Chapter 1545: Expedition

In the Eastern Wasteland, amidst lush vegetation and towering mountains, a monkey, seemingly cast from gold, roamed. He gazed at the land, recalling past events, his heart filled with emotion.

He wasn't very tall, yet he exuded a majestic presence, like a god of war, with a formidable aura. Fresh bloodstains in his golden fur indicated he had clearly just been through a great battle.

As he walked through the desolate mountains and vast marshes, numerous fierce birds and wild beasts scattered in panic. It was as if a peerless overlord was inspecting his domain, causing all creatures to tremble in fear.

This was the Holy Prince, and he had returned. He made no attempt to conceal his presence, and as soon as he arrived in the Eastern Wasteland, many people noticed him, causing quite a stir.

"Holy Prince!"

In the sky, someone shouted. Mist rolled and colorful light surged as a group of people arrived on clouds, calling out his name.

The monkey, with his fiery golden eyes, could not conceal his imposing figure despite the bloodstains on his fur. He looked up, then burst into laughter and shot up into the sky.

It was Ye Fan, Ji Zi, Li Heishui, Dongfang Ye, Ji Ziyue, and others, who had all appeared there together to welcome him.

Ye Fan frowned slightly. On the mountains and plains, there were trails of footprints with traces of blood. The monkey was injured; he was drawing in the earth's dragon qi to heal his essence!

People hadn't expected the Holy Prince to be injured, and not lightly, which was truly surprising.

"Brother Monkey, what happened? How did you get injured?" Li Heishui asked.

"Uncle Master, who injured you? Tell this monk, and I'll capture them all to avenge you!" Huahua shouted dramatically, coming closer.

"Whap!"

As a result, the monkey unceremoniously gave him a light pat on his bald head, telling him to get lost.

"Monkey, did you run into some big trouble? Otherwise, you wouldn't have suffered such a loss!" Dongfang Ye laughed heartily, revealing a mouthful of pearly white teeth. He was always rough and unrefined, his bronzed upper body bare and extremely muscular.

"I did run into a tough opponent," the monkey said fiercely, "but it's not a major problem. I'll deal with him sooner or later!"

"Brother Monkey, don't try to tough it out," Li Heishui said. "We're not outsiders. Just tell us, and we'll go fight him together!"

Ji Ziyue smiled, her lips pursed, and her large eyes sparkled. "I bet Brother Monkey was bullied badly," she said, "and wanted to get revenge by himself, but couldn't do it quickly, so he came back enraged."

Everyone laughed.

"What's going on? We'll act together," Ji Zi said, his words brief.

Ye Fan also asked. He and the monkey weren't outsiders, so naturally, anything could be said. If he truly encountered major trouble, they would all help him fight with their lives.

The monkey showed a mournful expression. His golden fur bristled without a breeze, and his eyes filled with murderous intent. He said, "I made some friends beyond the starry sky, and they were all killed."

Everyone was startled. This must have been a formidable enemy, for the monkey to show such sorrow. He was clearly enraged beyond measure.

"They died terribly," the monkey said, utterly furious. "Their bodies were hacked into a thousand pieces, and their primordial spirits were slowly refined by the Yin Fire Essence for a hundred days, tormented until death!"

"Who was this person?" Dongfang Ye asked. "You have an Emperor's Weapon with you, and you still couldn't handle them?"

"He's not a Quasi-Emperor," the monkey said, "but he almost possesses the combat power of a Quasi-Emperor, making him impossible to guard against. At that time, my friends and I parted ways, and I never thought they would successively fall victim to him." The monkey clenched his fists. His golden fur became even more resplendent as a wound on his body burst open, and blood flowed out.

Ji Ziyue took out a jar of Ancient Celestial Venerable Life Spring Divine Liquid. She poured some out and sprinkled it on his wound, then had him drink the rest.

"Was this a powerful enemy you met during your trials on the ancient road?" Ye Fan asked.

"If I tell you, you've probably heard of him," the monkey said, gritting his teeth, "and you also have a grudge against him!" He then revealed the person's identity.

It was the supreme expert of the Tengshe lineage, a peerless master who had nearly become a Quasi-Emperor. His power was unmatched, his dominance absolute, sweeping across star domains and striking fear into hearts.

