Chapter 1003: Dragon Horse

At that very moment, he thought, who else could it be but her? The most astonishing woman throughout history, transcending all ages, living not for immortality.

He had once competed against Hua Yunfei, facing him more than once, and knew his profound and supreme mystery. This was created by the most talented Ruthless Emperor, who became a Great Emperor by proving the Dao with an ordinary body.

Even Little Song was captivated, listening intently. An immortal medicine willingly offered itself to follow her, yet that immortaless ignored it—truly extraordinary. How embarrassing for other renowned figures throughout history!

The Ruthless Emperor lived a solitary and proud life, unrivaled in heaven and on earth, with divine lords from all realms bowing before her, looking down upon past, present, and future. Yet here, she had tear marks on her face, deeply saddened.

Ye Fan stared in a daze. Such a sight could only be witnessed by the Fo-Ti herb. Who else in the world could see it? To ordinary people, she was merely an invincible woman, known as the Ruthless Emperor, making it hard to imagine such a vulnerable side.

She could pluck stars, seize the sun and moon, slay across the human realm, and reign supreme in the world. She was the most unfathomable woman throughout history, her 'ruthlessness' echoing through eternity.

The Fo-Ti herb, of course, had not witnessed the other aspect of the Ruthless Emperor's earth-shattering power and sharp prowess. It merely found the woman exceedingly beautiful, almost unreal, with tear-stained cheeks, looking pitiable, though her divine abilities were certainly heaven-defying.

“This is the place,” the Fo-Ti herb led them forward. Upon reaching a cliff, Ye Fan was immediately stunned, and Little Song also plopped down onto the ground.

A ten-thousand-zhang waterfall cascaded down, half-obscuring the cliff. This was not water, but a boundless River of Chaos, descending from the cliff face.

The Fo-Ti herb explained that this was the divine trace left by that immortaless many eons ago. Over two hundred thousand years ago, it shook the entire Kunlun Mountains, almost causing them to collapse.

In the past, heartbroken, the Ruthless Emperor had let out a mournful sigh towards the sky here, causing eight of the nine moons in the heavens to fall. Her black hair billowed, tears streamed down her face, and the heavens and earth collapsed.

Ye Fan was deeply shaken. The Great Emperors of ancient times were far too powerful; with a mere wave of their hand or foot, they could pluck stars, seize moons, and destroy the cosmos, leaving one awestruck.

“I once saw with my own eyes,” the Fo-Ti herb said tremblingly, “her raise her hand and cut down a star from the sky, refining it into a stele here.”

On that cliff, a blood-stained garment was visible, protected by the chaos. Even after more than two hundred thousand years, it remained incorruptible, floating above the cliff, with a glowing stele standing beside it.

Ye Fan opened his Heavenly Eye, observing closely. He vaguely saw a line of words on the blood-stained garment, brief and hurried: “I’m dying… but what about my sister?”

Ye Fan’s heart trembled. No wonder the Ruthless Emperor cried out in grief in this place. How could she remain calm after seeing the words on the blood-stained garment? Powerful as she was, unmatched in the world, even aspiring to contend with the heavens, she still could not revive a skeleton that had died many years ago.

That stone stele was refined from a star, shimmering with silver light, illuminating from ancient times to the present. It was inscribed with the Ruthless Emperor’s Dao marks, enveloped in boundless chaos, guarding everything here.

This was undoubtedly a treasure. If anyone could activate it, they could certainly sweep across a star field. However, it was unlikely anyone could even approach it; anyone daring to touch the stele erected by the Ruthless Emperor would surely die.

“You see,” the Fo-Ti herb said, “this boundless chaotic waterfall flows from the words on the stele. It hasn’t dried up for over two hundred thousand years; it’s a supreme divine marvel in Kunlun.” For over two hundred thousand years, any powerful being refining weapons would come to this place. As long as they could draw out a wisp of chaotic qi as fire to forge their magical artifacts, their quality would greatly improve.

The Fo-Ti herb kindly informed them about this place, suggesting they could reforge their weapons here, refining them with chaos as fire to surely turn them into treasured armaments.

Ye Fan’s cauldron naturally didn’t need this; it would achieve its full potential eventually. He took out the small trinkets from Little Song’s person and refined them, such as the small medicine basket it carried and the bell cast from Great Luo Silver Essence.

