Standing silently before the Flame Palace, Bai Yijun, clad in robes as white as snow, resembled an ancient stone sculpture. Countless layers of dust had settled upon her, gradually transforming her into a grayish-white effigy. Only her features and expression remained vividly alive, remarkably expressive.

She had stood there for ten thousand years.

For all those millennia, her gaze remained fixed upon the Flame Palace without a single blink. Dust accumulated day by day, finally forming a statue of lime. Yet, she registered none of it; only an unshakeable conviction remained in her heart.

The sky was clear, the clouds drifting lightly.

Suddenly, the flames atop the Flame Palace convulsed violently, followed by a deep, ancient rumble. From the massive gate of the palace, a fan-shaped radiance erupted, illuminating the open ground outside and staining the earth a deep crimson.

A figure emerged. Tall and slender, dressed in deep black, long black hair flowed wildly and softly behind him. His gaze, sharp as a blade’s edge, was filled with detachment. His back was straight as a javelin. As he stepped out from the Flame Palace, he immediately spotted the lime-white sculpture at the entrance.

Seeing this familiar sculpture, Ye Chen felt figures long buried in the depths of his memory overlap. His body shuddered. He strode quickly to the statue, gazing at the familiar features, his voice trembling slightly. “Is… is that you…?”

Crack!

A fissure suddenly appeared on the silent sculpture, rapidly spreading across its entire form. Then, with a loud boom, it shattered.

A figure, clad in robes as white as snow, burst forth from the ruins and landed before Ye Chen. There was the soft, jade-black hair, the exquisitely delicate face, the slender eyebrows, the skin as pale as mist, and those eyes—gentle, clean, and utterly clear…

Bai Yijun!

Ye Chen’s heart lurched; it felt as if a layer of mist had clouded his vision, blurring his sight. “Xiao Jun…” He parted his lips and managed to utter those two words in a low rasp, as if expending all his strength.

“You are out,” Bai Yijun said, her eyes tear-filled as she leaned into his embrace. “To see you again, and that everything is well.”

A simple sentence, yet it contained the weight of ten thousand years of emotion.

Ye Chen held her silently, clutching her tightly. Only after a long while did they separate. Ye Chen suddenly remembered Bai Long and the others, swiftly turning to look. He saw only Bai Yijun standing alone on the open ground.

“They waited for you for a thousand years. Later, something happened in the Ancient World. They received a summons from Yue Ling—it seemed urgent—so they rushed back first,” Bai Yijun murmured softly.

Ye Chen nodded slightly, feeling the warmth against his chest. A faint smile touched his lips. “Let’s go too.”

“En,” Bai Yijun nodded obediently.

Their reunion after ten millennia apart was marked not by excessive words. Every glance, every movement conveyed volumes. True love is heart-to-heart; the excitement truly felt is that which surpasses expression. The love truly conveyed is that which reaches its absolute zenith beyond mere language.

Ye Chen immediately turned and led Bai Yijun away. Before leaving, he bowed deeply toward the Flame Palace.

Then, holding Bai Yijun’s hand, he shot away toward the distance.

“Where are we going?” Bai Yijun asked softly, nestled in his arms.

Ye Chen gazed at the ethereal mist drifting in the sky ahead and smiled. “We are going to uncover the secrets of Earth.”

“Earth’s secrets?” Bai Yijun looked at him with a hint of confusion.

Ye Chen gave a mysterious smile. “When I emerged, I bid farewell to Senior Fire Blood Phoenix. Before leaving, I asked him if the mysterious magnetic field on Earth was because of him. He replied that it was not.”

Bai Yijun was also surprised. “It wasn't caused by that?”

Ye Chen nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the distance, shining with wise contemplation. “That is highly suspicious. There have been multiple world-ending events on Earth, and the collapse of several civilizations. All of this has unfolded on a single planet. There are countless living planets in the entire universe, yet only Earth faces such circumstances. Furthermore, during my journey, I heard people say that Earth is named the Divine Origin Star!”

Bai Yijun pondered aloud. “Could it be that Earth is not an ordinary planet, but a powerful weapon, or perhaps some kind of creature?”

With her experience, she knew the world contained many potent weapons—some so vast they could form a universe, a river, or a divine dragon. Thus, one capable of forming a planet would hardly be unusual. Moreover, there were creatures whose life forms were strangely configured, capable of manifesting all sorts of phenomena. She would not be surprised in the least if Earth turned out to be a colossal egg.

Ye Chen’s eyes flickered. “Highly possible.”

