“Xiaoyu!” Long Chen smiled and cried out when he saw his little sister. Long Xiaoyu had grown taller and prettier again.

  As the guards around Long Xiaoyu parted the crowd, Long Xiaoyu ran over and hugged Long Chen, her face red from emotion.

  Long Chen also tightly hugged her. “Xiaoyu, when did you become so coarse? If mom knew of this, she’d definitely scold you.”


  Mrs. Long was a noble with high requirements for her children, especially when it came to manners. Because of it, Long Chen had often been scolded when he hadn’t listened to her. Mrs. Long was always worried about him, but the Long family had been suppressed at that time, so she hadn’t had that much time to bother with him. Now that her life was stable, she had more than enough time to teach Long Xiaoyu, and that liveliness was something Long Xiaoyu often complained about.

  “Hmph, you still remember us? You didn’t come see us after all this time!” Long Xiaoyu wrinkled her nose stubbornly.

  Long Chen felt a sour feeling. Long Xiaoyu was extremely attached to him, perhaps even more than their parents. Their father, Long Tianxiao, was carefree and focused on winemaking, while their mother had extremely high expectations of her, making her feel sullen. Hence, only when she was with Long Chen was she particularly happy and relaxed, because no matter what wrong she did, Long Chen would protect her.

  Ever since she was young, Long Chen was like her protector god and pride. In the Grand Xia, no matter who spoke of him, they would be filled with worship.

  However, Long Chen was too busy. Every time he came back, he was only able to stay a few days. Hence, she was always counting the days until he returned.

  Now that he was back, she was excited but also sad. After that, she didn’t know why, but she began to cry.

  “It’s your big brother’s fault. I promise you, as long as I have time, I’ll definitely come see you,” promised Long Chen, wiping away her tears.

  Long Chen sighed inside. In the cultivation world, people did not have the freedom to do whatever they wanted. That truly was an unbreakable law.

  Even now that he was a peerless heavenly genius who stood at the peak of the martial path in many people’s eyes, even though he was a target that countless people were hoping to reach, he himself knew just how powerless he was. No matter how powerful a person was, they couldn’t choose to live the life that they wished.

  Let alone him, even the Sovereigns were the same. Despite their power, didn’t they also die? While with Sovereign Zi Yang, Long Chen had once noticed that Sovereign Zi Yang had wanted to say something, but he hadn’t said it in the end.

  However, based on the look in his eyes, Long Chen guessed that he had wanted to ask about the Beitang family. That was a look that Long Chen recognized.

  Sovereign Zi Yang had given up on that love due to his own bitter struggles. With that as proof, even a Sovereign couldn’t fulfill their heart’s desire.

  “Big brother, I’m not mad. I know that you’re a big hero. My teachers taught me that heroes like you are holding up the world. The reason we can live so worry-free is because heroes like you are holding back the darkness so that we can stand in the light. So I know that you’re very busy. I’m not mad. I just… really miss you…”


  Long Chen’s heart skipped a beat. It was like a bolt of lightning had gone off in his mind. Long Xiaoyu’s words echoed the same tones that Sovereign Zi Yang had mentioned repeatedly.

  “When you fall into darkness and despair, don’t give up. Work hard to see the light behind the darkness. Perhaps, the light is right behind you.”


  Long Xiaoyu had said such words casually, but Sovereign Zi Yang would not possibly say such a thing randomly. Perhaps there was some enlightenment to be found.

  “Big brother, please don’t be sad, alright? I won’t cry any longer…” Long Xiaoyu wiped away her tears, holding them back upon seeing how serious Long Chen’s expression was.

  Long Chen was pulled back into reality by her voice. Seeing her cute appearance, he felt an ache inside. He was not living up to his duty as her big brother.

  Long Chen kissed her forehead and smiled warmly. “Foolish girl, your big brother is happy whenever he sees you.”


  Long Xiaoyu smiled. Holding her hand, she started skipping to the Wine God Palace.

  With the guards opening the path, things went very very smoothly. After a while, Long Xiaoyu suddenly asked, “Big brother, can you carry me?”


  Long Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Long Xiaoyu was now as tall as his chest. How could he carry her like a child?

  “How about I carry you on my back?” Long Chen squatted down, and his sister happily ran behind him and jumped on.

  “Hehe, good thing mom isn’t here, or she’d scold us,” giggled Long Xiaoyu. She leaned against his back.

