Chapter 2831: The Endless Immortal Path

Under the moon, Yunu Peak was bathed in starlight.

Ye Chen slept soundly.

Beside him, Ji Ningshuang was equally serene and beautiful.

The scene of them sharing a bed was quite warm and cozy.

However, this warmth was disrupted when someone came in.

It was Xi Yan, who snuck in like a thief, tiptoeing and crouching by the bed. With a brush in one hand and an inkstone in the other, she drew a cross on Ye Chen's forehead and circles on both cheeks, giving the usually handsome young master Ye a thorough makeover. By the time she finished, he looked utterly messy and blackened.

"Shiniang will probably be startled when she wakes up."

"Hehehe."

Xi Yan giggled mischievously, put away the inkstone and brush, and even propped up a large mirror at the other end of the bed. She wanted to make sure Ye Chen would see his own appearance the moment he sat up. For good measure, she placed a memory crystal there, eager to capture his bewildered expression.

Ye Chen had done something similar in the past at Tian Xuan Gate, where he had pranked Chu Xuan quite badly, only to be dragged back by her for a thorough beating.

It wasn't until late into the night that Xi Yan slipped away stealthily.

The scene in the room became a bit awkward. The mighty Huang Gu Sheng Ti lay there without any dignity, sharing a bed with Dong Shen Yao Chi – it just didn't quite match.

"Having too many wives isn't necessarily a good thing."

In the small world, the Chaos Cauldron spoke with deep meaning.

"The heroes agree on this."

The Chaos Fire's words were equally earnest.

After speaking, the two gathered around the Tai Chu Shen Lei.

It had been twenty or thirty years since they obtained this thunder, and this fellow had an extraordinary level of persistence, successfully wearing down all their patience. Not just them—even the heavenly thunder was getting anxious and irritable, tempted to force it into submission.

Tonight, as before, they achieved nothing. The Tai Chu Shen Lei held firm, unfazed by threats, intimidation, or deception. No matter what they said, it refused to yield.

"Boss, let's just swallow it!"

The two grumbled dejectedly, calling out to Ye Chen.

But Ye Chen gave no response.

Or rather, Ye Chen's mind was immersed in a realm of consciousness, where there was a long immortal road stretching endlessly into the distance, with no end in sight. It seemed as if the road's terminus was the end of time itself, and he had no idea how far he had walked along it.

On the immortal road, he was not alone. Ahead of him was a figure, with a sturdy and ancient back, exuding a sense of timeless weariness. Ever since he entered this realm, that figure had been walking ahead, step by step, always facing away from him.

"Di Zun's law body."

Ye Chen murmured softly, not for the first time.

The law body walked ahead, and he followed behind. The two had been at it for what felt like an eternity, yet strangely, no matter how he sped up, he could not close the gap. It was as if Di Zun's law body was merely a phantom, one that could be seen but never reached.

At some point, he slowed his pace. After all this time, he had come to understand that between him and Di Zun lay nine great cycles of reincarnation, an insurmountable divide unless he could comprehend the laws of reincarnation.

His state of mind shifted from initial impatience to calm as still water. Di Zun walked slowly, and so did he, matching his steps exactly as they trod this endless immortal road, perhaps all the way to the end of the world.

The realm of consciousness had no day or night, no sounds at all. Everything here was so peaceful, with mist swirling in all directions. Besides the road beneath his feet and the law body ahead, he could see nothing else.

With another step, he lowered his gaze.

The immortal road under his feet had changed form. It was once smooth and even, but now it was pitted and muddy, covered in filth.

The Di Zun law body did not stop, and neither did he.

The road continued to change; after the mud came a crimson stain. As they walked, the path became drenched in blood, paved with bones and flowing with fresh blood.

Ye Chen felt a stir in his heart. This long immortal road was truly built on corpses, burying countless souls. Not to mention others, even he found the sight painfully glaring.

Not only the road was changing, but the sides of it as well. The hazy mist gradually dissipated, revealing vast scenes: mountains and rivers, trees and flowers, all brimming with vitality. Yet only the road underfoot remained bloody, echoing with the wails of fierce ghosts, utterly desolate.

Ye Chen averted his eyes, focusing solely on the Di Zun law body.

The law body was also changing with each step. Its form gradually aged; hair like a waterfall turned strand by strand into snow-white, and its once straight back slowly bent, becoming that of a decrepit elder.

It would grow old, and then return to youth.

The law body demonstrated this cycle along the way. After becoming an elder, it walked on and transformed into a child, then a youth, middle age, old age, and back to a child again, looping endlessly in its journey.

Ye Chen was merely a witness, observing silently.

He could see Di Zun, but not Di Zun's Dao. Perhaps Di Zun was too ethereal, or his own vision was insufficient; the figure before him never revealed any traces of the Dao.

His state of mind grew even calmer.

The immortal road remained as long as ever. As he walked, he closed his eyes and sought enlightenment. Memories of the past flashed by like fleeting clouds—fragments of scenes, traces of the Dao, etched eternally in his mind.

The scenery in the realm of consciousness was changing again.

The mountains, rivers, trees, and flowers were gradually losing their original colors, fading into nothingness amid the haze, transforming into chaos.

