Chapter 2758: Familiar Yet Strange

The starry sky remained as vast as ever.

Ye Chen and Ji Ning Shuang were back on their journey—one the great emperor of Da Chu, the other the Eastern God of Xuan Huang. One possessed the Huang Gu Sheng Ti, the other the Yao Chi Xian Ti. They were true young emperors, drawing attention wherever they went, with some restless individuals even traveling from afar just to get a look.

In response, Ye Chen acted decisively, dealing with each group that approached. Too many onlookers were distracting, so he sent them away—those who were supposed to be searching should be searching, those who were patrolling should be patrolling. Why come here causing trouble?

Three months passed quietly.

Searches from all sides never stopped, but Tian Zun and the Hun Luan Ti remained completely untraceable.

Deep in the starry sky, Ye Chen and Ji Ning Shuang arrived at another star river.

In these three months, it was the first time they had stopped to rest. They had scoured countless star domains without finding any trace of the Hun Luan Ti or Tian Zun, let alone that mysterious figure. It was as if they had vanished from the face of the earth.

"Hurry, hurry!"

As they were observing, a sudden commotion erupted, with streaks of human figures shooting over like divine rainbows from the distance.

Ye Chen reached out and casually grabbed a young man. "What's going on?"

"The Hao Yue Xing has been attacked—no survivors," the young man stammered, recognizing Ye Chen and speaking in a panic.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Ye Chen and Ji Ning Shuang vanished simultaneously.

When they reappeared, they were on a massive star—the Hao Yue Xing the young man had mentioned.

Ye Chen soared upward, standing high in the heavens and surveying the scene below.

Just as the young man had described, the entire ancient star was in ruins, its source drained away. Mountains had collapsed, rivers dried up, and vast expanses of flowers, grass, and trees had withered. The earth was scorched, devoid of any vital energy, and the most horrifying sight was the people on the star—whether cultivators or ordinary folk, they had all turned into desiccated corpses, their essence and blood qi sucked dry, bodies strewn everywhere.

"Damn it, investigate! Find out who did this!"

More people arrived from all directions, including those with fiery tempers. Having repelled the Hong Huang forces, some were now turning on their own, and it was obvious to anyone that those who practiced evil cultivation methods had devoured the star's inhabitants.

Ye Chen stood quietly, watching in silence.

The perpetrator was indeed ruthless, but it wasn't necessarily someone from the Zhutian. The Hong Huang war had ended only two or three years ago, and in this era of recovery, who would dare act so boldly?

"Young friend, can you deduce the culprit?"

An elderly cultivator approached from the sky, a genuine Zhun Di level expert. His old eyes were clouded with tears, making it clear that this star was his homeland without needing to ask.

He wasn't the only one—many other elders arrived, their faces streaked with tears.

Ye Chen shook his head lightly. In the past, he could have traced it back to the source and uncovered the damned culprit, but now, with the changes in the Di Dao and the constant shifts in the universe, Zhou Tian's deductions were useless.

The elders fell silent, bowed in respect, and then departed one by one.

After lingering for a while, Ye Chen and Ji Ning Shuang also turned to leave. Someone would investigate this matter thoroughly.

Two days later, the pair stopped again.

It was another ancient star that should have teemed with life, but it had been slaughtered into utter silence.

Such tragedies occurred repeatedly in the following days.

A cold light flickered in Ye Chen's eyes. He had basically confirmed it wasn't the work of the Zhutian people. This brazen audacity suggested utter recklessness, and the fact that the culprit remained unidentified was proof enough. The opponent was cunning, with exceptional concealment techniques that most couldn't detect. It was likely the mysterious black-robed figure, or possibly the First Sheng Ti.

"Stop them! Capture them alive!"

In a western star domain, as Ye Chen and Ji Ning Shuang crossed a star sea, they heard shouts of anger.

Both moved swiftly, like divine light and immortal radiance, racing at top speed.

Unfortunately, by the time they reached that part of the starry sky, a crowd from the Zhutian was gathered there, cursing in frustration. They had been chasing someone, only for the target to vanish without a trace.

"Faster than a rabbit," the nine great Ming Jiang of the Ming Jie cursed the loudest.

"Who were you chasing?" Ye Chen descended from the sky.

"Don't know," Lei Ming Jiang shrugged. "An ancient star was destroyed, and we saw a ghostly figure emerge from it—that must be the culprit. We chased all the way here, but then the person just disappeared in this star sky."

The group of Ming Jiang and other experts grumbled as they left, continuing their search.

"Was it the First Sheng Ti?" Ji Ning Shuang asked softly.

"Familiar yet strange," Ye Chen frowned slightly. After seeing so many destroyed ancient stars, the lingering aura inside didn't carry the Sheng Ti scent, but he was certain he had encountered it before.

After standing for a long time, the two set off again.

In these turbulent times, the aura of strangeness grew thicker, with hidden forces causing chaos everywhere, making it impossible to guard against. They still hadn't found the Hun Luan Ti or Tian Zun, and bad news kept piling up.

"Someone is watching us," Ji Ning Shuang said suddenly at the end of the star river.

Before her words faded, Ye Chen vanished, instantly entering a space black hole.

Immediately, booming sounds echoed.

Ji Ning Shuang looked up, her gaze piercing through the black hole to see the battle within. One fighter was Ye Chen.

As for the other, it had a human-like form but wasn't human.

More accurately, it was a monster with a massive head, only one terrifying eye, a huge mouth with exposed fangs, its body covered in black scales, six arms, claw-like feet, and a long tail dragging behind—like a dragon's tail at first glance.

