Chapter 2189: A Realm Transforms into a Heavenly Demon

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

Above the ancient city, a supreme Dao Di Qi and a damaged Di Bing rumbled and vibrated. Their fearsome imperial Dao pressure ground the heavens with thunderous booms, pinning down the creatures in the city and leaving them immobile.

"That... is that the Sheng Ti?"

Below, those who hadn't transformed into Tian Mo struggled to look up, staring blankly at Ye Chen.

"It's definitely him."

"The Tian Mo are causing chaos again; the Sheng Ti must be here to save us." Voices of excitement rose one after another.

"Should we kill them or not?" Amid the discussions, Tian Zhi looked towards Ye Chen.

"Seal them, but do not kill," Ye Chen said, turning and heading in another direction. If they were true Tian Mo, they would be executed without mercy. But the problem was that these so-called Tian Mo were all transformed from people of the Ling Yu. They couldn't be killed. Instead, they needed to find the Qing Tian Mo Zhu and destroy it, cutting off the source of the Tian Mo. Only then would those transformed individuals return to their original selves.

"Seal them, but do not kill?" Tian Zhi frowned.

As she pondered, a wisp of Ye Chen's divine sense drifted back. He had no time to explain and simply infused the reasons into it.

Tian Zhi read the divine sense, and her expression changed abruptly. "Transformed into Tian Mo?"

Without further thought, she immediately closed her eyes, then suddenly opened them, activating the Kong Que Ming Wang Eye. It shimmered with brilliant five-colored immortal light, its Dao essence perfectly formed.

The ability of the Kong Que Ming Wang Eye was incredibly dominant. Anyone transformed into Tian Mo that it gazed upon would suddenly radiate five-colored immortal light, a form of sealing immortal technique.

Once she had sealed all the Tian Mo, she waved her hand and collected them into her magical artifact.

"Against Tian Mo, only seal, do not kill."

She then left, heading in another direction. Before departing, she left a message for the people in the city.

"Against Tian Mo, only seal, do not kill."

Ye Chen's resolute words spread across the four seas and eight wastelands, and all who heard them would pass them on endlessly. The words of the Huang Gu Sheng Ti carried great weight in the Ling Yu.

As he spoke, he flew into a dense forest.

Seal!

Then, he heard Ye Chen's cold command as he forcefully sealed a Tian Mo.

In the forest, besides that Tian Mo, there was a woman whose cheeks were streaked with tears, her expression one of sorrowful beauty. She lay weakly under an old tree, her body covered in fresh blood. Her Yuan Shen had already dissipated, her soul scattered to the winds; even a Da Luo Jin Xian couldn't save her now.

The one who killed her was the person she loved most. It should have been a perfect moment under the full moon, filled with romantic words, but her lover had suddenly transformed into a Tian Mo and thrust a vicious killing sword into her heart, cold and devoid of all humanity.

Until her death, she didn't understand why, and until the end, she carried that confusion.

Ah!

Ye Chen sighed, sealed the Tian Mo, and took the woman's body with him. When this youth transformed by Tian Mo regained his senses one day, the heartbreak would be immense. It was he who had killed his own wife with his own hands, leaving their love in ruins.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The thunderous roars shook the heavens and earth, echoing throughout the Ling Yu. Whether in immortal mountains or ancient cities, shadows of Tian Mo were everywhere, and where there were Tian Mo, there were battles. Mountains collapsed one after another, ancient cities exploded, and swathes of creatures were buried in pools of blood.

This wasn't an outright Tian Mo invasion, but it felt even more like one.

Those transformed into Tian Mo had their minds obscured by the Tian Mo source, unable to recognize family or friends. All that remained was slaughter, without any fear, like puppets of murder. Too many creatures had died at the hands of their own loved ones, the scenes drenched in blood.

"Damn it." Ye Chen's cold snort was filled with overwhelming killing intent.

Wherever he passed, the ground froze inch by inch in ice.

