Chapter 1172: Again Arriving at Beidou

The very words "Great Emperor" carry an immense weight. Their glorious past, like a fleeting cloud, fades to reveal the true reality of eternal loneliness.

Exceptionally talented and brilliant, admired by later generations, who truly understands their life's journey? From birth, they fought until old age, facing hardship alone—a truly mournful song.

Old friends, companions, and contemporaries all passed away, leaving him to fight on, weary and wounded. His long life was filled with solitude.

The primeval chaos stirs, and time erases everything. Later generations forgot his achievements, as he once fought alone in distant realms, a battle that continues even now.

In the eyes of the world, the ancient Great Emperors are invincible, glorious, standing at the pinnacle, inspiring awe and longing.

But who can truly comprehend the desolate later years of the Void Emperor? Despite old age, physical decay, and depleted vitality, he continued to fight. His former comrades and beloved companions had long turned to dust, leaving him to live out the remainder of his life alone.

Finally, he silently set off alone, choosing to confront his formidable enemies in distant realms, walking alone towards his end, until his last breath.

The curtain fell ten thousand years later. One person, one coffin, no one to bid farewell, only himself, departing solitary and far into the dark and icy depths of the universe, sadly buried in a foreign land.

This is a true Great Emperor.

Streaks of sacred light surged forth, blossoming in the starfield. The massive fleet, including four Great Saint vessels, shattered piece by piece, rapidly disintegrating.

The Void Emperor's coffin departed, breaking free from its chains. The body set off alone, interred within the boundless void. Meanwhile, the remaining massive fleet was being annihilated. This scene was world-shattering and utterly terrifying.

"The ancient ghost ship has collapsed; it has reached its end!"

From the distant Eternal Main Star, people actively intervened, rapidly activating formations to salvage various ancient ships and sacred artifacts from that starfield, which were priceless treasures.

The four Great Saint vessels became the focal point of attention. They contained divine treasures and unparalleled rarities. They could not tolerate their destruction.

However, ever since the nine-layered coffin departed, things had spiraled out of control here. Large sections of the fleet shattered, turning into cosmic dust, impossible to stop.

The hearts of the twelve Kings bled. Even Saints clenched their fists, doing their utmost to salvage it. This was the glorious, invincible fleet from ten thousand years ago.

Unfortunately, no amount of rescue could defy fate. The Void Emperor's coffin had departed, and the space where it had rested began to collapse. This situation was irreversible.

"Quick, construct the greatest stargate! We must secure the four Great Saint vessels; they are divine treasures!" Even ancient Saints shouted, personally taking action.

Above the sky, a metal-forged portal appeared, immense and boundless, as if connected to the very edge of the world. Runes flickered, locking onto the area ahead.

Sheets of metal fragments flew out from within, accompanied by continuous explosions and glittering silver light. Even sacred artifacts turned to dust as they burst forth.

"It's out! We've salvaged one Great Saint vessel!" A King cried out excitedly.

They trembled, vigorously waving their arms, nervously staring at the ancient sacred vessel emerging from the stargate, which exuded immense pressure.

"Damn it, it's also disintegrating. It's no good at all."

Their hearts sank. Although the Great Saint-class ancient vessel had emerged, it was already broken and continued to silently disintegrate into nothingness.

"It's too terrifying! Just the aftershocks from that ancient coffin destroyed a Great Saint ancient vessel. This is truly horrifying!"

People trembled, completely lacking the courage to pursue the divine coffin, even though it had been the target of several Great Saints' expeditions tens of thousands of years ago. Now, they could only watch it depart.

Dazzling light emanated, and explosions continued. The Great Saint vessel disintegrated into fragments. From within, a cold corpse fell out, eliciting gasps of alarm from the onlookers.

"It's a Great Saint from ten thousand years ago! Everything else was destroyed, but only his body remained preserved!"

Amidst the destructive fluctuations and continuous explosions, only an aged corpse remained undecomposed, the only thing still relatively intact.

