Could I Really Have a Long-Lost Father?

Wang Yuanyu was bewildered. "What does 'besties' mean? What is 'inner wear'? And what does 'dodging red flags' even mean?" Qi Yuan's modern slang made lines of exasperation appear on her forehead; she could not make heads or tails of it. Still, she had learned from Wang Niang that these bloodline practitioners hailed from the Land of the End and were people facing impending death. It was only natural that they spoke in strange tongues. "It's... an internet meme," Qi Yuan explained briefly. "'Besties' basically means sisters, and as for inner wear, well, that's..." After hearing his explanation, Wang Yuanyu's face flushed bright red beneath the black sack. "You scoundrel! Who's your bestie?!" "Not bad, you're learning how to play along," Qi Yuan chuckled, continuing, "Since this world is illusory, and in your eyes I am merely an illusion, what's the harm in letting me see your inner wear? I won't exist anymore anyway." "No!" Wang Yuanyu protested firmly. But suddenly, something clicked in her mind, and she froze, seemingly coming to an epiphany in an instant. There was never truly a boundary between illusion and reality. Or rather, did true and false even matter? What mattered was one's own heart. Seeing her expression, Qi Yuan seemed to recall something. "The way you look right now reminds me of a famous saying: I think, therefore I am. Even if I am an illusion in your eyes, as long as I believe I am real, then... I am real." Wang Yuanyu looked at Qi Yuan, and most of her previous gloom dispersed. At first, when Wang Niang told her that the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll was an illusion forged by Dongjun, she had felt profoundly disoriented. Did that not mean everything she had experienced in her life was nothing more than a dream? Only now, hearing Qi Yuan put it this way, did she truly grasp it. If she truly believed everything was an illusion, she could easily brush Qi Yuan's words aside and calmly reveal her inner wear. Since she cared, then even if he was an illusion, how did that differ from reality? "True or false doesn't matter. What matters is me," Wang Yuanyu couldn't help sighing with feeling. Qi Yuan nodded. Looking at her, he said softly, "You just asked me a question. Now... isn't it my turn to ask you one?" "Please ask, sir!" "How does one travel to other worlds from this world? I've been waiting for Ma Longhun all this time without catching a glimpse of him. He couldn't have gone to another world, could he?" Qi Yuan felt somewhat worried. Upon arriving in this realm, he had immediately dispatched people to search for Ma Longhun while he focused on boosting his strength. Yet Ma Longhun had been missing right from the start. Wang Yuanyu hesitated for a moment before replying, "It is possible. But do not fret, sir. Within one year, Ma Longhun will definitely appear." According to the original trajectory, within half a year, she would fall in love with Tu Kongming. Ma Longhun would then show up and kill both her and Tu Kongming. "Oh? Is that so? One year isn't very long, then." Qi Yuan glanced at Wang Yuanyu and brought up an old topic. "Are you interested in me giving you a grandma?" Wang Yuanyu offered a gentle smile. "Thank you for your kindness, but no need." At this moment, many thoughts raced through Wang Yuanyu's mind. Ma Longhun was exceedingly powerful. According to Wang Niang, when he appeared, he would reach the peak of the Martial King realm. Within the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll, peak Martial King was the very pinnacle—the strongest person in existence. Such an expert would likely be beyond even the Court Master of the Demon Suppressing Court. Because of his mission, Qi Yuan had to seek him out, which would surely place him in grave danger. She could not let herself drag Qi Yuan down. Her plan was to leave this place as soon as news of Ma Longhun arrived, keeping Qi Yuan out of harm's way. Once she dealt with Ma Longhun, she would hand his head over to Qi Yuan so he could complete his mission. After that, she would return to the Origin Land. "What a pity. Looks like there's no fate between us," Qi Yuan said with a shake of his head. He did not force the matter. Aside from things he cared about deeply, he preferred to let everything else follow its natural course. Wang Yuanyu merely smiled and said no more. ... Time flew by quickly. The dull life of guarding the cemetery left virtually no impression on Qi Yuan's mind. Late at night, the graveyard was