Chapter 2200: Third Life

Chapter 2200: Third Life

The moonlit night was bright, and the thousand-year Da Chu was peaceful and harmonious.

Gazing into the distance, Tianxuan Gate was shrouded in ethereal immortal splendor, appearing like a dreamlike pearl amid the mist, invisible to the world because it was too mysterious.

Ye Chen arrived in a hurry, his steps quick and weary.

However, before he could enter Tianxuan Gate, he saw several figures flying out from it, all elderly individuals, each one an old quasi-emperor. Among them were Tian Lao and Di Lao, their postures exuding overwhelming dominance as they were sent flying, clearly having been beaten out.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, easily imagining that these mischievous old fellows must have been up to no good, such as peeping at Donghuang Taiyi while she bathed.

It had to be said that the old quasi-emperors of Tianxuan Gate had quite the peculiar tastes; they ignored so many other beauties and preferred to spy on Donghuang Taiyi, perhaps because they craved excitement.

Ye Chen clicked his tongue and hurried into Tianxuan Gate, heading straight for the immortal pool.

Compared to those old-timers, he was in for a treat. He found a prime spot, stood with his hands tucked in his sleeves, and squatted there, his eyes gleaming with excitement and his mind wandering.

Before long, Donghuang Taiyi emerged from the immortal pool. Perhaps fearing more hidden peepers, she summoned a layer of immortal light to cover her figure, dazzling Ye Chen's eyes with stars.

Back in the small bamboo grove, this Kunlun goddess repeated her usual routine, sitting quietly to brew tea and occasionally gazing up at the stars, missing her Jian Fei Dao.

"This woman, she won't mind being lewd, right?"

Soon, Donghuang Taiyi lowered her gaze and picked up her teacup.

At that moment, someone entered the bamboo grove from outside, dressed in plain robes, with eyes like stars and black hair cascading like a waterfall. At first glance, he seemed like an ordinary mortal, having concealed all his Dao essence.

Who else could it be but Xuan Chen? The founding ancestor of the three sects and the ninth emperor of Da Chu.

Ye Chen was not surprised to see Xuan Chen here.

Back then, Xuan Chen had slain the soul of the Taixu Ancient Dragon, unified the northern and southern Chu, and become the emperor of Da Chu. Not long after, he was thought to have passed away, but in reality, it was a ruse; he had entered Tianxuan Gate, as all previous emperors of Da Chu had done.

Once one became the emperor of Da Chu, they gained the qualification to leave.

But this was bound by time limits, all to align with the cycles of the heavens. Only at specific times, and without disrupting the cycles, was it allowed to let someone go—and only one person, the so-called emperor of Da Chu.

Clearly, the time to leave had not yet come, so Xuan Chen remained in Da Chu.

Donghuang Taiyi showed no surprise at Xuan Chen's arrival.

One was the emperor of Da Chu, the other its guardian deity. The two seemed like old friends yet strangers, calmly drinking tea and chatting, revealing secrets that Ye Chen was already familiar with, such as the mysteries of Da Chu and its cycles of reincarnation.

Finding it uninteresting, Ye Chen found a place to sit and closed his eyes.

From within his body, he located the reincarnation mark of his second life and began to contemplate it deeply.

Through this mark, he could clearly see the entirety of his second life's journey, from birth to death at twenty-nine years old, a life full of legendary tales. Every scene was a trace of time and reincarnation, with time containing reincarnation and reincarnation containing time.

In this tranquility, Ye Chen fell into a state of deep meditation, focusing on comprehending the cycles.

This meditation lasted ten years.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was calm and still as water, yet deeper than before. Dao essence evolved within his eyes, and the aura of the Wheel Eyes became even more profound.

His ten years were also ten years in the thousand-year Da Chu.

The predetermined history remained unchanged. The world was in chaos, with wars raging and smoke covering all of Da Chu; eternal peace was ultimately just an illusion.

In the small bamboo grove, Xuan Chen was no longer there, likely sealed away until the time came for him to leave Da Chu, like the emperors before him, to explore wider realms.

Ye Chen scanned around and found Donghuang Taiyi in a state of self-seal.

Ye Chen felt a bit disappointed; he had hoped to wake up to some alluring sight, but it seemed he had overthought it. Someone like Donghuang Taiyi would self-seal every certain period, and during that time, she would not unseal unless something earth-shattering occurred.

After ten years, he left Tianxuan Gate and headed to Xiling You Valley.

Ten years had passed, and now Yanhuang was strong and prosperous, able to stand against the Shixue Hall in Northern Chu. Most importantly, Hong Chen could hold his own, and Ye Chen's several disciples had grown even more remarkable than a decade ago.

As the ninety-ninth generation holy lord of Yanhuang, Ye Chen witnessed its glory firsthand, and Hong Chen Xue's past praise for Yanhuang was no exaggeration.

