The Divine Reckoner had said that before long, Ye Fan would be able to return to the other end of the star sea — yet just how long this “before long” truly was, what kind of span of time it represented, he did not know.

Would it be a matter of months, or of years, or of decades? Cultivators could readily live for several hundred years and more; a few years was brief, and a few decades was not long at all.

And yet — how could he afford to wait that long? He had arrived on this side without warning over twenty years ago. His parents, their temples now white with age — how long could they wait?

There is no greater sorrow in a person’s life than to outlive one’s child in old age. In the hearts of the elderly, a child is their only hope — to lose that child before them is the most devastating blow of all.

Ye Fan could not imagine what kind of grief his parents must have been in when he disappeared from Mount Tai. When he thought of his white-haired parents in their old age, murmuring to themselves, trembling hands reaching out to stroke his photograph in the dim light of their blurred, tear-filled eyes — his heart felt as though it were being cut apart by knives.

He had always carried within him a kind of dread — the fear that by the time he returned, everything would have changed beyond recognition. All these years, he had pushed himself relentlessly in his cultivation, and for one purpose alone: to go back.

Even if only for a single glimpse — to sit together, to eat one meal as a reunion, to let his white-haired parents’ clouded, weeping eyes bloom once more with the smiles of long ago.

When he had left, his parents had already begun to show the first traces of age. Now, more than twenty years had passed. He truly feared they were carrying sorrow in their hearts, that their health had grown worse, that perhaps they had even…

Every time these thoughts arose, Ye Fan felt a stabbing pain in his heart and everything before his eyes grew hazy. The greatest grace in this world is the nurturing grace of one’s parents. In the final remaining years of their lives, in the days when they longed for him most, he had been stranded in a foreign realm, unable to return — and this tormented him.

To lose one’s only child in old age — what a state of desolation the two elders must be in. His father’s back, no longer standing straight. His mother’s hair, grown whiter still. How could they bear it?

Others cultivated to prove the Dao. For Ye Fan, from beginning to end, the greatest purpose of his cultivation had always been to go home — to see the parents who had given him life and raised him.

What is eternal life? What is becoming a Great Emperor? What is immortality? To him, none of these were as important as being able to see his parents one more time. This was the emotion of humanity.

Unwithering stone — even if it endured with the world forever, what of it? It was still cold, still inert. What did it understand of human emotion? Cold and expressionless unto eternity.

To abandon one’s parents simply for the sake of living longer in this world — what meaning would that hold? To be as unfeeling as stone, to have cast aside the true nature of a human being.

Coming into this world, he had only quietly done what he must do, advancing toward his own goal. He had never roared out great vows or sworn how things would be.

Now, having learned that perhaps before long he could truly go back — no matter what, he would not give up. Because he was not a cold stone. He had a heart of filial devotion, pure and untainted.

So that his aging parents would no longer shed tears. So that the elders with hair gone white would no longer be cast into despair. So that the two old people would no longer wake from their sleep in the cold desolation of a dream — even if it should cost him body and soul, he would go back. Only so that their old age would no longer be lonely and sorrowful.

He was equally reluctant to leave this world. There were friends with whom he had shared life and death. There were worldly beauties, companions of the heart. There was a road ahead that inspired one to strive. There were ancient mysteries of ten thousand ages waiting to be explored. All of it was so alluring — yet he had no choice but to make a choice.

Just as he could not bear to part from his parents, Ji Ziyue could not leave her father, mother, and brother — could not leave this side of the world. She would wait until the bonds of this earthly realm were spent before following his footsteps.

Even the Black Emperor, with no kin and no companions, was unwilling to leave its own world. It longed for the Wushi Great Emperor, and wished always to remain in his homeland — even if in the end it could only stand guard at his tomb.

Every person had their own resolve and their own anchor. For this was the true emotion of humanity. And Ye Fan’s greatest motivation for cultivating in this world was to go home — quietly persisting, not to prove the Dao.

