Chapter 2940: Hope of the Nine Lives

Boom!

Di Zun’s foot descended, shaking the entire universe.

His figure remained as solid as a monument, standing at the end of time. His imperial body was crumbling inch by inch; his origin, his Dao root, his primordial spirit—everything was fading away bit by bit. Or rather, everything was being offered as a sacrifice to the Emperor Dao Gate.

With each piece of him that vanished, the illusory Emperor Dao Gate became more substantial. The patterns of laws and the sacred Dao markings on it grew vivid, and an ancient, destructive imperial might began to awaken.

The ethereal void instantly darkened, with dark clouds billowing and blocking out the world's light, as if they would crush the heavens and earth. Within the clouds, lightning flashed and thunder roared, accompanied by strange phenomena and forbidden forces sweeping through creation. Every strand of energy that fell carried the power of utter destruction.

“What… what is happening?”

Everyone under the heavens changed color abruptly, instinctively looking up.

What they saw in the misty expanse was a colossal gate piercing the skies, being etched into existence inch by inch. It was grand and majestic, overlooking the nine heavens, and merely looking at it made their hearts tremble with fear.

Indeed, not only Di Zun, but ordinary people could now see it, peering through the vast void to behold that gate of the Emperor Dao.

Precisely because they could see it, they were horrified. What kind of gate was this? The Emperor Dao Gate? It was terrifying beyond measure.

Boom! Rumble!

The rumbling continued ceaselessly as space collapsed and the cosmos fell into chaos. Below, countless mountains were flattened.

Seal!

Donghuang Nüdi uttered a soft command, and a divine light shot from her body into the sky, forming an imperial protective barrier to prevent the Emperor Dao Gate from reducing Heng Yue to rubble. The pressure from the gate was overwhelmingly strong.

Her face was pale, and she could see Di Zun within the Emperor Dao Gate, still vanishing inch by inch, sacrificing himself.

Every bit Di Zun faded, the Emperor Dao Gate solidified a bit more.

Every bit Di Zun faded, Ye Chen manifested a bit more.

This process was strikingly vivid. The common people couldn't see it, but the three emperors—heaven, earth, and human—could. It was a peak emperor sacrificing himself for the Emperor Dao Gate! The entire gate was bathed in the emperor's bloodlight.

“I thought of the beginning, but not the end.”

Ming Di murmured softly, staring in a daze. He had never imagined that an emperor would sacrifice to the Emperor Dao Gate, let alone that the one doing so would be Di Zun.

He had believed Di Zun was long dead, yet in this era of Emperor Dao upheaval, he had been shocked time and again.

Di Zun’s three manifestations had overturned his understanding. A deceased emperor could actually escape the cycle of reincarnation and reappear in a flawless form to sacrifice to the Emperor Dao and forge that gate.

In this moment, he felt a sense of unreality.

He didn't know whether to be astonished by Di Zun's methods or terrified by Ye Chen's reincarnation, which could bear the weight of that peak emperor.

Both Ye Chen and Di Zun had surpassed him. From the start, this had been a forbidden taboo against heaven.

Di Zun and Ye Chen had achieved it, spanning nine reincarnations and turning that path of reincarnation into the Saint Body’s Emperor Dao road.

“I am not your equal.”

Dao Zu murmured to himself, like Ming Di, staring fixedly at Di Zun. Rather than saying Di Zun had overturned reincarnation, it was more accurate to say he was gradually severing it, so the sacrifice wouldn't affect Ye Chen.

Only now did Dao Zu realize that Ye Chen's several involuntary changes of reincarnation were no coincidence; it was Di Zun seeking to glimpse the Emperor Dao Gate.

Perhaps from the first time Ye Chen involuntarily changed reincarnation, Di Zun had already discerned what the gate lacked.

Thus, Di Zun’s sacrifice was no accident. The backlash of reincarnation, the forbidden repercussions—all of it, that emperor would bear for Ye Chen, just to forge that Emperor Dao Gate.

“Did he foresee this moment ten thousand years ago?”

Ming Di spoke, glancing at Dao Zu.

Dao Zu remained silent, but he shared the same suspicion.

The first life was an emperor, the ninth a fully realized Saint Body.

Nine great reincarnations, with the first sacrificing for the ninth, as if it had been predestined in the shadows long ago.

Yet the two emperors dared not believe that in this era of Emperor Dao upheaval, Di Zun could have calculated so far ahead. Was he a god?

This question had no definitive answer. Perhaps only Di Zun himself knew the scheme behind the nine reincarnations.

Now, none of that mattered. What mattered was that Di Zun was sacrificing, and that Emperor Dao Gate was gradually solidifying.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Di Zun stood unmoving, allowing his imperial body to be buried and his primordial spirit to dissolve, leaving only his silhouette for the world to see.

Dao Zu was right—he had overturned reincarnation and was bearing the double backlash of taboo and reincarnation, severing it bit by bit in the process.

When Di Zun truly vanished, that would be when Ye Chen fully manifested.

That moment would also mark the complete severance of reincarnation.

This would be an extremely perilous Emperor Dao sacrifice. If any step went wrong, it could cause the collapse of both their reincarnations—Xianwu Di Zun would dissipate, and Ye Chen would too.

The reason was that their reincarnations were not equal. Ye Chen's comprehension of reincarnation was far inferior to Di Zun's, making balance impossible.

Thus, this exchange of reincarnations and Emperor Dao sacrifice couldn't be completed by Di Zun alone; it required Ye Chen's support.

The difference was that Di Zun acted voluntarily, while Ye Chen was involuntary.

