Chapter 1305: The Six Paths

Great Emperor!

Upon hearing these two words, Ye Chen's heart trembled. Throughout the endless ages, anyone who had attained the title of Great Emperor was a figure that shook the ancients and dazzled the present. He had never imagined that Long Wu would hold such a high evaluation of Liu Dao.

Long Wu said no more. With a wave of his hand, he produced a jade slip and handed it to Ye Chen. Within it was imprinted the coordinates of a starfield—more precisely, the starfield where he had encountered Liu Dao.

Ye Chen took the jade slip, as if already knowing what was imprinted inside, and immediately crushed it.

After absorbing the spatial coordinates from the jade slip, Ye Chen stood up and stepped into the ethereal void.

Behind him, Long Wu slightly tilted his head upward, watching Ye Chen's departing figure, his eyes filled with even deeper meaning.

Ye Chen flew out of Yang Chen Star, heading straight toward that starfield, his eyes flickering with an uncertain light.

First, there was Hong Chen and Shen Xuan Feng, and now Liu Dao. Their targets were all Ruoxi. The difference was that Liu Dao had descended upon the myriad realms of the heavens, while Hong Chen and Shen Xuan Feng had appeared in Da Chu.

Only now did Ye Chen truly realize that some matters were not as simple as he had imagined. The future of the myriad realms of the heavens would indeed face earth-shattering changes, where even Great Emperors could perish in battle.

Perhaps it was precisely because of those earth-shattering changes that the future version of himself had been forced to defy the heavens, altering his path and traversing through time and space.

In the dead of night, Ye Chen came to a stop in a stretch of starfield.

For some unknown reason, standing in this starfield gave him a vague and inexplicable feeling. It was extremely ethereal, as if right before his eyes yet as distant as a dream, flickering in and out of visibility, impossible to grasp.

Slightly furrowing his brow, Ye Chen began to scan his surroundings.

This starfield was tens of thousands of li from Yang Chen Star. Though vast, it was eerily quiet and desolate, with only a few small stars, all of them lifeless and barren.

Ye Chen calmed his mind and spirit, performing Zhou Tian Evolution, using this starfield as the foundation for his divination.

Through Zhou Tian Evolution, Ye Chen restored the scenes from this starfield not long ago. They were illusory figures— cultivators passing through, some men and some women, in groups of two or three.

Ye Chen's divine consciousness swept over the illusory figures like immortal rays, examining each one individually.

However, after looking for a long time, he did not see Liu Dao's figure. Instead, he spotted a few familiar faces—reincarnated individuals from Da Chu who had passed through this vast starfield not long ago.

Ye Chen did not retract his divine ability but continued the divination. He had already decided to seek out the reincarnated individuals from this starfield after the divination. What he urgently wanted to know now was still about Liu Dao; he wanted to see Liu Dao.

The starfield was tranquil, and Zhou Tian Evolution continued to operate. Only Ye Chen could see the restored scenes.

After an unknown amount of time, the divined scenes shifted to nightfall. The figures in the starfield gradually diminished until none remained, leaving it empty and serene, devoid of life.

Ye Chen still did not withdraw his divine ability and continued to observe carefully.

Eventually, the vast starfield trembled slightly, and Ye Chen saw Long Wu's figure in the restored illusory scene. Long Wu was coming from a distant starfield, holding a stalk of immortal grass in his hand.

That immortal grass was the very one Ye Chen had swallowed earlier.

Ye Chen's eyes narrowed instantly. Since Long Wu had appeared, Liu Dao must be arriving soon.

Sure enough, after Long Wu, another illusory figure emerged—it was Liu Dao, appearing in a very strange manner, as if out of nowhere. Ye Chen couldn't even tell how he had appeared.

Ye Chen fixed his gaze on Liu Dao. Liu Dao was facing away from him, his back blurry yet extremely desolate and lonely. His steps were somewhat stiff, moving slowly and aimlessly.

Ye Chen concentrated his vision to the utmost, staring fixedly at Liu Dao's back.

However, the more he tried to see it clearly, the less he could. Liu Dao's back was too ethereal, as distant as if separated by endless ages, ancient and worn, impossible to penetrate.

Ye Chen's sacred body shuddered violently, and fresh blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth.

Once again, he had recklessly used Zhou Tian Evolution to divine an extremely powerful existence, resulting in terrifying backlash.

