Chapter 1982: Defying the Odds

Chapter 1982: Not Believing in Evil

“Who?” Ye Chen suddenly spun around. He had clearly heard someone calling out, and vaguely, he could tell it was his name, Ye Chen.

But when he scanned his surroundings, there wasn't a single figure in sight, not even a bird. There was only hazy yin fog and chilling yin energy.

Unconsciously, he felt a cool breeze sweeping through the area.

Where was this place? It was Ming Wang Xing, a dead ancient star with an ancient tomb buried beneath the surface, holding a terrifying entity. For someone to suddenly speak here was nothing short of strange.

“What a miserable death I had!” As Ye Chen looked around, another voice rang out, carrying the wails of a fierce ghost, startling him so much that he jolted.

This time, he heard it clearly – the voice was coming from the ancient tomb underground, a place where the dead were buried. For a sound to emerge suddenly, was it a corpse transforming? Or rising from the dead? Or had the body turned into a spirit?

“What a miserable death I had!” The wailing continued to echo, filled with a bewitching power that made even Ye Chen’s mind grow hazy.

“This is really haunted!” Ye Chen muttered, instinctively stepping back before turning to leave. Who knew if the next moment an ancient corpse might burst out of the tomb and give him a beating?

“You idiot, why are you running?” The underground wail turned into a fierce scolding, booming with authority and making the earth tremble.

Once again, Ye Chen stopped and looked toward the ground, scratching his head. He felt that this scolding voice sounded strangely familiar.

“Don’t just stare – it’s me.” A soft chuckle came from underground.

“Ming Jue?” Ye Chen paused, asking tentatively.

“Miss me?” The voice from underground sounded much more normal now – it was indeed that rascal Ming Jue, laughing nonstop.

“You old hag, you scared me!” Ye Chen couldn’t help but curse.

“Just lightening the awkward atmosphere.” Ming Jue chuckled cheerfully.

“You little punk, how did you end up in an ancient tomb?” Ye Chen asked in confusion. “You didn’t go digging up someone’s ancestral grave and get trapped, did you?”

“Digging up ancestral graves isn’t our style.” Ming Jue whispered. “It’s a special task my master assigned to me.”

“A special task?” Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, then furrowed his brow.

He remembered that seventy years ago at Yu Nu Feng, he had communicated with Chu Jiang Wang about some matters. Afterward, Chu Jiang Wang went to find Ming Jue and Bai Zhi. When Chu Jiang Wang returned to the underworld, Ming Jue and Bai Zhi had already left Da Chu. Based on the timeline, they had left Da Chu even earlier than he did.

Back then, Chu Jiang Wang must have been carrying orders from Ming Di, and the task was for them to complete.

Now, it seemed the task from Ming Di was related to this underground ancient tomb, so it wasn’t surprising that Ming Jue was here.

“Seventy years – it’s been so boring!” Ming Jue complained.

“You’ve been in this ancient tomb for seventy years?” Ye Chen was shocked.

“Exactly seventy years, not a day more or less.” Ming Jue sounded deflated.

“So, what kind of task takes seventy years?” Ye Chen squatted down, asking curiously. “And what’s the connection between the person buried in this ancient tomb and Ming Di?”

“That’s a secret – I can’t say.” Ming Jue replied leisurely, in a tone that suggested it was forbidden knowledge.

Ye Chen fell silent, squatting on the ground and stroking his chin as he speculated on his own.

One was Ming Di, and the other was likely a Ming Wang – there had to be a connection. Ming Jue’s tight lips proved that this matter was no simple thing.

What he was sure of was that only Ming Jue was here. As for Bai Zhi, she probably wasn’t, or she would have greeted him.

Bai Zhi not being here likely meant she had her own task, separate from Ming Jue’s, and who knew which corner of the starry sky she was in right now.

As he thought about it, Ye Chen used an earth-escape technique, delving underground until he reached the ancient tomb’s stone door – who knew how long it took.

This stone door was extraordinarily massive, at least ten thousand zhang high, incredibly ancient, engraved with Ming patterns on both sides, and flanked by two divine lamps. Beyond that, a mysterious force was reinforced on the door, concealing its secrets.

“Open up – let me take a look inside.” Ye Chen patted the stone door. It wasn’t just about looking – he wanted to slip in and grab some treasures.

“Open what? Go play somewhere else.” Ming Jue refused outright.

“You’re forcing me to blast it open!” Ye Chen laughed.

“Blast away! If you can blow it open, I’ll take your last name.”

“Hey.” Ye Chen got serious, rolling up his sleeves on both sides, clenching his golden fist, and slamming it into the stone door.

In the end, his fist wasn’t as tough as the door – his knuckles cracked, but the stone door didn’t even tremble.

Ye Chen grimaced in pain but refused to back down. He retreated three to five zhang, clenched his golden fist again, infusing it with hundreds of secret techniques, Chaos Dao principles, and his Saint Body essence.

“Break for me!” With a loud shout, Ye Chen struck again.

Embarrassingly, the stone door still didn’t budge, and his fist along with his entire arm exploded into a mist of blood. The force even sent him staggering back, spitting out a forceful spray of fresh blood.

“How’s that? Is the door tough enough?” Ming Jue gloated.

“Again!” Ye Chen was fired up, summoning heavenly thunder and immortal fire. He turned the immortal fire into a divine bow and the heavenly thunder into a divine arrow, drawing the bow to a full moon and shooting an arrow that pierced through space toward the stone door.

