Chapter 2669: Hongjun

Boom!

A massive palm print, capable of destroying heaven and earth, came crashing down, casting a shadow over the entire Heavenly Realm. Its oppressive force was so immense that, except for Ye Chen, everyone was pinned to the ground, unable to move.

In an instant, Ye Chen's Chaos Realm illusion shattered; in an instant, his Overlord Body manifestation vanished; in an instant, the Great Wheel of Reincarnation Heavenly Gang broke apart; in an instant, his Origin Armor exploded.

Yet, that unyielding figure did not fall. With both hands holding up the sky, he braced his body and firmly resisted the palm print. His legs bent, and his bones cracked loudly, breaking in countless places. His golden Desolate Ancient Sacred Body was instantly covered in blood and mangled flesh.

Ah!

Ye Chen roared, a bellow from the depths of his soul. His entire body glowed with brilliant golden divine light. The Desolate Ancient Sacred Body was indomitable, upheld by sheer determination that refused to yield. In that moment, his willpower surged endlessly, pushing back the palm strike from Daozu.

Gulp!

Though the people of the world could not move, they collectively swallowed hard, staring in astonishment at Ye Chen, the Desolate Ancient Sacred Body, who had defiantly withstood that world-ending palm.

Gulp!

Jiang Taigong was also swallowing hard, his expression frozen in disbelief. Even he, bearing three supreme emperor weapons, would have been instantly suppressed, yet Ye Chen had blocked the emperor's palm strike. It was unimaginably against the heavens.

Gulp!

Xuan Di, watching the scene, secretly swallowed as well, his eyes wide with shock. A Quasi-Emperor at the eighth level actually withstood a peak Great Emperor's strike. Though Daozu had not used full force, Ye Chen's dominance was still extraordinary.

The heavens and earth fell into sudden silence.

In that shattered realm, Ye Chen staggered unsteadily, barely able to stand, bathed in the fresh blood of his Sacred Body. His golden vital energy had completely dissipated, and his overwhelming aura was gone. Like a war god at the end of days, amid the howling bloody winds, he seemed ready to collapse at any moment. Though he was but a tiny speck in the vast world, his bloodstained figure was strikingly vivid.

Hahaha!

The prolonged silence was finally broken by Ye Chen's laughter. His back appeared desolate, his hair disheveled, like a madman lost in frenzy, laughing wildly with a mix of grief, fury, and sorrow.

Xuan Di suddenly seemed to understand Ye Chen's state of mind. The Sacred Body lineage was fiercely unyielding, as he had truly witnessed. In his memory, only Ye Chen, at the eighth-level Quasi-Emperor realm, had dared to directly confront a peak Great Emperor. He was but a humble ant, yet his iron will never bent.

The eyes of the Da Chu reincarnated ones had already grown moist. Though their bodies could not move, their souls trembled as they gazed at the current Ye Chen, reminiscent of their past life— the commander who led the Da Chu armies into battle, still so resolute.

If Ru Yuexin were still in the world, she would surely be tearful, grateful that her Sacred Body master, the emperor of Da Chu, had risked everything to demand blood debt by defying the emperor's seal.

Hahaha!

Ye Chen continued to laugh, staggering and swaying, acting foolish and deranged in his madness.

As he laughed, his laughter abruptly stopped, and he let out a sky-shaking roar: "Hong Jun."

The single word "Hong Jun" made the heavens and earth tremble together.

Ye Chen's roar held no more sorrow; it was filled with grief and rage. His already dim eyes instantly turned blood-red, violent and bloodthirsty.

He was still that Sacred Body, still that Sacred Demon, daring to resist the emperor's palm and boldly call out the emperor's name. Even Xuan Di could only sigh and click his tongue in amazement.

Ah!

From the ethereal void above, a sigh echoed, and a figure manifested— the illusion of Daozu. His features were indistinct, only his purple robes fluttering and imperial Dao principles swirling around him. Though he exuded no emperor's might, he stood like a god, suppressing the ages. It was as if he stood at the very end of time, impossibly distant.

Once again, he reached out his hand.

But this time, the Sacred Body could no longer rise. Suppressed by the palm, he staggered and finally collapsed into the bloody winds, taken into the sleeve of Daozu's illusion.

They gazed up, while Daozu's illusion looked down, surveying the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even with an emperor's state of mind, he could not help but clutch his chest, unsure if it was from heartache or frustration. This once ethereal immortal land had turned into a veritable hell.

"Happy about it?" Xuan Di asked, hands clasped as he glanced sideways.

Daozu took a deep breath, sorely tempted to slap Xuan Di's illusion silly. The look in that guy's eyes was infuriating. "Happy? Happy your—"

"Shizu, your grandson has sinned."

Jiang Taigong approached unsteadily, step by step, then knelt with a thud, like a minister paying homage to an emperor. His eyes were filled with self-reproach and guilt. Daozu had entrusted him to watch over the Heavenly Realm, yet it had become a hell. If he had awakened sooner, he could have stopped the catastrophe earlier, at least resolving the disaster before Ye Chen turned demonic, avoiding this slaughter.

Daozu's illusion smiled and shook his head. If anyone was guilty, it was he, the greatest sinner. He had known Ye Chen had come to the Heavenly Realm and that wherever that troublemaker went, chaos followed, so he should have taken Ye Chen away and sealed him for a few centuries.

Unfortunately, he had overestimated the Heavenly Realm and underestimated Ye Chen. He had instinctively thought that a tribulation survivor, no matter how heaven-defying, couldn't stir up much trouble. But he was wrong. That emperor from the Human Realm of Zhutian was extraordinarily troublesome. In less than three years, he had advanced to the eighth-level Quasi-Emperor realm, successfully passed his tribulation— right in the Heavenly Realm— and with a combat power Daozu knew well, even Jiang Taigong, armed with three supreme emperor weapons, was no match.

