Chapter 3040: Eternal Bloodline

The scene, dripping with blood, made hearts tremble. The emperors of the Zhutian Zhongdi realms tried to rise, but they were powerless, their eyes bulging and filled with bloodshot veins, on the verge of bursting from their sockets.

"She is your sister."

Hou Yi roared in anger, directing his scolding at Sheng Mo Qi Huan. He knew the beautiful figure had stepped in front of Ye Chen, and as a Zhuan Huang Di, she could have withdrawn that finger of divine light, but she had not.

Qi Huan remained silent.

She only gazed down at the heavens, ignoring Hou Yi, ignoring everyone, her eyes fixed solely on Hong Yan. Her clear pupils showed no trace of sorrow.

"Hong Yan."

Ye Chen struggled to his feet and staggered over, cradling Hong Yan in his arms. He poured endless Yongheng divine power into her recklessly. Qi Huan's finger of divine light was a strike of absolute destruction; even he might have perished from it, let alone the Great Emperor Hong Yan.

And indeed, that was the case.

Hong Yan's life force was rapidly fading, her primordial spirit fire extinguishing inch by inch. No matter how heaven-defying the Yongheng divine power was, it could not reignite it.

Hong Yan said nothing, her smile soft and tender as water.

She had known she would die from the moment she saw Qi Huan. She had been prepared to die for Ye Chen, perhaps it was fate, destined to repay him with her life. Without that half of the Shengti essence from years ago, she would have long since turned to dust in history.

"Burn! Burn for me!"

Ye Chen roared like a madman, channeling his Yongheng, Wuxiu, essence, and divine power wildly, desperate to ignite her primordial spirit fire.

But it was all in vain.

Hong Yan was beyond saving; even if the Gu Tian Ting Nv Di were here, she could not be rescued. Qi Huan's finger was one of utter destruction.

"Why be so foolish? Is it worth it?"

Qi Huan spoke indifferently, her tone devoid of joy, sorrow, or pain.

"Sister, you are all alone now."

Hong Yan spoke, blood trickling from her lips, tears in her eyes. She smiled at her sister while crying for her. By killing the one she loved and destroying the one closest to her, she had ultimately turned herself into a cold, emotionless puppet.

"Is this your resolve?"

Qi Huan smiled strangely, unclear whether from anger or grief.

"This is also the resolve of all living beings."

Hong Yan's voice was hoarse as she whispered, turning her gaze from the void sky to give her final look to Ye Chen. Her expression was full of tenderness, like a wife gazing at her husband.

"Stop! Stop for me!"

Ye Chen howled in agony, surging more Didao essence from his body, blood and tears streaming down his face. He had endured such scenes before, and the pain tore at his heart.

Hong Yan smiled and slowly closed her eyes.

In that instant, an ancient funeral melody seemed to echo, bidding farewell to this generation's Hong Yan. She had lived through two epochs, only to perish in emotion and tears, her beauty fading like jade.

In that same instant, Ye Chen fell silent.

But his form changed dramatically—his jet-black hair turned strand by strand into fiery red; his eyes, brimming with blood and tears, transformed inch by inch into black holes; the radiant Yongheng light revealed traces of demonic aura; and the golden blood flowing in his body intertwined into black.

That was right, it was the Xueji Xianjie.

Since comprehending Yongheng years ago, this was the first time he had activated his Xueji Xianjie—one eternal and indestructible, the other undying and unextinguishable. It was a moment of great historical significance, manifesting in him for the first time.

He became like a demon god, an awakened demon god.

The power of Xueji Xianjie and the eternity of Yongheng restored the bloody gashes across his body one by one. There were no thunderous roars, no anguished howls—only a terrifying silence.

Everyone in the Zhutian knew that the more silent Ye Chen became, the more dangerous he was. It was a rebirth from despair, perhaps exactly what Hong Yan had wanted to see—her own destruction in exchange for his transformation.

Only then would there be a chance to defeat Qi Huan.

