Chapter 1239: Ten Years
The great battle came to an end, specks of Dao radiance scattering like a rain of flower petals withering, leaving behind only sorrow, an indescribable desolation.
Yan Qi’s torso had been reduced to bloody mud, his skull also split open. In his final moment, his dim eyes gazed toward the direction of the Big Dipper, carrying an inexplicable grief.
“Pu”
A streak of light flashed, and his head exploded. His primordial spirit burst apart like fireworks. A Great Sage of the Fire Qilin Cave had fallen, vanishing silently into the dust.
“The path of a cultivator is too lonely and cold…” Only these words drifted out, carried away by the wind with a mournful sob.
Blood mist swirled across the ancient star, all of it belonging to sages, mingled together until they were indistinguishable. Occasionally, a few white bones could be seen, stained with blood threads, narrating the endless desolation. The battle was over; the sages of the Big Dipper had been defeated and had fallen.
Falling leaves rustled, withered branches covered the wilderness, and a vast silence reigned. The Fifth Divine Star had become a true dead star.
“Zheng zheng zheng…”
The Qilin Divine Staff struggled, as if filled with sorrow. Its entire body was ice-blue like a diamond, radiating countless beams of light, but it could not escape.
The Dao-Yan Divine Garment had long since fallen from that Great Sage’s body and now “clothed” the Ancient Emperor’s scepter, suppressing it. At the same time, the formation diagram also contracted, pressing down upon the immortal garment.
Under this dual suppression, the Qilin Staff gradually calmed. Its divine spirit sank into a deep slumber, ultimately failing to fully revive.
Dao Yi stood amidst the mountain range, not moving for a long time. He showed neither joy nor anger, sorrow nor happiness; no emotional fluctuation could be seen.
“The mortal world is a furnace; we are all struggling to cross amidst the blazing fires of the mundane…” He sighed softly, his gaze returning to clarity, revealing his original brilliance.
He and the Great Sage acted together, cleaning up the battlefield. They refined the Fifth Divine Star into a crystal the size of a fist, as heavy as the heavens, capable of crushing the universe, and stored it away.
Meanwhile, in the dark depths of the universe, inside a cosmic mothership, Huo Qizi sat in a corner with his knees drawn up, carrying boundless grief as he journeyed alone.
“Ah…”
On the Eternal Main Star, Luan Feng, Mi Luo, and others began a great slaughter, sweeping all before them with unmatched divine might.
Yan Qi had been defeated and fallen, the sages had perished. Some Ancestral Kings who had not gone to the Fifth Divine Star faced a purge. They were besieged from all directions, fighting fierce battles across the eight wastelands.
This battle sealed the fate of the Ancestral Kings of the various Big Dipper clans. Without the guidance of a Great Sage, and with the strongest batch having fallen, this defeat was inevitable.
Beyond the domain, bitter winds and bloody rains fell. The great war of the Big Dipper’s invasion of Eternal finally concluded, leaving behind many sage bones.
Furthermore, the sages from beyond the domain were almost entirely wiped out, gaining nothing and losing their lives.
After the war, there was no joy among the various factions of Eternal. They had deeply realized the terror of the Big Dipper. Was this truly over? No one could say.
“Leave! Flee the Eternal Star Domain!” Some major families made the worst preparations, evacuating part of their forces from this place, sending them far away.
“Ah wu…”
Wails of grief echoed across the Eastern Wasteland. The ancient clans were greatly shaken, unable to believe this truth. Even Yan Qi had fallen, and an Ancient Emperor’s weapon had been seized by others.
Some smaller clans, which had only a single Ancestral Saint, had joined the expedition to share in the spoils, only to decline from this point onward, triggering great lamentation.
This was a bitter rain, throwing the Eastern Wasteland of the Big Dipper into chaos. Many could not accept this outcome.
The ancient clans roared in fury. When the battle ended, only a few strong ones like the Nine Phoenix King, the Qilin Heavenly King, and the Ox Demon King returned. The news of defeat swept through the ten thousand clans.
