Chapter 1069: Old Friends

Chapter 1069: Meeting an Old Friend

Roar! Roar!

The world roared with the furious cries of the Chi Yan Xiong Shi. The sound waves carried an imperial might that caused the observing cultivators to faint en masse, collapsing onto the ground.

The enraged Chi Yan Xiong Shi went wild, chasing the nine quasi-emperors through the sky in a chaotic pursuit.

The nine quasi-emperor were in utter disarray, their bodies trembling with anger. What in the world was this? Since they started cultivating, they had likely never faced such a major setback, all because they were tricked by a Tian Jing realm youth.

As the primary instigator of this chaos, Ye Chen was already deep within a space black hole.

To save his life, he had no choice but to activate the Xian Lun Tian Dao to escape.

The Chi Yan Xiong Shi was an imperial realm beast, incredibly powerful, and it had locked onto him directly. The nine quasi-emperors were also fixated on him without respite. Even with his mastery of various evasion techniques, he couldn't shake them off.

Left with no alternatives, he invoked the Tian Dao.

This time, using the Tian Dao consumed far more pupil force than it had in Da Chu. The reason was the Zhutian Wanyu. The space here was exceptionally stable, and an invisible force suppressed it, significantly increasing the energy expenditure.

He wasn't in a good state right now. His entire body was covered in blood and his bones were shattered.

His injuries weren't from the Chi Yan Xiong Shi or the nine quasi-emperors, but from the space black hole itself.

Earlier, to escape the pursuit of the Chi Yan Xiong Shi and the nine quasi-emperors, he had fled into the space black hole. The moment he entered, he encountered a crisis. If he hadn't dodged in time, he would have been reduced to ashes.

What is that?

He stood there, his eyes narrowed as he stared into the dark depths.

Immortal light radiated everywhere, forming a vast ocean of shimmering colors. These exotic hues pulsed forth, intertwined with numerous profound visions. By some stroke of luck, upon entering the space black hole, he had stumbled into this ocean of immortal light. While the light was dazzling, it carried a force of utter destruction, nearly costing him his life.

Instinctively, he activated his Xian Lun Eye, channeling his pupil force to try and pierce through the mysteries of the immortal light ocean.

As he gazed, his expression shifted. He discovered a drop of blood suspended within the immortal light ocean, about the size of a fingernail. The blood was crystal clear and emitted immortal light, which was the source of the entire ocean.

Quasi Emperor level!

Ye Chen murmured to himself, his heart unsettled. He recognized that the drop of blood belonged to a quasi-emperor level expert.

He licked his lips but ultimately dared not approach. Since it was blood from a quasi-emperor, it naturally carried an overwhelming pressure that he couldn't withstand. Getting too close risked being crushed at any moment.

That drop of blood was incredibly dominant, turning the surrounding thirty thousand zhang into a zone of chaos. He had seen quasi-emperor skeletons in the space black hole before, but none exerted pressure as intense as this drop of blood.

Instinctively, he retreated several thousand zhang before stopping, unwilling to get any closer to the blood.

Though it was a treasure, one must act within their means.

Ye Chen had made up his mind: once he grew stronger, he would return here and claim that drop of blood. The blood of a quasi-emperor—and not just any—was bound to be a heaven-defying opportunity if absorbed.

Withdrawing his gaze, he sat down cross-legged on the ground and took out the Xian Lian Ling Ru.

This adventure had been incredibly dangerous, but the rewards were plentiful. The value of the Xian Lian Ling Ru was immense.

Ye Chen was bold, swallowing the eight or nine jin of Xian Lian Ling Ru in one go.

Then, he circulated his Hun Dun technique, his bloodline trembling as it merged with the Xian Lian Ling Ru. The divine power within fused into his body, and under its nourishment, the hidden injuries he bore were gradually erased.

Time passed slowly.

The space black hole had no concept of time, nor day and night, for it was perpetually dark.

It wasn't until nine days later that Ye Chen, who had been meditating, felt his Sheng Ti tremble slightly.

As he exhaled a turbid breath, he slowly opened his eyes.

Having integrated the eight or nine jin of Xian Lian Ling Ru into his body, most of his hidden injuries were healed, and his combat strength had recovered to about seventy or eighty percent of its peak. As for the remaining injuries, they stemmed from the backlash of the Xian Lun Tian Dao, which couldn't be fixed overnight—after all, they were accumulated over a hundred years.

Time to leave!

Ye Chen stood up, glanced once more at the immortal light ocean, and then used the Xian Lun Tian Dao to escape the space black hole.

Upon emerging, he was stunned to find that he wasn't in the same realm as before.

So far off?

Ye Chen looked around and realized he was at least several hundred thousand li away from his original location.

He frowned. He had only moved about ten thousand zhang in the space black hole, yet he had ended up several hundred thousand li displaced upon exiting.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened—it occurred in Da Chu when his physical body was stolen, and he used Tian Zhao to severely injure the Tuobei Lao Zhe, causing the space passage to collapse and resulting in a spatial supershift of over eight million li.

This time, though not as extreme, it was still unusual.