And so, this path was paved with blood and bones, a heaven-defying journey and a tragic blood road, with a faint light illuminating the mortal world.

"Yongheng Xueji, how interesting."

Qi Huan chuckled leisurely, showing no grief at her sister's passing.

"Give me your life!"

Ye Chen's roar came from the depths of his soul, surging with Yongheng Xianhai and overwhelming demonic aura as he charged into the void sky.

"Only now are you barely worth watching."

Qi Huan moved like a ghost, appearing instantly before him.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The Tian Di-level Shengti clashed once more with the Zhuan Huang Di-level Sheng Mo, triggering lightning and thunder across the vast sky, manifesting scenes of destruction and shrouding it in apocalyptic light. Every collision sent waves of destructive halo rippling across the four seas and eight wastelands, shattering the universe and collapsing the heavens.

The emperors rose time and again, only to be hurled back each time. The residual waves of destruction were beyond their ability to withstand; those with weaker Diyun, like Jian Shen, had their bodies exploding.

"Not enough, far from enough."

Ren Wang gazed up at the sky. Even with Xueji Xianjie activated, Ye Chen was still no match for Qi Huan; her power absolutely suppressed him.

"That woman is ridiculously strong."

Kui Niu's face was pale. Ye Chen, a mid-tier Tian Di with Yongheng and Xueji Xianjie, was still outmatched—who could possibly counter Qi Huan?

"She’s nothing but a madwoman."

Xiao Yuan Huang cursed under his breath, still furious over the death of the Nv Shengti. If she could kill her own sister, there was nothing she wouldn’t do.

"At the end, it's all despair."

Long Ye looked even more aged, his already limited lifespan dwindling further, his exhaustion plain to see.

Pfft!

As the emperors watched, Ye Chen spat blood again, his half-shattered Diti struck by Qi Huan's palm. Even his Xueji and Yongheng could not restore it instantly.

"Give me your life!"

Ye Chen's black hole eyes were veiled in blood, as if dripping fresh red. He wielded no weapons, fighting bare-handed, unleashing all his knowledge and insights without limit toward Qi Huan. He had become a madman, an utterly deranged one, dragging his blood-drenched Diti into relentless, unsparing attacks.

"Now, you resemble him from back then."

Qi Huan's laughter was demonic, distant, and ancient, carrying a strange enchantment. Ye Chen was covered in blood, his wounds accumulating, while she remained spotless, her clothes untouched by dust. Ye Chen had his Xueji, and so did she—yet she hadn't even bothered to activate hers in a fight against a Tian Di.

As for the "him" she mentioned, only she knew.

Once, there had been someone like Ye Chen, fighting madly, as foolishly devoted as Hong Yan, all for a sliver of hopeless chance, until body and spirit were destroyed.

Even now, those anguished roars echoed in her ears, filled with tragedy, like a nightmare that had haunted her for two epochs.

That was the wail of all living beings.

That was the funeral song of all creatures.

Now, history repeated itself in an eerily similar way.

She was still that puppet.

He was just another frenzied ant.

"What’s wrong with submission?"

Qi Huan struck with a palm, sending Ye Chen flying eighty thousand li.

"Turn into a walking corpse like you?"

Ye Chen roared, instantly returning with a punch that shook the eight wastelands. He fused Yongheng, Xueji, essence, laws, and countless divine abilities, manifesting pure destruction and piercing through the vast universe.

Even someone as powerful as Qi Huan was forced back half a step.

"Enter the Taigu Honghuang, and the living beings will still have no hope."

Qi Huan showed no anger, her words ethereal.

"Better than being alone like you."

Ye Chen roared again, stepping forth to shatter the universe, his punch to the eight wastelands drawing blood on Qi Huan's Diti—for the first time, the Zhuan Huang Sheng Mo bled.

"Then let me show you what true despair is."

Qi Huan said calmly, and her form began to change—like flowing water, her long hair turned snow-white; an ancient pattern etched itself on her forehead.

"Is that... Xueji Xianjie?"

