Chapter 2917: The End

Ye Chen had finally left, returning to Zhutian.

His journey through the Tianming realms had been full of defiance against the heavens. He had kicked Ming Di and even struck the illusory form of Xuan Di, and he had swept away every last treasure from Dao Zu's collection.

Such actions were utterly unprecedented.

Even someone as bold as the ancient Di Zun had never been so reckless, but Ye Chen had done it—and done it spectacularly well.

In the end, it was because Tianming's two emperors favored him.

There was no helping it—who would dare disturb his dream wandering and enlightenment? Not even great emperors would risk it.

It was this very hesitation that gave birth to the myth.

As soon as Ye Chen returned, Ji Ningshuang appeared instantly.

With the lofty vision of an emperor, she could see past the surface and gaze into his inner small world. After his long absence, it was now filled with countless treasures—many that had vanished from the human realm, and many that even great emperors might never find.

Ji Ningshuang instinctively glanced toward Mingjie and then Tianjie. Those two emperors had been far too generous.

Their faces burned with embarrassment.

It hurt deeply.

Ming Di took a deep breath, while Dao Zu inhaled even longer. Their aged faces grew darker than ever.

Dare to hit this emperor.

Dare to rob my treasures.

You damn well wait for me.

Ji Ningshuang lowered her gaze and followed Ye Chen once more.

The road ahead remained long and winding.

Ye Chen walked with pauses, retracing the paths of his past. So often, as he walked, he would vanish entirely, and even the mighty Donghuang Nvdi sometimes couldn't find him.

"In dreams, a thousand ages pass."

The female emperor murmured this more than once, understanding why she couldn't keep up with Ye Chen. In terms of experiences and journeys, she hadn't traveled as far as he had. He could dream of things she never could.

In their shared dream returns through the ages, she simply couldn't match him.

Another stretch of starry sky, and once again, Ye Chen was nowhere to be seen.

The female emperor extended her divine sense and located him precisely.

She vanished in a step and reappeared on an ancient star that had once been ravaged by war but was now rebuilt.

She found Ye Chen, but the place made things awkward—awkward for any woman.

It was a brothel.

The tenth emperor of Dachu wasn't exactly well-behaved even in his dream wandering, sneaking off alone to visit such establishments.

The brothel's madam and the women there all smiled in an unnatural way—or rather, awkwardly.

Ever since he had walked in, he hadn't opened his eyes, as if he were just dropping by. Wherever there was romance or passion, he wandered toward it, drawing a chorus of scoldings from the brothel.

Fortunately, those old fellows from Dachu were mostly dead; if any of them were still alive and saw Ye Chen behaving like this, they would surely curse him as the ultimate scoundrel. With so many beautiful wives at home, how could he come to a place like this?

Ji Ningshuang took one look and decided not to go in. Such a sensible wife made the two emperors nod in approval.

Luckily, Ye Chen was just passing through, and in his dream wandering, he had a few cups of floral wine before vanishing again.

Ji Ningshuang searched briefly and then disappeared as well.

Boom! Rumble!

Soon after, rumbling echoed through the entire starry sky.

"A battle."

"An emperor-level battle."

Countless people rushed out, gathering in droves.

But when they reached that part of the starry sky, the crowd was collectively stunned.

It was indeed an emperor-level battle, and the combatants were a married couple: Donghuang Nvdi and the Saint Body Ye Chen.

"What's going on?"

The cultivators of Zhutian were utterly baffled. They knew Ye Chen was dream wandering, but fighting his wife in a dream? That didn't seem right.

What on earth is happening?

Ji Ningshuang wanted to ask the same thing. She had just found Ye Chen when he suddenly went berserk, charging straight at her. She wasn't sure if it was due to the dream path or some demonic influence, but he seemed to see her as a mortal enemy, every strike a lethal technique.

"What a temperament."

Xi Chen arrived, sighing and clicking his tongue.

Wu Lei was there too, her expression strange.

Di Xuan, who came later, was full of confusion. The Great Accomplishment Saint Body was fierce, and his attacks were brutally savage.

"What's happened to him?"

Ye Ling, Nan Ming Yu Shu, and the others had arrived. They only knew Ye Chen had been away for days and that Ji Ningshuang had been silently following him. But now, seeing them like this, locked in combat—who could have expected it?

Boom! Bang! Boom!

Ye Chen kept attacking without holding back.

Ji Ningshuang didn't engage him directly; most of the time, she used the dream path to evade. It wasn't that she couldn't beat him, but she feared disrupting his dream path. If they fought for real, Ye Chen wouldn't stand a chance.

In that moment, everyone looked up in unison.

Ji Ningshuang had entered the Great Dao Taishang Tian, and Ye Chen followed her in. Fighting in the starry sky would collapse the star domains.

Once inside Taishang Tian, Ye Chen went even more berserk.

"Occasionally slapping him wouldn't hurt."

Ming Di spoke leisurely, his tone meaningful, with a hint of regret—he should have kicked Ye Chen earlier.

Ji Ningshuang ignored his words and simply flew away to escape.

Below, the crowd gathering grew larger.

For some reason, over ninety percent of the people hoped the female emperor would step up and give Ye Chen a proper thrashing.

They said it in jest, of course.

Ji Ningshuang wouldn't fight back; she couldn't bear to, and she didn't dare act recklessly. Ye Chen's state was too delicate.

