Chapter 1745: Unknowing Each Other

On Hua Fan Xing, a small village nestled by the mountains and rivers was buzzing with excitement, filled with the constant crackle of fireworks, all because someone in the village was getting married today.

The hundred or so households were full of joy, everyone coming to offer their blessings.

The bride was not a stunning beauty, but she had a gentle and refined charm, quite ordinary in appearance. Yet, this made Li Changsheng, standing in the corner, feel dazed and lost.

Here, it was daytime on Hua Fan Xing, but on the other side of the planet, it was night.

There, a peach blossom forest was in full bloom, with petals drifting gently through the air, creating a serene and tranquil scene.

A woman stood beneath the peach trees, dressed in white with white hair, cradling a baby in her arms. She remained silent as the petals scattered around her.

She was, without a doubt, Ji Ningshuang. The baby in her arms was her child with Ye Chen: the Child of Heavenly Punishment.

His tiny body was occasionally wracked by bolts of lightning that tore through him, impossible to wipe away, but he was incredibly strong, never crying or fussing.

No wonder they say a father and son share a resemblance; he looked just like Ye Chen, especially in the fierce expression around his brows.

Like his mother, he gazed up at the stars, his large eyes sparkling like gems, pure and bright without a trace of impurity.

"Your father is called Ye Chen, a supreme war god."

"Mother and your father were once lovers. It was Mother's pride that ruined what could have been a perfect union."

"He carries the fate of the myriad realms and is a born emperor."

Ji Ningshuang murmured softly, her eyes misty and dreamlike, recounting their past as if it were a story for her child.

She quietly gazed up at the stars, as if looking back at the magnificent mountains and rivers of her homeland, or searching for the brightest star in the sky.

She would name that star Ye Chen and gaze at it every night.

What a twist of fate: she was right there on Hua Fan Xing, and he was just outside it, yet they remained completely unaware of each other.

A vast expanse of stars had become an insurmountable chasm, forever separating them through the ages.

Half an hour later, Li Changsheng emerged, walking feebly, utterly dejected, his whole demeanor steeped in loneliness.

The wedding ceremony was lively, but he hid in a quiet corner, watching the woman he loved, veiled in red and dressed in a red wedding gown.

Ye Chen sighed inwardly, understanding Li Changsheng's state of mind at that moment.

Back in the underworld, he had attended the wedding of Emperor Shun and Chu Ling, which was all an act, yet it had torn at his heart like a knife.

The deeper the love, the greater the pain. For Li Changsheng, this departure was a trial, a rebirth through suffering and transformation.

"Let's go."

Ye Chen turned first and headed into the distance.

It was clear he clutched his chest with every step, each one causing a pang in his heart, a pain that pierced deep into his soul.

Li Changsheng followed silently, truly looking back with every step, pausing every three steps, his eyes brimming with tears that glistened.

This journey would be a long one; who knew when he might return.

Perhaps when he came back to Hua Fan Xing, the woman he loved would have long turned to dust, eternally at rest.

"I wish you both a lifetime of happiness." Li Changsheng smiled faintly, offering his sincere blessing, and caught up with Ye Chen's pace.

Ye Chen took him in once more, like a divine light streaking across the stars.

The road ahead was long, heading eastward without pause, crossing one star domain after another toward Xuan Huang.

The journey was far from peaceful, with dark masses of people everywhere, Great Saints hidden among them, causing quite a stir.

Ye Chen would occasionally stop and observe from afar, quickly seeing through the situation—it was surely due to pressure from the Hong Huang clans, forcing entire sects to relocate.

The prosperous areas had all been seized by the Hong Huang clans; unless you had overwhelming strength, no one dared to survive in the cracks.

Ye Chen had thought about finding a couple of Hong Huang clan members to vent his frustration, but after crossing several star domains, he couldn't find a single one.

Frustrated, he grumbled to himself—had they all gone to Xuan Huang?

With no choice, he continued on his way. At his speed, it would still take a long time, as he couldn't find a major sect with a domain gate to borrow.

This flight lasted nine days, and even his sacred body physique was starting to feel depleted.

Unable to continue, he switched from flying to riding a sword, burning source stones to power it. The speed was much slower, but it conserved energy.

On the tenth day, at night, a commotion came from the copper furnace, with surges of saintly aura leaking out, drawing Ye Chen's attention. He peered inside through the furnace mouth.

Li Changsheng sat cross-legged like an old monk in meditation, appearing even more aged, his skin flaking off inch by inch, a terrifying sight.

"Tian Ren Wu Shui." Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, realizing what Li Changsheng was doing—he had hit a bottleneck and was undergoing the Tian Ren Wu Shui tribulation.

