Chapter 2180: Conditions?

In the black hole, Ye Chen was walking when he suddenly vanished, reappearing in the Luo Sha Domain.

Unfortunately, Sheng Zun and the Wei Mian Zhi Zi had already left, missing him by a hair's breadth. If those two supreme ruthless figures knew the truth, they would surely curse up a storm. They had waited over ten days without seeing anyone emerge, and the moment they left, he came out strolling around. One might even say he was just asking for it.

On the mountain peak, Ye Chen stretched lazily and comfortably.

The black hole truly held both perils and opportunities. In his desperate fight with the Zhu Xian Jian, it had prompted the fusion of the Hun Dun Ding and the Di Zang Yun Tie. He had also found the Ling Xiao Bao Dian and obtained several great treasures. Ye Chen increasingly felt that his luck was like having a god-level cheat code activated.

If the Zhu Xian Jian learned of this, who knows what its state of mind would be.

In a way, it really was like a whetstone, a divine assist in sharpening him. Back in the day, it had slain Ye Chen in the starry sky, leading him to take a trip to the Ming Jie. When he returned, he had gained the Sheng Gu of Ba Yuan and the Shen Cang of Di Huang. In fact, it was through this that the three most astonishing Dacheng Sheng Ti of the heavens gathered within Ye Chen, granting him a heaven-defying transformation.

Now, because of its interception, it had delivered two more opportunities to Ye Chen.

So, one could say Ye Chen's rise was absolutely due to its contributions. It had steadily pushed a minor Sheng Ti step by step to the ultimate peak.

Under the starry night, Ye Chen gazed into the distance while pulling out a map. Based on the landscape of great rivers and mountains, he identified his current domain as the Luo Sha Domain.

This domain was different from others; it had no living beings. It was a vast expanse of barren red earth with no grass growing, and not a trace of spiritual energy in the heavens and earth. Four words summed it up best: dry and impoverished.

Even so, Ye Chen still planned his route. Although this domain lacked life, it might hold the Tian Mo Ben Yuan. His mission wasn't just to find reincarnated people; it also involved the Qing Tian Mo Zhu.

In the depths of the night, he set off again.

This time, he felt like something was missing. What was it? Of course, it was companionship. For five years, he had been with the female Sheng Ti day and night, and her sudden departure left him feeling quite unadjusted.

Speaking of the female Sheng Ti, he subconsciously touched his forehead. The contract divine pattern between him and her had manifested under the moonlight, glittering with starlight.

Up to now, he hadn't felt any discomfort and still didn't know what kind of contract it was.

"You left without saying hello," Ye Chen murmured, taking out a strand of the female Sheng Ti's hair, which still carried a faint feminine fragrance. It might be like Yue Lao's red thread of the mortal world, binding the two of them together.

Honestly, having a female Sheng Ti who was infinitely close to Dacheng as a wife wasn't bad at all. Taking her out on the streets would be incredibly prestigious. With her around, anything like the Zhu Xian Jian or the Hong Huang Zu would have to behave. Even if an emperor from the Tian Mo Domain came, they could face it head-on.

What Ye Chen thought about most, though, was the bedroom issue. He always felt he couldn't handle the female Sheng Ti.

After all, she was a Sheng Ti too, so her vitality must be quite vigorous.

As he spoke, he descended from the void and landed on a patch of scorched earth. He walked along, observing as he went. This was an ancient battlefield, still bearing traces of Tian Mo aura, with half-buried skeletons, weathered weapons, and tattered war banners.

Battlefields like this were numerous in the Luo Sha Domain, all shrouded in desolation.

It wasn't hard to imagine that in some ancient era, the Luo Sha Domain had teeming life and was a sacred cultivation ground brimming with spiritual energy.

Alas, the Tian Mo invasion had destroyed this fine land and buried all its inhabitants.

Ye Chen took out a wine flask and sprinkled it along the way while reciting the Du Ren Jing to pay respects to the fallen souls and help them pass on, dispelling their resentment and returning them to dust.

And so, three days passed quietly.

Over these three days, Ye Chen never stopped, roaming every corner of the Luo Sha Domain. He saw many wronged spirits but no living beings, and found no trace of the Tian Mo Ben Yuan.

