Ye Chen’s current genetic strength was already comparable to that of a Heavenly Beast, equivalent to operating in a perpetual human Superman Mode. However, the effect of the Heavenly Beast’s Superman Mode remained unparalleled; the ability to traverse time and space alone was something almost impossible for any known creature to achieve.

Ye Chen glanced toward the light ahead and saw a stone platform. He immediately walked over. The platform appeared utterly unremarkable, featuring a shallow groove in which rested a black stone the size of a fist. Judging by the aura emanating from this stone, it was unequivocally an Ancient Dark Stone!

Ye Chen’s eyes contracted, and a surge of excitement stirred within him. He knew that even a peanut-sized Ancient Dark Stone could fetch a top-tier Dao Artifact spaceship; to possess one the size of his fist was to hold infinite value!

Ye Chen licked his lips, scrutinized the Ancient Dark Stone to confirm he wasn't mistaken, and then, with a flash in his eyes, snatched it up. In a blur of motion, he retreated rapidly, leaving that stretch of the cosmos. He did not absorb the stone immediately but instead tucked it safely into a small box.

Ye Chen returned to the Demon God Palace and checked the time. Two days had already passed since he entered to devour the ancient dark matter. He walked to the door and instantly heard two laughter, clear as mountain springs. He saw two figures, one white and one purple, frolicking outside the palace—naturally, Bai Yijun and Zixiang.

The two were chasing each other, tickling one another mercilessly. Ye Chen felt a surge of warmth; he hadn't realized Bai Yijun possessed such a cute and mischievous side.

"You're back?" Bai Yijun suddenly stopped playing, looking up at Ye Chen with delighted surprise.

Ye Chen rubbed the bridge of his nose and walked over. "How did you know I was here?"

Bai Yijun winked mischievously. "No matter how far away you are, I still remember your scent."

"Are you a little puppy? Your nose is so keen," Ye Chen chuckled, lightly scraping her delicate nose.

Bai Yijun’s cheeks flushed red. She shot him a coquettish glance before remembering something important and asking, "Did you finish the task? How much did your genes increase?"

"Thirty-eight hundred times," Ye Chen replied with a soft smile.

"That much!" Bai Yijun was somewhat astonished.

"Mhm." Ye Chen smiled, then looked at Zixiang beside her, gently patting her small head. "I have to leave now. I'll come visit again next time."

Zixiang’s eyes welled up with tears, and her lower lip trembled, looking as if she might burst into sobs. With heartbreaking pity, she murmured, "Then, can Sister Yijun stay and play with me?"

Ye Chen felt a pang of awkwardness, rubbing his nose, unsure of how to respond.

Bai Yijun smiled radiantly, bending down. Her smooth, raven hair cascaded down her cheeks, perfectly framing her skin, which was as fair as snow. Her smile was gentle as she stroked Zixiang’s head. "Sister will come back to play with you next time, okay? You need to be good."

Zixiang looked reluctant but could only nod, muttering, "Fine…"

Ye Chen smiled and led Bai Yijun away from the Demon God Palace. The two left the Runic Space and emerged into the open clearing. Ye Chen said, "Wait for me here for just a moment."

"Okay," Bai Yijun replied simply, nodding without questioning further.

Ye Chen flickered away, reappearing at the edge of the Electromagnetic Storm Zone. He slowly activated the Little White Wolf Superman Mode. Instantly, the fine hairs on his body transformed into white fur, his mass increased, his fingernails and toenails sharpened, and his teeth jutted out menacingly. Savage energy flooded every cell in his body, forcing an involuntary long roar toward the sky—a piercing wolf howl.

Whoosh!

Ye Chen vanished and reappeared at the very center of the Electromagnetic Storm Zone. He slowly steadied himself, expelled the internal energy from his chest, causing it to momentarily collapse inward, and then inhaled deeply with immense force.

"Swallow the Mountains and Rivers!"

Ye Chen opened his mouth, his fur bristling, and a mysterious field of energy enveloped an area stretching tens of millions of kilometers around him, encompassing the entire 25-million-kilometer Electromagnetic Storm Zone. With a furious roar, he began to gorge himself.

Sizzzzzle~

Streams of electric light and thunder converged frantically toward him. Electromagnetic waves slammed against Ye Chen’s coat of fur, being swiftly devoured and pulled into his body, saturating his various cells.

Swallow! Swallow! Swallow!

Under Ye Chen’s ravenous consumption, the entire 25-million-kilometer Electromagnetic Storm Zone began to shrink rapidly, rolling back like a whale playing in the ocean.

Bai Yijun, standing outside the zone, watched in stunned silence as the purple electromagnetic waves swiftly receded. Then, remembering Ye Chen had plunged inside, she instantly understood and gasped in amazement. She never imagined the transformed Little White Wolf possessed such heaven-shaking might!

The 25-million-kilometer Electromagnetic Storm Zone retreated at a torrential speed. In only about eight seconds, it was completely absorbed. Ye Chen’s fur slowly softened, and he felt that within the purple lines threading through his cellular universe, the purple qi had increased by approximately one percent.

Ye Chen did not pause. He immediately deployed his Spatial Domain, flashing out like a streak of lightning, scanning the surrounding area spanning tens of millions of kilometers. He teleported hundreds of times in a single second, seizing the corpses of the Electromagnetic Beasts that Bai Yijun had slain. With a slight clench of his claws, he drained the electromagnetic energy from each corpse.

Another eight seconds later, Ye Chen had devoured over a dozen Electromagnetic Beasts. Finally, he flashed back and appeared before Bai Yijun. The Little White Wolf Superman Mode deactivated automatically, and his body went weak; he nearly collapsed.

