Chapter 1584: The Lonely Charge

"I knew you would eventually take this step," Tian Zhu and Di Mie both sighed, gently waving their hands.

Immediately, a clear wind swept across Tian Xu and also over the fifty million cultivators of Da Chu Tian Ting.

The heavens and earth seemed to freeze in that instant.

The wind halted its blowing, and fallen leaves hung suspended in midair.

All the Tian Ting cultivators, except for Ye Chen, were without exception bound and immobilized, standing in place unable to move.

"Back then, you all protected my path; today, it's my turn."

Ye Chen turned around, draped himself in the Da Chu war banner, shouldered an iron sword, and walked with aged steps toward the mountains beyond, his silhouette desolate and hunched.

The people of Tian Ting watched, their eyes filling with bloodshot veins. They wanted to move but couldn't, wanted to speak but couldn't, only hot tears welling up in their eyes.

That uneasy premonition had finally come true.

Ye Chen's pace did not slow. With his back to Tian Ting, he waved his hand.

He was going to his death, but it would be a death of great value.

The karma that Tian Zhu and Di Mie spoke of referred to him.

He was the emperor of Da Chu; Tian Ting was established because of him. He and every person in Tian Ting shared karma.

The nine-day limit had been reached; he could no longer stay in Tian Xu.

He had to leave. His departure would lessen the interference of karma on the Tian Xu realm, and accordingly extend the time Tian Ting could hide. He saw this very clearly.

He was fighting for time—even just one short day might allow Tian Ting to hold out until Da Chu's return.

With his lifespan nearing its end, dying early or late was the same. This time, going out was merely advancing his journey.

Indeed, as soon as he left Tian Xu, the forbidden zone's realm grew peaceful, and the karma interference weakened.

With his exit from Tian Xu, the restraints of the heavens and earth lifted, and all the Tian Ting cultivators regained their mobility.

"Ye Chen, you damn well broke your promise!" Xie Yun cursed loudly and was the first to chase after him.

"You said we'd charge out of Tian Ting together!" The fifty million cultivators of Da Chu Tian Ting roared in unison, all charging forward at the same moment.

The Tian Ting cultivators feared no battle and none were afraid of death. Even in death, they would charge together.

But Ye Chen had gone back on his word, abandoning Da Chu Tian Ting and setting out alone on that path of no return.

They wanted to follow in his footsteps, just as they had once helped him kill into Bei Zhen Cang Yuan.

However, when they reached the entrance of Tian Xu, the fifty million were blocked by an invisible barrier, and no one could break through.

"He is shedding his karma to save you all; do not waste his painstaking efforts," Tian Zhu's ethereal voice echoed.

"To hell with karma! Let us out!" The fifty million cultivators of Da Chu Tian Ting shouted in chorus.

Tian Zhu and Di Mie shook their heads in silence, covering their ears.

The Tian Ting cultivators cursed in anger, summoning their magical tools, unleashing divine abilities, and burning their origins, bombarding the barrier relentlessly.

Only then did they realize why Ye Chen had gone out alone.

He was buying time for them. Da Chu was about to return; he might not make it, but he hoped they would.

"He's out! Someone's out!" Chaotic voices rose from beyond the mountains. When they saw Ye Chen, they froze in astonishment.

"Old Seven." Kui Niu and Xiao Yuan Huang and the others tried to rush forward, but were restrained by someone behind them.

It was the fishing old man, the Zhun Di, who had imposed a seal.

"Is that Ye Chen? How did he become a mortal?"

"He's so aged, his lifespan nearly spent, as good as dead."

"The once world-shaking Huang Gu Sheng Ti, now reduced to this state." Too many people couldn't help but lament.

"Capture him alive," Feng Xian said with a sly smile, lounging on her throne and idly twirling the ring on her finger.

At her words, the four clans' armies surged like a vast ocean, sweeping across the sky and earth, intent on engulfing him.

"Kill!" Ye Chen roared hoarsely, drawing the iron sword on his back and charging forward unsteadily.

This sight moved everyone who watched.

He was just a mortal, and a blind one at that, with his lifespan ending and his limit approaching, yet he still charged into battle.

Compared to the four clans' armies, he was as insignificant as a grain of sand.

"Is the Sheng Ti lineage all this fierce?" Tian Zhu and Di Mie's aged bodies trembled, unable to bear watching further.

"Ah!" The fifty million people of Tian Ting shed bloody tears, roaring hysterically and slamming madly against the barrier.

That was Ye Chen, the holy lord of Tian Ting, the emperor of Da Chu. His final battle was still so solitary.

"Master, I remember now; Xi Yan remembers!" The reincarnated Xi Yan cried out shrilly, her face covered in tears.

That beam of memory immortal light had finally merged into her divine sea, awakening her past life and all the events of bygone days.

But how cruel was the heavens? The dream had just awakened, yet her heart ached even more.

Her master, the Ye Chen she loved, was now draped in the Da Chu war banner, gripping a rusted iron sword, dragging his frail and aged body into a lonely charge.

"Ye Chen, you said you would marry me." Her cry carried an ancient sorrow and a woman's tenderness.

But her shout did not stop his figure. The aged him charged toward a dark ocean.

"Ancestors of the Sheng Ti lineage, if your spirits are in the heavens, aid this junior in completing this final charge."

Ye Chen's voice was hoarse, a wail and a plea.

With those words, the heavens trembled, and billions of thunderclaps boomed.

In the void, a mysterious force seemed to be summoned.

The Chen Zhan Sheng Gu, silent for a hundred years, flashed with light in that instant, and a defiant shadow roared toward the sky.

His form changed as he charged: his hunched back straightened; his white hair turned strand by strand to black; his blinded eyes regained their light.

"A final burst of vitality?" Tian Zhu and Di Mie frowned.

"What's happening?" People from all sides were astonished.

No one knew why Ye Chen had undergone such a transformation.

They only knew that an ancient Sheng Wen slowly etched itself on his forehead, and his eyes turned golden.

They only knew that the iron sword in his hand transformed into a great halberd, and his plain clothes shifted into armor.

They only knew that a mortal had become like an eight desolate war god, his domineering aura surging like a tidal wave.

The heavens and earth changed color; above the Di Bing, a vast cosmos manifested, with stars shining brilliantly.

In this final burst, the war god returned, forged of gold, radiating holy light in all directions, even more dazzling than imperial artifacts.

"How is this possible? Am I seeing things?" Too many people rubbed their eyes; this scene was truly bizarre.

"A metamorphosis and rebirth?" The old veterans stared in shock; the leap was far too great.

"He's borrowed the might of the Sheng Ti lineage." Tian Zhu and Di Mie's eyes narrowed. "The Chen Zhan Sheng Gu is reviving."

"He's clearly a mortal, yet why does he exude such strong pressure?" The four clans' ancestors paled, feeling a tremor from the depths of their souls.

"Kill! Kill him!" Feng Xian stood up, wildly waving her killing sword. As the only surviving enemy of Ye Chen's many foes, she knew all too well the variables he brought and urgently issued the kill order.

"Kill!" Ye Chen's roar was like an eternal thunderclap, shattering the ancient heavens.

The ancestors of the Sheng Ti lineage, their spirits in the heavens, had heard his cry and aided his final burst, restoring him to his peak.

This lonely charge was also his last; regardless of success or failure, he would fall in the flow of time.