Chapter 1454: Chapter 898: Ye Fan: I’ll Investigate When I Return_2

“You, what are you trying to do?”

The man instinctively swallowed hard, his eyes widened like bells, staring at Jiang Hui with a horrified expression, as if he had seen something that shattered his courage and soul.

Jiang Hui remained silent, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked down at the man from above.

“You… you may be powerful, but the force behind me is far beyond your imagination. Let me go now, and we can still talk things out!” the man stammered in fear.

Though his words were meant to threaten Jiang Hui, they lacked any sense of authority, trailing off weakly until they sounded almost like a mosquito’s hum.

The fear was undeniable!

He was, after all, an Immortal Emperor.

Even on the highland, he stood as the unrivaled ancestor, second only to one, his power unmatched and transcendent. Yet under Jiang Hui’s hands, he couldn’t even withstand a single breath’s time.

Jiang Hui had effortlessly almost obliterated his God Soul, crushing him like an ant.

The man could feel it deeply–if not for the fact he still had some use, his Primordial Spirit would already have been annihilated.

“Answer my questions honestly, and I shall not harm you.” Jiang Hui spoke in a low, magnetic tone, though to Da Le, it sounded like the hissing of a venomous serpent, chilling him to the core.

Not harm him?

Only a fool would believe that.

His physical body had already been destroyed, leaving only a battered and broken Primordial Spirit, imprisoned in this pitch-black, sunless place, all thanks to the man before him.

But why would Jiang Hui say that?

Could it be that he intended to erase him completely?

At this thought, Da Le began trembling violently, as though his body were a sieve.

He wasn’t like the mindless dark beings nor the puppets bound beneath the Ancestor; he had painstakingly cultivated himself step by step to achieve his current level.

He wasn’t afraid of death; he feared all his efforts to cultivate his Dao Fruit would go to waste!

Though his physical body was destroyed, it was never a priority for beings like him. As long as his Primordial Spirit remained unscathed by fatal damage, regaining his strength was merely a matter of time.

“What is it? Refusing to answer my questions? Do you think I’m a man of broken promises?!” Jiang Hui’s gaze swept over Da Le, and a sinister, intangible killing intent began to surge.

In an instant, the temperature plummeted, with an icy chill cutting like blades through flesh and bone.

Under this wave of invisible murderous intent, even a Phantom Immortal Emperor like Da Le felt as though a pair of iron pincers strangled his throat. The indescribable sensation of impending death assaulted him.

“No, no!”

Using his last ounce of strength, Da Le quickly shook his head.

“If not, then answer my questions honestly!” Jiang Hui commanded decisively.

“Ask away…”

Da Le cautiously responded.

It wasn’t because he had high moral ground, but he knew with certainty that if he didn’t comply, he would truly dissipate into nothingness, not even a trace of his Primordial Spirit left.

Of course, there was another reason–he didn’t think Jiang Hui could ask anything of real importance.

The realm above Heaven?

Jiang Hui likely already knew, but it mattered little; the details he knew were limited since it hadn’t been conquered yet.

As for his true origins, Jiang Hui could never find out. He only needed to weave a few lies here and there.

“Who are you?”

“Da Le…”

“On that highland, how many beings of your level are there?”

“…”

Da Le’s eyes, trapped by heavy, black iron chains, widened instantly, his expression morphing into sheer terror. Even his already labored breathing became more frantic.

Jiang Hui–he knew about the highland!

This was Da Le’s most guarded secret.

A being capable of easily suppressing him, if unleashed upon the Ancestral Land, would undoubtedly bring catastrophic challenges to his kind.

The three foolish lifeforms and Emperor Huang Tian had already proven troublesome enough.

Da Le remained silent.

Not because he didn’t want to speak, but because he dared not speak. He could never reveal matters concerning the highland, no matter the cost–even death–lest the consequences be more gruesome than he could bear.

The Ancestor’s long-wrought schemes wouldn’t spare him.

“Stubborn fool.” Jiang Hui struck him hard, nearly shattering his Primordial Spirit entirely.

“I’ll give you one more chance–a different question: Among your peers of similar status and strength, how many do you have?”

Jiang Hui, knowing he wouldn’t get answers about the highland, swapped his inquiry.

This time, Da Le answered.

Five in total–all currently attacking the realm above Heaven.

A chill rippled through Jiang Hui’s mind. As expected of the Phantom Clan–five Immortal Emperor-level beings revealed with disturbing ease.

