Chapter 2208: A Trace of Illusion

In ancient Da Chu, at Yu Nu Peak.

Ye Chen carefully put away his little one, shivering all over from the post-pee chill. Just as the women had said, throughout Da Chu, even throughout the entire Zhutian, no one's skin was thicker than his. With such shamelessness, if he didn't go slaughter a few emperors, he'd truly be letting down his ancestors.

Come to think of it, he couldn't entirely blame himself.

Trapped in the wheel of reincarnation, with no one to talk to, no one to chat with, and no one who could even see him, after nearly a thousand years, anyone would be bored out of their mind.

That night, he sneaked off to the immortal pool at Yu Nu Peak again.

The immortal pool was a great place, filled with flowers, plants, and water. In the dead of night, people often came to bathe there—without clothes, of course. It was quite the feast for the eyes.

When he arrived, Lin Shi Hua was leisurely splashing around in the water.

Clever as ever, Young Master Ye widened his eyes, engraving every sensual scene into his mind, and carved them into a private collection—for his eyes only.

This sight left Ming Di sighing and clicking his tongue in amazement.

Not just him, but Di Huang's worldview was completely overturned. Isn't that your wife? Why not just look at her properly at home? Do you really need to sneak peeks? How are you so exceptional!

Why wouldn't the two supreme beings understand Ye Chen's idea of fun?

To call it fun wasn't quite accurate; it was just boredom. If you threw any random person into the wheel of reincarnation, they'd probably do something shameless too. Look at Dong Huang Tai Xin, he was still sneaking peeks at certain things in the quiet of night. A thick-skinned guy like Ye Chen was no different.

In the following days, Young Master Ye kept up this routine without missing a day.

After several days of his meticulous observations, he finally understood the meaning behind Ye Ling's old nickname for Ji Ning Shuang as Ninth Sister—it was literally ranked by bust size. Chu Xuan and Chu Ling tied for first, Liu Ru Yan was second, and Ji Ning Shuang was ninth. He'd studied it all thoroughly.

What a talent—one that comes along once in a millennium.

The two supreme beings had their own verdict on Ye Chen's behavior: the folk customs of Da Chu were probably shaped this way. Pick anyone at random, and they'd be full of vigor. Where there are people, there's voyeurism, and that's the legendary specialty of Da Chu.

This was an era where private collections flew everywhere, and no one had any shame.

At Yu Nu Peak, the clever emperor emerged again, wiping away a nosebleed. It was tough on him—he was in his prime, full of vitality, yet burdened by heavenly punishment, missing out on so many good things. Not to boast, but without that punishment, Young Master Ye's life would be even more luxurious.

At the peak of Yu Nu Peak, he sat down again, enjoying his private collection.

As for events in the original era, he had no idea. If he knew, he'd be raging with killing intent and wouldn't be idling like this. Normally, just hearing the words Hong Huang made his teeth itch with hatred, let alone them coming to Da Chu to provoke.

Idle talk aside, he still had serious business to handle.

This Da Chu from a thousand years ago was drawing closer to the original era. Knowing history as he did, he was well aware of the upcoming disasters: the corruption from the Tian Mo origin, followed by the tribulation calamities. The quasi-emperors of Zhutian, including those in Da Chu, would fall one by one.

In the dead of night, he left Da Chu and slipped into a black hole.

When he reappeared, he was in the Huo Yu.

He came here to wait for someone. According to historical events, his ninth incarnation and the female sacred body would arrive in the Huo Yu in a few years. That's where they'd encounter Can E Mo Jun and Can Mie Mo Jun. He wanted to see why the female sacred body let Can E Mo Jun go and whether it was she who erased the divine senses he'd left in various realms.

Deep down, he still held a trace of fantasy about the female sacred body.

It was precisely because he couldn't believe it that he wanted to uncover the truth and put his mind at ease.

In the wheel of reincarnation, the wheel of history kept turning.

A few years later, his ninth incarnation and the female sacred body arrived, along with the two Tian Mo monarchs—those two demonic eggs, just as he remembered, brimming with massive demonic energy.

In those mountains, his ninth incarnation thoroughly beat Can E Mo Jun.

