Chapter 3216: The Original Timeline (1)

The melodious zither music echoed through the ancient wilderness. This awakening immortal melody held countless human stories within it, and even without relying on the score like the Emperor Dao F4, they had all settled their hearts. Through the long years as emperors, they had lived too long, inevitably cherishing one or two unforgettable events and one or two people they could never forget. Sadly, while time had not aged them, those around them had grown old one by one.

Ah!

Ren Wang sighed and rose to leave, as if the music had stirred his own memories of hardship. Ye Chen's twenty years of tempering his heart had been his trial as well.

Ah!

Not just Ren Wang, but also Long Ye, the God of Creation King, and the Fourth Divine General left, perhaps recalling lovers or ancient affections.

Ah!

Fo Di's sigh drew curious glances from the other emperors. Could it be that Da Ri Ru Lai had an untold story from the past? Had he ever had a romantic fate?

He had no romantic fate.

Fo Zu's figure faded, his radiant Buddha light dimming. In the ancient battles for the Emperor Dao, he had enlightened someone he should not have, creating his karma and his obstacle.

"You have finally shed tears."

Chen Yi spoke leisurely, flask in hand, addressing his sister.

Tears?

Yao Chi Empress remained silent, instinctively raising her hand to touch her eye corner. It was wet; indeed, tears. Since attaining the Emperor Dao, this was the first time she had cried.

She left too, heading toward a gravestone.

On this day, one after another departed, scattering in all directions.

The zither music continued.

It must be Chu Lingyu and Hong Chen Xue, their deep emotions weaving an awakening immortal tune and a sorrowful parting melody, even beyond the resistance of the Heaven Emperor.

Ye Chen arrived, manifesting in an instant.

Hong Chen Xue and Chu Lingyu showed no reaction, but the awakened Hong Chen looked at Ye Chen with an unusual gaze. He had awakened before and seen Ye Chen, feeling a strange familiarity, yet unable to pinpoint why. This person looked exactly like him, but no one had explained Ye Chen's origins.

The zither music finally stopped.

Hong Chen Xue and Chu Lingyu both stood, understanding that Ye Chen had gone to such lengths to revive Hong Chen for some unknown purpose. Since they knew, they would not be selfish. Ye Chen's personal arrival meant the matter was significant and could not be delayed.

The awakened Hong Chen was once again engulfed by confusion.

The Empress arrived, appearing gracefully like a dream.

"If the heavens face calamity, shatter this seal."

Ye Chen waved his hand, condensing an ancient divine seal with eternal time-space power, which merged into the Empress's divine sea. Only she could bear it.

"Take care on your journey."

"Wait for my return."

Ye Chen smiled, stepping into Hong Chen's body. In that instant, both he and Hong Chen vanished, their traces undetectable even by the Empress.

In this time-space, they no longer existed.

Indeed, Ye Chen and Hong Chen had gone to the most original time-space.

Relatively speaking, it could be seen as a parallel time-space.

It existed, and existence meant reality. No matter how this current time-space turned out—glorious or decayed, continuing or perishing—it would not affect the original time-space.

Naturally, there were intersections.

Here, "intersections" referred to Hong Chen, the Six Paths, and Shen Xuan Feng.

These three were the links between the parallel time-spaces.

To cross parallel time-spaces required a medium, and Hong Chen was that medium. In this time-space journey, Ye Chen needed him as a bridge to cross over.

Only then could he truly witness the original history.

Perhaps he could find the "Xing" character child, who belonged to that time-space, and possibly uncover secrets unbroken in this one.

"Where did he go?" Shen Zun transmitted to the Empress.

"The end of the unknown."

The Empress parted her lips slightly, her words carrying ancient depth.

Shen Zun did not understand.

Nor did the other emperors.

They only knew that the Sacred Body's family supreme had gone to explore unknown secrets.

Ye Chen reappeared in utter darkness.

This was the illusory void of time-space; crossing it would lead to the original time-space. He could not pass alone, at least not now, which was why he needed Hong Chen as the bridge.

"How could I ever imagine a day like this?"

A voice echoed faintly—it was Hong Chen's, from the most initial Hong Chen, possessing memories of the original time-space and the altered one. In his most lucid state, he spoke this clearest words.

This was his first true conversation with Ye Chen.

"Any last wishes?" Ye Chen asked.

"The era when all living beings are buried will be my destination." Hong Chen laughed.

"You will achieve your wish."

Ye Chen smiled and stepped deeper into the darkness.

He did not know when it would end.

Emerging from the illusory void, what met Ye Chen's eyes was a vast and beautiful landscape—every mountain, river, blade of grass, and tree was from his memories of home.

It was Da Chu.

More precisely, the most original time-space of Da Chu, without Hong Chen, without the Six Paths, without Shen Xuan Feng, without any Emperor Dao changes. Everything here was the most primordial of the primordial, untouched by any alterations to history.

In this original time-space, Ye Chen was illusory, nonexistent. No one could see him, and he could not interfere, like a mere observer in the Da Chu of a thousand years ago—he was only a spectator.

Ye Chen was already aware of this.

Here, he could go to any corner of the heavens.

But he could only follow the flow of time.