He might not hold back, but his attacks were world-shattering. Many wondered what dream he was in and who he was fighting so fiercely.

They couldn't see it, but Ji Ningshuang could.

In Ye Chen's dream, his opponent was the great emperor of Tianmo Yu—the one who had first invaded Dachu. In the dream, it was perfectly recreated, detail by detail.

This was Ji Ningshuang's first time witnessing it. She knew Ye Chen's battles were tough, but she hadn't realized just how grueling they were. The ninety million heroic souls of Dachu had traded for a single hope, a burden so heavy that even in death, her Ye Chen refused to fall.

He had succeeded, honoring that mission.

This battle now might hold some deeper meaning—fighting a supreme being in his dream, just as he fought one in reality.

A glimmer of insight appeared in Ji Ningshuang's eyes. She stopped evading and began to counterattack. Ye Chen sought nirvana in his dream, and in reality, he needed the same—a nirvana of both dream and truth.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Blood light filled Taishang Tian. Emperor blood and saint blood rained down, like radiant showers scattering across the stars.

The supreme battle shattered the heavens and earth, with apocalyptic visions engulfing the universe. The laws of the emperor path and the assaults of great accomplishment clashed repeatedly, weaving threads of doomsday light.

"They’re really fighting!"

The onlookers swallowed hard, their hearts pounding. A Great Accomplishment Saint Body against a great emperor—this level of combat was no joke; just watching it was blinding.

After a long while, the booms finally faded.

In Taishang Tian, two figures plummeted together: the Saint Body Ye Chen and Donghuang Nvdi.

They weren't wounded; it was just that in their dream returns through the ages, their dreams had briefly intertwined. She had entered his dream, and he had entered hers, falling into a momentary slumber.

Boom! Bang!

Two thunderous crashes followed, collapsing that section of starry sky.

"This..."

The crowd was stunned, unsure what to do.

This sleep lasted nine days.

For nine days, the female emperor slept peacefully, and Ye Chen slept contentedly. However, his body shifted between illusion and solidity more and more frequently.

That wasn't a good sign. The people didn't understand, but Ming Di and Dao Zu knew all too well—the more frequent the shifts, the more unstable Ye Chen's state of emerging from the dream.

On the tenth day, Ye Chen awoke, standing still as a statue.

In the same instant, Ji Ningshuang woke as well.

Her cheeks were flushed with patches of red, her imperial beauty utterly captivating.

Those with vivid imaginations were already letting their minds wander. No need to guess—Ye Chen must have done something improper in her dream.

Indeed, it had been a dream wedding night.

But now, Ye Chen had entered another dream.

This one was likely the one he desired most.

It was the human path from long ago: ten mu of peach groves, ten mu of rice fields, a life of farming and weaving, simple and joyful.

That peace and ordinariness still lingered in his memory. Free from worldly affairs, unconcerned with cultivation, it was perfect enough to make him lose himself. There had been many moments when he deceived himself, willing to believe it was real.

If not for Chu Ling's emotional tribulation, he might have truly lost his way. He had let go of Chu Ling and that perfection. Though centuries had passed since leaving the human path, he still yearned for it.

Returning now, his mindset was the same, treating it as a dream and the dream as a lifetime.

In the starry sky, his steps slowed considerably, so much so that everyone could keep up, following in groups.

As he walked, his once-black hair turned strand by strand to snow white, and his straight back gradually hunched. The long road and endless time had covered his shoulders in dust.

Tears welled in Ji Ningshuang's eyes, and the same for Ye Ling, Nan Ming Yu Shu, Liu Ru Yan, and Lin Shi Hua.

His silhouette was so lonely, so desolate, so weathered, and so aged.

The best hundreds of years of his life had been spent on the road.

Walking on, he had grown old.

"Has he reached the end of the dream?"

Ming Di murmured softly, the darkness on his face vanishing, replaced by deep worry.

Though Dao Zu said nothing, his expression was much the same.

Emerging from a dream had its limits, and Ye Chen was nearing that limit. If he couldn't comprehend the dream path in time, he would be utterly destroyed.

They could see it, and so could Ji Ningshuang.

Comprehending the dream path in such a short time was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

She cried, the mist in her eyes reflecting the starlight, forming frost that blurred her vision.

That aged figure was gradually fading into nothingness.

He could comprehend the dream path.

But time wouldn't wait for him.

"Dad."

Ye Ling choked out, her voice breaking.

At that call, Ye Chen heard it.

In that instant, he opened his eyes.

Yet, he didn't turn around or stop. He kept walking, step by step, his back to his family, to all living beings, bearing the weight of those weathered years as he stumbled onward.

He wasn't going to turn back.

He had come in a dream and would leave in a dream.

His vulnerabilities could be left to the ages.

Under the watchful eyes of the world, his aged body dissolved inch by inch, turning to nothingness. Even the tears streaming from his eyes turned to ash as they fell.

"Dad."

Ye Ling's call came from the depths of her soul.

"Ye Chen."

Ji Ningshuang and the others were tear-streaked.

"Saint Body."

The cries of the masses were filled with hope and reluctance.

"Gone."

Ye Chen's voice was hoarse and exhausted. With his back to the starry sky, he waved lightly. His hand turned to ash in the motion, and his flowing hair became historical dust.

The end of the dream was not revival, but destruction.