Chapter 429: The Peerless Finale
The Sacred Sage Divine Garment descended from the heavens, radiating boundless light, like a phoenix immortal reborn in resplendent divine flames. Its overwhelming aura made everyone tremble, and all retreated.
It took a humanoid shape, as if it were a living being, wielding a golden holy sword with peerless sharpness. The oppressive killing intent sent leaves flying wildly through the forest.
Every person trembled in fear, as if facing an ancient deity, feeling reverence from the depths of their souls. Unable to resist, many wanted to kneel, their bodies shaking.
The golden divine garment blazed like a sun. With a clang, it landed on the ground, golden divine radiance shooting in all directions, dancing like flames. The golden divine bow on its back quivered, tightening everyone's heartstrings, and many nearly suffocated.
"Clang!"
A metallic sound rang out, like a dragon's roar piercing the nine heavens, like a phoenix's cry shaking the sky, echoing across heaven and earth. Its tone was clear and sharp, reaching directly into people's souls.
"Thud."
Many cultivators could no longer hold on. Involuntarily, they knelt and kowtowed to the peerless divine garment ahead. This was a supreme deterrence from the soul, inspiring awe and worship.
"It truly has life!" Even Ye Fan was shocked. Though he stood far away, he felt a terrifying majesty.
"Clang!"
Another soft tremor sounded. The divine garment's radiance converged, and the mountain range fell silent. Those who had knelt could finally stand, their faces pale, their hearts shaken.
"They're all dead!"
On another peak, a supreme figure from the Yin Yang Sect stood on a grand platform built there, gazing at the scene within the Ancient Forbidden Land and letting out such a sigh.
Total annihilation!
The Yin Yang Sect had obtained a mysterious stone garment in the Northern Domain, said to block all auras. But in the end, it was useless. Those who entered aged rapidly and then turned to ashes.
The mountain ridges buzzed with noise as everyone murmured. The Sacred Sage Divine Garment had flown back, and the Yin Yang Sect's stone garment had shattered, signaling complete failure.
"The Ancient Forbidden Land cannot be breached!"
"Three years ago, when the mysterious ancient coffin appeared, the Holy Land's curse weakened to its lowest point. Unfortunately, that unique opportunity was missed."
People from the Central Province sighed, their hearts filled with unwillingness.
Many felt a tremor in their hearts. Even the divine dynasties and eternal great sects of the Central Province had no way. Who in this world could enter and pluck the Divine Immortality Pill?
"I am unwilling! I want to defy the heavens!"
A voice brimming with domineering aura erupted. Countless leaves flew, and the primeval ancient forest shook, as if a true dragon had emerged, taken human form, and walked out of the wilderness.
A figure, majestic beyond compare, with an aura that overshadowed the sun and moon, walked out from the mountain ridges. He seemed like a Heavenly Emperor descending to the mortal world, dragon qi coiling around him, surveying the world with the air of one who dominates the eight directions and six realms, supreme and unrivaled.
"The old Imperial Lord of Guhua has arrived!"
"A peerless Imperial Lord descends to the mortal dust, coming to a Forbidden Zone of Life. Truly astonishing."
The cultivators of the Eastern Wasteland were all shaken.
The Guhua Imperial Lord wore a Nine-Dragon Crown and a Nine-Dragon Robe, as if stepping forward from ancient times. He merged with heaven and earth, becoming one with them, causing the sun and moon to lose their luster.
His hair was white as snow, his form withered and thin. His end was near, but his aura did not diminish. It was like an abyss or a sea, inspiring fear. An ancestral dragon, seemingly made of flesh and blood, coiled above his head.
"Imperial Lord!"
Many stepped forward, performing grand salutes, urging him not to enter the Ancient Forbidden Land.
Some knelt, willing to go in his stead to pluck the Divine Immortality Pill and offer it to him.
"I am already a dying man. All my affairs are arranged. There's no need for you to die for me," the old Guhua Imperial Lord declined.
"Your Majesty, think thrice. The Ancient Forbidden Land is different from other Forbidden Zones of Life. No matter how high one's cultivation, entering it reduces one to a mortal."
"Indeed. Rather than that, let us go in your stead. We will do our utmost to bring back the Divine Immortality Pill."
