Chapter 634: The Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity

Then, Chen Yan extended his hand toward the corpse of the Sage of Imperial Void.

He placed his palm above the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void's head, hovering roughly three inches from Bai Chen's forehead.

Then Chen Yan released his spiritual sense, attempting to read the residual memories preserved within the corpse of the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void.

He slowly closed his eyes, feeling everything he could perceive.

In just an instant, Chen Yan's spiritual sense traveled from that shattered continent remnant into a pure white space.

Here, it seemed as though nothing existed at all. No up, no down. No left, no right.

Only an expanse of pure white.

Chen Yan's spiritual projection manifested in this place, and he paced cautiously through the pure white space.

With every step he took, the "ground" beneath his feet rippled with soft halos of light, as if he were walking upon a calm water's surface, or perhaps treading along a frozen river of time.

This was the sea of consciousness preserved within the corpse of the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void.

Chen Yan had originally planned to explore this place in order to understand what the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen, had been scheming.

But given the current situation, that now seemed to be an impossibility.

Although, after an immensely long span of years, the corpse of the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void still radiated a Sage's residual might potent enough to withstand the timeless, heavy will of the Endless Sea, all the memories preserved within his sea of consciousness appeared to have been completely worn away by the passage of that interminable time.

Yet Chen Yan was still unwilling to give up so easily. He continued walking through the pure white space for a while longer.

Suddenly, within the boundless whiteness ahead, a figure gradually coalesced from faint to distinct.

It was not the figure Chen Yan had anticipated, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void in his white daoist robes, the form of Bai Chen.

Rather, it was a young man clad in dark black daoist robes.

The young man in dark black daoist robes had originally been facing away from Chen Yan, but the moment Chen Yan's gaze fell upon him, the young man seemed to sense something, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly turned around.

It was a face Chen Yan had never seen before.

But Chen Yan knew exactly who he was.

Zuo He, the Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity.

Or rather, a thread of Zuo He's spiritual sense so insignificant it could almost be completely ignored, preserved here by the Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity.

"Interesting."

The Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity, Zuo He, dressed in dark black daoist robes, fixed his gaze upon Chen Yan and raised his chin with an air of supreme arrogance and contempt before continuing:

"Your body clearly carries the karmic interference of the Qingxuan Immortal Sect, yet you do not belong to the era of Tianji Continent... You, who are you?"

Gazing at the Steward of Tianji Continent before him, Chen Yan fell into a brief silence.

Although Chen Yan was the Steward of Chenping Continent recognized by the current cultivation world of Chenping, when compared to the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void or the Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity...

He couldn't help but feel like a monkey crowing for a king in a mountain devoid of tigers.

After a brief moment of consideration, Chen Yan clasped his hands and bowed toward the young man in dark black daoist robes:

"Junior Chen Yan pays respects to the Tianji Sage!"

Zuo He did not speak immediately upon hearing this. He merely narrowed his eyes slightly, then extended the index finger of his right hand, first pointing it at Chen Yan, then suddenly jabbing it downward toward the ground.

Drip!

The "ground" of the pure white space emitted the sound of a water droplet landing, and Chen Yan found himself completely unable to resist as he was forcibly "pressed down" onto the surface of the pure white space by Zuo He.

Even Realman Du Cang, Chen Yan, who was capable of quelling the Chaos of Ascending to Immortality with his own strength alone, was still nothing more than an ant before a Sage-realm cultivator.

"Enjoy playing clever tricks?"

Zuo He let out a cold laugh:

"Did the answer you just gave me actually respond to my question?"

Having once cultivated at the Qingxuan Immortal Sect for several hundred years, Chen Yan had indeed heard something of this Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity's temperament.

Arrogant and unruly, looking down on everyone in his sight.

But Zuo He was, after all, the Steward of Tianji Continent, and indeed there was no one in all of Tianji Continent who could claim to be his equal in status.

So perhaps it was better described as soaring ambition and far-sighted vision.

"Junior is a native of Chenping Continent. I merely returned to the era when you, Tianji Sage, governed Tianji Continent, through the Heavenly Summit Mirror."

Even though he was being so thoroughly suppressed against the "ground" of the pure white space by Zuo He, Chen Yan felt not a shred of panic in his heart. He simply replied with perfect calm.

"Chenping Continent..."

Zuo He murmured upon hearing Chen Yan's answer:

"Never heard of it."

"When Tianji Continent was on the verge of destruction, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen, stepped forward to quell the chaos. Subsequently, the next era of Tianji Continent was named Chenping Continent."

Chen Yan answered.

"You mean to say, Tianji Continent has already fallen?"

Zuo He said.

"...Yes."

After a brief pause of half a breath, Chen Yan continued.

"How did it fall?"

The Tianji Sage asked, releasing Chen Yan from being pressed against the "ground" of the pure white space.

This thread of spiritual sense belonging to the Ultimate Sage of Heaven's Extremity, Zuo He, preserved within the sea of consciousness of the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen, seemed to be completely oblivious to everything that had happened in the outside world.

"Because of the Calamity of Fallen Immortals..."

Chen Yan began.

He recounted everything that had transpired in Tianji Continent back then to this insignificant thread of Zuo He's spiritual sense.

After hearing it all, the Tianji Sage fell silent for only a brief moment before letting out a derisive laugh:

"Heh. In the end, I really did commit a foolish act."

Chen Yan said nothing. After all, just as Zuo He himself had said, he had indeed done something incredibly foolish, a folly beyond all folly. This was an undeniable fact, and Chen Yan simply could not deny it.

But while the Tianji Sage could mock himself in such a manner, Chen Yan absolutely could not, and therefore he could not chime in agreement either.

In such a situation, Chen Yan could only choose to remain silent.

"I must have already received the punishment I deserved, haven't I?"

Then, the Tianji Sage once again turned his gaze toward Chen Yan and asked.

"Junior is not certain."

Chen Yan answered.

"Fair enough."

As if suddenly remembering something, Zuo He threw out his next question to Chen Yan:

"You, why are you here in the Sage of Imperial Void's sea of consciousness?"

"Through the remains of the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void."

Chen Yan replied.

"Remains?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo He's gaze locked tightly onto Chen Yan:

"You're saying, Bai Chen is dead?"

"Yes."

Chen Yan nodded, confirming this weighty truth.

A brief, suffocating silence.

Then, that Sage remnant soul clad in dark black daoist robes seemed to have all its support and sustenance utterly drained away by the news.

He first let out a low laugh, the sound initially suppressed and distorted, then rapidly swelling until it became utterly unrestrained:

"Hahahahaha... It's over... Everything is over... Hahahahaha!"

The manic laughter crashed and echoed through the boundless white.

There was no longer a trace of a Sage's transcendence to be found.