Chapter 2198: A Carefree Tourist

"There's no other way; we can only wait," Ming Di said leisurely.

"Wait?" Di Huang frowned.

"Wait for his second life to return to heaven. At that time, a reincarnation mark exclusive to the second life will integrate into his body. Then, it will continue to the third life, fourth life, and so on, all the way up to the ninth life. Only after that can he escape the cycle of reincarnation and truly return to his original era."

"From his second life to his ninth life, that's a thousand years. Does that mean he has to spend another thousand years in the reincarnation cycle?" Di Huang raised an eyebrow, his tone uncertain.

"That description isn't wrong."

"A thousand years, and by then, the heavens will have been trampled flat by the Honghuang."

"A thousand years in the reincarnation cycle doesn't mean a thousand years in the outside world. The flow of time is different," Ming Di explained slowly, revealing the secrets within. "It's like the six paths of reincarnation in the past. The principle is the same, and as someone who has reached great completion, you should understand."

"Of course I do." Di Huang smiled. "He'll gain an extra thousand years of cultivation time compared to others, but this thousand years isn't for improving his cultivation—it's for comprehending the Dao."

"This might be the deeper meaning of his first life leading him into the reincarnation cycle: to comprehend the cycle while within it," Ming Di said with a smile. "He's even more far-sighted than you."

"Unfortunately, his first life can no longer manifest in the world." Di Huang sighed. This battle across the reincarnation cycle had completely buried it, touching that supreme taboo. Even an emperor couldn't escape the vast consequences. In the many years to come, it would be impossible to see the first life again.

Unless Ye Chen could defy the heavens and become an emperor, merging the nine lives of reincarnation, that unparalleled war god might possibly reappear in the human world—that would truly reverse the heavens and earth.

However, there were no precedents of sacred bodies becoming emperors in the heavens, and it was difficult for a sacred body to achieve that. Di Huang knew this well. Even in his state of great completion, he had thought about *Chōngjī* (冲击 - attempting to breakthrough) the emperor realm, but the elusive gate to the emperor's path was more distant than a dream, something one could only aspire to but never reach.

As he spoke, Di Huang withdrew his gaze from the thousand-year-old Da Chu, and fresh blood overflowed from the corner of his eye. He had suffered a terrible backlash from peering recklessly. Ming Di was in a similar state, rubbing his eyes fiercely.

In the thousand-year-old Da Chu, Ye Chen, bathed in moonlight, returned to Heng Yue.

At the peak of Jade Girl Peak, Heng Yun Dao Gu was still there, a peerless beauty. Though she was already a thousand years old, her appearance remained ageless. Bathed in the moonlight, she was pure and flawless. In the original era, her portrait was still enshrined at Jade Girl Peak, and Chu Xuan and Chu Ling would pay their respects every day.

Ye Chen landed quietly and sat down beside Heng Yun Dao Gu. The successive masters of Jade Girl Peak were indeed a succession of beauties. Heng Yun Dao Gu had an elegant and graceful demeanor, while Chu Xuan and Chu Ling were both stunningly beautiful.

Suddenly, a trace of deathly energy appeared on Heng Yun Dao Gu's body.

Ye Chen sighed. He could see that Heng Yun Dao Gu's lifespan was nearly exhausted, and her end was approaching. Even at the peak of Zhuntian level, she couldn't ascend to the heaven realm and was destined to fall into the next life's reincarnation. She was also fated to remain unrelated to the Da Chu emperor in the next cycle.

This wasn't a guess—it was true history.

Every scene Ye Chen was witnessing was history. Relative to his non-existent self, in this thousand-year-old Da Chu, he was merely a third party, an invisible and formless passerby. He could witness history but couldn't change it.

This was the inevitability of fate.

The night grew deeper, and Heng Yun Dao Gu slowly rose and returned to her room to rest.

Ye Chen remained seated at the peak of Jade Girl Peak.

He was certain that at this moment, Chu Xuan and Chu Ling were also sitting in the same spot, gazing up at the same starry sky, searching for the brightest star.

But between then and now, a thousand years had passed.

It was an invisible barrier, more distant than life and death. He couldn't see them, and they couldn't see him. That thousand years was the passage of time.

Ye Chen withdrew his gaze from the stars and stepped down, arriving at the base of the Spirit Grass Garden cliff.

Here was sealed a supreme existence: Jiang Tai Xu.

In the dark abyss, he found Tai Xu Zi, as still as a statue, resisting the evil spirits invading his primordial spirit. Calculating the years, Jiang Tai Xu had been sitting here for several millennia, and the people of Heng Yue had been unaware of this mystery since the sect's founding.

Ye Chen already knew the full story of the grudge between Tai Xu Zi and Tian Xu—it was all a misunderstanding.

Or rather, it was Jiang Tai Xu in those days who had been overconfident, daring to lead people to forcefully enter Tian Xu at the Great Saint level. If Tian Xu hadn't shown mercy, the Seven Sons of Donghua would have all perished. Every cause has its effect, and Jiang Tai Xu had paid a heavy price for it.

