Chapter 171: and ===GLOSSARY===

Eunuchs and palace maids ran everywhere, and some people took advantage of the chaos to rummage through chests and cabinets in the palace, gold, silver, treasures, antiques and jade ware wrapped all over their bodies—"Pa!" they fell, and if they broke an antique they discarded it, grabbed a new one, and kept running.

The emperor's carriage—no, the dung cart—went berserk in the palace, crushing anyone in its path; the victims were just unlucky, like a raging mad bull storming through the palace. Poor Zhou Wen Huang, accustomed to fine clothes and jade food, could not bear such a stench, and with the cart lurching left and right, he vomited uncontrollably.

And Consort Xiao was even more pitiful—the filth from the dung bucket drenched her mouth, and her spotless white gauze instantly turned a sickly waxy yellow.

"Giddyap!" the captain of the guards was still concentrating on driving the carriage, needing to ensure its safety while also being careful not to be discovered.

Zhou Wen Emperor

Consort Xiao

But everyone in the palace watched the carriage speed by, they all ran after it, and even some crazy eunuchs tried to climb aboard.

Fortunately, the guards clearing the way swung their swords and cut down, otherwise the whole carriage would have been dragged away.

The crowd followed the carriage for a long distance; luckily the carriage was fast, otherwise the mighty throng would have been spotted at a glance by the rebels.

Duan Sheng

Western Desert Sword Demon

Grand Master Le Bei

"I think we can leave this battlefield to them; let's go take a look!" Chen Yi He didn't know why he blurted out those words—probably the force inside him was controlling him!

It's also possible that Chen Yi He felt the situation was settled, the Embroidered Uniform Guard either dead or fled, like a bunch of stray dogs, defeated and unable to regroup, so the battlefield no longer needed these leaders.

Chen Yi He didn't realize his proposal would win everyone's approval.

"Such a wondrous sight—we can't escape it; if we don't go take a look, we might regret it for the rest of our lives!" Yan Shan Hai was the first to step forward.

Duan Sheng also exclaimed excitedly, "Yes! We will witness history!"

Imperial Ancestor

"We might even lose our lives over this!" Ximo Jian Mo rarely sounded pessimistic. But being pessimistic didn't mean he was afraid: "Fate decides life and death, heaven decides wealth and honor. To witness this marvel is not to have wasted our journeys through the martial world."

"I just hope that old eunuch bastard Zhang Huayu dies without a whole corpse!" Abbess Shang Rong said coldly.

"Amitabha, good, good, the poor monk wants to go see just what divine being that is!" Master Leshi had already leapt out of the battlefield, seized a horse, and rode off.

"Master, wait for us! Giddyap! Giddyap giddyap giddyap!" Chen Yi He soared high, crushed the skull of a Jinyiwei guard, then kicked the headless corpse off the horse's back, and in one motion mounted the horse and followed.

"Brothers, charge into the West Factory; upon encountering any Jinyiwei, kill them without mercy, leave none!" After Yan Shanhai passed down the order, it drew cries of "Good! Good! Good!" He then mounted his horse and left.

Seeing this, everyone followed.

Duan Sheng, Ximo Sword Demon, Abbess Shang Rong, Linghu Cold, Luo Qingkui, Hongliang, and Hu Bao each followed in turn.

The horses' speed could not match the hole's expansion. From deep within the hole came a resonant, rhythmic throb, one after another, linking everyone's hearts; even ordinary folk felt their hearts beat in time with its pulse.

The hole in the sky seemed to be brewing something, little by little.

……

Dongfang Wuji tried to break the heavens with his demonic qi, but the hole in the sky was like a bottomless pit, sucking his demonic qi completely dry.

Dongfang Wuji clicked his tongue, the royal old ancestor clicked his tongue, and Zhang the eunuch also clicked his tongue.

Dongfang Wuji felt deflated; for the first time in three hundred years he felt deflated—even when facing the siege of eighteen experts he had never been afraid, but facing this strange celestial phenomenon he felt fear for the first time.

Only after a full hour had passed did the hole undergo a change.

At that moment, Chen Yi He and the others had not yet reached the battlefield of the three, but the extent of the ground's devastation already showed them the horror of that earlier battle.

Just speaking of the soggy, rotting state of the ground, a horse's hoof sinks in and is hard to pull out—that is the destructive power of Zhang the eunuch's "Boundless Sea".

"Boom!" After a loud explosion, the hole burst open as if it had exploded!

The boundless sky seemed to have undergone a great earthquake; the cloud layers and the sun were about to be shaken down, swaying on the verge of falling, but fortunately they still held!

Then, a thin, elongated shadow flew out of the hole; it was so fast, beyond imagination, even faster than Dongfang Wuji's demonic shadow before.

"Oh dear!" The shadow could still speak—it was a human silhouette! It was as if it had been imprisoned in a cage for many years and only now escaped.

The imprisoned bird flew toward the vast expanse of heaven and earth.

Another shadow flew out.

Yet another shadow flew out.

The three shadows flew back and forth in the sky, sometimes parallel, sometimes intersecting, sometimes separating; truly they were three free birds, soaring heedlessly across the heavens.

From within those shadows emanated a mighty power, strong enough to infect the hearts of people; so strong that Chen Yi He and his companions could not resist it, and even the horses beneath them whined and refused to move.

Their hooves sank deeper, even up to the knees, and no amount of pulling could free them.

"What is that?" Chen Yi He asked, pointing at the shadow in the sky.

"That is a person of the Heavenly Dao." The one answering Chen Yi He was not Yan Shanhai, not Abbess Shang Rong, not Luo Qingkui, nor anyone else present—it was his own inner "other self".

"The Heavenly Dao?" Chen Yi He asked in shock; his question startled everyone.

Everyone turned toward Chen Yi He.

And Chen Yi He, still unaware of his own lapse, pressed on, "What is the Heavenly Dao?"

However, his question sank like a stone into the sea, receiving no answer.

No one knew what the Heavenly Dao was.

"You two, tell me, is this mortal world really that fun?" the first shadow that had flown out asked.

No one could make out their appearance; they were merely shadows, but their voices were crystal clear.

"Who knows? But looking at this mess, it couldn't be any better," the other shadow countered.

"Hahaha! Since we've come for a trip, why not have some fun!" the third shadow laughed loudly. His laughter was so arrogant, as if everyone in the world didn't exist. "To toy with humanity, how delightful!"

Toying with humanity?

Saying such words in the presence of Dongfang Wuji, the royal old ancestor, and Zhang the eunuch!