Chapter 3021: Legend of Dunjia

The Taigu Road, humming with energy, stretched forward.

The Nü Di dared not be careless in the slightest. Precisely because she was distracted by controlling the direction, her pressure surged, and blood constantly overflowed from the corners of her mouth.

Fortunately, during this time, nothing unexpected happened.

Beside her, Ye Chen’s whole body radiated with Yongheng light, bearing an even greater burden. He continuously observed the illusions, watching those swirling vortices. Just a glance from a distance sent shivers down one’s spine, as if one’s mind was on the verge of being devoured.

Even he felt this way, not to mention the emperors and divine generals behind him. If anyone lost focus, their consciousness could be obliterated.

Ye Chen tilted his head slightly and glanced at the Nü Di.

The Taigu Road twisted and turned in a circuitous manner, far exceeding the original path, and even involved elements of pioneering a new Taigu Road. This was because the established route had been altered by the vortices. On the surface, it was a continuation, but in reality, it was pioneering. Continuation and pioneering were two different concepts, so the energy consumption was not the same.

The Nü Di said nothing, exerting herself to hold on.

To avoid any mistakes, detours and route changes were necessary. Earlier, it had mainly been about continuation, but now it was primarily pioneering. She was supporting it, as was Ye Chen's Yongheng Immortal River. Most of the time, it drew power from the Yongheng Immortal River. Her pressure was immense, and so was Ye Chen's.

Buzz! Buzz!

Amidst the rumbling buzz, they entered another stretch of illusion, with dozens of vortices of various sizes scattered in different positions.

Ye Chen furrowed his brow.

There were too many vortices, and the gaps between them were winding and tortuous. If they collided with one, the outcome would be disastrous.

The Nü Di gritted her teeth and tilted her arm again.

The direction of the extending Taigu Road changed once more, looping around in a wide arc. Her actions were clear—she had no intention of passing through the gaps between the vortices. Instead, she planned to bypass that entire destructive area, even if it took more time, as it would be safer.

Scenes like this occurred repeatedly afterward.

The Nü Di exerted every effort to control it. If they could pass through, they would; if not, they would go around directly. It wasn't that she was overly cautious; it was just that they had no way back and couldn't afford any errors.

Pfft!

Behind them, the Fourth Divine General spat out blood, and the Son of the Plane beside him swayed unsteadily. The other emperors fared no better. Now that they were pioneering the Taigu Road, the consumption far exceeded that of merely continuing it. Ye Chen and the Nü Di were forcibly holding on, and they were doing the same. Their divine power was being depleted at a rate beyond what they could endure. If this continued, including Di Huang, they would all collapse one by one.

"Fortunately, we have four new emperors added."

Zaohua Shen Wang took a deep breath, or else it would have been even worse.

"Is there anyone else who wants to undergo tribulation? Hurry up."

Chiyang Zi looked around, paying special attention to those at the peak of supreme strength.

Unfortunately, no one responded to him.

Not only could no one summon the ultimate Dao Emperor Tribulation, but even if they could, it would be too late. The emperors wouldn't last until a new one emerged.

Ye Chen watched silently, his mind stirred with waves.

Just moments ago, he had seen two vortices collide and devour each other, with destructive lightning tearing through, eventually merging into a whole and unleashing terrifying power that could destroy everything.

Ye Chen began to understand that the breaking of the Taigu Road wasn't just due to the outer domains; it was likely related to the vortices as well. These weren't stationary; some of them could move.

"We can see it."

Xiao Lingwa exclaimed, his eyes wide and round.

Indeed, they could see the opposite Taigu Road.

However, neither the emperors nor the divine generals showed any joy, because right in front of that segment of Taigu Road was a massive vortex, blocking the way directly. To connect with it, they would have to pass through the vortex.

"Hold on."

The Nü Di whispered softly, her words audible only to Ye Chen.

"Easy enough."

Ye Chen replied casually, but after speaking, he realized what she meant. In that instant, the Nü Di shifted most of her pressure onto him, leaving him to bear over seventy percent of the burden. He was immediately forced to spit blood, and it was only thanks to Yongheng that he managed; otherwise, it would have been disastrous.

Looking at the Nü Di, a mark of an immortal pattern had already appeared on her forehead.

She was controlling it, changing direction once again, with no intention of crossing the vortex—she didn't dare to. Instead, she planned to go around.

Boom!

Soon, a tremendous rumble erupted. This segment of Taigu Road collided violently with the one opposite, not at the end but in the middle section, which still worked.

Pfft! Pfft!

Sounds of spitting blood rang out frequently. Ye Chen collapsed, and the emperors behind him did the same. Only the Nü Di remained, desperately unleashing Yongheng.

Whether pioneering or continuing, after so much time and effort, they had finally arrived. Even she had exhausted her divine power completely.

"There are people from the outer domains."

Hou Yi spoke up, detecting the bloody, demonic aura.

However, they were not supreme beings from the outer domains.

Gazing into the distance, they were all demon soldiers and generals, with quasi-emperors making up the majority, and the rest being great saints, saint kings, and saints.

As they observed, the outer domain forces were already surrounding them from all sides. The collision of the Taigu Road created such a massive disturbance that it was impossible not to hear.

"Don't move. We'll handle this."

Xiao Yuanhuang let out a wolf-like howl and charged out with his Wujin iron rod, joined by many divine generals. With no supreme beings from the outer domains present, they saw it as a chance to train against them. No one backed down.

"Come back."

Ye Chen said calmly. He had recovered a bit of his divine power and could stand, so he stopped the divine generals. They were just minor foes; there was no need to engage. The divine generals were all treasures, each a prodigy with the potential to become an emperor—they couldn't afford any mishaps.