Time was running short. His parents could not wait — and yet the friends of this world still had long lifespans ahead of them. His departure would cause sorrow among the friends he was leaving behind here, but they would still be able to go on along their original paths in life. Whereas if he did not go back, his parents would spend their remaining years in heartbreak and despair and breathe their last in that state.

Though there was struggle, though there was helplessness, a choice had to be made. Of all virtues, filial piety comes first. He was only an ordinary human being of flesh and blood, unable to forget the nurturing grace of his parents — blood runs thicker than water, and that bond could never be severed.

He would not be so self-important as to believe this world would stop turning without him. Even without him, the friends on this side would continue to live their lives.

He was only a person who had not yet undergone the Slaying of the Dao — not a supreme existence presiding over all nine heavens and ten earths. His friends and companions did not live under his protection.

If anything, the power and backing behind these people far surpassed his own: the Victorious Fighting Buddha, the Great Emperor’s lineage, the peerless white-robed divine king, Qi Luo who was on the verge of becoming a sage-ranked assassin, the First Great Bandit of the Northern Region who had successfully ascended to sagehood — far more capable of inspiring awe throughout the world than his own existence.

The monkey, Ji Ziyue, Xiao Tingting, Li Heishui, and the others — the figures behind them now were far mightier than he was. He had never been the protector of the group.

As for Ji Ziyue — if they could not be together, and did not know whether they would meet again, what promise could he offer her? Better to offer blessings and let go, to unburden her heart and let her go farther. She ought to have her own truly brilliant and splendid sky.

Though Ye Fan felt the sorrow of it all, he would not shed tears. He could only quietly do what he must — let these old companions walk on along the paths that had always been theirs to walk, undiverted from their roads by him.

“Are you truly going back?” Li Heishui asked, sitting on the edge of the cliff.

“Going back.” Ye Fan nodded.

“You had better think this through well. More than twenty years have passed — things may well be different from what they once were, not the result you hope to see.” The monkey said, sitting in the fork of an ancient tree that stretched out over the cliff face.

“Even with only a sliver of hope, I will go back. Even if I might be facing the most brutal possible outcome.” Ye Fan said in a low voice.

“To tell you the truth — I understand this feeling of yours. If given a chance to return to the ancient era, I would willingly abandon everything to go back to the age of high antiquity. But it is a pity that for me, there is not even the barest thread of hope to attempt.” The monkey sighed.

“You should prepare yourself mentally.” Yan Yixi said. He was sitting on a large stone at the edge of the cliff. Ye Fan had concealed nothing from them — had told them about his own past — and they could infer some of what might have happened over these years.

“This is my obsession. If I cannot go back, I think that someday I may go mad — or even lose control and veer into demonic deviation.” Ye Fan said.

“This is the emotion of humanity.” Li Heishui sighed.

“Some people spend a lifetime in closed-door cultivation. Some people are trapped by love for a whole life. Some people are stubborn and single-minded until old age. Some people maintain a tranquil and peaceful heart to the end. This is the nature and emotion of humanity — everyone has their own pursuit and their own resolve, their own anchor.” Ye Fan said.

The group let out a collective sigh. No one had any grounds to stop him from leaving. The monkey seized a purple-gold gourd and took a long, deep drink, then passed it around. Each person in turn took a mouthful — it held a thousand-year divine wine, which had clearly been stolen from Qi Luo’s hands.

“Heaven-cursed monkey — you stole my wine again! That was my last bottle of thousand-year aged wine! I’ll kill you!” From the distance came the sound of Qi Luo’s heart-rending, soul-splitting cry.

The group on the cliff’s edge immediately scattered in all directions, fleeing like rabbits taking flight.

The Black Emperor was the last to leave. It grabbed the wine gourd from the ground and poured it down its throat in enormous gulps until not a single drop remained, belched its wine belch, conjured a formation platform, and crossed the void and was gone.

“Aaaahhh!” Qi Luo cried out in anguish. Arriving at the cliff’s edge, he picked up the wine gourd and clutched it in heartbroken devastation, pouring out a stream of curses.

