918: Looking back

“Still not leaving?”

Seeing Gu Qing in the garden, holding Yan'er, and boastfully exaggerating, He Ni asked in surprise.

“Leaving for what?”

Gu Qing said unhappily, “My daughter needs me right now. How can I just leave and enjoy myself alone? Am I that kind of irresponsible father?”

He Ni didn't speak, her beautiful eyes fixed on Gu Qing, practically saying, “You are exactly that kind of person.”

“Daddy isn't leaving, it's definitely because there's good food and drink here, and Auntie's company. He's so carefree and happy, of course, he doesn't want to leave.”

Gu Nian's eyes narrowed, and she mercilessly exposed him.

“Slap!”

Gu Qing gave her a big smack on the head and scolded, “You little brat, how can you talk about your dad like that?”

“Hmph.” Gu Nian punched her old father twice and said angrily, “Don't mess up my hairstyle, or I'm not done with you.”

“Eww, she's so young and already so vain.”

Gu Qing looked disgusted, moved a bit while holding Yan'er, and then waved He Ni to sit next to him.

He laughed and said, “Madam, do you still remember Lin Chen?”

He Ni: “...I remember.”

“Tell me, Madam, how did you take a liking to him back then?” Gu Qing asked curiously.

He was really bringing up an uncomfortable topic. Lin Chen was the only dark spot in her life.

He Ni pinched him and said angrily, “I never took him as a disciple.”

She had indeed never taken Lin Chen as a disciple; Lin Chen was just shamelessly insisting on calling her Master.

The reason she taught Lin Chen cultivation techniques was out of necessity, picking the best among the bad options.

“Oh, who is Lin Chen? Auntie, Daddy, quickly tell us.”

Xian'er immediately smelled gossip, and her big eyes lit up brightly.

Gu Qing cleared his throat and began to recount that youthful period with great emotion.

“Back then, your daddy was just a top-grade root bone, a prodigy rarely seen in Maple Leaf City for a thousand years...”

“Ah?”

“A top-grade root bone is a prodigy rarely seen in a thousand years? Dad, are you sure you're not messing with me?”

Xian'er was stunned, then rolled her eyes disdainfully. “Daddy is really something, he can't even make up a better story when he's bragging.”

“???”

Gu Qing looked distressed. When he told lies, everyone listened with relish, but when he told the truth, why did no one believe him?

“That's what you get for talking nonsense.” He Ni saw this, and a soft, gentle smile appeared in her beautiful eyes.

“Girl, Daddy was indeed a top-grade root bone at first, and he was indeed a prodigy rarely seen in Maple Leaf City for a thousand years.”

Gu Qing said helplessly, “If you don't believe me, ask your Auntie.”

“Auntie, is it true?” Xian'er actually asked.

He Ni nodded slightly. “It's true. Your daddy's biggest ambition back then was probably to break through the Purple Mansion Realm and become a Purple Mansion Grandmaster dominating one side, haha...”

As she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh herself.

“Hahahaha...”

Xian'er let out a super loud laugh of mockery.

She never believed what Gu Qing said; at most, she'd believe ten percent of it.

But what He Ni said was absolutely truer than pure gold.

Gu Nian also grinned, revealing a row of neat, white teeth, smiling silently.

She never expected that such a powerful Gu Qing, in his youth, only had such limited aspirations?

If word got out, people would probably die laughing.

Yan'er blinked her big eyes, not understanding why her sister and mother were laughing. She also laughed along, revealing a few tiny baby teeth.

Her chubby appearance was incredibly cute.

But Gu Qing only felt that his whole being was not well.

“What do you all know? I came from humble beginnings. The Purple Mansion Realm was the highest realm I knew of. Do you know why the Purple Mansion Realm is called a Grandmaster? They can truly dominate one side, and even emperors have to bow to them.”

“Yes, yes, yes, Daddy is right about everything, hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter.”

Xian'er laughed uncontrollably. A mere Purple Mansion Realm, what kind of Grandmaster was that?

After she had had enough of laughing, she handed Yan'er to He Ni and plopped down on his lap, her eyes filled with adoring little stars.

