Chapter 1270: The Big Dipper Star Domain

Some time passed, and the low roars from the mountaintop finally subsided.

Ye Chen, battered beyond recognition by the heavenly tribulation, knelt feebly on the ground. His hair was a mess, blood blurred his vision, and even his consciousness was starting to fade.

Only then did Long Yi step forward, placing his palm on Ye Chen's back and channeling the essence of the Taixu Dragon Soul into him.

Ye Chen remained silent. His trembling hand reached inside his robe and pulled out a mirror, holding it gently before him. Strangely, even though the mirror was intact, it still didn't reflect his face.

Ha... ha ha ha!

Ye Chen laughed again, a deranged laugh filled with endless sorrow.

Stop looking!

Long Yi frowned, reaching out to snatch the mirror from Ye Chen's hand and crushing it into dust.

Despite this, Ye Chen continued to laugh. An ancient sadness hung in the air, carried by the passing breeze, ruffling his black hair and mercilessly brushing against his face, which was etched with weariness and the passage of time.

It wasn't until much later that he stopped laughing, kneeling quietly on the ground like a stone statue.

Ah!

Long Yi let out another soft sigh inwardly. Though he didn't know Ye Chen's secrets, he could guess a few things.

Take care of them!

Ye Chen finally stood up and stepped into the void, his steps unsteady, leaving behind a desolate silhouette in the night.

Long Yi stepped forward again, wanting to say something, but held back. He knew Ye Chen was setting off once more on his quest to find the reincarnated ones, his body covered in wounds. This departure might last for many years.

This old Daoist should go too!

After Ye Chen, Yan Laodao also ascended into the void.

He had witnessed the entire scene from beginning to end. Even as the inheritor of the Dao Ancestor, he was powerless to help.

The night passed without incident, and dawn arrived in the blink of an eye.

Da Chu Xing welcomed a new day, but many people gazed up at the void, as if sensing that an important person had left in their sleep, without even giving them a chance to say goodbye.

In the vast starry sky, Ye Chen headed directly east. He had already thoroughly searched the star domain he was in.

For him, this was another long journey.

Nine days later, he left that star domain and entered a new one: Beidou Xingyu.

Beidou Xingyu was extraordinarily vast, larger than all the star domains he had visited combined.

This star domain had always been shrouded in a legendary aura.

Legend had it that the Zhutian Sword God, Jian Fei Dao, had once come to Beidou Xingyu. He had comprehended the Great Dao here and left behind a trace of sword intent, which gave rise to the Da Luo Jian Zong.

Ye Chen held the star map in his hand, carefully determining his direction.

By now, he had fully recovered from the wounds of the heavenly tribulation. He was dressed in black robes, though his hair had turned completely white.

Da Luo Jian Zong!

Ye Chen accurately located the direction of Da Luo Jian Zong, put away the star map, and headed straight there.

Three hours later, he spotted a desolate, lifeless star.

This was a border region, even within Beidou Xingyu, incredibly barren and impoverished, with no signs of human life. The lifeless star, naturally, had no living beings, let alone anyone from Da Chu's reincarnation.

He set off again, flying through the starry sky for a full three days.

Ahead lay an ancient star with life, though it wasn't large, only half the size of Zhuque Star.

Ye Chen entered it, but emerged again just three seconds later. There were no reincarnated people from Da Chu inside.

He continued on his way.

Whenever he encountered an ancient star along the path, he would enter and check, but to his regret, although the stars were vast and teeming with life, not a single reincarnated person was to be found, leaving him quite frustrated.

For the entire month that followed, he made no progress whatsoever.

Beidou Xingyu was indeed immense. Even traveling day and night, with occasional stops, it took him a month to reach the more prosperous regions and truly enter the sphere of influence of Da Luo Jian Zong.

The journey wasn't entirely peaceful; he had encountered battles and pursuits, sustaining injuries more than once.

Beidou Xingyu was full of hidden masters, with many powerful saints and mysterious entities. For instance, on one lifeless star, he had encountered an ancient exotic beast. Even with his strength, he had barely escaped with his life, suffering heavy wounds after a near-fatal ordeal.

On one side of the starry sky, figures moved in crowds, and the prosperous area bustled with activity.

Divine rainbows streaked continuously through the vast cosmos. Perhaps influenced by Da Luo Jian Zong, most were sword cultivators traveling by sword.

Among them were renowned figures from other star domains who had journeyed millions of miles to Beidou Xingyu. Their purpose was to visit Da Luo Jian Zong, and if they were fortunate enough to comprehend the sword intent of Jian Fei Dao, it would be the ultimate honor.

Ye Chen unfolded the star map again, silently calculating the distance to Da Luo Jian Zong—it was roughly two million li away.

After putting away the star map, Ye Chen glanced around and followed the crowd into an ancient star named Haoyang Star.

This ancient star was enormous, more than three times the size of Xianyue Star, and it was the largest in Beidou Xingyu aside from Da Luo Jian Zong. Over countless ages, it had nurtured many powerful experts.

Upon landing, Ye Chen scanned his surroundings.

The vastness and grandeur of Haoyang Star surprised him. Immortal mountains were scattered in perfect order, with extremely dense spiritual energy, swirling mists, and bursts of radiant colors, making the entire ancient star like a fairyland.

He withdrew his gaze and began his calculations.

However, it disappointed him once more—such a massive ancient star didn't have a single reincarnated person.

Just as Ye Chen was about to leave Haoyang Star, he overheard nearby cultivators talking, which made him pause and retract his raised foot.