It was precisely because of Jiang Tai Xu's unwise actions back then that he had the fortune to obtain a heaven-defying creation here, inheriting a pair of heaven-defying Immortal Wheel Eyes. That moment was the turning point of his rise, and those eyes had helped him overcome countless crises.

Ye Chen also sat down, gently closing his eyes.

Once again, he recalled the Demon Pillar World, as if glimpsing an emperor, but everything after that was a blur with no memory. He only knew the last scene he saw was the collapse of the towering Demon Pillar, and the blank space in between remained unimpressionable.

He sat there for the entire night.

In the morning, the warm sunlight bathed the earth.

Today, Heng Yue Sect was quite lively, as it was the trial to select outer sect disciples for inner sect entry.

Ye Chen opened his eyes and looked over. Groups of vigorous young disciples, dressed in clean dao robes, entered the Qiankun Pavilion. The crowd was like a sea, each full of fighting spirit.

He saw Tong Xuan Zhen Ren, Heng Yue Zhen Ren, and Heng Tian Shang Ren, all in high spirits, clearly not ordinary individuals. After all, the three of them would become the pillars of Heng Yue in the future, especially Tong Xuan Zhen Ren, who would lead Heng Yue for several centuries.

Unfortunately, the pure-hearted Tong Xuan Zhen Ren of today was destined to be corrupted by power in the future, becoming arrogant and self-important. He would knowingly do wrong but refuse to admit it, allowing Yin Zhi Ping to act recklessly, placing Heng Yue in danger and sending himself down a path of no return.

Speaking of Yin Zhi Ping, Ye Chen couldn't help but think of the host body, and thinking of the host body led him to recall the Tai Xu Ancient Dragon Soul, and from that, he inevitably thought of Long Ye.

He scanned around and accurately found Heng Yue's host: a female elder, the peak master of Jade Spirit Peak, who was forty percent host. Judging by her lifespan, her time was running out.

In the end, he stood up and left Heng Yue.

When he reappeared, he was at Zhengyang Sect.

This time, he came specifically to see the Tai Xu Ancient Dragon Soul. It was still lying in the forbidden ground's underground world—that was Long Ye's former body.

Seeing the Tai Xu Ancient Dragon Soul again, Ye Chen's expression turned absent-minded. He and Long Ye were like teacher and friend, their bond hard to sever. In the past, without Long Ye's help, he wouldn't have reached the peak. During the heavenly demon invasion, without Long Ye's protection, there wouldn't have been the later Da Chu.

It was a pity that after several centuries, he still hadn't found Long Ye and didn't know if Long Ye was still alive. Perhaps he had already perished in the reincarnation cycle.

This melancholic state of mind led him to sit beside the Tai Xu Ancient Dragon, silently accompanying his old friend. In those days, his good companion had been so downcast, suppressed in the dark underground, never seeing the light of day, his former pride worn away completely by time.

As for the grudge between the Tai Xu Ancient Dragon Soul and Chen Huang, in the later Da Chu, it had already been resolved with a laugh, with no right or wrong. It was the chaotic mortal world that had created the wounds, hatred, and separations.

Ye Chen left again, wandering aimlessly without purpose. He wanted to return to his original era but didn't know how or whom to ask, leaving him full of questions.

And so, he walked and stopped, visiting many forces and seeing various ancient ancestors, some enemies and some long extinct. Now, as he looked back, his heart was calm as water. Time had been too long, and all the hatred had been buried with the ages.

As he walked, he arrived in Northern Chu.

Conflicts over interests were common in the Northern Chu lands, with various forces intertwined and even more complex than in Southern Chu. Ye Chen walked along, observing along the way, witnessing much slaughter and the smoke of war, but he couldn't interfere with history and had no desire to.

He went to the Five Forbidden Lands, toured the Hundred Thousand Mountains, lingered at Dongling Ancient Abyss, gazed out over Panlong Sea Domain, and visited Tianlong Ancient City and the Tian Zong aristocratic families.

As someone who relatively didn't exist, he had truly become a passerby, an unknown traveler. The paths he had walked in the past, he was now retracing without missing a single one.

On a night filled with stars, he arrived at Yanhuang.

At that time, Yanhuang had not yet fallen apart. Hong Chen was already the ninety-eighth generation sacred lord, with his major disciples like Zhong Kui, Zhong Jiang, and Zhong Xiao all present, though they were still young, around the same age as Tong Xuan and the others.

At night, Hong Chen stood at the mountaintop, quietly gazing at the stars.

Ye Chen descended from the sky and stood shoulder to shoulder with Hong Chen, their faces identically handsome, a pleasing sight at first glance, though destined to be unseen by anyone.

By now, Hong Chen was showing early signs of muddled confusion, often rubbing his brow due to the backlash of time laws, which would gradually consume him as the years passed.

