Chapter 2007: Don't Worry, Everything Will Be Fine

Ye Chen continued on his way, his pace unwavering as he strode out of Youming Ge. It was worth noting that everyone he encountered within Youming Ge looked at him with awe and respect. Without this master of schemes, their auction house wouldn’t have reaped such a massive profit. However, they couldn't help but wonder why this schemer's face was so dark. Had he failed to negotiate his commission?

Ye Chen ignored them, barely suppressing the urge to lash out. It was a good thing he hadn't brought an emperor weapon with him, or he might have demolished the place. As the emperor of Da Chu, he deserved far more respect than this.

Leaving Youming Ge, he once again used Zhoutian to conceal his true appearance. Even so, the skinny old man waiting outside recognized him immediately. This was no ordinary figure – exuding an aura of supreme presence, every step he took radiated dominance. Such charisma was utterly unique in the world.

"I thought you'd been silenced for good?" the skinny old man chuckled.

"You're overthinking it." Ye Chen put on a mask to cover his face.

"The materials for the eight-pattern Life-Extending Golden Elixir – I'll search for them as quickly as possible. But the question is, where will I find you when the time comes?" the skinny old man asked, his concern driven by his dwindling lifespan; survival was his top priority.

"In the future, bring that item to Da Chu." Ye Chen handed him an object.

"Da Chu?" The skinny old man looked surprised as he instinctively took it. It was a golden token radiating divine light, engraved with two bold ancient characters: Tian Ting.

"Are you from Da Chu?" the skinny old man asked tentatively.

"Doesn't it seem like it?" Ye Chen replied, then waved his hand to summon a domain gate and stepped inside. A faint voice echoed behind him, "In these chaotic times, take it easy. Don't get yourself wiped out."

With that, the domain gate closed, and Ye Chen vanished.

The skinny old man stood there, gripping the Tian Ting token, lost in thought for a long while. It wasn't hard to piece together that this schemer from the auction was likely a legendary war god.

"Is that you, Dan Saint Ye Chen?" the skinny old man murmured.

After some time, he turned and silently summoned his own domain gate. As Ye Chen had warned, auctions often attracted killers and thieves afterward – one had to be careful to avoid being eliminated.

In the transmission passage, Ye Chen stretched lazily, still thinking about Yang Feng. Though the emperor's blood was only half pure, he quite liked it.

"I'll have to draw some blood from him when I get the chance," Ye Chen muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

"You bastard, let me out!" came a furious shout from inside the Hun Dun Ding – it was Lin Xing, the Fortune God King. His face was even darker than Ye Chen's, having been robbed of his treasures and sealed away.

"I'll release you once I find my quasi-emperor," Ye Chen said with a grin.

Lin Xing was about to curse more, but a beam of immortal light flew into the ding and entered his forehead, sending him into a deep sleep. Another seal followed, cast by Ye Chen for added security.

Now, the transmission passage was peaceful.

Ye Chen took a swig of wine and sat down cross-legged, turning his inner vision to his Dan Hai. He checked his true thunder first, then looked at the Taiyin Zhenhuo. That flame was unusually well-behaved, mainly because the immortal fire was so overpowering and kept watching it. Though it was fire, it felt chillingly cold and didn't dare move an inch.

Ye Chen smiled and used his divine sense to connect with the Taiyin Zhenhuo.

For fusion to succeed, it had to be mutual – resistance from one side would lead to failure. First, it needed to acknowledge him as master.

The Taiyin Zhenhuo hovered quietly, showing no reaction.

No reaction meant its answer: it didn't want to acknowledge him or fuse.

Seeing this, Ye Chen glanced at the immortal fire.

The immortal fire acted immediately, transforming into a sea of blood that enveloped Ye Chen's Dan Hai. Waves of fire surged wildly, flames roaring to the heavens. Not just the Taiyin Zhenhuo, but even the true thunder trembled in fear.

Amusingly, the Taiyin Zhenhuo didn't yield, but the true thunder did, acknowledging Ye Chen right then and there.

"With that kind of resolve, I'm truly gratified," Ye Chen said earnestly, shifting his focus to the true thunder. Since the Taiyin Zhenhuo wouldn't acknowledge him, he'd fuse with the true thunder first – one at a time.

Next came the inevitable step: a heart-to-heart talk.

With the true thunder now acknowledging him, Ye Chen used his divine sense to fully attune to it as its master.

This process took three full days.

It wasn't until the fourth day that Ye Chen calmed his mind and breath, activating the Hun Dun Gui Yuan technique.

