“Snap!”
“Crack!”
In the study, Liu Sinan, Gongsun Hou and others munched on melon seeds while listening to Ye Xingchen tell his story, very serious and earnest.
“Finished?”
“Finished.”
Jun Changxiao fell into silence.
So it turned out his disciple had gone to the Tianyan Realm, not only had an accident with a girl named Xie Lingyao, but also harbored a secret about entering an illusory境.
“What does everyone think?”
“Snap!”
Liu Sinan cracked open a melon seed, chewing it whole with shell and meat together: “Sect Master, there’s definitely something fishy about this.”
“…”
Jun Changxiao rolled his eyes.
“Could it just be some kind of illusion? Just happened to coincide with reality?” Gongsun Hou suggested.
“Impossible.”
Liu Sinan said: “It’s definitely not that simple.”
He paused, then continued: “In the Upper Cosmos, there are many methods to foresee the future.”
“Perhaps what was left in the illusory境 were fragments of the future. Ye Xingchen may very well truly inherit the Night King Alliance in the future and become an alliance leader.”
“I think so too.” Jun Changxiao nodded.
Actually, what he cared about wasn’t that Ye Xingchen would inherit the Night King Alliance in the future—he was more curious about who left these future fragments.
Being able to pass down future events in illusory境 form was definitely not something an ordinary person could accomplish.
“Sect Master…”
Just then, Ye Xingchen spoke again: “There’s one more thing this disciple hasn’t mentioned.”
“Speak.” Jun Changxiao said.
“…”
After some psychological struggle, Ye Xingchen opened his mouth: “According to the illusory境 images, this disciple will ultimately leave the Eternal Sect.”
“Boom!”
Suddenly, a deafening thunderclap sounded outside.
Though Jun Changxiao and the others were all experts, they still couldn’t help being startled by the sudden noise.
“Blech blech blech!” Especially Su Xiaomo, who happened to be eating something, was immediately shocked into vomiting on the spot.
“What’s going on?”
Gongsun Hou stood up, surprised: “The weather was calm and clear—how could there suddenly be thunder!”
This point also greatly surprised Jun Changxiao.
He was the master of the Eternal Realm and could control wind, rain, thunder and lightning.
But that thunderclap that just scared someone into vomiting wasn’t part of the natural weather patterns at all—it seemed to appear out of thin air.
“Could it be…”
Liu Sinan picked up a melon seed and held it to his mouth, his expression gradually becoming serious: “Ye Xingchen’s words revealed Heaven’s secrets?”
“Revealed Heaven’s secrets?”
Jun Changxiao’s expression grew serious.
Don’t mention it.
Thinking carefully, it really was extremely similar to TV dramas—this was definitely a sign of being struck by lightning for revealing Heaven’s secrets.
“And then?” Jun Changxiao asked.
“This disciple… also got married… and even… had a child…”
For Ye Xingchen to say this took tremendous courage, showing he truly regarded the Sect Master and everyone as family.
“That confirms it!”
Gongsun Hou said firmly: “This must be a coincidence. With his personality, how could he marry and have children!”
Though the words were rather direct, they received everyone’s unanimous approval.
There were two straight men in the sect. One was Ye Xingchen, and the other was… wait, the Sect Master seemed to have changed quite a bit recently—the frequency of him going to Madam’s courtyard to trim roses had increased!
Jun Changxiao didn’t think things were that simple. He asked: “Who did he marry?”
Ye Xingchen was silent for a long while, then said: “Xie Lingyao…”
“Boom!”
Before his words even finished, startling thunder rang out again.
This time the disturbance was even stronger than before, shaking everyone’s eardrums with buzzing sounds. Even those who hadn’t eaten had the impulse to vomit.
Jun Changxiao’s expression grew even more serious.
He could now be certain the thunder sounds definitely didn’t come from the Eternal Realm’s natural system, but seemed to directly penetrate the space barrier from outside. To explain it, it might be…
“Correct.”
