Chapter 3054: Reversal of Attack

In the Taigu Honghuang, darkness permeated everything.

On a mountain peak, Ye Chen stood silently, his gaze extended into the distance. From this vantage point, he could clearly see the generations of Zhizun. Many were dozing, perhaps due to their dwindling lifespans, or perhaps from sheer exhaustion, so weary they yearned for a ten-thousand-year sleep.

It was somewhat ironic, yet the scene held profound sadness. Each of these emperors, who had once shaken the universe and radiated unparalleled glory, now walked towards the end of their destiny in this desolate realm.

Before arriving here, he had held hatred for the emperors of the Honghuang clans.

Before arriving here, he had also harbored hatred for Da Ri Rulai.

But now, upon seeing them again, he found he could no longer cling to that animosity. The grievances of later generations belonged to those later generations. Every Zhizun present had fulfilled their duty to all sentient beings, almost exhausting their entire being within this fractured Taigu Honghuang.

For a moment, Ye Chen glanced at the Nü Di. She stood like an ice sculpture, motionless, her gaze fixed on the vast sky, only occasionally shifting down to the Zhizun below.

Even the exalted Huang Di was not all-powerful. Although she wished to preserve the lives of the Zhizun, the heavens offered no respite.

Ye Chen lowered his eyes and fell silent.

For him, there was still a flicker of hope. He held a firm belief that the hidden laws could be altered. The so-called Tiandao was akin to the underworld's ledger of life and death; if names were erased or lifespans rewritten, the generations of Zhizun could continue.

Therefore, what he lacked was a method—a way to open that ledger of life and death. At the very least, he needed to seek out those hidden rules from the Tiandao.

Hmm...!

Suddenly, the Nü Di let out a low groan, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Her rosy cheeks instantly paled, and a fleeting wisp of killing intent flashed through her.

In the next instant, the Nü Di severed the killing intent within her, gently closing her eyes. A second later, they snapped open.

Then, an immortal sword shot forth from her brow, slicing into the void. If one listened closely, a shrill scream could be heard.

"Cross-spacetime."

Ye Chen murmured softly, his eyes narrowing into slits as he grasped the situation. Someone was launching a spacetime-crossing attack on the Nü Di.

However, the target was not the Nü Di before him, but her from the past—perhaps centuries or even millennia ago—so that some wound from the past had rippled through time to affect her present self.

The sword the Nü Di had just struck was along the flow of time, returning to the source. Judging by the scream, the attacker had likely been slain.

But he had only guessed half right.

Indeed, someone was attacking the Nü Di, but it wasn't a simple cross-spacetime assault. More precisely, someone had reversed spacetime, much like Hongchen Liudao, descending into the past.

At that time, the Nü Di had not yet achieved her fusion.

The one who reversed spacetime aimed to grievously wound her through this method. If the Nü Di of the past were destroyed, then the present her would also vanish. Without her former self, the hidden rules would erase her completely.

Unless she had already severed her karma.

Boom! Rumbling!

Explosions erupted suddenly, the sky filled with lightning and thunder. The entire Taigu Honghuang shook with a buzzing hum, and even the mountains beneath their feet threatened to crumble.

That was not the worst of it.

Tragically, a great emperor from the ancient Tian Ting instantly exploded into ashes, without any warning, as if he had never existed.

Sorrow filled Ye Chen's expression, for he understood the reason: the earlier event had disturbed the course of history, triggering a chain of disasters. That ancient Tian Ting emperor was a victim of those disasters.

Sorrow also filled the Nü Di's eyes.

Though she knew it would disrupt historical trajectories, she had no choice but to strike back. If the her of the past were slain, it would not be as simple as losing one or two emperors—the entire Zhutian, the entire Taigu Honghuang, could collapse in an instant.

In fact, she had been altering the rules all along, using heaven-defying divine abilities to cover up the changes in history.

Unfortunately, though she was the Huang Di, she did not truly possess that level of transcendent power. She could not keep the historical trajectory unchanged and could only strive to minimize the casualties.