Ye Fan had killed four young masters of the Golden Snake race, thus forming a deep enmity with this lineage. The monkey, moreover, had seen this race consume god-apes as numerous as mountains. He had intervened out of a sense of justice, accidentally disturbing the old Tengshe who was in secluded cultivation, causing him to fail at the final step when attempting to reach Quasi-Emperor. These were all mortal enmities.

Now, this supreme Tengshe expert had healed his injuries. He was not a Quasi-Emperor, but he had almost attained the combat power of that realm, his terror boundless.

Any Great Saint who faced him would be as vulnerable as a child.

Furthermore, he possessed two Quasi-Emperor weapons and a supreme formation, all passed down from his ancestors. When combined, their divine power was world-shaking. He came and went without a trace, utterly uncontainable. He might appear at any time to strike you down, splattering blood across the sky.

"He actually survived," Ye Fan said in surprise. At such a critical moment, when attempting to break through to the Quasi-Emperor realm, to be interrupted by an Emperor's Weapon—most people would have been annihilated.

Not only had the supreme expert of the Tengshe race not died, he had also repaired his injuries and was full of vigor, pursuing the monkey in the starry sky. This was truly shocking; he was undoubtedly a formidable enemy.

Once one possessed Quasi-Emperor combat power, everything changed. They belonged to a different realm. No matter how astonishing you were, you couldn't contend with them. If the monkey hadn't had the Immortal Iron Rod left by the Dou Zhan Saint Emperor, he would surely have died outside the domain.

Such a group of people traveling through the Eastern Wasteland naturally caused astonishment, especially after people successively recognized Ye Fan, Ji Zi, and the Holy Prince. It became even more terrifying. Their past act of slaying the Heavenly Sovereign Prince had caused immense turmoil.

When the ancient races learned of this, they all fell silent, fearing they might provoke misfortune and face reckoning from these three Great Saints.

Times had changed. The three Emperor's Sons of old had all grown powerful. Any one of them could sweep across an entire region, and if they truly targeted a race, it would inevitably lead to its annihilation.

"If we could confront him head-on, it would be easier," the monkey said, his brows deeply furrowed. "The most troublesome thing is that he can appear at any time and launch a sudden, fatal attack." To be targeted by a Quasi-Emperor level figure, even with an Ancient Emperor Weapon, one would constantly be in danger of falling. He was truly impossible to guard against.

Otherwise, given the monkey's personality, he would never have returned!

The old Tengshe was in a peculiar state. Although he hadn't undergone tribulation, he had almost crossed that threshold back then, having passed ninety-nine prostrations, only lacking the final step, but an accident occurred. Therefore, now that he had recovered to his peak, he was comparable to a Quasi-Emperor.

He could no longer be called a Great Saint, nor was he a Quasi-Emperor, but he was almost on par with a Quasi-Emperor.

"He's a headache," Ji Zi said, "but there's no need to fear. We'll work together to eliminate this great menace! Since he was an enemy and the conflict was irreconcilable, they should attack and resolve it once and for all!"

"Exactly! He's not a Quasi-Emperor after all. Are we going to be afraid of him?" Dongfang Ye said, eager to join the fight and take the opportunity to explore the starry sky.

"How dare he bully Brother Monkey? We'll beat him until even his mother wouldn't recognize him!" Li Heishui also shouted.

"That's right! How dare he oppress Uncle Master? We'll beat him all the way back to his grandmother's house!" Huahua shouted, his bald head gleaming, speaking with righteous indignation.

The monkey's heart felt warm. Facing a Quasi-Emperor level threat, none of his old friends had retreated. They all wanted to lend him a hand to help him resolve this great calamity.

"Let's go. We're setting off," Ye Fan said straightforwardly. This was a mortal enmity, impossible to resolve. The sooner they dealt with it, the sooner they could be at ease. If their opponent managed to break through to Quasi-Emperor, his strength might skyrocket, and at that point, even having an Emperor's Weapon might not be effective.

The monkey went to see the crack to the Immortal Realm and fell into a trance. If his old father had seen such a crack back then, he could have directly forced his way in through it.

Unfortunately, he had ultimately missed this era. Otherwise, why would he have had to defy heaven and transform into a Battle Immortal, paying unimaginable costs, and passing away in the Northern Region, leaving behind only eternal regret?

