Hell Emperor.

Chapter 600 Taiyin Xingjun - Time
After hearing the answer from the Sage of Slaughter, even Yao Bai noticed something amiss and couldn't help but speak up:

"Wait a minute, how could you have only been here for forty years? Legends about you have been circulating among the Moon Rabbits for at least several hundred years. You're not lying to us, are you?"

The Sage of Shufa glared at him, slightly displeased: "Why would I lie to you? Do you think I'd trick you out of your wine? You rabbit demon, don't you have any respect for immortals?"

He seemed seriously offended by Yao Bai's questioning of him, and with a slightly agitated expression, he raised the giant axe in his hand, wishing he could have a proper discussion with Yao Bai.

Upon seeing the sharp axe blade, Yao Bai couldn't help but shrink back, instinctively leaning back. Just as she was feeling slightly afraid, a broad back blocked her way, taking all the pressure she was under.

The white rabbit, its ears drooping, trembling as it looked up, only to see Ye Jie blocking its path. Ye Jie then spoke slowly:
“I believe you’re not lying to us. There must be some misunderstanding… By the way, do you remember what year it was in the human world when you were punished and sent here?”

"The year in the human world... So much time has passed, I've almost forgotten it, but I vaguely remember it was the twelfth year of the Yongyuan calendar..." the Sage of Shufa replied.

"what?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in surprise. They had not expected that the human calendar mentioned by the Sage of Shufa was not the Moro calendar, but the Yongyuan calendar, which they had never heard of before.

There are countless emperors in the world, each with a different reign title. Coupled with the changes of dynasties, many reign titles have long been lost in the long river of history, and some have even never been heard of, which is quite troublesome.

Even now, despite knowing the year when the Sage of Sufa came to this place, we still cannot deduce the exact time of his arrival due to a lack of comparison and reference.

"The Yongyuan Calendar... Could it be..."

Just then, Hua Xiaomei seemed to remember something, and couldn't help but exclaim "Ah!" with a look of surprise in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Do you know something?" Ye Jie noticed her unusual behavior and asked.

Hua Xiaomei took a deep breath, but her clenched, white knuckles and extremely pale face revealed that she was not at peace: "Yes... when I was a ghost messenger, I looked through some ancient books in the Guangwang Palace and saw the reign title Yongyuan..."

Ye Jie's eyes lit up. It seemed that the Sage Shufa must also be from the Southern Continent, just like them. He then asked:

"Since you have seen the reign title of the Yongyuan calendar, can you deduce that the twelfth year of the Yongyuan calendar roughly corresponds to how many years in the Moro calendar?"

Hua Xiaomei's teeth chattered, and she could no longer contain her shock: "This is exactly what I wanted to say... If I remember correctly, the Yongyuan Calendar began in the 89th year of the Moro Calendar, and the 12th year of the Yongyuan Calendar corresponds to the 100th year of the Moro Calendar..."

As she spoke, her gaze trembled as she turned her head, fixing it on the distant tree stump. In a trembling voice, she uttered words that shocked everyone:

"If the records here are accurate, and he really only stayed here for forty years, then the current era should be 140 years of the Moro calendar. Something seems a bit off..."

"what do you mean……"

From Hua Xiaomei, Ye Jie also received some surprising news, which finally confirmed his previous guesses, and he could no longer remain calm.

Just as everyone was dumbfounded, a ray of moonlight descended from afar, instantly illuminating the entire dim laurel forest. An immeasurable pressure descended, a strong wind blew, and the branches swayed, signifying the arrival of a powerful being.

Su Miao sensed that aura, her pupils contracting: "This is bad... that aura... it's the Moon Goddess! She must have appeased the Mysterious Maiden and is planning to wipe us out and eliminate us. This is terrible..."

Following the sound, everyone saw the Moon Goddess descending under the moonlight, her face ashen. Her former elegant and refined demeanor had vanished, replaced by boundless rage, as if she had come with ill intentions!
Faced with the aggressive Taiyin Star Lord, who was determined to kill them all, everyone trembled in fear. Even if they drank the osmanthus wine and strengthened their immortal bodies, they still couldn't confront an eighth-level saint head-on. Doing so would surely lead to their deaths.