If Da Le wasn’t lying, this meant that the number of Immortal Emperor-level entities about to make their move against the Immortal Domain could reach five.

As Jiang Hui pondered, he noticed a faint shift in Da Le’s expression.

As an Immortal Emperor-level being, Da Le exhibited extraordinarily sharp intelligence. Combining Jiang Hui’s questions, he deduced that his capture in the Immortal Domain and subsequent calamity had been discovered, prompting his kind to send others to investigate.

“Are you hoping they’ll come to save you?” Jiang Hui’s cold gaze echoed with flickers of lightning.

“Your strength is indeed overwhelming, but even you cannot withstand multiple members of my kind striking together.” Da Le spoke with greater composure.

But before finishing his sentence, his world flipped upside down. It felt as though reality itself had been overturned.

Jiang Hui ruthlessly extracted Da Le’s Primordial Spirit manifestation of organs, inflicting severe damage on him.

“I don’t kill you because I want you to witness one thing–wherever I stand, despair belongs solely to your kind. Death? That would be far too easy for you.” Jiang Hui’s voice, laced with venom, rang out.

…

Above the Upper Heaven.

The threads of time twisted into chaos–they were no longer divided cleanly into past, present, and future but tangled in disarray, woven together inextricably.

This churn was the handiwork of the strongest beings.

Now.

A certain majestic mountain loomed.

From afar, the mountain appeared towering and perilous, imbued with an awe-inspiring magnificence as though it were the spine of the earth, unreachable to mortals.

At the base of the mountain, layers of corpses piled high.

They weren’t from the Ten Thousand Clans but instead from corrupted Dark Beings–the strongest of which belonged to the Immortal King Level–but all had been slaughtered. Their enormous cadavers resembled a decaying, oozing mound of flesh, casually discarded here. Overhead, oppressive black clouds pushed down toward the mountain, yet they shattered and dispersed before approaching, suppressed by a radiant streak of gold.

At the summit.

An ancient formation glimmered brilliantly, spreading over thousands of miles, enveloping the entire domain within its sphere. Inside, a brilliant sun hung high, the skies were clear and boundless–a stark contrast to the dark, dismal world beyond its perimeter.

A towering figure approached in haste from the distance, entering the formation.

Meanwhile.

From another direction, two silhouettes emerged–a man and a woman.

The man wore a cyan robe, his sword-like brows sharp under starry eyes, exuding refinement and authority, an equilibrium between elegance and dominance.

The woman, clad in a golden ghost face mask, was tall and radiant, her emerald-green dress flowing with the wind, casting an aura of sacredness and inviolability.

The two were none other than Ye Fan and the Cruel Man. As for the figure who had rushed over–they were Emperor No-Origin.

Earlier, after departing the timeline where Jiang Hui resided, the trio immediately returned above the Upper Heaven to continue battling the dark invasion alongside the original inhabitants.

The realm above Heaven was the largest battlefield and the most critical stage–where the bulk of the Bizarre Clan’s large troops were confined. Should it fall, the repercussions would be boundless.

Just moments ago, Emperor No-Origin had been fighting a Quasi-Immortal Emperor-level Weird Creature. When his opponent proved unable to withstand him and fled, he initially intended to pursue and eliminate them thoroughly.

However, on his way, he intercepted information similar to what Gu Chen had gathered, causing him to immediately turn back and contact Ye Fan and the Cruel Man.

This didn’t mean Gu Chen and the trio were in the same timeline.

Rather, the voice behind the message was incredibly powerful, spanning across multiple timelines.

What Gu Chen heard came from the initial moment in time.

What Emperor No-Origin intercepted came from a future moment in time.

On his way back, Emperor No-Origin had already sent a Divine Sense message to Ye Fan and the Cruel Man.

“The Immortal Domain fractured in later generations and suffered heavy damage–could this be the cause?”

The Cruel Man’s voice carried a grave edge, her aura steeped in lethal solemnity.

“We exist in different timelines than the Master of Liu Village, but here lies the realm above Heaven–time itself has already unraveled. It may not be causal, but the Immortal Domain was severed with a single strike by Emperor Huang Tian. Even if the Bizarre Clan seeks to strike back, the inherent powers of karma are too profound. To be cautious, we must return and examine.”

Ye Fan analyzed swiftly.

They possessed the Guiding Stone gifted by Jiang Hui, which greatly simplified the difficulty of returning to that segment of time, providing clear coordinates to guide them back.