Chapter 2756: Unease

Buzz!

The starry sky buzzed once more, and the vast Xian Clan realm gradually faded into the mist. Vaguely, one could see peaks rising with figures standing atop them, all bowing to Jiang Taixu. In terms of seniority, Jiang Taixu ranked above Xian Yu Great Emperor, making him one of the Xian Clan's ancient ancestors.

Yet, they could only gaze at him from afar.

"Is that the true Xian Clan?" Bai Zhi murmured softly, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly.

"It's even more powerful than I imagined!" Ming Jue took a deep breath.

He glanced at Ye Chen, his expression complex.

In the past, due to the Xian Clan divine child, he had grievances with the Xian Clan. Back in that era, the ancient eight clans—including the divine clan, demon clan, and demon clan—were all wiped out by the nine emperors of Da Chu, yet the Xian Clan never appeared. Now, it seemed they were not absent but were shouldering some ancient mission.

He was certain that if the Xian Clan had emerged back then, the nine emperors of Da Chu might not have succeeded in exterminating them.

A force on par with Wu Lei City, the Xian Clan's foundations were likely no weaker than Wu Lei City's, and most importantly, they were bolstered by the power of the ancient Heavenly Court. The Xian Clan realm probably housed more than just Xian Clan members.

As the Xian Clan realm dissipated, Jiang Taixu stood in the starry sky, motionless for a long time.

"Senior, with your vast knowledge, are there still hidden in the heavens a supreme expert, not inferior to a half-step great accomplishment Saint Body?" Bai Zhi asked, breaking Jiang Taixu's train of thought.

"Why do you ask that?" Jiang Taixu replied quietly.

"The Heavenly Venerable and the Chaos Body teamed up in a two-against-one fight, yet they were injured," Ming Jue said.

At these words, even Jiang Taixu's composure faltered, and he furrowed his brow.

He had seen the Asura Heavenly Venerable before and knew the formidable power of the Chaos Body. If those two joined forces, even Ye Chen would be severely wounded. Who under the Emperor could rival them, only to be hurt by one person?

After a long while, Jiang Taixu shook his head lightly. The heavens hid many hidden dragons and crouching tigers; perhaps such a powerful being truly existed, but he had never heard of it. If it did exist, that would be truly heaven-defying.

"Thank you, senior."

Ye Chen cupped his hands in salute, then summoned the Emperor Dao domain gate and left with Ming Jue and the others.

Jiang Taixu took a deep breath and turned to disappear.

In the domain gate passage, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, with gloom overshadowing the three's moods.

Ming Jue and Bai Zhi were relatively composed, but Ye Chen remained silent throughout, his brows furrowed and his eyes flickering with uncertainty. The stronger his power grew, the more terrifying he found this world, for it allowed him to touch upon more unknown entities. Just like this time, the mysterious expert had emerged with an air of strangeness.

"They won't have been killed, will they?" Ming Jue asked, hands clasped behind his back.

Bai Zhi said nothing, and neither did Ye Chen. They had no answer to that question. Until the Chaos Body and the Heavenly Venerable returned, anything was possible, and neither scenario was a good omen.

Midway, Ye Chen exited the domain gate and created numerous clones, sending them in all directions. They flew into ancient stars and entered ancient cities, seeking more offerings to revive Bei Sheng.

To his relief, many ancient stars already had statues of Mu Xue erected, and even at night, people were making offerings. This warmed his heart—it was not in vain that he had fought for the common people time and again. Now that he needed help, the people did not disappoint and gave him face.

It was not until some unknown night that he returned to Da Chu.

Thus, the slumbering old quasi-emperors were all abruptly awakened.

It was the same underground palace, the same ancient altar.

The monster and the heavenly demon stood on either side, both sealed atop it. The heavenly demon was in deep sleep, but the monster was unusually spirited, its face bruised and swollen, its body covered in footprints. At a glance, it was clear it had been beaten, and by a group at that.