“There’s danger ahead; divine beings reside there. I dare not venture, fearing capture,” the Fo-Ti herb warned. It had hardly been to the area ahead and didn’t know what the Immortal-Ascension Land nurtured.

Ye Fan nodded, acknowledged its warning, and then continued on his journey with Little Song.

“Back then, the Feathered Divine Dynasty escorted an immortal-ascension artifact to this place for repairs. It seems the Ruthless Emperor’s brother was part of that, and most likely perished here.”

“Aoooooh—…”

A muffled, thunder-like roar emanated. A three-headed lion, resplendent with golden light, stirred up immense winds and clouds. With a single inhale, it swallowed dozens of miles of essence qi, drawing it into its mouth.

“There truly are some powerful exotic beasts here. Only the Kunlun Immortal Vein could nurture such creatures,” Ye Fan remarked.

While the world’s essence qi was dried up, Kunlun was an exception, as all the life essence qi of the ancient star converged there, naturally giving birth to auspicious beasts and divine creatures.

This golden lion was extremely powerful, possessing the strength of a Sect Leader-level entity. It was likely a top-tier existence in Kunlun. With a single roar, winds and clouds surged, and the mountains trembled.

The golden lion’s eyes blazed like torches, shining brightly. It spotted Ye Fan and the others at a glance, then opened its massive maw and took a powerful breath, intending to swallow them too.

Ye Fan released his powerful aura, causing the golden lion to tremble on the spot, revealing an expression of disbelief. It then turned and fled, rushing towards the wilderness.

Half an hour later, after Ye Fan crossed the wilderness, he entered an open area. There were only a few majestic, unlinked mountains ahead, forming a unique terrain.

“Hmm, is there some divine beast here? The aura in this place is unusual; there seems to be a very powerful presence,” Ye Fan thought, his heart stirring.

Little Song whimpered happily, climbing a high peak with its small medicine basket on its back. It dug up a glowing, resplendent precious medicine, feeling delighted.

In recent days, it had made huge gains, collecting many ancient herbs. It had already found three small 'Medicine Kings,' each with an age of fifty to sixty thousand years, and happily presented them all to Ye Fan.

A loud roar came, with violent tremors that almost knocked Little Song over. The golden lion was guarding this place, staring at Ye Fan with both fear and surprise.

Moreover, an old flood dragon flew over, enveloped in flames as if it had just emerged from a volcano. It unleashed overwhelming heat waves, scorching a large area.

“Two Sect Leader-level exotic beasts guarding the mountain entrance. It seems there truly is a powerful existence here. Could it be a Dao Severer?”

Ye Fan released his powerful aura, instantly startling the old flood dragon and the golden lion. They continuously retreated, trembling all over.

Ahead, on a towering mountain that reached into the clouds, fire pines had rooted, extending into the rock crevices. This was a peculiar type of vegetation, resembling ancient pines but preferring flames, often growing in lava regions, truly extraordinary.

At the base of the mountain was a fire cave, spewing plumes of smoke and fierce flames. A roar echoed, shaking the mountains. Many massive rocks rolled down from the great peaks, rumbling loudly.

Both the golden lion and the old flood dragon showed fear, prostrating themselves on the ground. Clearly, they were intimidated by that divine might; this was their master, who seemed to be blaming them.

“A Dao Severing King!”

A divine light flashed in Ye Fan’s eyes. Although he knew the Kunlun Immortal Vein was extraordinary, he hadn’t expected to truly encounter such a super-powerful existence. However, he remained unafraid; he yearned to meet a worthy opponent.

“Boom!”

Fiery clouds surged, and crimson mists rose into the sky, as if ten thousand dragons were leaping, creating a magnificent spectacle. A long neigh, like a dragon’s roar and a tiger’s cry, shook this mountainous region. A fiery red light shot up, and a majestic exotic beast charged forth.

It was incredibly fast, so fast that the golden lion and the flood dragon couldn't react before they were kicked away. Even Ye Fan was surprised.

It came treading on fiery clouds, moving with the speed of chasing wind and lightning, reaching the ultimate speed for this realm. Apart from Ye Fan’s Art of Movement, almost nothing could compare to it.

