Long before this, Ye Fan had once harbored a certain idea — to return to the Ancient Forbidden Land. He wanted to seize a heaven-defying stroke of fortune.

Whether human or mighty beings of other races, none dared venture deep into that life-forbidden zone. Within it, vegetation flourished in abundance and spirit medicines were inexhaustible. Having endured the refinement of countless ages, many of those spirit medicines had nearly transformed into divine medicines. That forbidden land was a priceless sacred earth.

Ye Fan had consumed the sacred fruit and drunk from the divine spring. He believed he could most likely survive within that desolate place for a period of time. He had wanted to reach a certain level of cultivation before returning to the life-forbidden zone.

“My strength is still very low right now. This truly isn’t the time to go there — but I’ve been pushed to this point…”

He had no choice left. He could only advance and risk death.

“Roar—!”

Deep within the mountain range, the roar of a savage beast shook the heavens. Like thunder rolling through the earth, leaves scattered and flew throughout the mountain forest. Ye Fan’s expression changed. He was still far from the Ancient Forbidden Land, yet terrifyingly fearsome beasts were already appearing in the outer regions. Passing through seemed extraordinarily difficult.

But if he didn’t advance, how was he to shake off that knight’s pursuit? This left Ye Fan caught in a dilemma.

“Jiang Yichen, just you wait — even if you are of the Jiang Family, one day I will cut you down!”

Ye Fan had never hated a person this deeply before. The other had coveted his treasure, acted with ruthless cruelty, and sought to eliminate him utterly.

Suddenly, Ye Fan sensed danger — the knight seemed to be closing in again, and he hurriedly concealed himself.

A cyan silhouette appeared in the sky. That powerful Jiang Family knight appeared once more. But all of a sudden, the beast beneath him seemed to be struck by fright — it plunged toward the earth as if fleeing for its life, landing on the ground and trembling violently.

Not far away, Ye Fan watched all of this with perfect clarity, and he couldn’t help but be greatly taken aback. How could such a powerful beast be reduced to that state? The knight himself was equally stunned — he dissolved into a wisp of movement and took cover in a pile of jumbled rocks.

Just then, the entire mountain forest suddenly darkened. A fierce gale swept through violently, snapping many trees and plants. A vast shadow fell across the ground below.

High in the sky, an enormous bird that blotted out the heavens and eclipsed the sun swept across the air. Its entire body blazed with golden radiance, as though cast from pure gold. Its form was staggering in its immensity — like a golden cloud charging through, blocking out the sun, blanketing the sky.

“A Golden-Winged Roc!”

Ye Fan was deeply shaken.

The legendary Roc’s Aura of Power bore down upon everything, reducing the entire mountain range to instant silence. Every beast cry was extinguished. Only long after it had departed did the mountain forest return to normal.

The Jiang Family knight remounted his beast and shot up into the sky — even someone as powerful as him could only avoid and retreat.

Worry stirred in Ye Fan’s heart. If he continued on foot, there was no telling how many fearsome birds and savage beasts he would encounter. Could he truly walk into the life-forbidden zone?

“The Ancient Forbidden Land has nine sacred mountains, connected together and forming a boundless abyss. Legend holds that atop each sacred mountain grows a different sacred fruit, and each has its own unique divine spring…” Ye Fan used these words to steel himself.

“I’ve only eaten one type of sacred fruit and drunk from one divine spring, yet I underwent a complete transformation. If I were to ascend the other eight sacred mountains…”

Though he continued rallying his spirit, unease still gripped him. He felt that pressing forward would most likely bring more disaster than fortune.

A single day later, Ye Fan’s plans were shattered. He discovered three powerful knights who had already sealed off the path ahead, circling constantly in the skies above the primordial mountain range.

“They truly want to wipe me out — they’ve actually sent this many powerful knights!”

“Roar—!”

From a distant mountain, a deafening beast cry rang out. In an instant, the three powerful knights in the sky fled, and then Ye Fan spotted a savage beast soaring through the clouds — a creature with nine serpent heads, appearing high in the air.

It was as vast as a small mountain, exuding an extraordinarily terrifying oppressive pressure. Thick black mist coiled all around it, its enormous body flickering in and out of view. Its form resembled a qilin, yet it bore nine great serpent heads, giving it a particularly savage and fearsome appearance.

A single roar from it immediately frightened off three of the Jiang Family’s powerful knights. Even the distant Pressure Aura it exuded sent shivers running through one’s heart.

Ye Fan’s heart sank. He hadn’t even neared the Ancient Forbidden Land, yet terrifying beasts were already appearing one after another. Whatever he might encounter further ahead was anyone’s guess. Without the ability to fly, moving forward on foot alone through this primordial mountain range seemed virtually impossible — no wonder the Jiang Family’s knights had only established their blockade in certain specific zones.

Ye Fan continued his cautious infiltration for another day, only to discover that all the relatively safe corridors had been sealed off by those three powerful knights. There was absolutely no way through.

“I’m guessing at their thinking — and they’re figuring out my escape routes, anticipating that I’ll approach the Ancient Forbidden Zone to shake them off…”

Hidden within a dense forest, after careful deliberation, Ye Fan concluded he could advance no further. To press on would mean certain death with no chance of survival.

“Without the ability to fly, I cannot approach the life-forbidden zone…”

Ye Fan turned without a backward glance and retreated along the way he had come. While the several knights had yet to react, he intended to flee this primordial mountain forest and vanish into the vast sea of humanity.

When Ye Fan reached the edge of the mountain range, he suddenly spotted a powerful knight riding a beast covered in gleaming ink-black scales, circling in the sky above the forest.

“A fifth powerful knight…”

Ye Fan stared blankly at the sky and murmured: “Were they all dispatched by Jiang Yichen?”

