Chapter 2150: Reunion at Yaochi

With a deep hum, the Yaochi barrier opened wide. The highest-ranking Taishang Elder of Yaochi personally emerged to welcome them, showing utmost respect to Chen Yi from beginning to end.

"The Shengti has arrived as well." The Yaochi Elder smiled warmly.

"I couldn't escape your discerning eye, Senior." Ye Chen laughed.

"Please, come inside." The Yaochi Elder gestured, ushering the three inside.

Xiao Jiuxian skipped along the way, picking flowers and plucking grass, completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation. She was already several hundred years old but still acted like a mischievous young girl, full of playful spirit.

Chen Yi remained silent, following along with a slight furrow in his brow.

Ye Chen said nothing either, his divine sense already extending in all directions. He detected the aura of Quasi-Emperor realm experts—only two of them, both at the seventh heaven level. This lineup was even weaker than that of the Jiuli Clan.

The inheritance of the Female Emperor had not escaped the calamity of tribulation, with far too many peak experts having perished. Fortunately, the Yaochi Xianmu was still alive, her destiny extraordinarily resilient.

"The woman who is wanted—does she belong to Yaochi?" Chen Yi finally spoke up.

"She does not." The Yaochi Elder replied immediately, glancing at Ye Chen before gently waving his hand to send Xiao Jiuxian to a side hall. Then he said, "You two, follow me."

Xiao Jiuxian grumbled to herself but didn't cause a fuss, clearly sensing they didn't want her to know.

The three of them arrived at the Yaochi underground palace, the very place where the Female Shengti had been sealed.

Only then did the Yaochi Elder reveal the secret: "The one who is wanted is a Female Shengti."

"Female Shengti?" Chen Yi was stunned, truly shocked.

A few seconds later, he looked at Ye Chen, who showed no surprise at all.

"You already knew?" Chen Yi asked tentatively.

Ye Chen nodded, his deep eyes already scanning the underground palace.

This made Chen Yi uneasy, his mind spinning. He only knew that all Shengti in the world were male cultivators and had never heard of a Female Shengti, let alone one sealed in the Yaochi sacred ground.

"Elder, have any outsiders visited recently?" Ye Chen asked.

"This is a forbidden area of Yaochi, guarded by Yaochi's Dibing. No outsiders can enter." The Yaochi Elder spoke slowly. "The palace's restrictions show no damage whatsoever. Even if the Zhutian Sword God came, it would be hard to sneak in, let alone steal the Female Shengti. We can rule out theft by others."

"So, the Elder's meaning is that she left on her own?" Ye Chen raised an eyebrow.

"That's the strange part." The Yaochi Elder took a deep breath.

Ye Chen furrowed his brow, stepping forward slightly. He gently closed his eyes and performed the Zhoutian Evolution technique, tracing back to the source to restore the events.

Chen Yi also cast his spell, his domain of deduction quite profound.

The Yaochi Elder didn't interrupt, quietly waiting. He had a growing sense of foreboding—a tribulation had already caused massive losses to Yaochi, and now the Female Shengti had vanished without a trace. Everything felt eerily strange, like an ominous sign.

Beside him, both Ye Chen and Chen Yi had furrowed brows.

It was clear that blood was trickling from the corners of their mouths, and their faces had turned pale. Ye Chen, in particular, was peering into more, so he expended even more energy.

Thud!

Not long after, Chen Yi spat out blood and staggered back, nearly falling.

The Yaochi Elder hurriedly stepped forward to help suppress the backlash for him.

Chen Yi shook his head helplessly—he wasn't skilled in deduction and couldn't restore the images from that day.

Both their gazes turned to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen remained silent with his eyes closed, still pushing his calculations to the limit.

In the haze, he seemed to see a misty void. As the mist cleared, the scene revealed was this very underground palace. The Female Shengti lay quietly on the stone bed, like an ice sculpture, utterly still and unremarkable.

Ye Chen held his breath, his Zhoutian Divine Eyes narrowing into slits as divine light gathered. He focused intently, wanting to know why the Female Shengti had disappeared—he just needed to wait.

