When the others in the courtyard heard Ye Zichen’s words, they seized up.
The girl who’d brought him here, Bai Qizhi, and that beautiful woman’s gazes all landed on the man in white.
All they saw was his frown fade and tears glisten at the corners of his eyes.
He flitted from emotion to emotion, from stifled sobs to laughter. Finally, he grinned, lowered his head into his hands, and wept, his shoulders heaving with emotion.
“Dad’s crying?” The girl watched from the side in astonishment. In her memories, her father was an unparalleled heroic figure. She remembered him as tender with his wife and children and cold and merciless against his enemies.
She’d seen him in countless situations, but she’d never once seen him cry.
Ye Zichen chuckled, then walked up to the man and patted him on the shoulder. In truth, his eyes were glossy with unshed tears as well, but he was in better control of himself. He grinned and said, “You’re a father now; it’s no good crying like a child. You’re not that little tsundere Lil’ Bai anymore.”
After hearing that, the man in white could no longer suppress his emotions. He opened his arms and pulled Ye Zichen into a bear hug. “Boss.”
His distress burst forth like water breaking through a dam as his eyes overflowed with tears.
That’s right: this was none other than the dog rejected by the Heavenly Court, Ye Zichen’s pet from the Modern Realm, and the young master of the Three Realm’s Howling Celestial Dog Clan, Little White.
Ye Zichen was surprised to see him too. Memories of the past rose unbidden to his mind.
It felt like it all happened only yesterday, but in the blink of an eye, a hundred years had passed.
Little White had ascended from the Beast Region to the God Realm, and had grown from an ignorant, bumbling youth into the head of a household.
The time had passed so quickly.
…..
“Boss, I just knew you’d survived!”
About an hour later, Little White had regained control over his emotions and led Ye Zichen to a stone table for a chat.
“I wasn’t fated to die, I guess. I really should have died in that seal alongside Denglong, but someone split apart my soul and let me reincarnate once more. However, I’m currently missing a chunk of my soul.”
By the time Gu Zichen rescued him, his soul had started fusing with Denglong’s. It was no longer possible to completely separate it, so he’d left a small chunk of it behind. He’d never said this to anyone before, but there was no need to keep secrets from Little White. f
Missing a part of his soul had a major effect on his ability to comprehend the dao.
Recently, he could sense this problem as he gleaned enlightenment into the Dao of the Five Elements. As his understanding deepened, the issue of the missing piece of his soul would only grow increasingly obvious.
Ye Zichen was practically certain that unless he retrieved it, it would be almost impossible to fully master the Dao of the Five Elements and condense a dao heart.
“You’re missing part of your soul?” When he heard that, Little White frowned. He wasn’t the ignorant puppy he’d once been; he was an expert on the verge of becoming a supreme. He understood what Ye Zichen’s injury meant and how it would affect his ability to gain enlightenment. “What do you intend to do about it?”
“What else can I do? I’m going to wait for an opportunity, then go get it back.” Ye Zichen laughed casually, then changed the subject.
“What’re you bringing up all that for? Let’s talk about you instead. You’ve done quite well for yourself! Since I last saw you, you got married and had a family! Aren’t you going to introduce me to my sister-in-law and your kids?”
When Little White heard that, he blushed and gently squeezed the beautiful woman’s hand. “This…. This is Bai Qiao. Her true form is a howling celestial dog as well. We met after you sealed away Denglong.”
The woman smiled radiantly and greeted him, “Elder Brother Ye.”
Little White nodded, then his gaze fell on the girl and Bai Qizhi. This time, however, he didn’t gently squeeze anybody’s hand. He furrowed his hands and barked, “You two, come here.”
The girl, who’d been proud and cold all the way here, and Bai Qizhi, who’d once threatened Ye ZIchen, lowered their heads and approached. The siblings had been agonizing this whole time over how to handle this situation; this Ye Zichen’s relationship with their father was obviously deep, yet they’d treated him so poorly on the way here.
“This is Bai Qizhi, my eldest son….. Qizhi, greet your uncle.”
Bai Qizhi cupped his hands and said, “Uncle.”
With that, he hurriedly stepped back, bowed deeply, and said, “Uncle, if your nephew said anything out of line on the way here, please don’t take offense.”
“What are you talking about?” Little White furrowed his brows, but Bai Qizhi said nothing.
Ye Zichen broke the silence. He shook his head and laughed, “It’s nothing. Come on then, introduce me to this little lady. I’m actually relatively interested in meeting her.”
When she heard Ye Zichen point her out specifically, her face twisted up. She looked on the verge of tears as she fidgeted with the hem of her clothes. “What are you doing? I didn’t know you knew my father at the time. You’re of the senior generation; you can’t be this petty!”
“You can’t talk to your uncle like that!” Little White fiercely berated her. When she saw her father’s anger, she shrunk back and pouted.
“This is my daughter, Bai Biling. Perhaps I’ve spoiled her…. Boss, she didn’t offend you, did she? She told me she asked you to become her bodyguard. That brat really doesn’t know her place.”
Little White angrily chastised her. Bai Biling lowered her head and tapped nervously on the scroll decorating the table.
Ye Zichen, however, waved his concerns away and laughed. “No harm done. Kids are kids, after all! Biling’s quite good the way she is. She’s full of energy! It’s just that her mouth is a bit sharp is all; its better for girls to be a bit more on the gentle side.”
With that, Ye Zichen’s spatial ring lit up.
Before long, a mountain of weapons, pills, and talismans appeared on the stone table, so many that the table couldn’t fit them all. The remainder hovered in mid-air.
“This is our first meeting, so as your brother-in-law and uncle, I can’t be stingy. Sister-in-law, dear niece and nephew, please take these trifles as a greeting gift.”
This mountain of sparkling treasure dazzled the entire family. Bai Biling’s eyes widened and she reached out…..
“Demigod Artifacts!”
“Sky immortal medicines!”
“Class-nine defensive talismans!”
Bai Biling exclaimed over and over again. She’d taken inventory of the whole pile, but had yet to discover anything lower than class-seven.
Her youthful face was brimming with astonishment. “Uncle, what on earth do you do for a living!?”
Her father was the second pavilion head of the Parliament of Stars and was rather wealthy, but they had no weapons on the level of a divine artifact. Also, those defensive talismans included some at the tenth and eleventh grade…..
“I…..” When Ye Zichen heard that, he pressed his lips into a grin. “Actually…. I’m the leader of your enemies, the true boss of Upheaval.”
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