Chapter 1146: I Have Waited for a Long Time!

Within the Yellow Springs.

Sensing a shift, Chen Changsheng suddenly opened his eyes.

He looked out. In a fleeting blur, he felt a consciousness brush right past him.

A doorway to the mortal realm had inexplicably opened within the Yellow Springs.

Startled, Chen Changsheng's eyes snapped fully open. He gripped his sword and gave chase.

"You dare reverse yin and yang and flee the Yellow Springs? Who goes there?!"

As Chen Changsheng pursued, sword in hand, the very rules of the Yellow Springs that had been fighting him only moments ago reached a consensus with him. They could not allow this person's soul to escape.

Channeling the power of the Yellow Springs, Chen Changsheng surged forward to block the path.

In a blur, a figure materialized.

The soul felt profoundly familiar. It took Chen Changsheng only a fraction of a second to recognize it.

"It's you!"

The figure simply raised a hand and gave a gentle wave.

He easily neutralized the power of the Yellow Springs.

Chen Changsheng manifested yin and yang, pursuing relentlessly.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Chen Changsheng demanded, but the figure only pressed forward without the slightest intention of answering.

"Manifest, divine sense!"

Tapping his fingers together, Chen Changsheng called upon his divine sense, splitting his focus.

Meeting far less resistance within the Yellow Springs, his divine sense surged ahead, closing the distance with ease.

He was on the verge of overtaking the fugitive.

But the figure glanced back. Suddenly, the power of the soul flared as those eyes locked onto him.

"Not good!"

Alarm spiked in Chen Changsheng's chest, but it was already too late.

That gaze was deep and heavy. Meeting it sent a shockwave through Chen Changsheng's hundred-zhang expanse of divine sense, stunning him into momentary blankness.

Yet in that split second, the figure merely bolted toward the door that had opened in the Yellow Springs, showing absolutely no killing intent toward Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng knew very well that with the stranger's level of skill, that split second would have been more than enough to kill him.

Snapping back to his senses, Chen Changsheng saw the figure pulling away and could only summon his immortal swords.

"Listening Rain!"

"Taiqing!"

The two blades cleaved through the waters of the Yellow Springs, splitting the surging waves as they chased closely on the figure's heels.

Just as the swords closed in.

The figure looked back and, with a raise of his hand, knocked the Listening Rain Sword away.

Reaching out again.

Under Chen Changsheng's disbelieving gaze, the stranger actually caught the Taiqing Sword.

The figure examined the Taiqing Sword for a moment.

"Take it back!"

With that, the stranger hurled the Taiqing Sword back. In that instant, as if it had lost its mind, the Taiqing Sword slashed toward its own master.

Seeing this, Chen Changsheng shouted with a voice like a great bell, "Wake up!"

The Taiqing Sword jolted and stopped in mid-air.

Only then did it realize what it had just done.

Chen Changsheng recalled it, snatching it firmly into his hand.

But paying it no mind, he looked up again.

The stranger had already slipped through the doorway and escaped.

At that moment, the entire Yellow Springs began to tremble.

All the rules of the Yellow Springs, along with the rules that the piece of jade had brought to Chen Changsheng, flared up in violent agitation.

This left Chen Changsheng somewhat at a loss.

The Yellow Springs was furious!?

Even earlier, when he had been stealing its rules, Chen Changsheng had not seen it react with such rage.

Who exactly was that person?

It was almost as if...

...the entire Yellow Springs was nothing but a prison cell meant to keep him locked away.

Snapping back to his senses, Chen Changsheng shifted his gaze to the Taiqing Sword in his hand.

The Taiqing Sword dipped low, brimming with apology.

Chen Changsheng asked, "Was your mind influenced?"

The Taiqing Sword vibrated, answering him.

It merely told Chen Changsheng that in that split second, it felt as though it had blacked out, retaining no memory of what happened.

Chen Changsheng narrowed his eyes at it.

The Taiqing Sword suddenly felt a chill of fear. Chen Changsheng's gaze left it deeply unsettled, as if every secret it held was being laid bare.

Fortunately, Chen Changsheng only stared for a moment before looking away.

This allowed the Taiqing Sword to breathe a sigh of relief.

It was best not to ask too much.

At that moment, even the Taiqing Sword itself wasn't entirely clear on what had happened.

...

Upon Tianji Mountain, Zhong Zhengyuan set up his Eight Trigrams compass, sat cross-legged, and tossed his coins to seek a path.

Waves of merit and qi destiny swirled around his body.

They settled into the divination.

But in the blink of an eye, all that qi destiny and merit was completely absorbed.

Shock jolted through Zhong Zhengyuan, but the Copper Coins scattered across the ground had already fallen completely still.

The divination was complete.

Regaining his senses, his arm trembled slightly as he muttered, "Everywhere at once..."

"How could this be?!"

Utter horror gripped Zhong Zhengyuan's heart. Under deep thought, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Chen Daoqiu cried out in alarm, "Senior Brother!"

He rushed forward to support him.

Grabbing Chen Daoqiu's robes, Zhong Zhengyuan gasped, "That fiend's soul is scattered across the world right now, not yet unified. He is going to search for his physical body! We cannot let him succeed! Hurry! Hurry!"

Alarmed, Chen Daoqiu quickly said, "Understood, I will send the orders down immediately for the major Immortal Sects to be on alert!"

Zhong Zhengyuan nodded, let out a long breath, and promptly passed out.

...

Within the Demon Realm Underworld.

Manyue glanced to her side.

The Evil Phoenix suddenly opened his eyes and stood up.

"The rest of my divine sense has emerged."

Hearing this, Manyue asked, "Are you going out to search now?"

The Evil Phoenix shook his head and said, "Not yet. The old Heavenly Dao is playing dead. Years ago, when I seized the rules of the Yellow Springs and hid inside, it could not do anything to me. But now that I have run out on my own, it definitely will not let me off. It will open its eyes soon."

Hearing this, Manyue paused slightly and asked, "Then why did you come out at all? Wouldn't it have been better to wait until Chen Changsheng reclaimed the Yellow Springs, and then simply follow it straight back here?"

The Evil Phoenix laughed and said, "Chen Changsheng isn't stupid. If I stayed hidden in the Yellow Springs, he would definitely find me. I wouldn't be able to hide at all. Knowing his temperament, he would firmly seal away my physical body, or perhaps even destroy it outright."

Manyue frowned and said, "He can destroy your physical body? Even Yu Xuan couldn't destroy it back then. He can do it?"

The Evil Phoenix nodded and said, "He can. Aside from me, he is the only one who can do it."

Manyue looked at him and merely said, "I don't care how you do things. I just want you to bring her back."

Hearing this, the Evil Phoenix nodded and said, "I know, I know..."

His voice was low, and a long moment later, a sigh seemed to sound.

"I have waited for a long time."

...

At this moment, Chen Changsheng found himself locked in a bitter struggle.

The anger of the Yellow Springs had finally fallen upon him.

Facing the rioting Yellow Springs, Chen Changsheng could not help but feel stretched thin.

At the same time, many doubts arose in his mind.

That person had been hiding in the Yellow Springs just now, and he hadn't noticed at all.

The current trembling of the Yellow Springs was worlds apart from when he was refining it earlier.

Which meant that the figure in the dark had actually been helping him refine the Yellow Springs.

Chen Changsheng understood even less.

This person's attitude toward him was ambiguous, neither good nor bad. This time, they had even helped him in secret. It was very difficult for Chen Changsheng to understand, making him even more curious about this figure who refused to show their face.