Chapter 1281: March

Chapter 1281: San Yue

The Empress’s Dao principles dissipated, and the divine punishment came to an end.

This stretch of the starry sky was left in utter devastation, as if it had endured a cataclysmic war.

Ye Chen was covered in blood, his figure swaying unsteadily in the cosmos, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

He was gravely wounded—from the heavenly tribulation, from the divine punishment, and from the Empress—each injury tormenting him beyond measure. Even his powerful Sheng Ti was now utterly depleted.

“Surround him.” As the onlookers were still reveling in the spectacle, a furious roar suddenly echoed through the starry sky.

Da Luo Jian Zong swarmed in again, like a vast ocean, filling every corner of the surrounding space. Their faces were twisted in grotesque fury, their terrifying auras unleashing waves of killing intent that blanketed the stars in frost.

“This is truly the end.” The onlookers sighed in unison.

“The Sheng Ti has just survived his heavenly tribulation—now at his weakest. Even a Tian Jing cultivator could take his life!”

“No chance for a comeback.”

“What a heaven-defying bloodline!” Sighs of admiration rose one after another. They were about to witness the execution of a Sheng Ti, the myth of invincibility among peers rendered powerless under absolute suppression.

“Release him.” Over a dozen quasi-saints from Da Luo Jian Zong had Ye Chen encircled, cutting off all his escape routes.

“Release him.” Hundreds of quasi-saints and nearly three hundred thousand cultivators had also locked onto Ye Chen. If not for their concern over their godson’s safety, they would have struck him down countless times already.

“Come and take him if you dare.” Ye Chen steadied himself and glanced around the starry sky, his lips curling into a cold smirk.

“You’re asking for death.” A purple-robed saint erupted in rage, raising his hand to summon a massive illusory palm, reaching out to seize Ye Chen and bind him on the spot, all to reclaim the Da Luo godson.

However, the purple-robed saint’s strike passed through empty space, for Ye Chen had vanished without a trace.

Huh?

The onlookers were stunned, staring blankly at the spot in the starry sky. Where did he go?

The Da Luo Jian Zong experts were equally baffled. A living person had just disappeared right before their eyes?

Search!

A few seconds later, the starry sky resounded with the frenzied howls of the Da Luo Jian Zong saints, like rabid dogs.

Shameful, an utter humiliation.

The Da Luo godson had been defeated, and now, with over a dozen saints, hundreds of quasi-saints, and five hundred thousand cultivators from Da Luo Jian Zong, they had been routed by a single Huang Jing cultivator and allowed him to escape. In the history of Da Luo Jian Zong, they had never suffered such a loss of face.

Search!

The Da Luo Jian Zong cultivators spread out from this point in the starry sky, conducting a blanket search in all directions.

The onlookers sighed again. The Sheng Ti had provoked Da Luo Jian Zong, and now the Bei Dou Star Domain would be in turmoil once more. Who knew how many innocents would be dragged into this, or how many lives would be lost.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen had already settled into a meditative position within a space black hole.

The fierce heavenly tribulation and divine punishment had ravaged his Sheng Ti, but it had also unsealed his Xian Yan. That had been his purpose in drawing the tribulation—to use the heavenly dao to escape once the Six Paths Xian Lun Yan was freed.

Crack! Crack!

In the silent space black hole, the sounds of bones shifting were crystal clear as his battered Sheng Ti rapidly regenerated.

He remained in meditation for three days.

It wasn’t until the fourth night that he slowly opened his eyes. Having undergone the tribulation’s purification, his gaze was even deeper, and if one looked closely, they could see the sun, moon, and stars evolving within his pupils.

He stretched lazily and flexed his stiff body before summoning the Hun Dun Shen Ding from his divine sea. Refined by the tribulation, the cauldron had evolved further, becoming even more extraordinary.

With a gentle wave of his hand, Ye Chen released Duan Yu, Yun Meng, and the many reincarnated individuals from Da Chu from the Hun Dun Shen Ding.

“You’re as domineering as ever!” Duan Yu said the moment he emerged, giving Ye Chen a punch to the chest.

“Keep it low-key.”

“The Huang Gu Sheng Ti is truly heaven-defying,” Yun Meng remarked, her voice full of awe. She had witnessed Ye Chen’s entire rampage and had never seen anyone so overwhelmingly dominant.

“Where is this place?” As the three chatted, the reincarnated individuals rescued by Ye Chen from Zang Hai looked around in terror. This pitch-black world filled their hearts with dread.

“If I’m not mistaken, it’s a space black hole,” Duan Yu said with a laugh, glancing at Ye Chen. Compared to the others, he remained quite composed—someone who had been through reincarnation was different.

“As you said.”

“A space black hole…” The reincarnated individuals turned pale, clearly aware of the black hole’s infamous dangers.

“Don’t be afraid.” Ye Chen smiled and summoned illuminating divine pearls, lighting up a thousand-zhang radius around them. In this dark world, they had created a warm haven.

“Why did you save us?” The reincarnated individuals all looked at Ye Chen. If not for him coming to Zang Hai, they might have already become vengeful spirits there. This was a debt of gratitude.

“We’re family.”

“Family?”

“Return to your true selves.” Ye Chen smiled and flicked out strands of Xian Guang, which sank into the brows of the reincarnated individuals.