Behind her, Ye Chen sat down, pulling out a wine flask and pouring a libation of turbid wine to honor the Tian Ting emperor, his expression growing even more grave.

He thought of Hongchen Liudao.

If even Hongchen and Liudao could reverse spacetime, then the Zhizun of the outer domains could likely follow the flow of time upstream to wreak havoc in the past Zhutian.

Beyond that, there were the absolute kills across spacetime. Any such attack could cause history's path to deviate from its wheel. Once deviated, some might perish because of it, or perhaps everything in the present could undergo earth-shattering changes.

Thus, this game of contending with heaven was not confined to this spacetime; the battlefields of the past were equally at stake.

Ye Chen:"With your level of cultivation, you should be able to reverse spacetime and return to the past."

He looked at the Nü Di, his meaning clear—if she followed the river of time back to the past, she could alter history as well.

Nü Di:"Cannot."

Ye Chen:"If even Hongchen Liudao can do it, how could you, as the Huang Di, not manage?"

He took a swig of wine.

Nü Di:"It is precisely because I am the Huang Di that I cannot."

She spoke lightly but said no more. On her imperial body, numerous laws manifested, weaving into chains of order that flickered in and out of view. Each tremor resonated with the heavens and earth.

This was her answer to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen held the wine flask and watched quietly for a long time before understanding the implication of the laws she revealed. He realized why the Huang Di could not reverse spacetime—they all bore many rules. Merely manifesting these laws could make the heavens and earth resonate; if they moved, so would the world. Spacetime could not withstand them.

This might also be a form of restraint from the Tiandao on those at the Huang Di level—if a Huang Di killed into the past, it would cause utter chaos in the world.

But Ye Chen did not understand. Since the Tiandao had long harbored malice and sought to destroy and rebirth the world, why not lift the restraints on the Shengmo? If they were granted the privilege to reverse spacetime, things would not be so troublesome.

He pondered this doubt for a long time.

The answer, perhaps, was not as complex as imagined: the Tiandao was not omnipotent either.

Ye Chen lifted the wine flask, his thoughts wandering far.

This world was far stranger than he imagined, like traversing spacetime—Hongchen Liudao, who had not yet reached Dadi, could reverse it, yet the Huang Di Nü Di could not.

Being too strong was not necessarily a good thing.

If his guess was correct, any who had attained the Dao would find it difficult to move freely through spacetime, as they all bore certain rules to some degree.

Thinking of this, he felt somewhat reassured.

Under the restrictions of rules, the highest level among those in the outer domains who could reverse spacetime would not exceed that of a fully realized Shengmo. Even if they returned to the past, they might not reach the Zhutian. If they did, they would face suppression from the Zhutian, and before that, they could be erased by spacetime, losing their bloodline and memories—as Hongchen Liudao had exemplified.

Compared to that, the absolute kills across spacetime were more tangible. If he could strike a sword back thousands of years, he would not mind trying it.

As he pondered, the Nü Di was deep in meditation.

What was she thinking about? The two future beings from earlier, both at the Huang Di level—why could they move freely through spacetime?

After thinking for a long time, the Nü Di figured it out. There was only one possibility: those two future beings had transcended the Tiandao, ignoring the rules of spacetime.

At some point, Ye Chen silently rose and headed deeper. If he wanted to alter the rules, he had to start with the Tiandao. As an executor of the Tiandao, the Chudai Shengmo would be his target.

The Nü Di did not move, remaining like that ice sculpture.

She was in a dilemma that left her helpless. The great array of Taigu sealed the Chudai Shengmo, restraining the Tiandao while also restraining her, requiring her to guard the Taigu Honghuang at all times.

Ye Chen understood her helplessness.

The reason the Chudai Shengmo was so docile was precisely because the Nü Di was here. If she were absent, that great demon would forcibly break the seal. Besides the Nü Di, no one could stop it.