Chapter 2254: What are you looking for?

In the vast and boundless starry sky, all was deep and endless.

With the black hole's conflict now ceased and no more thunderous roars, the cultivators who had come to investigate had all departed, many scratching their heads in confusion. They still didn't understand what had happened, unaware of who the warring parties were, only knowing that one of them must have been that shameless one who teamed up to insult someone's small chest.

The black hole remained as silent and desolate as ever.

Nüshengti lay unconscious, still not awake.

It was worth noting that in her childlike form, she looked like a plump and adorable little sprite, so much so that even Ming Di, in his elderly wisdom, felt like rushing over to pinch her chubby cheeks.

In this vast world, all sorts of strange things could happen.

Di Huang's expression was particularly meaningful. A female Sacred Body on the verge of great completion had actually transformed into a little child— it was nothing short of novel.

As for Ye Chen, he was indeed not fully dead.

Nüshengti's sword strike had been extraordinarily domineering, nearly obliterating him completely. Without the protection of his Di Qi, that single blow would have killed him a thousand times over. The absolute suppression of realms from the ancient Sacred Body lineage was like heaven and earth apart— a Great Saint level Sacred Body was nothing more than an ant before a peak Quasi-Emperor level Sacred Body, no matter how many Di Qi aided him.

Fortunately, his foundations were deep enough.

At that moment, his primordial spirit flame, once as small as a grain of rice, had grown to the size of a fingernail and was still burning stronger, with the reconstruction of his primordial spirit and sacred body merely a matter of time.

No one knew when, but a humming sound suddenly echoed.

The ten Di Qi that had been pursuing the Zhuxian Jian returned, looking utterly dejected. It was clear they hadn't killed or even caught up to it. That multicolored sword was incredibly fast and extraordinarily tough. The ten of them had all suffered various sword marks, with one Di Jian being the most wretched— its crimson blade was covered in gaping notches.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The Di Qi were still quite dutiful. Eight of them surrounded Ye Chen and Nüshengti, hovering in a circle and releasing their imperial might. The imperial Dao laws intertwined to form a barrier, guarding all directions, while the remaining two patrolled to watch for any return of the Zhuxian Jian.

In Ming Di's view, such caution from the ten Di Qi was unnecessary.

As he said, the Zhuxian Jian, after casting its forbidden curse, was in a state of extreme weakness. It had already been heavily wounded by the ten Di Qi's assault, so in that condition, it was probably fleeing as far as possible and wouldn't dare come back. Most likely, it had already escaped deep into the black hole to hide and heal.

Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, three days had gone by.

During these three days, Nüshengti did not awaken, possibly due to the lingering effects of the forbidden curse, keeping her in a deep slumber.

As for Ye Chen, his condition had improved.

In just three days, his primordial spirit flame had grown from the size of a fingernail to that of an apricot. The golden primordial spirit fire shone brilliantly in the dark black hole, dazzling and radiant.

On the fourth day, the primordial spirit flame became as big as a peach.

By the seventh day, it was burning fiercely, roughly the size of a watermelon.

On the ninth day, the primordial spirit flame began to gather primordial spirit power.

It wasn't until the tenth day that the primordial spirit flame started reshaping into a human form. Originally a mass of golden flames, it seemed to be sculpted by some force, forming a head, limbs, facial features, and overall appearance. Strands of primordial spirit power wound around it, gradually making the translucent primordial spirit body more solid.

Next came the ancient Sacred Body.

The flesh that had been blasted apart reformed into tiny blood threads, converging into a single drop of blood that fell onto the primordial spirit body. His limbs, bones, internal organs, and meridians all regenerated inch by inch, visible to the naked eye, until he was once again a living person of flesh and blood.

Reviving from desperation was a stroke of fortune for him.

In the desolate black hole, his Sacred Body radiated immortal light. Every inch of his body gleamed with divine brilliance, enveloped in golden immortal glow, making him appear as if forged from gold, radiant and splendid. Upon closer inspection, various visions manifested, and if one listened carefully, the sounds of the Great Dao could be heard. Seated in meditation, he resembled a golden Buddha, dignified and serene.

At some unknown moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

Immediately, two beams of golden light shot from his pupils, like tangible swords.

After three to five breaths, the immortal light around his body retracted into him.

Half a month later, after reconstructing his Sacred Body, he stood up for the first time. His expression was quite peculiar as he squatted in front of Nüshengti, examining her up and down to confirm that this child was indeed Nüshengti.

Rejuvenation? Complete loss of cultivation?

Ye Chen furrowed his brow, his eyes narrowing slightly. Upon closer scrutiny, he detected the root cause: a terrifying forbidden curse within Nüshengti's body. The curse's level was far beyond his imagination, and it was easy to guess that her current state was due to its toxic effects.

Without thinking further, he immediately performed the Zhou Tian evolution technique, restoring the scene from that day.

Through tracing back to the source, he saw it clearly: the one who had schemed against Nüshengti was the Zhuxian Jian. The forbidden curse it used contained forces of destruction and dissolution. It was fortunate that Nüshengti had endured it; if it had been him, his soul would likely have scattered completely.

He didn't need to test it to know that such a curse was beyond his ability to break.

The Zhuxian Jian was too mysterious, with countless methods, each one extremely fearsome. Even someone as powerful as Nüshengti had been wounded to this extent, so how could he possibly break it?

