A god had been killed by a human. Blood rained down like a heavy downpour, streaming endlessly. The divine blood seemed inexhaustible — an eerie wind howled, and everyone was stunned into open-mouthed silence.
No one knew how long it was before wailing broke out. Devout believers were there, naturally — all of them heartbroken and inconsolable, refusing to believe what had happened.
“God is dead — how can this be? The demon from the Central Plains killed him. What has become of this world?”
“How could an almighty God die? How could he have been defeated? All of this is an illusion!”
In every era there are fanatics. Their world seemed to have collapsed, unable to accept or bear this fact.
But many others were silent and shaken — especially the older cultivators. Even those with faith would not weep, for at a certain level of understanding, they all knew the truth of what the so-called gods were.
“God, the demon from the Central Plains killed our god — this is a nightmare! Let us all go kill him!”
Fanatics screamed, charging forward in a frenzy. But far fewer responded than expected — barely a hundred, rushing at Ye Fan.
“Boom!”
Ye Fan brought his foot down. Like a dark cloud pressing from above, the sky and earth instantly dimmed, closing over the earth below — every single one of them exploded, turning into several dozen mists of blood, becoming wandering spirits.
Not even a god could stop him — and now, who remained to obstruct the demon of the Central Plains? This was a terrifying result. Right before the eyes of the entire Sacred City, he had slaughtered a god with clean efficiency.
Ye Fan stood on the ground in absolute stillness, extracting the divine imprint of the god’s divine sense, examining ancient secrets. He was disappointed.
This was an ancient clan left behind in the West. When his forebears had departed in ancient times, he had been very young — forgotten here. He did not know the stellar coordinates, or he would have left long ago.
Ye Fan still came to know a general picture: at least three life-bearing ancient stars had sent people to Earth, the most powerful of which was the Firesang Star, whose people were the Golden Crow Clan.
This divine clan came from an ancient star called “Tongtian” — an origin point of life, located within a primitive star region, difficult to locate.
“Throughout the entire universe, there are at least six or seven life-bearing ancient stars. The ancestral temple of the Feathered God Dynasty contained the coordinates of several life stars — those must be among them.”
When Ye Fan had left, he had only seized the coordinate of Earth. The rest had shattered, and he did not know into whose hands they had fallen.
“On Earth there should still be one or two divine clan members, and some messengers…” Having carefully studied the divine sense, Ye Fan drew this conclusion.
The main issue was that his Heaven-Turning Seal had been too powerful — it had shattered the person’s divine sense and left gaps in their memories. He could not determine precisely how many divine clan members remained.
Inside Jerusalem, mountains and rivers rose and fell. Revered as the greatest sacred dwelling of the West, it had existed for untold ages — when it began, no one could say. Since ancient times, divine beings had resided there.
“If one were to sever the Dao in this end-of-the-law age, it would be hard to say who held the upper hand. Severing the Dao when spiritual energy was still abundant, then centuries more without reaching full mastery — naturally, it poses no threat to me.”
Ye Fan murmured. The divine clan powerhouse was dead, most of the fanatics had been slaughtered, and the remaining people no longer dared approach. They all retreated as he walked steadily, step by step, deeper into the city.
Everyone was filled with dread, retreating without exception. The demon of the Central Plains had arrived in the West and cut down a divine clan member, shaking all who were present. The entire divine city was blanketed in oppressive silence.
At this moment, news spread rapidly outward through every available means — reaching every corner of Europe, shaking the entire Western cultivation world to its core.
God was dead!
Slain by someone called Ye Fan — the demon king of the Central Plains — who had carved a path of slaughter to the West, proclaiming himself Lord of the Heavenly Court. This news struck each ancient lineage like a crashing wave.
This day was called the Dark Day, branded into the cultivation history of the Western Dao lineage — a day of absolute darkness, filling people with despair and helplessness.
“God is dead, and the demon has come!”
These were the words most spoken by cultivators. This was an event of monumental consequence. People finally understood how much weight the ancient warning of the forebears truly carried — the demon emerging from the Central Plains was not something said lightly.
