The reports Ye Fan had read back on Earth had come true. There had indeed been ancient riverbeds on Mars, and some researchers even believed there had once been large lakes and oceans — now proven.
Here at the north pole was a Demon Sea Eye, possessed of such extraordinary power that heaven and earth themselves were collapsing, being swallowed into it. No wonder the black ocean appeared and vanished so abruptly.
But this was not the time for distracted contemplation. From within the great black sea eye, a surging tide of demonic energy erupted — bloody energy churning, shaking the stars and rocking the moon.
A peerless Demon Sage had rushed out. His roar shattered the heavens above, sending the countless stars seemingly trembling and on the verge of falling.
Ye Fan was struck cold with dread. Just how powerful was this Demon Sage? Had he not been of the human race’s Holy Physique, with deep and profound cultivation, he would have been reduced to a pulp by that single roar.
Boom!
A catastrophic aura shot skyward. The black Demon Sea Eye cracked apart, and a colossal being burst forth into the sky, shaking the nine heavens and ten earths.
Boundless demonic fog surged, concealing the Demon Sage’s body. Only two enormous blood-red eyes — like a pair of red lanterns — could be seen approaching rapidly from afar.
Clearly, this was an immense being. Its body alone could likely crush countless ancient mountain ranges. Ye Fan felt as though his very soul might be torn away, pulled by the Demon Sage’s aura — terrifying beyond the extreme.
Demonic energy shot to the clouds. This Demon Sage seemed capable of plucking the stars and seizing the moon. Before it even arrived, waves of dreadful force like a tsunami had already swept in. The entire Ancient Star Huoying was trembling.
Roaaaar…
Another great roar — like ten thousand thunderclaps detonating at once — and the world instantly fractured apart. Rolling demonic energy boiled and seethed, drowning out everything in sight.
The cauldron above Ye Fan’s head shook violently. Streams of primordial energy descended — each one capable of crushing a divine mountain, the most precious immortal material in the world. Now they rang out tone after tone, and the sound waves, like tangible divine swords, hacked down from above, sending both the cauldron and Ye Fan flying far away.
Ye Fan coughed up great mouthfuls of blood. Golden blood scattered and pierced through the void. He struggled to stabilize himself at a distance, his face filled with shock and disbelief.
This was a true Demon Sage — not to be matched by force. With Shakyamuni long departed, who on this ancient star could stand against it?
In fact, even within the Northern Dipper Star Domain, who could stop it? For Ye Fan could sense that this Demon Sage’s vital energy was overwhelmingly vigorous — more vast than the black ocean moments ago, drowning all of heaven and earth. It felt far more terrifying than any Primordial Ancestral King he had ever encountered.
Black fog surged and roiled, blotting out the sky, boundless and sweeping upward. Every inch of space between heaven and earth was filled.
Like a star domain trembling, or a galaxy stained black and crashing down — this was an immeasurable divine might.
Within the surging demonic energy, a colossal figure stood ahead, looking down upon this place. Apart from two enormous blood-red eyes blazing like red lanterns, nothing else could be seen.
Yet Ye Fan knew in that very first instant who this was.
The Crocodile Ancestor.
Just as he had appeared when he broke free all those years ago — the momentum was the same, and today even greater. This devastating aura was enough to shake the world.
“Huoying has become the greatest sea of suffering in existence. This entire life-bearing source star has become an immortal burial ground. All relics have been swallowed into the Demon Sea Eye. I have guarded here for over twenty years, watching the moment nearly arrive — when I could enter and retrieve the immortal burial treasure needed for my future Dao-proving — and yet in an instant you disturbed it all. Everything has turned to nothing!”
A rolling, thunderous voice split the sky and reverberated through heaven and earth, like a clap of thunder, deafening and immense.
Though the Crocodile Ancestor was furious, his voice remained utterly calm and cold. He stared fixedly, and in those two blood-red eyes blazed cruelty and indifference without bound.
“You great crocodile — you old demon!” Ye Fan shouted back. His hatred ran deep. Setting aside the past, so many dear friends had died here. Even after escaping to the Northern Dipper Star Domain, there had been no peace — leaving him steeped in sorrow. There was profound enmity between them.
