Chapter 1806: The End of the First Life
Ye Fan was the Heavenly Emperor, unmatched not only in the present age but also across the ages, with few who could compare to him. With such a shout, his Dao voice shook the thirty-three heavens.
His white hair hung loose as he strode forward in pursuit, but that person was also fast, and he did not catch up immediately. They ascended into the heavens, entering the starry sea.
This was absolutely a Great Emperor-level figure; otherwise, it would have been impossible to possess such world-covering divine abilities. His cultivation was heaven-shaking and earth-shattering, rarely seen since ancient times.
One walked, one chased, the distance gradually closing. Finally, the old man returned to the Big Dipper, arriving at the ruins outside the Spirit Ruins Cave Heaven, where he stopped and stood.
“Which one is it?” Ye Fan asked, his expression calm.
“Cough...” The gaunt figure coughed violently, slowly turned around, let out a sigh, and sat down on a nearby Crouching Tiger Stone.
Ye Fan strode over and sat on a large green stone nearby. With his level of strength, even if the most powerful figures from ancient times were resurrected, he could face them calmly.
“Green Emperor?” Ye Fan ventured.
“It is I.” The gaunt old man nodded. This was not his true body but a manifestation of his supreme primordial spirit, appearing in the mortal world.
A simple exchange, very plain, but if it were to spread, it would shake the ages. The legendary Green Emperor was still in the human realm, not completely dead, contrary to what the world believed!
“Dao friend is truly powerful, looking down on past and present. Single-handedly quelling chaos, sweeping the forbidden zones, your glorious achievements shake the ages.” The gaunt old man said while coughing.
“My predecessors paved the way, already killing most of the masters in the forbidden zones. What are my achievements? It was simply the natural course of events in this era.” Ye Fan said.
Though he was surprised by the Green Emperor’s reappearance, it was not entirely unexpected. After all, as the only one to attain the Dao in the hundred thousand years since the Primordial Era, dying like that would have been too abnormal. He should have been heaven-defying.
In fact, just in terms of lifespan, the Green Emperor should not have perished.
“I dismembered myself, my primordial spirit entering the immortal artifact Desolate Tower. I never expected it would almost send me to my doom.” The Green Emperor sighed.
At this moment, he revealed his true appearance. This was an old man with a gaunt face, gray hair, a tall and slender figure, and deep eyes that held the wise radiance of one who understood all worldly affairs.
Only two immortal artifacts remained in this world: the Immortal Bell and the Desolate Tower. For the Green Emperor to obtain one and take it over was enough to demonstrate his power.
“You came out specifically to see me. Do you have any advice?” Ye Fan asked calmly.
“Dao friend has reached this level as the Heavenly Emperor. What advice could I offer? I only wished to meet you.” The Green Emperor smiled.
Ye Fan was speechless. This was naturally not the truth, because when he returned from the outer realms back then, he had seen the Green Emperor’s silhouette here.
He thought it was likely just because the Heavenly Emperor was in his twilight years that the Green Emperor had come to see him, just as Ye Fan had visited the Golden Crow Emperor. Was this a similar kind of farewell?
“In truth, I came out to thank you, Dao friend. If not for you, I might have been in real danger, perhaps sleeping forever until death.” The Green Emperor sighed.
What he said was not false. His imperial blood had once transformed into a green lotus, which revived within Ye Fan’s body and then separated, awakening the Green Emperor.
“A trivial matter, hardly worth mentioning.” Ye Fan said.
They conversed calmly, but if this were to spread outside, it would stir up a monstrous storm. No one knew that a Green Emperor still existed in the world, having come back to life.
One was the Heavenly Emperor, the other the first person in a hundred thousand years since the Primordial Era. For two such legendary Great Emperors to converse, if witnessed, would be shocking—more astonishing than the most glorious divine wars recorded in history.
This was a dialogue between peerless experts. Their words were few but touched on taboo topics like the Dao and immortality.
The Green Emperor expounded on his Dao. For now, perhaps only the Desolate Tower and the Immortal Bell could accommodate his primordial spirit. This was far superior to Huang Xudao’s father fusing himself with the Phoenix Wing Flowing Gold Halberd.
The Green Emperor suppressed the deity within the Desolate Tower, opening up a small divine domain there, intending to evolve it into an immortal realm. He wanted to create a paradise of immortality in the mortal world.
It must be said that the Green Emperor was astonishing across the ages, truly too powerful. He sought to single-handedly evolve the immortal realm world that the ancient emperors so desperately desired.
He did not rely on others, nor did he borrow the power of external heavens. He wanted to create and manifest a true immortal realm himself—shocking and heaven-defying!
The two discussed the Dao and detailed methods of immortality. They found great rapport, their plain words containing supreme principles, feeling like kindred spirits.
“It is still a failed world. Within the Desolate Tower, my life flows slowly, but it is still consumed day by day. When I reappear in the mortal world one day, it will mean this path is unworkable, and that will be the time for my final struggle.”
With these words, the Green Emperor stood up, took his leave of Ye Fan, and cast a meaningful glance, saying, “Dao friend, take care.”
Ye Fan nodded and departed, returning to the Heavenly Court, where he sat for over a thousand years. During this time, he grew older, his blood energy diminishing daily.
But the enemy he awaited did not appear, and the similar flower he sought was nowhere to be found. Thus, Ye Fan aged day by day, his blood energy waning. By the time he was twenty-three thousand years old, he was truly a hero in his twilight years, like the setting sun about to disappear.