Ye Chen glanced below and saw half a small head peeking out from under a large tree—it was Hong Chen Xue, secretly watching her master. Perhaps in her girlhood, she had already fallen for Hong Chen, and his snow danced only for him.

This time, Ye Chen didn't leave. He stayed for three years.

He had once been the sacred lord of Yanhuang and had a special attachment to the place. Though he knew the history that followed, he couldn't help but take another look, witnessing the rolling wheel of history as a third party, which had its own flavor.

In three years, under Hong Chen's leadership, the Yan Huang inheritance grew stronger day by day. His several true disciples were also outstanding, having learned his teachings well. Even before adulthood, they were renowned in Xiling, annexing many forces and igniting quite a few wars.

In three years, Ye Chen still hadn't figured things out and was living idly.

In the fourth year, he finally left, wandering once more until he entered Tianxuan Gate.

Why say Ye Da Shao was so lucky? He always managed to stumble upon Donghuang Tai Xin undressing at the right moment, always heading to the immortal pool for a bath, especially since she loved cleanliness.

This rare seductive scene wasn't something Ye Chen would miss. He crouched by the immortal pool again, staring straight at Donghuang Tai Xin as she playfully splashed in the water.

He was quite dedicated, watching until his nosebleed flowed, without blinking.

Moreover, this guy's imagination was unusually active.

He couldn't help thinking: Donghuang Tai Xin had stayed in Da Chu for several millennia—didn't she feel lonely? Maybe in the dead of night, she secretly... well, if there was such a scene, it would be truly seductive, an absolute collector's item among collector's items.

But he was overthinking it. Something like that wouldn't happen to Donghuang Tai Xin. As the grand goddess of Kunlun Xu, she still had some dignity.

At least, she was more reliable than he, the tenth emperor of Da Chu.

After her bath, Donghuang Tai Xin returned to the small bamboo grove, combing her damp hair. She wore a thin, gossamer-like immortal robe that outlined her graceful figure, with every inch of her skin shimmering with an alluring glow. The faint fragrance of a woman made Ye Chen feel refreshed.

Under the moonlight, Donghuang Tai Xin took out a lock of her hair and placed it into a small sachet. Then, she looked up at the stars, her eyes distant and hazy.

Ye Chen recognized that sachet. Back when he left Da Chu to search for reincarnated people, Donghuang Tai Xin had given him one to deliver to Jian Fei Dao.

And that lock of hair was a red thread from the matchmaker god. The goddess of Kunlun Xu loved the sword god of the heavens—this romance had spanned countless years.

Ye Chen fell silent. Seeing Donghuang Tai Xin's hair, he also recalled that once, a woman had given him a lock of her hair: the female sacred body.

"Why become an enemy of the heavens?" Ye Chen murmured to himself.

His feelings toward that female sacred body, who had shamed the sacred body's name, were complicated. He never would have thought that a female sacred body infinitely close to great completion would aid the heavenly demons.

The feeling of being deceived was unpleasant.

Because he had treated the female sacred body like a family member, like Di Huang, he had been completely unguarded along the way, even unconditionally giving up half of his sacred body essence to heal her.

Her deception was hard to accept, and the lock of hair she gave him was destined not to become a romantic tie. The matchmaker god's red thread couldn't reach him, Ye Chen.

"Why become an enemy of the heavens!"

This murmured phrase echoed in the quiet night, not just once.

And his confusion was the same as everyone's.

At that moment, in the original era's Da Chu Tianxuan Gate, the peak quasi-emperors were all seated solemnly. Donghuang Tai Xin, Yue Huang, Shen Jiang Tian Jiu, Xi Chen, Sheng Zun, Xie Mo, and the others were all present.

As for the female sacred body, she was confined in the hall.

She was covered in seals from head to toe, with nine supreme dao emperor weapons suspended in the air to suppress her. This level and quantity of seals surpassed even those on the Zaohua Shen Wang. Tianxuan Gate had no choice but to go this far, given her actions were too incomprehensible to the world.

She remained as silent as ever, her eyes dim, not uttering a word, like a soulless puppet. Occasionally, a strand of hair fell, revealing a woman's desolate beauty.

"Who exactly are you?" Tian Jiu asked faintly, the first to speak.

As soon as he said this, the peak quasi-emperors present all fixed their eyes, watching intently, hoping to get a definitive answer from the female sacred body's mouth.

However, she seemed not to hear Tian Jiu's question, showing no reaction at all.

The quasi-emperors exchanged glances, feeling quite helpless. Ever since Ye Chen's death, the female sacred body had become like this—neither speaking nor responding, leaving everyone frustrated.

It was the Plane Child and Sheng Zun who knew some inside story: the female sacred body in front of them had a tangled past with Ye Chen that couldn't be unraveled.

Perhaps the two of them had even shared a bed, or maybe it was Ye Chen who had... well, unfulfilled intentions.

"How about using torture?" Sheng Zun glanced around.

"Using torture on a female sacred body infinitely close to great completion—will it work?"

"I heard Da Chu has a certain specialty for that."

"Get lost."

"Alright."