Chapter 3222: Eternal Melody

In the Taigu Honghuang.

Nü Di stood gracefully, gazing up at the vast sky. She could see through the void, but not through the illusions, and certainly not through the original spacetime. Even at the peak of her power, she couldn't see through it.

By this point, Ye Chen had been gone for many days.

Yet she knew that the flow of time between the two spacetimes must be different.

Perhaps, over there, a hundred or even a thousand years had already passed.

Chu Lingyu and Hong Chen Xue were there too, waiting in silence. They hoped nothing would happen to Ye Chen or Hong Chen. If either of them met with any mishap, they would never return.

Boom! Rumbling!

The Huang Di Jie never ceased, striking every few days.

But today was different.

The Sheng Mo Yu, E Mo Yu, and Tian Mo Yu all faced Huang Di Jie, triggered at the exact same instant. Across two epochs, this was an unprecedented event, with an immense commotion. Everyone knew that among the three undergoing the Huang Di Jie, at least two would perish in the heavenly tribulation, as there was only one Huang Di position.

In reality, it was even more awkward than imagined.

At least two deaths weren't enough; the three domains were completely wiped out. No one advanced; all souls scattered. The tribulations that started simultaneously ended in simultaneous destruction.

"Dammit."

Not only the generation of Sheng Mo, but even the Tian E two Huang Di frowned. What on earth was happening? For one to pass and another to die— was it that the necessary fate was missing in the shadows?

No one could provide an answer.

Some secrets were unknown even to the Heavenly Dao, let alone them.

This day brought not just the Huang Di Jie.

As the universe had just quieted down, in the vast void, a dark sun began to manifest, followed by a second, a third, up to the seventh.

However, they were all illusory.

"Another Tian Mo Chong Qi Sha?" Too many new emperors frowned, though they couldn't see clearly, they could vaguely sense the destructive power slowly gathering.

"It's expected."

Shen Zun held his wine flask, speaking leisurely. Last time, the Tian Mo Chong Qi Sha was jointly destroyed by the future people and Ye Chen, but it was only temporary. As long as the Heavenly Dao existed, so would the Tian Mo Chong Qi Sha. Its manifestation was just a matter of time— early or late made no difference.

"There's not much time left; don't leave any regrets."

Ming Di stroked his beard, his words carrying a deep tone. As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance at Di Zun, including Xuan Di and Gui Di, his eyes slanted.

The implication was quite clear:

That one called Meng Mo— go ahead and pursue her if you want. Who cares about face?

Is this really about face?

Di Zun was utterly honest. If not caring about face could bring Meng Mo home, it would be easy, but the problem was, he couldn't handle a beating. That woman would kill him.

"These four fools."

Many Heavenly Court supreme beings took a deep breath. With the illusion of Tian Mo Chong Qi Sha appearing, the epoch's destruction was gradually unfolding, and the entire Zhutian was preparing for battle. Yet these four were still discussing matters of romance— all day with specialties or rare editions, never doing anything serious.

Get used to it.

The emperors of Zhutian were quite laid-back about it. That's just their style— unreliable when not serious, but when they get serious, they're all complete lunatics, fierce in battle.

In the original spacetime.

In the blank Zhutian universe, Ye Chen sat cross-legged, not cultivating, but listening to the Yong Heng Xian Qu. Those faint strands of melody still echoed, elusive yet present.

The tune was melodious, ancient and beautiful.

Compared to it, Ye Chen was more curious about who the player was. To produce such an immortal melody, it must be no ordinary deity. He didn't know if it was coincidence or intention, but it had actually drawn away the Xing character child. If he could learn this tune, then in the altered spacetime, he could likely draw the child over too. Finding it would be hope.

He sat like this for many years.

Though the blank Zhutian universe had no concept of time, Ye Chen had the eternal power to record the years. Roughly estimating, it had been about a thousand years.

For this millennium, he hadn't moved an inch.

And the child hadn't returned for a thousand years either. Only the eternal melody rang out every hundred years, and each time he listened, it seemed to tell different stories— of sorrow, lament, joy, and world-weariness. One tune expressed a myriad of emotions, every note pulsing with eternity.

Of course, he hadn't wasted this millennium.

Whenever the melody played, he would imprint it with his Dao, then evolve it in eternity. Even for him, after studying it for a full thousand years, he hadn't grasped the true essence of the tune.

Another hundred years passed.

The eternal melody seemed to fade away, silent for a full century.

In the second century, the child returned.

Only then did Ye Chen open his eyes. The child, back from its outing, seemed more dejected than before, head drooping with no energy, that innocent smile gone. Even passing by Ye Chen, it showed no reaction.

"Did you get heartbroken?"

Ye Chen murmured to himself. In no spacetime had he ever seen the child so despondent, like a fool who went to propose marriage and got kicked out by the in-laws.

Of course, that was just a metaphor.

There must be some untold secret behind the child's state.

That year, the child fell into a deep sleep.

Ye Chen didn't leave; he stayed by the child's side, never straying far. He was studying it and observing it, eager to know what this being, above the Heavenly Dao, had experienced and what stories it hid.

