Chapter 1368: Jiang Taixu

"Otherwise, what did you think?" Chi Yangzi glanced at Ye Chen and picked up his large wine gourd again.

Upon getting the confirmed answer, Ye Chen furrowed his brow slightly. "It seems that Senior Jiang Taixu was indeed Taixu Zi. The matter of him passing on the Immortal Eye to me years ago wasn't a coincidence. Jiang Taixu came from the various heavens and myriad realms to Da Chu, so he must have seen the Six Paths. That's why, because I look exactly like the Six Paths, he entrusted the Rinnegan to me before he died. Otherwise, why would he choose me alone among all the people in Hengyue Sect to inherit his Six Paths Rinnegan?"

"Is this just fate at work?" Ye Chen murmured to himself. "Whether it's my Immortal Eye, the Six Paths' Immortal Eye, or the mortal world's Immortal Eye, they all trace back to Jiang Taixu's Immortal Eye. These Rinnegans from different times and spaces have converged in the same era, and they all share an inevitable connection with Jiang Taixu—something inexplicable and profound."

"You're spacing out again! Answer my question: why is Taixu Zi's Rinnegan with you?" As Ye Chen murmured, Chi Yangzi stepped forward and kicked him awake.

"When I met Senior Taixu, he was already on his last breath," Ye Chen said slowly. "There was no one else around at the time, so he passed the Immortal Eye to me. That was two hundred years ago."

"On his last breath? Taixu Zi is dead?" Chi Yangzi's body stiffened as he stared at Ye Chen in shock.

"After passing the Immortal Eye to me, he passed away." Ye Chen took a deep breath and finally said those words.

"How could he possibly be dead?" Chi Yangzi's face turned pale, and his small frame trembled uncontrollably. He struggled to accept the news. As a Quasi-Emperor, his eyes instantly filled with tears. The seven sons of Donghua shared the same roots, like family, so how could he not be heartbroken?

"Senior, please accept my condolences."

"Where is he buried?" Before Ye Chen could finish, the old man Chi Yangzi grabbed him by the shoulders, his tear-filled eyes bloodshot as he stared intensely. Overwhelmed by emotion, he gripped so tightly that Ye Chen's shoulder bones cracked.

"In Da Chu." Ye Chen uttered the name of his homeland, with streaks of fresh blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.

"Why would he go to the gates of the various heavens?" Ye Chen's brief words made Chi Yangzi's grip tighten even more, as if he knew what Da Chu represented—an unreachable place for ordinary people, including himself. Being unable to enter Da Chu meant he couldn't retrieve Taixu Zi's remains.

"Senior, please accept my condolences." Ye Chen tried to comfort him again, but his words felt even more hollow than before.

"Did he leave any last words?" Chi Yangzi finally released Ye Chen, his voice hoarse and laced with grief and sorrow. His already aged demeanor seemed to grow even more frail in an instant.

"Senior Jiang Taixu mentioned Huang'er."

"I knew it—he was always thinking of Phoenix." Chi Yangzi smiled with a touch of weariness.

"And Tianxu." Ye Chen paused for a couple of seconds before continuing, "Senior Jiang Taixu asked me to warn the Immortal Clan that no one from their clan should enter Tianxu unless they have reached the Emperor level."

"Tianxu." Chi Yangzi's smile turned self-mocking, his expression hazy, and his old eyes dim and clouded.

Ye Chen opened his mouth, wanting to ask more about the secrets of Tianxu, but he held back. With Jiang Taixu gone, Chi Yangzi must be overwhelmed by grief, and he couldn't bear to disturb him. Staying silent was the best choice.

The old man Chi Yangzi said nothing more, just quietly drinking his wine and gazing into the distance, as if recalling the glorious days of their youth, when they were all in the prime of life.

No matter how hard he tried to hide it, the pain in his old eyes was unmistakable, making him appear even more aged.

Five thousand years was too long, blurring the memories of those turbulent times. In the hazy flow of years, that world-shaking figure was gone forever—that was Donghua's Taixu Zi, their kin.

Ye Chen sighed inwardly, clearly feeling the ancient sorrow and grief in Chi Yangzi's heart. Once they had fought side by side, turning legends into myths, but now, after the changes of the world, they were separated by life and death.

And so, they traveled in silence, with great rivers and mountains flashing by, the gourd speeding along at an incredible pace.

Ye Chen didn't know where Chi Yangzi was taking him, but he didn't ask, remaining quiet the whole way.

It wasn't until night fell and the stars filled the sky that the purple-golden gourd landed in a mountain valley.

The valley was filled with lush bamboo, serene and peaceful. Misty clouds enveloped the place, making it feel like a dreamlike fairyland amid the turbid world—tranquil, elegant, harmonious, and pure.

Ye Chen followed slowly behind Chi Yangzi, quietly observing his surroundings. The valley wasn't as simple as it seemed; many areas were marked with restrictions, forming an ancient formation.

Deep within the bamboo grove, Chi Yangzi stopped and looked toward a swirling mist ahead.

There sat a woman with white hair, her beauty unmatched, her entire body surrounded by immortal radiance. Even her strands of white hair glowed with light. Though she was in the mist, she seemed dreamily distant, like a flawless snow lotus, holy and pristine, or a banished immortal untouched by dust.

She appeared to be in a deep slumber, having slept for who knows how many years. Her whole being exuded an ancient aura, and the faint glow around her carried a sense of antiquity, hazy and fantastical.

With his Immortal Eye, Ye Chen could see it all clearly, and a look of reverence filled his deep eyes. From the white-haired woman, he sensed an aura like that of the Sword God—another Quasi-Emperor.

Beyond that, her true form was that of a phoenix, with bloodline far superior to the Vermilion Bird, a divine beast of the highest order.

She must be the Huang'er that Senior Jiang Taixu mentioned! As Ye Chen watched, he murmured to himself. Otherwise, why would Chi Yangzi bring him here? It was clearly to help Jiang Taixu fulfill his final wish.

His guess proved correct. Without waiting for Chi Yangzi to call out, the mist began to swirl, as if the phoenix had sensed the aura of the Six Paths Rinnegan, awakening from her slumber.

In the next instant, a flash of immortal light appeared, and before he could react, a stunning figure materialized before him. It was the phoenix, the Huang'er that Jiang Taixu had spoken of before his passing.

Ye Chen tried to bow in respect, but found himself completely immobilized, bound by some mysterious force.

It was the phoenix who had restrained him. Without a word, she stood there motionless, staring fixedly at Ye Chen's left eye, as if seeing an ancient figure named Jiang Taixu.

The scene seemed frozen in that moment. After the vast changes of the world, they met again in this way, leaving Chi Yangzi sighing quietly on the side. Such a reunion was unbearably cruel.

A gentle breeze blew, stirring her white hair and making her delicate body tremble. Still, she said nothing, slowly raising her jade-like hand to touch Ye Chen's left eye. Her eyes, like clear water, were misted with tears under the moonlight, forming frost that blurred her gaze.

The phoenix shed tears, streams of them tracing her sorrowful cheeks and wetting the ancient longing.

The Six Paths Rinnegan trembled too, as if seeing the one it yearned for, and tears fell from it as well.