Chapter 1881: Settling Old Scores

In the silent black hole, Ye Chen appeared, almost stumbling before steadying himself. Hong Chen and Liu Dao were right beside him, one on his left and one on his right, standing as still as wooden stakes or stone tablets, their lifeless eyes gazing into the depths.

The Di Qu was directly ahead, its shattered body now fully healed. The emperor's murderous aura was thick and oppressive, making the heavens and earth tremble. Its empty emperor eyes were deeper than the black hole itself.

Ye Chen coughed dryly, already understanding the intent of Hong Chen and Liu Dao.

"We can suppress him but not kill him, so that's why you brought me here to assist in the battle. That understanding should be correct."

Hong Chen and Liu Dao said nothing, but their bodies slowly merged into Ye Chen's, not just parts of them, but entirely, just as they had done in the past.

As Ye Chen had said, the two of them could suppress the Di Qu but couldn't destroy it, for the various heavens' half-emperors were nearly immortal.

Soon, a beam of light shot out from the top of Ye Chen's head, piercing straight into the void. In the black hole, it was strikingly bright.

Ye Chen's form changed instantly. His snow-white hair turned strand by strand into gold, and an ancient divine mark etched itself on his forehead. His aura surged from the Saint King realm, forcefully breaking through barriers and entering the Quasi-Emperor realm, charging straight toward the Great Emperor level.

The emperor tribulation reappeared, but like before, it flashed briefly and then dissipated. Even so, Ye Chen's oppressive presence shattered the heavens and destroyed the earth. Borrowing the power of Hong Chen and Liu Dao, his aura had reached infinitely close to that of a Great Emperor.

"The power I've missed for so long." Ye Chen clenched his fists tightly. His saint body was covered in golden light, as if forged from molten gold. His golden eyes encompassed the heavens and the earth, with the Great Dao evolving within them. His vital energy rolled like turbulent waves, every strand as heavy as a mountain, collapsing the space of the black hole.

Countless visions manifested around him. Amid the chaos, all things were evolving: true dragons coiled through the nine heavens, phoenixes cried out in fiery rebirth, white tigers roared toward the sky, and black tortoises shattered immortal pairs. The sounds of the Great Dao echoed, intertwining with the chaotic principles and dancing with the saint body's origin, appearing faintly around him.

He was not an emperor, yet he possessed the ultimate emperor's might—the power of a fully realized saint body, capable of suppressing eternity and reversing the cosmos.

The Di Qu noticed this and stiffly turned its neck. A hint of wariness added to the confusion in its emperor eyes. The might of a fully realized saint body was too overwhelming, and it, at best, was only a half-emperor.

"The grievances and karma with your Teng She line will be settled in this battle." Ye Chen held the Phoenix Zither above his head and gripped the Emperor Sword in his hand, stepping forward and shattering the black hole as he slashed out an immortal river.

The Di Qu raised its sword to block, the Teng She Emperor Weapon radiating emperor light.

A clang rang out as the emperor weapons collided, sparks flying and a wave of destructive halo spreading. Ye Chen stood firm, unmoving, while the Di Qu's arm exploded, its emperor bones stained with emperor blood, scattering across the black hole as its entire body was sent flying.

Before it could steady itself, Ye Chen attacked again, swinging his sword without a word and sending the Di Qu staggering. The newly healed body burst open once more.

The Di Qu was on the defensive, even with its emperor weapon, it couldn't withstand Ye Chen's assaults. It was forced back with each successive strike—not because it was too weak, but because the merged Ye Chen was too strong, wielding two emperor weapons and dominating the battlefield.

Ye Chen's eyes shone brilliantly, his immense power giving him full confidence. Every sword strike was devastating enough to destroy the heavens and earth.

Though he was battling the Di Qu, he had already decided that once it was destroyed, he would go settle scores with Hong Huang.

It was a rare opportunity to merge with the two of them and wield the power of a fully realized saint body. He needed to have a good chat with Hong Huang about life's ideals and seek justice for the suffering spirits.

As he spoke, he stepped forward and slashed out another sword infused with ultimate emperor might, creating another dazzling immortal river.

The Di Qu's instincts made it raise its emperor weapon to block, but Ye Chen's strike was so overpowering that it was forced to its knees.

"It's over." Ye Chen snorted coldly and pressed down with a destructive palm, aiming to reduce the Di Qu to historical dust.

However, in that instant, the Teng She Di Qu's consciousness revived, accompanied by a surge of dominant power. It actually shook off Ye Chen's palm print with brute force.

Ye Chen retreated, his brow furrowing. His attacks had awakened the Di Qu's consciousness, and its power was reviving.

"Exterminate." The Di Qu actually spoke, merging with its emperor weapon and sweeping out a palm enhanced by emperor immortal techniques. Its might approached that of a true emperor, collapsing all laws and the cosmos.

"Come on." Ye Chen roared, merging the Phoenix Zither and the Emperor Weapon Jade Ruyi, clenching his fists to combine the nine paths and eight wastelands. He added various secret techniques, blasting apart the emperor palm print.

In this direct clash, the Di Qu was pushed back, its palm exploding.

Without a complete emperor consciousness or yuan spirit, this half-emperor couldn't stand against the fully realized saint body.

The mighty Di Qu turned and fled, tearing open a spatial rift to re-enter the starry sky.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ye Chen snorted coldly and instantly closed in. He dragged the Di Qu, which had half its body out of the black hole, back inside, and sealed the rift with a palm.

He wasn't about to let it escape. It had taken so much effort to gain this power—if it got away, the consequences would be endless.

The Di Qu raged, its empty eyes flashing with cold light. It fused thousands of emperor techniques into a single finger, thrusting straight at Ye Chen's forehead.

