Chapter 1574: Chu's Water Curtain

A new day dawned, and Tian Ting was buzzing with fervent activity. More and more yuan shi were being transported in continuously, piling up into towering mountains that stood side by side. Xiong Er, true to expectations, pulled out all the stops and transformed Tian Ting into a veritable empire of wealth. Whenever he had a free moment, he couldn't help but glance toward the depths of the immortal mountain, where Ye Chen was located.

"Even if I can't save you, I'll protect Tian Ting for you." Xiong Er silently resolved to himself, determined to earn even more money.

"Master, will Uncle Ye Chen hold on until Da Chu returns?" Gong Xiao Tian asked quietly.

Even the usually carefree Xiong Er fell silent.

Ye Chen's condition was far too dire; Xiong Er didn't know when Da Chu would return, nor if Ye Chen could last until that day. With a sigh, he picked up his ledger again, as another batch of yuan shi had arrived, and he needed to record it.

And so, day and night alternated, and nine days passed quietly.

It wasn't until the tenth day that Ye Chen, who had been slumbering in the ling chi, slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was murky and devoid of light.

"I nearly lost myself." At the edge of the pool, Ruo Tian Zhu Que also opened her eyes, her face pale but otherwise unharmed.

"The Di Dao Xian Fa, Meng Hui Shang Gu—it seems in this past century, you've gained quite a fortune, Senior." Ye Chen stepped out of the ling chi, his aura subdued and overwhelmed by surging death qi.

"Dreams that last too long are ultimately unreal." Ruo Tian Zhu Que smiled and waved her hand repeatedly, dispersing the death qi around Ye Chen.

"This technique is profound and vast; I truly find it hard to comprehend as a junior."

"One day, you will understand." Ruo Tian Zhu Que gradually faded away, her ethereal words laced with deep meaning.

Ye Chen glanced in her direction before heading straight down the mountain.

As he walked along the mountain path, his mind felt somewhat dazed. He had become an ordinary mortal, unable to sense even a trace of spiritual energy. This made him recall the past, when he was also just a mortal—those three hundred leisurely years felt like a dream. It seemed like a cycle, a reincarnation between mortals and immortals, looping back to the starting point.

The difference from before was that, as a mortal now, he no longer looked up in awe at those lofty immortals; his heart was as still as water. Only after truly experiencing it did he realize that the path of immortals, like the path of mortals, was filled with hardships, and both ended in a handful of yellow earth.

"Kid, you're finally awake." Just as he was walking, Xiong Er came running over, his hefty body wobbling.

"Made quite a bit, haven't you?" Ye Chen said with a faint smile.

"Come on, take a look." Xiong Er pointed into the distance.

Ye Chen raised his eyes and saw mountains formed from yuan shi, so dazzling that his vision blurred. The quantity was inestimable, enough to sustain Tian Ting's formations—it would be their greatest asset.

"Rest easy and recover; don't worry about Tian Ting anymore." Xiong Er patted Ye Chen on the shoulder. "We've got this."

"Tian Ting is full of capable people; I don't need to worry. This time, I'm truly powerless." Ye Chen laughed and handed a memory crystal to Xiong Er.

Xiong Er took the memory crystal and tapped it with a finger, extracting the images imprinted within.

Immediately, his eyes filled with tears.

The memory crystal contained the figure of Tang Ru Xuan, dressed in white with white hair, her face weary and evoking pity.

"It won't be long now." Ye Chen passed him a storage bag, which was piled with memory crystals.

These were imprints from Ruo Tian Zhu Que, filled with scenes from Da Chu.

"I'll go make copies right away." Xiong Er was overjoyed, wiping away his tears as he clutched the storage bag and dashed off.

Scenes from their homeland in Da Chu were the most precious; there were so many in Tian Ting who dreamed of seeing them.

Soon, a massive water curtain materialized in the sky above Tian Ting, enormous and blotting out the heavens.

The water curtain displayed the current state of Da Chu: vast mountains and rivers, the ten great Da Chu emperors standing tall, and Tian Ting's cultivators arrayed in orderly formations, their momentum overwhelming.

The cultivators of Tian Ting all looked up, their eyes glistening with tears.

Through the screen, they could clearly see every flower and blade of grass, every tree and stream, every palace and hall, as well as those familiar faces.

"Sister, I see Dan Cheng!" Luo Xi exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and pointing to a corner of the water curtain.

"I see it too." Xuan Nu's eyes were misty.

"Is that Xue Er and... and Yu Er?" Hao Tian Xuan Zhen and Hua Xu were watching, spotting Hao Tian Shi Xue, Hao Tian Shi Yu, Li Zhang, and Chen Rong Yun, along with their children, all in the prime of their lives.

"We're grandparents now." Hao Tian Xuan Zhen held Hua Xu's hand, chuckling.

"That's Heng Yue Sect; it's Heng Yue Sect." Si Tu Nan choked up, greedily gazing at the immortal mountains shrouded in mist and the elders and disciples of Heng Yue Sect.

"That bastard Huo Teng is still alive, damn it?" Xie Yun cursed through his tears.

"I died on that very land back then." Duan Yu, holding Yun Meng's hand, pointed into the distance.

"Your homeland is beautiful." Yun Meng smiled gently.

"Father Emperor." The descendants of the emperors trembled; their past selves had been sealed, and after enduring the six paths of reincarnation, the years had been endless, moving them to tears.

"You're still as domineering as ever, swallowing the eight wastelands." The five kings of Da Chu looked on with more nostalgia; after countless ages, seeing their old enemies again stirred complex emotions of reflection and remembrance.

