Chapter 2124: Gathering of the Heavens

"Tianmo invasion?" Hearing this, the people of the world were horrified, and even those in Honghuang were no exception.

"The Tianmo army has invaded, and Bingyu has been completely wiped out." Xi Chen swayed unsteadily before steadying himself, blood overflowing from his mouth as he briefly described the catastrophe that had befallen the domain.

"How could the Tianmo enter Zhutian? They must pass through the Zhutian Gate."

"Back when Da Chu's reincarnation collapsed, it must have affected all domains. It's not surprising that Bingyu has cracks." Donghuang Tai Xin pondered deeply, her expression extremely grim, as her ominous premonition came true.

"Is there a Tianmo Emperor?" The Zhutian Quasi-Emperors turned their gaze directly to Xi Chen.

"If an Emperor had manifested, they would have already attacked Zhutian." Before Xi Chen could speak, Ye Chen took over. "Since the Tianmo haven't launched their assault yet, they must be waiting for the Tianmo Emperor to descend."

"This doesn't make sense! How could a Tianmo invasion occur without any warning in Zhutian?"

"There's a Zhixian Tiandi Array concealing the secrets." Xi Chen coughed up blood again, his breath weakening.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the Quasi-Emperors understood, especially Donghuang Tai Xin, who felt it most profoundly.

In the past, when the Tianmo invaded Da Chu, it was precisely because of the Tiandi Array hiding the secrets that Zhutian remained unaware. If not for the Da Chu cultivators fighting desperately, the Zhutian Gate would have become ancient dust. Now, the Tianmo were using the same method, making it unsurprising that there were no signs.

Only then did the people realize why someone as powerful as Xi Chen was so gravely injured.

After all, what Bingyu faced was the entire Tianmo army, with an absolute numerical advantage in experts. Even as the child of the domain, it was hard to turn the tide single-handedly. Breaking through the Tiandi Array was already defying heaven.

Fortunately, he had broken through the array and escaped Bingyu; otherwise, Zhutian might still be unaware of the Tianmo attack. If the Tianmo Emperor descended then, Zhutian would surely be doomed.

"Manifest the Zhutian war drums." Donghuang Tai Xin shouted lightly, forming a seal with one hand.

Immediately, a war drum appeared in the starry sky, massive at several hundred zhang, engraved with imperial divine patterns, ancient and weathered. Upon closer inspection, faint imperial divine principles could be seen flickering.

This was the Zhutian war drum, forged from the Dao bones of Pangu Great Emperor.

In a distant era, it was sealed in Da Chu by Kunlun Great Emperor and only sounded in times of Zhutian's peril. Donghuang Tai Xin had summoned it from the Zhutian Gate with her heaven-defying divine abilities.

"Ye Chen, beat the war drum." Tian Jiu's voice rang out firmly, already clad in armor.

Without needing further instruction, Ye Chen ascended to the nine heavens, transforming his origin into a drum mallet.

At the same time, Xi Chen pressed his palms together, opening a massive gate that reached the sky.

This gate was the passage to Bingyu, a talent unique to the child of the domain, allowing him to ignore domain barriers and travel freely—something only the child of the domain could do so easily.

Through the Bingyu passage, the people seemed to glimpse Bingyu itself, now a mountain of corpses and a river of blood. Black demonic pillars pierced the heavens, inscribed with imperial demonic patterns that flickered with a demonic light. Centered around them, the Tianmo horde stretched like a vast ocean, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. Their faces were all ferocious and terrifying, like demons licking their scarlet tongues.

As Ye Chen had said, they hadn't attacked Zhutian yet because they were waiting for the Tianmo Great Emperor to descend. The Zhutian Quasi-Emperors understood this implicitly—they needed to charge through the passage into Bingyu, assault the demonic pillars, and destroy the Tianmo's foundation in Zhutian before the Emperor arrived.

"Go." Before the Quasi-Emperors could move, Kui Luo Quasi-Emperor roared hoarsely, sacrificing an imperial domain gate for a collective retreat. The other Honghuang clans followed suit, clearly intent on fleeing.