People from the Guhua Imperial Dynasty all tried to stop him, including four Great Power-level Imperial Uncles who stepped forward, performing grand salutes to block his path.
Many wandering cultivators were astonished. A peerless Imperial Lord was about to enter the Ancient Forbidden Land. The legends were true—most aged Imperial Lords and Saint Lords chose such a path in their final years. Now, people were witnessing it with their own eyes!
Since ancient times, few old Saint Lords or Imperial Lords had left tombs. The great wilderness and Forbidden Zones of Life were their burial grounds—this had become common knowledge.
Perhaps, one day, entering an ancient forest and finding a white skeleton might mean encountering a once-dominant peerless hero. Such was their tragedy.
In the end, no one could escape death. No matter how great a hero, there comes a time of decline. Their final years are equally desolate. Even a peerless overlord ultimately becomes nothing but a handful of yellow earth.
They say the path to immortality has no end, but since ancient times, who has truly achieved eternal life? Not a single person. All are like the setting sun—vividly red, yet fading into darkness.
The old Guhua Imperial Lord was imposing and majestic as the heavens. He swept his gaze over everyone and said, "All of you, step back. This is my choice!"
"Your Majesty!"
"The Ancient Forbidden Land strips all peerless experts of their cultivation!"
People from the immortal imperial dynasty of the Central Province all spoke out to stop him.
"Even if I am reduced to a mortal, I am still a human emperor, stronger than others. Say no more. I do not want anyone to die in my place."
This old Imperial Lord possessed great boldness. He had guessed the outcome but still chose this path. All his affairs were arranged. He would make his final gamble.
No one dared to stop him. Where his gaze passed, even the four Imperial Uncles had to fall silent and step aside.
The people of the Yin Yang Sect watched silently from the side. They were competitors but shared the same plight.
The cultivators of the Eastern Wasteland were shaken. They had finally witnessed with their own eyes what the final years of an old Imperial Lord were like and what choices he would make.
Everything was as the legends said. A life of brilliance, stunning an era, yet ultimately walking alone on a path without hope.
One of the Guhua Imperial Dynasty's Imperial Uncles stepped forward. He sighed softly and approached the Sacred Sage Divine Garment. Though he was comparable to a Great Power, with boundless magical power, he was very respectful. He bowed to the golden divine garment and said, "I beseech the divine garment to protect my lord."
"Clang!"
A soft sound pierced the heavens. Divine light blazed, soaring into the sky. An overwhelming pressure swept across the entire mountain range, as if an ocean had drowned the land.
Then, heaven and earth fell silent. The mountain wind stopped. The grass and trees did not move. All sounds vanished. Time seemed to freeze in a deathly stillness!
Ninety percent of those present knelt to the ground, their bodies and minds trembling, unable to resist kowtowing. In the endless mountain ranges, countless birds and beasts prostrated themselves, trembling and crying mournfully in this direction.
Such was the might of the Sacred Sage Divine Garment!
Even Ye Fan, standing far away, was deeply shocked. This was not the first time he had seen it. In the Northern Domain, a Sacred Sage Divine Garment had once split open the Divine King's Pure Land.
It was well known that the Divine King's Pure Land was said to have peerless defenses, never to be breached. Yet it had been cut open. The Sacred Sage Divine Garment possessed the power to seize the creations of heaven and earth!
"Whoosh."
Light flashed. The peerless divine garment covered the old Imperial Lord. His entire body turned golden, and blazing divine flames burned around him, inspiring awe.
He held the golden holy sword and bore the golden divine bow on his back. Like a deity walking out from ancient times, he was awe-inspiring, radiating overwhelming might!
The old Guhua Imperial Lord seemed to have regained his youth, his body reaching its peak state. Without looking back, he strode forward.
This might be the last time people saw him in this world…
Time seemed to freeze. No one spoke. They all waited in silence, though many had already guessed the outcome.
No one knew how long passed. Standing on the peak platform, one of the Guhua Imperial Uncles cried out in grief. His voice was sorrowful. Countless leaves fell, filling the air with desolation.
His divine eyes opened wide, seeing everything within the forbidden land. The peerless Imperial Lord had fallen. In the end, he could not defy the heavens. His final years ended in obscurity, buried in a foreign land!
"Your Majesty!"
The people of the Guhua Imperial Dynasty wailed, crying loudly. Their voices shook heaven and earth, but they could not change anything.