“Old Ancestor, Sparrow also wants a drink.” A little one came toddling up, pacifier in mouth, shaking his trouser leg.

“It smells so good…” Tong Tong, Gu Fei, and Gu Lin also scrunched their upturned little noses, their faces full of longing.

“Listen here, you lot — this is poison. From this day forward, none of you are to touch it!” Qi Luo warned sternly. He was genuinely afraid that before he had even suppressed the big drunkards, a whole new brood of little drunkards would grow up — and then truly not a single bottle of his precious collection would survive.

The Celestial Court’s future was without limit — anyone could see it. So long as the several children grew to maturity, so long as the Lunar Yin Constitution, the Conquest Holy Emperor’s son, and the others were all brought in, they would one day be an invincible divine dynasty.

The Black Emperor was especially prized by Qi Luo — who had practically enshrined it — all for the sake of having it carve out the Wushi Great Emperor’s formation patterns to guard the mountain gate.

Yet the Black Emperor was presently lacking in enthusiasm for this, consistently feeling that training the two silver-blood imperial clanspeople was a more fulfilling endeavor, and loudly declaring it would one day train two silver-blood emperors to destroy both the Celestial Emperor’s son and Yuangu.

“Would all of you please not look at me that way — as if I’m about to leave. The Divine Reckoner may have said that, but it will probably still be a few years off.” Ye Fan said.

“Every look is one look fewer to come. Better get in as many looks as possible.” The big black dog said.

“You wretched dog — you really have a way with words. I’m not dying, you know.” Ye Fan kicked it.

The Black Emperor shamelessly sidled up close, saying: “Well, since you’re leaving anyway — how about that Qilin immortality elixir and the Ten Thousand Things Primordial Qi Cauldron? You might as well give them to me.”

“You heartless thing — you’re not upset because I’m leaving, you’re just eyeing the things I’m carrying. I ought to strangle you.” Ye Fan grabbed it by the throat.

“Woof! I’m just afraid you’ll drop these immortal treasures on the way.”

“Beat this wretched dog.” The whole group surged forward to pummel the Black Emperor together, filling the air with the sounds of dog yelping — and whatever air of melancholy had been present was thoroughly scattered by the commotion.

“On this departure of mine — the timing is uncertain — I would like to kill a number of people before I go. Are there any candidates from your end?” Ye Fan asked.

“Wang Teng!”

“Yuangu!”

“Hua Yunfei and Li Xiaoman!”

“Those mysterious figures who attacked us — all we know is that one of them possessed an incomplete nine-aperture stone figure. Their identities are unknown.”

They rattled off several names of people they wished to see killed, and then each in turn shook their head, saying they didn’t need him to do it — they would settle accounts themselves in time.

The monkey in particular refused in stern and definitive terms. He was going to cut down every last one of them himself. He had the standing to say it: as a Conquest Holy Emperor’s son, already having undergone the Slaying of the Dao — with no sage stepping forward, who under heaven was left to challenge him?

“Brother Monkey, let’s make a bet — see who kills more!” Ye Fan said. A great era was drenched in blood, and certain people were fated to fall.

He reminded Li Heishui, Li Tian, and the others not to make a move — this time they needed only to watch quietly, and use the time well to cultivate diligently.

The monkey’s uncle had been confirmed still alive, sitting upon Mount Sumeru looking down upon the whole earth. With the Conquest Holy Emperor’s son going to settle the score, no one would dare stir up trouble with him.

“My grandfather has passed. The old undying one has finally agreed to take me as a disciple.” Li Heishui said. “In a little while I’m going into cultivation — but I’ll come by the Celestial Court often.”

This time, even if Ye Fan departed, he would be at ease. Apart from Li Tian and Yan Yixi, virtually everyone else had the shadow of a sage standing behind them.

The Victorious Fighting Buddha, the Southern Ridge barbarian war god, the Ji Family, the peerless white-robed divine king, the First Great Bandit’s old undying one, Qi Luo — each one made the breath catch in your throat.

“Let me introduce you to a sage master.” Ye Fan said with a smile to Li Tian and the others.