Chapter 2304: Take Me Home
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ye Futian was overtaken by the atmosphere created by this guqin. It was from the sadness he experienced before. It seemed as if every note was no longer just a simple note but a feeling, a scene from the life of Shenyin the Great.
His most respected teacher, his favorite hometown, and his most beloved woman were all lost in that great battle. If he had reached the peak of realms, what of it? He was so hopeless that he finally fell into total despair and composed the Divine Requiem—a composition that was known throughout the world.
However, the outcome was that he too became part of that guqin.
Those lively notes imprinted in Ye Futian’s mind as the rhythm became clearer. Suddenly, a guqin appeared in front of him, which was transformed by the Divine Wheel of the Great Path. The strings of the instrument moved, and every note seemed to be filled with immense sorrow. Each beating note seemed to resonate with the Divine Requiem.
Ye Futian seemed to be playing the Divine Requiem.
Some experiences of Shenyin the Great’s lifetime bore shocking similarities to Ye Futian’s; the two men resonated emotionally. However, even though he had fallen into that boundless dejection before, Ye Futian seemed to have escaped from it at this moment. Not quite a true breakaway, but he was able to reach beyond the emotion of sadness and had come to a place of acceptance, which was also the feelings conveyed by the Divine Requiem. Only the person who had gone through the progression of these feelings could compose this Divine Requiem.
And Ye Futian seemed to have understood something and was doing exactly that.
Although the notes he played were far from the true Divine Requiem, the feelings were there so that the notes he played were integrated into the atmosphere of the Divine Requiem, as if resonating with it.
Gradually, Ye Futian’s music became much more skilled, and his sense of sorrow became even stronger. He was still immersed in the endless sadness, but his consciousness was quite lucid, surpassing the emotions he was feeling.
As the music played, countless invisible currents surrounded Ye Futian’s person. In front of the guqin transformed by the Great Emperor, an elusive phantom sat quietly there; it seemed to be looking up at Ye Futian at the moment.
It was as if he embodied a complete life force, like he were truly Shenyin the Great.
“What century is it now?” A questioning voice drifted into Ye Futian’s ears, making his heart shudder.
The Great Emperor had spoken.
Although Ye Futian had been in contact with the will of Great Emperors before, aside from Emperor Ye Qing, this was only the second time that he had really seen a Great Emperor who was fully conscious. He was speaking to him.
“Elder, it is now the Age of the Divine Prefecture. It has been more than 10,000 years,” Ye Futian replied. After hearing his answer, the figure fell into deep silence for a while, then let out a sigh. His eyes drifted to a place far away, then back down at his guqin.
He had turned into a guqin, drifting about for countless years, and he had lost count of what year or age it was.
“Where is home?”
The sound of a deep sigh was heard. It seemed that Shenyin the Great knew that he was without a home. His hometown had long been destroyed; his master and his beloved were no longer there. Everything existed only in his mind, a construct of his persistence.
“After the collapse of the Heavenly Path, the world has changed. This is the Original Realm. After the collapse of the Heavenly Path, the world is no longer stable.” Ye Futian responded, “The hometown that you seek, perhaps, no longer remains.”
He didn’t lie to him. Ye Futian was being as honest as he could be. No matter how stubborn Shenyin the Great was, holding on to the idea of home, it was nothing but wishful thinking.
There was another moment of silence. The phantom of Shenyin the Great looked at Ye Futian and asked, “Who are you, and why are you in control of the body of Shenjia the Great Emperor?”
Clearly, he had recognized that this divine body belonged to Shenjia the Great Emperor.
“I am Ye Futian, the College Chief of Heavenly Mandate Academy in the Original Realm, as well as the Palace Lord of Ziwei Imperial Palace in Ziwei Segmentum. I acquired the body of Shenjia the Great Emperor by chance and resonated with it. This caused the scene seen by the elder,” Ye Futian responded.
Shenyin the Great scrutinized him a little more closely. In short, Ye Futian had already received the inheritance of two Great Emperors.
“Ziwei Segmentum, the Palace Lord of Ziwei Imperial Palace… Does Ziwei the Great still exist?” asked Shenyin the Great.
“Ziwei the Great had already perished when the Heavenly Path collapsed. But he had left behind a will to seal up the entire Ziwei Segmentum. Not long ago, the seal was broken, and Ziwei Segmentum was connected to the outside world once again. The will of Ziwei the Great remains in the starry sky world and was inherited by me,” Ye Futian continued.
Shenyin the Great cast another look at Ye Futian, and that look seemed to contain deep suggestions. Not only did this man possess the inheritance of the two top Great Emperors, controlling the physical body of Shenjia the Great Emperor, but he had also inherited the will of Ziwei the Great. In addition, he was proficient in music, enough to comprehend the true meaning of the Divine Requiem. He was able to enter the world of his feeling. Indeed, he was truly an extraordinary individual. No wonder he could play the notes that resonated with the Divine Requiem and see everything that was in front of him.
“Sir, there is nothing ahead. The Original Realm is no longer the world it used to be. The hometown that you used to know is long gone. I hope that you can let go of your persistence to return to a place that no longer exists,” Ye Futian said as he bowed. If they continued, the Dragon Turtle would keep going and inevitably impact the surface of other realms, destroying them. The worlds in the Lower World could not withstand the force of the Dragon Turtle; they would collapse immediately.
Ye Futian could only persuade Shenyin the Great to let go of this stubbornness, as Shenyin the Great was the only one who could prevent this disastrous scenario from happening. Other cultivators, even those powerful enough to survive the second Divine Tribulation, had fallen into that endless sorrow in the music. They were completely unable to stop the Dragon Turtle’s forward momentum.
“The way ahead has ended. Where, oh, where is the way back?” Shenyin the Great murmured. His casual sigh seemed to contain a strong sense of loss.
He wanted to find a way home, but there was no road ahead.
Where was the way home!?
If he could not find the way back, where would he go?
“I pledge to find a grove of peach trees for you, sir, and bury the guqin when the peach blossoms are in full bloom,” Ye Futian continued. Shenyin the Great looked at him now and saw from his eyes that he was truly sincere. The guqin could communicate and know the hearts of men. Perhaps Ye Futian could perceive his existence through the Divine Requiem and understood his feelings. This proved that they were of the same kind and that this young man in front of him bore some similarities to him.
Shenyin the Great took one more look at Ye Futian. Divine lights appeared upon his body, shining directly upon Ye Futian. The light penetrated Ye Futian’s brow chakra. It bore into Ye Futian’s mind and consciousness.
Shenyin the Great seemed to be connected to Ye Futian somehow. After a while, the divine lights dissipated, and the way that Shenyin the Great was looking at Ye Futian seemed to have changed.
“Perhaps everything in this world is destined,” Shenyin the Great murmured to himself. He then said to Ye Futian,” I will lend you this guqin for 300 years, until the day when higher heights can be reached in the future. Take me home now.”
“Take you home?” Ye Futian looked at Shenyin the Great, a little puzzled. His home had disintegrated long ago and no longer existed. How were they going to go back?