Having stopped the divine generals, he released a brilliant Yongheng halo centered on himself, spreading infinitely in all directions. It carried the fearsome might of a Heavenly Emperor, pulverizing space along the way and shrouding the universe in world-ending divine power.

Looking at the outer domain forces, it was nothing short of catastrophic.

The halo unleashed by the Heavenly Emperor was something even great emperors might not withstand, let alone them. They were all erased into nothingness.

The divine generals coughed dryly and put away their weapons. They had wanted to make a contribution, but they weren't given the chance.

The Nü Di continued to unleash Yongheng, while the emperors healed their wounds. Only Ye Chen ascended into the vast emptiness, striding through the sky. The outer domain forces had all been wiped out, leaving the Taigu Road deathly quiet, much like the previous one—full of ravines, ruined mountains, ancient cities, and hidden bones, likely from ancient divine generals.

Suddenly, he paused slightly, reaching down toward an ancient city below, extracting three ancient characters that glowed golden—the mysterious Dun Jia Tian Zi.

To this day, he still didn't know the origins of the Dun Jia Tianshu.

The Nü Di of the Ancient Heavenly Court had once said that this heavenly book came from the Yongheng Xian Yu, recording the immortal. Each character carried the intent of Yongheng Dao, and collecting all the Dun Jia Tian Zi would allow one to see the past, present, and future. Of course, this was just a legend.

Throughout eternity, across the upper and lower epochs, no one had ever seen the true Dun Jia Tianshu, including the Nü Di herself. Back in the great destruction of heaven and earth, the Dun Jia Tian Zi had endured, which was a secret the Nü Di had once revealed.

Thus, no one knew what the Dun Jia Tianshu truly was or what other powers it held, because no one had ever collected them all. What Ye Chen had gathered was only a small part.

Ye Chen stood quietly in the void, the three radiant Dun Jia Tian Zi hovering in his palm. Even he could only vaguely capture the lingering intent within them.

He performed the Zhou Tian evolution.

This was the first time he had divined the Dun Jia Tian Zi since becoming the Heavenly Emperor. He had tried it multiple times in the past but could never trace its source—it was always a blur.

Although he was a successor of Zhou Tian, his divine art of divining heaven and earth had already surpassed that of the Human King, truly reaching its pinnacle. If not for the changes in the emperor's path and the obstructive forces of fate, he could calculate everything, including the ancient floods.

As Zhou Tian operated, the power of evolution flickered in and out.

In his palm, the three Tian Zi buzzed and trembled, as if trying to escape, but Ye Chen forcibly sealed them. Following the intent within, he used Zhou Tian to trace back step by step, seeking its ultimate origin.

However, what he saw was still a blur.

It was as if a layer of mist in the void blocked his divination. No matter how he operated Zhou Tian, he couldn't dispel it.

A breeze blew by, and fresh blood trickled from the corners of his mouth.

He had recklessly peered into the secrets of heaven and suffered backlash from the void. The stronger he was, the more fearsome the backlash.

Ah!

He sighed, his body blooming with Yongheng to dispel the backlash. It seemed his cultivation was insufficient to peek into such mysteries.

"May you unravel the secrets she couldn't."

A soft voice arose as the Nü Di suddenly appeared. The "she" she referred to was the complete Nü Di, who had also attempted divination before and suffered extremely severe backlash, just like Ye Chen.

"Did she never think of collecting them all back then?"

Ye Chen wiped the fresh blood from his mouth and turned to look at the Nü Di.

"It's impossible to collect them all."

The Nü Di shook her head lightly.

"Why?"

"Even if you gathered every Dun Jia Tian Zi in this universe, it still wouldn't unlock the Dun Jia Tianshu. That's the reason."

"I see."

Ye Chen murmured softly, his gaze growing deeper. He could discern the implication—it was clear that Dun Jia Tian Zi existed not just in this universe but in others as well. Who knew how many universes they were scattered across? Even with the ability to traverse universes, he'd have to search them one by one, and he might not find them all before dying. The difficulty was unimaginably despairing.

The two did not linger and headed straight for the end.

Ye Chen collected the three Dun Jia Tian Zi and engraved them on the Chaos Cauldron, pondering all the way. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

The Nü Di glanced at him sideways for a moment.

The confusion Ye Chen felt now was something the Nü Di of the Ancient Heavenly Court had experienced back then. She had an obsession with gathering the Dun Jia Tian Zi and collected far more than Ye Chen, nearly all in this universe. In the end, she realized how foolish the idea was. Anything involving multiple universes made collection impossible.

The great war of the Ancient Heavenly Court, the end of the epoch, the great destruction of heaven and earth, and various other reasons had caused the gathered Dun Jia Tian Zi to scatter once more into the world, persisting into this epoch. They existed in the various heavens, on the Taigu Road, in the Taigu Honghuang, as if spread across every corner of the universe.

To this day, the Dun Jia Tianshu remained merely a legend.

However, while gathering the Dun Jia Tian Zi might have been futile, it still brought benefits, such as her Yongheng.

The Nü Di had comprehended Yongheng, and the Dun Jia Tian Zi played a crucial role. It was those individual Tian Zi that led the Nü Di of the Ancient Heavenly Court to another realm known as immortality.

As for Ye Chen, though he had karma with the Dun Jia Tian Zi in his youth, he couldn't comprehend Yongheng. The lingering Yongheng intent on the Tian Zi required at least the level of a Heavenly Emperor to barely grasp.

Ye Chen deeply felt this—as a Heavenly Emperor, he hadn't realized until now that the Tian Zi carried Yongheng intent.

By the time they spoke, the two had already reached the end.

Looking outward, their expressions turned grim. As far as they could see, the area was filled with illusions and demons—that is, the swirling vortices—that nearly sealed off the Taigu Road entirely. Attempting to cross recklessly could lead to a collision.