He waited for misfortune to occur, waiting for that enemy. But ever since the golden fur appeared on his body back then, as he sat in the Heavenly Court, no further changes came.
With white hair hanging to his shoulders, the vast world held no old friends in sight. Ye Fan showed all signs of fatigue, his face covered with the marks of time. He stood alone in the familiar heavenly palace, but the seats of his former friends were empty and hollow, just like his heart—empty and desolate.
“Report to the Heavenly Emperor!”
Outside the heavenly palace, a Great Sage transmitted his voice with utmost respect. This was Li Heishui’s descendant from who knows how many generations, with impressive cultivation, now one of the Heavenly Court’s giants.
In this withering age, with the Dao suppressed, Quasi-Emperors were unseen, and Great Sages were already the ultimate combat power.
It had been ten thousand years since anyone had come to report to Ye Fan, because he had long instructed that unless it was a matter of life and death, no one should disturb him. This heavenly palace had been sealed, with cobwebs forming.
“What is it?” Ye Fan asked.
Hearing a response from within the heavenly palace, Li Tianming was overjoyed, even trembling with excitement. The last time a disciple had reported was over ten thousand years ago. The Heavenly Emperor was already twenty-three thousand years old and still in the world—this was a miracle and a surprise.
Rumors had been circulating outside that the Heavenly Emperor had passed away at twenty thousand years old, no longer in the world.
“Heavenly Emperor, the reason I disturb you is that there is a letter for you.”
Ye Fan raised his hand, and with a flash of light, the letter appeared in his hand. Unfolding it, his expression shifted—it was a letter from Duan De.
“Kid, your life is really long. Haven’t you passed away yet?”
Opening with such a line made Ye Fan’s expression turn strange.
“Don’t bother looking for me. Dao master I buried myself long ago, my primordial spirit withered and died exactly eight thousand years ago. I set this letter with a formation to be sent out in later times.”
Ye Fan was moved. If what the letter said was true, Duan De had lived to about fifteen thousand years old before truly dying.
“The Nether Emperor is truly remarkable, with heaven-defying methods!”
Clearly, Duan De was extremely powerful, his final achievement not inferior to a Great Emperor. He was accumulating the reincarnation seals of a supreme being. He already had four within him, and it was unknown how many more lives his body would regenerate.
“Don’t look for me. I know you far surpass the Origin Heavenly Master, so I’ve long been on guard against you. Don’t think about robbing my tomb.” Reading this, Ye Fan’s mouth twitched.
“Nothing else. I just feel lonely after death and wanted to talk about life with you, to connect emotionally.” Ye Fan found it both amusing and frustrating—this was truly his unscrupulous style.
“Don’t thank me. Friends are friends, but I am a man of principle. When I reappear in the world in my next life, I will definitely rob your tomb. Who else but you, the Heavenly Emperor? I think I will be very interested in your tomb then. Just thinking about it gets me excited. Tens of thousands of years later, when I reappear, I will dig up the Heavenly Emperor’s tomb. Heh, who in history could do that? None but this poor Daoist, looking down on the world, unrivaled and supreme!”
Reading this, Ye Fan could only curse, “You bastard!”
“Here’s some advice: hide your grave well. Otherwise, we’ll have to meet again as man and ghost to reminisce.” This was Duan De’s closing remark.
After that, the universe remained peaceful. Ye Fan went into seclusion on the cliff of Immortal Mountain, sitting for several thousand years. During this time, he only met with Little Nannan and no one else.
He endured until he was twenty-six thousand years old, his form withered, his essence and blood completely spent. He had finally reached the end of his life; this life was coming to a close.
“Where is that similar flower? Have I missed it in this life?”
Though Ye Fan did not leave, the Heavenly Court continued to operate, searching for that flower, but it was never seen.
“Are you afraid? I am already old, my blood energy withered, and you still dare not show yourself? Where is the so-called misfortune?!”
He kept waiting, but there was never any movement.
Meanwhile, rumors spread outside that the Heavenly Emperor had passed away, that a supreme expert of his generation had left the world.
“You are cautious!”
At twenty-six thousand years old, Ye Fan could no longer hold on. A flash of light appeared in his palm, revealing a purple qilin—the fruit of an immortal medicine.
Ye Fan swallowed it, and with a rumble, his blood energy surged into the heavens, spreading in all directions, flooding the entire Immortal Mountain and shaking the entire universe.
In the past, Ye Fan had eaten the Nine Marvelous Medicine Fruits, but they were not born from a complete mother plant. Together, they were only part of a complete immortality pill, so taking it now was still effective.
At twenty-six thousand years, the Heavenly Emperor was reborn. Without anyone spreading the news, everyone could feel the fluctuations of his Dao, shaking heaven and earth. All paths submitted, all wailing in submission.
“Too astonishing! This is only the beginning of the Heavenly Emperor’s path!”
The whole world was shocked. Everyone was stunned. Ye Fan’s first life had ended, lasting twenty-six thousand years. If not unprecedented, it was close.
Now that he was reborn, how earth-shattering was this? How many more years would he live? No one could say!
Ye Fan sighed. He had endured until now, always waiting for misfortune to strike, wanting to sweep away everything in his first life, but that person never came. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to register as a member on Wenxue to recommend it. Your support is my greatest motivation.)