Chapter 230: Origins Relived: A Dragon's Farewell
Time flew by like sand slipping through the fingers of an immortal—effortless, relentless, and impossible to grasp.
Under the occasional care of Tunlong Chenyuan and Yuanling's quiet guardianship, Su Tianhao grew with unnatural speed and vitality.
In just three months, he was already crawling with determination. By six months, he had taken his first unsteady steps. And at nine months old, he spoke his first words.
Not "Father."
Not "Ling'er."
"Mom… where is Mom?"
Three simple words that struck Tunlong Chenyuan like a blade through the heart. The Supreme Dragon of Celestial Depths—feared across realms, whose name alone had made immortals flinch—secluded himself for seven full days afterward. When he finally emerged, his eyes carried a new shadow that never fully left.
At one year old, formal education began under Yuanling's meticulous tutelage. During this period, Tunlong Chenyuan started imparting the nine sealed layers of inherited memories into his son's Sea of Consciousness. What struck Su Tianhao most, watching it unfold from within the dream, was the method his father used.
The Profound Origin Vein.
The very same vein he had stirred awake to achieve Initial Mastery in Fluidity. His father had known about it sixteen years before he did—had built it into the inheritance as the precise channel through which the memories would be delivered without overwhelming a developing soul.
By one year and six months, the inherited memories had been fully imparted. And the once helpless infant had grown into a fine toddler.
He had a small chubby but sturdy build, his frame already hinting at the powerful figure he would one day become. His black hair had grown past his ears—soft and slightly unruly, framing a face of striking, almost unsettling beauty for a child his age. His presence was calm and focused, rarely crying or throwing tantrums. He observed the world with quiet intensity, as though already trying to understand the weight behind everything around him.
During these peaceful years, Tunlong Chenyuan remained a tyrannical sovereign to the outside world—but inside the World Anchoring Pearl, he was simply Father. He would sit for hours watching his son play, teaching him about the outside world, the importance of principles, the cold realities of power and survival. He spoke plainly. He never simplified. And Su Tianhao, young as he was, always seemed to understand more than he should.
Yet even within these warm memories, Su Tianhao could feel the growing darkness on the horizon.
His father's visits became increasingly rare. The heaviness in those golden draconic eyes deepened with every passing month. Something inevitable was approaching—something that would force the Supreme Dragon of Celestial Depths to make the cruelest decision of his life.
---
On a quiet afternoon, in a wide room of white walls and exquisite decorations, young Su Tianhao sat across from Yuanling on the polished floor—surrounded by toys, each one crafted by his father's hand with extraordinary detail and realism. But this wasn't just playtime. It was one of their storytelling sessions.
Yuanling would use these handcrafted toys—some infused with runes and spiritual energy, granting them a faint semi-sentience that allowed them to move and perform according to her will like heavenly puppets—to tell stories of the outside world. Each story was vivid, alive, and entirely different from the last. She never repeated herself unless he specifically asked.
Young Su Tianhao watched with wide golden eyes, his small face flushed with anticipation and delight.
"Sister Ling'er—again! Again! I want to hear the story of the Fallen Dragon!"
He beamed, bouncing with excitement. He was barely a month away from turning two—though he didn't know it then. The present Su Tianhao did. And he knew, with quiet certainty, that these peaceful memories were already nearing their end.
Yuanling glanced at him. Her abyssal eyes carried something that might have been warmth—and beneath it, something that might have been pain. The young boy hadn't understood it then.
Su Tianhao understood it now.
Yuanling had always known what was coming.
She smiled slightly and began—lifting the toy of a young man who bore a striking resemblance to Tunlong Chenyuan in his earliest years. More remarkable still, the toy could transform into a dragon when spiritual energy was channeled into the runes engraved along its frame.
The story of the Fallen Dragon was, in essence, Tunlong Chenyuan's life—a large portion of it reshaped and simplified into something a child could love. It had quickly become Su Tianhao's favorite, and it was easy to understand why. He pressed his palms together in excitement as the prologue began.
