Chapter 2761: Invasion in Darkness

Boluoyu was utterly silent and peaceful.

Under the moonlight, a figure suddenly appeared. It was Xichen, the Child of the Plane. He was covered in dust and looked weary. He had been roaming for three to five months, having surveyed the entire domain.

There was no other way. Among the heavens, he was the only one who could travel freely through the various domains. The task of patrolling rested solely on him, and he only stopped to rest when night fell.

"When will this end!"

Under the moon, he found a rock to sit on, brushed the dust from his clothes, and then pulled out his wine flask.

He had no idea that beneath his feet, in that patch of earth, a single grain of sand concealed a separate space. Inside, countless monsters, two lines of Huanggu Shengti, Yaochi Xinti, Zhuxian Jian, Hundun Zhiti, and Xiuluo Tianzun were locked in a fierce battle.

For a brief moment, he instinctively glanced around, sensing something amiss, but it was just a vague feeling.

After downing a flask of wine, he dusted himself off again and continued his patrol.

Before Ye Chen achieved greatness and before any emperor emerged in the heavens, he had to keep enduring this strain. He didn't want to be caught off guard by Tianmo Yu again.

While he was busy, the rest of the heavens were bustling as well.

Looking into the distance, the starry sky was filled with figures darting about—some on patrol, some searching for people, others hunting for the Honghuang Clan. It was a lively scene.

Unfortunately, after three to five months of searching, they hadn't spotted any trace of the Honghuang Clan. As for the Tianzun and Hundun Zhiti, they were nowhere to be found, and even Ye Chen and Ji Ningshuang had vanished without a trace.

"I don't know what's going on, but I have this ominous premonition."

"This world hides so many unknowns—who knows how many mysterious beings are out there."

"Up ahead must be Tianhuang!"

Bathed in starlight and accompanied by conversation, three figures came to a stop in the starry sky: a hunched old man, a white-haired middle-aged man, and a red-clothed woman. They formed a small team from different factions and had been patrolling together, venturing deep into the stars until they reached this legendary place.

It was a desolate stretch of starry space, vast and boundless, devoid of any stars or light, as if shrouded in a layer of cloud. It was barren, icy, and dark, with only wisps of flowing sand drifting along, carried by the stellar winds toward the edges of the universe.

Indeed, it was Tianhuang.

In ancient times, Di Huang, the Great Accomplishment Shengti, had fought here to protect Yue Shang's path to enlightenment, single-handedly battling the five emperors of Tianmo Yu. It was also here that he fought until his body and spirit were destroyed. Without Di Huang, there would be no Donghua Empress, and no prosperous era that followed.

"The supreme's love is truly something to sigh over!"

The hunched old man leaned on his cane with one hand and held a wine flask in the other, sprinkling wine as he walked—to pay tribute to the empress, and to honor the love between Di Huang and Yue Shang.

Ah!

The white-haired middle-aged man and the red-clothed woman sighed, doing the same.

Ten thousand years had passed. The fallen Di Huang lived on in legend, but Yue Shang, who had become an emperor, had long turned to dust. Their ancient romance was filled with regret—a single missed opportunity spanned countless cycles of change. At the end of time, that supreme beauty was gone forever, leaving only a love riddled with wounds, destined to fade into myth with the passing legends.

Hm?

In that instant, the hunched old man suddenly halted and looked up.

The white-haired middle-aged man and the red-clothed woman also frowned, gazing into the hazy void.

As they watched, wisps of mist began to appear, one after another, weaving together to form a dark cloud that spread across who knows how many stars. The already dim starry sky lost its last bit of light, plunging everything into darkness.

"What is that?" the white-haired middle-aged man stammered.

"It's so unsettling," the red-haired woman murmured.

"It's an array," said the hunched old man, his vision sharper than the others. His aged eyes narrowed into slits, faintly discerning dark array patterns flickering in the void. Like the others, he couldn't shake the unease; his soul trembled involuntarily. Even the gentle stellar winds felt colder now, as if blowing from Diyu, making him shiver all over.

"Let's go."

The hunched old man shouted sharply and was the first to retreat. This place was too ominous—they needed stronger experts to investigate. Though he was a Quasi-Emperor, he was far inferior to those at the imperial level.

But they wanted to leave and couldn't tell which way to go. It was as if the heavens and earth had been flipped upside down, with misty shadows swirling around, obscuring their path. They flew for quite a while, yet it felt like they hadn't moved at all.

"Quickly send a message and summon the strong ones!"

The hunched old man roared, gripping his cane tightly as he scanned the surroundings warily. His weathered face had turned pale, and his trembling soul felt icy, as if he were already in Jiuyou.

As soon as he spoke, the white-haired middle-aged man and the red-clothed woman cast their spells, sending beams of divine consciousness soaring into the sky.

However, the divine consciousness beams vanished like stones dropped into the sea—or more precisely, they were instantly erased by some powerful force in the void.

"How could this be?"

The two paled in shock, and the hunched old man's expression darkened to an extreme.

Boom!

Just then, a thunderous boom echoed from the void. A pillar of black light descended straight from above, piercing through the vast heavens and earth, making the entire starry sky tremble. At its center, a dark halo expanded, carrying waves of demonic energy that spread across the seas and wilderness.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The old man, middle-aged man, and woman were hurled back on the spot. The old man held up okay, but the middle-aged man and woman, with their slightly weaker foundations, had their bodies explode instantly, leaving only faint Yuan Shen.

"Qingtian Mozhu!"

Their eyes bulged in disbelief as they stared, their gazes filled with terror. They had seen the Qingtian Mozhu before and knew it without a doubt. Tianmo Yu was invading again—the cloud covering the starry sky was a massive array, the Zhexian Tiandi Zhen.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

As they watched, three beams of demonic light shot from the pillar, manifesting as three black war spears that pinned them in place in the starry sky.

Buzz!

The Qingtian Mozhu hummed as Tianmo surged out from within, like a tide or a sea. Each one wore black armor and wielded cold war spears, their faces twisted and hideous, their eyes blood-red and dripping with malice. Centered on the pillar, they formed ranks, leisurely absorbing the essence of the heavens.

Buzz! Buzz!

The pillar continued to hum, releasing even more Tianmo, like a black carpet spreading across the stars, filling the sky and blocking out all light, shrouding the world's order.

Behind them, numerous imperial domain gates opened, and the arriving Tianmo prepared for transmission, awaiting the arrival of a great emperor.

This wasn't the only Qingtian Mozhu descending on the heavens.

On the far side of the starry sky, in a desolate star domain far from the heavens' prosperous regions, another Qingtian Mozhu stood tall, appearing just three to five breaths after the first. It too was concealed by a Zhexian Tiandi Zhen, with black masses of Tianmo pouring out.

The cultivators patrolling that star domain had already been nailed in the starry sky.

They hadn't managed to send out any divine consciousness before dying.

"What a wonderful aura."

Bathed in the sinister demonic light, the Tianmo emerging from the pillar inhaled deeply, ecstatic over the essence of the human realm.

If Ye Chen were here, he would feel both hatred and joy, for among these Tianmo invading the heavens, many familiar faces appeared—without exception, all reincarnated from Dachu.

No one would have imagined that after a full cycle of reincarnation, so many reborn souls would return to their homeland as Tianmo, licking their blood-red tongues and ready to slaughter living beings.