Chapter 2574: The Mall

In the quiet night, Ye Chen left Ziwei Daofu. Bathed in the starlight and moonlight, he visited Tianlao and delivered a few pots of fine wine to Yin Ming Wang and Xuluo Tianzun before heading off in one direction.

There, he stopped at a vast ancient city. This ancient city, known as Shangcheng, was renowned in both the heavens and the mortal world. As its name suggested, it was a hub for trade. Its scale was no smaller than Nan Chu, and the people who came were either buying or selling goods. From powerful Quasi-Emperor artifacts to simple one-pattern Ling Dan, everything was available. As long as you had the money, there was nothing you couldn't buy.

Ye Chen's purpose for coming was to purchase treasures. He didn't lack magical tools or medicinal pills, but he needed a high-level Yu Men. He wanted to secure some backup plans for himself, and if necessary, use the Yu Men to escape.

"Has His Majesty reconciled with Ye Chen?"

"That can't be! Yin Ming's temperament is well-known throughout the heavens. Would he let Ye Chen off so easily?"

"There must be a bigger scheme at play."

"Could he end up wiping out Huashan along with him?"

As soon as Ye Chen entered the ancient city, he overheard discussions. The immortals of the heavens were quite idle, and wherever people gathered—on the streets, in teahouses, or taverns—conversations abounded. He remained the main topic, no matter where he went, his legends followed.

It was no wonder, for the Heavenly Court was too peaceful, a tranquility that felt oppressively stifling. Yin Ming hadn't made a move against him yet, which was truly unusual. Before becoming the ruler of the Heavenly Court, he had constantly plotted to kill Ye Chen, but now that he was in power, there was no sign of action. It all seemed strangely suspicious.

Thus, the immortals' minds were shrouded in a layer of gloom. The serene Heavenly Court resembled the calm before a storm.

Amid all this, Ye Chen remained the most composed. If Yin Ming wanted to play mind games, it suited him just fine, giving him more time to seek breakthroughs and search for reincarnated individuals. Every second was precious. By the time Yin Ming truly decided to act, it would likely be too late—he was, after all, the emperor of Da Chu.

As he spoke to himself, Ye Chen turned a corner and entered a pavilion.

The pavilion was like its own world, quite dim. While other shops were bustling with customers, this one had none, making its business exceptionally poor.

He came here because he knew this shop had what he wanted, something he had already inquired about. It wasn't that business was bad; the treasures here were prohibitively expensive, even scaring off Quasi-Emperor-level immortals.

The shopkeeper was a skinny old man, a genuine Quasi-Emperor. When Ye Chen entered, the old man was sprawled across the counter, snoring loudly like muffled thunder, despite his short stature.

Ye Chen glanced around and knocked on the counter, waking the old man. The elder rubbed his sleepy eyes, full of annoyance at being disturbed mid-nap.

"What do you want?"

The old man yawned, his tone indifferent. He looked at Ye Chen curiously—the young man was cloaked in black robes late at night—but as a Quasi-Emperor at the eighth heaven, he couldn't see through Ye Chen's true appearance and even felt momentarily dazed.

"Yu Men, an Emperor-level one," Ye Chen said calmly.

The old man tucked his hands into his sleeves and gave Ye Chen a skeptical look. "Can you even afford it?"

"Don't waste time. Name your price."

"Come on, take a look at this." The old man held up three fingers.

With that, Ye Chen pulled out a storage bag and slammed it onto the counter with a clang. It was an extra-large bag, filled not with individual pieces of Tian Shi, but with entire mountains of them piled up like blocks.

The old man glanced at it and swallowed hard, eyeing Ye Chen up and down with a strange expression. Does this guy have a mine at home or something?

Only after composing himself did he retrieve a divine talisman—a space Shen Fu—that sealed an Emperor-level Yu Men inside. All of Ye Chen's Tian Shi was just enough to buy one.

"That jade pendant around your neck is nice. Want to sell it?" Ye Chen asked, pocketing the Shen Fu and glancing at the old man's neck. The pendant glowed with divine light, clearly a treasure, and the ancient characters engraved on it—Dun Jia Tian Zi—were truly valuable.

"I'm counting on it for my livelihood. Not for sale," the old man replied, waving him off as he busied himself counting the Tian Shi. Three years without a sale, and now one would sustain him for another three. This Emperor-level Yu Men had been in storage for who knows how long, and finally, someone could afford it.

Ye Chen said nothing more and turned to leave. Before going, he casually grabbed a golden knife from the shelf—after spending so much, he figured he deserved a little something extra.

"Hey!"

The old man blew his beard in anger and tried to chase after him, but Ye Chen had already vanished.

"I'll remember you," the old man muttered.

On the other side of the street, Ye Chen looked back at the old man. He had plenty of jade pendants himself; what he really wanted was the Dun Jia Tian Zi. If he caused a big ruckus in the Heavenly Palace someday, he'd come back here. If it wasn't for sale, he'd just take it.

The nighttime Shangcheng was still vibrant.

After buying the Emperor-level Yu Men, Ye Chen visited a few more shops and picked up two or three pieces of Shen Tie. He was out of Tian Shi, but he had plenty of medicinal pills, which were even more useful than Tian Shi in Shangcheng. That's why people from Dan Shen Dian were frequent visitors.

Thus, after leaving Shangcheng, he got down to some serious business.

By "serious business," he meant transferring treasures from others' pockets into his own—plainly speaking, robbery.

"This painting skill is nowhere near the level of the Huashan predecessors."

Ye Chen stepped onto the clouds, heading home, with an ancient scroll in hand. He had found it in the storage bag of a Dan Shen Dian alchemist. As he walked, he examined it. The figure on the scroll was a woman who looked exactly like Chu Xuan and Chu Ling. This was the third one he had found, after the previous two.