But before the story could move past the opening lines, the space in the room rippled and distorted. From the distortion, a towering figure of divine presence stepped into the room—and even the air stilled.
"Dad!"
Young Su Tianhao shot to his feet and rushed toward the man without the slightest hesitation—completely unbothered by the aura that would have brought Martial Saints to their knees.
"Shengzi."
Tunlong Chenyuan's voice arrived with warmth as his son reached him. He swept the boy into his arms and lifted him into the air with a playful smile. Young Su Tianhao shouted and laughed freely before settling his head against his father's shoulder with a contented giggle.
Then Tunlong Chenyuan set him gently back on his feet.
He turned to Yuanling—his expression sharp and serious.
"We need to talk."
Yuanling rose immediately from her place on the floor and turned to young Su Tianhao. "Wait outside, Tianhao. Father and I have something important to discuss."
"No—I want to listen," the boy pouted.
"Go on," she said gently. "I promise to finish your story afterward—as many times as you want."
Young Su Tianhao considered this with the gravity of a critical negotiation, then smiled and nodded. He walked out of the room with the dragon toy tucked under his arm, and the door fell shut behind him.
The moment it did, Tunlong Chenyuan's voice cut through the quiet.
"Why do you insist on calling him Tianhao like his mother does?"
"I simply prefer it, Master," Yuanling replied flatly.
Tunlong Chenyuan ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. "How many times have I told you to stop calling me that? Just call me Father—like Shengzi does."
Yuanling's expression shifted. Her aura changed in an instant—the warmth of the woman who had been playing with a toddler moments ago vanishing entirely, replaced by something that made space itself tremble and shriek around her.
"Stop it, Master." Her voice was cold. "I know something is wrong. You don't have to hide it behind pointless humor."
She knew him well enough. Tunlong Chenyuan was not a playful man by nature—he was warm with his family, but quietly so, with the calm maturity of someone who had lived too long for performance. He only became lighthearted when he was struggling with something he didn't want to show.
"I really can't hide anything from you," he said, his expression settling into something serious.
"It's time, isn't it?" Yuanling said quietly. The flatness of her tone was betrayed entirely by the sadness in her eyes.
"Yes." He exhaled slowly. "My punishment is ending. I can feel my power returning—my aura growing stronger and more unstable by the day. Soon I will become a disaster to this world simply by existing within it. I have to enter seclusion in a hidden location and await my ascension. It's close." A pause. "Very close."
Yuanling's eyes narrowed in quiet contemplation. "Have you found somewhere fitting for the ascension?"
"I have."
"Good." She didn't press further—that answer was enough. "And Tianhao? Where will he go until the time is right for him to return home?"
Tunlong Chenyuan exhaled through his nose—the breath of a dragon carrying the weight of mountains and the sorrow of an impending farewell.
"A mortal town. Somewhere in the far east of the Great Long Dynasty, in a small country called Longzhou under the jurisdiction of the Azure Dragon Empire. No cultivators. Secluded. Unremarkable in every way that matters—it draws no attention from outsiders." A pause. "There is a prestigious orphanage in the town with an outstanding reputation, known for producing orphans who later became successful figures throughout Longzhou Country."
Yuanling was silent for a moment.
"I suppose this is goodbye then," she said quietly.
"You have until midnight to be with him. We leave at dawn." Tunlong Chenyuan held her gaze, his next words carrying deliberate weight. "I will not return after dropping him off. It may be the last time you see me."
Yuanling's breath caught. Her composure fractured—and the words left her lips before she could stop them.
"Father—what do you mean by that?"
Tunlong Chenyuan smiled. "Don't worry. While it will be the last time you see me in this world, I am certain Shengzi will one day return home. And when he does, he will bring you with him to the Immortal Realm—and our family will be reunited."
His gaze hardened with quiet certainty. "I promise—by that time, I will have found a way to separate you from the World Anchoring Pearl."
Yuanling bowed deeply. "I am grateful, Father."
