After breaking through to the Golden Core stage, a long-lost smile appeared on Ye Qingxuan’s face.
Inside his dantian, a Golden Core was slowly rotating. Its surface seemed engraved with a constantly shifting landscape of layered mountains and waters.
Upon closer inspection, the landscape on Ye Qingxuan’s Golden Core was remarkably similar to the terrain of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven.
This scene appeared because, at the moment Ye Qingxuan broke through to the Golden Core stage, a change occurred in his bonded life-bound magic treasure, the World Map, which he had been nurturing within the source of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven. It suddenly split off a thread of its source, forming a sub-map that wrapped around his Golden Core.
Influenced by this sub-map of the World Map, Ye Qingxuan’s Golden Core seemed to undergo some kind of transformation. It began automatically absorbing spiritual energy and converting it into spirit power, subtly and silently enhancing Ye Qingxuan’s cultivation.
Although the speed at which his Golden Core automatically absorbed and converted spiritual energy was not comparable to the cultivation speed bonus provided by a fourth-tier spiritual root, the advantage of the Golden Core’s autonomous cultivation was that it could operate continuously, twenty-four hours a day.
Therefore, overall, after breaking through to the Golden Core stage, Ye Qingxuan’s current cultivation speed was already comparable to the innate talent of a fourth-tier spiritual root.
After breaking through to the Golden Core stage, Ye Qingxuan did not stop. However, he did not continue cultivating to raise his cultivation level. Instead, under the influence of an obsession, he immediately began to comprehend and condense the divine ability seed for the Minor Divine Ability: Clone without pause.
If one were to talk about cultivation talent, even now, with talent comparable to a fourth-tier spiritual root, Ye Qingxuan could only be considered mediocre. But when it came to his talent for comprehension, it could be called monstrously prodigious.
In just one year, within the internal space of Ye Qingxuan’s Golden Core, an exceedingly profound Dao Rune had already condensed.
This Dao Rune was precisely the divine ability seed of the Minor Divine Ability: Clone that Ye Qingxuan had been comprehending and trying to condense since his breakthrough to the Golden Core stage.
After successfully condensing the divine ability seed for the Minor Divine Ability: Clone, Ye Qingxuan could split off two ordinary clones, each possessing thirty percent of his main body’s cultivation. At the same time, he could also prematurely condense an External Incarnation—something normally only cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage could cultivate—which could possess a full one hundred percent of his main body’s cultivation.
Once the ordinary clones were split off, their cultivation realm was fixed. When his main body’s cultivation broke through to higher levels, the ordinary clones could only be recalled or released from their physical forms to be re-condensed into stronger clones later. The External Incarnation, however, was not subject to this limitation; it could independently cultivate and increase its cultivation, with only the upper limit of its cultivation being unable to exceed that of the main body.
The reason for this was that condensing an External Incarnation required integrating a portion of the cultivator’s Essence, Spirit, and Soul Origin, and this essence had to originate from the cultivator’s Nascent Soul. Only then could the External Incarnation act as a semi-independent entity, able to cultivate on its own and increase its cultivation.
But in the Earth Immortal legacy that Ye Qingxuan received, after condensing the Clone divine ability seed, it was possible to use the source of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven to replace the needed Essence, Spirit, and Soul Origin from one’s own Nascent Soul, thereby prematurely condensing an External Incarnation. The only drawback was that if this External Incarnation were to die, Ye Qingxuan would be unable to condense another External Incarnation until he broke through to the Void Penetration stage.
The ordinary clones from the divine ability were not subject to this restriction. They could be dissolved and re-condensed at any time, requiring only the provision of vast amounts of energy. Furthermore, clones condensed using a divine ability were not limited by distance, unlike clones created by other spells. The divine ability clones completely allowed Ye Qingxuan to control his clones across space and distance without hindrance.
After successfully condensing the divine ability seed for the Clone divine ability, driven by a certain obsession, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t wait to activate the secret method from the Earth Immortal legacy, using the source of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven to condense an External Incarnation.
Three days later, Ye Qingxuan emerged from the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven, a rare occurrence. A faint voice rang out softly: “Zhaoheng!”
Hearing Ye Qingxuan’s summons, Ye Zhaoheng immediately flew from the foot of the mountain to a spot not far from Ye Qingxuan, bowing respectfully. “Zhaoheng is here, awaiting the young master’s orders!”
