Chapter 1374: World Contains Mortals

As he spoke, Ye Chen was about to rush out of the transmission array. However, the array had already activated, and before he could move, he was pulled into the space channel.

"Open for me!"

Ye Chen suddenly raised his hand, breaking through the transmission channel, and in an instant, he escaped. Yet, although he had escaped the space channel, he found himself not in the ancient city, but in a range of mountains. He was not surprised by this at all. Having forced his way out of the space channel, the spatial alignment had shifted, and even a split second's difference could mean a deviation of millions of li—hundreds of thousands of miles or more. Indeed, that was the case; with his keen eyesight, he scanned the distance but saw no sign of the ancient city.

Helpless, he took out a map, hoping to identify his location based on the mountain terrain so he could determine the correct direction to head back. He couldn't afford to go the wrong way. However, after checking over a dozen maps, he couldn't find this particular range of mountains. Dong Huang was vast, and this mountain range was too small to appear on the maps.

"Damn it." Ye Chen muttered to himself, deeply regretting that he had left in such a hurry.

"Ye Chen?" Just as Ye Chen was frustrated, a voice of surprise came from the Hun Dun Shen Ding. Yao Wang and the others stared at Ye Chen in a daze, hardly believing what they were seeing.

"Back in place?" Ye Chen casually released the three of them and continued searching the map for their location.

"This world actually has reincarnation." The three emerged, still looking bewildered. At two hundred years old, suddenly gaining memories of a past life was hard for anyone to accept right away. It was just too mysterious, blurring the line between reality and illusion.

It was like a dream. In the dream's final moment, they had been in Bei Zhen Cang Yuan, fighting to the death against the heavenly demons and their lords, shedding their last drops of blood for the mountains and rivers of Da Chu. But upon waking, they had reincarnated into this life, and two hundred years had already passed in the world. The memories were both vague and clear, leaving even these world-conquering kings dizzy and disoriented.

"Incredible, truly incredible." The three kept muttering and smacking their lips, while exchanging strange looks with one another. In their past lives, their relationships had been complicated—they were both rivals and allies. Yet not long ago, they had teamed up in a gambling house to bet money.

"Take your time to process the reincarnation. Come on, take a look at where we are." Ye Chen pulled the dazed trio over. "You're from here, so you should recognize this mountain range."

The three snapped out of it and, seeing Ye Chen's urgency, didn't ask questions. They stepped into the void sky, overlooking the mountain range, with Gui Wang and Xue Wang even pulling out maps.

"No need to check. It's Yan Jun Shan." Yao Wang glanced around and then descended from the void sky.

"I thought it looked familiar." Gui Wang and Xue Wang also came down from the void.

"How far is this from the ancient city we left?" Ye Chen asked hastily.

"At least a million li."

"Let's go." Ye Chen stepped into the void sky.

"This way." Yao Wang's words made Ye Chen feel awkward, and he quickly changed direction.

Xue Wang and Gui Wang weren't idle either, following right after. The four streaked through the void sky like divine lights.

It was worth noting that the three looked at Ye Chen with meaningful eyes. The fact that Ye Chen had found his way from Da Chu to Xuan Huang Continent proved that the anti-demon war two hundred years ago had ended in Da Chu's victory.

However, they probably didn't know about the events that followed their mutual destruction with the heavenly demons' lords—such as the heavenly demon great emperor descending upon Da Chu, the fall of Nan Chu city, the desperate battles fought by Da Chu's cultivators to protect Ye Chen's ascension, or Ye Chen slaying the great emperor.

If they knew about those later events, they would be utterly shocked—it was an act that defied the heavens.

Ye Chen didn't notice the three's expressions; his mind was entirely on Hong Chen. He could hardly believe, and didn't dare believe, that someone from the future timeline could reincarnate in Da Chu. Clearly, this violated the rules severely. Time and space were already chaotic, and now reincarnation had thrown everything into disarray. The wheel of history had deviated once more, turning future events into unknowns. The certainties of history were now muddled in the intersection of reincarnation and time.

"If Hong Chen can reincarnate, then Shen Xuan Feng and Ye Xing Chen must be able to as well." Ye Chen's thoughts raced, his heart filled with excitement. At least, they could tell Hong Chen Xue and Chu Ling Yu that Hong Chen still existed in this world, along with Qian Shang Yue and Xing Yue Sheng Nu. The shattered fate from their past lives with Shen Xuan Feng and Ye Xing Chen could continue into this one.