In the outside world, strange phenomena appeared in the sky.

Above Yunu Peak, chaotic mist swirled, and from within the clouds came the echoing sounds of the Dao. Accompanying the Dao sounds, all manner of things materialized: mountains and waters, grasses and trees, each infused with spirit. They withered in the cycle of evolution, were reborn in withering, and extinguished in rebirth—like cycles, like reincarnations. Chaos and all things intertwined, forging truths in their transformations.

"Always making such a big fuss every few days."

On a nearby peak, Xie Yun stood with his hands behind his back, sighing and clicking his tongue in amazement. He had been awakened by the phenomena and, listening to the Dao sounds, felt his mind clearing, occasionally gaining insights.

"I've seen that dazzling aura again."

Bear Er's small eyes were fixed intently.

"In this lifetime, I'll never catch up."

Situ Nan murmured to himself, shaking his head with a smile. Back in the day, he could still keep pace with Ye Chen, but as time passed, he could barely glimpse his back now— an absolute form of being overshadowed.

The night at Heng Yue was far from peaceful.

Gazing into the distance, many peaks had figures on them, like Xie Yun and the others, all sighing; like Yang Dingtian and his group, who felt embarrassed and awkward at the vast gap.

On Yunu Peak, Liu Ruyan and the others had awakened. They glanced at the mysterious phenomena in the sky, ethereal and profound, likely the result of Ye Chen gaining some insight in his sleep.

"I've calculated it with my fingers—he's enlightened again."

Ren Wang was at it again, playing the role of a divine fortune-teller.

No one refuted his words; it had to be enlightenment. Whenever phenomena appeared, it meant gains in the Dao. The people of Da Chu were accustomed to it, marveling at Ye Chen's talent and his profound comprehension of the Dao, which even the elders could not match.

"Arriving early is not as good as arriving just in time."

"This Dao sound is truly profound."

"The path of the Sheng Ti is indeed vast."

Outside the Heng Yue gates, crowds had gathered. Many elders had come to escort their juniors to the Tian Zun ruins and, passing through Da Chu, decided to pay a visit. Little did they expect to witness chaotic phenomena and listen to the heavenly sounds of the great Dao.

Ye Chen was unaware of the outside world.

The flow of time in the outside world and the realm of consciousness might differ. Since he closed his eyes in enlightenment, he had lost track of how many years had passed—perhaps ten, or maybe a hundred, a thousand. He and the Di Zun law body had never paused; one walked ahead, the other followed, separated by nine cycles of reincarnation, their path covered in the dust of ages.

Only then did Ye Chen open his eyes.

His eyes no longer had pupils; they had become chaos. In them, all things were illusions, with only the Di Zun law body remaining eternal. He had truly seen Di Zun's Dao.

The two did not stop, continuing along the immortal road.

To Ye Chen, the scenery along the way had all turned to chaos, revealing its most fundamental essence, including the Di Zun law body. Though it lacked laws, it reflected Di Zun's shadow. Di Zun's journey was like this realm, treading a road built on blood and bones.

Yet, even straining his vision, he could not penetrate Di Zun's demeanor. As the first emperor of the ninth cycle and the last of the Zhutian, Di Zun was legendary and mysterious. Gazing from the ninth cycle to the first was like peering to the very end of time.

"What is the Dao?"

Suddenly, an ethereal voice echoed in the realm of consciousness.

Ye Chen did not glance aside, unsure who spoke—it could be Di Zun, the law body, or the spirit of all things. Yet this question had plagued generations: exactly what was the Dao?

The Dao is in the void.

That would be Ye Chen's answer. Heaven, earth, humanity, emotion, laws, order, all things—everything existed within that void.

Perhaps that was also Di Zun's answer.

Unfortunately, that emperor never stopped or turned back to look at him. In the nine cycles of reincarnation, their gaze should have been an eternal memorial.

They walked on for many more years.

Di Zun aged, and so did Ye Chen, witnessing seas turn to mulberry fields, cycle after cycle, each step imprinting the journey of time.

Only then did the Di Zun law body come to a halt.

It was his first stop.

It was also Ye Chen's first stop.

Ahead, the road ended—perhaps the immortal road was broken, or they had reached its end. The Di Zun law body stood like a rock, a silent, eternal silhouette.

Ye Chen lifted his feet and walked forward step by step.

When he stood shoulder to shoulder with Di Zun, the law body dissipated, its soul returning to the realm of consciousness. They had arrived, yet neither exchanged glances; neither crossed paths in reincarnation.

Ye Chen said nothing, quietly gazing ahead.

The immortal road had ended, but the Dao continued. In the depths of the misty clouds, a towering gate slowly emerged—the gate of great attainment, the stairway of the great Dao. It was sometimes clear, sometimes blurred, visible yet unattainable, something he could see but never truly grasp.

Ye Chen reached out, touching only void.

He had drawn closer to the gate of great attainment, yet it remained impossibly distant. He needed to extend this broken immortal road to truly reach it. The path ahead was a chasm, a gulf; crossing it would mean supremacy, failing would leave him as an ant. On the other side of the gate lay another realm.

His eyes were filled with determination, etching his resolve at the end of the immortal road.