Chapter 976: Kirin Horn Obtained

"Which treasure doesn't look familiar to you?" Tai Xu Gu Long glanced at Ye Chen.

"That's not it, I've really seen it before." Ye Chen stared intently at the large halberd.

In a trance, fragments of images floated into his mind: the figure of the Bahuang War God, holding a war halberd identical to this one, using it to slay a supreme demon god.

As he watched, Ye Chen suddenly felt his divine sea buzzing, instinctively clutching his head.

Ugh!

The sharp pain made him groan uncontrollably.

His consciousness and memories became chaotic; the figure of the Bahuang War God in his mind flickered between clear and blurry.

The only memory that felt vividly clear was that of the Bahuang War God carrying a tired woman, stepping through the void into the distance, his back radiating an air of desolation.

Ye Chen's eyes turned bloodshot as he desperately tried to grasp the image and see the face of the woman being carried.

Dong Huang Tai Xin!

With a thud, Ye Chen knelt on the ground, his expression growing more pained, his face turning deathly pale.

"Hey, don't mess around." Seeing Ye Chen like this, Tai Xu Gu Long couldn't help but curse.

Shiwan Dashan was full of dangers, and they still needed Ye Chen's Liu Dao Xian Lun Yan to lead the way. If Ye Chen lost his mind too, their path ahead would be worrying, constantly facing the risk of perishing here.

Zi Xuan had already taken action, pointing a finger at Ye Chen's forehead.

Only then did Ye Chen gradually regain his clarity, the pain on his face slowly fading.

Huff!

Regaining his senses, Ye Chen panted heavily, the fragmented images dissipating again, no matter how hard he tried to recall them.

"That treasure isn't something we can touch." Tai Xu Gu Long cursed again, grabbing Ye Chen and pulling him away. He couldn't let Ye Chen look at the war halberd anymore, or he might truly go mad.

"I've definitely seen it before." Even as he was dragged away, Ye Chen kept his eyes fixed on that war halberd.

"Huh? Qilin Jiao." Just then, Tai Xu Gu Long exclaimed suddenly.

"Qilin Jiao? Where?" Ye Chen quickly withdrew his gaze and followed Tai Xu Gu Long's line of sight.

"See it? That's the Qilin Jiao." Tai Xu Gu Long pointed to the distance, where a pile of bones lay, and among them was something like a branch, still emitting a faint glow.

"Is that really the Qilin Jiao?" Ye Chen's eyes lit up with excitement.

"No doubt about it." Tai Xu Gu Long sighed with emotion, "It's from the Qilin imperial clan—both the bones and the horn. In the ancient eras, what level of chaos happened here that even an imperial Qilin fell? Did a Great Emperor get involved?"

"What a stroke of fortune." Ye Chen's eyes gleamed as he lifted his foot to step forward.

"Evil spirits are around." Zi Xuan stopped him.

Ye Chen stopped abruptly and noticed the twisted evil spirits drifting around the Qilin Jiao.

Zheng!

Tai Xu Gu Long flipped out a killing sword and planted it at his feet.

Then, he formed a seal with one hand, casting a secret technique.

Swap Heaven and Earth!

Instantly, the killing sword under his feet swapped places with the Qilin Jiao in the distance.

"Nice technique!" Ye Chen smiled and reached out, but Zi Xuan grabbed it first.

Zi Xuan moved swiftly, waving her hand to release a divine light that erased the gray aura lingering on the Qilin Jiao, then handed it to Ye Chen.

"Thanks!"

Ye Chen took it; the Qilin Jiao still felt warm, surrounded by a dim light. Perhaps due to the passage of time, it had weathered somewhat, leaving only a trace of Qilin bloodline within.

"That's enough! That's enough!"

Ye Chen took a deep breath. With the Qilin Jiao in hand, he had finally gathered all the materials for refining the Tian Ji Dan. Once they left this place, he could work with Dan Chen to refine it.

After stowing the Qilin Jiao, the group continued on their way.

For a long stretch ahead, there were piles upon piles of bones, not from human cultivators but from massive creatures, including many from the dragon clan, and in considerable numbers.

Tai Xu Gu Long kept reaching out to collect those bones into his storage bag.

As a remnant soul of the former Tai Xu Gu Long supreme, he felt a certain kinship with dragon remains.

At that moment, the group stopped before a cracked rock wall, covered in inscriptions that, upon closer inspection, formed a poem full of sorrow and grief.

Tai Xu Gu Long might not know it, Zi Xuan might not know it, and Qian Shang Yue might not know it, but Ye Chen was very familiar with it, as he had seen it multiple times—it was written by Hong Chen.

"Hong Chen, you really came to the Shiwan Dashan." Ye Chen murmured. He didn't know why Hong Chen had inscribed this poem in so many places, but it undoubtedly hid a tale of tragedy.

Mother Emperor!

While Ye Chen, Tai Xu Gu Long, and Zi Xuan were examining the rock wall, Qian Shang Yue, the only one still clear-headed among the imperial descendants, suddenly cried out, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears as she looked in a certain direction.

Hearing this, the three turned from the rock wall and followed her gaze.