“What a pity, what a lament! How many heroes have been buried in foreign lands! Even a generation’s Great Sage like Yan Qi could not return alive!”
“This is an unbearable weight. So many have fallen. The expedition to Eternal cost too great a price.”
All sides sighed. The Fire Qilin Cave, in particular, seethed with murderous intent, wishing to spread the flames of war across all of Eternal and launch a final, ultimate expedition.
Yan Qi had fallen, the strong had perished. Huo Qizi had not yet returned, his fate unknown. The defeat was thorough, too bleak.
“The Immortal Path is about to open. I wonder how many are still willing to go on an expedition…”
Eternal was a tough bone to gnaw. Now, all sides were preparing for Immortal Ascension and were unwilling to deplete their accumulated resources from ancient times to the present.
“How can it end like this? The Primordial Lake and the Blood Phoenix Mountain are willing to seek an explanation for all fellow Daoists.”
The ancient emperors were very domineering. Some stepped forward, calling for a third campaign to establish their illustrious prestige, unwilling to accept such a defeat.
On the Eternal Main Star, standing atop a broken mountain, with fallen leaves drifting all around, he looked up at the gray sky and murmured, “A great calamity is coming.”
“Your Highness, let us go.” The Great Sage who had once fought Yan Qi spoke, standing with his hands at his sides behind him.
Dao Yi spoke, “Eternal is bound to lose; its strength cannot compare to the Big Dipper. By relying on the imperial Dao’s immortal might, we can hold out for a few years, perhaps even invite the gods to descend.”
“Even if we can hold out for ten years or a hundred, what then? In the end, we will still be trampled. The Big Dipper has gathered the descendants of all the emperors of this universe.” The Great Sage sighed softly.
Dao Yi smiled and said, “Perhaps it won’t be so bad. Perhaps in a few years, there will be a shocking change. The Immortal Path of the Big Dipper is about to open. If it truly appears, who will care about this place?”
The collision between the star domains paused briefly. Both sides were oppressed, nearly suffocating, for they knew that the next time would bring an even more terrifying storm.
“Your Highness, you have no time to waste. You must set foot on that path.” The Great Sage reminded him.
Dao Yi nodded, “Yes, time is pressing. I also want to go and see which extraordinary experts I will encounter along the way, to temper myself to the utmost peak.”
“The strongest clans in this universe each have their own ancestral path, but they all lead to the same destination, converging in the end. Your Highness has yet to know who you will meet.”
“Which path do you think is more important, this one or the Immortal Path?” Dao Yi asked with a smile.
“The Immortal Path is the great change that the ancient emperors anticipated. This ancient path, however, can make one stronger. It is said that at its end, there will be an ultimate transformation, and those who ultimately pass through will all attain the Dao. I do not know which path is more important.”
Ye Fan’s plan had been realized, triggering a ten-year war between the Ancestral Kings of the Big Dipper and Eternal. Yet this was a tapestry paved with blood and bone.
The fifth-stage evolution liquid was successfully refined, its fragrance spreading, causing the new Heavenly Village to boil. This would undoubtedly have far-reaching implications, giving the Heavenly Court enough confidence to face future changes.
Yet he was still deeply worried. The greatest upheaval in a million years was about to occur. Would the Immortal Path open? He wondered what would remain of this world after this battle, and whether old friends could ever meet again.
Ye Fan suggested that the Heavenly Court move far away from the Big Dipper, and also not stay in Eternal, but withdraw from all battlefields, isolate itself in the starry sky, and endure a hundred years of solitude.
Golden wheat fields, a lake where fish leaped with shimmering scales—it was a season of harvest. Ye Fan sat at the edge of the field, listening to the rustling sounds, his heart at peace.
“War, war, war. Kill, kill, kill. Too many have died…” Since withdrawing from Eternal, he felt somewhat weary. But this was the path of a cultivator—to forge ahead against hardship and difficulty.
He took out a jade cauldron containing the fifth-stage evolution liquid. He consumed some and poured the rest over his body, beginning to refine it.
