Chapter 2979: Am I Still Alive?

Chapter 2979: Am I Still Alive?

"Hongyan!"

Hongyan cried out, struggling to escape the eternal space. Falling from the Taigu Road meant crossing the threshold of hell!

Rising alongside her were Dihuang, Xingtian, and Houyi.

Before they could leave the separate space, four beams of eternal immortal light descended from the sky, completely engulfing them. It was a supreme restriction that left them utterly immobilized. Not just Xingtian and Houyi, but even Hongyan and Dihuang, who had reached the emperor's path, were frozen in place. Their once-mighty emperor path divine power fell into complete silence.

"You harmed him."

Hongyan turned her back to the Tianting Nüdi, her eyes brimming with tears that froze into ice.

Dihuang and the other three wore expressions filled with deep resentment and hatred.

They had all witnessed everything. They knew the empress was tempering Ye Chen, pushing him to achieve nirvana in the face of desperation. But she had underestimated the Outer Domain Supremes' forces—so many Heavenly Emperors and emperor path sacred demons, including those at the peak realm. How could Ye Chen fight them alone? At the very least, she should have lifted his curse seal before letting him battle the Outer Domain. Now, instead of transformation, she had sent him straight to the Huangquan Road.

The empress remained silent, still as an ice sculpture, without any reaction.

The atmosphere in the eternal separate space turned solid and eerily quiet, with only the sound of heartbeats echoing.

"After all that, you're still not dead?"

At the end of the Taigu Road, the purple-haired Tianmo Heavenly Emperor stood at the edge, peering down. All he saw was nothingness and illusion. Even with his vision, he couldn't penetrate it, and it filled him with dread. It was like an endless abyss—gazing into it made his mind feel on the verge of being swallowed.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The other supremes arrived, their landings shaking the void with thunderous rumbles. They lined up neatly at the end of the Taigu Road, craning their necks to look down. With no sign of Ye Chen, they were certain he had been obliterated into ashes. They laughed wildly and without restraint, their faces twisted in grotesque glee. After chasing and hunting him for over half a year, they had finally killed that young sacred body. All their pent-up frustration vanished, leaving them with an unprecedented sense of exhilaration.

Only after a long while did the supremes turn and leave.

Ye Chen might be dead, but others were still unaccounted for. They had to hunt them down one by one.

Another massive search began, turning everything upside down.

In the midst of nothingness and illusion, Ye Chen felt his body sinking continuously. His limbs, organs, meridians, primordial spirit, fundamental origins, emperor blood, and sacred bones were all decaying bit by bit, crumbling inch by inch, breaking down into specks of dust finer than sand.

This process brought no pain.

The absence of pain only made it more terrifying, as if he had lost all roots, wandering in endless darkness.

"Am I still alive?"

Ye Chen murmured to himself, like a ghost in hell whispering.

His words went unheard, with no response.

That was why he wasn't sure—uncertain if he was still alive. Without a body, without a primordial spirit, only a vague consciousness remained, asking the question repeatedly in this realm of illusion and reality.

"The dao heart does not die, and the human form does not perish."

In the void, a faint and wondrous voice suddenly echoed, from an unknown source. It sounded ancient and melodious, like heavenly music, with each word like a dancing note forming a beautiful immortal melody.

"Nüdi."

Ye Chen whispered, recognizing the voice. If not for that woman, he wouldn't be here.

Hearing the empress's words, he knew he was indeed still alive.

But now, he couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion. With only consciousness left, not even a simple form, he didn't know how to reshape his golden body or how to escape the illusion.

"You aren't going to come down and save me?"

Ye Chen grumbled, certain the empress could hear him. It was a good thing he had no form, or his face would be darkly flushed. He had been hiding just fine until she tricked him into this mess.

He waited a long time, but the empress didn't reply.

Ye Chen lost his temper, filled with an urge to strangle her.

Angry as he was, he still had the desire to revive.

His belief remained unshaken, and his consciousness became the source. He tried to form a consciousness body, but some mysterious force wouldn't allow it. He felt his awareness lost in an ocean, drifting with the rolling waves.

He refused to give up, keeping his dao heart steady as he forced himself to condense it.

This was an extremely long process. He had no idea how much time passed—maybe three to five days, or three to five years, or even three to five centuries. After all, nothingness and illusion had no concept of time.

But he succeeded.