pitch-black and eerily chilling. With a flick of his wrist, Qi Yuan slew a demon that had wandered in by mistake. Thirty drops of demon essence blood acquired. "Is this a demon raised by... the Sacred Reason Sect?" Qi Yuan cast a careless glance at the corpse and paid it no further mind. "You consumed 100 drops of demon essence blood to open a divine aperture. Opening failed." Qi Yuan furrowed his brows, looking thoroughly pained. "This demon essence blood is completely useless. It can't even open a divine aperture; it only works for martial arts." He had tried using demon essence blood to advance his immortal cultivation. The result was obvious: it failed. He dearly wanted to curse the demon that provided the blood—its blood was far too useless and one-dimensional, capable only of boosting martial arts cultivation and doing nothing for the immortal path. Presently, with Ning Tao's assistance and the rapid awakening of the Divine Infants inside him feeding power back into him, Qi Yuan's immortal cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds. He had already reached Step Two Sky Treading, making him a Yin God Venerable. Of course, this stemmed mostly from the feedback of the Divine Infants within him. In particular, the Divine Infants that had entered the Origin Land and borrowed the bones of fallen Martial Lords were awakening at a startling pace. First, those Martial Lords possessed formidable foundations far surpassing anyone on Arch Star. Second, the flow of time was different—time in the Origin Land flowed roughly ten times faster than on Arch Star. One year on Arch Star was nearly forty years in the Origin Land. Among the awakened in the Origin Land, the strongest had already attained the power of a Great Venerable. These provided Qi Yuan with an immense boost. Even so, Qi Yuan felt his status as a Yin God Venerable was rather flimsy, with thoroughly average combat power. Compared to himself back in the Canglan Realm, he would definitely be no match. "Right now, I'm just an ordinary, mediocre Yin God who can't even fight above my realm," Qi Yuan lamented. In reality, he was a Divine Infant capable of slaughtering Mythological beings. In this game, if he encountered a Mythological being right now, he would have to drop to his knees. "Put your backs into it, Divine Infants! Help me step into Yang God as quickly as possible!" Qi Yuan was filled with anticipation. In this game, martial arts had demon essence blood, and immortal cultivation had Divine Infants power-leveling for him. As long as the Divine Infants pulled their weight, he might be able to attain Yang God just by lying flat. After all, his Divine Infants possessed profound foundations. The Mortal Heart Realm and the Canglan Realm were peculiar in that breakthroughs to Yang God were impossible there. Yet the Origin Land had no such restriction. Meanwhile, in the Origin Land. Within Tai Lei Tomb, lightning bolts hundreds of zhang long crashed down, shattering boulders in an endless cacophony of thunderous cracks. Tai Lei Tomb was the place where Martial Lord Tai Lei had attained lordship, but it was also the place where his bones were buried. Back when the great war erupted, countless Martial Lords had perished in battle, and Martial Lord Tai Lei was one of them. At this moment, an unexpected group of visitors arrived outside Tai Lei Tomb. The leader was gaunt as a bamboo pole. Perched upon this bamboo-like torso were two large human heads, one male and one female. "Dawn's Toll draws closer and closer, and strange occurrences keep cropping up in the Origin Land. I only hope the anomaly in Tai Lei Tomb has nothing to do with the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll," the male head spoke in a rasping voice. "I smell the scent of more and more old fogies. Could this Martial Lord Tai Lei have awakened as well?" the female head on the bamboo pole asked in a shrill tone. Over the past century, the Origin Land had been far from tranquil. Many Martial Lords who had fallen in battle were surfacing one after another. This brought a fair amount of liveliness to the otherwise deathly still Origin Land. Yet some Martial Lords were bewildered—had those figures not died in battle? How could they revive and awaken? "If he has awakened, we should welcome him into our Eastern Alliance!" Martial Lord Pangdan chimed in. Within the Origin Land, the largest faction among the Martial Lords was the Eastern Alliance. The creator of the Eastern Alliance was none other than the legendary Dongjun—an almighty