He did not intend to use this to become a sage, but in an unintentional attempt, he discovered that the barrier to his sage realm was far more formidable than that of ordinary people, solid to a shocking degree, very difficult to break through.
Ye Fan was not worried; instead, he smiled. He would break through with an astonishing accumulation. When the time came, he would shatter it all and become a sage.
He tempered his body with the fifth-stage evolution liquid, but it could not help him attain sagehood. Even Qi Luo found this puzzling, as it was useful even for him.
For an entire year, he spent most of his time in meditation. Occasionally, he would wander through the mountains, rivers, and fields, dissolving his killing intent, perusing that scroll of natural Dao, and contemplating the secrets of his own body.
During this process, he successively opened one treasure trove after another within his body. Blood containing stars, bones transforming into deities, a single thought giving birth to the Dao—all these phenomena enhanced his combat power.
After a year of cultivation and a year of enlightenment, Ye Fan finally set out again. This time, he brought the Dragon Horse with him, no longer traveling alone.
It was said that this was a stellar ancient path, and that enlightened emperors might have come here to compete in their youth. So riding a mount that only an ancient emperor could possess was not too conspicuous.
Most importantly, the Dragon Horse had snapped out of its stubbornness. This time, it no longer resisted and insisted on following, claiming it wanted to attain the Dao, first become a Great Emperor, and then ride Ye Fan back.
Of course, such nonsense earned it a golden slap that nearly crushed it.
“Withered vines, old trees, evening crows; small bridge, flowing water, people’s homes; ancient road, west wind, lean horse; evening sun setting in the west…” The little bald head shouted nonsensical farewells from afar.
“Does this seat look lean? I could eat a few sages without any problem!” The Dragon Horse snorted, stepped into the starry sky, and vanished into the distance.
At Heavenly Village, everyone saw him off, silently waving. Who knew how many years it would be before they met again.
In the following years, Ji Zi and the Holy Prince also set out one after another, embarking on their own imperial path of tempering, disappearing without a trace.
The Big Dipper was in turmoil. Sages descended. It was said that the Crown Prince of the Golden Crow Clan had also arrived, shaking the entire star domain, with all clans coming to pay homage.
Then, people came from the Tongtian Ancient Star, and peerless experts descended from the Gouchen Ancient Star… The storm over the Immortal Path grew increasingly intense!
Unfortunately, all of this was unrelated to Ye Fan. From then on, only his legend remained in this star domain; no one could see him in person again.
Ten years. Ye Fan traveled for ten years. Riding the Dragon Horse, he journeyed alone along that ancient path, following the footsteps of the sages of old, embarking on the trial path of the strongest.
Far from the Big Dipper, crossing beyond Eternal, the road was fraught with constant crises and unceasing bloody battles. He had fought his way through.
The hardships he encountered, the terror of the opponents he faced, were unknown to outsiders. Even someone as strong as he had several accidents, nearly falling.
A decade of journeying. He himself did not know where he had arrived. He had seen the Saint King of the Ant Clan, fought the remnant sage within the stone, battled the remnants of the Spirit Clan, cut through thorns, and traveled by the light of the sun and moon.
These were ten years of exhaustion, but also ten years of harvest. He witnessed one strong expert after another, encountered thousands of secret techniques, and erased the flaws of his impatience from taking the evolution liquid.
Along the way, he left behind an undefeated legend. Even the Dragon Horse shook the foreign lands, earning a fearsome reputation.
The road was long. After ten years of riding across star domains, he had not seen a truly living ancient star, at most only small worlds on dead stars.
And some races did not need life; they could survive in desolation, such as the remnant sage within the stone.
Ten years of great battles, a baptism of blood and fire, had forged Ye Fan’s heart as hard as iron, allowing him to carve out his own path.
Ten years of drifting. The Eternal Main Star was nearly crippled, and the major clans suffered heavy losses. If not for a white-haired man appearing with a black sword on his back, whose single sword strike of cold light slew ten ancient clans, this place would have become a desolate wasteland.