Chapter 2947: Nine Lives Unite as One

Under the watchful eyes of all, Ye Chen descended from Taishang Tian, his entire body devoid of any radiance, appearing utterly ordinary, like a common mortal.

That must be the return to simplicity of the Di Dao. While the world might not sense much, the four supreme beings—heaven, earth, humanity, and the other—felt an immense pressure.

"The Saint Body that has become an Emperor is indeed different."

Many people crowded around, surrounding Ye Chen in layers, their hands tucked in their sleeves as they scrutinized him from head to toe. A few restless ones even reached out occasionally to pinch his arms or legs, as if tempted to draw a bit of his blood.

The elders were more restrained, standing at a distance and stroking their beards, feeling a sense of unreality. They had watched Ye Chen grow from the start, and that young fellow had truly become a living legend, an immortal myth.

"We'd better take it easy from now on. This guy could squash us with a single fart."

"That metaphor is spot on."

"Sister-in-law, you'd be wiser to swap your bed for an iron one."

"That scene would probably shake the mountains and earth."

The crowd continued chattering away, circling Ye Chen while not forgetting to advise Nanming Yushu and the others. The Saint Body of an Emperor was no joke—a single misstep could cost lives.

Only then did the group head to the heavens.

"Let's go home."

Ye Chen smiled slightly and led his family away, gradually disappearing into the distance.

Behind them, the people still lingered, watching them depart with lingering reluctance.

The Zhutian had produced another Emperor, and one who was a Saint Body at that.

And they were all witnesses to this myth.

"Future generations will likely feel quite awkward."

Many old folks stroked their beards, speaking with deep sincerity. With Ye Chen and Yaochi standing at the forefront, the chances of anyone else achieving Dao were essentially zero. Those two Emperors were just too extraordinary.

Though they sighed, most felt a sense of relief. Ye Chen's heaven-defying ascension meant they no longer had to worry about invasions from outer realms—no one could handle it.

This night was destined to be a sleepless one for all living beings.

In the evening, Ye Chen sat cross-legged under an ancient tree, his eyes closed in meditation.

Having achieved Dao and become an Emperor, he needed to merge with it.

Nanming Yushu and the others were all there, each resting their chins in their hands as they encircled Ye Chen. They had seen Great Emperors before, but a Desolate Ancient Saint Body that had become an Emperor was a first, and it fascinated them no end.

But no matter how they looked, it wasn't as clear as Yaochi's view.

With the high perspective of an Emperor, from the moment Ye Chen sat down, Yaochi had been observing him intently. His origin and bloodline were still intact, yet they had fused with the Di Dao, gaining a mysterious power that was indescribable and undefinable. She knew that even as a Great Emperor, she did not possess it.

There was also the Di Dao imprint, far surpassing hers.

Though they were both Emperors, Ye Chen gave her an extremely oppressive feeling.

When Ye Chen opened his eyes, she turned her gaze to Ye Ling.

The little girl, since returning to Yunu Peak, had been curiously examining her own body, now enveloped in a layer of immortal haze.

Now, she had become an Emperor's daughter. With her father's ascension to Emperor, she had benefited as well, her blood tied to his, nourished by divine power.

By the next day, before dawn fully broke, crowds were already surging.

Gazing down from the starry skies, one could see streams of figures flowing from all directions of the starlit expanse into Dachu, including elders and youths alike.

They weren't here for sightseeing—they had come to listen to the Di Dao heavenly sounds. The heavenly sounds during Ye Chen's merging with Dao were more precious than the Di Dao realm itself. Hearing them could occasionally lead to sudden enlightenment, a true stroke of fortune.

They had done the same when Yaochi became an Emperor years ago.

Today's Dachu was packed with people, a sea of black as far as the eye could see, and the small sect known as Hengyue had evidently become a sacred land.

And why not? It was a sacred land indeed—one sect with two Emperors, an unprecedented feat. Outstanding as Ye Chen was, his first life was as an Emperor, and his ninth life was too. In the history of Zhutian, he was the first.

"Think you can just waltz in? Pay up, buy a ticket."

"Buy what? Get lost."

"You guys, grab your weapons. This one's not behaving."

"Hey."

Outside Hengyue Sect in the early morning, things were quite lively. There were always some old folks trying to sneak in for a stroll, but a group of people blocked the mountain gate. To listen to the heavenly sounds up close, you had to pay.

Not everyone was as mischievous, though. Those dedicated to cultivation had already found peaks outside Hengyue and sat down.

Looking up at Hengyue, the Di Dao visions lingered, with stars tracing patterns, immortal rivers flowing, all things evolving, and Dao principles intertwining. Strands of heavenly sounds drifted like ethereal immortal melodies.

Even the strongest at the peak had arrived, entering Hengyue.

People like Xi Chen couldn't help but sigh, figures like Ren Wang clicked their tongues in amazement, and Sword God, Di Xuan, and Shen Jiang looked at Ye Chen with eyes full of nostalgia, always seeing traces of Di Zun in him.

But he was not Di Zun.

A day passed quietly, and Ye Chen still had not awakened.

Bathed in starlight, he shone brilliantly, his mind wandering in the Dao. Though he had achieved Dao and become an Emperor, within the Dao, he still felt incredibly insignificant. Emperors had ranks, but Dao had no end. The stronger one became, the more one realized the vastness of the universe and the wonders of the great Dao.

There was a state of mind he had not possessed at great success, and now, as a sealed Great Emperor, he understood that one was like heaven and earth—he was the Dao, and the Dao was him.

"I can't see through it."