Ye Qingxuan’s empty gaze swept absently over Ye Zhaoheng, putting immense pressure on him. In recent years, because Ye Qingxuan had been trapped in his obsession and forgotten to concoct breakthrough pills for the brothers Ye Zhaoheng and Ye Zhaoyu, they had remained stuck at the peak of the Purple Mansion stage. Without auxiliary pills to help break through to the Golden Core stage, and with their spirit power no longer pure, the two brothers did not dare to easily attempt a breakthrough. Moreover, once their spirit power became impure, without the aid of pills, the cultivation speed of Ye Zhaoheng and Ye Zhaoyu had dropped by roughly thirty percent compared to their original natural talent.
Regarding this, the brothers held no resentment in their hearts. They simply observed Ye Qingxuan’s transformation, secretly worrying for him. As mere attendants with low cultivation, they didn’t know exactly what had happened to Ye Qingxuan, so they dared not act rashly for fear of disturbing his cultivation.
Looking at Ye Zhaoheng with empty eyes, Ye Qingxuan took out an ink-black box and passed it through the air to him. His indifferent voice sounded again: “Take this ink box out of the Xuantian Sect. Find an uninhabited mountain forest and leave it there.”
Ye Zhaoheng looked at the ink box before him. Though puzzled, he didn’t ask further questions. He carefully received the box and responded, “Yes, young master!” Then, he flew away on his sword.
Watching Ye Zhaoheng’s departing figure, Ye Qingxuan remained silent. Only a flicker of anticipation appeared in his hollow eyes. Once Ye Zhaoheng’s silhouette was no longer visible, Ye Qingxuan turned and returned to the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven, waiting quietly.
On the other side, after presenting his identity token as an attendant of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven, Ye Zhaoheng encountered no trouble and smoothly left the Xuantian Sect via the teleportation array. After being teleported to Star State’s prefectural city, Ye Zhaoheng did not use the teleportation array again. Instead, he left the city. After several days of flight, he finally found a sparsely populated, small mountain forest.
Although curious, Ye Zhaoheng had no intention of secretly opening the ink box. Following Ye Qingxuan’s instructions, he carefully placed the box in a secluded spot and then left the mountain forest, flying back the way he came.
Not long after Ye Zhaoheng departed, the ink box automatically sprang open. A figure clad entirely in black robes, its head concealed by a black hood, emerged from within. After putting away the ink box, it left the area with extreme speed.
This black-robed figure was precisely Ye Qingxuan’s External Incarnation. Although Ye Zhaoheng had left the area earlier, Ye Qingxuan’s incarnation actually arrived at Star State’s prefectural city before him.
Ye Qingxuan’s External Incarnation was completely obscured by the black robes, but this did not draw strange looks from other cultivators. In the cultivation world, cultivators dressed in all sorts of bizarre and outlandish attire were common; everyone was used to it and saw no reason to make a fuss.
After passing through layers of teleportation arrays and flying for a considerable time, the gaze peering out from the darkness of Ye Qingxuan’s hood finally beheld that long-missed city.
A sense of familiarity welled up in his heart, causing Ye Qingxuan to pause mid-flight for a moment. A faint, dim light seemed to rekindle in his previously hollow eyes. Following the memories deep within his mind, Ye Qingxuan concealed himself and moved unimpeded all the way to his own home—the home that no longer held his parents.
Then, Ye Qingxuan found his younger brother and sister, but he did not reveal himself to acknowledge them. He simply stood to the side, quietly observing his now-aged siblings. Past events flowed through his mind like water.
“Big brother? You’re my big brother? Big brother, I want to hear you tell stories about the cultivation world!” “Big brother, where’s my present?”
The little brother who, upon their first meeting, loved to cling to him and ask for stories of the cultivation world; the quirky younger sister who, upon their first meeting, had held out her hand in front of him, asking for a welcoming gift—now both were already in their twilight years, their final days not far off.
As he watched, violent emotional turmoil surged within Ye Qingxuan’s empty gaze. He murmured subconsciously, “Little brother, little sister… your big brother is incompetent. I couldn’t bring Father, Mother, and you all onto the path of cultivation. But rest assured, one day, sooner or later, your big brother will find you again and bring you along to witness the splendor of the immortal way.”
After speaking, Ye Qingxuan’s figure gradually faded and left the place.
Afterwards, Ye Qingxuan used a spell to obtain information from others regarding his parents’ burial site.
Before the tombstones of Father Ye and Mother Ye, Ye Qingxuan removed his hood and stood silently for a long time, without saying a word. Here, he felt a long-lost sense of belonging. A gentle breeze brushed against his cheek, as if letting him feel his mother’s caress once more. In this moment, the emotions Ye Qingxuan had suppressed for so long slowly began to release. His hollow eyes regained their former luster, and the obsession in his heart also gradually dissolved.
