Chapter 1488: Target Western Desert

"Wu Lei Zhi Cheng?" Hearing those four words, Ye Chen abruptly turned to Da Ming Wang, his eyes gleaming with divine light. "Senior, why do you mention this ancient entity? Has that immortal city descended into the world again?"

Kong Que Da Ming Wang nodded gently. "It descended in Xi Mo on the day of the Ten Thousand Clans Gathering. However, it only stayed for a moment before vanishing, and no one has been able to trace it."

"Xi Mo, only for a moment." Ye Chen murmured softly, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. Even though he had learned of it three days ago and wanted to rush to Xi Mo, he had been too late—the distance was far too great.

It was a rare opportunity for Wu Lei Zhi Cheng to appear, yet he had missed it. Missing the city meant missing Chu Xuan Er, or possibly Chu Ling Er, and regardless of which one it was, he had failed to catch up.

Wu Lei Zhi Cheng was elusive and unpredictable; who knew how many years it would be before it appeared again? The next time it did, he might still not make it, or perhaps by then, he would have entered another cycle of reincarnation.

"Little one, you still haven't answered my question," Kong Que Da Ming Wang said with a smile.

"My ancestor once said it is an ethereal immortal city," Ye Chen replied absentmindedly. "The people there all cultivate the Tai Shang Wang Qing secret method. So-called 'Wu Lei' means without emotion."

"No wonder the woman who came from Wu Lei Zhi Cheng showed no emotion at all."

As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Chen's dim eyes suddenly burst with brilliance, and he stared straight at Da Ming Wang. "Senior, do you mean that when Wu Lei Zhi Cheng descended this time, someone came out?"

"Indeed, one person emerged," Kong Que Da Ming Wang stroked his beard. "An old friend of mine from Xi Mo visited the Kong Que family yesterday and told me about it. It should be reliable."

"Did your friend have a portrait of that woman?" Ye Chen asked, his breathing growing rapid. Overwhelmed with excitement, even his voice trembled, and his radiant immortal eyes were filled with hope.

"No," Kong Que Da Ming Wang shook his head. "He saw the woman, but she was veiled in plain silk and concealed by a mysterious technique. Even without the veil, her true appearance would be hard to discern."

Ye Chen fell silent, his heart filled with regret yet also hope. Since she had come from Wu Lei Zhi Cheng, she could possibly be Chu Xuan or Chu Ling Er—he couldn't rule out that possibility.

As he thought about it, he suddenly stood up. "Senior, I have urgent matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

With that, he strode toward the exit. Whether it was them or not, he had to go to Xi Mo and find her. One look would tell him the truth, and even if it wasn't, he could still ask her for some information.

Stepping out of the bamboo grove, he ascended into the void. Before leaving, he glanced back at Xiao Yuan Huang and the others; the six of them were sound asleep, so he didn't disturb them and departed quietly.

Kong Que Da Ming Wang also rose, tilting his head slightly to watch Ye Chen leave. His old eyes held admiration, contentment, and a touch of confusion—for Ye Chen was extraordinarily mysterious.

Ever since he arrived, many things had changed, such as his granddaughter, whose beautiful eyes often concealed a hint of hidden sorrow, as if hiding countless stories.

Under the moonlight, Ye Chen streaked through the sky like a blazing divine light, making the stars themselves shine with vibrant colors.

It wasn't until near dawn that he landed in an ancient city closest to the Kong Que family.

He performed the Zhou Tian evolution technique but didn't detect any reincarnated souls, so he headed straight to the city center and stepped onto the teleportation array, transmitting northwestward. His main direction was toward Xi Mo in the Xuan Huang realm.

From then on, he didn't stop, and everywhere he went, legends of him spread. It seemed as though the name Ye Chen was known to everyone on the Xuan Huang continent, and it was even spreading from this cultivators' holy land to the star domains. Soon, the name of the Holy Body would echo across the myriad heavens and domains.

But he paid no mind to any of that. After traveling for so long, glory and reputation meant nothing to him. The stories left for posterity could include him or not—it didn't matter.

