Chapter 1462: Uprising
The Battle-Saint Ape lineage was fierce and unyielding by nature, absolutely refusing to be constrained by anyone, not even a Great Emperor. However, the monkey truly hadn't known the origins of the Ox Divine King's master at the time.
There was no need to think twice—Laozi was exploring the starry skies, and the ancient land he sought was undoubtedly of paramount importance, involving matters of great significance, given his past life as an ancient Heavenly Venerable.
Ye Fan and the others reunited with the Holy Prince and naturally had much to say. So many things had happened over the years. They found a wonderful spot, raised their cups, and feasted on various divine meats and delicacies.
The monkey watched as Ye Fan's cauldron was set over the fire, boiling meat and stewing soup, refining gourmet food while wreathed in chaotic qi and accompanied by mother qi. He was utterly speechless.
"A colossal waste of talent!"
"Brother Monkey, that's where you're wrong. This is a true immortal's enjoyment. Look—chaotic qi steaming the meat, mother qi enriching the soup. What artistic conception is this? How many in the world can savor such a thing?" Pang Bo laughed heartily, pouring the Life Spring of the ancient Heavenly Venerable into it to enhance the flavor.
On the fire rack, various mountain delicacies and wild game were roasted to a golden, oily sheen, crackling incessantly as droplets of fat sizzled onto the flames.
"Oh? Is this Teng Snake meat?" the monkey exclaimed in surprise, staring at the golden chunks of meat in the cauldron, boiling along with the ancient Heavenly Venerable's Life Spring divine liquid, their fragrance overwhelming.
The Golden Serpent clan had been completely wiped out this time, but their flesh hadn't been obtained. Fortunately, there was still leftover snake meat from thirty years ago, and along with other delicacies, everyone ate to their heart's content.
"It seems Brother Monkey is a kindred spirit, knowing how to enjoy life too," Pang Bo said with a laugh.
"No, I've killed some Teng Snakes before, but I've never eaten them," the Holy Prince said.
"You encountered them?" Ye Fan, busy with the cooking, turned his head to ask.
"That's right. I ran into an old fellow—peerless in the world, no problem at all breaking through to the Quasi-Emperor realm. Truly terrifying to the extreme," the Holy Prince said with a grave expression.
"What?!" Everyone was shocked. Even Ji Ziyue, who had been yawning and stretching her slender waist, perked up, curiosity piqued as she leaned in.
This was absolutely a monumental matter. A Quasi-Emperor was a taboo. Truly transcending, across the myriad domains of the universe, Great Sages could always be found everywhere, but Quasi-Emperors had never been seen.
Aside from Gai Jiuyou on the Big Dipper, they had traveled the Ancient Human Path, traversing countless star domains, and had never encountered such an existence on the path.
In fact, there was not even a glimmer of hope—no one could cross that threshold, and Quasi-Emperors were nearly impossible to find across the entire cosmos.
"That old Teng Snake was about to become a Quasi-Emperor, but I unwittingly ruined it," the Holy Prince revealed a startling truth.
He had once visited an ancient star—broken cliffs and sheer precipices, miasmic vapors swirling, ancient trees dense and dark, the ground crawling with snakes and insects, utterly terrifying.
The entire ancient star was peculiar, with snakes beyond count, and the Teng Snake clan ruling supreme. There, the Holy Prince saw a mountain of bones built from monkey skulls. Enraged, he swept through with his Immortal Iron Staff, shattering a hundred thousand miles!
"What bad luck. The old Teng Snake clan leader was breaking through, about to take that critical step, when my strike startled him awake. His primordial spirit fell into demonic possession, shattered into pieces, and nearly died."
After hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded.
The Holy Prince later learned that this was the Teng Snake clan's "Emperor," known as the Teng Snake Great Emperor. His cultivation had reached the pinnacle, and he was charging into the Quasi-Emperor realm, on the verge of success.