By this time, the pair had reached the edge of the continent. There, the Azure Scaled Dragon was coiled, but compared to ten thousand years ago, it was now even more formidable. Its scales radiated a brilliant luster, and two sharp horns jutted from its head. Its aura had reached the peak of the Divine Spirit realm!

Ye Chen glanced at it and flew past without stopping to greet it.

Not long after, Ye Chen crossed the ocean to the other continent, heading toward the former Youzhou. However, after traversing the sea, the scene before him caused Ye Chen to gasp in shock. On a desolate stretch of land, ancient-style cities dotted the landscape, sheltered beneath a massive, semi-transparent energy shield hovering above them.

Through the shield, the internal layout of the cities was visible: various turret towers and machine gun nests stood guard. Streams of people, carrying battle sabers or machine guns, moved freely in and out of the city gates, displaying an air of bustling prosperity.

The current Earth had become a world where prosperity and monsters coexisted. Were it not for the sophisticated, advanced weaponry, civilization would likely have regressed to a barbaric age.

Creation and construction are difficult, but destruction is always far simpler. A single cataclysmic disaster could wipe out humanity or force a regression to ancient times.

“I didn’t expect that the catastrophe ten thousand years ago failed to completely erase humanity from this land, allowing them to evolve to this level. Though they haven't completely subjugated Earth, they can now hold their own against the monsters,” Ye Chen mused internally.

“Perhaps humanity’s greatest asset is its reproductive capacity,” Bai Yijun smiled sweetly.

Ye Chen chuckled, taking her hand, and abruptly plunged toward the great ocean. “Let’s go inside the Earth and take a look.”

Bai Yijun offered no resistance. She never refused any action Ye Chen proposed.

The pair dropped into the ocean, sending up a huge splash. The cold, deep seawater seemed to cling to them, yet, in reality, a Wind Barrier protected their bodies, repelling the water and extracting oxygen for them to breathe.

Upon entering the seabed world, Ye Chen immediately saw countless monsters swimming everywhere—various mutated fish, bizarre in shape. Sharks from ten thousand years ago would appear as docile little pets among them.

Ye Chen guided Bai Yijun swiftly downward.

These strange fish-monsters failed to notice them.

“For those who have mastered the power of Wind, distorting sight is effortless,” Ye Chen whispered with a smile to Bai Yijun. Unhindered, they sank toward the bottom. Gradually, the light from the surface above disappeared, and the deep sea became pitch black—a place where one could not see one's hand before one's face.

Ye Chen flicked a finger, and warm-colored flames bloomed from his palm, illuminating the surroundings brightly.

However, outside the Wind Barrier, the scene revealed was not the seabed environment, but monstrous creatures, fierce and numerous, all turning their heads to stare at the pair. In the deep blackness of the ocean floor, the flame in Ye Chen’s hand acted like a beacon.

Ye Chen, however, showed no alarm; the situation seemed entirely within his expectations. He tapped his finger again, and a wisp of black flame separated and drifted outside the Wind Barrier.

The moment the black flame left their protective shield, the surrounding seawater instantly began to boil, then was rapidly vaporized and consumed—not even steam appeared; it was simply devoured in massive amounts. The sea across a thousand kilometers in every direction turned scalding hot, the intense temperature instantly melting all life within it.

Ye Chen knew he could not linger, or within an hour, all the ocean water would be consumed by this black flame. If he wished, he could reduce the entire Earth to the finest dust in an instant.

Using the black flame to clear the path, Ye Chen swiftly descended with Bai Yijun. Before long, they reached the vast rocky land beneath the seabed. The entire area was shrouded in blackness, punctuated by countless bizarre mountain peaks and deep rifts, like scars where the earth had split open, revealing even deeper water within.

The water pressure here was immense, yet Ye Chen’s Wind Barrier easily resisted it.

Ye Chen extinguished the black flame, suspending a vivid red glow above his head that cast the surroundings in a dull gray light. He scanned the area, then flew straight ahead.

After flying a short distance, Ye Chen spotted a massive chasm on the seabed floor, filled with seawater, the pressure several times that of the outside. Without slowing, Ye Chen plunged directly in.

The red light illuminated the chasm brightly, allowing them to see every bump and contour of the rock walls on either side with perfect clarity. Ye Chen navigated this underwater world, diving deeper as if on an adventure.

After an indeterminate time, Ye Chen suddenly felt a fluctuation in the surrounding water flow and instinctively looked down. In the pitch-black water, a huge source of light emerged, like a dazzling lamp. As he focused his gaze, the massive light rapidly expanded upward, and a savage, sharp maw suddenly yawned open. The surrounding seawater immediately rushed in as if finding an outlet, pouring madly into its mouth.

Ye Chen and Bai Yijun, following the current, were swept inside along with the water.