His anger was directed at the Tian Mo, the orchestrators of this tragedy, turning the people of the Ling Yu against each other. Every bloom of blood was a living life lost.

In a stretch of empty sky, he manifested his Sheng Zhan Fa Shen.

Along with it, he created numerous clones, each endowed with a portion of his own combat power and fused with various magical artifacts. Carrying his mission, they rushed to all directions, for the number of those transformed into Tian Mo was simply too great. Many hands make light work, and Ye Chen desperately needed assistance.

Fortunately, the Ling Yu had endured the Ying Jie Kuang Chao and Tian Mo invasions, leaving no Zhun Di realm cultivators. Without Zhun Di level Tian Mo transformations, his clones could handle things independently.

Like him, Tian Zhi, who was far away at the edge of the heavens, also manifested clones. Each fused with the divine might of Di Qi, they sped toward ancient cities and immortal mountains.

Even so, countless people still perished.

Under the blood-red moonlight, Ye Chen descended upon the Qing Luan Clan's immortal mountain. The Qing Luan Clan had many transformed into Tian Mo, over eighty percent having become puppets of the Tian Mo.

Now, the Qing Luan Clan's immortal mountain was a complete wasteland, with no intact palaces or spiritual mountains left. Even the scattered stones and shattered roof tiles were stained with fresh blood, and a scarlet blood mist enveloped the heavens and earth.

"How could this be?" The Qing Luan Sheng Zhu's face was covered in bloody tears.

"How could this be?" Amid the slaughter, cries of grief and wails mingled. Those not transformed into Tian Mo had their eyes blurred by blood and tears, unable to comprehend why their clanspeople had turned into Tian Mo, now wielding weapons to slaughter fellow Qing Luan Clan members.

At that moment, far away in Da Chu's Heng Yue, the Qing Luan couldn't hold back her heartache. She stared blankly at the void, as if she could see through the vast distances to the Ling Yu and her family.

Seal!

Ye Chen stood firm in the sky, countless golden lights flying from his Sheng Ti, each infused with sealing laws. Every Tian Mo touched by the golden light was inevitably sealed.

"My friend, how could this happen?" The Qing Luan Sheng Zhu's voice was hoarse as he staggered over, sword in hand, drenched in blood, his eyes filled with tears as he looked at Ye Chen.

"Once the chaos is suppressed, I'll explain everything to you, senior," Ye Chen replied, waving his hand to collect the sealed Tian Mo, his heart heavy with sorrow. If Qing Luan knew about this, the pain would be unimaginable.

He arrived quickly and left just as fast, with no time to explain.

Along his path, he witnessed gruesome scenes: corpses littered the fields, rivers of blood flowed, fathers killing sons, sons killing mothers, disciples killing masters, husbands killing wives. Such tragic sights were everywhere. With their minds veiled by the Tian Mo source, no one could recognize anyone anymore.

It was mutual slaughter, brutal and utterly devoid of humanity.

When he appeared again, it was at another race's domain, even worse off than the Qing Luan Clan. Over half of its people had transformed into Tian Mo, and in their self-inflicted carnage, they fell in droves into pools of blood. What was once a misty, ethereal paradise had been turned into a bloody hell.

Ye Chen stood steady in the sky once more, his body's sealing immortal light bursting forth.

However, before he could unleash the seal, a boom echoed from the heavens.

Then, a blood-colored figure was sent flying from the distant horizon, crashing through over a dozen mountains along the way. It was Tian Zhi.

She was gravely injured, her body streaming with fresh blood, and the Di Qi hovering above her head buzzed and swayed unsteadily, its immortal light dimming to near extinction.

Ye Chen flashed to her side in an instant, incredulous. A great saint-level Di Zi with a Di Bing's support—how could she be beaten this badly? Was there someone in the Ling Yu this powerful?

Tian Zhi staggered to her feet without a word, her expression filled with wariness as she gazed in one direction.

Ye Chen didn't ask questions; he followed her gaze.

