108: Chapter 17 The Goddess Palace Takes Action

The moment the Sword Immortal's Origin burned out, Chu Ye felt as if he were being torn apart.

It wasn't his Physical Body, but some deeper existence—that remnant soul from ninety thousand years ago was being stripped from his body bit by bit, transforming into the purest power and pouring into the hundred phoenix diagram world that was frantically expanding behind him.

Pain.

A pain so intense he couldn't even let out a roar.

A pain so intense the world before his eyes turned into a blinding white.

A pain so intense that only a single thought remained firmly nailed in his mind.

Not enough.

Still not strong enough.

Still not enough to make these pieces of trash remember today's lesson forever.

Then, that agony suddenly vanished.

It didn't ease, nor did it go numb; it completely disappeared—along with his Physical Body, his Divine Soul, and all his perceptions as a 'human,' which were replaced at this moment by some higher-level existence.

Chu Ye opened his eyes.

The world had changed.

He was no longer 'seeing' with his eyes.

He was 'perceiving' using the world itself.

Within a radius of ten thousand miles, every grain of dust's trajectory, every wisp of Spiritual Qi's flow, every operation of the Law, and the heartbeat of every breathing living being.

Everything was under his control.

He lowered his head and looked at his hand.

That hand was currently emitting a faint, almost transparent golden light. That wasn't spiritual power, it wasn't dao rhyme, and it wasn't even any power that could be defined.

It was the mark of the 'World Lord.'

Heavenly Immortal Peak.

A Realm that no one had ever reached before.

Chu Ye raised his head and looked toward those figures who were frantically retreating.

The Dragon Clan, the Myriad Dao Alliance, the Tianjian Sect, the remnants of the Shadow Pavilion, and those ancestors and big shots from the ancient era who had been awakened from their slumber by secret techniques.

At this moment, they were fleeing.

Like a swarm of ants whose nest had been stepped on, they scattered in all directions, looking utterly pathetic.

Ao Yu was charging at the very front. His dragon body was fully extended, burning his essence blood as he tore through the Void Realm, desperately trying to escape into the distance.

On that face that was once insufferably arrogant, only a near-collapsing fear remained.

Because he had sensed it.

That world power slowly unfolding behind Chu Ye had already locked onto all of them.

There was no escape.

No one could escape.

Chu Ye didn't move.

He just stood there quietly, watching those figures flee in a frenzy, watching those ancestors and big shots perform various life-saving secret techniques, watching those once high-and-mighty existences now looking as wretched as stray dogs.

Then, he lightly raised his hand.

"Freeze."

As the word fell.

Within a radius of ten thousand miles, everything.

Stood still.

Ao Yu's dragon body stopped in mid-air, maintaining its forward-charging posture, motionless.

The hands of those Grand Elders from the Myriad Dao Alliance, which were forming seals, froze in front of their chests.

The sword of that hidden Old Ancestor of the Tianjian Sect, which had just been unsheathed, hung in mid-air, its tip only an inch away from a rift in the Void Realm.

Those awakened ancestors and big shots each maintained their fleeing postures, like countless lifelike statues.

The wind stopped.

The clouds stopped.

Even the operation of the Laws stopped.

Chu Ye took a step.

With one step, he crossed over to stand before Ao Yu.

He looked at this Dragon Clan Crown Prince, at the fear and resentment frozen in those eyes, and at the wound on his dragon claw that would never heal.

"Ao Yu."

His voice was very light, as light as if he were just making small talk.

But in this static world, every word was like a clap of thunder.

"I have a few questions for you."

He raised his hand and gave a light tap.

Ao Yu's dragon body was able to move again—but only his head.

Those dragon pupils spun wildly, staring fixedly at Chu Ye; his lips trembled violently, but he couldn't make a sound.

Chu Ye looked at him.

"The secret technique you used to awaken these ancestors," he said, "where did it come from?"

Ao Yu's pupils suddenly constricted.

That wasn't fear.

It was some deeper, almost instinctive... taboo.

He opened his mouth and struggled to spit out a few words: "I... don't know..."

Chu Ye looked at him.

He didn't speak.

He just watched quietly.

Three breaths of time passed.

Ao Yu's defenses completely collapsed.

"I really don't know!" His voice was hoarse and desperate. "That is a secret technique passed down through the Dragon Clan for ages! It is only passed to the Dragon King of each generation! I was only following orders! I don't know the source! I really don't know!"

Chu Ye nodded.

"Then never mind."

He raised his hand and lightly closed his fingers.

Ao Yu's dragon body, starting from the tail, turned into nothingness inch by inch.

There was no blood, no screams, and no struggle.

It just "disappeared."

As if he had never existed.

The Dragon Clan Crown Prince had fallen.

Chu Ye didn't look at him.

He turned and walked toward the next one.

It was an ancestral big shot of the Dragon Clan.

Ao Yu's great-great-great-grandfather, the previous generation's Dragon King of the Dragon Clan, who had slept for eight thousand years and was forcibly awakened by the secret technique.

His cultivation was at the True Immortal level.

Eight thousand years ago, he was one of the strongest existences in this world.

At this moment, he was frozen in mid-air, his dragon whiskers trembling, his dragon pupils staring fixedly at Chu Ye, his eyes filled with anger and resentment.

Chu Ye looked at him.

"You can hear my words."

It wasn't a question.

That Dragon Clan Old Ancestor stared at him intensely, saying nothing.

Chu Ye nodded.

"Then never mind."

He raised his hand and made a phantom grasping motion with his fingers.

That Dragon Clan Old Ancestor's figure suddenly shattered.

Along with his eight thousand years of cultivation, eight thousand years of pride, and eight thousand years of resentment.

It all turned into nothingness.

Chu Ye continued walking.

The next one.

And the one after that.

Every figure he asked about the source of the secret technique, if they hesitated even slightly, hid anything, or resisted in the least.

It resulted in the same ending.

No bargaining, no second chances, no room for maneuver.

In this world where he was the Dominator, he didn't need to interrogate.

He only needed to "ask."

Those willing to answer could say a few more words.

Those unwilling to answer,

Had no necessity to exist.

The twelfth one.

It was an ancestral big shot from the Myriad Dao Alliance, five generations higher than the current Alliance Leader, who had slept for ten thousand years.

When Chu Ye stood before him, he spoke.

It wasn't an answer.

It was a plea.

"I'll talk... I'll talk... I'll tell you everything..."

His voice was trembling and hoarse; on that once majestic face, there was now only fear.

"That secret technique... it doesn't belong to my Myriad Dao Alliance... someone... someone delivered it..."

Chu Ye looked at him.

"Who?"

The Old Ancestor's lips trembled violently.

The... Goddess Palace..."

Chu Ye's pupils constricted slightly.

The Old Ancestor continued, speaking incoherently as if trying to pour out everything he knew: "Ten thousand years ago... ten thousand years ago someone delivered it... saying... saying it was for a rainy day... saying that one day... there would be a person... a person..."

He couldn't go on.

Because he sensed that Chu Ye's gaze had changed.

It wasn't anger.

It was something indescribable, even more terrifying than the fear he felt now.

Chu Ye was silent for a long time.

So long that the Old Ancestor thought he too would be unable to escape death.

Then, Chu Ye spoke.

"That person," he said, "was it a woman?"

The Old Ancestor was stunned.

He opened his mouth and nodded with difficulty.

"Yes... it was a woman... wearing white clothes... she looked very young... but... but..."

"But what?"

The Old Ancestor's voice was so low it was almost inaudible.

"But she... didn't seem like a human..."