Ruan Tang rubbed her forehead. "Honestly, a child who never grows up."
Those words were obviously about Ruan Lan.
Xu Lai wrapped his arms around Ruan Tang and chuckled softly. "Don’t mind them. Let’s keep eating and enjoy our own little world."
"It’s not just the two of us, though."
"..."
Only then did Xu Lai rember the little one in his wife’s belly. He asked cheerfully, "Has the little one been behaving lately?"
"Not really."
Ruan Tang said, "They keep kicking my stomach at night. It’s gotten so bad that Yiyi has to take care of ."
She covered her face. "I’m such a failure as a mother!"
"It’s okay. Whether it’s a son or a daughter, once they’re born, I’ll definitely give them a few dozen spankings to get even for you."
"Absolutely not."
Ruan Tang shot Xu Lai a pointed look. "Hitting children doesn’t solve problems. We need to reason with them."
"Alright."
Xu Lai crouched down and spoke warmly to her belly, "So, did you hear that? I’m reasoning with you now. If you don’t behave, don’t bla Daddy for not playing nice."
"..."
Ruan Tang could clearly feel the baby move, but it was a tiny, subtle movent, almost as if it were shivering in fear.
She couldn’t help but laugh, tapping Xu Lai’s forehead with a slender finger. "Oh, you."
The night air was as cool as water.
After the sumptuous barbecue feast, Xu Lai cleaned up the backyard, then carried Ruan Tang back to their room. For the two of them, a short separation was better than any honeymoon.
They slept until dawn.
...
Life on Earth was relaxed and comfortable; ti itself seed to slow down. Xu Lai liked Earth very much.
Compared to the cutthroat intrigue of the Immortal Domain, this planet was decidedly sweet and naive. If not for its remote location, it probably would have been devoured long ago.
However, the Earth Heavenly Dao was certainly not sweet and naive; that little one was quite crafty.
「Early this morning.」
He arrived stealthily at the entrance of Haitang Court. He wanted to knock but didn’t dare, and his hesitation left Dragon Spirit Xiao Hai of Mount Haitang sowhat speechless.
What could the Earth Heavenly Dao want with The Supre Emperor?
The Dragon Spirit reprimanded, "If you have sothing to say, say it! Why are you skulking around? Do you have a guilty conscience?"
"I was worried I would wake The Supre Emperor and displease him," Sikong Jiu said, a headache already forming. He was exceedingly polite to this Dragon Spirit born from a Dragon Vein.
The old saying was true: a pri minister’s doorman was like a high-ranking official himself. Who would dare be disrespectful at The Supre Emperor’s gate?
"The Supre Emperor is incredibly magnanimous. How could he get angry over such a trifle?" Dragon Spirit Xiao Hai said, displeased.
"That makes sense."
Sikong Jiu mustered his courage and shouted, "The Supre Emperor, I—"
BANG!
A terrifying pressure instantly pinned Sikong Jiu in place, rendering him unable to move or even make a sound.
Lying in Xu Lai’s arms, a groggy Ruan Tang mumbled, "Honey, is soone talking outside?"
"No, you heard wrong. Let’s go back to sleep. It’s still early."
"Oh."
"..."
A mournful expression crossed Sikong Jiu’s face.
He looked up at the clouds, but where was the Dragon Spirit? It had vanished without a trace.
That Dragon Spirit set up!
「When the sun was high in the sky.」
Stretching lazily, Xu Lai walked out of Haitang Court. He sat on the steps and asked with a grin, "Been waiting long?"
"No."
The Heavenly Dao squeezed out an ugly smile. "Not long at all. I just arrived..."
Xu Lai clicked his tongue twice. The Heavenly Dao was truly thick-skinned.
He gave a nod. "Alright, spit it out. What do you want?"
"A couple of days ago, I vaguely sensed several waves of Emperor’s Might emanating from deep within the Immortal Domain. Then, so of the Emperor Realm relics in my collection began to react. Could it be that... their corpses... are being controlled?" Sikong Jiu asked cautiously.
Xu Lai was a little surprised. He hadn’t expected this little Heavenly Dao, so far away on Earth, could sense such things. His guess was also remarkably accurate.
Xu Lai didn’t hide the truth and nodded.
"I knew it!"
Sikong Jiu said indignantly, "When I entered so of those Emperor Realm tombs, I felt sothing was subtly wrong, but I could never put my finger on it."
