Chapter 2657: Leaving

Wuwu! The howling gale wailed like a somber funeral dirge.

In that dim and lightless world, Xiuluo Tianzun held Yue Xin in his arms, frozen like a stone statue, even the tears streaming down his face stilled upon his cheeks.

Yue Xin was dead, and the great Tianzun seemed possessed by madness.

Not far away, Ye Chen leaned on his iron stick for support, staggering forward. From a distance, he saw the scene, his body trembling uncontrollably, his eyes clouded with a watery haze that could not conceal the web of bloodshot veins, turning his gaze a deep crimson. After all the hardships to find his reincarnated kin, she still met a tragic end, dying without returning to her homeland.

In that moment, an unprecedented wave of guilt engulfed his soul. If he hadn't rescued Yue Xin's divine soul that day, this catastrophe would never have occurred.

Ah!

The assembled immortals all sighed quietly to themselves. As fellow officials in the court, they knew Yue Xin well, recognizing her as the disciple of Bixia Xianzi. Witnessing her demise, they could not help but grieve.

"Dead, look, she's dead."

The long silence was finally shattered by a burst of laughter—it was Yin Ming laughing, the lofty ruler of Tian Ting, cackling wildly and unrestrainedly, his face twisted into a grotesque mask of excitement, his delight bordering on the perverse.

The immortals all turned their gazes, a chill running through their bodies.

In that instant, their ruler seemed more like a demon—a frenzied demon reveling in the agony of others, finding exquisite pleasure in their suffering.

"Come on! Come kill me!"

Yin Ming bared his pale teeth, standing before the Lingxiao Hall, laughing without restraint and taunting boldly, embodying evil in its purest form.

Xiuluo Tianzun rose to his feet, his tears vanishing in an instant, his eyes blood-red as if about to bleed. His floating hair, strand by strand, shed its white hue and turned crimson. Billowing demonic energy surged like a tidal wave as he sacrificed his origin essence, transforming once more into a supreme demonic god, his killing intent draining the color from the heavens and earth.

Ye Chen did the same, offering up his true life essence as a blood sacrifice. He stuffed handfuls of healing pills into his mouth recklessly, restoring his injuries at any cost to regain his peak combat power. An immortal river flowed beneath his feet, and a expanse of stars arrayed above his head, with Dao principles intertwined with imperial aura, weaving around him in faint strands.

The two stood side by side once more, one wielding a divine knife, the other gripping an iron stick; one like a world-conquering demonic god, the other like an eight-wilds war god. One fought for his homeland's kin, the other for his foreign love—they were set on demanding blood repayment, making the other pay with his life.

Kill!

Their roars echoed from the depths of their souls, like two divine rays shooting toward the Lingxiao Hall, their blood-red eyes fixed deadly on the ruler of Tian Ting.

"The grand drama should reach its end."

Yin Ming chuckled darkly, waving his hand grandly.

Immediately, space shattered as the Tian Ting armies charged from all directions, a vast black tide numbering in the millions, with hidden Xian Jun and Xian Zun emerging in unison, blocking every escape route. Neither Ye Chen nor Xiuluo Tianzun could leave Tian Ting alive.

Kill!

Xiuluo Tianzun swung his divine knife, carving a path of ten-thousand-zhang blood through the ranks, felling countless Tian soldiers and generals, including many Xian Jun and Xian Zun.

Buzz!

Ye Chen whirled his iron stick, smashing a Xian Zun to pieces. His form flickered like an illusion, constantly swapping positions with the Tian soldiers and generals. He unleashed imperial Dao immortal arts repeatedly, ignoring the Tian Ting armies, his blood-red eyes locked solely on Yin Ming.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The heavens trembled, and the universe shook.

Gazing down from the firmament, Tian Ting was like a vast ocean, while Ye Chen and Xiuluo Tianzun were mere specks amid the waves, yet strikingly conspicuous as they charged through the horde.

The scene was bloody, with swaths of Tian soldiers and generals falling like chaff, their lives as worthless as weeds, paving the path of the war god and demonic god with blood and bones.