"With a great enemy at hand, how dare you desert the battlefield?" The Zhutian Quasi-Emperors thundered in anger.

"The life and death of Zhutian mean nothing to us." The Honghuang Quasi-Emperors sneered coldly, each entering their imperial domain gates. This wasn't the first time they'd done this; their escape was executed with practiced ease.

Ji Ning Shuang stepped into the heavens, urging the imperial weapon Yuru Yi to block the Honghuang clans.

However, the imperial domain gates were too sturdy, reinforced with imperial divine principles, making even the ultimate imperial weapon unable to break them. She could only watch helplessly as the Honghuang clans escaped en masse, powerless to stop them.

"Damn it." Kui Niu cursed loudly, his bovine eyes blazing with fury.

The Zhutian cultivators were furious to the point of heartbreak, their scoldings echoing through the star domain.

Yet, their curses were futile; the Honghuang would not join the fight.

Ye Chen said nothing, his silence terrifying. Anger was useless now—what he needed to do was continue beating the war drum to summon Zhutian's experts for the assault on the demonic pillars.

As for the Honghuang clans, when Di Huang returned one day, he would deal with them one by one.

He remained silent, as did Donghuang Tai Xin, Yue Huang, and the others, long since utterly disappointed in the Honghuang. In this time of Zhutian's crisis, it was already good enough that they weren't causing trouble—expecting their help was out of the question.

Tian Jiu was the first to move, stepping into the massive gate and heading straight for Bingyu. The Zhutian Quasi-Emperors followed, the men donned in armor and the women in battle attire, like peerless war gods and supreme queens, each facing death with resolute expressions. This mission was tantamount to suicide.

"If I fall, you will be the next Tianxuan Holy Lord." As Donghuang Tai Xin left, she glanced at Ye Chen—that look was both a senior's entrustment and an ancestor's final wish.

"As long as Ye Chen lives, Da Chu endures." Ye Chen replied calmly, gathering his sacred body origin and beating the Zhutian war drum with force. His drumbeats were a summons and a farewell to the elders marching forth.

These veteran predecessors were so similar to Da Chu's expeditionary forces of the past; this time, few would return, their blood and bones buried in Bingyu.

Accompanied by the drumbeats, the Zhutian elders gradually faded into the distance, their backs stern and unyielding.

Soon after, beams of imperial immortal light followed them in—numerous imperial weapons, seemingly drawn by the drumbeats, flying from distant starry skies to aid the Quasi-Emperors in their assault on the demonic pillars.

Not long after, booming sounds echoed from Bingyu—the Zhutian Quasi-Emperors who had charged in were now clashing with the Tianmo, waves of blood mist surging out from the passage, all from Zhutian's people.

Even without seeing it, one could imagine the ferocity of the battle through the mist alone. Fresh lives were blooming into dazzling blood flowers amid the Tianmo horde, a heart-wrenching sight.

The Zhutian descendants gathered, blocking the Bingyu passage with their peak forces. If the elders were wiped out, the Tianmo would attack, and they would build a blood-red great wall here.

Ye Chen's expression was impassive, but his heart roared.

He was calling out to Hongchen and Liudao, hoping the two could defy heaven and overcome their tribulations in this crisis. If the three united, they would have the power to fight fully, charging from Zhutian all the way to the demonic pillars. Even if a Tianmo Emperor descended, he would have the conviction to slay another emperor.

However, his call received no response—Hongchen and Liudao did not appear.

Not just them, but the other peak Quasi-Emperors in tribulation also failed to return against the heavens.

In that instant, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

It was as he had predicted years ago—Zhutian's forces were weak, and the Tianmo domain had truly attacked. Be it Hongchen, Liudao, Da Chu's royals, or the Emperor's generals, too many peak Quasi-Emperors were still in tribulation. If the Zhutian Quasi-Emperors failed their assault, who would stop the Tianmo army? Who would face the Tianmo Great Emperor? Without a doubt, the myriad domains of Zhutian would be trampled flat.

