# Chapter 1693: Grief and Rage
Time flowed, years grew stronger, and all he saw was ruin and decay—what had happened?
Ye Fan's entire body felt ice-cold. How many years had he lost? Was that still him? The person in the bronze mirror had white hair scattered about. Though his body still stood straight, his face bore many traces of time.
He was no longer young. Even the Sacred Body had aged. How terrifying a stretch of years must this be? He had lost it.
"I don't believe it!"
Ye Fan thought this was a dream, not reality. Otherwise, this was too horrifying. The vast world, even the Sacred Body's ten-thousand-year lifespan had aged. In this world, who else could he still see?
His right finger traced across his left wrist. Blood dripped down, pain came—this was not a dream. Everything was real.
Ye Fan's primordial spirit left his body. The fist-sized golden figure instantly broke through the barriers of time and space, gazing across the boundless void of the universe. What met his eyes was nothing but desolation and ruin.
The cold universe seemed dead. Nothing was there, nothing could be seen. Large swaths of stars had dimmed forever, completely extinguished.
In these ten thousand years, who knew what kind of terrifying great war had occurred? The universe had become like this. Ye Fan's heart ached violently. He still could not believe this result.
How could this be? How could it be like this?!
This was unimaginable. Looking at the mirror at that aged man with wrinkles on his face, weathered and worn, his heart trembled. If so many years had truly passed, then all his family and friends would no longer exist.
Even that newborn, barely one-year-old adorable daughter—by now her soul had likely long returned to the yellow earth. If these were real, he felt he would suffocate.
That tender little Zi, barely over one year old, that little sweetheart who loved to cling to him—he hadn't been able to stay by her side for long. They had always been separated, and now this was the result.
Ye Fan let out a long roar. He could not accept this. He glanced at the dried-up, nearly vanished golden divine sea, then plunged into the vast heavens. He crossed star systems, rushing toward the former Heavenly Court.
Ye Fan kept telling himself this was an illusion, not real. But the pain in his flesh, the coldness of his primordial spirit—all kinds of tests confirmed this was not a dream.
Hatred that drove him mad—how could this be?
"I cannot accept this!" The entire universe echoed with his fierce roar, shaking some broken stars until they exploded one after another, making the dim universe even colder.
He crossed the starry sky. One step covered an entire star field, disappearing beneath his feet. His Dao and techniques had reached a level where a single thought could annihilate the eight wastelands, yet he felt not a trace of joy.
Along the way, all he saw was ruin. He didn't see a single intact star field. Many stars had shattered. Cosmic dust floated about, occasionally mixed with blood, broken bones, and weapon fragments—cold and icy.
Ye Fan refused to admit it verbally, but in his heart, it was already a tearing pain. This was not an illusion! Thousands or tens of thousands of years ago, a terrible great war had occurred. This universe had been crippled, and he had missed it!
Along the way, he hadn't seen a single living creature. Everywhere was deathly silence. Finally, he approached the star field where Heavenly Court's headquarters had been.
His heart turned cold. This place was completely ruined. Stars had shattered, and as for those suspended divine islands, they had all turned to dust.
Ye Fan charged madly into the depths. No one was left behind. Nothing was found. This place had long become ruins, with only residual blood and rubble.
"No!"
Ye Fan roared in grief. When he truly saw the result, his entire body trembled. He clenched his fists, his face pale.
All hope was shattered. The Heavenly Court no longer existed. He wanted to find something, but discovered not a single trace remained.
"Trace back to the origin!"
Ye Fan roared like a madman. One shout shattered the starry sky. This place was immediately shrouded in chaotic energy. He saw many broken images—battle cries shaking the heavens.
Heavenly soldiers and generals charged and fought, breaking through encirclements. The Yin spirit army attacked. Rivers of blood flowed. Above hung a huge phoenix nest, its sweeping light causing heavenly generals to fall in droves.
"I'll fight you bastards to the death!" With a long roar, Pang Bo soared into the sky, hair disheveled. His powerful quasi-emperor pressure cracked the starry sky.
But what awaited him was a merciless great hand. From the direction of the Underworld, a figure completely shrouded in black mist, like an ancient emperor, struck down with force.
"Pfft"
In the sky, only a patch of sorrowful and beautiful red remained. Blood rain scattered. Pang Bo disappeared forever.
"Uncle... Uncle Pang Bo is gone too... Wuwuwu... You bad people, give me back my uncle's life!" Little Zi wailed loudly, standing helplessly on a divine island.
She looked only a few years old, never having grown up. So young, her face covered in tears.
"Did this happen just a few years after I left?" Ye Fan's face was already covered in tears. Pang Bo—just gone like that? His body trembled.
"Ah..."
Li Tian and Yan Yixi roared in fury, charging against the heavens. The Divine Maiden Furnace in their hands emitted blazing light. A sun flew out from it, nine divine phoenixes danced forth, transforming into sky-engulfing flames that rushed toward the sky.
They fought desperately, unwilling to accept this outcome, staking everything on one last gamble, casting aside life and death.
However, this was utterly useless. The figure shrouded in black mist in the distance punched over. A pitch-black hand slapped directly onto the divine furnace.
"Crack"
The Divine Maiden Furnace shattered. Even though it was personally refined by a Great Emperor, it was useless. At this moment, it broke into hundreds of fragments, flying in all directions, unable to harm that person in the slightest.
