The nine-colored flames burned like wisps of mist, coiling around and binding the vicious ghost—as massive as a black demonic mountain—while submerging the golden Crocodile Ancestor; this was an absolute killing move.
This kind of flame could even burn a Sage, let alone these two beings who had been suppressed for over two thousand years, long past their prime.
“Ahh…” The golden crocodile screamed in agony. It was formed from a cultivated primordial spirit, and was extremely afraid of this kind of flame, instantly suffering severe burns.
As for the vicious ghost, it howled even more fiercely—it was a yin soldier, a resurrected strand of malicious intent, and what it feared most was precisely intensely yang lightning and divine fire, thrashing violently.
Both terrifying beings struggled against it; yet no matter how great their divine powers, being bound by this divine fire left them utterly terrified—not at their peak, this was fatal!
“Dong…” A bell’s toll echoed softly; a golden great bell emerged from above the Crocodile Ancestor’s head—the only remaining piece from the golden ancient temple, the Buddhist forbidden weapon—now shielding its body, rushing rapidly toward the heavens, away from the flames.
However, escape proved too difficult. The Primordial Beginning Killing Formation swept out, white mist-like energy tumbling forth, riddling the great bell with holes, on the verge of collapse.
“My physical shell—you’re beyond my expectations, but you still can’t escape my grasp.” the divine consciousness-thought formed by the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body howled, its mountain-like black body rapidly shrinking.
“Clang!”
As if a mountain had appeared, pressing down onto the battlefield, an incomplete Nine-Aperture Stone Man manifested, transforming into a streak of dark light and charging in, disappearing within.
The nine-colored flames burned on, but the stone man did not immediately melt—clearly it could hold on for a while. This was fatal! It charged forward in a single step.
“Clang!”
The Primordial Beginning Killing Formation unleashed its power; all twelve formation platforms simultaneously shot out towering beams of light, killing intent and chaos erupting together, slashing the Nine-Aperture Stone Man until it nearly shattered into fragments.
Yet, its methods proved heaven-defying—it spat out a mouthful of dark light, shattering a dozen or so Soul-Blood Stones, instantly repairing itself, drawing closer within the killing light.
“I see—so it really was Liu Yunzhi who attacked Taixuan Zhuo Peak. He was controlling this very Nine-Aperture Stone Man.” Ye Fan murmured to himself.
“Zheng!”
The Nine-Aperture Stone Man’s sparks flew everywhere as it was slashed nearly to pieces, but it kept being repaired by the dark light and Soul-Blood Stones, and was about to reach them.
“No need to fear—nine-tenths of his cultivation was severed and even his Dao roots were pulled out; right now he’s stronger than a monarch, but he can no longer compare to a Sage!” Duan De said, activating the Heaven-Devouring Demon Cover for protection.
Ye Fan gave a soft shout, using the Primordial Beginning Killing Formation to activate the Heavenly Court’s scepter, attacking that not-yet-fully-grown Nine-Aperture Sacred Spirit Body.
“Puh!”
One arm shattered; the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body’s divine consciousness-thought no longer managed to repair it this time, transforming into a ghostly wraith and beginning to dodge.
“I understand now—he must be deeply afraid of your sacred blood. Let the scepter be stained with blood to kill him!” Duan De shouted.
Ye Fan nodded upon hearing this; a beam of blood-light shot from his middle finger, staining the scepter, continuing to slash at the Nine-Aperture Stone Sacred Spirit, which let out a wailing sound.
“You’ve miscalculated. For over twenty years I have been using the essence of the sun to refine my soul, nearly escaping the state of a yin spirit—I’m no longer like I was back then, unable to approach your body. Now is precisely the time to claim your physical shell!”
The divine consciousness-thought roared, hiding within the stone man’s body, nearly mad, howling so fiercely it shook the mountains and rivers, forcing all the nine-colored flames to one side.
“He’s still afraid—destroy him!” the Black Emperor shouted, working even harder to activate the twelve formation platforms; it sensed danger.
“Boom!”
The golden scepter nearly cut the stone man in half; stone fragments flew everywhere, blasting out sheets of Dao patterns, various divine laws scattering, the resulting shockwave shattering the very sky.
It had to be said, once one reaches a certain realm, even with cultivation stripped away, one remains terrifyingly formidable! The battle experience and instincts of the golden crocodile and the divine consciousness-thought remained intact, weaving through the Primordial Beginning Killing Formation, dodging one certain-death calamity after another.
