Chen Dalei's System Crash, The Destiny Calamity Project, A Yi, You've Really Made It

"Am I... dead?"

Chen Dalei felt dazed, as if he were endlessly falling through an abyss of darkness with no end in sight.

Logically, when a person dies, their once-warm body should gradually grow cold, their boiling blood slowly congealing—like passing through the seasons, only to finally rest in the depths of winter's night.

"But why?"

"I don’t feel cold at all. Instead, I’m growing hotter, as if I’ve returned to the height of summer—full of vitality, my blood and qi surging like in my youth, strong enough to punch a bull to death..."

"Not only that, but I feel incredible. I can sense every part of my body stirring with life... Is this A-Yi’s doing?"

"That brat still couldn’t let go, could he? To revive this old man, he altered history, bore the backlash of temporal forces—what’s the point of suffering like this?"

"Wait, no. A-Yi isn’t reckless. He’s been mature beyond his years since childhood, and with my teachings, he never makes a move unless he’s certain of success!"

"So, he must have had at least a ninety-nine percent chance of pulling this off!"

"But then... why can’t I wake up?"

Chen Dalei fell into deep thought.

He could clearly feel his mind sharpening, his thoughts growing agile and lively again, no longer the muddled haze of his later years when he could barely stay conscious.

Suddenly—

A sensation struck him. He jerked his gaze upward.

Like withered earth stirring back to life, a sliver of dawn light pierced the silence of night.

His scorching heart pounded!

A blazing sun descended, scattering the endless darkness!

The hard ground beneath his feet began to melt, and only then did he realize—it wasn’t earth at all, but a thick layer of ice, beneath which churned a vast, seething ocean of boiling water!

No, not an ocean...

That was... his own sea of consciousness!

Fragments of the past reflected in the waters, memories long forgotten now resurfacing.

And that radiant sun in the sky wasn’t the real sun—it was his own spiritual platform, the core of his soul, the seat of his primordial spirit that governed his sea of consciousness!

Unlike the decayed ruin of his later years, this spiritual platform now gleamed pristine as white jade, untouched by dust, as if freshly forged at birth!

A beam of rainbow light descended from the platform, enveloping Chen Dalei.

After a brief moment of adjustment, he couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head. "You’ve really outdone yourself, A-Yi..."

Now, he understood everything.

A withered tree sprouting new buds, an old man granted a second spring—A-Yi had retrieved his scattered soul from the past after death, leaving only his body to weather the passage of time, accumulating layer upon layer of temporal scars, until his soul finally returned, reviving him.

What skill! What power!

A-Yi had truly climbed to the heights they had once only dreamed of together!

At that moment, his body, lifeless for over eight hundred years, slowly rebooted.

Chen Dalei opened his eyes effortlessly, his control over his body unimpaired despite centuries of stillness—to him, it felt like an eternity, yet also just a fleeting instant.

"Old man, welcome to the future—eight hundred years later."

Chen Yi stood before him, eyes crinkled with amusement, lips curled in a faint smile, clearly pleased.

Beside him, a pale-purple kitten tilted its head, round eyes fixed on Chen Dalei as if calculating something.

Chen Dalei stretched his limbs, then slowly rose from the longevity coffin, his gaze deep as he studied Chen Yi.

That familiar face hadn’t changed much from when he was eighteen—just a touch less youthful, a shade more mature, and ninety-eight parts more of an overwhelming, world-dominating confidence!

Time truly spared no one. To think A-Yi had reached such heights—it couldn’t have been easy. How much suffering had he endured? How much effort had he poured in? How much time had it taken...

Wait.

Hold on.

What had A-Yi just said?

Welcome to eight hundred years later?

"A-Yi, unless these old ears are failing me, did you just say... it’s only been eight hundred years?"

Chen Yi gave a slight nod. "Yes, you heard right. And don’t worry, your hearing is perfectly fine now. After being nourished by the longevity wood, you should be able to feel just how young your body is again."

Chen Dalei’s near-pristine brain short-circuited briefly. After a pause, he still couldn’t believe it. "A-Yi, are you telling me... you reached a level where you could reverse the river of time and retrieve me from the past... in just eight hundred years?"