What frustrated him was that the Samsara Eye had sealed itself again. If he could activate the Heavenly Dao, he might slip through the black hole; as long as he pinpointed the direction and position accurately, he could perhaps destroy the demonic pillars.

Unfortunately, his battle with Kui Luo had caused the Samsara Eye to collide with the Zhuanlun Eye, turning everything into eternal regret.

Suddenly, he lifted his gaze toward the ethereal void, as if peering through the human and nether realms to the Underworld's Ming Mountain, or even through the emptiness to the peak of Ming Mountain, where the two supreme beings stood. His eyes held hope, yearning for Di Huang and Ming Di to descend upon Zhutian. Whether it was the Supreme Great Emperor or the Great Accomplishment Sacred Body, even one would suffice to save the myriad domains' lives.

His hope was visible to Di Huang and Ming Di, but the two supremes remained silent.

As supremes, they knew more secrets; forcibly breaking through the passage would lead to even graver consequences.

Ming Di sighed, shaking his head helplessly.

As the Great Emperor who shook antiquity, he had witnessed invasion after invasion by the Tianmo, watching Zhutian being dyed red with blood time and again, yet unable to lend a hand. It wasn't that he dared not, but that he could not—as in the past, so in the present.

As the Emperor of the Nether Realm, he had a more important mission.

Beside him, Di Huang stood like a stele, unmoved by the biting winds, his golden divine eyes flashing with cold light. As a Great Accomplishment Sacred Body standing shoulder to shoulder with emperors, he was confined to the dark, lightless nether realm as merely an observer. The name Di Huang had become a joke.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Zhutian war drum continued to beat, ancient and prolonged, echoing endlessly through the myriad domains of Zhutian, as if carrying an irresistible force. All who heard it felt their souls tremble—it was the Emperor's summons.

"Zhutian war drum?" Exclamations of surprise rose one after another, sweeping across star domain after star domain.

"Tianmo invasion." Ye Chen's words merged into the drumbeats, spreading across the four seas and eight wastelands.

His single statement instantly stirred massive waves. Every cultivator in Zhutian—whether in seclusion, courting, fighting, marrying, or in bed—stepped into the starry sky at the same moment. Countless predecessors and descendants entered imperial-level teleportation gates, rushing toward the distant battlefield to confront the Tianmo and defend their homes.

War! War! War!

Roars filled the starry sky, from the depths of their souls, their battle blood boiling. They knew what the drumbeats signified—only in Zhutian's peril would the war drum be sounded.

War! War! War!

Da Chu's shouts were the loudest. After centuries, the Da Chu Heavenly Court reassembled, all clad in ancient armor, gripping cold war spears, and raising high the Da Chu war banners, charging out of their homeland to defend the magnificent mountains and rivers behind them with their flesh and blood.

War! War! War!

The roars from the Xuanhuang direction also shook the starry expanse, with countless sects uniting. Tens of thousands of Quasi-Emperor warships, loaded with cultivators, sailed into the Xuanhuang star sea, riding the winds and breaking waves.

"The situation is dire!" In Zhongzhou's Tianxu, Tianzhu and Dimie ascended to the nine heavens, gazing toward Wangxuan Star. The two had not undergone tribulation but were destined to witness a world-shaking catastrophe. In this war, Zhutian might well be destroyed, for the myriad domains' forces were at their weakest stage.

"No matter what, we must defend the forbidden zones." From Ximo's Wangchuan, Meng Po's words echoed.

"If the lips are gone, the teeth will feel the cold—defending is futile." From Donghuang's Refinery Hell, Miaomiao's desolate voice resounded.

"We will assist Zhutian unconditionally." From Beiyue's Huangquan, a cold and resolute voice rang out.

"Without the Heavenly King, there's no need for orders." From Nanyu Mingtu, words also thundered.

In the span of a few moments of silence, the five great forbidden zones trembled in unison. Beams of imperial immortal light shot into the sky—one hundred imperial weapons flew out collectively, streaking across the Xuanhuang star sea toward Wangxuan's starry sky.