After pondering, Ye Chen attributed it to the spatial issues of the Zhutian Wanyu, which differed greatly from Da Chu. The positions here and in the space black hole weren't relatively fixed, leading to this displacement of several hundred thousand li.

He resolved to find some free time to study this further, but not right now.

Hmm?

As he was thinking, Ye Chen's heart suddenly stirred, and he looked toward the distance.

Immediately, he raised his hand and rapidly pointed his fingers, using Zhou Tian evolution to calculate.

A reincarnated person!

In the next instant, a brilliant divine light burst from Ye Chen's eyes.

He stepped into the sky without hesitation, heading straight in that direction, his emotions surging. He hadn't figured out whose reincarnation it was, but he had a strong feeling that it was someone he was extremely familiar with.

Soon, he saw golden light radiating across the distant horizon, dazzling against the dark night.

Lie Yan Jin Ying!

Ye Chen recognized it at a glance as a type of spiritual creature, an extremely dominant one among beasts. He had never seen it in Da Chu but had read about it in secret scrolls—it was an invaluable spirit beast.

Ye Chen moved with incredible speed, like a streak of divine light.

During his flight, he performed another finger calculation and determined whose reincarnation it was.

Xiao Ying!

Ye Chen's eyes blurred with emotion as a sealed memory resurfaced. It was from the Xiao Ling Yuan of Heng Yue Zong, a low-level spirit beast, black and unkempt, who had relied on Hu Wa and Zhang Fengnian for survival and never had a full meal.

In its previous life, it was a type of eagle, and in this reincarnation, it was again an eagle, but with a far more dominant bloodline than before.

Ye Chen accelerated, landing on a mountain peak with divine light swirling around his fingers—a secret technique to unlock past memories, passed down by Donghuang Tai Xin of Tianxuan Gate in the past.

He didn't approach but waited on the mountain, for the reincarnated Xiao Ying was already flying toward him.

Suddenly, Ye Chen's heart raced. In this foreign land, encountering a being from Da Chu filled him with immense excitement, stirring his heart that had been silent for a hundred years. This was a promising start, and more reincarnated individuals would surely be found in the future.

The reincarnated Xiao Ying flew swiftly, like a golden divine light streaking across the sky, tracing a brilliant arc under the stars.

Ye Chen looked up, ready to send the light to unlock its past memories.

However, before he could act, a dark arrow shot from behind the reincarnated Xiao Ying. Upon closer inspection, it was a killing arrow wreathed in thunder, aimed directly at the flying Xiao Ying.

Watch out!

Ye Chen's expression changed as he stepped out from the mountain.

But he was too late. With a spray of golden blood, the reincarnated Xiao Ying was pierced by the arrow and plummeted from the sky into the forest.

You bastard!

Ye Chen dove down like a divine light, summoning a gentle force to catch the falling Xiao Ying.

Then, in an instant, he pulled out the killing arrow, sealed the wound, and poured a torrent of vital energy into the reincarnated Xiao Ying's body, stabilizing its pulse and saving its life.

The reincarnated Xiao Ying let out a pitiful cry, its sharp eyes fierce, but when it looked at Ye Chen, a hint of confusion flashed through— this young man before it evoked an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Don't be afraid, I'm here!

Ye Chen gently stroked the bloodied body of the reincarnated Xiao Ying, just as he had done over a hundred years ago.

With that, he suddenly stood up and glared at the approaching figure.

It was an old man leaning on a cane, soaring through the clouds with a tremendous aura. Strangely, he had three eyes, with a third eye in the center of his forehead, flickering with mysterious divine light.

He was none other than that three-eyed old man from that night, whose related white-robed youth had been slain by Ye Chen.

It's you?

It's you?

The two spoke in unison upon seeing each other.

The three-eyed old man's eyes narrowed, recognizing Ye Chen as the culprit his third eye had divined.

As for Ye Chen, he had never seen the three-eyed old man before, but he recognized the third eye.

Earlier, when he killed the white-robed youth, he had been careless and left traces, sensing someone spying on him with a secret technique. That feeling matched the aura from the three-eyed old man's third eye exactly, confirming that the one who had spied on him that night was this man.

What a coincidence to find you here!

The three-eyed old man was filled with murderous intent, his face twisted in rage. The white-robed youth had been his most favored disciple, killed unjustly, and he had been searching for the killer all along.

Now, by sheer chance, he had found the murderer, and he had no intention of letting it go.

Ye Chen was equally determined to settle scores with him.

He regarded Xiao Ying as family, and it had nearly been killed—this debt would be tallied against the three-eyed old man. Add to that the grudge over the white-robed youth, and their conflict was irreconcilable.

Die!

The three-eyed old man extended his withered palm, covering the sky as he grabbed at Ye Chen.

With just you?

Ye Chen snorted coldly and charged upward, drawing his Ba Long Dao and slashing out a world-shaking blade light that cleaved through the three-eyed old man's massive hand.

If it had been earlier, he might have been cautious, as his combat strength was only at about forty percent due to not being at his peak. But now, with seventy to eighty percent recovery, he had the absolute power to confront a quasi-emperor head-on.

Struck back by the blade, the three-eyed old man looked astonished, never expecting a first-level Tian Jing cultivator to possess such overwhelming combat prowess.