Chapter 2324: Meeting Emperor's Tribulation Again

Chapter 2324: Once Again, the Emperor's Tribulation

In the peach blossom forest under the moon, everything was as silent as death, save for the faint buzzing from the dragon chair.

Under the watchful eyes of Ye Chen and Zi Xuan, Di Huang's face grew increasingly pale.

After a long while, his expression was not only pale but also marred by fresh blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, leaving Ye Chen and Zi Xuan utterly shocked. Di Huang, who possessed the power to slay emperors, was actually unable to withstand this backlash.

Di Huang remained silent, continuing his silent divination. Using the essence of the Dao, he traced back through time, relying on his divination power to endure the terrifying backlash and pierce through layer after layer of mist in the void.

Vaguely, he seemed to catch sight of a woman's silhouette, like a banished immortal from the mortal world, standing at the end of eternity. Her three thousand strands of hair swayed in the wind, each one tinged with immortal radiance. She was incredibly distant; though visible, she was like a dream—attainable only in sight, not in reach.

That figure was the commander of the Gu Tian Ting, the master of the Bai Yu Long Yi. She exuded unparalleled elegance, and though her true face remained unseen, her back alone was shrouded in a dreamlike haze.

In that instant, Di Huang coughed up blood and staggered back a step, his fresh blood splattering to the ground.

"Senior."

"Sacred Monarch."

Ye Chen and Zi Xuan rushed forward in alarm, supporting Di Huang from either side. They were beyond astonished. To force a Da Cheng Sheng Ti to suffer such severe backlash, how powerful must the master of the Bai Yu Long Yi be? Did she surpass the realm of the great emperors? Could she be a legendary Tian Di?

Di Huang steadied himself, his brows furrowed as he gazed at the dragon chair, saying nothing.

He had underestimated the owner of the dragon chair. The commander of the Gu Tian Ting must have reached a realm beyond that of the great emperors, her achievements covering the universe. Even though she had long perished, she was not someone he could casually divine.

This time, he had only glimpsed a silhouette and not her true appearance.

What the Ming Di had said back then held some truth after all.

Although Di Huang had the power to slay great emperors, he was not one himself. Being able to kill an emperor did not mean he stood above them. Some things that great emperors could accomplish with ease were far beyond the reach of a Da Cheng Sheng Ti. For instance, in divination like this, if a great emperor were to perform it, they would surely see much more. In many ways, the gap between a Da Cheng Sheng Ti and a great emperor was vast.

"I underestimated the predecessors of the Gu Tian Ting," Di Huang said after a long pause, shaking his head with a self-mocking smile. This single act of divination made him feel that a Da Cheng Sheng Ti was nothing but a joke.

"Could you see her true glory?" Ye Chen asked quietly.

Di Huang wiped the fresh blood from his mouth, his smile laced with helplessness.

Zi Xuan's eyes were filled with deep concern.

Ever since Di Huang's return, this was the second time he had suffered backlash—first in Tian Xu, and now with the Bai Yu Long Yi. The sheer power of their predecessors made one's heart tremble.

"She knows about it but hasn't mentioned a word," Ye Chen said, glancing at the female Da Cheng Sheng Ti.

Di Huang sighed and sat back down under the old tree, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. The backlash had been too intense; he needed to suppress it. The only fault lay in the person he had divined being far too formidable.

Ye Chen and Zi Xuan did not dare disturb him and stepped aside.

Ye Chen settled down casually, sitting on the ground and taking out the Bao Lian Lamp, which nurtured Wei Shen's soul. He absorbed the power of starlight and moonlight to help nourish the soul force, showing some skill in such divine abilities.

Zi Xuan remained as serene as ever, sitting on the grass in silence, like a living painting. She quietly watched Di Huang, her expression flickering with moments of distraction, filled with a woman's tender affection.

"I heard you and the senior went to the forbidden zone. Did you gain anything?" Ye Chen asked casually, having already separated a thread of his own Yuan Shen and merged it into the Bao Lian Lamp to aid Wei in soul fusion.

"Nothing gained," Zi Xuan replied with a dry cough, her expression slightly odd. She took a sip of Wu Dao tea. It wasn't easy to talk about flipping over tables and causing a scene. If Di Huang hadn't been there at the time, she might have been left behind in the forbidden zone. Such an episode was hardly something to share as a secret.

With that simple exchange, the two fell silent.

