“Uncle, I’ve come to find my master.” The boy’s timid voice, after he entered the Heavenly Court, drove Li Tian to distraction.
How had he ended up as “uncle”? It hit him hard. He had always considered himself dashing and suave — charming in a crowd, cutting a handsome and elegant figure — yet today someone had called him old.
The group burst into laughter.
Within the main base of the Heavenly Court, exotic flowers bloomed, rare spirit grasses carpeted the ground, cascading waterfalls tumbled down mountainsides, and in the sky floated island after island suspended in midair. Clouds billowed and rosy mists swirled, immortal fog drifting and rising.
Beneath the stone cliffs, violet energy drifted upward; irises and orchids grew side by side; qilin came and went; above, a luan bird flew past, its long tail feathers trailing like a rainbow. And a pale-azure dragon swooped down through the clouds, letting out a single cry that set the winds and clouds in motion.
“Uncle, I’m sorry — I didn’t mean anything by it.” Xiao Song lowered his head, flustered, a flush of red appearing on his beautiful face as he apologized.
Li Tian did not want to hear it. “Am I that old? Call me Martial Uncle — not ‘uncle.’ “
“Isn’t it the same thing?” Xiao Song was confused.
“They are clearly not the same at all!” Li Tian was at his wit’s end.
“So adorable — in a past life, he must have been a girl.” Hua Hua came walking over, took one look at the young boy Xiao Song, and burst out laughing.
“In your past life, you must have been a boy.” Xiao Song replied with a shy smile.
Hua Hua’s laughter cut off abruptly. Something about it sounded deeply off — did that mean he was a girl in this life? No matter how he thought about it, that seemed to be the implication.
“Is this really Senior Brother Xiao Song?” Zhang Qingyang and Long Yuxuan came running over, overjoyed and eager. They had been apart for so many years; the moment they heard the news they had rushed over immediately.
“It’s me.” Xiao Song’s voice was soft, and no matter how one looked at him, he seemed like a child — nothing like someone who could be the senior brother of this whole group.
“Is this really that…” Hua Hua, recovering from his embarrassment, widened his eyes and stared endlessly at the ethereally gifted, impossibly beautiful boy before him. He very much wanted to say: Is this really that adorably sweet little purple squirrel? Of course he had seen him before, when they left Earth — that had been his second senior brother.
Clang!
Sparks flew. Long Ma planted a hoof firmly on Hua Hua’s gleaming bald head with a resounding metallic ring. Hua Hua howled and hopped about in pain, but knowing it was Long Ma, he truly had nothing he could do. This was someone who could berate you nonstop for half a month once provoked — though Hua Hua was no gentle soul himself, he found it a bit much to go up against someone of his master’s seniority.
At that moment, the Dark Emperor also squeezed forward — utterly without ceremony — swiping one enormous black paw across Hua Hua’s bald head and shoving him aside, staring at Xiao Song with an expression full of astonishment.
“To think such a person truly exists in this mortal world — dust settles nowhere upon him, his immortal platform remains a mirror, unchanged from the beginning.” The Dark Emperor murmured, eyes wide as he stared at Xiao Song.
Everyone present could feel how powerful Xiao Song’s soul and spirit were. Opening their heavenly eyes, they could perceive it: the immortal platform at his brows was truly pure and crystalline, like a piece of clear quartz — all traces of the mortal world naturally fading away, leaving nothing behind.
The Demon Human walked over and opened his mouth: “There is a kind of person who, day after day for a hundred years, naturally cuts away the noise and clamor of the mortal world. The passage of time leaves no marks on their immortal platform. Even if they cultivate until the sitting-death, they remain with the pure and innocent nature of a child.”
The Demon Human’s words naturally set everyone shaking.
In the cultivation world, there is a saying: after living through long ages, a cultivator must eventually sever ties of their own accord — sever ties with the mortal world, sever ties with all disturbance — letting the immortal platform return to serenity, allowing the Dao-heart to become unified, returning to the pure and innocent nature of a child. This can extend one’s lifespan and dissolve the erosion of time.
It is not a transformation of the physical body — it is a rebirth of the primal soul, an act of maintaining the immortal platform’s purity throughout, unbound by love, hatred, emotion, and worldly affairs, retaining only a heart that reaches toward the Dao.
It is said that many people who have lived into a second existence have had such an experience.
How young was Xiao Song? And yet he had already accomplished this — never once losing that earnest and simple heart, always exactly as he was. It left people full of wonder.
