Shrouding the Heavens: Empress, I am truly not the Desolate Heavenly Emperor!

The wind picked up.

Outside the Peach Blossom Spring, in the chaotic rocky forest, the atmosphere was extremely somber.

The nine-aperture stone figure was three zhang tall, its entire body covered in moss-covered stone armor, and grayish-white chaotic energy spewed from its nine acupoints. With each step it took, the earth trembled.

This is a true ancient remnant species, with strength comparable to the peak of the Dao Palace Secret Realm, and even has one foot in the Four Extremes Secret Realm.

Compared to it, Ye Chen, who was only at the Life Spring Realm, was as insignificant as an ant that had just learned to walk upright.

"roar--!"

The stone figure let out a low roar, the sound like thunder, shattering the surrounding boulders. Its murky stone eyes were full of contempt as it raised its millstone-sized hand and slammed it down on Ye Chen like swatting a fly.

There are no fancy supernatural powers, only pure strength.

This single palm strike was enough to reduce a small hill to dust.

"Well done!"

Instead of retreating, Ye Chen advanced. He suddenly looked up, his eyes showing no fear, but rather a wolf-like greed.

That was the look in a hungry wolf's eyes when it saw meat.

"The Devouring Heaven Dao Evolution Scripture, open!"

boom!

Inside Ye Chen's body, the pitch-black life spring that had just been "magically modified" by the Empress was spinning wildly.

In an instant, his entire demeanor changed.

If he was a sharp sword before, then he is now a bottomless black hole.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling brilliance.

When the massive, sky-covering stone hand struck three inches above Ye Chen's head, a bizarre scene unfolded.

It stopped.

It wasn't out of kindness, but because... I got caught up in it.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

A sickening corrosive sound rang out.

A black vortex, no bigger than a fist, appeared above Ye Chen's head. Though small, this vortex seemed to connect to the ultimate nothingness of the universe.

The stone man's seemingly indestructible hand began to disintegrate the moment it touched the vortex!

A large amount of stone essence transformed into a visible gray torrent, which was swallowed up by the vortex and frantically injected into Ye Chen's body.

"roar?!"

The stone figure let out a terrified roar. It tried to pull its hand away, but found that its palm seemed to be welded to the void, and its vital energy was draining away at an alarming rate.

pain!

The pain that goes deep into the bone marrow!

"Is this the cultivation method that the Empress modified?"

Ye Chen felt the surging, ocean-like energy within his body and was overjoyed. "This is too damn domineering! This isn't cultivation, it's plunder!"

This was the prototype of the Devouring Heaven Demon Art.

They disregard reason and cause and effect, focusing solely on strength and weakness.

"Suck it dry!"

Ye Chen shouted loudly, formed hand seals, and was about to increase the power to directly suck the big rock into waste.

however.

Just as he pushed his technique to its limit.

A sudden change occurred.

Om-!

Ye Chen's life spring in his dantian suddenly trembled violently, and the pink rune formed from the Empress's peach blossoms lit up without warning.

An ancient, desolate, yet endlessly sorrowful Daoist aura instantly connected with Ye Chen's soul through this rune, and traced back to its source along some causal line!

Deep in the Peach Blossom Spring.

The empress, who had been sleeping soundly on the flower petals, suddenly trembled.

The cultivation technique Ye Chen used was modified by her, and it contained her Dao.

At this moment, Ye Chen unleashed his full power, like dropping a depth charge onto a calm lake, directly detonating the Dao wounds within the Empress's body that had been barely maintaining balance.

"Oh no!"

Ye Chen, who was engrossed in inhaling the smoke, suddenly changed his expression.

What he felt was not a feedback of energy, but a chill that could freeze his soul, flowing back from the depths of Peach Blossom Spring along that causal line.

That was... pure killing intent.

A killing intent a billion times stronger than that of the nine-aperture stone man!

At this moment, the sky above the rocky forest changed.

The originally gray mist instantly dissipated, replaced by an extremely oppressive crimson hue.

The void is wailing, the earth is cracking.

An indescribable, terrifying pressure descended like a celestial river pouring down.

Pfft!

The nine-aperture stone figure that was still struggling was rendered speechless by this oppressive force, unable to even utter a scream. Its knees buckled, and it knelt directly on the ground.

Its hard stone body trembled, blood gushed from all nine acupoints at the same time, and the fierce light in its eyes instantly turned into extreme fear.

It sensed it.

That's... the aura of the Lord of the Forbidden Zone!

But Ye Chen couldn't laugh.

Because he realized that the oppressive force was not directed at the stone man, but at—him!

"They've gone too far!"

Ye Chen felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind.

He stiffly turned his neck and looked in the direction of Peach Blossom Spring.

There, a figure dressed in white, pure as snow, was walking through the air.

She was still breathtakingly beautiful.

But those eyes...

She is no longer the innocent "Nannan" nor the indifferent "Empress".

Instead, it was a state of chaos.

Pitch black as ink, with no whites in its eyes, only endless destruction and madness.

That's... a demonic fetus!

The third personality of the Ruthless Great Emperor, born from the severance of his Great Dao—that madman dominated by the desire to kill!

"Mortals...ants..."

"die!"

The Demon Empress's voice was hoarse and grating, like metal rubbing together. Without uttering a word, she raised a hand and pressed it down on Ye Chen from thousands of meters away.

Rumble!

A colossal hand, formed from primordial chaos, manifested in the heavens.

The palm lines are clearly visible, each line representing a law of destruction.

With this palm strike, not only would Ye Chen, who was at the Life Spring Realm, be wiped off the map instantly, but the entire Chaotic Stone Forest, along with that unfortunate Nine-Aperture Stone Man, would also be wiped off the map.

"Holy shit..."

Ye Chen felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

This plot isn't right!

What happened to the promise of being a kept man?

This is toxic being a kept man; you're going to smash the bowl too!

"System! Help!"

"Warning: Extreme Imperial Power detected. Host survival rate is 0.0001%. It is recommended to write your will immediately."

"Screw you!"

Ye Chen gritted his teeth.

Run? You can't escape.

Before a great emperor, spatial distance is meaningless.

Block? With what? With a mere body at the Life Spring Realm trying to fight against an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon?

Life and death hang in the balance.

Ye Chen's brain was working at its fastest speed.

Since force doesn't work, then we have no choice but to...

Winning hearts and minds!

"My little girl!!!"

Ye Chen did not flee. Instead, he took a step forward and, with all his might, let out a heart-wrenching roar at the earth-shattering figure.

"Brother's here!!!"

With this roar, Ye Chen used the god-simulation method of the Dao Evolution Technique, releasing the soul fluctuations belonging to his "brother" to the extreme without reservation.

He's gambling.

I'm betting that the little girl's obsession can overcome this world-destroying demonic power!

I'm betting that in the Empress's heart, he's not an ant, but her only salvation!

midair.

The enormous, all-encompassing hand that was about to fall paused for an extremely slight moment upon hearing the word "brother."

A flicker of struggle suddenly flashed in the Demonic Empress's chaotic eyes.

"elder brother?"