Chapter 2950: Ancient Path at the End of the Rift

Boom!

The Heavenly Demonic Heavenly Emperor stabilized himself, his single step causing the star domain to collapse. His ultimate emperor aura soared to the heavens, with dark demonic energy surging and engulfing the universe. The celestial sounds carried a demonic tone, echoing across the four seas and eight wastelands.

"This is Zhutian."

Zheng!

Before the Heavenly Demonic Heavenly Emperor could finish speaking, a destructive sword slashed from the distant starry sky. His emperor body narrowly escaped being split in two. As he barely stabilized, he was dragged into the Taishang Heaven by Donghuang Nüdi.

"You mere great emperor, dare to attack me?"

Furious, the Heavenly Demonic Heavenly Emperor manifested his emperor dao demonic form.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

What followed was a thunderous clash as the two emperors battled in the emperor dao battlefield. Their fight shook the cosmic starry sky, and looking up, one could see apocalyptic visions. Even the Great Dao Taishang Heaven could not withstand their supreme pressure.

Mingdi narrowed his eyes slightly, observing that the Heavenly Demonic Heavenly Emperor was surrounded by the laws of time. These were not acquired through cultivation but innate, intertwined with black demonic light and laced with destructive hues.

Clearly, this was no ordinary heavenly emperor.

However, Donghuang Nüdi of Zhutian was no pushover either. She had achieved emperor status over a thousand years ago and was no longer the young empress of the past. Her comprehension of forbidden laws was nothing short of heaven-defying.

Daozu gazed toward Cangmiao, the very place of the earlier fissure. The fissure had now healed, and Ye Chen was nowhere to be seen. If things went as expected, he could reverse through that fissure and reach Taigu Lu.

At Tianxuan Gate, the Tianting Nüdi had emerged, her delicate brows furrowed in concern. Taigu Lu was far more complicated than imagined, and Ye Chen going alone might lead to his demise.

Withdrawing her gaze from that direction, she entered the Taishang Heaven.

"You..."

Upon seeing the empress charge in, the Heavenly Demonic Heavenly Emperor's expression changed dramatically, as if he recognized Tianting Nüdi. A hint of fear appeared in his blood-red emperor eyes. Already at a disadvantage, her arrival completely suppressed him, leaving him unsteady and battered.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Dark emperor blood rained down like a storm.

Ah!

In Zhutian, this Heavenly Demonic Heavenly Emperor was clearly outmatched. He couldn't handle a one-on-one fight, let alone a group assault. The two empresses were even more terrifying than he had imagined, repeatedly shattering his emperor body.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Not only in Zhutian were there thunderous sounds; Cangmiao also echoed with them.

"Reached Taigu Lu?"

Daozu murmured softly, straining his vision to look up. From the booming noises in Cangmiao, he could tell it was the fluctuation of a great battle, likely originating from Taigu Lu—perhaps Ye Chen was unleashing his divine might.

Daozu's guess was partially correct.

There was indeed a battle on Taigu Lu, but it wasn't started by Ye Chen. Instead, it was Di Huang and Hongyan who were facing a group assault by dozens of Heavenly Demonic emperors, each radiating overwhelming divine power, causing the heavens and earth to shatter.

As for Ye Chen, he was still in the fissure passage.

This passage was a bizarre realm without concepts of time or space. Forces of spacetime and semi-spacetime overflowed, similar to chaotic spacetime flows, occasionally interwoven with destructive power.

Ye Chen walked slowly, his emperor dao divine sense scanning all directions. His domineering emperor body was scored with bloody gashes by inexplicable forces, though these were mere surface wounds and couldn't harm his core.

He had tried to inscribe a reincarnation mark to use a technique like Flying Thunder God to return to Zhutian, but the mark was instantly erased. Even Dream Return to Ancient Times was blocked.

He didn't know when he would exit the fissure.

What met his eyes was a dim world. The sky was thick with dark clouds, flashing with lightning and thunder, while the ground below was a vast expanse of scorched earth, stretching endlessly. Even with his emperor dao vision, he couldn't see the horizon.

There was no day or night here, no starlight or moonlight—just perpetual gloom, as if a veil obscured all light, making everywhere seem like dusk.

"This is Taigu Lu."

Ye Chen thought to himself, though it was his first time here, he was certain. Having inherited fragments of memory from his first life, the dim skies and chaotic universe felt familiar. He could see distorted spaces and hazy mists, with faint spacetime halos flickering within.

He wasn't surprised by this.

Taigu Honghuang involved spacetime, so the path leading to it naturally did as well. This made him marvel at Tianting Nüdi's abilities—what immense divine power it took to forge such a road; he knew he couldn't do it himself.

"Senior."

