Chapter 2011: Soloing Qiongqi

Ahead lay another expanse of starry sky. This region was shrouded in swirling dark mist, desolate and eerily cold. Though there were many ancient stars, they lacked any sign of life or vitality, with not a single soul in sight. The entire star domain was enveloped in dimness, presenting a scene of utter ruin. Indeed, this was a dead silent star domain, and it would serve as Ye Chen's battlefield.

As he spoke, Ye Chen stepped forward, venturing deeper in. Qiong Qi followed closely, his fingertips flickering with divine light as he pierced the star domain's space, creating massive holes. The awkward part was that none of his attacks landed on Ye Chen—the man was incredibly agile in his movements.

They continued like this for another million li. Only then did Ye Chen come to a stop, having penetrated far into the starry sky.

“Ant, where are you going?”

Qiong Qi charged in, transforming into his human form and unleashing a palm strike that blotted out the sky like a mountain, collapsing the starry expanse. This single palm could crush a great saint.

Ye Chen sneered and stood his ground, charging straight ahead. Fully merging with his Zhun Di weapon to boost his combat power, he gripped his secret techniques and unleashed a divine ability, combining the Nine Paths and Eight Wastelands into one. With a single punch, he forced Qiong Qi back.

Qiong Qi was stunned, hardly able to believe it—he was a Zhun Di, after all!

Soon, he figured out the secret, noticing the Zhun Di weapon fused within Ye Chen's body.

“Single combat.”

Ye Chen cracked his neck fiercely.

“You've impressed me.” Qiong Qi chuckled darkly, his blood-red eyes terrifying and sinister.

Ye Chen didn't respond and attacked directly. In his hand materialized an illusory golden sword, formed from Dao principles.

“Dao Jian?” Qiong Qi narrowed his blood-red eyes.

In just a few breaths, Ye Chen closed in, ascending as if to the heavens, and struck with a sword that carved out a brilliant immortal river. Enhanced with Zhun Di-level power, its might was indestructible, effortlessly slicing through the starry sky.

Qiong Qi snorted and swept out with a palm, obliterating the immortal river. At the same time, a bolt of annihilating lightning shot from his forehead, piercing the void and targeting Ye Chen's primordial spirit.

Ye Chen snorted inwardly and merged his Nine Paths Divine Tribulation into one, crushing the lightning.

Qiong Qi laughed with amusement, his curiosity about Ye Chen growing due to the secret techniques of the god race.

Yet, he didn't rush to uncover Ye Chen's identity. He had a bad habit of leaving some mystery for himself—if he revealed everything at once, it would lose its thrill. Instead, he would peel away Ye Chen's layers one by one.

On the opposite side, Ye Chen attacked again, his sword piercing like a rainbow.

Qiong Qi dodged in an instant and countered with a palm strike that sent Ye Chen tumbling. Before Ye Chen could steady himself, Qiong Qi pointed from afar, his finger beam devastating everything in its path as he taunted, “An ant is still just an ant.”

The expected scene of Ye Chen being impaled didn't happen. Qiong Qi's strike missed entirely—or rather, in that moment, Ye Chen vanished abruptly.

“Hua Yu Wei Chen?” Qiong Qi frowned.

“You guessed right.” The icy words echoed in his ear as Ye Chen emerged from the dust space and struck with a sword, forcing Qiong Qi to stagger back. The Dao Jian targeted his core, and even with his domineering physical body, Qiong Qi suffered—it was no ordinary sword and ignored physical defenses.

“Damn it.” Qiong Qi roared in fury, his relaxed expression vanishing, replaced by a grotesque snarl.

In that instant, he began to take Ye Chen seriously. This man wasn't just any Sheng Wang; even without a Zhun Di weapon, he could slay great saints. With one, he could truly threaten a Zhun Di.

Qiong Qi's aura surged dramatically.

