Chapter 969: Hand of the Heavens

Bang!

Shen Chao Sheng Zi fell, creating a large crater in the ground.

However, the heavens and earth fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stared at his face, stunned and unable to react for a long time.

On site, only one person remained as calm as ever—that was Yue Huang Zhi Nu Qian Shang Yue.

In the entire Da Chu, from the era of Chu Huang to the present, only she had seen the true appearance of Shen Xuan Feng. Even the former Chu Huang, Yue Huang, the successive emperors of Da Chu, and the successive kings of Da Chu had never known it.

Since Shen Chao Sheng Zi was the Dao body of Shen Xuan Feng, he naturally looked identical to Shen Xuan Feng.

She had already known this when she discovered that Shen Chao Sheng Zi was Shen Xuan Feng's Dao body.

"The world-conquering Shen Xuan Feng actually looks like this."

Mo Wang Kui Yu Jiang was the first to react, staring in astonishment at Shen Chao Sheng Zi, his demon eyes turning toward Ye Chen with surprise.

It wasn't just him—others like Yao Wang, Xue Wang, and even the hollow-eyed You Ming Yan Luo Wang stiffened and turned their necks, all looking at Ye Chen without exception.

Their expressions were strange!

Shen Xuan Feng, the Shen Wang they all recognized as their greatest enemy, had been fought against for countless ages, yet this was the first time they had seen his true face.

Now, seeing his Dao body, they were truly shocked—it looked exactly like Tian Ting Sheng Zhu Ye Chen.

"What on earth is going on?"

The spectators who snapped out of their daze had expressions even more dramatic than those of the successive kings.

"This is freaking messy."

Tai Xu Gu Long rubbed his brow, his face showing an unusual strangeness.

If anyone on site had the strangest expression, it was Ye Chen.

If not for the mask on Shen Chao Sheng Zi's face breaking, he wouldn't have known about this. Staring at that identical face, it felt inexplicably odd.

Under everyone's gaze, Shen Chao Sheng Zi's body turned to ash and scattered.

As he did, the eyes of the spectators from all directions unanimously shifted to Ye Chen.

The world grew eerily quiet, and even the older cultivators who had left earlier turned back, their expressions full of shock as they looked at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen stood in the void sky, the center of attention, feeling uncomfortable all over. Both Hong Chen and Shen Xuan Feng looked just like him—was his face really that noteworthy?

"Be careful!"

The silence was broken by Tai Xu Gu Long's sudden stern shout.

Startled, Ye Chen furrowed his brow and looked up sharply toward the misty void.

It wasn't just him—the spectators from all directions instinctively raised their heads.

What they saw were chaotic, dark clouds rolling in, blanketing the sky and plunging the world into darkness.

From the chaotic void emerged a massive hand, covered in pitch-black runes and radiating a destructive aura. As soon as it appeared, the void sky shattered inch by inch. Even before it fully descended, the ground below began to crack, its pressure shaking the heavens and earth.

"What... what is that?"

Everyone under the sky changed color dramatically, their legs trembling and faces turning pale under the overwhelming force.

"Is this the divine ability of that purple-robed person?"

In a section of the void, Shi Xue Yan Luo and Shi Hun Wang exchanged glances, both seeing horror in each other's eyes.

"Archaic Sacred Body, Shang Cang has claimed you."

Amid the shock of all, an ethereal voice echoed through the heavens and earth, like a supreme judgment—majestic, cold, and carrying the power of thunder, deafening all who heard.

Only then did everyone realize that the massive hand reaching down from the sky was targeting Ye Chen.

"Do you think you can claim me whenever you want?"

Ye Chen spoke coldly, standing firm in the void sky and staring at the descending hand.

With his Six Paths Immortal Wheel Eyes, he could see through all illusions in the world. That wasn't the hand of Shang Cang at all—it was clearly just a divine ability cast by someone.

And even if it were Shang Cang, so what?

He had already declared war on the heavens, enduring heavenly tribulations nonstop. For Shang Cang to try to claim him? What a joke!

"Ba Huang!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ye Chen charged upward against the sky, merging his nine Ba Huang fists into one and slamming it toward the hand covered in ancient runes.

