Feng Fuming gazed at Liu Shuang with an inscrutable expression, his eyes sweeping over the Creation Soil in her hand.

Liu Shuang thought several times that he would attack, not easily letting them leave. After all, this lord was as ruthless as a scorpion. Yet surprisingly, even after she had boarded Shao You’s celestial crane, he still made no move.

“The Young Lord of Ji Mo has quite a magnanimous spirit,” Feng Fuming said meaningfully.

Liu Shuang looked down at him. He smiled ambiguously: “May I know the immortal maiden’s name?”

“Chi Shui Liu Shuang.” With Shao You beside her, she was no longer afraid of him knowing.

“Very good.” Feng Fuming narrowed his slender eyes, his tone carrying a smile. “If the immortal maiden takes the Spirit Vein, it makes no difference from this lord taking it. Chi Shui Immortal missed today’s Four Seas Banquet, sending only a clan daughter to substitute—a great pity. But no matter, this lord excels at filling regrets.”

“Clan daughter?” Liu Shuang noticed these two words in his speech. She remembered that when she left the celestial carriage that day, she had left a letter for her father, never arranging for anyone to attend the Four Seas Banquet in her place. After all, this banquet was Feng Fuming’s bride selection event—she wouldn’t be so reckless.

Feng Fuming chuckled cryptically, offering no further explanation.

Then Shao You spoke: “We shall take our leave first. May the Prince take care.”

Shao You’s tone was neither servile nor arrogant. He indeed held such standing—thousands of years ago, the position of Heavenly Lord was selected from among the four great immortal realms, with the most capable assuming the role. Had the Feng clan not been so powerful and unbridled, the position of Crown Prince might well have fallen to Shao You.

Moreover, even if Shao You wasn’t the future Heavenly Lord, he was still the Lord of Kunlun, a position of supreme respect, not obliged to submit to others.

Just as the celestial crane took flight, a figure in apricot yellow flew over from a distance.

“Brother Shao You!”

Shao You’s gaze paused, but he didn’t look back, continuing to leave with Liu Shuang.

Feng Caiyi was about to pursue them, but Feng Fuming darkened his face and pulled her back.

“Brother, release me. I must find him,” Feng Caiyi said urgently. Today’s Four Seas Banquet was her brother’s bride selection event, but for Feng Caiyi, it was also the best day.

She had finally persuaded her father to betroth her to Shao You, and Shao You had pondered without objection.

Feng Caiyi had hidden behind the curtains, nervous and anxious, secretly watching.

She was overjoyed—a thousand-year wish about to be fulfilled. Had the Heavenly Consort not forbidden her from being impolite, she would have insisted that her father speak less nonsense and discuss the betrothal with the Young Lord of Kunlun directly.

Feng Caiyi knew that Brother Shao You didn’t yet love her, but it didn’t matter—she had persevered for so long, she didn’t mind the days ahead. With Shao You’s character, even if he didn’t love her, he would cherish and respect her, never letting his wife suffer grievances.

She knew that for the sake of Kunlun’s nearly depleted Spirit Veins, Brother Shao You would agree.

But halfway through the banquet, an old man with a white beard had whispered a few words in Shao You’s ear. Shao You’s expression changed, and he found an excuse to leave!

Shao You casually caught a celestial crane from the banquet to guide him, disappearing from the celestial realm in an instant.

Feng Caiyi was so angry she nearly ground her teeth to bits as she hurried after him. Her cultivation naturally couldn’t compare to Shao You’s, leaving her far behind. When she caught up, she saw him leaving with a woman.

Feng Caiyi only managed a glance at the woman, but had to admit she was extremely beautiful—

Eyes like spring water, lips like cinnabar, a blue feather ornament on her forehead, like a half-blooming lotus flower touched by the dawn.

Amid her shock, Feng Caiyi realized she had never seen this woman before. An overwhelming sense of crisis made her heart tighten. Just as she was about to pursue them, Feng Fuming restrained her.