History unfolded without the slightest deviation: his ninth incarnation heeded the female sacred body's words and chased after Can Mie Mo Jun. In the ruins of those mountains, only Can E Mo Jun and the female sacred body remained. As he expected, she didn't kill Can E Mo Jun but let him go and gave him a jade slip. He had no idea what secrets were inside it.

After that, Ye Chen followed along the way.

He watched with his own eyes as the female sacred body erased his divine senses. Every time he left one, she wiped it out, doing it so silently that even a wise emperor like him noticed nothing. No wonder Xi Chen couldn't find him—with the female sacred body interfering, it was a miracle if he could. It was like hide-and-seek, missing each other time and again.

Why are you, as an ancient sacred body, acting like this?

He'd been trapped in the wheel for nearly a thousand years, and this doubt had plagued him that long. A female sacred body infinitely close to great accomplishment actually aiding the Tian Mo—it hit him harder than any immortal emperor technique. Even his beliefs were overturned because of her.

Now that he knew the truth, he stopped dwelling on it and headed straight for the Ling Yu.

He'd waited nearly a thousand years for this moment, wanting to enter the Qing Tian Mo Zhu and see what happened in that blank stretch of memory—who slaughtered the Tian Mo emperor, who destroyed the Qing Tian Mo Zhu, and why he fell into the wheel of reincarnation.

His memories after arriving in the Ling Yu were quite clear.

History proceeded as fated without deviation: people in the Ling Yu transformed into Tian Mo, slaughtering each other, staining the heavens with blood and filling the land with wails. Then, the God of Creation arrived to kill, followed by Xi Chen and Sheng Zun coming to the rescue. The Qing Tian Mo Zhu descended, Can E Mo Jun reappeared, and the female sacred body manifested.

All of it made perfect sense.

In a certain instant, his divine eyes sharpened, and he followed his ninth incarnation into the Qing Tian Mo Zhu. There, he saw a chaotic sea of demonic energy and a pair of massive pupils that formed a devil-like figure—it was an emperor. The moment he first saw it back then, he already knew.

But just as he was about to uncover the truth, a moment of daze hit him.

It was that same defined time—the world inside the Mo Zhu turned to chaos, obscuring figures and paths. When the daze passed, the Qing Tian Mo Zhu had already collapsed.

Just like before, that stretch remained blank.

The difference was, after this memory blank, his ninth reincarnation mark emerged, merging into his body and intertwining with the other seven marks.

Uh!

With a muffled groan, he staggered back a step, nearly falling. The fusion of the ninth reincarnation mark stirred up an overwhelmingly domineering reincarnation force, almost devouring his sanity. His sea of consciousness rumbled, his head felt like it would explode, and even his primordial spirit nearly shattered.

In his haze, he seemed to glimpse an ancient, weathered silhouette.

He knew that ancient figure was his first incarnation, but no matter how hard he strained his eyes, he only saw a back. He had no memories or impressions of his first life—just a vague, murky haze.

He didn't know when he finally steadied himself, his face deathly pale.

What exactly happened during that time?

And who erased that segment of memory?

He gasped heavily, his expression full of pain. He'd come to unveil the mystery, but after seeing it, he was even more confused. It was as if some mysterious force in the shadows was deliberately concealing that scene.

Still in the wheel of reincarnation!

He glanced at himself and realized he hadn't returned to the original era.

"Ye Chen!"

Before he could think more, a heart-wrenching cry echoed.

Instinctively, he looked up.

What met his eyes was a tragic scene. Still in the wheel, he could see the history after the Mo Zhu's destruction: the people transformed by Tian Mo had returned to normal, bringing a glimmer of light to the dim heavens, but also a wave of sorrow. Wails of grief echoed across the entire Ling Yu.

He saw Chu Xuan, Chu Ling, and the others, crying like they were made of tears.

Only then did he understand—in the original era, everyone thought he had perished, but in reality, he hadn't died; he'd unwittingly fallen into the wheel of reincarnation.

The problem was, he was now infinitely close to the original era and had fused eight great reincarnations, yet he still couldn't return. He didn't even know how to go back.