Chapter 1033: Breakthrough?

After Hongchen Xue left, Ye Chen’s body trembled slightly. Although he hadn’t moved earlier, he was aware of everything around him. He hadn’t responded at all because he was frantically assaulting the barrier to reach Quasi-Heaven Perfection. Yet, that door, which seemed so close but felt more distant than a dream, remained impossible to cross. He had begged the heavens countless times for a chance, but everything turned out to be brutally unforgiving.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Nan Chu was still enveloped in thunderous roars. Looking down from the skies, the heavenly demons surged like tidal waves, rampaging everywhere, with scenes of battle filling the view. It wasn’t until much later that the booming sounds and cries of slaughter finally faded. This bloody war, which had lasted nine days, came to a temporary end as the cultivators of Da Chu repelled the heavenly demons’ assault once more. However, the price paid by Da Chu’s cultivators was devastatingly high—truly mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.

The skies over Da Chu remained dark, without a hint of light. In the pitch-black night, the bloody winds howled, chilling and desolate, making people instinctively huddle up. Stop! Stop for me!

Beneath the walls of Nan Chu, waves of low roars echoed, laced with sobs. It was Long Yi, his eyes filled with bloody tears and his body covered in gore, cradling Murong Miaoxin, who was also drenched in fresh blood. She was gravely wounded—her forehead pierced, her divine sea shattered, and her life soul severely damaged, with her soul flame on the verge of extinction.

“What are you doing? I don’t even like you.” Gazing at Long Yi’s tear-streaked face, Murong Miaoxin managed a weary smile, blood surging from her mouth, her watery eyes steadily dimming.

“Stop! Stop for me.” Long Yi roared hoarsely, like a helpless child pleading for heavenly mercy. His bloodshot eyes blurred as he poured his surging dragon soul power madly into Murong Miaoxin’s body, desperately trying to halt her fading life force and preserve her existence.

Seeing this, Murong Miaoxin smiled wearily once more, her sorrowful face burying into his embrace as she whispered softly, “If we meet again in the next life, will you come to marry me?”

Her words gradually faded away, and her watery eyes lost their final glimmer.

Ah!

Long Yi let out a heart-wrenching roar that echoed through the heavens and earth.

Ah!

His roar seemed to have an echo, another desperate scream. Looking into the distance, it was Long Wu, also covered in blood and gore, holding the blood-soaked body of Dongfang Yuling. Dongfang Yuling had died too, just like Murong Miaoxin, making a promise to the one holding her for the next life. They hoped in the next cycle to be ordinary mortals, living as a simple married couple.

Ah!

In the dark night, roars became the only sound in the world. Beneath the city walls, figures drenched in blood stood like ghosts—Yang Dingtian, Feng Wuhen, Dao Xuan Zhenren, Pang Dachuan, Heng Yue Zhenren, Heng Tian Shangren, Li Daotong, Huang Shi Zhenren... In this battle, the high-level members of Heng Yue Sect were nearly wiped out.

Rebuild the walls!

In the end, Ji Ningshuang’s soft words echoed across the entire Nan Chu walls. The cruelty of war left no time for anyone to grieve; everyone had to wipe away their tears and prepare for the even more brutal battles ahead.

The walls of Nan Chu were shrouded in smoke, the Da Chu banners tattered and worn. Glancing around, many familiar faces were gone, their blood staining the walls. The cold winds howled fiercely across the land. Did Da Chu still have hope?

Fu Ling gave a tired smile, her pale face gently resting on Zhuge Laotou’s shoulder.

Yes!

Zhuge Laotou, unusually serious for once, smiled with a mix of weariness and warmth. Weary of the world’s hardships, warm in this moment as Fu Ling finally leaned on his shoulder. Both with white hair, without the war, this could have been a tale of late-blooming romance.

Kill! Kill them all!

The war’s brutality shattered even this brief tenderness. The heavenly demon army charged again, surging toward the Nan Chu walls. In response, whether secretly wiping away tears, silently mourning, or couples who had just vowed to meet in the next life, all the cultivators stood up at that instant. Gripping their bloodstained swords, they rushed back to the walls.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The battle erupted instantly, thunderous roars piercing the dark night. This time, the heavenly demons attacked with ferocious madness; as one fell, another took its place. The Nan Chu walls were breached again, with over three hundred thousand li of the defenses broken in several spots, allowing countless demons to flood in.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The same thunderous sounds echoed across the five major domains of Nan Chu, as transmission portals descended one after another. Waves of heavenly demon soldiers poured out, grotesque and bloodthirsty, devouring vast swaths of land. This battle raged for three full days. Innumerable Da Chu cultivators perished, repelling the demons’ advance for the umpteenth time. Once again, mountains of corpses and rivers of blood formed, with anguished roars of grief resounding throughout Nan Chu—figures stained with blood, cradling their loved ones and weeping, hoping against hope for them to return.

Night fell into silence once more.

Boom!

Sometime later, a deafening roar erupted from the direction of Tian Ting headquarters. From afar, divine light burst forth in all directions, golden divine energy surging, accompanied by the interlacing sounds of the Great Dao. Visions of the four divine beasts intertwined, shining brilliantly in the black night.

Has he broken through?

All eyes from Da Chu turned toward that spot.

Has he broken through?

In the grand hall of Tian Xuan Gate, Donghuang Tai Xin and the others breathed heavily, their bodies trembling with excitement.

How interesting!

In the northern Cang Yuan Virtual Heaven, the Heavenly Demon Emperor chuckled softly, as if he could see the scene at Tian Ting.

Break! Break for me!

In the night, Ye Chen’s roars thundered like ancient lightning. Bathed in golden divine light, he ascended step by step, punching through the void with a single fist. Immediately, a luminous gate appeared in the ethereal void—crossing it would mean reaching Quasi-Heaven Perfection.

Kill!

Ye Chen’s battle intent soared, his body burning like flames, charging toward the gate like a divine ray. Each step seemed to span an ancient era, with one foot stepping into the gate. However, before his second foot could follow, a bolt of lightning descended from the nine heavens.

Thud!

Ye Chen’s sacred body split open on the spot, sending him hurtling from the ethereal void like a falling meteor. His radiant glow extinguished bit by bit as he plummeted. He had failed—not defeated by himself, but by the heavens. That lightning from the nine heavens was heavenly tribulation, a final, crushing blow from above just as he was about to break through.

How boring! How boring!

The Heavenly Demon Emperor sneered mockingly, propping his chin as he slipped into a doze.

Damn it! Damn it!

In Tian Xuan Gate, the veteran Quasi-Emperors pointed at the sky, cursing, “You’re truly heartless! Truly heartless!”

Donghuang Tai Xin’s tense body relaxed in an instant, like a deflated balloon, her face deathly pale and devoid of any spirit. Ye Chen had failed, and with him, Da Chu had fallen. Da Chu’s fall meant Tian Xuan Gate’s fall, and Tian Xuan Gate’s fall meant the defeat of the myriad realms.

Boom!

Amid the roars from Tian Xuan Gate, Ye Chen’s falling body smashed a towering mountain into rubble. As he hit the ground, the luminous gate in the ethereal void slowly dissipated. Amid the scattered debris, Ye Chen staggered to his feet, his blood-red eyes glaring at the heavens. If not for that final heavenly tribulation, he would have already achieved Quasi-Heaven Perfection.

Boom!

The nine heavens rumbled again, as if Ye Chen’s glare had provoked the heavens’ wrath. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his soul severely wounded, cracked by the tribulation and instantly turning into a dao injury.