Chapter 922: Reunion's Calm

Chapter 922: The Calm of Reunion

The night sky was profound, with shattered stars like dust.

In the vast Bei Chu, a bloody mist lingered, turning even the faint starlight red. The land was strewn with corpses, rivers of blood flowing everywhere.

Shi Xue Dian's Yan Luo dragged his blood-drenched, bone-exposed body back to Shi Xue Dian. As soon as he stepped into the grand hall, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Indeed, he was severely wounded, and Shi Xue Dian had suffered greatly too. Six out of the nine branch hall masters had been slain, and their massive army had taken heavy losses, fleeing in disarray back to Shi Xue Dian and activating layer upon layer of mountain-protecting barriers.

The major clans were in a similar state. The ancestors of various forces had led their battered remnants back to their strongholds, all wearing expressions of terror.

For the Xue Clan, Xue Wang stood tall on the high platform, his back straight, but he remained silent.

The Xue Ling clan had been annihilated, and the Xue Clan had deployed ninety percent of its forces, joining Shi Xue Dian and the major clans of Bei Chu in a coalition of several million cultivators. Yet, they had still been utterly defeated. Even the mighty Xue Wang had been injured.

How many years had it been? For the first time, this vast land had become eerily quiet. Ancient cities, mountain ranges, hidden valleys, the void skies, and the earth—all were deathly still, a silence that was almost terrifying.

In the nighttime of Bei Chu, almost no one was in sight.

Too many people fell silent, afraid to sleep, for that person was like a nightmare, haunting them like a demon.

"It's been nearly a thousand years, and this is the first time I've seen Bei Chu this calm—so calm it's suffocating!" On a mountaintop, gazing at the vast Bei Chu, Tian Zong's old ancestor sighed.

"Several million cultivators, all driven back in defeat by one person—who would dare show themselves?" Zhong Jiang took a deep breath.

"Do you think if we mobilized the Tian Ting army tonight and attacked, we could sweep away all the strong forces of Bei Chu?" Zhuge old man stroked his beard.

"Though they've been defeated, their foundations remain intact," Dao Huang pondered. "Their overall strength still surpasses Tian Ting. If we push them too hard, it could backfire—desperate people are the most dangerous."

"Besides, after this battle, all sides in Bei Chu are on high alert. If we attack, it would be a siege, and that's no easy task."

"What's there to fear? We have Ye Chen. If needed, we can just let him strike again," Niu Shisan said brashly.

"Strike again?" His words made everyone's hearts tremble as they recalled that shocking scene of blood. Even with their resolve, they couldn't help but gasp.

They had witnessed it from start to finish: several million cultivators surrounding him, submerging him time and again, only for him to fight his way out repeatedly. For three full days and nights, he had forced those millions into retreat.

"Let's do it again," Zhuge old man said eagerly, clenching his fists.

"Directly sweep through Bei Chu."

"Wishes are beautiful, but reality is cruel," Tai Xu Gu Long said slowly. "He's no longer in that state, so he doesn't have the means to drive back Bei Chu's forces again."

Hearing this, everyone furrowed their brows and looked behind them.

There, Ye Chen lay in Chu Xuan Er's arms, in a deep slumber.

Vaguely, they could see that his wounds were healing much more slowly, and most importantly, the blood flowing from him had returned from black to gold, its aura no longer as overwhelmingly powerful as before.

"That's Xue Ji Xian Jie," Tai Xu Gu Long said slowly.

"Xue Ji Xian Jie?"

"The so-called Xue Ji Xian Jie is the ultimate state after a bloodline nears full sublimation," Tai Xu Gu Long explained. "As it's an ultimate state, not just anyone can achieve it. But once activated, it shakes heaven and earth, moves gods and ghosts—a fact you've all witnessed firsthand."

"No wonder," everyone sighed.

"But that's nothing, right?" Niu Shisan stroked his chin. "Once he wakes up, he can activate Xue Ji Xian Jie again and pull off something even bigger."

"Xue Ji Xian Jie is profound and mysterious. Achieving it once doesn't guarantee a second time—it depends on fate," Tai Xu Gu Long said calmly. "This time, it was due to a convergence of factors that led to it happening by chance, but such opportunities aren't always there."

"In that case, it's truly a pity."

"It seems unifying Da Chu will require more careful planning."

