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Chapter 1176 - Ye Zichen’s Return

After becoming a supreme, Ye Zichen could effortlessly teleport anywhere within the Three Realms. However, he wasn’t in that much of a hurry, so he strolled leisurely through the heavens.

“This ought to be Beast Region territory,” he said after traveling for a while. The tunnel must have dropped him off the Endless Beast Region.

He instinctively led himself to the Dragon Clan’s Dragon City, and stood overhead examining each and every stalk of grass.

This was the place they’d once fought a decisive battle against demonkind.

He looked into the distance and saw remnants of the heaven rending sword strike he’d used to cut down Black Dragon. He’d cut the tops right off the nearby mountain range, and they hadn’t changed since his last visit.

Before long, he found himself in a blackened forest. These were the marks he’d left behind when he underwent divine tribulation. It was here that Xia Keke endured the lightning on his behalf by forcing a premature breakthrough and redirecting the tribulation to strike her instead.

He gently brushed the blackened tree trunks with his fingers, sighed, and looked around, lost in memory.

He left.

He passed through the Beast Region, looking down at the scenery below. Although he intentionally reduced his speed, it took less than an hour for him to travel from Dragon CIty all the way to the outskirts of Maple City.

It was fair to say that Ye ZIchen had far more memories of this place.

When he first arrived in the Three Realms, he found himself in a tiny village on the outskirts of Maple City. He led the villagers here and settled in the city….

It was here that he met Zuo Mo, which triggered a whole series of events.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was his second hometown.

It was hard to return home after a long absence.

Ye ZIchen felt a bit timid. He hid himself in the clouds and watched the city below. His heart felt tied up in knots.

However….

It’s strange.” The once friendly and vibrant city was now grave and somber.

The pedestrians were all hurried, and the stores lining the streets had shut their doors and were no longer accepting customers.

The statue of Ye Zichen in the city center was destroyed; half of it was missing.

Although someone had gathered up and removed the rubble, no one had fixed the damaged statue.

“Ol’ Xue, what do we do now?” A hulking, bare-armed, fierce-eyed man sat at a stone table within a serene courtyard. He was tall and stalwart to begin with, so when he sat, he was like a small mountain.

A scholarly man in green robes sat across from him, his brows tightly knit and his thin lips pursed. “Even if you ask me, I have no idea what to tell you.”

The stalwart man frowned. He was none other than one of the founders of the Leisure House, Ye Zichen’s old friend Stone. The scholarly man was the current head of the Leisure House, Xue Qi.

Both of them were currently in quite the pickle. What made it even worse was, neither of them had the ability to change the situation.

At that moment, Xue Lan stepped inside. She wore a plain white skirt. “Big Bro, the people from the Immortal and Beast Regions are here.”

When they heard that, Stone and Xue Qi looked at each other, rose to their feets, and stepped outside to greet their guests.

“Sorry for the wait.” When they entered the front hall, it was already packed with people. The guests cupped their fists in greeting.

Xue Qi walked to the forefront, looked them over, and spoke, “I imagine everyone already knows the situation. Does anyone have any good ideas?”

To his surprise, everyone grimaced. After a while, an elder from the beast region spoke up, “If everything is as you say, Sect Head Xue, the calamity from one hundred years ago has returned. In that case, all we can do is resist to the bitter end.”

“The leyline is the root of the Three Realms. We can’t possibly hand it over to demons”

“But that’s three thousand immortal kings….”

The atmosphere was bleak. This wasn’t like the Upper Three Realms where immortal kings were on every street corner.

In the current Three Realms, there had never once been over a thousand immortal kings at any given moment, and that’s with the leyline supporting their cultivation.

In the past hundred years, longstanding experts had ascended one by one. They had practically no absolute experts left.

Three thousand demon kings bore down on their borders. How could they possibly resist?

“Back then, we only managed to fight back the demon horde thanks to Emperor Ye. Moreover, we had the four Sacred Beast clan heads, the former leader of the Hundred Flowers Gate and other supreme experts. Even then, we only barely got through it. But now….”

The atmosphere was so dismal, it was like the room had frosted over. Xue Qi knit his brows. He hated seeing everyone look so dismal, but those were the facts.

He couldn’t let this sort of atmosphere linger any longer. He pursed his lips and tried to say something to boost their spirits, but just as he was about to open his mouth, he stopped as if he’d been struck by lightning.

“Ol’ Xue.” Stone was the first to notice the change in his expression. He patted Xue Qi’s shoulders, but his old friend still just stood there in a daze.

After a long pause, Xue Qi frowned and looked over Stone and the group gathered in the hall. “Everyone, this crisis has already been resolved. Please rest at ease, and feel free to return to your respective sects and clans. I have to go meet someone, so I’m afraid I can’t see you off.”

Everyone watched on in bewilderment as he turned around and left the room.

Stone frowned, hesitated briefly, then asked, “Who is it?”

Xue Qi said nothing, but he mouthed a certain person’s name. When Stone saw this, it was as if he’d been electrocuted. He froze in shock, then, a moment later, his eyes lit up with delight.

The others wore blank looks. How could they have resolved this crisis so quickly?

“Brother Stone, what on earth happened?”

Stone clenched his fists, but he couldn’t disguise his excitement at all. He grinned and laughed uproariously, “Do you know who Xue Qi just saw?”

“Who?!”

“Ye Zichen!”

Burnt auburn leaves littered the ground in a maple forest just outside Maple City. Ye Zichen stood atop the fallen leaves and leaned against a tree trunk.

Xue Qi suddenly appeared in the forest and immediately looked towards Ye Zichen.

“Ye….”

“Xue Qi, long time no see.” Before he even finished greeting his old friend, Xue Qi pulled him into a bear hug.

“I knew you were still alive!” When he finally let go, Xue Qi’s eyes were bright with joy. “Back when you sealed away Denglong, we knew that there was no way you’d die so easily. A few years ago, you were the one who helped out Hundred Flowers Gate, weren’t you?”

“You knew about that?” Ye Zichen said in surprise.

“Someone recorded it into a jade slip. When Li Jiayi and Zuo Mo saw it, they recognized you. They were absolutely certain it was you.” Xue Qi laughed. “Where have you been all these years? Why haven’t you come to see us?”

"I…"

What exactly had he done over the past hundred years? Ye Zichen felt a rush of emotion. If he had to explain in detail, it would take days, and in any event, he didn’t want to go into it.

He laughed, but didn’t explain. Instead, he furrowed his brows and looked at the unusually somber Maple City. “What’s going on with the city?”