Chapter 1079: Long time no see, my child…

"Drip!"

Water droplets fell, rippling outward in endless circles in the desolate, misty world.

"Uh." Yu Ling Di groaned softly, his eyes bleary as he lifted his gaze, like someone reviving from death, yet unable to make out the scene before him.

Tap, tap, tap...

The rain intensified, shifting from scattered drops to a torrential downpour, pouring down with a roar.

The fierce wind and rain seemed to touch the soul itself. Feeling the growing chill on his body, Yu Ling Di finally sensed that his physical form had returned.

"Where is this?"

He struggled to stand, fragments of memories flashing through his mind.

Nailed to the Sheng Xing Zhu, he had encountered Gu Qing Yi, followed by waves of excruciating pain, which opened the gates to the Xu Kong Dao world.

Everyone had used his body, Yu Ling Di's, to force their way into the Xu Kong Dao.

Drained almost to a husk, he had collapsed weakly on the Sheng Xing Zhu, powerless against these changes.

"I'm not fully back yet..."

He spread his hands and examined them closely. They were small and tender, like a child's, and felt profoundly unreal.

His consciousness hadn't fully returned to the real world; instead, he had been drawn into this illusory space by some unknown force.

"Someone's coming!"

Yu Ling Di realized an external force had intervened in this execution ground, but it wasn't hostile.

He tried to discern this illusory world, but aside from the roaring rain, the distant white fog, and the endless ocean beneath him... there was nothing else unusual.

Struggling to rise on the water's surface, he attempted to move.

Splash! Yu Ling Di fell.

Glancing down, the rippling water mirror reflected a distorted image: only a toddler, barely able to speak.

"I've shrunk..."

It all felt like a dream. Yu Ling Di was lost in confusion, raising his eyes powerlessly toward the horizon.

Suddenly, the distant white fog churned, faintly outlining a human silhouette.

The figure was drenched in moisture, shifting shape amid the surrounding mist, as if the world itself existed for him, bending to his will.

He showed only his back, walking alone into the distance, desolate and forlorn.

"Who!"

Yu Ling Di shouted, trying to step forward, but with a drip, he fell onto the water's surface again.

"Water..."

Though he was the master of Shui Xi Ou Yi, in this watery world, he couldn't summon any power at all. This was impossible!

Yu Ling Di desperately tried to gather his strength, aiming to unfold his Shui Xi Ou Yi array and seize control of this realm.

But no matter how hard he tried, it was futile.

"Oh?"

The distant, ethereal figure seemed surprised, letting out a doubtful sound as he half-turned his head.

Yu Ling Di strained his eyes wide, but couldn't catch even a glimpse of the figure's true face hidden in the mist.

"Unexpected that you woke up so quickly—this is beyond my expectations. I thought you'd never see me in this encounter..."

A light laugh echoed from all directions, striking Yu Ling Di like thunder, making his whole body shudder.

This voice...

This voice! How could it be?

Like a mirror of illusions, it transported him back to his childhood.

The man once hailed as the strongest Lian Ling Shi was not only harsh to others but subjected him to nearly extreme training.

Countless times, he nearly drowned in water; countless times, he was pulled back from the brink of death...

These memories were so distant that Yu Ling Di had almost forgotten them. The world before him was the nightmare he had despised most as a child.

Yet, he harbored no resentment.

He knew the burdens on his shoulders, the great hopes that man had placed in him, and the glory and honor his lineage must uphold!

Yu Ling Di's sole dream was to follow that man's path and surpass him—doing so in less time than he had!

But at some abrupt point, news came from the Sheng Shen Dian Tang...

He had died.

Perished in a routine operation.

His final wish was for Yu Ling Di to take his place and shoulder the burden.

—He was so strong!

Yu Ling Di then trained desperately, to inherit that glory and, once grown, seek revenge!

In Bai Ku, he faced his enemy but felt powerless for the first first time, not even daring to show himself, merely brushing against it.

In Xu Kong Dao, he encountered his enemy again. This time, he didn't retreat; he chose to fight head-on. Even if it meant death, he had to understand the gap between them.

Then he was hung on the Sheng Xing Zhu...

Despair and pain couldn't erode his will. Yu Ling Di believed that as long as one lived, the gap created by time could be closed with time.

—He would defeat Ba Zun An, someday in the future!

And now, at his coldest, most bitter moment...

That voice appeared!

"He can't appear!"