In this time of crisis, Ye Jie certainly wouldn't watch his companions worry and be afraid. He decisively stepped forward and blocked all the overwhelming divine power emanating from the Taiyin Star Lord. As long as he was there, no one could harm his companions!

"Lord of the Moon... what are you doing here? Let me tell you in advance, I will not leave until I find Xia Wei!"

Seeing that the Moon Goddess had a gloomy face and remained silent for a long time, with only a sense of gloom and oppression spreading around her, Ye Jie asked in a loud voice.

The Moon Goddess's chest heaved, as if brewing a raging fire, but she suppressed it and spoke sharply in a cold voice:
"You still have the nerve to ask me? Don't you really know what you've done?"

"What……"

Ye Jie was slightly taken aback. His gaze swept over the distant Sage Shufa, and he seemed to have found the answer in his heart: "Are you referring to a problem with the current era?"

The Moon Goddess snorted coldly: "It seems you are not as foolish as I thought, and have already discovered the problem. That's right, because you snatched the Moonlight Box, the artifact was damaged, and the power of the moonlight within it went completely out of control, causing the surrounding space to change. Under the blooming of the moonlight, time has been completely reversed."

After a pause, under the astonished gazes of everyone, the Moon Goddess finally revealed the shocking news: "Now, we have deviated from our original timeline and returned to the past, back to... five hundred years ago."

"This is impossible……"

Ye Jie's pupils contracted. How could such a thing happen?
Li Fei'e also looked incredulous: "Five hundred years ago? I wasn't even born in that era, was I? How is that possible? Did our ancestor think we were all three-year-olds?"

The Moon Goddess shook her head, offering no explanation, but instead turned her gaze to Ye Jie: "You have witnessed the power of the Moonlight Box, so you should know what kind of divine power it possesses. With its help, time can be reversed, and even the future can be turned around. In this era, I am still diligently cultivating in the Ruins, striving to break through to the Saint Realm. If you still don't believe what I'm saying, just go to the mortal realm and you'll know."

Ye Jie took a deep breath. After a brief moment of distraction, he quickly recognized the reality before him. If all the claims pointed to the same result, then no matter how outrageous or absurd the result might be, it must be true.

"No need, I believe what you said..."

After calming down, various worries quickly surfaced in Ye Jie's mind: "What about my other companions? Are they all alright?"

The Moon Goddess nodded, then shook her head: "They were lucky. When the treasure box shattered, they were not enveloped by the power of the moonlight. In other words, they remained in their original time and space. Only the people around you were affected by the power of the moonlight. Unfortunately, if you cannot return to your original time, you will never see them again."

After a pause, the Moon Goddess could no longer suppress her anxiety: "This matter is of utmost importance. We do not belong to this era. Once time changes, it will have an irreversible impact on the world. We must return to our own era as soon as possible!"

Ye Jie's gaze darkened. The words of the Moon Goddess undoubtedly served as a wake-up call for him, but he scoffed at her suggestion.
"Is this why you came to find us? Hundreds of years pass in the blink of an eye in the eyes of immortals. I do not trust you. If I had to choose, I would rather stay here and wait for a hundred years until I am reunited with my companions."

The Moon Goddess shook her head: "You don't understand. Since we started to reverse time, we have already had an extraordinary impact on the world. As time goes by, this impact will grow bigger and bigger, eventually reaching an irreversible point. The world will not develop according to the original trajectory, but will be constantly distorted and reshaped, eventually presenting a completely unfamiliar appearance."

As she spoke, she said meaningfully, "Can you guarantee that your companions' parents will still meet each other in this time? You have already reached the Saint Realm. Even the slightest action you take will cause earth-shattering changes to the entire world. Many dynasties that should have existed will be destroyed because of the cultivation techniques you casually give away. Many people who should have survived will die in accidents. In the end, your companions may not even be born."

