"Who knows." Fuxi chuckled, a sound of self-mockery, and clinked his pot against the Yellow Emperor's. "A toast!"

The Yellow Emperor laughed, drained his cup, then gazed into the distant black sky, murmuring, "I have no regrets in this life. I have a good son who brings me honor, and several fine disciples to inherit my mantle. Even if my soul returns to the Nine Heavens, erased from the Scroll of Sentient Beings, eternally barred from reincarnation, it matters little. Only... I hope to encounter you again in that other realm."

Fuxi smiled.

"That Lord of Purple Cloud Island possesses remarkable natural talent indeed. Congratulations, you have found a worthy successor." Fuxi smiled faintly, though a trace of loneliness clung to the edges of his expression.

The Yellow Emperor offered a slight smile, then turned his gaze toward the churning, boiling black clouds gathering on the horizon. Amidst this oppressive gloom, an occasional bolt of lightning, like a purple serpent, flashed across the sky. The piercing cries of black-winged birds echoed across the firmament, sounding like the whistle of the wind, carrying the scent of war and death, flying in from the distant horizon, soaring through the lightning beneath the storm clouds.

"I wonder why this legion of corpses has targeted us. They should be mindless shamblers. For them to pursue us so relentlessly is truly strange." The Yellow Emperor's demeanor was composed, his voice carrying an air of detachment. A deep light flickered in his profound eyes, suggesting deep thought.

Fuxi offered a cool, handsome smile—the kind that could captivate any maiden. He chuckled lightly, "There are only two possible reasons for this. The first is that some unknown entity is controlling this corpse legion, intentionally launching a calculated attack against us. The reason could simply be the vast population of our race. Observing the path these monstrous corpses have carved, every living thing has been consumed. It must be for sustenance."

"And the second reason?" The Yellow Emperor leaned forward expectantly.

Fuxi’s eyes sharpened like blades, his voice turning icy and severe. "The second reason, I fear, is for the fragments of the Ancient God’s Cave Key we carry! These corpses are the same as the headless dead within Ancient Peak. Ever since the turmoil in Ancient Peak, when we returned to the Ancient World, this place has been in utter chaos. I suspect there is someone among these corpses who can control them, someone who has spotted the Ancient God’s Cave Key fragments on us and seeks to seize them! You must remember, anything possessed by our civilization is common to other civilizations on the Ancient Continent, save for these fragments of the Ancient God’s Cave Key—they are utterly unique!"

The Yellow Emperor’s heart gave a sharp jolt. He quickly inquired, "Surely not? What use would these corpses have for the Cave Key fragments? Do they perhaps intend to enter Ancient Peak? But how would they know the passage leading there?"

Fuxi shook his head slightly and sighed. "I do not know. But the reasons I have deduced are only these two. I only hope it is due to a lack of food. If that is the case, once we successfully defend this position, they will be forced to shift their focus due to starvation."

The Yellow Emperor’s noble, sword-like eyebrows furrowed. After a moment, he slowly said, "With our current strength, can we truly hold the line..."

A ripple disturbed the clear wine in the cup held by Fuxi's long, pale hand. He then raised his head, looking up at the oppressive black clouds and the raging cold wind. A black-winged bird, like a streak of black aurora, swooped past him from behind, its cry laden with sorrow and the corrosive stench of death...

"We leave it to fate..."

A few black feathers drifted down from the sky, tracing mesmerizing arcs under the shafts of light piercing the gaps in the clouds.

It was like... the beautiful trajectory of withering life.

Inside the Divine Ark of Heaven’s Law.

The light illuminated the fine porcelain-like, iron-colored tabletop, reflecting off the obsidian gems inlaid on the corners of the pair of purely black combat boots resting there. Following the line up the denim of his jeans, Ye Chen leaned back against the sofa upholstered in rare beast hides. Beneath his finely sculpted, high-arched brows lay a pair of eyes as clear and dazzling as the stars.

At this moment, Ye Chen’s gaze seemed somewhat vacant. The darkness outside the viewport was reflected in his deep eyes. The vessel was moving at light speed, so fast that no scenery could be discerned, only endless blackness. He had maintained this posture for two hours, completely motionless.

Bai Yijun sat on a comfortable chair slightly farther away. Her naturally willow-leaf shaped black eyebrows slanted towards her temples. In her eyes, clear and sparkling like black gems, lay a faint sorrow. She knew Ye Chen was deep in thought, so she didn't linger too close for too long, lest her own scent interfere with his concentration.

Thus, Ye Chen sat silently lost in thought, and she merely watched. In her eyes, it seemed all the things in the world combined could not equal a single smile from this man, beautiful as ice and snow.

She, too, was lost in her contemplation.

Just then, Ye Chen’s expression suddenly shifted, as if a sculpted stone had awakened. The light gradually returned to his eyes, making them shine brilliantly like twin stars, filled with coldness and authority. He slightly lifted his legs, set them down from the table, and rose. He walked to the viewport and stared into the black void, his low voice carrying unquestionable command: "Activate the external visual capture system."