This Teng Snake Emperor had been seated on the most sacred Snake Mountain of the entire ancient star, his spirit wandering the void, his primordial spirit transforming, about to become a Snake God. Then the monkey, wielding an Extreme Imperial Weapon, invaded and dealt a fatal disturbance.
What was the weapon in the monkey's hand? It was the Battle Saint Emperor's Immortal Iron Staff—striking down gods in the nine heavens above and suppressing demon lords in the nine netherworlds below, shattering all will to resist!
"I really didn't mean to. I just couldn't stand seeing that clan kill so many monkeys and build a mountain from their skulls," the monkey said, looking innocent.
Everyone was speechless. How heaven-defying was this? Successfully preventing the birth of a Quasi-Emperor! The monkey truly had the means to pierce the heavens.
Though he spoke lightly, the situation at the time must have been incredibly perilous. A Quasi-Emperor, just like that, met his end. If he had succeeded in breaking through, it would have had a massive impact on all the myriad realms!
"That Teng Snake clan had it coming," the Dragon Horse said with a chuckle.
"This is really a case of tit for tat. The Golden Serpent Four Brothers disturbed Ye Fan's enlightenment, and their Emperor was startled by Brother Monkey at the most critical moment of his breakthrough, nearly dying," Pang Bo clicked his tongue in amazement.
"You killed the Four Golden Serpent Brothers, the Supremes?" The monkey was even more astonished.
"That's right. Those four snakes were incredibly formidable, but after Ye Fan comprehended the Heavenly Emperor Fist, killing them wasn't hard," the Dragon Horse said.
"They were the Emperor's great-great-grandsons," the Holy Prince said.
Hearing this, everyone was stunned. This grudge was enormous—their group had injured the Teng Snake clan from the oldest to the youngest.
The Teng Snake lineage had suffered eight generations of bad luck! That was everyone's consensus. Running into the monkey had cost them a Quasi-Emperor for nothing.
"Brother Monkey, we were just saying you'd stirred up a huge disaster and poked a hole in the sky. Now we understand—you had foresight. Otherwise, if a Quasi-Emperor came for revenge, no one could withstand it."
"Someone as peerless as that, though he failed this time, might still rise again. He's not too old, so we'll need to be on guard in the future," the monkey warned everyone.
Regardless, the Holy Prince had inadvertently done a great deed, averting a major calamity for them. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
After the fine wine and delicious food, Ji Ziyue brewed tea using Ye Fan's Enlightenment Ancient Tea leaves, with Life Spring divine liquid as the water. The fragrance wafted out, and after tasting it, they felt refreshed and entered a state of Dao realization.
Almost everyone went into a brief seclusion, only waking up one by one after half a month.
During this time, the outside world was in an uproar.
Ye Fan had slaughtered his way across the battlefield, sweeping through this domain. Except for the Nine-Eyed Azure Toad, Di Tian, Xin Lan, the Great Demon God, and the Heavenly Wolf, everyone else was completely wiped out.
Many young supreme powerhouses had once stirred up storms across the region, raising seas of blood and gales of slaughter, only to fall here, killed to the last.
Ye Fan's single battle established his fame, shaking the world. From this star domain, the news spread to the Ancient Path. His rise was unstoppable, and the outside world was filled with legends about him.
Additionally, the various Great Sages' assault on the Divine Domain had ended in failure again. Imperial weapons clashed, and according to reports, four slaughter swords vaguely manifested, merging with the formation diagram, their terror reaching the heavens.
"The Great Sages have been knocking at the gate for years, and experts from other ancient domains keep arriving. I believe the Divine Domain will fall. Even with the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable's supreme slaughter formation, it won't hold," Ji Haoyue said.
Clearly, as one side grew stronger and the other weaker, Imperial weapons from various domains would appear. Then it wouldn't just be one weapon knocking at the gate against the formation diagram—a major breakthrough might be achieved.
