Chapter 2966: Ghost Face's Will

Chapter 2966: Gui Lian's Will

A buzzing sound echoed endlessly, the Tai Gu Lu stretching infinitely onward.

At that moment, not only Di Huang and Hong Yan, but even Ye Chen was struggling to hold on. His vast vital energy was waning, and his once-mighty divine power was depleting and gradually fading away.

More often than not, it was the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di who was keeping everything going.

"You must be very tired."

Hong Yan suddenly spoke, addressing the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di. Her words weren't about extending the Tai Gu Lu, but about the endless cycles of change she had endured, silently supporting the heavens all along.

"The fortunes of the heavens will endure eternally."

The Gu Tian Ting Nu Di murmured softly, her voice laced with weariness and a profound sense of age, even sounding slightly hoarse.

Hong Yan pursed her lips lightly, her eyes filled with complexity.

As for Ye Chen, every time he looked at the empress, his heart ached deeply. His Chu Xuan and Chu Ling were among those she protected. That ancient silhouette was etched with the marks of time, covered in the dust of ages.

Now, this scene reminded him of what Wu Lei had once said—they were all like children of three, and only the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di was the adult, shielding them from behind.

It wasn't until sometime later that the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di finally withdrew her hand.

It wasn't that she stopped extending the road; it was that Ye Chen and the others could no longer continue. The instant she pulled back, Hong Yan stumbled forward, nearly collapsing, and was caught by the equally unsteady Ye Chen. Di Huang fared no better; had Zhan Shen not stepped in, he would have fallen too.

"Quickly restore your divine power."

The Gu Tian Ting Nu Di left those words behind and stepped beyond the end of the road, treading through the void and illusion toward the depths. Obscured by some mysterious force, her figure soon vanished from sight. She must have gone to check how far it was to the opposite Tai Gu Lu.

In her current state, she couldn't reach the other side; she could only use her eternal essence to roughly estimate the distance.

Ye Chen and his companions had already sat down in meditation, desperately restoring their emperor-level divine power.

"At this rate, when will we ever connect the entire Tai Gu Lu?"

Xie Yun poked his head out from the rim of the Hun Dun Ding, glancing at Ye Chen, then at Di Huang and Hong Yan. These three ancient sacred bodies, who had all achieved emperor status, were now utterly drained of divine power.

The hearts of the heavenly generals were filled with shock. Connecting the Tai Gu Lu was this difficult—imagine how terrifying the one who originally created it must have been. A true god?

Xing Tian took a deep breath, his mind equally unsettled. If he had been the one to enter the formation earlier, with such immense divine power consumption, he probably couldn't have lasted as long. Compared to the Huang Gu Sheng Ti, his combat strength and divine power were far inferior.

It was only after a long while that the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di returned.

Ye Chen and the other three rose to their feet and stood behind her. Side by side, their restored divine power was once again drawn away.

A buzzing sound rose from the tranquil Tai Gu Lu, extending onward bit by bit.

"How much farther is it? Still no sign."

Si Tu Nan also peered out from the edge of the cauldron, gazing into the endless void ahead. Unfortunately, his vision was limited; he could only see illusions and had no idea when they would connect with the opposite Tai Gu Lu. Judging by Ye Chen and the others' appearances, their surging vital energy was starting to wane again.

In a certain instant, Ye Chen's eyes flashed with light.

Through the void and illusion, he could vaguely make out the opposite Tai Gu Lu—the section he had left behind earlier.

Boom!

Soon, a thunderous roar echoed as the end of this Tai Gu Lu collided with the starting point of the opposite one.

In that moment, Ye Chen and his companions were shaken off their feet, perhaps from exhaustion, and collapsed one by one.

Only the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di remained standing gracefully, waving her hand repeatedly to scatter eternal immortal light, sealing the gaps between the two sections of the Tai Gu Lu and truly joining them into one.

Only then did she withdraw her hand, stepping across the void to the end of the Tai Gu Lu, then treading through the illusions straight into the depths of the void. She needed to check how far it was to the next section.

"Back hurts, shoulders ache. Come on, give me a rub."

Ye Chen sat on the ground, massaging his shoulders as he spoke.

Hong Yan turned her head and gave him a sidelong glance, knowing full well he was talking to her. Precisely because she knew, her look was even more pointed. Asking me to rub your shoulders? How thick-skinned can you get!

Ye Chen paid it no mind and shook himself up to his feet.

After so many years, returning to this familiar place stirred his emotions deeply. Back on this section of the Tai Gu Lu, he had slain quite a few Wai Yu Zhi Zun. Among them were a Tian Di and an Di Dao Sheng Mo. If not for that timely rift, this entire Tai Gu Lu would likely have been destroyed by that Gui Lian.

When they reached the end, the empress had already returned. Her expression wasn't great—perhaps because the distance to the next Tai Gu Lu was too vast, or maybe because there were too many Wai Yu Zhi Zun on it. Even she looked troubled, so it must be no simple matter.

"Why not take us over there first and wipe out the Wai Yu Zhi Zun on the opposite Tai Gu Lu? That way, they won't interfere when we connect it."

Ye Chen held up his wine flask and glanced sideways at the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di.

The empress shook her head lightly. If she could go, she wouldn't need Ye Chen to suggest it. The problem was, the distance was too great; for now, she couldn't cross it. Some mysterious force in the void was beyond her ability to reverse at the moment. After all, she wasn't the true Gu Tian Ting Nu Di.

"What the heck is that?"

One of the heavenly generals in the cauldron shouted in surprise, craning his neck to look toward the hazy void. A massive Gui Lian had materialized, covering the sky, laughing in a sinister and terrifying way.