“The source root of the Myriad Things Mother Qi… what remarkable fortune. Could it be that heaven itself is compensating, sending me the most precious of all immortal materials?” The Crocodile Ancestor’s blood-red eyes showed a flicker of something — and then slowly melted into a thunderous laugh.
Ye Fan faced this Demon Sage and felt a deep and profound sense of helplessness. He wanted to kill it, but lacked the power. He tightened his fists.
“That you crossed such a vast distance twenty years ago and are still able to return — that truly exceeds my expectations.” The ancient great crocodile smiled coldly and mercilessly, and within the black fog, a vague outline emerged — a body vast as a mountain range.
“Demon crocodile — you killed so many of my classmates. Why did you do it?!” Ye Fan roared.
The Crocodile Ancestor looked down at him as one looks at an ant, without the faintest emotional ripple. “Should I need to calculate how I treat a few insects? I simply acted as circumstances moved me.”
What he said was true. At his level of existence, how could he have truly regarded those ordinary people from that time? As he said — it was nothing more than acting on a whim, projecting a strand of his divine spirit consciousness onto the Ancient Bronze Coffin in the same casual manner.
Ye Fan felt a bitter ache. The deaths of so many classmates had not even registered in the Crocodile Ancestor’s eyes. He had regarded it as no more than crushing a few ants underfoot — leaving not even a trace in his mind.
“Why did you not board the Ancient Bronze Coffin yourself?”
“There were three reasons I did not leave. First, the thing inside that Ancient Bronze Coffin. Second, I knew Shakyamuni lay on the road ahead, and I had no wish to encounter him again. Third, I was waiting for the Demon Sea Eye of Huoying to open — a thousand-year opportunity.”
At that point, the Crocodile Ancestor’s blood-red eyes grew cold again. Ye Fan had ruined his great work, and the desire to kill overflowed without end.
Suddenly, ten thousand heavenly swords soared into the sky, ringing with power, shaking heaven and earth. They were crocodile scales, clanging and resonating, and above the black water they coalesced into a suit of armor.
Amid resonant clanks of metal, a suit of black-gold armor clad the Crocodile Ancestor’s body. He took on human form — towering and commanding, two meters tall. He descended and drew near, step by step. Bands of black fog wreathed his body, pressing upon one with a near-suffocating weight.
This was a powerful middle-aged man in appearance, with an overwhelming presence like that of a demon god, moving forward one step at a time.
Unlike the divine crocodile seen in the Northern Dipper Star Domain, every piece of his armor was black, glinting with cold metallic luster. His entire form, save for dense black hair and blood-red eyes, was enclosed within it.
An Eternal Saint Garment.
A being capable of refining an Eternal Saint Garment — that was extraordinary and terrifying. For a Demon Sage of this caliber, clearly capable of traversing star domains, even within the Northern Dipper it would be rare to find anyone who could stop him.
“Why were you suppressed here? Do you come from the water-blue planet of this star domain?” Ye Fan, burning with hatred in his heart, also had far too many questions.
“Two thousand years ago, I traversed the star expanse with great effort and arrived at that water-blue star, seeking ancient immortals. Yet I never expected to be suppressed by Shakyamuni.”
When the Crocodile Ancestor spoke of the past, his eyes grew colder still. But his voice remained utterly unmoved — cold and indifferent.
“Do you know why that water-blue star has no cultivators left today?” Ye Fan, despite wanting nothing more than to consume this creature’s flesh and blood, wanted even more to learn the ancient secrets it held.
“I came upon an ancient path beneath the stars and traveled against the immortal current, pursuing the secrets of immortality to this place — only to be suppressed.” The Crocodile Ancestor’s eyes flared with killing intent. The images that surfaced were of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, drenched in red — one could tell at a glance that in the long ages that had passed, he had slaughtered countless living beings.
“Do you know the secret of the Nine Dragons pulling the Ancient Bronze Coffin?” Ye Fan, rarely encountering an ancient Demon Sage who had lived so close to Earth, was desperately eager to learn every secret.
“Little one, you truly ask too many questions. I might as well send you on your way. I have already answered you a great deal.” The Crocodile Ancestor’s killing intent filled the sky. His body gave a slight tremor — and the heavens cracked.
“Wait — do you know how I managed to reverse my course and return? I know everything about Shakyamuni. Tell me your secrets, and I will tell you what lies on the other side of the stars.” Ye Fan shouted — seeking answers and also buying time.