The Primordial Beginning Killing Formation was like a raging sea, and these two terrifying beings were like small boats—at any moment they could be smashed to the bottom of the waves, yet a long time passed, and still they did not sink.
Especially the divine consciousness-thought, which had grown nearly obsessed with claiming Ye Fan’s physical body, displaying a reckless, all-or-nothing resolve, charging close several times.
“Awaken the memories of my past life, borrow the fruit of my former existence…” Suddenly, the black divine consciousness-thought uttered a sound like an incantation.
This demonic voice wasn’t loud, but it pierced straight through the Primordial Beginning Killing Formation, reaching every corner—utterly terrifying!
At this moment, the Nine-Aperture Stone Man split open, revealing the black vicious ghost within, yet without a trace of yin energy—strands of golden radiance cascaded down from the crown of its head, shielding its entire body.
In this moment, divine radiance dyed its entire body gold, becoming incomparably sacred, all traces of yin energy gone, becoming supremely dignified.
“Rumble rumble rumble!”
More golden light surged forth from the crown of its head; the terrifying aura made people shudder—even the killing light and chaos unleashed by the Primordial Beginning Killing Formation could no longer harm it.
At this moment, the very heavens and earth grew suffocating, filled with an overwhelming sense of oppression—as if an Emperor had been resurrected!
“This is bad—how does it have the aura of an Emperor? Kill it quickly!” the Black Emperor cried out, his face filled with terror—all of this had exceeded their expectations.
All twelve Primordial Beginning Killing Formations operated madly at once, consuming a vast amount of divine source essence, releasing overwhelming killing light, and the Heavenly Court’s scepter and the Divine Maiden’s Furnace both flew up, together suppressing and striking at the golden divine consciousness-thought.
“Roarrr…”
The golden vicious ghost gave a great shout, suddenly reaching out a massive hand and seizing the golden crocodile that was dodging the killing light in the sky. Then, with both hands, it tore the crocodile apart, transforming it into a blaze of light, like hundreds of comets colliding at once.
“You old ghost, you truly are vicious, attacking me—but this is merely one strand of my primordial spirit! My divine embryo in this world, and my true body on the ancient starry road, will settle accounts with you one day sooner or later!”
The ten-thousand-foot-long golden crocodile roared, the entire Heaven-Breaking Mountain Range shaking; it was filled with hatred, yet powerless to change anything.
The overwhelming, blazing radiance, like the condensed light of millions of stars, saw the golden vicious ghost sacrifice the crocodile as a living offering, transforming it into strands of Dao pattern, as if summoning something from the depths of the unknown.
Then, its own body grew even more radiant, the crown of its head resonating with the nine heavens and ten earths, as translucent as a piece of Dao-bone, cascading down ten thousand strands of divine law.
“Boom!”
The overwhelming might that spread out was such that even the light unleashed by the twelve Primordial Beginning Killing Formations could no longer harm it—at this moment it seemed to have ascended to some wondrous realm.
“The aura of the ancient Emperor!” the Black Emperor was struck with terror.
“No wonder that old monk said the hardest thing in this world to deal with was the divine consciousness-thought—he was truly right.” Duan De too broke out in a cold sweat.
Clearly, they had all understood from the vicious ghost’s incantation just moments ago what was happening—awakening the memories of a past life, borrowing the Dao fruit of that former life; this was a partial revival of the supernatural powers of the former Great Accomplishment Sacred Body!
Divine radiance washed away the yin energy; this was a Sacred Body radiating boundless light, sacred and dignified, inviolable, making the nine heavens and ten earths tremble because of it!
The killing light unleashed by all twelve Primordial Beginning Killing Formations could not harm it at all, all vanishing before its presence, various lights blooming like fireworks.
Its body was coiled with strands of order chains, like a phoenix reborn from flame, possessing boundless divine energy, heaven and earth resonating for it.
Auspicious light and radiant colors cascaded down, as if paying homage to a supreme Emperor, all manner of strange phenomena appearing!
Even the Heavenly Court’s scepter and the Divine Maiden’s Furnace lost their connection with the Primordial Beginning Killing Formation, no longer able to be activated—this was a terrifying scene.
Though the formation pattern was merely an incomplete corner, it still possessed unmatched killing power—even a Sage arriving here would suffer harm—yet at this moment, it found no way to exert any force at all.