Saints collectively made their moves, each wanting to seize it, but as the interwoven Dao patterns caused the Great Saint's body to begin disintegrating, it startled one ancient Saint, causing him to recoil.

"This is truly... a peerless terror! The last remnants of the ancient coffin's fluctuations actually had such terrifying consequences!"

The Great Saint's body was shaken into blood and shattered bones. From within it, a dim blood-colored gourd fell, enduring the aftershocks of the Dao principles.

"Crack!"

Finally, the blood-colored gourd also cracked, having been affected, but it ultimately did not completely shatter, leaving a small section preserved.

Everyone was shocked. The aftershocks had successively destroyed three Great Saint-tier items—the ancient ship, the corpse, and the gourd—only dissipating at this point. One could imagine how terrifying that was.

"That was merely the residual fluctuation emanating from an ancient coffin from tens of thousands of years ago, yet it could still achieve such a result..."

Faced with all this, people could only feel awe and terror. For a long while, they found it difficult to utter another word.

In the depths of the cosmos, the overwhelming, invincible fleet that could have swept across the stars ten thousand years ago was completely annihilated. It turned to dust, leaving nothing behind.

Of the four Great Saint-class motherships, only one managed to break free from that starfield, bursting through the stargate, leaving behind half a blood-colored gourd.

"Quick, let's see what secret treasure was left behind."

The blood-colored gourd was retrieved by several ancient Saints, who cautiously inspected its contents within a mothership. Outsiders were forbidden from approaching, or they would be killed without question.

Everyone knew they had found a treasure.

How could an artifact of an ancient Great Saint be ordinary? Inside the broken gourd, many artifacts remained.

"Evolution fluid! There's actually the strongest precious liquid from ten thousand years ago! This is something that defies the heavens!"

Finally, an exclamation came from within the mothership. A King, qualified to observe there, brought forth such exhilarating news, causing the fleet to instantly erupt in excitement.

"It's the eighth-stage divine evolution fluid!"

This news caused a massive stir. It was well known that for the past fifty thousand years, the most sensational event in the Eternal Starfield had been the successful refinement of the sixth-stage evolution fluid.

And now, a nearly perfect precious liquid had emerged. What a heaven-defying divine item this was, leaving everyone parched with anticipation.

"What a pity. Ten thousand years is too long; its potency has degraded and is no longer what it once was. It can only barely approach fourth-stage evolution fluid."

An ancient Saint, after careful confirmation, came to this conclusion, which was inevitably disappointing but also unavoidable.

"Although regrettable, this is still a great harvest," he said. "This bottle of precious liquid is quite substantial, truly worthy of a Great Saint's creation. All twelve of our royal families can have a share."

Inside the half-severed blood-colored gourd, there were also other precious artifacts. These were equally divided among the ancient Saints, and outsiders did not know what they were.

As for this bottle of the strongest evolution precious liquid, it was equally distributed among the twelve clans, each receiving a share.

The unexpected encounter with the ancient ghost ship resulted in the deaths of two Saints and the destruction of several motherships, a considerable loss indeed.

The Sun-Never-Sets Royal Clan was the most unfortunate. Their accompanying Saint on the expedition had died, and only one mothership remained. Though large sections of their fleet still survived, the acquired evolution fluid ended up in the hands of their King.

At this moment, Ye Fan composed himself, no longer gazing into the depths of the starry sky, but withdrew his gaze, fixing his eyes on the King within the mothership.

This King had a distinguished identity; he was a magnate of his clan, having reached the Half-Saint realm. He might not have been the most powerful cultivator within the mothership, but he held the most authority.

"The Saints have said that if these evolution fluids are combined with some divine minerals and further refined, they might truly become top-grade fourth-stage evolution fluid," the magnate declared, boosting morale. "This time, in the conquest of Beidou, rewards will be distributed based on merit, and this bottle of precious liquid awaits you!"

