Chapter 1405, The Sixth Stone Stele

Translator:  Ashish

Translation Checker: Silvain

 

At the edge of the universe lay the Darkest Reach, a forbidden region untouched by any living being, more perilous even than the former Dark Expanse.

 

However, now, at the deepest part of that abyss, a stone stele stood in utter silence.

 

Its surface was pitch-black, its faint glow shrouded in a hazy veil.

 

This was the Sixth Stone Stele Yu Zi Yu had sought for so long, the one that recorded the Seventh Level of the Grand Divine Ability, One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones.

 

Staring at it from afar, Yu Zi Yu suppressed the excitement rising in his chest and acted immediately.

 

*Boooooom…* A single hand stretched out, vast enough to eclipse sun and sky, seizing the stele from millions of miles away.

 

In that moment, Yu Zi Yu couldn’t help feeling grateful toward the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree.

 

Without her guidance, how could he possibly have found these steles?

 

Let alone gathered all of them?

 

[To be honest… gathering all pieces of One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones is something nearly impossible.] Sighing in his heart, Yu Zi Yu couldn’t help but marvel at his own fortune.

 

Even if someone else had gained the help of the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree and knew the locations of the other six steles, the stele containing the Third Level: Body Creation had long shattered. Its Dao marks were not imprinted on stone, but within the Seraph Lineage’s very blood.

 

How could anyone find that?

 

Only Yu Zi Yu, thanks to his boundless destiny and unimaginable fortune, had both the Heaven-Connecting Divine Tree revealing the steles’ whereabouts and a unique innate talent: Absolute Evolution.

 

Through it, he had transformed into the Fifth Seraph and stole the Seraph Lineage’s greatest inheritance.

 

With a faint smile, Yu Zi Yu could only sigh to himself. “This Grand Divine Ability is truly destined for me…”

 

However, at that moment, the nearby Ni Shang narrowed her eyes, curiosity gleaming within them. “Demon Emperor, what did you just take?”

 

“A stone stele.” Yu Zi Yu answered without hiding anything. Then he added casually, “The moment I saw it, I felt a resonance. So I grabbed it. You should know that beings like us can often sense things that have hidden connections with us.”

 

“True.” Nodding, Ni Shang agreed.

 

She too could sense the presence of the Divine Phoenix Tree.

 

Even if separated by tens of millions of miles, she would instantly know whether a Phoenix Tree existed in a region.

 

After all, Phoenixes roosted upon the Phoenix Tree. And as the mightiest Phoenix alive, her standards were even higher.

 

Only the purest Divine Phoenix Tree could draw her attention.

 

And the Divine Phoenix Tree simply did not exist in the universe. Otherwise, she would already have sensed it.

 

It was a mysterious connection. It was indescribable, indefinable.

 

Now, hearing that the Demon Emperor sensed resonance with the stele, she naturally assumed It must be related to his path of ascension.

 

Only treasures capable of helping him prove the Dao would make him cross endless galaxies to obtain them.

 

However, just as Yu Zi Yu and Ni Shang were idly chatting, Ni Shang’s expression suddenly shifted.

 

“What’s wrong?” Yu Zi Yu asked, sensing her abrupt change.

 

“I… just felt the Phoenix Clan’s distress signal.”

 

“What?” Yu Zi Yu’s face also darkened.

 

For in the very same instant, he too sensed a distress call from the Demon Court.

 

“It seems something has happened… I felt it as well.”

 

As he spoke, a faint amusement rose within him.

 

Pretending to feign ignorance, he found it strangely amusing.

 

Though he was the mastermind behind the invasion, he actually had to pretend he had no idea.

 

Fortunately, Ni Shang was pure and simple, easy to mislead.

 

If it were someone more shrewd or scheming, Yu Zi Yu wasn’t certain he could keep up the façade…

 

Of course, this was hardly the time to dwell on such details.

 

Yu Zi Yu’s expression turned cold as he stated in a weighted with gravity, “It seems we must return immediately.”

 

“En…” Ni Shang gave a small nod.

 

In a flash, the playful girl from moments ago vanished, replaced by the icy, solemn Matriarch of the Phoenix Clan.

 

Before the Demon Emperor, she could allow herself to act a bit childish.

 

However, now, with her clan’s life-and-death plea echoing in her ears, she had to wear the mantle of Phoenix Clan’s Matriarch once more.

 

“Demon Emperor… let’s go.” Dropping this sentence, the rather aloof Ni Shang materialized the Nine-Colored Phoenix beneath her, and shot across the starry expanse.

 

However, before she could gain distance…

 

*Boooooom…* A booming roar rolled through space, and Ni Shang felt her body lurch, and cross several star systems, as though time and space had twisted.

 

The next moment, as she lifted her eyes, and gazed on the Demon Emperor, clad in golden robes, she realized that it was him who had carried through the cosmos.

 

“This speed…?” Her voice trembled, filled with disbelief. [Impossible! This speed, crossing multiple star systems in the blink of an eye, it’s simply monstrous!]

 

Just then, noticing her shock, Yu Zi Yu offered an explanation, a rare feat on his part, “I am most proficient in movement arts. I even created this, Void Step, which folds space itself, shrinking the distance between galaxies. With the situation so dire, I can’t possibly hide my abilities!”

 

While explaining, Yu Zi Yu kept moving forward, heading straight forward the Central Sector.

 

“En…” Ni Shang nodded her understanding, offering no resistance.

 

However, if anyone paid attention to her eyes, they would see a complex emotion swirling within them.

 

She always believed the Demon Emperor to be terrifying, but even terrifying should have limits.

 

However, after spending time with him, she slowly realized, his horror exceeded all her imagination.

 

During their journey, she visited the Demon Emperor’s Nine Realms, discussed Dao with him in his Realm of Life.

 

She was stunned that he possessed nine Small Worlds.

 

Later, she discovered that he also possessed a Crimson Heavenly Eye, capable of peering through anything.

 

And her prized veil she had been proud of was completely ineffective before him.

 

And the reason he froze when she took off her veil was not because he was dazzled by her beauty, but because he was surprised she would remove it at all.

 

Because of that misunderstanding, Ni Shang’s face had flushed red countless times…

 

The innocent girl actually believed he had been captivated by her beauty and teased him about it for half a day.

 

It was truly embarrassing.

 

[Just how much has he been hiding!?] She found herself sighing again and again.

 

And quietly, she etched his technique, Void Step, into her heart.

 

And thus, another terrifying power, that terrified her, had been added to her repertoire.