However, his peak punch failed to shake the hand in the slightest or even slow its descent.

"Ba Huang Zhan!"

Ye Chen swung his Ba Long Dao in an instant, slashing a magnificent blade aura across the sky.

Boom!

The sound of metal clashing rang out clearly. His peak strike was utterly defeated—the blade aura was crushed, and he was shaken from the void sky.

"Tian Zhao!"

Ye Chen shouted coldly, and his left Immortal Wheel Eye opened abruptly.

In an instant, the descending hand ignited with black flames.

But to his narrowed eyes, the Tian Zhao flames lasted less than three seconds before extinguishing.

"What a powerful divine ability."

Tai Xu Gu Long narrowed his eyes slightly, scanning the surrounding void in hopes of finding the caster.

"Archaic Sacred Body, Shang Cang has claimed you."

From the misty void came that same majestic and cold voice.

In the palm of the descending hand, a chaotic vortex began to form, its suction incredibly strong, as if it could devour all living beings. In its presence, no creature seemed able to resist.

"Ah... ah!"

Soon, screams of terror spread like a tidal wave. Many shocked cultivators were already being pulled toward the vortex, turning to ash before they even entered.

"Run!"

The spectators scattered in all directions. That hand was too eerie, and the chaotic vortex at its center was terrifying beyond measure.

"Playing tricks!"

Ye Chen snorted coldly and charged forward instead of retreating, like a brilliant golden light shooting into the clouds. He didn't wait for the vortex to suck him in—he dove straight in himself.

As he entered, the vortex in the hand's palm sealed shut, and the massive hand seemed to have completed its task, slowly retracting into the misty void.

"Die! Die!"

As the hand withdrew, Shi Xue Yan Luo, Shi Hun Wang, Yao Wang, Xue Wang, and others with grudges against Ye Chen twisted their faces into grotesque smirks, laughing like demons.

Boom!

But just as they laughed, a thunderous explosion erupted from within the hand.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Such sounds continued relentlessly. Though the hand had swallowed Ye Chen, booming noises echoed from inside, showing he was still very much alive and causing chaos within the vortex. The commotion was immense.

"Open! Open for me!"

Ye Chen's thunderous roar echoed like lightning, shaking the heavens and earth.

He was indeed wreaking havoc inside the hand, punching massive holes through it with each strike.

"Damn, that's fierce!"

Witnessing this, Tai Xu Gu Long couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration. He could tell how extraordinary that hand was—even he might face trouble against it. Yet Ye Chen was thriving like a wild beast.

"Open! Open for me!"

Another earth-shattering roar followed, and the hand burst apart. Ye Chen burst out like a primordial beast.

Not content with that, he immediately summoned two massive golden hands, each over a hundred zhang in size, and clamped down on the now battered and broken eerie hand.

"Come down!"

With his golden blood essence surging like burning flames, Ye Chen controlled the golden hands and yanked with all his might, dragging the hand down from the void sky and causing it to shatter completely.

Hiss!

Those who had fled far away inhaled sharply. How incredibly fierce was that?

Pfft!

In a distant mountain range, the purple-robed person spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

His form was strange—one of his originally chaotic eyes had turned into a black void, as if capturing Ye Chen had exacted an extremely heavy toll on that eye.

"Archaic Sacred Body, I truly underestimated you."

The purple-robed person's face twisted into a demonic snarl.

"Hm?"

As he spoke, he frowned suddenly and looked in a certain direction.

There, a purple divine halo swirled, condensing into a graceful figure. She was like a peerless queen, radiantly elegant, or a goddess descended from the Nine Heavens, untouched by the world's dust.

Her body flickered between illusion and solidity, like a dream too distant to grasp.

Who else could she be but Ye Chen's puppet Zi Xuan? Or more precisely, a remnant soul of Dong Hua Nu Di.

"How persistent!"

The purple-robed person gritted his teeth and leaped up, fleeing the mountains.

Boom!

No sooner had he escaped than Zi Xuan's palm leveled the entire mountain range.

Ahead of him, another figure materialized, blocking his path. Wearing a black mask and wielding a red killing sword, his expression was wooden, his eyes vacant.

Who else could it be but Hong Chen?