Chapter 2197: Millennial Great Chu

Chapter 2197: A Thousand Years of Da Chu

Ye Chen felt his consciousness drifting away, like a piece of duckweed bobbing on the vast ocean.

In the haze, he seemed to catch sight of a distant figure, ancient and weathered, as steadfast as a mountain. The figure waved farewell with its back turned, gradually receding until it blurred from his view.

Suddenly, Ye Chen wearily opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the vast starry sky, with stars shimmering brightly and their light cascading down, illuminating his face.

After a few seconds of daze, he sat up and rubbed his forehead hard. His mind was foggy, remembering only that he had entered the Mo Zhu world. His last memory of Ling Yu was the Qing Tian Mo Zhu collapsing, but everything in between was a complete blank.

"In the Mo Zhu world, there's a remnant soul of the Tian Di. Who destroyed the Qing Tian Mo Zhu?"

"What about the person who became Hua Tian Mo? Has he returned to normal?"

"Has the hidden Tian Mo essence dissipated?"

Countless questions flooded Ye Chen's mind. His thoughts were a muddled mess, and the more he tried to recall, the more his head ached, mainly because of that missing chunk of memory.

He examined his body internally and found no injuries. As for his treasures, most were still there, but the Hun Dun Ding, the damaged Di Jian, the Ling Xiao Tie Gun, and the Bai Yu Long Bed were gone.

Ye Chen frowned and tried to connect with them using his divine sense, but received no response at all.

This made him uneasy. Losing the others didn't bother him much, but losing the Hun Dun Ding was a real blow—it was his life-bound weapon and had absorbed countless treasures along the way.

Instinctively, he stood up and realized he was in a dense forest. After scanning his surroundings, he quickly recognized the place as Da Chu.

"Isn't this Ling Yu? How did I end up in Da Chu?"

Ye Chen muttered to himself, then stepped into the void sky to confirm. Indeed, it was Da Chu—the outline of its mountains and rivers was etched deep in his soul.

How strange!

With that, he quickly oriented himself and headed straight for Heng Yue.

As he passed the border between North and South Chu, he couldn't help but stop, stunned. "Where's the South Chu city wall?"

Under the moonlight, many cultivators passed by, chatting and laughing, yet they seemed oblivious to him, walking right past without a second glance.

It was as if, in their eyes, he didn't exist at all.

What shocked him most was that some even walked straight through his body.

Ye Chen was baffled. He pinched his arms and legs—they hurt, so it wasn't a dream, and he was made of flesh and blood. But why couldn't the people of Da Chu see him? Why did he seem nonexistent to them? And where had the South Chu city wall gone?

While he stood there stunned, he saw three rotund figures flying over. They wore robes with the totem of the Nan Jiang Xiong family—yes, Xiong Er's clan.

Ye Chen looked closely and raised an eyebrow. He had met people from the Xiong family before, but these three were complete strangers to him.

Even more astonishing, the people who followed were from the Shi Xue Dian—in his memory, the Shi Xue Dian had been destroyed long ago!

"Which era of Da Chu is this?" Ye Chen frowned again, scanning the surrounding world. He wanted to ask someone, but unfortunately, while he could see the people of Da Chu and hear their words, they couldn't see or hear him.

This left him completely disoriented. He was clearly real, and the people of Da Chu were real, but to them, he simply didn't exist.

Helpless, he continued toward Heng Yue, determined to figure out which era this was.

Along the way, he encountered many people, all strangers he had never seen before, and not a single one could see him.

Before long, he stopped at the gates of Heng Yue Zong. With a single step, he arrived at Yu Nu Peak. As he expected, Chu Xuan and Chu Ling weren't there—only a Taoist nun sat cross-legged at the summit, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"Heng Yun Dao Gu?" Ye Chen murmured softly. He recognized her; he had seen her portrait in the Heng Yue secret texts. She had once been the peak master of Yu Nu Peak and was of a higher generation than Tong Xuan Zhen Ren and Heng Yue Zhen Ren. But she had already passed away by the time Tong Xuan Zhen Ren became the sect leader.

After that, Ye Chen left Yu Nu Peak and extended his divine sense over the entire Heng Yue Zong. There was no sign of Chu Xuan, Chu Ling, Xiong Er, or Xie Yun.

It was because, in this era of Da Chu, none of them had been born yet.

He did spot Heng Yue Zhen Ren, Heng Tian Shang Ren, and Tong Xuan Zhen Ren, but they were merely outer sect disciples at the time.

"How could this be? Is time in chaos?" Ye Chen stood in the void sky, motionless for a long time.

Only after a while did he quietly depart, visiting various factions. He saw many familiar faces, like Yin Zhou, Zheng Yang Zhen Ren, and Qing Yun Zhen Ren, but they were all in their youthful years.

By nightfall, he arrived at Tian Xuan Men.

The gate guards couldn't see him, of course. Donghuang Tai Xin was there, as was the quasi-emperor of Tian Xuan Men. When he arrived, Donghuang Tai Xin was quietly brewing tea in a small bamboo grove, showing no awareness of his presence whatsoever.

Ye Chen sat down across from her and tentatively called out.

But Donghuang Tai Xin continued as if nothing had happened, without any sign of reaction.