Ye Chen didn't back down, instantly unleashing his peak combat power as Qiong Qi did. He donned the Hun Tian battle armor, activated his inner Xiang Ba Ti, and his entire Sheng body glowed with golden light. Every inch of his form, every pore, breathed out the essence of the Sheng body, with his surging vital energy rolling like an ocean.

The great battle erupted, shattering the starry sky.

On one side, Qiong Qi activated his vision, standing against the backdrop of a primordial demonic land. Within it, Dao principles wove destructive visions: stars crumbled, suns collapsed, and fierce ghosts wailed amid rivers of blood. He resembled a supreme demonic god, devouring the eight directions and disrupting yin and yang, overturning heaven and earth.

On the other side, Ye Chen propped up the Golden Immortal Domain, merging it with the Chaos Great Realm. All things evolved within, blending multiple visions: divine dragons coiled, phoenixes cried out, white tigers roared, and Xuan Wu paved the way. The four divine beasts guarded the four corners, with Ye Chen at the center like an eternal war god, manifesting the Chaos Dao within his body, intertwining it with his essence and bloodline.

“Submit to me!” Qiong Qi attacked, summoning a massive mountain to crush Ye Chen.

“Break!” Ye Chen was even more dominant, charging against the heavens and shattering the mountain with a single punch.

In that moment, Qiong Qi closed in and tore open Ye Chen's chest with a palm, snapping his Sheng bones and grinding them to dust. But Ye Chen wasn't outdone, piercing Qiong Qi with a sword and sending its killing intent racing through his meridians to assault his core.

In their exchange, both gained the upper hand in different ways.

Qiong Qi's furious roar echoed as he raised a palm to the sky, calling down a sea of thunderous blood from the nine heavens' void, like a divine river intent on drowning Ye Chen. This was an immortal technique of the Qiong Qi clan, infused with seals—if swallowed, one would struggle to escape and be torn apart by the thunder into blood mist.

However, he had underestimated Ye Chen. Having survived the Sixteen Emperors' Heavenly Tribulation and divine punishments, how could Ye Chen fear this sea of thunderous blood? He transformed into a golden divine dragon, soaring out of it, then instantly reverted to human form and slammed down a palm. The Emperor's Path Fu Xi Arrays—ninety-nine in total—manifested in sequence, linking together to trap the Qiong Qi Zhun Di.

“Emperor's Path Fu Xi Array.” Qiong Qi sneered. “Who exactly are you?”

“Guess.” Ye Chen formed seals with one hand, activating the array to annihilate Qiong Qi.

“This array can't hold me.” Qiong Qi bellowed, rampaging wildly and shattering the Emperor's Path Fu Xi Array. It wasn't that the array was weak, but Ye Chen's cultivation was insufficient to unleash its full power—especially against a Zhun Di, whose realm completely suppressed a Sheng Wang.

In less than three breaths, Qiong Qi burst free.

“Don't rush—there's more.” Ye Chen was already prepared, sacrificing the Chaos Cauldron to hover in the starry sky. Along with it materialized thousands of other artifacts, summoned by the cauldron, all gleaming radiantly and illuminating the dim expanse.

“Chaos Cauldron?” Qiong Qi's expression changed, ignoring the other artifacts and focusing solely on the cauldron.

This cauldron was a symbol; its appearance revealed Ye Chen's identity.

Yet, the Qiong Qi Zhun Di could scarcely believe that his opponent was Ye Chen. Ironically, only now did he realize why a mere Sheng Wang was so formidable.

His moment of shock exposed a flaw, giving Ye Chen an opening.

The Chaos Cauldron hummed, and the thousands of artifacts resonated in unison, their powers linking together as they descended from the sky. Before they even landed, the starry sky crumbled visibly inch by inch.

With a thud, even Qiong Qi's powerful body was crushed and splintered, fresh blood gushing like springs.

“Ten Thousand Swords Divine Wind!”

Ye Chen shouted coldly, piercing Qiong Qi's skull with a sword and gravely wounding his primordial spirit.

“Ah!”

Qiong Qi howled, summoning his life-bound artifact to knock Ye Chen away.