This was a Dragon-Horse, treading on raging flames, its entire body fiery red, as proud as a god. With a single hoof, it kicked both the old flood dragon and the golden lion away, clearly displeased with them, possessing an air of looking down on the world.

It let out a long roar, not a horse’s neigh, but a deafening dragon’s cry that dispersed the clouds in the sky. It charged towards Ye Fan, trampling the firmament, its hooves, larger than a sea bowl’s opening, striking towards Ye Fan’s chest.

This was no mere horse. It leaped like a dragon, exuding an imposing aura. Since Ye Fan had achieved Dao Severing, he had never encountered a creature daring to show such contempt.

This was truly a literal "horse trampling the Human Sacred Body," shattering the very sky. No wonder the golden lion and the old flood dragon were so terrified.

Ye Fan didn’t dodge. He merely pointed his finger, pressing it against the horse’s hoof. The Dragon-Horse immediately let out a neigh, its entire body trembled violently, revealing an expression of disbelief as it leaped up and charged past.

“Rumble!”

The Dragon-Horse trampled on clouds, galloping dozens of miles away. It was so fast that it caused dozens of mountains ahead to collapse under its hooves, with the sound only reaching them a moment later.

This was a terrifying sight. The divine might of this horse was beyond imagination; it chased wind and lightning, causing the heavens to collapse and the earth to crack under its hooves. Few in the world could suppress it.

Even Ye Fan was greatly surprised. Although he had held back, merely flicking a finger, and was far from using his full strength, it was still not something an ordinary Dao Severer could withstand; anyone else would have undoubtedly turned into a bloody pulp.

Yet this Dragon-Horse did not perish and was unharmed. It soared through the air, incredibly fierce. This was absolutely a rare Dragon-Horse.

He couldn't help but examine it closely. The horse was fiery red all over, with a body like a dragon. Flames surged beneath its four hooves, and its body was covered in shining dragon scales. It also had long, fiery red hair like a horse’s mane, brighter than silk, with not a single stray hair.

Ancient texts recorded: “A Dragon-Horse is the essence of heaven and earth. Its form is that of a horse’s body with dragon scales, hence it is called a Dragon-Horse. It stands eight feet five inches tall…”

The more Ye Fan looked, the more surprised he became. It was exactly as described in ancient records; this was not a creature of flesh and blood. Rather, it was born from the essence of heaven and earth, not an ordinary being.

This was a type of exotic beast, with only a few cases seen since ancient times, representing auspiciousness. The 'Shang Shu: He Tu' recorded: “When Fuxi ruled the world, the Dragon-Horse carried a diagram from the river.”

“No wonder it endured my single finger and didn’t die—it’s actually a Dragon-Horse!” Ye Fan murmured to himself. In the current world, among Dao Severing Kings, few could withstand one of his attacks. This wasn’t arrogance, but the truth; having successfully reverse-severed the Great Dao, his strength had reached an astonishing level.

The Dragon-Horse roared, its dragon cry shaking the nine heavens. Fiery red all over, it charged again, treading on flames and clouds.

This time, Ye Fan opened a palm, extending all five fingers, pressing down on the Dragon-Horse. But the horse was incredibly proud; it stubbornly leaped up, soaring dozens of zhang high, and stomped back towards his golden palm and fingers.

“Bang!”

The Dragon-Horse’s body trembled, its four hooves shattering the sky as it charged into the distance. A trickle of blood spilled from its mouth, but it was still alive, its vital energy strong, suffering only minor injuries.

This time, Ye Fan was truly moved. Under heaven, among Dao Severing Kings, probably few could suppress this horse. His palm could certainly crush great mountains and destroy lands, yet this horse had endured it.

“This must be the divine being the Fo-Ti herb mentioned.”

Ye Fan stepped into the sky and once again reached out, pressing down with great force. The Dragon-Horse, knowing its power, leaped into the air, shattered a section of the mountains, and stood in the nine heavens, staring at him.

Such a divine steed, born from heaven and earth, was only obtained by the legendary ancient Human Emperors. Ye Fan’s heart stirred. If he could subdue it as a mount, one day when he returned to the Big Dipper, he could certainly trample countless enemies.