What met his eyes was rolling demonic aura blotting out the sky. A vague figure slowly emerged from within, as if walking on the river of time. Each step he took disrupted the heavens and earth, his body seemingly immensely heavy, causing the empty sky to rumble with every footfall. Terrifying visions manifested around him, collapsing the heavens and destroying the earth.

"Zao Hua Shen Wang?" Ye Chen's face changed drastically, his expression one of utter disbelief. Wasn't the Zao Hua Shen Wang sealed in the Tian Xuan Men? How had he broken the imperial Dao seal? And now, like the people of the Ling Yu, he had transformed into a Tian Mo—powerful to the point of nearly reaching the emperor level, even surpassing the Hong Chen Six Paths. No wonder even Tian Zhi had been beaten so badly, her Di Qi ignored.

In that moment, Ye Chen's face turned pale. The Zao Hua Shen Wang's transformation and escape meant that Da Chu must be in turmoil, possibly already a mountain of corpses and a river of blood.

"How could this be?" Ye Chen murmured, his hand gripping his sword trembling uncontrollably. He was desperate to return to Da Chu, to see if his loved ones were still alive.

His worry was mirrored in Tian Zhi, who seemed to realize that the Zao Hua Shen Wang's seal in the Tian Xuan Men meant Da Chu was surely in danger.

Opposite them, the Zao Hua Shen Wang attacked, his palm covering the sky and carrying destructive force.

Ye Chen and Tian Zhi steeled their expressions, standing side by side. One activated the damaged Di Bing, the other revived the supreme Dao Di Qi, launching a joint strike.

Unfortunately, the gap between them was too vast. Even with Di Qi aiding them, they couldn't withstand the Zao Hua Shen Wang's palm, and they were sent flying once more, crashing through mountains that collapsed in their wake. Both Ye Chen and Tian Zhi nearly exploded from the impact.

Zing! Zing!

Before they could steady themselves, the Zao Hua Shen Wang flicked his hand, sending two beams of annihilating divine light.

The two quickly stabilized and raised their Di Qi in front.

Bang! Bang!

The divine lights struck the Di Qi simultaneously, producing crisp, metallic clashes.

Puff!

Both Ye Chen and Tian Zhi spat blood and were flung backward again. Their recently healed bodies cracked open once more, fresh blood spraying into the sky, starkly vivid.

Go!

Ye Chen shouted resolutely, grabbing Tian Zhi and attempting to escape into a black hole.

However, the Zao Hua Shen Wang was faster. A black demonic light shot from his celestial spirit straight into the sky, infused with Zao Hua power, piercing a massive hole in the vast void and forbidding the heavens and earth, sealing all yin and yang. The laws of the world became meaningless.

For the first time, Ye Chen's Da Lun Hui Tian Dao was useless, unable to connect to the black hole.

Not only that, but a mysterious force forcibly restrained them both.

In that instant, the two despaired.

He was too strong; the transformed Zao Hua Shen Wang was overwhelmingly powerful, likely at half-emperor level. Against such an existence, even the mightiest secret techniques were futile.

The Zao Hua Shen Wang let out a eerie laugh, like the laughter of the god of death.

He stood in the sky, like a demon god or a king, overlooking all living beings, including Ye Chen and Tian Zhi. The pressure, infinitely close to that of an emperor, extinguished the last glimmer of light in the world.

Once again, he raised his hand and pressed down from the heavens, collapsing the very fabric of reality.

Ye Chen gritted his teeth, trying to break free, but it was futile. He could only watch as the massive palm seal bore down on them. In their current state, death was certain.

Just then, the space twisted, and two figures emerged together, each striking with a palm that defied the heavens, shattering the massive palm seal and rescuing Ye Chen and Tian Zhi.

These two were none other than the Wei Mian Zhi Zi and the Sheng Zun.

Their conditions weren't much better; both were covered in blood and pale-faced, clearly having just survived a bloody battle.

"If we'd been a breath later, we'd have been done for." Ye Chen staggered, steadying himself.