Chapter 1059: A Solitary Journey

This was a boundless world of darkness and desolation.

Ye Chen stepped out from the gate of light.

He was accustomed to the darkness before him. For space black holes, he always held a sense of awe and caution. The endless dark world was filled with too many unknowns and dangers.

East!

Ye Chen murmured to himself and summoned seventeen luminous spirit pearls, arranging them around his body in the pattern of the Jiugong Bagua. Each pearl was infused with his divine sense, allowing him to see farther.

Immediately after, he called forth the Hun Dun Shen Ding, suspending it above his head.

The Hun Dun Shen Ding was now extraordinary.

Because its master, Ye Chen, had advanced to Tianjing, the ding had undergone another heavenly tribulation, emerging reborn and transformed. It had integrated Tianjing principles, evolving from a Ling Qi level to a Fa Qi level.

Next, he took out a Qixing Luopan with a flip of his hand.

The Qixing Luopan was a gift from Donghuang Taixin. It was not only a tool for direction but also a versatile treasure for offense and defense.

The compass needle spun and settled on one direction.

Kai!

With a light command in his heart, a starry river appeared under Ye Chen's feet, extending endlessly toward the east. He stepped onto the starry river, expanding his divine sense as he ventured into the unknown.

This was destined to be a solitary journey.

In the space black hole, which was vast and infinite, dark and silent, there were no living beings. Everything was shrouded in darkness.

Ye Chen reached the end of the starry river, extended it further, and kept a close watch on his surroundings. In this dark world, he always felt as if a pair of lifeless eyes were glowing faintly, staring at him.

After scanning the four directions and checking the Qixing Luopan, he confirmed that he had left the space black hole region of Da Chu.

In other words, he could no longer use Xianlun Tiandao to return to Da Chu, as the distance had exceeded its limits.

For the many years to come, he would spend them in the space black hole.

He did not know when he would reach Zhutian Wanyu or when he would find it.

So, he needed to keep attempting Xianlun Tiandao. If he was near Zhutian Wanyu or already in its space black hole region, he could use it to descend there.

Hmm?

As he paused, his brows suddenly furrowed.

In an instant, he retreated a step, shifting back over a thousand zhang. At the same time, the Chixiao Jian appeared in his hand, abruptly held out in front of him.

Bang!

A metallic clash rang out as a pitch-black sword qi struck the Chixiao Jian directly. Perhaps because the sword qi was so powerful, even Ye Chen's strength was sent flying backward.

Puff!

As soon as he steadied himself, Ye Chen spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and half-knelt on the ground.

What immense killing intent!

Ye Chen's expression was one of utter shock. Wiping the blood from his mouth hastily, he retreated another thousand zhang, stumbling slightly before finally stopping. His eyes narrowed as he stared into the depths of the space black hole.

Only then did Ye Chen see clearly what was in the darkness.

It was a shattered black sword, its body pitch-black and wreathed in dark sword qi.

Ye Chen felt a chill in his heart. Even from a distance, he could sense the terrifying killing intent and pressure emanating from the black killing sword. Every trace of it felt like it could destroy heaven and earth to him.

At minimum, it was a Fa Qi of a Shengren!

Ye Chen wiped the blood from his mouth and roughly gauged the level of the black broken sword. Though it was just a sword, it made him afraid to look directly at it.

Remember, they were now outside Da Chu, where there was no suppression from Da Chu's power. A Shengren's weapon was still a Shengren's weapon, and he was only a Tianjing cultivator, unable to withstand a Shengren's pressure—even from a damaged one.

Zheng! Zheng! Zheng!

As Ye Chen felt wary, the black killing sword let out a series of resonant hums, yet it merely hovered in place.

Ye Chen stood firm, still staring intently. The Shengren killing sword had not actively attacked him; rather, its former master's overwhelming killing intent had infused the sword, causing the qi to leak out. The earlier sword qi was just an overflow that Ye Chen had unfortunately encountered.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen felt a wave of fear.

Before, he had not sensed the Shengren weapon's presence, which caught him off guard. Fortunately, he was far from the killing sword and reacted quickly. If he had been closer when he noticed it, he would likely have been obliterated on the spot.

Having just left Da Chu's region, he had already encountered something so terrifying. Who knew how many dangers lay ahead?

Ye Chen moved his feet, but not toward the killing sword—he circled far around it. He had no intention of trying to take it; it was a Shengren's weapon, and with his cultivation, he would be turned to ash before he even got near.

Ye Chen proceeded with extreme caution, taking a full three days to go around the killing sword before frantically distancing himself.

For a long time afterward, Ye Chen's brows remained furrowed.

For some reason, once outside Da Chu, the space black hole became extremely unstable. Along the way, he encountered more than one chaotic zone and more than one terrifying weapon on the same level as the Shengren killing sword. The immense pressure and devastating forces made his soul tremble.