"Go on! Don't fight anymore."

Some compassionate immortals murmured silent prayers, knowing that Ye Chen and Xiuluo Tianzun were blinded by hatred, forsaking their wisdom. This was clearly a deadly trap. If they fled now, they might still survive, but pressing on to settle scores with Yin Ming would cost them their lives—Tian Ting had imperial artifacts, after all!

Kill!

Xiuluo Tianzun bellowed, Ye Chen roared, both consumed by vengeful fury that clouded their minds. They fought desperately onward, even in death determined to make Yin Ming repay his blood debts.

Pfft! Pfft!

The Tian soldiers and generals surged like a sea, engulfing the two repeatedly, only to be cut down time and again, their ranks scattering in disarray as no one could halt their advance.

"A bunch of useless fools." Yin Ming snorted coldly, gesturing dismissively.

At his command, the Xian Zun blocking the four directions—except for Destruction Xian Zun—moved as one, sweeping in with rolling clouds, attacking from all sides.

Get out!

Ye Chen thundered, forcing his way through with all his might.

"Still not surrendering?" Dao Mie Xian Zun sneered, slamming down a palm that covered the sky.

Ye Chen's form flashed like a rainbow, employing imperial Dao ethereal arts to slip through the palm strike. In a single step, he ascended to the high heavens and smashed down with his stick, sending Dao Mie flying into the ninth firmament.

"Die!"

Xu Mie and Tian Jie Xian Zun closed in, one from the left and one from the right—one brandishing an immortal sword, the other forming hand seals—one sealing the space, the other striking at Ye Chen's primordial spirit.

Ye Chen said nothing, instantly using Heaven-Swapping Earth-Moving to trap and kill a Xian Jun, dodging Xu Mie's fatal blow and flipping Tian Jie Xian Zun with a single strike.

"Suppress them."

Two more Xian Zun arrived, their magical tools hovering above as they unleashed deadly arts—one targeting Ye Chen's physical body, the other his primordial spirit.

Ye Chen shouted coldly, activating his imperial Dao Black Shore.

In an instant, the two Xian Zun were pulled into the black hole, along with thousands of Tian soldiers and generals, vanishing without a trace.

"Trivial tricks."

An elder Xian Zun snorted, summoning a divine light that soared into the sky and etched out a vast starry expanse in the ethereal void, with brilliant starlight raining down.

That starry sky was eerily strange; as soon as it appeared, Ye Chen's imperial Dao Black Shore failed, as if the stars had been carved to counter it exactly.

"Divine prohibition."

Another Xian Zun cast an immortal art, enhancing the vast starry sky—or rather, adding a full moon to it, with pure moonlight cascading down.

This moonlight, like the starlight, was unnaturally bizarre, suppressing Ye Chen's imperial Dao ethereal arts. Within the starry sky, a sun also materialized, its radiant light illuminating all and isolating Ye Chen's Heaven-Swapping Earth-Moving.

No wonder Tian Ting was a den of hidden talents and experts—they had thoroughly studied Ye Chen's immortal arts and countered them one by one.

"What other divine abilities do you have?"

The Xian Zun converged en masse, some wielding magical tools, others casting immortal techniques, their attacks blanketing the sky and shattering the cosmos.

Ye Chen was drenched in blood, barely escaping annihilation.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

In the distance, Xiuluo Tianzun fared no better, surrounded and assaulted by the Xian Zun, unable to break free and suffering repeated heavy blows, his divine body reduced to a mangled mess of blood and bone.

Gazing down from above, the Tian soldiers and generals had all retreated, clearing a vast space that became two battle zones—one besieging Ye Chen, the other Xiuluo Tianzun—as the fights raged with the heavens collapsing and the earth splitting.

As the immortals had said, this was an inescapable deadlock. Tian Ting was fully prepared, bolstered by imperial artifacts, making it impossible for the two to kill Yin Ming. Even if they reached the Lingxiao Hall, they likely couldn't breach the barrier, and even if they did, they couldn't get near him.