Feng Fuming smiled: “Still chasing? Haven’t you embarrassed the Feng clan enough, hmm?”

His voice was extremely gentle, but when Feng Caiyi met his affectionate gaze, her body trembled, and she lowered her head. She feared him.

The two shared the same father but different mothers. Feng Fuming’s mother was the Heavenly Consort, while hers was a minor earth immortal. Feng Caiyi was the result of the Heavenly Lord’s casual dalliance.

Only because immortal bloodlines were rare and precious had she been brought back to the celestial realm for upbringing, growing up alongside Feng Fuming. This brother always seemed to smile gently and speak kindly, but she feared him terribly. No one understood better than she what a terrifying figure Feng Fuming was.

Feng Fuming was the Crown Prince, and she was a princess. Others saw only her honored position, but only Feng Caiyi knew how vast the difference was between them.

With a noncommittal tone, Feng Fuming said lightly: “Return.”

His figure transformed into a streak of light, suddenly vanishing from before the Weak Water. Feng Caiyi bit her lip, not daring to defy him. She glanced in the direction Shao You and Liu Shuang had departed, then followed Feng Fuming.

After everyone left, Fu Hang looked at Yan Chaosheng.

This was Fu Hang’s first time seeing so many immortals with noble bloodlines. To these descendants of ancient lineages, demons like them were no more significant than dust and animals.

Not only had the Prince and Princess not spared the Mountain Lord a glance, but even the immortal maiden whom the Young Lord had personally jumped down to rescue had not looked at the Mountain Lord either.

Indeed, would mortals in a hurry stop to look at ants?

The Mountain Lord’s arms were reduced to bone frames, emanating an unusual luster in the rising sunlight.

The pain of fleshless bones would be unbearable to ordinary people, yet Yan Chaosheng’s expression remained calm. He didn’t reveal the slightest hint of pain, as serene as the moment before a storm.

Yan Chaosheng watched everyone leave with an indifferent expression. After a long while, he suddenly asked: “Do you hate the immortal clans?”

Fu Hang raised his head.

In the daylight, Yan Chaosheng’s eyes were pitch black. His tone was soft and low, without the slightest fluctuation.

Of course, Fu Hang thought. He hated them intensely. He would forever remember the forest where he once lived, how his father had been killed by a hypocritical immortal who took his demon core, how his mother had been dragged away by a group of mortal cultivators to be violated in a ruined temple.

His mother had been a beautiful, delicate flower demon.

After torturing her to death, they hadn’t forgotten to use her essence to make incense.

That day, the fragrance lingered throughout the small town. Fu Hang crawled out from the tree hollow where he had hidden, following his mother’s scent to see the incense being sold for hundreds of taels of gold.

The disciples smiled with satisfaction: “Not bad, worth all the effort our grand-uncle spent dealing with that tiger demon. Did you see? Before dying, he still urged that flower demon to run. Run? How could she escape?”

They laughed heartily, then expressed regret that such beautiful flower demons were rare in the world. In their cave, they had found no offspring—what a pity.

Mere beasts who had obtained immortal cultivation could trample all things underfoot.

In that moment, the young Fu Hang truly wanted to kill them all.

But as he gradually grew up, inheriting not his father’s demonic power but his mother’s appearance, he lived in hiding, unable to avenge them. Instead, he was captured and presented to the mountain’s lord, confined and abused.

During those long years of torment, Fu Hang forgot how to smile, how to cry, almost forgetting even his hatred.

The previous mountain lord, powerful as he was, dared not provoke the immortal clans.

Fu Hang had thought his life would continue this way forever, until that day when Yan Chaosheng arrived. Blood flowed like a river through the demon mountain as the youth picked him up, tore away the chains on his body, and fed him numerous demon cores.

From a weak minor demon, he suddenly became a powerful great demon.

The youth, with unstable primordial form and full of malevolence, made only one request: “Go out and keep watch.”

