"Silly child, I am already overjoyed as long as you are safe from harm!"
Su Xi replied warmly, her eyes crinkling with affection.
Ye Fan's striking features softened into a radiant smile, his gaze blazing with renewed purpose.
They spoke deep into the night—mother and son sharing moments long stolen by cruelty. Watching his mother's gentle expressions, Ye Fan felt an almost unbearable fullness in his chest. She was here. Alive.
Before dawn painted the sky, Ye Fan moved through the forest like a shadow. He drilled every combat form his current Qi Refining Level Four cultivation allowed—fists cutting air, kicks snapping saplings. As anticipated, the divine patterns within his vital energy glowed warm. Each technique flowed flawlessly, unlocking hidden attributes: speed surged, strikes gained crushing weight, evasion became instinct.
He danced between trees until the sun bled crimson over the horizon.
Sweat-drenched and exhilarated, he settled on a mossy boulder. Legs crossed, spine straight, he drew the first wisps of violet solar essence into his core.
Dantian Gate Art thrummed to life. Vital energy cycled—one revolution, two, ten…
Consciousness faded. Only the rhythm of cultivation remained. Energy poured from the world into his meridians, saturating his Dantian. Time dissolved.
As cycles multiplied, the divine patterns flared like captured starlight. Suddenly, eighty percent of his energy veered off—not through channels, but into his flesh. Blood, bone, and sinew drank the power.
Life God Art, First Layer: Body Tempering.
He was a vortex. Spiritual energy scoured his cells, reforging muscle fiber, purging impurity. His physical vessel ascended at a terrifying pace.
Hundred revolutions. Two hundred.
CRACK!
An internal detonation rocked him. Energy surged back to his Dantian—now expanded, dense, blazing.
The barrier shattered.
Qi Refining Level Four!
Ye Fan's eyes snapped open. Raw strength vibrated in his palms. He could feel the ancient oak beside him splintering under a single blow.
He'd accidentally breached Life God Art's First Layer during a state of Epiphany—a cultivator's rarest gift.
First Layer: Expanded meridians. Fivefold cultivation speed. Fivefold energy reserves.
Second Layer: Hyper-enhanced reflexes. Neural acceleration.
Third Layer: Sensory transcendence—near prescience.
Layers Four to Nine: Ignite Stellar Apertures. Unlock divine gifts.
Yet a price emerged: eighty percent of future cultivation energy would now fuel Life God Art, slowing his rank progression. This sudden leap to Level Four? Merely reclaimed energy—scattered when his Dantian shattered—now harnessed.
Realization dawned with the moon. He'd cultivated from dawn till nightfall.
Su Xi rushed from the cabin as he approached, relief washing over her face. She offered reheated Houndbeast meat.
Ravenous, Ye Fan devoured every shred. His tempered body demanded fuel.
After securing Su Xi for the night, he cultivated until sunrise. Then, he climbed a nearby ridge, eyes scanning the serpentine mountain path below.
He hadn't fled here solely to hide.
Today, Emperor Beigong Hanxiao of Chu would die here—ambushed. History demanded it.
An hour later, a figure stumbled into view.
A middle-aged man, clutching a mangled right arm, lurched up the trail. Blood soaked his torn imperial robes. Despite his ruin, an aura of command clung to him—regal bearing fused with scholar's grace, yet underpinned by iron authority.
Masked pursuers closed in behind. Silent. Ruthless. Killing intent thickened the air. Their leader radiated terrifying pressure—Core Formation Level Three!
Ye Fan's gaze sharpened. In his past life, he'd been a Great Ascension sovereign. Now? A mere Qi Refining Level Four ant. Two entire realms separated him from that hunter. Direct confrontation meant death.
Beigong Hanxiao fought like a cornered dragon. Even grievously wounded, his Core Formation Level Five power held the assassins at bay. But the tide was turning. Purple-black blood oozed from a gash on his forearm.
Poison.
Of course. This explained how the Ye Clan overthrew an Emperor. Their downfall in his past life flashed before him—exposed for regicide, crushed by the Emperor's enraged heir, Beigong Qingtian.
That leader's strength—Core Formation Level Three—matched only one man in the Ye Clan: Ye Qingtian. The purple venom? Bloodbane Violet Sky. A toxin as rare as it was lethal.
Ye Fan's mind raced. Decision crystallized.
He launched himself off the cliff.
Voidstep Sword already drawn, sheath gripped tight in his left hand, blade blazing in his right. He fell like a comet—straight toward Ye Qingtian's back.
Below, Beigong Hanxiao blocked a killing blow. Blood sprayed as he counterattacked, staggering Ye Qingtian backward—
—directly into Ye Fan's descent.
Earth Tier High Grade Martial Technique: Instant Sword—Single Character Slash!
The Nine Void Mirage Steps ignited beneath him. Perfect Realm mastery triggered the hidden attribute: Mirror Reflection.
Two Ye Fans materialized mid-air—identical aura, identical stance, identical sword—descending upon Ye Qingtian.
The blade cleared its sheath.
SCREEEEEEEECH—!
The hidden attribute Sword Cry was triggered as the blade was unsheathed. A sharp, piercing sound reverberated through the battlefield, shaking the souls of everyone present. Even Ye Qingtian hesitated for a brief moment, his spirit nearly destabilized.
Ye Fan's speed was unparalleled, and Instant Sword Slash was a skill designed for assassins—a technique that delivered the fastest, most lethal strike the moment the blade was drawn.