Chapter 1509: Locating Imperial Armaments

In the cauldron, Yan Long poured himself another pot of wine while Ye Chen sat quietly, focused on studying the curse of the Feng Jin Xian Yan, hoping to break it. If the curse were lifted, their escape would be much easier.

However, to his frustration, the curse from the joint seal of nine Di Bing was overwhelmingly dominant, impossible for him to shake or find a way to crack, unless another Tian Jie Shen Fa appeared.

Clearly, the so-called Tian Jie had already parted ways with him the moment he advanced to Saint, so it was impossible to reach Quasi Saint King and trigger another such tribulation.

"Another ancient city has passed," Yan Long belched after his drink. "If it's like this all the way, we two can quickly leave Nan Yu. It seems this Wan Zu Tong Ling isn't all that impressive."

"It was enough to force the death of Tun Tian Mo Zun, which proves its terror," Ye Chen replied lightly.

"You're just too tense. Come on, have a pot." Yan Long said, handing over a pot of wine.

"Maybe you're right, huh?" Ye Chen started to say but suddenly stood up, his brows furrowing as his eyes narrowed, gleaming with divine light as he stared into the hazy void.

"What's going on?" Yan Long asked in surprise, also standing up and looking at Ye Chen in confusion.

"There's a mysterious force spying on me," Ye Chen said gravely. "It's ancient and powerful."

"Could it be the Wan Zu?" Yan Long's face darkened. "The power of the Di Bing?"

"We need to hurry." Ye Chen withdrew his gaze and used the Yin Ming Si Jiang to scan all directions.

They had arrived at a new city, but he didn't order the Yin Ming Si Jiang to clear the teleportation arrays in the city. Instead, he headed straight for the city center to save time and avoid any sudden changes.

At the teleportation array, a long line still formed, with people waiting one by one for the Shen Jing to scan them. Ye Chen glanced around and went directly to the front, cutting in line without a word.

"Hey!" The people behind were unhappy, and curses erupted. "Don't you know first come, first served?"

"Fellow Daoists, please forgive this old one— I have an urgent matter." The Yin Ming Si Jiang spoke, then tossed out a storage bag. "I'm not cutting in for free; one thousand Yuan Shi for each person, as my apology."

"Since it's urgent, go ahead, fellow Daoist." Seeing the money, those in line behind smiled cheerfully. It wouldn't take long, and they'd each gain a thousand Yuan Shi, so they were making a profit.

Ye Chen got his way. The Yin Ming Si Jiang was the first to step onto the altar for the Shen Jing scan.

The three Saint King guards of the teleportation array glanced at the Yin Ming Si Jiang. For someone to cut in line so extravagantly, he was clearly no ordinary wealthy person.

The Shen Jing detected no anomalies, and the Yin Ming Si Jiang entered the teleportation array, vanishing from sight.

Once in the teleportation channel, Ye Chen continuously cast the Zhou Tian Mi Fa, layering it over himself, and even concealed the Xian Yan curse to evade the spying from the void.

"Is it really this tricky?" Yan Long frowned. "Do you know who's spying on you?"

"I can confirm it's the Wan Zu, using nine Di Bing as the foundation to cast a secret technique, searching and locking onto my position," Ye Chen pondered. "The Wan Zu Tong Ling order is indeed no simple matter."

As he spoke, he commanded the Yin Ming Si Jiang to speed up, rushing straight for the exit.

The Great Saint-level Yin Ming Si Jiang moved like a divine light, covering in less than three minutes what should have taken half an hour, appearing in a new ancient city.

Without stopping, following Ye Chen's orders, he headed straight for the city center and used the same tactic again— cutting in line, which drew complaints, but Yuan Shi resolved it, saving plenty of time.

He continued this way through city after city, shuttling without regard for Yuan Shi consumption, only wishing to escape Nan Yu safely before his position was locked.

In Nan Yu, within a vast underground palace, nine figures sat solemnly— without exception, they were the old ancestors of various clans, all at the Zhun Di level, including Kun Peng old ancestor and Jin Wu old ancestor.

Above each of their heads hovered a Ji Dao Di Bing, radiating ultimate emperor might, with emperor path laws dancing in the air. Because of them, time itself stood still, and everything returned to its primal state.

Ye Chen should feel honored— not only had he provoked the Wan Zu Tong Ling, but he had also drawn nine Zhun Di to use nine Ji Dao Di Bing to search for his location, a supreme honor.