Xiao Zhong Sheng, the intelligence of the Divine Ark of Heaven’s Law, was aware of every change within, so without anyone responding, the external visual capture system in the main cabin hall lit up. Through the dynamic metallic screen, the scene outside became visible.

It was a sky choked with suffocating black clouds, devoid of a single ray of sunlight. Deep within the clouds, a faint, misty, blood-red hue glowed, resembling an eerie, bloodthirsty pupil, gazing down upon the world with savage, sinister eyes, radiating crushing oppression and grimness.

Below, vast tracts of intersecting mountains and rivers rushed backward at incredible speed, as if incapable of keeping up with their own pace. Among them were countless cities, their square layouts and towering walls standing like bamboo shoots in the mountains, once brimming with life, now dilapidated and shrouded in corpse-gray currents of air.

City after city, under the assault of the boundless army of undead beasts, were extinguished like faint waves by the shore, reduced to countless splashes.

Ye Chen’s eyebrows twitched slightly. A flash of white light, like an aurora, crossed his eyes, which were as black as ice and snow. "Accelerate!" he commanded coldly.

Whoosh!

The Divine Ark of Heaven’s Law sped up. However, the scenery outside did not change, because the projection slowdown system on the external viewer was also maxed out. In other words, the scenery Ye Chen could currently see was already tens of thousands of kilometers behind them.

Under this soaring velocity, Ye Chen felt his heart beat faintly, as if pushing the blood through his entire body with a rhythmic thump-thump, like a deep drumbeat resonating in his ears. The hairs on his back prickled, and he stared intently at the distant, cloud-shrouded horizon on the screen, feeling an inexplicable sense of dread.

It was the body's automatic alarm signal when encountering imminent danger.

Above the Celestial Monarch Divine Continent, the dark clouds enveloped the heaven and earth, entirely obscuring the vast sky, allowing no light to penetrate—like a coarse, black, foul-smelling cloth draped over everyone's heart, inducing an indescribable sense of oppression and discomfort.

Until, from the distant horizon, sounding like the break of dawn, came a metallic clang. It resonated across thousands of miles from a far-off land, echoing in the ears of every powerhouse and commoner alike, striking a note of profound awe.

The dim, lightless black clouds slowly parted like a curtain, and from their depths shone a cold, snow-like blood moon, bathing the scarred land below.

As the clouds drew back, Fuxi, standing on the warship, spotted a black line forming on the distant horizon. This line seemed woven from countless tiny black dots, rapidly approaching, surging like a furious tide. Even from this great distance, he could feel the faint stench and the intense killing intent carried on the wind rushing toward him!

"They've arrived..." His expression was impassive, but his voice held a note of tragic grandeur and chilling solemnity. He then gently clenched the wine cup in his hand, and wisps of crystalline light slipped from the edges of his palm, drifting away on the wind, scattering across the heavens and earth.

Then, his hand reached inside the armor on his chest and withdrew the Bagua Mirror. His long hair whipped wildly in the wind. He slowly withdrew his gaze from the distant horizon, looking down at the mirror in his hand, as if committing its appearance to memory one last time. Then, his figure suddenly vanished with the breeze, taking the Yellow Emperor beside him along.

When they reappeared, they were standing at the very edge of the Celestial Monarch Divine Continent's defense line. Here, the most elite warriors of their race were gathered, staring at the encroaching black mass rolling toward them like a snowball, their eyes fierce as wolves. They gripped the war swords or great sabers at their waists, or stood ready at firing positions with divine-grade machine guns. Through their binoculars, veins bulged on their arms as they observed the scene in the distance, taut and ready like compressed cannonballs filled with power.

In this moment before battle, everyone remained utterly still, holding their breath.

In this deathly silence, all they could hear was the progressively hot and boiling blood surging through their veins, gurgling down and cycling through their meridians.

The black shadows in the distance rushed forward like an unstoppable, destructive ocean wave. With the first loud, deep roar that stretched out from the mass of black dots, an avalanche of more chaotic and disordered beast cries followed, their sheer volume silencing the very sky. Only the churning, boiling black clouds seemed to recoil in fear, slowly drawing aside to allow more of the bloody light to illuminate these undead beasts that had been sealed in the earth for countless ages.

"Aoo—!"

The clear roar sounded like the bugle call of war, sweeping across the entire world and igniting the blood within every powerhouse present. Fuxi, standing at the very front, suddenly let out a massive roar toward the sky. This shout drowned out the beast's cry. His body launched up from the ground, soaring toward the heavens, charging into the backlighting, his hand reaching up to grasp the sky.

A thread of black light shot straight up from his sleeve, seized in his hand. In that instant, it was as if he had grasped all the dark light in the heavens within his palm. Then, with his long black hair streaming wildly, like a furious beast or a rampaging demon, he screamed hoarsely, an ecstatic bellow, one single word: "KILL!!!"