Invincible Dad
Chapter 960: Proof of the Ancient Immortal Path
Sikong Jiu watched Xu Lai grow farther and farther away, and for a long time he did not leave.
"Creak—"
The sound of a door being pushed open came.
Not one, but two.
Only then did Senior Sister notice that Ruan Lan had also woken up, her eyes red, clearly having secretly cried.
But she was the same, tear tracks still streaked across her face, not yet wiped clean.
They tacitly said nothing, their gazes turning to Sikong Jiu at the same time.
They couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: perhaps only men can smile and say goodbye at the moment of life and death.
Only, they could not see the front of Sikong Jiu’s robe, soaked through by tears.
After a full cycle of reincarnation apart.
He, Sikong Jiu, had gained another brother.
Yet today this brother had boarded the little white boat that was supposed to be his, heading toward an Other Shore that no one even knew could truly be reached.
The road ahead was boundless.
The dangers could not be foreseen.
Let alone finding Ruan Tang, whose life and death were unknown, and killing Tian Gui Yuan Yin—even whether he could reach the Other Shore alive was an unknown number.
But no matter whether the final ending was good or bad, it was he, Sikong Jiu, who had sent Xu Lai onto this road.
The dark clouds scattered, and starlight dotted the darkness.
Sikong Jiu collapsed sitting on the ground, then couldn’t help but break into loud sobs:
"Xu Lai, you better not die, don’t you dare die. I really don’t want to shoulder another blood debt, I really don’t want to carry any more."
"..."
"..."
The two women silently bit their lips. So men cry too, huh.
Though unexpected, it was within reason.
After all, even grass, trees, and stones that were thought to have no emotions would shed tears.
Sikong Jiu, slumped on the ground, simply lay down, staring at the moonlight and stars as countless scenes flashed through his mind.
He didn’t know why.
The final scene froze at that moment back then, when his brothers, risking their lives, had sent the comparatively weakest him out of the Formation.
His sworn brothers had smiled as they sent him away from the Formation.
"So I have to smile as I send you off too."
Sikong Jiu used his hand to force the corners of his mouth up and said with a smile, "Xu Lai, you must come back alive."
Great Emperor Qingfeng had left.
This matter did not stir up any waves in the Immortal Domain, because besides the hundred Divine Generals of the Heavenly Court, those in the know within the Immortal Domain could be counted on one hand.
Of course.
There were some people it was impossible to hide it from.
For example Jiu Feng, for example Huang Zhongtian, for example the Corpse Emperor, for example Emperor Wanyun in his coffin.
They had all sensed a very strange spatial fluctuation, a feeling not too different from when the broken Immortal Path had appeared.
Above the Netherworld.
Huang Zhongtian sat at the bow of the bamboo boat, while a man stood at the stern. The latter sighed and said:
"So there really is a boat. No wonder Jiu Kongsi has been chased and killed for a full reincarnation by the Nine Kings’ Palace and Tian Gui Yuan Yin... no, now it’s Sikong Jiu."
"Corpse Emperor, why did you help Xu Lai before?"
Huang Zhongtian narrowed his eyes. Although they had joined hands to scheme against the Tiangui just now, it had actually been a coincidence.
Even without Dongfang Youming protecting Xu Lai’s body, he would have still egged Ruan Tang on to step onto the Immortal Path, only their tacit cooperation had caught the Tiangui completely off guard.
"Call me Dongfang Youming."
Dongfang Youming chuckled. "’Corpse Emperor’ sounds weird, it always feels like Yin energy is overflowing."
Huang Zhongtian rolled his eyes.
Dongfang Youming’s first life as a body was an Emperor achieved in the Netherworld—could he possibly lack Yin energy?
"I once had a brief encounter with him. Guess where it was." Dongfang Youming’s expression grew distant.
"Where?"
"In the World of Obsession of Other Shore Cultivator Gu Yan. The two of us crossed tens of epochs of the long river of time and had a brief exchange. I quite liked him."
"This..."
Huang Zhongtian’s pupils contracted. How was that possible!