"He's already dead!"

"Am I dreaming? Is this an illusion?"

Yu Ling Di's eyes bulged with fury, doubting the reality of this watery world for the first time.

But he also thought: throughout the world, who else but that man could suppress him in a realm of pure water?

—Even if it's just a dream!

"Who are you, exactly?"

Yu Ling Di lifted his gaze and roared hoarsely, unable to believe that man had returned.

"I think you already have the answer, don't you?"

The distant fog thickened with moisture, forming water spheres that trapped both Yu Ling Di and the figure.

"Uh!" In an instant, Yu Ling Di clutched his neck in agony, like drowning as a child—his eyes bulged, vision blurred, and the world began to fade away.

The figure in the other water sphere remained unmoved, utterly serene.

He finally turned fully, but everything was still blurred, his face completely indistinct.

Yu Ling Di fought desperately to break free from the water!

He was no longer that helpless child; he was now the master of Shui Xi Ou Yi!

Boom!

At the brink of exhaustion and death, his Ou Yi array diagram spun out beneath him. This time, without external aid, Yu Ling Di shattered the desperate confinement.

The water sphere burst!

Without a word, Yu Ling Di lunged forward.

He had to tear open that water sphere, uncover the truth, and learn all the answers!

Boom!

But the watery world surged, massive waves crashing down and subduing Yu Ling Di once more, pinning him deep beneath the sea, immobile.

"You've grown..."

A voice of satisfied laughter drifted from the skies, and Yu Ling Di, suppressed by the depths, strained to look up.

Perhaps because he had charged forward, he felt he could finally see something clearly.

Though the face was still blurred, the vague figure in the water sphere had a color that clashed with the dim, watery blue of this world.

Jin Hui... Yu Ling Di reached out, trying to rip away the illusions.

But the figure seemed to notice something and suddenly turned, walking away into the distance. As he did, the entire watery world began to collapse.

Rumble...

Everything returned to primordial chaos.

Yu Ling Di refused to leave, shouting frantically as his soul traversed the chaos.

"Tell me! Who are you?!"

With a boom, the world finally shattered, dissolving into nothingness.

Just as Yu Ling Di thought he'd get no answer, a long sigh echoed in his mind, its voice soft yet deeply etched into his soul.

"It's been a long time, my child."

"Father!"

Yu Ling Di's eyes reddened as he lunged forward desperately, only to grasp at emptiness.

Splash, splash, splash...

Rain poured around him, each drop hammering his soul, making his heart race.

A beam of light pierced his eyes, and Yu Ling Di froze, spreading his hands to find them back to normal size, the suffocation gone.

This felt real...

He was back!

He scanned his surroundings: a vast Sheng Xing Square, with the towering Sheng Xing Zhu nearby, and ahead, a tall, shadowy black figure.

"Was I saved?"

Yu Ling Di stared blankly at the Sheng Xing Zhu.

In his memory, before the dream, he had been hung there, unable to move.

Now, awakened from the dream, he was free, able to act.

"Ye Xiao?"

No one else was around, only this one.

Yu Ling Di looked at the figure ahead, his expression incredulous. "How are you here?"

"Caw—"

The three-legged black owl on her shoulder let out a long cry, halting the rain in the sky. Ye Xiao spoke calmly, uttering two words: "We."

We?

You all?

Yu Ling Di's pupils shrank as he realized: "Rao Jian Xian and the others—all of you came in?"

"Caw—"

The three-legged black owl flapped its wings, pacing on Ye Xiao's black feathers.

No denial—that meant it was true... Yu Ling Di understood that the dream might have been false, but the pain before it was real!

The gates to Xu Kong Dao, through his Shui Xi Ou Yi, had been opened.

Undoubtedly, this was Ba Zun An's sole purpose in binding him to the Sheng Xing Zhu—he used it to connect to the outside world and send everyone into Xu Kong Dao.

"No!"

"Something's wrong!"

"If Ba Zun An used me as the link, that means he didn't send people in through normal channels—it was the 'Xu Kong Men'..."

Yu Ling Di's heart shook as he pieced it together.

"'Xu Kong Men' requires a sacrifice to open, but to bridge the two realms, it needs a specific 'key'!"

"The 'key' inside Xu Kong Dao is me, so outside, there must be someone of equivalent level and corresponding power to serve as the other 'key'."

"...Who could it be?"

Almost instantly, Yu Ling Di connected it to the dream world.

