Chapter 2752

Wu Lei spoke softly, her gaze gentle as she looked up at the void. Her clear and beautiful eyes held their usual indifference, yet occasionally revealed a hint of human emotion. In those fleeting moments, her expression became hazy and distant, as if recalling ancient events.

On her, there was an undeniable sense of weariness and the marks of time. Beneath the dust of the years lay her story, recording her tearlessness and emotionlessness.

"What is the origin of Wu Lei Zhi Cheng?"

After a long while, Ye Chen asked again, his voice still without a trace of jest, his gaze steady and direct, eager for the accurate answer that would resolve his centuries of confusion.

"The Five Great Forbidden Zones and Wu Lei Zhi Cheng both belong to the Gu Tian Ting, and they share a certain mission. As long as the people in the forbidden zones endure, and as long as the people in Wu Lei endure, they must hold firm even if the human realm crumbles and all living beings perish. This is the cold-blooded nature of the forbidden zones and the emotionlessness of Wu Lei."

Wu Lei spoke in a soft, melodious tone, finally revealing the ancient secret.

"What exactly are you guarding?"

Ye Chen furrowed his brow deeply, wanting to know the answer.

"The foundations of the heavens and the hope of all living beings."

"The foundations of the heavens? The hope of all living beings?"

"Cannot be said."

Wu Lei replied faintly, the emotion that flashed in her eyes vanishing once more, leaving her an emotionless figure.

Ye Chen fell silent again, his brows furrowing even deeper. He did not know what the foundations of the heavens referred to, nor whether the hope of all living beings was the so-called light. He only knew that both the forbidden zones and Wu Lei Zhi Cheng harbored unspoken burdens.

Thus, Wu Lei was not truly emotionless; she had flesh and blood, and she pitied all living beings. It was only because of the mission she bore that she had to remain tearless and emotionless.

A gentle breeze blew, and Ye Chen lifted his head, once again examining the city and the fairies. They must have sacrificed their emotions in some ancient era, exchanging them for a certain power to guard that ancient mission, willingly becoming mere walking corpses.

In that instant, a profound sadness overwhelmed his heart, along with a deep sense of respect that enveloped his state of mind. He grieved for their tearlessness and emotionlessness, yet respected them for it—vivid women who had sacrificed their most precious things, like moths darting into blazing flames.

In that moment, his resentment toward Wu Lei Zhi Cheng dissipated like smoke. The ethereal immortal city bore tearlessness and emotionlessness, yet it also carried eternal infamy.

Only after a long time did he lower his gaze and look at Wu Lei again.

Under the moonlight, she appeared as if in a dream.

Through countless changes of seas and mulberry fields, she had likely stood there, at the pinnacle of emotionlessness, gazing across the hazy void like a humble ant, secretly watching the vast starry sky and the mortal world.

In her indifferent eyes, there must be a hidden trace of envy—for those outside the city, for their ability to cry and laugh, for their joys and sorrows.

Unfortunately, that envy was, for her, a pitiful luxury. She was Wu Lei, destined to guard the ages alone, bound by tearlessness and emotionlessness.

The breeze blew again, carrying a slight chill.

Wu Lei wrapped her arms around herself, feeling unusually cold.

In that moment, she no longer seemed the lofty immortal, but a fragile woman, unable to withstand the cool night wind, her delicate body trembling slightly.

Ye Chen's sadness deepened, and his heart ached. He pitied this woman named Wu Lei; the cold was not from the wind, but from the city itself. Devoid of human warmth, even standing so high, it was ultimately a hell.

"Do you have someone you love?"

Ye Chen suddenly spoke, breaking the night's tranquility. Perhaps the trembling Wu Lei in that moment hoped for someone to talk with her.

"Yes." Wu Lei smiled faintly.

"He must be an extraordinary figure." Ye Chen said with a smile.

Wu Lei did not speak, but her expression grew a bit more distant. In a trance, she seemed to see an ancient scene—a plain figure, a scholar carrying his book basket on the road to the capital for the imperial examination, traversing mountains and rivers, all for the dream of returning home in glory.

No one would have thought that the emotionless Wu Lei, the supreme queen who could overpower the Sheng Ti, would hold in her heart a mere mortal, now reduced to dust in history.

"How long must you guard?"