His smile widened. Although Yuanling was only his creation, she had never been merely that to him. She was his daughter.
The World Anchoring Pearl had been created in the early years of his mortal punishment—back when his world domination was still beginning. When Yuanling was first born, she had taken the appearance of a one-year-old: naive, defenseless, entirely oblivious to the world around her, the way any child would be. Tunlong Chenyuan had trained her himself and watched her grow as the decades passed. From a naive little child to a mischievous brat, a rebellious teenager, a noble young lady—and finally the mature, mysterious woman she now was.
Even though Yuanling was close to a century old, in his eyes she was still nothing but his child. And it pained him deeply that he had never been able to overcome her one flaw.
With a final glance at Yuanling—whose head was still bowed—Tunlong Chenyuan teleported out of the room.
The moment his presence vanished, she raised her head slowly and exhaled, fighting the embarrassment from reaching her face.
"Hmph."
She straightened, her expression returning to its void-like composure.
"Come in."
The door creaked open and young Su Tianhao stepped inside, his expression curious and searching.
"Where's Father?"
"He's gone. He'll come for you at dawn tomorrow." She paused. "You'll be leaving the World Anchoring Pearl with him—going into the outside world."
"Really?!"
Young Su Tianhao's eyes lit up like twin suns.
Yuanling nodded. But her expression carried an unspoken bitterness that the young boy simply couldn't discern.
---
At the hour of the rat, a dim room was illuminated only by moonlight filtering through the curtains—falling directly across a small boy sleeping peacefully on the bed.
Two figures appeared before him without a sound. Not even the air stirred.
The boy's golden eyes opened immediately.
He blinked in the dim light, taking in the two silhouettes standing at his bedside. He couldn't make out their faces—but he knew without doubt who they were.
He rubbed his eyes, stretched, and as the implications settled in, he jumped from the bed with barely contained energy.
"We're going now?" His voice rang out with anticipation. "To the outside world?"
"Yes, son." Tunlong Chenyuan's voice arrived calmly—heavy with a sorrow the boy couldn't grasp. "We're going to the outside world."
---
Three figures floated outside the majestic Tunlong estate, drifting above the compound beneath the full moon. In the realm of the World Anchoring Pearl, the moon was always full.
Yuanling carried young Su Tianhao in her arms in silence as they moved toward the edge of the dimension. Tunlong Chenyuan followed close behind—blank-faced, unhurried. Although no words passed between the adults, Su Tianhao felt the weight of the air around them and chose, for once, not to break it.
When they reached the edge of the world, Tunlong Chenyuan appeared before them. He ruffled his son's hair and offered a warm, reassuring smile.
"Cheer up, son. It's going to be alright."
The last word lingered.
Then his body began to transform.
Not violently. Not with pain. But with the majestic, inevitable grace of something returning to what it truly was.
Young Su Tianhao watched in pure awe as his father's form expanded. In moments, he became a colossal dragon of transcendent majesty—a living mountain range given divine form. His body stretched over three thousand metres long, towering more than five hundred metres into the sky. His wings unfurled like the fabric of the night sky itself, vast enough to eclipse entire mountain ranges. His scales were darker than the void between stars, shimmering with a divine, cosmic luster—intricate celestial-purple runes pulsing across his body like living constellations, constantly flowing as though the stars themselves breathed within him.
His golden dragon eyes burned with the intensity of captured suns—ancient, tyrannical, carrying a power capable of devouring worlds. Two majestic horns pierced the sky like divine spears forged from primordial law.
The moment he fully manifested, the entire inner world trembled. Ancient spiritual trees bowed in worship. The wind stilled. Space itself seemed to kneel before its creator.
"Wow!"
Young Su Tianhao shouted in delight, jumping excitedly in Yuanling's arms.
"Excited, I see…"
The deep, ancient voice reverberated across the entire dimension, and the world itself trembled with vitality and awe.
Yuanling looked up—and young Su Tianhao followed her gaze—but his father's head was simply too high to see from where they stood. She flew upward until they came face to face with the Supreme Dragon's majestic head.
