"The Fourth Emperor…" A majestic figure flashed across Ye Chen’s mind, a hand blotting out the heavens, looking down upon the entirety of the Ancient Continent—a being that even the Heavenly Dao Master had to look up to.
“I never realized my lineage possessed such profound backing…” Ye Chen murmured inwardly.
Seeing Ye Chen’s expression, Shao Hao chuckled lightly and patted his shoulder. He turned his gaze towards the view simulator in the porthole, watching the swirling debris outside. Though the Bagua vessel moved too swiftly to discern anything clearly, the external capture system slowed the feed, revealing every fragment of stone!
These rocks floated in the void, untouched by gravity, radiating an ancient, weathered aura, as if they had endured eons. On some stones, the scars of clashing blades and swords were visible, along with dried specks of blood that chilled the bone.
It was impossible not to imagine the terrifying battles that must have raged upon this path.
Ye Chen glanced, then withdrew his gaze, his mind quietly processing, contemplating the Grotto-Heaven cultivation he practiced, striving to perfect the secret manual further.
Having devoured twelve Black Demon Orbs, his state of mind had reached an astonishing level, surging directly from the third tier of the Origin Realm to the peak of the ninth tier!
He felt his mental state had hit a bottleneck; no matter how many more Black Demon Orbs he consumed, a breakthrough seemed impossible. Yet, should he break through, he would ascend to an unprecedented plane!
With this elevation in mental clarity, he could keenly perceive the intensity of the brainwaves of everyone present. The ten Great Pan Generals were all at the second or third tier of the Origin Realm. Shao Hao was approximately at the mid-fifth tier, and Emperor Yao at the late-fifth tier!
The strongest among them, Fuxi, was at the mid-ninth tier of the Origin Realm!
This sharpening of his inner world granted Ye Chen an unparalleled flexibility in controlling his body. He even felt that with a mere thought, he could annihilate the ten Great Pan Generals, along with Shao Hao and Emperor Yao combined!
To pierce directly through the soul and erase them entirely!
Suddenly, a thought sparked in Ye Chen’s mind concerning the golden bone and the mysterious talisman he had acquired. His eyes flickered as he glanced around, recognizing that this was hardly the place for scrutiny. Based on instinct, he knew both the golden bone and the talisman were profoundly magical treasures!
Although he understood Fuxi and the others were kin and harbored no ill intent, years of survival in the apocalypse had ingrained in him a habitual need to safeguard certain hidden trump cards.
This was experience gleaned from his long tenure in the wasteland, a lesson carved deep by fire and iron.
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Chen decided not to examine them immediately. He waited quietly with the group for the ship’s progress. Soon enough, along the ancient Heavenly Road, they saw several blood-soaked corpses. As the Bagua vessel swept toward them, the bodies slowly staggered to their feet.
Whoosh!
The Bagua vessel plowed directly into them.
Thump-thump-thump~
The bodies of the corpses instantly exploded, though the Bagua ship only shuddered slightly. Immediately, the balance system engines roared to maximum power, swiftly stabilizing the ship’s equilibrium after the impact, allowing it to continue its forward trajectory.
“It seems someone has traversed this path before,” Fuxi murmured to himself.
The Bagua vessel accelerated, pressing forward relentlessly. Any corpses that rose to obstruct their path were either rammed straight through or targeted from a distance and blasted into dust!
Most of these reanimated dead possessed the strength of Divine Emperors—those capable of reaching this area were generally powerhouses at the Divine Emperor level, with a few exceptionally gifted peak Spirits mixed in.
Before long, the long Heavenly Road reached its terminus—a swirling white vortex. The Bagua ship plunged into it without hesitation. The crew felt a jolt; the vessel’s balance and pressure systems flashed red alerts. Only after a moment did things return to normal.
The passengers looked up, immediately struck by a sense of suffocation.
Before them loomed a range of towering peaks. Suspended around these mountains were countless meteors, floating islands, and swirling black holes in the sky that seemed close but were, in fact, impossibly distant, making their scalps tingle. The entire grayish-white sky carried a heavy, oppressive atmosphere, casting a shadow over every heart.
“It seems the passage randomly transported us eastward. What luck! This location is quite close to the main base our clan maintains here,” Shao Hao exclaimed, delighted.
“Random teleportation?” Ye Chen asked, surprised.
“Yes!” Shao Hao chuckled lightly. “Upon entering the passage, you are randomly deposited at a location on Mount Gujie. Rest assured, you won’t be sent to the Inner Peaks; that area is fraught with peril. Even the Lords of the Ten Palaces would struggle to emerge alive. Standard transports only drop us at outer perimeter safe zones.”
Ye Chen relaxed, nodding slowly.
Whoosh!
Under Xiao Na’s command, the Bagua vessel streaked toward the nearby main base guarded by the Spiritual Civilization faction.
“Woooo…” The alarm system emitted a mournful wail.
Fuxi’s expression shifted, and he quickly demanded, “What is it?”