Rumor had it that breaking the slaughter formation would require at least three or four Imperial weapons. Because the formation diagram was the ultimate manifestation of the Group Character Art and the Heavenly Venerable's slaughter formation, containing the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable's lifelong insights. It was a pinnacle work woven from runes, arrays, and Dao marks—itself an Imperial artifact. With the four slaughter swords added, who in the world could break it?!
"Big news! The Great Sage of the Bright Light clan has arrived, bringing their clan's Refining God Vase, vowing to breach the Divine Domain."
The Divine Other Shore was shaken, and even the commotion Ye Fan had caused was overshadowed.
With the Ten Thousand Dragon Bell, the Refining God Vase, and the Void Emperor Coffin appearing, the odds of conquering the Divine Domain skyrocketed. It might actually succeed.
"Boom!"
And on that very day, a sudden upheaval occurred beyond the domain. Five continents appeared in the outer heavens, resembling the five viscera of the human body, corresponding to Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. They radiated powerful essence, surging like an ocean, sweeping over the Divine Other Shore, this ancient life star.
"What's going on?"
The essence surged like a tide, emitting traces of a Great Emperor's aura, suppressing the heavens until they shattered, the entire ancient star trembling.
Ye Fan said, "For us, this kind of Five Elements essence is truly rare. It can temper the Dao Palace Secret Realm and baptize the physical body—a heaven-defying great fortune."
"I don't need it. I once refined a Five Elements Immortal Mountain," the monkey said, showing no interest in the five continents beyond the domain. Instead, he wanted to go see the Divine Domain.
"Brother Monkey, be careful. On this ancient star, there's more than one Imperial weapon, all controlled by Great Sages. Don't get targeted," Ye Fan warned.
The monkey nodded, agreeing to meet up after they returned to jointly plan and compete for the Ancient Tree of Life.
Ye Fan and the others rushed beyond the domain to gather the Five Elements essence. But after just two days, they sensed something was wrong. The Five Elements essence was too violent and fierce. The five continents were shaking, pressing down toward the ancient star.
Traces of a Great Emperor's aura emanated. The Green Copper Cauldron was forced to glow, uncontrollably, about to burst out of Ye Fan's body.
There was a legend on the Other Shore that every ten thousand years, the five outer continents would erupt. But this time was extraordinary, as if someone was intensifying the change.
"Find Brother Monkey. Someone is about to attack the Divine Domain. Even the Five Elements essence has been drawn in. This star might be destroyed!" Ye Fan said.
They realized they were too late. When the Five Elements essence poured down like a flood, all the Imperial weapons lit up, surging with killing intent, pressured by the Great Emperor's aura.
"Those five continents might be the Numinous Treasure Heavenly Venerable's five viscera transformed. The pressure is immense—even my Green Cauldron is glowing!" Ye Fan exclaimed in shock.
This was a true Emperor's corpse, now turned into continents, no longer in flesh form, but its divine might remained undiminished!
"Look! The Ten Thousand Dragon Bell, the Refining God Vase, the Battle Saint Immortal Iron Staff, and others are shining into the sky, converging together," Pang Bo said, his expression changing as he stood in the star domain, looking down.
"Has something happened to the monkey?" the Dragon Horse asked.
"No, he's joined forces with them to attack the Divine Domain," Ye Fan said, his expression grave.
"These Great Sages are using the ten-thousand-year upheaval of the Five Elements Continents as an opportunity to draw in the Five Elements essence, not hesitating to destroy this star. At the same time, they're forcing all Imperial weapons to reveal themselves, so they can cooperate and attack the Divine Domain together," Ji Ziyue said, pointing out the root cause.
None of the Great Sages were easy to deal with. Fearing that someone might secretly wield an Imperial weapon to snatch the fruits of victory when success was near, they first forced all competitors into the open.
"That's right. Brother Monkey was forced to join in. The Divine Domain is about to be breached today!" Ye Fan said with a solemn nod.
If they were on the star, the Green Copper Block would also emit a thousand rays of light, be discovered, and be forced to join in. Otherwise, they would be seen as enemies, leading to a great confrontation between Imperial weapons.