Chapter 3224: It's Coming

The altered spacetime was filled with constant rumbling. Looking up at the sky, one could see frequent flashes of lightning and thunder, with the heavens and earth occasionally trembling. The assembled emperors glanced upward, baffled by the strange phenomenon, which seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Tian Mo Chong Qi Sha is changing?" Shen Zun murmured thoughtfully, his gaze toward the vast expanse narrowing into slits.

"No." The serene female emperor, Nu Di, gently shook her head.

It had to be Ye Chen. He must have been injured in the original spacetime, affecting this one as well. Her guess was spot on—it was indeed because of Ye Chen. In the original spacetime, he was far from comfortable. Meant to be a mere observer, he had been beaten repeatedly instead. That little one was quite the handful; after chasing away Zhao Yun and the others, it seemed to have only two activities left: sleeping, beating Ye Chen, sleeping, and beating Ye Chen again.

And today was no different.

Ye Chen looked utterly disheveled, clutching his lower back with one hand and wiping blood from his nose with the other, limping along. He had lost count of how many times he had been pummeled. The pain was bearable, but the frustration was overwhelming. As an outsider, his attempts to fight back were useless against the little one, yet that tiny thing always landed its hits perfectly. If he could, he would rather have a fair brawl with it, fists flying, rather than feeling powerless.

Meanwhile, the little one was already snoring away.

Just wait—it would wake up and come chat about ideals with Ye Chen soon enough.

In the empty space, Ye Chen plunked down on his backside.

Then, the sound of Yong Heng's melody filled the air, the qin music resembling a woman's sobs, as if every vibrating note was a glistening tear. It left him utterly entranced.

This qin piece echoed for a full hundred years.

Ye Chen listened intently for that entire century. The little one behaved itself, sleeping soundly for a hundred years, during which it underwent some transformations, with strange lights flickering, all suppressed by the "Xing" seal.

Over these hundred years, Ye Chen's mind became crystal clear.

He seemed to grasp the essence of the qin music, learning a bit of its true principles.

But he wondered, if he played it himself, could he draw out the little one?

This was just the first step. Even if he found the little one, it might not give back the spacetime. The outer universe's heavenly paths were a bloody example—six Huang Di had teamed up and still been thoroughly subdued by it alone.

If he tried to demand it back, the challenge would be immense.

Still, it was worth holding onto hope. As long as he could find the little one, there was a chance. Without even locating it, everything else was pointless.

"It should have come by now."

Ye Chen murmured softly, occasionally scanning the unknown surroundings.

He was referring to Zhao Yun and the others. They had been driven away a hundred years ago, and their injuries should have healed by now. Their absence was puzzling—was it possible they had been scared off by the little one? That didn't seem like Zhao Yun's style.

But on second thought, he understood. This Zhao Yun was not the same as that one; he was part of the historical trajectory, so there were significant differences. Maybe he was on his way here right now.

Burp!

As Ye Chen muttered, the sleeping little one suddenly let out a burp.

It must have eaten its fill.

That burp didn't faze it much, but it made Ye Chen feel a sudden urge—it had left him traumatized. Every move the little one made triggered an instinctive reaction in him.

For instance, he felt like bolting.

As for the little one, it wasn't simple at all. After burping, it spat out a Dun Jia Tian Zi, radiating divine light, golden and brilliant, while evolving strange visions on its own. Listening closely, one could hear the echoes of the great dao.

Ye Chen wasn't surprised by this.

Back in the day, when the heavenly path was destroyed, the little one had swallowed everything in the universe, including the Dun Jia Tian Zi. He had seen it devour each one with his own eyes. What surprised him was that the little one, which could even digest Yong Heng, couldn't handle the Dun Jia Tian Zi.

Burp! Burp!

As Ye Chen watched, the little one's burps kept coming, each one expelling one or more Tian Zi, like a magic trick, one after another.

The Tian Zi had a spirit of their own. Once expelled, they began to combine automatically.

Yet, no matter how they arranged themselves, they couldn't form the full Dun Jia Tian Shu. At least, not with the resources from these two nearing universes—they were far from complete, and many must still be scattered across other universes.

In his view, aside from the gods of Yong Heng Xian Yu, no one else could gather all the Tian Zi, let alone compose the Dun Jia Tian Shu.

Before long, the little one woke up and stretched lazily.

Seeing this, Ye Chen didn't hesitate—he turned and bolted. Walking wouldn't cut it; he had to run. Every time the little one woke up and stretched, it meant a chase was coming for him.

After all these years, he was used to it.

Sure enough, after stretching, the little one wrinkled its tiny nose and blinked its big eyes, then charged straight at Ye Chen, taking wobbly steps and laughing joyfully.

To Ye Chen, that joyful laugh felt painfully ominous.

The more energetically the little thing bounced, the harder it would beat him.

Hee-hee-hee!

The little one's laughter was childish and sweet as it scampered through the unknown, following Ye Chen wherever he went.

Once it caught up, things would spiral out of control.

Ye Chen spat blood repeatedly, and the altered spacetime grew chaotic because of his struggles.

On the other side of the unknown, six shadowy figures suddenly appeared.

From a distance, Ye Chen spotted this timeline's Zhao Yun.