In the darkness, he shaped his consciousness into a form, like a phantom primordial spirit. It was nearly transparent and distorted, swaying with the mysterious forces, as if blown by winds in the illusion.

"After falling from the Taigu Road, I'm still alive."

Ye Chen looked up toward the void above, trying to see the Taigu Road, but it was out of sight. He had no idea how far away it was. Here, there was no concept of time or space—it could be just three to five zhang away, or millions of li. All he knew was that as long as he had consciousness, revival was possible. That was a hope.

And there were the million divine generals—they lived as long as he did.

He just didn't know if everyone who fell here could survive with their consciousness, or if this was exclusive to the sacred body lineage. If it was, then the sacred body was far superior to the sacred demon—they simply couldn't die.

He drifted like a lonely ghost in the darkness.

Only now, truly in the illusion, did he realize its extraordinariness. It was pitch black, yet faintly luminous, carrying forbidden powers—and not just one kind: time-space, reincarnation, time... countless. These forbidden forces sometimes wove together into chains of laws, and other times merged into eternity.

"What a place."

Ye Chen sighed in admiration. If he ignored the dangers, this endless nothingness and illusion was absolutely a sacred ground for enlightenment—no disturbances, with so many forbidden laws, like wandering in the dao itself.

He began to understand the empress's true intentions.

Earlier, she had removed his eternal concealment and destroyed his dust space, repeatedly exposing him to the Outer Domain Supremes—it was a form of tempering, to let him achieve nirvana in desperation. But her real goal was to push him off the Taigu Road, into this nothingness and illusion, to seek enlightenment and achieve a heavenly transformation.

"It was just a matter of saying so, but you made it so complicated."

Ye Chen glanced up at the void. If she had told him earlier, he would have come down himself.

Now that he understood, he slowly closed his eyes.

He needed to seek enlightenment, to grasp some eternity before he could reshape his golden body. If he comprehended deeply enough, he might even move freely in the illusion, like the empress wandering down here casually.

This might take a very long time.

But he wasn't worried at all, because time didn't exist here. As long as he was diligent enough, he could uncover some truths. Most importantly, he already mastered many forbidden laws—that was his foundation.

In the eternal separate space, the closed-eyed Tianting Nüdi let out a slight breath of relief.

No one knew she had been gambling. Earlier, she wasn't sure if Ye Chen could survive after falling.

Now, it seemed she had won the bet.

As long as Ye Chen's dao heart didn't die, his consciousness would remain. With enough time, anything was possible—he would reshape his golden body and surely achieve some eternal enlightenment.

"You're really a madwoman."

Hongyan murmured, speaking to the empress. She had regained her ability to move and had been told that Ye Chen was still alive. That's why she found it hard to believe—shocked that Ye Chen could survive, and awed by the empress's boldness. The empress's expectations for Ye Chen were beyond imagination. If it were her, she wouldn't have such courage.

"Being the master of the ancient Tianting is no small feat."

Xingtian sighed, and Houyi clicked his tongue. This was a massive gamble, staking not just Ye Chen's life but also the million divine generals in his Chaos Cauldron. What kind of audacity did it take for such a move? What kind of madness?

Dihuang shook his head with a smile, unable to deny his own surprise.

His shock, like Hongyan's, was for both Ye Chen and the Tianting Nüdi—one an unkillable cockroach, the other a true madwoman. Together, they were a perfect match.

As the four emperors watched, fresh blood overflowed from the empress's lips.

Her immortal body not only dimmed with eternal light but also became unstable. She was one person, yet in certain moments, multiple shadows appeared on her—Chuxuan, Chuling, Wulei, Ruoxi. It was a sign of separation, making the four emperors furrow their brows.

If the empress separated, the troubles ahead would be severe.

The awkward part was that none of them could help, not knowing the root of her problem.

Now, the empress's expression showed a hint of pain.

She knew her own state well. There were many reasons she couldn't maintain the fusion—Chuxuan and Chuling were one factor, ancient wounds another, and the sacred demon's earlier curse yet another.

"I wonder if you'll reach the Taigu Honghuang first, or if I'll break my seal first."

In the void, a sinister laugh echoed, audible only to the empress. It carried supreme demonic power, disrupting her mind. Already in a poor state, her face grew even paler from this demonic laughter.

The empress said nothing, exerting all her effort to maintain the balance of her fusion.

As for the crisis in the Taigu Honghuang, she could only hope the various generations of Heavenly Supremes would hold on. As long as they endured until reinforcements arrived, that ancient light would shine upon the world once more.