Once again on that mountain peak, Ye Chen quietly descended and stood shoulder to shoulder with Hong Chen.

Compared to ten years ago, Hong Chen's eyes now held a trace of confusion, likely from traversing time and suffering backlash from its laws—a fact Ye Chen understood well.

Tonight was exceptionally dark, shrouded in gloom.

Under Ye Chen's watch, a black shadow sneaked into Yanhuang, like a ghost.

Through the darkness, Ye Chen could discern the figure's appearance: it was identical to him and Hong Chen, the holy lord of the Assassin God Dynasty, also known as Shen Xuan Feng. His true identity was the future Ye Xingchen, who, unlike Hong Chen, had arrived from the future into the era of the Chu emperor.

Ye Chen's feelings toward Shen Xuan Feng were complex.

Back then, if Shen Xuan Feng hadn't blocked the fatal strike of the Zhuxian Sword for him, Ye Chen might have died, and that supreme god king, like Long Ye, had never been found since.

As Ye Chen pondered, Shen Xuan Feng had already left, seemingly searching for something in Yanhuang, but after circling around, he vanished back into the darkness, coming and going like a shadow.

However, Shen Xuan Feng had underestimated Hong Chen, who followed him out.

Ye Chen also moved, trailing unhurriedly behind the two.

The three moved one after another, crossing the misty void, passing through the cultivator realm, and entering the mortal world.

There, Hong Chen and Shen Xuan Feng clashed. One was the god king of the dynasty, the other the holy lord of Yanhuang, both at the peak of quasi-heaven and time travelers. On the mortal world's soil, they fought with such ferocity that the sky shattered and the earth split.

Ye Chen stood in the void, merely observing.

He sighed inwardly; in some ancient era, Hong Chen and Shen Xuan Feng had fought before—this was his first time witnessing it, and Hong Chen Xue likely knew nothing about it. Without entering reincarnation, he would never have seen such a scene.

It had to be said that both Shen Xuan Feng and Hong Chen were extraordinarily talented. In an era with heavenly cycles, their quasi-heaven peak level was equivalent to the peak quasi-emperors of the heavens. Each move was a deadly technique, and every collision shook the world.

Their battle brought disaster to the mortal world; villages were razed by the aftershocks, and countless lives fell in pools of blood.

The fight ended in a draw, a peak collision that left Shen Xuan Feng falling into a great river and Hong Chen plunging into a riverbank. Only then did the chaotic world grow still.

Ye Chen glanced at Shen Xuan Feng before following the river to pursue Hong Chen.

A few days later, downstream, Hong Chen was rescued by a woodcutter.

At that point, Hong Chen's mind seemed damaged; he had no memory of prior events and had lost his cultivation, or rather, his realm had temporarily become formless.

In the days that followed, the ninety-seventh generation holy lord of Yanhuang became an ordinary mortal. The woodcutter had no son, so Hong Chen became his adopted child.

Until one day, a graceful figure entered this ordinary village.

Ye Chen saw her and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow—it was an acquaintance: Chu Ling Yu.

For some reason, the two ended up together, and over time, affection grew.

Ye Chen watched with a strange expression, recalling the story Chu Cang Zong had once told: his daughter Chu Ling Yu had a marital bond with Yanhuang's holy lord Hong Chen in the mortal world.

Now, it seemed true. The mutually affectionate Chu Ling Yu and Hong Chen naturally entered the bridal chamber.

It was a perfect match of talented man and beautiful woman, a night as lovely as flowers and the moon, but this precious moment was shattered by someone's arrival.

That person was the ancestor of the Tianzong family: Chu Cang Zong.

What happened next was as Chu Cang Zong had described: attempting to unlock Hong Chen's memories triggered a change in him. His cultivation returned, but he fell into a deranged state and went mad.

Thus, another great battle ensued.

The mortal world, which had just quieted down, was plunged into chaos again. Hong Chen and Chu Cang Zong fought from the mountains to the vast wilderness and back to the mountains.

The outcome was predictable; though Chu Cang Zong was strong, he was no match for Hong Chen and was defeated. His Dao injuries were exactly caused by Hong Chen.

As for Hong Chen, he grew even more deranged, wandering off in his stupor with no one knowing his whereabouts.

This was the true history, now playing out before Ye Chen's eyes.

He watched as Chu Cang Zong took Chu Ling Yu away, then left himself.

When he reappeared, it was at a rural courtyard—his third life's home.

The courtyard was now in ruins, devastated by war. In front of the collapsed house, his third life self was holding his parents' corpses and wailing bitterly.

Ye Chen's mouth twitched at the sight.

The reason for the courtyard's destruction and his third life's parents' death was the battle between Hong Chen and Chu Cang Zong; only his third life self had survived by sheer luck.

This was too dramatic.

At that moment, Ye Chen rubbed his forehead hard.

