Chapter 1996: Long time no see, my child...

“Drip!”

A water droplet fell, creating ripples in the desolate and misty world.

“Ugh,” Yu Lingdi groaned, stirring from his sleep as if awakening from death, yet unable to discern the scene before him.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

The rain intensified, from scattered drops to a torrential downpour, pouring ceaselessly.

The fierce wind and rain seemed to touch his soul. Feeling the distinct coolness slowly spreading over his body, Yu Lingdi finally sensed that his body had returned.

“Where is this?”

He struggled to get up, fragmented images flashing through his mind.

Being nailed to the Saint Execution Pillar, encountering Gu Qingyi, then experiencing countless agonizing pains as the Void Island world gate opened.

Everyone, using his body, Yu Lingdi’s, had forcefully entered the Void Island.

And he, almost drained dry, had ultimately fainted, weak, on the Saint Execution Pillar, powerless against these changes.

“I haven’t fully returned…”

Spreading his hands, Yu Lingdi examined them carefully. His hands were small, very tender, like a child’s, and felt intensely unreal.

His consciousness seemed not yet to have returned to the real world; at this moment, he was merely drawn into this illusory space by an unknown force.

“Someone’s coming!”

Yu Lingdi realized that an external force had intervened in the Saint Execution Ground, but since there was no attack, it probably wasn’t an enemy.

He struggled to discern this illusory world, but apart from the torrential rain, the vast white mist in the distance, and the endless ocean beneath him… there was nothing else unusual.

Struggling to stand on the water, he tried to move.

With a splash, Yu Lingdi fell.

He lowered his head, and in the distorted image reflected in the rippling water mirror beneath his feet, there was only a toddler, barely past the babbling stage.

“I’ve become small…”

It all felt like a dream. Yu Lingdi was lost in confusion, unable to raise his eyes to look ahead.

The white mist in the distance suddenly churned, vaguely outlining a human silhouette.

The person was steeped in mist, their shape shifting within the surrounding fog. The world seemed to be born for them, everything operating according to their will.

They left only a back view, a solitary figure walking into the distance, desolate and lonely.

“Who!”

Yu Lingdi shouted, trying to move forward, but with a splash, he fell back onto the water.

“Water…”

He was clearly the master of Water-type Obscure Arts, yet in this water world, he couldn’t unleash any power. This was impossible!

Yu Lingdi desperately tried to gather his power, wanting to unfold his Water-type Obscure Arts formation to seize control of this world.

But no matter how hard he tried, it was in vain.

“Oh?”

At this moment, the ethereal figure in the distance seemed surprised, letting out a soft “oh” and tilting their head slightly.

Yu Lingdi strained his eyes, but couldn’t make out any of the person’s true features hidden by the mist.

“I didn’t expect you to wake up so quickly. That’s beyond my expectations! I thought you wouldn’t get to see me this time…”

A light laugh came from all directions, and Yu Lingdi was struck by lightning, his body trembling violently.

This voice…

This voice! How could it be?

Like a fleeting dream, it transported him back to his childhood.

The man, then known as the strongest Spirit Cultivator, was not only strict with outsiders but also extremely rigorous in his training methods for him.

Countless times he almost drowned, countless times he was pulled back from the brink of death…

This memory was too distant, so distant that Yu Lingdi had almost forgotten it. This world before him was the nightmare he had most loathed in his childhood.

But he had never resented it.

He knew the burden on his shoulders, knew how much hope that man had placed in him, knew that his lineage had to inherit glory and honor!

Yu Lingdi’s only dream was to follow that man’s path and then surpass him—to surpass him in less time!

But at a sudden moment, terrible news came from the Sacred Temple…

He died.

Killed in action during a routine mission.

His dying wish was for Yu Lingdi to take his place and carry the burden.

—He was so strong!

So Yu Lingdi trained desperately, just to inherit that glory, and then, after growing up… to seek revenge!

In Bai Ku, he met his enemy, but for the first time, he felt powerless, not daring to even show his face, just getting a taste of things.

In Void Island, he met his enemy again. This time, he didn’t back down, choosing to fight head-on. Even if it meant death, he had to understand how vast the gap between them truly was.

Then he was strung up on the Saint Execution Pillar…

Despair and pain failed to break his spirit. Yu Lingdi firmly believed that as long as he was alive, the gap created by time could eventually be bridged by time.

—He would definitely defeat Ba Zun’an at some point in the future!

And now, at his coldest, most bitter moment…

That voice appeared!

“He can’t appear!”

“He’s dead!”

“Am I dreaming? Is this an illusion?”

Yu Lingdi’s eyes were bloodshot, and for the first time, he doubted the reality of this water world.

