Chapter 1453: Father and Daughter Reunite

Soon after, in a magnificent hall on the other side of Spirit Serpent Mountain, Great Venerable Golden Scale dismissed everyone. He looked at Jiang Fan with anticipation, his voice trembling slightly.

"Your domain," he began, "was conceived by my wife. Can you tell me where you acquired it?"

Jiang Fan silently took out a separate spatial storage device and handed it to Great Venerable Golden Scale. What the other party truly wanted to know wasn't the origin of the domain, but whether his wife was still alive.

Great Venerable Golden Scale looked at the spatial storage device, and his last sliver of hope shattered. If she were still alive, she wouldn't be inside a storage device. He hesitated for a long time before extending both hands to receive it, carefully unfolding it in his palm, fearing he might disturb his deceased wife's peaceful rest.

He extended a wisp of consciousness into it. Inside lay a golden serpent, radiating a soft, holy, and elegant glow, resting quietly as if asleep.

Great Venerable Golden Scale's eyes welled up. His facial muscles twitched silently, and his shoulders trembled slightly. He tried to control his emotions, not wanting to show sorrow in front of an outsider, especially as a Great Venerable of the demon race. Yet, tears couldn't help but stream down his face.

He had waited fifty years. Finally, his wife had returned. But what awaited him was a lifetime of regret. Sadness, like a breached dam, swelled boundlessly. Tears freely coursed down his resolute face, dripping onto the ground one by one, creating wet spots.

In the end, he couldn't hold back and sobbed aloud. In that moment, he was no longer the Great Venerable bearing the destiny of the demon race. He was merely a husband who had waited fifty years for his beloved wife, only for the music to end and the performers to disperse.

Jiang Fan sighed. He raised a hand, casting a soundproof barrier to allow him to weep freely, then quietly turned away. He hadn't immediately presented the daughter because he first wanted to gauge Great Venerable Golden Scale's feelings for the Golden Serpent Saintess. If he were indifferent, like a stranger, then Liu Li wouldn't receive any fatherly love by returning to him. It would be better for her to stay with Jiang Fan.

Fortunately, Great Venerable Golden Scale deeply loved his deceased wife. Therefore, as their offspring, he would treat Liu Li well, compensating her with all the affection he had for his wife.

A short while later, the barrier behind him receded. Great Venerable Golden Scale said, "Thank you, Jiang Fan." His eyes were red, still tearful, and filled with despair.

"She said she'd be back soon, and told me to wait for her," he continued. "But she didn't say that waiting would take fifty years."

Jiang Fan felt a pang of sorrow himself and said, "Senior Golden Scale, please accept my condolences."

Great Venerable Golden Scale shook his head. "I'm fine. I am a Great Venerable of the demon race. I must pull myself together; I have no other choice."

Although he said this, a thick aura of death permeated the air around him. Perhaps waiting for his wife's return had been the belief sustaining him for nearly six decades; though faint, it had persisted. Now, that glimmer of hope had collapsed. He had become a Great Venerable who lived for the demon race alone.

With such a mindset, how could he possibly survive the Ancient Giant Calamity? He would likely doom himself on the battlefield.

Jiang Fan bowed. "Senior, please don't lose heart. Your beloved wife left you a gift."

Great Venerable Golden Scale raised his eyes. A flicker of light finally appeared in his dim gaze. "A gift?" he asked with anticipation.

Jiang Fan said nothing more. He took out the black profound ice that encased Liu Li.

Blood is thicker than water. When Liu Li had simply glanced at the Golden Serpent Saintess's remains, she had known it was her mother. How much more potent would it be with two living beings?

Great Venerable Golden Scale looked at the girl encased in the profound ice. Golden-haired and green-eyed, her features were sharp and profound, her skin as white as snow, possessing a unique, exotic charm. With just one glance, Great Venerable Golden Scale's pupils constricted sharply, and he stammered, "She... she is... my daughter?"

