Chapter 2395 - The Angler Reappears

Su Yi pondered briefly, then grasped what his first incarnation’s heart devil was getting at.

If the River Child devoured that little girl’s power, it would be inestimably beneficial toward his own evolution.

Just as cultivators could rise rapidly through the ranks, so too could spirits of the natural order fuse, transform, and evolve!

“It might have been an opportunity, but if we missed it, we missed it,” said Su Yi, not at all concerned. “Also, if you want to cooperate with me, you need to learn to take a bit more initiative. At the very least, I trust your strength and perception.”

“Ha,” laughed the heart devil, as if seeing right through Su Yi. “Very well. I’ll be sure to trouble you more often going forward!”

Su Yi’s eyebrows twitched. For some reason, he felt that something wasn’t quite right here.

But before he could say anything, his first incarnation’s heart devil went dormant.

Su Yi silently put away the rusted sheath, then began pondering his imminent breakthrough.

His cultivation base had already reached the pinnacle of the fortune realm. He was now just one step away from the Undying Realm!

According to the River Lord, even if I take this step, I’ll at most have the power to defend myself during the Dark Days of Legend....

I just wonder how many terrifying opponents will appear in the God Domain then.

But no matter how the world changes, I seek my own path. I won’t let any external commotions affect my Dao Heart.

Better not to break through than to damage my Dao Heart or foundations in the Grand Dao.

As Su Yi pondered, the sound of conversation drew Su Yi’s attention.

Demon Venerate Five Desires took out a jade slip and passed it to Yi Chen with a smile. “Nephew, this contains a lifetime of my insights into cultivation. Take it as a greeting gift.”

Last night, Su Yi let Yi Chen, who’d been hiding in the Ice Drinker Sword Realm, back out. His old friends already knew who Yi Chen was.

“I did nothing to earn such a gift, so I’m afraid I cannot accept it, Senior.” Yi Chen clasped his fist and refused.

Demon Venerate Five Desires was briefly stunned. “This is a gift! It has nothing to do with whether or not you ‘earned’ it or not. Quick, take it.”

Yi Chen nonetheless shook his head. “You gave me this gift on

his

account. I don’t want to owe him more than I already do.”

With that, he turned and entered his own room.

Demon Venerate Five Desires felt a bit awkward. He’d offered Yi Chen a gift, only for him to refuse it. It was a bit uncomfortable.

“Don’t mind him,” laughed Su Yi. “He’s as stubborn as can be. He doesn’t give me face, either.”

Yan Chizhen couldn’t help but sigh. “Like father, like son. You two really are a lot alike.”

Demon Venerate Five Desires and Demon Ancestor Treasure Leaf nodded repeatedly too. Both agreed completely.

In Yi Chen’s shoes, any other junior would have struggled to stay calm, let alone have the strength of mind to refuse their greeting gifts.

But Yi Chen was different. He was respectful, but he had his own opinions. He was calm, but never humble or servile. He’d refused the Demon Venerate Five Desires’s gift without shrinking back in the slightest.

Moreover, he’d yet to refer to Su Yi as his father even once. He always just said, “him.”

His words reflected his mentality. They proved that Yi Chen still hadn’t really accepted the unfamiliar father he had no emotional bond with.

Su Yi wasn’t the least bit bothered. Yi Chen had gotten a father out of nowhere, but he’d gotten a son out of nowhere too, hadn’t he?

Yi Chen might have been stubborn, but his father was famed throughout the world for his stubbornness and confidence!

“Ol’ Devil Yi, how exactly do you see Lu Qingmei, anyway?” the Treasure Leaf Demon Ancestor asked out of nowhere. The others instantly pricked up their ears.

Su Yi just took a sip of wine and said, “It’s my business. Stay out of it.”

His friends instantly fell silent. This was indeed Su Yi’s private business.

But all of them knew that with his son, Yi Chen, in the mix, Su Yi had to take care. Otherwise, it would be highly easy to create a tragic situation: father and son as mortal enemies!

Seven days later, the group returned to Sunset Perch Island.

Yan Chizhen chose to stay here and go into secluded cultivation.

Demon Ancestor Treasure Leaf and Demon Venerate Five Desires chose to leave. They wanted to explore the Endless Ocean, then tend to their own affairs.

But that evening, before they left, Su Yi hosted a banquet, gathering all of his old friends together

Even though they went their separate ways afterward, all of them were in the Endless Ocean. So long as Su Yi called for them, they’d rush to his side.

That very day, Su Yi went back into seclusion. He had to prepare to enter the Undying Realm!

As for Yi Chen? Su Yi had no business in taking on paternal duties. He neither commanded nor instructed him, nor did he try to improve or deepen their bond.

Actually, Su Yi knew that even if he tried, Yi Chen would rebuff all such efforts. Yi Chen wasn’t a child anymore, and hadn’t been for a long time. He was a god who’d climbed through the ranks one step at a time!

His mother, Lu Qingmei, was the famous Blue Rose Demon Master, and she’d done her utmost to train him up. Furthermore, Yi Chen had a stubborn, independent personality, and he was intelligent and knowledgeable.

If Su Yi wanted to interact with him, he couldn’t treat him like a child. Thus, Su Yi chose a hands-off approach.

He’d always believed that actions spoke louder than words. How much you did mattered far more than how much you said.

