Chapter 1158: Farewell

Chapter 1158: Farewell

At night, the entire Zhuque Star was celebrating with nationwide festivities.

At the lively banquet, Ye Chen quietly slipped away and arrived at the nine levels of Youdu.

He was now wearing a simple plain robe, unadorned and humble, which he had obtained a hundred years ago from the Luoshen Abyss in Dachu. More precisely, it was woven by Yanfei, and through the passage of a hundred years of trials and tribulations, he had kept it with him all along.

In the nine levels, it was still that small bamboo grove.

As Ye Chen entered, Ruotian Zhuque was still painting, depicting a silhouette that sparked endless imagination.

Ye Chen gazed at it with a distant expression; that silhouette now seemed so familiar. In Hengyue Sect, there stood a stone statue of Chen Huang, and its silhouette perfectly matched the one painted by Ruotian Zhuque.

"Why leave the excitement below and come to an old one like me instead of drinking?"

"I have to go." Ye Chen smiled faintly.

"I knew all along that for Youdu, you were just a passing traveler." Ruotian Zhuque replied with a light laugh.

"All banquets must come to an end."

"When will you return?"

"I don't know." Ye Chen chuckled. "Maybe many years from now, or perhaps when I return, I'll already be gray-haired and aged."

"You must be someone with a story." Ruotian Zhuque set down her brush and sat down slowly, personally pouring a cup of tea for Ye Chen. "I've never seen a person only a hundred years old carry such world-weariness as you do. Even the dust of your travels bears the marks of time."

"You, Senior, have a story too." Ye Chen smiled. "Just like the silhouette you've painted for thousands of years."

"A painting is still just a painting."

"Senior, do you believe in past lives and present ones?" Ye Chen asked, lifting his gaze quietly and looking at Ruotian Zhuque.

"What about you? Do you believe?" Ruotian Zhuque smiled back at Ye Chen.

"I do."

"I do too." Ruotian Zhuque said with a leisurely laugh.

"Then, Senior, would you like to recover your memories from your past life?" Ye Chen's words were calm, yet they carried an indescribable depth.

"Memories from a past life?" Ruotian Zhuque furrowed her brows slightly, her beautiful eyes flickering with profound meaning as she gazed in astonishment at the young man sitting across from her. His words felt like a dream, veiled in mystery.

"He was called Xuan Chen, a supreme powerhouse from my homeland." Ye Chen stood up and walked to the painting by Ruotian Zhuque, his voice still even. "His wife was named Yanfei, who looks exactly like you—every frown, every smile, every word, every tone, all the same."

"What are you trying to say?" Ruotian Zhuque looked at Ye Chen, her brows furrowing even deeper.

"Senior, you should understand. At your level of cultivation, a dream is the subtle connection of cause and effect. Your origin from Dachu is the cause; dreaming back to Dachu is the effect. The three thousand years between this cause and effect is your past and present life. That Yanfei from three thousand years ago is the Ruotian Zhuque of three thousand years later."

"Who exactly are you?" Ruotian Zhuque stood up, staring straight at Ye Chen.

"I'm Ye Chen, from Dachu, a place incredibly far away." Ye Chen's voice grew slightly hoarse. "I'm searching for people from my homeland. They've been dead for a hundred years and have reincarnated into the myriad realms of the heavens. Ziling Gongzhu, Ruotian Xuan Yu, Xu Xian, Xiao Ying—they're all reincarnated from Dachu."

"This..." Ruotian Zhuque felt her mind spinning, even as a transcendent saint, struggling to accept it.

"I'll take my leave, Senior." As Ruotian Zhuque fell silent, Ye Chen had already turned to go, leaving behind a divine stone. "Inside it is sealed the immortal light that can unlock memories of a past life. If you ever figure it out, you can crush it."

Ruotian Zhuque held the divine stone and watched Ye Chen's departing silhouette in silence, her saintly composure slightly disturbed.

His words tonight had truly shocked her. A young cultivator of only one hundred and thirty years had such a grand origin and so many secrets. Because of him, many hidden truths had surfaced.

Xuan Chen! Yanfei!

Ruotian Zhuque murmured to herself, yet she did not crush the divine stone.

By now, Ye Chen had descended from the nine levels and donned a black robe, without bidding farewell to Xie Yun and the others.

His lack of farewell didn't mean they were unaware.