But then he thought again, who else in the world, besides that person, could suppress him in a world composed entirely of water?

—Even in a dream!

“Who exactly are you?”

Yu Lingdi looked up and roared, unable to believe that person had returned.

“I think you already have the answer, don’t you?”

The mist in the distance gathered, forming a water sphere that could trap people, enclosing both Yu Lingdi and the figure.

“Ugh!” In an instant, Yu Lingdi struggled to cover his throat, like drowning as a child, his eyeballs bulging, vision blurring, everything in the world starting to recede from him.

The figure, also trapped in another water sphere, remained undisturbed, perfectly serene.

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

Yu Lingdi desperately wanted to break out of the water!

He was no longer the helpless child he once was; now, he was the master of Water-type Obscure Arts!

“Bang!”

Finally, at the limit of his strength, on the brink of death, the Obscure Arts formation beneath his feet unfolded. This time without external force, Yu Lingdi broke through the despair that had enveloped him.

The water sphere cracked open!

Without a word, Yu Lingdi immediately lunged forward.

He wanted to tear open the water sphere opposite him, he wanted to know all the truth, he wanted all the answers!

“Boom!”

However, the water world surged, and a monstrous wave swept over, suppressing Yu Lingdi once more, keeping him motionless deep beneath the sea.

“You’ve grown…”

A voice of relieved laughter drifted down from above. Yu Lingdi, suppressed by the deep sea, struggled to look up.

Perhaps because he had lunged forward, he felt as if he could finally see something a little clearer.

Although the face was still blurry, the indistinct figure shrouded in the water sphere had a color on its face that was strikingly out of place with the dull, watery blue of this world.

Golden light… Yu Lingdi reached out, wanting to tear through the illusions.

But the figure also seemed to notice something, turning abruptly and drifting further away. With their steps, this water world also began to collapse.

“Rumble…”

Everything returned to primal chaos.

Yu Lingdi refused to leave, shouting madly before his soul traversed the chaos.

“Tell me! Who are you?!”

With a bang, the world finally collapsed, everything turning to nothingness.

Just as Yu Lingdi thought he wouldn’t get an answer, a long sigh echoed in his mind. The voice was faint, yet deeply etched into his soul.

“Long time no see, my child.”

“Father!”

Yu Lingdi, eyes red, lunged forward, but grasped at nothingness.

“Splash, splash, splash…”

Rain poured down, each drop heavily impacting his soul, making his heart pound wildly.

A light pierced through the sky before him. Yu Lingdi froze, spreading his hands. He found his hands had returned to their normal size, and the suffocating feeling was gone.

This reality…

He was back!

He looked around. The vast Saint Execution Plaza, a towering Saint Execution Pillar beside it, and in front, a very tall, shadowy black figure filled with an ominous aura.

“I was saved?”

Yu Lingdi stared at the Saint Execution Pillar, feeling somewhat bewildered.

In his memory, before this dream, he had been strung up on the Saint Execution Pillar, powerless.

Now, having just woken from a long dream, he was directly released from his sealed state and had regained his freedom of movement?

“Ye Xiao?”

There was no one else around, only this one person.

Yu Lingdi looked at the figure before him, his expression a little surreal, “You, why are you here?”

“Gah—!”

The three-legged black owl on his shoulder let out a long, clear cry, its loud call stopping the rain in the sky. Ye Xiao remained as serene as ever, uttering two words, “We.”

We?

You?

Yu Lingdi’s pupils constricted, understanding something: “Rao Jianxian and the others, they all came in?”

“Gah—!”

The three-legged black owl flapped its wings, pacing on the black feathers of Ye Xiao’s shoulder.

No denial meant it was true… Yu Lingdi realized that the dream just now might have been fake, but the pain before it was all real!

The Void Island gate, thanks to his Water-type Obscure Arts, had already opened.

Undoubtedly, this was Ba Zun’an’s sole purpose in stringing him up on the Saint Execution Pillar—he used it to communicate with the outside world, sending everyone into Void Island.

“No!”

“Something is wrong!”

“Ba Zun’an wants to use me as a link, which means he didn’t send people into Void Island through normal channels, but through the ‘Void Gate’…”

Yu Lingdi’s heart trembled violently as he realized something.

“The ‘Void Gate’ requires a sacrifice to open, but to connect two realms, it also needs a specific ‘key’!”

“The ‘key’ within Void Island is me, so there must be another person of equal status and corresponding power outside, to serve as this ‘key’ for opening the world passage.”

“…Who could it be?”

Almost immediately, Yu Lingdi connected it to the dream world he had just experienced.

Corresponding Water-type abilities, overwhelming strength, a person resurrected from the dead…

Yu Lingdi suddenly stopped thinking.