That was true when it came to Yi Chen, too.

Su Yi’s hands-off attitude was perfectly fine with Yi Chen, too. Just as Su Yi thought, Yi Chen was worried that Su Yi would put on the airs of a father and try to lecture him, restrict him, and tell him what to do.

Yi Chen was opposed to the idea from the bottom of his heart.

Fortunately, against his expectations, nothing of the sort came to pass. It was as if he’d gotten a new dad for nothing; his father showed no concern for him whatsoever.

And he obviously had no interest in changing his son!

This actually pleased Yi Chen, who completely relaxed.

But, although he wasn’t sure why, as relieved as he was, he felt an inexplicable hint of despondence. Perhaps his thought process was something like this: “Is my father really this disinterested in me? Doesn’t he care at all?”

......

Seasons passed. Flowers bloomed, then withered.

Three years passed in a flash.

The peach blossoms of Sunset Perch Island bloomed, then withered, then bloomed again. The beauty of the four seasons was on full display.

Numerous shocking, major developments had shaken the God Domain during these three years.

In stark contrast, the Endless Ocean was calm, far calmer than usual.

This was because everyone knew of the unparalleled sword cultivator who’d taken up residence on Sunset Perch Island.

So long as he was here, even the region’s top factions were full of dread, and they behaved with the utmost restraint, let alone the ordinary people.

The return of Demon Ancestor Treasure Leaf and Demon Venerate Five Desires caused quite the disturbance, too.

However, the two had been elusive since their return, stirring up no major waves. Thus, they merely provoked a round of heated discussions. Nothing sensational happened.

Nightfall.

Yi Chen gazed into the setting sun from one of Sunset Perch Island’s beaches.

He’d spent the last three years in leisure. When he wasn’t cultivating, he was exploring the island. From time to time, he left to explore the outside world, too.

But most of his time, he spent cultivating.

At first, he frequently missed his mother, Lu Qingmei.

But after three years apart, he’d buried his longing for her deep within his heart.

People ultimately had to learn to adapt. That went for gods, too.

They’d perhaps been a bit dull, but Yi Chen couldn’t deny that these three years had been the most relaxed, peaceful days in his life.

“Young Master, are you watching the sunset again?” The River Child walked over and giggled.

“Mm,” said Yi Chen. He’d tried many times to correct the River Child’s title for him, only for the River Child to refuse each and every time. By now, he’d decided to simply ignore it.

“His Excellency often says ‘A day without worries is a good day, no matter the season,’” said the River Child. “Before, I didn’t understand, but after a few years on Sunset Perch Island, I’ve gradually started to feel that this is truly the life of a cultivator.”

Yi Chen’s gaze shifted. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

The River Child laughed. “I’m just making conversation. How could I be trying to

say

anything? Even if you don’t accept His Excellency, you two are still father and son. You... should learn to adapt and accept the situation of your own accord rather than stubbornly rejecting him.”

Yi Chen was stunned. He couldn’t help but say, “Why should I be the one to change?”

The River Child laughed, “Why shouldn’t you be the one to change?”

With that, he turned to leave.

Yi Chen frowned and sank into silence.

He’d seen his father only twice over the past years, and even then, from a distance. They hadn’t exchanged even a single sentence. How did that give Yi Chen any chance to “change?”

In the end, Yi Chen shook his head. He wouldn’t change anything of his own accord.

Unless... his father could make him acknowledge him from the bottom of his heart.

Meanwhile, in the Toad Palace Hidden Realm manifested by the Osmanthus Tree of the Toad Palace, Su Yi silently awakened from meditation and opened his eyes. He slipped a talisman from his sleeve.

A message appeared on its surface. It was from Madam Mei!

Su Yi couldn’t help but find this surprising.

After finding Luo Xuanji and resolving the Opening Origins Daoist Sect’s crisis, Su Yi arranged for Madam Mei, the Sky-Swallowing Daoist, and Old Yao White Bones to follow Mu Bai in secret.

They were there in case Mu Bai ran into a lethal crisis. Then, the three ancient divine wraiths would be able to rush to his aid.

Don’t tell me that Mu Bai has run into danger too great for even Madam Mei and the others to resolve?

Su Yi’s brow furrowed.

Mu Bai was a saber cultivator who sought a path of clear-cut differentiation between good and evil. He was a good seedling Su Yi quite admired.

Even the Blade of Heaven’s Loathing had approved of him! Yet now, just a few years later, Madam Mei had suddenly sent him a message. Su Yi couldn’t help but suspect that Mu Bai was in peril!

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Yi read the message’s contents.

“Your Excellency, Old Man Providence, the founder of the Divine Court of Providence, has appeared! Mu Bai is in danger!”

Su Yi’s gaze focused.

The Angler is seriously attacking Mu Bai!? What’s he after?

But this question had only just occurred to him when he realized the answer.

It’s got to be the Blade of Heaven’s Loathing!

The Angler had one of the Nine Mysteries of Chaos, too—the Sky-Stealing Hook.

That incomparably insidious old bastard must have used the hook’s power to sense the Blade of Divine Loathing hidden on Mu Bai’s person!

And the Angler is indeed far too great a threat for Madam Mei and the other ancient divine wraiths to handle!

Su Yi instantly realized how serious the situation was.