Boom! Rumble!

The rumbling in the vast expanse grew even more ferocious, making the entire world tremble.

“Emperor Dao Gate! That’s the Emperor Dao Gate.”

Ren Wang was thrilled, able to see the gate but not Di Zun, unaware of the price paid for its solidification.

“Old man, whose Emperor Dao Gate is that?”

Xiong Er and Xie Yun tugged at Ren Wang’s clothes, one on each side.

“It’s naturally Ye Chen’s.”

Zaohua Shenwang stroked his beard, giving a definitive answer.

As soon as he spoke, all living beings were shaken.

The Saint Body’s Emperor Dao Gate, Da Chu’s tenth sovereign—this was about defying heaven to prove the Dao, breaking the ancient taboos!

For a time, everyone was invigorated.

Ye Chen was already at full realization and could suppress a heavenly emperor with one hand. If he proved the Dao, who in the vast universe could stand against him?

“Jiu Niang.”

Ye Ling called softly, pulling at Yao Chi’s clothes.

“Don’t be afraid.”

The female emperor smiled gently, still watching the Emperor Dao Gate and Di Zun. If one emperor wasn’t enough to solidify it, she would charge in without hesitation to forge that gate.

Her resolve was the same as that of all the women.

Only now did they understand what that so-called hope truly meant. That Emperor Dao Gate was Ye Chen’s chance to survive. If needed, none of them would hesitate.

Not just them—anyone who could see the Emperor Dao Gate shared this determination, each one ready at any moment.

Within the Emperor Dao Gate, Di Zun’s imperial body had completely dissolved except for his head, including his primordial spirit and Dao roots.

Di Zun wept, or perhaps it was Ye Chen weeping.

The exchange of reincarnations was real, but with the Emperor Dao sacrifice and Di Zun’s gradual vanishing, the two were merging into one reincarnation. Until one emperor dissipated, the cycles would be severed, and Ye Chen would inherit that empty shell of the first reincarnation.

Severance was also fusion—the true union of nine lives.

This process would only complete after Ye Chen proved the Dao.

“Boy, the hope of nine reincarnations must be continued by you.”

After all these years, Di Zun spoke for the first time, his voice hoarse and weary, yet carrying a gentle smile.

After all these years, this was also the first time he spoke to Ye Chen.

“Senior, what virtue do I have to deserve this?”

Ye Chen’s tears streamed down, his voice equally hoarse. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed that a peak emperor would willingly sacrifice himself to forge the Emperor Dao Gate for him.

“I have long been dead.”

Di Zun’s smile held more exhaustion, and the last faint light in his turbid eyes was gradually extinguishing.

Yes, he had died long ago, buried ten thousand years before. The so-called nine reincarnations were merely the continuation of hope, and Ye Chen was the one carrying that hope forward.

The facts proved that his ninth life had done well, even surpassing his first. Without Ye Chen’s comprehension of reincarnation, he couldn’t have manifested again in the world.

Since this opportunity arose, he would use his imperial body to make that flame of hope burn as brightly as the sun.

Whether variables or destiny, his first life had always been prepared.

Their cross-reincarnation conversation was filled with weariness.

In the end, he dissipated.

In that instant, the great emperor vanished, and the Saint Body manifested.

In that instant, the first reincarnation was severed and inherited by the ninth, with the union of nine lives drawing to a close.

Ye Chen’s tears still flowed, grieving for the nine reincarnations.

“How is this possible? It hasn’t fully formed yet?”

Ming Di’s words interrupted Ye Chen’s thoughts.

Di Zun had sacrificed himself, but the Emperor Dao Gate hadn’t truly solidified; it still retained a layer of illusion.

Not just Ming Di—even Dao Zu was horrified.

A peak emperor had sacrificed everything, yet failed to forge the Emperor Dao Gate. How terrifying was the Saint Body’s Emperor Dao path?

Donghuang Nüdi moved, stepping onto the highest peak of the ethereal void. She was already resolved—if one emperor wasn’t enough, then two it would be.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t enter.

Or rather, she did enter, only to be pulled out by the emerging Ye Chen. Even her sacrifice wouldn’t forge the gate, because what it lacked was no longer related to the Emperor Dao.

“What is missing?”

Ming Di asked, and Dao Zu asked too. A peak emperor had sacrificed to supplement the Emperor Dao, yet the gate remained incomplete.

What was missing?

Ye Chen stood before the Emperor Dao Gate, asking the same question, his tear-streaked eyes not yet dry. He wept for the first life, which had shattered itself for him, its body and spirit destroyed, yet it still wasn’t enough.

“Can the Saint Body truly not become an emperor?”

The three emperors—heaven, earth, and human—all murmured softly, as if asking someone.

They were asking, and Ye Chen was asking.

Never before had he been as calm as in this moment.

He quietly gazed at the Emperor Dao Gate and quietly gazed at the heavens. A tremendous anger rose from his soul, like a roar from the depths.

Why couldn’t the Saint Body become an emperor?

Why couldn’t the Saint Body prove the Dao?

Boom! Rumble!

His defiance seemed to provoke the heavens once more, with lightning and thunder growing even more intense, as if to strike down from the nine skies and erase him.

Ye Chen stood unmoving, letting the heavenly tribulation tear at his body.

In his calm state, he was the most frightening, like a slumbering world-shaking demon god gradually awakening, making the universe tremble.

The Saint Body’s Emperor Dao was a dead end.

But he refused to believe it.

He would prove the Dao; he would become an emperor—not for all living beings, but for his first life. That hope had become his obsession.