Chapter 889: The Dragon's Deadlock

This was a vast sea, stretching endlessly, sometimes calm and at other times churning with terrifying waves.

It was no ordinary sea; it contained numerous treasures, a natural treasure trove that had drawn cultivators to search for riches over centuries.

However, this treasure-filled sea was not accessible to just anyone. While it nurtured these valuables, it also bred many fearsome demonic beasts, making it a place where opportunity and danger coexisted.

As for this sea, it went without saying that it was Panlong Haiyu. Niu Shisan's family had once been based here, though they had long since relocated to Nan Chu.

Ye Chen had already stepped into the Xu Tian, extending his Shen Shi to its maximum range as he flew onward, searching continuously.

Panlong Haiyu was truly immense; even at his speed, he had flown for half a shichen and still hadn't reached its edge.

The deeper he went, the greater the pressure became. The skies above the sea were filled with hazy mist, and occasionally, bursts of strange light would erupt, likely from treasures forming beneath the waves. But Ye Chen paid them no mind.

He searched frantically, like a divine rainbow streaking across the sky, flying from south to north, north to east, east to west, and west back to south.

Day and night cycled, the sun and moon revolved, and three days passed quietly.

Nightfall arrived.

Only then did he stop, descending from the Xu Tian and scanning all directions, his Shen Shi stretched to its limits.

Yet, all he saw was the endless sea, its surface shimmering with waves, perfectly calm.

Chu Xuan!

At last, he roared aloud, his voice like thunder shaking the nine heavens, releasing the longing he had suppressed for so long.

Chu Xuan!

He shouted tirelessly, each cry louder than the last, making the heavens rumble and the waves surge. Even the demonic beasts deep in the sea cowered, trembling, perhaps unable to withstand Ye Chen's oppressive aura.

Chu Xuan!

He roared until tears streamed down his face, hoping for any response, no matter how faint—he would hear it.

But all that answered was his own echo and the relentless crashing waves.

In the end, he dropped to his knees with a thud, his eyes blurred by hot tears, his fists clenched and bloody, his entire body shaking. The sea breeze blew, lifting his long hair and brushing it against his weary face.

Sometime later, the sea returned to calm, everything as it had been.

"You're still hiding from me!" Ye Chen laughed bitterly.

As the fierce wind howled, he stood up and took unsteady steps forward, his back figure desolate and lonely.

Ye Chen!

Just as he was about to lift his foot, a faint voice emerged from the depths.

Suddenly, Ye Chen whirled around, his eyes blazing with intensity, though they couldn't hold back the tears welling up.

He dashed toward the source like a madman, parting the misty sea fog. Even from thousands of zhang away, he seemed to glimpse a vague silhouette standing there, like a radiant pearl in the endless sea.

Xuan'er!

Ye Chen's body trembled as he sped up.

The distance of a few thousand zhang was not far; in just over a dozen instants, he arrived and stopped, his form quivering as he gazed at that silhouette. Even from seven or eight zhang away, it still appeared dreamlike and illusory.

"I've searched for you so desperately!

As he took his third step, the surrounding space suddenly trembled.

Zheng!

Immediately, the sound of a sword's resonance rang out, and from the side, a chilling divine light shot forth abruptly.

Pu!

Blood splattered as his unguarded chest was pierced straight through. The light was eerie, flickering with a cold gleam that dispersed his Jing Qi, preventing the wound from healing and even causing it to spread.

Pu!

He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and knelt on one knee, staring blankly at the silhouette of Chu Xuan ahead, which slowly faded away.

Hong!

The Xu Tian thundered, and suddenly, storm clouds gathered with lightning and thunder that made the heavens quake.

Ye Chen wiped the blood from his mouth and staggered to his feet, slowly turning around with a silent expression as he looked ahead.

What met his eyes was a sky-covering black curtain and a roiling black ocean of figures—hundreds of thousands strong, blanketing the sky. Some rode flying swords, others soared on clouds, and still others drove war chariots, but all shared an overwhelming killing intent.

He had been tricked!

Gazing at the fierce war banners of Shi Xue Dian, Ye Chen finally awoke from his daze. The so-called Heaven and Earth Dual Fiends, the so-called Chu Xuan—it had all been a trap to lure him here.