This silence evoked a sense of nostalgia in Ye Chen. He recalled the old days when Zi Xuan was still a puppet; he would meditate in cultivation, and she would stand quietly beside him. That sense of tranquility had been absent for so long.

Zi Xuan felt it too. Those years were when she had accompanied Ye Chen's growth, witnessing his journey from a small cultivator to his current achievements.

The peach blossom forest, with its petals drifting in the wind, fell back into quietness.

On the cultivator realm's side, the grand feast had ended, and those from Tong Ming had dispersed in all directions—to return to their hometowns for a look or to travel through the various heavens. Afterward, they would each seek out ancient stars, some to comprehend the Dao, some to cultivate in seclusion, and others to establish sects and leave behind ancient lineages. In the years to come, these people from the Ming Realm would guard the various heavens.

Naturally, some chose to stay in Da Chu, finding immortal mountains for quiet cultivation. Certain powerful figures from the Ming Realm simply sealed themselves away, not to be unsealed unless the various heavens faced great calamity.

In this era of peace, everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

In Tian Xuan Gate, all the quasi-emperors had gathered, standing before an ancient divine stele. This stele had once been covered with Yuan Shen jade plaques, but now, aside from the shattered ones, only two remained: one for Ren Wang and one for Liu Dao. Both were individuals caught in the tribulation and had not returned.

The expressions of the crowd were etched with sorrow. This tribulation had claimed too many lives, with heavy losses across the various heavens. Over eighty percent of the peak quasi-emperors had turned to ashes in the calamity.

"The over a million quasi-emperors from the Ming Realm barely make up for the losses from the tribulation's hardship," Tian Lao lamented, taking out a wine jug and pouring out a libation.

"In the future, it will be the world of the younger generation," Di Lao said, stroking his beard. "The old gives way to the new. Before long, it will be a golden age."

No one present refuted this. Knowing more secrets, they understood that Ye Chen's ascension to quasi-emperor was a harbinger. The suppression of the Di Dao imprints had weakened, allowing more peak quasi-emperors to touch the barriers of the emperor's path and more monstrous juniors to advance rapidly.

The suppression of the Di Dao imprints affected not only peak quasi-emperors but all cultivators in the world.

With the suppression lessened, the difficulty of cultivation advancement would greatly decrease.

Thus, the weakening of the Di Dao imprints was, for cultivators, a heaven-defying opportunity. The prodigies of later generations would rise like spring bamboo after rain in this era.

They could count themselves fortunate to have a Da Cheng Sheng Ti protecting the path, free from worry about perishing midway due to war. The Hong Huang had been suppressed, and even if celestial demons invaded, there was no need for fear.

In short, this era of recuperation was also an era that would forge a great age.

"I've got no hope left. I'm counting on you all," Sheng Zun said, fanning himself with a sigh. By "no hope," he meant achieving emperorship. Having failed the Di Jie once, he was forever barred from the gate of the emperor's path. No matter how brilliant or monstrous he was, reversing the heavens is impossible.

Sighing along with him were the Fifth Shen Jiang and Di Ji, both of whom had lost their chance at the emperor's throne.

"If this old man becomes an emperor, I'll look after you," Di Lao said meaningfully.

As soon as he spoke, it drew sideways glances from the crowd. Their eyes seemed to say: Do you even know your own limits? It's not your turn anyway.

Boom!

Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed through the vast heavens.

Upon hearing it, the quasi-emperors all rose to their feet.

Or rather, anyone who heard the boom reacted, collectively looking up at the void with hearts trembling, sensing a terrifying pressure that belonged to the Di Dao.

"Someone is undergoing the emperor's tribulation," in the Xuan Huang direction, the various clans' royals and peak quasi-emperors ascended to the skies, squinting as they gazed toward a hazy area, unable to pinpoint the source of the boom.

"Someone is about to become an emperor?" Shocked voices resounded across the heavens.

"It's undoubtedly the ultimate Di Jie," from the You Ming Continent, the You Ming Sheng Zhu furrowed his brows. With his level of cultivation, he still couldn't locate the source or identify whose tribulation it was.

"The Taotie clan is truly exceptional!"

At Da Chu's Zhutian Gate, the quasi-emperors had all arrived in the underground palace, staring at the water screen monitoring the Hong Huang clans. Indeed, someone had triggered the Di Jie, originating from the Ling Yu—it was a quasi-emperor of the Taotie clan.

From this spot, they could clearly see the scene in Ling Yu: dark clouds churned, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and all sorts of destructive omens manifested frequently. The divine tribulation of the emperor's path was about to descend.