Chapter 2793: Building the House

Chapter 2793: Xiu Fangzi

"I'm here to take you home."

In the treasure hall, Xiao Ruoxi's voice rang out again, still childish and sweet. After speaking, she hid behind Ye Chen, peeking out with half of her little head.

Buzz!

As her words faded, the Lingxiao Baodian trembled with a buzz, accidentally sending Ye Chen flying out. The Chaos Fire and Chaos Cauldron were thrown out along with him.

The three of them flew an unknown distance through the air.

In the black hole, Ye Chen forcibly steadied himself. As a half-step great accomplishment ancient sacred body, he felt quite embarrassed—it was just that the Lingxiao Baodian was incredibly powerful.

Though embarrassed, his eyes shone brightly.

Gazing downward, the majestic Lingxiao Baodian transformed amid the rumbling, turning into a strand of ancient divine light that streaked through the black hole and entered his body. Accompanied by a booming sound, it settled into his inner world.

It was so heavy that it made him stagger back a step.

In his inner world, the Lingxiao Baodian was now stable, towering even taller than mountains, solemn and majestic, ancient and weathered. Xiao Ruoxi was still inside, hiding behind a copper pillar, her little face pale and timid as she glanced around warily, her eyes occasionally flashing with confusion.

"Come on, let's repair the house."

Ye Chen chuckled and created over a thousand clones, sending them into his inner world. The Lingxiao Baodian had stood for countless ages and endured countless battles, leaving it in ruins. It needed to be fixed up nicely.

The Lingxiao Baodian didn't resist. After endless cycles of change, its appearance had indeed become shabby—it was time for a makeover to avoid disgracing the Ancient Heavenly Court.

Without delay, hundreds of clones climbed onto the roof, not to tear it down but to mend the damage. Ye Chen returned the green bricks and tiles he had taken earlier, along with items from the hall like screens, copper lamps, and floor tiles, most of which he brought back in.

"Work quickly, no slacking off."

The thousand clones were diligent: some laid bricks, some added tiles, and many others wielded brooms and cloths to sweep away the dust in the treasure hall and clean the courtyard. They treated the Lingxiao Baodian like their own home, a bustling crowd working energetically, each one a skilled craftsman. Young Master Ye was an expert in everything from music and art to cunning tricks, and his clones had inherited that expertise, making them pros at any task.

"Not bad."

The Chaos Cauldron and Chaos Fire darted in, scurrying around and getting familiar with the Lingxiao Baodian. The Chaos Cauldron, in particular, kept trying to swallow some treasures.

Unfortunately, it was doomed to disappointment.

Ye Chen dispatched a dharma body, which slipped into the Lingxiao Baodian, hands clasped behind his back as it patrolled the area, occasionally shouting orders—it looked just like a site foreman.

Of course, he had a purpose: with the purple gold little gourd hanging above his head, he was collecting the lingering aura. The residual aura in the Lingxiao Baodian was no joke.

"Not bad."

Ye Chen lifted his wine flask and looked around again.

He thought to himself that bringing Xiao Ruoxi out hadn't just brought calamity—it must also bring fortune. The Lingxiao Baodian was no ordinary place; it was the first hall of the Ancient Heavenly Court, where even a random tile was a priceless treasure, perfect for smashing enemies. The white jade dragon chair and the Lingxiao iron staff from before were prime examples—just that copper pillar turned iron staff could hold its own against imperial weapons.

He spent three full days observing like this.

Every day, more clones were sent in. The Lingxiao Baodian was enormous, and fixing it properly was a massive project that took time—but with so many helpers, it was manageable.

On the fourth day, he finally set out.

In the quiet night, he slipped out of the black hole.

When he reappeared, he was in the ruined Lingyu. This realm had been through several wars, left in utter devastation with wreckage everywhere and not a soul in sight.

Ye Chen descended from the sky onto a mountaintop.

Soon after, the Son of the Plane crossed over from another realm and arrived. Seeing Ye Chen, he was taken aback.

"Each of us has our own duties, both of us working hard."

Ye Chen shrugged and handed over a wine flask. His words were spot on—his mission was to hunt down the heavenly demons and calamity demons hiding in the black hole, while the Son of the Plane's mission was to patrol the various realms. Ye Chen searched back and forth in the spatial black hole, while Xi Chen ran from realm to realm.

Perhaps both were tired, so they sat down.

Ye Chen was covered in the dust of time, and the Son of the Plane was the same. He was an elder from a bygone era, even more weathered than the Tenth Emperor of Great Chu, his age impossible to hide.

For a moment, both looked up together.

The invisible suppression in the void had weakened a bit more. As fellow quasi-emperor peaks, they could both sense it clearly. What they shared was the hope of seeing that gate—Ye Chen's was the gate to great accomplishment, and the Son of the Plane's was the gate to the emperor's path.

"In your view, who will achieve the dao in this era?"

The Son of the Plane lowered his gaze and smiled slightly.

"Anyone could, even Xiong Er."

Ye Chen laughed. In this era of changing emperor's paths, the universe was in flux—who could say for sure?

Xi Chen coughed. He believed others, but not that chubby Xiong Er. If a Xiong family emperor title emerged, the world wouldn't know how to pass it down.

After that simple exchange, both fell silent.

