Chapter 1297: Aftermath

In response to Ye Chen's earnest plea, Jiang Chen remained silent, standing like a statue on the mountain peak.

Ye Chen tried to speak again, but was interrupted by the telepathic message from the Sword God Dao Body: "Silence means consent."

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen was overwhelmed with excitement. He immediately bowed in respect to Jiang Chen, then turned and descended the mountain, arriving on the dark underworld below. He scanned the surroundings before suddenly waving his hand.

In an instant, hundreds of beams of immortal light shot out.

Each beam had a target, flying into various stone coffins and merging into the foreheads of those inside.

Immediately, the hundreds of stone coffins trembled collectively. From each one came muffled, desolate roars of pain. The reincarnated individuals inside, who had been in slumber, were awakening to their past memories.

Ye Chen stood on the underworld, waiting quietly.

On the mountain peak above, Jiang Chen slightly lowered his head, watching Ye Chen below. In his hollow eyes, ancient and profound lights flickered, carrying hints of astonishment, confusion, bewilderment, and world-weariness.

The Sword God Dao Body stepped forward to stand beside him, also gazing downward."The years are like a blade; we have both grown old."

"My coffin is already prepared." Jiang Chen's words were dry and flat, devoid of any human emotion, as if all feelings had long been eroded by the relentless passage of time."Sleeping here is peaceful enough.""Do not disturb me again." Jiang Chen's body slowly turned to ash and dissipated on the mountain peak, leaving only faint words echoing through the heavens and earth: "Go find Fu Xi, and have him defy the heavens to change your fate."

Gazing at the spot where Jiang Chen had vanished, the Sword God Dao Body murmured to himself, "If you can find him, there's no need to bother me." He then shifted his gaze back to Ye Chen, his eyes tinged with a trace of sorrow.

Below, the hundreds of stone coffins exploded with a thunderous roar.

Figures emerged one by one from the coffins. Having slumbered for so long, their shoulders were covered in dust, and their movements were stiff, making them seem more like walking corpses than living people.

In the silent underworld, the hundreds of reincarnated individuals trembled, staring blankly at Ye Chen with tears welling up. Their past memories had been unlocked, bringing back old events, and their emotions were beyond words.

"Welcome back." Ye Chen's smile carried a sense of world-weariness.

"A hundred years..." The hundreds of reincarnated individuals were in tears, their voices choked with sobs, unable to speak coherently.

The reunion of old comrades was as emotional as ever, but among the hundreds, only one stood like a statue, his face showing no emotion, his expression dull and eyes empty.

That was You Ming Yan Luo Wang of Da Chu. A hundred years ago, he had fought alongside the Da Chu cultivators and was a member of the Da Chu expeditionary force. Beneath the Heaven-Supporting Demonic Pillar, he and *** Wang had jointly slain the Jiu You Demon Lord.

Even after reincarnation, You Ming Yan Luo Wang remained as silent as death, as if he had long since grown indifferent to life and death, and had lost all awareness of the passage of time.

Ye Chen led the hundreds of reincarnated individuals into the Chaos Cauldron, but You Ming Yan Luo Wang silently turned and walked deeper into the underworld, with no intention of leaving with Ye Chen.

Ye Chen stood watching You Ming Yan Luo Wang's receding figure, but did not try to stop him.

In You Ming Yan Luo Wang's eyes, Yin Ming Star was his true home. Having lived too long, his past memories had blurred, and he wished to guard the ancient, distant recollections in this land of the underworld.

Ye Chen sighed softly, then turned and followed the Sword God Dao Body, flying out of Yin Ming Star. "Senior, what is Jiang Chen's origin that he can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Sword God himself?"

"He is from the Taigu Era." The Sword God Dao Body spoke slowly. "During the Taigu turmoil, his original spirit and true body were destroyed, leaving only a physical shell, known as an ancient corpse. Through endless cycles of change, the corpse did not decay but gained sentience. It cultivated the path of the underworld and achieved great heights, becoming the Jiang Chen of today."

"The Taigu Era..." Ye Chen smacked his lips in amazement at the thought of millions of years.

"Hmm?" As Ye Chen marveled, the Sword God Dao Body suddenly stopped, tilting his head slightly toward the vast void, his ancient, still eyes narrowing.

