With Yun Wuji's departure, Hua Qingying remained silently standing alone, and in her usually cold eyes, there was a clear look of confusion.
'Yun Wuji,' she murmured. Technically, she was his disciple, yet even then she knew very little about him, except that his genius was frightening. Repeatedly shocked by his feats that shattered common sense, and drawn in by the strangely calming aura surrounding him, Hua Qingying had, without even realizing it, developed a strong interest in him.
Trying to clear her thoughts, she sat cross-legged to meditate and recapture the state of mind she had earlier, but the most frustrating part was that the moment she closed her eyes, his image appeared in her mind. The feeling of his voice brushing against her ears and the warmth of his palm on her hands felt far too real.
Hua Qingying felt the temperature of her body rising, and she quickly opened her eyes. Right in front of her, only a few meters away, she suddenly saw his figure with his back facing her. Even with just his back visible, he still looked incomprehensibly good-looking, that same otherworldly aura radiating from him. It was as if he were an immortal who had transcended this world, someone who did not belong to this lowly mortal plane.
Blinking her eyes, the figure suddenly faded. Hua Qingying's eyes trembled as she remained still for a long moment. "What is wrong with me?"
To think she would start hallucinating about a man.
This wasn't the first time it had happened to her; in fact, it was the fourth. One of the reasons she had been stuck was that her heart was sinking into confusion. Yun Wuji's appearance, his genius, and the way he touched her so naturally stirred in her feelings far beyond simple curiosity.
But she still hadn't realized it until now.
The rational choice would have been to confront him when he arrived and explain her problem, but how could someone like her simply go up and admit that the reason she had been struggling was because she couldn't get him out of her mind?
...
Primal Chaos, the Forbidden Land of Samsara.
After seeing the memory fragments Ni Xuan had left him, Yun Wuji's Devil no longer lingered in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness. Instead, he remained in the Forbidden Land of Samsara, beside Shen Xi and Luo Guxie.
He hadn't ruled out the possibility that the Heaven Punishing Sword's spirit was still alive. After all, this was one of the basic plot twists in third-rate novels. If that were the case, Shen Xi, as the current spirit of the Heaven Punishing Sword, would be in danger. Despite the uncomfortable feeling Yun Wuji got from experiencing the time difference, he remained attentive, keeping a close eye on her.
"Papa, papa," a cute, sweet voice called from Shen Xi's belly, reaching for Yun Wuji.
"I'm here, Xi'er. Did you miss your papa?" Yun Wuji leaned closer, resting his head on Shen Xi's flat belly as he spoke to his unborn daughter.
Shen Xi had been pregnant for only about a year, yet her stomach remained flat, much like the curve of your finances or Sakura's chest. Still, his daughter Yun Xi had already learned to talk, thanks to the memories her mother had imparted to her.
For the past few weeks, she had been able to speak to them like she was doing now. "What do they do in Plow Town?"
"Plow Town? Where did you hear that?" Luo Guxie asked, sitting next to them and holding her son Yun Gu, her expression twisted into a very strange look.
"I heard papa telling mama that when he returns, he will take her downtown the Plow Town," Yun Xi's curious voice piped up. The moment she spoke, Yun Wuji felt multiple pairs of judging eyes bore into him.
"..." Shen Xi calmly turned her head to the side, her gaze settling on the flower fields before her as if she had suddenly taken a deep interest in them. 'Hmm, the number of herbs has increased recently. It must be thanks to He Ling's effort. Oh, that Heart Pacifying Flower is so beautiful. I never noticed it before.'
"Cough! Cough! Yes," Yun Wuji said, ignoring the piercing glares drilling holes into his back, and spoke in a serious tone. "Yeah, it's a place where they plow the fields. You know your mom likes growing flowers and herbs, and there they make very beautiful flower fields."
Inwardly, he was fuming. How the fuck did his daughter hear him say that? He had clearly made sure she was asleep before speaking!
Shen Xi turned to him and gave him a look of quiet approval. Their eyes met, and both of them sighed in relief.
But Yun Xi's next words made their expressions crumble once more. "Really?! When I'm born, can Papa and Mama take me to see it?"
Shen Xi's praising eyes hardened into a glare, her expression clearly saying, 'You deal with it!'
"Hmm! Sure! Sure! When my little Xi'er is born, I'll take you wherever you want," Yun Wuji said, glaring at her as if to say, 'It's your fault too!' At the same time, speaking gently to his daughter, he thought to himself, 'In the worst-case scenario, I'll just have someone build a town called Plow Town.'
"Yes! Papa is the best!" Yun Xi's excited voice rang out again, making both Shen Xi and Yun Wuji's faces crumble even further. At the same time, He Ling and Luo Guxie watched them with interest, struggling to suppress their laughter.
"Hmph! Daddy is so biased!" Yun Wuxin was the only one feeling wronged and annoyed. Ever since Yun Xi had started talking, she had been stealing far too much of their daddy's attention.