Alas, after a hundred years, he found no results.

It was only in the third century that the melody rang out again, wondrous and dreamy.

The child didn't stir, sleeping peacefully.

Ye Chen didn't move either; he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes again, quietly imprinting the eternal tune.

The melody came quickly and left just as fast.

Looking at the sleeping child, strange changes occurred: inch by inch, its form shifted. Or rather, it grew from a child's appearance into a graceful young teenager.

"How familiar."

Ye Chen stared intently. The child in its teenage form looked exactly like one person.

Who?

Zhao Yun.

By the time the child grew into a youth, it wasn't just similar— it was identical to Zhao Yun, as if carved from the same mold.

"Is this the secret you're hiding?"

Ye Chen stood with hands clasped behind his back, sitting cross-legged as he scrutinized the child. The "you" he referred to was Zhao Yun. He knew that guy wasn't simple, involved with the Yong Heng Xian Yu, and the child was also tied to the Yong Heng Xian Yu. The two must have some strange connection— perhaps twins, or even father and son.

"Interesting." Ye Chen's words were profound.

For some reason, seeing the child's face now made his hands itch inexplicably. He didn't know if it was the child he disliked, or Zhao Yun.

Upon closer inspection, it was clearly the latter.

Under his witness, the child grew from youth to middle age, then to old age, aging inch by inch, year by year, until it turned into a wisp of dust, scattering into the boundless unknown. Even Ye Chen couldn't trace it anymore.

He knew the child was still there.

It had just changed its form of existence.

In the blink of an eye, another century passed.

As Ye Chen had anticipated, the particles of dust regathered, reforming into the Xing character child.

Yet, it still hadn't awakened.

The beautiful melody, fitting the scene, rang out again after a hundred years, carrying a touch of sorrow and desolation. It played for a full century.

"It must be a woman."

Ye Chen murmured, listening intently with his eyes closed, as if he could see a graceful figure dancing under the moon and playing the qin in the clouds. Every smile and frown was like a dream. It was she who played the eternal tune, stirring legends and myths.

But even with all his vision, Ye Chen couldn't make out who she was.

Still, no matter how he looked, that figure felt somewhat familiar.

Perhaps he even knew her.

This was intriguing. In the eternity beyond the universe, how many secrets were hidden? Was it his own ignorance, or his cultivation not profound enough, that he couldn't see the truth?

The melody stopped once more.

The Xing character child awakened again, sitting there in a daze.

The strange transformation repeated.

It was still that child, growing visibly into a teenager.

"How familiar."

Ye Chen repeated the phrase, his gaze odd.

By the time the child became a youth, the oddity turned to confusion.

This time, the child's face had nothing to do with Zhao Yun; it was identical to Ye Chen himself, making him feel like he was looking in a mirror.

What to do? His hands still icked.

Ye Chen's expression clearly showed this.

Fortunately, the people of Zhutian weren't here; otherwise, they would surely feel relieved.

Even seeing his own face made him this itchy— it showed just how unpopular Ye Chen was. Anyone could pick a fight with him, right?

Nonsense aside.

At critical moments, the Tenth Emperor of Great Chu was still reliable, always observing. He understood the child growing into Zhao Yun, but growing into himself was bizarre.

Ah!

As he watched, the child suddenly let out a roar, using all its strength, howling at the sky in anger and grief. Each cry came from the soul.

Wuu wuu wuu!

Then came the child's sobs, kneeling there like a lowly criminal, disheveled hair covering half its face, crying tears streaming down.

Those were eternal tears, flickering with the light of world-weariness.

Ye Chen fell silent; the child cried so painfully that he felt it as if it were his own. His soul ached too. Subconsciously touching his eye corner, he found it wet.

What was happening?

In that instant, an unprecedented confusion enveloped Ye Chen's mind.

There were too many mists of doubt.

If Zhao Yun and the child were connected, then he and the child were linked too. Otherwise, why among so many people did it specifically become them? Was it because of eternity?

Ha ha ha!

The child seemed manic, howling and crying before bursting into laughter. The more it laughed, the more tears filled its eyes— whether crying or laughing, it was like a madman.

It left, hair disheveled, like a soulless walking corpse. It hadn't drunk any wine, yet it stumbled as if drunk.

Ye Chen followed silently, seeing in the child not just its own shadow, but Zhao Yun's— one crying, one laughing; one laughing, one crying.

Gradually, he couldn't keep up with the child's pace.

It had left the Zhutian universe again, still acting erratically. Even through the universe barrier, one could hear its cries and laughter, blending with the suddenly rising eternal tune into a funeral song, moving Ye Chen to tears.

From then on, for eight hundred years, he never saw the child again.

And that eternal tune, in those eight hundred years, never sounded.

Ye Chen didn't leave; he was still waiting— waiting for the melody, which he hadn't fully learned; waiting for the child, whose identity he hadn't uncovered. Having come to this most original spacetime, his once clear mind was now shrouded in a hazy confusion.