She had seen creatures like this before; it resembled the one that had snatched the Huan Hun Dan earlier, likely from the same lineage. Unexpectedly, they encountered another.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Under her watchful eyes, Ye Chen pressed the attack against the monster, but she could only observe. She and Ye Chen each had their strengths—Ye Chen couldn't enter the Zang Shen Gu Di, and she couldn't access the space black hole.

In the black hole, Ye Chen's brows were furrowed.

He hadn't fully figured out the first one, and now a second appeared. In recent times, many ancient stars had been destroyed, probably by this creature's hand. It had stealthily followed them all the way.

Roar!

The monster howled, a mix of rage and fear. It had underestimated Ye Chen, who had the Liu Dao Lun Hui Yan, suddenly bursting in. What shocked it more was Ye Chen's combat power, which was overwhelmingly strong, forcing it to its knees. It originally had six arms, but now only one remained, barely attached by a strip of flesh—essentially useless.

Driven to madness, it activated its Xue Ji Xian Jie on the spot.

"Immortal or not, I'll still smash you," Ye Chen snorted coldly, using Fei Lei Shen to instantly close in.

The monster's expression changed, and it fled backward.

In that instant, Bian An Hua suddenly bloomed, freezing the universe for a moment.

Thud!

Ye Chen's palm struck like a divine blade, severing its head, and he dragged it out of the black hole with one hand.

Seal!

Before the monster could regenerate, Ye Chen and Ji Ning Shuang struck together, applying over a thousand sealing techniques to lock it down completely.

Roar! Roar!

The monster's body reformed, its massive eye filled with bloodshot veins, turning crimson. No matter how it thrashed, it couldn't break the seal, only letting out roars laden with demonic power that ignored yuan shen defenses. If it were an ordinary Zhun Di, their mind would be disrupted.

Ye Chen ignored it, placing one hand on the monster's Tian Ling Gai.

What followed were wails of agony as Ye Chen forcefully searched its soul, seeking its memories.

Unfortunately, the monster's sea of consciousness was blank.

This was as expected—the previous monster had been the same.

Ye Chen took a drop of Tian Mo blood and a drop from the monster.

The two bloods merged, and the resulting fresh blood carried a trace of Sheng Ti qi and blood. Ye Chen was fine, but Ji Ning Shuang narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly, recognizing it as the Huang Gu Sheng Ti aura from the first lineage. She didn't understand why Sheng Ti blood had emerged from the fusion.

"I don't know either."

Ye Chen shook his head, stroking his chin as he circled the monster, trying to study its Xue Ji Xian Jie. However, the bloodline limit had already dissipated, and its undying power had vanished. This was quite similar to the first lineage Sheng Ti—they could activate bloodline limits for a specific time, but it had limits. This monster's duration was clearly shorter than that of the first lineage Sheng Ti.

Today, he had gained new insight.

This thing could not only activate its bloodline limit but also freely enter and exit black holes for a set period. No wonder no one had detected it when it snatched the Huan Hun Dan, and no one could catch it after destroying so many ancient stars. Once in the black hole, who could find it?

"Can it freely control the Xue Ji Xian Jie?"

"As you said."

"Then its connection to the First Sheng Ti..."

"It must be related."

Ji Ning Shuang vanished with a whoosh, entering the monster's dream.

Ye Chen's eyes deepened. Why hadn't he thought of having Ji Ning Shuang try entering the dream earlier? Though the monster had no memories, it had intelligence, and with intelligence came thoughts and dreams. They might uncover clues from its dreams.

As Ji Ning Shuang entered the dream, the monster's violent expression turned dull, its bloodshot eyes losing their light and becoming vacant. Its struggling six arms hung limp—one moment it was a monster, the next a puppet.

When Ji Ning Shuang reappeared, she was in a hazy world shrouded in yin fog. She waved her hand to clear one patch, only for another to form. It was truly chaotic.

However, deep in the chaos, fragmented images lurked, depicting a small continent that flashed briefly before being erased by a mysterious force.

Ji Ning Shuang frowned slightly. It seemed the monster didn't lack memories; they were constantly being wiped away. She hadn't traced the source of that force.

Soon, she exited the dream. As she opened her eyes, the monster regained its demeanor, still as savage as before, gnashing its teeth. With its appearance, it was more terrifying than a ghost.

"How did it go?" Ye Chen asked.

Ji Ning Shuang waved her hand, projecting the scenes she had seen before his eyes.

"Po Luo Yu."

Ye Chen's eyes narrowed. He recognized it at a glance—it was the smallest domain in the Zhutian, only a few dozen li in radius. He had visited it years ago when the female Sheng Ti took him there. Later, during the Hong Huang clan's exile and counterattack, Po Luo Yu had likely become ruins.

Without hesitation, he captured the monster and opened the Tian Dao, leading Ji Ning Shuang into the black hole, heading straight for Po Luo Yu. Since it appeared in the monster's dream, there had to be issues there. It might be the monster's lair, possibly hiding other surprises.

As Ye Chen had guessed, Po Luo Yu was a mess. The ancient city from his memories was now dust in history, the land scorched. The Hong Huang clan had probably drained the domain's source when they left, leaving Po Luo Yu utterly desolate, without even a blade of grass.

Ye Chen stepped into the sky, his shen shi enveloping the entire domain, searching inch by inch. This domain likely hid alternate spaces, each speck a world—who knew what secrets lay concealed?

Ji Ning Shuang did the same, activating her shen shi and Xian Yan to scrutinize everything.