"I say, why don't we chat somewhere else?" Zhuge old man coughed and glanced at Chu Xuan Er holding Ye Chen, then at Dao Huang and Tai Xu Gu Long.

"Then let's change locations."

"Then let's change locations." Tai Xu Gu Long coughed and turned, vanishing from sight. Dao Huang and the others also disappeared one by one.

On the mountaintop, only Chu Xuan Er, Ye Chen, and Chu Ling Er remained.

As the others left, Chu Ling Er lightly bit her lip, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she quietly descended the mountain. After three years and another three, when Ye Chen awoke, the person he most wanted to see was likely Chu Xuan Er.

The night sky was silent, and the world fell quiet once more.

A gentle breeze blew, carrying the scent of blood and stirring Chu Xuan Er's white hair.

This scene, under the stars on the mountain peak, was frozen in time—like an eternal ice sculpture.

"Chu Xuan, your hair has all turned white!" At some point, a hoarse voice came from her arms. It was Ye Chen speaking, though he hadn't opened his eyes, as if too exhausted.

"You're the same, your hair has turned white too." Chu Xuan Er smiled through her tears, still holding him.

Their reunion, which might have been filled with tears, was surprisingly calm.

Yet, in that seemingly calm exchange, there lay unspoken depths of hardship. They had searched to the edge of the world and beyond, traversing the mortal realm for three years and then another three. Time had slipped away, feeling like a lifetime apart!

The silent night went undisturbed.

On the mountain peak, their figures were accompanied only by the wind.

Ye Chen seemed utterly spent, sleeping for three full days and nights.

On the fourth night's eve, snow began to fall across the heavens, an unusual sight in the cultivator world that left all under the sky staring up in astonishment.

On the mountain peak, Ye Chen had awakened, sitting quietly there. She leaned on his arm, resting her head on his shoulder, gazing at the swirling snowflakes. Each one seemed to carry an extraordinary story.

The affairs of the world are truly strange. Once, they had been so close, yet they had missed each other time and again.

Fortunately, this time, they hadn't missed it.

How awkward is that!

Down the mountain, three rogues stood with hands in their sleeves, dark circles under their eyes, staring eagerly at the peak. They had waited three whole days without seeing the scene they anticipated.

In the Tian Xuan Gate's grand hall, Fu Ya also stood with hands in his sleeves, squatting before an illusory water curtain, watching Ye Chen and Chu Xuan Er intently, as if waiting for some classic moment.

"Then what do you want them to do?" Dong Huang Tai Xin glanced at Fu Ya and continued flipping through her ancient book leisurely.

"I can tolerate no clothes being shed, and I can tolerate no kiss, but some questions should still be asked, right?"

"What do you want him to ask?"

"There are plenty of questions that need asking, like why she went to Da Chu's forbidden ground, or why she..."

"Ye Chen not asking doesn't mean he doesn't want to," Dong Huang Tai Xin interrupted. "It's just that he hasn't figured out how to ask, or perhaps he doesn't dare easily uncover the secrets on Chu Xuan. Besides, even if he asked, it would be pointless—Chu Xuan has no memory of those things."

"No memory of those things?" Fu Ya was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"Do you really think Chu Xuan was unaware of what happened in Nan Chu back then? Or that she didn't know Ye Chen was still alive? No, she knew everything. It's not that she didn't want to return; she couldn't. Or more precisely, the Zhu Xian Jian wouldn't let her."

"I see." Fu Ya suddenly understood. "So the Zhu Xian Jian not only controlled her but probably erased some of her memories too."

"It's not probable; it's certain," Dong Huang Tai Xin set down her ancient book and gazed quietly at Chu Xuan Er in the water curtain. "There's a subconscious drive called protection. No one knows how hard she fought against the Zhu Xian Jian to protect Ye Chen. It's precisely because of that subconscious pull that we have the Ye Chen of today."

"Holy Master, I don't understand—why must the Zhu Xian Jian destroy Ye Chen?" Fu Ya took a deep breath and finally voiced his doubt.

"I don't understand either." Dong Huang Tai Xin shook her head gently. "This land hides too many secrets even I can't fathom—Shen Xuan Feng, Hong Chen, Ruo Xi, Ye Chen, Zhu Xian Jian, Chu Xuan—they're all part of some intricate web. What exactly is their connection?"