In the study room of a refined garden residence's main house, Wang Sheng's father sat by the window, quietly reading a virtual newspaper at his desk.

He murmured to himself, "It has been a few decades since Little Sheng went into seclusion again, hasn't it?"

The man still looked about fifty, the same as he had before the resurgence of primal qi. He also appeared energetic, though strands of white hair had begun to show.

His wife approached with a cup of tea. Instead of aging, she seemed to grow younger and more radiant with time.

The couple had refused Wang Sheng's earlier suggestion to extend their lives through special means. They did not want to rely on alchemical pills. However, through the Hua Republic's Universal Cultivation Method, they had extended their lifespans to at least two hundred fifty years.

As for beauty-preserving pills, Wang Sheng didn't have to worry. People lined up to offer them.

They could not be called immeasurably wealthy, but they lived comfortably and were under the special care of the Special Investigation Unit.

Taking care of them had already become an official task. After all, they were an important factor in stabilizing Wang Sheng, a high-level combat force.

Even so, the couple did not want to burden their children. Aside from traveling, they spent most of their time living in this garden estate, which Chi Ling's father had left behind.

In recent years, they had completed most of their dream of traveling the world and had settled here for a longer stay.

Wang Sheng remained in seclusion, calling every few years to check in on them. Xiaomiao, who was said to be organizing fleets to fight extraterrestrial enemies, also only sent word every few years.

With such exceptional children, the only thing they could do was not interfere.

Hearing her husband speak, Wang Sheng's mother sighed softly. She set the tea aside and sat across from him.

"They're under so much pressure now. There is nothing we can do to help."

"Help?" Wang Sheng's father shook his head. "As long as we do not cause trouble, that is enough. In proper terms, we are mortals. They are already immortals. We are not the same."

"What do you mean, 'not the same'? I gave birth to them!"

Wang Sheng's father smiled with narrowed eyes. "Impressive as always, my dear![1]"

Years of married life had worn away his old habit of insisting on being right.

His wife sighed. "When Little Sheng is not around, I keep thinking about him. But when he stays too long, everything about him starts to bother me. I end up wanting to pick at him."

"You should count your blessings," the man said as he glanced at the scrolling news on the virtual paper. "Right now, only you, his mother, can still lecture him."

She rolled her eyes. "What point is there in lecturing him?"

Right after, she fell into thought.

"Old Wang, there is something I have been thinking about for a long time. Little Sheng and Wanxuan have been so busy that they never held an actual wedding. How about we arrange one for them?"

"Still thinking about all the gifts you sent out before?"

She slapped the table. "I am serious!"

Her husband instinctively shrank back.

"Yes, yes, serious," he replied, then thought for a moment. "How about we make a video as a keepsake? I feel that in this lifetime, we may not get to see them hold a proper wedding. If we can leave something behind for them, that would already be good enough."

She considered it, then sighed. "If only we could live a little longer..."

He smiled. "Would that not become boring? Our lives are already full. We have experienced what we wanted to and enjoyed what we could. The greatest value of our lives is raising our two children... even if we did not do much.

"Everyone wants to live longer. That is instinct. However, we cannot rely on instinct alone to judge things. Once you have fulfilled your purpose, there is little to regret. Living for two or three hundred years and refusing to leave would only waste resources."

"I understand all that. I just want to see Little Sheng settle down with my own eyes. If I could hold a grandchild..."

"Stay right here. I will go buy you a few peaches[2]."

"Pui!" She raised her hand to hit him, and he quickly dodged.

After some discussion, they decided to make a few videos.

They wanted to urge their son to marry, but they did not dare press the matter. Though they had fairly long lifespans, it was better to prepare in advance.

***

At the lakeside villa, Wang Sheng opened his eyes.

"How long has it been?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The space beyond the living room remained clean and tidy, filled with potted plants. However, a thick layer of dust had settled everywhere in the living room itself. Arrays had been set up to isolate the area and prevent disturbance.

He had already accepted more than half of the Dao of Creation.

Counting with his fingers, he concluded that this was the ninth time he had awakened. Each time, five or six years had passed. It had now been roughly fifty years.

A long fifty years...

Immersed in the Dao of Creation, Wang Sheng spent every moment comprehending, accepting, and understanding it. His mind seemed to split into several parts, taking turns to rest while maintaining a continuous flow of insight.

This was likely another effect of the Dao of Creation.

The most obvious function of this Great Dao was its ability to turn the impossible into possible, and the unreasonable into reasonable. Once this Dao fully manifested, it would cause tremors within the Sea of Dao Laws.

At present, Wang Sheng's Primordial Spirit could leave and return to the planet's core at any time. However, he did not wish to create unnecessary complications. Fully accepting the Dao of Creation in one go was the proper path.

Several decades on Earth meant several thousand years outside.

Although he received letters every few years from official sources and from Xiaomiao, looking back over these decades, they had experienced one major change after another. Moreover, the plans he had once personally taken part in had now grown increasingly mature.

The disguised solar system now had a completely established defense system. A second Earth was no longer just a dream. That location was only a decoy meant to mislead enemies if the Time-Cycle Grand Array were ever breached, though. It could be destroyed with ease.

