Chapter 2739: Seeking Demons

Chapter 2739: Xun Mo

"How could it be Sheng Xue?"

Everyone in Man Di Gong was completely baffled.

After their initial shock, the crowd turned to look at Ye Chen. As a Sheng Ti himself, he should have some insight into this.

Ye Chen remained silent, only furrowing his brow as he observed.

In that drop of fused fresh blood, there was indeed a hidden aura of Sheng Ti. It didn't belong to the second type, but to the first type. Yet, regardless of which lineage it was, it was strangely puzzling. A Tian Mo and some kind of unidentified monster—why would their blood merge to produce a Sheng Ti aura? What secret was concealed within?

"These two are definitely treasures!"

"What if we find another Tian Mo and try fusing it? Would it produce Sheng Ti blood essence again?"

"Who knows, but it probably would."

The old folks gathered around, surrounding the Tian Mo and the monster, chattering away. They couldn't figure out what connection these two had to Sheng Ti.

The Tian Mo's expression was still one of terror.

In contrast, the monster had a slightly upturned corner of its mouth, full of amusement, as if it didn't know the meaning of fear. Especially when looking at Ye Chen, the ferocity in its eyes was impossible to hide.

Ye Chen ignored it, gently waving his hand to pluck that drop of fused blood, then absorbing it into his body.

As he expected, this blood couldn't merge with his own Sheng Xue.

He wasn't surprised by this.

As the same Sheng Ti, the bloodlines of the first and second types repelled each other. Back in the Tian Zun ruins, he had tried to swallow the origin of the first type of Sheng Ti but failed.

"Let's do it again."

The old folks were quite proactive and restless. They took blood from the monster and the Tian Mo separately, fusing them together. The resulting drop of fresh blood also carried a Sheng Ti aura, but it belonged to the first type. You could tell from the blood's color—the first type of Sheng Ti blood was pitch black, while the second type was brilliantly golden.

"Come on, lend me a drop."

Di Lao reached out and took a drop of Ye Chen's Sheng Xue, suspending it with the monster's blood in midair. He wanted to see if these two could also fuse.

Unfortunately, the two types of blood repelled each other and couldn't merge.

"I'll try a drop too."

Tian Lao also took some of Ye Chen's blood and suspended it with the Tian Mo's blood, but it still couldn't fuse.

"Keep an eye on them."

Ye Chen left those words and slipped into a space Hei Dong, intending to find another Tian Mo to test. He wasn't sure if all Tian Mo blood, when fused with the monster's blood, would produce the first type of Sheng Ti aura.

Without him needing to say more, the old folks were already on high alert, adding layers of seals and even bringing in three Di Qi artifacts.

These two treasures couldn't be lost—they were key to uncovering the secrets. At the very least, they needed to figure out the origins of Sheng Ti and its connection to these two.

In the Hei Dong, Ye Chen tread through the void.

He dispatched countless clones in all directions, each with their divine sense activated. No matter which clan's Tian Mo they found, it would do—just for a small experiment.

The Hei Dong was eerily silent and vast beyond measure, making the search for a Tian Mo like finding a needle in the sea.

Since entering, Ye Chen had searched for nine days without detecting any trace of a Tian Mo. Instead, he came across many ancient battlefields, with remnants of ruins and souls eroded by the passage of time.

In one section of the Hei Dong, he suddenly stopped.

In the distance was a dazzling Xian He, flickering with dim starlight. In the pitch-black Hei Dong, it stood out starkly. But upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't a Xian He at all, but formed from a strand of Xian Qi.

The Xian He was ancient, filled with a sense of timelessness. He didn't know whose Xian Qi it was, only that it was immensely powerful.

Ye Chen stepped onto the Xian He, took out his Zi Jin Xiao Hu Lu, and a vortex appeared at the gourd's mouth, sucking out a wisp of Qi Yun from the Xian He. It was the aura of the Di Dao, the very thing sustaining this Xian He. With the Qi Yun extracted, the Xian He dimmed and dissipated.

After obtaining the Di Yun, Ye Chen continued his journey, walking and scanning for any traces related to Tian Mo, while waiting for news from his clones.

This walk lasted two months.

In those two months, the various heavens were extraordinarily lively. Primeval great clans were frequently discovered, all from non-Di Dao lineages. Whenever one was found, it faced an all-out assault from the heavens. Begging for mercy was useless—the hearts of the common people had turned ice-cold after several bloody battles.

In the following month, the Xuanhuang, Da Chu, and Youming domains intensified their searches. The starry skies were filled with teams of armored cultivators, each led by a Zhun Di, wielding war spears and patrolling everywhere—to hunt for the primeval clans and guard against Tian Mo.

