Chapter 420: A New Goal
Tianyi and Mengfei just stayed in their position, enjoying each other's presence. However, after an hour, Tianyi felt his body cramping up even though he knew that such a thing was impossible. “Uh, Mother, we’re hugging a bit too long.”
“Nonsense,” Mengfei said. “The last time we hugged like this, it was for much longer.”
He remembered that hug. It was when he was still in the Core Formation Realm, and after he returned from almost getting stranded in the Vast Void after the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. When he left, Mengfei had also left for the Broken Primordial World to retrieve the Primordial Chaos Fruit for the complication caused by his imperfect cultivation method.
After another hour full of shame—for Tianyi, that is—the two separated. He didn’t know if it was his imagination or something, but Tianyi felt as if a mysterious light radiating off of her. Before he could question it, Mengfei led him out of the room.
“Where are we going?” Tianyi asked.
Mengfei didn’t turn around, but she tightened her grip on Tianyi’s hand. “To find Grand Elder Xia.”
“What are you looking for him for?” Tianyi asked. “You aren’t going to kill him, are you?”
Mengfei slowed down. “Did he do something to you that I should know about?”
Feeling the intensifying aura of menace rolling off of Mengfei, Tianyi quickly shook his free hand. “No! I just didn’t know why else you would visit Grand Elder Xia.”
“Unless he gives due reason, I will not harm him,” Mengfei simply said.
‘Due reason being me, and I get the feeling that the bar for that is very low,’ Tianyi thought. Still, she didn’t voice it. He already knew she would see it that way. ‘Although, if someone were to harm Mother, death would be but a reprieve for them.’
Ignorant of Tianyi’s thought, Mengfei led him toward the central peak where Xia Meng lived.
“What a rare visitor,” Xia Meng said. His eyes landed on Tianyi. “I didn’t expect to see Grand Elder Nine Heavens back so soon. Is there a problem with the extermination of devils?”
“I didn’t come for that,” Mengfei said.
“Is that so?” Xia Meng asked. He led the duo into the guestroom of his lounge. After pouring tea for them, he asked, “So, what is the problem?”
“You should know about Yi’er status as a reincarnation with your control of the Book of Life and Death,” Mengfei said.
Xia Meng paused. His eyes glanced up from his tea and at Tianyi. Outside of that, he didn’t show a change in composure. “I do. Is Grand Elder Xi here to ask for guilt?”
“Guilt?” Mengfei asked. She shook her head. “No, I’m here to ask you to locate Yi’er’s parents from his previous life.”
Tianyi’s eyes widened at Mengfei’s request. There was a small ember in his heart that continually warmed his chest. He opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say. Mengfei continued to stare at Xia Meng, unaware of Tianyi’s emotions.
Xia Meng folded his hands and leaned back against his chair. “I can’t do that.”
Mengfei simultaneously felt a burst of relief and irritation, but mostly irritation. She tried her best to restrain herself, but her annoyance caused the room to lower several degrees. “Give me the reason.”
“Wait, I’m sure Grand Elder Xia has a good reason,” Tianyi said. He also looked at Xia Meng.
“You should know that the Book of Life and Death only records the souls that underwent the River of Samsara in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms. It cannot chronicle foreign souls like Grand Elder Nine Heavens, who entered from outside,” Xia Meng said.
“That is true, but even foreign souls who die in the Three Thousand Immortal Realm will undergo samsara of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms unless they managed to become immortal before their first death,” Mengfei said. “Yi’er is half a century old. His parents from his previous life should have already reincarnated by now.”
“Is this true?” Tianyi asked, looking at Xia Meng.
“That is certainly true, but the current Book of Life and Death cannot accomplish such a feat,” Xia Meng said. “Our copy comes from an alternate timeline, so any usage of it might make it become detected by the Heavenly Dao and cause it to merge with the one in our Nether Realm. Besides, it will only record the souls of those that appear in that timeline. Souls, like Grand Elder Nine Heavens, who only appeared in this timeline won’t be recorded.”
Mengfei furrowed her brows. “So we need Empress Ping’s aid.”
Xia Meng made a helpless gesture. “Although the ancient Immortal Court ruled the Primordial Era, we hardly have the power to order Empress Ping. We would have to have a divinity or rule the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. It would require us to defeat the Numinous Sword Sect first or make them surrender. Even if we become the orthodox ruler of the immortals, Empress Ping still might not recognize our status as the ruler of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. We would have to contend with the demons and the Buddhists and have a divinity to guarantee success.”
Tianyi frowned. Although he had the power of an immortal emperor, he was still trying to attain the power of an immortal sovereign. He didn’t know when he would be able to have the power to rival a divinity. Not to mention that Empress Ping should be a divinity that survived from the Primordial Era. If Xia Meng told him that she had the power to wipe out the current Immortal Court, Tianyi would believe it.
Mengfei also furrowed her brows. As an origin immortal, the one closest to divinity, she did not know how to reach the Divine Realm.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know how to fulfill this request,” Xia Meng said with a helpless smile.
“No, it’s fine,” Tianyi said. “Grand Elder Xia’s information is already very helpful. I don’t need to search for my dad, just my mom is enough.”
Xia Meng wanted to say that one more or less would make no difference, but he kept it to himself. “So, what are you planning to do now?”
“What else? Finish the ascension of the Huang Realm and quickly increase my power. The Numinous Sword Sect won’t wait for us to grow stronger,” Tianyi said. ‘Grand Elder Xia’s words at least give me hope, but I don’t know if Mom is even in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. She could be in another pantheon for all I know. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that I need to grow stronger.’
Tianyi and Mengfei bid farewell to Xia Meng. Once out, the two flew back toward Jade Peak. On the way, Mengfei said, “Sorry.”