At the Vatican, the most celebrated sacred dwelling of the Western Dao lineage, news arrived and a group of powerful figures nearly overturned the table in shock, urgently summoning the Holy Knights.
The same day, the fearless Crusade set out toward Jerusalem. Newly assembled not long before, these fighters had been carefully chosen as elite powerhouses. This time they had not waited for orders — they acted on their own initiative, marching to war.
Ye Fan walked on foot through the Sacred City of Jerusalem, slowly ascending to a divine temple that had been built for God — a place ordinarily no one would dare enter.
The magnificent divine hall was filled with sacred rosy clouds of light. Auspicious spiritual birds flew in graceful spirals. Ancient vines clung to the walls. It was serene and natural.
Along this path, enormous stone steps, one after another, led higher and higher. Ye Fan climbed in unhurried steps, advancing into the most magnificent and ancient hall at the mountain’s summit.
This was the dwelling of the god. No others were permitted inside — to do so would be desecration. Ye Fan had come to find the ancestral artifacts, and so he naturally walked in without hesitation. He had already killed the god — what was there to be afraid of?
“Master, is there truly no other powerful figure left in this Sacred City? Somehow I feel a little uneasy.” Zhang Qingyang said. He was a young Heavenly Master of the Dao sect, versed in divination and deductive arts.
“There is!” Ye Fan furrowed his brow. He sensed something strange about this Sacred City — as though some supremely powerful existence was present. But why had it not manifested yet?
“I have heard something of this. It is said that Jerusalem has been suppressing figures from the ancient age since time immemorial. Master — have you sensed such an aura?” Long Yuxuan said.
Ye Fan was taken aback. He stood in silent contemplation for a long time, sweeping every inch of ground with his powerful divine sense, then nodded and said: “That must be the case. This ancient city must not be damaged — otherwise it could stir serious upheaval.”
“Master — a major discovery. There are several ancestral artifacts lost from the Central Plains a hundred years ago, right here!”
On a stone altar lay several ancient objects: fragments of Fuxi’s Dragon Stele, shards of the Nine Cauldrons cast by the Great Yu, and others. Some were powerful sacred artifacts; others were purely the relics of ancient forebears.
Their power was not what mattered — they were ancestral artifacts, carrying extraordinary significance. Displayed in the Western lands, they were a humiliation. Taking them back now was imperative.
“So many Central Plains ancient artifacts are exhibited in the various great museums — it truly is a great shame. But these items are the weightiest of all, and they must be reclaimed. Displaying them here is like exposing the bones of our ancestors for all to see.”
They took everything from the altar.
“Master, here are the foundational altar stones of Mount Tai, and others.” Quickly, they discovered a damaged altar in an important location within the great hall.
“There should be more than this. There are still some more. That so-called divine clan powerhouse did not collect very many.” Ye Fan frowned. These things had to be recovered — not a single piece could be left behind. All of it would be of great use to him.
“There is no altar base-stone inscribed with the ancient Heavenly Scripture. No clues found here.” Yan Xiaoyu reported.
“Then it must be at another sacred dwelling of the West. We will need to make another trip.” They emptied the place of everything it held.
In addition, the group discovered numerous powerful sacred artifacts — some belonging to the West, others to the East. Naturally, they took everything without compunction.
“Among them there appear to be King-level weapons!”
The several disciples were delighted, unable to stop themselves from rubbing their hands. Ye Fan waved his hand and handed them out for the disciples to divide equally — earning a burst of cheers from the group.
Outside the magnificent hall, at the base of the enormous stone steps below, many people stood looking up at the divine temple with hollow expressions. The demon from the Central Plains had looted such a sacred place — this was truly a calamity beyond recovery.
Jerusalem was the holy city of three great religions, and the divine halls and ancient temples were not limited to one. The other two religions were growing increasingly uneasy, their hearts filled with dread, fearing that Ye Fan’s demonic nature would fully erupt and see their own sacred places looted as well.
“Master — the other two religions may also be holding altar base-stones and the like. Should we go take a look?” Yu Xiao asked quietly, for the matter was of great importance.
They had already destroyed the god of one religion, and there might be gods among the other two. If a battle broke out, the consequences would be difficult to calculate.