If Yun Gu could speak, he would surely have cursed her, 'You don't have the right to talk!' He was clearly the only son, yet his father paid him the least attention!
...
Chatting with his family for a long while until Yun Xi drifted back to sleep, Yun Wuji finally turned his attention back to his main body.
After spending some negative distance time with Shenwu Qing, he returned to the Cloud Dragon Palace.
"Yun Wuji!" He hadn't even moved from his spot when Shenwu Youluan suddenly approached him. "Can I talk to you?"
'She is finally here,' Yun Wuji thought, a gentle smile appearing on his face. Like a certain Shinigami, he answered warmly, "Sure, let's go somewhere else to talk." He then walked toward the garden.
Shenwu Youluan smiled and followed behind him. Ever since he defeated Hua Qingying, she had been thinking about speaking with him, but she hesitated for a long time. She was grateful to him and afraid of dragging him into her problems. However, what had happened recently finally pushed her to make up her mind.
The Palace's garden was immensely huge, probably even larger than Yinger's golden palace garden, which was already as big as the entire Blue Pole Star. Cultivation worlds and the ridiculous numbers they keep throwing around.
Gardens were something only people from the Kingdoms of God and the Pure Land ever had the luck or extravagance to witness and enjoy. In the outside world, most people would never even see proper grass in their entire lives because of the omnipresent Abyssal Dust.
Usually, servants should have been the ones tending this place, but Yun Wuji forbade anyone from getting close to it. He preferred taking care of it on his own. It was one of the few hobbies he developed under his master's influence, caring for herbs and plants, especially since he could use the Light Profound Energy.
"What do you want to tell me, Youluan?" Yun Wuji turned to face her. Her head was slightly lowered, her lips were trembling, and her hands were clenching the hem of her robe. She was clearly struggling to speak.
He reached out and gently patted her head, saying, "If you have something to say, then speak. I will do anything to help."
A gentle, soothing aura swept through her, washing away all the negative and chaotic feelings in her heart. Shenwu Youluan lifted her eyes, meeting Yun Wuji's black orbs, and finally spoke. "Please... please save my daughter!"
The Lightless Divine Regent's true name was Shenwu Xihua. Despite coming from a collateral branch of the Shenwu clan, she was the most gifted profound practitioner of her generation. People often said her talent was second only to the Sword Immortal, Hua Qingying, at the time.
She was hopelessly in love with the Divine Son of that time, Shenwu Xueyan, and was utterly devoted to him, willing to do anything for his sake. She offered him all her resources when he had been stuck on the brink of the Divine Extinction Realm for three hundred years. To help him, Shenwu Xihua ventured into the Endless Fog over seventy times in search of a mutated abyssal crystal that could break through his bottleneck. She returned bearing countless wounds, yet never uttered a single word of complaint.
Her devotion moved everyone, but the only exception was Shenwu Xueyan himself. He found her love too overwhelming and disliked her strong personality. In fact, he had never liked her even a little from the start; it had been a one-sided love from the very beginning.
Not long after, Shenwu Xueyan married a Divine Consort. It wasn't Shenwu Xihua, but another woman from a distant branch, whose personality was the opposite of Shenwu Xihua's, sweet-tempered and gentle like water.
That woman was Shenwu Youluan's daughter.
Back then, when Shenwu Xihua backstabbed Shenwu Xueyan and seized the Divine Inheritance, she lost her sight due to her insufficient Divine Essence. She imprisoned the man she had once loved and subjected him to unimaginable torment, while also locking up the woman who had taken her place as Divine Consort.
All the heavy love she once had for Shenwu Xueyan twisted into immense hatred toward everything and everyone, especially toward all men. She loathed and despised every male in this universe.
"You want me to kill that crazy woman and save your daughter?" Yun Wuji listened to her story and spoke with a faint smile.
"No," Shenwu Youluan shook her head quickly. "I won't go so far as to ask you to do something that dangerous. I would be eternally grateful if you could help me find a way to rescue my daughter." Her eyes sparkled with desperation and hope. For ten thousand years, she and nearly every citizen in the Eternal Night Kingdom of God had lived in oppression and despair.
To her, Yun Wuji was the only hope of escaping that dark hell with her daughter.
"I know that I have no right to ask for your help; you already helped me more than once without asking for anything in return." She suddenly grabbed his hand, clutching it tightly as she continued, "I am willing to give up everything in exchange for your help!"
"I am willing to become your slave for the rest of my life!" She was completely sincere in her words. If it meant saving her daughter, she would not mind even if he asked her to do the most inexplicable things imaginable. Or rather, she seemed a little too willing... as if a part of her was actually anticipating whatever he might order her to do.
"Another one bit the dust!" Hei Xiaolian shouted in his mind.
"I understand your difficulties." Yun Wuji stayed quiet for a moment, then he shook his head. "Daga kotowaru!"
...
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