“What are you saying sorry for?” Tianyi asked.
“I thought I could help you find your parents, but it turned out that I was useless,” Mengfei said.
Tianyi reached out and grabbed Mengfei’s hand. “You aren’t useless. Don’t say that again. It’s because of Mother that I was able to reach my current height. I only want to find my mom, not my dad. Even then, you shouldn’t need to find them for me. It’s my responsibility.”
Mengfei reached out and took Tianyi’s hand into hers. She shook her head. “You’re my child. Your wish is my wish.”
Tianyi scratched his head. “You don’t have to. It must be uncomfortable helping me find my other mom.”
A smile appeared on Mengfei’s face, causing Tianyi to still. He showed no resistance as she pulled him back onto Jade Peak.
“What made you so happy that you can’t wipe that smile off your face?” Daoyi asked.
In the garden of Nine Heavens Peak, Daoyi was sitting on a stone chair playing her guqin. It was the same one Tianyi bought her all those years ago in the Xi Dynasty. She had upgraded it to a nascent soul level artifact, but that was its limit because of the inferior materials used to craft it.
On the other side, Tianyi was lying on a couch with the Xiyi Talisman floating in front of him. It had projected a screen and keyboard in front of him. When using the Xiyi Talisman, most cultivators preferred to write the word out with their fingers or use their spiritual sense, but Tianyi preferred typing on a keyboard when writing. But for the past few hours, his fingers hadn’t tapped the keyboard once.
“I’m smiling,” Tianyi asked, ignorant of the ear-to-ear grin on his face.
“Like a loon.”
“That’s mean,” Tianyi said.
“So, what happened?” Daoyi asked. “Did you finally tell Mother-in-Law?”
Tianyi’s smile receded as surprise appeared. “How’d you know?”
“Because I know you,” was all Daoyi said. “See? Didn’t it turn out as I said it would?”
Tianyi had no words. Was he really that transparent?
“Since I told Mother, should we start preparing for our honeymoon?”
Now, it was Daoyi’s turn to still. “Shouldn’t you spend more time with her? Especially after coming clean?”
Tianyi waved his hand. “It’s not like you don’t know how many conduits I have. The one in front of you possesses the power of an immortal monarch. With the endless energy, I have confidence to stall against an immortal emperor for a stronger conduit to come or teleport you away.”
“In that case, where should we go?” Daoyi asked.
“How about going to the middle-rank realm?” Tianyi asked. “Most of the high-rank realms have already merged with the Huang Realm, and the middle-rank already has the attributes of a high-rank realm.”
“Alright,” Daoyi said. “I’ll tell Bojing to prepare everything for us.”
“Why?” Tianyi asked. “We can just go by ourselves.”
Daoyi shook her head. “Have you never gone on vacation before?”
“Do school trips count?” Tianyi asked.
He was treated with a look of pity that hit worse than scorn. “Do you want to arrange everything yourself?”
“Well, I was just thinking we could just visit places that seem interesting and wander,” Tianyi weakly said.
“What would be the point? It’s better to have guides who understand the region and show us the famous cities instead of wandering around. I don’t want to use my immortal sense and discover everything. That would be boring,” Daoyi said. “I want to experience life.”
“Are you trying to comprehend the Law of Life on our honeymoon?” Tianyi asked. He knew that Daoyi still hadn’t fully comprehended the Dao of Life and that she had reached a bottleneck. She had stopped all attempts at forcibly comprehending the Law of Life to stop herself from stressing out, which would make it harder for her.
“Huh? Is that even an option? I don’t think enjoying life is the same as understanding life,” Daoyi said. “Have you written too many novels and confused reality and fiction?”
Tianyi coughed into his fist. “Forget what I said.”
Daoyi shook her head. “Alright, I’m going to prepare. When do you plan to leave?”
“Whenever you want to.”
“How about a week?” Daoyi asked. “Unlike you, I only have one clone, and she can’t leave the Nine Heavens Universe. I have to tell everyone that I’ll be gone in the foreseeable future. Well, they can still contact me through the Xiyinet. Speaking of clones, I heard that Ba Shifang is getting quite close to that Hu Landie. There’s even rumors that you are going to take a concubine.”
“That’s his choice. I promised him that I would grant him freedom. He really can’t be considered a clone of mine anymore. All his choices are solely his own!” Tianyi practically shouted.
“Wait, did you really detach him entirely from your control?” Daoyi asked.
“I promised him, and I just followed through,” Tianyi said. His nervousness disappeared after seeing Daoyi believe him.
“Alot of people, including me, would call you foolish,” she said. “But I guess a single clone doesn’t really matter to you, since you can create conduits at will.”
Daoyi didn’t inquire anymore and soon began to prepare for their official honeymoon. By the end, Tianyi stood at the foot of Nine Heavens Peak with Daoyi. In front of them, Su Bojing stood in front of more than a hundred servant-disciples.
“A little much, don’t you think?” Tianyi asked.
“Not at all. I don’t want to visit only one realm, but a lot of them before they merge. Most of the servant-disciples will prepare the itinerary and wait for us,” Daoyi said.
“Huh,” Tianyi said. “This is probably the first time I mobilized so many servants for personal reasons. I didn’t think Nine Heavens Peak had this many.”
“We were a little short on hand, so I took the liberty of hiring some extra hands,” Su Bojing said.
“Is that so?” Tianyi asked. “Forget it. Anyways, let’s get this show on the road.”
With a wave of his hand, a portal appeared in front of him. Tianyi and Daoyi walked through first, followed by the servant-disciples. Su Bojing had to remain to take care of Nine Heavens Peak.