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Chapter 33 (Vol-1 End)
🕑 Added 2024-11-23 10:07:54 +0000 UTCDa Wei sat on the seat of honor with a mix of annoyance and fondness as the villagers celebrated around him.
“What’s with that expression? Brat! This is your own birthday you know?”
“I know that, Old Feng. It’s just that-“
“That you hate celebrating it, yet you celebrated Da Ling’s birthday as if she were the child of heaven. Hypocritic much?”
Da Wei was left speechless at the ruthless comeback from the old blacksmith as he laughed and drank wine from his gourd, a wine gourd that looked suspiciously like one of Da Wei’s hidden stashes.
But just for today, he would let it go.
Watching the pile of gifts placed nearby and watching the merry-making, he couldn’t help but give a small smile despite his dislike for this unannounced birthday celebration.
Old Feng was busy bragging about something with Old Li who gave the blacksmith and annoyed look.
Old Hu and his wife were busy fussing over Little Hui who was desperately searching for a way to escape the notice of her grandparents, especially since she nearly burned her hand while preparing for the feast today.
The teenagers, including Guo Yufeng, the granddaughter of Da Wei’s former Sect Master, were talking among themselves about whatever caught their fancy.
Watching the timid and depressed girl finally start to open up, Da Wei couldn’t help but smile a little bit.
Ever since they received the news of Heavenly Sword Sect’s destruction and the death of Guo Peng, shortly after the teenagers returned home, the girl rarely came out of Lin Mei’s house and spent most of the time drowning her depression by training relentlessly.
She did not desire revenge. Guo Yufeng was never truly close with her family except for her mother. Neither did she wish for strength just for the sake of self-preservation.
The reason she threw herself into cultivation so strongly was not only to pull herself out of her depressed state after having lost direction in her life but also to protect Lin Mei, the girl who became her closest friend and sister in all but blood.
Give one last smile, Da Wei looked away from the teenagers and turned back towards the other side and saw Yin Lingxi discussing with Chief Chen and his wife about something that caused the three of them to whisper passionately among themselves.
It was truly a surprise for Da Wei and a massive shock for most of the villagers when Yin Lingxi suddenly turned up the day before, claiming that she had come to celebrate Da Wei’s birthday since she was already nearby.
While the villagers bought her lie, Da Wei knew better than anyone why Yin Lingxi was doing this as he too was like her back in his old world.
When a lonely person gains a true friend for the first time, they are usually willing to go to the extremes to keep that friendship alive. Da Wei was like that back in his old life, so he understood Yin Lingxi’s actions very well.
Of course, he dared not open her gift and kept it in his storage ring much to the princess’s chagrin if the way she pouted like a child at his actions was anything to go by.
Knowing her, she would have given him something extremely extravagant that would have shocked the villagers into unconsciousness if they learned of it. That was why Da Wei chose to open that gift in the privacy of his home.
As Da Wei’s eyes scanned the crowd, he finally could not suppress his frown, causing Old Li and Old Feng to notice it.
The blacksmith snorted at his worried frown.
“Oh quit being so dramatic. Your precious daughter and that kid Tianrui are preparing your gift, so wait obediently.”
“But-“
“Da Wei. What have I told you about being overprotective and coddling?”
That remark from Old Li cut off Da Wei’s protest as he silently waited, even though he felt the urge to immediately go towards his daughter and disciple to check their bodies for any injuries after their first adventure without him.
Especially after learning of what Da Ling achieved during her fight with her new Dao Familiar.
In his mind, Radiation was the most deadly form of sickness in existence and he would rather check and be sure than let things fester and let his daughter be harmed in any way.
Despite Xiang, the old demon, reassuring him that Da Ling could not harm herself with her own technique, he could not stop worrying.
Not to mention that the celebratory ceremony was approaching and Da Ling needed to kneel with her adopted father in front of the heavens for the ceremony.
Da Wei had many reasons to dislike his birthday with the ceremony being one of them.
As a former atheist, he did not like the idea of a ceremony performed for something as abstract as a god.
As far as he was concerned, he believed the Heavens to be nothing more than a balancing force, a natural system that protected the world. Not a god to be worshipped.
While his views were truly unfathomable for the people of this world, he could not help how he felt, even if the original reason why he became an atheist in his world was no longer a concern in this one.
Da Wei did not hate the idea of worship, and neither did he have any problem with any one religion. What he had a problem with was people committing atrocities and discriminating against one another claiming their religion as the reason for their actions. It was witnessing this kind of darkness that made him become an Atheist.
While there was no such thing happening in this world with the Heavens being the only ‘God’ being worshipped, he still could not shake off old habits and hatred that easily.