The most grueling task fell to the Son of the Plane. He was the most isolated, wandering through various domains, fearing any sudden intrusion by Tian Mo. The previous lessons had been bloody.

They weren't afraid of one or two Tian Mo emperors—as long as they weren't peak-level Da Di, the heavens could handle them. What they feared was a Tian Mo emperor summoning more emperors. A direct fight was one thing, but being caught off guard was the real nightmare.

In the fourth month, Ye Chen paused again. The clones he had sent out had all dissipated, so he created new ones and even dispatched his Sheng Zhan Fa Shen.

Yet, after searching for a full four months, he hadn't glimpsed a single Tian Mo. It was because the Hei Dong was just too immense. Not even a Da Di could cover it all—let alone him, a half-step Dacheng Sheng Ti. Emperors of the past couldn't eradicate the Tian Mo in the Hei Dong not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't find them. Even if an emperor spent their entire life, they likely couldn't traverse every corner of the heavens, and the same went for the space Hei Dong.

"Boss, I have a feeling."

The Hun Dun Ding emerged from the small world, with crackling sounds coming from within it. It seemed to have secretly swallowed some artifacts from the small world and was now digesting them.

"What kind of feeling?"

Ye Chen spoke while scanning the surrounding darkness.

"The first and second types of Sheng Ti were probably one and the same in some era. It's just that later, they split into two lineages." The Hun Dun Ding said.

"You and your nonsense." Before Ye Chen could respond, he heard the Hun Dun Huo curse loudly.

With that simple exchange, the Hun Dun Ding retreated back into the small world to fight with the Hun Dun Huo.

Ye Chen took a deep breath, feeling quite helpless. Those two never stopped bickering. Ever since the Hun Dun Huo was fused out, they hadn't had a peaceful day—constant arguments and fights every few days.

Still, the Hun Dun Ding's words reminded him. What was the original form of the two Sheng Ti lineages? And the gap between them was just too vast. Aside from other things, just the undead bloodline limit of the first type was innate and could be activated at will under specific conditions. That alone was a god-level advantage unmatched by the second type.

"Boss, there's a Tian Mo."

Just as he was walking, he suddenly heard a shout from one of his clones.

Ye Chen's eyes flashed, and he dashed toward the eastern Hei Dong. Through the clone, he could see the scene there. He didn't spot the Tian Mo's figure, only a black lotus quietly suspended in the depths of the Hei Dong, shrouded in demonic aura and flickering with demonic light.

He was already familiar with black lotuses—they were a major race in the Tian Mo domain, possessing a special demonic power. Even without the Qian Tian Mo Zhu, they could survive in the heavens, usually in lotus form. Transforming into human shape would consume their origin.

As Ye Chen observed through his clone, the black lotus trembled with a buzz, as if it had detected the clone. A layer of annihilating halo spread out rapidly.

Thud!

The clone was instantly pulverized into ash. After all, it wasn't a true body or a law body; it couldn't channel the original's full power.

Ye Chen frowned slightly and instantly exited the Hei Dong.

At the same moment, he summoned a Di Dao domain gate. Compared to his own speed, the domain gate was faster, but unfortunately, it couldn't be used inside the Hei Dong, so he had to come out first.

In the domain gate passage, he shot forward like a divine rainbow, heading straight for the exit.

When he emerged from the domain gate, he was in a desolate stretch of starry sky, where heavenly cultivators were patrolling. He could see generals from the Yan Luo Palace, all clad in armor.

In the next instant, he used the Tian Dao to teleport, reappearing in the area where his clone had been destroyed.

As soon as he arrived, he spotted a speck of demonic light, no bigger than a grain of rice—it was the black lotus Tian Mo. Perhaps sensing something amiss, it was fleeing deeper into the Hei Dong.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Ye Chen let out a cold snort, charging forward like thunder and lightning, chasing the Tian Mo.

Buzz! Buzz!

The black lotus Tian Mo buzzed but didn't transform into human form; it remained as a lotus, speeding away like a streak of black demonic light, drawing a trail through the Hei Dong. It knew it was being pursued by someone extremely dangerous and was running for its life in the heavens' territory.

Boom! Boom!

Ye Chen's pressure was overwhelming, making the Hei Dong rumble. Cultivators in the starry sky looked up, wondering who was causing such commotion—they only knew that person was incredibly powerful.

"It's probably the Sheng Ti."

"Or maybe Jiang Tai Xu. There are quite a few in the heavens who can enter the Hei Dong."

"Why do they all love running into the Hei Dong?"

Discussions erupted among the people, unaware of what was happening in the Hei Dong, but the disturbance was massive.

In the Hei Dong, Ye Chen's entire body radiated golden light, boosting his speed even further. The black lotus Tian Mo, which had been just a speck in his sight, was gradually growing larger, meaning the distance between them was closing. At the same level and realm, when it came to speed, he had never feared anyone. If it hadn't even transformed, how could it escape?

