But in the midst of the Heavenly Tribulation’s baptism, Ye Fan suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body becoming extremely weak. "I was still one step short in the end!" he said resentfully. Just as his divinity was on the verge of transforming, he distinctly felt the Power of Heaven obstructing him. Because of this, he failed. He had truly failed this time.

"Is it really impossible to achieve godhood in the Secular World?" he roared in frustration. He had already broken through and was only a single baptism away from becoming the supreme War God. Yet, at this final step, he was blocked by the Heavenly Dao. "I don’t believe it! I will succeed!" Ye Fan roared, starting the baptism anew in defiance of the heavens.

When the immense pressure of the Great Dao descended, Ye Fan coughed up another mouthful of blood with a sigh. He was deeply hurt; he had thought he could do it, but in the end, he was still a step too weak. After countless attempts that left his divinity on the verge of cracking, he finally gave up. He now understood that while a path to godhood existed in this world, it had been sealed. To break through, one had to ascend to the Upper Divine Domain. He spent several days healing, but the Heavenly Dao constantly suppressed him, as it maintained the balance of this world. He was no exception. He had two choices: leave this world to achieve godhood, or remain and forever lose the chance. Though reluctant, he accepted this reality. If not for the Heavenly Dao’s suppression, the Divine Race would have long ago conquered this world. This place had its pros and cons; the key was how one dealt with them.

But then, Ye Fan decided on another bold attempt—one that had never been tried before. No one, not even a god, dared to jest with the heavens, but he did, a testament to his tremendous courage. He decided to use the Heavenly Dao itself to temper his physical body and divinity. It was a completely insane decision that only Ye Fan would dare to attempt. The next day, he began. He was suppressed by the Heavenly Dao countless times, but he endured every single one, even as his body became broken and battered. Though his divinity showed signs of instability, he stood firm. He tempered himself in this manner for a full forty-nine days.

After forty-nine days, not even the Heavenly Dao could harm his physical body or divinity. Although he hadn’t broken through, Ye Fan was satisfied. He had finally achieved his goal. His physical body had reached an unprecedented level of strength, breaking through even though his cultivation realm had not. After being tempered by the Power of Heaven, his body had become so resilient that it could clash with Spiritual Artifacts unharmed. This was a constitution rarely seen since ancient times; at his current realm, at least, no one else possessed it. As his cultivation advanced, Ye Fan came to understand that the physical body was equally important. In this world, Martial Artists who cultivated their bodies were less than a tenth as numerous as those who cultivated their realms, but in the distant primordial era, many had achieved the Ancestor Realm through physical prowess alone. As for his divinity, Ye Fan knew that after being tempered by the Heavenly Dao, it had become even more luminous. Once his baptism succeeded, his divinity would surely transform into its strongest possible state. He was very pleased with this outcome.

Knowing now that there was truly no longer an opportunity to achieve godhood in this world, Ye Fan traveled to the tomb of the Ancestor of Tianyuan, a place connected to the Divine Domain. He knew this was the only gateway. Finally, in the center of the tomb, he saw a massive bead resting atop an Eight Diagram. It appeared to be made of stone. As Ye Fan reached out to touch it, the outer layer of stone immediately fell away, revealing a bead that flew up before his eyes, flashing with a dazzling light. The bead ascended high into the air and emitted a beam that shot toward the heavens. Just as Ye Fan reached out to touch the beam, he felt an irresistible pulling force and was instantly sucked inside.

He vanished on the spot. After his disappearance, the bead fell silently to the ground, once again enveloped in heavy stone debris. Everything returned to how it was, as if no one had ever been there. Ye Fan, however, was the most baffled. A mountain range separated the Divine Domain from the Secular World, and he had assumed the light would transport him across it. He never expected it to teleport him straight up into the sky. It was a horrifying turn of events, especially since he was caught completely off guard.

Within the light, his vision went black. The next thing he knew, he was ejected from the beam and found himself falling from the sky.

"Damn it!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

He managed to force his eyes open, only to see that the beam of light was gone, its purpose apparently fulfilled. As for Ye Fan, he was in a miserable state, plummeting rapidly. He tried to right himself and resist the fall but found he couldn’t move. Despair washed over him; it was a deeply frustrating and helpless situation, completely beyond his control.

Amid a bed of red leaves, a man lying spread-eagled struggled to his feet. It was Ye Fan. He hurriedly brushed the leaves from his hair. Good thing nobody saw that, or it would’ve been humiliating! But the next moment, he froze. A dozen or so people had surrounded him and were staring with curious eyes. The sight made Ye Fan want to crawl into a hole.

"Who are you?" Ye Fan asked as he sized up the group. Their strength was impressive. Nine of them are in the Reincarnation Realm! That’s enough power to rival a Spirit Clan Commander. With so many powerful experts, this has to be the Divine Domain. The Secular World could never gather this many masters in one place. It seems the Divine Domain is far stronger than I imagined.

One of the men asked, "And who are you? Why did you just fall out of the sky?"

Ye Fan was exasperated. "I must clarify something. I didn’t ’fall.’ I made a smooth landing and was just being funny... and then I accidentally slipped!"

"We don’t believe you."

"Fine, don’t believe me then!" Ye Fan retorted, growing angry. He didn’t care if they believed him or not and turned to leave, but the group blocked his path.

The brawny man in the lead spoke, "You trespassed into the Young Miss’s Hunting Garden. We suspect you have ulterior motives, so you’ll have to come with us."

"And if I refuse?" Ye Fan shot back. I can’t believe I’m getting into a fight the moment I arrived in the Divine Domain. So much for keeping a low profile. It seemed a fight was inevitable.

"If you refuse, then don’t blame us for getting rough!" the man declared, drawing his longsword. The others also moved in, tightening their circle around Ye Fan.