This was no one's fault but its own.

Why did it have to transform into someone else's appearance? It chose Ye Chen's form, of all things. Didn't it know that certain old folks couldn't stand the sight of Ye Chen's face? Whenever they saw it, their hands hitched to strike. After a few rounds, it ended up like this, mistaken for Ye Chen.

Ye Chen's gaze was sidelong, his expression meaningful.

The old folks present, men and women alike, were scrutinized one by one by him. He wondered if he should find something for them to do; otherwise, they were all idling away, bored to death.

"I heard you went to Wu Lei City again and stirred up a huge mess," Ren Wang said, scratching his ear. "I also heard that woman from Wu Lei gave you a thorough beating."

"Your news is as well-informed as ever," Ye Chen glanced at him. The first part was just chatter; the key point was that he had been beaten, which was what Ren Wang really wanted to say, and he was smirking about it.

"Did you at least curse that woman out?" The Sixth Divine General asked. "Whenever Wu Lei City appears, people die. If I had Emperor Venerable level power, I'd be the first to overturn that city."

"Wu Lei is not without emotion."

Ye Chen took a deep breath, repeating the words he had once said to the world.

His sorrow grew even deeper.

The immortal city of Wu Lei, emotionless yet burdened with a mission, also bore a notorious reputation.

Like the people of the world, the old folks present were baffled after hearing Ye Chen's words.

Ye Chen waved his hand, releasing a person—the reincarnated individual he had brought from Wu Lei City.

"Yue Chan?"

Yue Huang hurried forward, recognizing her as someone from the Guanghan Palace, her junior in seniority.

Unfortunately, Yue Chan showed no reaction to Yue Huang's call. Her expression was dull, her eyes vacant, as if nothing in the world could stir her emotions. It was just like Chu Xuan in the past; even summoning the memory immortal light could not awaken her.

"There are actually reincarnated people in Wu Lei City."

Tian Lao and Di Lao both sighed. They truly didn't know how that immortal city of Wu Lei, with not a single man, produced children. First there was Chu Xuan, now Yue Chan—what form did they take after reincarnation?

Yue Huang sighed and took Yue Chan away, planning to bring her back to Guanghan Palace.

Ye Chen waved his hand again, this time releasing the heavenly demon, also from the Black Lotus clan.

Yan Huang immediately extracted a drop of the monster's fresh blood and a drop from the heavenly demon, suspending them in midair and forcibly fusing them.

As before, once the two bloods merged, they refined a trace of Saint Body blood essence, belonging to the first type. Everyone present, including Ye Chen, had their eyes deepen with thought.

Clearly, the Black Lotus heavenly demon, the Saint Body, and the monster shared some origin.

They just didn't know if other heavenly demons were the same. The heavenly demons that could survive in the heavens were mostly from the Black Lotus clan; other types were hard to find.

After all, they, unlike the Black Lotus, needed the Heaven-Piercing Demon Pillar for support.

"I once asked the forbidden zone, but got no answer."

Ye Chen said faintly, staring at the monster. The creature was still smiling at him, its smile mixed with mockery, savagery, and a hint of ferocity, like a wolf eyeing its prey.

"This world is getting more and more interesting," Zun sighed.

Though his words were playful, to everyone else, they carried a sense of strangeness and unease. It was interesting, yet disturbingly so, with too many unknowns.

"Has the Chaos Body and the Asura Heavenly Clan returned?"

As Ye Chen spoke, he cast a powerful immortal technique, forcing both the monster and the heavenly demon into slumber.

"Who knows where they've wandered off to," Fu Ya said.

"Take a look at this." Ye Chen shot out divine light from his brow, dividing it into thousands of strands, one for each person present. The divine sense contained the matter of the Chaos Body and the Heavenly Venerable.

"How is that possible?"

Soon, those four words echoed through the underground palace, with expressions of disbelief on everyone's faces.