To this day, he still hadn't learned who that woman was, though he had seen illusions in the void twice—once since leaving Huashan, and not again.

Putting away the scroll, he waved his hand and summoned a few strands of true fire.

These true fires also came from the alchemists and were far inferior to the Sanmei True Fire—they were among the lowest ranks.

But why not take something free?

As for his robbery targets, they were mostly Dan Jun's underlings, who had once strutted around his Daofu. He was keeping score on that. And he wasn't exaggerating—if Dan Jun himself had been wandering Shangcheng, Ye Chen wouldn't have let him leave alive.

As he thought about it, he sent the flames into his Dan Hai, letting his immortal fire absorb them.

Speaking of flame fusion, in the past half-year, he had merged over a hundred flames. His golden immortal fire was now even more radiant, with an abundant source of fire power. Though it didn't match Jiu Wu Xian Yan, it was one of the top flames in both the heavens and the mortal world.

He was certain that fusing it with Jiu Wu Xian Yan would produce Chaos Fire.

As he walked, he suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with light. The Tianjie Barrier had dissipated again, meaning he could return to his homeland soon.

Unfortunately, he was destined for disappointment.

Though the Tianjie Barrier had dissipated, the Ren Wang had fallen—or rather, had been in a deep slumber for several days. He had forcibly divined the ancient Hong Huang and accidentally suffered a terrifying backlash, which was fiercely intense and even affected his Dao roots.

"Every time there's a backlash, you're always involved. You're quite exceptional at it."

At the stone bed, Zaohua Shen Wang stood solemnly, continuously waving his hand to sprinkle Zaohua divine power, helping the Ren Wang dispel the calamity.

Not to mention, his Zaohua divine power was indeed effective. The vague, terrifying backlash force within the Ren Wang's body was gradually weakening, turning calamity into fortune—that was his specialty.

"Can your Zaohua divine power help Ye Chen survive his tribulations?" Tian Lao and Di Lao were also there, one on each side, fumbling around on the Ren Wang's body as if searching for something valuable—specifically, a hidden stash.

"For ordinary tribulations, yes. But his memory-laden tribulation goes beyond the scope of Zaohua," Zaohua Shen Wang replied leisurely.

"If you had awakened earlier, that tribulation frenzy wouldn't have caused such heavy losses to our Zhutian," Donghuang Tai Xin sighed. Back then, it had been truly devastating, and the one person who could have resolved the crisis was asleep in the cycle of Zaohua.

Zaohua Shen Wang said nothing. There were destined fates in the shadows, and even Zaohua couldn't reverse them. The divine abilities of the Zhu Xian Jian far surpassed his own. Even if he had been awake back then, he couldn't have saved everyone, for Zaohua wasn't omnipotent.

"The people are here; let's give it a try."

From outside the hall, Fu Ya entered, carrying two figures—one was Hong Chen, the other Liu Dao—both sealed and in a deep sleep.

Zaohua Shen Wang withdrew his hand, glanced at Hong Chen, and then focused on Liu Dao. Back when he was Lin Xing, he and the half-tribulated Liu Dao had been good friends. Now that Liu Dao had returned and he had awakened, seeing each other again brought many emotions.

With a chuckle, he twirled Zaohua divine power around his fingertip and pressed it to Hong Chen's brow. Bit by bit, the Zaohua energy merged in, hoping to reverse the chaos and awaken this future version of Ye Chen. If Hong Chen regained his senses, he would be invincible below the Emperor level.

All the Quasi-Emperors were present, including the playful Shen Jiangs, who now fell silent.

They had long heard of the Zaohua divine abilities, which the Emperor Zun had highly praised in the past. The Zaohua divine power could reverse many things, perhaps even pull these two dazed figures back from the backlash of time and space.

Chu Ling Yu and Hong Chen Xue were there too, watching quietly, their jade hands clenched in their sleeves, afraid something might go wrong and Hong Chen would be lost again. Di Ji felt the same, and after Hong Chen, it was Liu Dao—they all feared any mishaps.

Not just them; all the Quasi-Emperors present, including Sheng Zun, shared the concern. If the two couldn't regain consciousness, that was one thing, but they absolutely couldn't let them go berserk. If that happened, more than half of those present would end up getting beaten.

As everyone watched, Zaohua Shen Wang slightly closed his eyes, using Zaohua as a medium to try awakening Hong Chen.

In the shadows, he parted layers of misty clouds, extending the Zaohua and tracing back through it. Surprisingly, he could go against the backlash of time and space, searching for Hong Chen's memories that had been erased—that was the dominance of Zaohua.

Under everyone's gaze, blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, clearly from a severe backlash. Zaohua was profound, but time and space were equally terrifying.

In the end, he stopped, blood not only at his mouth but also seeping from his eyes. His face was pale, and he nearly stumbled, spitting out a forceful mouthful of blood that sprayed all over Di Lao.

The Quasi-Emperors frowned and rushed forward in alarm.

Zaohua Shen Wang waved them off, indicating it was nothing serious—with Zaohua supporting him, he was fine.

Only then did he open his eyes and look around, his gaze finally settling on Donghuang Tai Xin and, by extension, the Jian Fei Dao at her side. He glanced at Kunlun Shen Nu and then at Zhutian Jian Shen, his expression oddly curious.

"Any issues?" Donghuang Tai Xin raised an eyebrow.

"I caught glimpses of some fragmented but interesting scenes," Zaohua Shen Wang said with a smile, wiping the blood from his mouth and finding a comfortable spot to sit. "The original course of history was quite intriguing."

"Stop with the suspense, or you might get ganged up on," Donghuang Tai Xin shot back with a glare.

"If history hadn't changed, it seems you and Ye Chen were a pair."