Time seemed to freeze, and everyone stared at the scattered dots of light in the air, speechless. The steward of the Gathering Treasures Pavilion widened his eyes, stretched his neck, and his mouth fell open. His eyes rolled, and he almost fainted, but the cultivators had such formidable constitutions that he failed to pass out.
The familiar power weakened and dissipated. The fingertips that reached out only touched fragments of spirit wood. The scent of mint in the air gradually faded. All sounds vanished, leaving only the sound of hearts pounding in their ears. The spiritual energy that had been hidden and restrained suddenly burst out. He clenched his fist and looked up at the roof, shouting loudly, "Who's there? Show yourself!"
A sharp and despairing child's voice, full of anger, cut through the eardrums of the cultivators present, startling them.
"This spiritual sense... Nascent Soul? A child?"
"No, no, maybe it's the aura emitted by that muscular man in the cloak."
"A child? Where's the child?"
"He was hidden in the cloak by that muscular man. I just saw it a moment ago."
Su Yin stood frozen in the corner, using his spiritual sense to shield Ye Zhizhou within the cloak. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he spoke through gritted teeth, his hand reaching for his storage pouch. "I'll distract their attention later. You take the chance to escape, and don't look back! There are sound transmission symbols in the storage pouch. Find a safe place after you get out and send a message to your senior brother to come pick you up. Understand?"
Ye Zhizhou's struggle inside the cloak abruptly stopped. His brain, swollen with blood, calmed down slightly. He grabbed Su Yin's collar with determination, biting his lip as he spoke firmly, "I won't run! I promise I'll come out the way I went in!" With these words, he revealed the strength he had accumulated over the past two years through the Purple Void Technique. He pushed aside Su Yin's arm, jumped to the ground, and threw a protective formation disk under their feet. He then bit his finger, letting the blood drop onto the formation's eye. With the infusion of spiritual energy, he summoned a miniaturized pair of dual blades, materialized his spiritual power into wings, and soared toward the roof.
Su Yin was left dumbfounded by his rapid and skilled actions. By the time he realized what was happening and tried to stop Ye Zhizhou, the latter had already flown halfway into the air. With one more step forward, the formation disk activated, and a light barrier suddenly enveloped him, preventing him from advancing any further.
His Golden Core cultivation had no effect against the barrier, leaving him both startled and shocked. His heart was filled with anxiety. He couldn't afford to hide his identity in front of the cultivators any longer. He shouted at Ye Zhizhou in mid-air, "Zhizhou! Come back, don't go!"
The cultivators only saw the muscular man stop in the corner for a few seconds, and then a child suddenly dashed out from under the cloak. Immediately, a protective shield rose, completely enclosing the muscular man. His spiritual sense was completely cut off from the outside.
"This formation disk can actually block my spiritual sense. It's at least a magical treasure!"
"He's quite the kid. Could it be a special technique taught by some senior? Does it involve shrinking?"
"No! This child has only reached the Foundation Building stage, he hasn't even formed his Core yet!"
"But this spiritual sense..."
The scent of mint in the air had completely disappeared, and the spiritual energy released by the shattered spirit wood was gradually dissipating. Ye Zhizhou, riding the floating light points in the air, infused his spiritual power into the dual blades and fiercely struck at the roof, flapping his wings. The moment the roof broke, he burst out into the open.
The steward's brain, which had just regained its composure, was on the verge of spinning again. He couldn't fathom who this child was and what this strange, semi-transparent pair of wings was all about. It had shattered the reinforced roof of the pavilion, disrupting their business entirely!
One of the cultivators, not satisfied with the commotion, helpfully widened the hole in the roof a bit, making it easier for everyone to watch the spectacle.
"Tsk tsk, he truly lives up to his reputation. He's so determined to kill even a child."
"Shh, do you want to live longer? Keep quiet!"
"It's a pity for this child. Such a promising cultivator, and yet he chose to provoke that person..."
A group of ancient monsters, who had lived for who knew how long, looked up at the roof, their eyes filled with pity. To witness a child willingly meet his doom was just too cruel. But they still had to watch; as for saving him or stopping anything, those were tasks for individuals who had truly reached enlightenment. They would rather stay quiet and enjoy the show.