"Rejuvenated, huh? That should keep you in check now!"

"Saying you have a small chest and you still got upset— what a waste of such strong power with that level of intelligence."

"Hey, where did you hide my treasure?"

Ye Chen muttered to himself while rummaging through Nüshengti's body with his hands, searching her thoroughly from head to toe until he finally found a storage bag— the very one he had left with Yao Chi— and pulled it out.

With his treasure back, he felt truly at ease.

But Ye Chen's nature didn't stop there. After retrieving his own items, he kept searching, his actions rough and unrefined. After all, a Sacred Body like hers must have treasures, and this was a rare opportunity not to be missed.

As he searched, Nüshengti woke up.

In her daze, she felt a pair of restless hands fumbling all over her, as if looking for something or some treasure, but not finding much.

"Oh, you're awake."

"You looking for something?"

Nüshengti's big eyes burned with fury. She showed no surprise at her own rejuvenation and loss of cultivation; she just stared at Ye Chen.

"Not looking for anything."

"Get lost."

Nüshengti's scolding came out in a childish, milky voice, oddly endearing.

"Little brat acting all grown up— that's you."

"No cultivation left, and with that tiny size, you still want to act tough with me."

"Don't move. Stay still."

Ye Chen fired off one remark after another, sounding perfectly reasonable, while his restless hands never stopped. He stripped away all the jade pendants, ornaments, and beads from Nüshengti's body, stuffing them straight into his own pocket. His movements were incredibly practiced, clearly the work of someone experienced in such shady dealings.

From a distance, the scene was utterly lawless.

Why lawless? Because Ye Chen had one hand pinning Nüshengti down while the other yanked and pulled, sweeping away everything valuable on her. Not to brag, but the little girl was left with nothing except the clothes on her back.

Ah!

Nüshengti went berserk, trying to get up, but she was held down. It was worth mentioning that even in her anger, her plump and rosy face made her look endearingly cute.

But that changed nothing.

Who was Ye Chen? The tenth emperor of Da Chu, who never cared about face when it came to treasures. Regrettably, what he took were just minor items; the truly heaven-defying treasures were in Nüshengti's inner world, inaccessible due to Quasi-Emperor privileges.

"Is this child abuse?"

Ming Di's words were profound.

"It is."

Di Huang's response was equally weighty.

The two supreme beings were idle enough to watch. With such a vast universe and countless realms, they chose to focus only on the black hole and on Ye Chen engaging in his shameless acts.

For some reason, they felt an inexplicable sympathy for Nüshengti.

This sympathy wasn't unfounded. Struck by the Zhuxian Jian's forbidden curse, losing her cultivation and reverting to childhood was already distressing enough, and now, in this historic moment, she had encountered a beast named Ye Chen. How much bad karma must she have accumulated in her past life?

Under their gaze, the misdeeds in the black hole finally came to an end.

Ye Chen stopped at last, holding a divine pearl and examining it closely, confirming it was a treasure. He even huffed on it and wiped it with his sleeve.

Meanwhile, Nüshengti hugged her knees, truly crying.

In this state, those who knew would say she was robbed of her treasures; those who didn't might think something worse had happened. Well, saying something worse might be an exaggeration, since she looked only two or three years old.

Ye Chen ignored it completely. Crying wouldn't help.

Thinking back, you used to beat me half to death every other day, and I never complained. Now, I've just taken a few treasures from you, and you're crying?

"Is my Lingxiao iron staff the one you made disappear?"

Ye Chen asked.

Nüshengti didn't answer, just kept wiping her tears. From the day she could remember, she had always been the one bullying others; she'd never been bullied like this before.

"Don't sweat the small stuff."

"It's just a few treasures I took— I didn't do anything else to you. Look how upset you are."

"Think positively; life is still beautiful."

As a robber, Ye Chen was surprisingly kind-hearted, comforting his victim even after the theft— a feat unique in the bandit world.

And surprisingly, his words worked.

Nüshengti stopped crying and became much calmer. She needed to be strong, ambitious, hopeful for the future, and figure out how to restore her cultivation.

Then, she'd drag Ye Chen to some remote corner and kick him to death eight hundred times over.

Ye Chen chuckled and offered two spirit fruits. With her treasures stolen, he had to appease her— after all, he still needed her help to find the Lingxiao iron staff.

Nüshengti didn't even glance at them and simply turned away.

Gurgle!

The sound followed immediately, timely and fitting, coming from Nüshengti's little belly.

The atmosphere grew awkward.

Looking at Nüshengti, she had buried her head. She had forgotten that, struck by the Zhuxian forbidden curse, she no longer had any cultivation and was just an ordinary mortal without powers. As a mortal, she needed to eat; without food, she'd go hungry.

Ye Chen took the initiative, munching on the spirit fruits himself. If you won't eat, I will.

The guy had quite an appetite, hauling over an entire basket and biting into one after another. In the human world, there was a term that described him perfectly at that moment: wastrel.

It wasn't until sometime later that he patted his behind and stood up.

Then, he handed Nüshengti two fruits.

This time, she didn't refuse— she was too hungry.

"Time to go home!"

Ye Chen said, picking up Nüshengti with one hand.

That's right, picking her up.

The guy stood tall and straight, his one-meter-eight frame exuding the presence of eight meters one. After all these years, he finally felt triumphant for once.