Chapter 3056: Unknown

The sky of Tai Gu Hong Huang remained as dim as ever.

Many of the supreme beings had already awakened.

They could hear the cries of the common people, and it was precisely because they heard them that they opened their eyes from slumber. Their murky old eyes were etched with the weight of ages.

Their lifespans were nearly exhausted; perhaps they would never return alive. Tai Gu Hong Huang might well become their final grave.

Ye Chen was still on the altar.

He could hear the cries of the common people, just as the generations of supreme beings could. Without even looking, he knew that his homeland was engulfed in war, with blood-red smoke shrouding the entire starry sky.

"Have you found it?"

Chu Dai Sheng Mo let out a sinister laugh, his voice eerie and terrifying. He asked this question every so often, deliberately trying to disrupt their minds.

Hong Yan remained silent.

Ye Chen didn't bother to respond. If he had the mind for it, he would stand before the altar and curse for three full days and nights.

As for the rules, they still hadn't been found.

That day, Tai Gu Hong Huang was unusually restless. Visions of the ultimate emperor tribulation appeared, and someone had broken through to the emperor realm—it was Xuan Yuan Di Zi.

"A family with three emperors now."

Gui Di sighed with emotion.

It was true; besides Xuan Yuan Di and Xuan Yuan Di Zi, there was another emperor in their lineage, belonging to the Sheng Ti line. However, that one was no longer a Sheng Ti. Xuan Yuan Di's bloodline was a fusion of the Huang Gu Sheng Ti and Xuan Ling Zhi Ti. A family spanning three generations all becoming emperors was unprecedented in both ancient and modern eras.

On the same day, Chen Yi achieved a heaven-defying dao proof.

The next day was even more lively, with two more people becoming emperors: Dong Zhou Wu Wang and Ri Yue Shen Zi. These two were true brothers in arms, always inseparable, and now they even proved their dao together.

"Awkward."

Yuan Fei and Kui Niu coughed awkwardly. Even Dou Zhan Sheng Huang and Kui Niu felt their faces burning. People from non-emperor lineages had become emperors—didn't you two have any shame?

"We can handle it."

The two squatted by the wall, speaking without much conviction.

Boom! Rumbling!

The booming sounds never ceased—it was the heavenly tribulation of someone becoming an emperor. The one proving their dao was Yue Huang. She had previously been affected by the Dou Di, damaging her foundation and aura, but now she was making a comeback.

Following that came Long Jie.

His dao proof made many turn their heads in surprise; no one expected him to take that step so quickly, much to Cang Long Huang's delight.

Ye Tian Di also glanced back, quite optimistic about him. He had once roughly calculated that Kui Niu and Xiao Yuan Huang would become emperors before him, but now it seemed his prediction was off.

Being alive had changed the course of history.

Trajectories were mysterious things. A single change in the past could turn the future upside down, like Jian Zun back in the day—if not for that cross-time-space assassination, he would have been the new emperor of the heavens.

The current situation was quite similar.

But that didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that the heavenly gods who had come here would see even more people proving their dao. A certain aura was already sufficient; it was just a matter of order.

As for Long Jie, if he dared to wander near Jade Maiden Peak again, Ye Chen would beat him without hesitation. Even as an emperor, he was still just a junior.

For the next month, there was no activity.

It wasn't until the third month that someone triggered an emperor tribulation—an elderly god general whose seniority even Long Di couldn't match.

Whenever this happened, the supreme beings felt joy mixed with sighs. Overall, distant water couldn't quench immediate thirst; no matter how many new emperors emerged, they might not hold the line in the future.

Time waited for no one.

On that same day, Hong Yan left the altar and plunged into that silver river once more, likely merging with Qi Wan's divine power, laws, and insights. Perhaps when she emerged, she would be a heavenly emperor.

"Come with me."

After Hong Yan left, Tian Ting Nv Di sent a transmission.

Ye Chen withdrew his gaze and followed the empress.

The two went one after the other into the dark depths. As mentioned before, this world was also in ruins. Saying it was vast and boundless was an exaggeration—it had boundaries.

