Chapter 1381: 仙地

Ye Chen's words made Chu Lingyu forget her own status and suddenly lunge forward to grab his arm, her voice trembling. "You said, is there still Hong Chen in this world?"

"Otherwise, why would I make you recall those sad memories?" Ye Chen took out a memory crystal, which contained the imprint of Hong Chen's figure and recorded every detail after he found Hong Chen.

"Where is he?" Chu Lingyu held the memory crystal in both hands, crystal-clear tears constantly dripping onto it, each drop reflecting Hong Chen's shadow and their past affections.

"Sorry, I lost track of him," Ye Chen cleared his throat. "He ran way too fast."

"Even to the ends of the earth, I will find him." Chu Lingyu wiped away her tears and started laughing foolishly. Losing track of him wasn't a big issue; as long as she knew Hong Chen was alive, that was enough. Although Xuan Huang was vast and finding someone was like searching for a needle in the ocean, at least she now had a reason to keep living.

"That's another good deed done." Ye Chen tilted his head back and took a swig of wine, deciding to hide his relationship with Hong Chen from Chu Lingyu. He wondered what kind of expression she would have if she found out.

"Hold on." The foolishly smiling Chu Lingyu seemed to think of something and subconsciously glanced at Ji Ningshuang, then gave Ye Chen a probing look.

"After that day, a lot happened." Ye Chen smiled and handed her a jade slip, which sealed information about what happened after Hong Chen and Chu Lingyu's deaths, such as the invasion of the heavenly demons.

"A lot?" Chu Lingyu instinctively took it, and after reading and absorbing the images inside, even her strong resolve turned her face pale. What kind of scene was that? The entire world was dark, with countless demons like a vast ocean, devouring vast swathes of beautiful mountains and rivers. The eighty million cultivators of Da Chu were fighting back, nearly wiped out, their fresh blood staining Da Chu and their bones covering their once-beautiful homeland.

"How could this be?" Chu Lingyu looked at Ye Chen. Without experiencing such a war herself, just seeing it made her heart tremble. She could imagine the catastrophe that befell Da Chu after her and Hong Chen's deaths and how desperately they must have fought.

"It's all ancient history now." Ye Chen gave a weary smile. "I came to these myriad realms precisely to find them, hoping that one day I can bring you all back to our homeland."

"Over two hundred years, you must have suffered a lot." Chu Lingyu pursed her lips.

"It's nothing."

"I'll take you to see my master; he can help."

"No need." Ye Chen waved his hand with a smile. "The Jian Shen predecessor is now in the Da Chu homeland, and the nine emperors of Da Chu are there too. Da Chu has issues, so they can't return anytime soon."

"The nine emperors of Da Chu?" Chu Lingyu was stunned. "Are all those predecessors still alive?"

"Figure it out yourself." Ye Chen tossed her another jade slip. "It has all the details inside."

"That, uh, could you two maybe tell us what you're chatting about?" Qi Wang couldn't stand it anymore and tentatively glanced at Ye Chen, then at Chu Lingyu.

"I want to know too." Ji Ningshuang smiled lightly, completely baffled by what she was hearing.

"One day, you'll find out yourself." Ye Chen chuckled leisurely, then glanced at Qi Wang and pulled out the bell from his storage bag. "Here's your treasure back. Go find a corner and enjoy it quietly!"

"That's more like it!" Qi Wang grinned, caring more about his treasure than their conversation. As he always said, you need money to live it up—that's being willful.

"I just love your goofy style."

"In that case, I'll go look for Hong Chen." Chu Lingyu put away the memory crystal and turned to leave.

"Once you find him, if you have nothing else to do, hurry up and have a kid." Ye Chen teased, scratching his ear. "Who knows, your child might even resemble me. It'd be great if I could be the godfather."

"Get lost! Are you itching for a beating again?"

"Don't mess around; you can't beat me."

"Yun Lan, aren't you going to Yao Chi for the grand event?" Ji Ningshuang couldn't help but interject.

"Please convey my greetings to the Xian Mu. I'll visit another day." Chu Lingyu was already stepping into the void, a charming smile on her face, having regained her former elegance.

"Having a goal really changes a person." Watching Chu Lingyu disappear into the sky, Ye Chen couldn't help but sigh. Not long ago, she had been crying like a tearful mess.

"I'm getting more and more interested in your story." Ji Ningshuang turned her head and smiled.

"Let's head back to your place and eat some peaches first!"

"We should hurry." Ji Ningshuang smiled and was the first to step into the ethereal void.

Ye Chen shook his head and followed, with Qi Wang bringing up the rear, afraid of getting lost. Walking between them made him feel extra proud—one was the Yao Chi goddess, the other the Huang Gu Sheng Ti. These two freaks were like his bodyguards, making him look impressive wherever they went.

As dawn approached, the three finally entered an ancient city. They were still far from the Yao Chi holy land and needed to use a teleportation array; otherwise, it would take forever to fly back.

Given the time constraints, Ye Chen was quite aggressive along the way. Whenever he found a reincarnated person, he would take them without a word, stuff them into his great cauldron to restore their past memories.

Once done, he would send the reincarnated person on their way to grow and develop on their own.

