Chapter 2736: Not Welcome?

In the underground palace of Tiān Xuán Gate, Yè Chén took one last look at the monster and silently turned around.

Behind him, the monster's eyes were still fixed on him, a playful, mocking smile curving its lips. Its massive pupils occasionally flashed with a fierce light, like a wolf eyeing its prey.

All the Zhǔn Dì witnessed this scene. It seemed the monster had a special interest in Yè Chén — it had stolen pills from him earlier and now appeared to want to devour him whole, its ambitions quite bold.

Once again, the old experts surrounded it, continuing their research.

Yè Chén had already left Tiān Xuán Gate, his expression indifferent, his eyes flickering with uncertainty. The way the monster looked at him was full of meaning — beneath the ferocity lay hints of fear and greed.

To this day, he still couldn't determine what the monster truly was, but he was certain that someone was behind it, and that person likely had a significant connection to the Shèng Tǐ. At his level, such intuitions were extremely accurate. In this vast world, mysterious entities must still be hidden.

As he spoke, he entered a peach blossom forest.

"Have seen the Emperor."

The guardians of the peach blossom forest were two elderly Zhǔn Dì from Tiān Xuán Gate. They revealed their true forms upon Yè Chén's arrival, standing straight and bowing with respect — a sign of awe toward the Huāng Gǔ Shèng Tǐ.

Yè Chén smiled and waved them off, walking lightly past.

Deep within the peach blossom forest stood an ancient altar, and on the altar was a stone bed where a petite figure lay — Ruò Xī, still in her sealed state. Bathed in moonlight, she slept peacefully, but upon closer inspection, ethereal visions could be seen manifesting around her.

Yè Chén stood silently, gazing from the edge of the altar.

Unlike in the past, when he looked at young Ruò Xī now, his expression was one of wariness. In those few moments, his heart couldn't help but tremble — it was fear, originating deep from his soul.

The stronger the person, the more they feared Ruò Xī, simply because they could see more clearly. Even now, he felt a certain pressure, something only someone of his level could truly sense.

After a long while, he departed. Ruò Xī was shrouded in mystery, and he was not yet qualified to uncover it. Perhaps only by proving the Dào and becoming an Emperor could he truly have that right — not even a Dà Chéng Shèng Tǐ would suffice.

He reappeared in another peach blossom forest.

"In the middle of the night, are you a ghost?"

Deep in the peach blossom forest, both Chǔ Líng Yù and Hóng Chén Xuě turned their gazes toward him.

These two women truly stayed out of worldly affairs. Since the end of the war, they had rarely left the peach blossom forest, only guarding their own mortal world. They hadn't even gone to watch him refine the Jiǔ Zhuǎn Huán Hún Dān.

"So, you're not welcome?"

Yè Chén smiled and stood before the stone bed. With a wave of his hand, he lifted the seal on Hóng Chén, awakening her from her slumber. He wasn't afraid of her causing trouble — he now had the power to suppress her.

Hóng Chén awoke and abruptly sat up. Though her expression was dull and her eyes vacant, she still remembered her mission — to slay Ruò Xī. Yè Chén pressed her back with a palm and resealed her.

Chǔ Líng Yù and Hóng Chén Xuě both stepped forward, their lips parting as if to speak, but they hesitated.

Yè Chén said nothing, simply standing face-to-face with Hóng Chén. She was like an ice sculpture, motionless, while he stood like a stone statue, steadily in place, probing the story within her.

Under the moonlight, their silhouettes reflected the passage of time — one was the cause, the other the effect. Though only a few inches apart, they were separated by a span of time and space, even more distant than the great cycle of reincarnation.

"Will he ever fully regain his senses?"

In the end, Hóng Chén Xuě broke the silence.

"I don't know."

Yè Chén shook his head lightly. Matters involving time and space were beyond even the control of a Great Emperor, let alone him. Hóng Chén's memories and bloodline had been erased by time and space, leaving her as nothing but a shell.

