"Did you notice his transformation?" the majestic man spoke. "His aura belongs neither to our Sovereign God camp nor to the Dark God camp."

"Is he a mortal?" one of them asked immediately.

The majestic man replied, "I cannot be sure. The Divine Domain is vast, and some people are adept at disguising themselves. Perhaps he is just particularly skilled at concealing his aura. The likelihood of him being a mortal is quite small, for the mortal world has long since declined. Since the death of the Ancestor of Tianyuan, it has become nothing more than a place where lower-level Martial Artists struggle to hold on. Sooner or later, they will all be enslaved. It is only a matter of time."

The others nodded in agreement.

"I’m very interested in this lad," the leader continued. "After he slays the Beast King, we’ll go down and recruit him. If he submits, we can bring him back to the Sect."

"And if he disagrees?" the other three asked.

"If the boy disagrees, then we kill him," he answered. "If he’s allowed to live and grow stronger, he’ll become a tremendous nuisance."

"Understood!" the three replied, nodding repeatedly.

They looked down below, seeing that Ye Fan was about to make his move on the Beast King.

With unstoppable momentum, Ye Fan charged forth, heading straight for the mutant lion—the Beast King. The lion roared furiously, directing the beast tide to try and halt his advance. It was shaping up to be a battle of pure slaughter.

Ye Fan did not use Spiritual Power, relying solely on his physical strength. With such terrifying corporeal might, he was in his element amidst the slaughter. A single punch from him could pierce through numerous mutant Demon Beasts. Even a fortress-like barrier formed by the horde could not stop him. It was a perfect display of deadly artistry. He orchestrated the slaughter masterfully.

With a final, ferocious assault, Ye Fan shattered the last barrier of the beast tide. Now that it was broken, he was not far from the mutant lion.

The four spectators above watched intently, stunned by Ye Fan’s monstrous strength.

The mutant lion let out a terrifying shriek.

"ROAR!"

Its roar thundered across the sky, nearly petrifying the four onlookers. They had seen terrifying things before, but nothing this intense.

The mutant lion charged toward Ye Fan at incredible speed. It opened its gaping, bloody maw—a sight that instilled bone-chilling terror and despair—and lunged forward to bite him.

"Well met!" Ye Fan bellowed.

He threw a punch that slammed into the mutant lion’s body, narrowly avoiding its bloody maw and sending the beast flying backward, scattering the surrounding tide of beasts.

But it was not over. The mutant lion quickly got back to its feet and lunged at Ye Fan again, clearly having no intention of letting him go.

Ye Fan struck once more, this time leaping onto the mutant lion’s back. He rained down blows with his iron-ball-sized fists, hammering one onto the beast’s head. The lion let out a colossal roar. The sound was so powerful it might have torn anyone else apart; only Ye Fan could withstand it.

Driven into a frenzy, the mutant lion tried desperately to shake Ye Fan off, but his positioning was flawless, giving it no opportunity.

Another punch thundered down, causing the mutant lion to bleed from all seven orifices as it nearly collapsed. In its frenzied escape, it slammed Ye Fan against the mountainside. Pain lanced through him, but the beast did not stop. It ignored his pounding blows as it charged into a thick fog ahead, and Ye Fan could not understand why.

A moment later, he understood: looming within the dense fog was a massive abyss. The mutant lion intended to drag him down with it. Seeing this, Ye Fan panicked for an instant before his composure returned.

He gathered immense power into his fist and punched down. The mutant lion tumbled to the ground, its skull pierced clean through, and its life force quietly extinguished.

Ye Fan immediately pushed the lion’s massive body aside. When he saw what lay before him, he sucked in a sharp breath. He was less than ten feet from the edge of the dark abyss. Had he been half a second later, he would have plunged into the darkness along with the beast.

He wiped the blood from his body—not his own, but that of the beasts from the tide—and prepared to leave the canyon.

"Perfect!" Even Ye Fan could not help but exclaim in admiration. He had now mastered the Devil Clan Body Refining Technique to perfection. This meant his physical strength had already surpassed the limits of his current cultivation realm. Furthermore, because he had laid such a profound foundation, his physical power would continue to outpace his cultivation realm as it rose. Ye Fan was deeply satisfied.

The beast tide had collapsed. Without their king to lead them, the creatures began to scatter in disarray.

As Ye Fan reached the mouth of the canyon, he saw four people waiting for him. He observed them closely. Each carried a sword. The man in the lead had a vacant gaze, but he was certainly no fool. Ye Fan sensed a level of strength from him akin to Mu Chen Dong’s—truly formidable. Beside him was a striking woman, and two men stood respectfully behind them. Ye Fan could instantly deduce their hierarchy.

In the Divine Domain, swordsmen were numerous, making up about a third of all cultivators. Even so, he could tell these four hailed from the Spirit Taming Sect—a sect where swordsmanship was dominant. The Spirit Taming Sect held significant clout, as their patron, the Main God of Spirit, was one of the Sovereign God’s nine great titans and a renowned powerhouse in the Divine Domain.

However, Ye Fan was indifferent to the Sovereign God’s faction. In fact, aside from the Demon Clan, he was indifferent to everyone in the Divine Domain, whether they belonged to the Sovereign God’s faction or the Dark God’s.

The leader addressed Ye Fan calmly, "Your physical strength is considerable."

"Thanks for the compliment," Ye Fan replied.

"I am Yan Xun, the Young Sect Master of the Spirit Taming Sect," the man introduced himself. "I invite you to become a member of our sect."

"Not interested," Ye Fan rejected him outright. If he had been interested in joining a power, he would have done so long ago, and it would not have been the Spirit Taming Sect. His refusal was immediate.

Remarkably, Yan Xun’s expression remained placid. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

It was the striking woman beside him who spoke up. "You dare to refuse my Senior Brother’s invitation? Honestly, you aren’t even worthy of being his dog. A dog needs to learn its place! I hope you understand."

The words were harsh, a blatant insult. Yet Ye Fan remained impassive, curious to see what these people were planning.

"Hahaha, he really is a dog, not even a flicker of an expression," the two subordinates immediately sneered at Ye Fan. "But don’t get your hopes up; this isn’t over yet!"

Ye Fan’s killing intent flared. Sensing it, Yan Xun spoke again. "You are a talented man. Joining the Spirit Taming Sect would be a wise choice. Who knows, I might even train you to become my right-hand man in the future."

"And what if I don’t join?" Ye Fan asked with a cold smile.

"If you do not join," Yan Xun replied, "then I will have no choice but to kill you."