Everything was uneventful, and the silhouette of Da Chu's tenth emperor remained as desolate as ever.

While things were peaceful here, the heavens were surging with undercurrents.

After five years of time passing, more reincarnated people had returned, and as before, over ninety-nine percent were from the Hong Huang Zu. Meanwhile, in the calamities of burial and extinction, over ninety-nine percent were from the heavens. This unequal ratio made the overall strength of the Hong Huang Zu even more dominant.

In contrast, the heavens, after enduring calamity after calamity, grew increasingly weak.

Precisely because their strength was absolutely suppressed, the Hong Huang Zu grew restless again, especially those races where all the calamitous people had returned. They were itching to cause chaos, starting to stir up trouble. Ancient stars of life were stained with blood, and brilliant star domains turned silent.

However, those races didn't ignite a full-scale war; they didn't dare provoke the Xuan Huang easily, fearing to follow in the footsteps of the Tao Wu Zu. They only needed to wait until all the Hong Huang calamitous people had returned—that would be the time to flatten the heavens.

And this period might be incredibly long, but the Hong Huang Zu could afford to wait.

The nights in Da Chu were not peaceful.

Due to the Hong Huang Zu, more forces were relocating and joining Da Chu unconditionally to prepare for the potential catastrophe at any moment.

Da Chu welcomed all comers, forming an unspoken alliance among the heavens. If the Wan Yu were truly provoked, they wouldn't mind treating the Hong Huang Zu as they would the Tian Mo.

In the Tian Xuan Men, in the Xiao Zhu Lin,

Dong Huang Tai Xin stood before the stone tablet again, quietly gazing at the yuan shen jade plaques hanging on it. Five years had passed, and many more plaques had lost their divine light, indicating that another batch of Da Chu's calamitous people had perished. The tragic losses were heart-wrenching.

The Kunlun Shen Nu's expression was one of sorrowful beauty. As Da Chu's guardian deity and supreme queen, she had guarded these mountains and rivers for endless ages, witnessing the vicissitudes of life and growing accustomed to life and death. Yet, never before had it pained her as much as now.

At some point, she saw Tian Lao and Di Lao enter. In the five years of trials, they appeared even more aged, especially when looking at the stone tablet—tears lingered in their old eyes.

"Any news on Ye Chen?" Dong Huang Tai Xin asked faintly, her back to them.

Tian Lao shook his head helplessly. "Sheng Zun just sent word; they haven't found him."

"His yuan shen jade plaque is intact, so there's no threat to his life," Di Lao pondered. "He's probably encountered some incident and ended up in some corner of the Wan Yu."

Dong Huang Tai Xin didn't respond. She turned slightly, but not to look at Tian Lao and Di Lao. Instead, through the haze, she gazed toward Heng Yue Zong, as if she could see through the endless void to a graceful figure cloaked in black robes, appearing faintly like a ghost.

Dong Huang Tai Xin's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she vanished in an instant, taking an emperor weapon with her.

Indeed, before the gates of Heng Yue Zong, there was that graceful figure—it was the female Sheng Ti. She had left the domain and come to Da Chu.

At that moment, she was quietly gazing at Yu Nu Peak, at Ye Chen's wives, each with peerless beauty, bathed in moonlight as they longed for their Ye Chen. He had been gone for five years; who knew how many more it would take for his return? Those years were destined to be covered in the dust of time.

But what she focused on most was Chu Xuan and Chu Ling.

As in the past, her eyes couldn't hide their wariness. The faces of Chu Xuan and Chu Ling were etched deeply into her soul, unforgettable even after a hundred turns and a thousand twists.

Unlike before, her wary expression now carried an extra layer of complexity, due to Ye Chen, due to Chu Xuan and Chu Ling, and due to the relationship among the three of them.

Perhaps sensing someone watching, Chu Xuan and Chu Ling both turned their gazes toward the female Sheng Ti's direction, but they were destined to see nothing. Her concealment techniques were heaven-defying.

"What a unfamiliar face you have, fellow daoist," a faint voice sounded from behind the female Sheng Ti. Before the words finished, Dong Huang Tai Xin manifested her true form, the Xian Wang Ta hovering above her head as she stared at the female Sheng Ti.

