Chapter 38: Nine Nether Saint Son?

The familiar twisting and tearing sensation of spatial transmission gradually faded, and a solid feeling returned underfoot.

The brilliant silver light wrapping his body receded like a tide, and what entered Ye Wuque's vision was an unprecedented…vast panorama!

No longer the fragmented and desolate vistas occasionally seen in the Ten Lands; instead, it was an infinite, complete, and brilliantly starry sky scroll!

Above the firmament, the stars were huge and bright, as if within reach, each containing vast, boundless spiritual energy and Dao principles.

The Star River flowed, no longer a distant backdrop but like genuine ribbons formed of countless stars and nebulae, stretching across the universe, emitting a gorgeous radiance that intoxicated the senses.

Here the spatial barriers were impregnable, the net of laws tight and clear, the world's qi so dense it almost solidified; with each breath, torrents of pure energy spontaneously flowed into his body, cleansing his limbs and bones, even giving his Ten-Step Saint King cultivation a faint sense of advancement.

"Hah…"

Ye Wuque slowly looked around, drew a deep breath, and the extremely rich worldly qi surged into his lungs, bringing an indescribable sense of ease.

He could clearly feel that the upper limit of power this world could bear far surpassed that of the Ten Lands!

Here, it seemed only then could he truly let loose and reveal the genuine great power of shifting stars and overturning the cosmos!

"Nine Heavens World… I, Ye Wuque, have finally arrived."

He murmured softly, his calm voice echoing in this unfamiliar star domain, carrying a hint of sentiment, but more so an eager, rising fighting spirit.

However, this sentiment did not last long.

His eyes narrowed slightly, instantly locking onto the barely perceptible residual fluctuation— the cold, foul causality line belonging to the Nine Nether beings!

Following this hateful fluctuation, Ye Wuque's form turned into a faint stream of light, instantly ripping the void as he pursued into the depths of the starry sky.

Though initially arriving in the Nine Heavens and still unfamiliar with its spatial structure, relying on his profound understanding of the Law of Space and his matchless Divine Sense, his speed remained astonishing.

The vastness of the Nine Heavens World far exceeded imagination, the distances between stars seeming to be invisibly stretched.

After pursuing for about half a day, the surrounding stars grew sparse, the spiritual energy thinned, and finally he entered a barren, dead-silent star domain that seemed forgotten.

Here, the stars were dim, most already dead stars; shattered continental fragments floated in the cold void, devoid of any sign of life, only eternal silence and loneliness remained.

And right here, the fluctuations of those three Nine Nether beings suddenly became clear!

They had stopped!

Ye Wuque's silhouette silently appeared in the void, his gaze like cold lightning, instantly piercing endless distance and locking onto three figures millions of miles away.

They were three beings of ferocious and bizarre form!

The one on the left stood twelve feet tall, its body covered in dark-green scales that continually dripped viscous fluid, bearing four twisted arms; each arm ended not in a palm but in a horrifying mouthpart that constantly opened and closed, bristling with sharp teeth, exuding a corrosive stench.

The one on the right was like a writhing mass of shadow, without fixed form, sometimes shifting into a multi-headed, multi-legged monstrous serpent, sometimes into a fleshly lump covered in blood-red eyes, its whole body permeated by a dark field that devoured light, its chaotic, mad aura constantly spreading.

The central figure, meanwhile, most closely resembled a human in form, but its skin was a deathly gray-white, its face rigid, possessing only a pair of eyes that were pure black, devoid of whites, deep as two miniature black holes.

His aura was the most restrained, yet also the most dangerous!

The power fluctuations emanating from all three surprisingly exceeded the Vast Divine Realm, having stepped onto the path of immortality and already covered a considerable distance on the first major realm, the "Ascend Immortal Ladder," reaching an early stage!

Within them pulsed the Nine Nether primordial aura, pure and intense, far surpassing the Six-Eyed Ancient Fang that Ye Wuque had previously encountered!

At this moment, these three Nine Nether beings had clearly sensed the pursuer; instead of fleeing, they stopped, their mouths splitting into grim, icy smiles, as if awaiting the prey to come forward on its own.

"Hehe…"

The left four-armed mouth-part being emitted a grating screech, like countless teeth scraping bone: "I've seen those who seek death… but never seen one so eager to come deliver itself!"

The right shadow-flesh mass issued overlapping, chaotic laughter:

"We have always hunted myriad spirits and devoured worlds… but today there is an ignorant ant that actively comes seeking death? Simply… upside-down cosmic order!"

From its countless blood-red eyes shot simultaneous thirst-for-blood light, firmly locking onto Ye Wuque, as if savoring a meal about to reach its mouth.

The central gray-white being finally spoke.

His voice was not loud, even somewhat flat, yet carried an undeniable chill and authority that instantly caused the two boisterous companions to wipe their smiles and become solemn.

"Don't forget our ultimate objective for this operation!"

His jet-black pupils turned toward Ye Wuque, as if looking at an insignificant object, his voice decisive and unfeeling: "Cut the chatter…"

"Hurry up and… eliminate this troublesome ant, clean up the loose end."

The order was given, without hesitation!

"Yes, sir!"

"Keke! Kid, receive death!"

The left four-armed mouth-part being and the right shadow-flesh mass instantly erupted with terrifying momentum!

The early-stage Ascend Immortal Ladder power was unleashed without reserve, stirring this dead-silent star domain!

The four-armed being's four mouth-part arms flailed wildly, spewing four torrents of corrosive, grim-green toxic liquid that eroded space wherever they passed, leaving black, sizzling marks!