Along with him were Zi Zai Tian and four other heavenly paths. After a hundred years, they were back for more—well, to settle the score.

From afar, the six heavenly paths also saw the little one, laughing and bouncing merrily through the unknown domain, as if chasing something. Unfortunately, their cultivation wasn't high enough to see Ye Chen.

"What great brothers."

Seeing Zhao Yun, Ye Chen was deeply moved. With these six charging in, he wouldn't have to take a beating anymore. The little one seemed to prefer them anyway.

Indeed, the little one stopped chasing Ye Chen mid-pursuit and wheeled around toward the six heavenly paths.

"Return the spacetime."

The six Huang Di roared in unison, all enveloped in divine glory.

The little one was straightforward—it skipped the talk and dove right in, fists flying. There were no world-shattering visions, just its plump little fists, but don't underestimate them—they packed a punch.

Ye Chen knew this all too well; even he would end up bruised and battered from one hit.

Truly, this little thing grew stronger against stronger foes. If you hadn't transcended the heavenly path, no one could handle it.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The battle erupted, six against one, shaking the entire unknown. Beams of Yong Heng light streaked everywhere, each one carrying hues of destruction and apocalypse.

In the fight, the little one was at a disadvantage.

This time, the six Huang Di had come prepared. They hadn't set foot in the unknown for a hundred years without planning. Each was surrounded by Dun Jia Tian Zi, forming armor of the characters.

Ye Chen and Nu Di had tried something similar before. If the little one had a weakness, it was definitely the Dun Jia Tian Zi—just like how the "Xing" character restrained it.

With this, the little one might actually be suppressed.

Facts proved the Tian Zi's mysterious power was real, as if it were born to counter the little one. The six Huang Di understood this, which is why they brought the Tian Zi.

Ah!

With a roar, the little one changed form, turning into a formless, ethereal youth with golden hair dyed in radiant glory. Under Ye Chen's gaze, strands of it turned blood-red, like a supreme great demon.

Even so, it was still losing ground.

Or perhaps, because of the "Xing" seal on its forehead, it couldn't unleash its peak strength and was constantly checked by the Tian Zi. It hadn't been wounded before, but now it was bleeding.

Its blood was strange—once it flowed out, it vanished into the unknown. Ye Chen strained his eyes but couldn't trace it.

The little one was done for, knelt and jointly suppressed by two Huang Di.

For this, the six heavenly paths paid a heavy price. For instance, Zi Zai Tian's divine body shattered, leaving only a faint primordial spirit; Zhao Yun lost an arm and couldn't regenerate it yet; the other four heavenly paths were equally battered, with missing limbs being the least of it—their primordial spirits were severely damaged, which was the real agony.

Ah!

The little one howled, trapped in a Dun Jia cage, unable to break free no matter how it charged. Instead, the cage's light repeatedly shone on it, reverting the great demon's form back to its plump, childish state, until it drowsily fell asleep.

Ye Chen, hands in his pockets, approached and glanced at Zhao Yun, then at the other heavenly paths.

No wonder they were six Huang Di—they were incredibly formidable, managing to forcibly suppress even a being that transcended the heavenly path. It was only because the little one was sealed by the "Xing" character; without it, even six more Huang Di wouldn't suffice.

"Divide."

The six heavenly paths chanted softly in unison, forming the same seals and casting a heaven-defying immortal technique to extract the devoured spacetime from the little one's body.

But they failed.

They tried multiple times, with the same result.

"Does it have to spit it out willingly?"

Ye Chen murmured to himself. Even with the little one suppressed, it seemed useless. The devoured spacetime couldn't be separated just like that—maybe the six Huang Di's method was wrong, or perhaps the little one's subconscious was resisting.

"What a freak."

After a while, the six Huang Di sat down, exhausted from the effort, having worked for nothing.

Ye Chen sat down too, right beside Zi Zai Tian.

This female heavenly path was truly exceptional. The moment Ye Chen sat, her delicate brows furrowed slightly, as if she could faintly sense something. Not just her—all the heavenly paths felt it, especially Zhao Yun, whose gaze was the deepest.

Unfortunately, separated by the spacetime illusion, no one could see the truth.

And so, the seven of them sat in a circle, neatly surrounding the sleeping little one in the center. The six heavenly paths meditated, and Ye Chen did the same—he was here for the spacetime too. This dilemma would likely hit him later, and even the six Huang Di were stumped, so what chance did he have?

Boom!

In that instant, they all looked up together, staring into the vast sky.

There, a massive hand descended from the void, heading straight for this place. No one knew if it targeted the six heavenly paths or the suppressed little one, but its palm was etched with Yong Heng seal scripts and carried the power to destroy worlds, freezing the entire unknown and threatening to collapse it.

Ye Chen had seen such a hand more than once.

The six heavenly paths showed little change in expression—they had probably encountered it before too.

Mm!

The sleeping little one groaned in pain, possibly due to the massive hand—the "Xing" character on its forehead seemed to come alive, flashing with brilliant Yong Heng light.

Break!

The six Huang Di shouted coldly, unleashing devastating strikes toward the sky in unison.

Boom!

The massive hand was pierced on the spot, disintegrating into billions of immortal lights that scattered across the unknown, turning the blank space into a scene of utter devastation with rain of immortals pouring down.