figure who had reached the ineffable realm. It could be said that Dongjun alone could sweep aside all the Martial Lords in the Origin Land. "The Eastern Alliance? This old man has no interest." From within Tai Lei Tomb, an elderly man enveloped in lightning emerged, the flickering arcs of electricity veiling his figure. "Martial Lord Tai Lei, you truly are alive!" the shrill voice exclaimed with pleasant surprise. The rasping voice, however, was filled with vigilance. "You actually broke through to become a Great Martial Lord!" Martial Lords of the first to third ranks were known as Lesser Martial Lords. The fourth to seventh ranks were called Great Martial Lords. The seventh rank was also known as a Titled Martial Lord. This hierarchy was similar to the stages of a Yin God. Before his fall, Martial Lord Tai Lei had been a third-rank Lesser Martial Lord. Now that he had become a fourth-rank Great Martial Lord, how could they not be stunned? "Facing life and death brought enlightenment, allowing a lucky breakthrough," Martial Lord Tai Lei said, his voice laced with hesitation and wandering thoughts, as though he had weathered untold trials. "Fewer than three thousand years remain before Dawn's Toll. We hope Martial Lord Tai Lei will prioritize the greater good and join our Eastern Alliance!" the bamboo-pole man invited. Even in the Eastern Alliance, a Great Martial Lord counted as formidable combat strength. Every Great Martial Lord who contributed their blood and qi into the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll could speed up its operation. According to Dongjun, so long as the world was successfully restarted before Dawn's Toll, the Origin Land would regain its vitality. "This old man's blood and qi are insufficient, so I will not join the Eastern Alliance." With those words, Martial Lord Tai Lei's figure dissolved on the spot, without so much as a parting farewell. The Eastern Alliance Martial Lords exchanged glances, but none said another word. The bamboo-pole man's expression shifted before he remarked, "What a shame. Most people in this world are selfish, content to reap what we sow." To maintain and accelerate the operation of the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll, the Martial Lords of the Eastern Alliance routinely infused their own blood and qi into it. "Once Dawn's Toll is over, we will settle accounts with them," the shrill female voice said with murderous intent. "Now is not the time for war." At present, the top priority was surviving Dawn's Toll. Just then, Martial Lord Pangdan looked up and asked, "Martial Lord Shuangxiang, how is the progress on the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll?" The other Martial Lords turned their eyes toward Martial Lord Shuangxiang as well. As the scion of a Titled Martial Lord, he knew far more about the scroll's progress than they did. "Forty percent have entered the fold, forty percent are being cleared, and twenty percent have failed." Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as we clear twenty percent more before Dawn's Toll, we will be able to cling to life!" "Indeed. Twenty percent in three thousand years is entirely feasible!" The bamboo-pole man turned to Martial Lord Pangdan. "You've worked hard these past hundred years, infusing your blood and qi into the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll." Martial Lord Pangdan's face twisted into a grimace. "I'm terribly weak right now, sucked completely dry. Not a drop left." Back in the day, Martial Lord Pangdan had also been a Titled Martial Lord. However, he was gravely injured during the great war, leaving his strength at a mere second-rank Martial Lord. Injecting blood and qi into the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll at regular intervals without suffering a drop in rank was already a stroke of luck. Seeing this, the bamboo-pole man felt a hint of smug satisfaction. Before the Great Cataclysm, Martial Lord Pangdan was a figure he had to look up to. Now, he was merely a subordinate who had to follow his orders. "Since that's the..." Before the bamboo-pole man could finish his sentence, his eyes suddenly went wide as he stared at Martial Lord Pangdan. "You... what's happening to you?!" The other Martial Lords turned to look at Martial Lord Pangdan in shock. Upon Martial Lord Pangdan's round, egg-like body, the surface had turned bright red, and the pathways of his blood vessels became distinctly visible. A bloody glow spread outward. Golden blood darted about like