Chapter 2918: Dream Dao Reincarnation

Chapter 2918: Dream Dao Reincarnation

That figure dissipated.

The starry sky fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone gazed in that direction, where only a haze of illusory ashes remained, nothing else. A glimmer of hope had turned into despair. He had entered the dream but failed to comprehend the way of the dream.

Ah!

The Tianming and Mingdi emperors sighed together. The light of hope they had nurtured for days vanished in an instant, leaving them with an air of weariness.

That night, the starry sky was shrouded in sorrow.

On the return journey, more tears flowed, with no one speaking, only stifled sobs echoing. This time, Ye Chen had not created a miracle.

Under the moonlight, Yunu Peak was desolate and poignantly beautiful.

Each of the women there had turned gray-haired, their endless tears reflecting the moon's glow, as if their souls had been lost.

Wulei suddenly appeared, gently waving his hand to send the women into a dreamlike slumber. Even Ji Ningshuang, swaying in the motion, fell into a deep sleep, her sorrow having reached its peak, exhausting her very spirit.

Ah!

Wulei sighed as well, then vanished like the wind.

The night sank back into stillness.

The entire Zhutian seemed devoid of life.

"Damn."

In the void, a wolf-like howl seemed to ring out, startling many from their dreams. Thinking they had misheard, they lay back down and slept again.

The howl came from the Ming Realm.

More precisely, from Mingdi himself. It wasn't surprising, for he had witnessed an unbelievable sight.

On Yunu Peak, wisps of illusory ashes gathered in the wind, inch by inch forming a vague human figure. This ethereal form, bathed in starlight and moonlight, solidified bit by bit into a real person.

It was Ye Chen, the true Ye Chen—not in the form of a dream, but a flesh-and-blood man.

"Ye Chen?"

Mingdi whispered through the barrier.

"Stop howling."

Ye Chen replied casually, twisting his neck and stretching lazily. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in so long.

"You're... alive again just like that?"

Mingdi was stunned, his eyes wide.

Not just him—even the Dao Ancestor hadn't seen through it.

He had clearly been destroyed, so how was he alive now?

Under their watchful eyes, Ye Chen had already entered the small bamboo grove and stood before Ye Fan's grave, gently touching the tombstone.

As for how he had come back to life, it wasn't due to heavenly favor. The process was more complex than imagined.

Dream-wandering, going and returning, was a cycle of reincarnation.

He hadn't walked the ancient roads; he had followed the path of reincarnation.

In that eternal instant, the dream was both illusion and reality. Every place he visited and every action he took was no coincidence. They were nodes in the void, connecting into a line of reincarnation, forming the Meng Dao Lunhui in his sleep.

Seeing no response from Ye Chen, the Tianming and Mingdi emperors exchanged glances, growing even more puzzled about him. Had he comprehended the Meng Dao in his final moment before death, or was it reincarnation?

But none of that mattered now. What was important was that he had revived, returning from the dream to the mortal world.

It wasn't until some time later that Ye Chen left the small bamboo grove.

In the east, the first hint of red dawn appeared.

Ye Chen smiled, tying on an apron and stepping up to the stove to prepare breakfast for his wives and children.

In the morning, the warm sunlight bathed Hengyue.

"What a wonderful aroma!"

Early-rising disciples stepped out of their caves, stretched, and sniffed the air: Ah, the scent of food.

"I say, is that Ye Chen?"

Xiao Lingwa hovered in the air, munching on a piece of source stone with a crunch, his eyes wide as he stared at Ye Chen. He had been rubbing his eyes since he started watching, unable to believe it.

"Besides him, who else has that dazzling presence?"

Situ Nan said with his hands tucked in his sleeves, speaking meaningfully.

"We cried half the night yesterday—was that all for nothing?"

Xie Yun took a swig from his wine flask and inhaled deeply.

"What the hell— I want to curse."

"Come on, join in."

"One, two, three— damn."

That curse word echoed from countless mouths, shouted with bold defiance. Those who were awake were startled into trembling; those still asleep jolted upright.

"Get lost."

An echo came from Yunu Peak.

After that, the ones howling like wolves all collapsed, one by one. If they hadn't been awake, well, they could go back to sleep.

Creak!

Creak!

On Yunu Peak, the sound of doors creaking rang out repeatedly.

Then, women rushed out of their rooms, some not even wearing shoes, their eyes fixed on a somewhat dreamlike figure.

Ye Chen—it was Ye Chen.

"Wash up, breakfast is ready."

"Okay."

The women murmured in a daze, their responses hesitant.

He hadn't died? He was back?

This breakfast was full of warmth.

At the table, no one spoke, all focused on eating, afraid that a word might shatter the scene into a dream. Only the glistening tears repeatedly overwhelmed their souls.

"Ye Chen, how many tears do you plan to make us shed?"

"I haven't shed any fewer myself."

For a moment, all the women looked up together.

A simple exchange of words.

Crash! Bang! Clang!

Then, chaos erupted. Dishes, bowls, basins—everything was thrown at Ye Chen.

He was knocked down, a classic scene of a group beating.

How to put it? Only by truly hitting him, only by drawing a little blood, could they confirm if he was really back.

This family was quite something.

