Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Behind Lin Feng, Zhu Yi, Wang Lin, Shi Tianhao and Li Yuanfang nodded their heads. While their expressions were grave, they did not betray any sign of panic.
To them, they had never experienced a war on a scale as huge as the War of the Two Worlds.
However, they were all confident as they had all prepared for it already. They were even looking forward to it.
Shi Tianhao lowered his head to look at the ball of Qi in his hands. He could see two human figures in it. They were his parents.
Holding the tiny world enveloped by Qi, Shi Tianhao, who was normally fearless, could feel his hands shaking. The usual calm in his eyes disappeared and instead, a look of fear and hesitation replaced it. Extreme hunger was written all over his face.
This was exactly what Shi Tianhao was feeling.
Lin Feng turned his head to look at Shi Tianhao and smiled slightly. He said nothing, but one could feel encouragement and warmth from his gaze.
Shi Tianhao took in a deep breath and a smile crossed his face as he said, “Haha, when Wanqiu and the Scorching Sun Holy Man were re-united all those years ago, the scene was similar to this.”
While he was smiling, Shi Tianhao’s voice was trembling. Forcibly, he calmed himself and gently tapped the tiny world enveloped by Qi. The tiny world immediately started to expand.
Two human figures appeared before Lin Feng and Shi Tianhao. One of them was an exceptionally handsome male. While he emitted resilience, his appeared to be in low spirit. His only eye-catching feature was his missing left arm. The left sleeve of his robes fluttered freely in the wind.
His facial appearances bore an 80% similarity to Shi Tianhao. He looked like an older Shi Tianhao who was about thirty years old or a younger Shi Zhongtian.
Next to the woman, there was an elegant woman. She dressed well, like a young woman. She appeared low-spirited and weak.
However, the moment she saw Shi Tianhao, she opened her eyes and stared at him blankly.
After a long while, the woman finally regained her senses. She stared at Shi Tianhao in disbelief. As she opened her mouth to say something, tears streamed down her face.
She covered her mouth as she stared at Shi Tianhao. In her eyes, one could see fire, anxiety, regret, and heartbreak. She wanted to walk toward Shi Tianhao, but she did not dare to.
The man stared in shock at Shi Tianhao too. The resilience in his eyes wavered. He thought he was dreaming.
Shi Tianhao looked at the man’s missing arm and the weak form of the woman. His gaze became blurred too.
“Daddy, mommy…” Shi Tianhao called out. He resembled a baby cub yearning for its parents.
Shi Tianhao, otherwise known as the Huangtian Supreme Master or the Huangtian Emperor, who was also the youngest Nascent Soul Stage cultivator and the youngest Immortal Soul Stage cultivator, was one of the most powerful cultivators in both the Divine Lands and the Barren Expanses, and perhaps all of history. If others were to see him like this, they would surely be shell-shocked.
However, Shi Tianhao, at this very moment, had lost all the glamor surrounding him. He was no longer the powerful, young cultivator who dominated the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai. Neither was he the powerful Intermediate Aurous Core Stage cultivator who massacred many powerful Nascent Soul Stage cultivators from the Yu Clan. He was not even in the destined hero in the Dragon Battle Arena who killed Shi Tianyi, another exceptional prodigy.
He was no longer the powerful Advanced Nascent Soul Stage cultivator who killed many powerful Immortal Soul Stage cultivators, much less the Immortal Soul First Level cultivator who dared challenge an Immortal Soul Third Level cultivator.
At this moment, he was a mere child, brimming with emotions that he could not verbalize.
Hearing Shi Tianhao’s words, the woman could no longer resist it. She walked forward and reached out with her trembling hands as she gently caressed Shi Tianhao’s face. She wanted to open her mouth to say something, but all she could do was to sob.
The man walked forward too as he laid his hand on Shi Tianhao’s elbow. His fearsome eyes were clouded by tears as he said in a brittle voice, “Tianhao, you have grown. You have grown. That’s better than anything! Better than anything!”
Shi Tianhao’s eyes were filled with tears too. He extended his arms and threw himself into his parents’ embrace.
Upon seeing this scene, Lin Feng and the rest felt joy for this long-overdue and difficult family reunion too.
This couple was naturally Shi Tianhao’s parents, Shi Ziling and Qin Yi.
Even Immortal Soul Stage cultivators found it difficult to traverse through the dangerous Void Battleground, much less the cultivators below the Immortal Soul Stage. For the latter, they may not even make it out.
Decades ago, Shi Ziling and his wife had left the Void Battleground and returned to the Greater World. However, they were pursued by the Yu Clan and had no choice but to return to the Void Battleground.