"The Kunlun Shen Nu is indeed extraordinary," the female Sheng Ti said lightly, not turning around. Cloaked in black robes, she was like a ghost, bathed in moonlight yet sometimes solid, sometimes illusory. Only her light robes swayed gently with the breeze, untouched by the mundane world.

"Who exactly are you?" Dong Huang Tai Xin asked again, her clear and bright eyes narrowing into slits. In this era, there were no more than three people she couldn't see through, and this woman was the fourth. Even with the emperor weapon enhancing her vision, she couldn't penetrate the veil.

"Who I am isn't important. What's important is that I can help the heavens resolve the crisis with the Hong Huang Zu," the female Sheng Ti finally turned, her pair of serene eyes calm and devoid of light.

"The conditions?" Dong Huang Tai Xin asked without glancing away.

"I want the Zao Hua Shen Wang," the female Sheng Ti said with a smile.

At these words, Dong Huang Tai Xin's brows furrowed slightly. The matter of the Zao Hua Shen Wang was known to few in the world, yet this woman mentioned it outright, which was strangely suspicious.

Knowing there was something off, she naturally wouldn't agree.

The Zao Hua Shen Wang was too significant, and with the Tian Mo Ben Yuan corrupting it, it needed to be suppressed by an extreme dao emperor weapon. At least, until they clarified this woman's identity, they absolutely couldn't let the Zao Hua Shen Wang leave Tian Xuan Men. Dong Huang Tai Xin understood the stakes clearly.

"No need to rush your answer," the female Sheng Ti turned and gradually walked away, her ethereal voice echoing behind her. "One day, I will come again."

Dong Huang Tai Xin said nothing, her brows furrowing even deeper. From the female Sheng Ti, she sensed an extremely terrifying aura. Even with the extreme dao emperor weapon protecting her, it couldn't suppress the tremor in her heart.

The female Sheng Ti left, and before departing Da Chu, she couldn't help but glance back at Tian Xuan Men.

With her power, she could forcibly seize the Zao Hua Shen Wang; no one in Tian Xuan Men could stop her, not even with an emperor weapon.

But she had her reservations. In Tian Xuan Men, there was an existence that made her fearful, so she had to settle for the next best thing: offering to resolve the Hong Huang crisis in exchange for the Zao Hua Shen Wang.

As for why she wanted the Zao Hua Shen Wang, no one knew.

In the Luo Sha Domain, night had fallen once more.

In the virtual sky, Ye Chen streaked like a golden light, his divine sense spreading out to its fullest extent for scrutiny.

In his hand, he held the small fragment of the Mo Zhu, sealed with powerful forbidden techniques in his palm. If there were any Tian Mo in this domain, this fragment would surely sense it. Likewise, the Tian Mo Ben Yuan within his body was under constant watch. If the fragment or the Ben Yuan reacted abnormally, he would immediately halt and scan every inch of the surroundings.

This method was crude but straightforward.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another nine days passed.

On the tenth day, he finally stopped in midair, covered in dust from his travels. It was because both the Mo Zhu fragment and the Tian Mo Ben Yuan inside him were reacting abnormally, indicating that this stretch of heaven and earth held something of the Tian Mo—perhaps the Qing Tian Mo Zhu, or the Tian Mo Ben Yuan, or even a person of the Tian Mo.

He activated his Lun Hui Yan, standing high in the nine heavens and surveying the land, scrutinizing every inch.

However, to his confusion, he found nothing unusual.

Helpless, he descended from the sky, separated out the Tian Mo Ben Yuan, and held the Mo Zhu fragment in one hand and the Ben Yuan in the other, using their reactions to guide him.

The fragment and the Ben Yuan were quite reliable. If Ye Chen went in the wrong direction, they showed no reaction, but in the right direction, they became extremely active.

Thanks to their guidance, Ye Chen eventually arrived at a cliff.

He looked down; below was an ordinary abyss, not particularly deep, visible to the bottom at a glance. With his insight, he detected no anomalies.

Yet, this very ordinary abyss made the Tian Mo Ben Yuan and the Mo Zhu fragment extremely agitated, desperate to plunge downward. Such a reaction meant there must be some mystery below—perhaps the Qing Tian Mo Zhu was there.