swimming dragons. In that single moment, the aura radiating from Martial Lord Pangdan began to soar. "A bloodline leap!" "This is a bloodline leap!" "How could Martial Lord Pangdan undergo a bloodline leap?!" These Martial Lords were intimately familiar with this phenomenon. Upon reaching the Martial Lord realm, every time an expert advanced a rank, their descendants would experience a bloodline leap. Yet now, Martial Lord Pangdan was the one leaping. Was he not a bloodline progenitor? How could the very source of a bloodline undergo a leap? The Martial Lords widened their eyes, wearing bizarre, bewildered expressions. While they were astonished, Martial Lord Pangdan was equally confused. "I... had a bloodline leap?" "Martial Lord Pangdan, could it be you aren't actually a bloodline progenitor, and you secretly have a father?" one Martial Lord asked. This was simply unexplainable. Typically, descendants underwent bloodline leaps. Whoever heard of a bloodline progenitor experiencing one? "Impossible! I was born of heaven and earth. How could I have a father?" Martial Lord Pangdan hastily shook his head. "Then how do you explain your bloodline leap? Could one of your descendants have broken through to Martial Lord, becoming a second-generation progenitor? In the Land of the End, martial arts has fallen into decline; that is impossible. And inside the strongholds, there are only Martial Lords. Those few peak Martial Kings cannot break through to the Martial Lord realm without entering the Origin Land and receiving the blessing of ancestral blood." Breakthroughs to Martial Lord had essentially been monopolized. One had to enter the Origin Land and receive the blessing of ancestral blood to succeed. Yet as of now, the pathway connecting the strongholds to the Origin Land had not been opened. How could anyone possibly break through to the Martial Lord realm? Thus, the most probable explanation was that Martial Lord Pangdan was not a first-generation progenitor at all, but a second-generation one. In truth... he had a father. "So you definitely have a father behind the scenes!" "As expected of a former Titled Martial Lord—quietly gaining a biological father out of nowhere!" "Might not be a father; could be an ancestor!" The Martial Lords laughed and bantered, though some harbored envy toward Martial Lord Pangdan for having a father capable of breaking through. In the current Origin Land, a Martial Lord capable of a breakthrough was exceedingly rare. "Could I... really have a long-lost father?" ... Within a certain page of the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll. Wang Niang furrowed her brows, her expression profoundly complicated. "Wang Niang, how is the progress?" a man not far from her asked in a low voice. "The young miss... hasn't developed any feelings for Tu Kongming." "What? No feelings? That won't do. She and Tu Kongming must fall in love for this painting to return to the proper worldline and for our mission to be considered complete. Where did things go wrong? We have to resolve it immediately!" "The young miss... seems closer to a bloodline practitioner." "A bloodline practitioner?" The man frowned. "Go speak to him and tell him to stay away from the young miss. As for his mission, we will help him complete it." "That bloodline practitioner seems somewhat mentally disturbed. Spending these years by his side seems to have affected the young miss as well. Even if he stays away from her, I fear she won't develop feelings for Tu Kongming in the short term." "If gentle persuasion fails, use harsher methods. Drug her and cook the rice—present her with a fait accompli! When that happens, she will submit whether she wants to or not!" the man said coldly. "This..." Wang Niang hesitated, feeling reluctant. "Don't think of this as wrong. We are saving the world! What does using a few extreme methods matter if it saves the world? This isn't asking for the young miss's life, merely her chastity—a necessary sacrifice. Besides, on the original worldline, she and Tu Kongming were lovers in the first place. For the sake of the world, we can sacrifice anyone, including all the bloodline practitioners. We would even destroy this page of the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll if needed!" the man proclaimed impassionedly. Clearly, he was willing to pay any price to save the Origin Land. Sacrificing a few individuals was only natural. Hearing this, the hesitation in Wang Niang's eyes gave way to resolve. "Very well. I understand what must be done!"