Chapter 2573: A Side Dish?

In the depths of Zizhu Lin at night, the air was thick with the scent of wine.

Ying Jie Tian Qing's face was a picture of confusion. He had come to ask Ye Chen to refine pills, but instead, he was being treated to a lavish feast of Pantao Xian Guo and Qiong Jiang Yu Lu. As a mere ninth-rank official, he had never experienced such grandeur.

Ye Chen, on the other hand, was beaming, personally pouring wine and radiating joy. It wasn't just ordinary hospitality; he seemed genuinely excited and delighted. The fact that the first divine general under the Di Zun was still alive in the mortal realm was a cause for celebration. If the other divine generals knew, they would likely react just as he did.

Unfortunately, the first divine general remained like a figure in a dream, showing no sign of recognition.

Ying Jie Tian Qing reassessed Ye Chen. This Ziwei Xingjun was quite different from the legends. He was exceptionally hospitable, treating even a minor ninth-rank official with such respect. If an Xianjun had come, the hospitality would undoubtedly be even more extravagant.

"Don't just sit there, drink," Ye Chen urged with a laugh.

"Xingjun, regarding my pills..." Ying Jie Tian Qing chuckled dryly, trying to maintain his composure. It was one thing to be casual at home, but this was Ziwei Xingjun's residence. If he got drunk and acted foolish, and some ill-intentioned person reported him, the consequences would be unpleasant.

"That's easy enough," Ye Chen replied with a smile. He casually grabbed a handful of Bawen Dan and offered them to Ying Jie Tian Qing. Why was he known as the Dan Sheng of Da Chu, or the one who defeated Dan Jun and Dan Zong? These precious Bawen Dan were nothing special to him. He distributed them by the handful, like scattering candy.

He was always generous with his own people.

Ying Jie Tian Qing was flustered and quickly stood up. It wasn't that he was drunk; it seemed Ye Chen was the one who had lost his senses. "I came to you to refine pills, so I should be paying you, not receiving gifts in return—especially Bawen Dan. Is Ziwei Xingjun truly this generous?"

"Don't be so formal," Ye Chen said.

"Thank you, Xingjun," Ying Jie Tian Qing replied.

Ye Chen pulled him back to his seat, his warmth making Ying Jie Tian Qing feel both honored and overwhelmed. But as time passed, he gradually relaxed.

Perhaps due to the cycles of reincarnation, as Ye Chen drank, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness. In that fleeting moment, tears welled up in his eyes. The way he looked at Ying Jie Tian Qing changed; it was no longer just him gazing, but the Xianwu Di Zun looking through him.

In some ancient era, the man before him, a mere ninth-rank official, had once been his first divine general, fighting alongside him across the world and shaking the universe.

Whenever that gaze appeared, Ying Jie Tian Qing couldn't help but feel a sense of disorientation. Amid his hazy drunkenness, a profound familiarity washed over him, as if the person in front of him wasn't Ziwei Xingjun, but a long-lost family member, absent for endless ages.

Indeed, it had been ten thousand years.

He was no longer the Xianwu Di Zun of antiquity, and the other was no longer the first divine general. One had undergone reincarnation to face tribulations, the other had faced tribulations within tribulations. Emperor and divine general sat face-to-face, yet unrecognized, their souls etched with ancient sorrows.

It wasn't until the first hint of dawn in the east that Ying Jie Tian Qing rose to leave.

As for Ye Chen, he was already completely drunk, sprawled on the stone table, snoring loudly.

"He must be a Xingjun with a story," Ying Jie Tian Qing murmured to himself, glancing at Ye Chen one last time before turning to go. He only took one Bawen Dan, returning the rest to Ye Chen. It wasn't that he didn't want them; he didn't dare accept them. If Ye Chen woke up and demanded them back, that would be truly awkward. He knew his own limits; he couldn't handle such immense favors.

Whether from exhaustion or drunkenness, Ye Chen slept straight through the day.