Mingdi watched from afar, hands clasped, sighing endlessly.

When the man was dead, they all cried their hearts out.

When he came back to life, they beat him half to death.

The women of Yunu Peak were truly peculiar.

After the meal, Ye Chen limped over and sat under the old tree, his hair a mess like a bird's nest, his face bruised and swollen with black eyes, blood dripping from one nostril forever.

This was Yunu Peak's special welcome ritual.

Ye Chen's toughness in enduring beatings was thanks to his wives, each of whom had played a part.

The women wept with joy, having beaten Ye Chen and truly confirmed that the man named Ye Chen had returned.

That day, Da Chu was truly lively.

Crowds flocked in, and some of the more unruly ones even blocked the paths of Hengyue to curse.

He died yesterday and lived today—what a waste of our tears all night.

The women's words were spot on: You shameless bastard, how many tears do you plan to wring from us?

They cursed, but mostly out of joy.

The legendary war god had finally revived. As expected, the sacred body lineage had never disappointed the common people.

One great emperor and one fully realized sacred body.

Now, Zhutian had two supreme beings, and they were a couple. The future road was full of glory.

The human realm was destined to rise.

In this era of recuperation, a radiant light enveloped everything.

The people's hearts were at peace.

If one emperor wasn't enough to protect Zhutian, adding a fully realized sacred body made it impregnable, unafraid of invasions from foreign realms or surprise attacks by supremes.

In this era, they would grow under the protection of the new emperor and the sacred body until they could stand on their own.

The incense of Zhutian was still flourishing.

This flourishing referred not only to the lineages but also to the offerings and beliefs, burning in every corner.

If you looked down upon the entire human realm, nearly every continent, every star domain, every star, and every force had majestic statues standing tall, carved in the likeness of those who had died in the great calamities.

Back then, Ye Chen had used offerings to revive Bei Sheng.

Now, the people were doing the same.

This practice had started many years ago, with daily worship and the most devout offerings.

Whether it would lead to revival, no one knew.

But hope was always worth holding onto.

Night fell quietly.

Ye Chen climbed to the peak alone, bathing in the moonlight and closing his eyes to meditate—or perhaps to summon.

In his dream revival, the treasures in his small world, like source stones, magical tools, immortal herbs, and spiritual fruits, were still there.

But those outside, like the Chaos Cauldron, Chaos Fire, and Chaos Thunder, were not.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

A fragment of the Chaos Cauldron beside him vibrated, its imprint and consciousness slowly awakening due to Ye Chen's revival. After years of dormancy, it regained its luster.

Soon, strands of star sand finer than hair drifted from the heavens—the remnants of the Chaos Cauldron, smaller than dust grains—all summoned by Ye Chen.

As the owner of the Chaos Cauldron, it was easier for him to find his natal weapon than for Ji Ningshuang. Each small fragment retained an imprint, perceptible only to its master, allowing them to regather and be reforged.

Crack! Clang! Bang!

Such sounds occasionally echoed from the top of Yunu Peak as the sand-like fragments gathered strand by strand, reshaping bit by bit before Ye Chen.

This was a time-consuming process.

It took Ye Chen nine months to barely reforge the Chaos Cauldron. Its light was dim, as its consciousness hadn't fully recovered, and its body was covered in cracks. Though reforged, it still needed much time to be properly sacrificed.

Under the old tree, Ji Ningshuang waved her hand, sending strands of colorful divine materials to the mountaintop.

These were refined from the fragments of the Zhuxian Sword, most of which she had given to Xiyan and Lin Shuhua. The rest was meant for her Donghuang Emperor Sword.

Now, all of it went to Ye Chen for repairing the Chaos Cauldron.

In the tenth month, Ye Chen summoned again.

This time, it was the Chaos Fire.

From the heavens, faint wisps of fire breath arrived, invisible even to quasi-emperors. As an emperor, Ji Ningshuang could only vaguely sense them—a reversal of laws.

Ye Chen refined the source of the Chaos Fire from his body, suspending it in the air to absorb the wisps of fire breath.

A tiny golden flame, no bigger than a grain of rice, slowly ignited—that was the origin of the Chaos Fire. Given enough time, Ye Chen could restore it to its former glory.

Next came the Chaos Thunder, following the same method. He extracted the source of the Chaos Thunder from his body to absorb the summoned wisps of thunder breath, igniting the thunder as well.

This process was equally lengthy.

To revive the Chaos Fire and Chaos Thunder, Ye Chen spent three full years. They had some intelligence but couldn't speak as before, as they were not yet complete.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The Chaos Cauldron hummed, and the Chaos Fire and Chaos Thunder trembled lightly—it was a joyful quiver, the three brothers reunited.

Ye Chen sat cross-legged, quietly breathing and meditating, his radiant golden form like that of an ancient deity.

The top of Yunu Peak became a pure land, undisturbed by anyone. All knew Ye Chen was preparing for his impending tribulation—specifically, his full sacred body tribulation, which he had yet to overcome.

If on that day he had been a complete sacred body after passing the tribulation, whether he could have withstood the nine peak emperors was unknown. But at least, he could have slain a good half of them alone.

PS: Three chapters today.

(February 24, 2020)

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