Ye Zhizhou had no idea about the small movements of these cultivators. At this moment, his heart was filled with the thought that if his beloved died, he didn't want to live either. He was ready to die together and be reborn in the next world to meet again.
Outside the roof, the sky was very blue, the air fresh, devoid of any terrifying pressure or fearsome ancient monsters. There was only a man in a white robe standing on a gigantic sword, looking over in this direction. Most cultivators were quite good-looking, but among those good-looking ones, this man in the white robe was considered top-notch.
The momentum of Ye Zhizhou's charge came to a sudden stop, and he stared wide-eyed at the man. His breath grew rapid. Though he hadn't seen this face before, this figure...
A gentle breeze blew, and the white-robed man suddenly disappeared from where he had been standing. Then, there was a slight pressure against his back, and Ye Zhizhou found himself in a warm, broad embrace. Warm breath brushed against the nape of his neck, "I've found you, Xiaozhou."
His hands trembled, and the dual blades slipped from his grasp. All his fiery emotions cooled in an instant, and his eyes couldn't help but turn red. With a complete disregard for his image, he cried out loudly, "You bastard! You bastard! I thought you were dead... How could you scare me like this..."
With a thud, the dual blades fell through the hole in the roof and landed on the floor of the hall.
The cultivators inside were left in confusion. What kind of development was this...?
Inside the protective barrier, Su Yin, who had been anxiously shouting, froze in place. He blinked, his expression dazed. Huh? Xiaozhou was crying? Xiaozhou, who had only cried a few times when he was first picked up at the age of three, was actually crying now... He felt somewhat comforted; Xiaozhou was finally acting like a normal child... Wait a minute!
He widened his eyes and desperately pounded on the protective barrier, shouting with all his might, "Bastard! Let go of Xiaozhou! What's the point of coming after me? Bullying a child doesn't make you a big shot!"
Eastern Shu, who was anxiously calling inside the protective barrier, had a sharp glint in his eyes. He pointed a finger in Su Yin's direction, and the world fell silent.
Seeing this, Ye Zhizhou stopped crying. He raised his hand and tugged at Eastern Shu's hair, wiping his tears on Eastern Shu's collar. "What did you do to my senior uncle? Let him go! He's raised me for so long! If you don't care about me, that's fine, but after scaring me like that when we meet, and, and bullying my senior uncle, you jerk! I want to go back to my own world! I'm not doing this mission anymore. I want to live separately from you!"
[Scanning the host's body... Healthy, no hidden illnesses.]
[Do you want to return to your previous world?]
Ye Zhizhou was stunned by the sudden appearance of the screen and hesitated for a moment. He cautiously asked, "Tongtian?"
There was a slight shake in the bag hanging from Eastern Shu's waist, and a child's voice rang out, "Host."
Ye Zhizhou was dumbfounded and quickly reached out to tug at the bag hanging from Eastern Shu's waist. He asked anxiously, "Tongtian, why are you with Eastern Shu? Did you, did you get hurt? If you're here, then what about the one I just saw..."
"It's a projection created by it to search for your presence." Eastern Shu spoke and removed the bag, placing it in Ye Zhizhou's hand. He reached up and touched the tears on Ye Zhizhou's face. "The world of cultivation is not limited to just one small world. After I returned, due to the clearance of my karma, I was sensed by the Heavenly Dao and was directly pulled into the Upper Realm. It took some effort to come back down again. I'm sorry for being late."
Ye Zhizhou tightly gripped the bag, feeling somewhat stunned. "Upper Realm? What... and that tree I just saw..."
"When I was first pulled into the Upper Realm, I couldn't find a way to come back down, so I couldn't personally look for you. I could only use my spiritual energy to create some spiritual objects to send to the lower realm, hoping to discover your whereabouts sooner. I'm sorry for being impulsive earlier, but I sensed your aura sometimes, and other times, it disappeared. I thought you were in danger, so I acted on impulse."
Ye Zhizhou became even more puzzled. "But that tree is over a thousand years old."
"The flow of time in the Upper Realm is different from this realm, Xiaozhou. This time, you were born into this realm, much later than I. Tongtian expended all its power to ensure that you would have your own body in this realm and retain your memories. Then it went into a deep slumber. I only found it recently."
He struggled to digest this information and took out the small mirror from the bag, gently touching it. "Tongtian, you've worked hard."