"That’s something even a Unity-stage cultivator can’t do. Did you ascend to immortality? In just eight hundred years? But the Heavenly Tribulation is supposed to be insurmountable! For millennia, no one has succeeded—most can’t even survive a single bolt of tribulation lightning!"

"Don’t tell me you’re that one-in-a-billion peerless genius?"

He’d always suspected A-Yi was extraordinary, but he never imagined he’d be this extraordinary!

Ascending in eight hundred years—that was a feat only recorded in ancient legends!

And compared to the prodigies of antiquity, achieving this in the current harsh cultivation environment, under a Heavenly Tribulation that shattered most with a single touch—this wasn’t just peerless talent. This was outright monstrous!

"Uh..." Chen Yi shook his head, then nodded, his expression turning oddly complicated. "Old man, how do I put this?"

"Technically, I didn’t actually succeed in overcoming the tribulation. Strictly speaking, I’m still at the Tribulation Passage stage. And even if I had become an immortal, most immortals wouldn’t be capable of entering the river of time, let alone swimming upstream to bring you back."

Chen Dalei’s mind spun. "So... you’re still at the Tribulation Passage stage, yet you’ve accomplished something even most immortals can’t?"

Chen Yi nodded. "Exactly."

Chen Dalei pressed further. "Then that means you haven’t actually ascended. You’re still on the Purple Star Continent?"

"Correct."

"Have you ever seen a real immortal?"

"Not just seen—I’ve fought them." Chen Yi grinned.

"Old man, times have changed. The Purple Star Continent is in a much better state now. I wouldn’t say Unity-stage cultivators are everywhere, but let’s just say Tribulation Passage experts are as common as dogs, pseudo-immortals are a dime a dozen, and true immortals are slowly increasing in number!"

"This is the best of times, and the worst of times. Progress is so rapid now that even a pig could soar if it catches the right wind. But miss your chance, and you’ll be left behind forever..."

Chen Dalei’s worldview took a massive hit. His brain stalled again as he processed the sheer weight of information in those words.

In just eight hundred years, the world had transformed into something utterly unrecognizable to him...

And he’d lived for over five centuries! In his time, the world had changed, but the fundamental currents of the era remained the same.

Not just in five hundred years—even across five thousand, it had been the same cycle, just with different faces.

Yet now, his A-Yi was telling him that Unity-stage experts—once the revered patriarchs of great sects—were now as common as dirt. Tribulation Passage cultivators, once supreme and untouchable, were now as insignificant as stray dogs. Pseudo-immortals could be scooped up by the handful, and true immortals had emerged for the first time in history!

It's only been eight hundred years—not eight thousand, nor eighty thousand!

How did the world suddenly become so unfamiliar?

Chen Dalei swallowed hard, his voice tense as he asked, "Then, Ah Yi, what level do you stand at in this world now?"

Chen Yi smirked and pointed at the cat-shaped manifestation of the Heavenly Dao beside him:

"Let me introduce you—this is the Heavenly Dao incarnate. By the way, Purple Star, didn’t the Celestial Court recently design a 'Chosen Ones' project due to the surge in variables?"

The Purple Star Heavenly Dao nodded. "Yes, Brother Yi. The project is led by Shen Fangzheng of the Celestial Pivot Academy, with supplementary contributions from Gu Yuan of the Celestial Law Academy and Ye Wuchen, the True God of Wealth. All departments of the Celestial Court are cooperating..."

"They aim to forge a 'Destined Calamity-Quelling Team,' starting from the eastern shores, enduring eighty-one major trials and three hundred sixty-five minor tribulations along the way, until they reach the Netherlands of the northwest. The goal is to mitigate the widespread disruptions caused by the drastic increase in variables."

"Currently, four Chosen Ones have been selected—only the most crucial member remains unfound. Are you suggesting that Chen Dalei should take the lead?"

Chen Yi gave a slight nod. "The old man isn’t of this era anyway. No matter how much karma piles onto him, he can handle it!"

Chen Dalei: "..."

Alright, I get it now!

My Ah Yi, you’ve truly outdone yourself!

What have you done to the Heavenly Dao?!