"Xiao Hong."

Ye Chen set off, walking and calling out, searching for Di Huang, Hongyan, and Zhanshen Xingtian.

Unfortunately, he received no response, nor any signs of battle.

"Boss, it's a Dunjia Tianzi."

Just as he walked, he heard a sudden shout from the Chaos Cauldron.

"I see it."

Ye Chen replied, gently reaching out to catch a passing golden character. It was indeed a Dunjia Tianzi.

He wasn't surprised to find such characters on Taigu Lu.

Legend had it that Dunjia Tianzi came from the Dunjia Tianshu, which was connected to Taigu Honghuang. As for the exact relationship, he didn't know yet; even his first life's inherited memories lacked details on this. He only knew that the Dunjia Tianshu was profoundly mysterious.

Boom! Rumble!

Suddenly, explosive sounds erupted, shaking the universe.

Ye Chen turned his gaze and ascended into the sky, heading straight toward the depths of the gloom. He could pinpoint the source of the booms—it was the fluctuation of a battle, and an emperor dao one at that.

"Hold on."

Ye Chen's eyes blazed like torches, instinctively assuming it was Di Huang, Hongyan, or Zhanshen Xingtian facing foreign domain supremes. From afar, he could sense the aura of Tianmo.

To his frown, he detected none of their presences.

Gazing into the distance, he saw two figures clashing fiercely in the void. One was a Tianmo supreme at the great emperor level; the other was a Zhutian warrior clad in ancient armor, wielding a blood-dripping immortal sword. Surprisingly, this one was a quasi-emperor, at the peak of ultimate strength.

"Jiutian Shenwang."

Ye Chen narrowed his emperor eyes, recognizing the armored figure. His name was Jiutian, a Jiuyuan Tian Body, titled Jiutian Shenwang, the first divine general under Zhan Gu Dadi. Ye Chen had never met him in person but had seen his statues and heard of his immortal legends.

It seemed Zhan Gu Dadi had once led his divine generals into Taigu Honghuang. Jiutian Shenwang's presence here likely meant he shared the same mission as Zhanshen Xingtian: to return to Zhutian for reinforcements. Unfortunately, Taigu Lu had collapsed.

Puff!

As Ye Chen watched, Jiutian Shenwang spat blood, pierced through by the Tianmo emperor's spear. His ancient divine body nearly disintegrated.

"Die!"

The Tianmo emperor grinned viciously, thrusting his spear from the heavens.

Jiutian Shenwang staggered, barely able to stand. His armor was shattered, his body covered in bloody gashes, each wound infused with emperor dao killing intent. It wasn't that he was weak; his cultivation was simply suppressed. His opponent was an emperor, while he was only a quasi-emperor.

Boom!

Ye Chen crossed the void in a single step and swung his palm.

The Tianmo emperor's face changed in an instant; he couldn't even see who attacked before a golden hand descended with world-shattering power. Before the palm struck, his soul trembled.

In a flash, he summoned his emperor dao vision for protection.

But it was futile—his defenses crumbled under Ye Chen's palm, and his emperor body was obliterated along with it. Only a faint emperor dao primordial spirit remained, disintegrating into ash as it fell.

To his last breath, he never saw his attacker clearly, only a dazzling golden figure in the distance, whose true form was indistinguishable.

Jiutian Shenwang stood stunned, his eyes full of disbelief. That was an emperor—one not suppressed—and yet he was destroyed with a single palm. How powerful must the attacker be?

Instinctively, he turned and saw Ye Chen.

"The Holy Body?"

"The emperor-ascended Holy Body?"

Jiutian Shenwang's insight was sharp; he saw through it at a glance.

His shock was warranted, for throughout Zhutian's history, many great Holy Bodies had existed, but one that achieved emperor status was unprecedented. No wonder he could vanquish an emperor with one strike.

Without a word, Ye Chen descended from the sky, placing his hand on Jiutian Shenwang's shoulder. He channeled divine power to erase the killing intent and heal the warrior's battered body.

In a single glance, Ye Chen saw through Jiutian Shenwang. A mysterious power lay dormant within him, capable of slaying great emperors, likely gained from Taigu Honghuang. But it wasn't permanent—it diminished with each use. Now, it was nearly depleted. Otherwise, that Tianmo emperor might not have been his match.

"What a promising younger generation!"

Jiutian Shenwang laughed wearily, yet with satisfaction.

"Senior, what exactly happened in Taigu Honghuang?"

Ye Chen asked immediately, continuing to infuse divine power.

"I don't know." Jiutian Shenwang shook his head weakly, his voice hoarse. "Dadi only ordered us to return to Zhutian for reinforcements."

