Chapter 1300: 晋阶

The icebergs had almost all melted, leaving numerous skeletons floating in the black Styx. The deep pool had also evaporated, revealing an ancient well below it. A Saint Spirit stood there, unapproachable.

This was the stone man brought from the depths of space by Overlord Dragon Queen Tuolan. He was at the peak of the Saint King realm, ready to enter the Great Saint domain at any moment. His cold gaze swept across the surroundings, but he had yet to make a move.

He was, without a doubt, a supreme powerhouse, unbeatable by anyone below the Great Saint realm. Even a Great Saint might be killed by him, because he was a Saint Spirit!

With such a formidable expert guarding the area, who could approach? His cold eyes gleamed as he surveyed his surroundings. Despite the clash of blades and the spray of blood, and even if someone attacked him up close, he remained motionless, not taking a single step.

The Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon felt a chill. They had initially believed they could break through, disrupt the enemy's plans, and prevent them from opening the seal. However, upon seeing the Saint Spirit, their hopes immediately plummeted.

However, this was not the true reason for Ye Fan's dread. He had witnessed something far more terrifying.

Mist swirled around the ancient well, covering its opening and enveloping it in a dense haze that no one could penetrate.

"Did you hear that? Someone is chanting scriptures," Ye Fan said, frowning.

The Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon looked at each other in surprise, then simultaneously shook their heads, unable to understand what Ye Fan was referring to.

"There's an unimaginable, supremely powerful being here," Ye Fan whispered, feeling as if a great mountain weighed upon his heart.

"Are you certain that's true?" The Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon both felt a chill down their spines.

Ye Fan opened his Source Heaven Eye, elevating his spiritual senses to their peak. He heard waves of chanting and saw a blurry figure seated beside the ancient well, enveloped in mist, actively breaking the seal.

The stone man at the peak of the Saint King realm remained motionless, guarding him.

An inconceivable being was breaking the seal on the ancient well!

A great battle raged in the outer domain, with Daoist Qinghuang entangled with an invincible Saint Spirit. Who would have thought that another invincible and terrifying being stood before the dry well in the God-Devil Burial Ground?

Ye Fan felt his divine senses being scorched. Within the mist, a cluster of immortal fire seemed to pulse in a humanoid shape, seated on a futon, chanting scriptures to break the well.

"A Fire Spirit! This is an incredibly powerful Saint Spirit of the Fire Clan!"

Upon learning the truth, Ye Fan felt a wave of powerlessness. The stone Saint Spirit had appeared, and now a Fire Saint Spirit had also arrived. It was truly despair-inducing.

Immortal materials like Phoenix Blood Red Gold and Immortal Tear Green Gold could transform into Saint Spirits. Divine embryos nurtured within stone could become Saint Spirits. And intelligence born from immortal tribulation flames could also evolve into Saint Spirits.

Born from the most divine and sacred origins, they attained invincible bodies. Upon reaching Great Completion, they could contend with ancient Great Emperors—this was what a Saint Spirit was!

In the past, Ye Fan had seen formed immortal gold in the Undying Mountain, such as flying swallows and a golden ox pulling a cart a foot long, which were suspected to have become Saint Spirits.

In the Eastern Barrens, there was a place called Fire Demon Ridge, where Ye Fan once used thunder tribulation to slay many powerful figures. Legend had it that a Fire Clan Saint Spirit was born in Fire Demon Ridge, only to be slain by Empress Ruthless more than two hundred thousand years ago.

He never imagined that he would personally encounter a Fire Clan Saint Spirit today, one of immense power, which sent shivers down his spine.

"Several Saint Spirits from the depths of this universe have united. Their intentions are vast, and the disaster might be even more severe than we imagine!"

As they approached, they used Heaven-Deceiving Formation Patterns to conceal their presence, otherwise the stone man at the peak of the Saint King realm might have attacked them to avenge his clansmen.

Even so, Ye Fan felt a burning, terrifying gaze sweep over him; the Fire Saint Spirit, who was chanting and dismantling the ancient well, had discovered him!

This ancient well was certainly going to be opened. If humanity had only one Dao Protector here, there would be no way to stop it, and all humans in this star domain would be annihilated.

