Chapter 2887: "Hero"

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Deafening roars echoed through the vast starry expanse.

Crimson flames of war blazed across all the realms of humanity.

Every flash of bloodlight painted the scene in apocalyptic hues;

Every anguished cry became a funeral dirge for the departed;

Every thunderous boom resounded like a death knell from hell.

Gazing down upon the celestial vault, the sight was utterly despairing. The tianmo and e mo were countless, not just a few, but vast oceans of them, surging with overwhelming demonic malice, engulfing the immense starry skies and devouring countless lives across the realms.

The great catastrophe of the zhutian was truly an apocalyptic calamity.

No one knew if the zhutian still held any hope; they only knew they had to fight, to seek out that faint glimmer of light amid the despair. The darkened zhutian and blood-soaked lands needed that light to illuminate the most brilliant cosmos.

The destiny of the zhutian endured eternally.

Boom! Rumbling thunder!

In Tianhuang, the emperor's thunder raged wildly.

Within the sea of thunder, that bloodstained figure still stood. Not only mortals, but even the two emperors of heaven and underworld were stunned. In her muddled state, enduring the emperor's tribulation thunder without being destroyed, Dong Shen Yao Chi's strength shattered the limits that shocked even the two emperors.

Yet, this peerless prodigy, who rivaled Ye Chen, had provoked the emperor's tribulation without any signs of becoming an emperor. No matter how astonishing she was, she still faced the risk of her soul scattering to oblivion.

Boom! Rumbling thunder!

The thunder on the Taigu Road was equally ferocious.

The headless one's emperor's tribulation was no weaker than Ji Ning Shuang's. The two tribulations seemed to resonate, intertwining mysteriously, drawing the heavens' fury. His tribulation grew stronger, and hers became even more terrifying.

It was as if an invisible hand in the mortal world was manipulating everything, gathering all these disasters together into this overwhelming catastrophe.

Pfft!

Amid the thunderous roars, Ji Ning Shuang spat blood again, falling from the lofty heavens, followed by a torrent of thunder that submerged her for the countless time.

Yet, in her muddled state, she remained peerless. Though lacking clear consciousness, she had an innate will to defy the heavens. That will was pure obsession, an unbreakable obsession; as long as her heart did not die, her body would not perish.

"The cosmos is in chaos."

Daozu murmured, his gaze fixed on the entire human realm. The forbidden zones had joined the battle, Wulei City had joined, and even the Xianzu had joined. He, as an emperor aware of the hidden secrets, knew exactly what this meant.

In the shadows, a vast hidden array maintained the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity, while concealing the entire zhutian to block outsiders' scrutiny. Xiao Ruoxi was at its core, and including Tianjie, Mingjie, the forbidden zones, Wulei City, Xianzu, Da Chu, Xuanhuang, Youming, and Wanyu, they all formed parts of this hidden array. With the five great forbidden zones in battle, the array was disrupted; with Wulei City in battle, it was further disordered; with Xianzu in battle, the cosmos was completely thrown into chaos. Added to this were the emperor's tribulations, and the veil shrouding the zhutian was slowly dissipating, exposing it bit by bit to be detected by the outer domains.

"She is in Tianhuang."

"Hurry, hurry!"

The grotesque howls interrupted Daozu's thoughts, drawing his attention back to Tianhuang.

Tianhuang's starry sky might be the only pure land in the entire human realm, free of tianmo and e mo—or rather, it was a forbidden ground, solely because someone was undergoing the emperor's divine tribulation, which even the tianmo and e mo dared not approach.

Yet, at this moment, a group of people, a group of so-called "heroes" with expressions of resolute determination, had arrived at this forbidden ground.

They were the Honghuang clan.

Countless Honghuang quasi-emperors advanced, wielding emperor artifacts, their faces savage and terrifyingly grotesque.

The purpose of the Honghuang clan was clear: they aimed to kill Ji Ning Shuang. If she were destroyed, the emperor's tribulation would dissipate, and the zhutian would not reveal its location. After the zhutian exhausted itself fighting the tianmo and e mo, they would emerge to clean up the mess and reclaim dominion over the Wanyu zhutian.

The premise was that there would be no further invasion from outer domains, so they had to kill Ji Ning Shuang, snuffing out this emperor's tribulation in its cradle. Then, they could sit back and enjoy the spectacle, watching the tigers fight from the mountains.

Mingdi laughed, and Daozu laughed too.

The emperors' laughter was cold and mocking.

The scene was truly ironic.

The Honghuang still had deep reserves, with many capable of contending with emperors, yet during the zhutian's crisis, they hid away. While all living beings fought, they carried their ancestors' emperor artifacts to Tianhuang to kill those of the zhutian. The tianmo and e mo were detestable, but they were even more so.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The Honghuang had arrived—dozens of peak quasi-emperors stood outside Tianhuang's starry sky, activating their emperor artifacts and unleashing wave after wave of immortal light, capable of destroying heavens and earth.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Under the emperor's tribulation, Ji Ning Shuang bled repeatedly, not from the emperor's thunder but from the Honghuang clan's attacks. She had just risen to the lofty heavens, only to be struck down again by the quasi-emperors' assault and submerged in lightning.

Her bloodstained form was more striking than the tribulation itself.

Yet, she was strong enough. Though muddled, her defiant will remained unchanged, enduring the endless thunder and the Honghuang's attacks, holding on bitterly.

"I want to see how long you can hold out."