Qin Yi was injured and she almost died. In the days to come, the two of them lived like nomads in the Void Battleground. Once, Shi Ziling’s arm was cut off by an Envoy of the Hall of the Dead. He was only able to escape by tapping on the special environment in the Void Battleground.
When Shi Tianhao was still in a cradle, the family had already been separated. They were only reunited today.
Those who understood the backstory felt for the family too.
When Zhu Yi saw this scene, he did not say anything. However, his gaze flashed as he thought about of his mother, who perished a long time ago.
Another scene surfaced in Wang Lin’s mind. He remembered how he revisited his ancestral village after he entered the Aurous Core Stage. Then, his village was attacked by cultivators and to protect his family and kinsmen, he battled ferociously with the intruders. In the end, he was lost in the Void Battleground and almost died.
However, Wang Lin’s freshest memories were not of his own battle, but of his parents. Had he been careless, they could have died.
Now, as he thought of his family and kinsmen, who were all well, Wang Lin felt that all his sacrifices were worth it. Looking at Shi Tianhao’s reunion, he too could feel a stirring in his heart.
Li Yuanfang’s normally cold face appeared dazed too.
When he studied cultivation under the Heluo Grandmaster, he was already an orphan. However, he could still remember his parents. While their lives were hard, they still lived blissfully. Now, all that was left was fading memories.
Qin Yi stared dumbly at her son, whom she had never stopped thinking about. There was some special connection between a mother and her child. The first time she saw him, a special connection was built between them. In her long days in the Void Battleground, her biggest motivation was to see her son once more. This gave her the will to live and energy to push through her darkest days.
When she was severely injured and on the brink of death, she only made it through when Shi Ziling repeatedly whispered Shi Tianhao’s name into her ears.
While she knew it in her heart, the sudden bliss, after all these years of hardship, shook her deeply. All she could do was to mutter, “It’s really my son, my son…”
Shi Tianhao inhaled and he wiped away his tears with his hand as he said slowly, “Yes, mommy. I’m your son, Shi Tianhao. I’m still alive and I have grown up!”
As he said that, fresh tears dripped from his eyes.
Shi Tianhao did not control his emotions. Even though they were separated for many years, even though he was only a child when he left his parents and he was grown-up right now, he allowed his true emotions to surface here.
Bitterness, regret, grief, and worry turned into joy.
The initial confusion and indecisiveness about what to do were all gone. Their mutual concern, love, and longing blended into one as these emotions exceeded the boundaries of space and time.
“Dad, mom, I… miss you…” Other than his master, Lin Feng, and his fellow disciples, the impression Shi Tianhao left for everyone in the Celestial Sect of Wonders was that he was a prodigy, a genius with accomplishments way beyond his age. He was a fearless, lawless trouble-maker.
However, when he saw other children with parents, a deep grief would grip him. No matter how much his cultivation increased and how powerful he became, his softest spot was still his missing parents.
Nothing could make up for his missing parents. Only today did he feel his wound finally closing.
Shi Tianhao looked at Shi Ziling’s empty sleeve and said, “Dad, mom, I have implicated you. The reason those guys were after you was because of me.”
Shi Ziling shook his head and said with a smile, “Don’t blame yourself, Tianhao. Now that you have made a name for yourself, others will naturally target us. Speaking about it, we are your burdens.”
He sighed, “Then, it was because of that caused you to suffer so badly at such a young age, it’s all our fault…”
Qin Yi looked at Shi Tianhao. She was both heartbroken and happy.
Many years ago, when they returned to the Greater World from the Void Battleground, they heard the news that Shi Tianhao was not dead. Furthermore, he had joined a powerful sect and his results in the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai and the first battle of the Kunlun Mountains were spectacular. Hearing that, they were both proud and ashamed.
While they were unable to save their son, their son was no longer the weak, near-dead infant they last saw. Not only did he escape death, he became an immensely powerful cultivator.
Shi Ziling placed his hand on Shi Tianhao’s shoulder. His son was almost as big as he was and even slightly taller.
The three of them took quite some to pull themselves together. Drying their tears, Shi Tianhao turned to look at Lin Feng and said, “This is my master. All these years, master has taken care of me and raised me. This time, it is because of him that our family is able to reunite.”
“We apologize for not greeting you earlier, leader of the Celestial Sect. Thank you senior for saving our lives, and thank you for raising our son, Shi Tianhao.”
The two of them knelt before Lin Feng, along with Shi Tianhao.
Lin Feng used to his mana to help them stand up once more. “There’s no need to be so formal. Tianhao is my disciple. If anyone dares to hurt him or his family, our sect cannot sit by and do nothing.”
Shi Tianhao looked at his parents and asked, “Dad, mom, where have you been? Were the two of you always in the Void Battleground?”