“Any altar belonging to the Central Plains’ forebears — all of it must be recovered.” Ye Fan spoke with absolute resolve.
Yet he also did not wish to cause excessive bloodshed. He stepped out of the magnificent great hall, looked down at the dense swarm of figures below, and then gazed toward the sacred grounds of the other two religions. For a long time, he sat down in cross-legged meditation.
Ye Fan began to recite the Scripture of Salvation. He had obtained the complete and unabridged text from the Lingbao sect. This scripture had wondrous applications — it could also bring salvation to the living.
Many harbored hostility below. Ye Fan opened his divine sense without concealment, freely channeling the scriptural truths and laws of the Dao, and began to bring salvation to all sentient beings within the Sacred City.
This was a wondrous technique. In no great time, some of the fanatics had been quieted into ordinary believers. Some among them were Crusader members. By the end, many were nearly ready to be fully transformed and follow him.
“A demonic scripture — this is a demonic scripture! Do not listen — flee quickly!”
In the end, Ye Fan sat on the mountain reciting the scripture and preaching. A portion of the people fled, while a larger group became enraptured, drawn deeply in. From within their devout thoughts, he quickly obtained a great deal of important information.
He activated the Soldier Technique and drew out a few incomplete altars from the sacred halls of the other two religions, taking them back directly — without causing any deaths.
Shortly after, a great peace settled over the Sacred City. Half the people had fled to the divine temples of their respective religions seeking the shelter of god. The other half had nearly been transformed by his salvation work — sitting devoutly on the ground, listening to the sounds of the Dao, hearing him preach. The place had become a paradise.
In the distance, powerful divine energy fluctuations approached. Two divine clan powerhouses emerged from a mysterious Western location, converging with the Crusade arriving from the Vatican. Together, they led the army into the Sacred City.
“Who dares desecrate the divine?!” Heavenly authority rolled in like thunder, deafening and far-reaching, rumbling closer.
Two beams of sacred light shot to the heavens. At the source of each stood a figure of awe-inspiring divine might, crowns upon their heads — the very image of ancient sovereign emperors, untouchable, of boundless sanctity and authority.
“Are these the last two divine clan powerhouses?” Ye Fan fixed his eyes on them. In the sky, sacred music resounded, divine light illuminated everything, holy clouds pervaded — as though divine beings themselves were descending.
These two were somewhat stronger than the one who had died — both were kings who had severed the Dao, at the middle stage of that level. Something about them gave off a dangerous aura, as if they carried powerful secret treasures.
Behind them came the Crusade army. There were fewer than the last time, but they were more powerful, their battle spirit surging, fearless of death.
Ye Fan said nothing more. He produced the two black arrows, rubbed them gently for a moment, then straightforwardly drew the bow and nocked the arrows, shooting straight into the heavens!
“Wuuuu…”
The heavens cracked and the earth split, ghosts wailed and gods cried — it was like a demon god breaking into the world. The sky above shattered. Had the Sacred City not been protected by an ancient grand formation, it would certainly have been annihilated, for the power of the black arrows was immense.
Ye Fan fired with his full strength — like two suns exploding at once, carrying ten-thousand-jun divine might to collapse the heavens, shattering the void into nothing, leaving only surging waves of primal chaos.
“Puff!”
One black arrow pierced through cloud and sun, shooting through one divine clan powerhouse — shattering him on the spot. Blood cascaded down, staining the vault of heaven crimson.
“Ahhhh…”
Another scream rang out. The second divine clan powerhouse was also unable to escape his fate — shot dead directly, dissolving into a great spray of blood flowers, pouring down like a torrent of rain.
Ye Fan had used the black arrows to shoot down two divine clan powerhouses in an instant. The shock was absolute. The Crusade army that had come from afar was completely stupefied, unable to ever forget this sight.
This day was destined to be a day of darkness. All three divine clan powerhouses had died. They would be struck from existence forever, incapable of performing another miracle.
Ye Fan rose to his feet, gazing into the distance, and said: “It is time to go to the other sacred dwelling of the Western Dao lineage, and retrieve the ancestral artifacts and divine objects of the Central Plains.”