Chapter 1627: Coming Home

In the haze, a gentle whisper seemed to echo in Ye Chen's ear.

It was from Nan Ming Yu Shu, the daughter of Xuan Huang, her final words of affection spoken to him in her last moment before closing her eyes.

Three years were not a gift from the heavens; the way of heaven is heartless.

Those three years were exchanged with the life of a woman.

She was a beauty, yet she faded away like a flower, offering her unparalleled grace and life soul to a man named Ye Chen.

He wept profusely, his heart torn with agony, much like the time he had swallowed the Tian Ji Dan and seen Xuan Nu and Luo Xi.

He would understand why Xuan Huang looked at him with such loving eyes, and the story carried in the Jia Yi.

Ironically, he only realized it at the brink of life and death.

Cause and effect were entangled in blood and tears, bound by love and affection; in the mortal world, Nan Ming Yu Shu was seen no more.

All causes and effects vanished like smoke with the crimson Jia Yi.

"Is it worth it?" he asked, smiling through tears, his trembling hand reaching into his body to pull out a strand of soul.

It was his soul, and also Nan Ming Yu Shu's soul, which he clutched tightly in his palm, refusing to let go.

As his soul left his body, his eyes lost their final glimmer, like a falling leaf drifting in the stellar winds.

In the starry sky, a woman holding an immortal sword stumbled forward, her robes stained with blood, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind her.

It was Chu Xuan, who had fought through more than a dozen demon generals, surviving nine deaths and one life, searching the entire cosmos until she found this deathly star domain.

"Ye Chen." She spoke, taking a step across the void and collapsing onto the stars, pulling him into her embrace.

"I can't hold on anymore." Ye Chen smiled wearily, his eyelids fluttering, on the verge of closing, ready to sleep forever.

The tearless goddess had misty eyes like water, which under the moonlight condensed into frost, crystal clear and shining.

Though emotionless, tears fell, and that memory immortal light finally merged into her divine sea, unsealing her past life's memories in that instant.

She was Chu Xuan, Ye Chen's master, the peak master of Heng Yue Yu Nu Feng, who loved her disciple and wished to dress him in the Jia Yi.

It all returned; with her tears, all memories came back, carrying past events and ancient bonds.

"Your tears... are they for me?" Ye Chen smiled wearily, struggling to lift his hand to wipe away her tears.

"Chu Xuan, I am Chu Xuan, your Xuan Er. I'm back." Chu Xuan choked, her eyes blurred with tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

Past and present lives, three hundred years, felt like a dream.

In the dream's beginning, she lay in his arms, calling his name.

At the dream's end, he lay in her arms, his hair fully white, older than time itself, clinging to the last bit of warmth.

"Home... I want to go home. Take me home." Ye Chen buried his face in Chu Xuan's embrace, murmuring softly, his words weary and aged.

"Home, I'll take you home. Please, don't die." Chu Xuan's face was covered in tears as she desperately poured her pure essence into Ye Chen's body, willing to extend his life at any cost.

Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stabilize his fading vitality; even if Da Luo Jin Xian were present, he couldn't be saved.

"I'm tired." Ye Chen smiled tenderly, exhaustion pulling him toward sleep.

With those words, his eyes slowly closed, and the hand reaching for her cheek fell limply.

He never touched her cheek, nor wiped away the tears sliding down her face, or the scars of sorrow upon it.

"No, no, no." Chu Xuan cried hoarsely, like a helpless child pleading in despair.

Her long hair turned strand by strand to snow white, fluttering in the wind, each one etched with age and indescribable pain.

The divine generals and the Nine Emperors arrived, hesitating to speak, only sighing.

Jian Shen, Dong Huang Tai Xin, Jiang Tai Xu, and the others came as well, standing silently a hundred zhang away, unable to hold back their sighs.

Divine lights continued in the starry sky as Xie Yun, Xiong Er, Yang Ding Tian, and the cultivators of Da Chu arrived, their faces pale and ashen.