Finally, as the auspicious time was fast approaching, Da Ling finally walked out of Old Feng’s forge with Jin Tianrui.
The young man looked satisfied while the girl had a troubled and nervous expression.
“May you celebrate many more birthdays, F-Father.”
“May you celebrate many more birthdays, Master.”
Da Wei could not help but smile broadly as he scooped but Da Ling as she yelped in surprise.
“You finally called me father.”
The girl just buried her face into his chest in embarrassment, causing everyone to laugh, which only increased the girl’s embarrassment further.
Once he was done teasing the girl, he nodded in gratitude towards his other disciple who smiled happily and went to stand with his family where Jin Ruiying was being gushed over by her parents and the other villagers thanks to the cute dress the girl was wearing.
“F-Father. Here.”
Finally pulling herself out of her embarrassment, Da Ling took out a box and presented it to Da Wei who eagerly tore it open, revealing a Spiritual Jade bracelet with many sets of inscriptions, all of which looked a little crooked but had no effect on the function of the inscriptions.
“I-I went to Old Li’s classes at the school and learned from him to write these inscriptions. I am still not proficient in using your language for the inscriptions so I used the common tongue for it. I-I know it is not much but-“
Her words were interrupted when Da Wei hugged the girl once again and spoke tenderly.
“Silly girl. Anything you get me is more precious to me than even the greatest of treasures in the world. And don’t put down your own work. While the inscriptions are a little crooked, I can tell that they will have no impact on their function. Moreover, Storage Inscriptions are tough concepts to grasp in the first place, it is the reason why I haven’t got into trying those yet.”
Da Wei smiled down at his daughter.
“With this, as far as storage inscriptions are concerned, you have already surpassed my capabilities.”
Then, his face got an annoyed look.
“Even if said storage inscription is designed specifically for all things food and to keep them warm or cold indefinitely.”
The surrounding villagers burst into laughter at those words as Da Ling once again buried her head into her father’s chest.
Once everyone stopped laughing, Jin Tianrui walked forward and handed over a bunch of parchments bound together to form a book.
“This is my very first compilation of all the demonic beasts that I have found in the Great Wilderness and beyond so far.”
Da Wei gave a proud look towards his disciple and called over Old LI.
“Take this and start teaching the students about the Demonic Beasts.”
“M-Master?? Aren’t you going to go over the details to see if they are accurate or not??”
“Tianrui. While you are lazy and would love nothing more than to slack off daily, when it comes to your interests, I know better than anyone how diligent you are in capturing even the tiniest of details. I know that the knowledge you have compiled in this book must be just as accurate, if not even more, than what can be found in the Imperial Capital’s Beast Guild.”
At Jin Tianrui’s emotional look, Da Wei gave him a quick hug before ushering the man towards his family.
Chef Chen finally walked to the center of the banquet and gained everyone’s attention.
“Alright, it is time for the ceremony.”
At his words, everyone started to gather at the center of the banquet where cushions were already prepared for everyone to kneel.
Once everyone sat down, Da Wei walked forward and sat down on the cushion at the very front followed by Da Ling who took her place beside Jin Tianrui right behind Da Wei.
As Chief Chen began the ceremony to worship the Heavens and ask for the longevity and prosperity of Da Wei and his family, the man in question could not help but smile with happiness and melancholy.
Watching the scene, he could not be reminded of a similar sight from a long time ago. A time when he still had his mother who celebrated his birthday just like this, even if she and Da Wei were not favored by the Wang family and could only celebrate it in their small courtyard.
It was one of the main reasons why Da Wei hated his birthday. Because it was on his fifth birthday that his mother passed away, leaving him alone in this world.
But now, he had so many people who cared about him enough to carry out such a grand ceremony for him, despite his insistence to not bother with it.
As the ceremony came to an end, everyone bowed to the Heavens as Da Wei once again reaffirmed his vow.
He will never allow any harm to come to his loved ones ever again. He will never end up alone like he once did when his mother died.
That is his vow to the Heavens, and to himself.
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Wang Lei, the City Lord of Starfall City was once again lamenting his luck as he cowered in front of the two figures that had barged into his residence.
“My Lord, please believe me, I do not know who this Yan Ling is and neither have I ever seen a girl with features that you have described.”
Yan Liehuo sneered at the weakling in front of him and stretched out his palm.
“Since you are unwilling to speak, there is no need to keep you alive!”
Wang Lei was so frightened that he felt like his soul was about to leave his body. However, despite such horror, he refused to comply and closed his eyes, hoping for a quick death.
Suddenly, Yan Liehuo’s arm was grabbed by his companion who looked at the City Lord kindly.