How dramatic it was: Shen Xuan Feng and Hong Chen's battle led Hong Chen to fall into the mortal world, where he met Chu Ling Yu and they married, only for Chu Cang Zong's arrival on their wedding night to spark another battle, which by coincidence caused his third life's parents to die.

Was this a feud of patricide and matricide?

Ye Chen thought to himself that, in a sense, it was. The death of his third life's parents was connected to Shen Xuan Feng, Hong Chen, Chu Ling Yu, and Chu Cang Zong.

In the dead of night, his third life self dug a grave, buried his parents, wiped away his tears, and walked away step by step.

Ye Chen sighed and quietly followed behind, able to foresee what would happen next.

Soon, his third life self would starve to the point of losing reason, pick up a stone to smash an innocent passerby for a bit of money to buy life-saving steamed buns, and from that day, gradually become a notorious bandit, living by the blade and robbing on the roads, sinking deeper into crime.

As it turned out, his foresight was accurate.

Three days later, on a dark night, his starving and frenzied third life self, in a dim forest, picked up a stone and knocked out a passing elder, robbing his money and fleeing straight to the market—this was the beginning of his sins.

Like his second life, as his third life self fled in panic, he glanced back subconsciously, feeling as if someone was watching him, but in an instant, he ran off again.

Ye Chen did not follow; he waited in the forest, knowing his third life self would return.

Indeed, it wasn't long before he came back, a knife tucked in his arms, hiding in the dense woods.

Under the night sky, Ye Chen could read the story in his third life self's eyes: a strong desire, a will to survive that had stripped away all reason, with his gaze turning increasingly bloodshot. A ten-year-old boy would stop at nothing to live, even murder and robbery.

That night, a young heart twisted.

"This road is mine to open, this tree is mine to plant. If you want to pass, leave your toll."

This phrase became his third life self's life motto. Whenever someone passed by, he would draw his sinful blade and show a ferocious expression, gradually corrupting himself through robbery and killing.

Throughout it all, Ye Chen watched quietly, realizing he had once been so vicious and wicked, like a demon that made hearts tremble and teeth grind in hatred.

While resenting it, he couldn't hide his sorrow. His third life self had once been innocent and pure, with loving parents, and his life should have been carefree.

Alas, a sudden cultivator battle destroyed his peaceful life, filling his once serene existence with blood and slaughter.

In that moment, he understood the so-called trajectory of history.

If there had been no Hong Chen and Shen Xuan Feng, such tragedies might not have occurred. It was precisely because they traveled back in time that history deviated from its original path.

The death of his third life's parents was just one incident; in the countless years, there were many more unknown events, each influencing the wheel of history.

In other words, from the moment Shen Xuan Feng and Hong Chen arrived from the future, the predetermined history had subtly changed, affecting era after era.

And he remained merely a witness to history, able to watch but not interfere.

Quietly, another seven or eight years passed, and Ye Chen never left his third life self's side.

In the dead of night, his third life self hid in the thick forest, counting the loot from his robberies. His grotesque laugh, under the dim moonlight, looked even more sinister.

Occasionally, he would suddenly look up toward where Ye Chen was.

Someone was watching him.

This feeling had followed him for seven or eight years and grown stronger. Unfortunately, while Ye Chen could see him, he could not see Ye Chen—this was the boundary of reincarnation.

As he spoke, the sound of wheels rolling echoed; a carriage was approaching from nearby, passing through the forest.

At the same time, his third life self, who was counting his spoils, looked up, drew his knife, and stealthily approached. His gaze was fierce; before the carriage even arrived, he struck, killing the driver with one blow.

"Ah!"

Immediately, a scream came from the carriage—it was a woman.

"Little lady, you're quite the beauty."

His third life self pounced, dragging the woman from the carriage into the forest. His expression was blatantly lewd, like a wolf eyeing its prey.

Ye Chen stared, his eyes wide in shock.

No mistake, that woman was an acquaintance: Su Xin Er, the holy maiden of the Su family in Chunqiu City of Northern Chu.

Back then, when Ye Chen rescued Nanming Yushu from the 100,000 Mountains, Nanming Yushu suddenly went mad and chased him. Ye Chen was struck by her palm and fell into a lake, where Su Xin Er happened to be bathing, starting an unbreakable karma from that moment.

On the other side, his third life self had already dragged Su Xin Er deep into the underbrush and, like a wolf, pounced on her, tearing at her clothes wildly.

"Help!"

"You little lady, scream your throat out and no one will come to save you."

Amid the woman's desperate struggles and his third life self's wicked laughter, Ye Chen subconsciously rubbed his forehead.

This plot twist was truly worldview-shattering. He never imagined that his third life self and Su Xin Er would have such karma in one of her lives. It was too damn twisted.

First, let me say sorry—only one chapter today. The child was abused at kindergarten, and we parents are watching the surveillance footage at the kindergarten. The missing chapters will be added later.