Every fist was clenched until it bled, every pair of eyes threaded with blood vessels. Ye Chen was dead.

"Ye Chen." Choked calls came from afar, resounding through the stars, with graceful figures and tear-filled eyes.

It was Shang Guan Yu Er, Bi You, Lin Shi Hua, and Hao Tian Shi Yue, who had emerged from the Tian Xuan secret realm only to hear the devastating news.

Before reaching that star domain, they collapsed to the ground, tears flowing uncontrollably, their hearts aching as if forgetting the passage of time.

"You promised to marry us." Their sorrowful tears traced their sorrowful cheeks, evoking pain and pity in all who saw.

The starry sky was deathly silent, time seeming to freeze in that moment, as she held him motionless, like statues.

What a cruel twist of fate; she remembered, but he was gone.

In their past lives, they missed each other year after year for three years, through a great cycle, and now another three hundred years, this miss meant no more fate.

Suddenly, an ancient funeral melody arose, full of sorrow, echoing through the stars, as if bidding farewell to a peerless hero.

All who heard it bowed their heads in gloom, overcome with grief.

The war god who once dominated the eight wastelands had finally fallen in the passage of time.

The so-called immortal legend was ultimately just a myth.

A breeze blew, and his body turned to flying ashes, drifting in the starry sky, scattering like flowing sand into the galactic river.

Chu Xuan's eyes were lifeless, with no will to live, also beginning to dissipate, just as Chu Ling Yu had when Hong Chen died.

Dong Huang Tai Xin intervened, sealing her away with a heaven-defying divine ability, sending her into a dreamless slumber, far from the world's sufferings.

Perhaps her actions were too cruel.

With Ye Chen dead, Chu Xuan's existence in the world was torment; going with him would have been her best end.

However, she could not die; as a child, she resembled Ruoxi exactly, and her existence related to an eternal secret.

Chu Xuan was sealed, Ye Chen dissipated, dust returning to dust, earth to earth.

Only a strand of soul escaped from his hand, drifting with the wind.

It was Nan Ming Yu Shu's soul, left in this world by him.

The Human King sighed, gently raising his hand to hold her soul.

Vaguely, within the soul, Nan Ming Yu Shu's figure could be seen, dressed in the Jia Yi, dancing gracefully and smiling back.

Xuan Huang's eyes were filled with tears, his demeanor growing even more aged; he was the emperor of Da Chu, but not a good father.

The return journey was filled with pain; Xi Yan held a jade urn containing Ye Chen's ashes, walking and crying all the way.

Luo Ye Gui Gen—he wanted to go home, his dying wish.

On Yu Nu Feng, a small grave was erected.

All the glory, all the honor, all the legends, all the myths, were buried in that small tomb.

This was his final resting place, where he would sleep eternally through endless ages.

"Through lifetimes, we will all guard you." The women smiled through tears, all dressed in Jia Yi, carrying the tenderness of wives.

Da Chu was draped in white silk, with all descendants wearing mourning clothes for him; he was a predecessor who had fought for the light of future generations.

On every mountain peak, figures stood silently; the elders sighed, the younger ones despaired, gazing quietly toward the Heng Yue Sect.

In the years that followed, whenever Da Chu cultivators drank, they would often spill a drop on the ground as an offering to him.

After the war, the barriers between Da Chu and the various heavens were lifted.

The legends of Da Chu spread throughout the stars, and all they had done for the myriad realms was told as stories to the people.

Cultivators from the various heavens came in groups, just to catch a glimpse of Da Chu.

It was this land, and the people of this land, who had built a bloody great wall for the countless beings of the myriad domains.

"Is this your homeland?" At the foot of Heng Yue Sect, Bei Sheng's eyes were misty, swirling with watery light that turned to tears.

Nan Di, Long Jie, Xiao Yuan Huang, Kui Niu, and the others also arrived, standing at the base of the mountain, their expressions grief-stricken and silent for a long time.

In the past, they all knew he was a man with a story.

But they never imagined his story was so long, a journey through dust and wind, braving the river of time, walking alone.