"Activate the array, to Nan Tian Ancient City." It was another night glittering with stars, and Ye Chen stepped into the teleportation array. In the spatial passage, he suspended a map in midair, constantly connecting ancient cities with his pen. This was the quickest route to Xi Mo, all via teleportation.

As he was examining it, the once-calm spatial passage began to tremble. From the far end, it started collapsing inch by inch, rapidly spreading toward him.

He quickly put away the map and narrowed his eyes, focusing on the front. He didn't sense any battles occurring, so the spatial passage wasn't collapsing due to a fight.

Since it wasn't an issue within the passage, it must be that the teleportation arrays at one or both ends had been damaged, causing the spatial channel to rupture.

Without hesitation, he turned and escaped. With the spatial passage destroyed, he had no choice but to fly to Nan Tian Ancient City and use its teleportation array to continue onward, heading straight for Xi Mo.

Half an hour later, Nan Tian Ancient City came into view, but it made his brow furrow deeply.

From a distance, the entire city was enveloped in a bloody haze. The rampant blood mist even draped a crimson veil over the stars, and the stench of blood could be smelled from far away.

As expected, the problem was here! Ye Chen murmured to himself and shot into Nan Tian Ancient City like a divine light.

Once inside, his eyes narrowed again. Though the city was vast, it was eerily silent.

Or rather, the people of Nan Tian Ancient City had been slaughtered completely. Everywhere he looked were corpses—on the streets, in houses, pavilions, and bridges, all drenched in blood, a horrifying sight.

Ye Chen scanned the area, and even with his steady heart, he couldn't help but tremble. The men had all been beheaded and hung up high, while the women were in a pitiful state, their clothes torn and many having been violated before death.

It was like a scene from hell, with even infants in swaddling clothes nailed to walls.

Ye Chen moved swiftly, as fast as a startled swan. There were still living people in the city, and one of them was a reincarnated soul.

It was in a mansion where guards lay scattered at the entrance, all decapitated. Perhaps too many inside had died, as fresh blood flowed out from the mansion and soaked into the streets.

Entering the mansion, he spotted a purple-haired woman far off, stained red with blood. She had been violated, her clothes in disarray and her body covered in wounds, as she struggled to crawl forward.

Ye Chen stepped forward in an instant, not caring about anything else, and forcibly drew out his origin essence, frantically pouring it into the purple-haired woman's body. She was a reincarnated soul, a disciple of the Xuan generation from Qing Yun Sect in her previous life.

However, to his despair, the purple-haired woman's primordial spirit had suffered devastating damage. Her primordial spirit fire was on the verge of extinguishing, and even a Da Luo Jin Xian couldn't save her life.

"Don't move, don't speak," Ye Chen said, his eyes bloodshot as he desperately infused his origin essence, hoping to preserve her life. At the very least, he wanted her to know about her homeland in Grand Chu.

But the purple-haired woman seemed not to hear, still straining with all her might to crawl forward, dragging her bloodied body. Her blood-stained jade hand reached out into the air, as if trying to touch something.

Ye Chen instinctively turned his head, following the direction of her hand, and saw a rock wall. Nailed to it was an infant still in swaddling clothes, frozen in a cry.

His body shuddered violently as he imagined what had happened not long ago: she had been violated and forced to watch her child being nailed up, and her clansmen falling one by one.

"My child... my child," the purple-haired woman shouted hoarsely, her voice growing weaker. The light in her eyes faded rapidly, and her last flickering primordial spirit fire finally extinguished. Her raised, blood-stained jade hand fell limply.

Ye Chen's hands clenched until they bled, hot tears welling up uncontrollably. He had arrived too late and had never felt so useless—watching helplessly, yet unable to do anything.

"I told you so! There must be survivors." As Ye Chen grieved, a sinister laugh echoed, and groups of people flew into the mansion. Each one exuded a cold aura and wore a ferocious expression, crowding the skies as they looked down at Ye Chen with interest. "It's actually a saint."