When night fell, a visitor arrived—an old Xianjun, cloaked in two layers of obscuring black robes, sneaking in stealthily. He glanced at Ye Chen, still unconscious, at the table full of wine jars, and at the pile of pills, his expression shifting dramatically.

"This guy is using Bawen Dan as appetizers?" the old Xianjun muttered, his mouth twitching. An alchemy master was indeed eccentric! Bawen Dan were incredibly precious, yet here they were, treated as drinking snacks. Nowhere in the heavens or earth could you find someone this indulgent.

As he spoke, he scanned around cautiously, then tiptoed over, reaching for the pills. He planned to swipe a few while Ye Chen was out cold. After all, Ye Chen was so drunk, who would notice a couple missing?

But just as he touched them, Ye Chen opened his eyes. It was perfectly timed—or rather, awkwardly so. The atmosphere grew tense, and the old Xianjun froze, unsure whether to pull his hand back or grab a few.

"What are you up to?" Ye Chen asked, eyeing the old Xianjun with a grin. You old fellow, a dignified Xianjun and peak Zhundi, reduced to stealing? Don't you know that reaching too far can get you struck by lightning? Someone like you might end up as ashes.

The old Xianjun finally withdrew his hand, stroking his beard with a meaningful smile. "I thought they were peanuts. Only when I got closer did I realize they were pills."

"Your excuse is refreshingly original," Ye Chen said, amused. With a wave of his hand, he collected all the pills from the table. He had expected Ying Jie Tian Qing not to take them, so he'd deliver them personally when he had time.

The old Xianjun chuckled awkwardly, caught red-handed.

To ease the embarrassment, he flicked his sleeve and summoned a flame—Sanmei Zhen Huo, a true fire of the highest order, extremely domineering among its kind. Its source rivaled Xianhuo, far superior to ordinary true fires.

"Sanmei Zhen Huo," Ye Chen said, standing up. He recognized this flame; in his past life as Dan Chen, he had possessed it. In the Da Chu era, it was already top-tier.

"Good eye," the old Xianjun replied. He then pulled out a storage bag, containing a Dan Fang and various alchemy materials—not just one or two kinds, but several. He figured his Sanmei Zhen Huo was no ordinary flame, so refining just one pill would be a loss.

Ye Chen accepted it without hesitation, taking the Sanmei Zhen Huo.

"Come back in three days for the pills."

"Got it!" the old Xianjun said cheerfully, then left.

No sooner had he exited Zizhu Lin than Yue Xin entered, quite polite, addressing him as Shengzhu with warmth. She was a regular at the Ziwei Dao Fu, often visiting late at night—sometimes to see Ye Chen, sometimes to check on the Tianzun in the heavenly prison.

"Shizun has left to find the Third Prince," Yue Xin said softly.

"As expected," Ye Chen replied. He fetched a Danlu and laid out the materials. Though he hadn't left Zizhu Lin, he knew what was happening in the Tian Court. Since Yin Ming took the throne, Bixia had only attended morning court once, likely to avoid annoyance. Going to the borderlands was fine; it kept her away from the chaos.

"Shizun asked me to give these to you," Yue Xin said, handing over two jade slips.

Ye Chen controlled the flames, adding materials while taking the slips. He crushed one, and a divine sense sealed within entered his sea of consciousness. It contained intelligence on the Tian Court's foundations—the deepest of secrets.

Glancing through it, Ye Chen realized how terrifying the Tian Court truly was. It wasn't just the visible forces; the hidden ones were even more formidable. This was only a part of it; the Tian Court's full power was known only to its ruler.

Compared to that, Huashan was nothing.

Bixia had Yue Xin deliver this intelligence, implying she wanted him to know his limits and not oppose the Tian Court. A small Huashan couldn't protect him fully. Overthrowing the Tian Court required more than one person's strength or even one sect's—it needed the full might of the scattered immortal realms. But that was just a conservative estimate, and the issue was, not every force dared to offend the Tian Court lightly.

Composing himself, he crushed the second jade slip.

