Chapter 1840: Where's the Child?

The mask shattered, and the world fell silent. Everyone gazed at the battle platform, recognizing that the figure in golden light was Ye Chen, but their eyes were all fixed on the female demon.

She was incredibly beautiful, her face a masterpiece of exquisite craftsmanship that made everything else in the world pale in comparison.

Kui Niu stammered, his face full of shock,"Am I seeing this right?""How could it be Yao Chi?"

The people of Da Chu were collectively stunned, as were the sect leader of Zheng Yang Zong and others from Da Chu, all of whom knew her.

Zhong Huang stared in a daze,"No wonder she seemed so familiar."

Xiao Yuan Huang scratched his fur furiously, completely baffled, as if he had been struck by lightning.

Yao Chi Xian Mu furrowed her delicate brows slightly. Her earlier feeling had been correct—the female demon on the platform was indeed the goddess of Yao Chi.

Jiang Tai Xu shook his head silently, while Feng Huang and Tun Tian Mo Zun were both momentarily stunned, thinking they had seen wrong.

After the brief silence, the world erupted in chaos, with voices rising like crashing waves. This unexpected turn left everyone completely unprepared.

Who would have thought that the female demon, who had slain over a hundred Tianjiao from Xuan Huang, was actually the goddess of Dong Shen, from the holy land of Yao Chi?

Shock and confusion were etched on countless bewildered faces—shock that the female demon was from Yao Chi, and confusion about why Dong Shen was allied with Teng She, bringing devastation to the beings of Xuan Huang.

Teng She Tai Zi sat high above, looking down with a mocking gaze, as if everything unfolding was exactly as he had anticipated.

"This scene is truly delightful and entertaining."

The crowd below was in an uproar, but the platform remained eerily quiet.

This moment in history was eternally frozen.

Ye Chen stood like a statue, unmoving, quietly gazing at Ji Ning Shuang. She was his former lover, the one who had stood before him in the last moments of the first Tian Mo invasion, and the woman who had died in his arms.

Every time he thought of her name or saw her face, an inexplicable pain welled up inside him, laced with complexity.

Ji Ning Shuang's body trembled, and the blood-stained immortal sword slipped from her grasp. Her eyes, brimming with mist, stared blankly at Ye Chen, her vision blurred by tears.

This was the first time since her reincarnation that she stood before Ye Chen as Ji Ning Shuang, meeting his gaze.

They should have forgotten each other in the rivers and lakes, yet fate had twisted their paths together again. She had borne his child and continued their past bond.

For that century, he had been suppressed under Wu Zhi Shan, and she had been sealed in Wang Chuan. When she awoke, all she heard was devastating news.

It was only when Teng She intervened that she learned Ye Chen was still alive, and the father of her child was still in the world.

But she had never expected that their reunion, after a great cycle of past and present lives, would happen on this blood-soaked battle platform.

He was still the same Ye Chen, the supreme war god, while she had become the female demon in the eyes of the world.

Ye Chen's eyes were filled with tears, his smile warm, his voice hoarse and weary, carrying untold hardships,"Where is the child?"

Before Ji Ning Shuang could speak, Teng She Tai Zi laughed,"The child is with me."

With a light wave of his sleeve, a one- or two-year-old child appeared suspended before him.

The child was plump and adorable, with a thunder mark on his forehead and bolts of lightning crackling around his small body. Even from a distance, it was strikingly intense.

A cold killing intent flashed in Ye Chen's eyes, sharp and bone-chilling.

The vast battle platform and the expansive heavens began to freeze over inch by inch, visible to the naked eye.

That was his child, connected by blood, yet bound and helpless by Teng She.

Only then did Ye Chen understand why Ji Ning Shuang had brought such devastation— it was all because the child was in Teng She's hands.

He could see the dark lightning coiling around the child— it was Tian Qian thunder— and recognize that the child was a Tian Qian body. He also realized why his own Tian Qian over the years had mysteriously been drawn away.

It was all because of his child. Both parents were afflicted by Tian Qian, and their child was suffering in their place.

Ye Chen's body trembled uncontrollably, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, perhaps too forcefully, as blood seeped from his palms where his nails dug in.

As a father, he had truly failed. What good was slaughtering great emperors or bearing supreme glory? He had let a fragile life endure that torment, more cruel than lingchi.

In that moment, all his past wounds and pains could not make up for his debt to the child, who had suffered so much.

Ji Ning Shuang's face was pale, tears streaming down her cheeks. As the mother, she knew all too well the hardships the child had endured.

How many nights had he woken in pain from his dreams, biting his lip to stifle his cries so his mother wouldn't weep? He was just a child!

"You deserve to die."

The tranquility shattered with Ye Chen's roar. He seemed to lose his mind, his brilliant golden eyes streaked with blood, turning red.

Yet neither he nor Ji Ning Shuang dared to move recklessly.

For Teng She held a faint glow in his hand, laughing mockingly, as if to say: Make a move, and the child dies.

"Mother."

The child wailed, calling for his mother, his tear-filled eyes full of helplessness.

That single word "mother" made everyone around frown.

Clearly, the child meant Ji Ning Shuang, and his father was undoubtedly Ye Chen.

The Huang Gu Sheng Ti and the goddess of Dong Shen Yao Chi were actually a couple with a child— an outcome beyond anyone's expectations.