"Not hard." The child's voice rang out again, and the small mirror gently shook, as if rubbing against him.
"Is this what you really look like?"
The small mirror blushed shyly and blinked on the mirror surface.
"You're so ugly..." Covered in gray dust, and missing a corner.
The small mirror stopped moving and remained silent for a moment before suddenly flying back into Eastern Shu's embrace.
He couldn't help but grin, quickly kissed it, and then tucked it away into his own embrace. "You're the cutest, don't be mad." With that, he tugged at Eastern Shu's collar and asked, "What did you just do to my senior uncle? Let him go. If it weren't for him, I would have died three years ago when I first arrived."
Eastern Shu frowned at the word "died" and wiped his lips with his hand, explaining, "I only blocked the sounds from below to here. I didn't harm your senior uncle... From now on, you're not allowed to kiss Tongtian."
Jealousy!
Ye Zhizhou pulled Eastern Shu's hand away and glared at him before saying, "Let's leave this place first. Those annoying guys below keep scanning with their spiritual senses. Take my senior uncle with us, and let's go back to Lotus Mist Mountain."
"Lotus Mist Mountain?"
"The place where I grew up."
Eastern Shu glanced at his child-sized body and a hint of amusement flashed in his eyes. "Then you still need to grow a lot."
Ye Zhizhou punched him and huffed through his nose. "I need at least ten more years to grow up. Until then, you'll have to manage on your own!"
This time, Eastern Shu didn't smile; his face darkened.
In the hall, the cultivators suddenly felt a darkening of their surroundings, and then their senses disappeared. Before they could worry, their senses gradually returned. When they looked up, there was only a gaping hole left; the white-robed man and the child were nowhere to be seen.
"That man in the cloak is gone too." One of the cultivators patted his potbelly and smacked his lips. "What do you think... is the relationship between that child and the man?"
"They can't be father and son, right?" Another cultivator chimed in, speculating, "Could he be a newly accepted disciple?"
"It doesn't seem like it. They were too intimate. Who would believe they're not father and son?"
The cultivators chattered away, while the head of the sect looked at the suddenly appeared long sword with wide eyes and a trembling voice, "A Ninth-grade treasure, the closest thing to a divine artifact... Thank you, senior! Thank you, senior!"
All the cultivators perked up their ears and began urging him to sell the weapon. No one was discussing Eastern Shu and the others who had already left.
Su Yin managed to break free from the protective barrier and looked cautiously at Eastern Shu, then moved closer to Ye Zhizhou. "Xiaozhou, this person...?"
"Someone who happened to pass by the Spirit Tree at noon, my future master." Ye Zhizhou grinned and handed him a calming pill. "He's a wandering cultivator and can accompany us back to Lotus Mist Mountain. I don't have to leave everyone behind."
Su Yin's face lit up at the news, then quickly dimmed again. He looked at Eastern Shu and gathered his courage to ask, "May I ask how to address this senior?"
"Eastern Shu." Eastern Shu turned his head to look at him, paused for a moment, and added, "Daoist name Tianhe."
Thud. The calming pill in Su Yin's hand fell to the ground.
Tianhe Venerable, the extraordinary All-Spirit Body of the Realm, a Thunder-Element Heaven Spirit Root, achieved Nascent Soul stage at the age of a hundred, and Divine Transformation at a thousand. He was known for his low-profile and mysterious nature; no one knew his real name or his master. About fifteen hundred years ago, Tianhe Venerable suddenly appeared, single-handedly exterminated the three largest sects in the cultivation world, and killed over a dozen Crossing Tribulation-stage cultivators, gaining fame in a single battle. Afterward, he disappeared from the world. The last time Tianhe Venerable appeared was a hundred years ago when he was at the Crossing Tribulation stage...
Thud. The spiritual fruit in Ye Zhizhou's hand also fell to the ground.
"Soul Banner..."
Eastern Shu looked at him. "What's wrong?"
He stared fixedly at Su Yin's head, slowly clenched his fist, and said, "On my senior uncle's head... just now, it suddenly appeared..."
Eastern Shu furrowed his brow and also turned to look at Su Yin.
"What... what's wrong?" Su Yin's body stiffened under their gaze, and he shrank his shoulders in fear. "What soul banner? What are you talking about?"