“They brought a total of over ten knights, yet five have now been deployed at once. Can Jiang Yifei and Jiang Caixuan truly not see this? It’s impossible they haven’t noticed.”

“Could it be that they both permitted this?”

“Or perhaps… they too sent someone…”

A chill crept into Ye Fan’s heart.

Jiang Yifei — clad in white that outshone snow, refined and graceful, his bearing as flawless as jade, transcendent and unworldly. Jiang Caixuan — graceful and upright, gentle and beautiful, though she seemed somewhat proud, she had shown genuine sympathy for little Tingting, leaving a rather good impression on Ye Fan.

Yet now, Ye Fan found it impossible to discern their true roles in all of this. He did not know whether things were as bleak as he suspected. Human nature was complex — difficult to read.

“I hope neither of them is involved. Otherwise, with little Tingting living in such a complicated clan… who could say whether it would be a blessing or a misfortune…”

Ye Fan felt a pang of worry for little Tingting and for Old Uncle Jiang.

That night, without anyone being the wiser, Ye Fan slipped back to Old Uncle Jiang’s small restaurant. By now he could even see two beasts circling in the mountain range outside the small town — but the most dangerous place is the safest place. He relaxed and rested peacefully through the night.

Only when the second night fell did Ye Fan sneak out of the town and flee into the distance.

Three days later, while camping in the wilderness, Ye Fan saw a beast carrying a Jiang Family knight streak past and fly off into the distance. This filled him with dread. The other side had caught up to him this quickly — it was difficult to understand. How on earth were they finding his trail?

“Ancient clans are truly terrifying. Without being able to enter that life-forbidden zone, how am I ever supposed to shake them off?”

Worry weighed heavily on Ye Fan’s mind.

In the end, Ye Fan entered one of Yan Kingdom’s great cities. He felt that perhaps only by losing himself in the vast ocean of humanity could he remain hidden.

This was the second-largest city in the Yan lands outside the capital — its population numbered no less than a million. It was bustling and magnificent: wide, broad streets teeming with traffic, streams of people flowing back and forth without cease, shops lining both sides of every road, the cries of merchants and vendors endless and uninterrupted.

For these past days Ye Fan had been fleeing without stop, utterly exhausted. Only upon entering this city did he let out a long breath. Surely the Jiang Family wouldn’t dare ride their beasts openly down a city street?

By now it was midday. Ye Fan was famished, but when he reached into his robe, he let out a bitter laugh — not a single coin. This desperate flight of life and death had left him in a truly wretched state, reduced to such destitution.

“First things first — find a way to fill my stomach. I can’t be hard on my body. I still need to build my strength back up to keep running.”

Ye Fan had no inclination whatsoever to sightsee this grand and prosperous city. He was simply looking for somewhere to eat.

Suddenly, Ye Fan’s expression sharpened. He spotted a familiar silhouette — it was Li Xiaoman!

Her face had not aged; she had been restored to the bloom of youth. She stood a graceful one hundred seventy centimeters tall, her pure white dress and skirt drifting softly in the breeze, radiating an aura of one untouched by the mortal world.

In the past as now, Li Xiaoman was extraordinarily beautiful — her features delicate and lovely. Whether due to her cultivation, her complexion shimmered with a translucent luminance, fair and fine as congealed cream or flawless jade.

Her white robes fluttered in the wind, her dark hair flowing naturally, setting off the crystalline glow of her skin all the more brilliantly. Her eyes were large, her lashes long, giving her an air of vivid spirit. Her neck curved as elegantly as a white swan’s, her slender waist barely a handspan in girth, her legs long and straight, her figure upright and gracefully proportioned — utterly perfect.

Compared to the past, she had shed a measure of the bold and vivid quality she once had, and gained instead a quality of greater delicate liveliness — like a celestial maiden from the Moon Palace descending into the mortal world, exuding a certain otherworldly bearing.

The last thing Ye Fan had expected was to encounter her here. Inevitably, a tide of memories arose — images of sweetness, but also recollections bitter with heartbreak. He turned his body away. He did not want to meet her under these circumstances.

Li Xiaoman had clearly not seen Ye Fan. Standing out among the crowd like a crane among chickens, graceful and spirited, her peerlessly beautiful face drew many eyes to turn and look — she would never notice a haggard and exhausted young man standing at a distance.

Ye Fan turned and made to leave, but in his haste he collided with someone.

“You little beggar, what’s the matter with how you walk? The street is this wide, yet you had to run right into me!”

Ahead stood a group of young men and women. One of them — an attractive young woman — wore an expression of displeasure. Ye Fan had accidentally bumped into her.

“I’m sorry!” Ye Fan hastily apologized.

“Junior Sister, check whether you’ve lost anything. There are some beggars these days who steal specifically like this.” A young man cautioned, and moved to block Ye Fan from leaving.

After days of continuous flight, Ye Fan’s clothing was dirty and torn, his face smeared with grime — he genuinely looked like a little beggar.

“Senior Brother, Senior Sister…” At that moment Li Xiaoman came walking over. Though the street was crowded, passersby could not help but instinctively make way for someone so beautiful. She arrived at the scene quickly.

“Let him go. I haven’t lost anything.” The young woman who had been bumped into frowned and said.

Ye Fan tried to turn and leave, but Li Xiaoman had already arrived before him and happened to see his face.

“It’s you!”

Ye Fan stopped. He hadn’t expected that in the end, he and she would meet face to face.

“Junior Sister, you know this little beggar?” The several young men and women around them all showed expressions of astonishment.

At this moment, Ye Fan’s clothes were ragged and torn, his entire body covered in dust, his face drawn and haggard, drained of all energy. After days of running for his life, he was exhausted in body and spirit, and with his tattered clothing, by any measure he looked like a person from the very bottom of society.