"The current you is a bit hard for me to see through."

Chǔ Líng Yù smiled softly, feeling a trace of strangeness in the Yè Chén before her.

"How about I strip down so you can get a clear look?"

"Get lost, you're being shameless again."

"Need any specialties, come find me — plenty to go around." Yè Chén placed Hóng Chén back on the stone bed and turned to leave, a hint of sorrow for his future self hard to hide. From Hóng Chén's dazed state, he could sense scars of sorrow throughout the world. The unaltered timeline was even more tragic than he had imagined.

After seeing Hóng Chén, he naturally went to Liù Dào as well.

Arriving in yet another peach blossom forest, he saw Dì Jǐ sitting by the stone bed, gently wiping Liù Dào's face with a small handkerchief, as if trying to erase the marks of time for her beloved.

Just like Hóng Chén Xuě and Chǔ Líng Yù, she and Liù Dào had their own tale of hardship.

That year, she entered the world to face her tribulation.

That year, Liù Dào was not yet dazed.

Their fateful connection began at the end of the starry river. She was a playful girl, and he was a simple-minded boy. Teasing him every day was her greatest joy, and she loved making funny faces at him.

Unfortunately, tribulations always come to an end. When she returned to that starry river, the simple-minded boy was gone. She searched along the endless years — searching and searching, until ages had passed and the seas turned to mulberry fields.

Finally, heaven took pity, and she found him.

That year, she was known as Dì Jǐ, no longer the playful girl of the tribulation.

That year, he was known as Liù Dào, no longer the clear-minded simple boy.

After their parting, everything had changed.

Yè Chén stood quietly, not daring to disturb. People with stories often reminisce in the dead of night, like Dì Jǐ, or like Hóng Chén Xuě and Chǔ Líng Yù. They watched over those in a daze, thinking of the past, silently guarding in hopes of reclaiming that pitiful warmth.

Fate is such a strange thing.

Time and space are such cruel laws.

Hóng Chén, Liù Dào, and Shén Xuán Fēng were all products of time and space, sharing the same dazed state.

The difference was that Hóng Chén and Liù Dào's original Shèng Tǐ bloodlines had been mercilessly erased by time and space, while Shén Xuán Fēng was the opposite — he had gained an additional source of annihilation. Yè Chén had pondered for centuries to understand one thing: time and space could erase bloodlines and also add external sources.

The Annihilation God Body of Shén Xuán Fēng likely came about this way.

In the end, Yè Chén said nothing, coming quietly and leaving just as quietly.

Throughout, Dì Jǐ never noticed him.

In the dead of night, Yè Chén returned to Héng Yuè. Yù Nǚ Peak was peaceful and serene, with Chǔ Xuán and the others already asleep.

It was still that small bamboo grove, and he walked in slowly.

Before the tombstones of Hú Xiān and Běi Shèng, incense was burning — likely lit by Chǔ Xuán and Nán Míng Yù Shù before they slept, as they did this every day.

But on this night, in the small bamboo grove, besides him, there was another person.

It was Jǐ Níng Shuāng, who at the end of the bamboo grove had set up a memorial tablet inscribed with the name of Xié Mó. By the time Yè Chén arrived, she had already lit incense and placed flower petals before it.

Yè Chén stopped and took out a wine flask, pouring a libation.

The two stood side by side, one on the left and the other on the right, bowing to Xié Mó's tablet. It was the demonic god who had helped extend their bond; without it, they might have forgotten each other in the Jiāng Hú.

The night grew deeper.

Under the old tree, Yè Chén picked up his carving knife again, working on a block of wood with steady strokes.

At his side, Jǐ Níng Shuāng was there too, hugging her knees and staring blankly into space.

Yè Chén occasionally glanced at her sideways. People called her the bookworm of the realms, and it was true. Ever since her reincarnation, most of her time was spent either buried in the Wordless Heavenly Book or sitting alone in a daze, silent and unknowable in her thoughts.