"The primordial jade tablet is still intact."

Jiang Taigong glanced at the small world, where the Chaos Body's divine tablet lay.

"The Heavenly Venerable's is also still there."

Qin Guang Wang eyed the divine stele, which shone brightly.

"Step up the patrols!"

Ye Chen turned and left, sensing that something ominous might happen. Perhaps some corner of the starry sky hid a crisis. It was better to know in advance; if disaster struck suddenly, they'd be caught off guard. Open attacks are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to defend against—the heavens had suffered many such losses.

The quasi-emperors said nothing and left one after another.

Under the moonlight, Ye Chen returned to Jade Maiden Peak, where he saw Ye Fan and Yang Lan emerging from the small bamboo grove. They had likely gone to pay respects to Bei Sheng and the Fox Immortal. They were also honoring the spirits and demons; without those evil spirits, there might be no Ye Fan, and certainly no little Yang Lan, for she was delivered by the evil spirits.

"Father, Lan and I wish to venture into the depths of the starry sky for training," Ye Fan said.

In the past, Ye Chen would have nodded with a smile, but tonight, he shook his head. At least, not until the Chaos Body and the Heavenly Venerable returned. There was also the mysterious black-robed figure—friend or foe unknown—with too many uncertain factors lurking.

Ye Fan obeyed and returned to his room with Yang Lan.

Ye Ling followed them, dragging Ye Fan into Yang Lan's boudoir. He was Ye Chen's son, after all—how could he be so dense? His mothers weren't anxious, but as his sister, she was getting impatient.

Ye Chen shook his head with a smile and sat under the old tree.

"Something's happened in the starry sky again?" Chu Xuan asked tentatively.

"It's not a big problem."

Ye Chen smiled, though even he wasn't sure, so he had to comfort her that way.

The night grew deeper.

Under the old tree, only Ye Chen remained, quietly carving wood. But with his divine sense, he was observing Chu Xuan and Chu Ling. After his trip to Wu Lei City, he was even more curious about their identities and their connections to Wu Lei and the ancient Heavenly Court Empress—it was anything but simple.

In the night, figures could be seen emerging from the Heavenly Profound Gate.

These were quasi-emperors from Tianxuan Gate, each leading a team of armored cultivators. Not just Da Chu—Xuan Huang and You Ming were the same, and throughout the starry sky, shadows were everywhere, seemingly wandering but actually patrolling, even in the border regions.

The more this happened, the tenser the atmosphere became, making the people's hearts uneasy.

For three full days, there was no sign of the Chaos Body or the Heavenly Venerable returning, nor any news of them.

On the fourth day, a rumbling echoed through the starry sky. They hadn't found the black-robed figure, but by chance, they discovered a Honghuang clan. Though not an Emperor Dao lineage, the clan was wiped out that night.

On the fifth day, rumbles erupted in various parts of the starry sky, with turbulence, lightning, and thunder. Ominous signs of destruction appeared, and the older generation of cultivators looked up, knowing that the ancient Honghuang was acting up.

On the seventh day, Xing Tian's head opened its eyes, revealing a blood-red battlefield in them.

On the eighth day, the monster sealed in Tianxuan Gate suddenly went berserk, spouting incomprehensible words for three full days before being forcefully suppressed by the Saint Venerable.

On the ninth day, a tattered purple robe drifted down from the void, landing in a desolate part of the starry sky. It was stained with the Chaos Body's fresh blood and was picked up by patrolling cultivators.

On the same day, a god knife dripping with blood was delivered to Da Chu—it was the Heavenly Venerable's blade.

"Who is it, exactly who?"

Ye Chen clutched the Chaos Body's robe in one hand and the Heavenly Venerable's god knife in the other, striding through the starry sky. The further he went, the darker his expression became. He knew they were still alive, but he had no idea who that mysterious black-robed figure was or where they hid.