Return to the Peak

This was the final battle.

Ye Chuan looked at the Chaos Avenue stretching all the way to his feet. But instead of immediately following it into the forbidden land, he turned around, opened the app, and returned to the Myriad Realms Apartment.

His past self had already proven with the result that directly returning to the Chaos Emperor Body would only cause the seal to fail, allowing the three Outer Gods to enter this world completely.

Now that some of his memories had returned, Ye Chuan knew that he was no match for them yet.

After logging off, Ye Chuan appeared in the living room. Bai Qianshuang, Luo Xi, and the others were all there.

“You’re back, Ye Chuan.” Lan Xiaoke raised a hand in greeting when she saw him return.

The moment Luo Xi saw Ye Chuan step out of the world passage, she immediately rose from the sofa and came over to inspect him carefully.

“Chuan Chuan, why are you back so soon?”

“I didn’t go in.”

Ye Chuan sat down beside the dining table and told them about the failed reincarnation he had witnessed through the Chaos Avenue, as well as the Chaos Emperor Body waiting for him deep within the forbidden land.

Since his memories had returned, he also explained that the core of the Immortal Realm was his system.

He glanced at his inventory—

[Item: Reincarnation Immortal Body*Red

The Saint Physique of Ten Thousand Reincarnations. When the owner of this physique is on the verge of death, their soul will… After nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine reincarnations, the physique will evolve…]

So that was how it was.

So that was how it was…

The Immortal Chaos Body and the Reincarnation Immortal Body.

He had originally thought that these were physiques he had drawn from the app—

But in the end, everything had belonged to him from the start.

“Then don’t go in just yet.” Bai Qianshuang showed little surprise after hearing him out. She simply came over and sat down beside Ye Chuan.

Luo Xi followed suit, sitting on his other side and hugging his arm.

“After all, that body has already been sitting there for so many years. Another day or two won’t make a difference.”

Ye Chuan had been thinking the same thing.

Although the forbidden land was expanding, it had not yet completely fallen out of control. The Chaos Emperor Body was still standing before the entrance to the Outer Gods, proving that the final trace of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor’s instinct was still resisting the corruption.

He still had time.

“If I take back the Emperor Body directly, I’ll become the Chaos Heavenly Emperor again.”

Ye Chuan looked at everyone around the table.

“But the Chaos Heavenly Emperor has already lost once. I’m not planning to walk the same path a second time.”

He intended to travel to various timelines and worlds to gather more power. There were two places of particular importance—

One was the timeline where Lilith had originally lived.

The other connected to the New Century future world where Ke Ning had lived.

Their combat strength was formidable.

“Granny, will you come with me?” Ye Chuan extended a hand toward Lilith.

“You really are troublesome.” Lilith, who had been standing nearby with her arms crossed, sighed.

Ye Chuan smiled and picked up his phone.

Bai Qianshuang did not stop him. She merely grasped his hand as he stood up.

“Remember to come back safely.”

“Mm.”

Luo Xi did not insist on coming along, either.

The world passage gradually closed.

Ye Chuan first entered the Aether Continent where Lilith had originally lived. In that long-since-ended timeline, he saw the source of magic corrupted by the Outer Gods. He also saw how the entire world had gradually moved toward destruction after its very foundation was changed.

Not a single living creature remained on the Aether Continent.

The cities, forests, and magic towers from Lilith’s memories had all been reduced to ruins. The remnants of magic still flowed through the world, but they could no longer give birth to new life.

After leaving the Aether Continent, Ye Chuan entered the New Century future world where Ke Ning had lived. Most of the artifacts left behind by the former spacefaring civilization were still preserved, yet the entire world had fallen utterly silent.

After the Outer Gods’ corruption spread, all life had vanished from its own cognition and from the records of civilization. Only countless machines continued operating, waiting for users who would never return.

The two timelines had followed entirely different paths.

One had touched the roots of the world through magic. The other had relied on civilization and computation to analyze the laws of reality.

Yet when the Outer Gods truly descended, both ultimately reached the same conclusion.

Until the moment of their destruction, neither world had been able to locate the true existence of the three Outer Gods, much less prevent their own powers and perceptions from being gradually altered by them.

According to the timelines, the Aether Continent had ended with the Seven Witches perishing together with the Outer Gods. Only Lilith had survived as a remnant of a soul.

Ke Ning’s world had fared no better. Although it could rewind time countless times, it could not reverse the outcome of destruction.

Ye Chuan followed the traces they had left behind and personally experienced everything the two worlds had once faced.

…

No one knew how much time had passed. At last, the world passage inside the Myriad Realms Apartment lit up again.

When Ye Chuan stepped through the door, everyone in the living room was still there.

Luo Xi was the first to notice his return. She immediately stood and came over, running her hands over him to check for injuries.

“Chuan Chuan, why were you gone for so long this time?”

“I went through some training along the way.”

Ye Chuan sat down beside the dining table and briefly described the fates of the Aether Continent and the New Century future world.

In Lilith’s timeline, the Seven Witches had burned through all their power and perished together with the Outer Gods. In the end, only Lilith remained.

In the New Century, time could be rewound countless times, yet the outcome of destruction could never be changed. Every restart merely allowed the civilization to hold on a little longer.

However…

Through the countless time reversals in the New Century, Ye Chuan had truly grasped that power capable of interfering with time.