In the darkness, he clutched his arm and staggered forward, his sacred body still dripping with fresh blood. A frightening dark light lingered at the wound, dissipating his vital energy and causing the injury to not only fail to heal but also expand.

The powerful ancient sacred body had suffered severe damage.

He had just fought his way out of a sea of blood, not because his vigilance was lacking, but because the sea of blood had appeared abruptly, carrying endless malice and resentment that eroded his primordial spirit.

The sudden arrival of the blood sea caught him off guard, and it took him nine full days of fighting to escape—it was a near-fatal ordeal.

His speed slowed considerably as he constantly avoided chaotic zones and then returned to his original path.

He had to remain vigilant at all times, for in this boundless dark space black hole, he could be destroyed at any moment. It was filled with too many unknown entities.

Time passed swiftly, day after day.

Ye Chen did not know how long he had been traveling in the space black hole. In this dark world, there was no concept of day or night.

However, before entering the space black hole, he had already created a timekeeping Ling Qi: a clock.

Glancing at the clock, Ye Chen realized he had been away from Da Chu for three months.

In these three months, he had never stopped, silently pressing onward, repeatedly attempting Xianlun Tiandao along the way—but all failed. This meant he had not yet reached Zhutian Wanyu, or that he was still far from it.

He knew this was just three months.

Perhaps the lonely journey ahead would bring another three months, and then more—third, fourth, fifth—stretching into a long era that even the clock could scarcely measure.

In the fourth month, he paused slightly because the extending starry river encountered strong resistance again.

Ahead was another chaotic zone, ravaged by thunderbolts, each one carrying destructive power. Even his extended divine sense was instantly crushed by the thunder, and a powerful force followed his divine sense back, forcing him to sever that thread.

This chaotic zone covered by thunder spanned over ten thousand zhang, the largest he had encountered since leaving Da Chu.

With no choice, he changed direction, trying to stay as far as possible from the chaotic thunder zone, circling around the ten thousand zhang before returning to his original path.

Once again, he attempted Xianlun Tiandao, but it still failed. Without a destination, Xianlun Tiandao could not succeed.

Suddenly, a trace of fresh blood overflowed from his mouth.

In these three months, he had attempted Xianlun Tiandao more than once, and failed more than once. Each failure came with backlash.

This was a troublesome issue. He did not know how long his journey would take, but no matter how long, he had to keep trying Xianlun Tiandao, even if it meant enduring backlash. All of this was just to not miss Zhutian Wanyu.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, he set out again.

This time, the journey was quite long. He walked for over two years, and adding the previous three months, the clock showed exactly three years—meaning he had been away from Da Chu for three years.

Gazing into the distance, in the pitch-black and gloomy space black hole, that figure appeared isolated and forlorn, like a single grain of sand in the vast cosmos, minuscule and almost invisible.

Three years!

In the nights of Da Chu, countless people gazed up at the stars, searching for the brightest one in the sky.

Ye Chen had been gone for three years, and Da Chu remained the same Da Chu. After three years of recuperation, it was steadily advancing toward another era of glory, with prodigious disciples emerging endlessly, like the brilliant stars in the cosmos.

Three years!

In the Tianxuan Gate of Da Chu, Donghuang Taixin looked into the distant void, her beautiful eyes misty, lost in thought.

Yes, three years!

At her side, Fu Ya took a deep breath and, like Donghuang Taixin, gazed up at the distant void.

"Godmother,"

"Is it true that those who die in battle in Da Chu are reborn only in Da Chu and Zhutian Wanyu?"

After a moment, Fu Ya turned to Donghuang Taixin, hoping for a affirmative answer.

"Of course not."

Donghuang Taixin replied softly.

"Could they also be reincarnated in the Tianmo Domain?"

Fu Ya asked tentatively, looking at Donghuang Taixin.

"Otherwise, where do you think the Tiannv Mojun came from?"

Donghuang Taixin said lightly.

"She was originally an ordinary person from Da Chu. It was her strong obsessions that allowed a fragment of her soul to evade the Zhutian wheel of reincarnation, slip through the gaps, leave Da Chu by chance, and be swept into the Tianmo Domain."

"You shouldn't have deceived him. You shouldn't have kept secrets from him."

"But even if I told him, what difference would it make? Even if he knew, what could he do?"

Donghuang Taixin gave a self-mocking smile, a trace of fresh blood spilling from her mouth. Strangely, that blood carried a multicolored divine light.

"Godmother."

Fu Ya exclaimed, rushing forward in alarm, his eyes full of worry.

"The Zhuxian Jian is truly terrifying."

Donghuang Taixin let the blood continue to flow from her mouth, still gazing into the distant void, as if she could see through the endless space black hole to that lonely figure, silently forging ahead in the darkness.