In other words, if the original time-space was at his fifteen-year-old self, he could only see the world of that age, not beyond sixteen. Space could change, but time could not.

Ye Chen was aware of this too.

"Outer disciple Ye Chen, due to a shattered dantian, can no longer cultivate immortality. You are hereby expelled from Zhengyang Sect and forbidden from ever setting foot on Zhengyang Spirit Mountain again."

As Ye Chen watched, cold words rang in his ears.

Perhaps some deviation occurred during the time-space crossing, skipping his childhood and youth. The so-called history began from the day his dantian shattered.

This scene was basically the same in both time-spaces.

Naturally, there were deviations. In the original time-space, when he was expelled from Zhengyang Sect, Ji Ning Shuang had not come to see him off; she did not appear until he descended the mountain.

Deviations were expected; no deviations would be unnatural.

The saying "a single hair can move the whole body" was no joke.

The Six Paths descended.

Shen Xuan Feng descended.

Hong Chen descended.

Each of them disturbed the course of history.

Three disturbances from three people.

If events in the two time-spaces were still identical, that would be truly strange. Such minor deviations surprised Ye Chen.

After all, these were living people inserted out of nowhere.

The Six Paths' descent disturbed not only the heavens but also Da Chu.

Shen Xuan Feng and Hong Chen's descent disturbed not only Da Chu but also the heavens.

This involved the grand array of fate.

Every person in the heavens was a node in this grand array. No matter where these three descended or whom they disturbed, it affected the entire heavens.

Time marched on.

In the original time-space, he had already left Zhengyang Sect and wandered for many days.

The segment with the immortal fire was there, but not in the mountains—it was in the valley, and the immortal fire did not open his dantian for him. These differed significantly from his experiences.

The one who saved him was still Zhang Fengnian.

In the demonic beast forest, scenes with Chu Ling Er were not absent.

Up to becoming Chu Xuan's disciple, there were no major changes.

Further along, it became vastly different.

In the original time-space's Three Sects Grand Competition, he lost to Ji Ning Shuang.

"This little ninth one strikes too hard."

Ye Chen watched from start to finish; the original time-space's him was utterly miserable. From the moment he stepped on the stage, he never stood steady, losing completely.

It made sense; there was a whole realm's difference.

Compared to the altered time-space, from this point, the original time-space was completely chaotic.

In the original time-space:

There was Shangguan Yu Er, but no Shangguan Han Yue.

There was Xuan Nu, but no Luo Xi.

And Hao Tian Xuan Zhen married not Hua Xu, but a woman named Nian Ci, and they had a son named Hao Tian Chen Ye.

Since it was not Hua Xu, there was no Hao Tian Shi Yue.

Knife Emperor's daughter Bi You died at just over ten years old. The one trapped in the Youming Valley was not the Knife Emperor, but Du Gu Ao; there was no Zhuge Yu at all.

He never became the ninety-ninth generation Sacred Lord of Yanhuang.

Not only that, he fought from beginning to end, with countless casualties in the wars.

As for Long Ye, he had no part in it.

Because the host of Hengyue's Taixu Ancient Dragon Soul was him, not Yin Zhi Ping.

Liu Yi needs to be mentioned separately.

In the original time-space, Liu Yi married not Nangong Yue, but Su Xin Yue.

"A killing intent too heavy to achieve true enlightenment."

This was a phrase Su Xin Yue often said in the altered time-space.

"It's all messed up."

Ye Chen coughed dryly, still just an observer.

He had questions.

In the original history, there was clearly no Luo Xi, Shangguan Han Yue, or Hao Tian Shi Yue, but in the altered time-space, the confused Hong Chen seemed to remember them.

After thinking it through, he concluded:

Even though they were parallel time-spaces, between him and Hong Chen, there seemed to be a crossover of memories. This was also why he often glimpsed fragments of the future.

He was like that, and so was Hong Chen.

The difference was that Hong Chen was in a state of confusion, only revealing it inadvertently.

So, what he had seen before was not necessarily true.

Due to the memory crossover involving two time-spaces, some things were simply jumbled.

Back to the main point.

The original time-space continued, second by second.

Without Shen Xuan Feng, there was no assassin divine dynasty.

However, Ye Xing Chen still existed, and he was still a pair with the Star Moon Saintess.

In the original time-space, he did not know Liu Ru Yan at all.

As for Ji Ning Shuang, after the Three Sects Grand Competition, they became strangers, with no major entanglements even after Da Chu's unification, and certainly no Ye Fan was born.

Ye Ling did exist.

She was born before Da Chu's unification and was born with the Wuwang Eyes.

"How interesting."

Ye Chen sat on the mountaintop, hands in his sleeves, sighing. So this was the original history?

Not knowing was one thing, but seeing it left him baffled.

Without Hong Chen and the Six Paths, how dull the original history would have been.

Not to mention anything else, just the wives—there were so many fewer.

Thinking about it, this was already pretty good; it wasn't turned into a complete mishmash, and besides, it had already happened and could not be changed by anyone.

There was one person who needed separate mention.

This person was the original time-space's him—from start to finish, he was upright. He never did anything shady like stealing chickens, touching dogs, kidnapping, or grave robbing.

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