Divine Emperor of Death

Chapter 5297: Chasing The Divergents Across Space

Five figures flickered across space.

They zoomed toward the distant star, leaving one afterimage after another in the vast space as they followed the streak of black-purple light.

The moment Zest Hyluan and the others left the Western Nightfall Flame Star, the star visibly started contorting as something seemed to emerge from the inside.

Behind them, hundreds of experts who could not be taken along by his teleportation stayed near the first battlefield and rejoiced that the Desolate Divergent had left the realm. Elders berated them to shut up, saying that if they did not end the Divergents, it would come back to bite them later, but even those elders were smiling in joy, finally able to get rid of the menace known as the Divine Emperor of Death.

At the very least, it would be of great use to brag when they returned home.

Then-

*Booom!!!~*

The Western Nightfall Flame Star exploded.

Shockwaves turned into a tsunami and slapped the experts toward the realm as if their strings had been cut. The elders moved to catch them.

In the vast space, Zest Hyluan only glanced back once.

The Heavenly Blight Hall Leader had not only taken the First Dark Apostle, but he had also destroyed the star to convolute the spatial fluctuations he had left behind, effectively making it impossible for the other Celestial Transcendent avatars that were arriving one after another to search for him.

Zest Hyluan did not stop.

Right now, he was only able to take two layer-limit avatars of the Celestial Transcendent along with him.

Any more, and he would be hard-pressed to teleport many times, and would need to take rest to restore his energy and psyche a lot more, but by that time, the traces this Divergent left behind would long be gone.

He threw quite a number of energy restoration pills into his mouth preemptively, letting his body digest them while maintaining a state of equilibrium between losing energy and restoring energy, allowing him to continuously teleport across the space.

However, different than the Divergent, they faced countless obstacles.

Spatial storms, tumultuous wind blades, nebulous star clouds that formed because of neighboring stars being too close, water bodies bigger than most oceans in the realms, giant asteroids, and continents that were like walls and blocked their path. Although these obstacles couldn’t stop them due to them being at the layer limit, they certainly impeded them for a few minutes every few teleportations.

These obstacles didn’t pose much threat to them.

In fact, they occasionally parted as though giving way to them, all because they sensed the ruler of the galaxy making his way.

Even spacequakes stopped the moment they neared. Even Void Calamities lurking in the forlorn spatial regions turned around and fled.

Zest Hyluan and the others felt a bit amazed by the progress they had made, imagining it must feel great to be the Supreme Ruler, the Supreme One of the human race and the Celestial Transcendent of this galaxy’s Heaven’s Warriors. In their own galaxy, nearly everything in nature would go their way.

Fate accommodated their moves, but that was also why they put more effort into restraining themselves.

At the very least, Zest Hyluan knew that his friend was no tyrant.

Soon, after making it past around two hundred distant stars and already getting near to another realm compared to the distance between them and the Six-Headed Hydra Upper Realm, Zest Hyluan decided to take a brief rest.

He quickly sat down on the head of an asteroid and composed himself in a lotus position.

”How vexing...”

Grand Elder Yue Qing sighed lightly, ”To think that Divergent could travel this fast and wasn’t impeded by any obstacle or calamities in the vast space. How are we supposed to catch them this way? It’s like she’s a part of the astral sea to be able to phase into an astral entity like that, a part of the Second Astral Sea to be exact. Still, I fear that they’re unlikely to be heading to their hideout if they know we’re following, so this chase could last for years.”

”Hmm,” The Celestial Transcendent shook his head, ”We won’t search for them that long. If we can’t find them in a few days, we can only retreat. He has already agreed to the exchange during the competition, but it’s unknown if he would give up this advantage or keep dangling it in front of me. We will see.”

Zest Hyluan’s eyelids quivered while he kept his eyes closed.

The Celestial Transcendent had even offered the non-Divergents of the Davis Family good terms to settle down, but their leader refused, choosing to earn it in the upcoming competition and claim it rightfully instead. It could be said that the Celestial Transcendent did it all to convince the Divine Emperor of Death to give back his son-in-law without making it a big issue.

Davis’s refusal had forced him to chase him.

After all, the Divine Emperor of Death could back on his words and dangle Zhao Yan in front of the Celestial Transcendent to keep his own family safe after it manages to settle as the ruler in the realm.

A ruler simply wouldn’t accept a hostage exchange like this in the first place. To engage on equal terms, the aggressor must at least be another ruling power, but this was just a little Divergent power that was halfway up the ladder, but still hadn’t climbed fully.

He knew if the Celestial Transcendent’s true body descended, they wouldn’t last at all, whether it was fused scythe intent or whatnot.

”Supreme One, my apologies. Why are you accommodating a Desolate Divergent’s requests like this? Why form a Covenant with him in the first place?

Grand Elder Durandai cupped his hands and bowed firmly, his voice bold but respectful.

”You-”

The Celestial Transcendent slowly turned to look at him, ”- do not need to know.”

”Understood.”

Grand Elder Durandai nodded and took a few steps back respectfully, seemingly not even minding the answer.

The Celestial Transcendent chuckled in response, ”You’re too stern, junior. That Divergent is a special one, and I was right to see that he turned into a Divergent beyond our imagination but had even brought down the Golden Era in the end. This was totally unexpected even for me, so the true reason why I let him enter a Covenant back then is because he’s a good man one of my martial nieces is fond of, and I had an old promise to fulfill, and he was a young man who should leave a legacy behind before dispersing as one with the fleeting clouds.”

”You see, I’m not like other Heaven’s Warriors. I retain my Will without any foreign influence. I think Divergents deserve to live just as much as any other cultivator suffering from an illness that makes them burst out with rabid aggression, but the heavens and the universe want them dead for the unbound and unintended calamities they cause. Hence, I can only come to a middle ground with my own conscience- to let them leave behind a legacy in the form of children or self-created arts techniques doesn’t break the balance and cause others to be a Divergent.”

”...” Grand Elder Durandai raised his brows before he nodded, ”I see. I have always had doubts why even Divergent babies were killed off, and I dared not ask even with my boldness since that would be so hypocritical of me, who have reduced entire powers into a river of blood with a swing of my sword even if they worshiped the fallen devils and gained heretical powers.”

The Celestial Transcendent nodded, continuing, ”I have a simple rule many would’ve noticed if they followed the way I do things. It isn’t any secret.”

”Yes,” Grand Elder Yue Qing suddenly answered, ”For those rare good Divergents who hadn’t done anything wrong, you take the time to seal them, and for bad undying Divergents, you seal them too but with painful constraints, but for plainly evil and non-undying Divergents, you don’t show any mercy. Everyone knows of your magnanimity and benevolence, never misusing your heaven-bestowed power. The human race is blessed to have a figure like you guarding us from the many dangers that destroyed us time and again in the past.”

”...”

The Celestial Transcendent paused lightly.

He gazed at Grand Elder Yue Qing’s limped, moonlit silver eyes filled with deep emotion.

There was no overwhelming aura around her, yet the surrounding space seemed inexplicably tranquil in her presence. Even the violent currents of space became docile, circulating her as though naturally drawn toward her. She possessed the serene beauty of a full moon suspended above the heavens.