Chapter 1327: Why Are You Following Me?

Pfft!

The Skeleton Ancestor transformed into a mist of blood, his physical body and primordial spirit both extinguished. With his defeat, this epic war finally came to an end.

From the vantage point of the heavens, the surrounding hundreds of thousands of li were soaked in fresh blood, turning the world into a gruesome spectacle, like an endless hell that made one's heart shudder—a true mountain of corpses and sea of blood.

Tianling Laozu returned from the void, his body covered in blood and bones, radiating a fearsome aura of killing intent. Without a word, he stepped into the Skeleton King Hall.

The Skeleton King Hall was now in ruins, with thousands of immortal mountains collapsed in the battle. Only one remained intact: the mountain piled high with skulls. Tianling Laozu raised his hand and pushed at the Skull Immortal Mountain, then with a sweep of his sleeve, collected the vast array of skulls within.

Behind him, countless others stepped forward, each holding skulls and weeping uncontrollably. These were their ancestors, slain in the past and piled here by the Skeleton King Hall. After endless years and changing eras, with the hall's destruction, they could finally bring their loved ones home.

Ye Chen watched in silence. Among the countless skulls, some might belong to reincarnated souls, but he couldn't recognize them.

A bloody wind blew, and Tianling Laozu was the first to turn away, appearing even more aged. As a quasi-saint king, it had taken him over a thousand years to retrieve the fallen of the Tianling family—the depth of his grief was unimaginable.

Cultivators from all directions also turned to leave, each carrying skulls in their arms. Though they had won a great victory, their return journey was marked by tears.

The Skeleton King Hall had been destroyed.

As the Tianling army set off on their way back, the onlookers took a deep breath.

Who could have imagined that a major power like the Skeleton King Hall would be wiped out so easily? And who would have thought that merely besieging a small family like the Long Wu clan would spark such a massive war?

Many, like the Skeleton Ancestor, were left wondering: how had things escalated to this point so suddenly?

Let's go!

The onlookers dispersed as well. With the Skeleton King Hall gone, the forces in this star domain would be reshuffled, and the Tianling family would become the new overlord here. They couldn't afford to be lax.

Countless people headed west, but only one traveled east.

It was Ye Chen, his figure solitary. In this star domain, all the reincarnated souls had been found, and now it was time for him to move on.

Ahead in the starry sky, a group of figures stood waiting—over two thousand in total, all familiar faces to Ye Chen. Leading them was Long Wu, with Xiao Feng, Fu Ling, Hua Xu, and Shangguan Yuer among them.

Ye Chen cleared his throat and stepped forward, but before he could speak, a graceful shadow flung herself into his arms. It was Shangguan Yuer, her face streaked with tears.

"You're just leaving without saying goodbye?"

"This is getting too emotional. It really makes me want to cry." Ye Chen shook his head with a smile. "I'm not gone for good."

"You have no sense of romance at all." Shangguan Yuer released him, a bit frustrated, wiping the tears from her cheeks while glaring fiercely at him.

"Come back and marry me."

"I'm afraid by the time I return, you'll be an old lady." Ye Chen smiled faintly, like a breeze passing by. He waved to Long Wu, Xiao Feng, and the others, then headed toward the distant stars. "Those who should get married, do so. Those who should get wed, find your matches. Until we meet again, I hope you all have descendants filling your halls."

"And we hope you find Chu Ling and Chu Xuan." Long Wu and the others waved back. In the end, he was setting off alone, and this farewell might not see them reunited for years—perhaps not until they were all old.

Under everyone's gaze, Ye Chen's desolate figure gradually blurred, until it turned into a streak of starlight.

As Ye Chen walked, his pace quickened, like a divine ray streaking across the vast universe.

He was merely a passerby. Every star and every star domain in this vast world was just a stopover for him—a place to rest when tired—before carrying on with the dust of the road.

Day and night cycled, dawn and dusk revolving.

In the blink of an eye, another three to five days passed before he left the star domain and entered a new, expansive one.

He stopped and glanced ahead, then looked back to see a four-legged creature ambling toward him, humming a tune along the way. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Qi Wang, that donkey.

This donkey was quite peculiar—it had followed him all the way out of the star domain. Wherever he went, it went, like a persistent plaster that couldn't be shaken off. And all the while, it kept humming that annoyingly catchy tune.

"What are you looking at?" Qi Wang strutted over with vigorous steps, rhythmically swishing its tail, eyeing Ye Chen sideways just as it had the first time they met.

"I'm not looking at anything." Ye Chen casually pulled out his wolf-tooth club, blew on it for good measure, and then polished it vigorously with his sleeve until it shone brightly.

"Don't mess around. You're not going to hit me again." The donkey immediately cowered, its tail drooping.

"Why have you been following me all this way? What do you want?" Ye Chen bared two rows of white teeth, eyeing the donkey with great interest, his smile a bit unsettling and making the creature uneasy.

"Nonsense, I'm just visiting relatives."

"That's new." Ye Chen sighed in amazement, scrutinizing Qi Wang up and down with a meaningful expression. "From what I can tell, your father must also be a donkey."

"You old donkey, if you keep chatting like this, you're going to get beaten to death out here."

"Don't give me that crap. Tell me, why are you following me!" Ye Chen raised the wolf-tooth club.

"It has to be something good." Qi Wang grinned, flashing two large donkey teeth in a rather sleazy manner. "There's treasure here. This star domain has a big one."

"You're following me—how does that relate to treasure in this star domain?"

"It definitely relates." Qi Wang propped up its front hooves and sat down. "I can't handle it alone; I need your help. We'll split whatever we find fifty-fifty. I'm not kidding—it's really a huge treasure."

"How big is it?" Ye Chen glanced at Qi Wang—er, the donkey king.

"About this big." Qi Wang gestured with its hooves, then realized it might be underselling it and enlarged the size. "Hmm, it should be about this big."

Ye Chen stroked his chin, looked at the donkey's hooves, and then at its long face. "Can you tell me exactly what you're gesturing at?"

"An egg." Qi Wang said the word with utter confidence.

"A chicken egg?"

"Don't joke around. No chicken egg is that big. It's a dragon egg."

"A dragon egg? No way!" Ye Chen looked at Qi Wang skeptically. "I've never heard of that."

"This is something only I know." Qi Wang shook its head. "I'm the best at finding treasures. I can tell at a glance which house has treasure, which doesn't, which has big treasure, and which has small. That dragon egg? I can smell it from miles away."

"I had no idea you had such an impressive skill." Ye Chen scrutinized Qi Wang again, instinctively shifting his storage bag to a safer spot.

"Enough with the nonsense— are you in or not?" Qi Wang threw Ye Chen a charming wink.

"Not in." Ye Chen replied straightforwardly and started to walk away. Are you kidding? That's a dragon egg—who would dare take it? You might end up with a couple of dragons coming to chat someday.

"Don't go! It really is a dragon egg. If I'm lying, may I be struck by lightning." Qi Wang scrambled up and followed, but no sooner had the words left its mouth than a deafening thunderclap echoed from the nine heavens above, shaking the entire star domain with a rumble.

"Don't sweat the small stuff." Qi Wang froze for a moment, glanced at the void, and sidled up to Ye Chen. "That thing is a treasure. Raise it, and you'll have a dragon—talk about style."

Ye Chen ignored it and deliberately stepped aside, subconsciously glancing at the void. He wasn't afraid of being struck himself; he just didn't want to be near someone who'd made such a vow—in case the lightning missed and hit him by accident.