"The Emperor’s Corpses were already gone!" the Heavenly Dao exclaid angrily.
Xu Lai mused, "There were three Emperor’s Corpses, and two were from the Samsara Sea. Of the tombs you felt were strange, how many... were there?"
The Heavenly Dao gasped. "Even the Emperor’s Corpses in the Samsara Sea can be manipulated? Does that an all the other Emperor’s Corpses have been stolen and controlled by a single person...?"
At this thought, Sikong Jiu’s scalp prickled with terror.
Those of the Emperor Realm were the strongest beings under the stars, but even they couldn’t resist the ravages of ti. Their souls had perished, leaving only their physical shells behind.
A single Emperor’s Corpse might not be a threat to an Emperor Realm expert in their pri.
But what about three?
Ten?
Twenty?
A quantitative change leads to a qualitative one. Furthermore, the whereabouts of most Emperor Artifacts were unknown. If the Emperor’s Corpses were wielding the Emperor Artifacts they had forged in life, what kind of terror would that unleash?
The more the Heavenly Dao thought, the more frightened he beca.
He shivered uncontrollably. "Could this be the work of Great Emperor Tiangui from the First Era?"
"It is."
"I knew it."
The Heavenly Dao’s tone was complex. "In a cycle of one hundred eras, the first emperor is always the strongest."
Xu Lai didn’t ask why.
The Heavenly Dao continued, "The Supre Emperor, you must know that in the world before this current cycle began, multiple Emperor Realm experts coexisted."
"I do."
Xu Lai knew this from the World of Obsession belonging to the giant, Gu Yan.
In a childlike voice, the Heavenly Dao dropped a bombshell. "Actually, during the First Era at the very beginning of the cycle, the laws of the Heavenly Dao were incomplete. Multiple Emperor Realm experts existed then, too..."
A jolt went through Xu Lai’s heart.
The histories and records of the Immortal Domain only ntioned one. This ant that in the First Era, every Emperor Realm expert except for Great Emperor Tiangui had perished. They had all been killed by Yuan Ying. The Tian Gui Tribe’s racial talent had three aspects. One of them was fusion, which allowed them to integrate a target into their body and gain fifty percent of their Boundary. But this talent was limited. Not only could one only devour ten people in their lifeti, but it also greatly reduced one’s lifespan. If one were to devour ten Emperor Realm experts from the sa era...
Xu Lai’s brow furrowed.
The Heavenly Dao, Sikong Jiu, had a face full of despair. "Supre Emperor, if I’m not mistaken, those three Emperor’s Corpses are targeting you, aren’t they? Great Emperor Tiangui is trying to kill you!"
"It’s over, it’s all over."
"That old monster, Great Emperor Tiangui, is no pushover. He’s been plotting to kill soone for a hundred eras. There’s no escape..."
"Is it too late for to defect?"
The three-year-old-looking Sikong Jiu paced back and forth on the bluestone path, a worried expression on his face that belied his age.
Xu Lai watched him with a wry smile.
Sikong Jiu suddenly realized sothing. He froze and looked at Xu Lai. "Supre Emperor, I don’t an to be a traitor, nor am I thinking of selling you out. I’m just being prudent!"
"Think about it! If we had soone on the inside, we’d know the enemy’s every move in advance! Then we could prepare a proper response."
"As Sun Tzu said, ’Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.’"
The Heavenly Dao’s survival instinct was off the charts.
Xu Lai nodded. "That’s true."
"Supre Emperor, I am willing to go through fire and water for you! Just leave a high-stakes mission like going undercover to !" Sikong Jiu volunteered eagerly.
"Go on, then."
"Really?"
Sikong Jiu was taken aback. He hadn’t expected The Supre Emperor to actually agree to his defection—no, to his going undercover.
"I can restrain my curiosity about your secrets for now. As for whether others can... I can’t say," Xu Lai said, shaking his head.
The Heavenly Dao shivered. Of course they couldn’t! Not everyone was like Xu Lai.
Sikong Jiu lost his nerve. He adopted a grave expression and said sternly, "On second thought, I feel I cannot leave Earth, and I certainly cannot leave you. I vow to defend the glory of Emperor Qingfeng and the Heavenly Court to the death!"
Tsk. What a model of loyalty and devotion, this Sikong Jiu.
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