Chapter 1953: Pouring Tea Yourself

After this journey, another ten years had passed. Adding the previous thirty years, it amounted to forty years of time.

Ten years of changing seasons, buried under layers of dust from the ages.

In those ten years, Ye Chen’s cultivation level had not advanced at all, but he had gained deep insights into the Di Dao Fu Xi Zhen. As time went on, Ren Wang’s guidance in Ye Chen’s practice had shifted from focusing on arrays to emphasizing deduction.

Ren Wang, bearing the full Zhou Tian, was the ultimate master of it all.

Ye Chen, on the other hand, was far behind by a vast distance. The practice of deduction would take even longer than working with arrays.

Time pressed onward, and the years kept changing.

Over the past forty years, the two had traveled an immense distance, crossing countless star domains from Da Chu. They only knew that the vast mountains and rivers of that land had faded further into the distance with their journey.

Yet, no matter how far they went, they always heard legends of Da Chu.

In the quiet night, the sky was stained with blood.

Then, a blood-soaked figure plummeted from the heavens—it was a Da Sheng. As it fell, its immortal light faded, its divine body exploded, and its primordial spirit was destroyed, turning into mere dust of history.

The one who struck it down was, of course, Ye Chen.

Under the moonlight, he held his dao sword, his killing intent surging and his ferocity thick. Even his hooded cloak and fluttering cape were splattered with blood. He was not one to kill innocents; this Da Sheng had been arrogant and overconfident, intent on murder and robbery, and had carelessly met its end at his hands.

This kill brought considerable gains.

The treasures of a Da Sheng-level being were rich indeed—source stones, secret scrolls, and magical tools were par for the course. What truly excited Ye Chen was a bronze furnace, inscribed with three Dun Jia Tian Zi characters.

In these ten years, besides his cultivation, Ye Chen had another mission: to search for the Dun Jia Tian Zi.

Along the way, he had found quite a few.

Even Ren Wang did not know how many Dun Jia Tian Zi made up the full Dun Jia Tian Shu. Since ancient times, few had ever known. Such secrets were perhaps only known to the great emperors.

"Another ten years."

The words drifted out as Ren Wang emerged from the void.

"There's still so much for me to learn." Ye Chen sheathed his dao sword.

"It's good that you know that. Come on, let's take a break." Ren Wang headed toward an ancient city.

He seemed exhausted, stretching lazily and yawning widely.

Ye Chen followed behind, observing closely. In the past ten years, Ren Wang had become particularly fond of sleeping, often dozing for months at a time, and once even for a full year. For a Zhun Di-level being, this was highly unusual.

"Responding to tribulations in the world, even an old man like me can't escape it."

As if sensing Ye Chen’s thoughts, Ren Wang suddenly spoke. He knew his own condition best—every so often, he had to face a tribulation. It was all because, in ancient times, the Ren Huang had used Zhou Tian to uncover too many heavenly secrets and incurred endless karma. As a remnant soul, he had inherited this fate, making tribulations as commonplace as daily meals.

Ye Chen fell silent, sensing the deeper meaning in Ren Wang’s words.

As they spoke, the two entered an ancient city.

It was deep into the night, with few people on the streets—only a few drunks staggering along with their wine jugs, and some disheveled gamblers shirtless and cursing loudly. They were likely in a foul mood, looking to vent, and found fault with everyone. When they saw Ye Chen pass by, they hurled vulgar insults, and then they were sent flying, not coming down for a long time.

Ren Wang was the first to stop, finding a tea stall and sitting down.

Ye Chen followed shortly after, sitting quietly. He subtly glanced at the old man selling tea, who had white hair and was leaning against the wall, hands tucked in, dozing off. He seemed completely unaware of the customers, just an elderly man in his twilight years, full of weariness.

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowing slightly.

It was late at night, and most taverns had closed, leaving the streets deserted. Yet this old man was still here, not packing up or going home, just napping at his stall—it was quite peculiar.

As he watched, Ye Chen realized that this tea-selling old man was no ordinary person; he was a cultivator, and an extremely powerful one at that. Even with Ye Chen’s insight, he could not fully discern his level.

"People can't be judged by appearances," Ye Chen murmured to himself. Who would have thought that on a mundane ancient star, in a mundane ancient city, such a senior elder was hiding, posing as a tea seller?

"Wake up, you old fool." Ren Wang kicked the old man.

"Pour your own tea." The old man grumbled, turning his head away, his temper quite sharp.

"Got another rare edition for you. Don't you want to see?"