This Fire Clan Saint Spirit was simply too powerful; no one could stop him. A single roar could collapse a star domain, and this ancient path might be destined for destruction.

Even though they were unwilling, the Dragon Horse and Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon dared not even breathe heavily. Before such a Saint Spirit ancestor, even if they became Saints, they would be flicked to death with a single finger.

Ye Fan silently retreated, saying, "To the outer domain!"

At this moment, the only one who could influence the battle was old Daoist Qinghuang. He was just a step away from entering the Quasi-Emperor realm and was known as humanity's Dao Protector in this star domain.

No one else could solve the problem, not even the Emissary of Humanity's Tenth City.

"Kill them all..."

In Great Moon Slope, battle cries echoed ceaselessly. The war continued, blood flowed like rivers, and corpses covered the fields. All the powerful figures had fought until their eyes were bloodshot.

"Puff," "Puff"...

Ye Fan struck down several alien powerhouses with single punches, each exploding into bloody messes that stained his golden fists before turning to ash.

"Clang," "Clang," "Clang"...

A chorus of metallic reverberations filled the air as Ye Fan's Golden Divine Treasure appeared behind him. Dao bells, divine swords, heavenly pagodas, Heaven-Covering Umbrellas, and hundreds of other golden weapons gleamed brightly, soaring out simultaneously.

This was an indiscriminate attack, immediately followed by widespread screams. Wherever he went, the ground was littered with fallen bodies; no one could stop him.

Ye Fan unleashed a massacre on the battlefield, instantly creating a vacuum around him. He was unstoppable!

The armies from the outer domain, humanity, and even the ancient beasts were all terrified, looking towards him. In this battle, he had bathed in blood, forging a fearsome reputation.

In the distance, even the Emissary felt a jolt of alarm, secretly thinking that Ye Fan was indeed the physique that some old cultivators on the ancient path had been eagerly anticipating.

Meanwhile, Saint Spirit Mo Pu, who was fighting the Emissary, had eyes as cold as an ice cellar. He roared, dispatching experts to encircle and kill Ye Fan.

"It's you again! Where do you think you're going?" Saint Spirit Wu Gu, from the outskirts of Great Moon Slope, arrived and relentlessly pursued them.

Ye Fan remained fearless, charging towards the sky. Swathes of bodies fell downwards, one after another, as if the end of the world had arrived.

"What can we do in the outer domain?" the Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon asked.

"To deliver a cauldron," Ye Fan replied. He had no choice. At this critical moment, perhaps only with the power of the Green Bronze Cauldron could they turn the tide, otherwise this star domain would be shattered.

The Dragon Horse's heart skipped a beat. "Doing this will put you in extreme danger on the Ancient Starry Road. You might become a target for all living beings, including humanity."

"It's not that bad. I trust Daoist Qinghuang. At this critical juncture, if I don't deliver it, I'll feel guilty," Ye Fan said.

"Everyone, attack together and hunt this person down!" On the ground, Saint Spirit Mo Pu issued a chilling command. He recognized Ye Fan's unusual bloodline, knowing that once he matured, he would surely become an epoch-making figure among humanity.

From the ground, various armies rose up, overwhelming and dense like locusts, soaring towards the high heavens to kill Ye Fan.

Among this group, the stone man Wu Gu led the charge, his divine might immense, tearing apart the very firmament.

This sight made the Dragon Horse and the Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon's scalps tingle: Saints holding pagodas, giants nocking arrows... an endless army swarmed in for the kill.

A vacuum instantly appeared around Great Moon Slope as countless armies poured out, all intent on killing Ye Fan and his companions. Wu Gu was at the vanguard.

"Humanity is finished! They will be erased from this star-field!"

"How can their Dao Protector contend with a Saint Spirit? He will soon fall!"

Such cries were common on the battlefield. Even humanity itself harbored hidden worries; although a human who reached the Great Saint realm was certainly astonishing and extraordinary, "Saint Spirit" was an invincible title, far more terrifying.

Ye Fan fought his way from this ancient star into the outer domain. By the end, he himself didn't know how many powerful figures he had slain. His battle-worn clothes were tattered and soaked in blood.