It wasn't through a bloodline connection that he felt it. Rather, the girl before him resembled his wife too closely, sharing at least seventy percent of her aura and spirit.

Jiang Fan nodded gently. "Yes. Her name is Liu Li, your daughter."

Great Venerable Golden Scale's lips trembled. He stared unblinkingly at the girl in the profound ice. He stumbled to the profound ice, touching it through the ice, his voice trembling as he said, "Liu Li... my daughter... Su Ling left me a daughter!" His eyes reddened again, and tears silently streamed down his face. The difference was, these tears were even more sorrowful.

Jiang Fan sighed: "Fifty years ago, on the brink of death, your beloved wife laid an egg. Through a series of unfortunate coincidences, it fell into the hands of a group of demons in Taicang Great State twenty years ago, and she was born there. Not long ago, I unexpectedly obtained a box, which revealed the mystery of her origins. Your beloved wife's last wish was for Liu Li to find you. I believe she must have known you would grieve for her, and so she sent your daughter to comfort you and help you recover."

Hearing this, Great Venerable Golden Scale's tears flowed even more freely. He embraced the profound ice, sobbing aloud: "I failed in my duty as a husband; I wronged her by letting her go to Tianshu alone!"

Jiang Fan watched silently, letting Great Venerable Golden Scale cry as much as he needed. After a long time, Great Venerable Golden Scale wiped away his tears. As he looked at the girl before him, a light gradually ignited in his eyes: "Su Ling, thank you for your gift. I will take good care of our daughter."

It was only then that he finally realized something. Looking at the black profound ice in front of him, he frowned and asked, "Wasn't she supposed to come find me? Why is she encased in ice?"

Jiang Fan's eyes sharpened. He said: "She and her companion were naive about the world. After arriving at Spirit Serpent Mountain, they were unfortunately discovered by Great Venerable Black Dragon and imprisoned by him."

"What?!" Great Venerable Golden Scale was furious. "He should have come after me! How dare he target my daughter!" He didn't need to analyze to guess Great Venerable Black Dragon's intention: he meant to use his daughter to threaten him at critical moments! And he, astonishingly, had been completely unaware that his daughter had come to Spirit Serpent Mountain seeking him, nor that she had been imprisoned in Great Venerable Black Dragon's throne space!

"That damned fiend!" Great Venerable Golden Scale roared, his golden scales flaring open as a terrifying aura erupted from him.

Jiang Fan quickly advised, "Senior Golden Scale, please calm your anger. The most pressing matter is to first unseal the profound ice. I cannot touch this ice, so we can only hope you can."

Only then did Great Venerable Golden Scale forcefully suppress his rage. He immediately examined the black profound ice. A moment later, a hint of solemnity appeared in his eyes. "This isn't profound ice from our Central Land. It must be from beyond the heavens. It contains many foreign energies from beyond the heavens."

Jiang Fan was surprised. "What are 'foreign energies'?"

Great Venerable Golden Scale said, "Since you've been to the Celestial Realm, you should know that the cosmos is vast, and there might be worlds beyond the Central Land, the Underworld, and the Celestial Realm, right?"

Jiang Fan nodded without hesitation. Leaving aside other matters, even Brother Tree from Primordial State mentioned wanting to visit the utopian world agreed upon by Great Venerable Wutong and Lu Jiulin. That meant other worlds truly existed.

Great Venerable Golden Scale explained, "The power systems of our three realms are quite similar. But it's harder to say for realms further out. Power systems different from ours are called 'foreign energies'."

Jiang Fan nodded slightly. Although the cultivation methods in the Central Land, the Underworld, and the Celestial Realm differed, they still essentially led to the same destination. For instance, the Central Land had the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, and the Underworld had the Five-Crowned Asura. As for the Celestial Realm, the angels with nine pairs of wings in Hua Xin's memory likely had a cultivation system that was largely similar.

Jiang Fan looked at the black profound ice, his eyes filled with concern. "Do these foreign energies pose a danger to Liu Li?"