"Tea, tea!" At Ren Wang’s words, the old man perked up instantly, grabbing a kettle of hot water and chuckling. He looked sleazy no matter how you saw him. Ye Chen couldn't help but twitch his mouth—clearly, Ren Wang and this old man were old friends, the kind who shared the same questionable tastes, a real pair of scoundrels.

The fragrance of the ancient tea soon wafted up. The old man decided not to sleep anymore and rubbed his hands eagerly as he watched Ren Wang. His once cloudy eyes were now sharp and bright, all for that rare edition.

Ren Wang was straightforward, tossing over an ancient scroll.

The old man caught it perfectly, licking his fingers before opening it right there. The images inside were quite provocative—a woman bathing in an immortal lake.

Ye Chen took a sip of tea and glanced over casually, nearly spitting it out. He recognized the woman; she was stunningly beautiful, and upon closer look, it was Dong Huang Tai Xin.

"This figure..." The old man stared with gleaming eyes, chuckling lecherously as he flipped through the pages, each one more enticing than the last. His nosebleed started flowing.

Ye Chen just buried his head in his tea, but his divine sense kept sneaking peeks. It really was a rare edition—besides Dong Huang Tai Xin, there were Yue Huang, Di Ji, Yao Chi Xian Mu, and Feng Huang. Each was an unparalleled empress, all completely bare.

Seeing this, Ye Chen couldn't help but admire Ren Wang's audacity.

These empresses were all formidable figures. If they found out about these images, they'd probably kick Ren Wang to death, let alone the fact that he was handing out rare editions everywhere.

As he thought about it, Ye Chen glanced at the rare edition Ren Wang had given him, still tucked in his robe. It had been ten years, and he hadn't opened it yet. He might need to find time to check it out.

"What I wanted, I've given you. What about what I want?" Ren Wang kicked the old man again.

"It's all ready." The old man wiped his nosebleed and handed over a storage bag.

Ren Wang didn't even look at it before passing it to Ye Chen.

This action made the old man, who was still engrossed in the images, look up and size up Ye Chen. He had been so focused on the pictures that he had overlooked this living person. Now, taking a good look, his old eyes narrowed—he could see Ye Chen’s bloodline at a glance.

Oh? The Huang Gu Sheng Ti!

The old man sat up straighter, his eyes sparkling more than when he looked at the rare edition. He stared straight at Ye Chen, as if Ye Chen was more fascinating than the images.

As a being from the heavens, who hadn't heard of Ye Chen? The old man had only heard the tales before; this was his first time seeing him in person.

Even for a Zhun Di like him, Ye Chen’s fame was impressive. The one who had slain an emperor was a ruthless figure, making cultivators of this era feel awkward—no one could match the Sheng Ti’s feats.

Ye Chen felt uncomfortable under the old man’s stare. He coughed and shifted his attention to the storage bag Ren Wang had given him, curious about what treasures were inside.

As he thought about it, he opened the bag.

Immediately, golden characters flew out, over a hundred of them, hovering in the air and arranging themselves. They exuded endless dao essence, accompanied by the sounds of the great dao.

Ye Chen’s eyes lit up—these shining golden characters were exactly the Dun Jia Tian Zi. Not just one, but over a hundred. In ten years, he had only found about a dozen.

"Happy about it?" Ren Wang asked with a smile.

"Very happy." Ye Chen grinned and summoned his Hun Dun Ding.

The Dun Jia Tian Zi seemed to have a spirit, buzzing as they trembled. Without needing to be guided, they imprinted themselves one by one onto the Hun Dun Ding, making the great cauldron even more extraordinary and seemingly joyful.

"You're helping me find the Dun Jia Tian Zi just for this kid?" The old man looked at Ren Wang.

"He's fated with the Dun Jia Tian Zi. Who knows, he might actually assemble the Dun Jia Tian Shu." Ren Wang laughed. "So, you should get out more, find more Dun Jia Tian Zi. Trade them for rare editions. Anyway, you don't have any real use for them."

"With those words from you, it's no problem at all."

"That's the spirit! Uh..." Ren Wang had barely finished speaking when he suddenly stood up, his somewhat dazed eyes gazing into the hazy void. His face turned extremely grim.

"What's going on?" The old man was startled.

"Another tribulation for a Zhun Di? Something's wrong?" Ye Chen, still rejoicing over the Dun Jia Tian Zi, also stood up. Seeing Ren Wang’s dark expression, his heart sank. In all their years together, whenever Ren Wang looked like this, it was never good news.

"One of the Nine Great Divine Generals has fallen." Ren Wang sighed.