Hence, interstellar migration remained little more than a slogan. Proposals to develop tourism there had never been approved.

Over thousands of years in the endless space, the plan to introduce Earth's culture into the cultivation civilization had grown rapidly.

Wang Sheng recalled the report he had read five years ago.

Through games, entertainment, literature, and film, Earth's culture had advanced aggressively. Most cultivators had long found their lives dull and hopeless. The arrival of this virtual network, with its rich and varied content, quickly drew them in one after another.

Within the Eastern Sky Region, more than six thousand planets had established their own networks, which stored vast amounts of information and had already achieved basic digitization and information systems. Access devices had evolved into artifacts and even treasured artifacts.

Due to technical limits, true interstellar connectivity was not yet possible. Each planet functioned as its own regional network.

However, networks remained fixed while cultivators traveled freely. Now, the number of cultivator users had become an important measure of a planet's prosperity.

There had even been cases where a cultivation game set in the ruins of a celestial palace became so popular that large numbers of cultivators migrated through Primal Qi Passages to settle on planets with more players.

It was like a true server migration.

Through the networks, Earth's cultivators—the force behind them—replicated the model repeatedly and accumulated vast amounts of wealth and resources.

The network also held greater potential, such as gathering information, shaping public opinion, and establishing unified standards.

At present, Earth's cultivation world had not interfered too deeply. It used the system mainly to generate profit and gather Spirit Stones, allowing the model to spread like wildfire across a portion of the Eastern Sky Region.

The endless space was simply too vast.

Right now, the only limitation on this cultural expansion was the shortage of technical personnel within Earth's cultivation world. There simply were not enough people.

Xiaomiao and her group had already begun implementing plans to gradually train cultivators for their own use.

The idea got a simple first reaction from Wang Sheng.

With independent networks on each planet, Senior Sister would at least have more ways to pass the time while cultivating outside.

Only then did he consider the broader matters of the Three Realms, the starry sky, and the universe.

Space was so immense that it required time to fill.

Once a few technical problems were resolved, this cultural expansion could grow exponentially and influence the development of the cultivation civilization.

Meanwhile, the overall situation of Zhao Dezhu, the reincarnation of the Human King, remained stable. With great support from official forces and the Daoist sects, he had already reached the threshold of becoming an immortal. The potential of his aptitude was beginning to emerge.

As Zhao Dezhu himself had once said, his luck had never been good before. After meeting Wang Sheng, everything changed. This was also reflected in his cultivation.

His comprehension of the Dao came as naturally as drinking water. Breakthroughs became routine. The aura of the Human King's destiny grew brighter.

However, breaking through the restrictions that had been placed upon him would likely require Qinghua, Chun Yangzi, and Wang Sheng himself after fully accepting the Dao of Creation.

From this, it was clear just how formidable the Immortal Emperor had been at his peak.

"I'll probably take about thirty more years."

Wang Sheng stood up and stretched. His Dao Body showed no changes.

Although time on Earth felt especially precious, at his level, seclusion lasting hundreds or even thousands of years was common. His way of life had already diverged greatly from before.

He walked to the window and looked out at the lake, which had changed significantly, along with the surrounding buildings that now seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

Even his sense of aesthetics was struggling to keep up.

The area around the villa had not changed much. Only a few people knew who lived here, but most relevant departments treated it as a restricted zone.

Wang Sheng took out his phone, which he had replaced once before, and spent some time charging it.

Even a Golden Immortal needed a charger. Though he could simulate electrical currents, even a slight error could destroy such delicate electronics. That was exactly how his previous phone had been ruined.

As part of his routine, he called his parents, his mistress, and Mou Yue, simply to check in and ask about the changes over the past few years, or rather, the past few hundred years outside.

This time, Mou Yue asked him to wait a moment. A letter had just arrived for him from Xiaomiao.

This time, it was not drawn images but a straightforward written report.

The letter stated that around two hundred and thirty years ago, a powerful force had suddenly appeared in the Immortal Saint Realm. It advanced without resistance, quickly taking control of a portion of the realm and raising the banner of restoring order to the Three Realms.

Interestingly, its emblem was a divine phoenix.

According to the intel that Hostess Su's network had gathered, the force belonged to Feng Jiu. The massive presence that had been hidden in the depths had finally begun to emerge.

There were two additional pieces of news.

Zhi Bing and Chun Yangzi had made progress in breaking the Time-Cycle Grand Array. They could now attempt to undo it.

However, calculations showed that the moment the array was undone, violent upheaval would occur. The planets within would be reduced to dust.

There was a solution. Chun Yangzi or Qinghua would first enter and remove the solar system. After the array was undone, it would be put back in place.

Because Earth itself contained many restrictions, this plan could only proceed after Wang Sheng fully accepted the Dao of Creation.

The final piece of news made Wang Sheng eager to leave seclusion: turmoil had erupted in the Nether Realm, and it was suspected to be the work of Feng Jiu's forces.

The Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation had been impacted and nearly lost control several times. For now, the underworld was barely holding it together.

1. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ☜

2. "Stay right here, I'll go buy you something" is the Chinese meme equivalent to the "Aight, imma head out" meme. He's essentially dodging the responsibility/topic. ☜