“The Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin — mysterious and distant. In my entire life, I have encountered it twice. The first time was five thousand years ago, on a shattered life-bearing source star deep in the star domain. I believed I had obtained a great opportunity, and tried to open it — but I nearly ruined my entire lifetime of cultivation. I barely escaped with my life.” The ancient great crocodile spoke in a low, unhurried voice.
“How long has it existed…” Ye Fan murmured to himself, deeply shaken.
Never mind the Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin — the Crocodile Ancestor’s own lifespan was staggering enough. It had existed in the world five thousand years ago, and the entire recorded history of ancient China with its written records did not stretch that far back.
Of course, that vanished age did not count — and now, without anyone needing to explain it to him, Ye Fan understood: there had surely been an age of gods and demons on Earth.
“Where exactly did you come from? How many life-bearing source stars exist in the desolate universe? What connects them? Where does the ancient path beneath the stars lead? Are there truly immortals in this world…”
Ye Fan had far too many questions — he wanted answers to all of them. But the Crocodile Ancestor only let out a cold laugh. “You ask too many questions, little one. I’ll simply shatter your divine spirit, extract your memories, and learn everything about Shakyamuni and what lies beyond. I have no patience to listen to you ramble.”
With that, it reached out one enormous hand and grasped forward. Boom — a thunderclap — the sky collapsed. The black hand blotted out everything.
Ye Fan’s expression changed drastically. This was a Demon Sage. A hundred of him, a thousand of him, would make no difference. The gulf between their levels was too vast. Even if one with an Immortal Embryo came, it would be useless.
He quickly shook the cauldron. Streams of primordial energy descended, wrapping him completely. At the same time, he prepared to unleash a fearsome strike.
That black hand had clearly come for the cauldron. Even the ancient great emperors would be moved by such peerless immortal material — how much more the Crocodile Ancestor, who could no longer restrain himself.
Suddenly, a brilliant radiance erupted. Nine-colored flames soared to the heavens, engulfing that black hand on the spot, burning with blazing ferocity. They nearly dried out all the water near the Demon Sea Eye.
A stifled grunt sounded. The Crocodile Ancestor’s black hand became a torch — and could not be extinguished. He continuously deployed principles of Dao, and only after great difficulty managed to put out the flames on his hand.
Ye Fan immediately summoned the Mysterious Jade Platform, hoping to cross the void and escape — but the formation platform shattered on the spot, crumbling to powder.
“A mere human, yet capable of injuring me…” The Crocodile Ancestor’s words were terrifyingly cold. His hand had been badly burned. He deployed technique after technique of Dao principles, and only with great struggle finally quenched the flames.
“You caused the deaths of so many dear to me. Today I will settle accounts with you!” Ye Fan was ready to risk everything — prepared to unleash his ultimate trump card.
“In my eyes, you and your kind are nothing but insects. I casually laid a contingency and sent a strand of my divine spirit to the Northern Dipper. Truly, I have never regarded any of you as anything. Creatures like you — I could wipe out hundreds of millions of you with a single hand.” The Crocodile Ancestor spoke with a trace of contempt.
“One day, you too will be crushed underfoot like an insect!” Ye Fan said coldly. He wanted to bring out his ultimate trump card — but it was still night. Dawn had not yet come. If he used it now, he himself might well perish along with everything else.
“Your constitution is most unusual, and your destiny is extraordinary. Even the source root of the Myriad Things Mother Qi — a world-shaking immortal material that even the ancient great emperors could only gaze at longingly — has found its way to you. Today I will kill you, this insignificant insect, and seize the entirety of your human Dao foundation.” The Crocodile Ancestor’s voice was bone-chilling.
Buddhist chants drifted over, as though the bodhisattvas and ancient buddhas of all the heavens were reciting sutras. Dense talismanic script filled the air. Boundless golden light surged toward this place — it was the golden ancient ship that had been caught spinning in the Demon Sea Eye, now sailing toward here.
The Five Hundred Golden-Body Arhats, every one of them with skin stretched over bone, were radiant with brilliant divine light. They had appeared to be fully passed in seated meditation — yet at this moment, one aged monk opened his eyes.
“You are the ancient Buddha enshrined in Thunder Sound Temple — you are still alive!” The Crocodile Ancestor cried out.