He wasn't unaware that it could be a trap, but his usual wisdom had vanished the moment he heard news of Chu Xuan. His eyes, clouded by emotion, had erased the caution he should have had.

Hong!

The sea trembled again as hundreds of thousands of cultivators halted in unison, shaking the Xu Tian.

What a formidable lineup! Neat formations filled the sea surface, the void, the firmament, and the Xu Tian, stretching across a hundred li in all directions, making the world tremble. In their midst, Ye Chen's figure was like a mere grain of sand in the vast sea, insignificant.

"After all that scheming, it was worth the effort!" Shi Xue Yan Luo stepped forward, staring at Ye Chen from afar, his face twisted and terrifying.

Not just him—the various hall masters and commanders of Shi Xue Dian, as well as the ancestors and family heads of major forces, all wore ferocious grins.

Who would have thought that the world-shaking Tian Ting Sheng Zhu would have such a fatal weakness? If they had known earlier, why waste so much effort searching and hunting him?

But now, none of that mattered.

At this moment, hundreds of thousands of cultivators had him cornered here, with over a hundred Xu Kong Absolute Killing Arrays lined up in the void and more than a dozen Tian Jing artifacts awakening their power. In an instant, they could obliterate even a Tian Jing cultivator, let alone a quasi-Tian Jing like him.

"Congratulations to all of you—you've succeeded." Ye Chen spoke, his words calm, his expression serene, without a trace of fear.

Without the Six Paths Immortal Wheel Eyes, escape was impossible. This was a dead end. He had once fought his way out of tens of thousands, but that didn't mean he could do the same against hundreds of thousands.

"Ye Chen, you have this day too!" Among the crowd in the sky, Xue Qiong roared, his face contorted grotesquely. It was because of Ye Chen that he had lost his hall master position, his cultivation forcibly reduced to Kong Ming realm. His killing intent toward Ye Chen had reached an unfathomable peak.

"His Sheng Ti will belong to Shi Xue Dian." Shi Xue Yan Luo's voice echoed through the heavens, laced with authority.

"His great cauldron goes to my Xue Ling family." The ancestor of Xue Ling family spoke, his tone equally commanding.

"The Sheng Ti essence belongs to us."

"The Jiuzhou Shen Tu is ours."

Even before the battle began, the various forces of Bei Chu were already dividing up Ye Chen. The Tian Ting Sheng Zhu was a treasure trove from head to toe, and no one wanted to be left out—even his Sheng blood had been claimed by over a dozen families.

Hong! Honglong! Honglonglong!

As the forces discussed their shares, thunderous booms echoed from beyond Panlong Haiyu.

Gazing into the distance, one could see a dark tide of people surging from all sides—the descendants of the emperors leading their armies.

Yet, before they could enter the sea, they were blocked by the armies of the various kings. After plotting for so long and setting such a grand trap, they had naturally anticipated this variable. Their goal was simple: to ensure Ye Chen's death.

"Wise as he is, how could he make such a mistake?" Long Teng snorted coldly, his physique powerful and his entire body ablaze, but with the Wu Zu clan blocking the way, the Sheng Dian army couldn't advance into Panlong Haiyu.

"The word 'emotion' brings disaster!" Da Chu Huang Yan sighed.

"I've already notified Nan Chu Tian Ting," Zhou Tian Yi said, though he shook his head helplessly, "but it's too late. With hundreds of thousands of cultivators, over a hundred Xu Kong Absolute Killing Arrays, and more than a dozen Tian Jing artifacts, they could wipe out an emperor in an instant. He won't last that long."

"This is a deadlock," Xiao Chen said, his tone filled with resignation.

"A deadlock, a deadlock," Dong Huang Tai Xin sighed in the grand hall of Tian Xuan Gate, watching the Panlong Haiyu scene in the Huan Tian Water Curtain.

"The word 'emotion' leads one astray!" Fu Ya shook his head lightly. "He reminds me of the many legendary heroes of Da Chu—they could have been invincible, yet they all fell to this fatal emotion."

"It's his fate."

"Sheng Zhu, perhaps we could..."

"Do not interfere," Dong Huang Tai Xin interrupted Fu Ya directly. "The consequences are too great for us to bear."