"Right? I also thought it was impossible."
Dongfang Youming shrugged. "But the memory is real, and he really did meet me. That’s why, back in Heaven Beyond Heaven, I casually protected his corpse."
Huang Zhongtian’s brows were almost furrowed into the shape of the character "川". No matter how he thought about it, this whole affair reeked of eeriness.
Inside the World of Obsession of a dead cultivator, two Emperor Realm beings talked across tens of epochs of historical time.
And Dongfang Youming actually still remembered the whole thing afterwards?
You could beat Huang Zhongtian to death and he still wouldn’t believe there wasn’t some hidden hand behind it!
But who could use Gu Yan’s corpse and calculate to the extent of involving two Emperor Realm existences?
While Huang Zhongtian pondered, Dongfang Youming slapped his shoulder hard and said:
"Stop thinking about it. Even if you figure it out, so what?"
"Hiss—"
Huang Zhongtian bared his teeth in pain.
Dongfang Youming’s slap really hurt too much. Did this guy not understand how to be gentle with an old man’s bones! 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
"Besides, the clearer you understand some things, the faster you die."
Dongfang Youming looked up toward the direction Xu Lai had left, his gaze deep, no one knew what he was thinking.
Huang Zhongtian knew the Corpse Emperor was hinting at something.
He was just about to ask when Dongfang Youming suddenly smiled warmly like a spring breeze. "In this life, it’s rare and precious to be muddled. Being a bit muddle-headed is pretty good."
"..."
Huang Zhongtian stared at Dongfang Youming’s face for a long time before squeezing out a sentence:
"Your previous life achieved the Emperor Realm in the Netherworld, and in this life you became an Emperor as an Emperor’s Corpse, yet you smile more than Xu Lai."
"People who keep smiling don’t have too bad luck."
"Reasonable and well-argued—very convincing."
"Hahaha."
Dongfang Youming laughed three times. "Speaking of which, can that boat Xu Qingfeng boarded really lead to the Other Shore?"
"I’m not sure either." Huang Zhongtian shook his head.
"You, a Ferryman who travels between the two realms, don’t even know that?"
"It’s true that I can travel between the two realms, but if I told you I’ve never been to the Other Shore... would you believe it?"
"I don’t."
"Believe it or not."
Huang Zhongtian didn’t argue, muttering to himself, "My master was an Other Shore Cultivator. Before he died he left a lot of last words, and there’s one sentence I’ve never forgotten."
"What sentence?"
Dongfang Youming casually echoed.
Huang Zhongtian stared straight into Dongfang Youming’s eyes and said word by word, "There is no Cloud Water Rust on the Other Shore."
"What did you say!!!"
An endless chill rose in Dongfang Youming’s heart.
If the Cloud Water Rust that the Immortal Domain revered as Immortal Scripture did not come from the Other Shore, then where did it come from?
"I said, there is fundamentally no Cloud Water Rust on the Other Shore, so Mojian Wuzheng is also not a Sword of the Other Shore. Otherwise why do you think I went to so much trouble to obtain it?"
Huang Zhongtian’s tone was complicated. "Only with the No Righteous Sword can one obtain recognition to step onto the Ancient Immortal Path."
"My master, my grandmaster, my grandmaster’s master—our entire line’s destiny is to search for seedlings of Immortality from both realms and send them onto the Ancient Immortal Path."
"Why must they step onto the Ancient Immortal Path..."
"I don’t know. That’s simply the ancestral rule handed down."
"Wait."
Dongfang Youming’s expression suddenly changed. "Since Cloud Water Rust isn’t from the Other Shore, then could it be that the place that little white boat is heading to isn’t the Other Shore either?"
"As for where it’s heading, I’m afraid only Xu Lai himself will know." Huang Zhongtian gave a bitter laugh.
...
...
Light.
So bright it was blinding.
Xu Lai couldn’t open his eyes at all. Even the Divine Sense he sent out felt scalding hot, completely unable to probe his surroundings.
After Xu Lai boarded the little white boat, the boat had started moving on its own.