Having opened the topic, Ye Chen shifted it slightly, still curious about some doubts he needed to resolve. As for chatting? Once the doubts were cleared, he could chat with Wu Lei for three days and nights; he was quite the talker and would never let the conversation lag.

"Until she returns, and until an opportunity arises."

"She refers to whom?" Ye Chen asked tentatively.

"The Gu Tian Ting Female Emperor."

"Is the Female Emperor truly still alive?"

"Alive." Wu Lei said faintly, disclosing the secret.

"This..."

Ye Chen swallowed hard, though he had some mental preparation, hearing this definitive answer still shocked him beyond words. Tian Mo and the First Sheng Ti had joined forces, with so many supreme beings involved, yet they hadn't completely killed her. That woman was truly formidable! He couldn't imagine how, in that dark era and that emperor-level siege, the Female Emperor had survived.

After a while, Ye Chen looked up again, staring intently at Wu Lei. "Where is your Female Emperor now?"

"Nowhere and everywhere." Wu Lei said leisurely.

Nowhere and everywhere?

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, instinctively glancing down at his own waistband. If she was nowhere and everywhere, did that mean she could be anywhere? What if he encountered her while relieving himself in the latrine? That would be awkward.

Wu Lei turned her gaze sideways, her eyes slanting with a hint of fire. Her previously calm state of mind stirred again because of Ye Chen's glance, giving rise to an urge to strike him.

Ye Chen gave a dry laugh and quickly changed the topic. "Then, the opportunity you mentioned refers to..."

"Tian Mo rushing toward Qi Sha." Wu Lei withdrew her gaze, answering straightforwardly.

"What exactly is Tian Mo rushing toward Qi Sha?"

Ye Chen asked immediately, having heard that phrase before, and he remembered the following line clearly.

"A kind of omen."

"An omen of calamity?"

"Or perhaps, an omen of great fortune." Wu Lei said, perhaps tired of standing, as she found a jade stone and sat down lightly.

Calamity? Great fortune?

Ye Chen murmured softly. The literal meaning was not hard to understand—disaster and fortune coexisting. He had experienced too much of it, but he did not know what the outcome would be when that omen arrived—whether calamity or fortune, it was unpredictable.

And in that moment, what came to his mind was the line that followed Tian Mo rushing toward Qi Sha, whose literal meaning was also clear and quite exciting to him.

Suddenly, another gust of wind blew—or more accurately, a fierce wind—that came abruptly, making Ye Chen sway back and forth. He was still tied up and hung from the tree, swinging like a pendulum.

"I said, can you let me down?"

Ye Chen spoke, but his eyes were not on Wu Lei; they were on the heavens and earth of the city. It was the shifting of the city's own order that had given rise to this sudden fierce wind.

Not to boast, but if an ordinary Zhun Di were caught in it, they could be blown to the edge of the universe and turned to ash on the spot. It wasn't that the wind was overwhelmingly powerful, but that the order of Wu Lei Zhi Cheng was too terrifying.

To his request, Wu Lei paid no attention. Let him hang; it was quite a pleasing sight.

"Come on, let's chat about the Tai Gu Hong Huang!"

"Cannot be said."

"Then, let's chat about the Zhu Xian Jian, or perhaps its owner."

"Cannot be said."

"Or the two lineages of the Huang Gu Sheng Ti, let's chat about that?"

"Cannot be said."

Their bizarre conversation was always so direct and blunt, leaving Ye Chen feeling quite frustrated. Whatever he asked, she wouldn't say—how aggravating! At least let him down!

"You and Chu Xuan, what is your relationship? You can at least say that."

Ye Chen said with a dark expression.

"Sisters."

Wu Lei murmured, as if speaking to herself or to Ye Chen.

The word "sisters" carried many implications.

Ye Chen's brow furrowed slightly, his eyes flickering uncertainly. Sisters? He was certain it wasn't that simple, and he was certain Wu Lei wouldn't reveal the true secret. She had only given him these two words, leaving him to ponder the deeper meaning himself.

"Who exactly are you all?"

Ye Chen swayed with the wind, his eyes profound. By "you all," he meant Chu Xuan, Chu Ling, Ruo Xi, and Wu Lei. Even if they were sisters, there had to be an origin, a background.