Chapter 1458: You're Unworthy
When the Hermit Emperor shouted, Xue Yang retreated thousands of meters back, taking Xue Mo with him.
The other imperial-level experts glanced over at the Hermit Emperor, and discovered that the links between stars in the diagram of the Milky Way were trembling violently.
The light seemed to dim, and the formation was already showing signs of imminent collapse.
Something seemed to repel the starlight surrounding Ye Zichen's body, and the smile on his face faded, replaced with undisguisable pain.
"Hermit Emperor!" Xuan Ji cried out.
However, he, too, seemed utterly baffled. "What exactly went wrong?"
....
Meanwhile, within the river of stars, Ye Zichen laughed in delight. "If you've been waiting for me, senior, please help me open my celestial eye. I...."
However, before he could finish his request, the Emperor Star's tone shifted. It had been gentle all this time, but now it laughed. "Ludicrous!"
"Senior...."
"You're neither a demon nor a god, yet you want to obtain the celestial eye of the Emperor Star? That's nothing but the ravings of a madman! Do you really think someone like you is worthy of it? I'm going to strip you of your celestial fate and expel you from the Milky Way forever!" The Emperor Star's sharp shout reverberated through the depths of Ye Zichen's heart. Ye Zichen instantly realized that the countless stars, which mere moments ago had been radiating benevolence, were now full of murderous intent.
Their killing intent filled the sky, setting him on edge. He didn't understand why the Emperor Star would suddenly change its tune....
"Senior!"
The Emperor Star's chastis.e.m.e.nts echoed throughout Ye Zichen's sea of consciousness. His eyes popped back open, and he saw that the countless stars of the Milky Way had all lit up. They all seemed like miniature Emperor Stars, each and every one of them repeating its rebuke: "You're unworthy, unworthy, unworthy...."
"Hah....." Ye Zichen knelt in the Milky May, covering his right eye. He looked up into the sky and howled in agony.
At the same time, the links between the miniature star diagrams scattered throughout the Xue Family Estate broke, then the diagrams themselves shattered, one after the other.
"Hah...." Ye Zichen's physical body sat cross-legged in the center of the spiritual formation, when suddenly, he flung himself onto the ground and howled in agony. He curled up in on himself, his back heaving and bulging non-stop.
"Hermit Emperor, what's going on?" Xuan Ji couldn't stay out of this any longer. The others landed as well, then gazed at the visibly agonized Ye Zichen, their expressions grave.
"All of you, go back!" The Hermit Emperor roared urgently.
"This isn't what you said would happen!" shouted Xuan Ji.
"Go back!" the Hermit Emperor shouted, his eyes wide and his tone urgent. "Hurry and set up a Sky-Obscuring Formation!"
"You..." "Hurry! Unless you want to reveal the Emperor Star's presence!"
However, just as they were about to set up the formation, the formation beneath Ye Zichen's prayer mat collapsed.
Buzz!
A ring of light spread outward. In but a single breath of time, it had passed through the entire territory of the Sea of Innocence.
"The Emperor Star is opening its celestial eye!"
At practically the same time, the top experts of all three upper realms received the same signal, and countless divine senses swept outward.
All of this happened in an instant. The formations the great emperors in the Sea of Innocence had formed earlier that day were already starting to crack.
"Hurry!" The Hermit Emperor's aura in turmoil. He was frantic, and the other great emperors were gnashing their teeth as well.
"It's too late." Bi'an knit his brows. "We've already been noticed."
"Obscure the skies!" Xuan Ji shouted, and they started activating the formation. Although some people might have discovered them already, she and the other great emperors started pouring their divine power into the formation.
"People will start finding this place within three hours."
"I'm not afraid of them showing up. I'm afraid of someone like Zhou Wu who'll take advantage of the turmoil to seize Ye Zichen's imperial celestial fate."
"Should we retreat? We'd still best avoid letting anyone know the Emperor Star's current incarnation."
"Hermit Emperor!" Xuan Ji gnashed her teeth and shouted. Xue Yang didn't know what to do either.
The Hermit Emperor's energy was in turmoil. He paid Xuan Ji no need, nor did he respond to anything any of the others said.
"What exactly went wrong?" He knit his brows in concentration and muttered to himself.
"Ah....." Ye Zichen shouted, his voice raspy and even more pained. At that moment, the skin of his heaving, bulging back burst, and his wings unfurled. When they appeared, an illusory ten-thousand foot devil appeared behind him. His demonic energy overflowed, and yet, it intermingled with a starkly different, pure, holy aura.
"I understand!" The Hermit Emperor had a flash of realization. Then, he turned to the visibly furious Xuan Ji and shouted, "His body contains demonic power and a demonic bloodline. Isn't he the Lord of Seven Star's son? Why does he have a demonic bloodline? And why didn't any of you tell me about this earlier? And that's not all! Why does he have a trace of the devils about him? They went extinct in the First Era!"
"I.... I don't know...." Xuan Ji's lips quivered. She didn't know what to do.
"Ah!" Ye Zichen cried out, and his wings started beating furiously. They carried him up into the air, and his remaining eye lit up with terrifying purple light. Hideous black lines spread from his sockets.
He swung his fist.
The seals the great emperors had placed tore like paper; the fist went right through them. The force of the attack knocked down several of the surrounding buildings as well.
"Hmph!" He exhaled through his nostrils, then suddenly whipped his head around and stared straight up at the great emperors.
He disappeared.
When he next appeared, he was already right in front of Bi'an, and he directly swung his fist.
Boom!
Just the wind from his fists left several bloody streaks on Bi'an's face. The others were in awe at the attack's shocking power.
"Should we do something?" The great emperors were all hesitant. After his demonic nature took over, Ye Zichen had no rationality left to speak of.
The great emperors hesitated. They didn't know whether they should attack and repress him or not. If they did, given Ye Zichen's current state, they'd have to go all out, and odds were good they'd accidentally hurt him in the process.
The Xue clansmen had all been sent somewhere safe. Xue Beibei looked up at the sky, her eyes filled with anxiety. Just last night, everything had been perfectly fine, so why had this happened all of a sudden...?
"You.... You always make people worry about you," said a soft voice from the sky. Everyone looked up and saw a slender figure in red racing through the skies. She landed before Ye Zichen, then said, "If you can't even maintain your rationality, how can you even consider marrying me?"