Tian Ren Wu Shui was a personal calamity, even more severe than heavenly thunder; back in the day, the Ruo Tian Zhuque had nearly perished in it.

Ye Chen smiled. Their trip to Hua Fan Xing had been a trial of emotion for Li Changsheng, but also a fortuitous encounter on his path.

Advancing from quasi-saint to saint level was a major hurdle; crossing it led to the heights of immortality, while failing meant falling into the depths of the underworld.

Letting go and seeing clearly would elevate his state of mind, transforming his body and rebirth his spirit—it was all about seizing the opportunity.

Ye Chen gently waved his hand, sending a wisp of light from his sacred body essence. He and Li Changsheng had some karmic ties, so this settled them.

Once done, he sealed the copper furnace and focused on sword flight.

The path ahead grew bloody. The starry sky was filled with surging blood mist, scattered limbs and wreckage, shattered war chariots lying in disarray, and bloodstained banners fluttering fiercely.

It was like a series of battlefields that had endured massive conflicts.

The further east he went, the more people he encountered, all wounded—ranging from Heaven Realm cultivators to Great Saints—fleeing with their families like refugees.

The ancient stars they passed were all in ruins, the lands desolate and chaotic.

Some were life-bearing stars with spiritual energy, yet devoid of people; any inhabitants were ordinary folk, with no cultivators in sight.

Ahead, he spotted another hunched figure, an elderly cultivator battered and bleeding profusely.

"Young friend, don't go any further. The Hong Huang clans are causing chaos." The old cultivator waved a hand in warning to Ye Chen.

"Hong Huang clans?" Ye Chen's eyes flashed with a cold light; he had been searching for them and finally found his targets.

"The truce agreement is just a farce; the Hong Huang clans are still inciting massive bloodshed." The old cultivator cursed in anger, then coughed up blood. "They're pushing it too far—too many great sects have lost their legacies because of this."

"Esteemed senior, how far is it to the Xuan Huang Continent?" Ye Chen kept popping pills into his mouth to restore his energy, then prepared to charge ahead and take on the Hong Huang clans.

"It's still quite a distance." The old cultivator accepted the pills Ye Chen offered. "And you're heading in the wrong direction! You need to go northeast, about a thousand star domains away."

"What about Da Chu? Do you know where it is, senior?" Ye Chen asked.

"I've heard of it, but I don't know its location." The old cultivator shook his head.

"Thank you." Ye Chen bowed in gratitude and sped off in a new direction, his body engulfed in raging flames and overwhelming killing intent.

The old cultivator was stunned. He had said Ye Chen was going to Xuan Huang, so why was he heading that way? He had specifically warned that the Hong Huang clans were rampant there.

Little did he know, Ye Chen was after the Hong Huang clans.

That pent-up rage had been building in Ye Chen since the underworld, simmering for a thousand years, and his killing intent could no longer be contained.

The old man shook his head and swallowed another pill, then fled to the remote edges of the universe to live out his days in seclusion.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen shot through the starry sky like a magnificent divine ray.

From millions of miles away, he could already sense the aura of the Hong Huang clans—brutal and bloodthirsty—and hear the sounds of battle.

"Qiong Qi." Ye Chen muttered coldly in his heart, detecting a trace of their origin from the bloody scent, belonging to the Qiong Qi clan of the Hong Huang.

He had never seen a true Qiong Qi, but he had encountered their descendants.

Back then, the Ghost Emperor Sect's Ghost Emperor Divine Son was a Qiong Qi descendant.

At the Tian Fu Divine Dynasty's auction, he had properly swindled the Ghost Emperor Divine Son over a piece of Qiong Qi bone.

Later, to help the reincarnated Bi You take the Palace Master's position, he had beaten that guy half to death. Now, thinking back, he should have finished him off.

As he spoke, he crossed a star river and witnessed the battlefield.

Just as he expected, it was indeed the Qiong Qi, and there weren't few of them. Their bloodlines weren't as pure as he imagined; they were clearly from a side branch of the Qiong Qi. If it were the royal Qiong Qi, that would be truly terrifying.

Even so, as side branches, they were still formidable.

More than half had transformed into their true forms, massive as mountains, with blood-red eyes like wine vats, jaws wide enough to devour the heavens and earth.

The ones being attacked by the Qiong Qi were human cultivators from a sect, intercepted during their migration.

Though numerous, they were no match for the Qiong Qi; they couldn't break through their defenses and were being swallowed or wiped out in droves.

It was a one-sided massacre, like a hellish Asura field, with cries of agony, screams, and roars echoing through the stars.

The gruesome scene was heart-wrenching just to watch.

Ye Chen's eyes gleamed with cold light as he activated the three quasi-emperor weapons within him, his combat power reaching its peak. His golden hair fluttered wildly in the wind.