"Have you heard? The Da Luo Jian Zong's divine child is also on Haoyang Star."

"Da Luo divine child might know the whereabouts of the sword god." Ye Chen murmured to himself.

"No wonder so many old-timers are bringing their juniors here to Haoyang Star. They're probably trying to see the Da Luo divine child." As Ye Chen muttered, the discussions around him continued.

"There's no way around it. Da Luo Jian Zong's standards are too high. Everyone wants to use the divine child as a backdoor to get their juniors into Da Luo Jian Zong for cultivation—that's the ultimate glory."

"The Da Luo divine child is the most astonishing junior I've seen in all my years of cultivation—bar none."

"The Jiu Yang True Body—how could it not be astonishing?" Someone sighed, their words laced with inexplicable envy. We're all cultivators, so why is the gap so huge?

Amid the discussions, Ye Chen had already flown into the void.

According to what people said, the Da Luo divine child was in the largest ancient city on Haoyang Star, called Haoyang Ancient City.

With Ye Chen's speed, it took less than a moment to arrive at Haoyang Ancient City.

It had to be said, Haoyang Ancient City was truly prosperous, teeming with people, including saints and quasi-saints among them—figures who shook their respective regions—yet they had all traveled millions of miles to visit the Da Luo Jian Zong's divine child. This showed just how immense the influence of Da Luo Jian Zong was.

Hmm?

Before entering the city, Ye Chen let out a soft sound of surprise, his gaze falling on an inconspicuous teahouse by the city gate. There sat an old man cloaked entirely in black robes, quietly sipping tea.

This black-robed elder was an old acquaintance of Ye Chen's—Dong Yang Zhen Ren from the Dong Huang Tian Fu Shen Chao.

Earlier, when they had been ambushed by the three saints, it was Dong Yang Zhen Ren and Qing Yue Xian Zi who had desperately protected him. Afterward, the three had separated, and Ye Chen had assumed they returned to the divine dynasty. He never expected to encounter Dong Yang Zhen Ren here.

Ye Chen moved forward and, in one step, arrived at the teahouse, casually sitting down across from Dong Yang Zhen Ren.

The sudden appearance of someone sitting down startled Dong Yang Zhen Ren, but upon seeing Ye Chen's face, he immediately showed a look of delight.

"You're still alive?"

"Senior, what do you mean by that? Of course, I'm alive." Ye Chen smiled, picked up the teapot, and poured himself a cup of tea. "There are many matters here that this junior cannot explain. I hope you can understand, senior."

"You've truly shocked me." Dong Yang Zhen Ren didn't press further, though his tone carried a sense of astonishment. Back then, Ye Chen was only at the Tianjing realm—how had he escaped the pursuit of saints?

"Are you here to find Dong Huang and his son?" Ye Chen took a sip of tea and looked at Dong Yang Zhen Ren.

"I was originally looking for you. When I couldn't find you, I ended up here along the way."

"I see." Ye Chen replied, glancing around as he spoke. "Why isn't Senior Qing Yue here?"

"She was captured." Dong Yang Zhen Ren took a deep breath.

"Captured?" Ye Chen was stunned. "That's impossible! Senior Qing Yue is a saint."

"The other side had three saints, and we were in a state of severe injury and weakness at the time." Dong Yang Zhen Ren sighed. "We encountered a barbarian while chasing the black-robed saint. He was extraordinarily powerful—killed the black-robed saint with a single strike. Qing Yue and I escaped quickly, or we might have been wiped out too. Even so, we were hit by the aftermath, and both suffered serious wounds."

"A barbarian." Ye Chen's mind raced—he could guess it was the barbaric king from the Man Xiong clan.

"They were fighting among their own." Ye Chen coughed dryly to himself.

"If we hadn't been in such a weakened state, Qing Yue wouldn't have been captured." Dong Yang Zhen Ren said coldly.

"Who captured Senior Qing Yue?" Ye Chen asked tentatively.

"The Da Luo divine child." When Dong Yang Zhen Ren said this, his tone grew even colder.

"It was him." Ye Chen furrowed his brow.

"He took a liking to her special bloodline." Dong Yang Zhen Ren continued, "His guards are three powerful saints. If I and Qing Yue had been at our peak, we might not have won, but we wouldn't have been captured. Da Luo Jian Zong is acting so overbearing."

"Didn't you reveal your background?"

"Of course I did, but an arrogant Da Luo divine child wouldn't care about that."

"That's really bullying people." Ye Chen's tone also turned cold.

At the mention of background, Dong Yang Zhen Ren seemed to think of something and looked at Ye Chen with bright eyes. "My friend, you're a disciple of the Zhutian Sword God. Given the deep connection between Da Luo Jian Zong and the sword god, they should listen to you. If you step in, getting one person back shouldn't be hard."

"Well... actually, I'm not the sword god's disciple."

"You're not the sword god's disciple?" Dong Yang Zhen Ren's expression became quite colorful.

"I'm truly sorry, senior. This junior deceived you."

"I..." Dong Yang Zhen Ren nearly choked in anger. You little brat, playing such high-stakes games at your age! Back in Tian Fu Shen Chao, you had us all fooled with your smooth talk, and now at the critical moment, you pull this? Do you have any shame?

"Did you also deceive us about Dong Huang and his son?"

"That's absolutely true."

"Can I still believe you?" Dong Yang Zhen Ren's forehead was still covered in black lines, and he nearly started a fight.

"This matter is definitely genuine." Ye Chen gave a dry laugh. "As for Senior Qing Yue's situation, this junior won't stand by and do nothing."