The Honghuang quasi-emperors sneered viciously, grinding their teeth as they activated their emperor artifacts once more, unleashing dozens of divine beams in an instant, each infused with emperor's might.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The dozens of ultimate emperor beams intertwined into one, their power devastating and world-shattering. If they hit, Yao Chi, in the midst of tribulation, would undoubtedly die.

But at that very moment, a brilliant golden light descended from the heavens, transforming into a golden figure. His features were indistinct, his facial details unseen, but his divine body stood like an eternal monument, unyieldingly firm.

Indeed, Ye Chen had arrived.

Boom!

He struck with an unparalleled punch, obliterating the emperor's immortal beams.

Only then did he gradually reveal his true form, his domineering Huanggu Shengti radiating divine glory. His dazzling golden eyes embodied utter destruction—a towering killing intent, not toward the tianmo, but toward the Honghuang.

"Ye Chen."

The dozens of Honghuang quasi-emperors retreated in unison, their eyes filled with anger, but even more with fear. After so many ages, they had been scarred by him. Merely hearing his name made their hearts tremble.

Ye Chen ignored them, focusing only on Ji Ning Shuang.

In the sea of tribulation thunder, she struggled and fought, dragging her blood-drenched body to withstand the lightning, sinking beneath it time and again, only to rise each time, her obsession unyielding.

As he had anticipated, Yao Chi was in a dazed state, not controlled by anyone, but sustained by her subconscious will to defy the heavens.

"Ning Shuang, wake up."

Ye Chen transmitted his yuanshen divine sense, calling out with all his might. The emperor's divine tribulation was no ordinary ordeal; any moment of mercy could lead to annihilation.

Unfortunately, his call went unanswered.

The Honghuang quasi-emperors had retreated, driven back by Ye Chen's presence.

In Tianhuang, only Ji Ning Shuang and Ye Chen remained.

Ye Chen gripped his bloodstained dao sword, standing firm in the starry sky, blocking the way to Tianhuang. While calling out to Yao Chi, he kept his eyes on the opposition—the Honghuang had not truly left; they lurked in the shadows, ready to ambush the one undergoing tribulation.

Gazing at Tianhuang, the two emperors of heaven and underworld felt a sense of daze.

Millennia ago, the Donghua Empress had proven her dao in Tianhuang, guarded to the death by a sacred body.

Millennia later, another woman was assaulting the emperor realm, once again protected by a sacred body.

History repeated itself so strikingly.

They wondered what the outcome would be.

Would it replay the tragic events of millennia past?

Would it leave another scar of doomed romance?

With the precedent of Di Huang, they truly did not want to witness it again.

"Ning Shuang, wake up."

Ye Chen continued to call out, his eyes now bloodred, desperate to pull his wife from her dazed state. Without self-awareness, she was surely doomed.

Alas, she still did not respond.

In the emperor's tribulation thunder, she remained numb and vacant, like a walking corpse, stiffly waving her hands without any divine abilities, defying the heavens in her stupor.

Boom! Rumbling thunder!

Accompanying the thunder, the distant starry sky surged with Honghuang's aura. The dozens of Honghuang quasi-emperors hidden in the shadows reappeared, their faces twisted in savagery.

Not only that, they had brought the Honghuang army.

It was indeed an army, massive in formation, like a dark ocean, comprising countless races whose momentum made the starry sky rumble.

The Honghuang clan's battle intent was sky-high, each one indignant and resolved to die, their gazes toward Yao Chi as hostile as the zhutian's people toward the tianmo, viewing her as the greatest enemy.

For this, they were willing to perish completely.

No one could have imagined that amid the zhutian's catastrophe, the Honghuang would reveal their full might, yet their target was not the tianmo or e mo, but the people of the zhutian—specifically, Ji Ning Shuang, struggling under the emperor's tribulation.

Mingdi laughed again, and Daozu laughed once more.

The emperors' laughter was filled with sorrowful rage.

The scene was more ironic than an outer domain invasion. Oh, the inheritance of the emperor's path! The first beings of heaven and earth! You are truly more hateful than the tianmo.

Before Tianhuang, Ye Chen stood tall and resolute.

His yuanshen continued to call out to Ji Ning Shuang.

His sacred body stood at the edge of the starry sky.

Compared to the Honghuang army, compared to that vast ocean, he was as insignificant as a grain of sand, his weathered figure too frail, his lonely back too desolate.

He was silent, not uttering a word.

Toward the Honghuang, he had long lost any words.

"If she does not die, the zhutian will be exposed."

"Will you become the eternal sinner?"

The Honghuang clan's royals howled, their voices shaking the starry vault, all filled with righteous fury, all grinding their teeth.

This anger, they dared use only against the zhutian.

They had never been like this toward the tianmo or e mo.

Now, the Honghuang clan seemed to stand on the pinnacle of justice, accusing the one who had once risked his life to protect the Wanyu and its people.

"Kill her, and we Honghuang will retreat."

The clan's royals snorted coldly, staring fixedly at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen stood like a statue, still without a word, only using his yuanshen to call to his wife, quietly blocking the edge of Tianhuang. His expression was indifferent, his eyes calm, devoid of any human emotion.

His silence did not mean he was not angry.

Where he stood would be the greatest forbidden zone of the zhutian.

The tenth emperor of Da Chu would block here.

Just as, years ago before the Dan City grand hall, Ji Ning Shuang had sworn to protect his dao, fighting to her death.

He would be his wife's final barrier. Anyone daring to disturb her emperor's tribulation—gods would be slain, buddhas destroyed. Even if the zhutian war ended in total defeat, he would stand firm in Tianhuang, guarding her path to becoming an emperor.