But that was beside the point. What mattered was that Teng She was using the child to manipulate Ji Ning Shuang, forcing her to slaughter innocents.

In such a situation, any mother would act without hesitation— the child was the flesh of her heart.

"Damn it."

Kui Niu cursed loudly, and the people of Da Chu erupted in fury, their eyes blood-red with surging killing intent.

They weren't the only ones angry— everyone present was outraged. Using a child as leverage was an abomination to both heaven and earth.

"Don't anyone make a move, or I can't guarantee this child's life."

Teng She Tai Zi sneered sinisterly, his pale hand sliding across the child's face,"Tsk, tsk, what a cute little one!"

"I'm sorry."

Ji Ning Shuang choked back sobs, her words directed at Ye Chen. She hadn't protected their child, and now he might die in Teng She's grasp.

"It's my fault."

Blood trickled from the corners of Ye Chen's eyes as he berated himself inwardly. He had seen those visions and knew how hard Ji Ning Shuang had fought to protect the child. What right did he have to blame her? The blame lay with him as the father.

"How touching."

Teng She Tai Zi clicked his tongue.

"As the prince of a clan, using a child as leverage— aren't you afraid of being shamed by future generations?"

Ye Chen stared coldly at Teng She.

"Don't you find this situation quite amusing?"

Teng She Tai Zi shrugged, baring his white teeth.

"Our fight has nothing to do with the child."

Ye Chen said coldly, suppressing his killing intent for now. As long as the child was safe, everything else could be handled.

"Are you begging me?"

Teng She Tai Zi lounged back, his smile more playful,"When you beg, you should do so properly. I don't like people standing while talking to me."

"Damn it."

Xiao Yuan Huang swore and raised his iron staff to charge forward. This was clearly demanding that Ye Chen kneel!

"Don't be reckless."

Nan Di quickly reached out and held him back,"The child's safety is paramount. Calm down."

Ye Chen, what do you say?"

Teng She Tai Zi grinned at Ye Chen, his white teeth gleaming eerily.

Ye Chen said nothing. With a thud, he knelt on the ground, lowering his proud head for the sake of his child.

This sight moved the world. Who was Ye Chen? The Huang Gu Sheng Ti who shook the heavens, the unmatched ruler of Da Chu, an undefeated war god. Yet here he was, so humble, kneeling like a dog.

Yao Chi wept, her eyes blurred with tears. One was the man she loved most, the other her own flesh and blood, yet they had come to this.

"How entertaining, truly entertaining."

Teng She Tai Zi laughed wildly,"Ye Chen, you have your day too, crawling at my feet like a dog. The Huang Gu Sheng Ti— what a joke, the biggest joke in the world."

"Release him."

Ye Chen said calmly, his tone eerily steady. Those who knew him understood that the calmer he was, the more dangerous he became, like a dormant lion about to awaken.

"Release him."

Yao Chi Xian Mu snorted coldly, her voice like a celestial melody echoing in the skies. If not for the child's safety, she would have struck Teng She down in an instant to vent her rage.

She wasn't the only one— many elders present had locked onto Teng She Tai Zi, ready to strike at any moment.

"Of course, I'll release him."

Teng She Tai Zi smiled faintly, but instead of letting the child go, he casually tossed out a killing sword, embedding it at Ji Ning Shuang's feet,"Beautiful goddess of Yao Chi, choose between Ye Chen and your child."

"No, no, I can't do it."

Ji Ning Shuang trembled and stepped back, such a choice more agonizing than death itself.

"What a shame."

Teng She Tai Zi's fingertip swirled with a chilling glow, and with one strike, he could end the child's life,"What a fine child— doesn't his mother care for him at all?"

But before he could act, the child suspended before him vanished in an instant, without any warning.

Not only Teng She was stunned— everyone around was equally baffled.

In full view of all, a figure materialized in the air— a young man, holding Ye Chen's child.

Wasn't that Wu Qing? The son of Xuan Yuan Emperor, a genuine emperor's heir.

"Shifting Heaven and Earth?"

Xiao Yuan Huang exclaimed in shock, his eyes wide, unsure how Wu Qing had done it.

"Shifting your sister— that's Reversing Qian Kun."

Kui Niu corrected.

"From such a distance, he can still perform Reversing Qian Kun."

Chi Yang Zi sighed in admiration,"The emperor's son is no ordinary man."

"Old man, what is Reversing Qian Kun?"

Xiao Jiu Xian turned and asked, tilting her small face curiously toward Chi Yang Zi.

"This so-called Reversing Qian Kun is exactly that— reversing Qian Kun."

Chi Yang Zi stroked his beard, his expression profound.

"What a great explanation."

Xiao Jiu Xian pouted.

"Now things are looking up."

The cultivators around stood straight, energized. With the child rescued, Ye Chen's pent-up frustration could finally erupt— the war god was about to rage.

"The Reversing Qian Kun of the Xuan Yuan family truly defies heaven."

Teng She Tai Zi chuckled darkly, slowly rising to his feet, his blood-red eyes mockingly fixed on Wu Qing.

Wu Qing said nothing, never one for words. He handed the child to the rushing Ji Ning Shuang and stood silently.

And in the instant the child was saved, Ye Chen rose to his feet,"Teng She, this is to the death."