“Fight!”

Ye Chen steadied himself and charged again.

“Kill!”

Qiong Qi roared, his eyes blood-red and his vital energy raging violently. His bloodied face twisted like a demon's as he used great divine abilities to heal his divine body and seal his life-bound artifact in his divine sea. Ye Chen was an eternal enemy of the Qiong Qi clan, a feud to the death—he wouldn't back down.

Their battle grew even more ferocious.

Blood rained down like a storm—Ye Chen's and Qiong Qi's—transforming mid-fall into various forms that continued their assault. They fought on until one was reduced to ash.

The bloody spectacle was harrowing.

Fortunately, no spectators were present; if outsiders had seen it, they would have been shocked by Ye Chen's dominant power. A mere Sheng Wang, aided by just one Zhun Di weapon, dared to clash head-on with a Qiong Qi Zhun Di.

Thud!

By the hundredth round, Ye Chen's Sheng body exploded, but his Sheng Dao's revival held firm, healing against the odds.

Then, in the two hundredth round, Qiong Qi—known for his physical dominance—had his divine body burst into blood mist. Yet, his recovery was terrifying; from a single drop of blood, he reformed his body.

They fought like mad beasts, primal and savage.

Ye Chen held the advantage; though his vital energy waned, his will to fight soared.

In contrast, Qiong Qi was in a wretched state, no longer resembling a person, with blood and bones scattered across the starry sky. Every attempt at a counterattack was repelled by Ye Chen, who repeatedly shattered his reforming body. A mighty primordial Zhun Di was driven to madness by a mere Sheng Wang.

Thud!

Blood flowers bloomed again as Qiong Qi's body exploded for the umpteenth time.

Qiong Qi fled, trying to reform his divine body once more.

But this time, Ye Chen gave him no chance. The Chaos Cauldron, thousands of artifacts, Chaos Great Realm, and Golden Immortal Domain all descended together, suppressing his primordial spirit while Ye Chen's sword severed his true form.

“No!”

Qiong Qi wailed and roared, his eyes bulging with terror. No matter how he screamed, he couldn't halt the withering of his primordial spirit. With his true form destroyed, even as a Zhun Di, he couldn't defy fate.

He was defeated, and the Qiong Qi clan was defeated again, at the hands of Ye Chen.

He refused to accept it; he was enraged. But none of that mattered now. This defeat meant his complete annihilation.

Boom!

With a thunderous blast, Qiong Qi's illusory primordial spirit exploded entirely.

The starry sky fell into a deathly silence with his passing, only blood mist drifting and his roars echoing infinitely, adding a touch of blood-red tragedy to the shattered expanse.

Thud!

Ye Chen vomited blood and could barely stand.

He had won, but he was nearly dead. His domineering Huang Gu Sheng body was drenched in golden blood, with ghastly wounds that were hard to heal, tainted by Qiong Qi's killing intent.

Still, without a Zhun Di weapon's aid, he had slain a Zhun Di as a Sheng Wang—and a primordial one at that. He had every right to be proud. Zhun Di were incredibly hard to kill, and his feat was once again heaven-defying.

“It seems I'm the final winner.”

Ye Chen sat down heavily, blood surging from his mouth, but he laughed wildly and unrestrainedly.

He wasn't wrong.

From the You Ming Ge auction, he had obtained the Tai Yin True Fire, true lightning, the Purple Gold Small Gourd, and the Immortal Gold that never dies. Beyond that, he had claimed the lifelong collections of two primordial Zhun Di. Who among the auction's participants could match his gains?

“Not bad at all.” Ye Chen chuckled again as he examined his spoils.

“Be careful.” No sooner had he spoken than a loud shout rang out, coming from within a bronze furnace.

More precisely, from Lin Xing inside the bronze furnace.

At the warning, Ye Chen whipped around.

What he saw was a shadowy light shooting straight toward him, carrying annihilating killing intent, cold and unyielding. Its power was enough to gravely wound a peak Zhun Di—a genuine killing blow.