Kill!

Xiuluo Tianzun went berserk, sacrificing his essence once more.

Fight!

Ye Chen went mad as well, every pore of his body expelling essence, his entire form like a blazing inferno, maximizing his combat power to force his way through and slaughter that bastard Yin Ming.

Yet, even so, it changed nothing.

Tian Ting's forces were too overwhelming, with Xian Zun in abundance, and not a few surpassing the two in power. In such a battle, forget killing Yin Ming—they could barely defend themselves. Heroes though they were, two fists could not beat four hands, and even if the scattered immortal alliances joined, they might not triumph over Tian Ting, let alone just the two of them.

"Kill me! Come kill me!"

Yin Ming was not idle, barking like a mad dog, and to ensure Ye Chen and the others saw him, he stood atop his dragon throne, his face still twisted in demonic savagery, relishing the spectacle. The desperate struggles of these two ants were utterly delightful.

His taunts carried supreme demonic power, extinguishing the last shred of sanity in Ye Chen and Xiuluo Tianzun, who sacrificed their essence again for more power. There was no madness greater than this—Yin Ming was a lunatic, and now they were unyielding lunatics as well.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The thunderous clamor of that realm shook the nine heavens. Looking out, the scene was a bloodbath, with countless Xian Zun encircling them, each attack drawing fresh blood from Ye Chen and Xiuluo Tianzun. At that point, they were scarcely recognizable as human.

"What true men they are!"

The bloody sight moved even the Tian soldiers and generals, their hearts trembling, their hands gripping weapons quivering. These were two indomitable souls, fighting with the resolve to die.

Pity, for they faced Tian Ting, a realm of endless power, with ultimate imperial artifacts. From the moment they entered this tiger's den, their fate was sealed.

Pfft!

Under the watchful eyes of all, Xiuluo Tianzun spat blood and plummeted like a meteor, his blood-soaked body a stark sight as it crashed into a pool of crimson.

Pfft!

A flash of blood, and Ye Chen too met calamity.

Boom! Bang!

Accompanied by those booms, the vast earth was smashed into two deep craters, with the Xian Zun standing like sovereigns overhead, their gazes bleak and icy.

Kill!

The unyielding sovereign rose again, soaring into the sky.

"It's over."

A voice of utter desolation echoed through the vast universe as Destruction Xian Zun finally struck, activating the imperial artifact God-Striking Whip. Reviving its ultimate divine might, it hovered high, suppressing eternity, with imperial Dao immortal light descending from above.

Pfft!

Blood flowers bloomed, vivid as fire.

Yet, the one struck by the God-Striking Whip was not Ye Chen, but Xiuluo Tianzun—in that split second, he had used a supreme forbidden art to swap positions with Ye Chen.

"Go."

Xiuluo Tianzun fell from the heavens again, his voice hoarse and faint. The remnants of his divine awareness finally awakened to reality: the two of them alone could not defeat Tian Ting.

To claim blood vengeance, someone had to survive.

And that someone would not be him.

His Dao roots were utterly destroyed, and his injuries were too severe; he had no strength left to escape. Blocking the imperial artifact for Ye Chen stemmed from a deep conviction and faith—he still believed in Ye Chen, believed he could escape and one day, with greater power, return to settle the score with Yin Ming.

They had lost, but they needed to leave a spark of hope, a hope for revenge.

"Zhao Yun, I can't hold on anymore."

Xiuluo Tianzun laughed wearily, his eyes fading as his divine light dissipated completely. He was already on his last breath, and taking another hit from the imperial artifact snuffed out his primordial spirit flame, like a leaf in deep autumn drifting down from the void, losing its final glimmer.

In his dying moments, he seemed to glimpse a silhouette—stalwart and unyielding, like an ancient monolith standing at the end of time.

That was Zhao Yun, a supreme war god.

History's scene remained as cruel as ever. If this was another cycle of reincarnation, then there were past and present lives. For the sake of one woman, in the past life he fought until body and soul perished, in this life until body was ruined and spirit extinguished.