With this many people staring at him, Xiao Song’s face naturally turned red — which made many people involuntarily want to pinch his cheeks, finding him genuinely adorable.
The first to reach out was Hua Hua. He was rather unlucky — Long Ma planted a hoof on him first, saying: “Call him Senior Brother. You’re only the third.”
“Namo Amituofo — what the heck, Horse Elder, the way you put that really is a bit much.” Hua Hua was indignant.
“Child, would you allow me to take a look?” The Demon Human spoke up.
“Of course, Elder.” Xiao Song had no defenses up, his nature genuinely innocent and pure — though he could sense which people bore goodwill toward him and which people carried danger.
The Demon Human reached out. The immortal platform within Xiao Song blazed bright as fire, projecting outward clearly for all to see. People could see that the crystalline immortal platform was truly immaculate — all traces of the mortal world faded away on their own, leaving nothing behind.
“Senior Brother, you won’t forget us, will you? Since nothing leaves a mark.” Hua Hua asked in astonishment.
“I won’t. I remember everything. When we left Earth back then, you were crying naked, your face covered in tears.” Xiao Song said it very earnestly and seriously.
How mortifying!
Hua Hua panicked and immediately cut in, not letting him continue.
The whole group roared with laughter. Hua Hua’s face went completely red. He backed away sheepishly, not wanting this crowd to keep mocking him.
“How strange — there is an unusual fluctuation spontaneously sweeping across his immortal platform, causing his Dao-heart to be empty and ethereal, untainted by the common world. This power keeps his nature, his mental state, and his sea of consciousness unaltered.” After a long and careful observation, the Demon Human spoke.
Everyone was deeply shaken — Xiao Song was truly mysterious.
“This situation is likely related to both his own temperament and the various cultivation methods he has practiced.” The Dark Emperor pondered, and as one who had followed Great Emperor Wushi, it absolutely had standing to weigh in.
When Xiao Song brought out his violet gold pagoda, the whole group fell silent. When they saw that each of the nine tiers housed a sitting figure reciting scripture, they lost their composure entirely.
Sure enough, after the Demon Human and the Dark Emperor examined it one after the other, both concluded that the connection with those scripture texts was profound — and that among them, there might even be remnant scriptures of an Emperor Venerable!
Moreover, most of these scripture chapters were primarily of the Immortal Platform Scroll variety — combined with Xiao Song’s originally pure and innocent nature, this had given rise to such a boy: his immortal platform self-guarding, his clarity boundless, a true child of purity.
He would forget all the trivial affairs of the mortal world — but the people who mattered to him remained forever in his heart.
“Xiao Song Song is adorable.” At that moment, from behind the crowd walked a little girl of two or three years of age. She tilted her head back, blinking her bright, large eyes as she gazed at Xiao Song.
Everyone turned around and smiled — their eyes filled with doting affection. Xiao Nannan had arrived. Round and carved like fine jade, she was the most beloved little princess of the Heavenly Court, offering her very serious evaluation. Her little face was flushed pink, round as a big apple — the kind of face that made people want to take a bite.
The atmosphere here was full of warmth. Everyone felt great fondness for this young boy — he truly was earnest and genuine. This unique and distinctive way of cultivation offered insight and inspiration to many people.
A child of pure innocence. A shy young boy. A powerful Quasi-Emperor. All of these existed in him at once — and in an instant, his manner and bearing dazzled everyone who saw him. They all knew: his future was beyond measure.
This was an uncarved gem, a rough jade of gold. The Dark Emperor’s mouth watered with eagerness — but however much it tried to deceive and scheme, it could not touch the foundations of Xiao Song’s heart. The boy’s sincere and genuine words left the Dark Emperor’s old face flushing red every time, and for the first time it found itself unable to act, with nowhere to start.
Xiao Song’s arrival was a tremendous boost to the morale of the Heavenly Court — especially because he had brought with him a peerless expert. That figure stood not far away even now, and even among the Heavenly Court’s abundance of powerful figures, every one of them felt a deep wariness toward him.
Even the Demon Human Elder spent an entire stretch of time pacing around him, looking him over again and again — a rare occurrence. In the end, he had no appetite for an entire day, and turned and headed into the starry sky to go hunting.
When the identity of this person was fully understood, the Heavenly Court fell into utter stillness — and then erupted all at once. This was a former genius who had once been able to stand in battle against the Green Emperor — the only supreme powerhouse in those days who could have met the Green Emperor in an all-out fight on the emperor’s path. Just the thought of it shook people to their core.