"What is it, Senior?"

"The Da Chu emperors have broken their seals."

"The Da Chu emperors?" Ye Chen quickly looked up, following the Sword God Dao Body's gaze toward the ethereal void. He strained his vision to the limit, but due to his limited cultivation, he saw nothing.

"All eight Da Chu emperors have broken their seals?" Ye Chen withdrew his gaze and turned to the Sword God Dao Body.

"So it seems." The Sword God Dao Body replied, then performed a quick divination to confirm. "Da Xia Huang Chao, Kun Lun Xu, Shen Dian, Da Luo Zhu Tian, Jiu Huang Tian, and now the Da Chu emperors—even the supreme gods of the forbidden zones have been stirred. This lineup is nothing short of massive."

"Does that mean Da Chu will return soon?" Ye Chen could barely contain his excitement.

"It's not that simple." The Sword God Dao Body retracted his divination technique. "Though you've calculated a general direction, Da Chu's exact location remains unknown. Even with such a grand force, it's like searching for a needle in the ocean."

"In five hundred years, I hope Da Chu can hold on." Ye Chen's heart was filled with worry and hope.

"There are some things I need to tell you in advance." The Sword God Dao Body said calmly. "I will dissipate at most in three months. The path ahead is for you to walk alone. When you go to Xuan Huang Dalu in the future, don't be too ostentatious. The peak experts of Kun Lun Xu, Shen Dian, Jiu Huang Tian, Da Luo Zhu Tian, and the Da Chu emperors have all left the myriad realms to search for Da Chu, so they won't be able to protect you."

"I understand." Ye Chen took a deep breath, realizing the Sword God Dao Body was settling his affairs.

"Very well, let's set out immediately." A beam of immortal light flew from the Sword God Dao Body, enveloping Ye Chen.

The two sped like immortal rays toward the eastern starry sky. The Sword God Dao Body moved at an incredible speed, perhaps knowing his time was short, and wanted to find as many reincarnated individuals as possible in the least amount of time.

Ye Chen remained silent along the way, letting the Sword God Dao Body lead him, as his own speed was far inferior.

A day later, they left the Yin Ming Star Domain.

Before them lay a new star domain.

Compared to the Yin Ming Star Domain, this one was full of vitality, with abundant life energy.

They employed the same method as before, positioning themselves at the center of the star domain. Ye Chen unleashed a great divine ability, and the Sword God Dao Body enhanced it with secret techniques, borrowing the prestige of the heavens' Sword God to send ethereal words echoing in all directions.

The starry sky trembled, and figures rushed in from everywhere, like waves upon the sea.

To Ye Chen's regret, although this star domain was vast, it only had about a hundred reincarnated individuals. Over ninety percent were followers of the imperial descendants, and there was even a divine general under an emperor's command.

With time pressing, Ye Chen and the Sword God Dao Body did not linger. After a brief meeting, they departed again, entrusting the reincarnated individuals from Yin Ming Star to this domain.

What followed was a long journey.

The two traveled side by side through star domain after star domain, gathering batch after batch of reincarnated individuals—some in large numbers, some small—all of whom they entrusted to their respective domains, to await the day they could return to Da Chu together.

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and three months went by.

In these three months, they had traversed nearly thirty star domains, though much of the time was spent traveling, as the starry sky was immensely vast. Even with the help of star domain platforms, it consumed a great deal of time.

The starry sky was vast and tranquil.

The Sword God Dao Body reached his limit, his figure gradually fading until it became translucent and illusory.

Seeing this, Ye Chen stepped forward, bowed deeply in respect, his expression full of reverence as he bid farewell to the Sword God Dao Body.

The Sword God Dao Body smiled faintly, his expression warm and gratified as he looked at this extraordinary junior before him.

Though the Sword God Dao Body wished to continue helping Ye Chen find the reincarnated individuals, time waited for no one. The Sword God's true self had been gravely injured, and the backlash was too strong. For a dao body to persist this long was already defying the heavens.

Stay true to your original intent, and you will achieve the great dao!

Bathed in the starlight, the Sword God Dao Body completely dissipated, leaving only a faint echo resonating through the starry sky—a senior's admonition to his junior, much like Jiang Tai Xu's words before his own passing.