On the peak of a spiritual mountain, Xie Yun, Li Xiao, Nian Wei, and Xiao Ying stood there, quietly watching Ye Chen's receding figure, all with tears in their eyes. Time flowed on, and in the end, he was setting off alone. This parting, they didn't know when they would meet again—perhaps not until they were all aged.

Partings are too sorrowful. Time to go!

Ye Chen waved his hand behind him, as if knowing Xie Yun and the others were watching, his smile tinged with world-weariness.

Under the moonlight, Ye Chen arrived at the first level of Youdu.

Youdu at night was still bustling, with people hurrying along the streets, displaying the full spectrum of human life. Yet, he was ultimately just a passerby, destined to travel through dust and solitude, with a lonely silhouette.

"Damn it, lost everything again!"

As he walked, curses came from one side of the street. Looking closely, it was Fan Tong and the nine neighboring quasi-emperors.

Ye Chen smiled and vanished into the crowd.

Once he left Youdu, he soared upward, flying out of Zhuque Star and into the vast expanse of the starry sky.

In the starry sky, he pressed on in silence.

After an unknown amount of time, he landed on a massive ancient star.

This ancient star was enormous, with over ninety percent of it inhabited by cultivators—it was the Qinglong Star of the former Second Qinglong King.

Standing on a mountain peak, Ye Chen performed the Zhoutian Evolution secret technique, but he couldn't find any reincarnated individuals on Qinglong Star.

Disappointed, he turned and left.

Next, he visited ancient star after ancient star in the Tianyuan Star Domain, such as Xuanwu Star, Baihu Star, Jiaolong Star, Ziyan Star, and Kuiwei Star—the homes of the nine quasi-saints who had caused trouble at Zhuque Star earlier.

Regrettably, Ye Chen found no reincarnated people from Dachu on any of them.

During his journey, he asked several quasi-saints, but none knew of Dachu or Kunlun Xu. As for the Zhutian Sword God, they had some information, just like what Ruotian Zhuque knew—it was on Ziwei Star.

It was another peaceful night.

Ye Chen paused in the starry sky, holding a tattered star map that Ruotian Zhuque had given him.

Before him was a vast sea of stars, endless and boundless—this was the edge of the Tianyuan Star Domain. Crossing this sea would take him beyond it.

This is way too big!

Ye Chen scratched his head, feeling quite troubled as he looked at the star sea ahead. Not only was it boundless, but it also harbored many terrifying entities, strange creatures born in the starry sky.

"Young friend, need a ride?"

As Ye Chen pondered, a voice came from the distance.

He looked up and saw a small boat gliding over the star sea, carrying an old man in a hooded cloak.

What a treasure!

Ye Chen glanced at the old man, his eyes fixing on the boat. It was a peculiar artifact, surrounded by immortal light, which made the unknown creatures in the star sea avoid it.

"Young friend, need a ride?"

As Ye Chen murmured to himself, the boat had already approached, moving swiftly. The old man was warm and kind.

"Senior, how long to reach the other side of this star sea?"

"Three thousand yuan stones, and three days will suffice." The old man replied with a gentle smile.

"Not too expensive." Ye Chen stepped onto the boat, sensing its extraordinariness. Though not a saintly artifact, it was more profound than one, mainly because the immortal light enveloping it could deter the mysterious creatures of the star sea.

"Young friend, sit tight. We're setting off." The old man began rowing.

The boat trembled and shot forward like divine light, as fast as lightning, making Ye Chen's eyes gleam.

"This is a Flying Sky Shuttle." Noticing Ye Chen's curiosity about the boat, the old man smiled warmly. "As you've seen, it's not of a high grade, but it's specially crafted for this star sea. It can ward off the turbid spirits."

"What are turbid spirits?" Ye Chen asked curiously.

"In the chaos of the primordial beginning, the light rose to the heavens, and the turbid sank to the earth. So-called turbid spirits are the beings born from the turbid." The old man explained. "This star sea is a burial ground of the stars, filled with resentment that has entangled with turbid spirits over eons, making it extremely dangerous. If you're unfamiliar with the path, even a quasi-saint could meet their end—best not to be careless."

"I see." Ye Chen nodded, subtly activating his immortal eye to scan the star sea. It appeared radiant with immortal light, but it was murky and filled with bizarre, fearsome creatures.

"My ancestors have been ferrymen for generations, blessed by divine forces, which is why we sail without mishap."

"Divine forces?" Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, withdrawing his gaze from the star sea.

"Best not to speak of it." The old man chuckled, though a faint, strange gleam flashed in his old eyes, barely noticeable.

"In that case, I was presumptuous, Senior."