashing sea.

Ye Fan swept his right leg out sideways. His body spun like a top, radiating boundless light, then kicked outward — foot against foot — piercing through the sky.

BANG!

The silver foot descended, scattering light like star-clouds, shaking violently. Ye Fan’s foot also blazed with ten thousand feet of radiance. Heaven and earth turned blinding; many people were sent tumbling like scraps of paper.

With that spot as the center, divine energy waves erupted like a collapsing star domain — like an endless divine sea surging — the radiance blotting out the sun.

Ye Fan was stunned. Just who was this? Able to trade physical blows with him — at his level, only a handful of Ancient Emperor bloodlines could possibly be compared with his physical shell.

A flash of light flickered in the sky. That person shrank down to normal size and flew off sideways, completely unharmed and perfectly composed.

“That’s Yue Qianqiu! He’s wearing the Wind Cloud Battle Boots of the Silver Moon Clan. Word is he’s already standing at the threshold of crossing the Dao into the third immortal platform!” someone cried out in alarm.

This person wore silver battle attire throughout, especially at his feet — his battle boots gleamed, lined with chains resembling order-laws that flowed with precious radiance.

He had hair as brilliant as snow, a crescent moon marking on his brow, and in his hands he held an exquisite pagoda wreathed in hazy mist.

Ye Fan had no time for careful observation, because another streak of immortal light — uniquely lethal — locked onto the crown of his head from across the boundless void.

Clang! Clang!…

Wave after wave of sword light slashed down, like streaks of soaring immortal power — dazzling and terrifying. Ye Fan formed sword seals with both hands continuously to deflect them.

At the same time, he charged upward into the high sky. Since the last time he had transcended his tribulation, his Heavenly Eye had finally reached full completion. In the instant it opened, two beams of divine light pierced through all illusion and revealed a black-robed woman.

The Divine Maiden of Hell!

It was purely instinct. Ye Fan immediately sensed her identity, for she carried a particular aura — extraordinarily powerful, beyond estimation.

BOOM!

The sky before him collapsed. Behind the black-robed woman, a vast infernal palace appeared — not physical, but formed entirely of boundless light — becoming a backdrop behind her.

Her figure was slender and graceful, appearing frail and without strength — yet she carried an intimidating presence that only someone with senses as sharp as Ye Fan’s could detect.

Across her face she wore a mask of unknown material — one that could block even the Heavenly Eye’s scrutiny — a hell-ghost face mask.

She should have been a woman of unparalleled beauty, yet wearing such a mask made her unsettlingly strange. She let out a soft cry, and the sky plunged into darkness everywhere — the infernal palace spread in all directions.

In that moment she vanished, as if hell had descended to the mortal world. Every manner of purgatory — endless palace halls, countless blood pools, skeletal mountains piled beyond sight — stacked themselves across the heavens.

The ancient clans were all stunned. Nearly none of them could see through it; it was as real as the world itself. And within these scenes, the Hell Divine Maiden moved and appeared and vanished.

Clang!

Sword cries shook the heavens. From time to time they shot out from within the purgatories, blood pools, and bone mountains — impossible to guard against. The Hell Divine Maiden had disappeared, merging into the void.

It was Ye Fan’s first time facing a divine maiden from one of the assassin organizations. He felt the full weight of her power. Had his Heavenly Eye not reached completion, had he not studied the Heavenly Court’s ancient scrolls on killing arts, he would certainly have been at a severe disadvantage.

“All of this is illusion — useless against me!” Ye Fan charged forward. Using his hands as swords, he attacked with wide, sweeping strokes — demolishing blood pools, destroying bone mountains, sending the infernal palace flying. Divine met divine in slaughter.

Although the woman was unpredictable — sometimes even slipping past the Heavenly Eye’s detection — most of the time she remained within Ye Fan’s field of vision. The two exchanged rapid blows, the great battle unceasing.

This was actually a woman who had nearly crossed the Dao. One foot had already stepped across — what she lacked was only the final crossing, the moment of clear-hearted enlightenment.

Even with merely one foot across, her battle power was sky-overturning. Her strength was incomparably formidable; she never fought Ye Fan directly, instead using various illusion environments to assassinate him — extremely dangerous.

At present, Ye Fan was at the peak of the second tier of the Immortal Platform. Apart from the Ancient Emperor’s own children, very few could contend with him. Clearly the Hell Divine Maiden was one of those rare few.