The ages had not entirely erased him, leaving behind his physical remains. Though he was no longer the person he once had been, his peerless physical body endured.
As he was today, he drifted in and out of consciousness, having developed a degree of awareness — but still could not clearly perceive the Dao or himself. Only while at Xiao Song’s side did he grow calm. Otherwise, he was nothing more than a killing machine — an invincible god of death.
“Xiao Song is extraordinary — to have brought with him a figure like this. The Underworld must be in an uproar right now; they must be in anguish.”
Sounds of joyful laughter rang out from within the Heavenly Court. Everyone was immensely invigorated, extremely happy.
Naturally, the news shook the entire vast wilderness. Across every corner of the cosmos, cultivators everywhere were talking about it. People now knew that another heavens-defying child had appeared in the Heavenly Court — Ye Fan’s second disciple, a Quasi-Emperor.
A single lineage — three Quasi-Emperors. In the future, there might be four, five…
Everyone was stunned.
It was nearly comparable to the eras when Great Emperors and Primordial Sovereigns still lived — only when their children and their parents coexisted had there been anything like this: multiple Quasi-Emperors from a single lineage.
When such a thing occurred, it was inevitably the pinnacle of glory for that clan.
And now the Heavenly Court had set foot upon this path. The future might very well belong to them. As long as a peerless expert emerged — one capable of matching the Immortal Empress or the Old Woodcutter — then no one would dare offend the Heavenly Court any longer. The great tide of destiny would be theirs.
“Gu Xin’ao — the mightiest Battle Slave who could stand against the Green Emperor in battle — just left like that?!” A terrifying roar came from deep within the Underworld.
It was not just the Yanluo Hall — the Underworld Emperor Hall and the Prison Suppression Hall were exactly the same, filled with the tempest of fury. The great leaders of the Underworld were shaking with rage.
Gu Xin’ao had been the most powerful Battle Slave they had obtained in the past tens of thousands of years. Once awakened, he could have been cultivated into an invincible blade — wherever that blade pointed, who could stand against it?
“The Underworld has truly grown worse with every generation. If this continues, we may as well devour all the yin spirits ourselves — what is the point of still nurturing undying divine corpses? None of it is any use!”
The great leaders of the Underworld were seething with rage, wishing they could awaken every slumbering Supreme Being and wash the starry sky in blood — sweep the world into ruin. This time, the humiliation was truly too great. They had done all that work only for someone else to benefit. Hundreds of thousands of yin soldiers had been reduced to ash and smoke, and an invincible war god had simply slipped away from them just like that.
This was a disgrace. If word spread, it would become a laughingstock. They were the Underworld — the force that had brought the Heavenly Court crashing down and left countless gods in agony. At the mere mention of their name, the entire world had trembled. And yet now they had been slapped and stomped on, their face swollen beyond recognition.
Within the Underworld, black demonic clouds churned and rolled, blood-colored lightning danced and crackled, and a torrential downpour of blood-rain fell without end — terror beyond all limits.
The Heavenly Court, meanwhile, was filled with joyful voices and laughter. The only regret was that Ye Fan was absent. Everyone had come out to meet Xiao Song. Ji Ziyue arrived as well, carrying Xiao Zi in her arms.
“I pay my respects to Master’s wife.” Xiao Song bowed formally and with great sincerity.
“Your master has spoken of you all along — yet he has not dared go to you himself, fearing that the fires of war might spread to his homeland. I am very glad to finally meet you.” Ji Ziyue was also very fond of Xiao Song, and smiled warmly as she helped him rise.
“Little big brother wears pu (purple) clothes. My name is Xiao Zi — the same!” Xiao Zi, barely a year old, woke up, her speech still unclear, looking like a little porcelain doll. She stretched out both little hands toward Xiao Song and said: “Hug.”
“Senior Brother, you truly have a way with children. When I tried to hold Xiao Zi back then, she absolutely refused — she just clawed at my bald head.” Hua Hua complained with deep indignation.
When Xiao Song picked Xiao Zi up, the little girl showed not the slightest shyness around him. She wriggled like a little creature climbing a tree — stretching out her arms and kicking her little legs — and announced: “Little big brother smewws (smells) good.”
And then, with a loud smack, she bit Xiao Song, leaving a generous amount of drool behind. Plump and soft and rosy-cheeked, she looked so unbearably cute doing it that everyone burst into laughter all at once.