The Eternal entered full-speed forward mode and quickly left Heavenly Demon Emperor’s subordinates without a trace.

Jun Changxiao temporarily didn’t plan to clash head-on with the opponent. First, he’d develop sneakily—at least he’d have some confidence after stepping into the Heavenly Secret Realm.

Before inheriting the Xuanyuan Realm, from the scenes he saw in the illusion realm, he could confirm that Gu Xuanyuan’s strength was greater than Gu Tianxing’s. Although the enemies he faced were Heavenly Demon Emperor’s subordinates, they definitely weren’t something he could contend with in his current state.

“Why hasn’t an epic quest come yet!”

Since opening the Great Space Age, no epic quest had been triggered, and Jun Changxiao’s realm remained stuck at Half-Step Heavenly Secret Realm.

The System gave him the ability to cheat, but there were also certain restrictions, such as the common level cap.

“Come on.”

“Give me a boost!”

“…”

The System fell silent.

Although it had proven time and again to be a reverse jinx, it still firmly believed this was just a coincidence.

“Sect Master.”

Elder Wei transmitted his voice. “We’re out of medicinal materials!”

The Medicine Hall was responsible for greening the Eternal Realm, with various medicinal materials being planted like crazy, and now they’d long since run out of stock.

“Need to find a way to get some.”

Jun Changxiao not only needed to improve the plane’s ecological environment, but also had to find materials to refine Six Flavors Earth Origin Pills. So he walked to the star map to check if there were any planes nearby.

Very regrettably.

Because they were at the edge of the Canghai System, there were no nearby planes.

“Eh?”

Jun Changxiao said in surprise, “About to fly out of the Canghai System?”

During this time he’d been handling affairs in the sect, and the Eternal had been in self-flight mode the whole time. He completely hadn’t noticed the journey.

“Other star systems might have high-level planes.”

Jun Changxiao cupped his chin. “We can exchange martial dao resources for medicinal materials.”

“Not that troublesome.”

The System said, “Refresh the shop to solve the problem!”

“…”

Jun Changxiao really wanted to spit in its face, but considering this month’s cooldown had already recovered, he hurriedly opened the System Shop.

Top banner: Happily happily refresh all chances.

Bottom banner: Sadly sadly close the shop.

Horizontal banner: Got nothing.

“Sigh.”

Jun Changxiao shook his head. “My luck is completely terrible.”

…

Eternal Realm.

Under the nurturing of vast heavenly and earthly attributes, almost every moment had martial artists breaking through.

Especially the living beings from the original Xingyun Continent—their overall strength had already advanced from the Meridian Opening stage to at minimum the Wuwang stage.

This was only after a few years. In the long run, Wudi for everyone wasn’t a dream.

Moreover.

Nurtured by a high-level plane, newborn babies had greatly improved aptitude and talent. Almost one in every hundred people would have Divine-grade Spiritual Roots.

In the former Xingyun Continent, Divine-grade Spiritual Roots were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Now they were almost becoming common—truly exemplifying what readers often joked about: Wusheng everywhere you look, Wudi numerous as dogs.

Of course.

In the Eternal Realm, the level of aptitude was no longer important. What mattered was how to cultivate faster and advance realms more quickly.

“Wife.”

Inside a civilian residence in a certain city, a middle-aged man said longingly, “In a few more years, we must let our son participate in the Eternal Sect’s examination. If he’s fortunate enough to become a disciple, his future will definitely be bright!”

“That’s not very likely, is it?” his wife said.

“How is it not likely!”

The father said, “Sect Master Jun said that as long as they’re of age, regardless of gender or aptitude, they can participate in the Eternal Sect’s examination—completely no threshold.”

Similar scenes appeared in various cities and families. Many people placed their hopes on their children, because a few days ago the Eternal Sect announced it would open its gates to recruit disciples on a fixed month each year, and any youth permanently residing in the Eternal Realm could register to participate.

Once this news spread, it immediately caused a sensation.

In the eyes of the world, Jun Changxiao was a deity, and the sect he led was a sacred land of martial learning. If their children could enter and cultivate under him, that would absolutely be fortune accumulated over eight lifetimes.

…

“Dad!”

In a courtyard, a twelve or thirteen-year-old child clenched his fist, his gaze determined. “When I come of age, I’ll definitely participate in the Eternal Sect’s examination!”

His name was Qin Lin.

His father was named Qin Haoran.

That’s right.

He was the Haoqi Sect Master and Hundred Sects Alliance Leader who had been Jun Changxiao’s enemy at the start.

These identities were just from before. Now Qin Haoran had long since disbanded his sect and lived in seclusion in Qingyang City, living a life detached from worldly affairs.