Thinking of this, his blood surged, and his speed increased dramatically. In an instant, he left Yao Wang and the others far behind.

Seeing this, Ye Chen slowed down a bit, waiting for them for three to five seconds in a show of consideration, before directly taking them into the Hun Dun Shen Ding to avoid leaving them behind again.

This left Yao Wang and the others feeling extremely embarrassed. As world-conquering kings, they had been overshadowed by this junior in their past lives, and it was the same in this one. Moreover, they had become a burden to Ye Chen.

Under the moonlight, Ye Chen streaked like a divine light, drawing a brilliant arc through the night sky. It was unclear how much time passed before the vague outline of an ancient city came into view—it was the same ancient city they had left earlier. He had flown back over a million li through sheer force.

As he drew closer, Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, his brows furrowing as he looked toward the distance. He could see crowds surging outside the ancient city, a sea of people from all directions, including many from the Sun Moon Divine Cult, with a formidable presence. Each one exuded killing intent.

Even from afar, Ye Chen could make out the scene. At the center of the crowd was a high platform, and on it stood a copper pillar with a person chained to it. It was a disheveled figure in tattered clothes, with a dull expression and empty, lifeless eyes, devoid of any human emotion—like a puppet. Upon closer inspection, it was Hong Chen.

Ye Chen's brows furrowed even deeper. He could imagine what had happened after he left. That purple-robed elder must have summoned experts from the Sun Moon Divine Cult and, by some twist of fate, mistaken Hong Chen for him. In the ensuing chaos, Hong Chen, unable to fight back against the crowd, had been captured.

As for the current scene, it was likely the Sun Moon Divine Cult making an example, warning all sides that they were not to be trifled with and that crossing them would lead to a miserable end.

By the time he spoke, Ye Chen had already arrived. He covered his face with a mask and concealed his aura using Zhou Tian evolution, then hid in a corner of the crowd, gazing at Hong Chen chained to the copper pillar on the platform.

Hong Chen's situation was dire; his pipa bones were pierced with hooks, and his body was covered in blood, yet he showed no sign of pain.

Ye Chen clenched his fist. In Da Chu, Hong Chen had been a peak existence; if he had come to the various heavens and domains without reincarnating, he would have been on the same level as the Six Paths. But after reincarnation, with only quasi-saint cultivation, how could he withstand the Sun Moon Divine Cult's assault?

Speaking of the Sun Moon Divine Cult, Ye Chen shifted his gaze to the platform's surroundings. There were over a hundred experts from the cult, an enormous force: three quasi-saint kings and nine saint-level figures.

"I have to force my way in and rescue him." Ye Chen's eyes flickered, ready to strike at any moment to save Hong Chen.

"Why does he look exactly like Ye Chen?" Inside the ding, Yao Wang and the others could see everything, their expressions full of surprise. In their past lives, they hadn't known about Ye Chen's connection to Hong Chen, so they were completely unaware.

"Could he be the reincarnated Shen Xuan Feng?" The three exchanged glances. In their memories, aside from Hong Chen and Ye Chen's dao body, only Shen Xuan Feng looked identical to Ye Chen.

"What's going on here?" As they spoke, more spectators arrived from all directions. Seeing the three quasi-saint kings from the Sun Moon Divine Cult, they trembled in fear, their faces turning pale.

"What else could it be? Someone provoked the Sun Moon Divine Cult!" An earlier spectator sighed. "I heard that person injured an elder from the Sun Moon Divine Cult in a gambling house. The elder called for reinforcements and suppressed him. Now, they're going to execute him publicly to intimidate everyone."

"Who would dare provoke the Sun Moon Divine Cult? And if you do, at least run far away!" Someone clicked their tongue, glancing at Hong Chen chained to the copper pillar. "But the one who captured him was the Sun Moon Divine Cult's divine child."

"That guy's really something. When the divine child attacked, he just wandered the streets like an idiot, not fleeing or resisting. He got suppressed with a single palm from the divine child. Can you believe it?"

"Probably scared witless by the divine child's aura." Someone stroked their beard.

"This will give the Sun Moon Divine Cult's divine child something to brag about for half a year." Many turned toward the platform, where the divine child lounged comfortably on his throne, wearing a mocking smile as he toyed with the situation, acting superior. Suppressing a quasi-saint with one palm—his act was impressively bold.