At that sight, their eyes narrowed.

In the misty gray fog, a graceful figure stood ethereally, though illusory, she exuded unparalleled elegance, like a banished immortal—it was the Da Chu emperor: Yue Huang.

Ye Chen and the others were used to such visions, having seen many imperial illusions before.

But this Yue Huang was different; she was smiling at them—or more precisely, at Qian Shang Yue. Her beautiful eyes gazed at Qian Shang Yue without any majesty, like a kind mother.

"It's not a soul, but why..." Ye Chen stared in confusion.

"It's a soul imprint." Tai Xu Gu Long pondered, "Yue Huang must have come here in the past and foreseen that her daughter would come looking for her, so she left this imprint."

"All the Da Chu emperors have appeared here—it's unbelievable." Zi Xuan murmured while sealing Qian Shang Yue.

"Was it that the emperors of the past were involved in some ancient war?"

"Not at all." Tai Xu Gu Long said slowly, "The Shiwan Dashan existed even before the Chu Emperor's era."

"Then it's puzzling." Ye Chen was full of doubt, "If all nine Da Chu emperors came here, could this be their burial ground?"

"I don't know about the others, but Xuan Chen definitely isn't buried here." Tai Xu Gu Long added, "I saw him pass away with my own eyes. How could someone already deceased return to the Shiwan Dashan?"

"Someone's alive." As they spoke, Zi Xuan suddenly spoke up.

Hearing this, Ye Chen and Tai Xu Gu Long looked in that direction, where a man in purple robes, with a blood-red pagoda hovering above his head, was groping his way forward.

Perhaps due to the misty fog and the lingering resentment of the fallen blocking their view, even though they were only dozens of zhang apart, the purple-robed man hadn't noticed them. He scanned his surroundings vigilantly, as if searching for something.

"It's him!" Zi Xuan's beautiful eyes flashed with a divine light.

"From your expression, he must be the one you and Hong Chen were chasing." Ye Chen also stared in that direction.

"Without the Immortal Wheel Eye to guide him, he can still reach here." Tai Xu Gu Long frowned.

"He has the Chaos Eye." Zi Xuan revealed a secret, "But only a trace of its origin, not the true Chaos Eye."

"This is somewhat similar to the black-robed man who descended in Southern Chu." Tai Xu Gu Long mused, "It seems someone in this world has awakened that heaven-defying eye. Whether it's the black-robed man in Southern Chu or the purple-robed man in Northern Chu, the Chaos Eye origin they carry comes from that awakened individual."

"What is he doing here?" Ye Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.

"No matter what he's here for, he must die." Zi Xuan's voice was ice-cold, perhaps sensing the repulsive aura emanating from the purple-robed man, which made her killing intent surge.

"First time teaming up—let's see if we have chemistry." Tai Xu Gu Long chuckled, planting a killing sword a zhang away.

"The chemistry between supremes is innate." Zi Xuan said, forming a hand seal with one hand, "Swap Heaven and Earth."

Suddenly, space trembled; the killing sword a zhang away vanished instantly, and the purple-robed man dozens of zhang off was swapped to where the sword had been, now only a zhang from Tai Xu Gu Long.

"You!"

The purple-robed man was startled by the sudden swap and tried to flee.

But he was too slow; Tai Xu Gu Long's sword cleaved half his body, and Ye Chen's sword pierced his chest.

"Damn it!"

Caught off guard, the purple-robed man roared in anger and teleported away, only to collide straight into another killing sword embedded in the ground. The sword hummed, its black aura rampaging; as soon as it touched the purple-robed man, his body began to crack.

Hiss!

Ye Chen felt a chill run down his spine at the sight; that sword must have been stuck there for ages, its killing aura so potent that just a touch severely wounded the purple-robed man.

In the midst of the shock, Tai Xu Gu Long and Zi Xuan had already charged forward, each wielding a heavenly artifact.

The two supreme remnant souls worked together seamlessly, nearly killing the purple-robed man earlier, but he was extraordinarily powerful. Even with the combined assault from both and Ye Chen's sword, they couldn't eradicate him.

From this, it was clear that the one Zi Xuan and Hong Chen had failed to capture was no ordinary foe.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

The battle erupted in an instant. The purple-robed man, who had been heavily wounded three times, was still terrifyingly strong; the half of his body that was severed had regenerated. Facing Tai Xu Gu Long and Zi Xuan alone, he was at a disadvantage but still made Ye Chen's heart race.

One had to know, Tai Xu Gu Long and Zi Xuan's combat prowess was among the top in the current Da Chu; for the purple-robed man to hold his own, even in defeat, was impressive.

Ye Chen watched quietly without joining in.

He needed to protect the imperial descendants; each one was more unstable than the last, and if he entered the fight in this perilous Shiwan Dashan, they could be in danger at any moment.

"You're forcing my hand!"

The purple-robed man, beaten back relentlessly, roared and spewed out a jet of black blood essence.

Immediately, the misty gray fog in the sky began to churn violently.

Damn it!

Ye Chen couldn't help but curse, for that black blood essence was eerily unnatural, drawing in the surrounding evil spirits—and in vast numbers, making his scalp tingle.