Chapter 1224: 准帝

**Chapter 1225: Quasi-Emperor**

The dark universe was dotted with stars, like diamonds embedded in black cloth, shedding specks of light in the cold.

Even knowing the coordinates of the Eternal Main Star, one could not reach it in a single step. Star gates had limitations and were not as efficient as the Five Altars; it required multiple traversals of the universe to finally arrive.

This journey was not lonely; the Saints pursued him, intending to kill him. For the past half month, he had been traveling across the starry sky, encountering several groups of enemies.

He was not in a hurry to enter Eternity. Instead, he traveled across an unfamiliar starfield, leaving clues and leading his enemies on a journey.

Whoosh!

A brilliant golden light streaked across; it was a Saint from the Golden Crow Tribe, piercing through the unfamiliar sky and vanishing into the edge of darkness.

Some individual Saints were extraordinary, surprisingly possessing mysterious secret artifacts that allowed them to traverse the universe with just their physical bodies.

"An artifact refined from a Quasi-Emperor's divine feather can tear through the universe. After pinpointing short-distance spatial coordinates, one can travel. It truly is a divine item!"

For the past few days, Ye Fan had been observing that Golden Crow. He was deeply surprised by the weapon crafted from its golden feathers and speculated it might have been forged from the plumes of the ancient Golden Crow Quasi-Emperor who slew Da Yi.

Roar...

A roar, like that of an ancient primeval dragon, vibrated out through divine sense, reverberating throughout this dark starfield and penetrating to this very spot.

It was a black primeval great beast, crushing a small asteroid as it passed across the sky, accompanied by mountain spirits and a spaceship.

This was a strange combination: mountain spirits from the Nine Heavens Holy Land and tens of thousands of feet tall black great beasts, all sealed since before primeval times. Their companionship with a Holy-level spaceship, a crystallization of technology, was very strange.

"Altar!"

Ye Fan's heart pounded. He saw another group of enemies appear out of nowhere in the dark universe, emerging from a domain gate.

It was a black stone disk, five meters in diameter, with fresh, undried blood flowing on it, making it look terrifying. It carried two people dressed in black, who appeared silently.

Then, the stone disk beneath their feet vanished, absorbed into one person's body and disappearing from sight.

"What kind of stone disk is this? It can cross the universe, and it can move with them!" Ye Fan's eyes glowed with fervor. This was the first time he had seen such a treasure.

The Five Altars of the ancient Great Emperors, the Ancient Sovereign's Divine Platform, and the star gates of the Eternal Main Star – these were the several shortcuts he knew for traversing the universe. He had not expected to find yet another one now.

However, that black stone disk looked ominous no matter how one viewed it. Its patterns were mottled and ancient, covered in fresh blood flowing along ancient marks. It belonged to the Saints from beyond the realms.

"This is the sixth group of people," he thought. "It seems there are quite a few pursuing me. Some are after the Green Bronze Cauldron, while others simply want my life."

Light flickered in Ye Fan's eyes. For the past half month, he had carefully observed each group of enemies, treating them cautiously.

He believed the true main force was still behind and had not yet arrived, or rather, they would only be encountered at the Eternal Main Star. That group of ancient race members had another objective: to campaign to Eternity and seize evolution.

After Ye Fan gained mastery of the cosmic mothership, he had long been able to control it skillfully, constantly circling and traveling an unknown distance through the dark universe.

If these distances were covered by flight alone, even Saints would not be able to complete them in several hundred lifetimes. He passed through ancient lands, hoping to leave some people's eternal homes in the desolate universe.

At the same time, he was also exploring. After mastering this Holy-level mothership, he had never traversed the universe with such exhilaration before. Now, he didn't know how many unfamiliar ancient lands he had crossed.

Suddenly, a terrifying aura emanated from a distant starfield, as if a galaxy had shattered or a surging flood had crashed down.

The Holy-level ancient ship actually began to shake, almost falling, making those on board feel oppressed and uneasy.

What was that? Ye Fan's expression turned solemn. A powerful energy fluctuation came from the unfamiliar starfield ahead, surprisingly penetrating into the cosmic sea.

His mothership possessed the Heaven-Deceiving Array Patterns of Emperor Wushi, preventing it from spontaneously revealing itself or its traces. Concealing its aura, he advanced, exploring.

"Powerful life force," he thought. "There's an ancient life star ahead!"

Ye Fan rushed forward and arrived shortly. It was an unfamiliar ancient starfield, desolate, grand, and ancient... a similar emotional fluctuation also emanated from it.

Like a surging river, like a hurricane sweeping across myriad mountains, it swept everything away, a peerless dominance contained within sorrow!

"It truly is an ancient land of life!"

Ye Fan was certain there must be a colossal star in this starfield, probably no less significant than the life-filled land of the Big Dipper. It was right ahead.

Finally, he reached the center of the fluctuating area. To his astonishment, he saw an incredibly shocking sight.

There was a giant!

He stood in the universe, his height unknown, reaching beyond sight, his head piercing into the depths of the cosmos, his feet treading upon endless netherworld.

Around him, stars swirled and suns and moons rotated. This was an unimaginable celestial body, many times larger than the suns, moons, and stars themselves.

Roar...

He roared with an open mouth, and a whole celestial river actually poured out, leaving people speechless, unable to believe this fact.

This was a living being, yet larger than celestial bodies. Standing in the starfield, he looked down upon the mortal realm and gazed proudly upon all things in the universe.

What was this? Could it be a god? This was too shocking.

His divine sense fluctuation was too vast, actually spreading throughout this unfamiliar starfield, making one want to prostrate in worship. It was infinitely terrifying.