Ye Chen was fine, but Xi Chen's eyes grew more sorrowful, filled with nostalgia. He didn't belong to this era; he had sealed himself here for a chance at the dao. Not just him—the Holy Venerable, Honghuang Qilin, Emperor Ji, Sword Venerable, Immortal King, and others were the same, all sensing the extraordinary nature of this era.

Thinking about it now, how many from their time had already been buried in the ages? The suppression of the emperor's path imprint was like a heavenly chasm, a vast gulf blocking countless legendary figures.

Compared to the various heavens, the Heavenly Demon Realm was far better off—there, emperors faced no such suppression. Not all heavenly demon great emperors achieved the dao through enlightenment; those who did so under suppression were different from those without.

So, setting aside the external suppression from the various heavens, emperors of the same level from the various heavens were stronger than those of the heavenly demons—the fundamental difference lay in the dao itself.

"Time to go."

Sometime later, the Son of the Plane stood up, dusted off his clothes, and vanished into the moonlight atop the mountain, continuing his patrol of the realms.

Ye Chen took one last swig of wine and entered the black hole, resuming his journey.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Before long, booming sounds echoed from the depths of the black hole—a powerful Black Lotus Heavenly Demon had been found, a formidable demon lord hiding well but not escaping Ye Chen's scrutiny. In no time, it was sent to the gates of hell.

Over the next two months, Ye Chen traveled intermittently, and every stop brought battle—whether against calamity demons or heavenly demons, he killed them all on sight.

Looking into his inner world, the majestic Lingxiao Baodian had been fully repaired: the hanging plaque was straight, the broken bricks and tiles all restored, and everything inside the hall neatly arranged, even the floors polished clean.

"Not bad."

Ye Chen raised his wine flask and smiled. The entire Lingxiao Baodian was enveloped in divine light, with aura swirling around and colorful radiance bursting forth, exuding a grand and imposing presence.

His efforts hadn't been in vain.

Unfortunately, while the outer form of the Lingxiao Baodian was fixed, its aura from its prime couldn't be restored. He lacked the power and the qualification—perhaps only the true female emperor of the Ancient Heavenly Court returning could bring this hall back to its ancient glory.

Giggle giggle!

Speaking of the female emperor, Ye Chen glanced at Xiao Ruoxi. The little girl was full of joy, toddling around the hall chasing butterflies, her laughter ringing out without a care, pure and carefree.

This hall exerted no pressure on her at all; she could easily climb the white jade steps. Ye Chen remembered how, back then, just to climb up and take the white jade dragon chair, he had nearly been crushed to dust by the steps' suppression.

People compared to people—it's just depressing!

Ye Chen shook his head with a smile and headed deeper.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

In the darkness, booms erupted from time to time, waves of battle carrying wails and roars of rage, all from heavenly demons and calamity demons.

Boom! Boom!

The black hole was in turmoil, and the various heavens were no more peaceful.

Gazing across the vast expanse, many starry skies were shrouded in dark clouds with lightning flashing and thunder roaring, resembling the omens before a heavenly tribulation—but it wasn't a tribulation. These appeared without warning, in no fixed location, sometimes fleeting and sometimes lasting three to five days, catching everyone off guard.

"What's going on?"

"This random lightning from nowhere."

"Who knows?"

Curses filled the starry skies, along with disheveled figures stumbling about, hair like bird's nests and smoking, limping along only to be struck by lightning. Those with deep foundations fared better, but those with weaker ones were in utter misery.

"How strange, truly strange."

At the edge of the star river, the Nine Emperors of Great Chu stood tall, gazing into the distance where dark clouds roiled and destructive lightning poured down—it had been raging for three full days, turning a perfectly fine starry sky into a wasteland.

Such scenes had become all too common for them these days; whenever they appeared, they stopped to stare, wondering where this lightning came from.

In another star domain, the Nine Divine Generals were also there, looking toward the distant starry sky where dark clouds gathered and thunder persisted for eight days straight.

"There's a sense of unease."

In the eastern star vault, the Ten Yama Kings stood in a row, gazing at a sea of lightning. No one was undergoing tribulation, yet lightning struck, and from afar, they could feel the power of destruction.

Like them, the strongest peaks in the stars included figures like the Sword God, Holy Venerable, Emperor Ji, God King of Creation, and Feather Immortal King—too many to count.

From some unknown point, the various heavens had become this bizarre. Those in the know realized it was the human realm; those who didn't might think it was the Thunder Domain. Even sleeping at night was disrupted, with people waking from their dreams in fright.

"What a chaotic universe."

The silhouette of the Ren Wang appeared solitary, carrying a bagua disc as he walked and observed. Whenever lightning manifested, he paused for a long time, his brows furrowed. Though the Zhou Tian was no longer effective, his vision remained sharp, detecting the extreme chaos in the hidden universe, from which this lightning was born.

At the peak of Jade Maiden Peak, Ji Ningshuang stood gracefully, quietly watching all directions. Not just the starry skies of the various heavens—even Great Chu's lands had occasional lightning strikes, causing many immortal mountains and palaces to collapse.

"Ninth Mother, why is this happening?"

Ye Ling climbed to the mountaintop and asked curiously.

"The universe is in chaos."

Ji Ningshuang replied softly, mentioning the universe as well.

Ye Ling seemed to understand but nodded obediently and stood still.

She didn't get it, but the seven-colored Zhuxian Sword did. If not for its weakened state, it might have taken control of Ye Ling to cause havoc. This was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity: Ye Chen wasn't in Great Chu, and Ruoxi wasn't in the Zhutian Gate.