Thus, the three traveled with stops along the way, crossing over a thousand ancient cities. Ye Chen was always the busiest in each one, like a wild horse off the leash, darting everywhere.

Qi Wang was fine with it, having traveled with Ye Chen before and knowing he was always searching for people.

As for Ji Ningshuang, she was a bit confused, not understanding how Ye Chen had so many acquaintances. Every time he found one, it ended in tears, followed by inexplicable laughter.

After seeing it enough times, she stopped being surprised and went back to buried in her wordless book, occasionally murmuring to herself, almost seeming a bit eccentric.

Ahead, another ancient city came into view, and it was enormous—not your average one. Even Ye Chen was shocked; it was several times larger than You Du on Zhu Que Xing, like a whole kingdom.

"That's Di Wang Cheng." Ji Ningshuang, who was buried in her book, murmured lightly. "Once inside, don't be too showy, or you might provoke some supreme beings and get suppressed."

"Isn't that why we have you?" Qi Wang laughed shamelessly. "As the goddess of Yao Chi holy land, you should have some influence wherever we go. Who knows, we might even snag a few treasures."

"The one inside doesn't have the best temper." Ji Ningshuang flipped through her wordless book and said casually. "It's best to keep a low profile. Even Yao Chi holy land treads carefully around Di Wang Cheng."

"Don't waste time; we're in a rush to eat those peaches." Ye Chen was impatient and stepped into the ancient city.

"What's the hurry? You've been dragging your feet saving people this whole trip." Qi Wang grumbled. "We'd have reached Yao Chi holy land by now if not for your constant searching. I don't even know how many relatives you have."

"Keep yapping, and I'll kick you to death." Ye Chen shot back, secretly using Zhou Tian evolution to calculate while scanning Di Wang Cheng. It really was like a celestial paradise, with mountains, waters, and forests, shrouded in immortal energy and hazy mist everywhere.

Looking at the cultivators coming and going, there were plenty of powerful ones. They'd barely entered when he spotted three great saints, with even more saint kings and quasi-saint kings around, as common as cabbages.

Hmm?

As he looked, Ye Chen furrowed his brow, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at a floating immortal palace in the void above Di Wang Cheng. It was as if he could see through the vast distance to the treasure seal suspended above it, radiating dazzling immortal light and exerting pressure over the vast heavens.

It was a powerful artifact, overflowing with immortal energy, as heavy as a mountain, with supreme dao principles dancing around it. Even from far away, it made his heart tremble with an indescribable oppression.

"Tian Que Di Wang Yin." Ye Chen murmured to himself, a hint of awe flashing in his eyes.

"That's the Tian Que Di Wang Yin." Ji Ningshuang smiled. "You must have heard of Tian Que Da Di. The Tian Que Di Wang Yin is his ultimate emperor weapon, forged from bronze immortal metal. During the emperor's path struggles, it was stained with the blood of countless heroes and helped its master attain the great dao."

"Three thousand lives in one realm, only wishing to mend the sky with bare hands." Ye Chen recalled the secrets once told by Tai Xu Gu Long. Tian Que Da Di's true form was an immortal stone, refined by the essence of heaven and earth over endless years, eventually transforming into human form. He rose triumphantly and ultimately defied the heavens to become emperor, the first after Xuan Yuan Da Di, invincible across the myriad realms.

"You still gonna search or not? If not, let's hurry up and go." Qi Wang kicked Ye Chen out of his thoughts. "I'm waiting to eat those pantao peaches. Stop wasting time on this nonsense."

"I'll deal with you later." Ye Chen cursed and headed straight in a direction. This city had a reincarnated person, just one, and it was a woman. He didn't even need to see her face to know who it was.

Before long, the three stopped in front of a massive pavilion.

The pavilion was three stories high, mostly covered with colorful hanging curtains, thick with a worldly aura. Even before entering, they could smell the strong scent of women's fragrance wafting from inside. Looking from afar, they could vaguely see graceful women on the second and third floors playing the qin, pouring wine, and striking alluring poses.

At the pavilion's entrance stood disheveled female cultivators, swaying silk fabrics and pulling male cultivators along, saying things like, "Handsome, what took you so long?"

"This must be a Qing Lou—more plainly, a brothel, or even plainer, a pleasure house." Qi Wang stroked his chin meaningfully.

"This is a bit awkward." Ye Chen coughed. "If Xuan Huang knew, I wonder if he'd be so angry he'd spit blood. His precious daughter sure knows how to pick a job, running off to work here."

"I think eating peaches can wait a bit." Qi Wang quickly transformed into human form and even pulled out a mirror to fix his messy hair.

"I'll go over there and have some tea; you two carry on." Ji Ningshuang said, turning to leave.

"Don't!" Qi Wang grabbed her and dragged her inside shamelessly. "This is a great spot for flower wine. We're just here to drink; we're not sleeping with anyone."

Ye Chen rubbed his forehead and followed. It was one thing for him to come, but bringing Ji Ningshuang along was another story.

He didn't know what expression she'd have once she regained her memories.

He didn't know how lively it would be if the people of Dong Huang found out the Yao Chi goddess visited a brothel.

He didn't know if Xiong Er and Xie Yun would give him a thumbs-up, thinking, "Bringing your ex to a brothel—you're the one-of-a-kind weirdo of the ages."