The shadow-flesh mass then suddenly expanded, forming a vast, sky-covering dark maw; inside lay endless chaos and tearing force, seeking to devour Ye Wuque together with that very void!

Their coordination was flawless, their assault vicious and cunning, enough to instantly severely wound a peer of equal rank!

Yet, facing this terrifying combined strike that would make ordinary early-stage Ascend Immortal Ladder beings pale and retreat, Ye Wuque's expression showed not even a flicker of disturbance.

He simply… calmly raised his right hand.

Then, toward the surging toxic flood and dark maw, he casually… swung a palm.

The motion was light and effortless, like brushing dust off a sleeve.

Boom——!!!

An immeasurably huge golden palm appeared out of nowhere!

Within its palm, the sun, moon, and stars seemed to orbit, cosmic birth and death visions rising and falling!

Utmost yang, supreme and unmatched power exploded!

The corrosive grim-green toxic flood, upon contacting the golden palm, encountered its nemesis, letting out a shrill wail and instantly evaporating into nothing!

That all-devouring dark maw couldn't even sustain a single breath, like a fragile soap bubble, being smashed outright by the golden palm's overbearing slap!

Terrifying power ripples swept outward, instantly shattering several distant dead-silent stellar remnants into dust!

And the two Nine Nether beings' cruel cold smiles instantly froze, replaced by utter shock and incomprehension!

They felt as if they had been hit head-on by an entire surging sea of stars!

"Pffft!!"

"Er ah!!"

Two short, shrill screams rang out almost simultaneously!

The four-armed mouth-creature's four arms broke inch by inch, its body twisted and deformed like a broken doll, and what sprayed from its mouth was no longer venom but fresh blood mixed with chunks of internal organs!

That shadowy mass of flesh was directly beaten back to its original form, its writhing body covered in cracks, countless blood-eyes instantly shattering and emitting a painful shriek!

The two shot backward at ten times the speed they had come, like two meteors, violently smashing into the several huge continental fragments floating in the distance, embedding deep within them, their bones and tendons shattered, souls annihilated, and in an instant they fell silent—dead beyond death!

Silence!

A deathly silence once again shrouded this star domain.

Only the gray-white Nine Nether creature at the center remained, stiffly standing in place.

His pair of pitch-black eyes, deep as black holes, were now violently trembling, fixed dead on Ye Wuque, filled with disbelief, utter horror, and an absurdly surreal feeling!

"No……impossible!!"

He cried out hoarsely, his voice dry and sharp, filled with fear: "Your strength……how……how could it be so overwhelming?!"

Flee!

This thought instantly occupied his entire mind!

The black-robed youth before him was by no means an ant, but a prehistoric ferocious beast wearing a human form!

He is an unstoppable monster!

Gray-white light burst from his whole body as he prepared to tear through the Void at any cost to escape!

However——

A long, powerful palm, as if it had been waiting all along on his escape route, like an iron clamp, easily and precisely seized his neck, instantly nullifying and suppressing all his strength!

Ye Wuque had at some point appeared before him like a ghost, and with one hand lifted him up as if he were a chick.

Ice-cold killing intent, like a tangible substance, pierced his soul.

Ye Wuque wasted no words, raising his other hand; his fingertips wreathed with the soul-searching gloom, he pressed toward its forehead to forcibly probe its memories and discover why they had infiltrated the Nine Heavens!

However, just as Ye Wuque's fingertips were about to touch the forehead of the gray-white creature——

The Nine Nether creature's stiff body suddenly began to tremble violently, the fear in its pitch-black eyes instantly replaced by a frenzied, near‑mad devotion!

He suddenly opened his mouth and emitted a hoarse yet extraordinarily exalted, chant‑like voice, full of resentment and curse:

"Ignorant……fool! You……your doom is at hand!!"

"When the great Holy Son……descends upon this realm……that will be the moment when all things……are utterly doomed……becoming provisions for my Holy Clan!!"

"Kekeke……I……await……at the end of the abyss……"

Before his words faded——

Boom!!!

An extremely terrifying, extremely obscure self‑destruction seal, long buried deep in his soul, erupted with a boom!

The gray‑white creature's body, together with its soul, instantly turned inside out into a mass of extremely compressed destructive energy black light that then exploded violently!

Ye Wuque's eyes narrowed; the hand gripping its neck instantly burst with brilliant golden light, forcibly compressing that mass of destructive black light into a tiny space before hurling it toward the endless Void in the distance!

Boom—rumble!

Even though greatly restrained, that mass of black light exploding still blasted a huge black hole into that region of the Void, devouring everything, and only after a long while did it gradually subside.

It was a self‑destruction seal, and of extremely high rank; once triggered, there was no time to stop it.

Ye Wuque stood suspended in midair, his black robe swaying slightly in the explosion's aftermath.

He gazed at the slowly closing spatial black hole, his eyes deep.

"Nine Nether Holy Son……"

He softly repeated that fervently shouted title, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold arc: "Interesting."

Although he had failed to obtain concrete information via a soul search, this brief contact—their fervent faith, their vicious curse, and the secret they guarded even at the cost of self‑destruction—made Ye Wuque's vigilance and killing intent toward the Nine Nether rise to a new level.

These relentless specters, in the Nine Heavens world, must certainly be plotting something enormous!

And this so‑called Holy Son is likely one of the key figures among them.

"Looks like this Nine Heavens world won't be boring."

Ye Wuque composed his thoughts, finally glanced at this star domain that had returned to dead silence, his form flickered, he turned into a stream of light, and vanished.