Ye Chen frowned, confirming his earlier suspicions with the warrior's words. There must be a major upheaval in Taigu Honghuang. First Zhanshen Xingtian, then Jiutian Shenwang—both quasi-emperors—proved that the emperors in Taigu Honghuang were too occupied to act, sending their divine generals back instead.

From Jiutian Shenwang's sorrowful expression, Ye Chen knew the other divine generals who had set out weren't the only ones; most had likely perished on Taigu Lu, much like his own first life.

"Senior, have you seen Di Huang, the female Holy Body, and Zhanshen Xingtian?"

Ye Chen asked, offering more emperor dao essence.

"Di Huang... still alive?"

"The female Holy Body?"

"Xingtian is alive too?"

Jiutian Shenwang's thoughts were interrupted, his face full of surprise. In his memory, Di Huang had fallen protecting Yue Shang's ascension; a female Holy Body was unheard of; and Xingtian surviving was miraculous.

Ye Chen smiled, understanding Jiutian Shenwang's lack of knowledge.

He transmitted his divine sense, sharing the details.

Jiutian Shenwang absorbed it all, sighing in amazement at the events in later Zhutian. He had missed so many fascinating stories, like those of Di Huang and Hongyan.

"I haven't seen them."

After a long while, Jiutian Shenwang replied.

Ye Chen fell silent, his brows furrowing again.

"The destruction of this road is far worse than we imagined," Jiutian Shenwang said slowly. "It took me thousands of years to realize. Taigu Lu isn't just broken in a few places; the severed sections don't connect end to end."

Ye Chen understood instantly.

Taigu Lu was shattered into multiple segments. His inability to find Di Huang and the others was likely because they were on different segments.

The fissure he entered happened to lead to this segment, or perhaps due to the passage's spacetime misalignment, he ended up here.

This explained a lot. The Heavenly Demonic Heavenly Emperor that fell out earlier clearly wasn't from this segment; otherwise, Jiutian Shenwang wouldn't have survived. A great emperor alone was formidable, let alone a heavenly emperor.

In short, entering through a fissure didn't guarantee landing on the original segment.

As for seeking reinforcements, it was nearly impossible. Only Tianting Nüdi could reconnect Taigu Lu. Any divine generals emerging from Taigu Honghuang were doomed to fail returning via this road. They might find a fissure by chance, but hitting Zhutian exactly was a gamble—they could end up in the foreign domains and meet a grisly end.

Facts showed the chances were slim. Over the years, many foreign domain supremes and demonic soldiers had fallen into Zhutian, but not a single Zhutian warrior had returned that way. Perhaps some had found fissures, but misfortune led them elsewhere.

In this era of fate, luck was everything.

As for his first life, even without foreign domain supremes on Taigu Lu, he couldn't have reached Taigu Honghuang because the road was broken. Without Tianting Nüdi, no one could make it work.

"Little one, you came through a fissure, didn't you?"

Jiutian Shenwang asked, looking at Ye Chen.

"As you said, senior." Ye Chen nodded with a smile.

Jiutian Shenwang sighed. He had seen fissures before and people entering them, only to vanish without a trace. They might return to Zhutian, perish in the passage, or end up in Tianmo Domain or E Mo Domain.

However, most of the divine generals who left Taigu Honghuang had been destroyed on Taigu Lu. He was one of the lucky ones; this segment had few foreign domain supremes, at least no heavenly emperors or emperor dao sacred demons.

A breeze blew, and fresh blood overflowed from Jiutian Shenwang's mouth.

Not only that, his bloodstained hair turned white strand by strand. It seemed his lifespan was nearly spent.

Truth be told, without the hidden power from Taigu Honghuang sustaining him, he would have already turned to dust. After so many years of battles, that power was exhausted, and his end was near.

"Senior, rest for a while."

Ye Chen finally withdrew his hand and used an emperor dao immortal technique to seal Jiutian Shenwang. He couldn't let this divine general die of old age; he needed to reach Taigu Honghuang to unseal him.

Placing the sealed warrior into the cauldron, Ye Chen continued onward.

He didn't know which segment of Taigu Lu this was, only that this world was immensely vast, truly boundless.

He had underestimated this road. He thought entering the fissure would let him find Di Huang, Hongyan, and Xingtian quickly, but in reality, locating them was harder than ascending to heaven—unless he could reconnect Taigu Lu, which he couldn't.

His current situation was awkward; he was effectively trapped on this segment. He couldn't reach Taigu Honghuang or return to Zhutian. Finding another fissure might allow passage back, but missing the mark could land him in Tianmo or E Mo Domain, which would be even worse.

Tianting Nüdi was right not to let him come; she seemed to know Taigu Lu's state well. Once here, leaving was difficult, and death was a constant risk—just like his first life.