Chapter 3225: Exceeding Heavenly Dao

In the original spacetime, the sky-covering great hand had vanished into the unknown, with faint roars still echoing. Yongheng Xianyu! Ye Chen murmured softly, and the six Tian Dao echoed the same. The roars must have come from that eternal realm.

When they opened their eyes, the seven of them gathered around the little wa once more. With the world-ending great hand destroyed, the little one slept peacefully again, occasionally mumbling in a language none of them could understand—gibberish and murmurs.

This time, it slept for another hundred years. During that century, Ye Chen stayed put, and so did the six Tian Dao, huddled together in research. In the end, they couldn't make heads or tails of it. The Huang Emperor wasn't all-powerful, and the Tian Dao weren't infallible; they were utterly stumped by the little wa.

Suddenly, the sound of a qin rang out. It was that same eternal melody, which Ye Chen could hear, and so could the six Tian Dao. At some point, the Zizai Tian departed. She must have been drawn by the qin tune, following the sound to find the one playing it. From that day on, Ye Chen never saw Zizai Tian again. Later, two more Tian Dao left, likely searching for her. From that day, Ye Chen never saw those two Tian Dao again either.

Had they died? Ye Chen wondered to himself. Or perhaps they had lost themselves beyond the universe. The more this happened, the more curious he became about the qin player. He just didn't know if that player existed in the altered spacetime.

In the second century, the little wa awoke. It remained sealed, sitting there in a daze, lost in thought. It would occasionally glance at Ye Chen, then at Zhao Yun and the other two Tian Dao, its eyes filled with confusion and a hint of dullness. That day, it went berserk again. By berserk, it meant changing its form and forcibly breaking free from the Tian Zi seal. After all, it had been sealed by six Tian Dao before, but now, with three missing, even the Tian Zi seal seemed unable to hold it.

Boom! Bang! Boom! What followed was a destructive-level battle. The remaining three Tian Dao, along with Zhao Yun, were no match for the Xing Zi little wa. One had its physical body obliterated, another its Yuan Shen severely damaged, and while Zhao Yun fared a bit better with Yongheng supporting him, he was still covered in blood and broken bones. Once again, the Tian Dao were defeated. Once again, Ye Chen became the target of pursuit, left in a pitiful state. Because of the beating he took, the altered spacetime turned into complete chaos.

Many people frowned, wondering what catastrophe had occurred. Only the empress, who was carving wooden figures, occasionally looked up at the vast sky. The commotion was so massive that Ye Chen must be suffering greatly in that spacetime—it had to be that terrifying "Xing" Zi little wa.

In the original spacetime, another hundred years passed. For Ye Chen, it was an extremely miserable century; he had been beaten beyond recognition. If not for the little wa falling asleep, it might have pounded him into dust.

"Really dead?"

Ye Chen clutched his sore waist and sat down, scanning the empty surroundings. Ever since the three Tian Dao were defeated that year, a full hundred years had passed, and he hadn't seen Zhao Yun and the others return. It wasn't that they didn't want to come; it was likely because the Tian Dao weren't complete, and they hadn't found Zizai Tian yet.

The little wa's sleep was long enough. All in all, it had been five hundred years without opening its eyes, sleeping soundly. For five hundred years, Ye Chen was glad for the peace.

The eternal tune would always ring out unexpectedly, ancient and melodious.

"Who is playing it?"

Ye Chen had asked this question countless times. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave the unknown. Spacetime had its limits, and extending his presence to this era was already a feat.

Zhao Yun and the others didn't come, but someone else did—a purple-clothed youth carrying a wooden sword that resembled a peach wood sword. His aura was perfectly harmonious, surrounded by phenomena: sometimes chaos, sometimes Yongheng. Wherever he went, the sounds of the Great Dao echoed, even making Ye Chen feel momentarily dazed. However, the youth's face was blurred; even as a quasi-Huang Dacheng, Ye Chen couldn't see his true appearance. He only knew that this purple-clothed man was also a Huang Emperor, wielding Tian Dao power, but from a different universe than Zhao Yun's. Strangely, his aura surpassed even the empress at her peak.

"Not a Huang Emperor."

Ye Chen's gaze deepened, his eyes nearly narrowed to slits. This person had transcended the Tian Dao.

Shocked, Ye Chen was utterly shocked. From the start of his cultivation, this was the highest level he had ever witnessed.

From Yongheng Xianyu?

Ye Chen murmured to himself, straining his eyes to observe. Perhaps his own cultivation was too low, or his vision too limited; after staring for a long time, he couldn't discern the youth's origins. One thing was certain: he wasn't from Yongheng Xianyu, as the youth bore the imprint of common mortals. He was likely a god from another universe, one who had transcended the Tian Dao.

"Parallel spacetime."

The purple-clothed youth spoke lightly, accurately locating Ye Chen—or rather, he was looking directly at Ye Chen, ignoring the illusions of spacetime and the void.

Ye Chen wasn't surprised by this. The little wa had transcended the Tian Dao, and so had the purple-clothed youth. If the little wa could sense him, so could the youth. This was perhaps a privilege of their level.

"What divine being are you?"

Ye Chen stared intently, unable to see the youth's face clearly, but he could make out his eyes. Those eyes mirrored his phenomena: sometimes chaos, sometimes Yongheng, sometimes evolving all things, sometimes extinguishing all spirits. It was as if his eyes formed their own world, carrying the cycle of reincarnation—heaven knew how many laws he had comprehended.

"Awkward."