Because his next guess would definitely be wrong.

He died by Ba Zun’an’s hand; how could he be used by Ba Zun’an? He’d be crazy to change allegiance! Whether he was alive or not was even questionable…

Yu Lingdi felt that his recent experience was just another world conjured by Illusion Sword Art.

It was just Ba Zun’an’s usual trick!

“You saved me.”

Yu Lingdi looked up, staring earnestly at Ye Xiao, and said, “Although we haven’t had much interaction in the past, a great kindness goes without saying. I will remember today. If the Dark Division needs any help in the future, just tell me.”

“Gah—!”

Ye Xiao shook her head.

Yu Lingdi acted as if he hadn’t seen it, turning his head to look at the Saint Execution Pillar behind him.

“Thank you for rescuing me from here. I met Gu Qingyi before, but he’s my peer, and his ability isn’t enough to save me.”

“Only you, the Chief of the Dark Division, who possesses strange abilities that even I don’t know of, could have saved me.”

Under the shadows, Ye Xiao’s indistinct face seemed to stir slightly, then she remained silent for a long time.

“Misunderstanding,” she said softly. “I, passed by… you, awoke… merely this.”

Yu Lingdi’s body suddenly trembled, and he abruptly turned his gaze towards her, veins bulging on his face from effort, roaring with a flushed face, “Impossible! You saved me!”

“…” Ye Xiao was silent.

“Sorry, I lost my composure.” Yu Lingdi returned to calm, only his pupils still trembling slightly.

He tried his best not to think about what had just happened, nor how he had fallen from the Saint Execution Pillar. He simply changed the subject and asked, “How did you all get in?”

As soon as the question was asked, the shadows in front of him seemed to lighten considerably.

Yu Lingdi could clearly see that the Chief of the Dark Division, who was constantly shrouded in shadow, suddenly lifted her face, revealing the delicate, jade-white lower half of her face. Then, her red lips parted, and she spoke words like pearls.

“Father.”

Thump. Yu Lingdi’s heart stopped, and he asked in disbelief, “You, what did you hear?”

Ye Xiao shook her head.

Just as she had said before.

She passed by, heard the word “Father,” and nothing more.

Yu Lingdi lowered his gaze slightly, and whispered, “That was just a nightmare, let’s not talk about it…”

He changed the subject: “Since everyone is in, we can only proceed directly with the next action—stopping Void Island.”

“Everything happening now is Ba Zun’an’s plan! I already know everything. I’ll go directly to the Hall of Sin, and we can simply banish Void Island back to the space-time rift. Everything will be forced to stop.” After stating this firmly, Yu Lingdi turned to leave.

Ye Xiao did not move.

Only when she encountered something extremely interesting would she speak a few more words.

Without a doubt, what interested her most at the moment was Yu Lingdi himself, and those two words he had spoken upon waking.

“I am answering your question.”

A calm voice came from behind, and Yu Lingdi’s steps abruptly halted.

What did that mean?

Just answering my question?

Yu Lingdi suddenly recalled what he had just asked: “How did you all get in?”

The answer was… “Father.”

That moment of blankness in his soul was just like when he heard that person’s voice in the dream world, Yu Lingdi completely lost the ability to think.

“What are you saying?!”

After a moment of stupor, he turned around furiously.

If Ye Xiao didn’t explain herself today, he wouldn’t mind letting her experience the cost of desecrating the dead.

Ye Xiao still didn’t speak, but with a wave of her hand, black energy surged from her, transforming into dim light and shadows before her.

Crashing waves and Yunlun, the Sea-controlling Divine Halberd, Water-type Obscure Arts, the Arrow of the Evil-slaying Halberd Bow, the Deep Sea World, the Void Gate…

Finally, the image froze on a man’s face, blurry in the mist, standing on the crest of a wave, wearing half a golden beast mask!

“Golden light…”

Yu Lingdi was stunned.

Almost at the same instant, he matched this person with the figure that had appeared in his dream world.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Before Ye Xiao, Yu Lingdi showed no outward fluctuation, but his heart was vehemently denying it. He refused to believe the reality of any of this.

Under the shadows, Ye Xiao’s red lips curved, as if smiling. She spoke more than usual, “I originally doubted his identity, uncertain, until I passed by here and you called me ‘Father’.”

Boom. Yu Lingdi’s mind went blank, and he raised his eyes blankly to look at the person before him, who seemed to be smiling without smiling.

She always hid in the shadows.

Yet she was more awake than anyone else.

At this moment, that long sigh from the dream world, which he had forcibly erased and forgotten, involuntarily resurfaced, echoing endlessly in the depths of his soul.

“Long time no see, my child…”