The matching Shui Xi abilities, the overwhelming strength, a man who had died yet returned...

Yu Ling Di suddenly stopped thinking.

Because his next guess had to be wrong.

He died at Ba Zun An's hands; how could he serve Ba Zun An? He'd have to be insane to switch sides! Whether he was even alive was questionable...

Yu Ling Di convinced himself that his earlier experience was just an illusion created by some Jian Shu technique—Ba Zun An's typical trick!

"You saved me."

Yu Ling Di looked up, staring earnestly at Ye Xiao. "Though we've had little interaction in the past, for such a great favor, words of thanks are unnecessary. I'll remember this, and if the dark department needs any help in the future, just tell me."

"Caw—"

Ye Xiao shook her head.

Yu Ling Di ignored it, turning to glance at the Sheng Xing Zhu behind him.

"Thank you for freeing me from here. I met Gu Qing Yi before, but he's of my generation and lacked the ability to save me."

"Only you, as the head of the dark department, with your mysterious powers that even I don't know, could have rescued me."

In the shadows, Ye Xiao's obscured face seemed to twitch slightly, and she fell silent for a long while.

"Misunderstanding." She said softly, "I... passed by... You... woke up... That's all."

Yu Ling Di's body trembled violently. He whipped around, his face flushed with exertion, veins bulging as he roared: "Impossible! You saved me!"

"..." Ye Xiao said nothing.

"Sorry, I lost my composure." Yu Ling Di regained his calm, though his pupils still quivered slightly.

He forced himself not to dwell on what had happened or how he had fallen from the Sheng Xing Zhu. Instead, he changed the subject: "How did you all get in?"

As soon as he asked, the shadows before him seemed to lighten a bit.

Yu Ling Di could clearly see the dark department head, usually shrouded in shadows, lift her face slightly, revealing her delicate, pale lower features. Then, her red lips parted, speaking clearly: "Father."

Thump—Yu Ling Di's heart stopped. He asked in disbelief: "What did you hear?"

Ye Xiao shook her head.

Just as she had said earlier.

She had passed by and heard the word "father"—nothing more.

Yu Ling Di narrowed his eyes slightly and said lowly: "That was just a nightmare. Let's not discuss it..."

He shifted the topic: "Since everyone's in, we have to move to the next step—stop Xu Kong Dao."

"All of this is Ba Zun An's scheme! I know everything now. Let's go straight to Zui Yi Dian and banish Xu Kong Dao back to the space-time fragments. Everything will halt."

After saying this firmly, Yu Ling Di turned to leave.

Ye Xiao didn't move.

Only when something truly interested her would she say more.

Undoubtedly, what fascinated her most right now was Yu Ling Di himself and the two words he had uttered upon waking.

"I'm answering your question."

Her calm voice came from behind, and Yu Ling Di's steps halted abruptly.

What did she mean?

Just answering my question?

Yu Ling Di quickly recalled his earlier words: "How did you all get in?"

The answer was... "Father."

In that instant, his soul went blank, just like when he heard that voice in the dream. Yu Ling Di lost all ability to think.

"What are you saying?!"

After a daze, he turned back in fury.

If Ye Xiao didn't explain today, he wouldn't mind making her pay for blaspheming the dead.

Ye Xiao remained silent, merely waving her hand. Black energy surged from her, forming dim images before her.

Treading waves, Yun Lun; commanding the sea with Shen Ji; Shui Xi Ou Yi; the Ji Mie Xie Zui Bow's arrow; the deep sea world; Xu Kong Men...

The final image froze on a blurred face—a man standing on the waves, wearing a half-golden beast mask!

"Jin Hui..."

Yu Ling Di was stunned.

In that same moment, he matched this figure to the one from the dream world.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Before Ye Xiao, Yu Ling Di showed no outward reaction, but inwardly, he denied it frantically. He refused to believe any of this was real.

In the shadows, Ye Xiao's red lips curved slightly, as if smiling, and unusually, she said more: "I suspected his identity, wasn't sure, until I passed here and you called me 'father'."

Boom—Yu Ling Di's mind went blank, his eyes lifeless as he lifted his face to look at the ambiguously smiling person before him.

She always hid in the dark.

Yet she saw more clearly than anyone.

In that moment, the sigh from the dream world that he had forcibly erased and forgotten echoed again in his soul, endlessly resonating.

"It's been a long time, my child..."