Lights of every kind flickered. A bone pagoda drifted through the air toward him, but Ye Fan dared not be careless — he activated the King of Man Seal and hammered it forward.

BANG!

Shards of bone flew. The bone pagoda was shattered apart — impossibly violent. From within it surged tens of thousands of threads of black light: death curses. Anyone they touched would surely die.

Ye Fan’s body shuddered. He expanded the Golden Sacred Domain, cutting off every strand of that sinister light, blocking this certain-kill technique.

The expressions of many among the ancient clans changed. Though most of them had not seen this killing light — created in later generations — they had still sensed the danger in it. It could corrode divine radiance.

“Among the divine sons and divine maidens of the two ancient Assassin Divine Dynasties, the Hell Divine Maiden is the weakest. The divine son of Hell and the divine maiden of the Mortal World are the strongest — not all of them have come,” Qi Luo transmitted.

Ye Fan’s heart tightened. Even the Hell Divine Maiden was the weakest, and the other three were stronger — this was not good news. No wonder it was said they could slay all kings!

“Is that all your technique amounts to? Even if you truly entered the third immortal platform, I would not fear you!” Ye Fan shouted, filled with absolute confidence, charging forward.

He had set foot in the domain of the Eight Forbidden Realms. Even if the other party possessed the Seven Forbidden, having initially crossed the Dao, they would only be his equal. In a direct confrontation, he had absolute confidence he could destroy her.

BOOM!

Ye Fan blazed with golden sacred light from every inch of his body, shattering all the illusion environments, pursuing the black-robed woman with intent to finish her off here and now.

In the sky, only eighteen black prisons remained without dissipating, towering there — half-real, half-illusory — while the Hell Divine Maiden appeared and vanished among them.

Ye Fan used his imperfectly mastered Heavenly Court secret techniques to counter the Hell’s assassination arts. They exchanged killing blows in rapid succession — hundreds of rounds had already passed.

“Wait — something’s wrong!” He suddenly startled.

The eighteen half-real black prisons seemed to carry a strange power that was making his body grow heavier and heavier, as if shackles were being clamped onto him.

“Break for me!” Ye Fan roared. His entire body began blazing with boundless light again, burning like divine flames.

“Chains of Order — bound for eternity!” The Hell Divine Maiden called out softly. Still hidden within the black prisons, she had invoked an extraordinarily sinister law.

Eighteen chains extended from the black prisons — already bound around his body — representing the bondage of the eighteen levels of hell, grinding him toward annihilation.

These were formed from eighteen divine laws. They could not be cut; there was no escaping them. The eighteen black prisons solidified from illusion into reality, emerging from the depths of the void and descending upon this place.

“Chains of Order — eternal suppression!” The black-robed woman called out softly. The eighteen demonic prisons descended together, merging into one, intending to refine and consume Ye Fan entirely.

“Now!” From outside Ye Fan’s body, a circle that seemed naturally formed appeared — the golden Taiji manifested. The supreme Yin and the supreme Yang merged and transformed into each other, flowing forward. He took the initiative and plunged into the eighteen levels of hell.

Suddenly, ten thousand swords rang out in unison. Everywhere in the sky, sword light appeared — countless thousands — all charging into the black prisons.

Ye Fan protected himself with the golden Taiji circle, straining to cut through the Chains of Order. At the same time he activated the Military Scripture, transforming killing energy into sword beams that slashed down together.

Clang!

One sword cry stood apart from all the rest — coming from the Hell Divine Maiden’s own blood-dripping demonic sword, which cut into her own body. Half of her form flew away and fell.

This impossibly strange sight stunned everyone. People couldn’t understand it; they all stood there with mouths wide open.

Simultaneously, Ye Fan strained with all his might to break free. Golden sacred light blazed from every inch of his body, snapping all eighteen Chains of Order, and he continued to control the Military Scripture to pursue the Hell Divine Maiden.

Spit!

The fallen half-body ahead was reduced to nothing by him, becoming a cloud of blood mist. The Hell Divine Maiden activated every last secret technique at her disposal to flee into the dissolving black prisons.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Ye Fan gave chase.

Suddenly, a cold, dim light pierced toward him — silent and without trace. Only when it drew close to his body did it blaze intensely. It was an incomparable killing intent.

Clang!

Ye Fan twisted sideways, blocking with his arm. The killing light shattered. A few drops of blood fell from his arm. Had it been anyone else, body and soul would have been annihilated. He had only been opened with a gash.