Fu Hang, without a word, stood guard outside the door.

And now, Yan Chaosheng asked him if he hated the immortal clans?

After a long silence, Fu Hang “treasonously” nodded. He would never deceive his master.

Yan Chaosheng waved his hand, and the Weak Water surged, forming a vortex. With a grasp in midair, countless threads of blood gathered from within the Weak Water.

Fu Hang watched this scene in shock.

At this moment, the Weak Water was manipulated at Yan Chaosheng’s will, as if no longer fearsome and powerful.

Yan Chaosheng casually brushed over the white bones of his arm, and a layer of flesh regrew. He said softly, “Since you hate them, then… kill them all.”

Fu Hang looked over.

Daylight had come to the demon mountain. The youth who had once saved him, who still retained some youthful spirit, now possessed only cold steadiness. His eyes were completely dark.

When he said “kill them all,” it sounded as ordinary as eating or dressing.

Fu Hang vaguely sensed that something was different.

He remembered the youth who had invaded the demon mountain, though with a violent demonic nature, he had been unwilling to kill indiscriminately, struggling to suppress and control himself, which was why he had sealed himself beneath the cold pool, telling Fu Hang to guard outside.

But now, the deep hatred in his eyes seemed to have settled for ten thousand years.

Surging forth.

Had the little immortal maiden turned to look at him once, she would surely have noticed this appearance.

He had jumped into the Weak Water for her. If only she had looked back at him once, or not left with Shao You.

Liu Shuang was now on her way back to Kung Sang with Shao You.

The celestial crane flew unhurriedly. A spring rain began falling over Yangshuo City in April, and she suggested they descend to look.

Shao You said nothing much, merely nodding and taking her down.

She walked through the small alleys, guided by memory, arriving at a vermilion gate.

Liu Shuang looked up to see three large characters prominently displayed: “Helan Mansion.”

Hundreds of years later, this would be her home in the mortal realm. By then, it would be called the Yue Mansion, and she would be Yue Liu Shuang.

She still remembered coming to knock on this door wearing wedding attire, and the servant who opened the door expressing shock that it had already become the Zhang Mansion.

The vicissitudes of life—the mortal world changed too quickly. She wondered if, having unlocked the Hui Ling Heart early, she would still meet her former parents hundreds of years later.

Shao You looked down at her, seeing the nostalgia and tenderness in her eyes, thinking she would enter. The closed gates were no obstacle for immortals, but after waiting a while, she did nothing, indicating to Shao You that they should leave.

Together, they walked along the streets of the mortal realm in April.

The maiden used her jewelry as collateral to buy two umbrellas, one for herself and one for him.

The vendor was delighted, but she asked: “Where’s my change?”

Shao You glanced at her.

The vendor hesitated, having assumed that someone trading jewelry for umbrellas was a naive young lady from a wealthy family who could be easily cheated. He hadn’t expected her to know his umbrellas weren’t worth that much.

Reluctantly, he returned several pieces of silver.

But she shook her head slightly, taking only a small piece before handing the umbrella to Shao You. He had forgotten, but she still remembered—when she had first been lost and confused in the outside world, she had met him while being cheated, charged one tael of silver for a single bun.

She had dejectedly eaten the bun, missing her family, when Shao You’s sword hilt tapped the vendor’s wrist as he coldly said: “Even if she doesn’t understand, you shouldn’t deceive her.”

Now he no longer had the experience of searching for souls in the mortal realm for hundreds of years, while she still remembered everything Shao You had taught her.

Shao You didn’t ask why, simply raising his hand to accept.

She led him to a bridge where people hurried to shelter from the rain, while the two immortals holding umbrellas walked with exceptional composure.

It was the bridge where, in her previous life, she had died waiting for him for a long time. She hadn’t waited for Shao You but for that deceiver Yan Chaosheng.

The spring willows on the bridge were emerald green, just as they had been in those years past.