"What……"

Upon hearing this, Ye Jie felt a bit horrified for the first time. Just as the Moon Goddess said, with everyone's current strength, they could rewrite human history and change many things by doing whatever they wanted!

The thought that he might never see his companions again filled Ye Jie with anxiety:
"This is all your fault. You abused the power of the treasure box to rewind Xia Wei's soul, which caused a great error in time. You must send us back to our own era!"

The Moon Goddess glared at him and said coldly, "Do you think I didn't want to? Besides, this is clearly your fault. If you hadn't forcibly taken the treasure box, causing it to shatter and the power of the moonlight to go completely out of control, how could this have happened? Do you think you can get away with it? If the Jade Emperor punishes you, you won't be able to escape either!"

At this point, arguing about who was more at fault is pointless. The most urgent task is to find a way to restore everything to its original state.

After calming down, Ye Jie finally got to the point: "In that case, how exactly do we go about returning to the original time and erasing all the effects of the time reversal?"

The Moon Goddess sighed, "If the treasure box were still here, I might have a way, but now that the treasure box is completely broken, I am powerless... In other words, we may not be able to return to the original time."

Upon hearing this, Hua Xiaomei was completely dumbfounded. Although she had long been committed to Ye Jie and would follow him wherever he went, she had never considered the possibility of going back to the past forever: "Then... what do we do?"

The youngest, Yunxiu, was also on the verge of tears: "My mother, she's still waiting for me at the foot of Lonely Phoenix Peak. If I can't go back, won't I never see her again?"

Li Fei'e pursed her lips, feeling equally empty inside. However, looking around, her master, her disciple, and all the people she cared about were here. Even if everything she knew was gone, it didn't seem unacceptable.

Ye Jie felt heavy-hearted. Never seeing his former companions again was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for him. He wouldn't just sit there doing nothing: "Is there really no way at all?"

The Moon Goddess sighed, "The power of time surpasses all laws, and even immortals rarely have the ability to traverse it. Apart from the first-grade divine artifact, the Moonlight Treasure Box, legend has it that only the King of Heavenly Demons has the ability to reverse time. Even I cannot do it out of thin air."

After hearing the Moon Goddess's answer, everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say. This reversal of time was a journey of no return. Even the Moon Goddess, who was skilled in this art, was helpless. The others could only stare blankly.

Among the crowd, only Nan Linghe remained innocent and naive, as if being in an unfamiliar time and space had no effect on her, and she always maintained that innocent and carefree attitude.

Li Feie noticed Nan Linghe's expression and couldn't help but ask, "Sister He, why do you still look so relaxed? Aren't you worried at all? If we can't find a way back to our original timeline, we might never see our other companions again..."

Nan Linghe shook his head: "I'm also worried about them, but since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. I believe that one day, we will be reunited. As for now, I'd like to see the human world. I wonder what wondrous sights there were five hundred years ago..."

The Moon Goddess raised her hand to her forehead: "Didn't you hear what I said? You don't belong to this time and space. It's best not to have any contact with anyone here. Even the slightest influence could completely change the face of history a hundred years from now. It's best if you all stay on the Moon Goddess and don't leave even a step!"

Upon hearing this, Nan Linghe became even more sullen. She had come to a new and exciting time and space and wanted to explore everything, but things didn't go as planned.

Ye Jie noticed her downcast expression and was about to offer words of comfort when he suddenly heard Su Miao exclaim in surprise:
"Wait a minute... since our Moonlight Box is broken, can we use the Moonlight Box here?"

"What did you say?"

Upon hearing this, both the Moon Goddess and Ye Jie realized what was happening, and a strange look appeared in their eyes.

"A treasure box here? What does that mean?" Tianming asked, puzzled.

Ye Jie took a deep breath and slowly said, "The Moonlight Box we obtained in the past was a relic left by Fairy Zixia deep in Vajra City. Now that we have returned to this era, it means that the box in this era is still intact! As long as we can find the Moonlight Box in this era, we still have a way to return to our own era!"

Upon hearing this, the Moon Goddess's eyes gleamed, as if she saw a glimmer of hope for correcting everything.

(End of this chapter)