"Is that the nine emperors of Da Chu?" Many people's eyes sparkled; it was their first time seeing the successive emperors of Da Chu, a sight that transcended eras and reincarnations.

"And that woman standing alongside the nine emperors—why does she look so familiar? Have I seen her before? Is she also a Da Chu emperor?"

The cultivators of Tian Ting laughed and cried, their excitement making them wish they could rush into the screen and embrace their long-lost homeland.

"What kind of place is that anyway?" On a mountain peak, Xiao Jiu Xian scratched his head. "How come it's making people cry?"

"It must be the homeland of Tian Ting." Nan Di pondered.

"Old Daoist, have you recognized it?" Bei Sheng withdrew his gaze and turned to Yan Lao Dao beside him.

"No wonder I couldn't find it; the old hometown turned out to be in Ye Chen's homeland." Yan Lao Dao stroked his long beard and sighed.

"Does that mean Ye Chen can still be saved?"

"Who knows?" Yan Lao Dao tucked his hands into his sleeves and glanced toward the receding figure of Ye Chen.

Everyone else was watching, but he alone walked on quietly.

He seemed oblivious to the path, nearly tripping several times.

He even walked straight into a couple of trees and a few solid rocks.

Bei Sheng frowned and descended from the mountain peak to catch up with Ye Chen.

Ye Chen didn't notice him and kept stumbling along.

It wasn't that he wasn't looking; his vision was blurring, gradually fading into darkness, inching toward blindness.

The evolution of the Zhou Tian had reduced him to a mortal.

Once fully mortal, his eyes would gradually lose sight, just like Zhou Yi had become blind years ago.

As he walked, he collided head-on with another tree.

Bei Sheng couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed Ye Chen. "What's going on with you? Not watching where you're walking?"

"What's going on with you? Sneaking up without a sound?" Ye Chen clutched his forehead, which had swelled from the impact.

"I was afraid you'd do something rash, so I followed quietly." Bei Sheng supported Ye Chen, worried he'd bump into another tree.

"Your way of thinking is quite subtle." Ye Chen didn't resist; with his vision declining, having someone to lean on was helpful.

"If I hold you like this, your wives won't hit me, will they?" Bei Sheng coughed and glanced at Shangguan Yu Er and the others nearby.

"You're so powerful; they couldn't hit you anyway."

"Too many of them—if they all came at me, I'd definitely get beaten." Bei Sheng said, helping Ye Chen up the stone steps.

"Are you indirectly insulting me?"

"Nonsense, I'm complimenting you." Bei Sheng chuckled lightly, then changed the subject. "Since you know Ren Wang Fu Xi is in your homeland, why not go seek his help?"

"The homeland is too far, and I don't have enough traveling funds." Ye Chen replied casually, concealing the full truth about Da Chu—it was a secret.

Bei Sheng furrowed his brow, sensing the underlying issue from Ye Chen's words; it wasn't that he wouldn't go, but that he couldn't.

The two walked in silence, step by step, until they reached Yu Nu Peak.

Ye Chen found a comfortable spot to sit and then lowered his head, lost in thought.

Bei Sheng felt it was pointless to stay and quietly left, though not before giving Ye Chen a meaningful look.

He was so mysterious, and everyone in Tian Ting was too. Their homeland was shrouded in mystery as well.

It was all hard to fathom, and the reasons eluded him.

As soon as Bei Sheng left, Ye Chen lifted his head and gazed at the sky. The warm rays of sunlight in his eyes slowly turned to darkness.

Indeed, he was blind; his eyes held no light, seeing neither them nor the mortal world.

His expression showed no joy or sorrow; he wasn't afraid of the darkness.

In the virtual sky, the Da Chu scenes in the water curtain continued, and the Tian Ting cultivators laughed and cried, their tears mingling with smiles.

No one knew when the water curtain finally dissipated, but night fell.

Everyone lingered in the afterglow, reluctantly dispersing to continue their tasks with renewed vigor.

Da Chu would return soon, turning the illusory scenes into reality. After three hundred years of waiting, the anticipation was overwhelming.

The night was restless, with yuan shi arriving ceaselessly.

The empire of wealth wasn't just for show; money flowed in every second, the amount beyond calculation.

Seeing this, Long Yi and Long Wu got busy again, reinforcing the barrier formations—money meant they could do as they pleased.

Meanwhile, Shangguan Yu Er and the others ascended Yu Nu Peak.

They had been so excited during the day that they forgot about Ye Chen. It was only after visiting Ruo Tian Zhu Que that they learned he had returned.

From afar, they saw him sitting motionless, like a statue, his white hair swaying in the wind and brushing against his face, covering half of it.

The women gathered around, calling out softly, their hearts aching.

Ye Chen awoke, his murky eyes opening.

To hide his blindness, he lifted his head as if looking at the ethereal sky, but he couldn't see a single twinkling star.

Hao Tian Shi Yue noticed something was off and gently raised her hand, trembling as she waved it in front of Ye Chen's face.

Yet, his eyes were vacant, showing no reaction.

Hao Tian Shi Yue covered her mouth, holding back her tears.

Shangguan Yu Er and the others did the same, stifling their sobs but unable to stop the tears, their pain tearing at their hearts.

Their Ye Chen... was blind. He hadn't even seen them in their wedding dresses or lifted their red veils.

"I'm not dead yet; no need to cry for me so soon." Ye Chen waved his hand with a smile and then lowered his eyes.

"Ye Chen, let's get married." The women knelt at his knees, whispering tenderly, their voices full of affection.

Ye Chen parted his lips but ultimately said nothing.

The women smiled self-deprecatingly. Even blind, his heart and thoughts were still with Chu Xuan and Chu Ling.