A breeze blew by, and only then did she move, gently leaning her head on Yè Chén's shoulder.

Yè Chén smiled warmly and continued carving the wooden figure.

Under the moonlight, the scene beneath the old tree was exceptionally heartwarming, as if time paused for a moment, etching their figures into eternity to bear witness to that bond.

"In this life, I bow to no one except him."

Gazing toward Yù Nǚ Peak from the opposite mountain peak, Lóng Yī stood with his hands behind his back, sighing and clicking his tongue. On such a fine night with so many beautiful wives, instead of enjoying some intimate time, he sits there carving wood. When he's improper, he has no sense of shame; when he's serious, he's truly a breath of fresh air.

"Can scolding heaven open the Bloodline Limit Boundary?"

Lóng Yě hadn't slept either; he was pacing back and forth on the mountain peak with his hands behind his back, muttering endlessly. Ever since returning from Dān City, he had been like a man possessed, still pondering the matter.

Tonight, he looked quite disheveled, his face bruised and swollen, clearly from a severe beating. His clothes were messy and covered in footprints.

Those who beat him were all elderly experts, and it wasn't a one-on-one fight — he had been ganged up on.

In his quest to research the Bloodline Limit Boundary, he had wandered around a lot lately, tricking people into scolding heaven. Those he tricked actually did it, and then they were struck by heavenly tribulation.

The thunder of heavenly punishment was incredibly domineering, carrying the power to devour. Those punished met terrible ends, left battered and broken, with most still groaning on their sickbeds, and they cursed Lóng Yě thoroughly in the process.

Lóng Yě was tough, having endured countless beatings, and he didn't know how many people had suffered tribulation because of him, but not a single one had managed to defy heaven and open the Bloodline Limit Boundary. Instead, there were piles of the crippled.

"Let him scold it once more, and we'll see."

Lóng Yī glanced at Lóng Yě. Compared to that, he was more focused on Lóng Wǔ, constantly thinking about how to beat the Eternal Body. Stealing the wife of the Dragon Emperor's lineage was infuriating just to think about.

But alas, even with his three souls united, he still couldn't win.

People who live long enough are all old monsters. The one who outlasted their Dragon Emperor, that male Eternal Body, was absolutely a talent. Just that alone was enough to boast about for eight hundred years.

Lóng Yě didn't respond to him, only casually glancing toward Yù Nǚ Peak. Such a romantic scene made him reluctant to interrupt — mainly because he was afraid of getting beaten. Yè Chén was the type to hold a grudge.

The night passed without incident, and dawn broke in the blink of an eye.

In the early morning, before the sky was fully light, Lóng Yě ran to Yù Nǚ Peak. Yè Chén had just taken off his apron and was about to enjoy breakfast when Lóng Yě dragged him away, straight up to the peak of Yù Nǚ Mountain.

"Come on, scold it — scold heaven again."

"Idiot."

"Your sister, not me — scold heaven."

"Scold heaven?" Yè Chén raised an eyebrow.

"If my guess is correct, the Bloodline Limit Boundary must have some strange connection to your Shèng Tǐ lineage." Lóng Yě spoke with great certainty. "Like when you refined pills before, or when Liú Rú Yān died, both involved scolding heaven and incurring punishment, then defying it to open the Bloodline Limit Boundary. This shouldn't be a coincidence."

Yè Chén furrowed his brow slightly. Well, it really was like that.

"The first Huāng Gǔ Shèng Tǐ came with a Bloodline Limit Boundary innately, which is worth examining."

"You're a Shèng Tǐ too, so in certain domains, you probably have special privileges."

"That day, plenty of people scolding heaven and suffered punishment, but only you opened the Bloodline Limit Boundary."

"So, my guess should be reliable."

Lóng Yě kept talking, one sentence after another, explaining it all clearly.