“City Lord, please understand. Our niece is in danger and we need to find her immediately. If you have any information, anything at all, we would truly appreciate it. We will also compensate you quite well.”
Wang Lei stared in a daze as Yan Xinyan gave him a breathtaking smile and subtly leaned forward in a way to make his heart race. However, the sheer horror of the request made by the two was enough to suppress the City Lord’s thoughts.
‘Are you kidding me? You want me to spill the location of that girl? The one whose master is favored by that lunatic princess? You might as well kill me right now!’
‘In your hands, it would be either a quick and painless, or long and painful death. But, if the princess learns that it was I who gave you the information? Death would be a mercy at that point!!’
“My Lady, please believe me. I truly do not know anything!! Please have mercy on this humble one.”
“…Fine.”
With an enraged look, Yan Xinyan grabbed a hold of her brother’s arm and pulled him out of the residence.
Teleporting to the top of their newly acquired airship, she started steering it towards the Great Wilderness.
“Xinyan. Why did you stop me from killing that weakling?”
“Because our impulsive actions have already caused the mistress enough problems as is. I don’t need the Yin Long empire declaring a feud with Crimson Realm Holy Land over this matter.”
“….Then, what are we to do now?”
“For now, we have no choice but to search every Li of the Great Wilderness.”
“The Wilderness? Why?”
Yan Xinyan gave a pitying look at her brother before speaking again.
“I never expected much from you, Liehuo, but I never expected you would be this dumb.”
“Hey!”
“Think about it, you fool. Yan Ling’s seal became trackable when she was in the vicinity of Starfall City but disappeared immediately when she left the city from what the artifact showed us. In the surrounding area, there is nowhere for the girl to hide aside from the Great Wilderness. Not to mention the abnormally high concentration of Pure Qi in the Wilderness that is blocking our artifact from detecting the girl’s location. This is why, we must search the entirety of the Wilderness for her whereabouts.”
“…..What about the Forbidden Zone? You want to search there as well?”
At her brother’s words, Yan Xinyan shuddered, remembering the existence of such a cursed place in the Great Wilderness.
However, her fear was gradually replaced by determination.
“Yes. Even if it means risking our lives in the Forbidden Zone. We must search for Yan Ling.”
Yan Liehuo nodded at his sister’s words and concentrated on keeping watch over their surroundings.
The two subordinates of the Mistress of Crimson Realm Holy Land are now willing to do anything for the sake of their mission.
They must complete it at all costs.
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Deep within the Imperial Palace, a shadowy figure was busy watching over several documents and going through jade slips, reading the reports sent by his many subordinates and spies across the Empire.
Suddenly, the empty chair in front of him was filled by a man wearing black robes marked with the symbol of the Infinite Blood Seas sect.
“Oh? Looks like Your Highness is quite busy with the debacle orchestrated by the little empress.”
“….What do you want?”
“What’s with such a cold response? Aren’t you the one who asked me to inform you the moment something changed?”
“….Well?”
“Well, I was going to inform you of an interesting rumor but now I am no longer in the mood.”
Killing intent burst out from the shadowy figure and engulfed the man in black robes like an ocean, causing the twisted man to shiver in delight.
“Ah~ such delicious killing intent. I wonder if I would feel even more than this if I were to kill your sister?”
“Mo Yexuan. Watch your words or I will get rid of you.”
The man in black robes, Mo Yexuan, the current Heavenly Demon, the absolute ruler of the Demonic path, pulled back his hood and revealed his grinning face.
“Really now? If you kill me, how do you plan to defeat my so-called killer when he shows up?”
“I will figure something out.”
“HAHAHA! Really? How interesting!”
The figure covered in shadows sighed in exhaustion, causing the Heavenly Demon to smile.
“Fine, fine. I won’t play with you anymore.”
Mo Yexuan sat up in his seat and started speaking with a tinge of seriousness in his voice.
“The reason I have come to you is to inform you that I have potentially dangerous information from one of my spies.”
He took out a jade slip and handed it over to the figure whose body shook in shock as he read the information within the slip.
“……This could be a problem for us.”
“More for me than you. If this deal between the Crimson Realm Holy Land’s elders and the Phoenix Clan goes through, I will end up dead way before my destined successor shows up.”
The shadowy figure thought for a few minutes before nodding.
“You did good, bringing me this information. I’ll handle it, you should go back to your sect.”
“Oh? How reassuring. Very well.”
Without further words, Mo Yexuan disappeared into the shadows, causing the figure in the shadows to lean back in his seat, causing what little light was available in the chambers to illuminate his royal robes.
“Soon, I will find you. And when I do, I will kill you myself before you destroy everything I hold dear.”