"No wonder we haven't locked onto his position for so long," Kun Peng clan old ancestor snorted coldly. "He's carrying the Zhou Tian Yan Hua Mi Fa. I should have thought of that; I truly underestimated him."

"He looks so much like Liu Dao— could there be a connection between them?" Feng Diao old ancestor murmured. "And his Zhou Tian Yan Hua Mi Fa— where does it come from?"

"There are plenty of people across the Zhutian Wandu who look alike; does that mean everyone is connected to Liu Dao?" Xue Yan old ancestor sneered. "Even if Liu Dao showed up, we'd wipe them both out."

"The source of his secret techniques doesn't matter anymore," Ba Qi old ancestor laughed coldly, shooting a beam of divine light from his Tian Ling Gai into the hovering killing sword above— that was the Ji Dao Di Bing of the Ba Qi clan, from their ancestor who was an emperor in the Hong Huang era, known in Xuan Huang history as Ba Qi Great Emperor.

Like him, the other eight also shot divine light from their Tian Ling Gai into their respective Ji Dao Di Bing, reviving the emperor might and enhancing the secret techniques, making the Di Bing all hum with energy.

Soon, each Di Bing sprinkled out divine radiance, merging together to form a watery curtain. The curtain was initially blurry but grew clearer under the Di Bing's vibrations.

The curtain displayed the outline of Nan Yu. The nine Di Bing trembled in unison, locking onto a region, then a space channel, and finally a figure in black robes within the channel, zeroing in on the storage bag at his waist, which contained four Saint-level artifacts.

"He's actually hiding in an artifact," Jin Wu Huang said with a cold smile. "What a surprise."

"That black-robed figure must be a puppet, an extremely advanced one," Kun Peng said thoughtfully. "No wonder the Tian Ji Shen Jing didn't detect him along the way— it's quite profound."

"No more nonsense— gather the strong ones and surround that city," Kun Peng old ancestor ordered coldly. "The Xian Yan is sealed, so he can't touch the heavenly dao. At all costs, capture him alive for me."

"He won't escape." The various clan emperors stepped out of the hall, issuing commands one after another.

Immediately, whether it was the Wan Zu experts hidden in the major ancient cities or those searching outside, they all converged on that city upon receiving the orders, forming an enormous formation.

This massive movement stirred up the ancient cities in the cultivation hubs, with people looking toward the skies. "The Wan Zu experts hidden in the ancient cities are all being withdrawn— have they found the Sheng Ti?"

"Whether they have or not, let's go check it out." Those not focused on cultivation, or those who loved spectacle, gathered in groups and followed the crowd, eager to witness the drama.

"If he's found, it's a certain death," many sighed inwardly, yet they still joined the throng, heading toward that ancient city, hoping against hope that Ye Chen could escape.

In the great cauldron, Ye Chen stood up and ordered the Yin Ming Si Jiang, still speeding through the space channel, to stop. Then, his eyes narrowed into slits, fixed dead on the exit, his expression grave.

"Why stop?" Yan Long also stared at the exit, sensing nothing unusual.

"The ancient city we're about to reach is already swarming with Wan Zu experts," Ye Chen said gravely. "Or rather, it's completely surrounded, waiting for me to appear and strike with thunderous force."

"You can see all that?" Yan Long exclaimed in shock, eyes wide, but he saw nothing.

"Before we left, I placed Yin Ming Si Jiang in all directions— I can see it clearly. The Wan Zu experts are all converging on this city. Clearly, they've found our position."

"Then what do we do?" Yan Long panicked. "If we go out, we'll be blasted to ash."

"We won't use the exit— we'll blast through this channel." Ye Chen leaped out of the cauldron, his Yuan Shen entering a Great Saint-level body. With the Fen Ji Jian buzzing in his hand, he slashed open the space channel with one strike.

As the space channel collapsed, he was pulled into the spatial rift and simultaneously activated a teleportation array, pouring in frenzied essence to revive it, vanishing into the spatial rift.

"He's activated a teleportation array— with the ancient city as the center, surround the heavens and earth within a thirty-thousand-li radius for me," Kun Peng clan old ancestor transmitted orders from the Nan Yu underground palace.

He could see it all clearly— the secret technique based on nine Di Bing was that dominant, having locked onto Ye Chen. As long as he was in Nan Yu, every move was visible.

Upon the order, the Wan Zu experts still en route to the ancient city halted in place, forming square formations that filled the surrounding heavens. The Xu Tian Jue Sha Zhen revived, waiting only for Ye Chen to appear.