This time, Ye Chen didn't leave. He sat there quietly, his eyes flickering with uncertainty as he silently calculated the time.

This era was at least a thousand years before his own in Da Chu!

After some calculations, Ye Chen reached that conclusion.

How had he ended up in Da Chu a thousand years ago? It was beyond his understanding. Moreover, to the people of this era, he didn't exist—or more precisely, he was relatively nonexistent.

A thousand years ago was a significant time. Many familiar people hadn't been born yet, or they were in one of their reincarnations. After all, reincarnation still existed in Da Chu back then, allowing the dead to be reborn.

Thinking of reincarnation, Ye Chen stroked his chin. "A thousand years ago, I should have been in my second reincarnation."

With that thought, he stood up. If his calculations were correct, his second reincarnation body was from this era. He could check to confirm—after all, he had seen visions of his past lives multiple times.

Just as he was about to leave, Donghuang Tai Xin stood up and headed to a fairy pool, removing her immortal robes. It was clear she was going to bathe.

The clever Ye Chen, who had already stepped forward, quickly retracted his foot and followed her to the fairy pool. Better early than late, he thought—might as well take a look since she wouldn't notice. Opportunities like this were rare; if he didn't say anything, who would know?

What followed was quite alluring. Donghuang Tai Xin bathed in the fairy pool, while Ye Chen squatted nearby, hands in his sleeves, watching with wide eyes.

There was no denying it—Donghuang Tai Xin's figure was exceptional. Her fair skin was flawless, with curves in all the right places.

As he watched, Ye Chen felt a warm flow from his nose. He wiped it—oh, a nosebleed.

"I'm supposed to be a gentleman here."

Ye Chen coughed dryly, wiped away the blood, and patted his behind as he left. He already had quite a collection of Donghuang Tai Xin's bathing scenes from what Ren Wang had given him, but this live view was a first. The vivid memory made his blood race just thinking about it.

After leaving, he exited Tian Xuan Men and, based on his reincarnation memories, headed to the Western mortal realm.

As dawn approached, he landed in an imperial city.

His second life had been as a mortal emperor of a kingdom. According to his calculations, in this era, he was still a young prince studying, not yet crowned as heir.

Sure enough, in a secluded palace courtyard, he found his second self—a prince of about five or six years old, diligently reading in the study. Beside him was a stern-looking elder, likely his tutor, along with two young attendants, both sons of court officials assigned to study with the prince.

"Starting so young and ambitious— no wonder you ended up with an emperor's fate."

Ye Chen said with a meaningful tone.

Watching his second self, his expression was oddly complex. If his second self could hear him, he would definitely chat about life's aspirations.

For instance, after becoming emperor, take a few more concubines; or, have more children to fill the halls with descendants!

Joking aside, he still had serious matters to consider.

Ye Chen sat by the window, deep in thought.

Waking up in Da Chu a thousand years ago— was this some kind of time travel?

After pondering, he was certain the issue stemmed from the Mo Zhu world. That blank period in his memory must hold the secret. His arrival here was undoubtedly connected to it.

What troubled him was how to get back. Could he even return?

As he thought, he suddenly felt someone watching him.

Turning around, he saw his second self—a five- or six-year-old boy with clear, innocent eyes—staring blankly in his direction, as if he could see him.

Ye Chen's eyes lit up. He jumped down from the window and approached the desk, waving a hand in front of his second self's face. "Can you see me?"

But his second self didn't respond and went back to reading, completely focused.

Ye Chen shook his head helplessly and left the palace, wandering aimlessly through the void sky. He wanted to explore beyond Da Chu but found he couldn't leave. That made sense— in that era, Da Chu was isolated from the rest of the heavens, and only emperors could exit.

Even his own Great Reincarnation Heavenly Dao was ineffective here; he couldn't enter the black hole or leave Da Chu.

Night fell once more, and he roamed like a wandering spirit, contemplating life—or more accurately, piecing together how he had ended up here and how to reverse it.

Glancing up at the misty sky, he wondered about a thousand years ago, when the Ming Jie had Ming Di and Di Huang. He wasn't sure if this era's Ming Di and Di Huang could see him.

The answer was no—and yes.

The Di Huang and Ming Di of this era couldn't see him, but the ones from his original era could vaguely perceive him.

"How could this be?" Di Huang furrowed his brow, puzzled, and turned to Ming Di. As a great saint body, Di Huang's combat prowess rivaled that of a great emperor, but in terms of insight and divine abilities, any great emperor far surpassed him.

"His first life pulled him into the second reincarnation to evade the self-destruction of Mo Tian Di," Ming Di said, taking a deep breath. Bloodshot veins spread across his emperor eyes, suggesting he had paid a price to peer into this.

"This..." Di Huang was shocked. Pulled into reincarnation? It sounded impossibly mystical, and he was astounded by the divine powers of Ye Chen's first life.

"Incredible, absolutely incredible." Ming Di clicked his tongue in amazement. Like Di Huang, he was stunned. As fellow great emperors, Ye Chen's first life was on another level—someone who had created his own reincarnation was nothing short of a monster.

"How can Ye Chen get back?" Di Huang asked.