Xiao Na’s voice crackled with anxiety, projected onto the large LCD scroll screen in the main hall: “Master, we are approaching an electromagnetic storm zone. The concentration here is too high for the electronic systems to fully clear. If we enter, we will lose signal, unable to access maps or navigation. If there’s a labyrinth inside, we might be trapped forever!”
Fuxi felt a chill; he knew such dangerous areas were common around Mount Gujie. He had heard tales of many who were swallowed by electromagnetic storms, never to be heard from again.
“Retreat!” Fuxi commanded immediately. “Activate the Electronic Heavenly Net system to maximum power, scan the surrounding map, and cross-reference it with the exploration maps of Mount Gujie to find an alternate exit route nearby.”
“Yes, Master!” Xiao Na swiftly mobilized the major systems. The entire Bagua vessel hummed with activity; in terms of electronic surveillance, scanning, and stellar navigation capabilities, the Bagua ship was arguably the most outstanding among all peak Dao artifact vessels!
Soon, Xiao Na identified a navigable corridor and expertly guided the Bagua vessel toward it.
Ye Chen observed that Shao Hao and the others were not overly concerned; they remained relaxed and at ease. His eyes narrowed; he knew that with Fuxi’s experience navigating Mount Gujie, combined with their combined strength and the stellar electronic maps recorded from generations of Spiritual Civilization explorers, serious incidents were rare in the outer regions of Gujie.
The Bagua vessel slowly skirted a divine peak. It was so colossal and soaring that it seemed to pierce the heavens; Ye Chen estimated its summit was beyond sight. He felt a silent shock, realizing that the entire two-to-three-kilometer length of the Bagua vessel seemed like a mere grain of dust before this mountain!
“Is this Mount Gujie…” Ye Chen surveyed his surroundings. What appeared to be a mountain range was, in reality, an immense, boundless cosmos where the scale of each peak was incalculable!
Shao Hao moved closer to Ye Chen and lowered his voice: “There are many dangerous zones within Mount Gujie. Later, Uncle Fuxi will copy an electronic stellar map for you. The dangerous areas are marked with red ‘X’s. You absolutely must not enter those places. Even powerhouses at the level of the Lords of the Ten Palaces face certain death if they step into them.”
Ye Chen’s gaze sharpened, and he nodded slowly.
“Master, we are approaching the main gate of Mount Gujie,” Xiao Na’s voice carried a note of excitement.
Fuxi’s eyes lit up. “Hurry through.”
“Yes, Master.” Xiao Na immediately piloted the Bagua ship forward at speed.
Curious, Ye Chen asked, “What is the Grand Avenue of Mount Gujie?”
Shao Hao looked somewhat delighted: “The Grand Avenue of Mount Gujie is the path leading from the outside to the mountain itself. There are no dangers along this navigation lane. Once you enter the Avenue, you can proceed straight ahead until you reach the foothills of the Inner Peaks.
Ye Chen understood, nodding thoughtfully.
Shao Hao smiled: “Many factions establish their main bases along this Grand Avenue. It’s the safest fixed location, and any expeditions into the surrounding areas start from the passages nearby. Our clan’s headquarters is situated right on this Grand Avenue.”
Ye Chen inquired, “Are you saying there are many other factions along this Grand Avenue?”
“Yes,” Shao Hao’s smile faded slightly. “The place is somewhat mixed, but no faction dares to provoke others, and certainly not our clan!”
Ye Chen nodded.
At that moment, a dark silhouette appeared ahead. From a distance, it was a massive stone gate, soaring miles high, obscuring the light above. What truly caught Ye Chen’s attention, however, were the carvings beside the gate—or perhaps, two stone sculptures!
The sculptures were not large: a man dressed in black, seated on the ground, cradling a breathtakingly beautiful woman. She was peerlessly lovely, as if from another world, possessing a beauty that made the mind forget how to function, impossible to describe!
The sculpture stood there, only the size of an ordinary person, yet it drew the eye instantly, causing one to ignore the towering gate beside it.
In Ye Chen’s vision, the sculpture seemed to occupy the entire world, an indescribable, peculiar sensation washing over his spirit. The man holding the beauty radiated a sorrow that threatened to engulf the world, mingled with a faint, gentle compassion. Especially his gaze fixed upon the woman in his arms—tender and deeply affectionate, yet laced with a heart-shattering grief.
The beauty in his embrace lay still, her features serene, eyes closed, like an angel in slumber, inspiring not a single thought of sacrilege.
Shao Hao’s low, fervent voice reached Ye Chen’s ear: “This is the Fourth Emperor!”
Ye Chen’s heart leaped. Looking at the man with the cold expression but an aura of pity for all creation, he realized that the powerhouse once capable of destroying the entire Ancient Continent was this type of man!
“This is his sculpture. Could it be that he has already…” Ye Chen frowned.
Shao Hao shook his head, his eyes fixed on the statue, glowing like twin flames of fervor. “Legend says this statue was left behind by him in those days, placed here perpetually. Some even claim that the entire Grand Avenue of Mount Gujie was opened by his own hands!”