"I am unwilling! I want to defy the heavens!" Those six words seemed to still echo, but in the end, it was a desolate conclusion.
"Whoosh."
Light flashed. The Sacred Sage Divine Garment descended from the heavens. It had dimmed considerably, trembling softly. On it were traces of blood and much ash.
The golden divine garment had been damaged. No one knew how many years it would take to recover.
Looking across the ages, who in this world could be immortal? Everyone felt a sense of despair. Since ancient times, tales of immortality had never ceased, but what people saw were one "emptiness" and "annihilation" after another.
Even the ancient Great Emperors had vanished into the river of history. How could this not make people despair?
This was a path with no end, a road that could never succeed!
The people of the Guhua Imperial Dynasty withdrew in dejection to Yan Capital. Undoubtedly, it ended in failure. The news shook the entire Southern Domain, and all the Holy Lands came to investigate.
The peerless Imperial Lord had fallen. The people of the Yin Yang Sect also withdrew from the Ancient Forbidden Land and returned to Yan Capital. Their supreme Sect Leader did not make a final gamble, for the ending had already been written.
The news quickly spread across the Eastern Wasteland. All major forces were shaken. The Seven Forbidden Zones of Life were indeed unenterable. They were burial grounds for peerless experts.
But in the future, old Saint Lords would surely still choose such a path. Such was the tragedy of their final years. To gain new life, they had no other choice.
The Divine Immortality Pill could choose its own dwelling place. Legends said they had all flown into the Seven Forbidden Zones of Life.
Ye Fan's heart grew cold. The curse within the Ancient Forbidden Land had become many times stronger than before. He fell silent!
Could he succeed? Even with the Immortal-Sealing Six Seals to forge an unparalleled stone garment that could block all auras of the world, what he saw was still a road of no return.
This incident shook the Eastern Wasteland, making it hard to calm down. During this time, Ye Fan pondered bitterly and eventually went into seclusion again.
For a full half month, he exhausted his mind and energy, refining the nine ancient characters from the *Dao Scripture* into the stone garment. These were innate Great Emperor patterns, possessing peerless wondrous uses.
They could be used to seal oneself, achieve eternity, and stop the passage of time, exhausting the mysteries of heaven and earth. They were unfathomable, with endless power.
Ye Fan spent over ten days, his body and mind nearly unable to bear it, before finally combining the nine ancient characters with the tens of thousands of resentment-patterns in the stone garment.
"Big Brother, you're finally awake." Little Nannan had long eyelashes. She blinked her big eyes at him, looking very innocent and adorable.
Ye Fan felt guilty. He had been too busy and had not taken care of this little girl. She was still wearing tattered clothes, and the holes in her little shoes clearly showed her toes.
But fortunately, Little Nannan had not gone hungry. The inn, following his instructions, brought her delicious food every day.
"Big Brother, that old grandfather across the street is so pitiful." The little girl was very compassionate. She was naturally referring to Zhang Wenchang.
Ye Fan patted her head. The little girl herself was no less pitiful, making his heart ache.
"Nannan, be good. I might have to leave for a few months. Wait patiently for me to return."
"Big Brother…" The little girl immediately lowered her head, her spirits sinking, thinking Ye Fan was going to abandon her and leave.
"I will come back. Little Nannan, rest assured." Ye Fan gently comforted her.
"Really?" The little girl was still uneasy. Tears glistened in her eyes. She pouted, her head hanging low, looking at her worn-out little shoes. "Nannan always forgets the past. I'm afraid that after a while, I'll forget Big Brother."
"You won't forget. I'll leave you a piece of jade. I've refined it, and it can record your experiences every day. Every morning when you wake up, you can see what happened the day before."
Ye Fan decided to enter the Ancient Forbidden Land. He could delay no longer. He was not going to die. Besides the unparalleled stone garment, he had another peerless trump card that might be able to withstand the erosion of time. That was the key to whether he could succeed!
He looked toward the horizon. Perhaps he could also borrow Ye Huiling's Heaven-Covering Divine Garment. Having an extra protective garment was better than none.
"Little Nannan, be good. Wait for me to return!"
Ye Fan stood up and strode out of the inn. Behind him, a small figure waved her little hand, her big eyes filled with tears as she watched him disappear into the distance.