"Place him on my crown," Tunlong Chenyuan commanded quietly. His voice carried a natural ancient authority that made even young Su Tianhao tense instinctively.
Then—
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A hearty laugh shook the heavens. So loud, so full of life, that young Su Tianhao immediately burst into laughter alongside him. Even Yuanling—despite everything—couldn't stop a soft chuckle from escaping.
She carefully flew across the enormous face and gently placed the small boy in the flat space between the two majestic horns.
"Goodbye, Tianhao…" she whispered into his ear, her voice thick with everything she couldn't say. Tears shimmered in her abyssal eyes—tears the young boy couldn't see.
"Bye bye!" young Su Tianhao replied happily, waving his small hand with an innocent smile—entirely unaware of the weight behind her words.
Tunlong Chenyuan glanced at Yuanling from the corner of his eye.
"Take care of this place, Ling'er. We shall meet again."
Yuanling lowered her head, hiding her tears. Her voice came out cold and indifferent.
"Go already."
He held her gaze in silence for a long moment while young Su Tianhao laughed and patted the warm scales beneath him.
"Goodbye."
With that single word, the Supreme Dragon moved.
He tore through the spatial barrier and descended into the outside world without the slightest disturbance—his colossal form appearing above the tranquil valley that had concealed the World Anchoring Pearl for nearly two years. No shadow fell across the land below. No wind was stirred. The spirit beasts continued their peaceful lives as though nothing had happened.
A crescent moon hung in the night sky illuminating the valley in a serene glow—but from young Su Tianhao's perspective, his father's massive body blocked it entirely from view.
The boy wasn't bothered in the slightest. He laughed and held onto the horn before him as the cold night wind rushed against his face.
The present Su Tianhao, watching through his child eyes and his father's memories simultaneously, went still.
'How is this possible?' The question formed before the answer arrived. 'The Shrouded Dragon Veil—at the Assimilation stage!'
He pushed the thought aside. He could feel instinctively that this was an important moment of his life. He returned his full attention to the memory.
---
The Supreme Dragon soared through the clouds in complete silence, his enormous wings barely moving. Each slow beat still covered hundreds of kilometres. Mountains, rivers, and vast forests passed beneath them like fleeting impressions.
Young Su Tianhao was having the time of his life—shouting happily, laughing, patting his father's scales as though he were riding the greatest toy ever made.
Tunlong Chenyuan flew slower than he had ever flown in his life. What should have been an instant journey was stretched into nearly six hours. He wanted to give his son this memory. This one, specific memory.
After a long while, his voice came gently—not aloud, but directly into the boy's mind.
"Shengzi… no matter what happens in the future, never forget who you are. The road ahead will be difficult. There will be pain. There will be loneliness. But you must keep moving forward. Father and Mother will always be there for you—even if we cannot be there physically."
Young Su Tianhao tilted his head with the particular confusion of a child who has heard something important and knows it, but doesn't yet have the words to hold it.
"Dad… you're coming back soon, right?"
Tunlong Chenyuan was silent for a long time.
"…No. I want you to find me. One day."
The dragon began his descent toward a quiet, unremarkable town in the far east of Longzhou Country. As they approached, his colossal form shimmered and compressed—transforming back into his human form mid-air with effortless grace. He caught his son gently in his arms.
They landed softly outside a modest orphanage on the outskirts of the town. The first light of dawn was just beginning to paint the horizon.
Tunlong Chenyuan looked at his son one last time. He adjusted the boy's clothes, smoothed his unruly hair, and placed a small jade pendant around his neck.
"Be good, Shengzi."
He held him—longer than he had ever held anyone in his long life. Then, without another word, he vanished.
Young Su Tianhao stood alone before the orphanage gate, the dragon toy in one hand, his other touching the warm jade pendant at his chest. He looked around in quiet confusion.
"Dad…?"
The morning wind moved gently through the empty street.
No answer came.