When deciding who would go, everyone argued, all wanting to participate in the battle. But considering practicality, in the end, only Ye Fan, Ji Zi, and the Holy Prince set off.

Just as they were about to leave, Ji Ziyue arrived, breathless, her speed almost matching Ye Fan's 'Profound Step' technique. She wiped the sweat from her fair forehead, pulled Ji Family's Little Ancestor aside, and handed him the Void Mirror.

Back then, when she and Ji Haoyue were highly regarded by the family and embarked on the ancient trial road, they had no chance to take it with them. Now that she had reached this realm, she naturally had the opportunity to control it, and now she had brought it.

For the Ji Family to send out an Emperor's Son, and then to send out the Immortal Mirror at this moment when a cosmic upheaval was about to begin, was truly rare.

"Don't worry," Ji Ziyue said with a faint smile. "The family's foundations have all been relocated in recent years. Only some elders with limited lifespans remain, wanting to take a chance on the path to immortality."

All three powerful experts held Emperor Weapons and embarked together on the starry path, heading into the distant depths of the universe. If news of this spread, it would certainly cause a massive uproar and surely shake the world.

This was a small star. In the past, it had been lush with vegetation and filled with spiritual energy, but now it had become a land of death.

Bones lay everywhere, and black mist swirled. Everything had been completely corroded. All life on the entire small star had perished, turning it into a barren wasteland.

The monkey's eyes were bloodshot. He couldn't help but let out a long howl to the sky, his golden fur bristling all over his body as if wanting to devour the entire universe. His eyes were completely red.

"This is the homeland of one of my sworn brothers," the monkey said, utterly furious. "It was once a powerful race of spirit monkeys. I never thought not only he would die, but even his home planet would be implicated! This is a blood feud."

Back then, he had intervened precisely because he saw mountains of corpses on the ancestral star of the Tengshe lineage, most of which belonged to ape-kind. And now, seeing such a tragedy again, he was overcome with grief and indignation.

Although this was a very small star, it had tens of millions of living beings. Their complete annihilation was an unbearable burden.

When they arrived at another small pure land world, the monkey ground his teeth so hard they felt like they would break, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. Here, too, life had been ravaged, corpses lay everywhere, and it was still a scene of total annihilation.

"It looks like this happened in the last day or two," Ye Fan said. "We'll go directly to the Tengshe race's ancient star and launch a direct attack as a threat. Otherwise, more tragedies might occur."

The old Tengshe did this simply to vent his anger and exert pressure, forcing the Holy Prince to reveal himself. Otherwise, he would continue his bloody rampage.

The Divine Light Altar was activated again. They directly entered an ancient domain, and deep within this place, they immediately felt a powerful life force from a vibrant, massive star brimming with the power of life.

As soon as Ye Fan, Ji Zi, and the Holy Prince approached, their hearts tightened, sensing a pervasive murderous aura. This was a perilous place, and it was not even concealed.

"Whoosh!"

A sky-piercing murderous light burst forth, striking beyond the domain. This made their hearts sink: the power of a Quasi-Emperor formation was active!

"He's too careless, isn't he?" someone wondered. "He's not even concealing it. Does he think we'll just walk right in?"

On the Tengshe lineage's star, a peerless Quasi-Emperor killing formation had clearly been set up, spreading a vast net, quietly waiting for them to fall into the trap and become captives.

"No, wait," someone said. "Someone fell into the trap. They stepped on the Quasi-Emperor formation patterns and are trapped on this ancient star."

"This Quasi-Emperor killing formation here has flaws," Ye Fan said. "Otherwise, the killing intent would be even stronger than this!" He had seen the power of a flawless Quasi-Emperor formation in the Myriad Dragon Nest.

Who was this? To be caught in a Quasi-Emperor killing formation and still hold on was truly astonishing.

All of them held Emperor Weapons, cautiously approaching. They slowly arrived on this ancient star, nearing the formation pattern area.

Ahead, towering mountains and swirling clouds exuded a vast Emperor's aura. Amidst it, dog barks could be heard, each bark followed by a string of curses, a continuous torrent of varying insults.

"Wait a moment," the monkey said, greatly surprised. "Doesn't that sound a bit familiar?!"

"It seems to be... the Black Emperor!" Ye Fan said, somewhat dumbfounded.