Chapter 2597: Chaos Reigns

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The area around Tianlao was in utter chaos, and the eastern sky was even more so.

The rumbling sounds echoed endlessly.

The Heavenly Court had many immortal palaces, but now, looking out, they were in a pitiful state. Every time Yinming fled into one, Ye Chen followed right after.

Inevitably, the palace would collapse.

This scene played out repeatedly: majestic immortal palaces were smashed to pieces by Ye Chen, with blue bricks, stone tiles, ancient copper pillars, and hall plaques scattering everywhere like falling meteors.

"Block him! Block him for me!"

On the jade carriage, Yinming roared hysterically.

"Anyone who blocks me dies."

Ye Chen bellowed fiercely, his eyes growing redder with each kill. This catchphrase of his came out more smoothly with every use, as he cut down many interceptors but nothing could stop his advance.

"How dominant!"

In the pagoda, Taiyi cheered excitedly, thoroughly thrilled by the spectacle.

What Ye Chen was doing now was exactly what he had always wanted to do.

Unfortunately, his own strength fell short, so he could only dream about it. Now, seeing Ye Chen causing such havoc, how could he not be stirred up?

"What a troublemaker."

Ashura Tianzun sighed and clicked his tongue. Back in the day, he was quite the character himself, always stirring up chaos wherever he went. But compared to Ye Chen, he was like a minor sorcerer facing a great wizard—Ye Chen was the real deal, utterly formidable.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

As they grew more excited, the booming sounds intensified.

Or rather, the number of people intercepting Ye Chen had increased.

Along the way, old figures kept emerging from hidden mountain nooks, each one incredibly powerful.

In addition, Yinming had summoned heavenly soldiers and generals from elsewhere—not just a few, but vast armies from all directions, all rushing to his aid with tremendous momentum.

This was precisely why Ye Chen pursued so relentlessly.

After all, the Upper Immortal Realm was the Heavenly Court's territory. The longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it was for him. Remember, the several million troops at Tianlao earlier were just the tip of the iceberg of the Heavenly Court's hidden strength.

And Dao Mie Xianzun and his group were merely four among many immortal venerables.

If more armies were mobilized or more supreme experts emerged, even with his god-level abilities, Ye Chen would have to retreat to avoid the overwhelming numbers—after all, two fists can't beat four hands.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The rumbling accompanied him all the way, along with a trail of blood and bones.

"What? Ye Chen is chasing down Yinming?"

"No way! Yinming is the Heavenly Court's ruler. Does Ye Chen have that kind of power?"

"It's absolutely true. The Heavenly Court has descended into complete chaos."

Such a massive disturbance in the Upper Immortal Realm was impossible to hide from the scattered immortal realms. Upon hearing the news, people everywhere were shocked beyond belief.

Especially at Hua Shan, no one could believe it. When the scouts' images arrived, even the Hua Shan Zhenren, with his steadfast composure, stood stunned like a statue. If he was like that, the elders were even more baffled, wondering where Ye Chen had gotten such immense power from.

Still, Hua Shan remained inactive—for the lower ranks, at least. Figures like Hua Shan Zhenren and Diyuan Zhenren had already slipped out of Hua Shan quietly, heading straight for the Upper Immortal Realm.

Other factions were doing the same as Hua Shan.

The most active ones were the great demons and great devils, all sharing a tacit understanding: cause havoc in the heavens.

In fact, Niu Mo Wang and his group, having escaped from Tianlao, were already stirring up trouble. After freeing the prisoners from Tianlao, they split into teams of three or five and charged toward various parts of the Heavenly Court.

With Ye Chen drawing all the attention, they could accomplish a lot—like raiding the Dan Shen Dian or wandering through the Pan Tao Yuan.

The rumbling sounds were no longer confined to the east; they echoed from all directions.

In the east, Ye Chen was desperately pursuing Yinming.

In the other three directions, Niu Mo Wang and the others were causing destruction everywhere they went.

The entire Heavenly Court was in total disarray.

On top of that, more talents from the scattered immortal realms were rushing to the Heavenly Court to fish in troubled waters. They pretended to watch the show, but their real goal was to snatch treasures.

With the heavenly soldiers and generals too busy to deal with them, it was the perfect time to make some chaos.

"Block him! Block him for me!"

In the eastern void, Yinming's shrieks still rang out loudly as he urged his jade carriage onward, not daring to look back.

"Anyone who blocks me dies."

Ye Chen's roar followed close behind.

