Chapter One Hundred: Firelight Filling the Sky

Just as Ye Qiu was still racking his brains in the study, a sheet of fire suddenly shot into the heavens, followed by a thunderous blast that shook the sky.

"Hm? What was that?"

Ye Qiu frowned and stepped out at once. Cao He and Qing Cheng also came out after him.

"Boss, what happened?" Cao He asked anxiously. He had only just been teaching Qing Cheng the rules of the tavern, and the next moment such a deafening explosion had erupted.

It was like a bolt from a clear sky, shattering every trace of the imposing demeanor he had so painstakingly built up. His trousers had nearly been soaked through; thankfully Qing Cheng had not noticed, or he would have been utterly humiliated.

"I don't know..."

Ye Qiu looked up and saw the entire sky shrouded in blazing firelight, the scene in complete chaos.

When he reached the second-floor window, Yue Chan and her two attendants were already seated there, quietly watching the disturbance in the heavens.

"What is going on?" Ye Qiu asked as he arrived and looked once more at the spectacle above. Within that blaze, it was impossible to make out what was truly happening.

From the looks of it, a ferocious battle was underway. Only a struggle between powerhouses beyond the realm of earthly immortals could have caused such an astonishing heavenly omen.

Yue Chan's brows drew together. In a low voice, she said, "I can feel it. A sinister aura! It is ill-omened..."

"Ill-omened?"

Ye Qiu froze, then suddenly felt a surge of joy in his heart. He pressed, "From the dark depths?"

Yue Chan did not understand. She glanced at him hesitantly, unsure why he cared so much about this ill omen, but she answered truthfully anyway.

"Yes. Very likely, it is an evil omen from the Forbidden Zone!"

"Could it really be him?"

Ye Qiu's heart trembled. The beast that had slumbered within him for so many years seemed to be stirring awake little by little.

He knew this sinister aura all too well. Wasn't it the same dark presence that had once taken Little Dong away? Could it be the same person, or the same group?

If it truly was them, Ye Qiu would have to meet them face to face. At the very least, he had finally found a trace of a lead, and he would never let it go.

"Little Red, prepare the carriage. Follow me into the skies..."

With a cold shout, Ye Qiu's command rang out. The massive form of the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow instantly flew in from afar. Ye Qiu leaped high, landing directly upon its crown as it shot toward the ninth heaven.

"Hm?"

Seeing Ye Qiu react so violently, Yue Chan's heart tightened as well. She could tell that Ye Qiu clearly attached great importance to this matter.

The instant Ye Qiu took to the air, Yue Chan's figure also rose gracefully into the sky. Treading upon a jade lotus, she looked like a divine maiden from the ninth heaven, sacred and untouchable.

All who saw her instinctively retreated, unwilling to dare her edge.

"What exactly happened? Everything was fine just a moment ago, so how did it come to blows?" With Ye Qiu and Yue Chan gone, Cao He was left in charge of the tavern, and he too began to panic, utterly clueless as to what was happening.

At that moment, Qing Cheng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke. "Could it be him?"

"What do you mean?" Cao He turned and asked at once.

What did Qing Cheng mean by that? Did he know the people up there? Otherwise, why would he say such a thing?

Qing Cheng's eyes were filled with hatred as he said coldly, "It really is him. That damned old man couldn't catch me, so now he's trying to make a scene, is he?"

As soon as Qing Cheng said this, Cao He immediately understood. The man causing havoc over Chaos Heaven should be the old fellow who had previously captured Qing Cheng.

At this moment, the battle in the sky was breaking out in full force, and the scene was deeply shocking.

The Great Wilderness beings, originally stationed outside the battlefield and glaring at the void-born creatures across from them, had not expected a group of old men, each surrounded by black aura, to emerge suddenly from the rear.

The moment they entered the battlefield, they began slaughtering without mercy, determined to exterminate the entire Great Wilderness on the spot. Their methods were brutally vicious.

Among them were more than a dozen peerless experts at the level of earthly immortals. With overwhelming force, they killed tens of thousands of beings in an instant. Even the ancient fiends of the wilderness could not escape disaster.

"Brute, how dare you!"

High in Chaos Heaven, the Wood-withering Daoist roared in fury. With a single palm strike, he repelled seven earthly immortal experts at once. Though his own cultivation had reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, these old monsters shrouded in black qi were each more terrifying than the last, and their methods were strange and unnatural. Even in single combat he would have difficulty killing one, let alone facing seven at the same time.

What was more, he had only just broken through and had not yet had time to stabilize his cultivation. At present, his combat strength within the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm was among the weakest.

The battlefield was in utter chaos. The other earthly immortal experts also made their moves, and in an instant the entire Chaos Heaven descended into a boiling mess.

On the other side, the battle between Liu Jianchen and the Old Master of Divine Machines was already nearing its end. Just as Liu Jianchen was about to seal the outcome with a single sword strike, one of the mighty figures launched a sneak attack from behind and grievously wounded him.

What was astonishing was that the Old Master of Divine Machines was actually allied with this group.

"Damn it. That shameless old monster. To think he was in league with the great figures behind this calamity. If I'd known, I should have killed him with one palm strike."

The Wood-withering Daoist was so enraged that his lungs nearly burst, but Liu Jianchen had already been ambushed, and the outcome was now uncertain. No one else was free to spare a hand and help him, so he could only be left to endure the combined assault of two great earthly immortal figures, retreating step by step.

The turmoil ignited by the battle in Chaos Heaven was unprecedented. The entire wasteland was bathed in firelight as heaven and earth shook violently.

Blood seeped from the corner of Liu Jianchen's mouth. His face was cold as he stared at the Old Master of Divine Machines, both hands already too weak to wield the long sword in his grasp.

The Old Master of Divine Machines looked at him with a triumphant expression and said with a smile, "Heh, you're still too young. You originally had the power to kill me with a single sword, but you gave it up. Instead, you chose the hardest path, hoping to force me step by step into a dead end and torment me to death?

"How regrettable. You'll never guess that the reason I dragged things out with you all these days was simply to buy time!"

"Haha, how amusing, truly amusing. A so-called earthly immortal, yet you betray your ancestors and throw yourself into darkness? Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous..."

Liu Jianchen laughed madly, the sound of his ridicule piercing and sharp. Hearing it, the Old Master of Divine Machines flushed red with anger, fury churning within him.

Yes, he had long since abandoned the light and cast his lot with darkness, betraying the Great Wilderness and the land guarded by his forebears for generations.

After his anger subsided somewhat, the Old Master of Divine Machines once again revealed a sly smile and shook his head. "Young man, the wise submit to the times.

"There are three thousand paths to immortality. I merely chose the one most favorable to me. You have never experienced the darkness of the ancient chaotic age, so you can never understand what it feels like to fight for survival in the cracks.

"You are not qualified to lecture me. In my eyes, you are no different from those ants out there, stubborn and foolish to the core.

"Look at this world properly. What is there, exactly, that is worth your protection? Why not throw yourself into the darkness with me and enjoy eternal life instead?"

Liu Jianchen smiled. He truly had never experienced the darkness of the chaotic ancient age, and he did not know what had happened back then.

Still, he looked down on the Old Master of Divine Machines from the bottom of his heart.

With a mocking tone, he said, "You can be this shameless with such righteous confidence? I almost admire you. Words are useless now. Come then. One or two more—what difference does it make?"