Perhaps due to his state of mind, over ten years ago he was blessed with a precious son.

“No.”

Qin Haoran firmly refused.

“Why!” Qin Lin was stunned.

Father had always doted on him, especially strongly supporting his martial dao cultivation, even willing to spend heavily to purchase resources. Now that he’d set this great aspiration, why was he opposing it!

“Son.”

Qin Haoran walked over. “Dad once made a mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“I made…” Qin Haoran paused briefly, his thoughts seeming to return to the past. “An unforgivable mistake.”

From the time Qin Lin had memories, he’d never seen his father’s expression so pained, so being sensible, he didn’t pursue the question further.

…

“Xiao Lin!”

In the afternoon, a voice came from outside the wall. “When did you come out?”

“Whoosh!”

Qin Lin quietly snuck out of his room, then climbed over the wall. Keeping his voice down, he said, “Keep it down when you call me—my dad’s taking an afternoon nap.”

“Hehe.”

His companion scratched his head. “Forgot, forgot.”

“Let’s go.”

Qin Lin said, “Today we’ll go play outside the wilds and see if we can encounter any demon beasts.”

“Okay.”

The two young companions headed straight outside Qingyang City.

Note: The living beings from Xingyun Continent all migrated over, and most city names carried over from before.

“Master.”

In the study, the butler came to report. “Young Master snuck out again.”

“Sigh.”

Qin Haoran sighed. “This kid’s courage is getting bigger and bigger.”

“In this old servant’s opinion,” the butler said, “Young Master has extraordinary natural talent and should venture out more, not be confined at home all day.”

“Don’t I hope he can go out and venture?” Qin Haoran said bitterly. “But after all, I once had a grudge with Sect Master Jun.”

Not letting his son participate in the Eternal Sect’s examination wasn’t because he hated Jun Changxiao, but because he’d once offended him. He really had no face to go, and also feared… being directly rejected.

The butler said, “Sect Master Jun shouldn’t be someone who holds grudges, right?”

This statement made readers laugh.

Indeed.

Gousheng wasn’t someone who held grudges, because if he had a grudge, he settled it on the spot—unless the opponent’s strength and backing were formidable.

“This is bad!”

Before long, a servant ran in from outside, urgently saying, “Young Master got into a fight with the Ai family’s young master outside the city!”

“What?!”

Qin Haoran quickly got up and left the estate.

When he rushed outside the city, he saw his son pinned to the ground by several peers his age, punching him one after another while cursing, “Your dad’s an old bastard, so you’re a little bastard!”

“Stop!”

At this moment, a resonant voice rang out.

Ai Shangke flew out from the city, landing in front of the several little brats. He lifted two of them up, one in each hand, and angrily said, “You two little punks, lawless now—daring to fight people outside!”

The two restrained young masters of the Ai family said defiantly, “Third Uncle, Qin Haoran bullied Sect Master Jun before. We’re bullying his son now—what’s wrong with that!”

Ai Shangke said, “The affairs of elders aren’t for you juniors to worry about. All of you, get home.”

With that, he looked at Qin Haoran. “Children speak without thinking, Alliance Leader Qin shouldn’t take offense.”

“I’m no longer any alliance leader and can’t bear Elder Ai addressing me this way.” Qin Haoran’s words were flat, seemingly unconcerned about being humiliated by juniors.

The truth?

His heart ached as if pierced by needles.

“Much offense.”

“Farewell!”

Ai Shangke brought the two third-generation direct descendants back to the city, still not forgetting to scold them along the way.

“Xiao Lin!”

His young companion ran over and was about to help Qin Lin up when he was roughly pushed away.

He staggered to his feet, looking at his father with complex eyes. “Because you offended Sect Master Jun back then, that’s why you won’t let me participate in the Eternal Sect’s examination?”

“…” Qin Haoran remained silent.

“No wonder you never let me go out—turns out you didn’t want me to know about the mistakes you made…” Qin Lin’s emotions could no longer hold, and he cried out loudly, “Everyone knows about it, only I was kept in the dark!”

“Child, I…”

Qin Haoran had just opened his mouth when Qin Lin turned and ran.

When being bullied by the two Ai family direct descendants, Qin Lin had already learned the general story from their mouths and knew that his father had given considerable difficulties during the Eternal Sect’s initial development.

Recalling his son’s angry, resentful gaze just now, Qin Haoran covered his chest with one hand. The stabbing pain from his heart was hundreds of times more painful than the junior’s insults just now.

Son.

It’s all Dad’s fault.

If you hate me for this, I won’t blame you.

—