  Long Chen couldn’t help shaking his head. His mother was trying to restrict someone who was so lively. The bigger she grew, the more she would resist. It seemed that he would have to warn his mother that some things were simply part of someone’s character, and it was difficult to change. In the end, Long Xiaoyu was not that kind of gentle and refined girl, so having her be a classical refined daughter of a noble family was not realistic. It would only harm their relationship.

  “Oh, Xiaoyu, you started cultivating?” asked Long Chen, surprised to sense she had reached the Tendon Transformation realm.

  “Yes! Mom didn’t want me to cultivate, but seeing that others who cultivated were able to fly through the air, I kept begging her. Hehe, she was finally moved by me and permitted me to start cultivating,” said Long Xiaoyu, very pleased.

  Moved? What a way to put it. It seemed more like she had nagged and nagged until even Mrs. Long couldn’t handle it. This little girl really had some smarts.

  “Amazing. When I was your age, I was still at qi gathering,” said Long Chen.

  In truth, Long Xiaoyu wasn’t very talented. One’s natural talent was mostly affected by a person’s father and mother. The stronger the parents, the stronger the child on average. However, at the same time, the higher the cultivation base, the lower the chances of conceiving a child. Because of this, many experts would end up having children at various realms to protect against both scenarios. One aspect was having stronger descendants, while the other was being young enough.

  As for Long Tianxiao’s bloodline, it was very ordinary. There were no experts who had reached the Xiantian realm amongst their ancestors, resulting in Long Xiaoyu’s talent also being ordinary.

  The reason that Long Xiaoyu was able to so quickly reach her current realm was entirely thanks to the cultivation environment in the Grand Xia’s capital.

  “Since you’ve chosen to cultivate, I’ll refine a furnace of pills for you that can rebuild your Spirit Root and allow you to break through your cultivation limit,” said Long Chen.

  “Really? But… mom won’t be happy.” Long Xiaoyu went from very excited to sad midway through.

  “Why?”


  “Mom doesn’t want me to get too strong. She would rather I be an ordinary person and stay by her side,” said Long Xiaoyu sadly.

  Long Chen was startled. Long Xiaoyu had a vision that surpassed her age. She had seen through her mother’s thoughts.

  Mrs. Long didn’t wish for Long Xiaoyu to be like Long Chen and leave her to roam the world. Mrs. Long was just an ordinary person, and a mother’s love was selfish. But there was a price to this selfishness. It might cut off Long Xiaoyu’s wings.

  “I’ll talk to mom. It’ll be fine. Remember, time is the most miraculous thing. It can change countless things in this world, including people’s thoughts. Sometimes people need time to get used to new ideas, understand?” Long Chen looked back and gave her a mischievous smile.

  Long Xiaoyu’s eyes brightened and she winked. She actually fully understood his meaning.

  The brother-and-sister pair laughed. With this weight lifted, Long Xiaoyu became even livelier. Long Chen began to transmit a technique for slowly convincing Mrs. Long of new ideas.

  “Big brother, you’re the best!” exclaimed Long Xiaoyu.

  Long Chen smiled, but that smile was a bit bitter inside. If his mother learned of this, would he be cursed to death?

  They quickly arrived in front of the Wine God Palace. Everything was the same as before. At this moment, he saw the disciple of the Wine God Disciple greeting them.

  Thinking of how he had conned wine out of the Wine God Palace’s disciples the first time he had come here, he felt ashamed but also felt close to this dear place. When he passed by Tu Qianshang’s wooden hut, he saw that the fatty was actually at home and busy with something.

  “Hey, fatty, it’s been a long time. Your clothes are getting tighter,” greeted Long Chen.

  Tu Qianshang ended up dropping whatever he was fiddling with and furiously turned around. But when he saw Long Chen, he laughed. However, that laugh also quickly changed. “Hurry and finish your business. Once you’re done, come back and drink some of my new wine.”


  Long Chen smiled. “I don’t have any business. We can drink right now. Let me have a taste of this peerless wine of yours.”


  Long Chen had long since finished the wine that Tu Qianshang had given him last time. His wine was extremely fierce, and Long Chen was fond of it.

  “Don’t joke. That old fellow of the divine families has been waiting three days for you. Get over there!” Tu Qianshang waved.

  Long Chen was startled. An old fellow from the divine families? Who was that?