They stopped at a mountain peak.

This mountain was the end of Tai Gu Hong Huang. Beyond it was nothingness, teetering on the edge of total world destruction. At a glance, one could see swirling voids, meteors laden with destruction, and rampaging thunder.

Tian Ting Nv Di stepped in first.

Ye Chen followed. The two delved deep enough, stopping only at a vortex.

"How did you survive that day?"

Ye Chen spoke up, finally asking the question. Even at his peak as a heavenly emperor, still far from the vortex, he felt a deep sense of dread. If pulled in, he would likely be utterly destroyed—he was aware of that much.

"The vortex connects to an unknown domain."

Tian Ting Nv Di spoke softly, revealing the secret of that day. She had indeed died and her dao dissipated, but a trace of her remnant soul was pulled into that unknown domain. With that remnant soul, she spent thousands of years inside to reform her primordial spirit, reshape her imperial body, and even, without fusing her final soul, achieved a heaven-defying breakthrough to quasi-Huang Di.

If that was a calamity, it was one that came with opportunity. After dying and her dao fading, she was reborn through nirvana—a truly immense fortune.

"Unknown domain?"

Ye Chen turned his head, surprised by Tian Ting Nv Di's answer.

Tian Ting Nv Di shook her head lightly.

She didn't know the origin of that unknown domain and had never heard of it. Strangely, within it, one was free from the constraints of rules—or rather, not under the control of the heavenly dao.

"That day, you said the vortex in the void was a remnant of world destruction. How could there be an unknown domain?"

Ye Chen asked in confusion.

"I only learned of it that day."

Tian Ting Nv Di replied. She was likely the only one in both ancient and modern eras who had entered the void vortex twice and lived.

The first time, she was the complete Tian Ting Nv Di, a true Huang Di, and nearly perished in the vortex.

The second time, she wasn't in her full form—just at the peak of heavenly emperor—and entered, only for her body and dao to dissipate, leaving a trace of soul to survive. She stumbled upon that unknown domain by accident.

"After coming out, have you gone back in?"

Ye Chen took a swig from his flask, asking casually.

Tian Ting Nv Di shook her head again.

Surviving that life-and-death ordeal was already a stroke of luck; who would rush back in? Besides, the situation that day was chaotic—Qi Wan was going berserk, and she hurried back to save the day.

Even now, she wasn't sure if entering the vortex again would let her survive. Even a god might not make it out safely.

"So, why did you bring me here?"

Ye Chen took another gulp of wine and looked at Tian Ting Nv Di again. He didn't think this woman had brought him for sightseeing or romance.

"Go inside and take a look."

Tian Ting Nv Di turned to him, not joking.

"Go in and come out alive?"

Ye Chen smiled and closed his eyes. His guess was right—this woman had no good intentions. Even a Huang Di might not survive, yet she thought highly of him.

"You can."

Tian Ting Nv Di said firmly, her tone confident.

Ye Chen tilted his head back for more wine, glancing sideways at Tian Ting Nv Di, sizing her up and down. He had no idea where her confidence came from.

Tian Ting Nv Di said nothing, unsure of her own confidence. She only knew that Ye Chen was no ordinary emperor, having created countless myths.

She might die if she went in.

But she believed Ye Chen could come out alive—that was her faith in the Sheng Ti supreme being.

It was a high-stakes gamble!

Exactly—a bold wager. Lose, and all would fall to heaven; win, and there might be a way to save the supreme beings. The unknown domain, beyond the heavenly dao's control, could restore their exhausted lifespans.

If the Sheng Ti supreme being survived, he would surely gain some fortune inside, for that unknown domain was indeed extraordinary. It might even help Ye Chen break through to quasi-Huang Di.

As for her, she couldn't go—it would be too risky. Chu Dai Sheng Mo was waiting for her to leave. He'd seize the chance to assault the seal, and without her guarding it, the Sheng Mo would break free.

It was a dilemma that needed someone to resolve, and Ye Chen seemed the most suitable. As for Di Huang and Hong Yan, she didn't have that same faith in them.