Ye Chen suddenly muttered this. Ever since this spacetime became the unknown, everyone who came—first Zhao Yun, then the five Tian Dao, and now this purple-clothed youth—seemed to outrank him. His cultivation was clearly a level below the Tian Dao.

"Yongheng."

The purple-clothed youth didn't look away, still observing Ye Chen, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Who are you?" Ye Chen asked.

Unfortunately, his words were erased by the spacetime illusions, and the purple-clothed youth couldn't hear them. In this regard, the youth was inferior to the little wa. Even among those who had transcended the Tian Dao, there were levels of ability. Ye Chen didn't know who would win in a one-on-one fight between the purple-clothed youth and the little wa, but the youth was probably not the match.

A flash of Yongheng light flickered, and the little wa awoke. Then came its giggling laughter as it charged straight toward them.

The purple-clothed youth finally looked away and faced the little wa.

Another great battle ensued, with destructive phenomena filling the unknown domain. To Ye Chen's shock, they were evenly matched. As an observer, he was both stunned and awed—the purple-clothed youth truly lived up to being a god who had transcended the Tian Dao; he was incredibly formidable. Without using the Dun Jia Tian Zi, he held his own against the little wa, and his Yongheng was strangely powerful, capable of both immortality and destruction, even wounding the little wa.

"So strong."

Ye Chen took a deep breath. Among all the people he had seen, aside from the little wa, this purple-clothed youth had the highest cultivation and the strongest combat power. At least, Zhao Yun and the others weren't his equals. A Tian Dao and one who had transcended it were clearly not on the same level, like the difference between a quasi-emperor and an emperor—they were dimensions apart.

Buzz! Buzz!

Amid the rumbling, the purple-clothed youth flicked his sleeve and summoned the Dun Jia Tian Zi—thousands of them, each glowing golden like stars, arrayed across the unknown, intending to seal the little wa. From his expression, it seemed he knew the secrets of Yongheng.

The little wa was defeated and sealed by the Tian Zi.

Ye Chen watched with a mix of sighs and amazement. This purple-clothed youth was extraordinarily powerful; earlier, six Tian Dao had barely managed to seal the Xing Zi little wa at the cost of near death, but he did it alone.

However, the little wa wasn't to be underestimated. Though sealed, it erupted in thunderous rage, activating some kind of enhancement.

Its enhancement was transforming its form.

Ye Chen wasn't surprised; the little wa was inherently strange and grew more terrifying with each change. Its blood-red hair looked as if dyed in fresh blood, and its eyes were like black holes, extinguishing all laws. Even Ye Chen couldn't tell if this was truly Yongheng; he only knew it had set its own rules, with every breath it exhaled forming a universe.

Once it rampaged, things got out of hand. Now, the purple-clothed youth was on the defensive. This disadvantage meant he was bleeding profusely and couldn't steady himself—a god who had cultivated Yongheng, yet in front of the little wa, he seemed like a mere prop. Its divine body was dismantled by the little wa countless times.

Even so, he was impressive enough to stand above the universe. In terms of one-on-one combat, he was the first to last this long against the little wa. In terms of power, even the empress at her peak or the six Tian Dao couldn't compare.

Truly strong.

Ye Chen coughed dryly. If the empress at her peak wasn't enough, neither was he. If they had to classify levels, he and the purple-clothed youth were clearly two realms apart.

Pfft!

The purple-clothed youth spat blood again, his body halved by a Yongheng strike from the little wa. Like the other Tian Dao, his physical form struggled to regenerate.

With a sigh, he turned and retreated. It wasn't that he wasn't strong enough; the little wa was just too terrifying. Even sealed, it was this powerful—if unsealed, he would likely lose even worse.

Before leaving, he glanced back.

He was looking at Ye Chen, his gaze deep, still unaware of Ye Chen's identity.

Ye Chen watched him go.

In the end, he never clearly saw the purple-clothed youth's true face.

The little wa was tired and fell into a deep sleep again.

It was truly the king of the unknown; it beat whoever came, whether Huang Emperor level or one who had transcended the Tian Dao. No one could handle it.

"Quite the show-off." Ye Chen sat down cross-legged and waited.

Maybe the purple-clothed youth had gone back for reinforcements. One who had transcended the Tian Dao might not defeat the little wa, but a few more could change things.

He waited a full ten years, but the purple-clothed youth never returned.

Nor did Zhao Yun and the others; they seemed to have vanished entirely after all this time.

Deep in the unknown, a faint light emerged.

Upon closer inspection, it was the river of illusions, shimmering with illusory light.

"Interesting." Ye Chen stood up and gazed into the distance.

Back then, when he and Zhao Yun had merged, they had suffered disaster because of this river. To this day, he still didn't know its origins, where it came from, or where it flowed.

He only knew it was extremely strange.

What surprised Ye Chen was that the river of illusions, flowing outside the universe, had manifested in the unknown, dreamy and ethereal. It wasn't a real river, yet he could hear the roaring waves, powerful enough that even a Tian Dao might not stand steady against them.

Once again, the little wa awoke.

Seeing it, Ye Chen quickly backed away to prepare for escape.

But he had overthought it.

The little wa ignored him completely and dashed straight for the river of illusions, jumping in with a splash and laughing childishly, its voice milky and adorable. It was actually playing in the river, where even Tian Dao couldn't keep their footing, yet it bounced around joyfully.

"This type is rare."

Ye Chen approached, sighing in amazement. The little wa ignored the river of illusions entirely.

Eventually, it grew tired of playing and started looking for food.

The river of illusions became its meal, swallowed mouthful by mouthful, leaving Ye Chen horrified. Aside from the Dun Jia Tian Zi, there seemed to be nothing it wouldn't eat.