Chapter 1534: Yellow Springs

Ye Chen waved his hand, dismissing the Zhou Tian Shentong, and the water curtain completely vanished.

Bei Sheng and Yan Laodao exchanged a glance before both turning to Ye Chen. "You know what that place is?"

"You won't find it, and it's impossible for you to find it," Ye Chen replied calmly, offering no explanation.

Since it was Da Chu, there was nothing to be done. The gates of the heavens were still returning, and even figures like the Jian Shen were trapped in Da Chu. Going there was truly out of the question.

He wasn't unwilling to explain; he just feared alarming Yan Laodao and Bei Sheng. The legends of Da Chu were all deep secrets.

Those secrets were too ancient, and the bloody battles too brutal. Even if he told them, they wouldn't believe it.

"I'll go with you to find Ren Wang," Bei Sheng said.

"I'll go too," Yan Laodao edged closer. "It's been so many years since I've seen the old patriarch."

"I can go alone," Ye Chen smiled faintly.

"Alone?" Bei Sheng and Yan Laodao both frowned, sensing that Ye Chen was hiding something from them.

"This time, I thank you both." Ye Chen wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth, then turned and left the small garden. "I will repay this favor in the future."

"Hey!" Bei Sheng tried to follow, but Yan Laodao held her back.

"You old Daoist, why are you grabbing me?" Bei Sheng scolded.

"I can see you've developed feelings for him." Yan Laodao pulled out his wine flask, speaking leisurely. "He's been traveling through dust and hardship, searching for his wife."

"His wife? He's married?" Bei Sheng's mouth fell open in surprise, the news catching her off guard.

"Don't fall for him easily." Yan Laodao took his wine flask and walked away, his voice fading into the distance. "A man like him is full of scars."

Bei Sheng bit her lip lightly, feeling an inexplicable sense of loss. As the great Bei Sheng, her eyes dimmed with sadness.

A gentle breeze blew, stirring strands of her hair.

With a bitter laugh, she turned and left the small garden, heading east. Her figure was desolate and lonely.

The Jiu Li Zu had already sealed itself off, and she had sneaked out. She had hoped for a good excuse to wander the world with Ye Chen, but now it seemed she had been overthinking it.

She should have realized it earlier, yet she had been deceiving herself.

His journey was one of solitude, and hers was no different—she had to venture deep into the starry skies to train and grow.

By now, Ye Chen had already flown out of Chi Yue Cheng. Before leaving, he was unaware of Bei Sheng's feelings, focused solely on his search.

His cultivation had fallen, and his lifespan was dwindling. His time was limited; he couldn't afford delays, absolutely not.

He still held onto hope—that was Ren Wang Fu Xi. Once Da Chu returned, he could defy the heavens and change his fate.

In the meantime, he needed to search for as many reincarnated souls as possible and bring as many back to their homeland as he could.

His path was long, yet he had indeed found quite a few reincarnated souls. Bei Yue had not disappointed him.

However, with joy came sorrow.

He gradually noticed that the speed of his cultivation's decline was accelerating, especially each time he used the Zhou Tian Shentong, it worsened.

His lifespan was decreasing at the same rate as his cultivation, and no medicines could help—it was happening right before his eyes.

He had grown even older, his beard turning white, but he didn't bother trimming it. Even if he did, it would grow back quickly.

On another night filled with stars, he stopped in the depths of a mountain range. A bloody aura lingered there.

Under the moonlight, the land was blood-red, stained by fresh blood, a stark and piercing sight.

This had once been a tribe, with remnants of collapsed houses, stone pillars, and an ancient altar still visible.

The land was in utter ruins, scarred everywhere, as if it had endured a fierce battle with heavy casualties.

Ye Chen spotted a stone tablet inscribed with the words "Lei Chuan," which seemed to be Xiao Chen's hometown in this life.

Xiao Chen had been here before; the barrier here was one he had set up, and he had brought the head of the Yao Zu Shen Zi.

Blood debts must be repaid in blood. The Yao Zu Shen Zi had slaughtered the people of Lei Chuan, so using his head as an offering was most fitting.

Ye Chen stood there for a long time, silently reciting sutras for the departed.

Among the slaughtered people of Lei Chuan, there might have been reincarnated souls. Even if they had reincarnated, returning to Da Chu would be difficult.

He reinforced the barrier. Lei Chuan had become a forgotten part of history; let the dead rest here in peace, returning to dust and earth, undisturbed by anyone.

Only in the dead of night did he turn and leave silently, heading further north.

Many great clans of Bei Yue had returned to their ancestral lands, such as the Jiu Li Zu, making the region quite peaceful.

In the blink of an eye, three more days passed, and he stopped at the peak of a mountain.

Gazing into the distance, he saw a vast, rolling river with an unknown source and destination.