Ming Di stood with his hands behind his back, having stared at Ye Chen for a full day and night. Perhaps a barrier was obstructing, or maybe the Emperor's Saint Body was just too extraordinary; Ye Chen seemed shrouded in a layer of mystery that couldn't be wiped away. Even with an Emperor's vision, it was concealed.

He couldn't see through it, and Dao Zu couldn't either. Dao Zu paid more attention to the Di Dao imprint—Ye Chen's was truly powerful, surpassing all previous Great Emperors, including Xuan Yuan.

Both Emperors were waiting, hoping Ye Chen would visit Tianming and the two realms, so they could study him up close. Drawing his blood was out of the question, but examining his bloodline, origin, and divine repository would be fine.

That night, Xuan Huang and his group of fathers-in-law came to Yunu Peak again.

Their faces were darker than ever—one by one, as if on that day when they were drinking tea, Ye Chen's power had shaken them away. Those with weaker cultivation, like Hao Tian Xuan Zhen, were still in a Yuan Shen state.

Yaochi used her Di Dao divine power to heal the hidden injuries of the elders, and for those in Yuan Shen form, she helped reconstruct their physical bodies.

As for Ye Chen, he wouldn't wake for a while.

The world outside the mountains was not calm.

After listening to the Emperor's heavenly sounds, many with heaven-defying talents found opportunities, their stagnant cultivation loosening, and some even broke through, attracting heavenly tribulations.

Ye Chen sat for three months straight.

It was only in the fourth month that he slowly opened his eyes. In that instant, space, time, and spacetime all seemed to freeze. Though his Emperor eyes were like ancient wells, calm and without waves, they were profoundly deep, with specks of starlight flickering within, and upon closer inspection, Di Dao visions evolved.

For a long time, he said nothing, only opening his eyes to observe the world. Having achieved Dao and become an Emperor, his perspective was beyond what it had been at great success—he could see through illusions in a glance and perceive the most fundamental essence.

"Big boss."

The Chaos Cauldron arrived, along with the Chaos Fire and Chaos Thunder, circling Ye Chen excitedly, each more lively and domineering than the last. With their master becoming an Emperor, they had advanced as well, especially the Chaos Cauldron. Its massive body carried an Emperor's might unmatched by any other Emperor artifact—truly, no other could stand against it in battle.

Ye Chen smiled faintly and stepped into the kitchen.

As an Emperor, he was still a devoted family man, cooking while contemplating the Dao. After the Emperor tribulation and his nirvana transformation, his understanding of the Dao had become clearer, especially in the forbidden domains, where he grasped even more truths.

An ordinary day passed quietly.

That night, he ascended to the peak of Yunu Peak.

Accompanying him was the Donghuang Empress.

Tonight, Ye Chen was going to fully unite his nine lives, and he had sought Yaochi's help to guard against any mishap, preventing his Emperor might from affecting Hengyue.

Sitting cross-legged, he quickly fell into the cycle of reincarnation.

When he reappeared, it was in a vast, illusory realm of reincarnation.

There, he saw a figure standing like an eternal monument, as if planted in the river of time, ancient and weathered, identical to him in appearance—it was his first life: Xianwu Diczun.

"I've been waiting for you a long time."

Diczun smiled, from some unknown era.

Ye Chen smiled back, saying nothing.

The two exchanged a glance and smile, then merged into the ethereal.

Boom! Rumble!

In the real world, above Hengyue, sudden rumbles echoed, with flashes of lightning and thunder faintly appearing, and traces of reincarnation power drifting.

At the peak of Yunu Peak, the Donghuang Empress unleashed great divine abilities, isolating the extreme Di Dao might overflowing from Ye Chen's body. His concerns were not unfounded—if she weren't blocking it, Hengyue would be destroyed in an instant.

No one knew what Ye Chen was doing, but she understood clearly. In some spacetime, Ye Chen and Xianwu Diczun must be engaged in a great battle across reincarnations—it was a necessary process for uniting the nine lives.

The battle was fierce indeed, as seen from the blood overflowing from Ye Chen's mouth.

But he won, triumphing over his first life. The empty shell of that first reincarnation completely merged into his own.

In that moment, when Yaochi looked at Ye Chen, she felt a touch of strangeness.

Even she couldn't tell if it was still Ye Chen.

Three days later, Ye Chen awoke and sat dazedly on the mountaintop for a long time. Having merged the nine reincarnations, he gained another insight into the truths of reincarnation. The reincarnation principles surrounding him held even more mysteries, and with reincarnation power at his fingertips, time, space, and spacetime all seemed distorted.

Yet, in this forbidden domain, he still fell short of his first life. Xianwu Diczun, born with reincarnation, had comprehended it more profoundly than he.

No one knew if he had inherited the memories of the first reincarnation, but they could see traces of Diczun in him—perhaps a reflection of reincarnation, some eternal mark lingering in the world.

Now, he was even more inscrutable to the Emperors of Tianming.

A gentle breeze blew, carrying a faint feminine fragrance.

The Heavenly Court Empress arrived, landing on the peak, bathed in moonlight like a fairy from a dream. Her expression was typically indifferent, but when she looked at Ye Chen, her beautiful eyes revealed a hint of tenderness deep within.

That emotion stemmed from the subconscious of Chu Xuan and Chu Ling.

Ye Chen snapped out of his thoughts and smiled, setting up a tea table.

The three Emperors each had their own state of mind.

The Heavenly Court Empress exuded an ancient aura.

Ye Chen carried a sense of world-weariness.

And Yaochi's mind was particularly distracted.

She didn't know whether to call him Diczun or Ye Chen.

Whether to call her Chu Xuan, Chu Ling, or the Heavenly Court Empress.

Be it reincarnation or time, the three of them seemed no longer who they once were.