Ye Fan, the Black Emperor, Duan De, Yan Yixi, Li Tian, and the others all felt their scalps go numb—this divine consciousness-thought had had nine-tenths of its cultivation severed and its Dao roots cut off, so how could it still be this terrifying?
Invincible!
This was the feeling shared by everyone present—not to mention themselves, even a group of Ancestor Kings arriving here would be helpless. It possessed incomparable combat power, carrying the aura of an ancient Emperor. Throughout history, how many could possibly contend with it in single combat?
“It has awakened its past-life memories, borrowing the Dao fruit of the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body!”
Once they understood all this, they fell into near-despair—this was a being capable of contending with the ancient Emperor himself, unmatched under heaven and upon earth. Not to mention themselves, throughout history how many could claim even a single match against it?
“Boom!”
Ahead, that golden physique shuddered; the last strand of divine radiance cascaded down from the crown of its head, and it suddenly opened its eyes—in that instant, it was as if heaven and earth were splitting open anew!
Heaven and earth trembled, chaos surging violently; all twelve Primordial Beginning formation platforms shattered, every formation pattern here utterly destroyed. An invincible fighting will surged skyward, and through the resonance of heavenly Dao, in an instant it swept across the entire Eastern Wilderness!
In this moment, all living beings trembled, everyone struck with terror, as if facing sacred earth, as if confronting a deity—countless living creatures prostrated themselves.
“It’s not that we failed to consider carefully enough—this is simply too bizarre, beyond all expectation. Even the various Ancestor Kings arriving here would suffer defeat. Let’s go quickly!”
Even the Black Emperor grew panicked, sacrificing the chessboard formation pattern he had prepared in advance, ready to take everyone across the void—that too was a corner of an Emperor-pattern.
But ahead, that god-like golden figure swept its gaze across in an instant, and the chessboard formation pattern turned to dust, ceasing to exist.
The Great Accomplishment Sacred Body’s divine might surged across the ten directions, the nine heavens and ten earths all trembling!
At this moment, who knew how many powerful beings were startled awake, gazing in disbelief toward the Heaven-Breaking Mountain Range of the Eastern Wilderness, through the resonance of heaven and man, through the Great Dao, trying to understand the truth.
“Heavens, could someone have achieved the Dao?”
“How could this be—what kind of powerful existence is this? The aura of the ancient Emperor is spreading!”
Even mighty Ancestor Kings trembled in shock, unable to help feeling their hearts palpitate, their eyes filled with astonishment and terror.
Throughout the entire Heaven-Breaking Mountain Range, all living creatures prostrated themselves toward this direction—from ancient beasts hundreds of feet long down to tiny ants, all frozen, unable to move.
As for Ye Fan and the others, had it not been for the protection of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Cover, they too would have been unable to stand there; at this moment they were completely submerged by the aura of the ancient Emperor.
The Demon Cover rang out clearly, stimulated by this powerful presence, autonomously rising and sinking, cascading down strands of immortal radiance, protecting the group.
“We’re finished. Even bringing out a flawless imperial weapon right now couldn’t stop him. A Great Accomplishment Sacred Body has revived—only the resurrection of an Emperor could deal with him.” the Black Emperor said mournfully.
Duan De said: “For now, we can only endure. He can’t maintain this state for long. I heard that old monk say Shakyamuni also avoided his edge at first, not daring to clash head-on directly—it seems he too encountered a similar situation.”
“Perhaps we’re not in danger.” Ye Fan said, standing in a daze, staring at the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body ahead, sensing no trace of malevolence—only dignity and sanctity.
“Kill them…” This was the voice of the divine consciousness-thought.
However, another, even more overwhelming and irresistible wave of divine will immediately suppressed it. The Great Accomplishment Sacred Body gazed down upon the mountains and rivers, its eyes filled with boundless radiance and sorrow.
“I have returned—returned to the land of my former life…” it murmured softly to itself, filled with endless wistfulness, afraid to disturb this magnificent landscape.
“I swept across the nine heavens and ten earths, reversed the cycle of heaven and earth, was unmatched above and below the heavens—so what? In the end, I had to face life’s ups and downs alone, watching beautiful faces grow old and fade away, watching kin and old friends turn to dust one by one, sending them off, only I remaining, undying. I chose to leave this place, and after enduring endless more ages, I finally grew old and died in a foreign land far from home, carrying with me an unmatched glory, and also carrying endless desolate melancholy…” he lamented like this to himself, his gaze dimming, looking out across the entire Eastern Wilderness.