However, in that instant, the scene suddenly blurred, even beyond what his Zhoutian Divine Eyes could see. When it cleared again, the Female Shengti was gone.

Thud!

Ye Chen also spat out blood, his body staggering as he nearly collapsed.

Seeing this, both Chen Yi and the Yaochi Elder quickly acted to help suppress the backlash for him. Ye Chen was clearly more severely injured than Chen Yi—the rebound had even threatened his Yuanshen.

After half an hour, Ye Chen finally opened his eyes, blood seeping from the corners.

"What did you find?" The Yaochi Elder asked hurriedly.

"A mysterious force obscured it; it's hard to penetrate." Ye Chen shook his head helplessly, feeling it most acutely—that moment of blur was the best proof it wasn't a coincidence.

His shake of the head made the Yaochi Elder's expression grow grave. Even the successor of Zhoutian couldn't uncover it—who else could solve the mystery? Renwang might be able to, but he was still in the midst of tribulation.

Compared to the Yaochi Elder, Ye Chen was more optimistic. Di Huang and Ming Di must know the answer. Once the heavens and the underworld are no longer isolated, everything will become clear.

By now, daylight had fully broken, and the three emerged from the underground palace.

"Open the door, quickly open it!" As soon as they exited, Ye Chen heard a shout—loud and brash, from Xiao Yuan Huang. Looking over, it was indeed him.

No mistake, Xiao Yuan Huang had arrived, yelling at the foot of the immortal mountain. That jerk Kui Niu was with him, hollering away. They must have seen the reward notice and come to check it out.

The Yaochi Elder waved his hand, opening the protective barrier.

The two strode in swaggeringly, one carrying a battle axe and the other shouldering a Wujin iron staff. They walked with an air of utter disregard, glancing left and right with shifty eyes.

The Yaochi fairies had mostly emerged from their caves, sitting cross-legged on jade stones to absorb the essence of heaven and earth. Seeing the two, they couldn't help but turn their heads—it was just that the pair walked so arrogantly.

"That trio over there looks pretty—right up my alley."

"The three on the left have great figures; I love long legs."

"I wonder if we can talk to the Elder about borrowing a few of their fairies."

"We're so handsome; the Elder will definitely agree."

The two bantered back and forth as they walked, claiming they were here to check on the reward matter. But once they entered the mountain gate, their eyes were fixed on the fairies.

The Yaochi Elders ignored them completely. Letting them in was out of respect for the Kui Niu Clan and the Sheng Yuan Clan. If these two brats dared to cause trouble, they wouldn't hold back.

"Hey, you jerk are here too?" When they reached the hall, the two spotted Ye Chen at once. He had removed his cloak and was sitting there leisurely, munching on a pantao.

Ye Chen didn't respond, just glanced at them sideways. For some reason, every time he saw these two buddies, he felt an urge to eat braised beef—stewed monkey brain sounded good too.

Kui Niu and the other didn't realize what Ye Chen's look implied. They shamelessly found a comfortable spot, not treating themselves as outsiders at all, and sat down to eat.

The atmosphere in the hall was harmonious, with the Yaochi Elders, Chen Yi, Xiao Jiuxian, and Yao Xin present. Yao Xin rested her chin in her hands, lost in thought, occasionally glancing toward the mountain gate with a hint of expectation in her eyes, as if waiting for someone—probably her beloved.

Sure enough, more people arrived: Zhong Huang, Nan Di, and Xi Zun, coming together.

Ye Chen understood this well—each of them carried missions from their clans. The tribulation had been too devastating, with massive losses across all forces. With the heavens weakened and the Honghuang watching hungrily, forming alliances was the best choice.

Yaochi's wanted notice was a perfect excuse. On the surface, they were here to investigate, but in reality, to form alliances. Only by uniting the major sects could they face greater calamities.

Yaochi welcomed all comers; an imperial inheritance needed allies too.

After Nan Di and the others, more arrived—a whole group, including Long Jie, Ling Clan Shennu, Song Yu, and Zhi Yan, all representing their families.