Bai Yijun cried out in alarm and rushed to steady him. "Are you alright?"

Ye Chen slowly shook his head, reaching out to fumble around, pulling out the last few bottles of stamina recovery potions from his chest. He swallowed them down, then sat cross-legged to rest for two hours until his strength fully returned. Only then did he stand up and say to Bai Yijun, "I just spotted where a few fallen experts perished. Let’s go check those out."

"Okay," Bai Yijun softly nodded.

The two joined hands, transforming into a streak of light as they sped into the distance, traveling at speeds exceeding a hundred kilometers per second. After about ten minutes, they arrived at the site of a fallen expert's demise. The clearing showed signs of violent disruption: scattered wrecks of broken armor and weapons, several spaceships punctured with gaping holes, disintegrating mechas, and a small mountain range composed of Dao Stones and various talismans.

Ye Chen searched through the debris, his heart sinking with disappointment when he found no fragments of the Kyushu Cauldron or the iron sheets. He collected everything into his Fire Civilization Space, then led Bai Yijun to a second location. It was similar here; after confirming the absence of any Kyushu Cauldron fragments, he immediately stored the remnants in his Fire Civilization Space.

The two searched the area hand-in-hand. Fortunately, since this had originally been part of the Electromagnetic Storm Zone, the various civilizations stationed at the Ancient Realm Peak generally treated the area as too hazardous and avoided it by a wide margin, meaning no one else had ventured here.

Ye Chen and Bai Yijun searched with peace of mind, taking about a full day to scour the entire Electromagnetic Storm Zone spanning a 90-million-kilometer radius. They managed to locate the graves of 28 fallen experts during this sweep.

Among these, six sites were so ancient that the fallen spaceships, weaponry, and other artifacts had been completely dissolved into irreparable ruins by the corrosive power of the electromagnetic waves, rendering them unusable.

Even so, acquiring the complete wealth of 22 experts, along with 36 Peak Divine Emperor slaves, instantly made Ye Chen a veritable magnate.

Ye Chen did not leave immediately. After collecting the treasures from the fallen experts, he had Bai Yijun gather the corpses of the slain Electromagnetic Beasts. They spent another day collecting approximately 378 corpses.

Ye Chen engaged the Little White Wolf Superman Mode again and devoured all these corpses. Afterward, the purple qi in the purple lines within his cellular universe had grown to two percent.

Subsequently, guided by Bai Yijun, the pair journeyed to the temples where the Electromagnetic Beasts resided. These temples were constructed of brick and stone, bearing two strange, large characters above the entrance.

Ye Chen examined the characters closely, realizing they were not script from any of the numerous civilizations of the Ancient World, but characters belonging to an entirely unknown writing system.

Ye Chen frowned slightly, his gaze flickering as he pondered for a moment before leading Bai Yijun into the temple. The interior was starkly simple: passing through the main gate led to a large hall, behind which lay an open area dominated by a massive mountain.

The mountain was riddled with caves, varying in size from a dozen zhang wide to small openings only four or five zhang across. Judging by the shed hair near the entrances, these were the dwellings of the Electromagnetic Beasts.

However, at this moment, not a single Electromagnetic Beast occupied any of these caverns.

Ye Chen considered the situation, then led Bai Yijun into the caves to inspect them. He found nothing of value inside; only faint electromagnetic residue clung to the floors and walls.

Ye Chen retreated from the caves and searched around with Bai Yijun, finding nothing noteworthy, which caused him to frown. As they were leaving the temple, he glanced back one last time at the two strange characters, a faint sense that they might hold some significant clue lingering in his mind.

The two continued to inspect several more temples without success and soon lost interest.

"I wonder how the Ancestor and the others are doing now?" Ye Chen felt a pang of longing. He immediately retrieved the Heavenly Dao Mecha, switched it to Heavenly Dao Divine Boat Mode, ushered Bai Yijun inside, and steered directly toward the main avenue of the Ancient Realm Peak.

In the volatile environment of the Ancient Realm Peak, Ye Chen dared not take chances. He ordered Xiao Zongsheng to maximize all systems of the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat to their highest settings, preparing for any danger, especially increasing the power of the detection and interference systems to their absolute limits.

The Heavenly Dao Divine Boat proceeded slowly. Based on the copied electronic map they had obtained earlier, Ye Chen knew this area was not far from the main avenue of the Ancient Realm Peak.

"This time, misfortune brought a blessing," Ye Chen said, sitting on the sofa. He peeled a fragrant fruit for Bai Yijun and handed it to her. "When we get back, give Brother Shao Hao a top-tier Dao Artifact spaceship. Their ability to protect themselves will be much stronger then."

Bai Yijun nodded slightly. "Brother Shao Hao has helped us a great deal. Since we found so many treasures from the fallen experts this time, including twelve top-tier Dao Artifact spaceships, we won't be using them all. Giving one to Brother Shao Hao is a very good idea."

Ye Chen smiled and nodded in agreement.

Just then—

Boom!

The entire ground around them shook violently. Xiao Zongsheng, piloting the Heavenly Dao Divine Boat, changed expression instantly. "Not good! There’s a powerful life form! This, this, this is too strong!!!"

Ye Chen froze for a moment, then shot forward like the wind into the control room. He immediately saw on the detection screen a massive red dot located 6 million kilometers to the northeast. According to the screen’s calibration, the red dot represented a biological life signature.

The larger the dot, the stronger the creature's life aura! (To be continued)

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