Immediately, their bodies trembled collectively, and they clutched their heads, letting out pained roars.

Ye Chen chuckled, his laughter tinged with a sense of age-old weariness, as he waited for them to awaken.

Duan Yu also smiled, taking a deep breath. These were all people from his homeland, and among them, a few he recognized—disciples from Heng Yue Zong, from the Xuan generation—filling him with a sense of closeness.

Yun Meng, on the other hand, glanced at the reincarnated individuals, then at Ye Chen and Duan Yu, her expression puzzled, sensing some hidden secret among them. They were all people with stories.

After some time, the reincarnated individuals’ dazed eyes cleared, and tears welled up in them.

Their memories unlocked, they recalled their past lives, their old companions, and their former names.

“We greet the Sheng Zhu!”

They dropped to their knees with a thud, their voices choked with emotion, unable to hold back their sobs.

Past and present lives, a hundred years of fleeting time—it all felt like a dream. Waking up to see their homeland companions again was a blessing from the heavens, a joy that hit them like a thunderbolt.

Ye Chen smiled faintly and summoned a gentle force to lift them up.

What followed was an emotional scene. They sat together, each holding a wine flask, gazing into the darkness. Their Sheng Zhu had wandered this black world alone for a hundred years in search of the Da Chu people, a solitude that tugged at the heart.

Sometime later, they rose and entered the Hun Dun Shen Ding, following Ye Chen out of the space black hole.

This devastated starry sky was vast and empty, with blood mist still drifting through it.

Three days earlier, Ye Chen’s tribulation had struck down over two hundred thousand Da Luo Jian Zong cultivators—a massive number that had draped the starry sky in a layer of bloody haze.

Ye Chen withdrew his gaze and scanned the surroundings before vanishing from the spot.

The Bei Dou Star Domain was far from peaceful, with Da Luo Jian Zong members lurking everywhere, their faces like demons.

The Yuan Shen jade tablet of the Da Luo godson in Da Luo Jian Zong had shattered, because Ye Chen had taken him into the space black hole, severing the connection. In their eyes, the Da Luo godson was dead, though in reality, he was still in the Hun Dun Ding.

With their godson’s death, Da Luo Jian Zong was on a rampage, hunting Ye Chen to avenge their loss.

Ye Chen wasn’t idle either, constantly appearing on various ancient stars.

With Da Luo Jian Zong acting like mad dogs, the Bei Dou Star Domain was in chaos, and innocents were suffering.

He didn’t want any of the reincarnated individuals to be caught in it, so he needed to find all the Da Chu reincarnated people in the Bei Dou Star Domain as quickly as possible. If he was too slow, they might be swept up in the disaster.

The Bei Dou Star Domain was enormous, larger than any he had traversed, with countless ancient stars.

It took Ye Chen nearly three months to search every ancient star.

He was fortunate, locating over three thousand reincarnated individuals, including many from various Da Chu forces—some he knew, some strangers, though none of his closest acquaintances.

Over the three months, the uproar from Da Luo Jian Zong gradually subsided.

They had come to terms with their godson’s death and, after failing to find Ye Chen despite three months of searching, concluded that he had left the Bei Dou Star Domain.

The night sky was profound, with shattered stars like dust.

Ye Chen landed on a sizable ancient star and entered an ancient city, renting a secluded residence.

This was his first rest in three months.

He released the reincarnated individuals, and the scene was heartwarming, the aroma of wine soon filling the residence.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen brought the Da Luo godson out of the Hun Dun Shen Ding.

The Da Luo godson was no longer recognizable as human, covered in bruises and footprints. Clearly, during his time in the cauldron, Duan Yu, Yun Meng, and the others hadn’t gone easy on him.

He was still unconscious, and even in his sleep, his face twisted in a ferocious expression.

Ye Chen sneered and flicked a strand of Xian Guang to awaken him.

The Da Luo godson awoke in a daze, and upon seeing Ye Chen, his face contorted with savage rage, his eyes burning with violence and bloodlust.

“I’ll kill you!”

This guy was still as temperamental as ever. With disheveled hair and a twisted visage, he lunged like a mad dog.

Ye Chen raised his hand and smacked him down to the ground.

The Da Luo godson roared, struggling to break free, but to no avail.

He was the exalted Da Luo godson, bearer of the Jiu Yang bloodline, full of pride. Now, he was reduced to a wretched stray, and even after three months, he couldn’t accept this reality.

“In your next life, be a better person.”

Ye Chen said indifferently, pressing his palm to the Da Luo godson’s Tian Ling Gai and unleashing the Tun Tian secret technique, ravenously devouring his Jiu Yang origin and merging it into his own Sheng Ti origin.

The Da Luo godson screamed, his body convulsing as he begged for mercy, his cries piercing the night.

He was truly terrified, sensing Ye Chen’s killing intent. Only now did he truly regret provoking this harbinger of doom, leading to such catastrophe.

Ye Chen felt no pity. Someone like the Da Luo godson, if released, would be a menace, having caused untold bloodshed in the Bei Dou Star Domain—perhaps even among the Da Chu reincarnated individuals.

In this turbulent world and under these ruthless laws, he couldn’t afford even a shred of mercy.