A clang sounded as the thunder god arrow shattered, but the stone door remained unharmed.

Not done yet, Ye Chen manifested a golden immortal sword in his hand, its sword energy surging and ringing out – it was a great Saint weapon. He unleashed the myriad swords divine wind technique, a strike that could pulverize anything in its path.

With a crack, the immortal sword broke, and Ye Chen stumbled back, but the majestic stone door was completely unscathed.

Ye Chen still didn’t believe it. His blood surged as he activated his external manifestation and various secret techniques to boost his combat power, standing before the stone door and unleashing a barrage of attacks.

Booming sounds echoed nonstop, the stone door didn’t move an inch, but the ground cracked open with fissures, like an earthquake.

In the ancient tomb, Ming Jue kicked back with his legs crossed, munching on sunflower seeds while watching Ye Chen’s assault, completely at ease.

It wasn’t until three hours later that Ye Chen finally stopped.

He was relentless, attacking nonstop for three hours straight, leaving him exhausted and his vital energy depleted. Yet, the stone door hadn’t shifted at all from start to finish.

This time, he was convinced, completely settling down and touching the stone door thoughtfully, sighing and clicking his tongue. It wasn’t the door itself that was tough – it was the power reinforcing it that was unbreakable.

This strange force was so formidable that even an emperor weapon might not blast it open.

Clearly, to enter the door, a key was needed. Forcing it wouldn’t work, and without Ming Jue opening it, not even demons could get in.

“With your cultivation, you’re far from it.” Ming Jue chuckled leisurely.

“Then open the door and let me in.” Ye Chen cursed.

“It’s not that I won’t let you in – it’s that you can’t go in.” Ming Jue replied.

“Fine, if I can’t go in, at least tell me if there’s Dun Jia Tian Zi in this ancient tomb.” Ye Chen gave up on entering, rubbing his hands eagerly. “I’m here specifically for it.”

“There is.” Before Ming Jue finished speaking, golden characters began flying out through the stone door. Counting them, there were over fifty, dazzling Ye Chen’s eyes.

The Chaos Cauldron was quick on the uptake, flying out on its own with a buzzing tremor. The fifty-plus Dun Jia Tian Zi characters were just as cooperative, imprinting one after another onto the Chaos divine cauldron and arranging themselves in profound patterns.

“Not bad.” Ye Chen grinned. He had chased that fat old man for millions of li just to snatch three, but Ming Jue had come through big time, handing over over fifty – this was a real stroke of fortune.

“How did you end up here? This is a long way from Da Chu!” Ming Jue asked via divine sense, puzzled. “You didn’t come all this way just for Dun Jia Tian Zi, did you?”

“After you and Bai Zhi left, I went too. The Ren Wang took me on a cultivation journey, and I’ve been away from Da Chu for seventy years.” Ye Chen laughed.

“No wonder.” Ming Jue sighed. “After seventy years, those two little kids of yours must be all grown up by now!”

“They’re doing alright.” Ye Chen coughed. More than alright – they could stand on their own. Especially his precious daughter, who had inherited his true legacy and was known as the little demon by the world.

Over the years, in the starry sky, the names he’d heard most were Ye Fan and Ye Ling, and they often dragged his name into it too. Ye Fan had brought him pride, but Ye Ling was stirring up trouble everywhere, just like he used to.

“The time limit is up – I’m going back to sleep.” Ming Jue spoke up.

“How much longer do you have to stay here – another few hundred years?” Ye Chen asked.

There was no response from the ancient tomb – it seemed Ming Jue had truly fallen into slumber, probably lying in a coffin like that ancient corpse.

Ye Chen scratched his head, lingering at the stone door for over ten seconds before turning silently and flying back out of the ground.

If not for the fat old man bringing him here, he wouldn’t have known Ming Jue was hiding in this ancient tomb, and it had given him such a great opportunity.

He was even more curious about what task Ming Di had assigned to Ming Jue, and what the relationship was between the Ming Wang buried in the tomb and Ming Di. But Ming Jue was too tight-lipped and wouldn’t reveal any secrets.

Once out of the ground, Ye Chen didn’t linger and headed straight for the western starry sky. Counting today, it was the tenth day – who knew what was happening with the evil demons? They were probably still watching the Mo Yuan.

However, as soon as he entered the starry sky, a ghostly figure materialized in front of him. She was ethereally beautiful, like a dream.

This person was none other – it was the evil demon.

Ye Chen was stunned, caught off guard that the evil demon had come too.

For some reason, the evil demon seemed different from before. Her stunning face was as cold as frost, her evil eyes a deep blood red, and because of her appearance, the surrounding starry sky froze inch by inch into ice, all due to her killing intent.

“You…” Ye Chen started to speak, but before he could finish, the evil demon extended her jade hand, grabbing his neck and lifting him into the air, her eyes shooting out cold light.

Ye Chen was bewildered, staring at the evil demon in a daze. He could clearly feel her killing intent – it wasn’t a joke; it was real.

“Where is he?” the evil demon snapped coldly, her words piercing to the bone.

“W-who?”

“Mu Liu Qing.”

“Isn’t he in Cang Lan Jie?” Ye Chen was completely baffled.

“Since you’re not telling the truth, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” The evil demon placed her palm on Ye Chen’s Tian Ling Gai and performed a soul-searching secret technique.