Buzz!

As the distance closed, the black lotus Tian Mo buzzed again, finally transforming into human form. Without a second thought, it sacrificed its origin to increase its speed, its eyes filled with panic. Ye Chen's speed was too fast, his aura too terrifying—far beyond what it could match.

Awkwardly, even after transforming and sacrificing blood, its speed was still outmatched by Da Chu's tenth emperor. In just over a dozen instants, Ye Chen had closed in to within a thousand zhang, and the gap was still shrinking rapidly. Being caught was only a matter of moments.

The Tian Mo gritted its teeth and instantly fled the Hei Dong.

Thud!

But then, a splash of black blood bloomed. The black lotus Tian Mo that had just exited the Hei Dong had terrible luck—it collided head-on with someone and was slain by a single sword before it could even catch its breath, turning to ash on the spot.

And the one who killed it was none other than Wu Tian Jian Zun, who happened to be wandering in this starry sky. A Tian Mo suddenly appeared—how could he let it go? He had to eliminate it.

That black lotus Tian Mo was truly unfortunate. It was being chased by Ye Chen in the Hei Dong and thought escaping to the starry sky would save it, but it met its end even faster.

In just one or two instants, Ye Chen emerged from the Hei Dong.

Jian Zun saw him and raised an eyebrow.

"Senior, as domineering as ever!"

Looking at the destroyed Tian Mo, Ye Chen couldn't help but twitch his mouth. After chasing it for over eight million li, you finished it off with one sword. Why wander here of all places and coincidentally run into the Tian Mo?

His expression made Jian Zun puzzled, unsure what that look meant.

Ye Chen cleared his throat and waved his hand, gathering the scattered Tian Mo blood essence from the starry sky into a single drop of pitch-black fresh blood. He could only gather one drop—the fault lay with Jian Zun's overzealous strike, which reduced the Tian Mo to ash. Getting even one drop was lucky. He wasn't sure if the dead Tian Mo's blood could still fuse with the monster's blood or if it would lose its effect. Dead blood wasn't the same as living blood, after all.

In situations like this, finding a live Tian Mo would be more reliable.

Boom!

Suddenly, a massive rumble echoed through the myriad heavens, shaking the entire starry sky. Many patrolling cultivators lost their footing, and countless dead stars exploded.

Jian Zun looked up, and Ye Chen raised his head, both gazing into the ethereal void. Such a tremendous shock indicated something major had happened.

"Taigu Honghuang."

Ye Chen murmured softly, absolutely certain. It was the Taigu Honghuang that had issues. Rumbles like this occurred every so often, and the heavens' cultivators were used to it. But an ominous premonition grew stronger, as if a great calamity was about to descend.

His guess was spot on—it was indeed the Taigu Honghuang. Even the path leading to it had undergone massive changes, sweeping away hordes of Tian Mo roaming the skies.

"What a heart-pounding feeling."

In a misty realm, a beauty murmured, her face pale.

Beside her stood the Headless One, gripping a blood-stained battle axe that hummed and trembled. The overwhelming killing intent surrounding him was extremely agitated, and the mysterious power within his body seemed ready to erupt.

Di Huang was there too, sitting cross-legged on the ground, his body covered in bloody gashes. Each wound glowed with Di Dao light, eroding his origin essence and preventing the injuries from healing.

He was gravely wounded, having been surrounded by nine Tian Mo Da Di, more than half of whom were at the peak level. If not for the sudden cosmic shift that scattered the nine emperors into the void, he would likely have been destroyed.

The beauty narrowed her eyes slightly, channeling essence into Di Huang while staring into the depths. In her line of sight, mist swirled, sometimes clear and sometimes chaotic.

Under her gaze, humanoid forms began to materialize—one after another, or rather, monsters. Each had a massive head with only one terrifying eye, a huge mouth with exposed fangs, their bodies covered in black scales, six arms, claw-like feet, and a long tail dragging behind. It looked like a dragon's tail no matter how you viewed it.

If Ye Chen were here, he would recognize them as identical to the monster he had captured earlier, except these were far more powerful. Even a Dacheng Sheng Ti would change color at the sight.

"Go."

The Headless One suddenly spoke, though headless, it transmitted through divine sense, having awakened for that instant, as if recognizing these monsters.

The beauty hurriedly helped Di Huang up and fled into the distance, with the Headless One bringing up the rear, axe in hand.

The trio from the heavens embarked on another escape.

This time, their flight would be even more arduous.

This land of death wasn't just home to Tian Mo—there were also these fearsome monsters. No one knew what kind of beings they were, but they were no fewer or weaker than the Tian Mo.