# Chapter 1694 - This Life
“Ah…” Ye Fan was like a wounded beast, his white hair disheveled, blood and tears flowing from his eyes. His best friends had all died in battle, his most beloved disciples had all withered away.
And his daughter—she was so intelligent and adorable, only a few years old, yet she struggled there with no path forward.
As for Zi Yue, even after using secret techniques like Tracing Back to the Source, he hadn’t seen her final moments—only the traces of blood and a corner of purple clothing. His heart felt as if twisted by knives, tears rolling down.
Never had Ye Fan felt such desolation as he did now. He hated himself so bitterly—why hadn’t he been by their side? Instead, he was separated by an entire era.
How cruel was heaven above, letting him witness such scenes yet unable to join the battle, filled with powerlessness.
“Mother, don’t leave me. Little Zi is afraid.” A tender voice came as the void crack closed, yet she wasn’t teleported away.
Because those two great hands had imprisoned eternity itself; no one could escape. Even Little Pine’s ultimate strike, exhausting all his effort, couldn’t tear open a space-time rift.
When Ye Fan saw those two great hands reaching toward the void and covering that place, he closed his eyes. The tears were very salty as they flowed into his mouth.
Since beginning his cultivation, this was the first time he felt such exhaustion, unable to hold back his weeping. He had felt heartache before, had regrets before, but never such despair.
“Father, where are you? Little Zi is afraid. Mother is gone… wuwu…”
These innocent words stabbed like sharp knives into Ye Fan’s heart, making his entire body tremble. He clenched his fists.
“Ah…”
Ye Fan roared in grief, bellowing in rage as he furiously struck toward the sky, meeting those two great hands. He wanted to stop everything, couldn’t tolerate anyone harming his daughter.
With one punch, he shattered the heavens, breaking those two great hands until they vanished. But this… was only the shattering of an image. It wasn’t truly crossing ten thousand years to do battle.
The final image froze there—Little Zi sobbing, helplessly staring with wide eyes at the sky.
Just like that. Everything shattered, disappeared. No future could be seen, no outcome could be known.
Ye Fan couldn’t bear to look at Little Zi a second time. His heart was riddled with holes, already wounded beyond control. Blood flowed from his fists, veins bursting through his skin.
His power surged wildly, shaking the universe, causing this remnant site to tremble, many cracked stars further exploding into pieces.
Ye Fan sang a dirge of grief, hatred driving him mad. He forcibly endured the hurt and pain, step by step walking deeper into the ruins. This was the pure land he had once guarded and lived in, yet now nothing remained.
Broken tiles, severed weapons, bloodstains—all testified to how tragic that battle had been, and how desolate things were now.
A broken wolf-fang club head underfoot brought more sorrow to his eyes. This was the weapon of the Barbarian! The outcome wasn’t unexpected, already within his sorrowful guesses.
Since the Heavenly Court had been destroyed, few could have survived. The friends who had fought side by side, sharing life and death—all were gone, forever departed.
Ye Fan was like a lonely ghost, walking through the silent ruins. Hot tears fell silently. No words, no sounds. He didn’t want to stop, only wanted to keep walking.
Why? He hadn’t been able to participate in that battle. This regret could never be made up for!
He wanted to cry loudly, but it was choked in his throat. He wanted to roar, but when he opened his mouth, only hoarseness came out. At this moment, he could only gaze at the ruins, heart cut like a knife, silently bearing it all.
How could this be? Ye Fan grabbed his own hair, beginning to hate himself. Why had he left? How had one seclusion lasted ten thousand years?
Walking through the cold starry sky, unable to find the warmth of the past, Ye Fan was like a man who had lost his soul—dazed, confused, his entire body ice-cold. This wound was hard to heal.
He fell into deep self-blame. Why hadn’t he stayed by their side? Why had he missed that battle? This was unforgivable!
Ye Fan was lost and dejected, tasting bitterness in loneliness, chewing on torment in silence. Alone, he kept moving forward, unwilling to stop. His heart ached, his spirit wounded.
If he could cry aloud, perhaps he would feel a little better. But he couldn’t. So many people… all gone.
Zi Yue’s brilliant smile lay buried under the ruins, only blood remaining. Little Zi’s wuwu cries had lost all playfulness. Pang Bo’s majestic body couldn’t withstand a single strike from the Underworld giant, leaving only a patch of sorrowful red…
Ye Fan was like a wooden puppet, mechanically stepping forward. Tears slid down silently. His heart was so pained, so agonizing. He watched helplessly, unable to return to the past.
He was like a ghost, wandering here for many days. No sun, no moon—only darkness here, because everything had been shattered.
Finally, Ye Fan, like a child, knelt here and cried aloud.
He was no longer young. White hair hung loose, wrinkles like knife marks. Time had left indelible traces on his body.
Seated for ten thousand years, looking back—how much love, hate, sorrow, joy, and resentment had been cast into the river of time.
How could he be resigned? How could he bear it? Ye Fan howled in grief toward the sky. He was like a lone wolf, roaring alone in this bloody desolation. White hair wild in the wind, endless melancholy, endless sorrow.