The system spoke for him: “The power of the Heavenly Dao!”
“Which also means.”
Jun Changxiao said seriously: “What Xingchen said is true?”
“Hard to say.”
The system replied: “There are so many cosmos with so many variables and coincidences. Maybe this Night King isn’t that Night King.”
“I believe it.”
Based on the system’s innate jinx power, Jun Changxiao chose to believe Ye Xingchen, and to believe the future scene might occur.
“Sect Master!”
Ye Xingchen stood up, his gaze resolute: “This disciple hereby swears before the elders and fellow disciples that regardless of life or death, I will never leave the Eternal Sect. If I violate this oath, may I suffer…”
“No need to say more.”
Jun Changxiao passed him a bowl of wine: “It’s all in the wine.”
“Come, come!”
“Don’t just stand there. Eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink.”
“Yes!”
Everyone stopped being polite.
“Sect Master!”
Just then, Li Shangtian ran in, his tone urgent: “Purple Hall Master was hanging clothes in the courtyard and got struck by lightning twice in a row. He’s been sent to the Medicine Hall!”
Everyone nearly sprayed their food.
Why would Ye Xingchen get struck when making an oath?
…
That night.
Jun Changxiao came as usual to the courtyard where Hua Meigui lived to trim flowers and plants.
Really, his proficiency was enviably skilled.
“What’s wrong with Xingchen?”
Hua Meigui walked out from her room and sat in the small pavilion.
“You know?”
“Mm.”
“No need to guess—it must have been Big Mouth Su who spread it.”
Jun Changxiao tidied up the trimmed branches, plopped down on the long bench in the pavilion, one leg dangling over it, gazing up at the starry sky: “In this world, are there truly great powers who can predict the future?”
“If you believe, then yes. If you don’t believe, then no.” Hua Meigui said.
“Xingchen believes it.” Jun Changxiao said: “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have rushed to make that oath.”
Hua Meigui said: “The Eternal Sect has an atmosphere that other factions lack. As long as disciples truly integrate, they won’t accept a future where they leave.”
“How could I hope to see disciples leave, but…” Jun Changxiao shrugged bitterly: “Children will eventually grow up and start their own families and careers. As a parent, you can only learn to let go.”
If Ye Xingchen truly had a day when he left…
Dog Sheng wouldn’t try to keep him.
Because everyone has their own path to walk—how could he keep them confined?
Like Su Xiaomo.
When he previously took Xia Shuiyun and left the sect to live a peaceful life, Jun Changxiao didn’t try to keep him but fully supported him instead.
After painstakingly cultivating disciples, he didn’t want to use them as tools, but rather at the appropriate time, let them walk their own paths and live their own lives.
“Of course.”
Jun Changxiao’s gaze turned cold: “If someone with ill intent forces a disciple to leave, even if it truly will happen in the future, I will defy heaven and change fate!”
Hua Meigui said: “No matter what happens in the future, I will stay by Husband’s side, never leaving.”
“With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for.”
Jun Changxiao stood up, taking one step, then two steps forward.
Just as the two were about to be face to face, the Eternal Realm suddenly began to shake.
“Sect Master!”
Shangguan Xinyao transmitted: “The Eternal is under attack from an unknown object!”
“Whoosh!”
Jun Changxiao appeared in the cockpit.
He first looked at the star map and found no light points displayed.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Just then, the warship suffered fierce bombardment, swaying like a lone boat in the ocean.
Jun Changxiao quickly released his spiritual sense. Better not to look—when he did, he got a huge shock, because near the Eternal, in this starry space, warships shrouded in layers of flowing light gradually appeared. There were at least hundreds or thousands of them, and from their barely visible forms, they were clearly the Heavenly Demon Emperor’s fleet!
“Sect Master Jun.”
From within the massive warship came a cold voice: “The game of hide and seek ends here.”
—