Ye Chen soared into the nine heavens, striking down with a heavenly palm that made the Di Qu stagger. He fired out nine divine curses, targeting the Di Qu's consciousness.

The Di Qu suffered another blow, its already fragile consciousness nearly erased—that was its weak point.

But Ye Chen's nine divine curses only stimulated the Di Qu further. Instead of destroying it, they enhanced its consciousness.

With a furious roar from the Di Qu, the ancient vault of heaven collapsed. Its emperor visions unfolded, revealing a vast Hong Huang demonic land where stars were destroyed in a rotating scene, evolving on its own.

The Di Qu stood within it, like the ruler of the world, as if a true emperor had revived, reigning over all and commanding myriad spirits.

Ye Chen wasn't one to back down. In a contest of visions at the same level, he had never lost. His chaotic great realm symbolized the chaotic dao.

The avenues of all things suppressed the Di Qu's Hong Huang demonic land.

The Di Qu charged, its palm like a divine blade, slashing open Ye Chen's chest and ripping out several ribs. Emperor killing intent flooded in, damaging Ye Chen's origin and trying to destroy his foundation.

Ye Chen didn't hold back either. Taking the hit, he twisted off one of the Di Qu's arms and reduced it to ash in his palm.

The battle erupted in full. One was a half-emperor-level Di Qu, the other an incomplete saint body—essentially equals.

In the dark black hole, thunderous booms and vibrations filled the air. Every collision between the saint body and the Di Qu felt like the end of days.

The fight was brutal. The saint body was stained with emperor blood, and the Di Qu was bathed in saint blood. They fought on relentlessly until one fell.

"What's going on?" The cultivators of the various heavens looked up in astonishment at the void, unsure where the sounds were coming from. They only knew a destructive force was making their hearts quiver.

Unfortunately, they couldn't see through the black hole or know about the battle within, let alone that it involved a saint body and a Di Qu—an epic war for the ages.

It was fortunate that Ye Chen and the Di Qu were fighting in the black hole; if it were in the various heavens, who knows how many lives would have been lost.

As the various heavens puzzled over it, the scene in the black hole grew even more intense. The Di Qu's head was severed by Ye Chen, though his own saint body was nearly shattered in the process.

Headless, the Di Qu still didn't fall. Its attacks were relentless, and the pressure from Ye Chen forced its consciousness to revive, making it stronger with each exchange, leaving Ye Chen frustrated.

"Just how powerful was the Teng She Great Emperor from ancient times?" Ye Chen couldn't help but feel shocked. Even just the Di Qu's power rivaled that of the Heavenly Demon Domain's Great Emperors.

By that logic, the various heavens' Great Emperors could take on two from the Heavenly Demon Domain because the demons were invaders, suppressed by the various heavens—even emperors weren't exempt.

"If I don't bleed for this, I really won't be able to destroy you." Ye Chen snorted coldly and, in his current state, activated a forbidden technique. His combat power instantly rose by half a level.

The headless Di Qu attacked, its palm evolving emperor immortal techniques. This single strike could instantly crush a Quasi-Emperor at their peak.

Ye Chen met it head-on with his fist, sending the Di Qu flying back. Then, he transformed his dao into a sword, merging it with the Emperor Sword, and split the Di Qu open.

The Di Qu's recovery was domineering. Its bloody body healed in an instant, and the splattered blood returned to it—a sight that was horrifying just to witness.

Ye Chen charged forward, gripping his sword with both hands and slashing wildly without any specific form. The Di Qu's healing was formidable, but so were his attacks. Every time it mended its body, he tore it apart again, giving it no chance to breathe.

The battle grew even more savage, but the situation was still favorable.

The Di Qu's consciousness was shattered by Ye Chen, its power plummeting rapidly, making it unable to counter the assaults.

On the eight hundredth exchange, the Di Qu exploded. Whether its emperor bones or emperor blood, all turned to ash in the destruction.

The Teng She Emperor, who had shaken history, was once the ruler of this world, but his Di Qu was no true emperor. Being slain by the fully realized saint body was inevitable.

With this, the Teng She lineage was truly wiped out. The Di Qu had hidden for so long but still met its end.

One couldn't help but wonder—if the Teng She Crown Prince were still alive and saw the Di Qu destroyed, would he regret his past actions? Why provoke Ye Chen of all people?

As for the Teng She Emperor Weapon, it fled like a streak of light, vanishing deep into the spatial black hole, impossible to trace.

Ye Chen didn't pursue it; it would be hard to catch, and even if he did, it would require using the two emperor weapons to suppress it.

Another emperor had fallen—half-emperor or not, it counted. Including this one, it was already four. His record was unprecedented.

Unlike the previous three, this time he had slain an emperor of the various heavens, not out of disregard for the bigger picture, but because the Di Qu threatened Da Chu and had to be eliminated.

"Time to pay a visit to the Hong Huang clan." Ye Chen collected his thoughts and prepared to tear open the black hole to go discuss ideals with them.

However, as soon as he took a step, Hong Chen and Liu Dao separated from his body. His aura plummeted, leaving him as merely a Saint King.

What frustrated him wasn't just that—it was that after separating, Hong Chen and Liu Dao said nothing and started fighting each other again.

"You two have a problem!" Ye Chen couldn't help but shout.

But all he got in response was a wave of destructive halo from their clash, which sent him flying tens of thousands of feet, nearly exploding him.

Ye Chen staggered to his feet, blood pouring nonstop from his mouth. If not for the emperor weapons protecting him, he wouldn't have been so lucky.

The issue was, he no longer had the emperor weapons—they were with Hong Chen and Liu Dao. The two weren't just fighting; they were brawling with the emperor weapons in hand, creating an enormously grand spectacle.