Other clans had Saints overseeing them, but they currently appeared the weakest. They could only rely on their own efforts, otherwise, it would be difficult to achieve significant gains in Beidou.

A glint flickered in Ye Fan's eyes. He had been recruited and was not qualified to enter the mothership. He was currently in a battleship, watching the magnate through a large screen.

He was determined to obtain this bottle of evolution fluid!

A massive stargate appeared. Dozens of motherships, leading dense fleets, began their journey. Everyone gathered their resolve, preparing to depart for the Beidou Starfield.

"This time, we will conquer that ancient star! No one can stop us!"

"Even the ancient ghost ship disintegrated, unable to harm us. This is an auspicious sign; we will become the masters of this starfield!"

The twelve Kings began to rally their subordinates, reframing their recent terrifying experience as a good omen.

They began their advance, continuously performing spatial jumps.

"Beneath the starry sky, our glory will be everywhere! The mysterious Beidou will belong to us; we will bring the light of hope there! It will be transformed into a divine land!"

No further accidents occurred. After another month of arduous travel, this expeditionary force approached Beidou, sensing signs of life.

"We've arrived! It's right ahead!" they exclaimed, staring at the large screen. "Through that desolate starfield, the aura of a life star is emanating! It will be conquered by us!"

"Hey, effort always pays off," someone said. "We left our homes, traveled far to this starfield, and now we are finally about to gain what we came for."

"Reportedly, those natives guard a treasure mountain but don't understand its value. All the rare resources will shine brightly in our hands."

Upon reaching this point, the motherships began to systematically separate. The twelve great clans each took up a position, clearly intending to divide Beidou among themselves.

"That ancient star is large enough, comparable to our Eternal Main Star," one King stated. "However, the most valuable resources are mainly concentrated in the Northern Region. We need to discuss how to divide it equally."

"My Lanto Clan only needs these three areas; that will be enough," the King of the Lanto Clan said, pointing at a secret map.

"What?! Your Lanto Clan's appetite is too great!" the Cao Clan's King immediately expressed dissatisfaction. "Besides wanting Blood Phoenix Mountain and Fire Qilin Cave, you also want to monopolize the Primordial Ancient Mine? That place contains the most precious fate stones!"

"This time, it was primarily our clan that provided the information and secrets about this ancient star; otherwise, how would any of you have found this place?" the Lanto Clan's King countered. "It is perfectly reasonable for our clan to claim the Primordial Ancient Mine."

"No!" several great clans objected simultaneously.

The King of the Mo Clan from the Primeval Demonic Sea spoke up: "Everyone, you can all contend for the Primordial Ancient Mine. My clan only needs the Undying Mountain and Saint Cliff; that will suffice. This area is far from the Northern Region, and we will not compete with you for it."

"My Zhao Clan chooses the Divine Ruins," another King announced. "Additionally, we want to include the Myriad Dragon's Nest and the Primordial Lake from the Northern Region."

The various Kings spoke one after another, selecting their own targets. Different factions made concessions and argued amongst themselves.

A strange expression appeared on Ye Fan's face, but he said nothing, observing with a cool detachment, quietly watching their decisions unfold.

Just then, the King of the Purple Cloud Clan calmly stated: "Everyone, stop arguing. All of this information was retrieved from the demon god's sea of consciousness. Before deciding how to divide the territories equally, let us first go and witness things firsthand to see what it's truly like."

"Indeed. We are about to descend upon the Beidou Starfield," another agreed. "Let's first go and explore it ourselves, investigate thoroughly. Seeing is believing. We can make our decisions then."

"One thing must be firmly agreed upon," a King asserted. "We absolutely must not attack each other. Even if the Primordial Ancient Mine, Undying Mountain, Divine Ruins, Fire Qilin Cave, Myriad Dragon's Nest, and all their affiliated lands truly contain immortal medicine, no one shall harbor malicious intentions, conceive ill thoughts, or scheme against others."