At the same time, Li Tian and Yan Yixi both cried out in anguish. The black great hand pressed down. From head to toe, they shattered inch by inch. Flesh and bone turned into blood mist, erased from this world.
"Don't kill my uncle... Two more are gone." Little Zi knelt on the ground, wailing loudly.
This was a tragic scene. Ye Fan watched, his heart feeling as if knives were twisting it. He clenched his fists, his entire body trembling. His former good brothers—had they died in battle like this?
How many years ago was this scene? Probably about ten thousand years. He roared without stopping, hating that he couldn't tear through the void and return to that era to join the battle!
Ye Fan bit his mouth full of blood. His fingers turned blue from clenching. His whole body shook. Brothers who had shared life and death with him—watching them die across ten thousand years—his heart was in the utmost pain and despair.
"Wuwuwu..." Little Zi cried loudly, kneeling there. While calling out the familiar names of those in the Heavenly Court, she used her small hands to dig through the rubble on the island.
Ye Fan's heart trembled. Beside Little Zi was a patch of ruins. There was no trace of Ji Ziyue there, but in the rubble were spots of blood and a corner of purple clothing.
Ye Fan's body shook violently. Though he had already guessed the outcome, he still couldn't help his ears ringing, his heart in sharp pain. He staggered, uttering mournful words from his mouth.
"Zi Yue..."
How could this be? That woman who once loved to smile, who waited for him under the starry sky for so long—had she left like this?
He hadn't seen the scene of her withering. Only a corner of purple clothing, spots of residual blood. This was more cruel than seeing it—an unbearably tragic ending.
"This emperor will fight you too!"
A big black dog. The vertical eye on its forehead dripped blood. It emitted a terrifying aura and charged toward the direction of the Underworld.
And this time, not only did the figure shrouded in black mist reach out a great hand, but from within the blood-colored phoenix nest hanging above the Heavenly Court, a crystalline jade hand also enlarged, reaching down to cover Black Emperor.
Black Emperor had once followed Emperor Wu Shi. Both the Underworld and the Imperial Dynasty wanted to seize him. Capturing him alive was the most ideal choice—perhaps they could probe into the secrets of Emperor Wu Shi.
Black Emperor laughed bitterly, but his eyes were filled with determination. All the array platforms around him lit up simultaneously, burning together with his body, leaping with blazing flames.
"Kid, you owe me a Primordial Sacred Body Dao Fetus! Otherwise, these ox demons and snake gods would all be blasted to dregs!" After roaring this, he exploded between those two great hands, thus ending his story.
"The Sacred Body's child—I want her!" A crisp, moving woman's voice came from the phoenix nest. A jade-white hand reached down, grabbing toward the few-year-old Little Zi, trying to seize her.
"We need the Sacred Body's bloodline. This child can only belong to the Underworld." The Underworld's people responded coldly.
"I need her!" The woman inside the phoenix nest refused to yield.
"To restrain that woman's supreme Dao fruit, even the sleeping Nether Emperor was forced to awaken. The Underworld has paid this much—how can we allow others to pick the spoils?" The person in the black mist replied icily.
"Isn't there one Sacred Body already suppressed by you? Isn't that enough?"
"Not enough!"
The two great powers argued.
On the divine island, Little Zi's face was covered in tear stains. She wailed loudly, laboriously moving rubble with her small hands, which were worn and bleeding. She kept calling out: "Mother... come back."
Ye Fan's heart dripped blood. He let out a low roar. Hot tears slid down his face. He hadn't cried in who knows how many years. Now he was this grief-stricken. Family, friends—separated from him by ten thousand years!
He wanted to strike, but he wasn't in that time and space. He roared in grief and rage. He couldn't go back to the past. He could only watch across a span of years, hating his own powerlessness.
"Boom!"
Heaven and earth exploded. The Celestial Empress inside the phoenix nest and the Underworld's great power fought over Little Zi, both wanting to snatch her into their hands.
This fluctuation was enormous. Countless divine islands shattered. Some stars broke free from their original orbits, either exploding or cracking apart.
From the ruins, two people with broken bodies crawled out.
One radiated solar brilliance that shone through the ages. The lower half of his body was already gone, blood flowing. It was Ye Tong. He shielded Little Zi behind him and charged furiously toward the sky.
The other, though missing his right arm, though bitterness filled his heart, still had a serene expression on his face. With his single arm, he picked up Little Zi, coaxing her not to cry, and rushed into the distance.
The sun exploded. Golden light rain scattered. Ye Tong let out an unwilling roar that shook the sun, moon, rivers, and mountains—then ceased to exist.
And Little Pine's entire body burned. He tried to tear open space, to send the young Little Zi through so she could escape. It was actually the power of time.
The handsome youth, at this moment peerless in his generation, smiled bitterly. He himself vanished into the flames, becoming one with heaven and earth, gradually dissipating—perished!
But how could the two great powers in the sky tolerate Little Zi escaping?
Ye Fan roared, tears flowing. Watching his two most beloved disciples, who had never bloomed with their due brilliant radiance, wither like this—tears blurred his eyes.
And Little Zi—once so mischievous and adorable—now so helpless, reaching out her small hands. Was she calling for him?
But now he could only watch like this. Separated by ten thousand years, his heart full of guilt, sharp pain. At this moment, his entire being was filled with nothing but grief, hatred, and rage!