Reaching out, he slowly touched his parents’ tombstones. The tears glistening in Ye Qingxuan’s eyes could no longer be held back. Trembling, he said, “Father, Mother… I’ve come back to see you.”
In front of his parents, Ye Qingxuan was not as strong as he had imagined himself to be. In this moment, he felt as if his parents had not yet departed, as if they were still by his side.
Ye Qingxuan began to talk to himself, recounting his life over the past hundred-plus years, as if wanting to tell his parents that he was doing well and that they needn’t worry about him.
When he finished pouring out his heart, Ye Qingxuan’s heart returned to a state of emptiness and clarity, and the obsession within him gradually dispersed. He believed his parents’ departure was only temporary. As long as he was still here, his parents would eventually return. When that time came, he would help them step onto the immortal path and shelter them until eternity.
As their son, how could he not know that lacking spiritual roots, being unable to cultivate, was the greatest regret of his parents’ lives? Or rather, it was the regret of all people in the Earthly Profound Realm who could not cultivate. It was just that Ye Qingxuan’s parents had never once complained about it in front of him.
Putting his hood back on, Ye Qingxuan turned to leave.
But before he could leave the cemetery grounds, his path was blocked by a figure.
This figure was none other than someone Ye Qingxuan knew very well—the Ye Family Head, Ye Yuhong.
At this moment, Ye Yuhong was staring coldly at the black-robed Ye Qingxuan. He questioned him, “Who are you, fellow Daoist? Why have you trespassed into my Ye family’s territory?”
Ye Qingxuan had just broken through to the Golden Core stage and hadn’t had time to condense many divine ability seeds, so his concealment ability was not strong. The moment Ye Qingxuan stepped into the Ye Family’s Immortal City, he had already been detected by the defensive array set up by the Ye family.
However, by the time Ye Yuhong rushed to the Ye Family’s Immortal City, Ye Qingxuan had already left the city and arrived at this cemetery. This cemetery was merely for the Ye family’s mortal members, so its defensive array wasn’t powerful, which was why the Ye family hadn’t discovered the intrusion immediately.
Later, it was Ye Yuhong who, through a subtle restriction he had left within the residence of Ye Qingxuan’s relatives, discovered the lingering aura of Ye Qingxuan. That restriction was originally placed by Ye Yuhong so he could swiftly rescue Ye Qingxuan’s relatives if they were attacked. Unexpectedly, it detected that the black-robed figure—Ye Qingxuan’s incarnation—had been there. He then followed the residual aura Ye Qingxuan left behind and tracked him to this place.
One could only say that Ye Qingxuan, previously trapped in his obsession, had acted far too carelessly. Coupled with the fact he had just advanced to the Golden Core stage and hadn’t had time to practice many of his techniques, this allowed Ye Yuhuang to find clues and follow them here.
Hearing Ye Yuhong’s questioning, the black-robed figure, Ye Qingxuan’s incarnation, replied in a hoarse voice, “I mean no harm. I merely passed by inadvertently and came to take a look.”
After saying this, Ye Qingxuan transformed into a rainbow light and fled into the distance.
Now that he had regained his reason, Ye Qingxuan had no intention of conversing much with Ye Yuhong. If the conversation went too deep, he might very well expose his own identity, which was not something Ye Qingxuan wanted to see. He wasn’t ready to reveal himself yet. So, after giving Ye Yuhong a brief explanation, he simply left.
On the opposite side, Ye Yuhong fell into contemplation upon hearing Ye Qingxuan’s words. Just as he was about to ask more questions, he saw Ye Qingxuan preparing to leave. Hesitating for a moment, Ye Yuhong ultimately suppressed his impulse to attack. After all, the other party was a Golden Core stage cultivator. Without absolute certainty, Ye Yuhong didn’t want to rashly bring a powerful enemy upon his family.
However, after Ye Qingxuan left, Ye Yuhong did not depart. He extended his hand, releasing a strand of aura invisible to the naked eye. After making a spell gesture, this wisp of aura floated in the air and gradually drifted towards the tombstones of Father Ye and Mother Ye.
Seeing this, the look of doubt in Ye Yuhong’s eyes deepened. As if remembering something, he murmured hesitantly, “Could it be…?”
But the next second, he denied it himself: “No, this is impossible!”
In the end, Ye Yuhong buried the previous guess from his heart deep within and turned to leave.
Upon returning to the Ye family residence, Ye Yuhong immediately erased all records of what had happened that day.
After doing all this, Ye Yuhong went deep into his own cave mansion. Sitting alone inside, he murmured to himself, “Was it really you?”