The gods and generals were stunned.

"It's undoubtedly Xueji."

Zaohua Shen Wang murmured, furrowing his brow. He had never seen a Xueji Xianjie in this form before—it had nothing to do with demons.

Compared to her, Ye Chen seemed more like a true demon.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that Ye Chen was being crushed. Since Qi Huan had changed form, he hadn't managed to stand his ground, beaten from the eastern sky all the way to the western void. His Diti reformed repeatedly, only to be shattered again, his Digu stained with Sheng blood, scattered across the Taigu Road.

It was utterly brutal.

It was as if Ye Chen's Dao, laws, divine power, and everything else were mere trifles before the Zhuan Huang Sheng Mo. No matter how heaven-defying he was, it wasn't enough.

Roar!

Suddenly, a dragon's roar echoed through the Taigu universe.

Followed by a phoenix's cry.

Ye Chen transformed into a dragon, Qi Huan into a phoenix. One a Shengti, the other a Sheng Mo, dragon against phoenix, they battled in the ethereal realm. One exuded demonic aura, the other bathed in fiery light, fighting from the west back to the east. Gazing at the dim sky, the dragon and phoenix stood out starkly; every strand of light they shed was destructive, every wisp of blood energy capable of collapsing the vast heavens.

It was clear Ye Chen was at a disadvantage.

His dragon body was badly mangled, raining blood like light showers, while Qi Huan's phoenix form showed no signs of injury.

It wasn't that he wasn't strong enough; Qi Huan was just too terrifying.

She could stand shoulder to shoulder with the true Gu Tian Ting Nv Di, a living myth. Even if Ye Chen reached Tian Di peak or advanced to Zhuan Huang Di realm, he would likely still be no match.

A Zhuan Huang peak Sheng Mo was godlike.

Compared to Qi Huan, the previous outer domain supreme was just a minor ditch; she was the true colossal wave.

Pfft!

Blood light flashed in the sky as Ye Chen's massive dragon body exploded once more. He reverted to human form and plummeted from the ethereal realm, his blood-soaked body making the emperors' hearts quake.

Defeated—the Shengti was defeated.

Even with Yongheng and Xueji, he was utterly crushed. Against an ordinary Zhuan Huang Sheng Mo, there might have been a chance of victory, but she was a supreme being on par with the Gu Tian Ting Nv Di.

Boom!

The earth trembled as Ye Chen smashed into a deep pit.

When he rose again, he staggered unsteadily.

"My sister's taste was indeed impeccable."

Qi Huan's words drifted leisurely as she stood at the peak of the ethereal realm, still looking down on all beings, on Ye Chen. Her demonic laughter echoed endlessly through heaven and earth.

For Ye Chen and the Huanggu Shengti lineage, she felt genuine surprise. After all, the difference in their realms was vast, yet this young Shengti had held on this long, far beyond expectations. No wonder he had captured Hong Yan's heart; no wonder he had earned the Gu Tian Ting Nv Di's blessing and fortune.

He was worthy of it.

Ye Chen stumbled but finally steadied himself, lifting his gaze to stare at Qi Huan from across the sky. An unprecedented sense of helplessness washed over him. He couldn't defeat her; to beat her, he needed to reach Tian Di peak; to slay her, he would have to advance to Zhuan Huang Di realm.

"Now, do you understand what despair is?"

Qi Huan smiled at Ye Chen.

"Huan, bullying the younger generation like this isn't your style."

Before Ye Chen could respond, an ethereal female voice echoed from the east, cold and desolate, yet melodious like an immortal melody, each word a dancing note.

"I knew it! The great commander of all living beings wouldn't fall so easily."

Qi Huan didn't even glance over, pulling out a small mirror and fixing her slightly disheveled hair while looking at her reflection. She seemed to know exactly who had arrived, and precisely because of that, she wanted to look her best—she couldn't afford to be laughed at.

PS: Today two chapters.

(April 25, 2020)

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and encouragement!!!