[All APP items unlocked]

He could not make the destroyed Aether Continent and New Century reappear, but he could follow the traces left behind by a person through time and restore them to the peak state they had once possessed.

“So, are you very powerful now?”

Lan Xiaoke had already woken up. Hugging Blue Eggy, she sat on the sofa and studied Ye Chuan curiously.

“Not quite.”

Ye Chuan took out his phone.

“But before the final battle, I can rely on the power of the Immortal Realm’s core to return your strength to you first.”

“Our strength?”

Lan Xiaoke tilted her head, clearly not understanding what he meant.

Ye Chuan did not explain right away. Instead, he silently exchanged several Immortal Emperor Realm cards.

Nothing dramatic happened in the living room. Only an illusory river of time slowly unfolded beneath everyone’s feet, while countless overlapping figures appeared behind each person.

Those figures belonged to different points in time.

Bai Qianshuang quietly watched the river of time behind her. A figure dressed in white imperial robes slowly opened her eyes from the depths of the years.

That was the Luo Xuan Empress who had once suppressed an entire era.

A phantom of Empress Jiuhua appeared behind Luo Xi as well. The Imperial Seal lit up between her brows, and the Emperor Realm power that had long since vanished began flowing back into her present body.

After their memories had returned, the two of them had been able to use part of the power left behind by their previous lives. But their true Emperor Realm cultivation had disappeared along with the destruction of the former Immortal Realm.

What Ye Chuan was doing now was following the timelines of their own lives and bringing back the power that had once belonged to them.

The aura surrounding Bai Qianshuang continued to rise. Yet the space around her did not collapse as a result. All the Emperor-level pressure leaking out was confined within the living room.

Luo Xi lowered her head and looked at her hands before raising her eyes to Ye Chuan. “Chuan Chuan, it looks like everything really has come back this time.”

“Mm.”

Bai Qianshuang gently clenched her hand as well. After confirming that she had recovered her former Great Emperor cultivation, she simply said, “I’m back.”

The River of Time did not stop there.

The years behind Lilith continued to flow backward, finally coming to a halt at the final battle before the destruction of the Aether Continent.

Her long black hair billowed amid the magic, and the powers of the Seven Witches overlapped behind her.

Transcendent Mage.

That was the true peak of Lilith’s power—strength enough to fight an Immortal Dao Great Emperor head-on.

She had once been reduced to nothing more than a wisp of remnant soul. Even after gradually recovering, she had still been unable to return to the state she had reached during the final battle on the Aether Continent.

A vast surge of magic erupted from Lilith’s body. In an instant, every object in the living room turned gray and crumbled into ash. Lilith quickly withdrew her power, and her body was no longer that of a little girl. She lowered her head and glanced at her palm.

“I never thought I’d be able to return to this point in time.”

The other witches had all died by then.

But at least this time, she could carry with her the last remaining strength of the Aether Continent and truly stand before the Outer God who had come to destroy the world.

Ye Chuan shifted his gaze to Lan Xiaoke.

“Your turn.”

“Me?”

Lan Xiaoke hurriedly hugged Blue Eggy tighter. “Was I really that powerful before?”

“You should have been a little stronger than you are now.”

The instant Ye Chuan finished speaking, the time behind Lan Xiaoke began to rapidly flow backward. A vast starry sky appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Countless stars slowly revolved around an enormous celestial beast. With nothing more than the opening of its eyes, the entire sea of stars began to tremble.

The Starry Sky Beast Emperor.

That was Lan Xiaoke’s previous life, and she had once been the pet and mount of the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Emperor.

Truly a pet.

Although she still retained part of that bloodline and instinct, she had long since forgotten that she had once possessed the cultivation of a Great Emperor.

As the River of Time reconnected, star after star transformed into points of light and entered Lan Xiaoke’s body. Her petite form did not change, but a complete sea of stars gradually appeared deep within her eyes.

Blue Eggy, which had been resting quietly in her arms, suddenly began to tremble as well. It seemed to sense the suppression hidden deep within its bloodline, and even the light shining from its eggshell became noticeably more subdued.

Lan Xiaoke blinked, looked down at her hands, and then raised her head to look at everyone.

“I think… I’m invincible now!”

…

Ye Chuan had not turned everyone into Great Emperors. Instead, he had used the timelines they had each left behind to restore the peaks they had once truly reached.

Ke Ning reconnected with the records of the civilization left behind during the strongest era of the New Century. The damaged power within Huli also recovered, and everyone’s auras gradually became complete within the River of Time.

When the last strand of temporal power faded away, the living room returned to silence.

No one present looked noticeably different, but they were no longer in the same state as when they had first entered the Myriad Worlds Apartment.

Luo Xuan Empress.

Empress Jiuhua.

Transcendent Mage·Wrath Demon God Lilith.

Great Emperor Lan Xiaoke, the Starry Sky Beast Emperor.

…

Together with the strongest powers they had once left behind across the various timelines, the people now standing beside Ye Chuan were no longer tenants who needed his protection.

They were a group of beings who truly possessed the qualifications to face the Outer God head-on.

Ye Chuan looked at everyone before asking one final time, “Are you all ready?”

“We’re ready.”

“Let’s go—”

The living room fell silent once more. The lights remained on, waiting for everyone to return.