Ye Chen remained relatively calm about this; he had seen it before.

Unexpectedly, after all these years, this damned Gui Lian was still around. The way it laughed so menacingly made it clear it intended to destroy the Tai Gu Lu and everyone on it.

"Long time no see."

The Gu Tian Ting Nu Di said indifferently, her tone utterly aloof. It seemed she recognized the Gui Lian; they were old acquaintances.

Di Huang and Zhan Shen said nothing, merely watching quietly.

Hong Yan's expression showed a hint of fear; gazing at the Gui Lian, her delicate body trembled involuntarily, and she subconsciously moved closer to Ye Chen. It was a fear that came from the depths of her soul.

No need to explain—she recognized it. Not the Gui Lian itself, but the Di Yi Dai Sheng Mo, because this Gui Lian was a mere manifestation of the first sacred demon, a nightmarish presence.

Clang!

A sword's hum rang out as Ye Chen summoned the Lun Hui Xian Jian in his hand, extending it infinitely and thrusting it into the void, stirring violently to shred that accursed Gui Lian to pieces.

History repeated itself: the shattered Gui Lian reformed once more, opening its massive maw to devour Ye Chen and the others. But it was just a manifestation; it couldn't even shake the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di, let alone Zhan Shen or Xing Tian.

Furious and humiliated, the Gui Lian suddenly collapsed into bolts of lightning, crashing down from the sky. Streaks of thunder connected heaven and earth. Since it couldn't swallow them, it would destroy the Tai Gu Lu outright. Back then, the first section of the Tai Gu Lu where Ye Chen had been was ruined this way, and he remembered it all too clearly.

Regrettably, the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di was here this time.

She had already acted, her eternal immortal light sweeping across the heavens, extinguishing any lightning that touched it.

Boom! Boom!

The lightning transformed from the Gui Lian showed no sign of stopping, its attacks fierce as a storm, enveloping the entire world.

The empress's expression remained indifferent, radiating even more eternal immortal light.

One assailed from above with heavenly lightning, the other countered from below with eternal immortal light—this was an unusual confrontation between the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di and the Di Yi Dai Sheng Mo, neither able to completely erase the other.

Clang!

Ye Chen's eyes gleamed brightly as he gripped the Lun Hui Xian Jian and charged into the void. Back then, he hadn't fully understood; today, he saw it clearly. This manifestation was a form of will. As long as that mysterious will wasn't erased, the damned lightning would never cease, persisting until the Tai Gu Lu collapsed. That was its unyielding obsession.

Boom! Boom!

Amid the rampant lightning, Ye Chen charged upward against the heavens, fighting his way to the hazy pinnacle, where he stood firm, unmoving.

It wasn't until sometime later that he struck, slashing toward a patch of void.

Ah!

A shrill scream erupted, filled with agony. Some mysterious will in the void seemed to have been hit and destroyed. The lightning in the sky vanished one bolt after another, and the booming sounds faded away.

When Ye Chen descended, the empress had already turned around, gazing into the void ahead. Hong Yan's face was pale, her body still trembling occasionally, leaving Di Huang and Zhan Shen puzzled.

They had known her for so long, and this was the first time they'd seen her like this.

Ye Chen's smile brought her a bit of comfort.

For the next three days, the three emperors focused on restoring their emperor-level divine power as much as possible.

On the fourth day, a buzzing sound finally rose from the quiet Tai Gu Lu. The four of them joined forces, and the broken Tai Gu Lu extended inch by inch, slowly at first, then accelerating toward the void.

"How far is it to the Tai Gu Hong Huang?"

Ye Chen asked.

"Very far."

The one speaking was Xing Tian; he had traveled this path before and knew its length all too well, let alone the added challenge of extending it.

Nine days later, they stopped. Ye Chen and the others were utterly exhausted, their divine power completely drained, leaving them listless.

But on this day, the Tai Gu Lu became strangely unstable. It had been extending inch by inch before, but now it was retracting inch by inch. If given enough time, the connected sections would all turn to ash.

"What's going on?"

Xiao Ling Wa was stunned, and the awakened heavenly generals looked equally bewildered. They were here to extend the road—why was it shrinking back?

No one answered his question.

Ye Chen frowned and glanced at the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di; this might be the reason her expression had been so grim earlier. She must have known about this change in advance, and it was beyond her control.

So, in a situation like this, it was downright frustrating. Either they kept extending the Tai Gu Lu without stopping, or once they paused, it would retract, and the progress would vanish inch by inch, with the speed gradually increasing.

The empress raised her hand, scattering eternal immortal light, which slowed the retraction. But it was only a temporary suppression.

"The road you created is quite something."

Ye Chen sighed, or rather, he realized he had underestimated things. He thought extending it would be straightforward, but who knew there would be such absurd complications? Once they stopped, it retracted.

In other words, to connect the Tai Gu Lu, they had to push through the exhaustion nonstop, all the way to the other side.

The empress said nothing, glancing at Ye Chen—or more precisely, at the great cauldron he carried, and the heavenly generals within it.

The Tai Gu Lu was created by the Gu Tian Ting Nu Di, and while this change had occurred, there was a way to fix it. However, the cost would be severe.

In essence, it meant sacrificing the heavenly generals.

A quasi-emperor-level general might not yield much divine power, but it could refine the essence of the heavens. In a certain sense, that essence was more effective than emperor-level divine power; it could extend the Tai Gu Lu all the way to the other side at incredible speed.

She looked away.

Unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn't sacrifice the generals.