A gentle breeze blew, and Liu Dao paused, slightly turning his head to look behind him, as if he could see through the ethereal illusion and across the vast ages to Ye Chen— the same Ye Chen, but from a different time and space.

Ye Chen finally saw Liu Dao's appearance clearly. He indeed looked identical to him, his face etched with the marks of hardship, bearing the traces of a journey through wind and dust. Time, like a knife, had left him scarred and battered.

Suddenly, Ye Chen's consciousness became unsteady, and Liu Dao's back grew blurred in his eyes.

Because he had gazed at Liu Dao for just a moment longer in the red dust, his consciousness was pulled into a strange vortex. Even with his strong willpower, he could not free himself or find a way back.

Zhou Tian Evolution halted due to his drifting consciousness, and the divined scenes dissipated with it.

The starfield remained the same starfield.

Ye Chen still stood there, like a stone-carved statue, motionless.

After some time, a figure stepped into this starfield.

It was an old man, more precisely a hunchbacked elder, leaning on a Qing Long cane. He was advanced in years, his skin wrinkled, and his turbid old eyes flashed with a sinister, gloomy light.

The hunchbacked elder spotted Ye Chen standing there at a glance. Perhaps because Ye Chen was as still as a statue, the elder's eyes narrowed slightly, for the scene was too strange.

The hunchbacked elder scanned the surrounding starfield and slowly approached. Seeing Ye Chen in a state of drifting consciousness, he couldn't help but sinisterly smile and lick his scarlet tongue.

"Good, such a pure bloodline."

Ye Chen remained unmoving, his consciousness adrift, unaware of the approaching figure and their covetous gaze.

The hunchbacked elder had already summoned a pitch-black bronze furnace, drawing Ye Chen, who was in his drifting state, into it.

"Such a pure bloodline will make an excellent medicinal catalyst."

Another gust of wind blew, and the hunchbacked elder vanished, taking Ye Chen with him.

Ye Chen was sealed inside the bronze furnace, his consciousness still adrift. All he could see was a hazy mist, everything ethereal and illusory in his eyes.

As dawn approached, the hunchbacked elder landed on a barren star and descended into the underground.

Beneath the ground was a separate realm, a massive underground palace covered in array patterns and reinforced with powerful barriers that concealed its aura.

The most striking feature in the underground palace was an ancient altar, upon which burned a cluster of pitch-black flames. Though blazing, they exuded an abnormally cold aura, like yin fire.

Only then did the hunchbacked elder retrieve the black bronze furnace, suspending it above the altar.

Next, he took out various medicinal herbs, all of exceptional quality, each containing vast essence. Any one of them could spark a frenzy if brought out.

This individual was clearly an alchemist, and an evil one at that. Otherwise, he would not have captured Ye Chen to use as a medicinal catalyst. Using living people for such purposes was undoubtedly evil, much like the Dan Gui of Da Chu in the past, who refined pills with infant souls and met a karmic retribution.

As for Ye Chen, he was sealed within the black bronze furnace, bound by strange rune chains— the furnace's restrictions that sealed his powers completely, leaving him as still as a statue.

Before long, another figure entered the underground palace— a hunchbacked old woman, also leaning on a Qing Long cane, her form identical to the hunchbacked elder's.

Like attracts like.

The hunchbacked elder and old woman were indeed cultivation partners, a matched pair if ever there was one.

The hunchbacked old woman had brought someone with her— a woman in white, who appeared to have been captured for refining pills.

If Ye Chen were to see this woman in white, he would certainly recognize her as a reincarnated individual from Da Chu.

The hunchbacked elder glanced at the hunchbacked old woman, then fixed his gaze on the woman in white. Seeing her stunning beauty, a naked, lecherous light flashed in his old eyes.

Upon noticing the lecherous light in the hunchbacked elder's eyes, a cold gleam appeared in the hunchbacked old woman's eyes. I am your cultivation partner— what do you mean by staring at this pretty girl like that?

Caught by the hunchbacked old woman's glare, the hunchbacked elder coughed awkwardly and averted his gaze, continuing to organize the herbs.

The hunchbacked old woman snorted coldly and opened the seal on the black bronze furnace containing Ye Chen. At a glance, she saw him inside, and her eyes lit up, as if she could tell his bloodline was extraordinary.