“Daddy is the strongest, strongest, strongest! To come from humble beginnings and become a Dao Master, looking across the Boundless Chaos from ancient times to the present, Daddy is probably the only one.”

“By the way, how did Daddy do it? Could it be a Grandmaster reincarnated?”

Mortals becoming immortals or emperors, she could still understand. But for someone like Gu Qing, without any bottlenecks, to become a Saint, a Celestial, a Master God, a Dao Sovereign, a Dao Master...

And all in such a short time, this was incredibly unbelievable, even impossible.

After all, anyone who had cultivated knew how difficult it was.

Without previous life's foundation, without the accumulation of endless years, it was simply an impossible feat.

He Ni's eyes flickered, and she looked at Gu Qing with a serious and earnest expression.

“That's naturally because I have heaven-defying comprehension and a tiny bit of serendipity...”

Gu Qing saw that things had finally returned to normal and began to tell his heroic deeds, receiving full adoration from the three little ones.

He Ni pursed her lips, completely relieved.

Gu Qing was already a Dao Master, yet he was still the same as ever, with no signs of awakening a powerful Dao Fruit. It seemed she had overthought it.

Gu Qing had been an ordinary person from beginning to end, not a powerful being reincarnated and re-cultivating at all.

In the garden, laughter and joy continued.

Li Shishi listened intently in the kitchen, and the more she listened, the more heartbroken she became. She never expected that the seemingly glorious Gu Qing had such a difficult background.

She had always thought that Gu Qing came from a major cultivation family, a born noble, but it turned out he was a poor little thing living under someone else's roof.

Thankfully, he awakened the Zhou Tian Star Divine Body and was sensed by the Star God Temple's magical artifact; otherwise, Gu Qing might truly have only become a Purple Mansion Grandmaster in this life.

Li Shishi imagined Gu Qing struggling bitterly in a small place, humbly striving for survival, and even if he was lucky enough to become a Purple Mansion Grandmaster, he would be old and gray-haired.

Or perhaps he would start a family, establish a large clan, with descendants filling the halls.

“Hiss...”

Li Shishi took a deep breath, not daring to think, not daring to think. She quickly shook those unrealistic thoughts out of her mind.

She quickly cooked eight main dishes and served them. After they had all eaten their fill, Li Shishi asked, “A Qing, what are your plans next?”

The Jiang Family was destroyed, Gu Qing had broken through to Dao Master, and Zhi Meng had even become a taboo existence. It could be said that they had already reached the pinnacle of the Boundless Chaos pyramid.

Gu Qing smiled and said, “I want to take the three of them out to travel and broaden their horizons.”

The main reason was to teach the three little ones some ways of dealing with people, because although they were strong, their minds were not yet mature, and they didn't understand the dangers of the world.

And Yan'er, who still hadn't developed her intelligence and was like a cute baby, despite having the Dao Sovereign realm, might be abducted by someone one day.

“I'm going too!” He Ni said.

“Alright!” Gu Qing nodded. He had planned to bring He Ni along anyway.

Compared to the three little ones, He Ni wasn't much better; she was just a pure-hearted social phobe.

“A Qing, Mother has nowhere else to go either...”

Li Shishi also wanted to go. She was really worried about Gu Qing and He Ni taking care of the children, so she had to be there to watch.

“Wouldn't that be too much trouble?” Gu Qing felt a little embarrassed to keep asking his mother-in-law to help him with the children.

“What trouble could there be? I wish I could take Yan'er every day.”

“Alright then! It's just...”

Gu Qing's eyes swept over Li Shishi's attire, and he hesitated to speak.

Li Shishi was dressed too unusually.

Already beautiful, she wore a white shirt, a hip-hugging stepmother skirt, her long legs encased in black stockings, and crystal high heels, making her fashionable and stunning.

Moreover, she possessed a unique temperament, an intellectual elegance not found in this world, with tender eyes that seemed to contain the light of wisdom, exuding a cultural and knowledgeable aura from within.

“What's wrong with this...” Li Shishi smiled gently, a flash of light appeared on her body, and she changed into a palace dress.

Her every gesture, every smile, exuded the dignified grace of a queen.

“What a treasure of a mother-in-law...”