“Are there more hidden divine sons and daughters? Indeed they’re even stronger.”

BOOM!

Quite abruptly, from within the eighteen black prisons that had just disappeared, a giant black claw extended — withered as dried wood, dark and bone-chillingly cold — reaching forward to grasp.

Qi Luo stood within the ancient tower. That black hole-like eye socket held something like a dark cosmos evolving within it. He had not made a move, yet a thread of his presence emanated and shot straight forward.

Whoosh!

The giant black claw seemed to sense this and vanished in an instant. Others couldn’t understand it — they didn’t know why the mysterious figure had suddenly retreated.

“It seemed like a powerful master who had achieved the Dao, coming from hell — frightened off by Qi Luo,” Ye Fan realized, sensing it himself through direct experience. By the time he searched again for the Hell Divine Maiden, she had long since disappeared without a trace.

He didn’t delay. He charged toward the outer edge to break free — being surrounded by dozens upon hundreds of powerful masters would put pressure on anyone.

“Human Holy Body, the Heavenly Prince invited us here. How can we let you leave!”

“The Elder Yuangu also gave instructions — if we found you, we were to keep you here and wait for his arrival. You will not escape today.”

“I have long wanted to test myself against the Human Holy Body in battle. Today I can finally fulfill this wish.”

A crowd of people blocked his breakthrough. Some were truly powerful and simply wanted to duel with him — to temper themselves — while others bore deep hostility.

Young powerhouses from the various ancient clans made their moves, sending all manner of light across the sky, cutting off his path forward. And the Assassin Divine Dynasty still had a divine son present who had not left, watching with predatory eyes from the shadows.

“If you insist on blocking me, don’t blame me for a slaughter!”

Ye Fan’s expression darkened. His battle power surged, pushed to its absolute limit. He felt the threat — there were certainly formidable enemies among them.

He expanded the Golden Sacred Domain. Every manner of law and principle that flew toward him couldn’t get close. Then, like a divine lion, he pounced forward and began killing on a large scale.

BANG!

An exquisite tinkling pagoda descended, crashing onto the Golden Sacred Domain and staggering Ye Fan — one could only imagine the weight of that strike!

“You again!” Ye Fan turned, finding once more the silver-haired figure from the Silver Moon Clan — the same one who had tried to stomp him with the Wind Cloud Battle Boots moments before.

Clanging sounds were ceaseless as many people made their move and one ancient treasure after another flew toward him — quite terrifying. Ye Fan pushed his battle power upward, fought with everything he had to repel those around him, then fixed his gaze on Yue Qianqiu and let out a great shout: “Om!”

The Buddhist Six-Character True Mantra left his lips, transforming into supreme sound waves that struck in all four directions. In an instant, seven or eight powerful masters bore the brunt of it and were destroyed one after another.

Everyone was stunned. Those who had died came from different clans; all were elite kings in their own right, each with strength that defied the heavens — yet they had been pulverized by a single shout from Ye Fan.

Yue Qianqiu coughed up great mouthfuls of blood. The exquisite pagoda held before him collapsed, and he flew sideways through the air. Even someone as powerful as him could not withstand this strike.

BOOM!

Ye Fan’s dharma body grew larger. A great foot stamped forward, bearing down like a mountain. Yue Qianqiu called out sharply. The Wind Cloud Battle Boots on his feet blazed with light, carrying him away as a streak of flowing radiance.

However, Ye Fan had simultaneously activated the Military Scripture. The treasured boots on Yue Qianqiu’s feet suddenly blazed with sinister light. He let out a cry of agony. A flash of blood light erupted — both feet became a bloody pulp.

Spit!

Ye Fan’s foot came chopping down. Yue Qianqiu — this elite king of the Silver Moon Clan who had already been standing at the threshold of the Dao-crossing third immortal platform — still could not withstand it. He was crushed to death, leaving behind only a pair of battle boots.

BOOM!

In the heavens above, a slender, delicate jade hand reached down — rapidly expanding — like a deity descending into the world. The jade hand blotted out the sky and swept toward Ye Fan, crushing everything in its path.

Ye Fan struck upward to kill it — another person who dared engage him in physical combat had appeared. As far as he was concerned, they didn’t know what death was.

And yet things unfolded contrary to his expectations. After the violent collision, that great white hand had not crumbled at all. It was completely unharmed.

“The Ancient Emperor’s bloodline — daughter of the Ancient Emperor — Huo Lin’er has arrived!” someone cried out in alarm.