What kind of terrifying existence was this? What realm had it reached?

Wisps of patterns spread out, making him the center of the ancient starfield, truly opening up heaven and earth, with chaotic energy partially obscuring his body.

This appeared to be a man, strong and powerful. As the cosmic mothership ascended, his upper body became visible, his black hair cascading down like a galaxy.

That's right, even stars were nestled within his hair. Nothing was as long and massive as he was!

This left Ye Fan speechless. He had never been so shocked before. What kind of being was this?

He had traversed endless desolate starfields, unable to find even a single life star, yet here he saw such a divine being capable of crushing a starfield.

Ye Fan felt a supreme Great Dao that suffocated him, who was on the verge of becoming a Saint. If not for the Green Cauldron emitting rays of light, the mothership might have cracked apart.

It was too terrifying. No wonder he had sensed the life aura of this unfamiliar starfield from so far away; it was so intense, simply from one being.

Ye Fan piloted the cosmic spaceship, circling far around him. From the side of the colossal divine being, he moved to its front, not daring to disturb it.

He knew that such a mighty existence might have already discovered him. If that were the case, it would be better to be open and observe from a distance with respect.

However, upon reaching the front, from an immense distance, after seeing its face, he was stunned, unable to accept this fact.

The body was robust and powerful, its black hair cascaded like a waterfall, as long as a galaxy, filled with awe. However, its face was covered in bloodstains, its frontal bone completely shattered, white bones gleamed, and fresh blood dripped.

Its eyes were closed, filled with endless sorrow. The entire being stood motionless there.

"Dead... He's actually dead," Ye Fan muttered, staring blankly.

The Sky Platform was shattered, white bones gleamed, and blood stained its face. Its primordial spirit was completely withered; it was impossible for any life to remain.

"But what about that roar from earlier?" Ye Fan wondered, filled with doubt and surprise. "It reached every corner of this starfield; how powerful was that!?"

Could it be that what he saw before him was no longer the true body, that everything was merely a trace of the Dao? Were everything he had heard and seen earlier just the manifestation of past Dao principles?

What a powerful existence this was! Why had it perished here? How could such a thing have happened, with its Dao principles permeating the unfamiliar starfield?

Ye Fan observed carefully and was even more surprised. Above the head of this colossal corpse, there was an ancient star where endless profound meanings evolved. It seemed to have given birth to hundreds of millions of living beings, and many seemed to be grieving.

"Why is this?"

He used the mothership to scan and observed carefully, arriving at a conclusion that even surprised himself: it had once been a colossal ancient life star, but now it was utterly desolate.

How many tens of thousands of years ago had this happened, and now it had become such a desolate land?

A golden light flashed, and a Golden Crow appeared. It had tracked Ye Fan's earlier traces to this place, its body trembling uncontrollably. If it hadn't been holding that golden divine feather, its body would likely have cracked immediately.

"Heavens... what do I see?" the old Golden Crow exclaimed. It was not far from Ye Fan, and its fearful divine sense fluctuations could be sensed.

"A Quasi-Emperor!" it said, trembling.

In ancient times, a supreme being emerged from the Golden Crow Tribe, stepping out of the divine nest, looking down upon all living beings, and revered by that universe.

At that time, he was still very young and had witnessed the unparalleled grandeur of the Golden Crow Quasi-Emperor. The divine feather in its hand had later been bestowed by that Sovereign.

"That's right, he was a Quasi-Emperor," the old Golden Crow shivered, "He wanted to defy heaven, but his attempt to prove the Dao failed, and he perished here." Despite its fear, its eyes glowed intensely. "This is a land of Dao, a supreme treasure!"

From afar, Ye Fan was surprised. This was a Quasi-Emperor, not an ancient god, nor a Great Emperor as he had expected. Yet it displayed such heaven-defying power; it was too shocking.

"This is a manifestation of Dao principles," the Golden Crow continued. "Although his body perished, his Dao has not yet been extinguished, preserving the scene from that day. He failed to prove the Dao, implicating the ancient star where he was born, which, like him, reached the end of its life."

This Golden Crow trembled, very fearful, yet there was also hope in its eyes. This place was too significant for cultivators!

"In ancient times," the old Golden Crow murmured to itself, "I was fortunate enough to witness a scene when our tribe's Sovereign attempted to prove the Dao. He also pierced into the universe, trod upon the netherworld, with suns, moons, and stars surrounding him, opening up heaven and earth. I will never forget it in my life." It was reminiscing greatly.

Ye Fan was shocked. A Quasi-Emperor could be this powerful, this formidable. Failing to prove the Dao, he had implicated an ancient star comparable to the Big Dipper and Ziwei, turning it into a desolate land.

"Too strong!" Ye Fan's heart throbbed. "No wonder Great Emperors have been few and far between since ancient times. Even a Quasi-Emperor is like this; it's truly astonishing!"

He immediately thought of Gai Jiuyou. That old man had once reached such a height, only to fall back down after his vitality withered.

When a Quasi-Emperor goes completely mad, elevating their power to the extreme, such a manifestation of Dao principles would appear, making all living beings feel awe and tremble.

A shiver ran down Ye Fan's spine. What kind of Dao was this person trying to prove? He actually implicated an ancient star, causing the ancient land that bore him to perish.

"No wonder there's such a sorrowful fluctuation," Ye Fan sighed. "Is he regretting it? An entire ancient star, hundreds of millions of living beings buried with him, his nurturing homeland vanished. This is truly an unbearable burden."

At the same time, like the Golden Crow, astonishing beams of light shot from his eyes. He stared at the dying ancient star, wanting to descend upon it, perhaps for heaven-defying gains!