What kind of wound was this? After parting that day, they could never meet again. He could only see the bloody finale across time and space, powerless to act.
Ye Fan sat here alone for many days. No more tears, no more words. Only after many days did he stand up. He used great divine power to move one star after another from the depths of the starry sky, refining them, compressing them very small, then piling them up to build a star tomb here, burying everything of the Heavenly Court.
Ruins, remnant blood, broken bones… He didn’t know which belonged to his daughter, which to Zi Yue, which to his friends. His heart held only endless hurt.
Since the Heavenly Court had fallen and everyone had died together in battle, he would build one great tomb, letting them all be together forever, buried under this eternal starry sky.
Then, Ye Fan resolutely turned and walked toward the starry sky. He was going to do battle!
Where was the Underworld? Where was the Phoenix Nest?
The blood in Ye Fan’s body rumbled like thunder, his battle qi boiling. He wished he could fight against heaven itself, to retrieve everything from the past.
But as he walked under the starry sky, he saw no one. Had all living beings died in battle? So many ancient stars had been crippled, including many life-bearing ancient lands he had once visited.
Could he find no one?
In this vast universe, among endless galaxies, there was only ruin, nothing intact. He wanted to take revenge on the Underworld and the Phoenix Nest but had no way in.
Finally, he discovered a life-bearing ancient land. But he saw not a single expert—they could almost all be called “mortals.” There were cultivators, but they couldn’t break through their own star, let alone travel into the cosmos.
What had happened to this world? Could not even a single powerful cultivator be found?
Ye Fan traversed star domains, seeking ancient lands he once knew. But almost all had been crippled. He felt the residual fluctuations of Great Emperor-level power. Had another dark war occurred?
Even when he occasionally found a life-bearing ancient star, he saw no sages, let alone anyone of his generation. This world was so unfamiliar, he seemed incompatible with this era.
White-haired Ye Fan, his already aged face filled with sorrow. The curtain fall of an era—had that life become only him?
Following old memories, Ye Fan advanced toward the territory the Underworld had once ruled. Endless trekking brought him to a scene of desolation and vast ruin.
“Even this place has been shattered. Was it Little Nannan after her awakening? Did her great decisive battle with the Underworld Emperor and other ancient supremes cause this?”
Ye Fan’s gaze swept across as he advanced. Even if he didn’t know the Underworld’s exact location, he would find a clue.
The truth exceeded his expectations. When he penetrated deep into a shattered star sea, he saw a expanse of yin mist covering the heavens. It was a vast netherworld, stars like fireflies occasionally sinking down.
The netherworld was greatly broken. There stood a collapsed nether gate, a broken copper plaque stained with terrifying ancient emperor blood, half-buried in the dust. On it were the words “Underworld.”
“This is the place, but it’s empty.”
Seeing this, Ye Fan felt no joy, no excitement—only infinite melancholy. Could he not even take revenge with his own hands?
All his friends and loved ones had passed. What meaning was there in his continued existence? What supported him was only a surge of grief and rage—to slaughter all the way to the end, destroying the Underworld and the Phoenix Nest.
He walked alone, stepping through the netherworld, passing through. This place had become ruins.
He walked toward the starry sky again, treading the heavenly path. Decades later, he found the Phoenix Nest. But this nest was already shattered, torn into pieces by someone’s attack!
“Nothing remains…” Ye Fan felt no joy at having his revenge fulfilled—only endless sorrow. How many past events could be revisited?
How many people, once missed, could never be seen again? He couldn’t help but roar. Everything had ended like this. He saw no old friends, no enemies.
At this moment, the entire world was vast and boundless. He could find no destination, feeling only loneliness.
“All gone. You’ve all left me…” Ye Fan laughed bitterly, facing the high heavens. His aged face was filled with pain and suffering.
Just one seclusion—it surpassed even ancient legends. “A week in the cave, a thousand years in the world”—that saying was far from enough. Ten thousand years had passed in an instant!
His love, hate, sorrow, joy, his bitterness and separation, his hatred driving him mad—all were buried in the past. In this life, there was not a single person he knew.
Go to the Big Dipper. Enter the forbidden zones of life!
Ye Fan charged toward the Big Dipper. When he arrived, it was still ruins. The star rivers here had long collapsed. Nothing remained.
He was a lonely traveler. A hundred years passed as he walked, his body growing increasingly aged. The Underworld had vanished, and even his curse hadn’t appeared.
Aimless, no future, unable to see loved ones, even enemies all dead—these were the things he most feared in his heart. And now, they had truly happened.
“Should my life end here?”
Ye Fan was utterly despairing, feeling there was no meaning in living.
“I won’t accept this! I couldn’t even protect Little Zi, couldn’t guard my friends and wife. What kind of man am I?!” Ye Fan roared lowly.
He had been lost, his eyes lifeless. But at this moment, his gaze suddenly sharpened, shooting forth beams that could burn through the nine heavens.
“My life should never end like this. My child, my friends—they shouldn’t have died like this. I will break through immortality, reach the end of longevity, and ask heaven above for the truth!”