As he expected, it held information on the Yu Di, like the ledger of life and death from the Ming Realm, detailing the Yu Di's life story—including the year he married and when his children were born—all meticulously recorded.

What surprised him was that the Yu Di hailed from Buzhou Shan.

As for the Tianmo Qi matter, it wasn't mentioned in the intelligence. With Bixia's rank, she probably couldn't access such secrets, or perhaps the Yu Di had deliberately concealed them. If he didn't want you to find out, you wouldn't.

Seeing Ye Chen deep in thought, Yue Xin didn't disturb him and quietly withdrew.

It wasn't until sometime later that Ye Chen steadied himself. He was refining pills, but his mind raced with thoughts. He hoped the Yu Di was indeed possessed by Tianmo; if he could purge the Tianmo bloodline, then the one reincarnated as a Tianmo could do the same, avoiding a fate like Danmo's.

This matter needed to be asked of Daozu; he would surely know.

Night fell into silence once more.

For a moment, it seemed as if the Tian Realm, Ming Realm, and Ren Realm had all frozen. But the next instant, a thunderous boom echoed through the three realms.

Countless people in the three realms looked up at the vast sky, unsure of the boom's origin. It sounded like a funeral bell from hell, shaking their souls and filling them with an ominous foreboding that lingered through the night, making sleep impossible.

Ye Chen was looking too, knowing the boom came from there—it had to be from the Taigu Honghuang.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

As he watched, the booms grew more intense, making the entire Tian Realm tremble.

Indeed, a great battle raged in the Taigu Honghuang, in that misty, boundless expanse whose vastness was unknown.

But to call it Taigu Honghuang wasn't entirely accurate, for Di Huang and the others hadn't yet reached it.

The booms eventually faded.

In the mist, Hong Yan staggered along, holding a bloodstained immortal sword. Her fierce cloak was soaked in blood, her face deathly pale, leaving bloody footprints with each step. Her figure was desolate and beautiful. As a Shengti, she should have boundless vitality, but now her aura was utterly weakened, as if the supreme queen might collapse at any moment.

The earlier battle had involved nine Tianmo Emperors.

She and Di Huang had been surrounded, and the fight's shockwaves affected the cosmos, drawing them away with a mysterious force—not just them, but the nine Tianmo Emperors as well. It was a power even emperors couldn't resist.

Her steps carried a hint of confusion, and her sorrowful smile held a touch of self-mockery. As a fully realized Huanggu Shengti, most of her time in this realm had been spent being hunted. It wasn't that her strength was lacking; it was just that there were too many enemy emperors.

"Where exactly is the Taigu Honghuang?" Hong Yan murmured wearily against the apocalyptic backdrop.

She wasn't the only one; the Tianmo in this misty realm were asking the same thing, having done so for endless ages. They wandered aimlessly, and if they accidentally disturbed the cosmos, they could be pulled elsewhere.

At the edge of the sky, Hong Yan suddenly stopped.

Gazing ahead, a spark of light returned to her dim eyes, and her staggering steps quickened.

In the distance, two figures approached, supporting each other unsteadily. One was Di Huang, and the other was someone else; they leaned on each other, barely able to stand, leaving a trail of blood behind them—they had clearly endured a fierce battle.

Seeing Hong Yan, a glimmer returned to Di Huang's dim eyes.

"He's gravely injured; I'll guard the surroundings while you heal him," Di Huang said, immediately sitting cross-legged and placing a hand on the other's back, forcibly channeling Shengti essence to suppress the emperor-level killing intent.

"He should have been buried long ago—how is he still alive? And how did he end up here?" Hong Yan asked, sword in hand, scanning their surroundings while transmitting to Di Huang. Her words were filled with doubt. "Even Xianwu Di Zun fell in battle; how did he survive in this realm to this era? How did he evade the Tianmo emperors' siege?"

"I've asked him, but his mind isn't clear; he's muddled, likely from losing his head," Di Huang replied calmly. "There's a power surpassing that of emperors in his body. He might have truly entered the Taigu Honghuang before."