Those who tried to stop him were sent flying through the air. Even immortal venerables couldn't withstand a single strike from him, let alone immortal monarchs.

Ahead, another majestic palace came into view.

It was the Lingxiao Baodian, the place where the immortals of the Heavenly Court held their assemblies, and the largest palace in the entire court. From afar, it loomed like a mountain, radiating majestic energy, with immortal light enveloping it, making the four characters "Lingxiao Baodian" stand out prominently.

Yinming spotted it like a lifeline and dashed straight for the hall.

Ye Chen shot forward like a bolt of lightning, smashing the massive jade carriage with a single strike. No divine patterns could withstand an emperor artifact's blow.

Pfft!

Yinming spat blood as he was blasted into the air, tumbling directly into the Lingxiao Baodian.

Immediately after, the Lingxiao Baodian hummed with energy as a massive barrier expanded instantly, inscribed with emperor-level array patterns.

Ye Chen arrived and, without a word, swung his staff to strike.

Clang!

The sound of metal colliding rang out clearly. His strike was like hitting a steel plate—it didn't shake the barrier at all and instead sent him rebounding, with the iron staff in his hand vibrating.

A barrier that even an emperor artifact couldn't break showed its sheer dominance.

It wasn't that the emperor artifact was weak; it was that the Heavenly Court's various laws and techniques were too unpredictable, making some emperor-level immortal arts unreliable. Even the emperor artifact was suppressed here, so the Xuanyuan Emperor Sword couldn't unleash its full power.

Boom!

Ye Chen steadied himself, stomping a section of the void into pieces.

Boom! Boom!

These booms seemed to echo, as roaring sounds filled the distant horizon. The Heavenly Court's experts had arrived, some on flying swords, some in war chariots, and others riding clouds, all charging in with murderous intent, forming a dark, overwhelming mass from three sides.

Ye Chen ignored them, focusing only on the Lingxiao Baodian.

Inside the hall, Yinming stood tall, a sinister smile on his face, as if taunting, "Come on, kill me! Come in and kill me!"

The ruler of the Heavenly Court wasn't foolish.

Breaking the barrier would take Ye Chen too much time.

And in that time, the Heavenly Court's armies would arrive in full force—not just a few million, but several times that number.

By then, if Ye Chen was surrounded, escaping wouldn't be so easy.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated the Great Chu emperor. Ye Chen charged forward with his iron staff, no longer trying to force the barrier.

Instead, he executed an emperor-level ethereal technique, passing straight through the barrier.

"You..."

Yinming's expression changed drastically—he had forgotten about that strange divine ability. Without a second thought, he turned and fled.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Ye Chen snorted coldly, moving even faster, and swung his staff, sending Yinming flying.

To his surprise, Yinming's body was covered in a layer of flickering immortal light. The force that could make an immortal venerable vomit blood didn't harm Yinming at all; the staff's power was completely blocked by that immortal light.

"Faith power."

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, recognizing the source of that force.

Of course—the ruler of the Heavenly Court was like a god to the Upper Immortal Realm, receiving endless worship over the ages, accumulating vast faith power to protect himself. It was incredibly powerful, much like Buddhist Nianli, formless yet overwhelmingly potent.

The faith power on Yinming was likely bestowed by the Jade Emperor, allowing him to withstand an emperor artifact's strike unscathed. It showed just how immense the Heavenly Court's accumulated faith power was.

Otherwise, Ye Chen's single strike would have obliterated him.

"You can't kill me."

Yinming grinned viciously, already seated on the dragon throne.

The throne hummed and trembled as array patterns emerged—it was inscribed with a teleportation platform, and an emperor-level one at that.

Ye Chen flashed forward instantly, swinging his staff down.

Regrettably, he was a split second too late. The staff shattered the dragon throne but didn't touch Yinming, who had already teleported out of the Lingxiao Baodian.

Though he had escaped, the Heavenly Court's armies had arrived.

At a glance, dark masses of soldiers and generals surrounded them from all sides.

It was like at Tianlao: a black carpet covering the ground, a shadowy curtain blotting out the vast sky, with many immortal venerables and ancient immortal monarchs among them. Their numbers far exceeded the previous millions, now over ten million strong.

From the sky above, the enormous Lingxiao Baodian looked tiny, like a spirit pearl embedded in a sea of blackness.

And this was only what was visible—who knew how many more lurked in the shadows.

The rumbling continued without end, with even more Heavenly Court experts on their way, slowly unveiling the court's true depths.