On another front, Ye Chen in the illusion drifted to an unknown place.

His consciousness form couldn't resist the winds in the void, carrying him wherever they blew.

"Rise from destruction, stand after breaking, make eternity real."

Ye Chen's murmurs were the only sounds in the endless darkness. Outside on the Taigu Road, only half a day had passed, but here, who knew how many ages had gone by. In this place, his enlightenment had yielded so many forbidden truths.

As he spoke, another beam of light flew out and struck his consciousness body.

He was overjoyed. Each time this happened, it brought an opportunity. It wasn't ordinary light; it contained forbidden mysteries. How much he could comprehend depended on his talent—the light would merge into his consciousness, carrying laws within.

When he opened his eyes again, another day had passed on the Taigu Road.

That day, the Outer Domain Supremes went mad with frenzy, searching inch by inch. They couldn't find even a trace of the two figures. How could living people just vanish, as if they had evaporated from the world?

"Eternity is truly profound."

Houyi took a deep breath. In the separate space, he could clearly see the outside world. More than one group of supremes had passed through this area, scanning it repeatedly, but none detected them. Each one looked ferocious.

"She has to hold on."

Xingtian said, glancing at the Tianting Nüdi. If she separated, this so-called eternal separate space would be exposed, leading to a devastating battle.

Fortunately, the empress stabilized herself, maintaining the balance to the extreme.

Meanwhile, Dihuang was watching Hongyan. Her entire body glowed with golden light, and the sacred demon aura surrounding her was gradually fading—or rather, she was fully assimilating the sacred demon bloodline, transforming into a sacred body. After endless ages, the flaws in her body were finally healed, with no defects left.

"Much stronger than when she was half-demon, half-sacred."

Houyi withdrew his gaze from the outside and focused on Hongyan. At the very least, she could easily defeat him now.

As a fellow sacred body, Dihuang felt it most acutely.

Previously, being half-demon and half-sacred made her less refined. Now, fully a sacred body, her origins were even more vast than his. In a real fight, he might not beat her. The fusion of the two bloodlines was true nirvana.

Hongyan opened her eyes, her beautiful gaze shooting out golden light.

With a turbid breath exhaled, the sacred demon's blood fiend was completely expelled. Her eyes, like water, embodied the essence of the dao. She had once cultivated forbidden laws, and not just one kind, weaving them into a path resembling destruction.

"Thank you."

Hongyan's words were for the empress. Without her help, it would have taken her centuries to assimilate. Being half-demon and half-sacred had been awkward, with neither bloodline's advantages, only serving as a restraint. Now, fully a sacred body, her bloodline and origins had been fully elevated.

The empress didn't respond, or perhaps she was too preoccupied.

Each time she opened her eyes, she looked at Ye Chen. Among the three sacred bodies of this era, she favored him the most. As the pioneer of the ancient sacred body, he had a kind of might that Hongyan and Dihuang couldn't match.

Looking at Ye Chen now, he was truly striking.

Around his consciousness body, various forbidden laws swirled—not substantial, but faintly visible. The heavenly sounds of the dao echoed, ancient and profound, even making him feel their mysteries.

Unfortunately, he still couldn't reshape his physical body and primordial spirit.

In a way, he didn't want to. His physical body, primordial spirit, and even bloodline would be constraints, like a cage. As a consciousness body, he was purest, able to comprehend even more.

"Three thousand years have passed. Have you grasped eternity yet?"

The empress's voice suddenly rang out, as wonderful as in his memories, like a melodious immortal melody.

"Three thousand years?"

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, only catching the first half. He missed the rest entirely.

"More or less an estimate."

"That's way too..."

Ye Chen tugged at the corner of his mouth. With no concept of time here, he had no idea how long had passed, and he didn't know how the empress calculated it. But he believed her words—she had no reason to lie.

Only then did he recall the second half of what she said.

In this unknown three thousand years, he had comprehended many laws but hadn't grasped eternity.

The empress said no more, offering no hints.

Ye Chen closed his eyes again, blown by the winds to a distant place, continuing his enlightenment. It was like when he once sought to prove the emperor's path—he was still on a dim road, quietly exploring. The empress didn't guide him, for her eternity wasn't his dao. The destination might be the same, but the paths were different.

In the years that followed, he settled his state of mind.

He had comprehended enough laws, all merging into the Chaos Dao. In the future, he would surely achieve eternity.