Following them were Tian Shuo, Mu Yang, Yang Feng, Zi Yu, and other emperor's descendants. Among them was the one Yao Xin was waiting for—the legendary Xuanyuan Emperor's descendant.

The last to arrive was Bei Sheng—more precisely, the young girl version of Bei Sheng.

Her arrival made Ye Chen's mouth twitch; he nearly bolted right then.

"Did I see that right? Bei Sheng?"

"Why does she look even smaller now?" Kui Niu's eyes widened in confusion.

The others present wore strange expressions, genuinely surprised.

"What's there to look at?" Bei Sheng was furious, her beautiful eyes blazing like fire. Without being invited, she headed straight for Ye Chen, shoving aside the Kui Niu sitting next to him.

Ye Chen coughed, trying to stand and switch seats, but Bei Sheng yanked him back. The world was so small—you could run into people anywhere, from Bei Yue all the way to Donghuang.

"Go on, run again."

"I wouldn't run if you weren't chasing." Ye Chen grimaced in pain.

"I can't stand people who show off their affection in crowds." Kui Niu muttered, "The world's so big, plenty of iron beds out there—why come here? Annoying."

"Get lost." Ye Chen and Bei Sheng said in unison, their scolding shaking heaven and earth.

"Enough." The Yaochi Elder spoke, halting the brewing chaos.

The hall's atmosphere was lively, nearly encompassing the major forces of Donghuang, Ximo, Nanyu, Bei Yue, and Zhongzhou. It was less like a Yaochi gathering and more like a grand assembly. Though no elders from each side were present, these representatives were of high status, here to discuss alliances with Yaochi.

"Elder, could you tell us about the identity of the woman wanted by Yaochi?" After a few rounds of drinks, Nan Di smiled slightly, his tone quite humble.

His question made everyone in the hall perk up their ears, including those from Yaochi, who still didn't fully understand—after all, the Female Shengti matter was a top secret.

"It's still unclear." The Yaochi Elder smiled warmly, ultimately not revealing the secret.

Since Yaochi didn't want to elaborate, no one pressed further. Ye Chen and Chen Yi, who knew the secret, wouldn't speak of it either—the Female Shengti affair was too significant to disclose.

"Yaochi sacred ground, my lord has a message—open the gates and come see." A brief silence in the hall was broken by a voice from outside the mountain, using Qianli Sound Transmission, the words ethereal.

Everyone looked toward the hall's entrance and saw a white-clothed youth standing outside Yaochi Immortal Mountain. His blood-red hair fluttered, his narrow eyes full of wicked charm. He held a folded fan, looking relaxed, and from afar, you could almost see his mocking smile.

Behind him stood two attendants, both from the Honghuang—specifically, the Taowu Clan.

Then, the youth's "my lord" was obvious—it had to be the Taowu Emperor.

"That's Yang Ye from Hun Tian Zong." Long Jie said calmly, revealing the white-clothed youth's identity.

"An old man like me can tell with a pinch—this guy's a Honghuang lackey." Kui Niu said meaningfully, his massive bull eyes flashing with sharp light, as if itching for a fight.

"We're used to it by now—who knows how many forces have sided with Honghuang these years."

"People climb high, water flows low—it's understandable."

"But if we meet on the battlefield later, I won't go easy."

The talents of Xuanhuang spoke lightly, but their killing intent was unmistakable.

Ye Chen just kept eating his peach, taking it in stride without any surprise. Honghuang had allies in the heavens, and naturally, heavenly forces had defected to Honghuang. In a world where strength ruled, this was commonplace—but choosing the wrong side came at a bloody price.

"Yaochi sacred ground, my lord has a message—open the gates and come see."

Outside the mountain, the youth named Yang Ye spoke again, his tone impatient, his chin held high, a smug smile on his lips as he looked down on Yaochi.

Everyone wanted to laugh—a mere Shengwang, and he was so proud?

"Speak freely; this old one is listening." The Yaochi Elder said indifferently.

"Submit to my Taowu Clan, and Yaochi will be spared. Otherwise, you'll be the first to be crushed." Yang Ye's words were cold and ominous, echoing endlessly through Yaochi Immortal Mountain.