Returning to Hua Hai City, the first thing Ye Fan did was to set up defenses on Earth to protect the women around him.

Now knowing that Elder Yuan is collaborating with the fiend and that Fa Ying, the woman who has always wanted him dead, is behind them, he must be on the highest alert.

From what is currently known, the fiend's cultivation is terrifyingly strong, and the only thing he can rely on is the Tongling Mirror, as it has a good reflective effect against Demonic Qi, preventing the dark mist from forming a hollow illusion around him. He only needs to deal with the fiend's origin power.

The primary target of the fiend is him; only by killing him can the fiend get to the women around him, so Sang Yuan need only protect himself.

"Young Master, a message from the Tianxuan Sect has arrived, saying that Tai Ning is ready in their great hall, and you can visit the Tianxuan Sect's headquarters to retrieve it at any time," reported Sang Yuan.

"Mmm." Ye Fan nodded, "There is no rush regarding Tai Ning. Besides, I can't unlock Tai Ning's restriction, and I don't know who Tai Ning's true master is. Keeping it with me might not be of much use."

Sang Yuan said, "But Tai Ning is a supreme Immortal Artifact left from ancient times; with such a powerful weapon, you would have more assurance in battles against the demon cultivators."

Ye Fan shook his head with a wry smile. He currently couldn't even unlock Tai Ning's restriction, so how could he talk about using Tai Ning as a powerful weapon?

Upon returning to Hua Hai City, they had Han Qing'er prepare accommodations, consisting of three connected villas, each with a garden and swimming pool. One was occupied by Sun Ning and Han Qing'er, as Ye Fan did not want Han Qing'er to stay in his usual villa; another was for himself; and the last one housed Zhuo Junwu, who was still in a coma.

Sang Yuan spent several days fully integrating the Deyuan Sect's power, marking a phase victory. Ye Fan knew his cultivation was insufficient to contend with the fiend. Even though he was nominally the Alliance Hierarch of the seven great sects, the sects were still warring internally, especially Deyuan Sect, Tianxuan Sect, and Huangji Sect, which still harbored malicious intents.

"Young Master, since you cannot personally visit the Tianxuan Sect's headquarters, should we let Nunu send someone to retrieve Tai Ning for you?" It seemed Sang Yuan was particularly concerned about Ye Fan possessing Tai Ning, yet Ye Fan never asked her much about Tai Ning, leading him to suspect Sang Yuan might be hiding something.

"I don't want to mention Tai Ning again. At the right moment, I will personally visit the Tianxuan Sect's mountain gate, but until then, you must be vigilant against anyone slipping into the water to come to Earth. In the eyes of those cultivators, Earth is just a fragile and vulnerable place. If I cannot ensure Earth's peace, I shouldn't be involved in the affairs of the seven great sects."

As an Earthling, Ye Fan had a strong sense of responsibility regarding Earth's cultural and ecological environment. Unknowingly, he considered himself a Guardian of Earth.

Returning to Hua Hai City and seeing the streets still peaceful, Ye Fan felt it was his responsibility to protect the city's tranquility. If the Pan Gu secret realm were eventually eroded by Heaven's calamity, Earth could not achieve peace. Although integrating the seven great sects seemed like a conquest ambition, it was actually a way for him to maintain a calm life for himself and his loved ones in the future.

...

...

After returning to Hua Hai City, Ye Fan spoke with Li Zhaojun about the matter of Tai Ning recognizing its master. Ye Fan leaned towards the belief that Li Zhaojun was Tai Ning's true master, as the form of the Chosen One once appeared on the prophecy jade, which resembled Li Zhaojun.

However, the Tianxuan Sect and some other forces began to question the authenticity of the prophecy jade, saying it was a conspiracy by the Huangji Sect's sect master, Huang Ze, but all parties could not deny Tai Ning's existence, and the power within the prophecy jade was actually passed down from ancient times. Ye Fan felt that Huang Ze's cultivation level was not enough to create such a powerful artifact as the prophecy jade.

Ye Fan did not fully understand Tai Ning and ancient legends, and Sang Yuan mentioned she only went to the Pan Gu secret realm in its latter half over tens of thousands of years, missing its ancient and Middle Ages. But Ye Fan had someone he could ask — Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman, Lan Jing's mother. Back then, the Pan Gu secret realm was created by the Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman and nine other ancient great beings. They could not have been ignorant of Heaven's calamity; otherwise, what was the meaning in creating the Pan Gu secret realm?

Facing Ye Fan's question, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman had a somewhat dazed expression and said, "Young man, you should have seen it too. The ancient cultivators, aside from me being already a waste, any one of them coming out, even my believers, are people with ascension or higher cultivation levels. The difference between you and them is too great. Actually, the Pan Gu secret realm was born to resist Heaven's calamity, so that more Immortals can emerge in the three realms, who can then together resist Heaven's calamity. The seven great sects within the secret realm are insignificant in the presence of Immortals."

Ye Fan nodded. In the eyes of ancient great beings, only those with Immortal or higher cultivation levels are qualified to resist Heaven's calamity. As for the forces within the Pan Gu secret realm, including the seven great sects and cultivators like Ye Fan, they hardly amount to anything significant. Resisting Heaven's calamity is like a football match, with the ancient great beings as the players on the field. Since they lack the numbers, they created the secret realm to cultivate Immortals; those cultivated Immortals would be the players and substitutes on the field, while the sect cultivators are at most junior training members, entering a major competition with junior members would be seeking abuse.

"Aunt, what secret lies behind the six crystals you mentioned?" Ye Fan asked.

The Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman still shook her head and said, "Young man, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but there are many matters you need to discover yourself. In the case of resisting Heaven's calamity, I have already lost my worth. Even my daughter, Lan Jing, doesn't have that capability, but those six crystals are very powerful; you just need to remember that. If you can make use of the six crystals, then you might be the next person to cultivate into an Immortal. As for whether you are the Chosen One or someone else, I don't know. Maybe you should ask him... Forget I said anything."

The Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman initially wanted to remind Ye Fan about someone who seemed well-versed in the secrets of the secret realm and the Chosen One.

Since he was the Chosen One, Ye Fan believed that the true "heaven" might be represented by the ten ancient great beings, or perhaps the ancient great beings merely created demanding conditions. In the future, among tens of generations or thousands of generations of ordinary folk, whoever met these stringent conditions would be the Chosen One, with all cultivation resources tilted toward that person.

Now it seemed that he and Li Zhaojun, with their unmatched talent, qualifications, and Spirit Roots among millions, and having joined the most mysterious Li Fire Sect within the secret realm, which had close ties with the final Heaven's calamity, had a great opportunity to be the Chosen Ones.

Ye Fan sighed, "It seems I need my master to wake up; there are some matters I need to ask him about. The Li Fire Sect's legacy through generations must be guarding a secret, and that is why the Deyuan Sect is tormenting and interrogating him."

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