It was precisely this underestimation that had led to the disaster. Even he had been awakened by it, showing just how excessive Ye Chen's demonic slaughter had been.

"Who is that person?"

Gazing at the ethereal figure and the kneeling Jiang Taigong, the people of the world were stunned, mouths agape. Jiang Taigong was the ancient deity of the Heavenly Realm, the one who appointed all the gods of the upper Heavenly Court. In terms of seniority and status, he was at the pinnacle. Yet here he knelt before the man in purple robes, making it obvious, even without thinking, that this purple-robed figure was a true god.

"Does our Heavenly Realm actually have a Great Emperor?"

The bodies of the ancient immortal venerables trembled violently, and the supreme experts of the Scattered Immortal Realm felt their hearts quake. As Quasi-Emperor peak experts, they sensed it most clearly— that was indeed a Great Emperor, even if just an illusion.

In that instant, their understanding was overturned. They never imagined the Heavenly Realm hid a Great Emperor, an invincible god of the universe!

"No wonder Jiang Taigong kneels to him."

"The legendary emperor! This life was not lived in vain."

"It feels like a dream."

The immortals' shocked states of mind could hardly calm down. Their eyes on the ethereal figure were filled with reverence, their expressions dazed, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

Beneath their gaze, a massive pillar of light descended straight from the heavens, piercing through the upper and lower realms. Centered on the pillar, a purple halo spread infinitely across the eight directions. Wherever it passed, the winds halted, the air stopped flowing, and falling leaves hung suspended in midair, as if everything in the world was frozen by it. Whether watching, eating, flirting, or otherwise, all were sealed without exception.

Daozu did not leave; he remained in the ethereal void, continuously waving his hand to restore the turbulent order of heaven and earth. It was fortunate that Ye Chen had disrupted it enough to awaken him. If the killing had continued, the Heavenly Realm's state would have been even more devastating upon his awakening.

Xuan Di only sighed. In this battle, the peak forces of the upper Heavenly Court had been nearly wiped out by Ye Chen, with only a few strong ones left.

Hey!

From the depths of the void, a shout seemed to ring out.

This sound came from the Underworld, from that fellow Ming Di. He truly had great divine abilities, peering through a corner of the void from the Underworld to the Heavenly Realm, wanting to see his treasured Ye Chen, whom he hadn't seen in days and sorely missed.

One glance was all it took to leave him staring in shock. He didn't see Ye Chen, but he did see the frozen mountains of corpses and seas of blood. This was no immortal land; it was clearly hell. Had it been ravaged? Yes, absolutely ravaged.

"Heavenly Demon invasion?" Ming Di raised an eyebrow.

"Ye Chen did it," Xuan Di's illusion coughed.

"I want to laugh. Is that okay?"

"Go ahead!"

"Hehehe."

That guy Ming Di was straightforward enough; he really laughed, laughing right at Daozu. I told you so— when my Underworld was lively, yours would be even more so. I just don't get it; with an emperor sitting here, how did it get slaughtered like this? What were you doing?

Daozu's face darkened, itching to charge into the Underworld and beat that guy senseless— to death. Such schadenfreude was truly infuriating.

Ming Di was delighted, having lived endless ages, and this was the happiest day. It was rare to see Daozu embarrassed, and just thinking about it excited him enough to stay joyful for centuries.

With a flick of his sleeve, Daozu cut off the Underworld.

Xuan Di also withdrew his gaze and vanished in an instant.

Only Daozu remained, diligently restoring the order of the Heavenly Realm. How many Heavenly Demon invasions had the realm withstood unscathed, yet because of one Ye Chen, the losses were so severe. He felt he had been a terribly ineffective emperor.

The heavens and earth fell into silence once more.

A catastrophe that swept through the upper and lower realms finally came to an end. Everywhere one looked was blood-red, shrouding the entire Heavenly Realm in a thick, bloody stench.

Gazing at the world, figures from the heavens and earth stood like frozen ice sculptures, each maintaining their pose from before the seal, lifelike. The Heavenly Realm's order would not be unsealed until Daozu finished repairing it.

"Shizu, who is he exactly?"

Jiang Taigong stood respectfully at Daozu's side. After hesitating for a while, he finally voiced his doubt. He only knew Ye Chen was a Sacred Body and came from the Zhutian Human Realm, but not his true background.

"The ninth reincarnation of Di Zun," Daozu said calmly.

"Emperor."

Jiang Taigong's word trailed off, his expression full of shock. He had memories; his had not been sealed by Daozu, so he had heard of the Xianwu Di Zun, the last Great Emperor of Zhutian, who a million years ago led a million divine generals into the Primeval Great Wilderness and never returned.

Daozu had once said that among emperors of the same level and realm, he had no confidence in defeating Di Zun, a Great Emperor whose achievements covered the universe and shook the ancients.

But Jiang Taigong never imagined Ye Chen's origins were so terrifying. He was even more puzzled— how had the Di Zun who went to the Primeval Great Wilderness returned to Zhutian?

Daozu said no more, focusing on repairing the order.

Jiang Taigong did not dare ask further, chuckling self-mockingly. Losing to Ye Chen was not unjust; his combat power was so dominant and heaven-defying for a reason.

"You little rascal."

In the distant void, Daozu clutched his chest again, waking from his slumber with a real inner injury. He had a mouthful of old blood brewing, unsure whether to swallow it or spit it out.