Volume 3 - Chapter 420: Li Hao’s Departure (Part 3)
Su Wanqing stared in a daze, finally understanding. That youth had never come to the Su family for Su Muqing—but for the girl who looked exactly like her.
She was the one he truly loved.
Su Wanxue, too, suddenly grasped the truth. Her expression turned complicated. She hadn’t expected such a karmic entanglement to be involved.
A gentle breeze swept through the air. Su Jiuzhe waved his hand, using his power to transfer Li Hao and Shi Miao directly to Peach Blossom Hill in the ancestral grounds.
Back in the Zhuoxian Courtyard, the departure of Li Hao and Shi Miao finally jolted the others awake. Murmurs broke out at once, each person stunned.
“Who was that girl? She looked exactly like Muqing!”
“She said something about a vessel? A reincarnation? Could it be that Haotian had mistaken Su Muqing for that girl’s reincarnation all along?”
“Was that girl hiding inside Muqing this whole time? Now that she’s awakened… what about Muqing?”
Most still hadn’t pieced everything together. They exchanged wide-eyed stares of confusion.
Su Zhenyuan, however, had already received Su Jiuzhe’s transmission. Combined with Li Hao and Shi Miao’s conversation, he now understood.
After standing there in silence, he let out a bitter laugh. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the crowd and flickered into the hall where Su Muqing lay.
She was resting peacefully in her cultivation chamber, her breathtaking face serene, as if in a tranquil slumber.
Su Zhenyuan examined her carefully. She was unharmed, with no strange signs. Instead, what shocked him most was that her cultivation had risen—from the seventh tier of the Immortal Lord Realm all the way to the ninth!
She had skipped directly over the eighth tier in a leap!
Only recently had Su Muqing broken into the seventh tier. Even with her talents and the Su family’s resources, it should have taken a full hundred years to reach the ninth tier steadily—that was already considered extremely fast.
Now, that hundred-year gap had been collapsed in an instant.
For ancient cultivators in the Immortal Lord Realm, a century might be trivial. But for youthful prodigies, this made an enormous difference.
“Shi Miao… that name sounds familiar.”
Su Zhenyuan muttered to himself.
Ten thousand years ago, that name had echoed through the True Realm, dazzling and resplendent. But it had been too long, and in a world of such vast population, many shared names. He couldn’t connect it to something so distant.
Besides, he hadn’t even been born ten thousand years ago. His grandfather had led the Su family then. Everything he knew about those times came from old records—not from living through them.
“Muqing’s alright, isn’t she?”
Su Qingmei entered the chamber, her elegant and gently flirtatious face filled with concern.
Su Zhenyuan glanced at her and gave a small shake of the head. “She’s fine. Her cultivation even advanced. But… who knows what other effects there might be.”
They had no idea that their daughter had been a vessel—and that Shi Miao was undoubtedly a powerhouse of the highest tier, likely at least a Quasi-Emperor. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have possessed powers even Su Zhenyuan couldn’t fathom.
“As long as she’s fine.”
Su Qingmei sighed in relief. She, too, now understood what had happened. She recalled the youth’s arrival at the Su family—how she had once assumed he was simply bewitched by Su Muqing’s beauty. But now, she knew the truth.
“He’s left… that means their engagement…”
She turned to Su Zhenyuan, her gaze uncertain.
She no longer disapproved of Li Hao. His talent surpassed even Lin Zhexuan. And his willingness to risk his life for her daughter had softened her as a mother. She had come to favor Li Hao in her heart.
Su Zhenyuan’s eyes flickered. Slowly, he shook his head and said:
“All these years, Muqing disdained him again and again. He endured it… likely because of that girl. Now that her primordial spirit is gone, Haotian surely won’t agree to the marriage any longer…”
Su Qingmei froze. Her expression shifted slightly, and her heart grew heavy with tangled emotions.
…
On Peach Blossom Hill, in the Su family ancestral grounds—
Su Jiuzhe gestured for Li Hao and Shi Miao to take a seat.
“It’s been a while. How much of your original self’s memory does this primordial spirit retain?”
Still as lazy as ever, Su Jiuzhe leaned on the wooden table with his elbow, asking offhandedly.
Shi Miao gave him a long look before replying, “Some memories are sealed. My current primordial body can’t withstand them… nor is there a need. In this life, I only want to stay by his side. Just to be with him.”
Su Jiuzhe turned his gaze to Li Hao. “I heard you’re the only one to break through the tenth tier of time’s origin. You reached the end of the River of Time. What’s there at the end?”
A faint smile appeared on Shi Miao’s face. “When the time comes… you’ll see it for yourself.”
“You think I’ll still be alive then?”
Su Jiuzhe gave a snort of laughter.
Shi Miao glanced at his body, as though she could see through the translucent skin to the rot within. Her voice was calm.
“You will be.”
“I will?” Su Jiuzhe looked at her in surprise.
Shi Miao said no more. She turned her head toward Li Hao, her gaze now even gentler than before. Her eyes made Li Hao feel slightly uncertain.
Then she smiled, turned back to Su Jiuzhe, and said:
“Thank you for watching over me all these years. I used that child as a cradle… she inherited my power of chaos. Consider it a gift. Now, I must go retrieve my true body. Please send us on our way.”
“You’d prepared for this all along?”
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