Immediately, both the true thunder and heavenly thunder were stirred, slowly drawing closer.

Fusing thunder was similar to fusing flames.

But this was his first time fusing thunder, so complications arose. The first attempt failed – not due to the true thunder, but because the heavenly thunder was too eager to merge.

"Take it slow, don't rush," Ye Chen advised.

He tried again, drawing the heavenly thunder and true thunder together.

The second attempt also failed; the heavenly thunder had settled, but the true thunder caused issues, perhaps from nervousness.

Ye Chen chuckled dryly and tried once more.

The third time went smoothly. Both the heavenly thunder and true thunder cooperated perfectly, and the fusion process took only about a quarter of an hour. The two bolts of thunder merged into one.

The resulting thunder was still black.

Ye Chen could clearly feel that the heavenly thunder had grown stronger, even more domineering. Within its divine punishment aura, there was now a trace of chaotic essence. In other words, the Hun Dun Gui Yuan technique, this heaven-defying immortal method, wasn't just for flames – it worked for thunder too. With enough progress, he might even create chaotic thunder.

Once the thunder was fused, Ye Chen turned his attention to the Taiyin Zhenhuo.

Over the past three days, the Taiyin Zhenhuo had become much more subdued, largely due to the intimidation from the immortal fire.

"Will you acknowledge me as master?" Ye Chen asked with a smile.

The Taiyin Zhenhuo's flame flickered slightly, which counted as a nod.

"That's more like it!" Ye Chen laughed and chatted with the Taiyin Zhenhuo.

Three days later, Ye Chen emerged from the transmission domain gate and summoned another one, stepping back into the passage.

After three days of communication, the Taiyin Zhenhuo had truly submitted.

With its submission, the fusion followed – one true fire and one immortal fire. The process was surprisingly smooth, merging not only their essences but also their spirits into a new flame.

The resulting immortal fire was intimidating.

This pitch-black flame carried an aura of world-ending destruction, even making Ye Chen feel a twinge of unease. And this wasn't even chaotic fire yet – if it ever became true chaotic fire, how terrifying would that be? It would be the pinnacle.

Another three days passed.

Having fused both the true thunder and true fire, Ye Chen was in high spirits.

He felt great, but the Hun Dun Ding was not – it buzzed and trembled incessantly.

Ye Chen understood why.

Of course – the heavenly thunder had fused with true thunder, the immortal fire with true fire, yet the Hun Dun Ding was still waiting for its immortal metal, and the same went for the Purple Gold Gourd, which longed for its pair. They might even be a matched set, but now they couldn't be together.

Rest assured, it will all be there!

Ye Chen rubbed his brow, feeling a bit helpless. The immortal metal and the other Purple Gold Gourd were both in the hands of the Honghuang Clan. Those quasi-emperors were nowhere to be found, and even if he located them, he couldn't win against them.

The Hun Dun Ding and Purple Gold Gourd were indeed quiet for now.

But this quiet was only temporary – their spiritual awareness was high, and they'd grow restless again later.

Ye Chen soothed them, then used Zhoutian to call out to the Ren Wang.

It had been half a month since their last parting, and the Ren Wang had been completely silent, not responding to his calls – it was truly strange.

This time was the same; there was no reply at all.

"Have you really run into trouble?" Ye Chen frowned.

As soon as he spoke, the transmission domain gate passage began to rumble and shake. In an instant, it collapsed with a boom.

Ye Chen reacted quickly, escaping the passage just in time.

Once in the starry sky, he realized what had happened: a massive battle was underway, and the domain gate passage had crossed through this area, getting caught in the fallout. This wasn't the first time he'd encountered such a thing.

The battle was intense.

From afar, the starry sky flashed with lightning and thunder, various phenomena intertwining to form scenes of destruction. Waves of annihilating light spread outward, crumbling the void wherever they went, leaving it unable to heal. Because of the fight, the starry sky was left in ruins, turned into a chaotic wasteland.

"What's going on?" Ye Chen swiftly retreated, hiding himself in the space.

Once steady, he focused his gaze.

At that sight, his eyes lit up. The ones in the brawl were the Honghuang quasi-emperors from the auction – Taotie, Jin Ni, Tao Wu, Qiong Qi, and even the one who had bought the immortal metal, Gui Ji. He was the one being ganged up on.

"Six days and still at it – how romantic," Ye Chen said with a grin, rubbing his hands together. Watching the Honghuang quasi-emperors fight among themselves was quite entertaining. Most importantly, when snipe and clam battle, the fisherman might profit. He might not beat a quasi-emperor at full strength, but a half-dead one? That would be easy pickings.