At first, the Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon was quite excited, devouring a large quantity of blood-food. The flesh and blood of more powerful cultivators were a great tonic for it. But eventually, the sight of a corpse made it want to vomit, and it could no longer consume them.

The Dragon Horse was the same; it felt like vomiting even at the sight of living beings.

In the previous battle, they had transformed into two fierce beasts, immediately consuming all the slain cultivators as blood-food.

"Damn it, you rotten stone, get lost! I want to vomit just looking at you. Why are you still chasing us?"

The two fierce beasts cursed vehemently, spitting until their gall bladders felt empty. In this battle, for reasons related to their cultivation techniques, they had to consume the blood-food even when they didn't want to, and now they had reached their limit.

The stone man Wu Gu was indeed very powerful. Leading his army, he relentlessly besieged Ye Fan and his companions, fighting them from the ground to the sky.

He was an invincible powerhouse in the Saint realm, capable of contending with Ye Fan, an unbeatable king who could not be defeated in a single battle.

Wu Gu was actually quite frustrated. He was already close to the Saint King realm, yet he was being held at bay by someone of a lower cultivation level. For the invincible Saint Spirit lineage, this was a disgrace.

This was because they had always been known for slaying enemies of higher ranks, and being invincible among their peers. Now, the situation was reversed.

"If I hadn't been impacted near the ancient well, with my origin damaged by that old Daoist's chanting, I would have already slain all of you!" Wu Gu said coldly, pursuing them relentlessly in the outer domain.

"Where did Daoist Qinghuang and that Saint Spirit fight to?" The Dragon Horse searched the vast star-field, but the area around the ancient life star was eerily quiet, and they saw nothing.

It was worrying that the two supreme powerhouses had disappeared. After all, the might of Saint Spirits was legendary, built upon a history of glorious combat achievements.

"Let's break through first!" Ye Fan said.

His realm was on the verge of a breakthrough. Having just unleashed a massive amount of death energy, the Taiji Immortal Diagram within his Sea of Wheels had lost its balance and could no longer be maintained.

"How unlucky! Why is everything happening at once?" the Dragon Horse cursed. They had consumed too much blood-food, and the two fierce beasts had vomited until their bile was thin.

Nevertheless, the benefits they gained were clearly immense. The flesh and blood of Saints contained profound Dao cultivation and principles of order, which were incredibly wondrous and could aid their breakthroughs.

"Boom!"

"Go!"

Ye Fan conjured a formation platform, opening a domain gate, and teleported the Dragon Horse and Nine-Tailed Alligator Dragon to the distant depths of the starry sky.

At this moment, he felt a void within him as his life force was drained away. However, the field created in his Sea of Wheels did not shrink. One after another, divine gates opened within his body, automatically releasing vital energy to replenish his sacred source.

"Kill him!"

The stone man Wu Gu roared, leading his followers in a charge. Ye Fan unleashed his last layer of death energy, immediately causing many to scream in agony and die.

Boom!

At the same time, the Heavenly Tribulation descended. This area transformed into a sea of lightning, becoming a world-shaking catastrophe as endless bolts of lightning struck down.

"Ah..."

Tragic screams rose one after another. In the cosmic starry sky, lightning flashed and thunder roared. This place became a land of tribulation, and many alien creatures were turned into charcoal.

"Come and face your doom!" It must be said that the stone man Wu Gu was incredibly powerful; he could traverse the lightning tribulation, which highlighted the terror of his race.

He trembled with rage, wanting to fight Ye Fan to the death and eliminate him. Unfortunately, he was ultimately blocked by the lightning tribulation. The chaotic sea at its core was insurmountable for him, even as a Saint Spirit!

This was an unimaginable disaster. The army that had pursued them to this point collapsed; over ninety percent of its forces were turned to ash in the Heavenly Tribulation, almost completely wiped out.

When the Heavenly Tribulation ceased, two cold bolts of lightning shot out from the chaotic mist, more piercing and formidable than any peerless heavenly sword, fixing their gaze on Wu Gu, the sole survivor.