Beyond the river, not a blade of grass grew, and there was no sign of human presence. It was incredibly ancient, enveloped in a mysterious force that even his Xian Yan couldn't penetrate.

This was the forbidden zone Huang Quan, one of the five great forbidden zones of the Xuan Huang Continent, alongside Dong Huang's Purgatory, Xi Mo's Wang Chuan, Nan Yu's Ming Tu, and Zhong Zhou's Tian Xu.

Ye Chen wasn't deliberately coming here; he was just passing through.

From this distant view, the mystery of Huang Quan was no less than that of the other four forbidden zones—ancient, mysterious, and terrifying.

Legends about it were countless, and it had a notorious reputation since ancient times, a place where one entered but never returned.

Ye Chen stood quietly, gazing intently.

From afar, it seemed he could see a woman dancing gracefully in the depths of Huang Quan, her movements elegant and fluid.

It was like the Ming Tu of the past, as if it were the same woman—ethereal and elusive, incredibly distant, like a dream or an illusion.

Then came a feeling: whether it was Purgatory, Ming Tu, Wang Chuan, or now Huang Quan, he felt as though he had been there before—familiar yet strange, eerily so.

"I hope you've been well." Just as he thought, a voice emerged from Huang Quan, ancient and drawn out, making one's mind blur.

"Who are you?" Ye Chen furrowed his brow, staring intently and preparing to activate the Tian Dao at any moment. This Huang Quan was too strange.

However, his question received no response.

Suddenly, winds arose in the heavens and earth, carrying a chill that made even his Sheng Ti shudder.

Without hesitation, he turned and fled far away.

"Look at you, you've scared another one off." After Ye Chen left, scolding voices rose from Huang Quan, sounding very ancient.

"Don't worry, he'll come back." Another voice echoed leisurely. "When he does, it'll be in a different identity."

Ye Chen, of course, knew nothing of this conversation. If he had heard it, he would have run even faster—forbidden zones were too frightening.

In reality, he was already running quickly. Though he looked aged, his legs were swift, fleeing like a divine light, leaving passersby stunned.

The night under the moon was not peaceful.

The night in Zhong Zhou was pitch-black, without a single star.

In a dim underground palace, over a dozen figures stood silently.

Upon closer inspection, they were all old acquaintances of Ye Chen: Xian Zu Shen Zi, Feng Xian, Shen Zu Shen Zi, Mo Zu Shen Zi, Xue Shang Zi, Tian Can, Zang Tian Shen Zi, Chi Mei Shen Zi, and Hun Zu Shen Zi.

Besides them, the space in the palace twisted continuously, with cold winds howling—it was extremely yin leng.

That was the Ji Mie Shen Ti, also in the palace, though not visible, wandering through the space.

In the palace, apart from them, there were over a hundred figures, all chained and covered in blood and wounds.

If Ye Chen were here, he would surely recognize these people.

They were all reincarnated souls, including Heng Yue Zhen Ren and Heng Tian Shang Ren, their pipa bones pierced through.

"We have no grudges with you— you're going too far!" The reincarnated souls roared in anger, many with ferocious expressions, their eyes bloodshot.

They had all been captured, and their clans had suffered bloody disasters as a result, with most wiped out.

"Friends of Ye Chen— all deserve to die." Xian Zu Shen Zi sneered mockingly, his eyes full of bloodlust and cruelty, gleaming with a sinister light.

"I hear he's the sentimental type. Using you to lure him here is a great choice." Feng Xian laughed too, her smile twisted and savage, marring her stunning beauty.

"You..." Heng Yue Zhen Ren and Heng Tian Shang Ren's eyes were filled with blood vessels. Only now did they understand the purpose behind their capture— this was a trap to kill Ye Chen!

The reincarnated souls didn't know how these people had learned of their connection to Ye Chen; it was a secret.

But they knew Ye Chen well—if he found out they were captured, he would come, straight into a deadly trap.

"I want his Sheng Ti," Shen Zu Shen Zi sneered.

"The origin of the Sheng Ti is mine," Mo Zu Shen Zi licked his blood-red tongue. "Along with his demon heart and demon blood."

"His great cauldron— I like it very much," Xue Shang Zi laughed, his eyes flashing with a sinister light, terrifying to behold.

"The Phoenix Immortal— it's mine," Feng Xian grinned ferociously.

"The Zhun Di Sword— it's ours," Zang Tian Shen Zi, Tian Can, and Xue Shang Zi all laughed coldly and maliciously.

"The Sheng Gu— I'll take it."

"The Yi Tian Huan Di secret technique— that's mine."

"The storage bag— I'll collect it."

Laughter echoed through the underground palace, cold and sinister.

Even before capturing Ye Chen, they were already dividing up the spoils— all his treasures were on the list.