This grand Underground Palace was extremely quiet. Walking alone in this vast space, Ye Fan found it undeniably frightening. He grasped the Yuanhong Sword as he moved forward.

Suddenly, a building behind him collapsed, startling him. Many structures had given way due to their ancient age, and it just so happened that he was there when one fell. "Stay calm, stay calm!" Ye Fan muttered, comforting himself.

He knew the mining area was at the end of the Underground Palace, and he might find the answers he was looking for there. For that reason, he quickened his pace. However, at that moment, the ground behind him shook violently, and swathes of buildings crumbled. He swiftly leaped away, narrowly avoiding being crushed.

Ye Fan quickly steadied himself, only to feel a blinding light and scorching heat approaching, a heat so intense it felt like it was draining the moisture from his body.

He looked up to see a colossal Fire Demon. The creature had been lurking beneath the Underground Palace, and Ye Fan was sure his earlier arrival hadn’t disturbed it. It was the collapse of that building that had awakened this powerful demon.

The Fire Demon swatted a palm down at Ye Fan.

"Not good!"

Ye Fan quickly dodged back, jumping far away as the spot where he had stood became engulfed in lava.

The Fire Demon was terrifyingly powerful, giving even Ye Fan a headache. It emanated an aura far beyond his ability to contend with. Consequently, Ye Fan made a swift escape, hiding within a dilapidated building and masking his entire aura.

The Fire Demon roared and charged forth, roaming through the ruined city, but it was unable to locate Ye Fan’s presence. It rampaged through the buildings, turning everything it passed into a sea of flames.

Ye Fan’s heart pounded with fear. After a long while, the area quieted down. He carefully inspected his surroundings, and upon seeing no trace of the Fire Demon, he finally allowed himself a slight sigh of relief.

Based on the Fire Demon’s strength alone, Ye Fan believed that he would be unable to contend with it unless he underwent one or two major cultivation breakthroughs. Such was its power.

He hastened forward again. He was now less than five kilometers from crossing the city, so he naturally sped up.

But the ground behind him shook once more.

"Damn it! Are you going to chase me to the ends of the earth?"

Ye Fan had not expected the Fire Demon to make another move. It quickly pursued him. The creature didn’t walk; instead, the flames at its feet rolled forward at a ferocious pace. The speed of this rolling inferno was something even Ye Fan couldn’t hope to match.

Just as he was about to exit the city, the Fire Demon swung a whip of molten lava, attempting to strike him down. Fortunately, the Yuanhong Sword blocked the lash, preventing it from landing on his body.

The Fire Demon continued the chase, but as Ye Fan leaped out of the city, it stopped, furiously watching and roaring at him.

Ye Fan turned around to see that the Fire Demon had not followed. He breathed a sigh of relief, suspecting there was a catch. Either there was some kind of ward in the Underground Palace preventing the Fire Demon from leaving the city, or there was something ahead that it feared—something that even the mighty Ancient Fire Demon dared not provoke.

Between the two possibilities, Ye Fan hoped it was the first.

Ahead, he walked briskly and finally arrived at the mining site. A large-scale collapse had occurred there, burying all the mine shafts.

He saw huge chunks of ore with fractured interiors, but they contained no Immortal Mine. He did, however, discover a storeroom.

Although the storeroom was long abandoned, he spotted vast quantities of Immortal Mine. He couldn’t tell if there were tens of thousands of tons, but if he had to describe it, the material was piled up like a mountain.

A literal mountain of it. Ye Fan was filled with envy. He didn’t expect the Outer Domain Main God to be so wealthy, and yet, despite such riches, the god was still keen on continuing to mine.

Ye Fan reflected that he had never seen someone so greedy. Greed was one thing, but this was a reckless obsession. Judging by the reserves here, they probably exceeded the combined total of all other Main Gods in the Divine Domain.

Faced with such wealth, even Ye Fan was tempted. However, he knew that no matter how tempted he was, he couldn’t take everything with him. If he did, he would probably invoke the wrath of the monster from the Immortal Mine. After all, that creature was the being that had once killed the Outer Domain Main God!

Of course, the material piled up like a mountain was just ordinary Immortal Mine, but it was still worth a fortune. He casually pried open a crate.

"Fire Crystal Ore!"

Ye Fan was shocked. Fire Crystal Ore was also considered a rare type of Immortal Mine in the Divine Domain. If the terrain here weren’t so uniquely dangerous, Ye Fan would have been shouting that he’d struck it rich. There were nearly ten thousand tons of Fire Crystal Ore here.

He moved to another pile and opened a crate, finding it filled with Immortal Stone. Immortal Stone came from one of the rarest veins in the Divine Domain. He knew very well that the Jingnan Divine General had successfully bribed that powerful personage with just a single piece. One could imagine how precious Immortal Stones were. Although the quantity here wasn’t vast, a quick glance suggested there were over ten tons—an exceedingly frightening amount.

Ye Fan liked to think of himself as a noble man—though that was just his own opinion—but even he had never seen so many divine items and so much Immortal Mine. Even his noble self was becoming greedy.

He continued to pry open the surrounding crates, finding materials for crafting Spiritual Artifacts and even materials for forging Godhood. In short, it had everything imaginable. It was truly incredible, and Ye Fan was dizzy with amazement.

In his opinion, claiming the Outer Domain Main God’s hoard of Immortal Mine was a mere ten times the combined total of all other Main Gods in the Divine Domain would be an insult to the Outer Domain Main God.

The Outer Domain Main God was wealthy to such a degree, Ye Fan marveled inwardly. But what good was it? All this Immortal Mine had become inert.

If he hadn’t arrived here, perhaps these items would have remained buried forever. Of course, though Ye Fan was very tempted by these things, they were not what he desired most. His true goal was the Vast Divine Steel. In fact, he didn’t even know if there was any here.

After all, the value of Vast Divine Steel far surpassed that of all these other materials combined. It was a rarity in the Divine Domain, seen only once in ten thousand years.

As Ye Fan frantically searched for the Vast Divine Steel, he kept feeling that someone was watching him from behind. He spun around to look but found no one there. Believing it was just an illusion, he continued his frenzied search.

However, he suddenly spun around again. Still, no one. How strange. Am I just being paranoid? Ye Fan wondered. He clearly felt someone spying on him—the sensation made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up—yet there was nobody there. This time, however, he raised his guard. Vigilance was indispensable.

Just then, Ye Fan spun around again, slashing down with his sword.

A cloud of demonic fog instantly blocked his path.

Ye Fan asked, "Who are you?"